the Quadrangle THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE | SINCE 1924
Volume XCVI, Issue 3
SEPTEMBER 12, 2017
manhattan student TESTED FOR MENINGITIS
www.mcquad.org
Trump to Rescind Protections for “DREAM-ers” COLLEGE VOWS SUPPORT FOR UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS Rose Brennan Asst. Editor
Manhattan College is taking safety measures in Chrysostom Hall, where a student was tested for meningitis. STEPHEN ZUBRYCKY / THE QUADRANGLE
Haley Burnside & Joseph Liggio Asst. Editors
Midway through Labor Day weekend, the phones of Manhattan College students lit up with a safety advisory email that made many feel far from safe. “One of our students is currently undergoing tests for meningitis,” read the email. “The College is awaiting confirmation from the NYC Department of Health.” The message advised students to “continue with common sense precautions including hand washing, avoid sharing drinks, and intimate contact.” The following day, another safety advisory email was sent out, this time coming from Director of Residence Life Andrew Weingarten. This message stated that, while there was still no confirmation of
meningitis, common sense safety was still suggested as a preventative measure. Weingarten’s message assured students that “there is no reason to worry.” “The Department of Health is confident that this is well contained and no further concern to the community is anticipated,” read the email. Despite the message, some students were left more confused than reassured. “Initially I panicked a bit and I made sure that I asked my parents to double check that I had my shots, which I know a few other people did as well,” said sophomore Silvana Acierno. “I think the school sent out the email with the medical information a while after the first one was sent out which I wish had been sent out sooner.”
IN NEWS:
IN FEATURES: Students organize vigil for Br. Ray on p. 9
Memorial Hall
construction continues on p. 3
Similarly, those who lived in close proximity to the afflicted student voiced concern over the possibility of transmission. Alex Licari, a freshman living in Chrysostom Hall, had the distinction of dorming on the same floor as the student, which resulted in a much different experience than for most living on campus. “He’s right across the [hall] from me so I was like, ‘that’s not good.’ Yeah I was definitely not happy about that,” said Licari. “But everyone else on the floor was pretty calm about it, they actually all knew he had it before, like when we got the email we already knew he had it because one of the kids took him to the hospital.” Licari said that the student in question told him he was experiencing extreme headaches,
In an address to the nation on Tuesday, Sept. 5., U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the rescission of the Obama administration’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy. DACA was implemented in 2012 and allowed the possibility for deferred action for undocumented youth, provided they met certain criteria. In the year 2015, the U.S Department of Homeland Security estimated that over 680,000 undocumented youth were protected by the policy. Deferred action is the decision by the U.S Department of Homeland Security not to remove an undocumented youth from the country for an initial period of two years, which can then be renewed on an ad hoc basis. During this period, a DACA recipient can live, attend school and on occasion work in the United States. In order to be eligible, the undocumented youth must have arrived in the United States before the age of 16, must have lived in the country since June 15, 2007 and must not have been of lawful status on June 15, 2012. In addition, he or she must be currently enrolled in school, have obtained their high school diploma or equivalency or have been honorably discharged from either the U.S Armed Forces or U.S. Coast Guard. Sessions stated that the decision was made in order to properly enforce the country’s immigration laws, and will take effect in March of 2018. “We are a people of compassion and we are a people of law. But there is nothing com-
passionate about the failure to enforce immigration laws,” he said. “Failure to enforce the laws in the past has put our nation at risk of crime, violence and even terrorism.” To Maria Nieto, an international student at Manhattan College, the rescission of DACA could communicate a message of unwelcomeness to the world outside of America. “I perceived, in Spain, an idea of the United States being the best country in the world where opportunities happened and where people achieved their dream jobs,” she said. “And in these two years now, I see that friends of mine have changed that idea, saying ‘I’d rather stay in [Spain]; I don’t feel welcome.’” Though Sessions’ address to the nation was harsh toward undocumented citizens, Associate Professor of Government Margaret Groarke, Ph.D., believes that most of America views DACA recipients as different from other undocumented citizens. This majority could even include President Trump himself. “The rhetoric of [Trump’s] campaign was very anti-immigration but he seemed to see this group of people as different,” Groarke said. “This is the most sympathetic group of undocumented Americans. Many people who otherwise are pretty tough on illegal immigration think that we have to carve out some status for these people.” Hayden Greene, the director of multicultural affairs at MC, believes that Sessions’ statement has some truth to it, but wrongfully targets undocumented youth who are pursuing a better life in America. “I think that there are issues with our immigration policy, and there are issues with every
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IN A&E:
Blossom’s mural restoration updates on p. 6
IN SPORTS:
Mike Cole tapped for baseball head coach p. 11