Issue 1, Fall 2014 - The Quadrangle

THE

Q

Vol. LXXXXIII Issue 1

UADRANGLE A Student Publication of Manhattan College Since 1924

August 26, 2014

@mcquad

Students and parents utilized the commons last weekend as they began to adjust to the new space. Photos by Michelle DePinho.

New Student Commons Impresses Students and

Faculty Natalie Sullivan Editor-In-Chief

The semester’s first week of classes has been marked by the opening of the muchanticipated Ray Kelly Student Commons, which features new dining options, meeting spaces and faculty offices.

The commons, which set Manhattan

College back more than $40 million mostly acquired in donations, broke ground in December of 2013.

As far as using the new building, which connects the north and south sides of MC’s campus, students and faculty will have to get used to new office locations and other functions of the building.

Continued on Page 2

Manhattan College Launches Environmental Science Major Sean Sonnemann Web Editor

Manhattan College is getting a little greener this semester thanks to the launch of a new environmental science major.

This fall, MC will begin offering both Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees in environmental science.

Recently hired professor Yelda Balkir will serve as the program director for the new major.

“Out of the six Lasallian universities and colleges in the United States,” Balkir said, “Manhattan College was the only one that did not have an environmental science major.”

In addition to helping the school keep up with its Lasallian counterparts, adopting

the major should prove beneficial to graduates as a career choice.

“In the future, the graduates with the major will be some of the most in demand and most likely to succeed,” Balkir said.

This positive outlook is backed by firm economic data. According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Employment of environmental scientists and specialists is projected to grow 15 percent from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations.”

The bureau attributes this growth to the anticipated impacts of a rapidly increasing global population and a greater interest in mitigating human environmental damages.

With the topics of climate change, global warming, extreme weather, pollution and energy frequently dominating both

popular and political discussion, the need for knowledgeable professionals with the capability to deal with these issues should come as no surprise. Job opportunities for environmental scientists are expected to grow in private industry, the public sector and research capacities.

“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level,” the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently reported.

There is still some flexibility with the program about what specific classes environmental science students will need to learn how to tackle these serious issues.

However, several students have already enrolled in the class titled Introduction to

Environmental Science that is being taught

by Balkir this fall.

“We plan to run the course every semester until we have enough students for the major,” Balkir said.

Balkir also hopes to introduce several research projects that will allow interested students to get involved as soon as possible with hands-on work in the field. One of her next steps for the program will also entail a partnership with the college’s Center for Urban Resilience and Environmental Sustainability.

“The whole thing is to make students learn the critical thinking and problem solving skills needed to solve serious environment-related issues,” Balkir said.

News Zipcars On Campus Bring a New Transportation Option for Students, Concerns

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August 26, 2014

Kyleigh Panetta Staff Writer

Manhattan College is introducing a Zipcar program on campus that will provide an additional transportation option to students, but the program’s logistics may be troubled by a few bumps in the road.

Ken Waldhof, director of business services, decided to bring two Zipcars to Manhattan College’s campus starting in 2014 to help students get around more easily in the local area.

Zipcars are vehicles that are parked in a designated spot and can be rented at an hourly or daily rate through a membership.

The Zipcar pricing rate varies but always includes insurance, 180 miles per day and a gas card so that money for gas is not an additional burden to students.

In order to sign up to use MC’s Zipcars, the user must be at least 18 years old and have a driver’s license. Then he or she simply logs onto zipcar.com/manhattan to sign up and get approved for a membership.

After the sign up is complete, reservations can be made from a computer or an app for iPhone or Android. When it is time to use the Zipcar, the student can swipe the membership card over the sensor on the driver’s side of the windshield to unlock it. The keys and gas card are all inside the car.

When the user is done using the car, it should be parked back in a designated parking spot and the card should be swiped back over the outside sensor to lock it.

Nancy DiPietro is a parent of a senior

Continued From Page 1 The commons features a fully functioning Starbucks, Arthur Avenue Deli, Italian Trattoria, Quigley Grill, Asian Wok, smoothie station, a grab and go station and a Barnes & Noble campus bookstore.

“It’s so far, so good with the new commons. It’s just something we’re going to have to get used to,” said John Bennett, director of student activities. “I went to MC in the nineties and I’m accustomed to Smith being the center of campus. It’s kind of like working at a new job.”

at the college and said that she would have liked to have been informed by administration that Zipcars would be available to her son and other students.

“Our son would tell us but other parents maybe wouldn’t be so informed. Administration should let the parents know as well,” DiPietro said.

Waldhof plans to promote Zipcars on campus.

“We will post to MC Announcements, offer promotional cards and flyers through Residence Life and Dining venues around campus, as well as MC social media and emails,” he said. “Zipcar will also come to campus to provide information and sign up new members early in the semester.”

Julia Chesterman, a junior majoring in exercise science, said that she recently found out about the Zipcars during her resident assistant training and thinks that they are a very useful option to have on campus.

“It’s really convenient if you were to bring a friend to a train station or to pick up friends from places like Yonkers, where you don’t have the subway to take you there,” Chesterman said. “Or even if you wanted to go shopping to some of the other places in White Plains.”

According to Zipcar.com, other universities have benefited from this service because it “reduces demand for on-campus parking and is a sustainable alternative transportation solution that reduces your carbon footprint”.

One thing that Zipcar does not address for universities is how its service may create issues with drunk driving.

Zipcars do come with insurance but a

problem arises if a student uses a Zipcar to drive to a bar like sophomore peace studies major Micheal-Ann Angel said may happen.

Angel said that she knows many students go to a bar that is not easily accessed by subway near Fordham University. This particular situation could cause many problems if students chose to drive a Zipcar home while intoxicated.

Another problem that could emerge is

if a student does not have experience driving in New York City but decides to rent a Zipcar. Although insurance is included with the rental, it is unclear how the college or Zipcar will handle accidents with the vehicles.

Waldhof said that the two Ford Focus cars available for rental were scheduled to be in the new Kelly Commons parking lot on Monday, August 25. Students can begin to make use of this resource this semester.

The commons was used for orientation planning and resident assistant training prior to the week of its opening. Students and faculty who have had the opportunity to work in the commons before its official opening have been impressed with the new building.

“It definitely brings a lot of amenities that we didn’t have before like the new pizza place and a full functioning Starbucks and all the conference rooms,” said student body President John Tudisco who spent time in the commons during resident assistant training.

“I’m excited to see the building in action. Right now I’ve only seen it at about five percent capacity,” Tudisco said. “I’m

sure there are a lot of things that need to be worked out, but for now it’s lived up to the hype.”

One of the major problems anticipated by staff, especially the student activities office, is that students will be unaware of where faculty offices have been relocated.

“It’s all positive so far, the only downfall is that we’ve been so much busier,” Bennett said. “We’ve been working on trying to get some incentives for students to come down to the office. It’ll be nice down the road once students know second nature to come here.”

One of the main changes coming with the new commons is MC’s switch from the eFollett platform for the campus bookstore

to Barnes & Noble as the retailer for our bookstore.

“Students have been coming in in waves, they haven’t been coming all at the same time which is a good thing,” said Henry Castillo, the store manager of the Barnes & Noble campus bookstore. “We have been actively encouraging students to order their books online so that they can just come in here and pick them up without having to wait in line.”

The MC community is definitely in for a change, but the future of the commons looks bright for students and faculty to stretch out beyond north and south campuses.

nice and dynamically. We’ve done that for the MC Portal as well,”

“Things that would normally take seven clicks right now we’re trying to make one click away,” Holmquist said of how the team is trying to streamline the portal.

The DegreeWorks system that helps students and advisors track a student’s path to an on-time graduation was also upgraded with a new planning tool called the Student Educational Planner.

“It’s a tool for the academic advisors to much more easily plan ahead, one two three, four, five semesters ahead to much more easily map out your path to graduation,” Holmquist said.

“This makes it [the planning] much more electronic and streamlined.”

The college can look forward to the introduction of Workflow, a program that

helps remove the hassles of paperwork.

Students, professors, and faculty will no longer need to walk around campus to get multiple signatures for one form as most forms will be available to be filled out completely electronically.

“So, those paper chase forms you need to fill out will slowly but surely go away,” Holmquist said.

Students are looking forward to this new system.

“It seems that this new system makes things much easier.” freshman Sam Corby said. “There’s no reason to do it the old way. It shouldn’t be so complicated. It can just work electronically.”

Other students agree.

“I think that will definitely be much more efficient,” said senior Tiffany Santiago. “With people around here, you don’t

know their office hours and when you do, they’re not a hundred percent there when they say they are so that’s definitely going to speed up the process.”

Another system that will be launching soon is called OneWeb. It will allow students or parents to go online from home and add value to their campus card account with a credit card.

“This was targeted to launch before school staring, but we have one hold-up with the credit card processing vendor,” Holmquist said.

“They’re taking a little bit longer than we would have liked to deliver the backend to the credit card processing. […] October 1 is our official launch,” he said.

Information Technology Updates Will Streamline Popular Campus Tools Maya Astabie

Asst. Op/Ed Editor

While students were away for summer, Information Technology Services has been working to optimize the current systems already in place. The Manhattan College community can look forward to updates for MyMCPortal and DegreeWorks and two new initiatives ITS plans to roll out.

The team has done a lot of work to make the MyMCPortal a more convenient resource for mobile devices.

“The college website was updated, six months, maybe a year ago, to the so-called responsive design so it looks nice not only on a laptop but a phone and a tablet,” Jake Holmquist, the director of Internet Technology Services, said. “It changes sizes

manhattanquadrangle.tumblr.com

Notes

Notes from

the Editor

With another new academic year comes another semester of changes both on campus and for the Quadrangle. This semester we are excited to announce the official launch of our new interactive website. While it has been a long time coming, we are proud to be able to share our weekly paper with not only students and faculty, but alumni, prospective students, the Riverdale community and parents.

With our new changes, we would like to encourage feedback from our community more than ever. The Quadrangle aims to be an open forum for our community to discuss local issues and hot topics that affect our students, staff and the Riverdale area. We would like to extend an open invitation for all students and faculty to submit letters to the editor to be published in the opinions & editorials section of our newspaper.

The only guidelines for submitting a letter to the editor are to include a full name, to send the letter from an official email address, such as a university address, and to include a well written, valid concern or argument regarding our community. This may include an issue with our coverage of a topic, commentary on a topic covered in our paper, or pointing out an issue you do not feel is being thoroughly covered by our newspaper.

As student reporters, it is important to us to make sure our coverage is relevant to our student body and community. Letters to the editor can help us to better hone our coverage to be more suited to our student body.

Natalie E. Sullivan Editor-in-Chief

The

Quadrangle manhattanquadrangle.tumblr.com

Vol. LXXXXIII Issue 1 August 26, 2014

Natalie E. Sullivan Editor-in-Chief Michelle DePinho Managing Editor/News Editor Michael Peyko Asst. News Editor Claire Leaden Managing Editor/Features Editor Kieran Rock Asst. Features Editor Natalie Heinitz Op/Ed Editor/Production Editor Maya Astabie Asst. Op/Ed Editor Lauren Carr Arts & Entertainment Editor Kelly Burns Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor/Production Editor Chris Cirillo Sports Editor Jonathan Reyes Asst. Sports Editor Jaclyn Marr Asst. Sports Editor Sean McIntyre Social Media Editor James O’Connor Photography Editor Sean Sonnemann Web Editor John Abbatangelo Sam Martin Editorial Cartoonists Dr. Joe Cutbirth Faculty Adviser The Quadrangle is a community newspaper established in 1924 and published on a weekly basis by the students of Manhattan College.

The staff of The Quadrangle meets every Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. in Miguel Hall, Room 201.

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.

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Opinions & Editorials

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August 26, 2014

ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: Just Follow the Crowd Madeleine Schwartz Staff Writer

Do you remember when you wore eight silly bands around your wrist because it was the “popular thing to do”? Or when the only “cool way” to take a selfie was to make a duck face? These trends are long gone and now the only proper way to finish out your summer is to complete the ALS ice bucket challenge.

The ice bucket challenge all began when Pete Frates, a man currently battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), shared his video on Facebook and Twitter.

To complete the challenge, a person must dump a bucket of ice water over their head in less than 24 hours after they have been nominated.

According to the ALS Association, ALS is a progressive disease that deteriorates the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. This very serious illness eventually leads to loss of muscle control and unfortunately, death.

Ever since Frates’ initial video, the popularity of this challenge has grown incredibly and has brought positive awareness about ALS along with it. Celebrities from LeBron James, Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey have all gotten wet and wild to show their support. As more and more celebrities take the plunge for the cause, more videos are shared and donations are made.

Many Manhattan College students have come face to face with the ice bucket challenge. Junior Vanessa Chionchio completed the challenge when she was on vacation in Disney World.

“I did it in the Dolphin Resort while I was in Disney. I have a family friend who died of ALS so I saw this as an opportunity to spread the word and help find a cure,” Chionchio said.

Another student who took the challenge to heart was Junior J.P. Consiglio.

While at his home in Connecticut, he filmed his contribution to the ALS cause.

“I participated in the challenge because spreading awareness about a cause, illness or organization is always a good thing. I also plan to donate to ALS.” Time Magazine has reported that from July 29 to August 18, the ALS Association has received close to 12 million dollars in donations. Last year, the Association had only received 50,000 in donations for the

The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge quickly became the trend of summer 2014. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons. same time period. This is not just a popularity contest or another breeze-by craze; there are hard facts that prove just how powerful this challenge is.

This challenge has brought ALS to the forefront of people’s minds. The cold sensa-

tion that people experience as they dump ice water on themselves is similar to what those diagnosed with ALS feel everyday. It allows people to relate to a cause and understand what they are spreading awareness about.

So here is my proposition to you: do the ALS ice bucket challenge. Do it to learn what other people’s lives are like. Do it to help people with ALS and need the support. Follow the crowd and just do it.

You won’t regret it.

City due to the size of its magazine. Within city limits, under the new SAFE Act, any magazine that holds more than 10 rounds is illegal. The Glock 17, as the name implies, holds 17 rounds.

The SAFE Act is a piece of legislation passed in New York that tightens the reigns of which guns can be owned and purchased in New York City.

Unlike other provisions of the SAFE Act, the limit on the size of magazines includes previously bought magazines, too.

Meaning, that even if you bought a magazine that holds more than 10 rounds before the act was put into law, you must either turn it into local authorities or sell it to an out of state buyer within one year after the law was enacted.

This can be of concern because other sections of the act do not retroactively apply however, this clause does.

Gun owners shouldn’t be concerned with this aspect of the law because there is no need to have that many rounds ready to be used at once. The section defining an assault weapon is more troubling.

This section defines an assault weapon

by various features. Many of the features that are prohibited are common sense, such as attached grenade launchers and modifications designed to hide the identity of a weapon.

However, the law also prohibits folding or telescoping stocks and a pistol grip that “protrudes conspicuously from beneath the action of the weapon,” according to the legislation. This means that the field of buying choices for gun enthusiasts is cut nearly in half, leaving only weapons with solid stocks and no pistol grips, which are also known as hunting weapons.

It is important to note that this part of the law only applies to rifles and shotguns, since a pistol inherently has a pistol grip.

With that being said, I think the new stricter laws are too strict. The new laws are not going to prevent the usage of guns in an unlawful way, nor are the new laws going to prevent assault weapons from coming into the city. All the laws are going to cause are more weapons to be moved illegally into the city and into the hands of those who wish to use them

for less than admirable reasons rather than through legal channels.

My recommendation is to make it illegal to bring a gun into the city without it being inspected at the city limits and those in possession of the weapons must have all the correct forms. This way, illegal weapons are stopped before they get into the city and before they can be used in illicit ways.

This is not to say that the SAFE Act does not do a large amount of good. Two of the positives that come out of this act are that it is now a felony to bring a gun into a school zone and the penalty for killing a first responder has been upgraded to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

These harsher punishments could be deterrent enough to potential criminals, but there is still little to be done about those who illegally acquire guns and use said guns knowing full well what awaits them.

This gap is one that New York City must close to keep the streets and its citizens safe.

Does The SAFE Act Live Up to Its Name?

James O’Connor Photography Editor

Growing up in New York City, I never gave second thought to gun laws. However, a trip to a firing range in Winterhaven, Florida changed a 21-year outlook.

As I boarded a plane bound for Tampa International Airport, the idea of going to a gun range was present but it was an afterthought if anything. Going to the range would be great, but not a necessity to the enjoyment of the trip.

Going to the range for the first time, I was expecting a good old boys club, the kind of place where outsiders are unwelcomed and the regulars are less than chipper. This may have been the outlook of someone who is naïve about the world of shooting and never even picked up a gun before.

After a twenty-minute course that taught me how to safely handle a gun, I was shooting a Glock 17, a gun that is illegal in New York City.

The Glock 17 is illegal in New York

Opinions & Editorials

Suck It Up, Buttercup

Natalie Heinitz

Op/Ed & Production Editor Sometimes, you just need to chalk it up to a new experience. Stay positive, suck it up and learn.

This is what I told myself for half the summer, on the early mornings when I couldn’t pull myself out of bed and during the lunch breaks that always seemed too short. Discouraged questions rattled my brain and beckoned a voice. Why am I here? Can I even help? I feel useless.

I had what one would call a “bad” internship. I made Ikea shelves, chairs, you name it. I burned my eyes sifting through excel documents. I’m not even sure if everyone knew my name. I hated to admit it, but I didn’t enjoy the work I was assigned.

While this internship seemed unfavorable on the surface, I actually took away many lessons from this experience. They may not be traditional, meaning they probably won’t translate into bullet form on my resume, but they were experiences all the same.

If you ever find yourself in the middle of a “bad” internship, here are a few suggestions to help you not only get through it, but also find the positives that might end up being more helpful than you expected.

For one, stay productive, especially if you’re getting paid. The staffers may not need your assistance at the moment, but don’t be a total waste of space, even if it’s for your own personal productivity.

Research more internship opportunities or update your resume, just as long as you’re discreet and not obnoxious about it. It also never hurts to ask around if anyone needs some intern help.

Two, whatever you do, don’t spend your days scrolling through Pinterest, although it’s tempting (trust me, I know). Since my workload was usually light, I had a lot of time to read. Every morning I would load up a queue of articles for the day, ranging from the upcoming midterm elections to long feature articles on politicians I knew nothing about. I have never been more conversational about current events than I was this summer. Call me a nerd, but it’s really a great feeling.

Three, make friends with your fellow interns. After all, you’re in the same boat.

Some of the best conversations I’ve had are with interns I work with because we usually share similar visions and goals. You also never know what their stories are. One fellow intern this summer was 31 years old who was making the switch from sales to politics. He had a lot of guts to move to DC and completely change his life around and he was willing to lend me some advice.

You never know what kind of people you’ll meet, even in your secluded intern corner.

Four, stick up for yourself. I learned this lesson the hard way. In the professional world, no one is going to spoon-feed you.

If you need help, ask. If you aren’t working on anything, offer your time. Your job is to make the staffers’ jobs easier, even if it’s dull for you. This is usually what makes “bad” internships feel suffocating and boring, but being polite and efficient will go much, much farther than a bad attitude.

Also, don’t be afraid to converse with hired staff. Talking to interns is easy since they’re usually your age. Staffers, on the other hand, are where the wisdom lies,

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even if it’s not serious wisdom. For example, one of the partners at the firm I interned at always wore crazy shoes with cats on them. After asking about them, we logically talked about the ethics of animal illustrations on shoes and the necessity of mismatched socks. After discussing the ratio of peanut butter to chocolate in Reese’s Peanut Buttercups one day, I learned that he was formerly White House Videographer under President Obama. And even then, he still wore cat shoes.

At the end of the day, interning during college is a tremendous opportunity that all students should take advantage of. It’s a time to see how our skill sets apply in the working world and allow our interests to be highlighted in ways that are invisible in a classroom. It’s a chance to meet professionals in their field and learn how they got to where they are.

Of course, you probably already know this. I did. I just didn’t know that all this was still apparent in a “bad” internship.

Tourists lounge in Vondelpart. Photo by Amber Calabro.

Why Amsterdam is the Liberal Dream Amber Calabro Staff Writer

Prostitutes, marijuana and sex shows, oh my! Amsterdam can sound a crazy capital city initially, but it’s actually a place that is rather ahead of its time. It is an essential part of a very liberal country, the Netherlands.

Walking around the city and seeing just how free you are to live life was a liberating experience for me. The locals are friendly and there are many tourists, especially in the Red Light District. Nearly everyone spoke English. To complete the experience, my friends and I stayed at a hostel that turned out to be one of the best bars around later on in the evening.

Amsterdam is an absolutely fascinating place. The city draws more than 3.66 million international visitors annually.

From my personal experience, I can tell you that the place is young for the most part. Most visitors looked about late teens

to mid thirties.

Not only can one go into one of the city’s many coffee shops to sit down with a cap-puccino and smoke some marijuana, but the place has a decent amount of history to add to its culture as well. Visiting the Anne Frank museum was definitely an excellent experience, especially for a WWII nerd like myself. Amsterdam is also home to the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum (dedicated to arts and history), and Stedelijk Museum (modern and contemporary art) just to name a few other hot spots.

Or if you’re more into drinking beer than art, the Heineken Experience is in Amsterdam, as well. There are also smaller museums dedicated to prostitution, cheese and cannabis culture among other things.

Vondelpark is also quite nice, essentially the Central Park of Amsterdam although it is not centrally located.

To talk politics, the Netherlands was one of the first countries in the world to have an elected parliament. Since 1848 it

has operated as a unitary parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy, so it is a kingdom and there is a royal family.

The Netherlands was a founding country for some international organizations such as the EU (European Union), NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), and the WTO (World Trade Organization). The country is known for it’s extensive history of social tolerance. Abortion, prostitution and euthanasia is all legal. The prostitutes quite literally stand behind clear glass windows with a red light over the window down the alley ways of the Red Light District. Sometimes they are scantily clad in lingerie, but others are dressed more conservatively. The women were generally smoking a cigarette, on their phones or drinking coffee. It was a bizarre sight to see, however a completely legal one.

Their drugs policy is rather progressive. I was personally told by the bartender at my hostel that the only thing you cannot smoke in the streets is heroin. The four

major objectives of the drug policy of the Netherlands as per the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction is to one, prevent recreational drug use and treat and rehabilitate recreational drug users. Two, to reduce harm to users, as well as diminish public nuisance by drug users. Lastly, to combat the production and trafficking of recreational drugs. This has obviously caused friction between the Netherlands and other countries, however I think this tolerant view of drug use is realistic and down-to-earth.

In 2001, the Netherlands became the world’s first country to legalize same-sex marriage. The Netherlands is also ranked the fourth happiest country in the world by the United Nations World Happiness Report. Needless to say, the United States among others should be looking to the Netherlands in regards to social issues.

Overall, Amsterdam was overwhelming impressive and I am glad I could cross it off my bucket list this summer. I will be returning to the city for sure.

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The Freshman Files

Features

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Misconceptions Surround Arches Learning-Living Program Kieran Rock

Asst. Features Editor

Hello and Goodbye Ally Hutzler Staff Writer

A new edition to “The Quadrangle” this semester, “The Freshman Files” weekly column will document one student’s experiences through the trials and tribulations of freshman year. Laugh, cry, and relate as we chronicle the ups and downs, twist and turns, failures and successes that the next nine months have to offer.

In the madness that stems from leaving the nest for the first time, there is barely a moment to think about what truly awaits us—or how we feel about it.

There seems to always be more things to buy, more clothes to pack and more friends to say goodbye and good luck to.

Then suddenly the last suitcase is zipped and emotions start to surface— anxiety, worry, excitement, confusion and relief for the freedom that college has to offer leaves you light-headed.

When you’re really honest with yourself, leaving for college is terrifying. In the span of one day we’re expected to say goodbye to our comfortable lives and say hello to sharing rooms with strangers, intimidating classes and being on our own for the first time. Suddenly “home” becomes a campus filled with thousands of people you’ve never met. When you want to eat, you have to navigate a maze of kids with trays and endless rows of options. You have to do your own laundry.

Like I said, college is terrifying—and most of us don’t even have to deal with the communal bathroom situation.

But the part that frightens me the most is also what excites me the most: the unknown. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the next month or year or four years—no one does. It’s as much of a much of a mystery as the city that surrounds us. But I do know this; it’s going to be extraordinary. It will change the way we think and the way we see the world and the people around us. Our hopes and dreams will inevitably change. We’ll learn new things and meet new people and make new friends. These next four years will be life altering. There’s no way around it.

Right about now you’re probably thinking, sure, it all looks great on paper, but what about my roommate and that public speaking class and my first game? Because, as monumental as it all sounds, it’s still scary.

As for me, I’m going to let the excitement overpower the fear. What we have ahead of us now is a rare opportunity to start over, to no longer be defined by the labels appointed to us during high school.

It’s time to start defining for ourselves who we are and who we want to be. Think about it—how often does a chance like this come around?

Sure, I’m going to miss my family, my friends and my queen-size bed. But if we don’t leave our comfort zone now, who knows what we’ll miss out on! So breathe easy, give into the excitement, explore the world, and remember: we’re Jaspers now.

Features

August 26, 2014

Actress Rosario Dawson is one of the Third Annual Lecture Series speakers students are excited to see. Photo from Student Activities.

Third Annual Lecture Series Kicks Off the New Year Lindsey Burns Staff Writer

The start of a new school year at college does not just mean the return of dreaded homework assignments, essays and projects, but also opportunities to attend stimulating lectures and events.

This is the case for Manhattan College students, as Student Activities has brought back their popular “lecture series” for a third year in a row. Scattered throughout the entire month of September, students can attend a series of four lectures in the new Student Commons’ great room on the fifth floor.

Kicking off the Third Annual Lecture Series on Monday, Sept. 8 is New York Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman.

The following day, Tuesday, Sept. 9, MC will welcome actress and Bronx native Rosario Dawson, who is well known for her roles in “7 Pounds” and the film adaptation of “Rent.” On Wed. Sept. 10, Dic Donohue, a police officer who was shot in the Boston Marathon shooting, along with his wife and MC alum Kim Donohue, will speak.

Lastly, on Friday, Sept. 12, Luis Ortiz, reality star of Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing: New York and real estate agent, will wrap up the lecture series.

“We were really looking for a diverse group of speakers,” Director of Student Activities John Bennett said. “Unlike the first year when it was all Olympians, or last year when we were celebrating the college going co-ed, we wanted the lectures this year to reach more genres and interests if possible.”

“If you can find a theme, you win a prize!” Gabrielle Occhiogrosso, Assistant

Director of Student Activities, said jokingly.

However, with a little connecting of the dots, there actually is one factor that links all of the speakers together: MC and the diverse city it resides in.

“Brian Cashman works right here in the Bronx, like four or five miles away which is amazing to think about,” Bennett said.

“With Dic and Kim, Kim went to school here. So there are a lot of connections to the school.”

Luis Ortiz rules the New York City real estate business and can likely provide important insight on how to “make it” in the city we now call home. And Rosario Dawson, born in the Bronx, is a New York City native.

So although at first glance it appears as though there is no clear theme to the Third Annual Lecture Series, there is one that celebrates the diversity of this great city.

“I actually feel we have the strongest lineup we've ever had this year,” Bennett said.

In the past two years, the lecture series has been extremely popular among the student body, so the pressure was definitely on for Student Activities to produce a good lineup for this year.

“There is some sense of pressure, but in a good way,” Occhiogrosso said. “We know that this is something that has been successful and we’re very happy about that and pleased with that. We want to make you guys happy at the end of the day.”

“Now there’s some name recognition to it,” Bennett said. “When you just start something for the first time, nobody knows what it is. Now I feel like the student body understands that it’s one of the annual events at school just like Jasper Jingle or

Spring Fling. The lecture series has risen to that level and that’s great. So we want to make sure it is a good event.”

Having announced the lineup for the Third Annual Lecture Series on Twitter earlier in the summer, the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I’m so grateful to go to Manhattan College where the Lecture Series is just among the plethora of great opportunities offered to the students. I am really looking forward to seeing Rosario Dawson,” sophomore English and French major Kayli McTague said.

McTague is among many students who are looking forward to the coming Lecture Series.

“With the people we have said it to so far, the feedback has been the greatest we’ve had yet. We put it on Twitter and we’ve gotten a lot of favorites,” Bennett said.

“The tell-tale thing about this is we haven’t gotten any negative feedback, which is excellent. Normally we’ll get some negative feedback, and we haven’tknock on wood- gotten any.”

There is also a little incentive to attend all four of the lectures this year.

“We’re going to be offering prizes, and really good prizes, for those that attend all the speakers,” Occhiogrosso said. “At the end of the week we’re going to give away autographed Yankees paraphernalia.

So we’re definitely going to have amazing prizes for students who show up to all of the events.”

“We've put a lot of work into it, and happy students make a happy office for us,” Bennett said.

One hundred freshmen living together in a Manhattan College dorm, a week of exploring in the city, and a yearlong learning-living community. This is the Manhattan College Arches program.

The program, which is now in its fourth year, has developed since its inception at the college. The Arches is a unique freshman experience that is designed to “assist first-year students with their academic and social transition to Manhattan College,” according to the MC website.

Current RA for the Arches and former Arches freshman resident Meghan Dinegar explained the specifics of the program.

“About 100 freshman live on the fifth and sixth floor of East Hill, and they take one Arches class together,” she said.

This class, Dinegar explained, is already a requirement so the students do not have scheduling issues. Arches students also partake in cultural outings and service activities through their Arches classes.

The freshman students that choose to apply and are accepted into the Arches program move into their residence hall, East Hill, one week earlier than the other students. They spend the next week participating in team building exercises and activities to familiarize themselves with campus, the city and each other.

While the program is a unique experience for a freshman resident, the exclusiveness of the Arches program does create certain misconceptions.

“I think last year there might have been a stigma surrounding it,” Dinegar said.

Dinegar suggested that this “stigma” might come from the concentrated group of freshmen that live in a building with floors that are otherwise mixed grade levels.

Former Arches resident and Quadrangle photographer Ashley Sanchez noticed some of the negative misconceptions of the Arches program as well.

“There are a lot of negative connotations that come along with the word ‘Arches’ but once you experience the family-like connection we shared, you’d learn to love the program,” she said.

Andrew Fontaine, another former Arches resident, has also heard many mis-

Some students in the Arches program feel the campus community's view of them can be misconstrued. R.A. Carlos Perez (standing) with 2014 Arches freshmen (left to right) Jamie Iacono, John Stone and Austin Ferentzy. Photo by James O'Connor. understandings about the program.

“Many people think the Arches students don’t branch out, but that couldn’t be further from the truth,” Fontaine said.

“People think that some of the arches kids can’t make friends outside the program but that isn’t true either.”

Former RA for the Arches program, Lindsey Pamlanye, agreed that it offered freshman residents a distinctive experience.

“They move in early which gives them a jumpstart to everything,” she said. “They get to know campus before everyone else, they get to know how to get around the city before everyone else, they get to know professors differently, because they get to meet them with students they already know and they get to know each other differently because they don’t do a twenty second icebreaker at the beginning of a meeting, they have a weeklong icebreaker.”

Pamlanye also noted that non-Arches residents believe the program is closed off from the rest of campus.

“You hear, ‘they do everything to-

gether, they don’t know anyone outside of the Arches, they only do Arches things,’” Pamlayne said.

One thing that both Dinegar and Pamlanye noted was that these misconceptions are similar to the resident experience of the freshmen that choose Chrysostom Hall, and the Arches program had far more to offer than any perceived limitations.

Former Arches resident Hugh Geraghty shared a similar sentiment.

“When I worked [as an Orientation Leader] a lot of my kids asked me if it was a program for, and I quote, ‘Kids that couldn’t make friends on their own,’” he said.

“I think a lot of times new students may think that just because they are in the Arches program that means that they can’t talk to anyone else, but that’s simply not true.

Being in the Arches Program is exactly like the freshman experience of Horan, Jasper, Chrysostom, or commuting, you will only get out of it what you put into it.”

Dinegar did recognize that there is a chance Arches residents would not branch out beyond their floor mates.

“As RAs we find that to be an important

part of our job as well, to have them be really close with each other but to make sure they’re integrating themselves with the rest of campus,” she said.

Pamlanye suggests that the misconceptions surrounding the Arches will begin to fade once every grade level has an Arches group in it. As Pamlanye was in the first Arches group and is now a senior, her class will be the last class to which the program was ever new.

“I think the Arches will become normalized, once every single class has kids who can at least give a firsthand account of it, as opposed to someone saying ‘it sounds stupid’,” she said.

The Arches program offers a unique learning and living community for new freshmen. However, the program as it is described by the MC website is designed to deal with the social and academic transition to college. This creates the idea that Arches students are not as social as other students.

However, these misconceptions seem to be falling away as the Arches program grows and thrives at MC.

Professor Chat: Brian Chalk Claire Leaden Features Editor

Editor’s note: Though we’ve done the “Professor Chat” column in the past, the articles have normally been longer and more in-depth interviews. This year we’ve decided to do a quick-chat format to highlight the MC faculty in a more reader-approachable way.

This week’s “Professor Chat” is with Brian Chalk, Assistant Professor of English. Chalk is originally from West Windsor, New Jersey and this semester can be found teaching English 210 class “Exposition and Argumentation” and 329 class “Shakespeare I.” Read on to find out a little more about your professor.

Q: Why are you a professor in the subject you are?

A: I took a course on Shakespeare's Histories and Tragedies with a dangerously charismatic and inspirational professor my junior year at James Madison University.

After that experience, I had no doubt that I wanted to become an English professor and attempt to inflict similar damage on stu-

dents of my own.

Q: What is your favorite part about MC? A: The quad in the fall, the community atmosphere and, of course, the fabulous students.

Q: What is your biggest student pet peeve (if you have one)?

A: What bothers me about certain students is no different than what bothers me about certain people. The refusal to expand one's horizons by seeing the use value of learning about subjects not directly related to one's vocation which, to my mind, is a refusal to embrace the experience of being human. In short, I don't like deadbeats.

Q: Where can you be found on the weekends?

A: Chasing my children around parks in Riverdale or, more occasionally, out to dinner and / or the theatre in Manhattan.

Q: What is your favorite thing to read (book, newspaper, magazine, etc.)?

A: Novels. And sports journalism when I feel like being a deadbeat.

8

Arts & Entertainment

August 26, 2014

Student Activities To Make Changes This Fall Semester Kelly Burns

Asst. A&E Editor/Production Editor Welcome back, Jaspers! It’s time to break out your favorite sports jersey and practice your rounds of applause because Student Activities has a jam packed semester full of events ranging from NFL tickets to award winning Broadway shows.

The first event will be taking place in just a few days; Student Activities is selling tickets to the U.S. Open Tennis Championships for Sept. 1st. Other sporting events for the month of September and October are tickets to the Jets home opener vs. Oakland, AMA Pro Racing event at the New Jersey Motorsports Park and to the WWE Monday Night Raw (check calendar for dates). Perhaps the most popular event and the most competitive to get tickets for will be Derek Jeter’s last game at Yankee Stadium.

“I’m really looking forward to Derek Jeter’s last game at Yankee Stadium,” Mi-

chael Volgende, a freshman engineer major said.

Not into sports? Hop on the subway and get off at 42nd Street to check out some of Broadway’s most successful shows. Tickets to see Matilda, Les Misérables and Wicked are being sold by Student Activities at a discounted price that you can’t find anywhere else. Looking for a thrill? Join other Jaspers on a trip to Six Flags Great Adventure Park. Do you like live music and being outdoors? Stop by the quad on Aug. 30th at 12pm to see Boys Like Girls perform on campus.

“Student Activities does their best at picking a variety of events,” Lindsey Pamlanye, a senior secondary education and English major said. “It’s definitely impossible to please everyone, but I think the people who do show up have a good time 100% of the time.”

Another excellent event being hosted

by Student Activities is the Third Annual Lecture Series. The first speaker will be

Brian Cashman, who is the General Manager of the New York Yankees. The next day will be actress, Rosario Dawson, most known for her roles in “Rent,” “Grindhouse” and “Sin City.” Following Rosario is MBTA police officer, Dic Donohue, who was wounded at the Boston Marathon along with his wife Kim. They are both part of the Manhattan College class of 2004. Closing the series will be famous realtor and TV personality from Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing,” Luis Ortiz. The lectures will be held in the Student Commons – Great Room 5th Floor.

One of the biggest changes being made by Student Activities this year is the ticket sales will no longer begin in the morning.

“I’m going to have ticket sales start at 1 p.m. instead of 10 a.m. My thinking behind this is to be more commuter friendly and also conscious of students who have internships and student teaching. Nothing's set in stone. If it doesn't work the

first few weeks we can always change it, but I want to at least try to see if this helps students more,” director of Student Activities, John Bennett, said.

So far, students seem to be happy about the time change.

“I am happy that they moved the time for ticket sales to 1 p.m. because I’ll be student teaching this semester so I will have somewhat of a chance to purchase tickets now,” Ciara McGinley, a senior education major said.

Another big change will be the meeting place for group trips. Groups are now going to meet on the terrace of the 4th floor of the Student Commons before departing for their trip.

Whether you are rooting for a touchdown, collecting playbills or screaming your head off on a roller coaster, remember that Student Activities is the backbone of it all.

Songs You Might Have Missed This Summer Sean Sonnemann Web Editor

Popular music this summer proved to be an interesting grab-bag of sounds and styles. There was the usual quasi-tropical hit (“Rude” by MAGIC!), DJ Mustard appeared to be on almost every beat and a certain Australian rapper made sure everyone knew how to spell her name. In recent weeks, several female artists have released tracks that have a jazzy retro vibe: Taylor Swift clearly ditched her cowgirl boots for good with the punchy single “Shake it Off” and newcomer Meghan Trainor brought back doo-wop with her song “All About that Bass.” Perhaps it is sign that the music industry is finally ready to move away from the dance-heavy hits that have ruled radio in recent years (and listeners are also welcoming the change).

Of course, here at Jasper Jams we like to highlight music that may have slipped under your radar, no matter the genre or popularity of the artist. Without further ado, here are seven songs that you might have missed during the recent warm and

sunny summer months.

1) “American Kids” by Kenny Chesney Country legend Chesney delivered a standout track during a relatively lackluster summer for country music. Snappy, upbeat and catchy, “American Kids” is a great summer track full of classic Americana references and fun.

2) “Forgotten Man” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers While the aging rock stars are a far cry from the peak of their success in the 70s and 80s, Petty and the Heartbreakers proved that classic rock can still pull its own weight. Their recent album “Hypnotic Eye” debuted at number one on the charts — surprisingly Petty’s first ever top of the charts debut. Most of the album is solid, guitar-heavy rock, but “Forgotten Man” was one of my personal favorites.

3) “Just One of the Guys” by Jenny Lewis Longtime actress and indie singer Lew-

is released a new album this summer after a five year break from her last solo work.

The single off the album, “Just One of the Guys,” is a tune that balances beachy West Coast rock and a catchy chorus with downbeat lyrics and frequent tempo shifts.

4) “Kanye” by The Chainsmokers The Chainsmokers may never reach the viral popularity of “#SELFIE” again, but they are clearly trying to replicate that success with their latest dance anthem.

Catchy house beats and tongue-in-cheek lyrics about the egotistical rapper everyone loves to hate make this song almost just as fun/annoying (take your pick) as their previous hit.

5) “Rafael” by Beatenberg The opening notes of this fantastic song should immediately remind listeners of Paul Simon’s 1986 album “Graceland” (especially if they gave it a listen after it was featured on Jaspers Jams’ Albums You Should Borrow from Your Parents). It’s no surprise that the skillful drums and guitar work of this track bear a resemblance to

that album. Beatenberg is a new group out of South Africa, the country where Simon also recorded “Graceland” with the help of some local talent.

6) “Wonderful, Everyday” by Chance the Rapper In between headlining countless summer music festivals and concerts, Chance decided to drop a cover of the theme song from the television show “Arthur.” Yes, you read that right; the animated PBS children’s educational cartoon about an aardvark and his other animal friends. The rapper once again proves his ingenuity and quirkiness while delivering a heavy dose of nostalgia to his college-aged fans.

7) “Blush” by Mr. Twin Sister We’ll finish off our list with a laid-back track from a somewhat local indie band out of Long Island. Rich instrumentation, jazz grooves and a closing sax solo make this song a winner.

Arts & Entertainment

9

The DIY Dorm Décor Guide: 5 Things Not To Do When Decorating

Luke Hartman Staff Writer

Here we go again…another year at MC, and whether this is your first year or you are a returning for another semester in the Riverdale trenches we all have one thing in common…dorms (or at least similar tiny living spaces).

These little spaces can either be just a room where one exists, or a home where one can be tranquil and thrive. While dorm rooms and their decorating is a completely personal thing, there are also definitely some DON'TS for dorm décor that are pretty standard across the board. While some of these may seem a little strange, they definitely will help transform your space from average to extraordinary.

1. Don’t make your dorm a moratorium of memories past.

Yes memories of high school are a great thing and yes reminders of home can be exactly what you need sometimes to get you through a tough situation….but if your dorm is chalked full of all the memorabilia of your past life you are essentially anchoring yourself to your past.

College (especially for freshman) is all about reinvention and discovering new things. While a few small or important high school and hometown things are almost an essential to a dorm, doing a whole wall collage of you and your friends in your senior year is not going to make this hard transition any easier. A décor tip to mentally help you be open to new experiences is to keep your décor open as well. If you have a collage from high school, hang a blank corkboard or piece of poster board next to it, and reserve it for odds and ends or pictures from the semester ahead. This also goes for how you decorate your room.

Don’t necessarily feel the need to decorate in your usual favorite color scheme, or with posters of favorite movies.

Try something new and explore new interests and tastes.

Take the time to physically remind yourself to live in the moment, in the future and not be tanked to the past.

2. Don’t feel limited by décor clichés, small budgets, or miniscule spaces.

Every aspect of dorm decorating can be challenging and stressful, and a great way to alleviate this is to think outside the box. Yes of course you could just head to Bed Bath and Beyond and pick up all the stuff they offer and lump yourself with every other basic college student across the country. This is the easy way out and as mentioned previously…it is a way to exist but not necessarily enjoy your dorm. Look past the shelves of mass produced

Read This...

Lauren Carr

Arts & Entertainment Editor Note: Read This is a new bi-weekly column that reviews books that are meant to inspire this generation.

Whether that be a book written by a comedian or a book written by someone who started their business from the bottom up, they give advice that everyone should take and share with the people around them in order to help them succeed.

When you first hear the name Sophia Amoruso you may say to yourself, “Never heard of her. Who is she?” I would know because I asked myself the same exact question. Turns out I need to know to Sophia Amoruso is because she is a woman who turned her small eBay vintage boutique, Nasty Gal Boutique, into a multimillion dollar company in five years. Amoruso has a success story that is not common and she is well aware of that. What happened to her and the lessons she learned along the way inspired her book, #GIRLBOSS. The book does not chronicle how to make it big in the fashion industry, rather, it’s a book about finding the passion inside of you and running with it.

Amoruso started off as a person with zero drive. She hated school, hated people and always did just enough to get by. Her youth was spent wearing ripped jeans, flannel shirts and hopping around from job to job. It wasn’t until she was fired for the umpteenth time that she decided to try something different. She was starting to find a passion for vintage clothing and decided to go on a new path. Af-

stuff and ask “How can I make that myself, or make it in my own style?” The other problem with this stuff is that it can add up really quick and take a devastating toll on the bank account. REPURPOUSE, REPURPOUSE, REPURPOUSE!!! This is the best way to really make your dorm feel your own. Tear through the nearest thrift shop or garage sale and find something really unique and restore it. Make art pieces that you can call your own and it doesn’t matter if they are hideous as long as you love it.

Lastly, look at your dorm as a blank canvas and not the small square box it is. Work with your roommate for the best solution! Two heads are better than one and this way you can come up with a creative and comfortable living situation that maximizes space. “There are more furniture arrangements than one would think,” an article about dorm décor on HGTV said.

3. Don’t refuse to make compromises and be flexible.

Yes, the R word was mentioned….roommate. The entities we all love to hate. The easiest way to ensure that you are going to have a tranquil and homey space is to go into the decorating process with an open mind and an attitude of flexibility. While you do own half the room you don’t want it to be a design or personal war between the two sides. Make them coherent, even if it means giving up a bit of your personal vision. To the eye, even if everything isn’t exactly how you wanted it, congruency or even consistency will make you feel mentally more stable than two sides that are completely contrasting. Also know that probably all of your dorm dreams and plans are not going to work out. Be ready to have to change things around a few times to get it to how you wanted. It usually turns out that how it ends up is much better than your initial vision.

4. Don’t accept things for what they are.

While you need to be ready to compromise also don’t be complacent and do nothing. Challenge the boundaries and transform things in anyway you can. Anything can be reinvented and turned into something else. Walls are your blank canvas. Spice them up with easy stick on decals, or custom art. Literally though you can make the walls your canvas. Put together pieces of poster board and go wild and take collaging or doodling to a whole new level. One would be amazed at how much of a difference just a few changes can make.

5. Don’t be afraid to take risks and be creative.

Simple as that! Pick a bolder version of your favorter rummaging through thrift stores and finding the gold mines, she began to post the clothes on eBay. Within a few short months she built up a following of thousands.

Amoruso became a one woman shop with buying, selling, taking photos, packing everything up and shipping. She then realized that she had found the fire in her.

Amoruso will be the first to tell you that she would have never started her eBay business if she knew what it would have turned into because it would be too much work. She never believed that she would have been capable of something like her business, but overtime she surprised herself and learned that if she believed in herself that others would too-that is her biggest message in this book. #GIRLBOSS quickly becomes the handbook you never knew you needed before stepping out into the real world. There are lessons like, just because you got an invitation does not mean you have arrived, you are never below packing boxes, it is never cool to be drunk on your own success and you only achieve the things you want when you work for it. #GIRLBOSS is meant to be a book to inspire the future bad ass women of the world. If there is something that you don't like, you have the power to change it. If you don't like the people you surround yourself with, kick them to the curb just like you would kick someone out of your house. If there is not a job you like, create your own.

You may never know where it will take you.

Amoruso is the older sister we all wish she had with advice that every woman needs to succeed in the world.

With being the CEO of Nasty Gal she has seen it all when it comes to cover letters, job interviews and how to deal with employees. All of those stories and more become the most valuable lessons in the book.

After reading #GIRLBOSS you will feel as though you have unlocked not only some secrets about how to

A comfortable dorm in Horan. Photo by Luke Hartman. ite color, and push your comfort zone. Find a loud and funky printed tapestry. Use your walls and height! Your dorm may not be huge in space but you have height. Stack things and go vertical. Tall bookshelves or cabinets can be a lifesaver. Add a hutch over your bed or desk to give you extra storage. This creatively gives you more space and something different that sets your space apart. Your dorm should be an expression of yourself, and at the end of the day you want to be able to walk through the door and feel instantly relaxed and cozy. Decorate in a way that suits you and don’t stop until you are utterly satisfied. This may take time and you may really have to dig deep into your creative reserves, but it really is so worth it at the end of the day.

#GirlBoss is currently in it’s 15th week on the New York Times Best Seller List. Photo courtesy of Creative Commons succeed, but also feel as though you can accomplish anything no matter how big or small. As Amoruso said, “The only way to support a revolution is to make your own.”

Sports

10

August 26, 2014

What Happened This Summer In Jasper Sports?

Nick McDonough (above) and Allison Fitzgerald (right) will join MC Athletics this year.

Photos courtesy of GoJaspers.

Steve Masiello is officially reinstated.

Cincinnati’s Jermaine Lawrence, an ESPN top 100 recruits, transfers to Manhattan to play basketball.

Nick McDonough hired as new Cross Country Coach.

Allison Fitzgerald hired as assistant director of athletics.

This Week In Sports On Aug. 18, women’s basketball beat University of Ottawa 65-58 in an exhibition game at Champlain College in Ottawa for the Canadian tour opener.

On Aug. 19, women’s basketball beat Carleton University by a large margin of 67-47 at Raven’s Nest in Ottawa in its second Canadian tour game.

On Aug. 21, women’s basketball lost handily to McGill University 69-47 at Love Competition Hall in Montreal in its third Canadian tour game.

On Aug. 22, women’s soccer opened its season at home blanking Wagner College 2-0 and women’s basketball left Canada with a solid 69-55 win over l’Universitie du Quebec a Montreal at le Centre Sportif and 3-1 record.

Players of The Week Shayna Ericksen: 15 points and seven rebounds in four games.

Sports

11

Steve Masiello Earns His Degree Reinstated as Men’s Basketball Coach

Chris Cirillo Sports Editor

Steve Masiello has completed his undergraduate courses at the University of Kentucky and has officially been reinstated as the head coach of the men’s basketball team.

Masiello claimed to have graduated from Kentucky in 2000 on his resume, but when he accepted a job offer from the University of South Florida, a background check revealed he never completed all of his credits.

When USF wouldn’t allow Masiello to coach, Manhattan College offered him a path to reinstatement once he completed his degree. Masiello was placed on leave until mid-June when he earned his degree and was officially reinstated.

“I am extremely grateful to Manhattan for the opportunity to return as its men’s basketball coach,” Masiello said in a statement. “I also am happy to have completed the requirements for my degree.”

In a story that made national headlines, the decision to offer Masiello a path to reinstatement did not come without controversy. The council for faculty affairs and the chairs from the school of arts both sent separate letters to President Brennan O’Donnell expressing their concern on his decision.

“We are uncertain as to how we shall press for the importance of academic integrity, hard work, and the dignity of learning when certain members of the community seem above the rules that these principles establish,” the letter from the council for faculty affairs read.

In a response to the turmoil, O’Donnell wrote a letter to the editor and a similar letter to the council for faculty affairs and the chairs from the school of arts explaining that if they believed Masiello intentionally lied on his resume, he would have not returned.

One of the hottest coaching names in college basketball, Steve Masiello will coach the Jaspers again this season. Photo taken by James O’Connor.

Instead, administration reviewed the facts, talked with Masiello and came to the conclusion that Masiello did not know he never officially graduated.

Masiello told the New York Post that he walked in a cap and gown at commencement in 2000 but needed to take summer courses to receive his degree. He took the summer courses but never checked his grades or followed up to make sure everything was complete.

He took a coaching job at Tulane in the fall, moved out of his New York apartment and never thought about whether he had received a diploma, according to the Post.

“I never wondered about it, that I can honestly say,” Masiello told the Post. “I

never wondered about did I graduate, not once. It was a given in my mind. I thought I did what I was supposed to do. … Even if I do think I did every final, what I should’ve done is come September, call back and make sure all my classes were passed, everything was turned in and I didn’t do that at 22 years old and I’m wrong for that. I thought I was a graduate. I didn’t think there was any reason for me to follow up and check it. There’s no excuse for that.

When I think about it, yeah, I should’ve followed up. If I was the same person I was at 22 as I am at 36, this wouldn’t have happened.”

Masiello, who will be entering his fourth season as head coach of the Jaspers,

led Manhattan to its first MAAC championship in 10 years last season. He also led the Jaspers to back-to-back MAAC finals appearances.

In 2011, he led the Jaspers to the largest turnaround in the country.

“We are happy to have Coach Masiello back on campus,” Manhattan College Director of Athletics Noah D. LeFevre said in a statement. “We are pleased he was able to complete his academic requirements in order to enable his return. His presence will greatly benefit our men’s basketball student-athletes and the entire program.”

Sports

Jasper Men’s Soccer 2014-15 Kick-Off

12

Daniel Laguna Kennedy, who led the team in goals scored last season, hopes to take the Jaspers back to the postseason. Photo courtesy of GoJaspers.

Jonathon Reyes Asst. Sports Editor

As the start of the 2014-15 season approaches for Manhattan College’s men’s soccer, the Jaspers plan to make a return to Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference postseason play for a second straight year after reaching their first four-team tournament in 12 seasons last year.

A Whole Lot of Up and Down In the early weeks of the 2013 season the Jaspers faced some tough opposition in Army, Delaware and Syracuse. Each matchup ended in a loss, eventually snowballing into a six game losing streak to begin the Jaspers’ season.

Head Coach Jorden Scott tied the slow start to “a steep learning curve for [freshman]” on the team who were starters.

“That was mainly due to the inexperience of the group, the starting team,” said Scott.

Once MAAC play started, the Jaspers took their stride. They finished the season with an impressive 5-3-2 record in conference play and finished with an overall re-

cord of 5-10-3.

The team is looking to take its success in conference play and hope something similar stems into its non-conference play with the overall depth, experience and talent of the team, Scott said.

Senior captain Tommy Amos dates the struggles away from the conference to the 2012-13 season.

“Outside conference play hasn’t been our strong point in the last two years,” Amos said.

Signs of Improvement Although the Jaspers had such an uneven season last year, MAAC preseason polling – voted on by all men’s soccer head coaches around the league – ranked them fifth. This “doesn’t phase [coaches] one bit…expectation only comes outside

of us,” said Scott.

As for the players it may be extra motivation, he said.

Amos is also not concerned about the preseason poll. He is confident in Scott and the team that is going to build off of last season. That being said, he still sees the four teams polled ahead of them as “really great programs…very tough, very strong.”

“It’s not a bad thing we are right behind them or other teams,” Amos said. “We just do what we do.”

One head coach from the MAAC who speaks highly of the Jaspers is Iona’s Fernando Barboto. He credits the team’s growth and toughness over the last two seasons to Scott.

The Jasper’s are solid at all positions, a luxury other schools don’t have, he said.

“Collectively they are a strong squad,” said Barboto. “I don’t think there are two

superstars on that team. And I don’t mean that with any disrespect. I mean that from top to bottom they are just a tough team.”

There may not be “two superstars,” per se, but two players to watch are rising sophomores Daniel Laguna Kennedy, who made the All-MAAC Second Team and MAAC All-Rookie Team, and Alex Coates McDowall.

What about Now? Aside from winning the MAAC title, junior captain Alex Shackley said he wants to prepare freshmen for the future to compete for a MAAC championship and make it to the NCAA tournament year after year as “a strong force.”

“It’s not only about now,” said Shackley. “It’s about the future.”