The Quadrangle- Issue 6, Fall 2022

the Quadrangle

The Future of Manhattan College’s Budget

Mack Olmsted Asst. Production Editor

The Manhattan College budgeting committee has new goals in mind for the 2022-2023 academic year.

Actor Brian Baumgartner Comes to MC Family Weekend

Baumgartner took photos with students and families outside Smith Auditorium. Baumgarter is pctured above with juniors Liam Rayder and Dom Campisi who asked him to autograph a bowl of chili.

LIAM RAYDER/COURTESY

Manhattan Caucus: How Do I Vote From College?

Kyla Guilfoil Editor in Chief

Midterm elections are on their way, but most Manhattan College students won’t be in the zip code they registered to vote in when Election Day comes. So, how can they vote?

There are a couple differ ent ways a student can vote, even if they can’t go to their voting district on Nov. 8. For one, students can apply for an absentee ballot, which is es sentially when the government mails you a ballot rather than going to a voting site to sign a ballot there.

To apply for an absentee ballot, you can go to the Na

tional Associations of Secre taries of State (NASS) website, type “Can I vote?” in the search bar, and then select “absentee & early voting.” Here, you are able to click any state in the U.S. to be directed to the prop er information.

On your state’s page, you will see the breakdown of any upcoming elections, including their date, the early voting time window and the dates for secur ing an absentee ballot on time.

For most states, you can request an absentee ballot via mail up to 15 days before the election, which would be Oct. 24 this year. You can also re quest an absentee ballot the day before the election, Nov. 7, if you request the ballot in per

son in your voting district.

All absentee ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 8 or dropped off in your voting dis trict by 9 p.m. on Nov. 8. Offi cials suggest voters mail their ballots prior to Election Day as ballots received past a certain time will not be postmarked un til the following business day.

Requirements for obtain ing an absentee ballot vary from state to state, but most will uphold the following cir cumstances: being unable to arrive at your polling place due to illness, injury or disability; being on business, travel or vacation outside of your county

Matthew McManness, the vice president for finance and administration, coordinates the development of the col lege’s operating budget and ex plained the budgeting process to the Quadrangle.

The College has an integrat ed planning and budget model driven by an annual process and timeline that ends with the review and subsequent ap proval of the budget each fiscal year, which begins in June, he said.

To start, the committee goes through a grass-roots pro cess that starts with the depart mental cost center managers and ends with recommenda tions from the vice presidents through a reporting system called Taskstream.

The college tracks the bud get through an Enterprise Re source Planning system, which is partly dedicated to tracking the college’s spending. The ma jor revenue sources for the col lege are tuition and fees, room and board, academic grants, endowment, income, scholar ships, non-credit program reve nues and auxiliary services.

Further, each department has their own process that they utilize to make various budget requests, this may be a small team or individual based on the size of the department. Based on the nature of the depart ment, resources are allocated to support the mission and role of the department.

Each department has a staff and discretionary spending al located to it based on prior year budgets and priorities as well as the strategic plan. Every de

partment has a specific budget manager, which is typically the head of the operation.

All the managers put in budgets for their areas, and then the Provost revises them all and ranks them in the over all budget request for academic affairs.

Senior civil engineering ma jor and vice president of finance for the Student Government Association (SGA), Samantha Miraglia, stated in an email how the budgets are created for clubs each academic year.

“The budgets for each club are determined based on the financial need for the events the clubs would like to hold and evaluation of past events/ budget use within the club. The amounts are constantly chang ing based on circumstance,” Miraglia wrote.

The budgeting committee plans strategically and accord ingly based on the records they have from past years and what they expect their income to be. Financial capacity also plays a large role in the decisions they make for the college.

McManness explained the outcome from this year’s finan cial capacity.

“The college’s financial ca pacity was heavily impacted during the COVID years. The current budget results, given our freshman enrollment, indi cates we have maintained our budgeted goal but not exceed ed it this year,” McManness wrote.

Manhattan College took a financial toll during the pan demic, but now that more re strictions are being lifted na tionwide the vision for MC is shifting. Provost William Clyde shared how MC is benefitting now that we are closer to a sem blance of a post-COVID era.

IN NEWS: IN FEATURES: IN A&E: IN SPORTS: Riverdale Hosts First Restaurant Week on pg. 7

The Future of Man hattan Colleges Budget on pg. 1

WRCM Radio Hosts Share What It’s Like to be Behind the Mic on pg. 8

MC Swim Dives Into a New Season on pg. 12

OpiniOns & EditOrials

CV, Issue 6

18, 2022

The Editorial Board

Kyla Guilfoil Editor-in-Chief

Caroline McCarthy Managing Editor

Lauren Raziano Copy Editor

Angelina Persaud Asst. News Editor

Zoe DeFazio Asst. Arts & Entertainment Editor

Karen Flores Asst. Features Editor

Angelica Niedermeyer Maddie Mulkigan Asst. Sports Editors

Rebecca Kranich Asst. Social Media Editor

Adrianne Hutto

Jocelyn Visnov Production Editors

Jocelyn Visnov Lauren Raziano Web Editors

Jilleen Barrett Managing Editor

Nicole Fitzsimmons News Editor

Megan LaCreta Arts & Entertainment Editor

Jilleen Barrett Features Editor

Caroline McCarthy Sports Editor

Kelly Kennedy Social Media Editor

Mars Ross Photography Editor

Mack Olmsted Asst. Production Editor

Nicholas Gilewicz Faculty Advisor

About The Quadrangle

A tradition since 1924, The Quadrangle is a news organization 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 accu racy, relevancy and professionalism.

The opinions expressed in The Quadrangle are those of the individual writ er 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

LETTER from the EDITOR

Dear Readers,

We’re back! I hope you didn’t miss us too much last week. We’re very excited to bring you a new issue this week, highlighting lots of exciting things in our neck of the woods.

For one, we sampled Riverdale Restaurant Week, featur ing some of our neighborhood’s finest cuisine. We also dove into Family Weekend, which brought lots of exciting events to campus throughout the weekend.

I hope many of you were able to reunite with your fami lies and take refuge from your studies!

As we head into the second half of October, I want to remind all my fellow Jaspers to use their right to vote! In our news section this week, we have an article explaining how you can vote, even if you can’t make it to the physical ballot box yourself.

No matter what you believe or where you’re from, make sure to participate in the upcoming midterm elections. We all need to use our voices to make democracy work!

Best of luck with your week, Jaspers, and make sure to keep checking out our newsstands!

Sincerely,

Kyla Guilfoil

Editor-in-Chief

The Future of Manhattan College’sBudget

1

“During COVID there cer tainly were budget items that aren’t being utilized anymore. For instance, we were having COVID testing at campus all the time, that was a cost,” Clyde said. “There were wipes and cleaning supplies all around, there were lots of costs. We had a team just dedicated to run our One Manhattan program, so we had a bunch of costs that we incurred, and the faculty need ed resources too, so there were a lot of additional costs for the couple of years of COVID, but now that we’re pulling out of COVID, a lot of those costs are going away.”

The budgeting committee

puts a lot of thought into what they are distributing the funds into. Every year the committee has a new and different idea in mind on what aspect of the college they should focus on. Clyde shared what the com mittee’s goals for this academic year are with the Quadrangle.

“The biggest thing that’s being emphasized this year is trying to make improvements to the residence halls. That’s the place where a lot of mon ey is being spent. But I would say in general, we’ve spent a lot of money on facilities, trying to improve facilities in many different ways. Just all around campus, there will be lots of im provements,” Clyde said.

McManness shared the budgeting committee’s view on

the importance of student life on campus, and how they wish to improve experiences for the community.

“There are many primary priorities for the College’s op erating budget in the current year,” McManness wrote. “Our primary goals are to enhance the student experience through improvements in our opera tions, making sure we have fulfilled our commitment to stu dents by allocating resources to the highest priorities such as the right staff levels, and invest ing in the college’s facilities to improve the quality of student life on campus.”

Manhattan Caucus: How Do I Vote From College?

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

or city of residence on Election Day; or being a student at an out-of-state college or universi ty.

For most applications for absentee ballots, you must check which acceptable cir cumstance covers your need for an absentee ballot, as well as basic personal information such as your full name, birth date and address.

If you are unable to go to the area of your voting district on Election Day itself, but can go sometime in the days lead ing up to Election Day, you can likely participate in early vot ing.

Most states either allow early voting or in-person absen tee voting, with varying time windows. Visit the National Conference of State Legisla ture’s website to find the spe cific rules for the state that you are registered to vote in by using the search bar to find

a page called “Early In-Person Voting.”

Early voting windows range from three days to 46 days, and can start as early as 55 days pri or to the election or as late as the Friday before Election Day. A total of 19 states, plus the District of Columbia, allow for Saturday voting in their early voting windows. Another sev en states allow county clerks to establish Saturday voting avail ability.

A total of six states, includ ing New York, allow early vot ing on Sundays during their early voting windows. Anoth er seven states allow county clerks to determine if Sunday voting is available.

In New York, for example, you can vote early beginning 10 days before the election, in cluding weekends. Then, early voting for New Yorkers closes two days before the election.

In Pennsylvania, you can vote early via in-person absen tee ballots up to 50 days before the election until 5 p.m. on the

first Tuesday prior to day of election.

Despite the varying rules across the country, there are opportunities for students to

vote in their district even if they can’t leave campus on Election Day.

To learn more about the upcoming election and how to

participate, visit USA.gov, se lect “About Us” at the bottom of the home page and then select “Contact USA.gov” and or visit the website Vote411.

CONTINUED FROM

Matthew McManness, the vice president for finance and administration.

MANHATTAN.EDU/COURTESY

The Manhttan College campus is getting ready to vote for this upcomng election. MANHATTAN.EDU/COURTESY

ManhattanCollegeReleasingTheir AnnualFireandSafetyReport

Andrew Mannion and Isaiah Rosario Staff Writers

Public Safety has published the 2022 edition of the annual Security and Fire Safety Re port. The report shows con tinuously improving statistics almost across the board, in cluding declining statistics in burglary, liquor law violations, aggravated assault and rape.

The report shows how Manhattan College remains overall a safe campus within New York City.

Liquor law violations are the only statistic on the report with lengthy numbers. In 2021, Manhattan College found 133 violations, none of which led to arrest. Although this is the most significant number in the report, it shows improvements from previous years.

In 2020, the violations to taled 150. The number of liquor law violations decreased from the prior year, as in 2019 there were 276 offenses.

Drug abuse violations have also shown a declining pattern, going from 124 in 2019 to 27 in 2020 and 11 in 2021.

AJ Goodman, director of residence life, accredited the control procedures for declin ing liquor law violations.

“I think improved access control procedures have been a major factor in this,” Good man said. “The requirement that all visitors are registered with Public Safety ensures that there is accountability for both the host taking responsibility for their guest’s behavior, as well as for on-campus visitors to know that they were identi fied entering the building.”

The control procedures allude to the alcohol regula tions. Manhattan College has standard alcohol regulations, including that no person under the age of 21 may possess or consume alcohol as well as pos sess false evidence of age that is for purchasing or possessing alcoholic beverages.

If a student were to break these rules, they would gen erally receive parental notifi cation, mandatory educational programming, revocation of privileges and fines.

The report also includes impressive statistics of no robbery, domestic/dating vi olence, or aggravated assault reports. Reports of theft, do mestic violence, and aggravat ed assault have been reported over the past three years. In 2019, were there two reports of dating violence.

The department of Public Safety has been continuously working on maintaining a safe

MANHATTAN.EDU/COURTESY

campus. Peter DeCaro, the di rector of public safety at Man hattan College, played a major role in maintaining the safety of Manhattan College. DeCaro explained to The Quadrangle some of the security proce dures that are in place to en sure the safety of students and staff on campus.

“[There are] uniformed Public Safety officers on cam pus patrol twenty-four hours a day, 365 days a year, and this is indeed a deterrent to crim inal activity,” DeCaro said. “Additionally, we maintain an excellent working relationship with the NYPD’s 50th Precinct which provides police service to our campus. I confer regular ly with Captain Girven, Com

manding Officer of the 50th Precinct, regarding local crime trends or issues that could af fect our campus.”

Continuing the safety of Manhattan college is just as important as reviewing the sta tistics. Public Safety continues searching for ways to improve campus security. DeCaro allud ed to having an emphasis on the buildings to help monitor campus activities.

“The College and Public Safety take a proactive ap proach in maintaining and en hancing safety and security on campus,” DeCaro said. “This includes, but is not limited to, continuing to expand the use of card access for building entry, the installation of additional se

curity cameras, and a regular review of security technology, protocols and staffing on cam pus.”

This annual report shows promising statistics as Manhat tan College strives to be a safer campus. MC students value the safety of campus as well. Mike Butkiewicz, freshman finance major, explains the importance of safety to him as a resident on campus.

“Safety is very important to me,” Butkiewicz said. “I try my best to keep myself and the community here as safe as possible. [Manhattan College] makes it easy for me to do that here.”

AJ Goodman, director of residence life, accredited the control procedures for declining liquor law violations.

Peter DeCaro, the director of public safety at Manhattan Col lege, played a major role in maintaining the safety of Manhattan College.

MANHATTAN.EDU/COURTESY

DiversityonCampus:AlbanianStudentUnion ClubBringsDiversitytoCampus

Angelina Persaud

Asst. News Edior

The newly formed Albanian Student Union Club is bringing diversity and representation to Manhattan College.

The club was founded during the fall 2022 semester through the efforts of three seniors and their desire to re connect Albanian students with their cultural roots.

Eleni Mazija, a senior mar keting major, is the president of the Albanian Student Union and spoke about the initial idea for the club.

“We want to kind of classi fy ourselves as a community because for years and years I know that students have been going here and we want to con tinue growing the community and also be something that fu ture students can also look at,” Mazija said.

Granit Selimaj, a senior fi nance major, serves as the club treasurer and shared his vision for the club and the students involved.

“I also had this vision where we would create a network of Albanians as well as for other people who are interested in better careers and mentors … they’ll start being friendly with us, and know that we’re all con nected,” Selimaj said. “Also, the last thing that I envisioned was to create a more welcoming environment for Albanian stu dents.”

Gjovana Livadhi, a senior finance major, is the vice pres ident of the club and spoke about her goals for the club and the goals she hopes to accom

plish through it.

“As someone who was born and raised in Albania, remem bering my culture and bringing people together is very import ant as well as having a place where we all come together as a community,” Livadhi wrote in an email to The Quadrangle.

The board members also shared a common expression of cultural pride and the per sonal connection to their roots. This connection, they said, was the driving force to initiate the club at MC.

Selimaj explained his famil ial connection to Albanian his tory and the pride he takes in his culture.

“I’m very patriotic. My dad went back to fight in the Kosovo War. So for me, this whole thing hits home very, very hard. And I want to bring that [pride] and make them more patriotic and I want to give them something to be proud about,” Selimaj said.

Mazija explained her per sonal connection in terms of her story as an immigrant and the deep value she holds for Al banian culture.

“I came from Albania back in 2009 with my family. I was six years old. So when I came here, it was kind of a mix of what am I going to cherish and keep for the long term,” Mazija said. “I want to make sure that as an immigrant myself, the values of the culture, everything that we left back home is cherished here and mentioned here, espe cially for students.”

Denis Haxhija, a senior marketing major, is a student of Albanian descent and spoke about his thoughts on having an Albanian club for students.

“There has always been a significant Albanian population here at Manhattan College, and having a cultural club to unite everyone and get to know each other is a wonderful opportuni ty to do so,” Haxhija wrote in an email to the Quadrangle.

He also shared the aspect of Albanian culture he connects with the most: music.

“I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say the music always stands near and dear to my heart! Whether it is new pop songs or cultural folklore, a lot of our music is very similar to Arabic and Greek music. An other huge aspect is knowing our roots. Most of our parents are immigrants and we work hard to create a legacy while preserving traditions,” Haxhija wrote.

Mary Camaj, another stu dent of Albanian descent, shared how she connects to her cultural roots through the power of dance.

“I am a traditional Albanian dancer,” Camaj said. “That’s what I do in my free time. That’s one of my passions. Recently, I decided to share my love for dancing on social media … dancing and Albanian music for me really speaks to your soul. When people say music is a food for the soul, they really mean it.”

She also commended the efforts of the founding mem bers of the club for embracing diversity and bringing unity to the Albanian students on cam pus.

“I truly applaud the people that started this club and took the initiative and are planning everything out, because there’s

a large Albanian community in New York, especially in the Bronx. Manhattan College is a really big asset to the Bronx, so I think it’s about time that we have an Albanian club,” Camaj said.

The board members also spoke about future plans for the club and the events they hope to be able to promote to the student body, including fund raisers and guest speakers. Up coming plans include a celebra tion of Albanian Independence Day on November 28.

Additionally, they are plan ning future collaborations with other cultural and recreational clubs on campus in order to promote unity and diversity.

“We want to put a fun aspect on it. So we’re gonna definite ly try and bring some of the culture here and maybe have

a soccer game between all the Albanian student clubs, from different colleges. Well, we’ll invite [students to] play and a bunch of other people to have some type of tournament. I mean, that’s the vision,” Seli maj said.

Livadhi also expressed the importance of cultural clubs on campus and how students from all ethnic backgrounds can benefit from these clubs, a sentiment shared by herself and the entire board.

“I think that cultural clubs are important on campus be cause we should all remember where we came from, embrace our beautiful cultures, and bring our students together. It’s important to understand the cultures, dances, food, and music of cultures all around the world,” Livadhi said.

TheLWGRCHostsConsentTrainingOnCampus

Alexandrea Velez Staff Writer

The Lasallian Women and Gender Resource Center host ed Consent Training for Sexual Harassment, Assault and Rape on Oct. 5. The teachings ranged from the definition of power to the difference between verbal and nonverbal consent.

The event had a guest speaker, Jamie Pytlik. Pytlik is an Enough is Enough Coordi nator who works in the Bronx District Attorney’s Office in the Crime Victim Assistance Bureau. Pytlik focuses on pro viding gender-based violence prevention programs while also serving as a confidential resource for students, faculty and staff if they have experi enced violence throughout multiple college campuses in the Bronx.

The main fear of reporting on college campuses is the stig

ma surrounding being the ‘per fect victim.’

In response to this phrase, Pytlik stated, “I think it’s a flawed phrase, because no body’s a perfect victim, and no body should ever have to be a victim. So the term ‘imperfect victim’ conveys this idea that there is a perfect victim when there is not, and especially that phrase is also rooted in rape culture.”

During the presentation, Pytlik discussed not only verbal consent but also physical and social cues that could deter mine consent. Verbal consent would be counted as phrases such as, ‘Yes’ or ‘That sounds great.’ But consent is consid ered not given with simple phrases such as ‘maybe’ or ‘I’m not sure.’ But she also stated during the presentation that saying yes to one activity does not imply consent for future activities, and that constantly checking in with a sexual part

ner is important.

“Verbal consent is not the only type of consent because this leaves a large gap for in stances of coercion and other situations where one may not be able to verbally give con sent,” Alixandria James, a se nior majoring in public health with a concentration in health care administration, said. “A physical consent mark will be very inviting as opposed to someone pushing away or their body language being seemingly uncomfortable.”

On college campuses, spe cifically, there are large groups of students living together with so many different power dy namics, such as upperclassmen and underclassmen or Resident Assistants and residents.

“Having training on cam pus, especially the one about consent due to the college cul ture of drinking and partying, is extremely important,” Ci ara Dalton, a senior intern at

the LWGRC, said. “Educating our students is the first step in combatting campus sexu al assault and they are quick, comprehensive and interactive sessions that allow students to learn skills they can adapt to their lives.”

Sexual assault does not have a picture-perfect defini tion or set examples because of the variety of ways it can occur.

“The idea that rape has to look a certain way or sexual assault has to look a certain way for it to be valid … that’s not the case because we know that sexual assault can happen to anybody and it can happen in a lot of different ways. And all of those experiences are equal ly as valid regardless of some body’s identity or the way they respond to that experience.”

When it comes to report ing, there are many outlets at Manhattan College, the main one being the Title IX office.

“Reporting is a difficult pro

cess because our immediate reaction is for it to go away,” Dalton said. “Having some thing happen to you that can be reported holds a lot of weight and there may be a lot of emo tions that go along with facing that … Reporting or not report ing does not make it any more or less real.”

Resources for Sexual As sault Survivors:

On-Campus Confidential Resources: Student Counseling Service and Health Services

On-Campus Private Re sources: Title IX Office and Campus Safety

Off-Campus Confidential Resources: EIE Coordina tors, Jamie Pytlik and Nicole Maiorano

Off-Campus Anonymous Resources: Hotline Numbers, Safe Horizon 212-227-3000, and RAINN 1-800-656-4673

Board members pictured left to right, Gjovana Livadhi, Eleni Mazija, Granit Selimaj. ELENI MAZIJA/COURTESY

WomenNeedSupport,Period.

Grace Cardinal Staff Writer

Manhattan College’s chap ter of HerCampus, the number one online magazine for col lege-aged women, sponsored a menstrual product drive to sup port those in need in the New York City area. The drive ran until Oct. 14, and was consid ered a success.

Samantha Keating, one of the campus coordinators for the magazine, said that the drive was more successful than anticipated, even without the final number of products donat ed being recorded.

“It’s been really success ful. We have boxes we’ve been checking every other day. The one in Kelly (Commons) was filled to the brim the other day, and Thomas (Hall) too,” Keat ing said. “I don’t think we ex pected to have so much.”

Each semester, Her Cam pus chooses an organization to support and raise awareness for.

“We do one [philanthropic initiative] per semester. Last se mester, we did NEDA, for Na tional Eating Disorder Week. That was Body Positivity Week. We’re marketing this week as Women’s Health Week,” stated Keating.

This semester, members of the magazine wanted to donate to an organization that was per sonal to them.

“This was an issue the of ficers and members of Her Campus really wanted to get behind because not only is this an issue that affects all men struating persons in the United States and worldwide, but this is something that can have very real effects on somebody going to work and going to school,” Deirdre O’Leary, PhD., the ad visor for HerCampus, said.

The drive is going to sup port Rise of Broken Women. According to their website, they are a New York City-based multicultural nonprofit ded icated to giving women and families the tools they need to extricate themselves from the circle of poverty. To date, the organization has helped 8.6 million people across the five boroughs of the city.

“A lot of members are pas sionate about finding an organi zation that relates to women’s issues, and we just felt like this was a good fit for us,” Skylar Rossi, editorial director for the publication, said.

Throughout the drive, Her Campus has received support from other organizations on campus, such as the Sigma Delta Tau sorority and the La

sallian Women and Gender Re source Center (LWGRC).

Period poverty is an is sue that reaches far beyond New York City and the five boroughs. Millions of women across the world are left with out the products they need for basic hygiene every day.

“I think that a lot of people don’t know necessarily what period poverty even means. I think it’s very easy for people to assume that because certain menstrual products are widely available to us at a CVS or at a neighborhood drugstore, that they’re widely available every where,” O’Leary said. “Close to 500 million people worldwide do not have regular or equitable access to products, facilities, education and the results of this can be that people miss school, miss work, they use unsanitary products, like rags, or they use a product for way too long.”

Menstrual product drives like the one held by HerCam pus are one way to help com bat this worldwide issue. Ev ery menstruating person has a right to have access to these products.

“Everyone should be enti tled to [period products]. They shouldn’t have to be paying, it’s not like you asked to menstru ate,” said Keating.

The members of the mag

Throughout the drive, Her Campus has received support from other organizations on campus, such as the Sigma Delta Tau sorority and the Lasallian Women and Gender Resource Cen ter (LWGRC).

JOCELYN VISNOV/THE QUADRANGLE

azine who helped support the mission said the experience is rewarding.

“The most rewarding part has been walking by and see ing the boxes so full because you realize something as small as dropping a few pads in there, a few tampons, can really make a difference for so many women,” Rossi said. “It’s something you’re not really thinking about, the long term effect it’s having on others, and how it’s making someone’s life easier when they have so many other challenges going on.”

Members of the magazine plan to continue with their phil anthropic efforts in the future and hope to influence other clubs to give back to the com munity as well.

Casey Schellberg, staff writ er for the magazine, hopes that more drives are done on cam pus to help women in need.

“I hope we can continue to do drives like this one to sup port more women in NYC, and even inspire other clubs to do the same,” said Schellberg.

Overflowing donation box for menstrual products in Thomas Hall. GRACE CARDINAL/THE QUADRANGLE

RiverdaleHostsitsFirstRestaurantWeek

Lauren Raziano Copy Editor/Web Editor

The inaugural Riverdale Restaurant Week brought to gether 29 different restaurants to celebrate the diverse food community found within River dale and Kingsbridge. Founded by Dine Out Riverdale, Restau rant Week aimed not only to highlight amazing restaurants, bars and coffee shops, but also to address food insecurity.

The profits earned from restaurant week from Oct.1 through Oct. 8 will be given to the community refrigerators in the Riverdale, Kingsbridge and Van Cortlandt neighborhoods.

Senior Denis Haxhija, a Bronx native, was excited to participate in the first River dale restaurant week.

“As a Riverdale resident for more than 15 years now, I was so happy to find out about this new initiative,” Haxhija wrote in an email to The Quad rangle. “Riverdale and Kings bridge is home to such an im pressive array of restaurants and bars, featuring so many cuisines ranging from Italian, Israeli, Japanese, Greek, Al banian, Dominican, Chinese, Mexican, to Irish and beyond, and they all deserve the recog nition. The best part is that so many of these restaurants are so authentic, family-owned and have been community staples

for many years now.”

Haxhija tried special menu items from a new Mexican cui sine restaurant on Riverdale Avenue called Tobalá.

“I love the ambiance of this newly opened restaurant.” Hax hija wrote. “The beige walls, wooden hand-crafted furni ture, and traditional Oaxacan decor create such a welcom ing atmosphere but also a visi bly-appealing aesthetic. Service was amazing, everyone was so kind.”

For restaurant week, To balá had a $50 prefixed menu which included an array of appetizers like vegan ceviche and roasted repollo, some main course options of Pulpo de Puerto, Pollito de Leche and Enmoladas de Hongo, along with a house made sweet tama les, pineapple compote, hibis cus powder dessert.

“I had guac (guacamole) and chips as the appetizer and the Tacos De Barbacoa (lamb) for entree, and La Mariposa cocktail,” Haxhija wrote.

Kingsbridge Social Club, lo cated at 3625 Kingsbridge Ave, is a wood-fired pizza place that had a special priced menu for $35. Customers had a choice between two of their house salads and then any of the house pizzas for their entrees. For dessert, it was a choice between their special Zeppeld oughah or cannolis.

Riverdale Restaurant week

also had a bar crawl on Satur day, Oct. 8 that divided the par ticipating bars into 3 sections in Kingsbridge, North Riverdale and South Riverdale.

“The bar crawl was, I would say, a success. Everybody came in at the same time, had a great time, got their drinks on time and they got to taste our differ ent drinks,” Imani, a bartender at Kingsbridge Social Club said. “They ordered their own differ ent beers and they also ordered different cocktails so they got to taste the wide variety that we have available.”

Imani was able to connect with the customers who partici pated in the bar crawl.

“It was really nice and over all, they had fun,” Imani said. “I was trying to match the ener gy as well. Everybody was in a hearty energy.”

Imani recognized why Riv erdale restaurant week is so im portant for the Riverdale Com munity.

“I think it’s very special but overall an important thing be cause the restaurant scene here is overlooked by the whole en tire New York City and New York City is a place known for food.” Imani said. “Many peo ple don’t know that here in the Bronx, we have a lot of gems. I myself didn’t know about gems in the Bronx, until I started working there. So I feel it’s a great opportunity for us to get our word out, not only in

BRONX ALEHOUSE/COURTESY

the city, but internationally as well.”

Imani is hopeful that restau rant week inspired new cus tomers to try their offerings.

“I feel that the restaurant week was something that would definitely help us get our word out there because I saw a lot of people come in to take pictures and come into experi ence us for the first time just because of Restaurant Week,” Imani said. “So I feel that mov ing forward we should be hav ing more guests. Restaurant Week was like a blessing.”

The Bronx Alehouse, locat ed at 216 W 238th St, partici pated in Restaurant Week and offered small wings of any style with any burger or sandwich for $19.

Dom, a manager at the Bronx Alehouse, shared that Riverdale Restaurant Week was able to bring together and connect many of the small local businesses within this neigh

borhood.

“I think it definitely brought us closer together, especially as businesses, and then the com munity could see us all work together. And we have our own little pocket up here and I think it brought us together and made us more excited.”

The bar crawl was also a great experience for the Bronx Alehouse.

“It was great and it was easy,” Dom said. “They had a great time and a couple of beers. They kept it moving be cause they had to go to some other spots so it was great for us as a business and it looked like everyone had a great time, including ourselves.”

“The best part about it was that we saw fresh faces to come and try out our restaurant,” Dom said. “I’m just gonna hope that we do it again next year and bigger and stronger and better.”

ManhattanHasSomeFamily Fun

Zoe DeFazio Asst. Arts and Entertainment Editor

Family weekend included some fun activities for Jasper

families, including pumpkin painting, a golf outing and a live animal show. Student Engage ment created a packed itiner ary fit for a great family outing.

As many students gathered with family and friends, there

was much to see and be a part of.

Meghan Rodino, a grad uate assistant for Student En gagement, helped coordinate the activities that circulated Manhattan College’s campus.

“This weekend, we have a bunch of different events,” Rod ino said. “Some main highlights of the events are that there’s going to be a golf outing, and then Mr. Softee is going to be there throughout the day, there are going to be mini paintings of small pumpkins, and then lat er, Kevin (Brian Baumgartner) from ‘The Office’ is coming. That’s like the main event. Ev eryone’s really excited about that.”

Rodino explained the pro cess that went into planning many of the events, and what would make students and their families have an entertaining day.

“We did do some research through Instagram, seeing what people are interested in,” Rodino said. “We do polls on the Student Engagement Insta gram to see what students are interested in.”

the golf clubs there, or they could bring their own.

Sigma Delta Tau hosted a pumpkin painting event for families with small children to participate in. Each person re ceived a tiny pumpkin, paint, and paintbrushes. The activity was free for all students and families but accepted dona tions for one of SDT’s philan thropies, Jewish Women Inter national.

Rosalia Cefalu, chapter president of Sigma Delta Tau, was excited to see what SDT could do for families during the fun weekend. Cefalu wanted to create an event where families can gather and relax with their small children while engaging in standard fall season activi ties.

lot of parents, but also a lot of younger kids too,” Cefalu said. “Our philanthropy [chair], Me gan LaCreta noticed that too. So we were like, “Oh, what can we do?’ Like, you know, pump kin carving can turn probably into kind of a disaster. But why don’t we just have people paint them? So we’re fundraising for Jewish Women International, which is one of our philanthro pies, and it’s just really fun and exciting.”

Alex Radion, a student who participated in the live animal show, had a great time getting to know the turtles and all the other creatures.

ZOE DEFAZIO/THE QUADRANGLE

The family golfing activi ty took place at Van Cortlandt Park Golf Course. Students and their families can either rent

Cefalu said the sorority wanted to help out at Family Weekend somehow, and pump kin painting with a suggested donation seemed to be a good way to raise money for the or ganization. With both adults, college students and young kids being a part of the week end, Cefalu explained how they determined they would host a pumpkin painting session.

“We heard that there was going to be Family Weekend going on … there’s obviously a

“My favorite part of the weekend was looking at the snakes and the different stuff from the animals because I’m just a general fan of animals and it was really cool that he brought them up and just let them walk around and watch for a while, and it was overall something I really enjoyed do ing,” Radion said.

Editor’s Note: Mack Olmsted contributed to reporting. Addi tionally, arts & entertainment editor Megan LaCreta is men tioned in the article for coordi nating one of the Family Week end events.

As many students gathered with family and friends, there was much to see and be a part of.

Bronx Alehouse offered a special priced menu for Riverdale Restaurant Week, $19 meal for small wings of any style with any burger or sandwich.

WRCM Radio Hosts Share What It’s Like to be Behind the Mic

Jilleen Barrett Features Editor/Managing Editor

Ever wonder what it’s like to host a radio show? With WRCM back on the airwaves, some Manhattan students have decided to do just that.

Colin Sweeney, a senior at the college, hosts “BoingYo ingYoing!” from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays. He had been hoping to join the club radio for a few semesters but with the water damage in the booth the hosts broadcast from in the Research & Learning Center (RLC) on south campus, he was not able to.

Sweeney explained the meaning behind the unconven tional name of his show, where he and his guest Jasmine Mon tenegro talk about psychology, mental health and meditation in addition to playing music.

“You see that name and al most can’t equate any sort of like expectation … it’s also sup posed to be kind of light heart ed [and] humorous a little bit as well,” Sweeney said. “The show is more, you know, it is kind of like art, and then we

can make jokes and all that.”

Soren Juelsgaard hosts “cool girl monologue,” named after the speech Amy Dunne delivers in “Gone Girl.” Juels gaard transferred to Manhat tan after spending a year at Moravian University, where she co-hosted a show with the same name along with her then roommate, Brianna Whalen, for Moco Radio.

Now, Juelsgaard and Wha len host their own versions of the show on the two different radios at separate times, tuning into each other’s and texting throughout. Juelsgaard, who hosts from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays, says speaking into the microphone solo is an en tirely different experience than when she had her close friend by her side.

“So when we were togeth er, it was just the mic was just there and I was speaking to her,” Juelsgaard said. “I know the people that are listening because they’re a lot of my friends, so I’m speaking to them. But also I’m in a room alone and it’s dark … So I’m just saying things that are com ing into my mind.”

Whalen is appreciative of

the opportunity to continue par ticipating in each other’s shows about one hundred miles away from each other.

“I love hearing the songs she picks out each week and her commentary on them, but I also miss doing the show with her,” Whalen said. “We end up texting each other and re sponding on air anyways, so we still participate in each other’s shows in small ways.”

Playing music is what brought the pair together, and it’s what WRCM and other col lege radios are all about. Emi ly Daly, the program manager and host of “No Pressure” as well as “Em and Em’s Rock His tory” with Emily Lavelle, says “even if I am playing to empty airwaves, it’s a great feeling to share the music that I love.”

Playing music isn’t the only part of the club Daly gets in volved in. She is also the pro gram director, which is a posi tion on the board.

“My job as program direc tor is to make the schedule for the semester,” Daly said. “I am a lot more committed in a time sense to the club. I am most closely in charge of scheduling, attendance, and some admin

istrative communications, but we also split a lot of the respon sibilities of running the club amongst the board.”

Daly said the club has changed in the last few years, but she hopes to be part of its comeback. She started as a host when she was a freshman in 2019, and since then, they have had a few issues arise with airing between COVID-19

EMILY DALY /COURTESY

and the water damage in the studio.

“I think it was far more present my freshman year than in the two years where life was very affected by COVID, but it’s one of our goals that we can return the club to that place again this year,” Daly said. “Stay tuned for upcoming on campus and off campus events!”

Actor, Author and Accountant: Brian Baumgartner from The Office Comes to Campus

Jocelyn Visnov Production Editor/Web Editor

Brian Baumgartner brought a piece of Scranton to the Bronx as he joined the Jasper community on Satur day, Oct. 15 for Family Week end. Best known for his iconic portrayal of Kevin Malone on “The Office,” Baumgartner joined fans of the show on the quad for a conversation and Q&A led by executive director of Student Engagement, John Bennett.

Bennet opened with a dis cussion about family where Baumgartner explained he is still in touch with cast mem bers from The Office in var ious degrees, mentioning travel plans with actor Angela Kinsey and an ongoing fanta sy football league with actors Rainn Wilson and John Kra sinski.

In addition to his acting career, Baumgartner is the author of “Welcome to Dunder Mifflin; An Oral History of The Office” which was released in November 2021 and later gained accolades as a New York Times Bestseller.

More recently, Baumgart ner published a book of chili recipes with the title “Seri ously Good Chili Cookbook.”

In the interview with Bennett, Baumgartner explains that the concept for the book stems from the infamous scene from The Office where Kevin makes a pot of chili and promptly spills it on the floors of Dunder Mif flin.

“I just decided to make some chili, took a picture, post ed it online,” he said. “And peo ple just lost their ever-loving minds. That just went crazy. And so I was like, ‘Okay,’ and I started getting into it, I started making it more and more my self.”

The Quad spoke with Baumgartner following the event, where he explained com ing to MC is one of several stops on his ventures to promote his cookbook.

“I went back to Scranton, and went to Philly and New York,” he said. “I really enjoy going to colleges because, you know, it’s an audience that is really into the show, and in some cases have seen it fairly recently, then there’s nostalgia for the people who watched it originally. But now one of the things that I love to hear is that it’s like one show that families can watch together, like with the parents and the kids.”

When asked if he ever grows tired of talking about the show, Baumgartner explained

that even nine years after the show stopped filming, he’s still making discoveries about it.

“The last line of The Office is ‘There’s [a lot of] beauty in ordinary things. Isn’t that kind of the point?’, and I think that the show is really a celebration of that. It’s a celebration of ordi nary people occasionally doing things that they get recognized for, and I think that this is real ly a huge physical embodiment of that. It’s hopefully funny, but really, it’s he [character Kevin Malone] who says, ‘It’s prob ably the thing that I do best.’ He’s super proud of it, it fails. I think ultimately, it’s about try ing. And that’s important.”

Among students in atten dance at the event was Michael Riccardo, a freshman business major and longtime fan of The Office. “I thought it [the event] was fun all around.” Ricardo said. “It was cool to see a ce lebrity you like from a show. I’ve watched it [The Office] for years and my whole family loves it. I know they’re gonna love the photo that I sent them.”

Ricardo attended the event with Landon Schofield, a fresh man education major.

“I just liked asking him [Baumgartner] questions and getting more behind the scenes stuff, just learning more infor mation you wouldn’t get from

just watching the show,” Scho field said.

Baumgartner concluded his brief interview with The Quad with a piece of advice for college students.

“I think that trying to get a well-rounded base and not be ing afraid of a variety of class es and experiences, I mean, I think that’s really what’s im portant,” he said.

MADDIE BRAUN/COURTESY

Emily Daly, program manager and host of two WRCM radio shows, has a goal to bring back the same community vibe the radio had when she joined as a freshman.

Sophomore Maddie Braun takes her daily BeReal with Baumgartner following the event.

“A History of Wild Places”

Brooke DellaRocco Staff Writer

My goal when entering a bookstore is to uncover the “diamond in the rough” — the book that is eye-opening or shocking, that no one else seems to know about. If we share the same goal, I’m here to tell you about your next “dia mond in the rough” read, enti tled “A History of Wild Places” by Shea Ernshaw.

The novel follows the char acter Travis Wren and his un ordinary profession of locating missing persons. It seems to be more like a special talent, as he only needs a single object of theirs to locate them. Travis is at a particularly low place in his life after losing his sister and dealing with the consequences that often accompany his job.

About to give up, a family approaches Travis hoping for help finding their daughter, Maggie St. James. She is an experienced writer of many

children’s books and has been missing for five years. Using his talent, he is drawn to the community of Pastoral, ground ed deep within the woods, with like-minded people looking for a certain simplicity in life.

The plot then skips a cou ple of years rather abruptly and introduces two new characters Theo and Calla, a married cou ple who live in Pastoral. It is in herent to mention that no one is allowed out of the border of Pastoral because of the danger of the disease swarming the woods, called “the rot.” It is said to seep into your body and infect you, making your blood run black. The community holds frequent sessions when ever someone catches the dis ease, where they bury the pa tient alive in hopes to draw out the rot. Terrified, no one dares to cross the border. But when curiosity takes over Theo, he ventures past the border and discovers Travis’ abandoned truck, and is immediately com pelled to solve the case and

understand where this mysteri ous person could have gone.

Ernshaw leads readers through a compelling world where you can trust no one and where secrets continue to build up. The story jumps through the perspectives of Theo, Cal la and Calla’s little sister Bee, to give readers a sense of dra matic irony, and invoke a sense of urgency. This slow burn will have readers questioning every last character until they are hit with an enormous plot twist.

While reading this book I found myself continuously yell ing at the characters as if they could hear me. “A History of Wild Places,” will require you to sit down and ponder the oc currences that you just experi enced. You will even find your self looking into your own life and trying to locate similarities to relate to the emotions of the community.

Ernshaw wraps up a com pelling and terrifying storyline with a comforting message that a home is truly what you make

it. “No matter where you go, there are cracks in the plaster, nails coming loose, you just have to decide where you want to piece yourself back together. Where the ground feels stur diest beneath your feet,” Ern shaw writes.

“A History of Wild Places,” is a must-read. I guarantee that when you turn to page 368 in your hardcover copy, you will be wondering why more people aren’t raving about it.

London is About to Get a Taste of Pep Band’s Beats

Isaiah Rosario Staff Writer

The Manhattan College Pep Band is on its way to Lon don! The band is set to cheer on the men’s basketball team as they play Northeastern on Nov. 24 and Army or Princeton on Nov. 26.

Fundraising will play a tre mendous role in the students’ trip to London. The contribu tions that Pep Band receives are going to go straight to stu dents and staff to help lower the costs of tickets and other expenses on the trip.

Jacob Robinson, director of Pep Band, spoke about how the students are fundraising for their trip to London. He said they are funding the trip by getting donations from alumni, family and various businesses.

Student Engagement is looking forward to planning an itinerary for students in all three spirit squads during their day off in London. Pep Band will join the Jasper Danc ers and cheer team on the trip.

Robinson spoke about his excitement about traveling to London with his group of stu dents.

“It’s going to be a bit of an experience bringing some mu sic from here,” Robinson said. “I’ve only been once before ... Going in with a great group

of students is going to make it much more fun.”

Excitement is not just com ing from the director but also the students of the Pep Band. Emily Peters, a senior at Man hattan, spoke to The Quadran gle to share her excitement for the upcoming trip.

“I’m very excited,” Peters said. “The year before we were freshmen, [Pep Band] went to Ireland with the basketball team. It’s finally our turn to go on an international trip with the team, so we’re all very ex cited about this.”

Ashley Danz, who is also a senior, is just as ecstatic as Pe ters about the trip.

“I have the same excite ment [as Peters],” Danz said. “I wasn’t able to go on the Orlan do trip last year. This is my first actual trip with the Pep Band and it’s a big one. It’s very excit ing to go international with the Pep Band to support the bas ketball team somewhere other than our home field.”

With a once in a lifetime trip like this, there most cer tainly be a lot to take in. Stu dents and staff in Pep Band are looking forward to getting the most that they can out of a trip like this.

“I’ve never been anywhere other than the United States, so a huge thing is just expo sure to new places,” Danz said.

“The main thing is that we’re going out there to support the

basketball team. So the more support we can give, the better. I’m excited about the games themselves and I’m also excit ed to just simply see London.”

Danz and Peters both have the same perspective when it comes to what they want to get out of this trip.

“I’m excited to travel,” Pe ters said. “I’m also excited to go to another country with the Pep Band, and all these kids that I love, and also to support our basketball team.”

The band has put in a lot of work behind the scenes to make the London trip happen. Robinson explains the impor tance of the teamwork neces sary to make this trip a suc cessful one.

“I want the band to feel like they’re working together to make a pretty large-scale event happen,” Robinson said. “Music is a specialized thing, so it takes a lot of work to bring music to people and I think a lot of folks don’t realize what work goes into that. For us, that means bringing a lot of equipment and performing in the space. We have to spend a lot more time preparing and moving through the airports and getting to the location with all of our stuff than we can do performing.”

Robinson explained what he wants students to get out of the trip and to show what hard work does.

“What I want the students to get out of it is an experience where they’re working hard towards something together,” Robinson said. “Understand ing that we’re going through an event like this teaches peo ple how important it is to have music, what it takes and what goes into it which like I said, is a lot more than what meets the

eye. It’s also a chance for the students to get to know one another in a context other than just at school, which is good for building relationships [with each other].”

Those wishing to support Pep Band can do so through the group’s GoFundMe, called “Send Manhattan College Pep Band to London.”

A History of Wild Places by Shea Ernshaw is a must read. GOOGLE /COURTESY

The Manhattan College Pep Band is on its way to London! MANHATTAN.EDU/COURTESY

Basketball Star Serving HerSkills on the Other Side of the Court

Carter Silane Contributor

Stepping onto the court this season in a different uniform, sophomore Bella Nascimen to has returned to Manhattan College, but this time as a two sport athlete.

Nascimento came to Man hattan College in the 2022-2023 season to play for the women’s basketball team as a guard. This year, with the women’s volleyball team low on players, Nascimento, along with other players on the basketball team, was asked to help out her fel low Jaspers and join them on the volleyball court.

Assistant volleyball coach Sara Atai had the idea to ask head basketball coach Heath er Vulin if she had any players interested in and willing to play for the team. Due to a lack of recruitment over the summer and preseason injuries, the vol leyball team was down to five players, one player short of the six needed on the court during a match.

Just about everyone on the women’s basketball team of fered to step in, resulting in a mini tryout to see which girls they could choose from to lend to the volleyball team.

“It was seven in the mini trial of our team and then four of us got picked,” said Nasci mento.

Coming back to school from summer break can be a bit of an adjustment for any college student but being a student-athlete and playing two sports is a handful. But that has not stopped Nascimiento. When she’s not playing at a vol leyball match she is at basket ball practice, and whenever she isn’t playing either sport she uses that spare time to focus on her school work.

“Every day is long. I mean, with basketball, it’s always been long. But with volleyball, I don’t practice as much because when they’re in their practice time, that’s our lift time. So I just come and play the games and it’s long days, long nights,” Nascimento said.

Other than having more work to manage than last year, Nascimento has also had to adjust to a different on-court pace. In basketball, it is what she calls a “constant up and down,” without much time to cheer each other on.

“Volleyball you can cheer and support your teammates more than you can in basket ball,” Nascimiento said.

But with the team welcom ing her with open arms it has been an easy adjustment.

“I love playing with them. They’re really nice. They really come in, like even if we mess up since we haven’t played and we’re not used to their system, they teach us the way like they help us with everything even when we’re on the court,” Na scimento said.

Basketball has always been Nascimiento’s passion, but when given this opportunity to play both sports that she loves, she couldn’t pass up the offer.

“I told my mom earlier in the season I was like, I don’t know I just have a passion for volleyball like I do with basket ball which is so weird … it’s been like two or three years since I actually played volley ball again,” Nascimento said.

In addition to joining the volleyball team for a portion of their 2022-2023 season, Nasci mento has been named ‘Ath lete of the Month’ by the Man hattan College Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC).

Nascimento started her volleyball career when she was

in high school but has always been surrounded by the sport. Zueylha Lennon, her mother, played volleyball professionally in Brazil.

“When she comes here and when she watches on TV, she’s like turn your hands, get low on defense, be better on that, so she really helps,” Na scimento said.

It is obvious that Nasci mento is a very well-rounded player and teammate on both the basketball and volleyball teams. She scored 85 points her freshman year on the bas ketball team and 40 points this volleyball season.

“Her last year with us was my first year as a JV coach, so I didn’t really know her that well. I do recall that she was a

phenomenal player on the vol leyball court and a great team mate,” said Nicole Smith, the girls’ varsity volleyball coach at Shepherd Hill Regional High School, where Nascimento at tended and played volleyball before coming to Manhattan College.

Unfortunately, the match against Rider University, on Sunday, Sept. 25, was possibly Nascimiento’s last match play ing for the volleyball team this season. Both Nascimento and head coach, Mauro Miletic, are hopeful that she will return to play for a couple of their week end home games.

“I hope we can make her stay. She’s important. Plus she has a lot of heart. She plays hard. It just shows you how all

the athletes work together to make Manhattan College bet ter,” Coach Miletic, head coach of the women’s volleyball team, said.

When Nascimento was asked if she would play for the volleyball team again next sea son if they were to have her, she replied with no hesitation.

“Oh 100 percent,” Na scimiento said. “Why not? I just love volleyball!”

Hopefully, we will be see ing Nascimento on the volley ball court again. But one thing is for sure — fans will see her at the women’s basketball team season opener wearing the number five on Nov. 7 in Drad dy Gymnasium.

Bella Nascimento is a sophomore at MC playing for the women’s basketball team. GOJASPERS/COURTESY

MC Swim Dives into Season at New Facilities

Adrianne Hutto Production Editor

The Manhattan College swim and diving team moved their practices to Horace Mann this semester.

This isn’t the first time the team has had to move fa cilities. Mackenzie Tuttle, a senior psychology major on the swimming and diving team who has been since her fresh man year, said the team has had practices at four different pools during her college ca reer so far.

“Freshman year, I was at Fieldston,” Tuttle said. “And then sophomore year was COVID. We swam at the Riv erdale Y for a week. And then last year we were at Riverdale Country Day School which was nice. And now we’re at Horace Mann.”

The Riverdale Country Day school is reportedly a 20 to 30 minute walk from Man hattan College. Last year, the Jaspers allotted practice time was from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., but because of dining hall restric

tions, swimmers had to be out by 7:15 p.m. to make it back in time for dinner.

“It’s very frustrating when we’re not sure if we have a pool coming into each year,” Tuttle said. “But once we actually get there, it’s fine.”

This is the first time Horace Mann will be allowing another institution to use their pool. With the facilities only being five years old and in the wake of COVID, they had not been open to those outside their school community.

The team was able to se cure the pool because of the connection between Robert Annunziata and Marianne Reil ly MC’s athletic director, who were classmates during their time at Manhattan College.

Robert Annunziata, the ath letic director at Horace Mann explained over the phone that the Horace Mann has collab orated with MC in the past, allowing use of tennis and vol leyball facilities and MC giving them use of Gaelic Park and Draddy Gymnasium.

Eric Rasmussen has been coaching the swim team at Manhattan College since Sep

tember of 2021. Rasmussen explained that the switch to Horace Mann has been ex tremely beneficial for the team.

“Horace Mann has a num ber of advantages. One of them is a bigger facility,” Rasmussen said. “So Horace Mann has an eight lane pool compared to Riverdale [Country Day’s] six lane pool. Number two, a lit tle bit more deck space, that’s a comfort thing. I guess they just have a little bit more room around the deck for the team to stretch or whatever it might be. The last and probably the most important, we can walk to that school. Last year at River dale [Country Day], they had a walk all the way up to Riverdale [Country Day], which is a good 30 minute walk or somebody might have to bring a van back to pick them up.”

Despite the hiccups the team has faced over the last four years, Rasmussen is confi dent in the swimmers’ abilities.

“We graduated a lot of se niors and we did not bring in as many freshmen as we grad uated, but the freshmen we brought in are all pretty tal ented and I think we’re gonna

make great contributions to the program pretty much from day one,” Rasmussen said. “But it’ll be nice moving forward because we will graduate that many this coming spring. Hop ing for a good recruiting class this year with the stability of the program of having this per manent facility. That’s a huge

factor in recruiting.”

With the move to Horace Mann, the team will be able to host swim meets just a few blocks away from Manhattan’s campus. On Saturday, Oct. 22, the team will be having a home meet against St. Francis Col lege that is open to students and parents.

Volleyball Team Pushing Through a Losing Streak after First Win of the Season

Karen Flores Asst. Features Editor

After a frustrating start to the season, the women’s volley ball team got their first win on Sept. 24 against Saint Peter’s with a score of 3-2. The team is currently working through an eight game losing streak since their first win on Sept. 24.

Mauro Miletic, head coach of the women’s volleyball team, wrote via email that getting the first win of the season was great and came at a good time.

“Winning the home opener in Draddy Gymnasium in front of our fans was great. After the many obstacles we faced at the beginning of this season, a win was needed and this one came just in time,” Miletic wrote.

Sara Atai, assistant coach of the team, also agreed that the win has been a good morale booster for the members.

“This win was the morale booster our team needed. De spite the odds, our team has managed to stay positive and continue working hard at ev ery single practice and game,” she wrote.

Miletic also wrote that he was very happy with the effort

the team had put into the game, giving Julia Menocal, a gradu ate student studying civil engi neering, an honorable mention due to her high performance in the game.

“Though we wish it had been a cleaner win in 3 sets, I’m very happy with how hard the girls pushed themselves to close out the match. Ju lia Menocal alone scored 37 points, a career-high and some thing not many players can say they’ve accomplished in one match, so as a coach I’m very proud of that achievement,” Mi letic wrote.

Following this long antic ipated win, the team has been on a eight-game losing streak after their loss to Rider Uni versity on Sept. 25 with a score of 1-3. Manhattan got an early lead against Rider, but they managed to tie with a score of 10-10. Menocal then executed a 5-point kill which allowed Man hattan to keep the lead and win the first set.

Manhattan almost tied the second set, but Rider gained advantage due to their early lead and won the second, third and fourth rounds simultane ously.

The Jaspers have strug

gled to regain their footing as they went on to lose 0-3 consec utively in eight matches that included Quinnipiac, Fairfield and Canisius.

On Wed. Oct. 12, the Jas pers came face to face with Rid er University again. Camila Go mez, a graduate student in the O’Malley School of Business,

led the Jaspers with 14 kills and 15 digs. This is the second game in which she executed 14 kills and this is also the fourth time she has recorded at least 10 digs.

Despite her efforts and that of her teammates, they suffered another loss with the team falling to Rider University

once again in a grueling match that ended with a score of 0-3.

The women’s volleyball team is scheduled to play against Iona University on Sat. Oct. 15 and will face Saint Pe ter’s University once again on Wed. Oct. 19.

On Saturday, Oct. 22, the team will be having a home meet against St. Francis College that is open to students and parents.

GOJASPERS/COURTESY

The women’s volleyball team is scheduled to play against Iona University on Sat. Oct. 15 and will face Saint Peter’s University once again on Wed. Oct. 19.

GOJASPERS/COURTESY

Women’s Soccer Team raises $1000 in Support of Morgan’s Message

Kelly Kennedy Social Media Editor

On Oct. 8, the women’s soccer team won 1-0 against Iona at Gaelic Park in a dedica tion game for Morgan’s Mes sage, a foundation supporting mental health for college ath letes. The foundation is named after Morgan Rodgers, a Duke student athlete who tragically lost her life to suicide.

“Our game was dedicat ed to Morgan Rogers, a Duke lacrosse player who unfortu nately lost her battle to mental health to suicide in 2019. Her family and friends started this organization to give student athletes a chance to tell their story and support each oth er,” said Nicolette Caneda, a sophomore at Manhattan and a Morgan’s Message ambas sador for the women’s soccer team.

This season, the women’s soccer players are stepping up to become ambassadors for the foundation and raise money to support the cause, spearheaded by their two am

bassadors, Caneda and Sami Dericco. There are also ambas sadors on the cross country team and the women’s lacrosse and volleyball teams.

“We’ve begun meeting as ambassadors, and have had a few meetings so far this year to get the conversation started. We really want to build this up and have [mental health] be something we all feel comfort able talking about,” said Deric co.

As an ambassador, Caneda has gone above and beyond ad vocating for mental health. She recently spoke on the Morgan’s Message podcast, and Sept. 28 spoke on a panel for This Is My Brave, a similar organization supporting mental health and suicide prevention.

“I’m just going to try to get my story out as much as pos sible because it’s comforting to know that other people are going through the same things that you are,” Caneda said. “I didn’t have that, and I started to think that was the problem. So for me, it’s important to show people that look, this is some one else who’s just like you struggling through the same

things, it goes a long way.”

Mental health is an issue that many college athletes struggle with, and Caneda and her ambassadors are looking to give their support and spread awareness.

“I’ve seen a lot of teammates of mine quit the sport because of mental health struggles and I just never want to see someone fall out of love with the game in that way again,” Caneda said. “I just want to prevent it as much as possible and pay whatever I can forward to help whoever I can.”

Kelly Conheeney, assistant coach of the women’s soccer team, has seen many of her players struggle with mental health throughout the years.

“It’s a huge topic nowadays. I think there’s a lot of deaths by suicide now in the athlete community, more than there ever has been. And, you know, the big question is, ‘Why is this happening?’,” Conheeney said. “Sometimes you don’t know somebody’s suffering, and I think athletes hide things re ally well. They’re really good at hiding pain and just pushing through things. It’s important

for us to let the girls know that we’re always here for them first as humans and we don’t ever want to push them past their mental limit.”

Last week, the soccer team raised over $1000, which will be donated to Morgan’s Message in their name. They hope to continue spreading awareness and support the cause both on

and off the field.

“Lean on people you trust and love, and it’s okay to not be able to do everything alone,” said Caneda, offering words of advice. “You get to play your sport, you don’t have to play it. So continue loving it as much as you can, if you don’t love it, it’s not worth it. You’re human before you’re a player.”

Nassim Akki’s Domination on Defense Leads the Jaspers Toward the Top of MAAC Standings

Maddie Mulkigian Asst. Sports Editor

The Manhattan College Men’s Soccer team’s contin uous success in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) halfway through its conference schedule is a true reflection of the heavy recruit ing head coach Jorden Scott ac complished following the end of the team’s 2021 fall season.

Along with Gunnar Studen hofft, Scott recruited Nassim Akki from Bordeaux, France to represent Manhattan Col lege on the pitch starting in 2022. Similar to Studenhofft, Akki began his adjustment to Manhattan College and life in The Bronx in the spring 2022 semester.

“I attended a showcase game in Paris in December as part of the FFFUSA program through the French Football Federation and during that game Coach Jorden was in at tendance,” Akki said. “He got in touch and we spoke about the school, the team and the plans to rebuild after COVID and with my family’s support I was able to come in spring 2022 and have the time to ad just in the Spring season.”

The FFFUSA program is a partnership between the Ma jor Soccer League (MLS) and the French Football Federa tion that allows young French soccer players to be scouted by university programs in the United States. By taking ad vantage of this connection to collegiate athletic programs in the U.S., Scott was able to see Akki’s skills in person and recognize the full potential that he has. While this relationship began in Paris this past Decem ber, it wasn’t until Akki made the move to the Bronx that the two were able to rebuild the Jaspers’ back line.

In his official debut as a Jas per against Holy Cross, Akki played the full 90 minutes and has continued to prove himself as an integral part of Manhat tan’s defensive line. With five games left in the Jaspers’ reg ular season, Akki has managed to stay healthy enough to play in 898 minutes and continue to lead Manhattan to number two in the MAAC standings.

While playing Division I soccer in the United States is an entirely new experience for Akki, he is ready for whatever is going to come at him in the next four years as a Jasper.

“Pressure and expectations

are life,” Akki said. “We can only be our best if we are able to control our emotions and set realistic goals and enjoy the journey.”

Akki’s emotions were put to the test in the Jaspers’ second game against La Salle which resulted in a 1-1 tie. With 50 minutes left in the game, Akki was dealt a red card that left his teammates to play a man down for the rest of the match. While the Jaspers managed to main tain a draw in this battle against La Salle, it was an important experience for Akki to face in his first year playing college soccer.

Since this game, Akki has played all but 45 minutes in each game that the Jaspers have played. Most recently, he was awarded MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 26 after his performance in Man hattan’s 2-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson. Along with Akki’s minutes per game, this ac knowledgment by the MAAC proves that he is a player that the rest of the conference is go ing to have to watch out for.

“My aim is to do what is best for the team and that will shape my training approach and goals,” Akki said. “I hope to bring success on and off the

field for the program in my time here.”

As only a freshman on the team, Akki’s goals for himself and his commitment to the game will lead him and the Jaspers to great success in the next four years. Akki is only getting started in his colle giate career as a Jasper, but his immediate impact is already

being recognized by Manhat tan College and the rest of the MAAC conference. Heading into the last five games of the team’s conference schedule season and playoffs looming in the distance, Akki will be a key player that will help determine the Jaspers’ success.

On Oct. 8, the women’s soccer team won 1-0 against Iona at Gael ic Park in a dedication game for Morgan’s Message, a foundation supporting mental health for college athletes.

GOJASPERS/COURTESY

Nassim Akki is named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 26.

GOJASPERS/COURTESY