Issue 12, Fall 2017 - The Quadrangle

the Quadrangle THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE | SINCE 1924

Volume XCVI, Issue 12

www.mcquad.org

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

neighborhood backlash press flocks to campus as neighbors complain

MC Draws Major Media Attention Rose Brennan Asst. Editor

Two students watch a report from WNBC on the rowdiness of Manhattan College students.

TAYLOR BRETHAUER / THE QUADRANGLE

Nearly One Hundred Students Volunteer to Clean Up Riverdale Gabriella DePinho Staff Writer

On Sunday, Nov. 5, nearly 100 Manhattan College students took part in a community cleanup organized by the Neighborhood Relations Committee.

Ninety-six students and MC community members from Student Government, Air Force ROTC Detachment 506 and athletes rallied by the StudentAthlete Advisory Committee took to the streets surrounding the campus early Sunday morning to pick up trash and waste.

The cleanup focused on moving in three distinct directions. One area tackled was by the campus’ main gate which included cleaning on the street, by the guard booth and in the small green area across the street. Another area included covering the streets to, by and

IN NEWS:

Faculty and students affected

by Hurricane Maria on p. 4

Ninety-six students gathered on the steps of Kelly Commons Nov. 5, to participate in a neighborhood cleanup sponsored by student government.

RYAN QUATTROMANI / COURTESY past Overlook Manor all the way to Riverdale Avenue. The third area was south campus, by and around Leo Engineering building, the Research Learn-

ing Center and 236th Street.

The cleanup was spearheaded by senior Ryan Quattromani, __________________________

Student misconduct in the Riverdale area has been at the center of several news clippings concerning Manhattan College this past week.

The first of these articles was published online by WNBC on Friday, Nov. 3, and said, “rambunctious party-goers are leaving behind trash, empty beer cans and even trails of vomit around their quiet community.”

WNBC also provided a video component to the article, which depicted both MC students and Riverdale residents weighing in on the partying culture of the college.

This story of student misconduct was also picked up by other news outlets. The New York Post published an article titled ‘College Students Leave Neighborhood Filled With Garbage, Vomit’ the same day.

In both of these articles, City Councilman Andrew Cohen, a Democrat whose district includes Riverdale and other neighborhoods, was asked to speak on the issue.

“The kids are drinking all of the time, all over the place,” he said. “The amount of drinking that takes place at Manhattan College is out of control and the school takes no responsibility for the kids off campus,” Cohen told WNBC. On Nov. 7, within a week of the story breaking, Cohen was reelected to the City Council.

Aside from WNBC and The New York Post, more local news outlets responded to

__________________________

Continued on Page 3

IN FEATURES: MSNBC’s Chris Hayes delivers lecture on p. 5

the stories. On Friday, Nov. 10, The Riverdale Press published an editorial by Karolina Janik, which complained about the lack of intervention by the college’s administration.

“If you contact the school about the trash, the drunken rampages, and the total lack of respect regularly seen, you may or may not receive a response from the dean of students. If he does respond, he will eventually stop because somehow it’s an annoying inconvenience that your building or neighborhood is getting trashed and that you routinely wake up on a Friday bleary eyed for work,” Janik wrote.

Early responses to this negative coverage were given by Peter McHugh, the college’s director of communications.

“Any students who have b e e n found to vioPeter late our McHugh commuMANHATTAN COLLEGE / nity stanCOURTESY dar ds and code of conduct, on or off campus, have been disciplined appropriately,” McHugh said.

McHugh provided further comment for The Quadrangle.

“I think our students have a responsibility to be good members of the community,” he said.

“When you’re in a residential

Continued on Page 4

IN A&E:

Players bring “Rumors” to life on p. 8

IN SPORTS:

Joseph Gallagher ‘49 sheds light on career on p. 10

Opinions & Editorials

2

the Quadrangle Volume XCVI, Issue 12 NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Five Years After Sandy Hook, Enough is Enough

Rose Brennan Asst. Editor

The Editorial Board

Stephen Zubrycky Editor in Chief Jack Melanson News Editor

Haley Burnside Joseph Liggio Asst. News Editors

Ally Hutzler Features Editor Managing Editor

Megan Dreher Asst. Features Editor

Taylor Brethauer Arts & Entertainment Editor Managing Editor

Rose Brennan Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor

RikkiLynn Shields Sports Editor

Charles Lippolis Asst. Sports Editor

Tara Marin Social Media Editor

Catherine Goodyear Asst. Social Media Editor

Aaron Mayorga Photography Editor

Anja Pollozi Asst. Photography Editor

Alyssa Velazquez Production Editor

Abbi Kirollos Asst. Production Editor

Victoria Hernandez Morales Multimedia Editor August Kissel Daniel Molina Web Editors Thomas Callahan Faculty Advisor About The Quadrangle A tradition since 1924, The Quadrangle is a news or ganization 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 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.

Join The Quadrangle The Quadrangle’s staff holds weekly open meetings on Tuesdays at 4 p.m. in Kelly Commons Room 412. All are welcome to come and join the club.

Connect with The Quadrangle

mcquad.org @mcquad @the_quadrangle mcquad

THE QUADRANGLE

Five years ago and 20 miles from my home, on Dec. 14, 2012, 26 innocent people were gunned down in my home state of Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

For people in my state and my generation, it was almost a phenomenon akin to the previous generation’s Kennedy assassination. Almost anyone could tell you where they were when they heard about what had happened on that terrible day. I was only a freshman in high school, and I could tell you the exact room, the exact class and the exact desk I was sitting in and the exact time when I heard.

I was filled with a sense of overwhelming dread when I learned about the 26 victims, and was absolutely devastated when I learned that 20 of them were children under the age of six.

Even in the darkness that our small state was plunged into during the days and weeks following the attack, I still saw a sliver of hope. I thought, surely now things will change. Surely the lives of children will call people to change their outlook on gun safety laws.

Five years later, and I am now a sophomore in college.

All that has changed is that more people have died at the

hands of gun violence. All that changes is the location of the attacks and the number of people that died.

If we really tried, our generation could come up with a never-ending list of mass shooting locations in the United States.

Columbine.

Virginia Tech.

Charleston. San Bernardino.

Aurora. Orlando. And now Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs get added to the list, which only grows with each passing year.

Nothing has changed, at least nothing that really matters.

Sure, my hometown named a street after Victoria Leigh Soto, one of Sandy Hook’s victims, who died defending her students from the gunman. And the town hosts the Victoria Soto Memorial 5k every November to honor her memory, but other than that, we have done next to nothing.

In the wake of the tragedy, in the days and weeks immediately following, everyone banded together and said “we will never forget the 26 angels we lost at Sandy Hook”. But we have. We have forgotten the victims by refusing to act and call for change regarding gun safety laws in America.

A lot of this stems from a fear that issues such as gun control will be “politicized” in wake of a tragedy, and that it will provide an opportunity to advance a political agenda. But it is in the wake of these tragedies that we must continue to talk about and take action on

serious issues, no matter how difficult it can be to talk about them.

If we do not take action when the issue is most relevant, we then wait until we are reminded by yet another tragedy and we experience the pain and suffering and loss of life all over again. And it is the failure to take action when it is needed most that costs innocent people their lives.

Offering prayers and good thoughts only gets us so far.

And it does very little to reassure a very scared populace, especially when these horrible attacks keep happening, and especially when nothing is being done to address them.

How many more people need to die before meaningful action is taken on gun safety laws? Some people still have hope that the right thing will be done, but I am far more pessimistic. And that stems from my experience with the Sandy Hook shooting. Once our government decided that “protecting the Second Amendment” was more important than the lives of children, we passed a point of no return as a country.

I have begun to lose hope in my fellow Americans regarding how we address gun violence. If we are unwilling to address or rectify our laws when it comes to the violent deaths of our own people, especially our children, I am beginning to think we never will.

type 1 diabetes.

Now I am able to face my responsibility as a diabetic and an older sister of a diabetic. I wrote an article about living with diabetes in college for the Health Issue of the Quadrangle, which was published this past spring semester. To write the article I interviewed a number of diabetic students here at Manhattan College. I was shocked to discover how comforting it can be to discuss issues I have come to regard as a fact of life for me with others who feel the same way.

One issue I find to be a shared point of frustration among many diabetics is the misconceptions and misunderstandings of the disease. Common myths like “you get diabetes if you’re fat,” or “you can’t eat sugar if you have diabetes,”

are difficult to debunk with short and simple sentences, so they often go uncorrected.

The misinformation surrounding this disease is dangerous considering the fact that nearly 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes each year.

This year, to celebrate World Diabetes Day, I urge those who are not members of the diabetic community to visit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation website (jdrf.org) or the American Diabetes Association website (diabetes.org) to gain even a basic understanding of this disease. This could help you recognize symptoms in yourself or others, or even prevent onset of type 2 diabetes. The more we can spread understanding of this disease, the better chances we have of curing it.

Happy World Diabetes Day!

A Little Known Holiday Haley Burnside Asst. Editor

On Nov. 14, the diabetics of the world celebrate World Diabetes Day. This day of recognition is not well known outside of the diabetic community, a community of which I have been a member of since my diagnosis of type 1 diabetes at age four.

I have lived with this disease and it’s life-altering complications for as long as I can remember, but I did not become an educator or advocate (so to speak) until my younger sister was diagnosed with the same condition at sixteen. Prior to this, I had never considered it an obligation of mine to educate and inform my peers about the risk factors, symptoms, dangers, and complications of

SUBMIT YOUR OWN LET T ER Letters to the Editor may be submitted to thequad@manhattan.edu by Saturday at noon to be considered for publication. Profanity, vulgarity and hate will not be published. The Quadrangle reserves the right not to publish a letter.

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

MC Students Volunteer to Clean Up Riverdale

__________________________ Continued FROM Page 1

a student government member who founded the Neighborhood Relations Committee just two years ago.

The committee was founded as a way for students to take action as positive contributors to the MC and local communities after some incidents occurred off campus that negatively affected how the student body was viewed by Riverdale residents.

“This committee is very much focused on actionable items and efforts to showcase our great relationship with the community and not really address student misconduct but putting in place preventative measures for students,” said Quattromani.

Student Body President Micaela Bishop has seen the committee grow from creation during her early years in student government but acknowledges there is still work to be done.

“After realizing there was a major concern regarding our neighborhood, I was lucky enough to see it grow and see so many students taking an interest, but it has even more room to grow,” Bishop said.

Recently, MC has faced some negative press from local news sources that shared stories of local residents who have had issues with the students on campus.

However, this cleanup was not a response to these stories.

Quattromani identified and stressed that this event was part of the regularly scheduled programming that the committee does and that the date they chose for the cleanup was

selected before the negative press.

Dan Vekhter, a Riverdale local who lives near Overlook Manor, commented on the topic.

“They’re students who are having fun, doing things I did in college, dressing up for Halloween,” said Vekhter. “But I’ve never had an issue with the students I’ve seen around.”

The cleanup efforts did not go unnoticed by locals. H’bib, an employee at Gourmet Deli, shared that he sees students cleaning up and helping the locals regularly. “[MC students are] always the best, so nice, so respectful,” H’bib shared. “The way they go around, they teach us how to live life. They make us feel human, and you don’t find that anywhere else in the city.”

The cleanup is just one initiative by the Neighborhood Relations Committee. The same committee supports the kNOw more, an educational and informative campaign that addresses serious issues every month.

The annual luncheon, too, in which local residents are invited to meet and talk to MC students and administrators.

However, the committee hopes to expand its initiatives.

“We’re always looking for people and new ideas and new strategies and recommendations,” Quattromani said.

The committee considers the Nov. 5 cleanup to be one of the most successful cleanups they have had in its three years of existence, and hopes that the cleanup they have planned for April 22, 2018 will be just as successful.

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MC students volunteered to cleanup the area surrounding Manhattan College’s campus- including parts of Riverdale and Kingsbridge. RYAN QUATTROMANI / COURTESY

Community Cleanup

GRAPHIC BY ALYSSA VELAZQUEZ

Welcoming Neighbors Committee Continues at MC Gabriella DePinho & Shannon Gleba Staff Writers

Riverdale’s Welcoming Neighbors Committee met on the Manhattan College campus on Wednesday, Nov. 1, to discuss their continued support of the transitional housing shelter that has opened at 5731 Broadway.

The committee is comprised of local residents that live in the Community Board 8 area of the Bronx and are working to publicly support the transitional housing site that has recently opened.

The location is now accepting residents and gathering aid to assist future residents of the site.

The long term vision of the group is to have a city in which there are fewer homeless people. The group hopes for broader initiatives to tackle the larger issues that cause homelessness in NYC.

Ivan Braun, a leading member of the committee, commented on the group’s formation and goals. “[Welcoming Neighbors is] a group of people who came together to really provide a warm welcome to the people moving into the facility on Broadway and provide whatever assistance we can,” she said.

The group hopes to help provide material donations of diapers, school supplies and children’s clothings, in addition to any demonstrated needs of the residents.

Welcoming Neighbors is hoping for donations from large retailers, local stores and generous community members, including residents of the MC community.

The group has plans to provide more resources to the residents than just supplies to meet their basic needs, but to also help the residents celebrate the holidays. WN hosted a Halloween party for the residents of

the site which included candy, desserts, face painting and arts and crafts for the children. WN is starting a collection of monetary donations so the group can finance Thanksgiving dinners for the residence.

Welcoming Neighbors first interacted with the MC community through Dr. Margaret Groarke, who helped arrange the new meeting place for the group.

MC’s campus minister Conor Reidy has gotten involved with the group and is a Riverdale local who decided to take part in the group as a resident of the neighborhood and MC representative.

“I talk a lot about advocacy and community involvement in my job so I wanted to make sure I was doing that personally,” said Reidy. “One of the five points of the Lasallian stars is inclusive community so we need to make sure that not only at our college campus but in a wider Riverdale, Bronx community, we are inclusive.”

In addition to providing a meeting room, Welcoming Neighbors hopes to have Manhattan College students and faculty get involved in the organization’s efforts.

Jone Lewis, a member of WN, hopes that students will get involved in providing these resources.

“The college students are part of the neighborhood and getting involved in what’s good and healthy for the neighborhood and the people in it is a really good idea and it’s also a way to be part of the real life of the neighborhood,” said Lewis.

While many locals want to see MC students getting involved, Reidy feels it is too early for student involvement.

“I don’t think the homeless shelter has the capacity for students to be coming down to volunteer too much right now because they have yet to develop certain programming that they will be developing, like after school tutoring, GED classes,

child care. Once they do get it off the ground, I do hope to see Manhattan College students getting involved,” said Reidy.

Welcoming Neighbors member and recent Columbia graduate, Ryan Elivo, wants MC students to be aware of the importance of their role in working for broader social changes.

“Students play a very special role in democracies. Students have toppled dictators, and have fought for justice and I think students have to relive that role that we’ve had since the sixties to actually affect change,” said Elivo.

She continued.

“So, I am not even going to encourage students, they should do it because it’s a duty in a way, to get involved and see what difference they can make because education is a privilege and it’s their duty to make a difference wherever they can.”

Welcoming Neighbor’s next meeting is on Nov. 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Leo 237.

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News

THE QUADRANGLE

Faculty and Students Manhattan College Draws Major Media Attention Affected by Hurricane Maria

Victoria Hernandez Editor

Seven weeks after Hurricane Maria, the Puerto Rican community at Manhattan College feels a mix of emotions after they experienced the disaster from far away.

For Dr. Christie GonzálezToro, assistant professor of the Department of Kinesiology, seeing the destruction that the hurricane caused to the island was a “roller coaster of emotions.”

“I felt agony without knowing of my family and friends for over a week,” she said.

The house of one of her family members flooded causing a loss of 90 percent of what was inside.

Even the professional community in the island has been directly affected.

“My friends are giving me news of probabilities of getting laid off from their jobs because of the low demand for business,” González-Toro said.

Frustration is her main feeling.

“I feel frustrated because I have been helping but [I’m] feeling [like] I am not doing enough.”

But in the midst of her sadness, she’s grateful for the empathy she has received from the Jasper community.

“I am thankful of all my students and colleagues that showed their support,” González-Toro said.

For her, knowing that many Puerto Ricans lost everything is a daily struggle that she deals with.

“It is difficult to completely heal when you know that people lost everything, are lacking of basic resources to live and they are not getting the help they need,” González-Toro said.

“In addition, as an educator it is devastating to know that children are not getting the education needed due to the lack of electricity and water.”

For Keyla Torres-Piñol, freshman biology major, remorse and anxiety are her current feelings.

“Everything I was surrounded with when I grew up has been destroyed. My family lost everything,” Torres-Piñol said.

She has been impacted even

financially.

“I’m striving to figure stuff on my own. I have a hold on my account I don’t know how to deal with,” Torres-Piñol said.

For students like her, Campus Ministry & Social Action (CMSA) hosted a gathering for students impacted by recent natural disasters, including Puerto Rico, Southern Florida, the Houston area, Morelos, Mexico and the surrounding area on Sept. 29.

“It has affected me immensely, but thankfully I have a great track team that have become my family and have given my support,” Torres-Piñol said.

Angie Delgado, a junior communication major, is still in shock and disbelief.

“It broke my heart to see how my land became broken in just a few hours,” Delgado said.

But like many other students, Delgado decided to heal by helping.

“My first action towards healing was immediately trying to find ways to help. I started spreading the word of the incident and the needs my people were in. It was nice to see the quick action people took to help,” Delgado said.

Delgado is putting things into perspective and realizing how blessed she has been in comparison to others affected.

“I know there are Puerto Ricans out there who have it much worse than me. People have lost hope and have left [the island] searching for something better. Those who stay are heroes because they don’t give up,” Delgado said.

Guillermo García, junior accounting major, narrates how his grandfather had to climb to the roof of his two-story house because his whole house got flooded.

Like García, Torres-Piñol and González-Toro, each Puerto Rican at Manhattan College has been affected by this natural disaster.

“I do believe we should stick together. We should at least get together regularly and talk about this,” Garcia said. Not a lot of people would understand what we’ve been gone through but sticking together and feeling the sense of community would help emotionally.”

Discarded beer cans in the planting beds on Waldo Ave. outside Overlook Manor. WNBC first published a story on rowdy MC parties on Nov. 3. STEPHEN ZUBRYCKY / THE QUADRANGLE __________________________ Continued FROM Page 1 area, you need to show respect for the area. That’s just how we should live as responsible citizens. I think that’s where our responsibility lies.”

Following the release of these articles, a mass email was sent to the MC community by Vice President for Student Life Richard Satterlee and Dean of Students Michael Carey.

“The conduct depicted in these reports reflects serious disregard for our neighbors and the local community,” the email read. “As Lasallians, we know it is our responsibility to act with civility and decorum at all times, both on and offcampus.”

The email also stated that the college was working with outside parties including the NYPD, elected officials and Riverdale residents to address the issues raised in the articles.

Efforts are also being made on the behalf of students, according to Ryan Quattromani, chair of the college’s Neighborhood Relations Committee and a student at the college.

The committee was founded by Quattromani three years ago in response to complaints from neighborhood residents.

“The committee functions to better the relationship between

the school and the surrounding area,” he said. “This committee is… run by students. It’s really tailored toward that student response: what can we do to hold our fellow students accountable off-campus? How can we influence the Student Code of Conduct? How can we better the relationship with neighbors?”

Since it was founded, several initiatives have taken place to develop a healthy relationship between the college and the surrounding community.

These initiatives include an annual community luncheon and, more recently, a neighborhood cleanup, which took place on Nov. 5.

According to Quattromani, the partying culture has been fairly consistent in his time at the college, and that he had not observed any recent spikes in such activity, as implied in the articles.

“I just don’t see an influx in misconduct. I think this is something, at least for the three years I’ve been involved, it’s something that we’ve had pretty regularly. Not to say it’s good, but I... just this influx in the tension... there was nothing that really triggered it,” he said.

He continued.

“It’s obviously something that we don’t condone at Manhattan College, but we need to

recognize the reality that we are a space for 17- to 23-yearolds who are going to live and act like college students. And that does sometimes involve misconduct. So we need to recognize that’s the reality,” Quattromani said.

Some facts provided by the news outlets were proven to be false. The New York Post article claimed that the college’s tuition was about $58,000 per year. For the 2017-2018 school year, the college’s tuition was $38,000 per year.

According to the email sent by the college’s administration, a sentiment of misrepresentation was shared among much of the student body.

“I know that many of you are concerned to see your College characterized this way, and are already aware that this is not reflective as the student body as a whole,” the email said.

However, Janik and other Riverdale residents were reluctant to believe this.

“I would welcome the opportunity to be proven incorrect about my generalizations, and have given the school the benefit of the doubt in the past,” Janik wrote. “But as Manhattan College refuses to rein in the majority of their most visible and obnoxious ambassadors, there are not other conclusions I can come to.”

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Features

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Two Seniors Speak About Upcoming December Graduation Alexa Schmidt Staff Writer

Seniors Hayden Clarke and Lina Bengtson are graduating from Manhattan College this December. They are both are athletes on the track and field team and major in electrical engineering.

Clarke is originally from Townsville, Australia, and Bengtson hails from Malmo, Sweden. They started their college career in January, halfway through most freshmen’s first year.

“Back at home, the school year finishes in November/December. I took a year off to try and get a scholarship, but you can only take a year off before you start losing eligibility. I took my full year to get a scholarship and then came over here, and then that happened to be in January,” Clarke said.

Although Clarke is from a location where many college students usually want to study abroad, he chose to attend Manhattan College.

“I’ve always wanted to go to America for college, I thought that would be such a great opportunity to travel and see the world. Like I never left my country or anything like that.

I’ve never been overseas or anything, so I thought it was a really great opportunity. I

was pretty good you know, at track when I was younger, so I thought, why not take advantage and it brought me here. I sent my performances out all over the country and this one caught my eye the most. It’s in New York and it’s great engineering school,” Clarke said.

Being on the track and field team has been beneficial to both Clarke and Bengtson, who jump and throw, respectively.

They agree that it’s added to their overall college experience, and is one of the main reasons why they went to MC in the first place.

“It helped a lot actually, in terms of my academics. At the moment I’m not really practicing, like at all, and without that structure I sort of just waste a lot of time now. So it really helped me in term of time management and stuff. Not having the time forced me to do stuff.”

Clarke said.

“I wanted to go to America and see how it was and the track and field head coach contacted me, and we were talking, and I thought it was a cool opportunity.” Bengtson said.

Bengtson and Clarke’s graduation is a little unconventional in that they completed four years, so they technically don’t graduate early. But, Clarke still feels a lost sense of time and definitely feels like he missed out a little bit.

“For me, more than anything I felt like I missed out last year, because I came in in the middle of the year with a freshman class who I spent the whole time with, and then they’ve already graduated. So I feel like I missed out last May. I’ve got friends that are graduating next May, but it felt like I knew more people last year, and I had more friends that are out in the work force so I feel like I’ve spent a semester doing just little things to fill out my degree rather than finishing like everyone else,” Clarke said.

For Bengtson, it’s a little different. She doesn’t mind the time difference, but she misses the people she met and grew close with.

“I came in and took classes later so that I could be with the sophomore class straight away and be with the class that graduated, which is good because otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to graduate now. I don’t feel like I missed something in the fall semester, it’s just I’m sad they’re not here anymore.

But I have friends that are younger than me so it’s not that bad,” Bengtson said.

Both Bengtson and Clarke have plans for after college.

“I’ve currently applied to a Ph.D program back at home. A company I worked for over the summer offered a fellowship scholarship sort of a thing to

5

Seniors Lena Bengston (left) and Hayden Clarke (right) have elected to graduate in December.

GOJASPERS / COURTESY me, and I’m going to go back home at the end of December and see where that takes me.

That should be the next three years of my life all planned out and I’ll take it from there,” Clark said.

“I want a job. So right now I’m looking for a job and hope to try to do track a little bit. I have my paperwork done so hopefully I can stay [in the U.S.] if I get a job and eventually I’m going to get my masters degree. I’m not sure where that’s going to be yet, but either here or back home or somewhere else in the world,” Bengtson said.

Overall, their experience at MC has been a positive one.

They’ve made a lot of cherished memories, but look forward to what the future holds.

“I think it’s helped me grow up a lot, and help me sort of figure out what I want for the future. I really know now that I don’t like the cold. So i’ll never be living somewhere for a long period of time in the cold. I feel like it’s helped me grow up a lt, and that’s one of the biggest things,” Clarke said.

“I like it here. Definitely.

I’ve had a good four years so I’m not complaining,” added Bengtson.

Who Named The Major Author Reading Series: David Eye Returns to Manhattan College

RikkiLynn Shields Editor

If you’ve ever wondered where the Major Author Reading Series obtained its name, David Eye, former visiting assistant professor of creative writing at Manhattan College from 2010-2013, named the series when he began teaching here seven years ago.

Eye grew up in rural Virginia, and earned his MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University in 2008. However, this degree came after working 17 years as an actor and singer in New York City– being involved with national tours, regional theaters, and some television.

Before moving to New York in 1986, he spent four years serving in the military in Texas. As Eye says on his website, the experience places him “in

an elite group of poet/professors who have served in both the United States Army—and the Broadway tour of Cats.”

Along with working as a visiting assistant professor here at Manhattan, he has also taught at Syracuse University in the English Department and writing program, St. John’s University, Staten Island campus, and Cazenovia College. Eye also serves as an associate editor at 32 Poems Magazine.

Eye is the recipient of a 2017 Walter E. Dakin Fellowship in Poetry, along with a 2014 Tennessee Williams Scholarship in Poetry from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. He received a scholarship to the 2016 West Chester University Poetry Conference and is the winner of the 2014 Hudson Valley Writers Guild Non-Fiction Prize in the humor category. Eye was also a finalist in the 2015-2016 Tennessee Williams Poetry Con-

test, selected by Yusef Komunyakaa.

Eye’s chapbook, “Rain Leaping Up When a Cab Goes Past,” was published in 2013 in the Editor’s Series at Seven Kitchens Press, and his poems and prose have appeared in a variety of journals and anthologies.

Eye is the author of his most recent book, “Seed,” which was released in 2017 by The Word Works. The manuscript was chosen by awardwinning poet Eduardo C. Corral for the Hilary Tham Capital Collection. Eye read a variety of his poems, including a prose piece at the final MARS event of the semester this past Thursday, November 9, 2017.

“David Eye’s reading was both powerful and entertaining. He connected with the audience, in such a way that only elevated his words. His work made me think about poetry in

a new and exciting way,” said Kiera Brady, sophomore childhood/special education major.

Eye read a variety of his poems, including “Unspoken at JFK,” “Photo: Fort Sam Houston, 1984,” “MTA to Downtown F,” “Across the Galaxy,” “Last Day, Lands End,” “MTA I: 3rd Ave Bus,” “Crossing,” and a few more.

“I used to think a poem was a story with line breaks. For me, however, a poem is a stoppage of time. Short stories have elongation, but a poem, for me, is an expansion of a moment,” Eye said. “Any good effort of writing is re-creating a good experience, picking up form, and knowing your intent.”

While the usual MARS takes place in Hayden 100, this reading took place in the Rodriguez Room in Miguel Hall, making the reading much more personal. Eye dedicated the reading to his grandmoth-

er, who passed away 20 years ago this week. Throughout his reading, Eye cracked jokes, sang a little, and interacted with the audience in an enthusiastic, humorous, yet serious way.

“I thought that this MARS reading was one of the best that I have been to so far. [Eye] was engaging, and both his poems and prose were very interesting to listen to. I’m glad I had the opportunity to hear him read his writing, and I would definitely like to read more of his poems,” said sophomore Taylor Aloisio, childhood/special education major.

After living in New York City for 20 years, Eye now lives at the edge of a forest in the Catskill Mountains. He is currently working on a collection of personal essays, along with something for the stage.

“Poetry is all about following your gut and revising, revising, revising,” Eye said.

6

Features

Lecture Series Presents: MSNBC Host Chris Hayes

THE QUADRANGLE

Gillian Puma Staff Writer

Last Wednesday, students and faculty gathered in the Kelly Commons Great Room to hear MSNBC reporter Chris Hayes discuss his most recent book, “A Colony in a Nation.”

The book goes into detail about the racial injustice that occurs in our society, and the first one hundred people to arrive at the lecture got a free copy of the book.

Chris Hayes is most well known for his news-talk show “All In,” which broadcasts weeknights at 8 p.m. on MSNBC. His segments various subjects and feature interviews with political and social figures. He is both an Emmy Award winning news anchor as well as a New York Times best-selling author.

“We saw Chris Hayes was speaking at Lehman College last year and that originally sparked our interest”, John Bennett said when asked about why Hayes was chosen. “Dr. Margaret Groarke was extremely helpful in us getting him here. In fact, if not for her, and her Bronx family connections to his family, it would not have happened.”

The lecture was much-anticipated after it was postponed from its original date in early October. The rescheduling occurred after Hayes went to Las Vegas to cover the Oct. 1 mass shooting there. He stated the issues with crime such as gun

Chris Hayes, famous MSNBC reporter, spoke about racial injustice as well as the importance of participating in local elections.

PATRICK FACCAS/ COURTESY control, and then stated the importance of local elections.

“I wrote the book in 2015 and 2016 and it was sort of against the background of [the] sudden rise of Donald Trump.

I only mention him once in the book partly intentionally because I wanted the book to stand independent in the political moment,” Hayes stated as he began his lecture.

Hayes started his lecture

Free copies of Chris Hayes’ new book, “A Colony in a Nation,” were distributed to the first students to arrive at the lecture.

LAUREN SCHUSTER / THE QUADRANGLE

by discussing the importance of prosecutor elections, being that he arrived a day after Election Day. He started talking about the Virginia elections, in which Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie used racially and ethnically charged campaign tactics. One of the ads Hayes pointed out was a white player kneeling for the anthem.

Gillespie was defeated by Democrat Ralph Northam, 53.9 percent to 45.0 percent.

“One of the maddening things about conversations in American politics around race and particularly around crime is often there’s this semantic slipping that’s happening in which people claim they aren’t talking about race,” Hayes said as he discussed how people tend to ignore actual facts and go off on biased results.

Another example Hayes discussed at length was Gillespie’s campaign ad about the Central American gang MS-13. The ad had pictures of a group of heavily tattooed men, including one of the men having a face tattoo that said “Kill, rape, control.”

He went on explaining how the gang was made in the United States, and how the men in the picture were not actually convicts of MS-13.

“They can be maddening because people are always talking about two things at once,” he said. Hayes continued describing how, during the 2016 campaign, Donald J. Trump’s mechanism of ‘saying the quiet part out loud’ had been used heavily in Gillespie’s gubernatorial bid.

“One of the main arguments

when we talk about crime and law and order is that we’re not talking about crime, and we’re not talking about law,” Hayes said.

He continued.

“We are talking about social order. We are talking about who gets to be on the right side of the law and who gets to be on the wrong side of the law.”

The end of the lecture was then followed up with a question-and-answer amongst students and faculty alike. When asked why he wrote the book, Hayes went into detail about how covering stories such as the racial tensions in Ferguson, Mo., and social injustice had inspired him. He then explained how growing up in New York and having a fear of crime starting from when he was a kid.

“It drives me insane how the President describes Chicago,” Hayes said. “Again an actual real problem that real people are working very hard night and day to make better. But the President doesn’t seem [to] care about that. What he does is he swoops in and talks about how people are killing each other in Chicago. If the President cared about the actions in Chicago he would do something, but the only thing you can conclude is that he finds it politically advantageous as does Fox News and conservative media to talk about black-on-black crime in Chicago.”

Hayes then described that the “dog whistle” mechanism that Trump uses against Chicago reinforces racial stereotypes and relieves people of confronting police brutality. He then compared it to the way white writers would write

about black-on-black crime during the Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.

“Dispatches from the South where white Northerners would go down to would just say they’re killing each other.

Lawless. Crazy. They’ve got a homicide problem down there.

This is what happens when you give them freedom. All these tropes we have now are essentially what the writers were talking about in the reconstruction era. Right after the end of the civil war and the end of slavery,” Hayes described as he compared the writing to the modern day statements made by the conservative news.

Ellie Siwicki, a senior that attended the event, said that Hayes was very intellectual and liked his input on the prosecution elections.

“The elections that occurred on Tuesday are so important and it’s necessary that they be discussed,” Siwicki said. “Tuesday was a landmark for people that the Trump administration is negatively targeting, and we can’t forget that.”

Professor Jonathan Keller of the college’s government department also stated his thoughts on Hayes lecture.

“I liked how Hayes said he believes the result last night indicated that there is a largescale resistance to President Trump’s agenda shouldn’t just be understood as a discrete event,” Keller said.

In the end of his lecture, Hayes signed autographs for everyone and even took pictures with people who had attended the event. Over one hundred students and faculty members were in attendance.

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

Arts & Entertainment

7

Players Bring Neil Simon’s “Rumors” to the Black Box Taylor Brethauer Editor

The Manhattan College Players performed their annual fall mainstage play on Nov. 9, 10 and 11 in the Black Box Theater located on the fifth floor of Thomas Hall. The play, entitled “Rumors”, is a comedy written

by Neil Simon.

The Players are no strangers to comedy, as their annual murder mystery a few weeks prior brought the house down.

Their mainstage spring musical, “Legally Blonde”, also provided a lively night of entertainment and laughter.

This time around, “Rumors” transported the Players and their audience back into the 1980s during a time of puffy sleeves and songs by Queen.

The Black Box Theater held 61 chairs in the tiny area, as a quaint living room took up residence on the other half of the room. The well-placed furniture, props and color of paint seemed like we were brought right back to any grandmother’s household—a perfect setting for an anniversary party in the 20th century.

As the time drew near for the production to start, classmates, family and faculty piled into those 61 chairs, picking up their Playbills upon entering the room. The show began abruptly as the doors shut and a recognizable 80s song played over the loud speakers, to set up the era in which the plot was about to take place.

The lights came up on Chris Gorman (played by Maria Summerville), a woman wringing her hands in apparent nervousness as she stood in the living room looking toward a far door. Her husband, Ken Gorman (Steven Goolsby), enters

Set in the 1980s, “Rumors” features a highly convoluted plot.

SARA MILANO / THE QUADRANGLE and the audience soon learns their friend Charlie attempted to kill himself and now they’ve found themselves at the wrong place at the wrong time. Rogue house party guests, screaming and rapid-fire monologues ensue.

The acting in this show required the students to deliver their jokes in a speedy fashion, one after another. The audience surely appreciated this, as their laughter echoed throughout the performing space.

But no one’s laughter was as

loud as that of director Martin “Marty” Marchitto, who put the show together with help from sophomore Gabby Kasper who served as assistant director.

Marchitto, who has been with the Players for six other productions, is now able to put the hilariously clever play “Rumors” on his resume as the seventh production. “Rumors” certainly had the special Players touch, as each student performer, no matter their class year or major, were able to deliver a performance with minor

flaws, all-in physical comedy and authenticity all while seemingly enjoying themselves.

There were many showstoppers throughout the play, such as Ernie Cusack’s (played

by Matthew Peters) monologue going one word per second recounting a mishap in the kitchen, ultimately ending with him gasping for air and groaning that it “all happened so fast.”

Or the refreshingly quirky and brilliant performance offered

by Camryn Kidney, who played Cookie Cusack, a television

cooking personality with a back problem.

As the lights dimmed for the end of intermission an hour after the start of the play and “Under Pressure” by Queen began to play, the end of the plot was nowhere in sight. But as more crazy things happened to the cast of characters, it was even more unclear as to what was going to happen.

As police officers entered the room, it was up in the air as to what was going to come of the group as they were now all clearly accessories in an attempted suicide. But to save the day, out came Lenny Ganz (Nicholas Chiofalo), who gave an absolutely outrageous monologue to serve as an alibi for all of the party guests.

By the end, it seemed everything had all settled into place. While the mystery of the attempted suicide had never really been solved, it was clear that our conflict for the cast of zany characters had been resolved for the most part.

The cast approached the border between set and audience seating to bow to a standing ovation at the end and slowly danced out to another 80’s hit song, another Players show come and gone.

“Rumors” provided a good escape for two hours, with a plot that didn’t make sense in the best way. The wacky situations between every pair of characters brought about fresh waves of laughter. It was a great time to be had, as custom of Players productions.

The next show for Players will be the Cabaret on Dec. 8 and 9 in the Black Box Theater, with a coffeehouse theme. On the back of the Playbill, the theater troupe officially announced their spring mainstage musical, “Into the Woods.”

“Rumors” has a fast wit, with jokes coming one after the other.

SARA MILANO / THE QUADRANGLE

Arts & Entertainment

8

THE QUADRANGLE

Scatterbomb Hosts Annual English Night Rose Brennan & Alyssa Velazquez Asst. Editor & Editor

Any Scatterbomb show is sure to be hilarious and fun, but one unique event promises a performance unlike any other: their annual “English Night.”

English Night is when professors from the English Department attend one of the Scatterbomb shows and perform monologues, which Manhattan’s own comedy troupe utilizes to perform several skits.

Originally, the three professors slotted to perform monologues were Maeve Adams, Ph.D., Ashley Cross, Ph.D. and Rocco Marinaccio, Ph.D. Unfortunately, Cross was unable to attend, and so a panel of English faculty took her place.

The improvised panel consisted of Adam Koehler, Ph.D., David Witzling, Ph.D. and Margaret Toth, Ph.D. The monologues provided by the professors covered a wide range of subjects, from Adams’ various hobbies, to Marinaccio failing his second road test within four seconds, to Koehler committing a social faux pas in front of Toth the first time he heard her lecture.

To Marinaccio, the key to a successful monologue is selfdeprecation.

“I mean I don’t want to stand up here and try to be cool or be snarky about anybody else. I think you’re probably going to get your best laugh if you’re making fun of yourself,” he said.

The English professors providing monologues for the event change every year, but Marinaccio performs every year.

Marinaccio was at one point the faculty advisor for Scatterbomb and the idea of English Night came to be about five years ago from his collaboration with the members of the group.

“There are three majors in Scatterbomb now, but there was just this bumper crop of majors [five years ago]. A lot of them I knew pretty well and we were just trying to think of some activities that the English department could sort of pair up with other organizations on campus where there were kind of existing crowds and existing interest,” he said.

Thus, Scatterbomb’s annual English Night was born.

The event has evolved over time into what it has become today. Originally, the professors did not provide monologues for the Scatterbomb members to draw upon during scenes.

Instead, they supplied titles of novels or answered questions provided by the group.

Senior and Scatterbomb President Angela Benevenia explains that “getting a monologue as a suggestion could be very different than a word

because you want to recreate the story they told, because it’s funny…”

She continues by emphasizing the point that although the group is given an entire story for their performances they “don’t want to do it exactly, [we] don’t want it to be like a script, [we] want it to be still a suggestion.”

Marinaccio recalled one particular year when one of the members asked him about his funniest teaching moment, to which he shared the best excuses he had ever heard re-

__________________________

Professors from the English department delivered monologues that formed the basis for Scatterbomb’s improvisational skits. garding a late paper. To him, there was one excuse to which all others paled in comparison. “[The student’s] paper was due, he was proof-reading it on the subway, sort of sitting... and holding a cup of coffee, and some guy died, and had a heart attack, and fell in his lap and spilled the coffee all over the papers,” he said.

Marinaccio said he was inclined to believe his student, especially considering the unique excuse he provided.

“Sure enough, later that evening, like on News 12, there was a story about this guy who died on the subway between 238th Street and 242nd Street,” Marinaccio said.

Freshman, and one of the newest members of Scatterbomb, Aeden Roney, recounts all of his Scatterbomb shows thus far, describing each one to be unique in its own way, however he points out that English Night is interesting because of people were able “to see how the students and the professors meshed together.”

He continues by stating that the “monologues that the professors had prepared made this one really special because unlike the other nights when we were given a single word, we were given a full story to build off of, and that really brought us to some interesting places.”

For the next and last Scatterbomb of the Fall Semester, which will take place in Hayden Hall 100 on Dec. 1, the comedy troupe looks forward to their next show having a holiday theme, complete with an ugly sweater contest, to wrap up their semester of shows.

Maeve Adams, Ph.D, tells stories regarding her hobbies.

ALYSSA VELAZQUEZ / THE QUADRANGLE

English Professors Adam Kohler, David Witzling and Margaret Toth sit with Scatterbomber Kevin Donald at Scatterbomb’s annual English night.

ALYSSA VELAZQUEZ / THE QUADRANGLE.

English Professor Rocco Marinaccio delivers a monologue.

ALYSSA VELAZQUEZ / THE QUADRANGLE

Arts & Entertainment

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

9

“Harrison Bergeron” Explores a Distopian Future The Book Nook Rose Brennan Asst. Editor

Equality among people from all walks of life might seem desirable. But Kurt Vonnegut’s view of the implications of equality is far more pessimistic.

“Harrison Bergeron” is a short story which satirizes this desire for equality. In the year 2081, the government mandates equality, but extends it from the political realm and into all aspects of life so no one is stronger, more intelligent, or superior in any way to anyone else.

This “equality” is achieved in a number of ways. Wiser people must wear radio transmitters which send out noise interferences, keeping them from thinking for too long.

Stronger people must carry weights on their back. Prettier people must wear grotesque masks to hide their beauty.

The story focuses on a married couple named George and Hazel Bergeron. Their son, a fourteen-year-old named Harrison, has recently been taken into custody by the government agency which is responsible for enforcing equality: the United States Handicapper General.

While George and Hazel know something is wrong, they cannot remember what has happened. Hazel is always crying, but she cannot remember why.

When the story begins, the Bergerons are enjoying a quiet evening at home, watching ballerinas perform on television.

While Hazel believes they are beautiful and skilled, her husband is much more cynical, thinking that they are no better than anyone else. This means, of course, means that the government is doing its job.

George has his own revolutionary ideas regarding equality as he “was toying with the vague notion that maybe dancers shouldn’t be handicapped.

But he didn’t get far with it before another noise in his ear radio scattered his thoughts.”

During the broadcast, one of the ballerinas interrupts the performance to warn the audience of an escaped prisoner of the Handicapper General: Harrison Bergeron.

She says, “He is a genius and an athlete, is under-handicapped, and should be regarded as extremely dangerous.”

The minute George realizes that his son has escaped custody, a noise interference occurs, and he cannot focus.

When he comes to, Harrison

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himself is on the broadcast.

Harrison immediately takes control, declaring himself as the Emperor. He then rids himself of his several extremely extensive handicaps, revealing his true self and his true potential at the same time.

He then selects one of the ballerinas, likely the most beautiful due to how grotesque her mask is, to be his Empress. He removes all of her handicaps as well, and asks the orchestra to play music for them.

Harrison and his Empress engage in a beautiful dance, at the end of which they leap into the air. But they come to learn that even though they can hope to touch the sky, they can never truly escape the grasp of the oppressive Handicapper General.

“Harrison Bergeron” has always been one of my favorite pieces of literature, because the satire which punctuates the story expands upon a true hypocrisy in our society. When children are young, society encourages them to follow their dreams and to be unique. But the minute someone becomes truly extraordinary or dares to challenge the status quo, society does its best to quell any hope of further success by telling him or her not to rock the boat or stand out in any way.

“Harrison Bergeron” is found in Kurt Vonnegut’s “Welcome to the Monkey House” collection.

ROSE BRENNAN / THE QUADRANGLE

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THE QUADRANGLE

Joseph Gallagher ’49: Highlighting The F RikkiLynn Shields Editor

Joseph Gallagher, Manhattan College Class of 1949, was one of 11 children– number 7 to be exact– born to Anna and Edward Gallagher. He grew up in Riverdale on Johnson Avenue, and attended both Manhattan Prep and Manhattan College.

Five of the Gallagher children attended Manhattan College, including Arthur Gallagher– who, along with Joe, are the only surviving Gallagher siblings.

“My childhood went by in a hurry– marked by lots of handme-downs, plenty of sports games, hikes in the very rural part of the Bronx, fishing and crabbing in the Hudson, always plenty of food and frequent trips down through Ewen Park to 231st St. and stops at Grandpa Brennan’s on Corlear Ave., or maybe to Broadway for ice cream at Luhr’s, or a movie at the Marble Hill Theatre. My childhood was competitive, a little bit with my closest older brother and more intense with my neighbors. Mostly, we were pals and time moved quickly.”

Gallagher said.

Gallagher attended St. Gabriel’s parish, which was formed in 1939. The first three years of Mass were celebrated at the Manhattan College Chapel.

“As a kid, I attended Manhattan College baseball games on Jasper Field, now occupied

by Draddy Field House. In the ‘30s, Manhattan consistently was the best or among the very best in the East. Several Manhattan stars of the ‘30s made it to the major leagues, the most celebrated being Buddy

Joseph Gallagher ‘49 grew up in Riverdale and attended Manhattan Prep and Manhattan College before starting a career in sports.

MANHATTAN COLLEGE ARCHIVES / COURTESY Hassett ‘33 who played for the Boston Bees (later the Braves), Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Yankees in 1942 before entering the U.S. Navy. We admired the Manhattan baseball team and all of the players.

Manhattan College has been a part of my life from the beginning. The Christian Brothers were very community oriented.

Us kids were invited to play our baseball games on Jasper Field, to run of the cinder track and frequently to use the indoor swimming pool and showers.

We belonged. My blood had turned Kelly Green.” Gallagher said.

Before graduating from PS

7, Gallagher received a half scholarship to attend Fordham Prep, however, his heart was set on Manhattan Prep. Gallagher’s father, Edward, went to the Brothers and explained the situation. Manhattan Prep offered him half scholarship, and ultimately, Gallagher chose to attend Manhattan Prep.

“My teacher at PS 7 who prepared me for the Fordham Prep exam was so irritated with me when I chose Manhattan.

She said, ‘Why don’t you just go to Yale?’” Gallagher said.

At the end of Gallagher’s first week at Manhattan Prep, his father, a Bronx Borough Clerk and Democratic Leader

Gallagher served as Editor-in-Chief and Sports Editor of The Quadrangle, before graduating in 1949 and starting a career in sports journalism at The New York Herald Tribune, The New York Times, CBS and NBC.

ABOVE: Joseph Gallagher ‘49 with former New York Yankee Billy Martin.

RIGHT: Joseph Gallagher ‘49 with former President Gerald R. Ford at the Heismann Trophy Dinner.

MANHATTAN COLLEGE ARCHIVES / COURTESY

of the North Bronx, suddenly passed away. Gallagher was off to school the next morning, essentially preparing to tell the brothers and the principle that he would be unable to attend the school.

“They told me, ‘Let us worry about it.’ The brothers found me a job to pay for my tuition, and for 4-5 years, I was the switchboard operator for the college. I worked weekends and some evenings, and ultimately, they paid for my tuition.” Gallagher said, “In a sense, I was part of a family.”

In 1945, Gallagher was invited to Spring training by the New York Giants baseball team.

“I was only 17 at the time.

I thought I was pretty good, but I didn’t measure up for the Giants–I was more of a contact hitter, and they were looking for guys who could hit the ball a long way, and I didn’t do that. I hit the ball– but they were looking for home run hitters.”

After having his tryout, Gallagher realized that baseball wasn’t his career, so he considered getting involved in the newspaper industry.

After entering Manhattan College’s school of business, with a law career in mind, Gallagher joined The Quadrangle.

“My junior year, I became the sports editor– I was probably the only one applying for it at the time. Then, I went into the army, and when I came back, all of the veterans were also back as well, and the school had grown to 3,000 or 4000 students. That’s when I became the co-sports editor with Bill Miller. It was great to work with him. I had a year of that, and it was a learning experience. At the end of that year, the editor-in-chief at the time

became the editor of the yearbook, and couldn’t handle both, so they called for a new editor– he pushed for me because primarily, I took control of putting the paper together, and that is essential. Being a writer is one thing, but you still have to put the paper together, so I became the editor-in-chief. I wrote a column every week and gave assignments and managed the staff and we put out a pretty good paper.”

Gallagher worked for a year as the correspondent for the New York Times and the New York Herald Tribune. When Gallagher became the editor, his brother Dan worked as sports editor. Gallagher then became the editor of the sports section of the class of ’49 yearbook.

“I was happy to assume the responsibility of the editor of the paper. It was a challenging assignment, trying to write an interesting column every week, and I didn’t avoid controversy, which got me in hot water a few times, but I got through.

And then of course one of the big challenges was, every Monday, I had to go to the print shop in lower Manhattan and it was kind of a dreary neighborhood.”

Working as both the sports editor, and the editor-in-chief of The Quadrangle increased Gallagher’s ambition and desire to work in the media and newspaper business. His work on The Quadrangle and his time at Manhattan College kicked off his lengthy and distinguished career in the television sports business.

“My position with The Quadrangle was very important for my career afterwards.

In January ’49, Manhattan’s basketball team scored a tre-

Sports

NOVEMBER 14, 2017

11

Former Sports Editor’s Astounding Career mendous upset when they beat West Virginia University.

Everyone celebrated, and the next day at noon, they canceled classes and we had a pep rally.

At the pep rally, Don Dunphy, television and radio sports announcer and Manhattan College graduate, spoke. He was class of ’30, and had a distinguished career as a sports broadcaster.

His main sport was boxing, and he was selected in 1999 as the greatest boxing announcer of the century, but he also did baseball, college football, and basketball– but boxing was his main reputation.” Gallagher said.

When the pep rally ended, Gallagher made a point to talk to Dunphy. A few weeks later, he spoke to Dunphy again at the Saint Gabriel’s Communion Breakfast. Just before baseball season began, Dunphy called Gallagher and said that he was working on The Yankees pre/ post game shows for WINS Radio, and needed someone to help him with writing and keeping up with the scoreboard.

“He asked if I was interested and I said, ‘Well, yes!’”

Gallagher said enthusiastically.

“The pay was very low, it was $25 a week, and my response was, ‘Do you pay me, or do I pay you?’ and that was the beginning of my career in radio.”

Gallagher said.

Gallagher worked with Dunphy for a few years, however when there was an opening for the New York Yankees

broadcast, he was hired as a statistician for Mel Allen from 1951-1954. He started working the same day as both Mickey Mantle and Bob Shepard.

“In ‘54, Red Barber announced for the Dodgers, but ended up being hired by the Yankees. He liked my work, and was also the director of Sports at CBS. In August of the ’54 season, he said there was no future in being a scorekeeper. I told him I had been waiting for the right opportunity, and he said ‘I think I have it for you’” Gallagher said.

Gallagher was then hired at CBS Sports, and they were just beginning to get into television on a network bases. Gallagher was in on a ground floor.

He was hired as a producer, and worked handling the Major League Baseball game of the week, along with NFL and College Football games. Gallagher was also one of the early pioneers of instant replay in the early 1960’s.

“I became one of the top sports producers at CBS, and in 1962 when the Mets started, I was offered a position to produce the Mets TV and radio, and I accepted that because that was big. Even though they were a bad team at the time, they were very popular. New York had been insulted when the Dodgers and the Giants moved to the west coast, and they were delighted to have a team back, so they embraced the Mets. I did that for 4 years,

then NBC made me an offer, which I accepted. As mush as I liked the 4 years and considered that the best 4 years of my career, when you’re working with a baseball team, you’re away half of the time and when you’re home, you’re still not at home.” Gallagher said.

Gallagher was the first producer for the NY Mets broadcasts on WOR from 1962-1966.

In the late 1960’s, he moved to NBC Sports, and worked producing NFL, MLB, NHL and college basketball games.

“During the NBC era, I produced the ECAC Basketball Column of the Week.

I did games in New York, Boston, Providence, Philly, and Pittsburgh. This was an important series that indirectly, led me to my relationship with Syracuse.”

Following his career at NBC, in 1977, Gallagher became an Assistant Athletic Director at Syracuse University, in charge of gaining exposure for Syracuse on television and radio. Gallagher worked with Syracuse University for about 4 years. He also helped arrange the building of the Carrier Dome in 1980.

“When my goals had been accomplished, I left and joined a new radio sports network audit, but it didn’t make it so I scrambled, and ended up in Houston where I was director of sports at a radio station.”

Gallagher worked as the executive producer for Enterprise

Radio, which was founded in 1981 as the country’s first all sports radio network. This station became the model for ESPN Radio. In this sense, Gallagher was way ahead of his time.

In 1984, Gallagher was a director for ABC and was awarded an Emmy for his role in broadcasting the Olympic Summer Games in Los Angeles. Along with his many other accomplishments, Gallagher also served as PR Director for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1985-1986.

In late 1999, Gallagher and his wife, Carol, a Tennessee native, decided to cash it in to essentially retire in Louisville.

However, Gallagher managed to handle the press relations for the Knoxville Smokies in the early 2000’s.

“I’ve had a very, what I’d consider, high profile and very successful TV/ Sports Career.

And Manhattan College has always been very important to me in anything I do.” Gallagher said.” Gallagher said.

In everything Gallagher did, he tried to keep Manhattan College in mind. Gallagher, who was one of the forerunners for arranging the broadcast of college basketball, oversaw the production of Manhattan’s basketball game with South Carolina in 1974 while arranging for Brother Leo to be the featured halftime guest.

Gallagher served for a few years on the Alumni Advisory

Committee, and worked with the committee and the Athletic Hall of Fame to essentially promote the establishment of the Hall of Fame for Manhattan athletes.

“Coming back to Manhattan is like my homecoming. I always love walking up the stairs onto The Quadrangle, next to the chapel, or simply just being there.” Gallagher said.

Coming into Manhattan College’s Business School, while Gallagher is grateful for the education he received and the relationships he built, he believes that The Quadrangle is what led him to having such a successful career in the sports media industry.

“Ultimately, my education was The Quadrangle.” Gallagher said.

Gallagher, otherwise considered to be, in a sense, the mastermind behind Manhattan’s Hall of Fame, was recently inducted into the Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame.

Gallagher has maintained a close relationship to Manhattan College athletics his entire life, and remained good friends with former Manhattan College Basketball Coach and Athletic Director Jack Powers. Gallagher has six children, 11 grand children, and 4 great grand children.

“If you want to do it, I say do it. If you apply yourself, opportunities will happen and good things will happen as well.” Gallagher said.

This Week in Sports

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Sports

RUN MATT RUN

THE QUADRANGLE

Graduate Student to Run from California to New York

Michevi Duffart Staff Writer

A Tennessee native and fellow Jasper, J. Matthew Billings, has plans to run from the Golden State of California, all the way back to the Big Apple, New York City, this coming summer.

A current Manhattan College graduate student in the School of Engineering, Billings serves as a graduate assistant to Residence Life, and also runs unattached with the Cross Country Team.

In these positions, Matt has befriended several people. One such person, Resident Assistant Patrick Estanbouli. “[Matt]’s a great grad assistant and is really there for the RAs so he makes a great supervisor of sorts and friend,” Estanbouli said.

Prior to arriving at Manhattan College, Billings also served as a Lasallian volunteer at La Salle Academy, an all boys high school located in lower Manhattan.

During his time at La Salle Academy as a math and health teacher, campus minister and track coach, Billings taught and

coached students.

He shares that one of his students/athletes is part of the reason why he started planning his run across the country.

The student, which he taught and coached, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer in the middle of his last year.

This event led Billings to begin thinking about what he could do to better the situation.

Then this past summer, one of Billings’ very own family members was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Billings says, “[This news] came as a hard hit to my family and me, I knew I wanted to do something to help. So the best way I knew was to raise money for them and other people that have been affected by cancer by running across the country to help raise money and awareness.”

The run beginning in San Francisco, California will end in New York City, New York and will be done in a relay style over the summer of 2018.

Billings will be doing this with 9 other runners from across the country who have also been affected by cancer in one way or another.

The 4k Ulman Cancer Fund, a program that helps sponsor the group and provides them with the necessary equipment to make this journey, also has fundraising pages for the runners, which is similar to a GoFundMe page.

“Ninety percent of what we raise will go directly to the families that have been affected,” Billings said.

However, running across the country in no simple feat.

Training for the run is described by Billings as rigorous and difficult.

“You have to prepare your body for running a marathon a day for 2 months,” Billings said.

As for the route of the run, Billings says that he and the other nine runners are visiting some of their favorite spots along the way such as, Yosemite Park, Rocky Mountains, Niagara Falls, and other National Parks.

Throughout this experience, Billings hopes to gain “a humble knowledge,” knowing that with every footstep he takes, he is not only growing as an individual, but also inspiring others to get active and healthy.

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This summer, residence life graduate assistant J. Matthew Billings will run to New York from San Francisco to benefit cancer research.

J. MATTHEW BILLINGS / INSTAGRAM / COURTESY In a similar way, Estanbouli says, “I think his run can really encourage other Jaspers to go out and do something amazing and different and at the same time give to others or a cause.”

Additionally, Billings wants to be challenged in a way that feels like he is walking with them throughout their battle with cancer, empathizing with all those affected.

“Matt is a goofball with a big heart. He’s energetic, friendly,

social, extremely caring and is generally a great person overall. He really puts others before him and always does his best to make sure that everyone is okay or to help anyone in need,” says Estanbouli.

Most of all though, throughout his journey, Matt wishes to convey to survivors and their families that he, the other runners, and all the people supporting them, believe in their fight.

Meet Senior Softball Player Rachel Mumma JASPERS TALK

Catherine Goodyear Asst. Editor

Rachael Mumma is senior softball player who is graduating this upcoming May of 2018 as a computer science major with a minor in mathematics and religious studies. The #3 middle end fielder began exploring different religions after taking the Arches course, The Nature and Experience of religion.

The Quadrangle: Why did you chose your religious studies major?

Rachael: I chose religious studies because I had Dr. Mehnaz Afridi my freshman year for the 110 course and she really changed how I thought about religions and different groups of people and how those different groups of people interact, and how important religion is and can be and what people’s faith means to them and it made me just want to explore

it and learn more about other people’s faith in general.

The Quadrangle: Do you practice any faith in particular?

Rachael: I do not. I do not affiliate with one certain religion or deity, but I am exploring that in my studies.

The Quadrangle: Does faith affect the way you play at all?

Rachael: It doesn’t because I don’t really have a higher power, so I don’t think about it on the field. I don’t pray before games or anything.

The Quadrangle: How do you motivate yourself to play your best before a game?

Rachael: I think I speak for everyone on the team when I say we are a highly competitive team. Just being a division one student athlete, you are a highly competitive person so just the thought of losing it way too much. It gets you motivated, it gets you ready to go so when you know what losing feels like, you know you don’t want to lose this next game.

The Quadrangle: Do you feel like you religiously practice your sport?

Rachael: I definitely religiously practice softball. To me and to my teammates, and probably other athletes at this level, it’s a way of life. Being a division I athlete is a lifestyle.

It has to be when you invest as much time in it as we do.

The Quadrangle: How do you think your team is going play this season?

Rachael: I think our team has a great season ahead of us.

We have a lot of starters returning which is always good to have that experience, but we also have a lot of young talent with the incoming freshman.

The Quadrangle: Do you have any goals for this season?

Our goal is always to win MAACs As a senior, we have yet to win a championship and I know we upperclassman are dying to do it. I think if we play together, we can have the best season yet.

Rachel Mumma is a senior middle end fielder majoring in computer science.

GOJASPERS / COURTESY