Look Inside: A3 Oswego professor sends holiday cards to families missing loved ones
Friday, Nov. 22, 2019 VOLUME LXXXIV ISSUE XVI SINCE 1935 www.oswegonian.com
Political clubs discuss issues Student organizations debate current topics in politics
Rachel McKenna Chief Copy Editor rmckenna@oswegonian.com The Political Science Club held a debate called “Yes We Can All Get Along!” on Wednesday, in an effort to prove that different political parties can come to an agreement with each other, in contrast with what happens on social media. This is the second time the event was held, the first was held last semester. The panelists speaking were Maxwell Mozes, from the Oswego State International Socialist Organization club, Tyler Toomey from Oswego State Young Americans for Freedom club, Wyatt Fulton from College Republicans club and Alexander Ehrenberg from College Democrats club. Ericka Solomon, the president of the political science club helped organize this semester and last semesters event. She said that the debate last semester was “constructive,” making it an easy decision to continue it this year. “They were all very kind to each other, while still being able to show different sides of issues,”
Solomon said. The debate covered issues like climate change, gun control, poverty and much more in-between. The topics were broken down into questions and each panelist was given a few minutes to respond and then speak with each other. The first question started the debate off in a light-hearted manner asking the panelists, “What is the best place to eat off-campus?” The debate then went into the more serious questions for the panelists. Throughout most of the issues brought up, the panelists seemed to agree with each other, and if they did not agree, it was respectful. A question about the impeachment hearings sparked more debate with the panelists, than other questions. The YAF and the College Republicans leaned toward one side while the College Democrats and the ISO leaned toward the other side. “No matter how you feel about the political arrangement, the inquiries into the impeachment proceedings of Donald Trump will affect you one way or another. I tend to lean on a side that they are grabbing for straws,” Fulton said. “They
haven’t come up with anything, besides bribery, that actually carries weight ... They are honestly just throwing darts at a board and seeing what sticks.” Fulton, vice president of the College Republicans, and Toomey, president of YAF, both agreed that they do not think the president committed any crime, or any impeachable offense. They also agreed that this was not a smart move for Democrats, with the 2020 election coming up. “I see this as only boosting the president’s re-election efforts,” Toomey said. “If you don’t like the president, vote for somebody else, volunteer for somebody else, donate to somebody else. I see this as a way for Democrats to get the president out of office because they know they can’t beat him in an election.” Although Mozes, vice president of ISO, and Ehrenberg, president of the College Democrats, both disagree with Toomey’s and Fulton’s positions on the matter, they did find common ground in the publicity around the impeachment.
See PANELISTS, A4
CONTENT
Rachel McKenna | The Oswegonian The Political Science club hosted and moderated a panel featuring other Oswego State political clubs representing a spectrum of beliefs.
Calendar...................... A3 Crossword................... C6 Contact Info................ A2 Laker Review.............. C1 News............................. A1 Opinion........................ B5 Sports........................... B1 Sudoku........................ C7
College plans stress-relief week to help end-of-semester woes Colin Hawkins News Editor chawkins@oswegonian.com
The Oswego State Dean of Students office and Counseling Center are hosting several stress-relief programs during the last week of classes and into finals week to help students manage end-of-semester stress. These events are a part of the campus Stress-Free Zone program, and includes candlelight yoga, therapy dogs, painting activities, planetarium events and massage therapy. The Counseling Center and the Dean of Students office said the events should be a fun way for students to decompress when students may feel the most academic pressure. “It’s a hectic time for a lot of students, and just having things they can go to, either between studying to decompress, to prepare for a test. We’re running different events that can be useful for different people,” Kyle Dzintars, the outreach coordinator and a counselor for the Oswego State Counseling Center, said. “I think especially at this point in the semester for a lot of students going into exams, they’re figuring out where they stand in a class, they’re thinking ahead to the future. They want to do their best and I think that comes to a head at this point in the semester.” Dzintars said students can experience stress differently. While some shutdown and struggle, others cut out other aspects of their life to focus on the source of their stress, with some just becoming overwhelmed by their impending deadlines. “We tried to cover a wide range of events for people so some of these, like working with the Fitness Center, we’re taking into consideration physical activity. Doing yoga, maybe that’s more helpful for someone who needs that,” Dzintars said. “We’re also going to have mindfulness events that are about slowing down. Being calm, relaxed.” The Dean of Students office is also offering a several events, with many focused on giving stressed students a creative outlet such as painting picture frames and decor that students can keep for their dorms or use for holiday gifts. Shelly Sloan, the health promotion coordinator with the Dean of Students office, said
Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
students respond well to craft events held in the past, particularly an event where students plant a succulent in a pot they decorate. “The succulents have always been a huge hit, I don’t know what it is about the succulents but our students love them,” Sloan said. “We have the pots coming that you can color or paint and then seal in Mod Podge. Then we have succulents and dirt that you can replant in those pots.” During the mid-semester self-care event, Sloan said the program had 160 succulents decorated by students. If students do not manage their stress in a healthy way, according to Sloan, they can suffer from shortterm problems as well as cause long-term damage to their bodies. “Stress can affect students in many ways, I think the biggest thing is stomach aches, they can’t sleep, anxiety, it can cause people to not eat at all or overeat depending on how they deal with stress,” Sloan said. “Some stress is really good though, some stress is great. The stress of getting married, or buying a home or graduation. Those kinds of things are good stress because they can motivate you, but then if you have too much stress or a lot of stress at once, it can do a number on your heart, it can cause so many health issues.”
See STUDENTS, A5
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THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
It’s a hectic time for a lot of students, and just having things they can go to, either between studying to decompress, to prepare for a test.”
THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
-Kyle Dzintars, from COVER
A3
Oswego professor sends Christmas cards to victims
Community members contribute, spread holiday cheer
Colin Hawkins News Editor chawkins@oswegonian.com For the third year in a row, an Oswego State professor is coordinating efforts to send out thousands of holiday cards to the families and communities affected by mass shootings. Jaclyn Schildkraut, an associate professor of criminal justice at Oswego State and a national expert in mass shooting research, said she started sending holiday cards after the October 2017 shooting in Las Vegas. “Right after the Las Vegas shooting, I got connected with one of the survivors who had connected with all of the families where children had lost parents and grandparents,” Schildkraut said. “Originally it started with me just adopting these three boys who had just lost their mother in the shooting.” Schildkraut said her students requested extra credit that semester and she wanted them to do something meaningful. “I said, ‘Okay, you can write cards to these three boys,’ and then I found out there was like 32 other kids who lost parents and grandparents,” Schildkraut said. “A couple of social media posts later, we collected 2,000 cards the first year.” In 2018, Schildkraut expanded to other communities affected by mass shootings, including Aurora, Orlando, Newtown and Santa Fe, as well as her hometown of Parkland, Florida. With the help of volunteers, including students and organizations across North America, Schildkraut sent out over 10,000 cards in 2018 with one box of holiday cards weighing 76 pounds. The list of communities Schildkraut sends cards to grows every year as more mass shootings occur, but adding her hometown was the hardest. The Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland was where Schildkraut’s brother and friends graduated and was the site of the Feb. 14, 2018, shooting. “Last year was really difficult, having to add my own community. A place where I grew up, I’ve known it one way my entire life, for the most part, and all of a sudden it’s completely different,” Schildkraut said. “I can get that same feeling for these other communities that are going through it, where you stand in front of a building and it looks
exactly the same as it’s always looked but it’s never the same again.” Schildkraut said writing these cards helps her to be mindful of those who lost loved ones in a sudden and violent way while giving perspective to the writer. “I think it’s about doing something bigger than yourself,” Schildkraut said. “Here, by all intents and purposes, you had these very intact families, parents who were very loving to their children, they were loved spouses or sisters or brothers. I think there’s a relatability there to not necessarily put yourself in those shoes but to recognize that loss.” The holidays especially can bring that feeling of loss to the fore. “I think when you lose somebody, you’ve always lost them. You have that feeling all year long but I think with the holidays it’s always a time for families and it highlights that loss even more,” Schildkraut said. Last year, several members of the Oswego State community volunteered to write cards for Schildkraut’s “Cards for Kids” campaign. Professors enlisted their students to participate and the Oswego State men’s hockey team wrote cards with a box at the ice arena for fans to participate at the fall 2018 Whiteout Weekend. “It’s impossible to fill the void in these individuals lives when one of their family members is taken in one of these shootings. However, you can try and ease some of the pain of that void,” Helen Knowles, a political science professor who had students write cards in class last year, said. “Anybody who’s lost a family member knows that that pain is intensified, magnified ten-fold, hundred-fold, during the holidays.” Knowles said that Schildkraut’s work to send cards is important, as these small tokens sent from across the country during the holiday help these communities know that they are not forgotten amid the multiple mass shootings occurring every year. With Schildkraut receiving several thousand cards last year, Knowles said she had no idea how Schildkraut manages to organize and ship every card on top of her job as a professor. Participating by writing cards and encouraging her students to do the same was a simple choice for Knowles. “It just felt like the right thing to do. Everybody, from the youngest freshman on campus to the oldest faculty member, we’ve all lost someone and we all find ourselves missing that particu-
lar someone during a time of holiday,” Knowles said. “Whether it be to natural death or something as horrific as a mass shooting. We all feel that void and I think it’s just a humane thing to do.” Knowles said the experience of writing cards was “humbling,” as she realized such a small token may make a difference in someone’s life. With the prevalence of mass shootings in recent years, some Oswego State students have had relationships with school shootings before coming to college. “My school was almost in a mass shooting. When I was a sophomore, a kid brought a gun to school,” Nicole Evans, an Oswego junior who attended Indian River High School, said. Evans said that the weapon and student were detained by a teacher before any violence started. But the incident showed her that schools do not always have an effective plan for avoiding danger and communicating an emergency to students. While Evans said she feels safe on campus, she does not feel prepared for an emergency. “Do I know the school’s procedures if something were to happen? No,” Evans said. “I don’t know the campus’ plan if something were to happen. I don’t think most people on the campus do.” The increase in mass shootings is deeply concerning to Erin McClary, a criminal justice student at Oswego State, as well as how quickly the nation seems to move on from those events. “I think it’s crazy the mass shootings are happening in schools. It’s not even mainly in college campuses. A lot of them are elementary and high schools, adolescents that are growing and developing and those are the ones being killed by adults, and that’s scary,” McClary said. “It’s sad that this is where we’re at, this is where we’ve come to. There was just another shooting, and you hear about it on the news and, ‘Oh it’s just another shooting,’ why is that normalized? Why is that okay?” For McClary, remembering communities impacted by mass shootings is important during the holidays, but the problem needs to be addressed year-round. “It’s very easy to move on and forget what they’ve been through because they have to live it every day. We don’t,” Schildkraut said. “I think it reminds them that there is good in the world, that there’s people who remember them and think about them.”
Flav-Riggs-Town: Laker Nights 2019, 8 p.m., Friday, Nov. 22, Riggs Hall Main Lounge
Think Before you Speech 1 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 23, Marano Campus Center 133
Holiday Skates with the Lakers, 1 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 24, Marano Campus Center Arena
Focus on Faculty, Pianist Robert Auler, 3 p.m., Sunday Nov. 24, Sheldon Hall Ballroom
Gospel Choir Holiday Concert, 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24, Hewitt Hall, Ballroom
Rice Creek Story Hour, 11 a.m., Saturday Nov. 30, Rice Creek Field Station
The Winter Constellations, 7 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 1, Shineman Center 223
Living Writers Series: Keith and Juliet Giglio, 3 p.m., Monday, Dec. 2, Marano Campus Center 132
Photo provided by @CardsForKidsByJackie on Facebook
Advanced Electronic Music Student Recital 7:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 2, Tyler Hall Room 11
Jaclyn Schildkraut, (Right) associate professor of criminal justice at Oswego State is sending holiday cards to victims of mass shootings.
The Student Association did not make the forum this week as 11 Senators were present. To proceed with an SA meeting, there needs to be at least 12 senators present, so that they may make a fair judgment and ruling. A member of the SA wrote on the whiteboard at the start of the meeting that there is $15,770 left in the contingency fund. The major topic scheduled to have been discussed Tuesday evening was the financial issues that SA has come into.
Assistant Vice President of Student Development and interim Dean of Students, Kathleen Evans, and
Michael Flaherty, the general manager of Auxiliary Services at SUNY Oswego presented a possible optimization of the Oswego transportation website. Oswego students can find various transportation options at oswego.edu. By simply searching “transportation” a student may plan for local or long-distance travel anywhere from Syracuse, Albany, Buffalo and even to New York City.
Evans mentioned that Oswego State in the past two years had contracted buses from Trailways to pick students up in Syracuse on Sunday evenings after breaks and long weekends. Oswego State has since ceased this program for they found that not enough people were utilizing it. Senator Maryjay Olalekan said that she would have taken
advantage of that had she known about it, implying that its lack of use derived from a lack of awareness. Evans said that if the students help to promote the Trailways bus service via social media and word of mouth that they may be able to bring the service back.
Senator Olalekan, among others, voiced their opinions on how bussing back to NYC from Oswego over breaks could be improved. Olalekan said that many students find the bussing options from Oswego to NYC and back to be too expensive. Evans replied to Olalekan’s feedback with the suggestion to make reservations available with options provided on oswego.edu in advance, with the possibility of the price increasing as the date draws nearer. Students have recently
begun to take matters into their own hands by chartering busses to go downstate and covering costs by advertising on their own to friends and other students,
Senator Olalekan mentioned that commuting students sometimes have trouble making it to class on time due to slow Centro busses, and that they do not run often on weekends. Flaherty responded to Olalekan by thanking her for her feedback and saying that he would relay that to those that oversee the Centro buses and their schedules. Olalekan also mentioned that part of the problem may stem from growing up in New York City and being used to quick, easy and reliable public transportation.
NEWS
THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
A4
Panelists debate presidency, Professor debuts second Christmas film potential crimes committed 2 more upcoming projects pitched, planned for 2020 Alexander Gault-Plate Editor-in-Chief aplate@oswegonian.com
Rachel McKenna | The Oswegonian Tyler Toomey (left), Wyatt Fulton, Alexander Ehrenberg, and Maxwell Mozes were panelists.
POLITICAL from COVER “I do, unfortunately, agree that it probably does bode well for his fan base,” Mozes said. “But I think that Trump believes in unitary executive power. Meaning that the president, by definition, is inculpable from wrongdoing. Which is something that is absolutely ludicrous to me, I don’t understand how you cannot hold a man accountable for doing illegal things.” Opposing from the other panelists Mozes and Ehrenberg thought that Trump had committed a crime, and it was in plain sight. “If you’re giving aid to a country and you say, ‘Okay, we’ll give you this aid, but you have to do us a favor first. You have to investigate my political opponent’s son for his involvement in an oil company,’ that is a crime within itself,” Ehrenberg said. “And it needs to be investigated. Since he is the president of the United States, it’s an impeachable offense.” The impeachment and this presidency is one issue that is seen as a partisan issue in the United States. This debate showed the audience and the panelists that they are able to talk to each other in a calm and professional way, without offending one another. After many productive debates, the floor opened to questions from the audience. Most of the students
that came to listen to this debate came with questions ready about an issue they care about. One student, Lauren Fitzgerald came to see what the panelists thought about climate change, and was satisfied with how the debate turned out. “I obviously did not agree with every single thing that was said,” Fitzgerald said. “But I thought it was nice to be surprised to hear certain people that I don’t necessarily agree with say something that I actually do agree with.” One student asked the question, “What impact do you think Trump appointing two conservative judges is going to have on Roe v. Wade in the future and if so how is that going to change abortion rights across the country?” This immediately caught the concern of Solomon, who asked the panelists to keep their answers short, recognizing that the whole panel was straight, white males. “We don’t love to hear an entirely male panel talking about abortion,” Solomon said. “[It] just so happened to work out that it was all white straight males, which is unfortunate. But I hope that in future years we will see people of color, people of the LGBTQ community, women, in these leadership roles so that those are the people that are speaking on this panel.”
If you had told Oswego State screenwriting professor Juliet Giglio that she would be writing Christmas movies with her husband, Keith, back in 2012, she would not have believed you. And yet, on Nov. 2, the Giglio’s celebrated the release of their second Christmas movie, “Christmas Reservations.” Juliet and Keith met at New York University in the Master’s program for screenwriting. The two have been screenwriters for years, but stopped working in Hollywood in 2008. “My last writing credit before 2018 was in 2006,” Giglio said. “In 2007 the Writer’s Guild strike happened, which lasted into 2008. During that period no guild members were allowed to write, and when the strike ended, we discovered that Hollywood wasn’t really making the kinds of movies we were interested in. Things had really shifted.” She says that all throughout their years in Hollywood, they had not even removed their Master’s degrees from the document tubes they had come in. The couple decided to use those degrees and become screenwriting professors on the East Coast, where they both are originally from. Keith got a job at SI’s Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University on a tenure track, and Juliet taught as an adjunct at Syracuse their first year out of Hollywood. Juliet says that the adjunct professors job showed her how much she could enjoy teaching, and she applied for a job at Oswego State. Juliet and Keith took a break from screenwriting to focus on teaching, until one night in 2018
Photo provided by Juliet Giglio “Christmas Reservations” is Giglio’s second Christmas film, the first being “A Very Nutty Christmas.”
when Juliet’s father told the two about a movie he had seen on Netflix that he had loved, and reminded him of the movies they had written years before. “Out of the blue, my dad, an 80-year-old man, told us he loved the movie ‘The Christmas Princess’ on Netflix,” Giglio said. “He said that this was the kind of movie Keith and I used to write. We started considering Christmas movies after that.” Juliet said that the process for getting their first Christmas movie, “A Very Nutty Christmas,” was shockingly quick. She said that a friend of hers had connections with Paula Hart, one of the owners of the production company Hartbreak Films. Hartbreak is owned by Paula and her daughter, Melissa Joan Hart, best known for her role as Sabrina in the hit TV show “Sabrina the Teenage Witch,” and as Clarissa in the show “Clarissa Explains It All.” Giglio said that the idea for their first movie was very well received by Hartbreak, and the next step was to take it to a distributor. The Lifetime Network greenlit the
movie quickly. “That was unheard of, the speed with which everything happened,” Giglio said. “That’s what pulled us back into the game.” Juliet and Keith began working on “Christmas Reservations” over winter break, turning in their first draft on Feb. 8. By mid-April, their three drafts were finished and the project went into pre-production, before being filmed in Lake Tahoe in May of this year. While the movie was being filmed, the Giglio’s pitched a few more ideas, and now have two more projects greenlit for 2020. Giglio said that she feels that being a professor, and teaching students how to write, has improved her own work in the process. She said she is able to balance writing and teaching because of the long breaks for winter and summer. A lot of the Giglios’ writing is done over the winter break. “When you talk about it all day long, and you’re explaining to students how to do something, you can’t help but think about it when you’re doing your own work,” Giglio said.
Photo provided by Juliet Giglio Juliet Giglio (right) and husband Keith Giglio met while in New York University’s screenwriting masters program and became professors after the Writer’s Guild strike.
News: chawkins@oswegonian.com Sports: mwatling@oswegonian.com Opinion: fmiesner@oswegonian.com Laker Review: bfallat@oswegonian.com
Colin Hawkins | The Oswegonian Politcal issues, such as the impeachment, were debated in an event hosted by political science club.
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A5 NEWS Pedestrians use Route 104 shoulder Students worse off skipping THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
When residents miss campus shuttle, they walk along busy road Katelyn Gloade Events Coordinator kgloade@oswegonian.com As it is now darker out earlier and ice is already on the ground, just about everywhere in Oswego is not quite as safe. But nothing is quite as worrisome as walking along the side of Route 104 between campus and Lakeside Commons. Lakeside Commons opened in October of 2017, presenting a new luxurious option for student housing. The complex is quite accessible by bus, and there is a hefty amount of parking spaces available. A shuttle operated by the property transports residents to and from campus, running from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays with a weekend shuttle taking residents downtown to West First St. on Friday and Saturday nights. However, for those who cannot drive, what happens when they stay on campus past 10 p.m. on a weekday, after the last campus shuttle? Or a non-resident is trying to get to Lakeside Commons to meet up with friends? Many students walk along the shoulder of Route 104. When Assistant Chief of University Police Kevin Velzy was asked if this issue is of concern he said, “Very much so, mainly because I live in the town of Oswego and drive that route quite often, so I see the students walking.” Velzy expressed more concern over the intersection at Thompson Road and Route 104. He emphasized turning left onto Thompson Road from the right lane going West, toward Lakeside Commons. “The traffic behind the turn-
meals, missing sleep to study COLLEGE from COVER
Nicole Hube l The Oswegonian Students commonly walk along the shoulder of Route 104 between campus and Lakeside Commons.
ing vehicle will not stop as they should. They instead pass on the shoulder of the roadway, which is a violation of the New York Vehicle and Traffic Law (VTL) section 1131,” Velzy said. “There is in fact a sign just before that intersection warning drivers not to drive on the shoulder; but they do it regardless.” The other intersection that Velzy was concerned about was the Fruit Valley Veterinary Clinic at 7100 State Route 104. Velzy noted that the business has one entrance and one exit which does help the flow of traffic but added, “When a vehicle is about to exit, and they are traveling west, it is a common habit among drivers to only look left to see if there is oncoming traffic before continuing. If they do not also look right, they might miss a pedestrian walking toward them.”
“There was one car-bicycle injury crash a couple of years ago in that area that I am aware of,” Velzy said. “Most of the traffic crashes we have responded to were at the intersection of Route 104 and Sweet Road at the main entrance to the campus.” So while it looks like Lakeside Commons is not the main point of concern, every intersection between campus and Lakeside Commons is. “I would like to add that everyone plays some role in their own safety ... For this particular stretch of road, they need to be reminded that when walking along a roadway where there is no sidewalk, they must walk facing traffic,” Velzy sad. “If they are riding a bicycle, they must ride with traffic and obey the same rules as they would in a car.”
According to Sloan, students may feel pressure in their academic life, the holiday season, moving back home and their personal life that can also contribute to stress this time of year. Sloan said she understands the pressure students are under, as she attended Oswego State as well. “I know when I was a student here, and I was an RA, I just remember trying to get my classes finished, take my finals, get through graduation, check out my residents, pack myself, that alone was a lot of stress,” Sloan said. “Coupled with any personal things students are dealing with, which everyone is dealing with personal stuff too, that can really heighten stress.” Both Dzintars and Sloan agreed that students need to take care of themselves when studying for finals, as missing sleep and skipping meals to cram for tests can hurt test performance more than being unprepared. “It is really easy for students
to put their basic needs aside for the sake of studying more or completing a project,” Dzintars said. “I know it is counter-intuitive in some ways to choose sleep over another hour of late-night studying, but realistically, students do better on tests when they get more sleep.” To help encourage mindfulness and restfulness, Sloan is planning to offer sleep aids like masks and essential oil sprays at some programs. “We know our students aren’t sleeping, let’s face it,” Sloan said. “We know, nationally, our students aren’t sleeping. We have survey data here that says our students aren’t sleeping. I’m sure the quality of sleep isn’t good. So we need to figure out how we can teach our students about that.” Stress-Free Zone events begin during the week of Dec. 2 with most events located in the Penfield Library and Marano Campus Center room 133. Information on individual events will be posted online soon and flyers are expected to be posted on campus detailing the program schedule.
Patrick Higgins l The Oswegonian
NEWS
THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
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Oswego State students eat Funnelle Hall closing for renovations takeout instead of cooking Residence hall will reopen in fall after receiving updates Rachel McKenna Chief Copy Editor rmckenna@oswegonian.com College students have a stereotype of knowing how to cook one meal, Ramen Noodles. A student who is typically living on their own for the first time may not know how to feed themselves and that draws the question, how do college students eat? For one’s first year living on campus at Oswego State, it is mandatory to get a full meal plan with the dining halls. This comes with unlimited swipes for meals and $70 is added to their Laker Dining Dollars account. However, upperclassmen start to lower their meal plan or not sign up for them at all. This means that they must get groceries and cook for themselves. However, many of these college students do not know how to cook or do not have the time for it. “I’m really tired after coming back from class and I just want something quick, not something that I have to focus on,” Jasmine Hamilton, a student at Oswego State, said. “Because I’m in sorority life and other clubs, it’s a lot of my life.” This is Hamilton’s junior year at Oswego State and she just moved off campus. She shares a house with two other girls, and said that she does not cook often. She never learned how to cook, and being so busy with school work and other clubs, she does not want to take the time out of her day to learn. Hamilton does not have a meal plan at Oswego State. She said that it is too expensive to pay for the meal plan all four years. Resident Dining Director Ruth Stevens said most students who live off campus opt out of meals plans. “We don’t get very many that actually buy a traditional meal plan," Stevens said. "They may add Laker Dining Dollars, or they may buy the block ten meal plans.” Finding time to cook in-between classes, clubs and work is hard for students, making eating out at fast-food restaurants and quick microwavable food typical meals. “Fajita Grill and rice and beans [for] $1. 90-second rice and 50-cent can of beans,”
Hamilton said. For a busy college student that does not already know how to cook, it can be time consuming to learn. “I definitely noticed that when I meet with students that maybe there’s a lack of knowledge around cooking, I definitely see that as a theme,” Kathryn Szklany, Oswego State’s registered dietitian said. However, not all college students lack cooking skills. There are students that enjoy cooking, and want to take the time out of their day to do it. Amanda Scalfani, a junior at Oswego State, and Hamilton’s housemate, said she cooks at least three to four times a week. “I cook chicken quesadillas. Sometimes steak if I have the money, burgers are big,” Scalfani said about her favorite meals to make. Because of timing and the expenses of groceries, college students tend to stray away from cooking. After a long day, students want a meal that is fast and something easy, which could result in the food not being of the healthiest quality. “The average college student is probably not eating a ton of vegetables from what I can tell,” Szklany said. “Not that they’re not eating any, but it’s not a huge beautiful plate of vegetables that I would love to dream that they’re eating. I think it’s some of those favorite kid-friendly foods.” These kid-friendly foods can be found at most of the fast-food chains located in Oswego. Szklany said she also notices college students gravitating toward the same kind of food in the dining hall and wants students to break those patterns. “Especially in college, you are trying to make these healthy behaviors,” Szklany said. “And if you stick to these things now, when you’re an adult … when you have things like full-time work and you have to do all the grocery shopping for yourself you can instill those healthy habits.” Whether it be Ramen Noodles, 90-second rice or a steak, college students manage their way around the kitchen differently. Every student has different preferences, but buying groceries and cooking is not a top priority in the busy college student’s life.
Photo from RitaE via Pixabay Many students choose to eat instant meals like Ramen Noodles instead of taking the time to cook.
Dyllan Lawrence Staff Writer news@oswegonian.com Funnelle Hall is going to be temporarily closed for renovations after the fall semester. The renovations will keep the building closed for the spring 2020 semester, and it is expected to reopen for the fall 2020 semester. Funnelle Hall has already been partially emptied, with students from floors seven through nine being moved into other residence halls. The remaining students will not have to move until the end of the semester, after finals week ends on Dec. 14. The renovations to Funnelle Hall will consist of gutting and rebuilding the bathrooms. The construction team will also be fixing the floors, walls and ceilings and will make upgrades to the exhaust, ventilation and lighting systems. “First is to convert the bathrooms ... to individual bathrooms,” Shaun Crisler, assistant vice president for residence life and housing, said. “We’ll be working on the walls, floors and some of the ceil-
ing finishing’s … Exhaust and ventilation and lighting, so there are a number of renovations that will be student facing, but also a number of them behind the scenes.” Due to the renovations, Funnelle Hall was not filled to capacity this semester. The upper three floors of the building were closed after the end of the summer term, and rooms on each floor were left empty. “All of the students who moved into Funnelle knew that the building was closing, and so we didn’t fill the building to capacity. There’s probably only maybe a hundred students in Funnelle right now,” Crisler said. Crisler said that renovations are important, and he’s happy that the school is able to invest money into its residence halls, as many colleges are unable to do so. In the SUNY system, academic halls are usually renovated with money provided by New York state’s government. However, residential halls must be renovated using money received by the school from its residential students. “I think renovations in our residence halls is always a good
thing,” Crisler said. “I think there are a number of institutions that can’t always quite afford renovations, so the fact that we’ve been able to save up and put money into Funnelle is important as we move through all of our buildings.” For Edito Ramos Palacios, an Oswego State sophomore who lives in the building, the transition of the bathrooms from group bathrooms to individual bathrooms is exciting. “I want to see how the bathrooms turn out because I think that’s the main thing they’re doing, just the bathrooms, but I’m really excited about that,” Palacios said. “I’m really excited about that because you’re going to get to have your own little shower bathroom area that you can go in and lock the door and do whatever you have to do.” Crisler said that investments made by the Residence Life and Housing department are planned out to improve the living conditions and make students more comfortable. “The purpose of this renovation is really to make sure students have a better living experience in the halls,” Crisler said.
The Oswegonian | File photo from 2018 Funnelle Hall opened in 1965 as the first highrise building constructed on the Oswego State campus. The residence hall will be updated next semester.
OPINION WHISTLE BLOWER
B5 Photo from Pixabay
SPORTS THE OSWEGONIAN
SPORTS CANTON
B3 Will Rogers | The Oswegonian
VOLUME LXXXIV ISSUE XVI • www.oswegonian.com
Beat Writer’s Column
TRANSFER
FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
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‘Yo, does anybody have a knife?’: inside road trip with men’s hockey
Inexcusable penalties Look into what happens behind scenes of Oswego State’s away games
Ben Grieco Managing Editor bgrieco@oswegonian.com Allowing nine goals was just half the story in the Oswego State men’s hockey team’s loss to SUNY Geneseo on Saturday. The other half comes from the 88 penalty minutes—not including the four game misconducts—the team accrued in just 60 minutes of play. There are a couple of positives, however. One, the record for penalty minutes in one game in Div. III hockey is 136 set by Bethel University on Feb. 17, 1990. So, the Lakers are not quite that undisciplined. More importantly, this happened in game five of the season, rather than game 25, which is Oswego State’s last regular season game. The team has time to correct their discipline problem, but it will need to do it soon with another top five matchup this weekend against Hobart College. But, as captain Josh Zizek said in an interview this week, the team never wants this to happen, that is pretty obvious. Having this happen against a team like SUNY Geneseo does bring one thing: a wake-up call. The team was able to pounce on SUNY Cortland and SUNY Potsdam, with scores of 6-3 and 8-1. While the games against Plattsburgh State and The College at Brockport were much closer, the team still only allowed five goals in four games. None of those teams touched the national rankings, as the Golden Eagles had only received votes toward the rankings. There were some emotions going into the game against SUNY Geneseo. The last time Oswego State had played at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena, it was the SUNYAC Championship, which was a 4-3 loss for the Lakers. Besides that, the Knights always present a tough challenge. They have a top power play, penalty kill, defense, etc. There is a reason SUNY Geneseo is No. 2 in the nation. This “wake-up call” reminds me a lot of two seasons ago, when the Lakers did not advance past the SUNYAC Semifinals in a 3-1 loss to SUNY Fredonia. Outside of the 2-1 overtime loss to Hobart College on Oct. 29, 2017—ironically Oswego State’s next opponent this season—the Lakers did not lose until Dec. 31, 2017, in a 4-3 loss to Middlebury College. Thencaptain Mitchell Herlihey called that same game a wake-up call. That season ended in a little bit of turmoil, with three-straight losses to SUNY Potsdam, Plattsburgh State and SUNY Fredonia and the team only registered one goal in those three games. But with 13 seniors this year, and a lot of offensive prowess from a chunk of players instead of a go-to guy, this team has a lot of potential. The ceiling is high for this team and where it could end up by February, or potentially March. However, if this team is going to hit that potential, committing 88 penalty minutes against any team, let alone a nationally-ranked team like SUNY Geneseo, is not going to work. Anyone could expect to see Oswego State play until March in the NCAA tournament. But, the teams that make the Frozen Four do not play as individuals. They play as units of 20-something players during every game and practice. And if the Lakers play as individuals with all 26 players, they could lose to any team during the season. At some point, talent does not matter. Zizek mentioned that it is all about the team’s attitudes. He said it best: “The sooner we decide to start playing as a team, the sooner we’ll get back on track.”
Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian
Ben Grieco Managing Editor bgrieco@oswegonian.com Head coach Ed Gosek and assistant coach Jon Whitelaw were sitting in their office Saturday morning, trying to decide who was going to be in the lineup for the game against SUNY Geneseo, while also watching the Knights’ film. That was until I walked in, Whitelaw was immediately prepared to close the cabinet to hide the lines if I was a player walking in. When he saw it was me, he let his guard down and opened the cabinet back up. “We’re trying to get our lineup decided. Usually we’re selecting the last couple players this early in the morning,” Gosek said. “Just remember, anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law.” And that was my cue to begin listening and paying attention to how the Oswego State men’s hockey team handles an average road trip. From 9:00 a.m. to 9:55 a.m., both coaches prepare what they are going to tell the team in regards to SUNY Geneseo’s special teams. At the same time, they try to decide who the extra skater is going to be. It is all dependent on who is playing well and what the team needs. Whitelaw, who graduated from the team in 2013, said now that he is a coach, he knows what causes players to tick and what motivates them. Sometimes, all it takes is to take them
off the power play, penalty kill or even change which line they play on. The only players that know who will be starting are the goaltenders, so they can do whatever they need to prepare for the next day. During that hour of video and deciding the final lineup, the coaches also try to determine what they are going to show the team, limiting how many clips they actually show. Gosek tries to find clips of what other teams did, to show what his own team should look to avoid. After the final decisions have been made and the players are all waiting in the locker room, the coaches themselves get ready for the team’s morning skate. While Gosek is out of the office getting changed, that is when the team’s athletic trainer, Elise Fitzsimmons, comes in to talk to Whitelaw about the team’s Thanksgiving schedule. This year, the Lakers have a tournament in Utica on both the Friday and Saturday, after the holiday. They will be having a Thanksgiving dinner in the area, and Fitzsimmons was trying to figure out plans. The Huntsville, Ontario, Canada, native said that Canadian Thanksgiving is just a normal holiday, where some family come over for dinner but it is not that big of a deal. “Now that I’m fully-fledged American, I just love Thanksgiving,” Whitelaw said. Once 10:00 a.m. rolls around, the team watches SUNY Geneseo’s film.
Ben Grieco | The Oswegonian The Oswego State men’s hockey team packs up the bus, heading to SUNY Geneseo.
Before they get started, the players talk casually, anything from what they ate for dinner to what music video another teammate said they need to watch. Then it is all business: the team’s objective; its five-game segment, talking about the team’s penalty kill. About a half-hour later, the team goes to morning skate. “Whatever you do, don’t walk across the logo,” Whitelaw tells me, as I walk across the carpet on the floor with the Oswego State Laker logo. The morning skate is fast-paced with different drills, with some time focused on how they will handle special teams units against the Knights. After practice, around 1:15, the team heads off the ice to get any treatment from Fitzsimmons, fix their equipment and eventually get their pregame meal at Cooper Dining Hall. That afternoon, it was chicken parm. Just an hour later, the team’s equipment is in bags and they get ready for another SUNY Geneseo film session. At 2:30, the team starts to load the bus. The players put their own bags under the bus. At some points, it is a competition. “You see the placement [of my bag]?” Colton Fletcher asks. “It’s perfect.” And just like any team, there are plenty of snacks to go around, but also there is some “unassigned-assigned seating.” “Get up front Fletch, you’re still a sophomore, bud,” someone – presumably an upperclassman – yells from the back. At 2:52, Gosek asks if everyone is on the bus. “Well, guys are sleeping already. Guess we’re good to go,” Gosek says. Only five minutes into the bus ride, however, an alarm goes off. It is the air cooler. Similar to last season’s game at SUNY Geneseo, the bus had to pull over and check the problem. Thankfully, it did not cause any major delays. “You know, we played some of our best hockey in Italy when we showed up 15 minutes before the game,” Whitelaw joked. On the bus, a lot of players keep to themselves. Whitelaw watches other hockey games – this ride was the Oswego State women’s hockey
game and Hobart College vs. Castleton University. “Ryan Bunka, an academic weapon,” another player yells, while Bunka was working on his homework. But at 4:48, it is all business: the team arrives at the Ira S. Wilson Ice Arena. The team heads down the locker room, unpacks, gets the coffee brewing and some players have bagels and bananas. Michael Gillespie walks around with his bagel and a big jar of peanut butter, “Yo, does anybody have a knife?” Josh Zizek gets his stick ready with some tape while also getting changed. “Put a shirt on,” Fitzsimmons tells him. “Uh, it’s called a model walk. Ever heard of it?” Zizek says. Then the warmups begin, with stretching and other plyometrics. The team’s tradition of soccer also begins. Three games were played – Carter Allen won the first one. “It’s just an easy warmup,” Whitelaw says. “You don’t need much. Sometimes it gets really competitive.” At 6:22, the team hits the ice for its pre-game warmups. And right before 7:00 p.m., the team heads out to the ice for the game. David Richer stands in the hallway first, ready to skate onto the ice. “Let’s have some fun tonight, boys,” Anthony Passero said. Since the game against SUNY Geneseo was a loss, Joseph Molinaro looked at me during the third period and said, “Yeah, this is going to be a quiet bus ride home.” Bunka agreed with him. After the game, players pack up all their things once again and get a last-minute talk from Gosek about the game. The bus is warming up outside with several pizzas waiting for the team. Some players just take a slice, while others grab a whole box for their part of the bus. Molinaro was right. The bus ride home was pretty quiet. We all finally arrived back in Oswego around 12:30 a.m. Gosek had one last speech for his team while the team’s staff and myself left and headed to our cars. “Thanks for coming,” Gosek tells me. “Wish we could’ve given you a better result.”
Women’s basketball matches win total from 2018-19 After only 4 games, Oswego State has 2 wins against Canton, Morrisville
Brandon Ladd Sports Writer sports@oswegonian.com It did not take long for the Oswego State women’s basketball team to match its win total from the 2018-19 campaign. With a 6425 win over SUNY Canton, the Lakers won their second game of the season Wednesday night. Oswego State was dominant in its performance against SUNY Canton, holding the Kangaroos’ offense in check all night. That has been the story early in the season for SUNY Canton, though. The Lakers’ winning ways started on Saturday, Nov. 16 in the consolation game of the Max Ziel Women’s Basketball Tournament vs. the Morrisville State Mustangs. Oswego State earned a 77-62 win, after monster performances from both senior Sydni Eure and sophomore Ramatoulaye Sy, as both players posted 27 points each. The two were still very confident from
Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian Oswego State has already matched its 2018-19 win total with two wins in four games.
the game on Saturday. “I think it is an experimental time for us as a team,” Eure said. “Kind of getting used to each other and learning each other’s strengths and weaknesses. So
hopefully, we are just going to capitalize on everything that we learned. When we start playing in the conference, we will be able to double down on it all.” Sy had a very similar outlook to
her frontcourt counterpart. “It was a good start,” Sy said. “And, a bad start at the same time. On Friday we did a poor job just being there and playing hard. But I think on Saturday we corrected that, and we were able to get back on our feet and win that game.” The Lakers received some help from Raiven Encarnacion, as she added a solid nine points to the effort vs. Morrisville State. But the bulk of the load was carried by Sy and Eure, who put up 21 rebounds and 19 rebounds, respectively. Not many college teams can have their front court duo record a pair of 2020 performances. The 20-point, 20-rebound game is incredibly rare, and the fact that two Lakers nearly were able to do it is impressive. If that type of play up front continues for the Lakers, they might be a competent foe to anyone they run into in SUNYAC play, as they try to avenge a 1-17 record in conference play last season.
See LAKERS, B2
SPORTS Lakers win Elmira Tip-Off Tournament
Team defeated Ithaca College, Keystone College in Elmira
THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
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Photo Briefs ALL-SUNYAC HONORS
The Oswegonian file photo from 2018 Joe Sullivan (left) took home the Elmira Tip-Off Tournament MVP, leading the Lakers with 16.3 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game.
Matthew Czeitner Copy Editor mczeitner@oswegonian.com The Oswego State men’s basketball team went 2-0 this past weekend after defeating the Ithaca College Bombers 85-80 and the Keystone College Giants 92-81 to take home the Elmira College Men’s Basketball Tip-Off Tournament Championship. Despite it only being the first two games of the season, the Lakers came out hot in both matchups. Oswego State led by double digits in the first half of the game versus the Bombers, as well as the first half of the championship game versus the Giants. The scores at the end of both of these games certainly ended much closer, but Oswego State maintained its composure and went on to win both games. “Both games were similar in that we got up 18 in the first half on Friday and 22 in the first half Saturday,” head coach Jason Leone said. “We probably got a little tired, which is typical at this time of year. The other teams made significant runs at us, and when we had to buckle down and make plays to solidify the game result and we did just that.” Early in the season, it is expected for teams to be streaky, as Oswego State was in both games. However, what matters is that the Lakers got the result they wanted in each game and came out strong in both games, which Leone spoke highly about. “I thought we were very ready to play at the beginning of each game,” Leone said. “That might sound like a little thing, but I don’t think it is. I think it’s a big thing. Both days, when the ball got thrown up, I thought our enthusiasm, our togetherness and our energy level was at a very high level.” The Lakers were led by their three returning starters in junior Liam Sanborn and seniors Brandan Gartland and Joe Sullivan. Gartland led the way against Ithaca College with 22 points, shooting 8-14 from the field to send Oswego State to the championship game. In the championship game versus Keystone College, all three players stepped up and helped guide the Lakers to victory. Sanborn finished the game with 18 points, Gartland finished with 17 points and Sullivan finished with 13 points and
13 rebounds, capturing the tournament MVP. Together, they also shot an outstanding 19-20 from the free-throw line. Gartland shot the ball particularly well over the two-game stretch, but it is his teammates he credits for his offensive success. “I think that we’re a really good passing team,” Gartland said. “Whenever I’m open, my teammates will find me, so I just have to keep making those shots.” These three not only led the way for the Lakers offensively, but they also took on the leadership role for them throughout the weekend. “Liam, Brandon and Joe really set a great tone in terms of setting an example for the guys on how to prepare and how to really play with composure,” Leone said. Though the Lakers were led by their returning starters, it was a team effort all weekend that helped them win the championship.
eight minutes in the first half. Kaleb Cook, our backup point guard made all four of his foul shots and made a big three that clinched the game with under a minute left on Saturday. Jordan Brown started for us and put up really good numbers, close to a double-double both games, and then Jeremiah Sparks had 15 points in game one and another eight points in game two.” Crittendon, a sophomore, is a returning player from last year’s Sweet 16 team, where he had a much smaller role than he will be expected to have this year. His season high in points last season was 14. Just two games into the season, Crittendon has surpassed that. He scored 15 off the bench versus Ithaca College and another 10 off the bench against Keystone College in the championship game. It seems as if Crittendon will be taking on a very important six-man role for the
The key “effort stat” for the Lakers this season continues to be rebounding, and it was no different Wednesday night against SUNY Canton. Oswego State edged the Roos 59 rebounds to 45 rebounds. It was more of a mixed bag for the Lakers as well, getting at least two points from 10 different players. Sy led the team with 16 points. Taylor Torchia was able to get 13 points in the first half, after draining three 3-pointers. Also Lila McHale-Carter’s five points marked the first of her collegiate career as a freshman. The
This week, six Oswego State athletes were recognized by the SUNYAC. Three volleyball and three men’s soccer players have all been named to various all-conference teams. Melissa Lussier was named to the all-conference third team, leading the Lakers in kills, points, and aces with totals of 249, 330.5 and 58 respectively. She posted career highs in points and kills. She also had the third highest points per set in the conference at 3.7. As a junior, this is her first appearance on any all-conference team. Shauna O’Flaherty was also named to the third team with 208 kills and 291 digs. She was seventh in total points against conference opponents with 109. As a senior, this is also her first appearance on an all-conference team. Lauren Fie was named to the secondteam all-conference with career highs in attack percentage, kills, and aces. She led the team in attack percentage at .292 with 211 kills and 39 aces. This is Fie’s first
all-conference team. For the men’s soccer team, Brian Terra was named third team all-conference having six shutouts, an .819 save percentage and 4.53 saves per game which all ranked second in the conference. This was his first appearance on any all-conference team. Sophomore defenseman Caleb Munski made second-team allconference. He was the anchor to a defense that only allowed one goal per game, which was third in the SUNYAC. This is also his first appearance on an all-conference team. Lastly, senior Caleb Asamoah made first-team all-conference. He led the Lakers in goals and points with eight and 18 as well as leading the SUNYAC in gamewinning goals with five. Asamoah is the first Laker to earn first honors since 2000 and it is also his first appearance on an allconference team. Both the volleyball and men’s soccer teams made the SUNYAC playoffs.
TEDDY BEAR TOSS
Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian
“I thought we were very balanced in our scoring attack, which is good, Leone said. “Both days we had nearly five guys in double figures,” Leone said. It was a question coming into the weekend which players taking on different roles would step up for the Lakers. According to Leone, it was a mix of everyone, something that is very good to see early on in the season. “I would say both games Julien Crittendon came off the bench and gave us a really good scoring punch,” Leone said. “I thought Jamal Achille [who did not get a chance to play in the game Friday] came in Saturday and played well. He got six quick points in
Lakers this season, a role he is ready for. “Every day in practice I have to be prepared and just know what I have to do so when coach calls my name, I can go out there and produce like I did these past two games,” Crittendon said. A good start to the season is always important for a team, but the Lakers know there is a full season ahead of them, and they want to be right back where they were last season. “It just puts us in the right mindset going forward,” Crittendon said. “We know we have further goals, we knocked out one goal, but we know we have more to achieve.”
Lakers dominating inside, rebounding WOMEN’S from B1
Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
stat of the night though was the astronomically low shooting percentage of the Roos in the first half. A 3% shooting percentage from the floor, which resulted in just six first half points. Whether it was good defense, or bad offense, the Lakers got the job done on the defensive end for the first 20 minutes. Both for Eure and Sy expressed similar sentiments on the win over SUNY Canton. They do not want this winning feeling to end anytime soon either. The Lakers will look for three in a row, as they play Alfred University on Saturday in the Max Ziel Gymnasium. A three-game win streak is
a feat they have not been able to accomplish since the 201617 season. “Only going up from here,” Eure said. “I think nobody has expectations to settle or only lose from now on, we just want to keep getting stronger and keep learning and working together to win.” Sy could not keep a smile from her face, before talking about how Oswego State has impressed in its last two wins. “We are dominating this year,” Sy said. “Absolutely, I think we have the talent individually, we just need to make our way up and work on that chemistry between us. I think we can be special.”
Ben Grieco | The Oswegonian
Last Friday, the Oswego State men’s hockey team held its annual Teddy Bear Toss to help the Toys for Tots Foundation in Oswego county. When the first Lakers goal is scored, the home crowd throws stuffed animals onto the ice. The team started the tradition in 2016, where 573 stuffed animals were donated to those less fortunate. This season, Colton Fletcher scored in the first period to tie the game at 1-1 and, more importantly, sent 760 stuffed animals to the ice. After the stuffed animals flew to the surface, play is stopped
and the Lakers pick up the stuffed animals. The animals were then put into huge bins and taken to Toys for Tots. In total, Oswego State has now donated 2,872 bears since the launch of the game in 2016. The games are held around this time of year so that the toys are ready for the holiday season. The Lakers would go on to defeat The College at Brockport 4-1. The team is now a perfect 4-0 on Teddy Bear Toss games. Oswego State is currently 4-1-0 overall. The team hits the road on Friday to take on Hobart College.
News: chawkins@oswegonian.com Sports: mwatling@oswegonian.com Opinion: fmiesner@oswegonian.com Laker Review: bfallat@oswegonian.com
SPORTS Former Roo lightens up room in second year with Lakers Katelynn Ferguson provides depth for Oswego State as junior forward
Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian Katelynn Ferguson (left) recorded seven points in 24 games played in her first season as a Laker.
Neil Boedicker Sports Writer sports@oswegonian.com Katelynn Ferguson is now in her second year with the Lakers. This Friday, she will face off against her former team in the SUNY Canton Kangaroos as they travel to Oswego State. Ferguson is from Lake Cowichan, British Columbia, Canada, where she began playing hockey when she was nine years old. She got into hockey because of her father, Lonny, who played hockey at the Jr. A level. Ferguson’s father was
also the hockey player she looked up to most when she was growing up. This being Ferguson’s second year on the Lakers and being from British Columbia, which is on the Canadian pacific coast, one would think it would be a tough adjustment, but her experience was exactly the opposite. Playing junior hockey in Canada helped her fit right in when she left SUNY Canton for Oswego State. “It has been easy,” Ferguson said. “I have been living away from home since I was about 15. So there’s been a lot of moving around and playing with different teams.” Last season, in Ferguson’s first
Photo Briefs
THOMAS TIES RECORD
year at Oswego State, she finished the year with four goals, three assists and was tied for third on the team in shooting percentage. She brings more to the team than what can be seen on the ice. Head coach Diane Dillon described Ferguson’s attitude and personality as being the glue of the team, which is important with such a young team. “Katie is one of those kids that brings a lot of life to a locker room,” Dillon said. “She’s got a great attitude, just likes being around all her teammates and loves to play hockey. She’s definitely a fun player to have on the team.” Ferguson’s teammate, Eryn Stewart, added to that, discussing how she brings a positive attitude on and off the ice. “She works really hard and always tries to be the best she can be,” Stewart said. “She is someone that’s very positive on the bench and is always cheering hard for everyone.” When Ferguson decided to transfer to Oswego State, she looked at it as an easy decision with how successful the Lakers have been in the past when it comes to hockey. “There’s a lot to it,” Ferguson said. “I wanted to be a part of a more established program and jumped at the chance to come to Oswego.” Ferguson did not hide that she was very excited to be facing her old team this weekend. It has been noticeable, as her coaches and teammates saw her practice with an extra edge this week. “Playing an old team is definitely exciting for her,” Stewart said. “She still knows some play-
ers on that team, and it will be interesting to see how she plays against them.” Dillon does not see her as one of SUNY Canton’s old players even though she played 25 games with the Roos. In Dillon’s eyes, she sees Ferguson only as a Laker after being with the program for over a year now. “We don’t really think of her as a former Canton player anymore,” Dillon said. “I’m sure it will still be fun for her to see some of her old teammates.” This matchup against SUNY Canton is going to be an important one for the Lakers as the Roos are a Northeast Women’s Hockey League opponent and a win would help them in the standings. SUNY Canton has not won a game yet, but Dillon is not looking past what the team can bring as an opponent. “We haven’t played them in a while,” Dillon said. “It’s kind of an unsettling situation because they haven’t won a game yet. They’re going to be hungry and teams that are like that can play desperate hockey sometimes. It can be hard to match that intensity they will bring.” Being her old team, Ferguson is not looking past them either and had plenty of positive things to say when discussing her old team by describing them as hard working with a lot of heart. With her teammates and coaching staff looking forward to Ferguson bringing even more energy than she usually does against SUNY Canton she is definitely going to be a player that will have some extra eyes on her.
Cross country ends season at NCAA Regionals meet
THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
B B33
Each week, The Oswegonian Sports beat writers give you their thoughts on each team's upcoming week schedule.
Men’s basketball vs. CLA/NAZ
Matt Czeitner Copy Editor mczeitner@oswegonian.com The Oswego State men’s basketball team defeated Clarkson University on Tuesday with a score of 80-72. The Lakers were 2-0 going into the contest, and the Golden Knights were 2-1, coming off back-to-back wins. Oswego State was led by senior Joe Sullivan with 25 points, shooting 10-15 from the field. Freshman Kaleb Cook also stepped up for the Lakers and scored 20 points, including two huge back-toback 3-pointers late in the second half. Both players combined for 33 points in the second half of the game, where the Lakers outscored the Golden Knights 54-41. The Lakers win came despite big performances from two sophomores on the Golden Knights in Reese Swedberg and Chris Hulbert. Next for the Lakers is a road game versus Nazareth College on Tuesday at Kidera Gymnasium. The Golden Flyers are 3-0 on the season, beating Buffalo State, SUNY Fredonia and Hunter College. The Lakers are 9-22 all-time vs. the Golden Flyers, with the most recent game coming last season where the Lakers won 70-55 at Max Ziel Gymnasium. Returning starter Liam Sanborn scored 18 points and added seven assists that contest. The Golden Flyers lost their two leading scorers from last year in Tyler Stenglein and Jake Burgio. Early in the season, it is senior Cody Green leading the way for the Nazareth College averaging 16.7 points per game.
Women’s hockey vs. Canton/Potsdam
On Wednesday, Nov. 13, Amber Thomas tied the Oswego State women’s hockey scoring record in the team’s 6-2 win over NEWHL rival Buffalo State. Thomas started the scoring onslaught with two goals in the second period within a three minute span, one of which was assisted by teammate and cousin Bailey Thomas. She then added three assists in the final period to cap off a five point night. Those five points tie a Lakers record for points in a game. The record is currently held in a three-way tie between Thomas, teammate Eryn Stewart and for-
Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
mer Laker Alexa Aramburu. Oswego State’s win over the Bengals marked its first league win on the 2019-20 season. Thomas currently leads Oswego State with three goals and has also added six assists to put her second on the team in points with nine. The aforementioned Stewart leads the team with 10 points. Thomas’ third goal of the season came in a 3-3 tie with SUNY Cortland last Saturday, a game she also added an assist in. Her sevenpoint week had her named the NEWHL Player of the Week from Nov. 11 to Nov. 17.
HOLIDAY SKATE
Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
On Sunday, Nov. 24, the men’s and women’s hockey teams will host their annual holiday skate. The ice skating event will be held at the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena from 1:00-3:00 p.m. Fans will have the opportu-
nity to skate with current players on both the men’s and women’s teams. Admission to the event will cost $3 to enter and $3 for skate rentals. There will also be a raffle for an Oswego State hockey jersey, where two tickets will cost $1.
Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian
Matt Watling Sports Editor mwatling@oswegonian.com On a frigidly cold and icy day, the Oswego State men’s and women’s cross country teams ran at their final event of the season, the NCAA Atlantic Regionals. The invitational, held at St. Lawrence University, was ran on Saturday and both teams were able to meet the expectations of head coach Jacob Smith, with the men’s team finishing in 31st of 42 teams and the women’s side finished 28th of 38 teams. “From an individual standpoint, most of the individuals on our team ran fairly well,” Smith said. “We did as well as we were capable of. Obviously, we want to do better relative to the other teams, but we just have to improve as we have been.” One of the really impressive performances was from Hannah Hertik in the 6K. She led the Lakers with a time of 25:30.6, which is good for a top-half finish at regionals, as she landed in 135th place of 270 racers. While Hertik was not able to eclipse her personal best of 25:00.1, that record was set back on Oct. 12. Fast forward just over a month and the dynamic of racing changes. At regionals, there was snow and ice covering the ground, resulting in slower times for every team and performer. The other top performers for the women’s side include Jamie Kasza and Sarah Rappleye who ran a 26:17.1 and a 26:30.6, respectively. For the men’s side, it was led by freshman Gabriel Winters-Bona. He ran well with an 8K time of 26:47.6, which is good for 80th of 300 runners. For Winters-Bona, it is impressive to see an underclassman set the pace for the Lakers. With as many as three more seasons under Smith, the two are both very excited
to see where he will end up. “He’s got great potential to really accomplish a lot of great things individually and that’s going to help our team improve long-term,” Smith said. “I can’t wait to see what he does and that’s part of the fun of being a coach, just getting to see people progress over the course of their career.” Perhaps Winters-Bona’s greatest accomplishment so far is his personal best of 26:40.0, which he ran at the SUNYAC Championship meet on Nov. 2. Another impressive accolade is his fifth-place finish at the SUNY New Paltz Invitational. While these are impressive, Winters-Bona is looking to help his team out, as well as bettering himself over his next several seasons as a Laker. “I can’t wait to see what opportunities it brings to me after college and during college,” Winters-Bona said. “Hopefully with my improvement, I can help other people, as well … so the team will improve and we can get better placement at SUNYACs and regionals.” The men’s team has three other members record sub-29-minute races. Junior Matthew Barbookles ran the 8K race in 28:01.8, while Nathan Couse and Eric Perez were not far behind with times of 28:30.7 and 28:55.7. What was really good for the state of the programs is how the athletes used their minds during the race. While it will not show up on the final standings of the meet, the teams were able to run their race plans extremely well, despite the conditions. “Everyone did a good job dealing with the conditions and not letting it affect them mentally or defeat them,” Smith said. “We work on trying to avoid the biggest mistake in racing, which is to go out too fast. We did an excellent job with that. If you look at the results, everyone on our team moved up many many places from the first initial split until the final.”
Neil Boedicker Sports Writer sports@oswegonian.com The Oswego State women’s hockey team has a busy weekend ahead. On Friday, it will face SUNY Canton in the Marano Campus Center, and then travel to SUNY Potsdam Saturday. Last season, Oswego State recorded a mediocre record of 1-21 against the Bears, and did not face SUNY Canton last season, as this is its first year in the NEWHL. The Lakers will look to bounce back this weekend, after their last ended in a tie, despite taking a 3-0 lead against SUNY Cortland. SUNY Canton has a record of 0-4-1, coming off a 5-1 loss against No. 1 Plattsburgh State. The Kangaroos will look to get their first win of the season against the Lakers. SUNY Canton has not scored a single power play goal this year and should be able to get its first win against the Lakers if they find are able to find a way to convert on the power play. When it comes to SUNY Potsdam, it has a record of 3-3 and come off an impressive 8-3 win over Saint Michael’s College. On Friday, the Bears will take on Morrisville State. The contest on Saturday should be a close one, given the similar records of both the Lakers and Bears. It will be interesting to see how Oswego State bounces back from that tough tie against the Red Dragons last weekend. However, with the power play showing improvements every game we could see an offensive surge from the Lakers this weekend.
OPINION
THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
B5
Disney+ Carrying guns everywhere unnecessary Disney+ proves to be Gun violence amplified in part by violence accessible in media provides fan unaffordable favorite media Tomas Rodriguez Staff Writer opinion@oswegonian.com
Photo from DisneyPlus.com
Ben Grieco Managing Editor bgrieco@oswegonian.com After Disney+ went live on Nov. 12, yet another streaming service has added to the reason to cut the cable cord for most consumers. But is Disney+ helping or hurting? With all of the major streaming services totaled together, including Disney+, for a monthly rate, it would come to $87 a month. Three cable providers in Oswego, DIRECTV, Spectrum and Dish Network, all have basic cable plans that are significantly less than all the streaming services on a monthly basis. DIRECTV’s most basic plan in the area, the Select Plan, is $50 a month. Only one of their plans, the Premier Plan, totals more than all the streaming services at $125 a month. Granted, all of those are for one-year rates, which increase going into the second year of paying for that cable service. The Select Plan increases to $81 a month after the first year, which is still saving someone who subscribes to all the streaming services $6 a month. The point of the streaming services was not to have someone subscribe to every single service that is available, but to select certain ones that have the shows and movies that person wants. The problem is that Netflix has a completely different selection than Disney+ which has a completely different lineup than CBS All Access, for example.
... they might feel compelled to subscribe to multiple services to get everything they want on demand. Disney+ has all of its classics, including shorts, older TV shows and the timeless movies. That is where it differs from Netflix. Sure, there are some Disney/Pixar movies on Netflix, like “Incredibles 2” or “Chicken Little.” But, where is “Cinderella” and other classic movies that older generations grew up with? To combat the situation, Netflix has teamed up with Nickelodeon—another classic TV station that many people in their 20s or early 30s remember growing up—to produce more originals but potentially bring back older shows and movies, such as “Drake and Josh” and even “Spongebob Squarepants.” All of the combining of companies or teaming up is not helping the consumer, however. If someone is a fan of both Disney and Nickelodeon, then they might feel compelled to subscribe to multiple services to get everything they want on demand. These companies have to think about the consumer in order to ensure people subscribe. Once these people get smarter about their money and realize how much they are actually spending, some of the “lesser” companies, like Starz or Showtime, will have to eventually be absorbed or bought out by the more popular companies, like Netflix or Hulu, to maintain its popularity and profiting business. With less streaming services, they might become more profitable since consumers will be more likely to subscribe since they will actually be saving money compared to services from cable companies. It will only be a matter of time before the consumer starts to control the streaming service market, forcing the hand of bigger companies to start absorbing other services.
Two more school mass shootings flooded the news last week. One took place in Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California before classes started on Thursday, Nov. 14. The second one on Saturday, Nov. 16 during a football game in Atlantic County, New Jersey. The month of November alone has witnessed a total of 17. In the 46 weeks that have passed this year thus far, there have been 45 school shootings. United States citizens should be ashamed of these numbers. While experts suggest that mass media channels are not to blame, it may seem as if they do have their own effect on the individual, and especially on the younger generations. Season two of the television series “The Purge” aired in mid-October, and since then there have been 10 mass shootings. This year has seen 45 school mass shootings total. Ten happening in scarcely one month, while the remaining 35 happened over the course of 10 and a half months. Numbers do not lie. There is a connection between media and violence. Given the exposure that the younger generations nowadays have to mass media and streaming services, maybe parents
should become better aware of these issues and enforce strict restrictions on what their child can or cannot watch online. At the power of a single click of our finger tips, basically anything is possible in this day and age. Parents must acknowledge this, rather than setting the wrong example or being passive for the younger generations. Although mass media is to blame for those side effects, it is not the only circumstance that may factor into inhumane behaviors such as mass shootings. Politics, too, play a huge role in influencing potential mass shooters. As of Nov. 17, the 321st day of this calendar year, there had been 369 mass shootings recorded per the Gun Violence Archive (GVA). While President Trump alludes
to mental illness as a potential cause of such horrendous acts, there are those who believe that many of these could be a result of politics and stereotyping immigrants pertaining to certain regions or countries, especially those in Mexico and South America. When are people going to realize that carrying a gun just anywhere is a public safety threat? The Second Amendment should not be an excuse to just carry a firearm anywhere. While the Second Amendment came to be during a delicate time historically speaking, it does seem quite outdated. Despite an ongoing impeachment inquiry into Trump, the use of bullets is not acceptable on either side of the spectrum and should be condemned by all means.
Photo from DisneyPlus.com
Megan Sylvester Social Media Coordinator msylvester@oswegonian.com
Photo from Pixabay School mass shootings are an epidemic in America, and very little is being done to stop them.
SPEAK YOUR MIND, TWITTER! POLLS POSTED EVERY WEEK TO @GonianLRO
Hate speech illegalization impossible
Disney+ launched on Tuesday, Nov. 12 and has been a huge hit. With major new originals like “The Mandalorian” and live action “Lady and the Tramp,” Disney+ has been the main talk all over the internet. Disney+ also has almost every Disney show and movie on the streaming service for everyone to enjoy. What is not available already has a date on the title screen letting viewers know when it will be available. The moment Disney+ was revealed to the world, it immediately became a phenomenon. But where does that leave other streaming services like Netflix? How will the empire of Disney impact small streaming services like DC or YouTube Red? When it comes time to choose, no one is going to pay to subscribe to 10 different streaming services. Disney+ also gives you the option to bundle with ESPN and Hulu, so what more could a person possibly want?
... when choosing a s t re a m i n g service, it is h a rd to b e l i eve t h a t a n yo n e w o u l d d ro p N e t f l i x . . .
Being called slurs can lead to mental health issues, suicidal thoughts Katelyn Gloade Events Coordinator kgloade@oswegonian.com Hate speech in the United States is legal and will continue to be legal, most likely forever. That is not really up for debate. But if the United States could have federal laws punishing hate speech, should we? How would that work? Outlawing hate speech would be a slippery slope situation. The law may be aimed at the n-word and similar group based slurs, but it could accidentally slide into outlawing all sorts of words that typically are not so socially loaded and unacceptable. Essentially, if this speech is not legal, then it is a question of how far will the law go before most offensive words are outlawed. Before you know it, a person is being sued for saying “Ok Boomer.” That is why “The 1 for All Foundation” fights for this right regardless of whether or not they think it is right. The n-word, the f-slur aimed at non-hetero people and even the ones that have cycled out of common English “slang” can be really hurtful. Slurs and hate can be a factor in a person’s clinical depression, has made people feel the need to live their lives differently than they would like and contributed to suicide rates. In Chaplinsky v. New Hampshire, a man was arrested for calling a cop fascist, which in the 1940s, post World War II, was a very offensive term. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld this ruling, claiming that the mere utterance of the word
was guaranteed to cause problems. This concept is referred to as “fighting words.” The concept of fighting words is not really brought up in court anymore. To be honest, it coming back as stringent as it was then would hurt the freedom of speech. Fascist refers to a person’s thoughts and ideas on how government should be run, and that is a word that was a public concern in that period. These words do not enhance public discourse, empower the people or the press. They more so contribute to the violation of lifestyles. Hateful words have turned into hateful actions, systematic oppression, murders, suicides and other definitively terrible things. The point is that hate speech
sucks, and if it could be outlawed, it should be. That is definitely not an option, because it could not be done in a clean-cut way. So, that leaves us wondering what can we do so that these words do not manifest into further oppressing minority groups. Walking away leaves things unresolved. However, fighting and arguing can create more hate and conviction because no one wants to be wrong in an argument. So, that leaves talking it out and hopefully reaching a place of reason. This conversation should come with education. Come to “The 1 for All” Oswego State event Think Before You Speech on Nov. 23, in Marano Campus Center room 133 to learn more.
Photo from Pixabay The Supreme Court has ruled that “fighting words” are not protected by the First Amendment.
From the beginning of time, it has always been Marvel vs. DC. Which is better? Which is more popular? It is not a secret that Marvel in the cinematic universe has done very well. So when it comes time to choose a streaming service, people are most likely going to choose the streaming service that not only has almost every Marvel movie but also has everything Mickey Mouse or Star Wars, all in one, over DC’s streaming service that just has everything DC. But about Netflix? Does Netflix need to worry? Netflix is another big phenomenon. So when choosing a streaming service it is hard to believe that anyone would drop Netflix, not when you have the greatness of “Stranger Things,” “The Crown” and so many more. Netflix will definitely have competition with Disney+, especially as Disney+ grows as a streaming service and keeps combining itself with others like Hulu. But all great things have to have competition, or else what is the point of trying to get better with each update? Disney+ and Netflix will be the very companies that rule over everything. But is that also going to be a problem? Think about it. Is it so bad to think that Mickey Mouse will rule the world? He technically already does. But it is the question: should a company be so powerful? Like Amazon and Google, Disney is something that most enjoy. And Netflix, television-wise, is just something that many people cannot live without. So how is the world going to watch as Amazon, Google, Disney and Netflix become even more of a power house as they distribute their goods into our homes? It has already started with things like Alexa and Google Home. Now Disney is making its way in with Disney+ conquering all others. So, I guess we will have to see where it goes from here.
NEWS CHRISTMAS CARDS
A3
OPINION
Photo provided by CardsForKids via Facebook
VOLUME LXXXIV ISSUE XVI
“Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.”
SPORTS B2
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS
Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian
FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
STAFF EDITORIAL
Syracuse University is in a crisis. A hate crisis. Since Nov. 7th, there has been a litany of reported instances of hateful graffiti, vandalism and hate speech being directed at students. The hateful incidents are wide in their scope and scale. On the night of Nov. 7th, racial slurs against black and Asian people were found in Day Hall. A bathroom in the building was vandalized with a racial epithet and an antiAsian slur was found on a bulletin board. On Nov. 14, racist graffiti targeting Asian people was found in a bathroom in the Physics Building. That same day, a swastika was found in a snowbank across from an apartment building that houses many SU students. More racist graffiti was found later that evening in Day Hall. On Nov. 16, the Daily Orange reported that a racial slur was shouted at a freshman, who is Chinese, outside Day Hall. Anti-Semetic graffiti was found in Hav-
en Hall, a residence hall, later that day as well, and a student reported that another student was yelling a racial epithet about African-Americans in Sadler Hall. Also on Nov. 16, a black female student reported that a group of fraternity brothers and their friends yelled a racial epithet at her as she passed their house. The fraternity in question was Alpha Chi Rho, the only Greek organization at SU reported to be suspended in recent days. On Nov. 19, a SU professor reported that she received an anti-Semetic email referencing the Holocaust while she was off-campus. SU students have responded by holding a sit-in at the Barnes Center, with a list of demands for the university. They have been labeled the #NotAgainSU protestors. This is exactly the right thing for the students to do. Clearly, SU is having an issue within their student body with racism and hate speech. Protestors and
international students have furnished the SU administration with a list of demands, focused around improving the campus climate and improving the experiences of international students at SU. Clearly, the students are dissatisfied with the university. Many of the student demands center around forming forums of engagement, where students can engage with the administration of SU, express their expectations and their disappointments with the university, to foster an environment of improvement. That the university did not already offer these forums is surprising. The situation in Syracuse has gained national attention, for good reason. Things have gotten very, very bad for SU students, and the university administration must address each and every issue, and quickly, if they want to keep their student body satisfied.
IN THE OFFICE
Christmas Creep quickly approaching
Corporations do not care about diversity unless for profit
Stephen Novak Asst. Laker Review Editor snovak@oswegonian.com Those who go to Walmart anytime during November will take note of the decor, if not the music. Alongside the pricier items on sale, listening to Mariah Carey the moment Halloween has ended will bring forward a cynical goosebump in people like myself. It is known as “Christmas Creep,” a term invented by business analysts for the act of selling holiday, namely Christmas, products before Black Friday. It started in the late 80s once things like TV and radio made advertising easier. Black Friday was originally considered the cutoff date for selling holiday merchandise. However, by having that
deadline, those that broke that rule would have access to an arbitrary scarcity, that they ironically created. This could be done as an act of general goodwill. Though it is best to assume that any choice made by a company never comes from a place of heart or emotional warmth, but rather the cold pursuit of a high quarterly income. Especially when most Walmart or Target stores will demand workers come in during holidays that are not Christmas. Not only does this reinforce a Christian-normative society where Christmas is celebrated before other holidays, but it also gives companies more control over what we consume during those time periods. The use of Christmas-themed music and products are devalued in the average person. As it stands, over-exposure to a certain set of products kills excitement or the value in waiting for the season. One of the things that gives the holiday season its punch is its brevity. The feeling that in some way we have earned it by weathering the rest of the year. It is the same reason why an odd brief Christmas carol during a lengthy summer car ride feels so funny. When
companies take that away by monetizing it, they also bring capitalist values into what is supposed to be a break from that and I get sick of seeing it. “Christmas Creep,” or “Holiday Creep,” is a nuisance over anything else but it also holds implications over how the retail industry sees the world. The retail industry takes note of what demographics to appeal to, Christians, and who to ignore, while still gladly promoting values like diversity to rub salt in the wound. In some respects, perhaps this is not something to be held against companies. Instead, this should be held against consumers. Companies will always act to benefit themselves and perhaps if we, as their patrons, pushed against this by simply abstaining from purchasing holiday products during that time, the trend would begin to die down. While that is not exactly the most effective way at beating a mundane business practice, it is more rational to assume that we could have a change in our own behavior long before the cold merciless souls working at Target could be asked to change something that is nothing but a profit to them.
Whistleblower identity must remain secret Impeachment proceedings should focus solely on Trump
Ericka Solomon Staff Writer opinion@oswegonian.com It is clear that revealing the identity of the whistleblower involved in President Donald Trump’s impeachment inquiry would do no good. Think about it. What would revealing the whistleblowers identity accomplish? The whistleblower would receive extreme backlash from the president and his supporters and the talk surrounding the impeachment procedures would shift from the actual substance of the president’s wrongdoings to being about the person who pointed them out. All people who commit crimes, including the President of the United The independent student newspaper of Oswego State since 1935 States, should be held accountable for their actions. It should not matter who found out he may have committed the crime. The point of the president’s imWe want your thoughts on our coverage, campus and local issues, or anything peachment inquiry is to get to the regarding the Oswego State community. bottom of the accusations against him. It is not to find out who made Email all letters as Word attachments to opinion@oswegonian.com or mail those allegations. submissions to 139A Campus Center, Oswego N.Y. 13126 House Intelligence Committee Chairman Representative Adam Schiff pointed out during proceedings that, “if All writers must provide their real name, address, academic year,
THE OSWEGONIAN G UIDELIN ES
major and phone number (which will not be published).
Members of organizations should include their title if their letter addresses an issue pertaining to the organization.
the witness has a good faith belief that this may reveal the identity of the whistleblower, that is not the purpose of what we are here for.” The whistleblower, whoever they may be, has a right to remain anonymous under the law. There are a multitude of laws that protect whistleblowers from repercussions making claims against about their employers or officials, if they have significant reason to believe that a wrongdoing occurred. The law that is concerning most in this situation is the Inspector General Act of 1978, which basically prohibits officials from retaliating against federal employees who disclose information to the inspector general in good faith. Unfortunately, this law only bars the Inspector General, Michael Atkinson, from being able to identify the whistleblower. If the president or any of his allies find out who the whistleblower is there is no law that says they cannot reveal their identity to the public. We already know that the whistleblower is likely someone who worked with the CIA, and this alone I believe is enough. This should not be a partisan issue. People on both sides of the spectrum, whether they support Trump or
not, can see that naming the whistleblower would make the inquiry no different, and is therefore unnecessary. In fact, Republican Senator Charles Grassley of Iowa made a statement saying, “We should always work to respect whistleblowers’ requests for confidentiality.” The whistleblower themself is likely not motivated by a partisan agenda. If Trump is impeached and removed from office, Vice President Mike Pence would then become president and congress would still have a Republican majority. It seems that the whistleblower was motivated because they believe people should be held accountable for their illegal actions, even if they are the president. In a political environment full of heated partisan debate, revealing the identity of the whistleblower is nothing more than a political tactic to shift the discussion surrounding impeachment away from Trump as he begins his 2020 re-election campaign. However, it also poses real threats to the whistleblower themself and everything that can be done to protect their identity should be done until the time comes, if ever, when they decide to reveal themselves.
Domino
For publication, letters should be 250 words or less and submitted by the Tuesday prior to the desired publication date. The Oswegonian reserves the right to edit and reject letters and cannot guarantee that all letters will be published. Opinions presented are solely those of the author and do not always reflect those of The Oswegonian.
See web exclusive Opinion articles at www.oswegonian.com/opinion
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Shore Report
THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
x- clinched
SUNYAC Standings
Men’s Hockey Oswego State Brockport Geneseo Morrisville
Overall 4-1-0 4-2-0 5-0-1 3-2-0 2-3-1 1-4-1 2-2-0 2-5-0 1-3-1
Plattsburgh Potsdam Buffalo State Cortland Fredonia
Women’s Hockey* Overall
* - Indicates NEWHL Standings
Conference 4-1-0 4-2-0 3-0-1 3-1-0 2-3-1 1-4-1 1-1-0 1-4-0 0-3-1
Points 8 8 7 6 5 3 2 2 1
Conference
Points
Plattsburgh Cortland
7-0-0
6-0-0
12
4-1-1
4-1-1
9
Morrisville
3-2-1
2-1-1
5
Potsdam
2-3-0
3-3-0
4
Oswego State
3-2-1
1-2-1
3
Buffalo State
1-5-0
1-5-0
2
Canton
0-4-1
0-4-1
1
Men's Basketball Oswego State Potsdam Fredonia Plattsburgh Buffalo State New Paltz Cortland Brockport Oneonta Geneseo
Women's Basketball Geneseo Brockport New Paltz Cortland Oswego State Buffalo State Oneonta Fredonia Plattsburgh Potsdam
Overall
Conference
3-0 3-1 3-1 2-1 2-1 2-1 1-1 1-1
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
W3 L1 W1 W2 W2 W1 L1 W1
1-2
0-0
W1
1-3
0-0
L2
Overall
Conference
4-0
Streak
Streak
3-1 2-1 2-1 2-2 1-1 2-3 1-2
0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
W4 L1 L1 L1 W2 L1 L1 L2
1-2
0-0
L1
1-3
0-0
L3
Around the SUNYAC
Men’s Basketball 84
89
SLU: 0-2 (0-0) PLA: 2-1 (0-0)
Men’s Hockey 0
2
BUF: 2-2-0 (1-1-0) PLA: 2-3-1 (2-3-1)
0.75:
Women’s Basketball
The women’s hockey team is 4-0-0 all-time against SUNY Canton and have posted a collective 0.75 GAA in those meetings. The last time the two teams met was in 2016, when the Lakers came away with a 6-1 home win. They will meet once again on Friday night inside the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena.
59
3:
70
COR: 2-1 (0-0) ITH: 1-1 (0-0)
For the third consecutive season, the women’s soccer team has been honored as a Team Academic Award winner. The award is given out by the United Soccer Coaches. To meet the criteria, the team must have an overall GPA over 3.0. The Lakers finished with a 3.04 GPA and were one of 644 women’s teams honored.
B4
Oswego Scoreboard Women’s Hockey
Men’s Hockey
Saturday, Nov. 16
Saturday, Nov. 16
3
1
3
9
COR:
Rose: 1 goal, 4 shots Allain: 24 saves
OSW:
Emerson: 1 goal Richer: 24 saves
OSW:
A. Thomas: 1 goal, 1 assist Stewart: 2 assists, 3 shots Farmer: 21 saves
GEN:
Empey: 3 goals, 1 assist Doran: 2 goals, 2 assists Mackay: 24 saves
Men’s Basketball Tuesday, Nov. 19
80
72
Women’s Basketball Wednesday, Nov. 20
64
25
CLA:
Swedberg: 26 Pts, 12 Reb Hulbert: 24 Pts, 5 assists
CAN:
Culkin: 10 Pts, 9 Reb Watkins: 5 Pts, 10 Reb
OSW:
Sullivan: 25 Pts, 4 Reb Sanborn: 13 Pts, 5 assists Cook: 20 Pts, 5 Reb
OSW:
Sy: 16 Pts, 7 Reb Torchia: 13 Pts, 6 assists Eure: 8 Pts, 6 Reb
Upcoming Events Women’s Hockey Friday, Nov. 22
Men’s Hockey Friday, Nov. 22
@
@
7:00 p.m.
7:00 p.m
CAN: 0-4-1 (0-4-1) OSW: 3-2-1 (1-2-1)
Women’s Basketball Saturday, Nov. 23
@
OSW: 4-1-0 (4-1-0) HOB: 4-1-1 (3-1-0)
Men’s Basketball Tuesday, Nov. 26
@
2:00 p.m.
7:30 p.m.
ALF: 1-2 (0-0) OSW: 2-2 (0-0)
OSW: 3-0 (0-0) NAZ: 4-0 (0-0)
Laker Athletes of the Week
Amber Thomas
Women’s Hockey Junior | Cornwall, Ontario
Joe Sullivan
Men’s Basketball Senior | Utica
The Plymouth State transfer tallied seven points in two games last season for Oswego State. Thomas’ big week started last Wednesday night against Buffalo State, where she scored two goals and added three assists to tie the programs record for points in a game with five. The Lakers would win the game, 6-2. On Saturday, Thomas scored another goal and added an assist in Oswego State’s 3-3 tie with SUNY Cortland.
The senior from Utica recorded two double-doubles in Oswego State’s two wins at the Elmira Tip Off Tournament, capturing the tournament championship and MVP. Sullivan had 11 points and 12 rebounds in the team’s win over Ithaca College, followed by 12 points and 13 rebounds in the tournament final win over Keystone College. Sullivan and the Lakers are off to a 3-0 start on the season.
Men’s basketball forward Joe Sullivan had 25 points in just 23 minutes during the Lakers’ 80-72 win over Clarkson University on Tuesday night. Sullivan shot 10-15 from the floor and 2-5 from three. Sullivan is leading Oswego State with 16.3 PPG and 9.7 RPG and has been a big part of the team’s 3-0 start.
The men’s hockey team allowed nine goals in a 9-1 road loss against SUNY Geneseo last Friday night. The last time the Lakers allowed nine goals in a game was on Jan. 3, 1998 in a 9-4 loss to Middlebury College. Oswego State will look to get back on track on the road against No. 4 Hobart College this Friday night.
25:
1998:
INSIDE
C2 Rundown of top 10 best C4 Rundown of top 10 best C5 ‘Lady and the Tramp’
movies of decade
albums of decade
proves fun for family
The Last
Laker Review Of The Decade
Goodbye 2010s
FRIDAY Nov. 22, 2019
C2
LAKER REVIEW
FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
End of decade breakdown of top 10 best films of 2010s Brandon Fallat & Luis Galarza Laker Review Editor & Staff Writer laker@oswegonian.com
Ha”), Elle Fanning (“Super 8”) and Billy Crudup (“Where’d you go, Bernadette”). “20th Century Women” is filled with bittersweet and heartbreaking sequences as the audience follows a fatherless young boy, being taught by his mother, his girlfriend and his sister, about how to be a man. It is a remarkably empathetic five-person biography about masculinity, femininity and individualism, all set to a futuristic, yet somehow nostalgic score.
As the decade draws to a close, it is time to examine all the films released between 2010 and 2019 and answer the impossible question: “What is the best movie of the decade?” Some honorable mentions include “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Get Out,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Moonlight” and “Mommy.” This list is entirely subjective and listed in order of release. The Social Network (2010) The pitch perfect match of director David Fincher (“Seven”) and writer Aaron Sorkin (“A Few Good Men”) resulting in one of the most criticallyacclaimed films of the decade, should not have been a surprise to anyone. “The Social Network” shows Fincher and frequent cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth (“Gone Girl”) flex their muscles as they capture Sorkin’s snappy dialogue and set it against the pulsating and atmospheric music of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“Patriot’s Day”). A literal dream team was created to tell the story of Facebook’s inception and growth into the mega corporation it is today, but more specifically to tell the story of the introverted Mark Zuckerberg and his fading friendship with Eduardo Saverin. An incredibly-fitting masterpiece to start the decade off with, “The Social Network” proves that even seemingly mundane stories about intellectual property theft can still produce an enthralling film about friendship, self victimization and isolation. Silver Linings Playbook (2012) Many films depict mental illness, family struggles and misfits falling in love, yet none weave the three together as seamlessly as “Silver Linings Playbook.” Directed by David O. Russell (“Joy”), this romanticcomedy-drama stars Bradley Cooper (“A Star is Born”) as Pat and Jennifer Lawrence (“Dark Phoenix”) as Tiffany. Together, these two take point in an ec-
Image from Sony Pictures Entertainment via YouTube Critcially aclaimed “The Social Network” kicked off the decade with Jesse Eisenberg as billionaire Mark Zuckerberg.
centric love story filled with a colorful cast of characters, hilariously authentic family relations and a sense of warmth and familiarity that make the film feel as if audiences are looking at old pictures of their own families, remembering both the best and worst of times. “Silver Linings Playbook” is quirky and goofy when it wants to be and painfully real when it has to be. It is hilarious, heartfelt, romantic, relatable and above all, endearing, resulting in arguably the best love story caught on film this decade. Prisoners (2013) Directed by Denis Villenueve (“Blade Runner: 2049”), “Prisoners” is an extremely dark and tense depiction of the abduction of two little girls and the effect it has on their families. The cast all deliver career-best performances, especially Hugh Jackman (“The Greatest Showman”), who commands the screen with the desperation and rage that pulsate from his eyes. “Prisoners” fires on all cylinders with a heartbreaking story, visually-striking cinematography, gut-wrenching sequences that are almost too graphic to watch and impeccable direction from Villeneuve. It is atmospheric, visceral and rich with psychological drama as it shows the lengths a parent would go to in order to protect their child. “Prisoners” is an all-time great thriller with some of the most wellcrafted character work of the
decade through its masterful screenplay. It grabs audiences by the throat and holds its grip until the jaw-dropping third act concludes and the credits begin. Upstream Color (2013) With a reported budget of $50,000 and holding the titles of director, writer, producer, actor, cinematographer, editor and composer, it is safe to consider Shane Carruth (“Primer”) to be a true auteur in every sense of the word. Starring Carruth, as well as the wonderful Amy Seimetz (“The Girlfriend Experience”), audiences are treated to a masterpiece of hypnotic imagery, sound design, music and editing, as they watch the lives of two scarred individuals who cross paths in more ways than one. Although one will not understand it fully after only one watch, the film’s all around aesthetic and engross-
ing atmosphere will hook the watcher if the story is too hard to hang on to. Carruth redefined what it means to make an indie film and has easily proven himself to be one of the industry’s most talented and interesting voices. 20th Century Women (2016) Opening with the vibrant blues of the Pacific Ocean and kindhearted narration introducing the characters, it is easy to guess the type of film that one is watching just from the atmosphere alone. It is both aggressively passionate and deeply caring of the characters in which it follows. Mike Mills (“Beginners”) structurelessly brings viewers to the summer of 1979 in Santa Barbara where they follow a close-knit group of five people played by Anette Bening (“American Beauty”), Lucas Jade Zumann (“Sinister 2”), Greta Gerwig (“Frances
Sing Street (2016) Taking place in the 1980s, “Sing Street” tells the story of Cosmo, a high-schooler from Ireland who falls in love with Raphina (Lucy Boynton, “Bohemian Rhapsody”) and forms a band to woo her. Apart from amazing and catchy songs like “Drive It Like You Stole It,” the film tells a universal coming-ofage story as Cosmo comes to terms with who he is through his art. In doing so, he learns how to stand up to bullies, tell the girl he loves how he feels and forms a bond with his older burnout brother, played by Jack Reynor (“Midsommar”) in an Oscar-worthy turn. More than anything, “Sing Street” is just fun to watch, capturing that youthful spark audiences all have and letting it burst through as we tap along to the music and root for Cosmo to achieve his better life. It is pure cinematic joy at its finest. Continued on C3
Image from Movieclips Trailers via YouTube One of the decades most underrated films, “Sing Street,” follows a young boy as he forms a band to win over Raphina (Lucy Boynton).
LAKER REVIEW
FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
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End of decade breakdown of top 10 best films of 2010s (cont.) Brandon Fallat & Luis Galarza Laker Review Editor & Staff Writer laker@oswegonian.com
Arnold’s epic odyssey through modern Americana is as structureless as it is hypnotic.
American Honey (2016) A film that began the reign of A24, “American Honey” stars Sasha Lane (“The Miseducation of Cameron Post”) in her film debut. The film follows a young woman as she abandons her rough family life to join a group of lost young adults who travel around America selling magazine subscriptions. Director Andrea Arnold (“Fish Tank”), with the help from a cast of mostly unknowns, save from Riley Keough (“The Girlfriend Experience”) and Shia LaBeouf (“Transformers”) in what is arguably his best performance, create an incredibly genuine atmosphere made up of naturalistic dialogue, strangely recognizable locations and the beautifully warm, unscripted and hypnotic cinematography that captures it all. Viewers watch as these broken young adults trek through the modern-day-Midwest within an unprecedented but ultimately satisfying two-hour and 43-minute-long runtime.
Call Me By Your Name (2017) Possibly one of the most accurate portrayals of the general essence of summer, “Call Me By Your Name” is a sensory masterpiece with lush cinematography and captivating performances. Starring Timothee Chalamet (“The King”) as Elio in his most delicate performance to date, the film follows a teenager in the midst of an unforgettable summer in which he and his father’s student, Oliver, played by the surprisingly charismatic Armie Hammer (“The Social Network”), fall in love. There is something extremely engrossing about the way the movie sounds and looks that makes one feel they are experiencing the film within the other three senses as well. Through Luca Guadagnino’s (“Suspiria”) graceful, patient and frequently inspired direction and the more-than-appropriate music from Sujfan Stevens, the film puts audiences right next to Elio and makes them feel as
tion for good measure.
Image from IGN via YouTube New film “Parasite” has garnered worldwide acclaim for its masterful storytelling.
if they are enjoying the sun and contemplating over mixed messages with him. Logan (2017) If one was to determine a specific genre that ruled the decade, it is impossible to argue anything but the comic book film. Yet, only one superhero flick this decade managed to achieve an Oscar nomination for Best Screenplay. That film is “Logan.” Acting as the swan song for Hugh Jackman as the iconic X-Men character, direc-
tor James Mangold (“Ford v. Ferrari”) takes a stripped down approach and tells the story of what happens to a superhero after the battle. Wolverine has to come to terms with his own mortality and become the hero he once was, one last time. It is a tour-de-force of acting and screenwriting, told in the style of a western and disguised as a superhero film. The film earns its R-rating with mature, adult themes regarding death and violence, while also throwing in some bloody and brutal ac-
Parasite (2019) Watching Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” feels as if audiences are witnessing an all-time classic right before their eyes. The film depicts a lower-class family in South Korea who swindle an upper-class family into thinking they are professional tutors, chauffeurs and housekeepers. While the first act feels like a comedy, the film mutates into something else entirely by act two. “Parasite” is a dissection of classism, status, prejudice and family, and asks an uncomfortable question, “Would society even work if everyone was equal?” Entertaining as any superhero blockbuster, it does not follow the basic three-act-structure of most American films. It is a melancholic examination of very human issues, yet conveys them in a Hitchcock-like display of visceral, refreshing artistry. By the film’s end, it is clear that Joon-ho has created a masterpiece of cinema that will stand the test of time with the greats.
Success of Disney+ marks shift in streaming service wars Zakary Haines Staff Writer laker@oswegonian.com Disney+ has managed to make an explosive entry into the streaming market. With 10 million subscribers in one day, Disney+ is posting numbers that some services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime Video used to do. This is a clear sign of changes in the streaming market. Although other big companies already have streaming services like CBS, HBO and YouTube, Disney has managed to do something none of these companies have done; capitalize on their brand through buying, building and now monopolizing. Disney has been a fan favorite for a long time. Their animated movies have managed to touch the hearts of millions of people across different times and age groups. In the 2000s Disney struggled to strike gold. Although there
were some hits with fans, the movies were poorly received and rated. “Treasure Planet,” “Emperor’s New Groove” and “Brother Bear,” are just a few examples of this. With the addition of Pixar, Marvel, Lucas Films and National Geographic, Disney bought well known properties to boost
their brand, using series like “Avengers,” “Star Wars” and various other franchises to extend their reach. After building the brand they currently have, Disney decided to put all of its content on one platform exclusively; Disney+ was born. The streaming service man-
Image from Disney via YouTube Garnering 10 million subscribers upon its first day of release, Disney+ proved a massive hit.
aged to gain around 10 million subscribers in its first day. For some comparison, the country of Portugal sits at 10.2 million people. Disney+ launched and gained a huge following in a manner of days while other services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Video all had to build their following up to that. Disney is throwing its weight around and it shows clearly with how Disney+ has gone so far. So what is the issue with Disney jumping on a popular market trend? The word Disney throws a lot of weight around. The brand, the image, the amusement parks, resorts and merchandise is all overbearing. There are constant reminders nearly everywhere of the famous world. But now that Disney has developed this brand, it is selfaware of what it can do with it. Disney is worth billions at this point. They have built
up billion dollar brands and capitalized on all of them for more revenue. Time and patience have been the best tools for Disney and now Disney+ is just the latest money grab. For streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and some of the originals, they are going to have to start competing with Disney+. It is the standard now and will pose the greatest threat to their survival. The sudden flooding of new and different streaming platforms are ruining the streaming market. It appears to be more like cable than the uniqueness of streaming. The frontier of streaming is coming to a close just like the wild west came to a close. A chapter is closing while a new one is starting and possibly on a bad note as well. Disney+ will continue to expand until its competitors change their strategies or die.
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LAKER REVIEW
FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
End of decade breakdown of top 10 music albums of 2010s Abigail Connolly & Kazashi McLaughlin Staff Writers laker@oswegonian.com
As the decade comes to a close, we decided to revisit the Grammy winners of the past and were sorely disappointed with some of our findings. When Bruno Mars’ “24K Magic” won gold while Tyler, the Creator’s “Flower Boy” didn’t even get the nomination, it is really time to start reconsidering some life choices. Sorry, Bruno, but Tyler had one of the best albums of the decade. In response to this and similar tyrannical injustices imposed upon both artists and the musical proletariat by the Academy, we have comprised our own list of the best albums of this decade. 2010: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy - Kanye West Obviously. Although notoriously snubbed for Album of the Year at the 53rd Grammys, the record was both a critical and commercial giant, landing on all of the major music publications’ “best albums” lists that year and spending 83 weeks on the Billboard 200. MBDTF is West at the
height of his maximalist grandeur. This album oozes pomp and glamour with meticulously detailed production and dramatic violin interludes. Through all of the decadence laden on every track of the album, West explores his obsession with fame and hedonism and how it warps and twists his view of the American Dream. A masterpiece through and through.
2011: Nostalgia, Ultra - Frank Ocean One of the great tragedies of the 21st century is the fact that “Nostalgia, Ultra” never got a commercial release due to issues with clearing the tracks sampled in the record. Still, it was quietly released as a mix tape to some critical praise and garnered Ocean a cult following. Ocean delivers a subdued yet emotionally open album, with lyrics about unrequited love and longing for a simpler time, both thematic staples on Ocean’s later albums, “Channel Orange” and “Blonde.” “Nostalgia, Ultra” is perhaps most interesting because it reveals Ocean before the release of “Channel Orange,” before he became a generational icon. The album strips the enigma that is Ocean of the mystique and romance
Image from Cage The Elephant via YouTube In 2013, Cage the Elephant released “Melophobia,” where the band went dark and embraced a more visceral tone.
that surrounds him today and provides a more down to earth picture of the man behind the music. 2012: Good Kid, M.A.A.D City - Kendrick Lamar His major label debut, “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City,” solidified Kendrick Lamar as one of the great hip hop artists of the decade. Cinematic is the most fitting descriptor for the record. The album follows a young Lamar through his experiences growing up in Compton, California, addressing cycles of violence, poverty and its effects on familial relationships. On
the album, the character of Lamar is put through an arc where he transforms from a kid with only girls on his mind into a spiritually connected man born through hardship and heartache. At the end of the decade, no other artist has touched “Good Kid, M.A.A.D City” in terms of crafting a hip-hop concept album except for maybe Lamar himself, with his later album, “To Pimp a Butterfly.” 2013: Melophobia - Cage the Elephant Three is a magic number. That is especially the case in this situation. The third studio album by one of the greatest alt-rock bands of our generation, Cage The Elephant, takes us to the place of our dreams with the ethereal, far reaching “Telescope” and to the place of our nightmares with the hard hitting, inyour-face ballad “Teeth.” The balance between reality and fantasy is there, reflecting universal experiences of heartbreak in the dream sequence, “Cigarette Daydreams,” the way only Cage The Elephant would know how.
2014: Home, Like Noplace Is There - The Hotelier At the zenith of the emo revival, The Hotelier dropped the crown jewel of the movement with the album “Home, Like Noplace is There.” Image from Kanye West via YouTube A richly textured tale of Kanye West’s 2010 album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” became his “Abbey Road” with its iconic tracks. heartbreak and suicide, “Home,
Like Noplace Is There” features shambling guitars underneath the immediate urgency of lead singer and songwriter, Christian Holden’s, vocals. The album is an ode to tragedy, delivered by a narrator who also just escaped the same fate. 2015: Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit - Courtney Barnett First and foremost, can we please just take a moment and reflect on the absolute icon that is Courtney Barnett. Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, the indie-rock artist made some big waves after the release of her debut album “Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit” in 2015. Her down to earth approach to songwriting and uniquely honest lyrics take listeners back to the early singer-songwriters. From “Pedestrian at Best” to “Nobody Really Cares If You Don’t Go to the Party,” Barnett delivers the anthems we never knew we needed, and now the ones we cannot live without. It is also impossible to ignore the influence she had in the LGBTQ+ community as she emerged as an openly lesbian artist. While she was not the first, her journey still had an impact on the music industry and the wider community. There is nothing but respect for that. Continued on C5
LAKER REVIEW
FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
C5
End of decade breakdown of top 10 albums of 2010s (cont.)
new objective manner. Voted into the top 10 albums of 2018 by “Time,” “Be the Cowboy” has proven to be worthy of consideration and quite honestly could have done that without being voted on.
Abigail Connolly & Kazashi McLaughlin Staff Writers laker@oswegonian.com 2016: Malibu - Anderson .Paak Yes, it is true that Frank Ocean’s “Blonde” also came out in 2016. And yes, “Blonde” uniquely captured this generational essence of isolation and cut to the heart of what it is like to be searching for love in our modern day environment. But “Malibu” is better. Anderson .Paak has this effortless, laid back flow that he delivers in his raspy but somehow also butterysmooth voice. Coupled with live backing by his band, The Free Nationals, .Paak fluidly blends elements of soul, R&B and hip-hop into an album of wall to wall bangers that is just seeped in raw charisma. Sorry, Frank. 2017: Flower Boy - Tyler, the Creator It is almost impossible to talk about great American rappers without mentioning
Image from mitski mitski via YouTube Indie rock artist Mitski's 2018 album "Be the Cowboy" gave her a larger canvas to convey her growth as an artist and individual.
Tyler, the Creator. In many ways, Tyler represents a new wave of rap music and with the release of his fifth album, “Flower Boy,” he pushes the boundaries once again. With a litany of featured artists including Frank Ocean, A$AP Rocky, Anna of the North, Lil Wayne, Kali Uchis, Steve Lacy, Estelle, Jaden Smith and Rex Orange County,
“Flower Boy” has been tearing at the heartstrings of music fans ever since its release. Debuting at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200, the album, featuring the fan favorites “See You Again,” “Who Dat Boy” and “911/Mr. Lonely,” became an instant classic. Furthermore, the cover art is unmatchable in its beauty.
2018: Be the Cowboy - Mitski Please, do not look past this album. Very few artists have attempted and succeeded to the level that Mitski has with her exploration of fiction in this indie rock album. Seamlessly weaving between the personal and the objective, Mitski uses “Be the Cowboy” to convey the most personal feelings in a
2019: The Fall of Hobo Johnson - Hobo Johnson This was a difficult decision. 2019 has been the greatest year for music releases in our admittedly not very long lives. But when it came down to it, I had to stick with the album that moved me the most. Hobo Johnson made his name in the unusual, something that not everyone is a fan of. Yet, his brutal honesty made up of desperation, pain, joy and a bit of a political commentary speaks out in ways not seen before. Love ballads like “Moonlight” and “Happiness” offset the emotional rants of “Ode to Justin Bieber” and “I Want a Dog.” Yet both types speak to the current generation in the best way possible.
'Lady and the Tramp' remake full of nostalgia, CGI-rendered dogs Ethan Stinson Staff Writer laker@oswegonian.com
Rating: 2019 has certainly been a successful year for Disney. From producing the current highest-grossing film of all time, “Avengers: Endgame,” to the highest-grossing animated film, “The Lion King,” the studio has proven that it is far from decreasing in popularity. With the recent release of the streaming service Disney+, the Mouse House has only furthered its winning streak by making its expansive collection of films and television programs, in addition to a new selection of original content. One specific exclusive, “Lady and the Tramp,” is the first of many remakes which will be available only on the service. Though the film is far from the best offering that the studio has offered in its lineup of remakes, it none-
theless honors its source material as a well-intended, sweet adaptation, while also acting as a positive indicator that the service’s future originals may be something to look forward to. Like the 1955 classic, the film oversees the unlikely romance between two lovable canines, the sophisticated house pet, Lady (Tessa Thomson, “Men in Black: In-
ternational”) and the streetsmart stray, Tramp (Justin Theroux, “Bumblebee”). Unlike most of the Disney remakes, the film mostly refrains from introducing new characters, instead keeping to those found in the original. As for characters such as the Bloodhound, Trusty (Sam Elliot, “A Star is Born”) and the Scottish Terrier, Jock (Ashley Jensen,
Image from Walt Disney Studios via YouTube The film follows others with new live-action remakes like "The Lion King."
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World), each received second chances to become memorable, while the performances of their respective actors create the right conditions for this to happen. However, for those such as the Bulldog, Bull (Benedict Wong, “Avengers: Endgame") and the Lhasa apso, Peg (Janelle Monáe, “Harriet”), they were characters who felt underused or uninteresting compared to the original film, with the performances of the human characters feeling especially phoned-in. Like the recent remake “The Lion King,” the film utilizes computer-generated imagery in order to depict the expressions of animals. As such, the emotional aspects of the film face a slight setback due to the lack of expression shown in the animals’ faces, though one still cannot deny the chemistry shared between Thomson and Theroux as the titular
characters. However, the film used this factor to its advantage, as this allowed it to make timely changes to the Siamese cats who appeared in the original and who have long been looked back on due to the blatant stereotypes that they conveyed. As such, the cats were still able to appear in the film, though now in a sensible fashion. Love it or not, the sea of Disney remakes is far from ebbing. Especially with the launch of Disney+, the studio now has gained an outlet through which it may produce them simultaneously with those released in theaters, thus allowing for even more to be conceived and released in the new future. However “Lady and the Tramp” proves that, though they may not always be perfect, the remakes can still be enjoyable, nostalgia-provoking experiences and that the notion of more coming in the future is not necessarily one to be discouraged about.
C6
FRIDAY, Nov.22, 2019
Crossword Puzzle
Across
Sudoku Fill in the grid so that each row, column and 3x3 block contains 1-9 exactly once.
1. Uproar 4. Additionally 8. Reasonable 12. JFK’s party 13. Roaring feline 14. Guilty, e.g. 15. Expert 16. Electricity source 18. Wyoming’s neighbor 20. Greater anger 21. Actor Charlton ___ 23. Go bad 26. “The Way We ___” 29. Harsh 31. Reluctant 34. President Ronald ____ 35. Erases 37. Peddled 38. Wind direction (abbr.) 39. Biblical Mountain 42. Spring mo.
44. Permit 48. Backside 51. Stately tree 52. District 53. Poker word 54. Addition result 55. Unites 56. Jumble 57. Attempt
Down 1. Comedian Sandler 2. Art ___ 3. Prophecy 4. Water plants 5. Property claims 6. Beethoven work 7. Wallet bill 8. Practice boxing 9. Second self (2 wds.)
10. Agent Smith’s nemesis 11. Corn serving 17. Remove suds 19. Yonder 22. Belonging to us 24. Spoken 25. Care for 26. Walk in water 27. Divisible by two 28. Set free 30. Savor 32. Gaze steadily 33. Browning’s “always” 36. Briny 40. Melees 41. Farm units 43. School orgs. 45. Cozy place 46. Pronounce indistinctly 47. TV award 48. Fido’s foot 49. Metallic rock 50. Battering
For this week’s puzzle answers ... Go to Oswegonian.com and click on the Laker Review tab!
LAKER REVIEW
FRIDAY, Nov. 22, 2019
C7
Photo by Ben Seligson
Worst Game of 2019 Award - “Anthem” The internet struggles to find a great equalizer, something that culls the trolling and makes everyone agree. However, there was seemingly a “Treaty of Versailles”-esque ceasefire the moment “Anthem” was pulled from the pits of Electronic Arts dungeon. An ugly and sad thing, something no one asked for or would even dare to claim ownership of if it was not for the fact that it had Biowares (“Mass Effect,” “Dragon Age”) name branded onto its forehead with a cattle prod. For those who do not remember, “Anthem” was that game where the player takes on the role of an Iron Man like space warrior and shoots things. Not exactly inventive, but something particularly loathsome started to fester when words like “Live Service” and “10-year journey” started getting thrown around like trash in a can. Meaning that “Anthem” would try to keep itself exciting long after the credits role by adding new missions, with
the intention of building up a larger fanbase and charge more money as time goes on. A noble goal if it was not for the fact that “Anthem” was garbage. A story that makes up more new words than it has explanations for, gun combat that feels like firing spitballs, missions that repeat the same objectives and loading screens that go on just long enough for you to daydream but not long enough to escape the nightmare. Players who came for Bioware’s storytelling expertise were disappointed by Fort Tarsis’ lame and uninspired writing, meanwhile those who showed up to shoot things with their friends have been grabbed by the next best thing because you ca not build a sand castle out of saliva. Now the poor thing finds itself constantly being tossed aside. Everyone put in charge of the game leaves faster than a student after the bell. Meanwhile the roadmap that seemed to be teeming with new updates and free content keeps getting pushed farther and farther back. Everyone who quit the development team is more than happy to share tales of mismanagement and greed coming from upstairs. Leaving “Anthem” with a skeleton
crew and a worlds worth of promises to be given to those who paid money lest the lawsuits start popping up. At the end of it, the only thing most people can feel towards game is pity. It is a malformed mess that was not made under the lense of passion but quarterly income projections. Still being dragged around and given life because it is under contract to finish what it promised. “Anthem” should have never left its pit in the first place.
Stephen Novak Image from Anthem Game via YouTube Asst. Laker Review Editor snovak@oswegonian.com
Shea McCarthy
Jacob Fallat