THE Volume 92, Issue 9
Q
UADRANGLE A Student Publication of Manhattan College Since 1924
Nov. 3, 2015
www.mcquad.org
New Proposal MC Celebrates Halloweekend Aims to Create Designated Smoking Areas on Campus Kyleigh Panetta Staff Writer
More Costumes on Page 3 With Halloween falling on a Saturday, Jaspers spent most of the weekend celebrating with plenty of costumes to be found on campus. The Quadrangle sought out submissions for best costumes through our social media accounts. This group of girls dressed up as “Dads,” joking that they were part of a reunion for the Manhattan College class of 1985. Sarah Caruso/Courtesy
Student Activities Works Out Kinks in Online Ticket System Catherine Goodyear Staff Writer
Student Activities introduced a new online service to make the process of purchasing tickets for events a little easier as part of its incentive to become a cash-free office. While this has introduced a new convenience for some students, Student Activities is actively working to deal with technical difficulties that have cropped up. “I like the new system better because you don’t have to get to the Student Activities office an hour in advance,” student Gus Menocal said. “I remember last year I came to get tickets and the line was almost down the stairs of Kelly and I had to go to class too so that was unfortunate. My friends and I ordered the tickets [online] and it was simple.” The new system gives students the opportunity to purchase a ticket quickly without any lines, waiting in person or cash. “We are going in the right direction,” Director of Student Activities John Bennett said. “The differences between this system and the old one is that it’s less anxiety on the students so they don’t have to say ‘Hey tomorrow I have to miss class because I am going to be waiting on line to get this ticket.’ I’m happy that for the student per-
spective we are providing a much more casual and relaxed atmosphere, you can purchase your ticket and come pick it up at any time. “One of the frustrating parts we have unfortunately are for the Knicks and Rangers games and other Madison Square Garden Events. They do not provide us with tickets until 72 hours before the event,” Bennett said. “It makes it a little harder for the students because they have to wait to pick up their ticket.” Although this system has made purchasing tickets more convenient for some students, there are still issues with the system that Student Activities is working on. “As with any new system there’s the growing pains and we have gotten a few student concerns, complaints and issues,” Bennett said. “Overall we had a lot less issues than expected. As long as you reach out to us, we will accommodate you. If you are having an issue with picking up your ticket, you can email us and have a friend come get it for you. We just need to know. Communication is half the battle but, students needs to be conscious of the time aspect.” Some of the issues students have encountered are being able to buy multiple tickets, price differences and not having the ability to access the tickets. Students are only allowed to purchase
one single ticket per one undergraduate student account but some students have been able to purchase two. Student Activities cannot refund the student if they purposely purchase two tickets from one account. There were also a small handful of students who were charged $40 for a $20 event. Student Activities is actively working with ITS to eliminate these problems. “IT has been very helpful and has been working with us,” Bennett said. “They trouble shoot and work out issues with credits. We are working out all of the bugs. Another issue is when friends pay for other friends on credit cards, the receipt goes to the wrong person.” “We are learning the ins and outs of those issues as we go about. We are compiling every student complaint and issue we receive and will meet about them in a few weeks. We want to see the reoccurring problems and address them.” Student Jill DeGioia said, “Buying the ticket online was really easy but at first it wouldn’t accept my debit card. I had to use a different card. It was a Visa so it should have been accepted because I had money on it. Once I used my Discover instead the actual ticket purchasing process was simple.” There has been more positive feedback compared to negative but any response is highly encouraged by Student Activities.
It is common to walk around Manhattan College’s campus and see some students and faculty smoking cigarettes wherever is most convenient for them. A new smoking policy proposal aims to create new designated smoking areas on campus and educate the community about the health risks of smoking. This proposal will be put to vote by the Manhattan College Senate on Nov. 17. MC’s current smoking policy prohibits smoking inside any building, at any outdoor event with seating and within 25 feet of any building entrance. “One thing I’ve noticed, take the quad buildings, is that you can be 25 feet from an entrance on the quad and where does that put you? Right out into the main circulating path of people,” Andrew Ryan, vice president for facilities, said. “There’s going to be designated smoking areas around the college instead of the blanket 25 feet from an entrance to a building,” Ryan said. Emmanuel Ago, Ph.D. and vice president for student life, said the new proposal was created with the help of survey results after it was noticed that many people were not in compliance with the current system. The survey was conducted in May 2015 and shows that 83 percent of the 764 participants identified themselves as nonsmokers. In addition, the survey showed that 27 percent were in favor of a smoke free campus and 36 percent wanted to keep the current policy. Ago wanted to stay true to the democratic process of surveying the community because the results show that, “people are not ready to go smoke-free,” Ago said. Ago also credits the quadrangle renovations this past summer in helping the discussion about smoking on campus get started. “That conversation prompted us to think about to what extent do we want people visibly smoking on the quad giving that we are investing a lot of money, time and effort into beautifying the campus,” Ago said. The stages of the proposal process will involve first creating the proposal, then voting on it, followed up with an educational aspect on health risks and enforcement. “Public safety officers will go on patrols to make people cognizant that we now have designated smoking areas and to politely redirect people to where they should be smoking on campus,” Ago said. Ryan said that although it will originally cost money to provide signs, benches and receptacles for these new areas, it will save the time of facility workers who currently clean up the stray cigarette butts. The new proposed smoking zones are the Jasper gazebo, the elevated area around Smith auditorium, Walsh Plaza, the service
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