Issue 11, Spring 2015 - The Quadrangle

THE Volume 91, Issue 11

Q

UADRANGLE A Student Publication of Manhattan College Since 1924

April 14, 2015

www.mcquad.org

College Return on Investment Rankings Provide Accurate Portrayal of Life After Graduation Anthony Capote Assistant Editor

Celebrity Chef Bal Arneson Comes to Locke’s Full coverage and Photos on Pages 6-7

At about 9 p.m., Joe Murtagh strolled into An Beal Bocht Café for an after-work double-shot of vodka.

Murtagh graduated from Manhattan College in May 2014 and, despite the over one-hour commute to his job in the financial district, still lives in Riverdale during his first few years of life after college.

“It’s nice to stay in the neighborhood,” he said, “but as soon as my lease is up I need to go closer to work.”

Murtagh majored in communications, concentrated in advertising and minored in psychology. He now works at OMD Worldwide, one of the largest media corporations in the world. He is exactly the kind of student any college would want to showcase as an example of a successful alumnus.

Murtagh told the story of how he got his first internship.

“I have kind of a unique story,” he said, “I was at an event sponsored by the [communication] department to meet people in the industry and one of the people I met at the event offered me the job on the spot.”

After that, he found an opportunity for

Continued on page 3

Where Do Our Leftovers Go? Tara Marin & Ally Hutzler Staff Writer & Assistant Editor

The weight of food leftovers is responsible for the largest component of the municipal waste stream in the U.S., according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Since this kind of waste has both short and long-term environmental and economic consequences, measures have been taken on campus to reduce the amount of food that is thrown away everyday.

At the end of a typical day last year in Locke’s Loft, the main campus dining hall, the amount of food that students returned to the dish room in waste averaged at about 300 pounds. The goal is to reduce this amount of waste.

Brian Conway, the manager of Gourmet Dining Services on campus, said that campus dining facilities strive to have zero waste. He said the facilities don’t often have leftovers that go to waste. Rather, wasted food occurs when students take more food than they end up eating, and throw out the rest.

“Kelly Commons and Cafe 1853 are all cooked-to-order locations, so there are no waste issues in those venues,” Conway said. “If and when we do produce food waste from Locke’s Loft, it is disposed of in the trash.”

As for Locke’s, the kitchen staff is trained to “batch cook,” meaning they only cook certain amounts of food for every meal period. When there is leftover food, it is not donated - but for a reason.

The school has been approached by

organizations like City Harvest, a nonprofit that specializes in food rescue and distribution, and Food Recovery Network, which unites students at colleges across the U.S. to fight food waste and hunger by recovering perishable food.

While the college would like to partner with these organizations, they must also comply with strict NYC Board of Health rules as well as Gourmet Dining’s minimum standards, both which limit the items that can be donated, as well as the amount.

However, clubs on campus are still striving to get on board with food waste prevention and distribution. Atiya Raja, a member of Campus Ministry and Social Action, said that they are moving forward this cause and working on getting Gourmet Dining and City Harvest together.

“At the moment, CMSA is not actively involved in any food waste projects,” Raja said. “However, they do run several drives for food and clothing. I think CMSA would love to get involved with City Harvest, considering one of our branches is Catholic Relief Services, which has a group of ambassadors working on food security.”

Conway also said that there would be many advantages to working with City Harvest if they were to work past the difficult laws. City Harvest would supply the college with the designated pans and they would pick up the food, and the only thing that the kitchen staff would have to do would be to properly store the food in pick up containers.

What remains a major problem is the food that students waste each day, and the majority of this battle is getting students to

reduce the amount of food they put on their plate.

In efforts to get the message out, Gourmet Dining ran the “Love Food Hate Waste” campaign last year.

“We advertised throughout the campus and made it known to the student body how much food they were wasting on a daily basis,” Conway said. “Our goal is to have students take only what they want to eat, and in turn, eliminate waste for the benefit of the community and society as a whole.”

MC is also looking into the idea of acquiring a biodigester, which is a unit for food waste disposal that would take food that students bring to the dish room and convert it into grey water that can be safely disposed of down a drain. The options and costs are being discussed between Gour-

Kevin Fuhrmann/The Quadrangle met Dining and the college.

Casey Barrett, a senior on the Campus Sustainability Committee, agrees with the idea that biodigesting wasted food would be effective. The committee has looked at the facts and figures, and it seems that a biodigester unit may be coming to campus soon.

“I’m not sure of the capacity of the unit, but I know the digester can handle a lot of waste, which prevents that waste from going to a landfill,” Barrett said.

“Biodigestion can even be more practical than composting in the city because compost can be a lengthy process and requires space, something NYC schools lack.”

In the meantime, students can reduce wasted food by putting less on their plates.

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The

Opinions & editorials

Quadrangle www.mcquad.org

Notes from

The Editor

Vol. 91 Issue 11 April 14, 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

April 14, 2015

In recent weeks, the Manhattan College student body has been the subject of some negative coverage from the local media.

Both a news article in The Riverdale Press and a segment on CBS News highlighted complaints from area residents accusing MC students of rowdy late night behavior in and around the college’s surrounding neighborhood.

Local residents interviewed by the media are angered by noisy students spending nights out and disrupting not only their sleep, but also the community’s quality of life.

Some even cite cases of students littering, trespassing on private property, as well as publicly urinating and vomiting in the streets after attending local bars.

It is unfortunate that the actions of a few students are being portrayed as the routine behavior of the entire student body.

While it may certainly be true that some students are those individuals being complained about by area residents, a larger number of students are able to enjoy a night out without offending the college’s neighbors.

However, that does not excuse any violations to other people’s property or privacy. Not considering anything related to the college’s Lasallian ties or Good Neighbor Policy, it is simply a matter of common decency and respect.

As it seems that more and more students are moving off-campus, it is all the more important that we remember that we are not the only ones living in Riverdale—as much as our enclosed campus can sometimes lead us to believe.

Those few who are responsible for the excess noise should keep this in mind. Not only to be more respectful to local residents, but also not to ruin the fun for everyone else.

Sean Sonnemann Editor-in-Chief

Vanessa Sanchez Asst. Photography Editor 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

3 news College Return on Investment Rankings Provide Accurate Portrayal of Life After Graduation Anthony Capote Assistant Editor

Continued from page 1 a second internship at the induction ceremony for the communication department’s honor society, Lambda Pi Eta. That internship became his first job after graduation, before he was recruited by OMD a few months later.

Murtagh, like many of his peers, is part of the reason that Manhattan College is ranked 33rd in the nation by PayScale for return on investment.

PayScale is a site, founded in 2002, that specializes in educating members of the American workforce on the salaries they earn and what they should receive based on their qualifications and skills.

According to the site’s “About Us” page, PayScale wants to enable both employee and employer to make wage earning a “data-driven science.”

“Compensation used to be a dark art,” the site reads, “Not anymore. Today’s job candidate, armed with data, will know what he’s worth and expect a fair salary offer or raise.”

In addition to salary reports for a range of career fields, PayScale also compiles a list of 1,223 colleges and universities in order of how quickly students can get a return on their educational investment.

PayScale conducts crowd-sourced surveys, without contacting the schools individually for data, and combine average starting salaries, graduation rates, percent-

age of students in STEM courses and even how many students receive Pell Grants, with information about how quickly recent alumni are able to pay off their student loans. “[The survey data] is pretty robust from what I understand,” Manhattan College President Brennan O’Donnell said.

“When we first showed up on this, my initial response was to be pretty skeptical. We have trouble getting robust data on people of our own.”

O’Donnell said he asked college staff to look into the validity of PayScale’s data.

“He said, ‘you know, it’s not perfect, but it’s a pretty big sampling of people,’” O’Donnell said.

Murtagh served as a resident assistant, student worker in the communications office and was a member of the L.O.V.E. board. He said that many of his friends had job offers upon graduation from Manhattan and most had a job within the following six months.

“Depending on their major and if they were living at home,” Murtagh said, “most had a job within the month after graduation.”

Based on Murtagh’s experience, and that of his friends, he has had little issue making his student loan payments each month.

“Due to the structure that Manhattan has in place, those lists are really accurate,” he said about the ROI rankings, “and if the school keeps growing, we could even rival those new Ivy Leagues.”

Murtagh is not alone in his post-academic successes. Paul Avvento graduated in 2007 and had a different, albeit equally

positive experience.

Avvento majored in secondary education, with a concentration in social studies.

Having graduated just before the recession hit in 2008, his story is more pleasant than most.

“I joined the Lasallian Volunteers upon graduation, and I was placed in San Francisco at an inner-city Catholic school,” he said. “Being able to [teach] in an environment that was supportive helped me deal with any issues I had in the classroom or with students.”

Avvento, like Murtagh, was heavily involved in campus ministry and even served as the student body president.

He said he was deeply affected by Manhattan’s Lasallian tradition.

“Manhattan College was my first experience in Catholic education,” he said. “In my education classes, all of the professors, whether they were brothers or not, taught in a different way than I had ever experienced before, and in a different way than any of my friends that were at other colleges.”

Avvento was offered a job at the same inner-city school after he completed his yearlong volunteer work, where he taught for two and a half years before being named assistant principal.

Since then, he has returned to the Bronx as an executive director of a Catholic afterschool program.

Both Avvento and Murtagh incurred about $25,000 in student debt and say they haven’t had an issue paying the loans off.

According to the PayScale website, private colleges typically have a lower ROI rate than public schools because of their higher tuitions. Even so, Manhattan

still managed to crack the top 50 at 33 and has the third highest return in the state of New York.

PayScale defines college as an investment in one’s future and qualifies alumni ability to pay off loans as the school’s return.

Gabrielle Puglia, who graduated in 2010, has also found success in her time since Manhattan College.

“I was fortunate enough to have a job right out of college,” she said. “I only took out about $10,000 in loans and I started paying that off about a year after graduation.”

Puglia, however, said she took on her student loans less out of necessity than out of a desire to build up credit. Even so, five years after graduation, she claims that she has only one lump sum of debt to pay off.

Tom McCarthy, vice president for alumni affairs, said most of his friends from the class of 2006 are reaching the point where they are finishing off their loan payments.

He also discussed how difficult it is for students now to pay off their loans compared to past alumni.

“The 50s and 60s grads came to the college on a handshake deal with a brother,” McCarthy said. “Back then you could pull a job and pay for college in a summer, today you can’t make $50,000 in a summer.”

“Honestly, I don’t know if it was the people I met at Manhattan, but I couldn’t be happier with my experience,” Murtagh said. “As long as you work with your professors and network within your own class, there’s no reason why you can’t get a great job.”

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mcquad.org

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April 14, 2015

Mission Month Strives to Inform Community of College’s Heritage Tara Marin Staff Writer

Manhattan College looks to celebrate its Lasallian mission during the month of April by sponsoring a series of events known as Mission Month. Some of the ideals the month looks to emphasize are excellence in teaching, respect for human dignity and reflection on faith.

Brother Jack Curran, vice president for mission, began this tradition last year as an expansion to De La Salle Week, a week dedicated to the school’s Lasallian mission.

A 1980 graduate of Manhattan College, he traveled to California to get his doctorate in social work, and then to Bethlehem, Israel, where he worked for ten years before returning to the Bronx.

He said he had two lightbulb moments that led him to turn De La Salle Week into Mission Month.

One of them happened when he read an op-ed piece from The Quadrangle titled “How ‘Lasallian’ was De La Salle Week?” which questioned if the events of the week were really reflecting Lasallian ideals and heritage.

“I think it’s really important to listen to the students, and I started to think about how I could rally the troops to turn this into something greater,” Curran said.

Then, he heard President Brennan O’Donnell say in an April 2013 speech that “with great gusto, grace, and patience, we bring alive our Lasallian mission as a Catholic college everyday.”

This inspired him to create a month that celebrates all of the events that happen here which bring attention to our values as a college and affirm that the efforts made by students and faculty on a daily basis are important.

“We love our mothers everyday, but we still have Mother’s Day,” Curran said.

“Here, we are always on this Lasallian mission and we are taking April as a month to affirm and celebrate that.”

He also explains the reason that Mission Month takes place in April, which is because it was the month that St. John Baptiste De La Salle was born and also the month that he died.

“It just made sense, and it really grew organically,” Curran said. “It was no longer a week of barbecues and ice-cream, but of understanding and appreciating the work that people do everyday.”

Nicholas Weyland, the chair of the Lasallian Action Committee, agreed that Mission Month brings awareness to efforts at the college.

“Since we are a Lasallian school, it’s important that faculty, staff, administrators, and students understand why it’s in April, and what Mission Month is for,” Weyland said.

The Lasallian Action Committee has made t-shirts for this month, and coordinated with other clubs and students to hand them out at many of the events.

On April 28, there will be a Lasallian star event on the quad, where students standing in a star formation will take a picture.

“The goal is to get a couple hundred students to form a giant star while wearing the mission month t-shirts,” Weyland said.

Kevin Ahern, Ph.D. and assistant professor of religious studies, actually referenced MC’s Mission Month in his forthcoming book, “Structures of Grace,” to be released in June.

Michelle DePinho/The Quadrangle “Every institution and group needs to take time to think about who they are, where they have come from, and where they are going,” Ahern said. “The college is a community and we should know about our community. It’s like a family should know about their heritage.”

He explained that looking at the college’s history can also help the community envision its future.

“As a community, we need a sense of who we are in order to know where we are going, and Mission Month enables us to do that,” he said.

Ivan Bohorquez, student leader of Fuerza Latina, said that he sees Mission Month as “an opportunity for students to question their way of thinking and help

them build moral values that are the cornerstones for a better life and a life filled with purpose,” he said.

The Fuerza Latina club has promoted the representation of multiple minority groups on campus and challenges students to step outside of their comfort zone.

“Fuerza Latina believes a substantial part of educational growth, and personal development is experiencing cultures other than your own, and it is exactly what Fuerza is doing by hosting events and doing community service that is geared toward experiencing diversity,” Bohorquez said.

Jesse Tossetti is the student leader of VALOR club, which stands for Veterans’ Awareness of Learning Opportunities, whose club will also be participating in

Mission Month.

The VALOR club has sponsored two events this month. The first was an author talk and presentation by Steven Burchik, class of 1967, where he discussed his book and his year in Vietnam. The second event coming up is on April 17 at 7:00 pm in Hayden 100, which is a fundraiser for a fellow veteran student with multiple sclerosis.

“I, like most veterans that are currently attending Manhattan College, was unfamiliar with what the Lasallian mission was, or what it meant to attend a Lasallian college. Since I started going here, I’ve learned what it means,” Tossetti said.

features

Jasper Chat: Javier Thompson

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Leah Cordova Staff Writer

Cortlandt Manor, NY / Sophomore / Major, Exercise Science 1. What did you have for breakfast?

Oh man, if you’ve never had french toast with cinnamon in it and powdered sugar and maple syrup, cross everything off of your to do list and get that done first.

2. What’s been going on?

I’ve recently become a writer for Manhattan’s “Spoon University” Chapter, and I love it. I used to be a manager for the men’s basketball team, but decided to look to try something new, something I can work on and call my own. Check it out!

3. What’s your song of the day?

“Just a Picture” by KYLE, ft. Kehlani 4. What’s your take on time management?

Time management, to me, is being able to find it within yourself to get your work done as early as possible, so you aren’t up at 2am in the library on a Tuesday, contemplating all of your life decisions up to that point.

5. What’s your random talent?

I can skip rocks along water pretty far.

Leah Cordova/The Quadrangle

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Be there.

news feature

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April 14, 2015

news feature

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Meet Celebrity Chef...Bal Arneson Daniel Molina Staff Writer

Celebrity chef Bal Arneson presented some of her most well-known recipes to the students and faculty of Manhattan College to kick off a new series of cooking personalities invited to the college by Gourmet Dinning Services.

“Food is a way of connecting with other people,” Arneson said. “I can reach a lot of people and share with them what I love about my culture and my native country.”

Arneson was born in a small village in Punjab, India, and started cooking at the age of seven. She learned from her mother and grandmother, and her first kitchen was a pile of coals in a small clay pit. When she

grew up, she moved to Vancouver, Canada, and started to clean houses and cook for wealthy families. When households discovered her ability to cook, they started telling their friends and Arneson eventually built a reputation in the community.

In September of 2009, Arneson started hosting a cooking segment broadcast in British Columbia. Next July, she started televising her series “Spice Goddess” on the Cooking Channel in the U.S. and later on the Food Network in Canada. She has released three cookbooks, hosted two TV shows and appeared as a judge on “Iron Chef America.”

“I love food, and to be able to share my culture with so many people has been incredible to me, a little girl from India,” she said.

She presented in Locke’s some of her most popular Indian dishes including a masala braised beef wrap, curry pork and Indian pizza.

“I love food because it can always be reinvented,” Arneson said. This is especially evident in her Indian pizza, where she combined the classic Italian dish with a blend of curry, cheese and spices.

Her traditional cuisine and roots to Indian food allowed her to provide professional advice for the 2014 movie “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, and staring Helen Mirren.

“Dreams do actually come true,” Arneson said. “I started cleaning houses in Canada and I finished up with two national best sellers and two cooking shows.”

With her appearance, Locke’s is initiating a celebrity chef series at the dining hall.

In addition, Gourmet Dining will keep the recipes and reproduce them throughout the next semester.

“They [Locke’s chefs] have done a great job with my recipes,” Arneson said.

“I’m really excited to be here and share what I love with you guys.”

“Dream incredible,” Arneson said as advice to Manhattan College students.

“Because if you dream credible, nothing will happen. See what happened to me.

I never thought I would be here, as the living proof that dreams come true.”

Photos by Kevin Fuhrmann

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Pizzola and Weyland to Compete for Student Body President Anthony Capote & Daniel Ynfante Assistant Editors

Student government elections are officially underway, with both presidential candidates and their parties filed and ready for campaigns.

The election pins Nick Weyland, a sophomore, and Blake Pizzola, a junior, against each other.

Weyland, whose party he has named The Quad Squad, plans to champion Manhattan’s Lasallian values at the root of his campaign.

He is a Lasallian leader on campus and attended a Lasallian conference in Barcelona, Spain, where he says he learned a great deal about leadership that will help him as student body president.

“I come from the only Lasallian School in Tulsa, Okla.,” Weyland said. “I really want every student at Manhattan College to be included, to get that excellent education, to have respect for all persons. All of the five core principals that we have at the Lasallian mission.”

Pizzola, who has named his party Don’t Stop This Party, will be looking to hear all students’ suggestions in order to emphasize

the concept of unity.

The major campaign points for the junior from Poughkeepsie, N.Y., include improvements to social life, expanded dining options and better school spirit.

“It’s not about what I want,” Pizzola said. “It’s about what everybody wants and that’s what you should look for in a leader.

Someone that cares about everyone.”

Both Pizzola and Weyland have experience in student government, making their decision to run for president even easier.

Weyland has served as a business representative for student government in his two years at Manhattan and said that students have come to trust him as a result.

“I kind of found myself getting asked ‘oh Nick do you know this? Nick do you know that,’ because I was in student government and I knew some of the rules,” he said. “So I did want to run for president to help more people know what their say is.”

Pizzola has been his class representative all three years at the school and even thought about running again for a fourth.

But, he has decided that it is time to take on more responsibility.

“This year, it was either do that again or get more involved with the student body,” Pizzola said. “I talked it out with a bunch of my friends and they were really into it,

Nick Weyland The Quad Squad

so I thought I’d run for student body.”

Pizzola’s cabinet will consist of what he calls, “responsible people,” that will get the job done.

“It’s friends,” Pizzola said about who is in his cabinet, “but it’s people that are going to be responsible because it’s not something you can take as a joke.

“You are running for the entire student body,” he said. “It’s not like you can have kids that are just going to sit there and go for the ride, or just enjoy it just because it looks good. I have kids that are going to take it serious.”

Meanwhile, Weyland has selected Tiffanie McIntosh for executive vice president on his staff.

Mahina Choy-Ellis will be vice president of social life; Ivan Bohorquez as the commuter representative; Brittany Perpejes as vice president of communications; and Abby Weilte, George Schlinck and Lucas Gilbride to fill out the rest of the spots.

Weyland and his cabinet would certainly break the traditional mold of president and cabinet, as McIntosh would be the first student-athlete in student government ever, while Bohorquez carries a unique backstory.

A transfer commuter student from SUNY Albany, Bohorquez has formed

Fuerza Latina, an active cultural club on campus.

If elected, Weyland will emphasize his goal to increase inter-club organizations, where clubs can help each other and be helped by student government to make events and activities better.

But, his simplest idea is to just start student government on time for the fall semester of 2015.

“I would like to have an early start,” Weyland said. “I heard from a lot of students that a lot of budgets were held back like a month because of the late start that student government had.”

Unlike some major political elections where the candidates are usually not close to one another, Pizzola and Weyland are friends, creating an interesting dynamic in the elections.

However, Pizzola said that he and Weyland have spoken and no matter who wins, they have agreed to work together.

“I know Nick would do a really good job,” Pizzola said about the possibility of Weyland winning the election. “I’m not just making any of this up because I am friends with Nick and I do think he’d do a good job. As much as I want to beat him, I can’t say anything bad about him. … Whichever one of us wins, wins.”

Blake Pizzola

Don’t Stop This Party

Arts & Entertainment

The Book Nook

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Title: “The Longest Ride” Author: Nicholas Sparks Genre: fiction Madeleine Schwartz Staff Writer

“‘The Notebook’ is coming to Broadway.” Cue fan girl screams.

Rewind 2 and half hours.

I walk into the AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 Theater at 6:15 p.m. on Saturday, March 28. There’s a table labeled “Guests of The Longest Ride” with two women standing behind it. After giving my name, they give me a ticket and a plastic travel container with three Baked by Melissa cupcakes inside. As I take the escalator up two floors, I read the ticket that they put in my hand. On it is every possible social media name, web address and hashtag belonging to The Longest Ride. I should have known by the tiny red velvet cupcakes that this was going to be a good night.

Once I get to the third floor of the theater, a security guard checks my ticket and I walk into what looks like a red carpet event.

There is a backdrop hung on one wall that has “The Longest Ride” and “Cosmopolitan: Fun Fearless Female” written all over it. A photographer from Cosmo then offers to take my photo in front of the backdrop as well as the movie posters spread throughout the space. I’m not a celebrity and I doubt I’ll ever be, but this was the closest I’ve ever been to the royal treatment.

I step into the theater past another security guard, they seem to be everywhere, to find a seat. The theater is the size of a small ballroom with a screen at one end that puts the largest of billboards in Time Square to shame. However, as I look around I realize that my seating options are limited. The theater has been split into three sections: one section is for guests of Fox, another is for guests of Cosmopolitan, and the last is for guests of “The Longest Ride” and is where I find my seat.

I’ve arrived early for the 7:00 p.m. screening of the film “The Longest Ride.”

Based off of Nicholas Sparks’s best seller and directed by George Tillman Jr., this film had a following even before the cast was announced. To add a bit more fuel to the

fire, Fox announced that Scott Eastwood, Clint Eastwood’s son would play the male lead. He would be joined by “Boardwalk Empire” star Jack Huston and “Game of Thrones” actress Oona Chaplin.

This might be the time to mention that I’m here for free. Other than the $2.75 MetroCard and the box of M&M’s I snuck in, I didn’t pay a thing. I was able to do this because I simply follow Nicholas Sparks on Instagram. Late one night, he announced that there was to be a NYC fan screening of his movie. He explained that in order to get tickets, fans had to send an email containing their name to his team. I did so on a whim and was one of the 150 fans to be admitted. To say that I was over the moon would be an understatement.

As 6:45 p.m. approaches and the theater fills, the social media coordinator from Cosmo takes the stage. He encourages the excited crowd to blast every form of social media with pictures or blurbs from tonight’s event. To get the movie trending, he shares that the hashtag we should use is #IHeartLongestRide.

After a few more words from the Cosmo communication team, the movie starts.

As an avid reader, I went into the night knowing where Nicholas Sparks’s novel would take us. The story follows two couples that are in very different places in their relationship but are able to connect on an emotional level.

One story is of Ira and Ruth. Ira is a war veteran and Ruth was once a school teacher. They are both aging and frail but full of experience and memories of love.

The other is of Luke and Sophia. Luke is a professional bull rider and Sophia is a college student majoring in art history. From the beginning, they seem as if they have nothing in common. Meeting for the first time early in the story, they are young and full of life but unlike Ira and Ruth are missing a shared past between them.

The novel takes turns focusing on each story and shows that both have their ups and downs. Ira and Ruth have a history together that anyone would envy. However,

that time is also colored with disappointment as an injury from the war leaves the couple unable to have children, a long-time dream of theirs. On the other side, Sophia and Luke are young, very much in love, and like Ira and Ruth, have their share of problems. As a bull rider, Luke says that “It isn’t a matter of if I get hurt, it’s when and how bad.” This realization hits Sophia when she learns that every time Luke rides, he is risking his life.

Like most Sparks novels, “The Longest Ride” is full of romantic twists and turns that will have you smiling one minute and crying the next. It is easy to connect with his characters and what they are going through because they are relatable and emotionally bring you into their lives.

Once the final credits roll on the screen and the lights come on in the AMC theater, it is time for the Q and A with some of the cast members. Writer Nicholas Sparks and actors Scott Eastwood, Brit Robertson and Oona Chaplin are accompanied by director George Tillman Jr. and Fox 2000 President Elizabeth Gabler.

They are greeted with fans screaming, a plethora of camera flashes, and the voice of Cosmo’s Laura Brounstein saying “Well, let’s get down to it. I want to know everything.”

Brounstein bounces from person to person asking questions about how the film was made first. The audience learns tidbits such as Robertson, who plays Sophia, was the first to be cast. We also find out that although the movie has a lot of bull riding in it, Eastwood didn’t ride a real bull until after he was finished shooting.

After talking about the production of “The Longest Ride,” the audience learns a bit more about the leading man, Scott Eastwood. When asked about his family connection to the business, he doesn’t disappoint the love-struck audience with his answer.

“My dad has been my inspiration since I was a little kid,” he said. “I remember watching Clint Eastwood night on TNT in awe.”

Brounstein then switches gears to ask what happened behind the scenes of the film. Director George Tillman Jr. speaks about how the two very different relationships made his job exciting.

“There are two stories, one emotional and human and the other more cinematically set up. The tone between the two couples was like shooting two different movies,” Tillman said.

After the audience hears from the director, Nicholas Sparks goes on to describe how he created these story lines and how he thinks as a writer.

“I went to write a dual love story. I wanted two couples that will face challenges. There will be compromises and sacrifices. They’re different on the surface but they’re obviously attracted to each other.

After that, I wanted them to be as different as they possibly could.”

The final question of the night is also to Sparks and answers what everyone in the audience is wondering: What’s next?

Smiling, Sparks speaks about what we can expect from him in the next few years and in doing so, mentions what is in the works for his already published novels.

“We’ve rapped production on ‘The Choice’ and are working in the editing room to get that right. We are also looking at some pre-production for ‘The Guardian.’

I’m also working on two novels right now and I’m guessing both will be done in the next year.”

From my seat in the back, I can tell that the crowd is hanging on to each word coming out of his mouth and unlike myself is having difficulty holding themselves together. However, right before the questions end and the audience leaves, the last piece of news sends even my cool and collected self over the edge.

“The Notebook is coming to Broadway.” Cue fan girl screams.

Players to Present “Company” for Spring Show Lindsey Burns Assistant Editor

The stories of bachelor Bobby, his 10 married friends and his three girlfriends will be brought to life by the Manhattan College Players this weekend. “‘Company’ is a contemporary musical that deals with issues of marriage, love and commitment,” Martin Marchitto, the director and set designer of the musical, said. “It is filled with a terrific score, comic scenes and thought provoking scenes about love and relationships. The show also includes amazing dance numbers and spectacular lighting.”

The musical, set and written in the 1970s, will transport the audience back in time, thanks to the help of Marchitto and his set, a guest lighting designer and a guest costume designer.

“The retro costumes are also a treat,” Marchitto said.

The Players have dedicated a major chunk of their semester to the production, with auditions occurring during the third week of classes back in February, totaling to approximately 20 three hour-long rehearsals, according to Marchitto.

“This doesn’t include the time spent building and painting the set or the time

the production crew spends putting it all together or the time the students spend memorizing and rehearsing on their own,” Siobhan Connor, a sophomore who plays the supporting role of April, said. “There is also one week before the show where we rehearse every night, so that’s another 5 hours of rehearsal every night before opening night.”

The musical selection is special, as it is an ensemble show that does not have really have a main character.

“Although Robert (played by John Corraro) is the protagonist, each character is equally important to the success of the show,” Marchitto said.

Choosing this show for the spring musical was left to the students, which is something Marchitto is very proud of.

“In the spring the students are allowed to pitch shows for the following season.

The board of the Manhattan College Players reads all the scripts and narrows them down to two plays and two musicals,” Marchitto said. “They then give me the selections and I choose one play and one musical. What I love about this process is that the students take this aspect very serious and spend time thinking about which shows they would like to present.”

“Company” was a unique selection, as

it deals with harder, more mature topics compared to musicals of the past.

“Not only did they choose ‘Company,’ they have not backed down from the challenges they face of music, choreography and acting that this piece presents,” Marchitto said.

“I think I’m most excited for the audience to see a show that is very real,” Connor said.

The mature subject matter of “Company” has made it a challenge for the Players, but they certainly have not backed down and hope to present a successful production for the audience.

“I’m excited for the audience to see the Players challenging themselves with this difficult piece,” John Corraro, a senior playing Bobby, said. “‘Company’ is extremely difficult in terms of musical content and subject matter and the Players have risen to the occasion to bring this powerful show to the college community.”

“The production has brought out the best in everyone involved and pushed everyone to new limits,” Corraro said.

The production of “Company” has helped broaden the Players’ repertoire and is unlike any other production Players has presented in the past.

“The audience should come in to the

production forgetting everything they know about musical theatre as Company is a concept musical rather than a traditional book musical,” Corraro said. “This means that the story does not follow a clear plot with a beginning, middle and end. Rather, ‘Company’ is made up of several individual vignettes centered around Robert, his married friends and his various girlfriends.”

“I am excited for audiences to see that the Players are so much more than lighthearted plays and musicals or musical comedies and that our college community is full of versatile performers and creatives who can adapt to various types of theatre.”

According to Connor, the audience should expect “a brilliantly directed and choreographed musical with a phenomenal cast that will pull you into Bobby’s world.”

The spring musical can be seen on April 16, 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. and on April 19 at 12 p.m. in Smith Auditorium.

“This is truly going to be an incredible, not-to-be-missed production. I am very proud of the Manhattan College Players and am blessed to be a part it,” Marchitto said.

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10

Ashton Pankey is Going Pro

Ashton Pankey will be playing at the professional level next season after deciding not to apply for a sixth year of eligibility.

Kevin Fuhrmann/The Quadrangle

Daniel Ynfante Assistant Editor

Do not let Ashton Pankey’s junior status fool you.

He has been in college for five years.

Under NCAA guidelines, a studentathlete is given a five-year window to play four seasons.

Due to redshirting in both the 20102011 and the 2012-2013 seasons, Pankey had to sit out when he transferred to Manhattan College. So, he has only played three seasons.

He has exhausted his five-year window of eligibility. And for that reason, he has decided to pursue a career as a professional basketball player instead of seeking a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA. “I only got to play for three years, but I feel like I did a lot in my three years,” Pankey said about his thought process in choosing to go pro. “I gave it a lot of thought after the Hampton game. It was a really tough decision actually because I still have that extra year maybe, since there’s no guarantee I can get the waiver.

“But, I just feel like I want to make

money playing the game. I want to be a professional, whether it’s NBA or overseas, and I want to take care of my family. That’s always been my goal and my dream. Now I have the opportunity and I wanted to take it.”

He has the option to apply for a sixth year because last month the NCAA announced it would allow players who transfer to have an extra year of eligibility and not lose a year on their five-year clock when they sit out.

Pankey might get the waiver if he applies for it, but the uncertainty of the situation has made his decision to become a professional easier.

“A whole waiver process all over again,” Pankey said about the key obstacle he would face if he decided to come back.

“So the odds are definitely against me, especially here. I felt like why go through all the trouble, especially when I can go pro now. There’s no guarantee I’ll have a better year next year...you just never know with these things.”

Manhattan coach Steve Masiello has taken the news of Pankey going pro with denial at first, but with support at the end.

“I’m in full support of Ashton’s deci-

sion,” Masiello said. “Him and I met and have discussed it. … He wants to pursue a professional career and…I want to see him achieve all his dreams and goals for life.”

“Coach Mas was all for me coming back of course,” Pankey said. “He would love for me to come back. All the coaches do.” “[Masiello] knows some people. He has some connections, and whatever he can do to help, he’s willing to do. He’s going to support me no matter what. We’re like family.”

Masiello’s connections will be key, as Pankey’s next step will be hiring an agent.

From there, Pankey said he will be looking to fulfill his life-long dream of playing in the NBA. He said he has not had the exposure other top NBA prospects have had and he has not played consistently against the competition his fellow draft class has.

He also said that if he can just get the opportunity to work out for NBA teams or perhaps play in the summer league. And he is confident he can prove that he belongs.

“I’ve played at a high level,” Pankey said. “I’ve played at Maryland. I’ve played against guys like Montrezl Harrell and

have played well against them. So, I know I can play at that level.”

The latest mock drafts from sites such as DraftExpress.com and NBADraft.net do not project Pankey to be selected in the 2015 NBA Draft.

The possibility remains that Pankey gets an invite to the summer league and makes a team as an undrafted free agent.

Pankey will weigh all his options, including a return to Manhattan.

He believes the chances of him returning are slim. He wants to become a professional, but he still wants to leave the door open on a return until he signs with an agent.

“You never know,” Pankey says about his chances of coming back. “There’s still like a tiny percentage I could come back.

If you don’t sign with an agent you still have the option to come back to school. So you never know. I’m more leaning towards going pro. Probably like 95 percent, but there’s still that five percent that maybe I could come back. That option is still on the table.”

Sports Editor Jonathan Reyes contributed reporting.

sports

BetweenDuchess theto theBase Paths: Rescue?

Jonathan Reyes Editor

Manhattan’s season has been okay.

At the start of the season, the pitching and overall depth of the team looked to be promising. Tom Cosgrove caught the attention of D1Baseball.com’s Eric Sorenson and The Quadrangle.

The return of Mike Scarinci from last season’s Tommy John surgery recovery and Scott McClennan from a blood clot (2013), micro-fracture left knee surgery (2014) are a few examples of that.

Cosgrove was named MAAC Rookie of the Week, ECAC Co-Rookie of the Week and shutout Rutgers 2-0 on March 31, while Scarinci has pitched to a 3.94

earned run average and McClennan earned MAAC Pitcher of the Week on March 10.

Out of the bullpen Shawn Kanwisher has posted a 2.35 ERA in eight appearances.

Pitching isn’t the problem. It’s the offense and defense. Manhattan’s team batting average is .194 and it averages three runs per game. Chris Reynolds, Christian Santisteban and Jose Carerra -- 15-16 on steals -- are the only ones on the team to record an on-base percentage above .300.

“I’m not worried about it,” Reynolds said. “As of right now, we might just be in our own heads a little bit. We’re so worried about scoring runs and trying so hard we sometimes get tense at the plate and we don’t think right. If we just start relaxing, being a little more calm...we’ll start seeing

pitches well.”

On defense it has committed 44 errors.

Adam Genners, Matt Forlow and Michael Pfenninger have combined for 22 of those.

Marist leads the MAAC with the fewest with 18.

These mishaps have caused 32 percent of the runs allowed by Manhattan pitchers to cross home plate.

“You’re supposed to field your position at this level,” McClennan said. “The errors just keep happening no matter what surface we’re on. If it’s turf, grass, gym floor it’s always the same thing. The field is not to blame. It’s the personnel. It’s what you’re doing.”

“We need to tighten up the defense,” coach Jim Duffy said. “That has been the biggest disappointment on my end. So, we

11

need to sure up the defense and that pitching will keep us in it. That’s going to be our key to success.”

With 22 games remaining and nine of those being played at its new home field Dutchess Stadium, it’s time for 10-seed Manhattan to start playing up to their expectations now, Duffy said.

“It’s a little bit of a hike getting there,” Reynolds said. “We just need to go out and show...we may not necessarily be at Van Cortlandt anymore but we’re still the Jaspers.”

“That’s our new VCP,” McClennan said. “We got to get used to it to turn this thing around.”

Softball’s Ten-Game Home Stand Followed

By A Long Twelve-Game Road Trip Daniel Ynfante Assistant Editor

Conventional wisdom says there is nothing wrong with having a long home stand.

But, it actually does have its downside.

As is usually the case with these extended periods at home, a long road trip is attached to balance the schedule.

For the Manhattan College softball team, after playing 10 consecutive games at Gaelic Park, a 12-game road trip is next on the slate.

“We’re ready,” Elena Bowman, Manhattan’s catcher said about the upcoming road games. “We’ve done what we needed to do at home. We accomplished all that we’re trying to do, which is win, and so we have a lot of momentum going on the road and we’re just really excited to go out and play hard.”

The road trip comes at a time where the Jaspers have been playing their best softball of the season, thanks in part to having played 10 straight games at home.

The team won nine of its 10 games at Gaelic and in the process, improved its record to 17-9 and 8-0 in the MAAC. Now the team heads out to the road where it is just 1-3 on the season.

“We’re hitting the ball well, we’re pitching well,” Amy Bright, Manhattan’s starting pitcher, said. “I really think that we can do really good on the road too. We just got to keep doing what we’re doing.”

The Jaspers’ pitching has been the team’s identity all season long according to head coach Tom Pardalis and it was none more apparent than during the 10-game home stand.

Starting pitchers Bright and Briana Matazinsky combined to give up just 12 runs in 10 games, and went the distance in seven of them.

In the final two games of the home stand, both Bright and Matazinsky delivered two gems, dominating Monmouth in two complete game shutouts.

“Every softball team is going as far as their pitchers go,” Pardalis said. “We’ve got a great combination going.”

But it was not just the pitching that carried the Jaspers. The hitting was present as well.

The box score will refute that, as the Jaspers failed to score more than five runs in all but one contest, but game after game, the team came up with some timely hits.

To go along with the excellent pitching, a few runs was all the Manhattan pitchers needed.

“It helps when the pitchers are shutting it down,” Bright said. “It gives everyone confidence, and it helps the pitchers when we hit the ball. It gives you confidence when you have a five-run lead or a threerun lead. It’s a little more easy to pitch than

a 0-0 game, so the hitting has really helped the pitching.”

Now the team shifts its focus to the road, where it will hope it can continue to count on clutch hits and on the superb performances from its pitchers.

The Jaspers will play eight MAAC games, and will look to continue building on their 8-0 record, which is the best start to conference play in program history.

“If we play well on the road, we’re going to be hosting the MAAC’s here,” Pardalis said. “That’s important to us, that we keep playing well, and you know what, I think we can play well on the road. I’d be shocked if we didn’t.”

Follow @mcquadsports Your New Home for Manhattan College Sports!

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12

A Humble, Hyped Bench Player

Trevor Glassman and Samson Usilo on the sideline celebrating together during a game this past season.

Kevin Fuhrmann/The Quadrangle

Jonathan Reyes Editor

In July 2011, Trevor Glassman’s aunt Ivy Siegle died of breast cancer.

At the time of her funeral, he was at AAU Nationals with his team Bishop Elite.

When he realized he would miss out on his aunt’s ceremony, he cried before and after games but knew she would want him to play and perform well, Trevor says.

“Listen, you’re at AAU Nationals you don’t need to come to the funeral,” his father Stuart recalls telling Trevor, “because you were there when she was alive. But win a game for her with your team.”

His team won.

“He motivated everyone on that team to do that,” Stuart said. “He has a way of just making people feel like whatever happens it’s going to be okay. Some people focus on the results and...on the process. Trevor is happy to make the process the point.”

“When I gave the eulogy, I told everyone there that Trevor’s team won a game for her. That just got to everybody there.

So, even though he was 1,000 miles away, what he did impacted everybody that was there on a sad day and they were a little happier because of it.”

Happy Benchwarmer Trevor’s career started on the bench during his days at Bedford/New Hampton School. He would sometimes be checked into the last 15 seconds of any given game, having not played at all, and be able to hit a 3-pointer to tie the score.

During his senior year at Bedford, he visited Missouri to try out for the basketball team, although there was no guarantee any would be held. He was willing to go anyway. When he arrived, there were no tryouts. He was without a team.

“Growing up he was always someone who just loved life,” Stuart said. “Loved whatever was happening. … Not fearing failure. ... He might have been in the past.

I don’t think he is now at all. He knows that having a shot is all you need. … He doesn’t worry about when he gets called up because he’s always ready. … He’s just a very positive person that really doesn’t get down.”

As he tried to become a walk-on at Missouri, he was being recruited by former Manhattan coach Matt Wilson who he then reached out to once he couldn’t make it on at Missouri.

At the beginning of the spring 2014 college basketball season, he was picked up as a walk on at Manhattan.

For the remainder of the team’s year, Trevor only appeared in four games and averaged less than a minute per game. His playing time did increase in the 2014-2015 campaign, appearing in 11 games including two starts and averaged two minutes per game.

Both seasons Manhattan won the MAAC conference title and appeared in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004.

Trevor’s role at Manhattan is how great of a listener he is for his teammates. They know there’s no agenda and that he wants the best for them. They will ask for his ad-

vice and then he will communicate those concerns with ideas to coach Steve Masiello, Masiello says.

“You can’t describe him,” Masiello says, “You cannot say, ‘Well, he does these three things or he does this thing.’ He does everything. … He has qualities you cannot account for, in the sense that they’re bigger than life sometimes. For me, you’re looking at guy who’s going to be a superstar in business, in whatever it is he decides to do after his career here because he can relate to people. He’s one of the most selfless people I know. … It’s fun to coach.”

Trevor has lost positions before. He went from being a starter to coming off the bench. And vice versa. He has always remained the same person, his AAU coach Sudi Lett says.

Lett describes Trevor as a person of perseverance and resiliency.

“In the situation that Trevor’s in, everyone knows he has a million reasons to sit on that bench...with a long face...and...to bitch,” Lett says. “He doesn’t do that. He’s never done that, as far as I’ve known him. … As a matter of fact, he does the exact opposite. … That you can’t ask for. That’s just good. I don’t know how else to put it.”

“He genuinely wants to see people do well. He doesn’t give a shit if Shane [Richards] hits the three or he hits the three, as long as they win. People say [and] preach that, but he lives that. … He has no ego.”

Real Life Energizer Bunny In Trevor’s freshman season, he recalls Masiello telling him it’s a skill to have energy and not something a lot of people

have.

He says he prides himself in that, but this year Masiello stopped practice one day because he wasn’t playing defense and recalls him yelling, “You can’t just be a cheerleader and jumping around...on the bench. You got to bring something to the program.”

He has more energy for his teammates than he does for himself. If it was the other way around, he would be a really good player, Masiello said.

“It’s not something that I intentionally do,” Trevor says. “It’s just my passion that comes out and I guess it’s contagious because other guys get hyped when I’m hyped. … Everything that comes to me is natural. I never go in and say, ‘Okay, next 2-pointer I’m going to throw three hands up. It just happens.’”

Richards describes Trevor’s energy as infectious.

“If you look at all the pictures of him they’re just of him doing something crazy on the bench,” Richards said, “but one of those will definitely sum him. Just a picture. What is the expression? It says 1,000 words or whatever it is. It definitely does with him.”

“Sometimes I don’t even catch myself doing the things that they catch me doing,” Trevor said. “So, it’s actually really funny for everybody because even I don’t know what I’m doing at some points. I’ll catch myself when we watch film...and I see my reaction after a big play. I’ll say, ‘I don’t even remember doing that.’ I was just so hyped at the moment.”