Issue 13, Fall 2015 - The Quadrangle

THE Volume 92, Issue 13

Q

UADRANGLE A Student Publication of Manhattan College Since 1924

Dec. 8th, 2015

Lessons and Carols MC Sets the Tone for the Christmas Season

www.mcquad.org

South Campus Architect Selected, Space Study Underway Adanna Carter & Daniel Ynfante Staff Writer & Assistant Editor

The Manhattan College Singers and Orchestra perform for their annual candlelight Christmas concert this past Sunday.

Sean Sonnemann/The Quadrangle

Manhattan College will be adding new infrastructure to its south campus, located on 238th Street.

On Nov. 18, Mitchell Giurgola, an architecture firm based in New York, announced on its website that it was selected

by Manhattan College to design a new 30,000 square foot STEM facility.

The firm boasts experience working on STEM projects at other universities, which was a key reason why Andy Ryan, vice president of facilities at Manhattan College, believes the firm was chosen.

“We wanted someone who actually had experience doing our kind of building and working with an institution like Manhattan,” Ryan said.

“If you’re working with very large schools … it’s a different world when the design teams are working on that. … We wanted someone who was used to working with smaller schools like the size of Manhattan.”

To select the firm that would work on the project, Ryan worked with an advisory committee consisting of several faculty members and administrators.

Among those selected for the committee were Provost William Clyde, Dean of the School of Science Constantine Theodosiou and Dean of the School of Engineering Tim Ward.

During the search process, Mitchell Giurgola and the other final candidates

Continued on Page 3

New Student Performance Software Raises Faculty Concerns over Student Privacy Anthony Capote Assistant Editor

Manhattan College freshmen may have noticed that they’ve been asked to fill out a series of surveys on the Self Service page on the MC website.

Economics major Jared Lee says a program called Mapworks runs them.

“They’re emailed to us and we can win prizes for filling them out but to be honest, not one really knows what they’re about,” he said.

“I remember some of them being like ‘how do you find your dorm living,’ and ‘how do you rate the campus,” things of that nature, things that ask for your opinion not just what you’re told.”

Mapworks is software owned by Skyfactor, which is contracted by schools to increase student retention and performance in all aspects from academic performance to residence life.

“All I know is that we’ve done two surveys so far, I believe, and kids have won gift cards but that’s really the extent of it,” said Lee. “I’d like to know what I’m answering all those questions for.”

The Mapworks software, which has

already been implemented for the class of 2019, will become mandatory for all students by next fall.

David Shefferman, Ph.D., said that all professors currently teaching freshmen have received emails asking to send student concerns to the Center for Academic Success.

“The first email came a few months ago, letting us know that we had freshmen and that we should use this program,” he said. “Then we got a second, reminding us to use the software.”

Macmillan Publishing Group purchased EBI Map-Works in 2012, changing the name to Skyfactor.

The student retention and performance software company claims that their product is designed to track student performance and increase communication between faculty and staff in case a student comes within risk of failure.

“Mapworks considers the whole student when predicting risk,” the site’s “How it Works” page reads.

“The result is a complete picture of each student—visually indicating who is most at risk, and the contributing factors” Mapworks requires professors to up-

load weekly attendance, as well as comments and concerns they may have about a particular student to the program. This, according to Skyfactor’s site, will make it easier for other professors, as well as deans and academic advisors, to monitor student performance and predict when a student needs intervention or help.

Bill Clyde, Ph.D. and Manhattan College’s provost, said that the program is designed to improve the college’s 84 percent retention rate for first-year students.

“That’s an excellent number, most schools our size are somewhere in the mid70s,” he said. “But of course we are always trying to improve.”

Clyde said that one of the main benefits of bringing the Mapworks software to campus is to increase communication between administration and faculty.

“We have a lot of people working to support student success academically, from faculty members doing things, to deans doing things, a bunch of different people working together,” he said. “Sometimes the communication of our efforts is sometimes a little bit challenged.”

Clyde presented an example where a faculty member knows that a student is struggling and can immediately send that

information to the Center for Academic Success, who can reach out that student.

However, a major concern of some professors is the issue of student privacy through the software.

Robert Geraci, Ph.D. and professor of religious studies at Manhattan, said that when administrators presented the plan to him, he had immediate questions to how student’s private information was being used. “[Faculty were] told ‘Well it’s basically on the list of things [students] signed at the beginning of the year,’” he said.

“They essentially checked off this thing that says ‘the College is allowed to do whatever it wants with this data about you.’”

Clyde denied that Skyfactor employees or anyone not authorized by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects students from unwanted data mining—even from parents—would have access to students’ personal information.

Skyfactor’s own “Privacy” page, however, suggests a different story.

Continued on Page 3

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Letter to

opinions & editorials

The

The Editor

Quadrangle www.mcquad.org

Vol. 92 Issue 13 Dec. 8, 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 Jon Reyes Sports Editor Jaclyn Marr Asst. Sports Editor Daniel Ynfante Asst. Sports Editor Victoria Hernández Kristie Killen Social Media Editors Kevin Fuhrmann Photography Editor Vanessa Sanchez Asst. Photography Editor Kelly Burns Luke Hartman Natalie Heinitz Production Editors

Dec. 8, 2015

It seems that everyone I have spoken with on-campus lately has a similar sentiment about this semester: disbelief at how quickly the weeks went by.

As we finish the last week of classes and then proceed to make it through the frenzy of finals week, the Fall 2015 semester will already have come and gone.

It has certainly been a busy semester on campus. Most weeks, it was not a question of coming up with ideas for articles and news coverage, but rather choosing which stories to focus on among the many options facing our relatively small staff.

In particular, we were proud to have included full coverage of Pope Francis’s historic visit to New York City, frequent updates regarding the master plan and physical improvements around campus, as well as the release of our special Food Issue.

Additionally, a series of excellent articles helped spark worthwhile dialogue in our letters to the editor page regarding both the nature of adjunct professors at the college and the sometimes contentious relationship between local residents and MC students.

Our goal as always is to not only serve as a trustworthy news source for the campus community and disseminate critical information, but also to shed light on issues that otherwise may be overlooked.

I truly am appreciative of the hard work and countless hours put in week after week by the editorial board and the entire Quadrangle staff in an effort to reach that goal.

This issue will be our last printed paper for the fall semester. As always, other additional news and updates can be found on our website mcquad.org and numerous social media accounts.

On a personal note, this issue will also be my last printed paper while serving as editor-in-chief. It has been quite a year! I once again thank each and every member of The Quadrangle for their contributions in creating two semesters worth of excellent content.

I am also proud to announce that The Quadrangle’s current assistant features editor Ally Hutzler will be taking over next semester as the new editor-in-chief. I am confident that Ally will do a terrific job in leading the paper to success as we continue to build on the organization’s 90 year history of serving as the student news organization of Manhattan College.

Good luck to all on finals and best wishes for a wonderful holiday season!

Sean Sonnemann Editor-in-Chief

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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New Student Performance Software Raises South Campus Architect Faculty Concerns over Student Privacy Selected, Anthony Capote Assistant Editor

Continued from Page 1 “We may obtain certain personal information (such as name and other contact details) when you or your instructor/university administrator choose to provide them through our Site,” it reads.

“The types of personal information we may collect include: contact information, such as your name, postal address, e-mail address and telephone number; registration information such as username, password, participant/student ID; personal information in content you provide on our Site; educational information, such as your school, course information, grades, and questions or responses submitted by you in connection with your use of the Site; information communicated to you via e-mail or text through our Site by your school’s authorized administrators, instructors and other school officials if your schools opts to enable such communication; information concerning your interests and product preferences.”

According to Skyfactor, they reserve the right to collect and monitor all student data that might pass through the software.

They also retain the right to share that data.

“We may share the information you provide with companies that are related to Skyfactor through common ownership,” the “Privacy” page continues. “Related companies are required to maintain such personal information in compliance with this Online Privacy Notice.”

Macmillan, the company that owns and operates Skyfactor, is actually a subsidiary of the conglomerate Holztbrinck Publishing, which owns 180 individual corporations in 120 countries—all of whom have legal access to the information of Manhattan College students, as well as any student from any other college that contracts Skyfactor. “[Skyfactor] was sort of pursued by the Center for Academic Success and [Brother Michael Shubnell] with some approval from [Clyde],” said David Shefferman, Ph.D., also a professor in the religious studies department.

“The sense that I got from [Clyde] as that he didn’t realize what the implications might be and how it was going to be rolled out, so it’s raised all sorts of questions and red flags.”

Shefferman said that the school meant only to help students and decided on, what they thought, was the best option.

“What [Mapworks] is supposed to do is well-intentioned,” he said. “Trying to help students with the idea or replacing that academic referral system and to sort of

integrate different student services on campus, you know, student life and all that so they can communicate to help students can a more holistic picture, but I think there’s been a lot of pushback.”

Freshman Lee, however, said that no one has ever explained to him what Mapworks is for or how it works.

“I understand the program and I agree with what they are doing and I understand that the program is designed to help students,” he said.

“I feel, though, a bit tricked, almost, that they didn’t tell us more about the program, they just said ‘Oh hey, fill out this survey and you could win a gift card,’ I feel like we weren’t educated enough as to what this was doing.”

Geraci, who also serves as the chair for the Council for Faculty Affairs, faulted the college for contracting an outside company to provide the service in the first place.

“I don’t know why we want to be in a situation where, and again I got scolded by the administration for complaining about money, but I don’t know why we need to pay someone to do this,” he said.

“What exactly is this going to produce that will return value, so this is kind of weird.”

MC Community Raises Money for Syrian Refugees Tori James Staff Writer

The ongoing Syrian refugee crisis has approximately nine million Syrians displaced throughout the world. In light of this, the Manhattan College community is doing their part to not only spread awareness of the problem, but also to provide assistance to Syrian refugees.

The initiator of these efforts is Mehnaz Afridi, Ph.D and professor of religious studies. Afridi has worked with Brother Jack Curran, vice president for mission, as well as several other professors throughout various departments to spread the word about the crisis and organize events at the college.

“I was so overwhelmed by the whole issue, and also the fact that there was not a lot of awareness on campus,” Afridi said.

“Eveyone knows about ISIS, but not about what’s really going on.”

Afridi started these efforts by organizing a clothing drive for the refugees, which raised over 40 boxes of coats, sweaters and various articles of clothing for the winter.

Curran was able to coordinate with a Christian Brothers home in Lebanon to receive those donations.

Students in the Arches program, a freshman residence program in Lee Hall, have also done their part to help out. They assisted in packaging and mailing these donations.

“It’s really neat because everyone is involved now,” Afridi said. “Everyone has a hand in it, all of the faculty and students are connected to it in some way. It’s funny how serious issues like this can bring people together.”

The Center for Ethics and Just Peace have also coordinated and supported several events regarding the crisis. These include a film screening on Syria, a talk on

Arches students help package clothes for Syrian Refugees.

Manhattan College/Courtesy immigration and most recently a lecture by students, faculty, alumni and members of National President of the Network of Arab- the Riverdale community. The event itself American Professionals, Sarab Al-Jijakli, raised approximately $200. The ultimate goal is to raise enough money to bring a titled “Understanding Syria.”

“We’ve been collecting money because Syrian refugee to Manhattan College and there’s such a large amount of refugees that provide them with a place to live and an need so much,” Katelyn Conroy, a leader education.

“I think it all ties in with our Lasallian for the Just Peace club on campus, said.

“One thing [Al-Jijakli] mentioned is that values,” Afridi said. “I want students to una lot of the information people are receiv- derstand what it really means to be homeing through the media can be incorrect. It’s less, or Muslim, or poor instead of just important to get the right information out making generalizations. By dehumanizing there, and whatever we can do to help is others, that’s how we create war. It’s important to do this on college campuses beimportant.”

This lecture was heavily attended by cause it’s all about [the students’] future.”

Space Study Underway Adanna Carter & Daniel Ynfante Staff Writer & Assistant Editor

Continued from Page 1 came to Manhattan for interviews. They met with the deans and faculty members to get a better sense of what the building, which will house the Schools of Engineering and Science, might need.

Mitchell Giurgola’s strong showing in this phase, coupled with its impressive individual presentation, convinced Ward that Mitchell Giurgola was the firm to select.

“The composition of the team,” Ward said was one of the factors the committee considered when selecting the firm they would hire.

“Do they address these types of issues?

What type of work have they done before?

How well were the clients satisfied by the work that was done? So those were all things that had to be discussed.”

The Mitchell Giurgola team Ward is referring to consists of Manhattan College alumni.

Working with alumni of the college on facilities projects is a recurring phenomenon for Ryan, who regularly deals with consultants and contractors.

“The college is actually in a pretty fortunate position most of the time,” Ryan said, “because of the number of graduates that we have out there in the professional and consulting and construction community. When we go into a project like this we actually get a pretty good choice of some quality firms to work with.”

The project is still in its feasibility phase while the firm inspects and surveys the site, meets with the deans of the respective schools and comes up with a design plan.

The project, like any other major facilities upgrade, will take some time, but Ward is just glad that action is being taken.

“I think it was clear that the board of trustees wanted to move it earlier rather than later,” Ward said.

“I think that was a very clear and appreciated message that we should be doing this as soon as we can because the STEM needs and the engineering needs on this campus are strong, are major.”

According to Ryan, the study phase should be done by June, and then the design team will start developing building plans.

Although no official opening date has been set for the building, Ryan believes 2020 is a realistic target.

Still, the mere news that the college is willing to improve its STEM facilities satisfies Ward.

“It will be a needed shot in the arm,” Ward said about what the new STEM building will mean for the School of Engineering. “It will be a boost for us. We have a lot of needs now. We have a lot of students.”

“Right now our labs are old. They are constrained. We’d like to expand that. So we see lots of benefits from new lab space and remodeling, whether it is in a new building or in a remodeled building.”

features

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Dec. 8, 2015

arts & entertainment

Saks Fifth Avenue Shines For The Holidays

Abi Kloosterman Staff Writer

Stephen Zubrycky & John Morrison/The Quadrangle

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: Dyker Heights Stephen Zubrycky Staff Writer

The sidewalks on either side of a quaint, tree-lined suburban street are packed with visitors stopping at each house, taking pictures, eating candy-canes and enjoying an evening in the crisp December air, looking at some of the most extravagant and overthe-top Christmas light displays in the country, let alone the city.

Such is a December’s evening in Dyker Heights, a tight-knit, small neighborhood sandwiched between the Gowanus Expressway to the west and the D train to the east in the southwest quadrant of Brooklyn.

Dyker Heights, or, as the locals call it, Dyker, was originally founded as an ideal suburb near the turn of the century. Just a short ferry ride from the commercial center in Manhattan, Dyker offered large, spacious homes for wealthy businessmen, complete with sweeping views of the Lower New York Bay. Dyker Heights retains much of that character today, with many of those century’s-old homes still standing, and still being lived in. There are newer homes in Dyker however, and many of them are among the largest houses in Brooklyn.

Along main and side streets, Italian and American flags are a fixture of Dyker Heights culture. Thirteenth Avenue, one of the neighborhood’s busiest thoroughfares,

is home to fine Italian-American goods, especially in the vicinity of 80th Street. These include Tony’s Pizzeria, Mona Lisa Bakery and La Bella, a large market specializing in Italian-American specialty goods.

Due in large part to the Italian-American population, Dyker Heights has a largely Christian – especially Catholic – culture.

The area has several churches, including three Roman Catholic churches, despite Dyker only having a population of roughly 40,000 at the 2000 United States Census.

The neighborhood – especially the core of it, between 79th and 86th Streets, and 10th and 13th Aves. – has come to be renowned for extravagantly bright, incredibly ornate displays of Christmas lights.

‘Dyker Lights,’ as the displays are

sometimes called, has been a fixture in the neighborhood for some time, and is an annual tradition that New Yorkers come from far and wide to witness.

Homeowners in these blocks have their homes completely decked out for the holiday. Many homes have each window, door, gutter, column and peak lined with strands of multi-colored or classic white Christmas lights.

Some homes even go so far as to light the plants in their small front yards – even the lawns themselves. Several homes had the trees on the sidewalk wrapped completely up the trunk, including one particularly ornate display in which each tree was completely covered from top to bottom.

about are multiple exams on the same day and she has different forms of finals in her classes.

“I have two long papers, two written exams and a group presentation to do,” Flanagan said. “Luckily they are all spread out so nothing overlaps.”

For junior communications major Sam O’Connell, final exams will be based on the work she has been doing all semester.

“My classes are all pretty hands-on so I feel like I’ve been putting in work all semester long,” O’Connell said. “In one of my classes, Field and Post with Dr. Grabowski, we have been learning how to use equipment and using an editing program which our final will consist of.”

While the work is different in every major, computer science major and senior

Adam Barillas said that this is the hardest finals have ever been for him.

“I’ve had so many projects and presentations this semester along with all my other class work that I have been a little stressed out,” Barillas said. “But I don’t have exams on multiple days like I have in the past. It was exhausting finishing one final and going straight to another one and this year I don’t have that.”

It is easy to get stressed out when there is an entire week devoted to one strong percentage of a final course grade.

“What I find works best to alleviate the stress is to make sure I keep a time that I am going to relax and hang out in my schedule,” O’Connell said. “If I don’t have at least an hour to myself to watch something or chat with someone I find myself procrastinating

much more then I would if I would have just given myself the hour.”

For Flanagan, she is already finding ways to get rid of some of the stress that begins to pile up.

“For me going to work is a huge outlet for me,” Flanagan said. “A couple hours outside of campus gets my mind off everything and it’s a nice breather.”

It is important to create time for yourself in the middle of the craziness that all students and professors face during this time of the semester.

Just remember that every exam you take is one step closer to being finished and then you can recharge, come back and do it all over again.

Stress During The Most Wonderful Time of the Year Lauren Carr Editor

It is that time of the year, once again.

The time when we are all eager to sit around all day and do absolutely nothing. However, there is one hurdle standing between us and the holiday break. Final exams.

The semester inevitably leads to finals week, and for the upperclassmen who have experienced finals before, preparation now begins. However, for freshmen international studies major Maeghan Flanagan, her first finals week is daunting.

“I’m definitely nervous because of the amount of hate and stress I’ve heard about finals,” Flanagan said.

One thing she does not have to worry

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In even less than a blink of an eye, it is Christmas time in the city yet again.

Twinkling lights line the streets and wreaths bearing big red bows hang from lampposts. The Rockefeller Center tree shines brightly into space and the Swarovski Star atop the tree reminds us that no other city does Christmas better or more fabulously than New York.

Pushing through the crowds to get to Midtown East one finds themselves com-

ing upon Halal Vendors lined down Fifth Avenue. Just across the traffic lies Saks Fifth Avenue, dressed in its best with lit garland lining every window and door. This year Saks unveils, “The Winter Palace.”

Each window is lit with blue light while each mannequin sports a beautifully embellished gown, most of which are white and silver. The mannequins are more than a storefront advertisement for a garment.

Each is an art piece that incorporates fashion with the very best time of year.

Whether you stumble upon it or you plan your evening around it, Saks Fifth Avenue becomes a central part of every New

Yorker’s Christmas. Of course, the tree is a must and the giant ornaments across from Radio City are a staple of the city, but Saks Fifth Avenue is like an exhibit in a museum. Tourists and locals stare through the glass at the most fabulous art exhibit in the city.

The chilly air and honking horns are as significant as the windows themselves.

New York would be nothing without the beautiful Christmas lights accompanied by yellow taxis and the commotion of Fifth Avenue. Within the world of fabulousness that is Saks Fifth Avenue, there is a feeling that is utterly New York. The fashion, the

Abi Kloosterman/The Quadrangle fast pace and the wonderful feeling of inspiration that comes from stepping through two huge doors dressed in sparkly garland is incomparable to any other city in the world.

When the lights come down after Jan. 1, the snow becomes slush and the city turns grey, Saks Fifth Avenue still stands.

It is a refuge from the late winter cold. It is the bright and glamorous escape from the grayness of February in New York City.

However, for a grand instance in time, Saks is the essence of Christmas in the city and New Yorkers far and wide come take in the sparkle of the last moments of 2015.

Scatterbomb Wraps Up the Semester Celebrating Christmas Lindsey Burns Assistant Editor

Donned in ugly Christmas sweaters and holiday-colored attire, Scatterbomb wrapped up its Fall 2015 semester with a Christmas themed show on Dec. 4.

“We thought it was one of the best shows of the semester,” Matt Clark, a junior CIS and management double major and a member of the troupe said. “As always, we had a great crowd and they really helped to keep the show upbeat and exciting.”

The first half of the show consisted of half of the troupe participating in a longform mono-scene revolving around a group of neighbors all named Denis.

“It was definitely one of the most entertaining sketches this semester,” Lucas Gilbride, a junior accounting major and consistent audience member, said.

In the mono-scene, one Denis was particularly upset over two other neighbors, who happened to also be named Denis, who took the liberty of using his yard for various activities, such as burying their dead pets. The audience was introduced to the wife of the angry Denis, Denise and their son Denis. The audience laughed along as their story unfolded on stage.

The second half of the show was a montage of several short scenes, some lasting less than a minute. At the end of the show, the members held an audience-wide ugly Christmas sweater competition, where

members of the audience came up on stage and competed for the best sweater.

The winner of the competition, Aleysha Taveras, modeled a sweater dedicated to senior Scatterbomb member RJ Liberto, complete with several pictures of Liberto taped to her sweater.

“I had planned it out and wanted to do something out of the box,” Taveras, a senior secondary education and history double major, said. “I’m super close with RJ [Liberto] so I wanted to do something that would honor him.”

Taveras said it was an honor to win and that she was so happy. As first place winner, she received a portrait of a Japanese geisha.

Overall, the entire Scatterbomb semester was a success. The comedy troupe saw the addition of four new members, and they all performed strongly throughout the semester.

“This semester was unique in a way that there were so many new faces in the group. It was a little daunting coming into a new semester with four new members, but it’s been exciting to find a brand new type of chemistry and energy with four unique comedic voices in Matt, Maddie, Kevin and Will,” Drew Murphy, a senior communication and English double major and senior member of Scatterbomb, said. “I look forward to next semester because now that we’ve gotten over the initial newness and unfamiliarity of it all, our shows should elevate in further quality.”

Scatterbomb will return next February.

Lindsey Burns/The Quadrangle

sports

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Dec. 8, 2015

Women’s Basketball Starts MAAC Play with a Win Jaclyn Marr Assistant Editor

Coming off of a game with a poor offensive showing against Yale, the Jaspers bounced back with an 80-62 victory over Niagara to start MAAC play on Friday night. With the win, the team improved to 3-4 on the season.

This was the fourth time in five seasons and the fifth in John Olenowski’s seven years as head coach that the Jaspers won their conference opener.

“It was a big goal of ours,” Olenowski said of starting conference play with a win.

“It’s always important to get that win.”

Niagara notched an early 5-2 advantage but a jumper by Kayla Grimme and a Taylor Williams three-pointer put the Jaspers on top 7-5. The Purple Eagles took the lead back briefly until Williams responded with another three-pointer. The Jaspers regained the lead and never looked back.

“It was really good to start conference play with a win,” Shayna Ericksen said.

“We set the tone for the year and the rest of MAAC play.”

Williams and Crystal Ross helped lead the Jaspers with 17 and 14 points respectively. Ross also had a 6-for-6 shooting night, to go along with eight rebounds. She became the first Jasper to go perfect from the field since Caitlin Flood went 10-for-10 against Siena on Jan. 11, 2008.

Grimme notched 10 points, seven boards and six blocks. Ericksen had 10 points and six rebounds. Blake Underhill tallied seven points and four assists while Amani Tatum put up six points, four rebounds, five assists and had four steals.

Freshman Courtney Hagaman notched her first career points in the game.

The Jaspers shot 51.6 percent from the field, compared to 20.8 percent in their game against Yale. They went 35.7 percent from long range and 69.2 percent at the free throw line.

Crystal Ross was second in scoring for the Jaspers on Friday night with 14 points.

Kevin Fuhrmann/The Quadrangle “We had a lot of points in transition,” Olenowski said of the team’s improved offense. “We controlled the ball better and had more balanced scoring.”

Williams said that the team’s 1-3-1 defense is key and Ericksen noted how the team’s shooting overall has gotten better.

The Jaspers had a dominant victory over Brown 80-56 on Sunday Nov. 29. Williams led the team with 25 points, updating her season average to 8.8 points per game.

Tatum is leading the scoring for Manhattan with 13 points and 2.4 steals per outing.

Nyasha Irizarry averages 9.5 points per game. Grimme tallies 7.6 points and a

league-leading 10 rebounds per outing. She also ranks third nationally with 3.8 blocks per game. Underhill notches a team-high 3.2 assists and 2.1 steals per game.

Olenowski noted how the defense has improved through the season so far compared to last year and that the team has great depth. He was pleased with the team’s offensive weapons that were shown against Niagara and said that it was a key aspect moving forward.

“We’ve improved a lot,” Williams said, “and now we are tied in the conference.”

With the minutes winding down in the game against Niagara, Coach Olenowski

substituted all five players on the court with players on the bench, which got every player into the game during the night.

“It really shows our depth,” Ericksen said. “Our bench picks us up.”

Manhattan is 3-0 this season when scoring 80 points or more, previously winning over Brown and an 85-78 victory against Fairleigh Dickinson on Nov. 14.

“We need to keep energy throughout,” Ericksen said of key aspects to take from Friday’s game. “We need to be strong all four quarters like we did tonight.”

Follow @mcquadsports Your New Home for Manhattan College Sports!

sports

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The Jasper Eleven: A Game Changer Ally Hutzler Assistant Editor

Before the modern era of Manhattan College athletics, with basketball at its center, Jasper Nation was founded on the gridiron.

Football first gained varsity status in 1892 and played regularly scheduled games against such teams as Villanova, Seton Hall and Wesleyan University. The team’s first head coach was Dr. Frank C. Armstrong, a local physician who coached in his spare time.

“The team is smartly costumed in brilliant green jerseys, the plays come out of a snappy military huddle and there is dash and sportsmanship in every move the players make” William C. Treanor wrote for the New York Sun. A squad was fielded every fall until 1904, when the death of a member on another Metropolitan team and injuries that kept students away from schoolwork caused the program to be suspended.

Shortly after the sport was discontinued, a group of students unofficially revived the team by secretly scheduling a game with Syracuse University where the Jaspers fell 133-0.

Jasper Nation, however, wouldn’t let the time old tradition die out just yet.

In 1924, a year after MC moved from its old site at 132nd Street and Broadway to its present campus, the college saw the return of a varsity football team.

“Excitement, fame and enthusiasm ignited the Manhattan College campus with the first varsity gridiron squad in 20 years,” wrote Nick James in an essay titled “A History of Football at Manhattan.”

At this time the college had a registration of about 300 and, as expected, the size of the student body was reflected in the quality of the schedules, records and athletic teams themselves.

The program also received new coach John Law, an extraordinary football player and in his day the captain of the famous Notre Dame Eleven. Law led the Jaspers to a winning season in 1930 despite the depression and financial collapse of the economy in the U.S. Home games were played at either

the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan or Ebbets Field, which was also home to the Brooklyn Dodgers until 1957. Contests could see upwards of 16,000 fans.

It wasn’t until 1932 that Manhattan really made a name for itself in the world of collegiate football.

Under Coach John F. “Chick” Meehan, the Jaspers traveled south to play the famous Miami University in the inaugural Festival of Palms, later renamed the Orange Bowl.

“To the accompaniment of nine long “Rahs” and a merry Christmas to all, the Manhattan College football team sailed away this evening on the most exciting gridiron adventure of the Green,” the New York Herald reported on Dec. 24, 1932.

Twenty-two players, Coach Meehan and several faculty members boarded the S.S. Shawnee at 110th Street in Manhattan for a three-day journey to Miami, Florida.

Practices were regularly scheduled every morning on deck for the team to shake out their sea legs.

Unaccustomed to the southern heat, the Jaspers lost 7-0 in front of 2,000 fans at Moore Park.

In 1942 the Jasper Eleven opened its last intercollegiate football season against Muhlenberg University at the Polo Grounds. The season record was two wins, six losses and one tie.

World War II proved to be the final blow to varsity football at Manhattan.

The college lost a majority of its student body to the armed services, enrollment dropped and funds decreased. Only the bare necessities were left to be handled, and football just was not one of them.

Jasper Nation then went 23 years without seeing another football game. For two sophomores, Tom Twomey and Paul Frazier, that was 23 years too long.

In 1965 a committee of about 100 students, lead by Twomey and Frazier, collected the funds from their fellow students and faculty to support the revitalization of football as a club sport.

The only problem was that the amount of money necessary to jumpstart the program was staggering. In less than a month the committee needed to collect $9,000.

“A sense of unity prevailed, school spirit. It soon became evident that the results of

Manhattan College Archives/Courtesy the drive would bring more than football to Manhattan,” was how Tom Twomey assessed the energy and enthusiasm that was generated from the project.

For Manhattan College football, the third time was certainly the charm.

A year after its reestablishment, the team won the City Club Championship and ranked tenth in national club standings. Twelve out of 22 club squads posted winning records.

1987 saw the last club football season for the college, with the last game played at Gaelic Park on a Sunday afternoon in November. The Jaspers fell 51 to 33 in a hard-fought battle against the University of Massachusetts.

Connie Marchionni reported for The Quadrangle the following week, “It was a game of ups and downs and the Jaspers showed us a good game regardless of the outcome.”

While football at Manhattan may not have been the most successful varsity program, the Jasper Eleven always gave its

fans a reason to watch.

Will football ever make a fourth and final comeback?

Athletic Director Noah LeFevre explained that while in the past it wasn’t unheard of to have a football program nowadays it is a little different.

“Football does many good things at an institution, but it is almost an athletic department in itself. It is a large endeavor and an expensive endeavor,” LeFevre said.

Today, the standard NCAA football program has over 100 players, 10 or more coaches and extra support staff in areas like sports medicine and academic advising.

The size of the school, location of the campus and the lack of facilities make it extremely difficult to maintain a modern varsity squad.

“I don’t think we are necessarily missing anything by not having one,” LeFevre added. “Football serves as a way to gather the community and I think our men’s and women’s varsity teams accomplish that already.”

Sports

8

What’s Next for Jermaine Lawrence?

Jermaine Lawrence, prior to leaving Manhattan College and the basketball team.

Kevin Fuhrmann/The Quadrangle

Jon Reyes Editor

Manhattan College has been hindered by injuries to start off its ’15-’16 road to a third-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title, appearing in the last three and having won two of those championship games.

Steve Masiello, head men’s basketball coach, has been able to dress as few as six players to as many as nine out of the potential 14. He has been asked repeatedly, in many different ways, at almost every post-game press conference how much of an impact the lack of a rotation and overuse, in terms of minutes, of players such as Shane Richards has had.

“The game is changed, in the sense that as coaches we got to watch what we do with injuries,” Masiello said after the Nov. 28, 87-64, loss to Bronx rival Fordham University. “How much we push, look into things. … Some seem like they’re going to be some time and others seem more of the nagging type. We haven’t been able to practice in probably, I’d say, 12 days. We only have five or six bodies. We’re bringing in Rhamel Brown to practice. It’s what it is. I’m trying, hoping we can get back.

I’m trusting the training staff to do what we need to do to get guys back, but I just go on with what I’m told.”

A player name he has mentioned quite frequently as someone it could use is now former student-athlete Jermaine Lawrence.

He’s not a former Jasper because he has transferred or graduated. It’s due to his

withdrawal from Manhattan after finding out he’d be suspended for half of the season.

Also, ESPN’s Jeff Goodman read, in a letter obtained by him and his organization, “it was documented that a second positive test would result in a 50 percent reduction in athletic scholarship aid...”

All of this after Jermaine was allegedly told in September, when he tested positive for marijuana, that he’d only miss the Nov. 9 exhibition game against Adelphi and that he’d be in the drug counseling and treatment program at St. John’s Riverside Hospital. Everything just said is the equivalent of a first positive test result.

Now is when the story rewinds itself to February. Masiello sat Jermaine out of one game for an undisclosed incident -- undisclosed due to legal ramifications -- that occurred off the court. Jermaine and his family understood and complied. The next five games passed by, and he had yet to check for a single minute.

Jermaine’s mom, Marcia, said the Manhattan athletic department asked him to take a drug test prior to what happened but he refused because he felt it was random. She thinks athletics used his refusal as a penalty for what he did in September, although it was made clear between Jermaine, his mom and Masiello that September was his first offense.

“The incident that took place in February,” Marcia said, “which is what they were trying to use as their stepping stone for saying September was the second offense wasn’t something that had anything to do with Jermaine to begin with.”

Marcia didn’t hear anything about Jermaine missing half the season and losing half of his athletic scholarship until two months later, a few days before the aforementioned exhibition game.

Fast-forward to Jermaine’s decision to withdraw. He felt that moving on was in his best interest, even though he and his family thought that the suspension appeal board would be unbiased “We support the health and well-being of all of our students,” a member of athletics said in a statement, “and withhold comment on any internal issues involving our students.”

In a word, Jermaine and his mom said they feel “disappointed” because when Masiello was an assistant at Louisville and Rasheen Davis, former Manhattan assistant and currently in the same position at VCU, was an assistant at Xavier. Louisville and Xavier were two of the three first schools to offer Jermaine a scholarship. The other being Virginia Tech.

When Jermaine and his family saw Masiello and Davis were coaching together at Manhattan, they described it as a “divine thing.”

“We feel pissed and betrayed by Manhattan,” Marcia said. “Just in terms of no one really cares about your child apparently but you, when it comes down to it.

Mas definitely cares about his players. And Rasheen is the same way. The basketball team are a group of supportive men. But with the administration, a complete distrust for the athletic department. They just play too many mind games.”

“Mas is a great coach,” Jermaine said,

“and he’s an even better dude off the court.”

Through this entire process, Marcia said Jermaine has kept to a “great energy, spirit.” Before he withdrew, he still attended and participated in Manhattan Madness.

“It could be bothering him deeper than he’s expressing,” Marcia said, “but he’s not showing it, he’s definitely just pressing forward. He worked out the whole weekend [when the team traveled to Saint Mary’s for its first game of the season]. That’s big.

If that was me, I wouldn’t come out of my dorm. I wouldn’t know who to trust.”

As of Nov. 16, Marcia said they’re looking at all the options available to them to see where Jermaine can return to the court. Some of those are: a) sit-out a year at another Division I program, b) drop-down a level and play at D II or D III, c) go pro.

She said a decision is imminent.

“I’ve made a poor choice,” Jermaine said in a statement exclusively given to The Quadrangle on Nov. 11, “but learning from my mistakes are part of me growing up and becoming wiser. I’ve complied with everything asked of me. There isn’t a studentathlete in this country on any campus that deserves what’s been done to me. I worked hard for my opportunities. My family has invested time, money and resources to make sure I can live out my dreams. This is about self-accountability, I can take personal responsibility for my actions.”