Issue 4, Fall 2017 - The Quadrangle

the Quadrangle THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE | SINCE 1924

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Volume XCVI, Issue 4

www.mcquad.org

Manhattan College Honors College Enrolls Smaller Freshman Class Amid Victims of September 11 Demographic Changes 772 ENROLL IN CLASS OF 2021 Rose Brennan & Alexa Schmidt Asst. Editor & Staff Writer

Student government placed flags on the Quad to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

AARON MAYORGA / THE QUADRANGLE

Catherine Goodyear Asst. Editor

On Sept. 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 lives were lost due to organized terrorist attacks on the United States.

Sixteen years later, the Manhattan College community honors the brave men and women who died tragically that day.

Patrick Maurer, vice president of club administration, student government and the Veterans Club placed flags on the Quad early Monday morning, representing the victims and service people who died in the attacks. The school had a moment of silence on the quad for when each World Trade Center tower was hit.

“It is important to still remember 9/11 sixteen years later for a numerous amount of reasons. A big one to me is how sudden and tragic human life was taken on that day from

IN NEWS:

that evil act. As we look back on that day every year it’s important to take note about how we came together as Americans in wake of an evil terrorist act,” said Maurer.

Traditions, services and museums that memorialize that day are important - especially to people whose lives were directly affected including junior psychology major, Eva Pugliese.

“I think it’s great that we acknowledge 9/11 and I love what we do on the quad and the visual representation of the flags does it well because even though it is something people read in a textbook, it is something that really affected us especially being from New York City and that day is something that really brought everyone together and unified the city.

People were helping strangers on the street and the flags makes you realize the depth of who died, who served, and who was there that day,” said Pugl-

iese.

Many students faculty and staff from MC remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news about the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon.

Brother Robert Berger began a tradition of his own that still holds to this day.

“On September 11, 2001 many members of the Manhattan College community gathered on the roof of Jasper Hall to look across the city and watch with tears as the smoke rose over the two World Trade Center buildings. Since that time every September 11 has turned the roof of Jasper Hall into a sacred space. Sixteen years later, present-day students with little or no actual memory of the event gather on the roof to remember those who have died and those who risked their lives to save others. Every year is the same: prayers, awe and, for some,

During Manhattan College’s opening weekend, 772 new first-year students started to call its campus their home away from home.

These new students came from an applicant pool of 7,622 prospects, out of which 5,746 were admitted, according to figures provided by Caitlin Read, the college’s executive director of admissions & enrollment operations.

These numbers demonstrate an increase in the college’s admission rate, rising from 71 percent for the class of 2020 to 75 percent for the class of 2021.

The above numbers are subject to change until Sept.

29, when the college census is finalized and the numbers become official.

Phoebe Torsilieri, a senior tour guide, talked about the number of students [for the class of 2021] that showed an interest in MC before they

Freshman Freshman Enrollment Enrollment by Admission Year

by Admission Year Source: Admissions Office, Source: Admissions Office, TheThe Quadrangle Quadrangle --------------------------------------------------

905 747

2014

2015

814 772

2016

2017

committed. “I gave a tour during one of the open houses to about 50 people, which is crazy.

And I wasn’t the only one who gave a tour that size, there was maybe ten other tour guides out who were giving out giant tours. This was a huge, huge group that came and looked at the school.”

The class of 2021 is slightly smaller than the preceding class of 2020, which welcomed 814 students during this time last year. However, Vice President of Enrollment Management William Bisset, Ph.D., explains that there is no reason for concern.

“Right now, in terms of undergraduate enrollment, the college is bigger than it’s ever been,” Bisset said. “This was the fourth largest class in the last 20 years.”

According to Bisset, the incoming class was purposefully designed to have a slightly smaller enrollment from years in advance. The ultimate goal was to have a freshman class of around 800 students entering the college in fall 2017.

“When we’re designing our enrollment strategies, it’s around keeping the undergraduate enrollment at an optimal level,” Bisset said.

This ‘optimal level’ is anywhere between a total enrollment of 3,400 to 3,600 students.

Currently, the college’s undergraduate student body is comprised of 3,463 students.

This decline in both applications and enrollments is not specific to MC. According to Bisset, the U.S is currently experiencing a demographic decline in college-age citizens.

This means that there are less people to apply for higher

__________________________

__________________________

Continued on Page 5

Continued on Page 4

IN A&E:

MC voter turnout Lights! Camera!

Action! MCTV is surges in 2016 back on p. 7 on p. 3

IN FEATURES: MARS begins with Robert Greens on p. 10

IN SPORTS:

Talia Price does Jaspers Talk on p. 11

Opinion & Editorials

2

the Quadrangle Volume XCVI, Issue 4

NOT ES FROM

The Editor

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

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 Editor 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

Dear Reader, We made a mistake last week.

In last week’s issue, on page 11, you probably noticed that we had the article “Introducing the Barbell Club” twice - except the second time, it was under the headline of “Mike Cole Returns to Riverdale as the Baseball Team’s Head Coach.”

That was obviously a pretty big mess up on our part.

The article’s author, John Jackson, did a great job on the piece and for that reason we’re running it again in this week’s issue. The article appears on page 11 again this week - this time with the correct body text.

We’re not above mistakes here at The Quadrangle, and we apologize for the slip-up.

Thanks for reading.

All the best,

Stephen Zubrycky Editor-in-Chief

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.

CORRECT IONS

A portion of a quote from “Manhattan Student Tested for Meningitis” was redacted in the online edition due to a privacy concern.

News

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

On-Campus Voter Turnout Jumps in 2016

Stephen Zubrycky Editor-in-Chief

Manhattan College students voted at a total rate of 45 percent in the 2016 elections, a 10 percentage-point jump from the 2012 elections.

The figures were released to Manhattan College as part of the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE). The NSLVE is an endeavor of the Institute for Democracy and Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University in Somerville, Mass.

The study was conducted among roughly 1,000 two- and four-year colleges and universities across the country. Institutions that send annual data to the National Student Clearinghouse were eligible to participate on a volunteer basis.

“What we do is we marry the enrollment records that any institution is already sending to the National Student Clearinghouse, and those get merged with the publicly available voter file. That information is then de-identified and shared with us,” IDHE Associate Director Ishara Casellas Connors said over the phone.

“We work really strongly with our partners at the National Student Clearinghouse to do that matching process and then we get de-identified data that enables us to produce the report that we share with campuses,” Connors said.

The study began earlier this summer, when all 50 states finalized and certified their 2016 election results.

Manhattan College joined the study last fall, as part of the All In Campus Democracy Challenge, which was a nationwide venture to increase voter participation on campuses in 2016.

The decision to join the All In Challenge precipitated the formation of a committee on voter turnout, which included Associate Professor of Government Margaret Groarke, Ph.D., Director of Marketing and Communication Peter McHugh, Assistant Director of Student Engagement Michael Steele, former student Emilia Dronkert, and current senior Ryan Quattromani.

The committee drafted a plan with four core goals: to increase Manhattan College’s voter registration rate to 70 percent, increase its voting rate to 40 percent, increase its voting rate among registered students to 70 percent and have 200 students attend debate watch parties.

The committee’s plan also included several ways to accomplish these goals. Some of the committee’s prescriptions included more voter registration

drives (carried out by the Government & Politics Club), more events, and more engagement through social media and email announcements. Also listed in the plan was The Quadrangle’s “Manhattan Caucus” series, which chronicled student reaction to the events of the 2016 campaign on a weekly basis.

The results of the NSLVE report show that growth in participation among MC students has met and exceeded the committee’s initial goals.

In 2012, the report said, 65 percent of Manhattan College students were registered to vote. In 2016, that figure had risen to 73 percent.

The report assessed Manhattan College’s turnout rate among registered voters to be 62 percent in 2016 – up from 53 percent in 2012.

The report also highlighted differences in performance between certain majors.

Education and history majors had the highest 2016 turnout, according to the report, with 63 percent of all education majors and 57 percent of all history majors participating.

By contrast, the lowest turnout was among liberal arts, science and humanities majors, of whom just 30 percent voted.

The NSLVE report also highlighted that, for Manhattan College, work still remains.

Manhattan’s total voter participation rate – 45 percent of all students – still trails the national average of 50 percent.

Groarke believes there are several factors surrounding Manhattan’s below-average performance in the study,

“To the extent that we have a significant number of New Yorkers here, New York is among the worst states for turnout,” Groarke said.

Groarke credits New York State’s routinely low turnout figures to lack of competitive contests, the state’s tendency to remove voters from the rolls, and its lack of in-school outreach and early voting.

Groarke also believes Manhattan College’s lack of formal chapters of partisan clubs, such as College Democrats and College Republicans, plays a role.

But Manhattan College improved its stand-

ing

from 2012 to 2016.

Last year’s five percentagepoint deficit between Manhattan’s total turnout and the national average represents an improvement from 2012, when Manhattan College - still recovering from Hurricane Sandy trailed by 12 percentage-points.

Quattromani sees both the college’s direct efforts to increase turnout and the polarizing nature of the campaign between Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton as important contributors the college’s improvement.

“I think it’s a blessing that we had this conversa-

3

tion and debate, and ultimately got everybody involved,” Quattromani said.

Groarke and Quattromani plan to keep the ball rolling into the future.

“I would like to see this be a continuing effort,” Groarke said. “I think small, well-chosen efforts have a big impact.”

The Government & Politics Club will be conducting more voter registration drives ahead of New York’s Oct. 13 deadline.

On Sept. 26, the college will host a debate about New York State’s upcoming constitutional convention vote.

The constitutional convention debate is precisely the of program kind that Connors believes most increases awareness and drives student turnout.

Connors argued that campuses should give students access to robust conversations centered around politics and policy, also emphasizing the role of faculty in the conversation.

“Students engage and connect with faculty on a daily basis and how they bring that political issues and policy issues to the classroom is a really important piece of that as well,” Connors said.

Quattromani - who worked with two Republican congressional candidates last year, and is now the chair of the New York City College Republicans - emphasized the importance of civic engagement and participation, especially on the part of students and young people.

“Civic engagement is obviously important because our government [... makes] decisions that impact us,” Quattromani said. “At the end of the day, we should be electing people, and holding them accountable, and lobbying for what we want.”

News

4

THE QUADRANGLE

College Enrolls Smaller Freshman Class Amid Demographic Changes __________________________ Continued FROM Page 1 education altogether.

“The vast majority, especially of private colleges and universities in the country, have smaller freshman classes these days, simply on the basis of the fact that there are fewer 17-year-olds to draw from than there were three years ago, four years ago, five years ago,” he said.

Sometimes, a college is not in a position to expand its enrollment because of the limited amount of on-campus housing.

Bisset said that the tenperson suites in Horan Hall were created, in part, because of the larger-than-expected enrollment for the class of 2019, which enrolled about 100 students more than the Office of Admissions had anticipated, for a total number of 905 students.

“It was good to a certain extent, because we had more students, but it created challenges in housing, it created challenges when it came to course sections, it created challenges that we didn’t want to repeat,” he said. “Since that class [of 2019] has enrolled, we’ve been looking for an opportunity to eliminate those ten-person suites, which is part of the reason why we’ve been looking into bringing a smaller freshman class for the past couple of years.”

The admission and enrollment process is all according to design and is a process that begins years in advance. Nevertheless, there were a few areas which surprised the Office of Admissions with the incoming class.

One of these surprises was pleasant. The enrollment numbers for the School of Liberal

figure by STEPHEN ZUBRYCKY / THE QUADRANGLE

Arts and the School of Science were higher than anticipated.

School of Liberal Arts enrollment increased to 177 new students from 154 new students last year, while School of Science enrollment increased to 108 new students from 89. The School of Education’s enrollment was around the same as it was last year, decreasing slightly to 96 new students from 99 the previous year.

However, the number of incoming students declined in the School of Business from 183 students to 156 students.

This decline also extended to the School of Engineering,

whose enrollment decreased to 235 new students from 289.

According to Bisset, the Office of Admissions has developed a more selective process for enrollment in the School of Engineering. However, there may be a reason why there was a larger decline in the school’s enrollment.

“One surprise I had is that we were down significantly in the number of chemical engineering deposits compared to a year ago,” Bisset said. “When I break down the School of Engineering, with this particular class, we were on target everywhere except for chemical en-

gineering.”

Another surprise came to the Office of Admissions in the form of lower enrollment in the School of Business. However, Bisset is hopeful that the enrollment for the school will rise with the class of 2022 because of the renovations De La Salle Hall received over the summer.

“I do know that there’s a tremendous amount of competition as it relates to top business students these days,” Bisset said. “I think that the renovations that we’ve made in De La Salle Hall in the School of Business couldn’t have come any

sooner. I think that that’s going to have a big impact this year.”

Another factor that the Office of Admissions considered was the potential impact of New York state’s Excelsior Scholarship, which allows select students to attend a CUNY or SUNY school tuition-free.

At MC specifically, there were a few students who paid their deposits in the spring of 2017, but then withdrew from enrollment because they had qualified for the Excelsior program and had elected to attend one of these public universities instead. Bisset, however, said that this number was negligible, and did not have a large impact on the college’s overall enrollment numbers for the class of 2021.

Furthermore, Denise Scalzo, MC’s director of financial aid, says that while the college cannot provide free tuition for students within a certain income bracket, a private institution can provide certain services and incentives that might not be readily available at a public university.

“Our graduation and retention rates are really good, and our default rates are low and we have things that CUNY and SUNY don’t have: high job placement, active alumni that are generous and give endowments to students,” she said.

“They don’t have the support services that we provide here.”

“Our focus is to mentor and make students more active in the community,” Scalzo said.

Overall, the college’s enrollment is at its optimal number, and as of right now, the goal of the Office of Admissions is to maintain, rather than expand.

Dean Carey Chairs New “CARE” Team Gabriella DePinho Staff Writer

On Sept. 6, Manhattan College announced that it has officially implemented the Campus Assessment, Resource and Education (CARE) team which replaced the Student of Concern team that previously existed on campus.

The Manhattan College student body, faculty and staff received an email from Dean Michael Carey outlining the CARE Team.

The team is comprised of Michael Carey - Assistant Vice President of Student Life, Dean of Students and Chair of the CARE Team; Andrew Weingarten - Director of Residence Life;

Jennifer McArdle - Director of Counseling; Amy Dall - Director of Health Services; Anne Vaccaro - Director of Specialized Resource Center; Tiffany French - Assistant Dean of Students and Title IX Advocate.

On occasion, the team will be joined by Academic Assistant Deans of all Schools and Marilyn Carter - Director of Commuter Services and Outreach.

The CARE team is to serve as a support system for students, rather than a disciplinary or judicial group. While matters that may involve the need for discipline or a judicial board may be brought to them, they get separated out and dealt with while the team focuses on supporting the student affected by the instances.

“I think the students should know that the administration is on their side, which I think sometimes students don’t feel that way,” said Carey. “The reality is we’re in this business to help students succeed and persist at college.”

The Student of Concern team had the same function but the new team is smaller, centralized and better organized. In the past, students had not been made aware of the Student of Concern team and its availability the same way the new team has via the email Carey sent.

The new CARE team and set up also now offers online and anonymous referrals.

“Hopefully the reporting form can make [reaching out] more accessible for folks, so

that’s really what we’re looking for there - access and ease,” said French.

Weingarten also commented on the new anonymous reporting and the need for a comfortable culture of reporting.

“I think the anonymous reporting piece is really really important and powerful and a good addition to the college,” said Weingarten. “A good college really wants to focus on having a nice culture of reporting and you want your students to feel comfortable and supported enough to go to report something that they see or hear about that may be concerning.”

The core of the CARE team meets weekly on Mondays.

They also meet based on any

referrals or reports that come in from students and faculty.

The members of the team frequently work together on incidents or reports that come through individual offices, but the team is established to build better communication between the offices.

The team identifies its ultimate goal as the health and safety of students Through working to achieve this goal, the team will collaborate with many members of the faculty, and hopes that the student body will also collaborate.

“I think the more that we all work together, the more that we can support students that way they have a good experience and we keep them healthy and safe,” French said.

News

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

5

Manhattan Holds Manhattan College Honors Memorial for Victims of September 11 Edward DeGuisto Jess Solan Contributor

Many were shocked this past July to hear of the sudden and tragic loss of Manhattan College student, as well as United States Marines Veteran, Edward Christian DeGuisto.

Fellow students and faculty wanted to have a service on campus to commemorate his loss, and did so on Sept. 12 in the Chapel of De La Salle.

“It is extremely sad losing a friend, fellow student, and someone who did so much for our country,” said Micaela Bishop, student body president.

DeGuisto and Bishop worked together in the Student Government, where DeGuisto was the club’s first Veteran Representative.

Bishop pointed out that because Manhattan College is such a close-knit community and DeGuisto was such an active Jasper, this affects every person on campus who knew him.

Yet, she felt the funny stories shared about DeGuisto did shed a positive light upon the day.

David Bollert, Ph.D., of the philosophy department, was one of the speakers at the service, who became close to DeGuisto and eulogized him with a passage from Homer’s “The Odyssey,” a passage De Guisto loved and related to.

The service was led by Father Thomas Franks, and Bollert was one of the five eulogists, which included himself, friends and fellow veterans. All of the speakers gave personal and heartfelt stories about what it was like to be close to DeGuisto.

In regards to how well the service was put together, Bollert said, “a life welllived was well-honored,” and that being there was “redemptive and reassuring.”

The chorus sang biblical music in DeGuisto’s honor, such as “Amazing Grace,” and the military’s “Taps” song was played at the end of the gathering. DeGuisto’s friends, family, fellow veterans, and even school acquaintances attended. It did stir up emotions of sadness, but those who were there felt that

honoring him on campus was the right thing to do and said it made them feel a little bit better.

Fellow United States Marines Veteran and current President of the Manhattan College

__________________________

Edward DeGuisto, who was a U.S. Marine veteran, died unexpectedly this July.

Student Veteran Organization, Kirsten Battocchio, was a very close friend to DeGuisto, as well as one of his eulogists.

She described him as, “very smart, sarcastic, kind, confident-yet-humble, logical, calming, reassuring, brotherly, competitive, always looking out for and being there for everyone.” She wants everyone to remember him as the “genuinely good guy” that he was.

Richard Satterlee, Ph.D., vice president of student life, described DeGuisto as “talented, charismatic, caring, energetic, and persuasive.”

Those who attended felt that there was a sense of muted happiness between the blend of DeGuisto’s passing and the sweet memories of him shared at the event. Battochio and Bollert both included that his family felt like the ceremony was very personal to DeGuisto and that his life was properly respected.

His passing has brought the veterans on campus closer together, and Battocchio wants anybody grieving this loss to know that the veterans are here for them. She, along with Bishop, Satterlee and Bollert urge everyone suffering from grief to seek solace from campus counseling and ministry.

DeGuisto’s name will live on at Manhattan College and he will be long-remembered with love and respect.

The flags on the Quad on Sept. 11. ALEXA SCHMIDT / THE QUADRANGLE __________________________ Continued FROM Page 1 tears,” said Brother Rob. Brother Rob has touched the hearts of students at Manhattan College for many years.

Students like Pugliese acknowledge his kindness and the importance remembering that day.

“The two footprints and fountains are beautiful, and I think what they do every year with the lights are just a beautiful way to represent what it was, and that we will never forget it, and that it is always there. And it’s a great representation that there were these two huge buildings that represented the skyline of New York, and they will always still be part of the skyline, and they will always still be there for people - and I guess that’s what the memorial still represents,” said Pugliese.

“I think it’s great that Brother Rob lets people go up on the roof and see the lights. I think it’s a big thing because I know when I saw those lights for the first time from my house in Staten island it was really impactful and emotional because that’s where they used to be and it’s those lights shining into the sky that they were there and they were destroyed but they are still there in our minds and in our hearts.”

Eva Pugliese is one of the many people whose lives are still affected by 9/11 on a daily basis. Pugliese’s father was a fire fighter and first responder at the World Trade Center helping put out the fire and saving many lives. He remained for weeks to assist in the cleanup

of debris. Four years ago Pugliese’s father was diagnosed with Merkle Cell cancer, and last year he received a second diagnosis of bladder cancer. He is in remission now but he still suffers from PTSD from the events that occurred in 2001.

“It’s a big part of my life. He went there and he didn’t come home for a few days. My mom didn’t know if he was alive and when he came back he was just covered in dust and soot. I was young but I remember to this day it’s just something that we will never forget. When people make jokes about it, it’s not funny because so many of his friends died. Literally everybody he sat and ate breakfast with that morning died and so many people that he knew or that were close to him died or were injured and it affects him a lot. He has injuries from it that affected his whole life and mine too. People say that it’s this big day but to actually know someone who was there and experienced it and really saw the terror of it affects you in a bigger way then just knowing of it or reading about it in a text book,” Pugliese said.

Like Pugliese, senior communication major Olivia Siller was directly affected by 9/11.

Siller lost her father on that day. He was an off-duty fireman who had just finished a 24-hour shift, and when he heard the news on his radio immediately turned around back into Manhattan. He was one of the 343 FDNY men that were killed that day.

“I think people do not realize how prevalent 9/11 is in America on a daily basis. I am forced to see pictures and videos of the day my father was killed so often. My five siblings and I have to live without an amazing father. I think if people could be more sensitive on the matter and stop posting videos of people jumping out of the towers, the planes crashing, and other traumatic images it would be so helpful in the mourning process of everybody affected.

Most people don’t realize how traumatic that day is for first responders and people who had to evacuate the towers, not only the families of people who were killed. We have never had a chance to grieve because it is so in our face every day,” Siller said.

Although these images affect many families in different ways, some Americans rely on them to show the importance of understanding the events that occurred on that day and never forgetting. 9/11 will not only be remembered for its tragedy but also for the bravery and courageous acts of service committed by the heroes who saved lives.

“I think it’s so important to never forget how important 9/11 is because the memories of the men and women who lost their lives should never be forgotten. I think it is also symbolic of how fleeting life is, and how we need to be kind to each other and do as much good in this world as we can,” said Siller.

Join The Quadrangle WE’RE LOOKING FOR WRIT ERS / GRAPHIC DESIGNERS / PHOTOGRAPHERS / VIDEOGRAPHERS

Weekly Open Meetings TUESDAYS @ 4 P.M. IN Kelly 412

Arts & Entertainment

6

THE QUADRANGLE

Laughing While Muslim:

Zarqa Nawaz Comes to Campus Taylor Brethauer Editor

On Wednesday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m., the Holocaust, Genocide and Interfaith (HGI) Education Center hosted a talk from Zarqa Nawaz, the creator of the world’s first sitcom about a Muslim community, “Little Mosque on the Prairie”. The event, which was also co-sponsored by the Multicultural Center, was planned to be a night of laughter and drawing a positive light on Islam.

Students, faculty and members of the community filed into an already-crowded Hayden 100 that evening and signed their names on an attendance roster for the Education Center to keep track of how many people came to see the talk.

While some students were offered extra credit by professors to hear what Nawaz had to say, many attended it out of their own curiosity.

Faculty in attendance included Lois Harr from Campus Ministry and Social Action, Kevin Ahern, the director of the peace studies program and William Clyde, the provost of Manhattan College. Since the event was made free to the public, Riverdale residents also sat in on the talk.

The talk was entitled “Laughing While Muslim” and, as advertised, was focused on Islam, comedy, gender, faith and diversity throughout the media.

Dr. Mehnaz Afridi, the director of the HGI Center and an associate professor in the religious studies department, took to the stage in front of the packed theater to welcome everyone.

She mentioned the fact that the event was scheduled so closely to Sept. 11 to honor all religions, a specific mission within the Center: the inclusion of Catholics, Muslims and Jews in all aspects and events.

Afridi mentioned the upcoming events for the Center which included a showing of the film “I Am Not Your Negro” on Oct. 18 and their next big talk on Nov. 7, with more information to come.

Without further ado, Nawaz took the stage and began telling the story of her life and how it came to be that, as she put it, “a brown woman in a hijab got her start in the entertainment industry.”

She began with the story of her father and his family as they experienced one of the largest human migration of its time— when Britain and India became overnight enemies as three re-

ligions went head-to-head. Her father fled his home to escape the dangers and found safety in school once arriving to his new home in Pakistan.

“In a time where everything you have could be gone in a heartbeat, nobody could take away your education,” said Nawaz of her father.

Born in Liverpool, Nawaz and her family were offered a chance to start anew in Toronto and jumped at the chance. She called it, “a citizenship with benefits.” There, her father would push her to succeed in medical school and embrace her life as an immigrant.

But Nawaz noted a small hiccup in his plans when she was not accepted into medical school after receiving her Bachelor of Science degree. Her next step took her to Ryerson University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada to pursue a journalism degree.

“The admissions officer said to me, ‘Zarqa, the reason we called you in for an interview was because everyone who applied has a Bachelor of Arts.

Why did you apply with a BSC?’ And I came up with, ‘everyone applies with a BA. I wanted to be different and apply with a BSC.’ And he thought about it for a while then said, ‘what incredible forethought.’ I responded, ‘I know’,” said Nawaz, as the audience laughed along with her.

Even after receiving her degree in journalism, she still felt a “creative itch” inside of her.

She decided to attend a film workshop and from there, her career took off.

Her first short film was a satire based on the Oklahoma Bombing of 1995, titled “BBQ Muslims”, where two Muslim men were automatically profiled as bombers after their own BBQ grill exploded (when it was actually the fault of an antiBBQ grill group that set off the explosion). She hadn’t thought about the short film being a satire but many saw it as such.

She submitted it to the Toronto International Film Festival, not expecting anything to come of it. But the festival chose to show “BBQ Muslims” and she realized she was doing something right.

Her other short films (available on her website zarqanawaz. com) included “Death Threat”, “Random Check” and “Fred’s Burqa”.

She also made a documentary titled “Me & the Mosque” about women being hidden behind curtains or up on the balcony of mosques during services. It gave her a chance to examine what Muslim scholars

The Holocaust, Genocide & Interfaith Center sponsored a talk from comedienne Zarqa Nawaz.

TAYLOR BRETHAUER / THE QUADRANGLE

Nuwaz discusses her television show “Little Mosque on the Prairie.”

TAYLOR BRETHAUER / THE QUADRANGLE thought about the misogyny that had permeated Mosques across the country.

Nawaz finally came up with the idea of a Muslim-centered show in 2007. “Little Mosque on the Prairie” focused on showing Islam in a positive, light-hearted tone.

“Up to a point, Muslims were only depicted on television as terrorists. 99.9 percent are living as regular people.

There’s no need for this violent fringe. We need to learn to humanize and realize we’re all ordinary,” said Nawaz.

The show, which premiered on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), was met with record ratings. It caught the attention of American media for its brand new focus on Muslims in a sitcom setting. All around the world, people were watching “Little Mosque” and enjoying it for what it was—an everyday sitcom.

“These archetypes are in any place where you have orga-

nized human beings. It is possible to connect to Muslims like any other people in their own community […] It’s a problem to today [to discriminate others]. We have to talk to one another, get to know one another and trust other’s stories,” said Nawaz.

After her talk, a question and answer session was held.

When asked for advice from students to follow a path similar to hers, Nawaz responded, “move like sharks, which they only go forward. Keep discovering what you’re good at.”

She answered questions about Islamophobia and other Muslim creators in media.

“There’s this renaissance in the culture today. More Muslims are writing plays, books and shows. More are acting.

It’s very similar to what the Jewish community has done in the past. Now we’re taking our turn,” said Nawaz.

Nawaz entertained the crowd with hilarious stories

of her parent’s Pakistani traditions, ranging from arranged marriage to dating outside the faith. She spoke on her favorite books and sources on Muslims in the media.

Her last message for the crowd was powerful and necessary.

“Stories matter, you know, they all resonate. They teach us valuable lessons. We’re all equal and are able to learn as we come together. It’s empowering to have young people come and listen to me speak and I thank you all for this opportunity,” said Nawaz.

Afterwards, students and faculty and members of the community were able to speak to Nawaz as she signed copies of her memoir, “Laughing All the Way to the Mosque.” Many thanked her for coming to speak about her life and providing an entertaining and laugh-out-loud take on her experiences.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Arts & Entertainment

7

MCTV, Looking for Consistency, Holds First Production John Jackson Staff Writer

Manhattan College’s communication department possesses a hidden gem on campus. That gem is the television studio located on the second floor of Leo Hall. While students who take broadcasting courses are quite familiar with the lab, other students may not be all too familiar.

Manhattan College upgraded the studio in 2016 to include 4K equipment, as reported in The Quadrangle last year. It became the first higher education broadcast studio to have 4K technology in the New York City metro area.

Students who did not take broadcasting courses had the opportunity to work in the studio if they joined Manhattan College Television. The only problem was that MCTV was not a club that met on a consistent basis. However, seniors Gabriella Girgis, Erica Cellucci, and Cameron Cullen have set out to make MCTV a club that does indeed meet on a regular basis.

“My freshman year first semester was the only time we had MCTV,” said Girgis, president of MCTV. “After, it was done. Same thing for [my] sophomore year and junior year. This year Erica and I have found a set schedule so we finally have a set time, two days

Senior Cameron Cullen hosts MCTV’s “Jasper Corner.”

MANHATTANCOLLEGETV / INSTAGRAM / COURTESY a week.”

The first production of the semester was held on Wednesday, Sept. 13. Students piled into the studio and either observed or worked with the equipment.

Some of the students were new to the studio and were shown the ropes by one of the upperclassmen who had learned these skills a few years prior in their studio production class.

Cellucci felt the production went well considering many students came into the studio for the first time.

“Pretty good for having people that weren’t that experienced with the equipment,” Cellucci said in regards to how

the production went. “I think that a few more times of this when they have a little bit more practice [and] it’ll go really quickly.”

The production itself was a show called “Jasper Corner”.

The show was inspired by “Cam’s Corner” a show Cullen created on YouTube for his advanced television production class he took during the fall 2016 semester.

While the videos he needed to make for the class didn’t have to be anything complex, Cullen still wanted to put a lot of effort in them as he has passion for the broadcasting industry. He ended up producing multiple

videos at youtube.com/LawrenceCullen called “Cam’s Corner,” “Cam’s Call” and “Cam’s Calendar.”

The vision for “Jasper Corner” was to have a five minute interview and three segments.

Two of the segments will be “Cam’s Call” and “Cam’s Calendar” from Cullen’s YouTube channel. The third segment is planned to be called “RA After Hours”.

During Wednesday’s production, the new members of the club helped shoot part of the first episode of “Jasper Corner.” The episode is expected to come out in the first week of October on the club’s new You-

Tube channel: JasperTV. Michael Grabowski, Ph.D., is the faculty advisor for MCTV. He has been helpful in different areas for the three seniors through the process of trying to revive MCTV. “He gave us all the paperwork to be approved by student activities to be an actual club so we get some funding in,” said Cellucci. “He’s helped us with things we are still unsure about.”

Cullen, who wants to have a career in broadcasting, has had the opportunity of getting to know many professors during his time at Manhattan. He views his experience with the communication department as a positive one.

“When you put in the hard work and get to know these professors, they have nothing but the best advice for you and they’ll give you all the tips that you need,” said Cullen. “And I had every single professor so far and there’s not a negative thing I can really say about any of them.”

Cullen’s passion for television is something he wants share with his fellow Jaspers - which makes MCTV all the more meaningful to him.

“I just wanted to make an opportunity here,” said Cullen.

Cullen, Cellucci, and Girgis will be running the club in the television studio on Wednesdays and Thursdays throughout the semester.

Review: “On the Shore of the Wide World” THEATER & THE CITY Theater and the City is a column of student-written reviews in the ENGL 400 class taught

by Deirdre O’Leary Cunningham.

This week’s entry is by Tara Marin.

Characters of family dramas have been prone to yank on our heartstrings—a box of tissues is a fitting accessory for sitting through an episode of “Transparent” with the Pfeffermans— but the Holmes family has a bizarre way of stirring our emotions. If that’s a bad comparison, take it out – Transparent is the only family drama I watch Written by British playwright Simon Stephens, “On the Shore of the Wide World” is a grand title for a modest play. The set is bleak.

The scenes tend to drag on for much longer than it seems they should, and the characters are cold, distant, and troubled, and thus quite unlikeable.

What is interesting about this play, produced at the Linda Gross Theater and directed by Neil Pepe, is that it effectively

takes a number of small, seemingly insignificant moments and makes them profoundly meaningful. The fast-paced, biting dialogue is often captivating, and at times painfully raw.

Amongst this dialogue are lines that jolt our attention and evoke a sense of contemplation, lines like “Have you ever done something or thought something and realized your whole life would never be the same again?” Stephens challenges audiences not just to listen to the characters, but to reflect with them as well.

This proves to be true whether it be between Alice and Peter Holmes (Mary McCann and C.J. Wilson) who struggle with a fractured marriage or between their sons, Christopher and Alex (Wesley Zurich and Ben Rosenfield). Their family faces multiple blows throughout the two hour and 40 minute performance, which covers the span of almost a year of their lives.

This play tackles a number of grim truths: the tumult of

adolescence, the struggles of parenthood, the complexities of relationships, and the fact that family members keep dark secrets from one another. It respectfully addresses addiction in its multiple forms, and the way these addictions manifest in quiet but painful ways.

Stephens also incorporates themes about the brevity of our lives throughout the play, using the stars and moon as proof. He approaches this in the very first scene, in which Alex and Sarah (Tedra Millan), are looking at the moon, and Alex points out that it is 238,000 miles away.

“Practically next door,” he says.

From a small stage, he reminds us of the immensity of the world.

Stephens also sheds light on the inevitable feelings that life inflicts on the aging. The oldest pair in the play, Charlie and Ellen (Peter Maloney and Blair Brown), are anything but the archetypal elderly couple that is still in love with and tolerant of one another after decades

__________________________

“On the Shore of the Wide World” discusses the issues of family, adolescence and parenthood.

PHOTO BY TARA MARIN

of marriage. They may appear this way to audiences initially, but it is gradually revealed that what is beneath the surface is much darker: apathy, aimlessness, and regret.

Stephens’ indelible writing, paired with gifted acting and intimate directing, gives a sense of universality to “On the Shore of the Wide World”, but not in a comforting way. Don’t see the show with the hopes of a cathartic, emotional finale. This play did not make me cry. It

made me fairly uncomfortable, which I think is mostly due to Stephens’ blunt interpretation of the bleakness of our lives, which this cast brilliantly accomplished. The Holmes are a family plagued by a variety of issues, and because of this we feel bad for them and unsettled by them. Then there is the realization that in some ways, we are the Holmes.

Editor’s Note: Tara Marin is the Social Media Editor for the Quadrangle.

Arts & Entertainment

8

THE QUADRANGLE

Behind the Curtain: Best, Gourmet or J-Del? Inside Scatterbomb’s The Deli Showdown Fall Auditions Victoria Hernandez Editor

Scatterbomb is looking for new players following the departures of Matt Clarke (second from left) and Will Lamparelli (far right).

TAYLOR BRETHAUER / THE QUADRANGLE

August Kissel Editor

On Wednesday Sept. 13, the Kelly Commons fourth floor lobby was filled with the nervous chatter of students who were auditioning for a spot on Manhattan College’s improv comedy group, Scatterbomb.

The 25 students were welcomed into the audition room.

The evening started with an icebreaker and a game called “Zip, Zap, Zop.” These games serve as a way for the Scatterbomb members to help break down the walls and tension in the room.

“We start out with some quick games, some icebreakers, and things that just get you thinking creatively. Then as the night goes on we build up progressively on those smaller things. For example object work and things like that,” said junior Kevin Donald.

The audition process also works as a basic workshop.

The Scatterbomb team makes an effort to teach everyone the fundamental steps and rules of improv. Their goal is to make sure that regardless of the student’s ability and knowledge everyone has a fair chance.

Many of those auditioning have never had any experience with improv or acting. All fans of Scatterbomb are encouraged to audition.

“This is not about being onstage and doing whatever you want, improv has a lot more structure than a lot of people think. We use this time to get out there and we have fun and try to get to know each other,” said senior Angela Benevenia.

As the audition went on, the students were told to get into two lines. These lines served as a way to randomly assign partners to create mini scenes. The activity started with creating three-lined scenes and as time went on the students were told to add lines so that they could create full length scenes.

“It’s really fun to see people who are so much better at im-

prov than I was when I auditioned. I think it’s really cool,” said Benevenia.

“I would say [the auditioning process] is really hard because not only are you seeing if someone is strong at improvising but you are also getting to know them in an hour and half... then those people you end up picking become some of your best friends when you are on the script,” added Donald.

After the activity with the mini scenes the students were dismissed and were told to keep an eye out for a callback email.

“I didn’t even know I was going to be coming here today.

I saw the flyer and I was like I may as well go because I like going to the shows,” said sophomore Carly Brownell.

The students represented a wide variety of the Manhattan College community and each had their own reasons for auditioning.

“I decided I wanted to meet more people and join a community where we act spontaneously,” added freshman Eddie Grimes.

In comparison to the atmosphere of the audition, the new Scatterbomb members will get to experience acting in front of live audience.

“When it’s in Hayden 100 with our great audience, it’s a lot easier, it’s effortless really.

You just go out there. The most important thing is that when you are in front of an audience you have to realize that they want you to succeed, they don’t want you to fail. It’s really just about being comfortable on stage. When you are in front of an audience it will all just happen naturally. People will laugh,” said Donald.

The next Scatterbomb show is Friday Sept. 29, in Hayden 100 at 8 p.m. The new Scatterbomb members will be in the next show.

Being away for the school break means being away from some of the best comfort food.

Jaspers love a good panini late at night or simply a bagel when it’s bright and early. Best Deli, Gourmet Market & Bagel and Jasper’s Deli are some of the few delis around Manhattan College that students prefer.

Even though they might seem like regular delis to the majority of the Riverdale community, they mean so much more to Jaspers.

Most of the students first tried Jasper’s Deli, because, “go Jaspers!” said Olivia Gartland.

Gartland, a junior, usually gets a grilled chicken avocado wrap, and if it’s during breakfast, she gets an iced coffee.

The delis around campus are a great part of the community in which Jaspers live, and they become a place for amazing college memories.

“One of the Gourmet Deli workers gave me free iced coffee refills,” said Gartland. “Such a kind man.”

For some like Gartland, delis are a matter of convenience.

“I end up choosing where I want to go depending on where I’m going or which one I’m passing by,” Gartland said.

But for some like Allison Hickey, it’s a matter of who provides the best service.

“All delis in the Bronx are great. I’ve really never ordered anything that didn’t taste good from any of them,” said Hickey.

“I tend to prefer Gourmet Bagel because I love the people there. They are always so friendly and accommodating.

My friend was visiting and they gave her a student discount without even showing her ID because the guard in Horan still had hers. Stuff like that is why I like to give them my business,” said Hickey.

With so much competition between delis in a college area, it is the small details that count.

“They charged me $1.50 for a bagel with cream cheese once…you really can’t beat that!” said Hickey.

Some of Hickey’s favorites in Jasper’s Deli are “The Priya” and “The Tom Kelly”, while at Best Deli, she’ll always order “The Benson” or the “Stoner’s Delight”, the latter being a favorite of many MC students.

Another famous sandwich in the Jasper community is the “Fat Bitch” from Jasper’s Deli.

“I like to get it late at night, after Fenwick’s,” said Abigail Kloosterman, a senior.

Kloosterman’s best deli

memories are at Jasper’s Deli and Best Deli.

“They’re both just go-to places for everyone. You’ll always run into someone you know,” said Kloosterman.

Junior Samantha Monfils’ preferred spot, on the other hand, is Best Deli.

“I remember specifically one time I was walking with my friends to Best Deli when it started raining, and all of a sudden, the guys behind the counter saw how wet we were, so they handed us a roll of paper towels to dry ourselves off, and it was the funniest thing to us,” Monfils said. “Everyone was laughing and having a good time”.

According to Monfils, the workers at Best Deli are “friend-

lier and much nicer than all the other delis.” But when it comes to wanting something greasy, she’ll go to Jasper’s Deli.

“If I want something more fresh-tasting and overall more healthy, I’ll go to Best Deli,” Monfils said.

Each deli has its own personality and, according to Manhattan College students, a different feel. Gourmet Market seems to be the go-to place for breakfast, while Best Deli is the place to go for a higher quality meal. Jasper’s Deli, however, is the overall winner amongst the college community for the munchies after a night out.

The decision between the three is a difficult one, and so the only solution is to try them all.

From top to bottom: Best Deli & Grill, Jasper’s Deli and Gourmet Market and Bagel.

ANJA POLLOZI / THE QUADRANGLE

Features

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

9

Alumna Accepted to Ph.D. Program at American Museum of Natural History Shannon Gleba Staff Writer

It has been only two years since Margaret O’Brien graduated from Manhattan College.

Since then, her post-graduate schooling has taken her to Columbia University and now to the American Museum of Natural History.

During her time at MC, O’Brien took advantage of many opportunities offered to her as a biology major, with a minor in chemistry. When asked what some of her favorite memories were during her four years in Riverdale, she cited her research projects and the Green Club.

“I really enjoyed doing research with [professor] Maria Maust-Mohl. We were researching giraffe behavior at the Bronx Zoo, so that was an amazing eye-opening experience,” O’Brien said.

Maust-Mohl, of the psychology department, also has very fond memories of the giraffe research at the Bronx Zoo and working with O’Brien.

“It was an honor to work with Maggie while she was at Manhattan College and it has been wonderful to watch her grow and establish herself in her career path,” Maust-Mohl said in an email statement to The Quadrangle.

“She always impressed me with her work ethic, intelligence, and thoughtfulness, and I know she has a bright future ahead of her.”

After leaving Manhattan College, the graduate almost immediately started working towards her master’s degree at Columbia University in conservation biology, which she completed in the spring of 2017.

But once again that was not the end of O’Brien’s academic career, and she applied to a new program, this time for a doctorate degree in comparative biology at the Richard Gilder Graduate School, located at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

The Richard Gilder Graduate School is a very young institution, only 9 years old, and is the first museum in the Western Hemisphere to be able to grant Ph.D degrees. Impressively, O’Brien was one of only four students accepted into the prestigious program this year.

The excitement of receiving her acceptance letter, after a grueling application process, is a memory O’Brien will never forget.

“I was skiing with my now wife … she went into the lodge to get some hot cocoa and I looked at my email and I saw that I got the acceptance. So, it was a really nice moment,” O’Brien said.

O’Brien accredits the role the college’s guidance played in helping her reach the success she has today.

“When I was at Manhattan College, they do this hosting for people to apply for an internship called a research experience for undergrad. It’s basically a ten-week program

over the summer where you do research, it’s funded by the National Science Foundation. So, I applied for that and I got it, and I came here to the [American Museum of Natural History] where it was being held.

I worked with a curator here on a project, and when I was doing that I heard about the graduate program,” O’Brien said.

The major draws O’Brien felt to the program at the American Museum of Natural History are that her educators are curators at the museum, and there is a wide variety of information being studied. “[The curators] are so knowledgeable that I feel like a sponge,” she said. “Everyone’s motives are very similar, and everyone just wants to learn more about evolution, but all from very different perspectives. You can get someone using all of these different algorithms to understand how genes evolved as a species, and someone else is looking at theories about what a species is, so it leads to a lot of really great discussions.”

O’Brien has already begun her own research of evolution, using the abundance of specimens and resources available to her at the American Museum of Natural History. The project studies “the genetics of reproduction in snakes and lizards” according to O’Brien. Her main interest is understanding evolution of complex traits.

“In my dissertation, I’ll be looking at the evolution of reproduction and the genes

Margaret O’Brien during her study of the evolution of bats.

MICHAEL WALKER / AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY / COURTESY involved in that. I’m really interested in taking that down to the molecular level and seeing what genes code for different physiological and behavioral traits,” said O’Brien.

After graduation from the Richard Gilder Graduate School, O’Brien would ideally love to become a curator, or return to the classroom as a professor.

“I really like working with specimens and working with the public to educate people about science, but I would also be happy to be a professor,” said O’Brien. She later added, that becoming a curator or professor would come after her

post-doctorate studies, where she would complete even more research.

O’Brien’s passion for science has led her to many impressive places, and she hopes that others can also become more involved in the field of science as well.

“Don’t be limited by your easiest opportunities,” she said.

“Finding your own opportunities, instead of waiting for opportunities to come to you, you can create the most amazing things in your life. Also, don’t be limited by what the world tells you to be. That goes for everybody who doesn’t fit into what they want to be.”

Multicultural Center Adopts Black Student Union as a Club Michevi Dufflart Staff Writer

New semesters bring with them new faces, and now a new club. The club that has recently been brought to fruition is the Black Student Union, more commonly known around campus as “BSU.” The BSU, which is open to all students on campus, has been a work in progress since last semester. The two juniors who spearheaded the efforts to create the club, Niarie Grant and Parys Wyatt, now president and vice president of the group, held an interest meeting early last spring to explore turnout for this current year.

When asked what caused the two leaders to think about creating the club, they both responded that their inspiration drew from a flyer posted on campus for the South Asian Student Association. Immediately they knew they wanted to establish a space for the African American community at

the college.

In addition to this, Grant mentioned that during the activities fair last year she noticed no clubs that catered to the black community. Similarly, Wyatt said that while the Multicultural Center was a great place, she felt a need for more.

Once they gained some support for the club’s possible creation, Grant brought up the idea to the Director of the Multicultural Center, Hayden Greene - who not only expressed his approval but also offered to become the club’s advisor. While the club is still working to gain recognition from the office of student engagement, they are officially recognized as a club by the Multicultural Center.

BSU club member Kimberly Hall, a sophomore at MC, expressed her excitement for this new club.

“I’m proud to call myself a member of a club that is shin-

ing a light on diversity in our MC community because it feels good to finally have something on campus that represents me,” she said.

The BSU meets every Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the Multicultural Center and this semester the club has already had two meetings, both of which had successful turnouts.

The first meeting drew a crowd of about 40 students, and was described by Grant and Wyatt as a brainstorming session that produced ideas for activities in the following year and discussions to be had.

Some ideas the group came up with included a field trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, readings on the Quadrangle, food from specific black cultures, and black cinema week.

These ideas are based mainly off of what students suggested and they hope to work from that list throughout the year.

The BSU has two sophomores, Kaylyn Atkins and Cedric St. Louis, as their social

media/advertising leadership team. The two work together to manage the BSU Instagram account, bsumc_, and research topics for discussion during some of the meetings. The discussions typically involve how the events in the world affect people personally and the community.

Grant also mentioned that something she would like to do at the start of each meeting is ask everyone the question, “What are you celebrating today?” - something that was inspired by the beginning of the late Brother Ray’s education class. She said that it could be something as simple as being alive, receiving a good grade, or talking to someone. Grant noted the importance of this as well saying that the BSU is a family, and that they’re happy for everyone.

Grant, Wyatt, Atkins and St. Louis all expressed their excitement for the year ahead.

Grant noted that it will not be easy running a club, but she knows the BSU is a great asset

to Manhattan College. Additionally, Wyatt looks forward to building a community within a community and hopes students help the club grow.

Both leaders also hope students leave each meeting with someone they didn’t know before or something that stood out to them. And as St. Louis expressed, he hopes people will feel comfortable, represented, and keep coming back to the BSU. While the BSU is a club geared toward the black community, both Grant and Wyatt stress that it is not just a club for one race. In similar ways they describe the club as a place to address issues about the black community, get rid of stereotypes, empower one another and spread awareness.

“You don’t have to be black to want to be aware and represent Black people on campus; this is open-mindedness,” Hall said.

Features

10

THE QUADRANGLE

MARS Kicks off Semester with Robert Greens Tara Marin & RikkiLynn Shields Editors

Robert Greens, a Londonbased screenwriter and playwright, kicked off the first Major Author Reading Series (MARS) of the semester last Thursday with an hour-long workshop, followed by a table read of his original work, put on by professors and students of the English department.

The professor at the University of Brighton stated it was his love for cinema from an early age that drew him to screenwriting, along with the ability to say so much with so little words. Greens admitted that he feels challenged by the mere thought of writing an entire book, and decided that writing screenplays works much better for him.

“I want to make people feel,” Greens said.

As a screenwriter, Greens has been in the same boat as many other writers in the world– you have these thoughts that you can’t express correctly, or, if you can, you’re afraid that no one will find them interesting but you.

“Writing is a way to work things out. You have to be confident that what you find interesting, someone else will find interesting as well,” Greens said.

Having confidence to back up our interests, our truths, and our writing is exactly what Greens believes is the main contributor to our successes.

The English screenwriter not only gave the audience some insight into his career and experience, he also told the audience how he chooses the actors he casts for his films.

He informed the crowd that good drama is based around the dynamic of people and their interactions.

“Get to know them, rather than just letting them go over lines,” Greens said. “Sometimes the truth is much more interesting than lines that are fabricated– it’s the way the person says it and the way they make mistakes.”

During the event, Greens handed out a sheet of paper with the set of questions that he asks his actors before he begins thinking about any ideas or characters.

The questions range from “what accents can you do convincingly” and “what can you talk about that never fails to put a smile on your face,” to “what was the worst thing that happened to you before you reached the age of 18?”

While these questions may seem both arbitrary and intense, Greens believes that this process is a failsafe way to get some of the best ideas flowing. He admitted to never start

writing a work with a theme, because it is often confining.

Some of the best lines in his films or plays, he said, come directly from the actor’s themselves.

As an exercise, Greens made the audience partner up with the person next to them, to ask them four of the questions that he deemed fitting to this situation. One person was the writer and the other answered the questions.

After answering the questions, discussing, agreeing and disagreeing with one another, and jotting down notes, the pair was responsible for creating a character of their own. Everyone wrote down a sentence that encompassed their character, and his/her feelings and experiences, and shared it with the audience. Characters ranged from an engineer to a hopeless romantic.

The variety of character creations amongst the crowd was fascinating, and the exercise was one that was very unique to MARS workshops in the past.

Freshman Harriett Swager particularly enjoyed the experience.

“I really enjoyed how personal it all was, since it was a much smaller and closer atmosphere than where you would hear most readings or talks like this. It was also really helpful to hear all the tips and experience he shared about playwriting, and just writing in general, especially when he was talking about characterization,” she said.

In an interview with The Quadrangle prior to his reading, Greens explains that what made him become a playwright was his passion for cinema. His first full-length play debuted in August, produced by The Pensive Federation theatre company.

“I began as a filmmaker and a writer making my short films, and I’ve recently been writing feature films. It’s only been a year into being a playwright, but it’s been a great experience, just working with this company,” he said.

When asked to identify the challenges that are distinct to writing for the stage and for the screen, Greens reveals that playwriting calls for more attention when coming up with characters.

“In the sense of writing for the stage you have to really think about the drama coming out within one scene. You can’t really rely upon cinematic conventions, or cuts, or using visual imagery in a way to convey information. I’ve enjoyed the challenge of making the characters even more present,

Students and faculty members joined Robert Greens in a table read at the first MARS event of the year. PATRICK FACCAS / COURTESY

and the dynamic between the characters and their behaviors [is] the most interesting thing, and finding plot within characters as opposed to just creating the plot and adding characters to it. It has allowed me to explore characters in that way but I think there’s always a limitation with writing on stage in terms of the environment. With writing for the screen, you can really use the environment, in a way, as another character,” he said.

Greens, since he is a visual writer, usually has images in his head while writing plays, but also has to focus on language and dialogue.

“That’s something you really have to emphasize - the dialogue is one of the forms, probably the main form, of how drama gets moved forward in some respects. You have more tools for cinema, but playwriting really gets down to the nuts and bolts of what drama really is,” he said.

Maeve Adams, professor of the English department, has been a long-time friend of Greens since they attended graduate school at the University of Kent in England. They met at a time, as Adams puts it, “while we were both continuing to put off joining the real workaday world with graduate degrees as far as the eye could see.”

In her introduction for Greens, Adams reflected on their shared experiences: their dirty kitchen, drastically different fields of study, love lives, and comical late-night disputes.

She brings up an occasion when

the two argued over the correct pronunciation of “spaghetti bolognese” which, to Adams’ dismay, Greens pronounced “spag bowl.”

From this, Adams proves a thoughtful point about language.

“The thing that matters— that is funnest, that is most rewarding—is not what’s most certainly true, but the revelations that come from trying to figure out what might be true, from playing around with the truth. I mean, I was right about the pronunciation, but spag bowl has a lot to tell us about being playful. For one, about the way the English play with language—their language is, in fact, one of the most playful on the planet. We see it in Shakespeare, we see it too in working class cockney. What is true about British English is likewise true of the value of playfulness more broadly,” she said to the audience assembled in Hayden 100.

Adams continued to comment on the power of playfulness when writing to discover truth, or at least disrupt the common conception that the world is composed of singular facts and stringent rules.

For this, she commends Greens’ work, which tell true stories amid playing with the truth itself.

His film titled “Drew” is a story based on his own dating experiences, and was an official selection at the Mind Rights Film Festival. Another one of his films, “Night, Night” employs dark humor in a story about what happens when we

try to go to bed after an argument. His short film “Garvey and Sayers” tells, as Adams puts it, “a true-to-life story that playfully contends with another truth experienced by so many—about what happens when a friendship is so much more than just friendship.”

Senior Kayli McTague also reflects Adams’s praise for Greens work.

“When I think of the times I’m most inclined to turn to literature, it’s often in a moment when I’m trying to evade some truth I’m being faced with, so I found it really interesting that Robert Greens suggested that the truth is the best story. It’s kind of ordinary to come up with some wild tale just for the sake of telling one, but to seek to tell the truth may be a more important story to tell,” McTague said.

At the event, Greens read aloud stage directions, while English professors Dominika Wrozynski, Adam Koehler, Maeve Adams, Deirdre O’Leary, and two students, Angela Benevenia and Erin Murphy, played his characters. The table reading prompted lots of laughs, as well as applause for Greens’ indelible writing, writing which Adams sums up perfectly: “Rob tells stories that have emotional truth, but they aren’t afraid to play with the truth— to show us truths we may not think we are ready to learn; that can hurt and help us. He tells stories about the lives we could live if we were all willing to be a little more playful with ourselves.”

Sports

SEPTEMBER 19, 2017

Mike Cole Returns as Head Baseball Coach John Jackson Staff Writer

On Jul. 19, the Manhattan Jaspers Twitter account tweeted out enormous news regarding Manhattan College’s baseball team. The tweet indicated that Head Coach Jim Duffy had accepted a position at Rutgers University. With classes set to begin in a little over a month, the Manhattan College Athletic Department was handed a difficult situation.

For players like third baseman Alex Cerda, this news came unexpectedly.

“At first I was in total shock,” said Cerda. “It was something I was not expecting at all. I didn’t know what to think. It was kinda crazy. So we didn’t know what direction this program was gonna go in. But I just kept hoping for the best. Hoping the administration was going to pick the best guy to lead us.”

Manhattan College wasn’t the only school in the MAAC to be in this situation. Mike McRae, Canisius’ head coach of 14 years, stepped down on Aug. 29. Matt Mazurek was just named his replacement on Sep. 6.

Though Manhattan was not

alone, this definitely put the program in hot water for a few weeks. That is however, until Mike Cole was named head coach on Aug. 16.

For middle infielder Matt Forlow, Cole was viewed as an excellent choice.

“I understood that the [athletic director] here and administration [were going to] do the best they can to find the best fit candidate,” said Forlow. “And they definitely found it ‘cause Coach Cole was the best possible fit for this position and everyone underneath him is extremely happy and doing well since he’s been here.”

Cole isn’t new to Manhattan. He was an assistant coach with the baseball team from 2005-2008. During that time, the school had some of the best years in the program’s history.

That included a MAAC Championship in 2006 as well as two wins in the NCAA Tournament: the best year Manhattan has had to date.

“To come back to a place that I’ve been before is great.

Manhattan’s a special place and to be familiar with the surroundings around here, I think it’s going to help the transition. Just excited about getting back.”

Throughout his 16-year coaching career, Cole has also spent time with The University of Vermont (UVM, 2002-2004; 2009), The University of Maine (2010), New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT, 2011-2012), and most recently Fairfield University (2013-2017).

In his first three years as an assistant coach at UVM, the program saw winning seasons each year. He helped lead the team to a program-best 32 wins in 2003.

The most difficult year of his coaching career came in his second campaign with UVM in 2009. That year the students learned that the program was being cut. For Cole, it was challenging to coach a group of athletes who were worried about where they would play the following year. That season his team went 23-33.

He brought his winning ways to Maine in 2010 as the baseball team achieved 34 wins that season while he was an assistant coach.

He didn’t stay at Maine for long as a head coaching opportunity arose for Cole at NJIT in 2011. Cole led his team to a 2035 record in 2011 and a 25-27 record in 2012. At the time those were the best single-season

records for the program (since 2005) behind the 28-17 record achieved in the 2006 season.

While at NJIT, Cole mentored Mark Leiter Jr. who currently plays at the MLB level with the Philadelphia Phillies and is the nephew of former big leaguer Al Leiter.

While an assistant at Fairfield, Cole continued his trend of success as he helped lead the team to some of the best seasons in their program history. In 2014 and 2016, the team won a program-best 32 games.

His most recent year was also successful as the team went 3124. In 2016, Fairfield also won the MAAC Championship.

Among Cole’s many accomplishments are the amount of players he has coached who have continued on in their playing careers. There are 25 players he has coached who have signed contracts with Major League teams. Seven of those 25 players were Manhattan College student-athletes. Two of those 25 have made it the big leagues.

Cole will be bringing an aggressive, yet fundamental baseball philosophy along with him.

“My philosophy is: ‘we’re gonna be fundamentally sound,” said Cole. “We’re not going to

11

reinvent the game of baseball.

We do the same thing at this level that you did when you were ten years old. You got to catch it and throw it. Our pitchers are gonna throw strikes.

We’re gonna play fast offensively. I like to be aggressive on the bases. I like to put guys in motion. Put some pressure on the other team’ defense. Most importantly we’re gonna play fundamentally sound.”

Players like Cerda may have been caught off guard at first, but like what they see with Cole.

“So far I’ve had nothing but good impressions,” Cerda said in regards to Cole. “He seems like the right guy for the job, pushes us to the absolute limit, and I think we’re gonna to win.”

Change is hard in many aspects of life. However, change can be good. As a fifth-year senior, Forlow spent four years with Coach Duffy. While he was very close to him, he handled the change very well.

“Sometimes players are a little uneasy when there’s a big change like that in a program,” said Forlow. “But the school and the administration did a tremendous job with hiring the best candidate.”

Lacrosse Player Talia Price Shares Her Story JASPERS TALK Jessica Saio Contributor

Junior Talia Price has been on the women’s lacrosse team at Manhattan College since she was a freshman. Off the field, she’s a psychology major from Kinnelon, New Jersey; but on the field, she’s an attack wearing number 20. Price continues to thrive as a student-athlete, and looks forward to being a part of another great season in her second to last year as a Jasper.

The Quadrangle: How did you start playing lacrosse?

Talia Price: In the northeast region, I guess lacrosse is very big and it was big in my town.

The program was just very serious as well as the high school level so I started playing in fourth or fifth grade. I actually didn’t like it at first and I quit for a year but then I got back to it in sixth grade. Gradually I got more serious with it and

liked it enough to play at higher levels.

TQ: Was Manhattan your first choice to play at?

TP: Yes. It gave me the best opportunity that I saw for myself both academically and athletically. I really liked the location since it’s so close to New York City, which would help for jobs and internships.

TQ: What are you looking forward to this coming season?

TP: For the fall I’m looking forward to the tournaments coming up since it’s off season and those are typically really fun. We get to spend the time getting to know each other on the field as well as off the field.

We have 10 new girls on the team so it’s definitely going to take a lot of time but practicing and the tournaments will help us get to know them better.

TQ: Which women’s lacrosse team would you say is Manhattan’s biggest rival?

TP: We’re big rivals with pretty much everyone in our conference. Iona is a big one

but personally, I feel like on the lacrosse level with our team we’re competitive with Quinnipiac because we had a really intense match with each them last year.

TQ: Do you find it hard to stay involved on campus as a student-athlete?

TP: It’s definitely difficult but I try to be very well rounded. Even though I’m bouncing from practice to class to work, I try to make it work. I think it’s definitely important to stay involved and meet new people.

TQ: What clubs and activities are you involved with?

TP: I was able to go on a L.O.V.E. trip last January in Ecuador and that was amazing.

Last fall we met every week and we fundraised and bonded a lot.

It was really time consuming but it was a really good experience. I also work in the Admissions Office as a tour guide and I’m the captain of a group called Love Your Melon.

TQ: What do you do in your free time?

TP: I’m a very organized person so I like to plan out everything, especially with Love Your Melon. I started it freshman year with another teammate and two other girls so it’s still up and coming but it’s something we work on a lot.

TQ: What is your favorite thing about playing at Manhattan?

TP: We’re a very close team so I would say the team chemistry. We try to spend a lot of time off the field which I think is important for when we’re on the field.

TQ: What are you hoping to take with you out of this experience once you graduate?

TP: Being able to build and maintain relationships is something I look to get out of this. I think on a leadership aspect too because every year new players come in and they need guidance. Connections is also something to think about. Hopefully I’ll be able to reach back to my coach and teammates for a job or even just to hang out in the future.

Junior lacrosse player Talia Price arrived at Manhattan College in 2015.

GOJASPERS / COURTESY

Sports

12

THE QUADRANGLE

DOUBLE TROUBLE Jaspers’ XC Brings Home Two Titles at Fordham Fiasco

C. Garrett Keidel Staff Writer

On Saturday, Sept. 9, the men’s and women’s cross country teams lined up against the rival Fordham Rams to kick off this season of competition.

The Fordham Fiasco was held on the home course for the Jaspers in Van Cortlandt Park.

Senior John Dove took the individual title for the men’s race with a time of 26:15.55 on the 8k course; and junior Lisa Fajardo took the title in the women’s race with a final time of 18:24.09 on the 5k course.

“So this is my first cross country win ever. If you told me 4 years ago that I was going to win a cross country race I wouldn’t have believed you.

Needless to say I was pretty surprised. It felt pretty fitting that I ran exactly four minutes faster in this race than I did four years ago,” Dove said.

Fajardo had similar things to say: “I was really excited to win the race because I have never won a collegiate cross country race. This was also the first time that I improved on this course since high school, three years ago, and I improved by 16 seconds so that meant a lot to me.”

This year, the Jaspers have been focusing a lot of attention and training into the strategy of pack running.

“We have been talking a lot about this year about a different strategy. Just in terms that I feel both groups are ready for a bit more pack running and a little bit more purposeful pack running, instead of just going out there and trying to run a [personal record],” Head Coach Kerri Gallagher said.

“We’re working on strategy every time we race. I kind of knew we could walk away with some [personal records] for some folks on Saturday but really what I wanted to see was how we handle that strategy,” Gallagher said.

Gallagher was pleased with the Jaspers’ performance at the event.

“I was very impressed with what I saw from all of them.

They really embraced that strategy [and it] gave us a really good starting point to move forward from,” Gallagher said.

Pack running played a large role in both teams winning the race. The men’s team had only

Junior Lisa Fajardo took the title in the women’s 5k course in the Sept. 9 Fordham Fiasco.

GOJASPERS / COURTESY

John Dove (front, left) won the individual title on the men’s 8k course at the Fordham Fiasco.

GOJASPERS / COURTESY

____________________________

Both Dove and Fajardo took home titles at the Fordham Fiasco. a 16 second gap between their first and fourth runners.

Fajardo said that pack running helped a lot.

“I teamed up with my teammate, Caroline Ferri, and we went out fairly conservatively

for the first mile, just keeping the leaders in sight. We stuck together up until the halfway point, which came right after the final hill,” Fajardo said.

Fajardo continued, “Once we separated, I started to pick a few people off that were in front of me, and with about 1,000 meters to go, I passed the leader and made sure to keep gradually picking up the pace and stretch out my lead until the finish line.”

The remaining part of the

season is looking good for the Jaspers, and Coach Gallagher is thinking positively.

“We were picked third and fifth, men’s and women’s respectably in the MAAC conference. I think we will exceed those expectations. I am very confident that we should be running for second and third,” Gallagher predicted.

The Jaspers run on their home course in Van Cortlandt Park two more times throughout the remainder of the sea-

son. Just like every other sport, student engagement is key and plays a vital role in the support and energy in a team.

“There’s a great energy at this school. The student body is unique in the way they embrace the Jasper spirit, and I see that across the board,” Gallagher said.

You can catch the men’s and women’s cross country teams in action in Van Cortlandt Park on Oct. 13 for the Metropolitan Championships.