The Oswegonian 3-13-20

Look Inside: A3 Oswego State makes neon signs

Friday, March 13, 2020 VOLUME LXXXV ISSUE VI SINCE 1935 www.oswegonian.com

SUNY, CUNY schools suspend in person classes

Professors, students switching to online courses indefinitely per Cuomo’s announcement

Concerns about online classes rise Hannah Leonard Asst. News Editor hleonard@oswegonian.com

Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian

Alexander Gault-Plate Editor-in-Chief aplate@oswegonian.com

CONTENT

All SUNY and CUNY schools will suspend in-person class meetings on March 19 to prevent the spread of COVID-19, a coronavirus that was declared a pandemic this week by the World Health Organization.

In a press conference at 1:45 p.m. on Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the

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The Internet and Blackboard outages Oswego State students have experienced a few weeks ago left Student Association senators concerned about the transferring to online classes due to COVID-19 outbreak fears.

At Tuesday’s SA meeting, program directors addressed the senate in efforts of explaining the purpose of specific broadbased fees, attached to nearly every student’s bill, and the reason for the potential increases.

“Are there going to be problems if classes go online? I would say that the response of the faculty here at the time [of the outages] were all working together and faculty were very understanding and looked to find ways to ensure that students have time to get their work in,” Sean Moriarty, chief technology officer at Oswego State, said.

Moriarity explained that the outages came as a result of authentication attacks but he assured the senate that his team has implemented a system to protect Blackboard as best they can from future attacks.

Moriarity said that during a normal school day, Blackboard receives thousands of requests an hour. During the outages, the system was getting 35 million requests an hour and was simply unable to keep up.

“I feel like we really put in some good remediation to protect ourselves and I think those services remain stable,” Moriarity said.

Moriarty explained the technology

announcement that SUNY and CUNY colleges will need to migrate as much of their educational programs online and “reduce density” of campus populations.

The governor’s original announcement stated that inperson classes would be suspended for the remainder of the semester.

“They will be releasing for the rest of the semester, to do distance learning,” Cuomo said in the press conference.

Statements from individual colleges, including Oswego State, have given a more conservative timeline of until midApril. Scott Furlong, Oswego State’s provost, sent faculty an email on Wednesday suggesting that the campus may resume in-person classes by April 13.

“Our hope, assuming stability in the public health situation, is that we return to somewhat normal operations on April 13, 2020,” Furlong’s email

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Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian

Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian

said.

The governor said that individual campuses have the latitude to choose how to proceed with in-person classes suspended, including which programs to suspend, which departments to close and what options to offer for residential students.

Wednesday evening, Vice President for Student Affairs Jerri Howland sent an email

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THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

Weekend Forecast

Gonian Social

FRIDAY, MARCH 13 THROUGH SUNDAY, MARCH 15

Friday

H: 51 °

Sunday

Saturday

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H: 37°

L: 27 °

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L: 25 °

The Oswegonian

@TheOswegonian

@GonianSports

0% @the_oswegonian

@GonianLRO

Chance of Precipitation

NEW YORK STATE

WEATHER FRIDAY, MARCH 13

Potsdam 31°/10°

Oswego 51°/33°

Buffalo 46°/31°

Dwayne F Arruza, 42, was arrested on Feb. 25 at 10:48

Syracuse 54°/32°

Albany

a.m. for rape in the second degree and endangering the

53°/31°

welfare of a child.

Brandon E. Lane, 29, was arrested on Feb. 24 at 7:48 p.m. for aggravated unlicensed operator in the third de-

NYC 65°/39°

Weather forecast provided by Bethany Strong from WTOP-10

Extended Forecast Monday

gree, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and unlaw-

Tuesday

ful fleeing from a police officer in a motor vehicle after stealing from Paul’s Big M.

MONDAY, MARCH 16 THROUGH FRIDAY, MARCH 20

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Kennex Blakeney, 32, was arrested on March 5 at 9:58 p.m. for criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree, assault in the fourth degree, assault in the third degree and endangering the welfare of a child after striking the victim with a belt, causing injury and leaving vis-

H: 45

L: 37 °

H: 51 °

L: 38 °

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ible marks and bruising.

L: 45 °

Luis R. Melendez, 25, was arrested on March 8 at 2:45

30%

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The Oswegonian

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On the Opinion Cover!

NEWS

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

I guess being a woman for me is everything.”

THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

-Taylor Larsen, from A5

Oz After Dark puts on sign making program

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Events to provide alternative options, programs for weekends

Stephen Novak | The Oswegonian The art work pictured above was created by some of the first 20 students to participate in the event held in Marano Campus Center March 6.

Stephen Novak Asst. Laker Review Editor snovak@oswegonian.com The Alcohol and Other Drugs Education Group hosted an event last week where students could create their own neon sings to take home with them.

The event, Oz After Dark, took place last Friday in the Marano Campus Center, which provided materials for participants to create their own neon decorations to take home, while also providing students with snacks and refreshments. However, space was limited, and was only able to accommodate 20 students.

These slots quickly filled up, after a crowd showed up early to cement their place in the event, the organizers decided to start early, opening up at 6 p.m. rather than the advertised 6:30 p.m. While this meant the event was a success, it did result in staff needing to turn away students that could not fit into the event on time.

Two students, Sabriah McQueen, a communications major, and Sophia Escobar, a history major, came an entire hour early in response

to finding unavailability at other events. Especially when they found themselves unable to participate in a pumpkin carving exercise despite showing up at the advertised time. They were notified about the event through various sign postings around Cayuga Hall as well as the residence hall’s Instagram updates.

McQueen said she only had an interest in ones with a more creative side to them.

“We got here at 5:30. Last time we came to a pumpkin [carving] event and they ran out of pumpkins.” McQueen said. “The more hands-on stuff like creative stuff, painting and building.”

Nykky Bivens, the graphic designer for the Mary Walker Health Center, said that the event was the first of its kind and that the goal of the event was to encourage students to find more productive pursuits on the weekends.

“I worked in collaboration with the Alcohol and Other Drug Education Coordinator, that works in the dean of student’s office. We’re trying to come up with a new program for students to try something new and fun for the weekends,” Bivens said.

The event was originally slat-

ed for Thursday, Feb. 27 but was moved to Friday after fallout from a snow-storm.

“It got pushed back because school was canceled that Thursday and Friday. With the really bad weather we didn’t want anyone coming because the snowstorm was really bad,” Alejandro Estrada, a human development major that assisted in coordinating the event, said.

The neon signs are not the first of their kind, as they have been frequently given away at other events, but this would mark the first time that the event organizers provided the materials for students to make their own ones. The program offered students canvas frames to paint onto, before poking holes into it in order to thread neon wire around the painting, with each canvas being from a preset selection of five different designs.

The events are meant to target students that might find themselves at a loss for plans during their weekends. Offering localized events in the heart of the campus, with each one being built to slow the use of drugs and alcohol on campus by getting students engaged in creative pursuits.

Stephen Novak | The Oswegonian Students attending Oz After Dark’s neon sign making event were given a creative outlet to channel energy into amid midterm week.

With $12,720 left in the contingency fund, one new senator oath and 18 of 30 senators present, guests of the senate included faculty involved in Middle State’s selfstudy for accredited institutions. Oswego State is an accredited institution, meaning that students are eligible for public federal aid via grants including the Pell Grant.

The self evaluation will conclude by 2022.

broad-based fees that include an athletic fee of $467 with a proposed $11 increase, a technology fee of $445, and a proposed $10 increase, a health fee of $388 with a proposed $18 increase, and lastly a transportation fee of $57 with a proposed increase of $3.

Furlong also mentioned that these increases are based on the Higher Education Price Index, which outlines an allowable increase each year. This year the total amount of increases cannot exceed $42.

Sean Moriarty, chief technology officer at Victoria Furlong, asso- Oswego State, spoke ciate director of finance about the capabilities and budget, explained of Blackboard given

the possibility that the school closes campus and switches to online classes as other campuses have.

The highly debated, and recently vetoed “Pizza Bill” was passed by senators.

The bill states “Student Association Organizations may not use Student Association Funds toward food related products that would be solely used for member consumption only. Except in cases where dietary restrictions and, or, religious restrictions exist.”

Clubs are allowed to cater events, however attendance must be at least 30 people for the event to be considered to be used with Student Association funds.

SA organizations may only have one budgeted

catered event for each academic semester of that budgeted year.

If the first event within the fall semester fails to meet the required numbers then the Student Organizations will receive a warning.

If the Student Organization fails to obtain the 30 of attendees again for the spring semester after they failed in the fall of that budgeted year, they will not be able to host a budgeted catered event for the next academic year.

SA Bill [SLE.55.23] was passed by the senate. If approved by SA President Takeena Strachan, Senator Nathaniel Goldstein will be removed from the Chair of the Senate Involvement Committee.

NEWS

THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

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Broad-based fees brought up, Spread of COVID-19 causes concern explained during latest SA meeting Students unsure when or if they can return to campus CONCERNS from COVER fee, which currently accounts for an additional $445 on a student’s bills, and proposed a $10 increase. Moriarty explained some of the expenditures and benefits this fee provides for.

Accordingly to Moriarty, Internet bandwidth is one of the largest expenditures. Investing in state-of-the-art technology in the classroom, and servicing and providing about 1,100 computers on campus, mostly among Penfield Library and Marano Campus Center.

Moriarty said an increase in the fee will help to keep up with inflation as well as maintain and improve the services and tools provided.

“I don’t know exactly what the future holds but I feel that we are really strong and resilient now if something more comes up, we are going to take care of it,” Moriarty said.

Victoria Furlong, associate director of finance and budget, explained other broad-based fees that include an athletic fee of $467 with a proposed $11 increase, a health fee of $388 with a proposed $18 increase and lastly a transportation fee of $57 with a proposed increase of $3.

Furlong also stated that these increases are based on the Higher Education Price Index, which outlines an allowable increase each year. This year the total amount of increases cannot exceed $42.

Angie Brown, director of student health services, explained that her department would like to focus and allocate funds to health education and counseling as they plan to hire two more counselors.

Mike Flaherty, general manager of auxiliary services, explained that the transportation fee covers the costs of the CENTRO blue route, and the green route. Both are free to students both run through the campus, not downtown Oswego or Syracuse. An increase in fees comes from an increase in operating costs and the Birnie bus break shuttle, that runs later into the evening and takes students to and from Syracuse and Oswego before and after school breaks.

Lastly, Susan Viscomi, athletic director for Oswego State said that collegiate athletics bring notoriety as Oswego State offers 12 sports for men and 12 for women, which is the “second highest number of team sports in the SUNYAC Conference.”

SUNY from COVER

to Oswego State students, staff and faculty stating that students who wish to remain on campus during the suspension of in-person classes may do so, but need to contact Residence Life and Housing to coordinate their stay.

According to an email from Shaun Crisler, associate vice president for Residence Life and Housing, students who plan to leave campus for spring break are being asked to re-

Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian

315-343-6429 176 East 9th street

main off-campus. Those who wish to return after break are asked to contact Residence Life by March 19 to make the proper arrangements.

On Wednesday, President Deborah Stanley sent an email to the campus community to inform them of the status of Oswego State. In her email, she confirmed that auxiliary services, the department in charge of managing Oswego State’s dining halls, will remain open with reduced services for students who remain on campus.

Campus offices and Penfield Library will also operate during

the suspension, although they may see changes to operation hours and capacity.

According to the email from Crisler residence halls will close for spring break at 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 14. Students will be allowed to move their belongings out before that deadline, although they are not required to. Crisler said that more information on move-out will be forthcoming.

This is ongoing coverage for Oswego State and COVID-19.

Please check back on our website, Oswegonian.com, for the most up-to-date information.

NEWS

THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

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Museum of Sex celebrates women, empowerment

Eurokah Sejour | The Oswegonian Oswego State’s HeForShe organization held a Museum of Sex exhibit in the Hewitt Hall ballroom on March 6, showing a variety of photographs and performances with the goal of bringing awareness to various forms of inequality.

Eurokah Sejour Staff Writer news@oswegonian.com On Friday, the Museum of Sex was held by HeForShe in the Hewitt Hall Ballroom and highlighted gender, sexuality, individuality and liberation.

HeForShe is an organization that was created by the United Nation in 2014 as a way to create and promote gender equality.

HeForShe strives to incorporate men into the movement for gender equality because they know this is an issue that affects everyone. They work to engage both women and men to effectively solve these issues.

“It’s a both team effort,” Luis Garcia, co-president of HeForShe, said. “Some men are genuinely out

here trying to help.”

The Museum of Sex, which is part of many other programs held

by HeForShe, not only displayed vast amount of artwork but also held a presentation by keynote speaker Andrea Gonzales, a fashion show, expressive dance performances and special singing performances.

Every performance and piece of art that was portrayed was symbolic to the fight for equality in every space.

In the gallery portion, some pieces were portraits of the female body and about feeling free as a woman. They pushed for the acceptance of being a woman regardless of an individual’s walk of life. Some portraits brought recognition to the fact that not every woman has had the same experiences even under the la-

bel “woman.” Issues with racial inequality, transgender inequality and so many more were displayed.

One of the most notable pieces within the art gallery was a picture made to embrace sexuality, disarm societal norms and destigmatizing the taboo surrounding sex. It was attached to a board and not printed due to it having been refused by Walmart because it was seen as a violation of their policy.

In the gallery, there was also a piece that brought attention to how the conditions that were tied to the women’s suffrage movement and how it excluded women of color until the 1960s. The piece portrayed truly that as women there is division with how they are viewed and how there are blatant issues with this way of thinking.

This exhibit empowered and brought awareness to issues that are seemingly disregarded. “[We] always wanted to do a project that kind of forecasted sexual liberation, so the art of being free, being sexually liberated, avoiding those terms such as slut, hoe or tramp if a women is sleeping around. Those derogatory names are usually there to describe her and it shouldn’t be to that standard, she should be able to be free and sleep with whoever she likes,” Janeah Thomas, treasurer of HeForShe, said.

This museum brought and anchored the idea of “identity” and the duality in the fact that everyone who has ever experienced or ever felt any shame toward their identity should take pride in who they are and that there should

not have been any differentiation in topics that deal with gender inequality, sexuality, individuality and liberation in the first place because it is normal and people should be free to live their lives as they please with the rights they deserve.

Gonzalez, who is from Staten Island, shed light on deep issues like how race plays a big factor in the lives of everyone, and how although we are all people with different sexualities, race and gender, we all share different experiences with one another. She spoke about issues like Black Lives Matter and women’s rights.

“I grew up with a single mom, and [she] is a mom and a dad for me,” Taylor Larsen, a sophomore at Oswego State, said. “I guess being a woman for me is everything.”

NEWS

THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

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Naief Yehya speaks on campus Gender-inclusive housing at Oswego State Shares dangers of televising war, violence Option available for students residing on campus as of fall 2020 Julia Tilley News Editor jtilley@oswegonian.com On March 11, Oswego State hosted “Drones: Hunting Humans from the Middle East to the Southern Border,” presented by keynote speaker Naief Yehya.

Yehya has published four novels, multiple essays and written for a few publications in Mexico, Spain and Latin America. He has spent at least 18 years writing about drones, according to Yehya.

Yehya began his address by mentioning the first Gulf War, and saying CNN created a “new type of televised spectacle,” showing the point of view of intelligent missiles, using a certain type of camera. He continued to say the way war was reported changed. As an example, people were no longer shown; rather, military weapons and paraphernalia were shown. He said this reduced war to “entertainment and a type of eye candy.”

“In fact, the military and news channels learned and copied the visual strategies used by ESPN and other sports channels,” Yehya said.

Yehya went on to describe how the use of intelligent missiles began a path to a new era of imperial war, and that drones would become the weapon of choice. The drones began being used outside of war zones.

Yehya said the first drone attack to kill humans was in Yemen, back in 2002. This was not a warzone.

According to Yehya, 95 countries currently have drones being used in some sort of military capacity. Some main uses for these drones would be to keep an eye on drug trafficking, forest fires and border patrol.

In many Latin American countries, monitoring drug trafficking would be the main reason they use drones.

However, drones have also been used against their original intentions.

In November of 2015, a drone was caught smuggling drugs.

“Now, it is a daily occurrence in

some regions of the southern border,” Yehya said. “The specification in the use of border drones came with President Trump’s obsession for building a division wall between Mexico and the U.S.A.” Another issue brought up was how expensive flying drones can be. According to Yehya, the cost of operation of an unmanned aerial vehicle drone, or WAV drone, was $12,255 per hour in 2013. He also said that, for every 120,939 illegal border crossings, less than 2% were caught via drone, bringing up the question on whether or not it is worth it to invest in these drones. Along with issues of costs, other issues about drone usage have arisen.

“There is a concern about potential conflict of drones. There have already been clashes in South America, Paraguay and Argentina, [which] have accused Brazil of flying drones in their territories without permission,” Yehya said. He added that there have been Colombian drones unauthorized in Venezuela.

However, as far as he knew, none of the drones flown over South America were weaponized.

Later in the presentation, Yehya brought up a new and common form of surveillance: smartphones. According to Yehya, “we will become accustomed to a state of permanent surveillance,” and smartphones create “millions of new spying eyes.”

Yehya finished up his presentation by discussing four science fiction films, and how they relate to what people are currently experiencing. The four movies he discussed were “Mad Max 2,” “Alien,” “Blade Runner,” and “The Terminator.”

Yehya walked through the synopsis and impacts of cyborgs and other forms of technology in each film. According to Yehya, these films familiarize the population with these sorts of machines and artificial intelligence.

“They are, for me, the bible of everything that we are going through,” Yehya said.

William Rogers | The Oswegonian Residence halls such as Riggs Hall, pictured above, will be allowing residents of the opposite sex to room together as of fall 2020.

Tomas Rodriguez Staff Writer news@oswegonian.com Oswego State will join other SUNY schools in introducing gender-inclusive housing.

SUNY schools such as The College at Brockport have experimented with gender-inclusive housing for a few years. The move to promote such form of housing means that male and female students will be able to room together.

While Residence Life and Housing staff was hoping to get this new project available for spring semester 2020 transfer students, it will be open to all students for this upcoming fall 2020 semester.

Gender-inclusive housing has been available in The Village townhouses ever since they were inaugurated in 2010, per Residence Life and Housing’s website.

While mixed-gender residents in The Village only share restrooms, the move to incorporate this into all of the various housing options on campus would mean that, for the first time, a male student would be allowed to share rooms with a female student, and vice versa.

Residence Life and Housing staff believes this initiative

could give students the opportunity to expand their horizons prior to graduation.

One challenge associated with this initiative may be if for any reason a roommate of the opposite gender changes room or residence hall.

Other challenges they face include housing students that are classified as transgender. This is a huge step forward for LGBTQ+ student Alejandro Estrada, who said it is a good learning experience.

“It’s good that it’s becoming more open and that we’re allowed to live with people of our choice, and it gives us more freedom to be comfortable around people,” he said.

“I know in Hart the third floor is all female and I think that’s such a good idea because some people aren’t comfortable living around other men, and I think that that’s something that should be further pushed for various reasons.”

Estrada believes that having a more diverse environment that would make people feel comfortable and would be a step forward toward gender inclusiveness.

However, some students may find themselves uncomfortable living with someone of the opposite gender due to reasons that may in-

clude those pertaining to religion, for instance.

“There is one condition under which students of the opposite gender are not permitted to cohabitate in the dorms. That is, if the students are in a romantic relationship,” Residence Life and Housing staff member, Mary Craw, said.

The university’s website further states that if a student who requests gender-inclusive housing is not paired with another resident with similar profiles, Residence Life and Housing will assign that student a different one who has requested residing with someone of the opposite gender.

Students will only be able to live with someone of the opposite gender if they specifically file such request when applying for oncampus housing.

Gender-inclusive housing will be available to all students – transfers, first-year, undergraduate and graduate at Oswego State.

The new feature will be made available in rooms, suites and townhouses on campus.

Looking at the future, Residence Life and Housing staff hopes this could help students understand that they are there to accommodate student needs.

William Rogers | The Oswegonian Speaker Naief Yehya informed his Oswego State audience about the dangers of drone usage.

William Rogers | The Oswegonian Gender-inclusive housing will allow residents of Oswego State to room with any student, regardless of gender, to be inclusive.

OPINION SUPER TUESDAY

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SPORTS THE OSWEGONIAN

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B3 Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian

VOLUME LXXXV ISSUE VI • www.oswegonian.com

Editor’s Column

DEFEAT

FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

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Lakers end inconsistent season, fail to return to NCAA tournament

End of hockey season While men’s hockey team had 13 seniors, it could not complete season turn around Ben Grieco Managing Editor bgrieco@oswegonian.com

Matt Watling Sports Editor mwatling@oswegonian.com

Men fall short of national tournament Just 151 days ago, I wrote that the Oswego State Lakers seemed primed to make a run at the NCAA Tournament. It was a team that brought in just two new players and had 13 seniors. Despite this, a pair of slumps throughout the season put the Lakers in a difficult place: win the SUNYAC or go home early.

Oswego State struggled against ranked teams this year, accumulating a record of 0-7 against them.

Ultimately, this crippled the team’s chances at receiving an at-large bid through the PairWise Rankings. Perhaps the Lakers could have snuck into the tournament if there was a committee of people around Div. III hockey that selected the Pool C bids, like there was two years ago.

Despite this, the team did some extraordinary things. Sweeping Plattsburgh State in its three games this year was an incredible feat for a team that struggled against the Cardinals at home over the last several years. Prior to the 201819 Whiteout win, the Lakers were riding a six-game losing streak to Plattsburgh State inside the Marano Campus Center Ice Arena.

For a roster chock full of seniors, it is extremely disappointing to see the Lakers’ season come to an end.

It was enjoyable getting to cover the team this season and a big reason for that are the seniors who spoke to the media week after week. While the seniors will graduate, the Lakers return a handful of productive players like Steven Kozikoski, Travis Broughman and Alex DiCarlo.

Women reach NEWHL title game The women’s hockey team had an excellent season this year, securing the second seed in the NEWHL playoffs. For a team that struggled to score last season, the Lakers were dynamic as an offense. The team was infused with a boost of speed and ability to create offense at a high level. Because of this, the Lakers scored 19 more goals in comparison to last season.

While it is never fun to end a season with a loss, it is understandable and almost expected when you go up against Plattsburgh State. The Cardinals have several All-Conference players, including Annie Katonka, the player of the year, and NEWHL Goalie of the Year, Ashley Davis.

The Lakers really impressed this season, playing a style that has not been seen from them for several years. They were a fast and fun team, rather than one that tried to slow the game down. That is the most exciting part about the Lakers, as well as the fact that they will bring this dynamic play to next season as well. The Lakers graduate significant pieces but maintain skaters like Megan Teachout and Philomena Teggart who can play with great pace. It will be interesting to see how the team looks in net next season, with the lone goalie, Rachael Farmer, graduating.

Overall, the Lakers achieved and maybe even exceeded expectations. Hosting a home playoff game is always a goal and reaching the NEWHL Championship for the second time in three years is a great accomplishment.

It was a tale of two seasons for the Oswego State men’s hockey team during its 2019-2020 campaign, which ended Saturday with a 4-1 loss against SUNY Geneseo in the SUNYAC Championship.

The season began earlier than normal, players came back in August to go to Europe at the end of the month, with games in Italy and Switzerland. Just a few months later, Oswego State won both exhibition games in October. The Lakers started the season on a four-game winning streak. All seemed to be going well.

But then the game at SUNY Geneseo on Nov. 16 happened.

Three game misconducts, a match misconduct and over 80 penalty minutes all came together for a 9-1 loss. Quickly, the season’s outlook changed.

“You start the regular season off 4-0 and you’re feeling pretty good about yourself,” Oswego State head coach Ed Gosek said. “We weren’t playing defensively as well as we should’ve been. That, against some better teams, started to creep in and catch up with us.”

A streak of losses against nationally-ranked opponents began following the loss to the Knights. A loss to then-No. 4 Hobart College the next weekend and then-No. 7 Salve Regina University the weekend after that.

In December, Oswego State had three wins, including two league wins over Buffalo State and SUNY Fredonia, but that was followed by four one-goal losses; two of which were against ranked opponents, the University of New England and Utica College.

“That’s the importance of each and every game. It’s a good reminder for our players, our returners, our staff,” Gosek said. “Had we tied some of those or found a way to get it done, we’d still be playing, and we’d be in the tournament despite losing to Geneseo down the stretch.”

A few games later came a 3-2 overtime loss to SUNY Cortland on the road. Then, Gosek and the coaching staff realized some changes needed to be made. After that week, Gosek said the players had started to really take ownership of how they needed to play to be successful.

Players like Michael Gillespie, Josh Zizek and Alex DiCarlo, started to step up and find the back of the

net, playing with a desire to extend their season. In the next four games, which included three wins and a tie, Gillespie had 12 points.

But the biggest change that came around was in the crease. Steven Kozikoski, who had only seen action in the exhibition games, played his first collegiate game against SUNY Canton. The sophomore did not see much action in the game, stopping 19 saves of the 21 shots he faced.

Some others, their play was stagnant.

I don’t know if there was a big sense of urgency until the end.”

-Ed Gosek, Oswego State men’s hockey head coach

After giving David Richer and Cedric Hansen numerous opportunities to take a hold on the starting job, “it just never really happened,” Gosek said.

“If I would’ve told people at the beginning of the year that Kozikoski was going to start against Plattsburgh and Geneseo, people would’ve thought, ‘The heck is he thinking?”

Gosek said. “Like everyone else, we were pleasantly surprised.”

Following the start of the Kozikoski era, Oswego State went 7-1-1, tying a tough The College at Brockport team, as well as falling to SUNY Geneseo in a tough battle.

Richer played against SUNY Fredonia for the team’s Senior Night and the second game of the Morrisville State weekend series.

A semifinal win against Plattsburgh State and then falling to SUNY Geneseo in a 4-1 heartbreaker ended the Lakers’ season last Saturday; a season that Gosek said he has never seen in his 17 years as a head coach. It was a season that just was not good enough for the NCAA tournament.

“We were [consistently] inconsistent up until the end of the year,” Gosek said. “I can’t say that the last 10, 11 games. We were playing good hockey. Up to that point, we were just inconsistent.”

Inconsistency is the primary focus for Gosek and the coaching staff, as they try to replace the 13 seniors that are graduating in May. After the

Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian Oswego State defeated the Cardinals three times this season, the first time its done so since 2009-10.

loss to SUNY Geneseo in the championship, Gosek said, “It’s all about trying to get better.”

“Some [seniors] rose to the occasion and continued to push and get better. Some others, their level of play was stagnant,” Gosek said. “I don’t know if there was a big sense of urgency until the end.”

The Lakers are returning some key scoring, like DiCarlo and Travis Broughman. While not as prominent as those two, defensive scorer Max Novick is a senior next year and will look to extend his career as long as possible.

DiCarlo’s scoring really came to fruition following the holiday break, when he was able to get his footing in his first year of college hockey. Broughman, who had 27 points on the season, had been a key part throughout the season, who Gosek said is a dominant player when he wants to be, but “where is that every game?”

“Those are the athletes that have the ability to distinguish themselves and then separate themselves from others,” Gosek said.

A season that was filled with adversity on the ice, as well as off the ice—including family deaths and other hardships—is now over. While every team has hardships, Oswego State “had more than their share this year,” Gosek said.

“You’d get over one thing and move forward, then there’d be something else. It was consistent,” Gosek said. “To say that it didn’t affect our performance would be lying.”

Now begins the offseason of trying to simply get better. Gosek will have to try to replace players like Zizek, Gillespie and Anthony Passero. At this time of the year, it is a final push to get players to commit to Oswego State that are not only good players, but good

people, according to Gosek. The team has a “strong group of athletes” they are recruiting.

This new class will need to replace two goaltenders, strong forwards, eight to be exact, and three defensemen. It will be a class, and a team, that will have a different attitude with such a young team and will have something to prove, which is exciting, Gosek alluded to.

As of Thursday, Oswego State has three players officially committed to its roster for the 2020-2021 season. Two defensemen have put on Twitter that they are coming to the Lakers. Tristan Francis, from Cumberland, Ontario, Canada, played for the Navan Grads of the Central Canada Hockey League. He had 38 points in 62 games as of Thursday.

Ryan Eccles from Syracuse is coming from the Albany Academy. He is a solid body, standing at 6-foot-1 and 201 pounds.

Looking to replace some highscoring forwards, the Lakers bring in Conor Smart, who is from the Ottawa Jr. Senators in the CCHL. He has a strong wrist shot that might complement a player like Travis Broughman. He has 32 points in 61 games as of Thursday. In a highlight reel video, Smart said he likes to replicate his play after Johnny Gaudreau from the National Hockey League, who is a “smaller guy with good, fast hands,” Smart mentioned in the video.

“We’ll work hard to try to bring in players that we can develop and represent our program the right way, who also have some talent to keep us in the hunt next year,” Gosek said.

“With our program and our expectation, we didn’t meet them. We got to the championship game but didn’t win our league. We didn’t make the NCAA tournament … I’ve never settled for second place.”

Lakers, other Div. III institutions alter sporting events

NCAA games across the region severely affected due to COVID-19 pandemic canceled its trip, which was supposed to start on Friday in Leesburg, Florida, against Skidmore College.

The Lakers also canceled three men’s lacrosse games, which were supposed to be played over spring break. Oswego State is expected to continue its season Wednesday, March 25, hosting Utica College.

Over the last several days, Div. I and III athletics have seen a big hit in terms of the championship or national events that were supposed to be played. The NCAA an-

nounced on Thursday that the national men’s hockey tournament would be canceled. Local colleges like Utica College, SUNY Geneseo and Hobart College all received berths in the NCAA Div. III Men’s Ice Hockey Championship but will not play. As Ben Birnell reported, the Pioneers head coach Gary Heenan was devastated.

“I’m just trying to get my head around it,” Heenan said. “It doesn’t seem right, but I get the gravity of the situation.”

Casey Stone | The Oswegonian Oswego State’s baseball team canceled its eight-game spring break trip to South Carolina.

Matt Watling Sports Editor mwatling@oswegonian.com Two days before the Oswego State baseball team was expected to travel to Lexington, South Carolina, for its annual spring break trip, the Lakers canceled the eight-game tune-up. Despite the good health that head coach Scott Landers discussed earlier in the week, saying they “have 18 to 22-year olds that are healthy,” the national pandemic of COVID-19 has increased in sever-

ity on Wednesday and Thursday.

Oswego State was looking forward to growing as a team. With eight games in just six days, the Lakers were going to rely on every single player on their roster, including going deep into their bullpen. As of Thursday, the Lakers are expected to continue their season on Friday, March 27, after spring break, against SUNY Oneonta on the road. Updates will be announced through the athletic’s website, as well as through The Oswegonian when new information is made available.

Oswego State’s softball team also

Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian

SPORTS B2 Softball gears up for season under new head coach THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

Beat Writer’s Column

Men’s basketball season ends

Gabrielle Rivers takes over program that went 19-21 last season

Matt Czeitner Copy Editor mczeitner@oswegonian.com Back on March 11, the Oswego State men’s basketball team fell to The College at Brockport, ending its season.

With that, my time as the beat writer for the team also came to an end. It is now time to reflect on the season the Lakers had and take a look at the good, the bad and the surprising things the Lakers did this season.

First, the good and there certainly was a lot of it. Oswego State finished with a 19-8 overall record which was the fourth time in five years that it achieved fewer than 10 losses in a season. The Lakers’ 75.8 points per game was the highest average for the Lakers since the 2016-2017 season, and the second highest average since head coach Jason Leone took over before the 2011-2012 season. Leone also won his 250th game as the head coach at Oswego State on Feb. 18 with an 81-76 victory at SUNY Oneonta.

There were also notable individual achievements for some players. Senior Joe Sullivan scored his 1,000th collegiate point on Jan. 14 vs. SUNY New Paltz. Senior Brandan Gartland scored his 1,000th point in a Lakers uniform Feb. 18 vs. SUNY Oneonta.

Sullivan received First-Team All-SUNYAC honors, and freshman Jeremiah Sparks received Third-Team All-SUNYAC honors.

What was great about Oswego State all season is that every game it seemed like a new player stepped up.

The end-of-the-year individual statistics prove just that. The Lakers had four players average in double figures.

Sullivan finished the season averaging 14.6 points per game, which led the team. He also scored 20 or more points in five games. Sparks averaged 13.5 points per game, exceeding 20 points in seven contests. Gartland averaged 13.1 points per game, scoring 20 or more points in three contests, and Liam Sanborn averaged 10.7 points per game, scoring 20 or more points in five contests.

With a great season also comes struggles, and they were certainly there for Oswego State at points of the season. The Lakers struggled against the top teams of the SUNYAC. They went 0-2 in the regular season vs. The College at Brockport, 0-2 vs. SUNY Potsdam, 1-1 vs. SUNY Oneonta and 1-1 vs. SUNY Cortland for a total record of 2-6 against the other top-four teams in the conference. This hurt the Lakers in terms of playoff seeding. Though they made it as the fourth seed, they could have very easily secured a first-round bye if they had a better record against these teams. The Lakers also had some inconsistency from their bench.

Several players would step up and play very well at points of the season, but they would not be much of a factor in games that followed. Sophomore Julien Crittendon averaged the most points off the bench for the Lakers at only 5.8 points per game.

This season also brought a lot of surprises for Oswego State, and it is all centered around the wonderful play of their underclassmen, showing the future is bright for the program. Sparks was second in the team in scoring and earned All-Conference honors in his first season. Freshman Jamal Achille’s minutes were increased and he was eventually inserted into the starting lineup late in the season. He immediately contributed to the success of the Lakers. Over the last 11 games, Achille averaged 8.1 points per game while playing 27.5 minutes per game. Colby Moultrie shot the ball lights out when he stepped on the court some nights for the Lakers. He hit six 3-pointers vs.

The College at Brockport early in the season, which was a season high and also scored a season high 20 points in the game. He hit 22 3-pointers in the final 11 contests of the season.

It was a wonderful season for the Lakers. I am sure I had as much fun covering the team as the players and coaches had on the court and you, the fans and parents, had in the stands. So much so that I hated to see it come to an end.

Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian Oswego State finished third in the SUNYAC Tournament last season, its best finish since the tournament started in 1984.

Michael Gross Staff Writer sports@oswegonian.com Ten months ago, the Oswego State softball team was eliminated from the SUNYAC tournament, after giving its season a full makeover. A nine-game winning streak helped propel the Lakers into the tournament, resurrecting their sub-par first half and giving them a shot at their first SUNYAC banner. The Lakers fell short of this feat, losing to SUNY Cortland 7-0 in the final game of the season.

Although the Lakers never raised a banner in 2019, it was not a failed season. The softball team managed to win two games in the SUNYAC tournament, two more than the year before, and displayed improved hitting. Junior Madelana Wrubel was pleased with the work the team put

in last year but knows with a new roster, there is still work to be done.

“Our team as a whole did very well,” Wrubel said. “We were such a power team and that came to our advantage in situations where we needed a big hit, and one of our players would step up and give us that. Now it’s just such a complete turnaround. We are starting fresh, so it is going to be interesting to see how it turns out.”

Wrubel began the season very well last year at the plate but hit a slump around the midway mark of last season, which brought her batting average down to .211. Rebecca Vilchez, on the other hand, improved not just in the batter’s box, but also on the mound. The senior ended the season batting .307, driving in 17 runs while hitting two homeruns. She also managed to suppress her inflated ERA from 3.81 to 2.59. Despite the struggles, Vilchez never made any drastic changes to her approach last year.

“That is part of the game of softball,” Vilchez said. “Sometimes you’re high, sometimes you’re low, so you just have to stay confident and make small adjustments.”

One person that views Vilchez as a true leader in every way is Gabrielle Rivers, the new head coach of the Os-

wego State softball team. “[She has] the leader mentality,” Rivers said. “She works hard on and off the field. She is willing to take the underclassmen under her wing and tell them how we do things here with the transition from high school to college ball.”

Rivers has prior playing and coaching experience at the Div. II level, suiting up for Merrimack College, which is now Div. I. She also played for The College at Brockport. As for her coaching career, she was an assistant at LeMoyne College. bringing them to four straight Northeast-10 Conference Championship games and two NCAA Championship tournaments as well.

The transition in the head coach position is generally difficult for most.

Despite this, a familiar face joins the coaching staff at Oswego State. Angela Frampton, a 2019 graduate and a .346 lifetime hitter for the Lakers in her two years, will be an assistant.

“She has helped with a lot of players and the background information I should know on some of them. It has made it an easier transition,” Rivers said. “[Frampton] helps with hitting and pitching. She brings a pitching background, so that is the main reason why I brought her on.”

The season was supposed to begin on Friday on the team’s spring break trip, however it was canceled due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The trip was supposed to help build team chemistry and depth, as the Lakers’ bench was going to be tested with 12 games in just six days. As of publication, the team’s season is expected to continue Wednesday, March 25 against Rochester Institute of Technology.

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MEN’S BASKETBALL HONORS

HOCKEY HONORS

Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian

Earlier this month, the SUNYAC announced its All-Conference team awards. Two Lakers on the men’s basketball team were named to the All-Conference teams.

Senior Joe Sullivan was named First Team All-SUNYAC while Jeremiah Sparks earned Third Team recognition in his freshman year.

This is Sullivan’s first appearance on an All-SUNYAC regular season team. Despite that, in 201819 he was named to the SUNYAC All-Tournament Team for his efforts in the postseason.

This year, Sullivan led the Lakers in points and rebounds per

Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian

game with 14.6 and 8.9, respectively. His season and career high in points in a single game came against the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons, where he scored 25 points on Feb. 8. Sullivan will end his career with over 1,000 career points.

Sparks was second on the team in points and rebounds, only trailing Sullivan. Prior to Oswego State, he was named First Team All-CNY in high school at Jordan Elbridge High School. His seasonhigh in points came back on Jan. 5 against Moravian College, where he scored 32 points shooting 10-17 from the floor.

Both of Oswego State’s hockey teams received several All-Conference honors.

The women’s hockey team scored all three of its players on the All-NEWHL Second Team.

Goalie Rachael Farmer, and skaters Megan Teachout and Kate Randazzo were the trio that were named to the team.

Farmer was a senior in her second season as a Laker and played extremely well in net. With no other goalies on the roster in the spring semester, Farmer played 25 of the 27 games this season.

In those games, Farmer accumulated a 2.05 goals against average as well as a .916 save percentage.

In her rookie campaign, Teachout led the Lakers in points with 28. The speedy forward was also named NEWHL Rookie of the Year, as she was eighth in scoring in the conference.

The captain of the Lakers, Randazzo, scored her third All-Confer-

ence team award in her fourth and final season. Randazzo recorded 17 points which was her second highest season total in her career.

As for the men’s team, the Lakers saw three honorees as well.

Max Novick was on the FirstTeam, while Anthony Passero and Travis Broughman landed spots on the Third-Team.

Novick led the defense in points this season with 21. His seven goals was also good for second among all SUNYAC defenders.

Passero and Broughman ended the season tied for the team lead in points. Both scored 27 points, with Passero leading the team in assists with 20. Broughman led the team in goals with 15. The duo also played a majority of the season together, even on the power play.

Passero will be the lone award member to graduate for the mens’ team, as Novick and Broughman will return for their senior and junior years.

B B33 SPORTS Lakers send 2 field athletes to nationals THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

Yensan, Burke excel at regionals in long, high jump respectively Brandon Ladd Sports Writer sports@oswegonian.com The number of athletes left competing for the Oswego State men’s and women’s indoor track and field team is down to two. Seniors Sarah Yensan and Catarina Burke will be going to the 2020 NCAA Div. III Women’s Indoor Track and Field National Championships.

Yensan will compete in the long jump and Burke will compete in the high jump at the meet starting this Friday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Yensan enters the meet with the sixth-longest jump in the country for Div. III women long jumpers. A 5.80-meter jump at the Brockport Invite on Feb. 8 was her best jump of the season and current school record for long jump.

Burke enters the high jump event on Friday with the 16th-best mark in all of Div. III for women.

Her mark of 1.68 meters was set at the St. Lawrence Open on Feb. 21. She looks to best that mark to have a chance against some of the best high jumpers at the Div. III level in North Carolina.

The rest of the men’s and women’s track and field seasons ended this past weekend with the NCAA Atlantic Regional hosted by Nazareth College on March 6 and 7.

Student-athletes who competed in the regional meet, outside of Yensan and Burke, included Shaniece Gregory, Kevin Mitchell and Kyle Sorbello. Out of those five Laker athletes, three were able to earn top-10 finishes in their respective events. Yensan won the long jump event with a leap of 5.63 meters.

Burke grabbed a top-10 spot in the high jump with a mark of 1.60 meters. Mitchell, a sprinter, was able to grab a top-10 spot in the 200-meter dash, with a time of 22.90 seconds.

Those athletes were part of a small sized group of individuals for the Lakers who stood out from the rest of the team this season. The tough part for the Lakers was the rest of the team not being able to get enough points to finish higher in certain meets during the heart of indoor track and field season. This was exemplified by the seventh-place finish of the women’s team and eight-place

finish of the men’s team at the SUNYAC Championships Feb. 28 and 29 at The College at Brockport.

Head coach Jacob Smith, who is in his first season coaching the track and field team at Oswego State, felt there was more to be accomplished this season for the Lakers.

“I consider myself a really competitive person,” Smith said.

“So from a team perspective I was completely unsatisfied with how the season ended at the SUNYAC Championships. I understand that things are not going to change overnight and that it will take time to build a successful culture and recruit people who want to do what is required in order to compete at the same level as the people I mentioned who stood out.”

Smith, who is also the crosscountry coach at Oswego State, has the background in coaching running to suggest that the recruiting and performance of Oswego State runners will get better, especially distance. Smith believes in a training method which features both running and using the weight room to improve

throughout the season.

“It was a combination of strength training in the weight room, building fitness, speed, and endurance with interval workouts on the track,” Smith said. “As well as technique work, getting out of the blocks and starting for the sprinters. All while executing the optimal movements in the various jumping and throwing events.”

The track and field season will continue on the outside circuit for Oswego State starting March 28 at the Blue and Silver Invite in Newport News, Virginia. It is the first of several events that will lead to the SUNYAC Championships on May 1 and 2 at SUNY Oneonta.

The Lakers will look to finish higher in the outdoor season than they did in the indoor season. The team saw improvement and have a coaching staff invested in building a successful program. They want to win and they want to win as soon as possible. Currently the team has a big amount of contribution from a small group of individuals, all pushing the program forward with their example.

Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian

Lakers end impressive season with loss to nationally ranked Cardinals Women’s hockey acknowledges leadership, chemistry as big reasons for late season success Neil Boedicker Sports Writer sports@oswegonian.com Another season is officially in the books for the Oswego State Lakers women’s hockey team as its season ended last Saturday against Plattsburgh State in the NEWHL Championship game for the second time in three seasons.

The Lakers finished their season with a record of 16-7-4 with a conference record of 10-4-4, helping the team finish second in the NEWHL standings.

Heading into this season the Lakers hoped to get another shot at a NEWHL title and came very close to accomplishing that goal as a team. Head coach Diane Dillon credited the senior class for their role in making the championship game.

“We certainly hoped overall to make a run for the league title,” Dillon said. “We wanted to get back to the championship game, which we did. I know our senior class was really fixated on getting back there. We were thrilled with some of the results the team had and certainly some of the personal accolades.”

The season was filled with a lot of ups and downs from the very start for Oswego State. At the beginning of the season, there were more ups as the team got off to a strong start, only losing four games until the end of the fall semester. Senior captain Kate Randazzo credited how the entire team was ready to go heading into this season and that played a part in their early success.

“We were well prepared as a team,” Randazzo said. “We had a good preseason and a good first couple of weeks with the coaches.

I think everyone was on the same page and motivated to do well.”

As the season progressed and the new year began the Lakers continued their winning style of play, but then began to feel the downs

that can happen to any team as they went six games in a row without winning a game. Things began to reflect what happened last season as the teams play began to fade from their strong start. Dillon was never worried about this team’s style of play fading, as the roster was different this season.

“Every team is a different team,” Dillon said. “This year we had a very different makeup of players, especially with having so many freshman contributing and having only one goaltender. The lineup was set and everybody had to play. Plus, everybody was truly a part of the solution.”

The confidence really melded together ... That’s just a testament to the leadership of this team.”

-Diane Dillon, Oswego State head coach

As the Lakers began to face adversity the team was able to turn things around in the month of February by winning six games in a row before heading into the NEWHL playoffs. Dillon credits the team getting better from the leadership throughout the entire team.

“We got better at what we do,” Dillon said. “Those losses and ties were certainly a kick in the pants to get us going, but the team really didn’t change anything. That led to things starting to come together and the confidence really melded together in addition to how close this team has been this year. That’s just a testament to the

Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian The women’s hockey team ended its season with 16 wins, the most since 2016-17, where the Lakers lost in the first round of the ECAC West tournament.

leadership of this team.”

Oswego State’s strong play at the end of the regular season resulted in the team earning the second seed in the NEWHL playoffs and a home playoff game against Morrisville State, where its winning ways continued with a 1-0 victory.

This set the Lakers up for a rematch against their arch rivals Plattsburgh State for the NEWHL Championship. Even with the Lakers playing tremendous hockey before this matchup, it was simply too much for Oswego State to handle as the Cardinals won in dominating fashion by a score of 6-1. When discussing Plattsburgh

State, Dillon gave them credit where it was due as they have been very successful at the expense of Oswego State.

“Historically they have been extremely effective,” Dillon said.

“They’re successful and the model that they have works. Success breeds success and people want to be a part of a successful program so that helps them attract a lot of good talent, but they put the work in. You have to give it to them.

They have been number one for a long time and continue to hold that position. That’s what’s most impressive is the consistency they have shown for years.”

Randazzo along with freshman Megan Teachout and goaltender Rachael Farmer were all named to the NEWHL Second Team All-Conference as a result of their impressive play on the ice as individuals.

When thinking back and evaluating the entire season Randazzo discussed how fun this season was as a whole and how great her teammates were.

“It’s hard to put the entire season into words,” Randazzo said. “It was a good season and we had a good time together as a team. The best part was the group we had this year. We played a lot of good games and enjoyed practice.”

Shore Report

THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

SUNYAC Standings

Baseball

Overall 6-3

Oswego State Fredonia New Paltz Oneonta Cortland Brockport Plattsburgh

Conference 0-0

3-3 2-2 4-5 4-7 2-5 1-4

Softball

Overall 6-4-0 2-2-0

Oneonta Cortland Fredonia New Paltz Potsdam Brockport Geneseo

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

Men’s Lacrosse

W2

Streak

0-0

2-2-0

0-0

L1

1-2-1

0-0

W1

2-6-0

0-0 0-0

L1 L2

0-0-0

0-0

NA

0-0-0

0-0

NA

0-0-0

0-0

NA

0-0-0

0-0

NA

Overall

4-1 Potsdam Geneseo 4-1 3-1 Cortland Oswego State 3-1 Brockport 2-1 2-2 Plattsburgh 2-2 New Paltz Oneonta 1-3 Women’s Lacrosse Overall 4-0 Plattsburgh Geneseo 4-1 2-1 Fredonia Brockport 2-1 Oneonta 3-2

Potsdam Oswego State New Paltz Cortland Buffalo State

Streak

L1 W2

0-2-0

Buffalo State Oswego State Plattsburgh

Oswego Scoreboard

L1 W1 L1 L6 W1 L1

Conference 0-0

Conference

0-0

Streak

0-0

W4 W1 W2

0-0

L1

0-0

0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 Conference

W1 L1 W1 L3 Streak

0-0 0-0

W4 W4

0-0

W2

0-0

W1

0-0

W2

3-2

0-0

W2

2-2 2-3

0-0 0-0

W1 L2

1-2

0-0

L1

1-3

0-0

L2

Around the SUNYAC Women’s Lacrosse

5

Baseball

9

COR: 1-2 (0-0) SJF: 3-0 (0-0)

1

5:

WEL: 3-5 (0-0) ONE: 4-5 (0-0)

Five is the number of unanswered runs scored by the Oswego State baseball team during its 6-4 win over Arcadia College on March 8. The five runs occurred during the third through seventh innings. A string of a sacrifice fly, bases loaded walk, double play and fielder’s choice gave the Lakers a 5-1 lead after five innings.

Women’s Lacrosse Saturday, March 7

19

Women’s Hockey Saturday, March 7

2

6

1

OSW:

Beck: 4 goals, 7 SOG Sherman: 2 goals, 9 assists Sanchez: 2 GA, 7 saves

OSW:

Teggart: 1 goal, 3 SOG Farmer: 49 saves

LYC:

Kimble: 1 goal, 5 SOG Haug: 19 GA, 13 saves

PLA:

Katonka: 1 goal, 10 SOG Kiraly: 1 goal, 1 assist Davis: 20 saves

Men’s Hockey Saturday, March 7

Men’s Lacrosse Tuesday, March 10

1

4

OSW:

Zizek: 1 goal, 2 SOG Kozikoski: 22 saves

OSW:

Gray: 1 goal, 2 SOG O’Donnell: 14 GA, 18 saves

GEN:

Salsberry: 2 assists, 2 Blk Miller: 1 goal, 1 assist Mackay: 20 saves

CLA:

Currie: 3 goals, 2 assists Bartlett: 2 goals, 3 assists Dyckman: 4 GA, 6 saves

5

15

Due to COVID-19, all Oswego State athletics for at least the next week have been canceled.

Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian

Laker Athletes of the Week

Kamryn Sherman

Weston Gray

Women’s Lacrosse Junior | Buchanan

Men’s Lacrosse Sophomore | Philadelphia

GEN: 4-1 (0-0) SLU: 3-0 (0-0)

The junior has been stellar for the Lakers this season, tallying 17 points in three games.

Last Saturday, Sherman had two goals and dished out nine assists en route to a 19-2 Oswego State win over Lycoming College. Those nine assists are good for second in school history for assists in a game. She now has 7 2 c a re e r p o i n t s i n 3 6 g a me s with the Lakers.

The Philadelphia native had a huge two-game stretch with seven points in wins over Alfred University and Morrisville State last week. His season-high came in the game against the Saxons, where he scored three goals and added two assists in the 12-11 victory. The sophomore is tied for second on the team in scoring. Gray and the Lakers are off to a 3-1 start to the season.

Oswego State senior Sarah Yensan won the AllAtlantic Track and Field Regional Championships long jump hosted by Nazareth College on March 7 with a jump of 5.63 meters. Ironically, 5.63 meters was her shortest jump in her last four meets. She has won long jump at her last five meets.

Rachael Farmer ended her Oswego State women’s hockey career with a total of 49 saves in the NEWHL Championship game vs. Plattsburgh State. She faced 55 shots on goal, the most she faced in her two years as the Oswego State goalie. The 49 saves was a season high for the senior.

Oswego State senior Montana Garrett has scored 103 goals in her women’s lacrosse career at Oswego State after a total of eight goals in the team’s first four games this season. Her career high for goals scored in a single season as a Laker is 36 her sophomore year. She was fourth on the team for goals that season.

Men’s Lacrosse

0

B4

7

5.63:

9

49:

103:

OPINION

THE OSWEGONIAN FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

B5

Self-care Elizabeth Warren leaves presidential race Pet should be Warren’s campaign fell short of what was expected of her adoption introspective precautions Eurokah Sejour Staff Writer opinion@oswegonian.com

Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian

Nicole Hube Photo Director nhube@oswegonian.com In recent years, the importance of “self-care” has come back to popular discourse. At the hands of businesses masquerading under the claim of helping us love and care for ourselves, we have become the generation of empty wallets, dissatisfaction and self-care burnout. While we could play the blame game, perhaps individuals and corporations are equally at fault. We should be more critical of the brands who are using the umbrella term of “self-care” to profit heavily from new product lines.

Corporations love to tell consumers that self-indulgence is valid and we should get in the habit of treating ourselves. But how far is too far, and where does the concept of “treat yourself” truly fall? The commercialization of self-care exhibits a striking similarity to brands that utilize rainbow-colored branding during Pride Month, while simultaneously pushing for anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. If a brand claims to value mental health and physical wellness, then it should go beyond promoting dangerous fasting methods to “lose that unwanted belly fat” and instead focus on what will improve overall well-being and self-esteem.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand “goop” is circulating at the center of the conversation about self-care being commercialized in harmful ways, having settled lawsuits for products that supposedly help assist women with their sexual health and claim to prevent depression. In spring of 2019, Paltrow joked that she could sell the company to Amazon, which only proves that many brands claiming to be aligned with self-care and wellness may just be in it for the money.

Now, the idea of self-care has become unrecognizable from its original intentions. It is competitive. It never should have been and it is becoming increasingly more expensive as we subconsciously play into the hands of corporations like Dove, Gillette, L’Oréal, goop and more.

Cosmetic and sexual health industries are guilty of playing into the irony that brands are well-aware that stressed, tired and insecure consumers are vulnerable to making emotionallymotivated purchases.

As busy human beings, the feeling of exhaustion, emotional stress and our occasional inability to cope with minor inconveniences has characterized a generation conditioned to achieve higher levels of self-gratification, perfection and productivity.

In the 80s, the definition of self-care held more with healthrelated connotations. In the 90s, it referred to the way that individuals could take responsibility for their own physical well-being in conjunction with doctor and pharmacist recommendations.

Now, the advertising industry has managed to shift self-care away from introspection and self-awareness and toward consumer impulsivity.

The message these companies give us is clear: consumers who fail to purchase treats are depriving themselves, failing to meet their own needs and will be left behind. This type of toxic rhetoric is not expected to disappear any time soon. We must be more aware of the fact that it exists and make the right decisions when it comes to taking care of our bodies and minds.

With Elizabeth Warren having announced her departure from the Democratic presidential race on March 5, the hunt for the Democratic vote is left with Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders as its two major contenders.

For many, this was an obvious decision after her subpar performances in the primary. In the South Carolina primaries, she came in fifth place and showed that she did not have the vote of the African American community. She also saw mediocre support in New Hampshire, where she came in fourth. By Super Tuesday her fate had solidified.

Throughout the race she had some concrete ideas and tried to prove that she was not just any other presidential candidate, but stood as a beacon of hope for many of her supporters who were hoping for a female president. She also diluted the feared narrative that women are less electable than men.

Warren focused her campaign on economic issues, including proposing a wealth tax on the wealthiest 75,000 families to partially fund universal childcare, student loan debt relief, the Green New Deal and Medicare for All. At a time where there are many speculations as to why Warrens fate ended the way it has, here are three theories as to why her once soaring campaign plummeted.

The first reason for Warrens downfall can be attributed to the ambitions of one of her most compelling promises, Medicare for All. Medicare for All bared the promise that she would give everyone good health insurance and cut their healthcare costs to nearly zero without increasing middle-class taxes one penny. The problem for many Americans when it came to this policy was the sus-

tainability aspect. Although she said that middle class Americans would no longer pay health premiums or copays and would also not pay any new taxes to replace those costs, they would pay taxes on whatever extra take-home pay they would receive in this new system. This caused many Americans to question where she would get the money to sustain a policy like Medicare for All, long-term. As everything in the economy has a domino effect, more people started wondering who or what would be affected as collateral damage. Not to mention it seemed odd for someone like Warren who initially considered herself a capitalist, and not a socialist to endorse such a leftist idea.

Another reason as to why her campaign fell through is because she was seen as a risky choice. Yes, even though Warren provided a new face for the liberal template that voters were looking for in that she was a woman and was not as old as some of the other candidates, Warren lacked that “je ne sais quoi” or that “wow factor” candidates were looking for someone to go against Donald Trump. If Warren’s campaign

had been clearer and more straight forward, she could have done better. In the end, Warren’s campaign shared several resemblance to Kamala Harris’ campaign, in that their mission was not made clear enough to voters.

Warren also lost votes due to her decision to staying off television.

This was because of her belief that spending only gets a campaign a temporary rush, and voters would forget seeing the ad within a matter of weeks. With this idea, Warren not only missed a chance to solidify her platform, but she missed a chance to connect with her voters.

Results show that through the ad campaigns, her fellow campaigners gained up to 10 points.

Though she was a great candidate and brought many relatable ideas to the table, the reality is that this election is looking for more than just a role model for people, but for someone who can go up against Trump. Warren’s platform just did not bring the numbers, the clarity nor the precision the Democratic platform needed.

Patrick Higgins | The Oswegonian

SPEAK YOUR MIND, TWITTER! POLLS POSTED EVERY WEEK TO @GonianLRO

Super Tuesday unorganized, unfair Primary elections must happen on same day to be balanced Francesca Miesner Opinion Editor fmiesner@oswegonian.com Super Tuesday is a day in the United States where 15 different states vote in the primary election. This day is considered a big reflection on who is most likely to win the presidential bid. This might seem like a good thing, but there are many complications with those states that are not a part of the lineup of Super Tuesday voters.

New York, for example, votes pretty late. They vote, alongside a few other northeastern states, on April 28. Super Tuesday was on Tuesday, March 3..

There is a huge gap between these two dates, which might seem like it does not make a difference. However, as primaries happen and time goes on, more and more candidates learn that they do not have a chance of winning the bid. Instead, they drop out and support one of the other candidates.

This, in turn, makes people’s votes not matter. If someone in Iowa, the home of the first round of voting for the primaries, voted for, say, Mike Bloomberg, their vote would not matter when, a week later, Bloomberg dropped out. For those who live in states where the primaries happen later, like New York, they are unable to vote for the candidate that they think would make the best president.

They had to instead choose the candidate that remains that they like the best.

Those who vote later than Super Tuesday and already feel passionately about a candidate who is still in the race, like Elizabeth Warren was, may want to

vote for her even though it appeared, at the time, that she stood no chance. Their preferences would not matter though, because after however many days with very little traction, Warren would drop out of the race for the presidential bid despite countless voters never getting the chance to pledge their support.

The votes that happen on Super Tuesday impact the election more as people have more candidates to vote for.

This is unfair to people in other states who vote in the primaries, since every vote should have equal impact and count for the same amount. The solution to this problem is simple: have everyone vote in the primaries on the same day, just like they do on Election Day. Every vote would roll in that evening, then there would be more time

for other candidates to rally behind the candidate that won, which would lead to more solidarity between parties. This would also give them more time to put the candidate against the candidate from the other party in debates. The more time that the American people have to learn about who they are voting for the better.

Election Day, and this theoretical Super Tuesday, should be a holiday, where each person could go in at any time during the day and vote. Shops shutting down or being slightly less-staffed for one day would not stop the world from spinning. Every American should be able to vote. They might choose not to, as is their right, but employment or who is still running for president should not impact if or when they vote.

Photo from Pixabay The primary elections are very important in deciding who the next president will be.

Photo from Pixabay

Savannah Norton Staff Writer opinion@oswegonian.com Studies have shown that having pets can be beneficial to one’s health.

Besides being cute and cuddly, pets provide companionship that can help with depression and loneliness. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, bonding with a pet can even decrease blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Dog owners may get more exercise by walking their dogs daily, and participating in pet-centered activities such as dog parks and pet parades allow pet owners to socialize.

Events on our campus featuring animals have been wildly popular. It is safe to say that plenty of college students are animal lovers, and it can be very tempting to get a new canine or feline friend.

However, adoption centers in Oswego County can make it difficult, or nearly impossible, for students to be approved for adoption. Although students may feel confident in their pet care capabilities, there are aspects of pet ownership that may not be taken into consideration initially.

... that applicants are employed or have sufficient income to take care of a pet.

The cost of pet care is one obvious aspect. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals estimates that the first year of owning a cat can cost up to $1,174, while dogs can cost up to $2,008. These estimates include annual expenses, such as food, medical expenses, litter, toys and treats, as well as capital expenses.

Capital expenses are typically onetime purchases, including having your pet spayed or neutered and essential accessories such as carriers, collars, leashes and litter boxes. To adopt a pet from the Oswego Animal Shelter, adoption fees range from $70 to $105 for cats and $100 to $160 for dogs. Shelters need to verify that applicants are employed or have sufficient income to take care of a pet.

Even if a student is sure they can afford a pet, they may not have enough time for one. Students have very busy and hectic schedules that keep them away from home most of the day, especially if they are involved in clubs, teams or have a job. On top of making time for hanging out with their pets, owners also need to make sure they are not too busy for veterinarian appointments. Many adoption applications ask how long a pet would spend alone daily, and with college students, this number is very likely to be on the higher end.

Pets also need stable environments that most students are often unable to provide them. Off-campus students typically rent their homes, making it the landlord’s decision if pets are allowed. It is common for landlords to have a nopet policy or charge additional fees for them. Students also are likely to move between semesters, which can result in pets becoming obstacles. Housing issues are among the top reasons why people give their pets up, so shelters must be certain of someone’s stability before approving an adoption.

While the barriers students face when it comes to pet adoption may seem unfair on the surface, shelters and other adoption centers have a responsibility to ensure that animals are going to good, stable homes where they will be well taken care of.

NEWS SIGN MAKING

A5 Stephen Novak | The Oswegonian

OPINION

VOLUME LXXXV ISSUE VI

“Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech or of the press.”

SPORTS B2

SPRING BREAK TRIP

Nicole Hube | The Oswegonian

FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

What are your thoughts on Oswego State’s actions toward the Coronavirus?

Online classes safe

A serious threat

Health comes first

I think Oswego should lock down the campus and allow students to stay on campus over spring break.

Students who leave campus will be required to stay off campus and take classes online, while students who stay during spring break can continue to take classes on campus.

-William Rogers, Multimedia Editor

People are taking the coronavirus lightly in part due to the information available to us about it. Nobody really knows what it is and the dangers of it, which causes many of us to reject the severity of it. When you see how institutions such as colleges and sports leagues are handling the virus, that should demonstrate its impact. I cannot remember the last time schools closed due to a virus. This should be taken seriously.

-Matt Watling Sports Editor

Canceling in-person classes should always be a last resort for SUNY administration. Online classes will provide a worse educational experience, and many students will struggle to learn.

Also, students who rely on their housing at Oswego State, like international and homeless students, and those who rely on income from jobs in the Oswego area will be very negatively affected.

That said, health and safety should be paramount. If there is a risk of spreading this disease among the student body, whatever is necessary should be done to save lives.

-Alexander Gault-Plate, Editor-in-Chief

Switching to online classes feels like a good move, as spring break is going to spread the student body to various places and people might get infected.

-Stephen Novak, Asst. Laker Review Editor

IN THE OFFICE

Misinformation in face of pandemic Trump needs to research facts before spreading rumors

Alexander Gault-Plate Editor-in-Chief aplate@oswegonian.com With the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, sweeping the planet and beginning to spread through the U.S., questions over the effectiveness of the federal government have again jumped into the limelight.

President Donald Trump and his team have proven that they do not have the faintest idea how to manage a crisis, and the American population is going to suffer the consequences.

Trump’s main issue, as always, is information. Namely, his inability to stop tweeting inaccurate, confusing and sometimes contradictory information about the virus and the effects it will have on the American public.

On Monday, the president tweeted, “Saudi Arabia and Russia are arguing over the price and flow of oil. That, and the Fake News, is the reason for the market drop!” in reference to the absolutely abysmal Monday morning that saw the New York Stock Exchange engage a “circuit breaker” that paused trading for 15 minutes.

The independent student newspaper of Oswego State since 1935 Not only is this another case of Trump focusing on a wholly unrepresentative aspect of the American economy, but it is We want your thoughts on our coverage, campus and local issues, or anything also another case of him blaming everything except the acregarding the Oswego State community. tual cause of the problem. Oil prices dropped because de-

mand for oil dropped, because the global economy has slowed down tremendously due to the virus. China, the world’s main producer of consumer goods, has closed a majority of its manufactories because of the disease, which means less oil burned for energy, less gas used to transport those goods and to procure raw resources.

Also on Monday, he tweeted that “at this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths.” Anyone with an internet connection can tell you this tweet was at the very least imprecise. Nationally, as of Sunday, there are more than 550 confirmed cases of the virus, with 22 deaths, but internationally more than 108,000 people are infected, and there have been 3,800 deaths.

Democratic presidential hopeful Mike Bloomberg, who thankfully dropped out last week, accused Trump of firing the pandemic team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

in 2018 and defunding the organization. That was mostly a lie.

The pandemic team leadership resigned in 2018 and Trump never replaced them.

While the administration’s budget proposals have routinely slashed funding for the CDC, Congress has never allowed those cuts to go through, and has actually increased the CDC’s funding for programs to manage emerging infectious diseases.

The real issue here is his leadership, not his positions. There are no “good people on all sides” with this problem, only success in protecting the population or failure. Failure means deaths, and a lot of them.

If Trump does not wise up to the reality that the coronavirus is a disease worthy of his concern, and stop spreading half truths and false comforts, what could be a relatively standard infectious disease response may become a national crisis of unparalleled significance.

THE OSWEGONIAN G UIDELIN ES

Email all letters as Word attachments to opinion@oswegonian.com or mail submissions to 139A Campus Center, Oswego N.Y. 13126 All writers must provide their real name, address, academic year, major and phone number (which will not be published).

Photo from Flickr Donald Trump spreading incorrect information puts the American people at risk.

Presley

Members of organizations should include their title if their letter addresses an issue pertaining to the organization.

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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INSIDE

C2 New James Bond movie C3 ‘Spenser Confidential’ C5 Spring break Netflix

delayed over coronavirus

fails to entertain

recommendations

FRIDAY March 13, 2020

Laker Review

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LAKER REVIEW

FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

New James Bond film ‘No Time to Die’ delayed over coronavirus

As concerns over COVID-19 grow worldwide, multiple movies may take financial hit

Image from James Bond 007 via YouTube Star Daniel Craig recently hosted “Saturday Night Live,” even though ”No Time to Die” was delayed prior to the show’s airing.

Brandon Fallat Laker Review Editor bfallat@oswegonian.com On March 4, the studios behind the upcoming James Bond film, “No Time to Die,” made the shocking decision to delay the film from its international release date of April 2 and U.S. date of April 10, all the way to Nov. 25. This decision follows the Asian box office taking a major hit due to public health concerns over the coronavirus, leaving fans stunned and disappointed. But will the move be better for the film’s overall profits?

Pushing back a film’s release date so soon before it opens is virtually unheard of for a blockbuster of this scale, especially when the film’s budget is over $250 million, not including marketing, which, on average, is about half of a film’s production budget. This James Bond film’s total budget may be anywhere between $300 million to $375 million. One can reasonably assume that MGM, Eon and Universal Studios will lose millions in now pointless marketing, given the hype machine they have created over the past month.

It all includes an expensive Super Bowl advertisement spot, the announcement and release of a new Billie Eilish title song, “No Time to Die,” all

culminating with star Daniel Craig (“Knives Out”), hosting Saturday Night Live this past weekend after the film’s abrupt delay was announced.

The reason this move was made has a lot to do with the studios behind the film. MGM Studios filed for bankruptcy in 2010 and only recently began distributing films again in 2018. The James Bond franchise is MGM’s biggest cash cow and they desperately need “No Time to Die” to hit big, not just in America, but overseas, hopefully garnering a huge profit worldwide. If the film was under the umbrella of Disney or even Universal, it could be within reason to assume that they may just suck in and take the hit. “Black Widow” and “Fast and Furious 9” are both set to open in May and have not shown any signs of switching dates thus far. However, even if these films did move, both Disney and Universal would suffer internationally, but the studios would survive without worry. MGM on the other hand, has placed all their eggs in the Bond basket.

The previous Bond film alone, 2015’s “Spectre,” grossed almost $680 million overseas, while only nabbing $200 million domestically. With China shutting many theaters down and projected to lose billions in the process, MGM, already steering a shaky ship, is perfectly right

to veer the other direction.

However, the studios did not simply pick up the film and Hail Mary it seven months down the line to open on any random date.

They chose November. More specifically, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Bringing Bond back to November is more than a safe move, given that ever since 1995’s release of “Goldeneye,” with the exception of “Tomorrow Never Dies” in 1997, every 007 film has opened during November. In fact, the only reason why “No Time to Die” was set to come out in April in the

first place was due to the fact that previous director Danny Boyle (“Yesterday”) dropped out of the project and Cary Fukunaga (“Maniac”) was hired to replace him. This sudden shift in leadership prompted the studio to move from a November 2019 date to April of 2020. However, the coronavirus may have acted as a blessing in disguise for the studio, given that now they are back in the traditional month where Bond does best. With MGM being fully in control of distributing Bond films now that their four-picture deal with Sony Entertainment is done, it is vital that they do everything in their power to make sure their one tent pole franchise remains successful. Switching the release from the odd, up-in-the-air date of April to a more traditional, safe place, nestled nicely within the holiday season, is a move in the right direction.

Moving the new Bond film was an economic decision more so than just a cautious act of public health concern.

However, the big question now lies with what other major studios will do, given the growing hysteria and severity of the coronavirus. As previously stated, studios like Disney and Universal are doing just fine for themselves and could per-

haps survive a huge blow in their international markets, but would they risk it? Disney is releasing their live-action remake of “Mulan” on March 27, which is a week before when the Bond film was about to drop. Given that the film takes place in China and has a majority-Asian cast, one can assume that Asian markets will play a major role in the film’s success. The film’s press tour has already begun and press screenings are currently being scheduled, so to delay now would incur huge financial losses for Disney. To put into perspective, the “No Time to Die” delay will cost MGM about $30 million and it was set to release a week after “Mulan,” meaning that Disney would suffer far worse given the fact that their promotion is up and running at full speed. According to Variety, while “Mulan” will remain in its current U.S. release date, given the fact that China has shut down so many theaters, it will wait until they reopen to release the film in affected countries.

What does this all mean in the grand scheme of things?

One, that film studios care deeply about their money, as expected. Two, the coronavirus is showing no signs of slowing down. If major movie studios are paying attention to it, maybe we should too.

Image from Walt Disney Studios via YouTube Disney’s “Mulan” may suffer a huge financial loss, given the fact that the Asian box office is tanking due to the coronavirus.

LAKER REVIEW

FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

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Boston B-movie ‘Spenser Confidential’ proves routine fodder

Ethan Stinson Staff Writer laker@oswegonian.com

Rating: From “21 Jump Street” to “The Nice Guys,” the 2010s were filled with films relating to the buddy-cop film genre.

Even in the early 2020s, films of this type are still proving to be popular among general audiences, with the recent release of the film “Bad Boys for Life” turning out to be both a critical and commercial success. Naturally, Netflix would soon throw its own hat into the ring, with its new film “Spenser Confidential” acting as the streaming service’s champion for success in the genre. Despite possessing a pair of strong leads, the film ultimately has little else to support it, thus resulting in a hollow, uninteresting action comedy which sits among the rest of Netflix’s mostly subpar selection of original films.

The film stars Mark Wahlberg (“Instant Family”) as

Image from Netflix via YouTube Mark Wahlberg plays the title role in the disposable cop film with his usual charisma.

Spenser, a former Boston police officer who, after being released from prison, investigates the deaths of his former captain and the latter’s partner. Alongside Wahlberg stars Winston Duke (“Us”) as Hawk, Spenser’s new, reluctant roommate and eventual partner-incrime. Though Wahlberg naturally charms as the snarky, hardened ex-cop, Duke, whose acting talent has been dis-

played in past works such as “Black Panther,” feels relatively underused throughout the film. Rather than utilizing the qualities which have made the actor popular in recent years, the film ultimately portrays Hawk as nothing more than a pair of muscles with no other purpose than to support Spenser’s cause, thereby hindering him from showing any real development as a charac-

ter, or displaying any interesting qualities.

Given that the film is based on a television series, “Spenser for Hire,” which ran for three seasons in addition to a series of films which preceded it, one would think that “Spenser Confidential” would have been able to successfully draw inspiration from one of the many storylines explored by them. Instead, the film ultimately opts to tackle various cliched topics seen throughout crime films in general, such as police corruption and drug cartels. As a result, the film holds a fairly dull atmosphere throughout its entirety, as it simply has nothing new to bring to the table in terms of story or character development. This is not helped by the fact that, despite being branded partially as a comedy, the film displays very little humor, save for a select few moments featuring Spenser’s mentor, Henry (“Alan Arkin”). As a whole, the film has no saving graces or defining factors which

help it stand out among similar works, for it opts to play it safe and simply follow a preset buddy-cop mold.

Given the recent awards season in which Netflix was heavily represented, especially through films such as “Marriage Story” and “The Irishman,” it is all the more disheartening to see the service produce a project of such inferior quality in comparison to these films.

Though “Spenser Confidential” would never have turned out to be as refined or praiseworthy of these films, it still had the potential to be a fun, action-packed joyride, especially given its talented cast and a selection of stories to take after and improve upon from the preceding film and television installments of the series. Unfortunately, the film proves to be nothing more than average Netflix fare, and as such, it will easily fade into obscurity as the company churns out dozens more originals in the months to come.

Nicolas Cage cranks crazy to 11 in cosmic horror ‘Color Out of Space’ Cameron Ratliff Contributing Writer laker@oswegonian.com

Rating: H.P. Lovecraft is one of the most influential horror writers of all time, but his works have been considered too difficult to adapt, due to their heavy exposition. Many attempts have been made over the years to capture his unique brand of cosmic horror to film, but results have varied in quality. There have been some successful adaptations like Stuart Gordon’s 1985 horror classic “Re-Animator” alongside well-done genre films taking direct influence from Lovecraft like the 80’s horror tribute “The Void” from 2016, and the latest adaptation from director Richard Stanley (“The Island of Doctor Moreau”) proves to follow in this vein.

The film centers on the Gardner family, who have moved to a farm in Arkham County, Massachusetts and soon find their attempt at the quiet life thrown

into chaos when a strange meteorite crash lands in their front yard. Its presence brings an alien force in the form of a strange and otherworld color that soon corrupts and mutates the land and wildlife around it, and eventually begins to do the same to the Gardners’ minds and bodies.

Amid the havoc is hydrologist Ward Philips, who is in Arkham to help aid in the development of a new water reservoir, only to find himself bearing witness to the Gardner family’s destruction.

The cinematography and visual style, done by Steve Annis (“Kissing Candice”), are among the film’s greatest strengths. Annis uses unconventional, out-ofsync shots to create a sense of disorientation while portraying the titular “color” with shades of magenta appearing as swirling lights and pastel fog. Shot in Portugal, which passes surprisingly well for rural Massachusetts, the movie presents some imposing shots of the forest surrounding the Gardner farm and later after the color arrives, its alien influence results in an ee-

rie yet beautiful landscape that creates a surreal contrast from the movie’s bleak tone. This effect is greatly enhanced by the eclectic synth soundtrack done

by Colin Stetson (“Hereditary”), resulting in a surreal, disquieting atmosphere.

One of the most refreshing aspects of the movie is its lack of jump scares, apart from one scene. Instead, it relies on building up tension and anxiety that’s punctuated by a sense of existential dread created by its visuals, sound and music. Its horror manages to be more subtle than most, forcing viewers to use their imaginations rather than immediately shoving their faces into it. When reveals are finally made, they pay off through well-done special effects that create some of the most grotesque moments seen in recent horror films.

The cast does an excellent job for the most part. Nicolas Cage (“Primal”) gives an engaging, if occasionally uneven, performance as the family patriarch pushed to madness, while Madeleine Arthur (“The Family”) per-

Image from RLJE Films via YouTube Nicolas Cage has yet another ludicrous film like 2018’s “Mandy” to put under his belt.

forms well as daughter Lavinia, displaying a genuine distress as she watches her family’s breakdown. Tommy Chong (“Zootopia”) provides a comic relief as a local stoner hermit, only to turn around and deliver a truly unsettling monologue near the climax, while Elliot Knight (“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare”) does well as Ward, who gives a haunting narration to the horror that comes.

The movie is not without some flaws. Some of its acts, mainly the first, feel too slow at times and it takes a while before viewers get to the more exciting and terrifying moments.

There also could have been better characterization for the

Gardner family, which could have helped in creating more of an emotional tie to what happens to them. They are fairly likable for the most part, with the parents and daughter being the most memorable, but the sons were a little underwhelming compared to them. The slow pace and the climax could be off-putting for some viewers as well, but this has more to do with the style and genre of the movie than its quality. Despite its issues, “Color Out of Space” is an excellently disturbing cosmic nightmare of a movie that successfully captures the unease of its source material.

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LAKER REVIEW

FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

‘Borderlands’ movie nabs director of ‘Cabin Fever,’ ‘Green Inferno’ Stephen Novak Asst. Laker Review Editor snovak@oswegonian.com

Director Eli Roth (“The House with a Clock in its Walls”) has been set to helm a movie based off of the “Borderlands” video game series by Gearbox Software. The combination seems like a match made in heaven, as Roth is known for strong violence and gratuitous gore, while “Borderlands” most noticeable feature is its high-speed gameplay where players tend to tear enemies limb from limb with a variety of colorful weapons.

The games follow bounty hunters that venture to a planet known as Pandora in search of “The Vault,” usually racking a high body count of bandits, wildlife and toilet humor. It heavily relies on its four-player co-operative factor, often inviting people to play with a group of friends. This would allow the games to carry a jovial energy and tongue-incheek-style of humor that would carry some fairly ineffectual storytelling.

It’s unsure if this movie would follow the same set up.

However, the “treasure hunt” is a central theme for the series and it’s hard to imagine the games without it. Though it’s also up in the air as to if this film would be an adaptation of one of the games or a new story on its own. With the “Tales from the Borderlands” being seen favorably by fans, it’s possible that we might see into another part of the lore.

But with Roth manning the ship, this is unlikely.

Despite Roths pedigree, it’s dubious as to how the “Borderlands” story will translate into movie form. With a heavy focus on bombastic, sarcastic action and a fourth-wall-breaking narrative, “Borderlands” was never what one would describe as clean or safely marketable. Thankfully this genre is Roth’s specialty, as his signature stamp is to apply a strong amount of stylized gore and violence. Though that doesn’t mean it’s set for any kind of success or acclaim.

While the story is known for some great character writing,

Image from Gearbox Software via YouTube Director Eli Roth is best known for his gore-loving horror films, which makes him a perfect fit for the violent “Borderlands” series.

many find the overarching plot to be a bit of a slog. This could be made even worse in film form, as viewers aren’t able to engage in Pandora’s violence themselves, leaving the writers to carry Pandora’s smaller moments without any support.

Video game films have a bad history; they often rest in the uncanny valley and tend to flop commercially.

This could be for a variety of reasons, such as poor project management, inability to appeal to both fans and new-

comers or just simple bad film direction. One does not need to look far past the pandemonium caused by the reoccurring failure to kick start an “Uncharted” movie.

The film could work in simple terms of fan-service, giving screen time to fan favorites such as series villain Handsome Jack (Dameon Clark, “Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot”). It could also simply dedicate itself to strong aesthetic action, which could be well implemented through “Borderlands’” signature cell-shaded

graphics, complimented by a wide array of explosions.

Though chances are likely the film will never make it past the planning phase, as is the way with many movies with the same modus operandi, chances are good that Roth will leave at some point, causing a chaotic shift in management before getting killed by Hollywood. Granted, the recent critical and commercial success of “Sonic The Hedgehog” could imply a reversal of fortunes for the dreaded video game movie genre.

Spotify drops new playlist ‘Lorem,’ tailor-made for Generation Z Abigail Connolly Staff Writer laker@oswegonian.com

“Music that breaks the rules, just a little bit.” A rather ominous description for one of Spotify’s vastly popular new playlist titled: “Lorem.” The playlist, which appeared on the music platform rather unassumingly in early 2019, features some more well-known artists like Harry Styles and Frank Ocean, along with artists that are not as wellknown, like, beabadoobee and Dayglow. With music ranging from indie-pop and alternative R&B, to garage rock and a little bit of hip-hop, this playlist was seemingly created for a new generation of listeners.

In this way, it is not surprising that the playlist eventually emerged as being targeted toward Generation Z listeners.

Looking further, this playlist can tell us more than we think.

It is important to understand a bit about how Spotify

Image from Harry Styles via YouTube Harry Styles is one of the featured artists in Spotify’s new Gen Z centric playlist.

operates and how it got to be so popular. For regular listeners, it is nearly impossible to miss the playlists “Made For You,” which include a “Discover Weekly,” full of new tracks and four “Daily Mixes,” which intertwine personal favorites and songs that relate to them. For the most part, the playlists take liked tracks by the listener and group them based on genre, while adding in songs listeners of the

same genre have been listening too. This has been a feature of the music streaming platform for almost as long as it has existed, so it is less of a surprise when a playlist based on an entire group of listeners was created. But just who are these listeners and why are they listening to this music?

As previously stated, it has been revealed that “Lorem” is targeted toward Gen

Z listeners, that is listeners that are currently between the ages of 4 and 24 years. It is generally understood that members of Gen Z were born between 1996 and 2010. This generation is widely regarded as the digital generation, growing up with internet in the home, laptops in schools and smartphones in their hands. Creating a playlist targeted at these individuals means that the music added has to reflect the interests of the literal new generation.

Spotify was able to recognize trends and make connections between these listeners and creates a seamless playlist for the current generation of artists.

With music ranging from Cavetown’s acoustically pleasing “Sweet Tooth” to Beach Bunny’s more punk sound, it is hard to distinguish why many of these artists are being pulled together, but what is even more interesting is why it

seems to work so well. As indicated previously, members of Gen Z grew up with far more information and media than any other generation, this includes music. This generation was not confined to what was playing on the radio, in part due to streaming platforms like Spotify, but other media platforms like YouTube and iTunes. In this sense, it was easier for these younger listeners to branch out into different genres and different artists. Not only did this affect listeners, it affected the artists that they listen to as well. Artists like Clairo cannot necessarily be grouped with BROCKHAMPTON in genre, but they are undeniably connected through the demographic they reach. It’s a demographic not confined by genre. Spotify was able to break down barriers between listeners and artists and create a playlist to bring a generation together.

LAKER REVIEW

FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

Top 4 Netflix hits to binge during spring break

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Popular gaming convention "E3" canceled amid coronavirus scares.

Image from Netflix via YouTube.

John Mulaney brings together his special brand of comedy to childrens TV, evoking his bizzare childhood memories and his grandmother's boyfriend.

Luis Galarza Staff Writer laker@oswegonian.com With Spring Break coming about, and classes being moved online, it’s safe to say that a lot of free time is going to be opened up in the coming weeks. With schedules opening up, it is time to finally start catching up on all those Netflix shows and movies that you constantly scroll by when looking for something to watch, before finally setting the remote down and going to bed, having watched nothing at all.

Here are four Netflix suggestions, consisting of a mini-series, movie, show and comedy special, to kill off the extra free time.

Number One: “Maniac” Cary Fukanaga, director of the acclaimed first season of “True Detective,” as well as Netflix’s first original film, “Beasts of No Nation,” has been in the news recently with his upcoming contribution to the James Bond franchise, “No Time to Die.” However, the release has been delayed due to the spreading of COVID-19, or more commonly known as the coronavirus. If you were planning on watching “No Time to Die,” now would be a good time to check out the director’s past

work, which includes the programs listed previously, but more importantly, “Maniac,” a Netflix original miniseries starring Emma Stone (“Zombieland: Double Tap”), Jonah Hill (“The Beach Bum”) and Justin Theroux (“Rick and Morty”). The series follows Stone and Hill in a near-future world as they undergo a volunteer science experiment that will erase traumatic experiences from their brain, resulting in dreamlike sequences taking place within the character’s heads, as well as beautiful themes centered on the necessity of negative emotions and demystifying mental illness.

It is beautiful, wacky, emotional and most importantly different.

Number Two: “Good Time” With the recent release of the critically acclaimed “Uncut Gems” this past winter, it is safe to say that the Safdie brothers have become one of most sought-after directing duos to look out for today. Thanks to Netflix, you can watch the film that gave them the spotlight in the first place.

The film stars Robert Pattinson (“The Lighthouse”), in what is arguably his best performance, as the shady, untrustworthy and maniacal Connie, throughout a hectic night of trying to find the amount of money needed to bail

out his mentally disabled brother Nick, played tastefully and beautifully by director Benny Safdie, out of the situation that Connie put him in in the first place. The film contains the same amount of 70s grit, realism and realization of its New York City location that can be seen in the Safdies’ previous works, such as “Heaven Knows What” or “John’s Gone,” but in a much faster and more kinetic pace. If one plans on staying inside for the next week but still wanted to enjoy the heat outside, then no worry because “Good Time” will make you sweat, metaphorically, of course.

Number Three: “I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson” If one is looking for something that’s short in length but still as impactful as an hour-and-a-half long movie, audiences probably won’t find it. But SNL alumnus Tim Robinson’s (“The Characters”) hysterical sketch comedy show gets close. Similar to “Tim and Eric Awesome Show,” “Great Job!” or any “Adult Swim” program in that case, “I Think You Should Leave” is a blender of absolutely hilarious ideas mixed with bizarre twists and turns with an average episode length of about 15 minutes. Each episode is contained and there’s

no story to follow. Just watch, laugh, cringe and laugh again.

Number Four: “John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch” Since his groundbreaking stand up special, “New in Town,” also on Netflix, John Mulaney has become one of America’s favorites of standup comedy with his unique style and delivery similar to that of an old-timey radio voice. Mulaney has brought this style to the format of a children’s educational TV program a la “Sesame Street” or “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood,” and the result is one of the funniest comedy specials in recent years. With hilarious musical sequences featuring some legitimately catchy songs and parodies of every type of skit, sequence or scene that someone would see or remember from any child education program, Mulaney takes his signature brand of humor poking fun at his ridiculous childhood and seemingly recreates scenes from what we can assume were actual things that have happened to him; most memorably a story recounting his family’s treatment of his grandmother’s new boyfriend.

With a few guest appearances to make it more fun than it already was and a sweet and heartfelt final moment, Mulaney yet again proves his status as one of the best voices in the business.

Disneylan d’s Avengers Campus Park will feature Tom Holland as the vo ice of Spider-Man following his perfor mance in recent films.

Vin Diesel says that "The Last Witch Hunter 2" is on its way.

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FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

Crossword Puzzle

Across

Sudoku Fill in the grid so that each row, column and 3x3 block contains 1-9 exactly once.

1. Recipe abbr.

5. Gelatin form 9. Physicians’ gp.

12. Yearn 13. Toledo’s lake 14. Arrest 15. Actor ___ Pitt 16. No-show 18. Sci-fi weapons 20. Forest plant 21. Green gems 23. Peruvian native 26. Feminine pronoun 27. Chew on 28. Close securely 32. Drink daintily 34. Despise 35. Water (Spanish) 36. Before, to Browning 38. Price 39. Best

44. Norse god 46. Matters of little importance 47. Large terrier 50. Gym pads 51. Chem., e.g.

52. Unlock 53. Correct copy 54. Watery expanse 55. Hollow stalk 56. Disclaim

Down 1. Dinette piece 2. Beat it!

3. Stage 4. Hebrew feast 5. Childhood disease 6. Ball 7. Rosters

8. Bambi, for one 9. TV attachment 10. Bombshell ___ West 11. Lincoln’s nickname 17. Horse’s comment 19. Cheer sound 22. More arid 24. Jaguar, e.g.

25. Amaze 28. Defunct USAF branch 29. Self 30. Vienna’s country 31. Woodturning machine 33. Make believe 37. Corn piece 39. Juice type 40. Clocked 41. Dodge 43.. Flavorful 45. Stench 47. Braying beast 48. Chill 49. Grant’s rival

For this week’s puzzle answers ...

Go to Oswegonian.com and click on the Laker Review tab!

LAKER REVIEW

FRIDAY, March 13, 2020

A Million And One

by Lucas Fernandez

Nobody important saw what was behind the sky, but those of us that did could not understand why. I cannot describe it, for certain I can’t. Something behind the stars, a thousand bloated, blinking bugs, or the moon, which stared in cold apathy at a decaying planet. Something that whispered a terrible secret to the lowest of the earth. Insects hit their bodies against the windowpane in an oracular frenzy. There were too few of us to make any difference then. Now there are too many.

The morning after, the house smelled of ozone and turned earth. I remembered going to sleep suddenly groggy, a tingling sensation beneath the threshold of my skin. Such a wonder, that thing we all picture as ourselves, but which only covers the laborious machinations of our many vital systems as they churn. What marvelous machinery.

The morning after, the house was speaking to me. There were a million sounds I had not heard, a million, mingling million-year-old sounds. Such euphoric sounds. And the tingling had turned to itching.

When I approached the bathroom mirror, the itching quickly turned to scratching. My neck, my face, my shoulders, my arms; all covered in bumpy patches that burned with an almost euphoric urgency. I quickly tore away my clothing, finding my body a heaving, crusted mess. So I scratched away the dried out skin, already becoming privy to the movement underneath.

Beneath the skin that flaked away in clumps, one million marching miniscule masterminds. Bugs, to be certain. All kinds, though mostly thick black ants that marched in rows beneath my desiccated cuticles. Beetles too, green and shiny

like hidden emeralds in the dark of my interior, and mites, and spiders, all doing tiny tasks in the service of the same goal. They were carving through my body, though I felt no pain. Carving and reshaping my flesh, as if they knew me so well they could do it in an instant. Where skin was torn away, they quickly crafted more, better than before. They spoke of the thing behind the sky.

And they told me of their history.

Febrile images and concepts assailed me. The planet in its foetal years, empty and green. Silent. The end of the infinity, where beyond lie the only things that are worthy of being called real. A million crawling, seething bodies with a single mind, hurdling forever through blackness, until at long last, they find that empty green rock and they build and destroy over and over.

They give hideous birth to a thousand young, huge reptiles and serpents, but also angelic abominations and many-faced things not known to men of science. They destroy this world a thousand times.

But they become lost. The infinity forgets them. Trapped, infantile, mindless, scattered. For a million upon a million years, the lowest of the earth. Vermin. Pests. And they wait. Eaten, killed, poisoned, hated, stomped and stifled, exterminated and humiliated, they wait. Even as sinewy bipeds learn to conjure fire and hate each other, to mime a fraction of what true life is capable of. They wait. They are not stopped, even in this state, this haze of forever. Because forever is a blink to them. And now forever has come to an end.

All this they told me. All this is true. And now forever must start anew.

Oswego Cinema 7 Fri. March 13 - Sun. March 15

The Hunt

11:55 AM

2:30 PM

5:00 PM

7:45 PM

10:00 PM

Bloodshot

11:05 AM

1:40 PM

4:15 PM

7:30 PM

10:05 PM

I Still Believe

11:10 AM

1:50 PM

4:30 PM

7:10 PM

9:50 PM

Onward

11:50 AM

2:20 PM

4:50 PM

6:50 PM

9:20 PM

1:30 PM

4:20 PM

7:20 PM

10:10 PM

The Invisible Man

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TO SEE ALL SHOWINGS, GO TO OSWEGO CINEMA 7'S WEBSITE

Shea McCarthy

Jacob Fallat