December Magazine Fall 2014

MAGAZINE News Arts Profiles Sports

York Can’t Breathe!

Students, Staff and Admin stage “die-in” on campus p2

When An Assault Goes Unknown

A PB investigation showed that York College covered up a sexual assault, and there may be more. p6

How York’s Sports Teams Dominate Social Media

Meet the Twitter mastermind behind Cardinal Sports. p10

S tudent

of the

Y ear

How Genesis McKinzie went from college dropout, to one of the most inspirational students on campus.

page 3

PBM A G A Z I N E d Faculty n a s t n e d u t s k r Yo mpus. a c n o ” in ie “d e Stag

#BLACKL

IVESMAT

TER

By Chereese Sheen

O

n Monday, December 15th, York College faculty, and students participated in a die-in for victims who have died from police brutality. Approximately 75 protesters shut down a third of Guy R. Brewer Blvd.

For four and a half minutes protesters laid silently in the street, to represent the four and a half hours Michael Brown’s body was left on the ground.

Roberto Brutus, a Computer Science major, and the President of the African American Studies Club organized the die-in.

Brutus said in an interview, “I wanted the York College community to gather together in solidarity, not just the students, but also the faculty, because of the recent events that occurred here in New York City, and also in the city of Ferguson, to shine a huge light throughout America on police brutality.”

In an interview, Dr. Jean Phelps, the Director of Student Activities said, York College is the first CUNY institution to protest the decisions made by the grand jury in New York City, and also Ferguson.

Phelps added, “The school’s public safety and the 113th precinct will help shut down Guy R. Brewer Boulevard.”

As protesters left the York College Atrium, and walked into the street they shouted, “I am Mike Brown, I am Eric Garner, I am Akai Gurley, I am Trayvon Martin, I am Amadou Diallo.”

Brutus is no stranger to fighting for a cause.

Brutus said, in an interview, “Just this Saturday I helped lead the Million Man March, in downtown New York City, as a matter of fact, my chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated, the Theta Ep-

2

Top: HANDS UP DONT SHOOT. Students and faculty stand with their hands in the air in solidarity.

Right: 4.5 MINUTES. Organizer, Roberto Brutus, lies with fellow students during “die-in”.

silon Chapter, we served as security for the victims’ family, and we marched with them all throughout the city.”

Djenie Bazile, a 19-year-old Health Science major said, she wanted to participate, but overslept, and it was such short notice.”

“We only had two days to plan [the die-in,]” said Dr. Phelps. “Hopefully a lot of people will come out and support. We’ve invited everyone.”

“The die-in moved me, our generation is not hopeless,” said 23-yearold Journalism major, Valerie Victor in an interview. “It proves we can come together, and hopefully this is one of many things we can come together on, to make a difference.”

Although Brutus was hoping for a large turnout, the amount of protesters would not damper his spirit.

“We’ve been promoting this since last week, we have flyers hanging around,

we sent out various amounts of emails to different departments of the school, so I’m expecting a lot of people to come,” Brutus said in an interview. “At the same time, if not a lot of people come, that is not my concern. My concern is the people that do come, and actually do have a passion to get the word out.”

Collyssa Benn, a graduating nursing major said in an interview, “I did not have time to [protest].”

Being a student, and an active member in the York community, Brutus is aware of the stress his fellow peers are under.

Brutus said, “I actually wanted to do it last Thursday, but being that today was the last official day of classes before everyone goes into finals, I just wanted to get everyone’s attention, as quickly as possible right before they focus in on their finals, and finishing out the semester.”

The York College Vice President, Geneva M. Walker-Johnson, closed the diein by saying, “When you get angry, keep it inside, because when you show out, you might get blown out.”

“I just wanted to keep the community aware, and just make sure that we acknowledge the situation, and just keep it evident, as much as possible,” said Brutus, the organizer of the peaceful demonstration.

yorkpbnews.com

When the Student Becomes the Teacher...

A pre-calculus class’ only hope of passing was a student who did what their teacher couldn’t.

By Trone Dowd

W

hen 32-year-old student Genesis McKenzie made his return to York after taking a 14-year hiatus from his school career, he didn’t think much of his own math skills. Like many other new students, McKenzie entered his pre-Calculus class, sat quietly with his head down, humble and hoping to learn something new.

But within the month, Genesis would not only be teaching the class, he’d be helping his classmates get some of the highest test scores of all the pre-calculus classes in this fall.

McKenzie, a Clinical Lab Science Major, teaches his fellow Math 120 classmates during club hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays and on Friday’s from 3 to 6 p.m. to accommodate for students who work on other days in the week.

Due to a disabling language barrier between the professor and students, many were unable to properly learn the material.

“When I saw one of my classmates sitting down in the chair. He was hunching down like this and not understanding anything,” he said as he pantomimed a discouraged student, “I saw myself fourteen years ago.”

So McKenzie did something a bit brazen -- he started teaching his own class.

3

PB M A G A Z I N E

McKenzie also studied chemistry, botany and, of course math. For math he mentions that he took an interesting approach to learning math.

“I started from basic math,” McKenzie explained.

“One plus one is two. I just really started all over again. I moved up all the way to pre algebra, which took two years.

Moved up to beginner algebra, intermediate algebra, pre calculus, geometry, all studying on my own.” He pointed to website OmegaMath.com in particular as a crucial tool for his math refresher. “I highly recommend OmegaMath to everyone.”

Helping Students Succeed

A Complicated History

McKenzie first attended York in 1999 where he was pursuing business administration and visual communication. He described himself as a very timid young man who wasn’t the most confident in his own skills.

“I was 18 and young and didn’t know what I wanted. I just couldn’t study. I was unqualified for it. I didn’t think I was smart enough.” He explained that being a minority also affected his ambitions of getting into the science field at the time. “I had very low self esteem. I thought ‘there aren’t many black doctors.’ It’s bad to say of course, but you see it. Black doctors weren’t in the field as much.”

He ended up leaving York in 2001 due to personal reasons, one of which included his financial instability.

“I was poor,” he said. “I used to have to walk to school from Richmond Hill overby the A train everyday.”

After leaving York, McKenzie joined the U.S. Army in 2003. He managed to get an associates degree in Business Administration and a bachelor’s in graphic design at the American Intercontinental University. He’s now a retired veteran and is using his G.I. bill, which provides financial benefits for those who have served the country and want to attend college. His change in career path was due to his time away from school. After the military he started to travel the world and study on his study own and learned to embrace his true passion for science.

“I was studying science on my own and I realized ‘wow this stuff is great.’ I wondered why I didn’t pursue it.”

4

McKenzie said that seeing a student, who was also a minority like himself, looking and feeling the same way he did years earlier made him remember what it was like to not understand the material as a freshman in college.

“I didn’t understand calculus,” said McKenzie. “For 10 years I wondered why I didn’t understand calculus.” It was then that McKenzie realized that it was because he never quite grasped the principles of the building blocks for calculus like algebra and trigonometry.

“I spent the next three to four years, learning all of that on my own and just enrolled back in York this semester,” he said. McKenzie says he enrolled in the class to see if he could maybe give the class another go all these years later.

“I thought to myself, ‘okay, everybody’s smarter than me, they know the material, I’m on my own.’ As it turns out, students didn’t know the material,” he said.

When he saw that he actually did understand it, he said to himself, and they need someone to do it.”

The tutor session started small at first. He started out individually tutoring students from as early as 8 a.m. until as late as 11 p.m certain days of the week.

“From there the snowball started rolling, got bigger. Now I have my own classroom, teaching them and tutoring them,” he said.

He started his own Youtube channel, MathforLife to more effectively emulate the one on one tutor session on a larger scale, and he commended the students determination to excel in the class. “The thing is, students really want to learn,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie would go over the basic curriculum of the course as the semester progressed, making his own handouts, detailed study guides, youtube video tutorials, personally conversing with classmates via text and even assigning his own homework for student to practice their skills outside of class. Students hand in the work to

yorkpbnews.com

McKenzie who will then check the work and give feedback for students to see where they went right or wrong.

Surprisingly enough, response to a classmate assigning work has been overwhelmingly positive. Not only have students been doing the work, they have been excelling in the class as a result.

“We had a test not too long ago, and when we got the grades back, I saw 100’s, 95’s,” said McKenzie. “It was exciting to see that!”

McKenzie mentioned that he did briefly feel a bit cheated. He was essentially teaching the class while the professor was getting credit for the work. But he says that quickly changed once he saw the progress being made in the test scores.

“When I saw the grades, I couldn’t help but think, ‘wow these are some great results,’” McKenzie said. “After all the stress, you can’t help but feel very happy for my classmates.”

Administrative Success

Math department administration assistant Irene Tainey told Pandora’s Box that mathematics and computer science chair Dr. Adefemi Sunmonu has been working closely with McKenzie to ensure students get the most out of their class this semester. “The chair has been doing a great job” McKenzie said.

“Mr. McKenzie exemplifies what service is all about by paying back to the community that supported him by volunteering to assist students struggling in certain math courses,” said Donna Chirico, professor and acting dean of Behavioral Sciences.

McKenzie’s pre-calculus classmates had nothing but praise for their tutor and teacher.

“I think what Genesis does is amazing,” biology major Natalie Kushmakova said. “It’s great that he spends his time helping us out as much as he does.

“He tutored me privately a couple of times,” nursing major Khevsi Plishtiyeva said. “The whole class that he conducts is amazingly helpful. My grades are thanks to him!”

McKenzie’s wife Yiwen, who he met in China during his travels around the world, is also in the Math 120 class. Although she was skeptical at first about him helping out the class, she soon saw the benefit of his actions.

“When I saw the bad situation that my classmates we’re in, I started to realize what he was doing was valuable,” she said. She was very happy that her husband was able to help the class.

McKenzie says Yiwen one of the main reasons he decided to go back to school in the first place. “She inspired me to pursue my interest to get into the medical field.”

She is also studying clinical math science.

McKenzie says she one of the main reasons he decided to go back to school in the first place. “She inspired me to pursue my interest to get into the medical field.”

When asked whether or not he would be interested in becoming a math professor in the future, Genesis said he wasn’t sure.

“I would actually like to become a medical scientist in the future,” he said, citing stem cell research as a field that draws him in the most. “When I heard about how you can take a stem cell and change it to its pluripotent state and make it into any organ in the body, I thought about how much that could help people. It’s of course an on going study, but hopefully it comes to fruition.”

Genesis will be graduating by 2018. Hopefully someone will take note of his sacrifices and give him the honor of distinguished graduate when that time rolls around.

“I wish not to be paid,” said McKenzie in response to whether he would want to be compensated for his work.

“I view York College as my family.” ***

5

PB M A G A Z I N E

Covering Up A Sexual Assault on Campus

I

One student’s case revealed that over 90 percent of incidents are still open for investigation despite public records. Dep’t of Educ. investigating York College.

t took seven months for Tammy to get her sexual assault case closed on campus. In the Spring semester of this year, a classmate stopped her after class, came from behind and touched her shoulder and then slowly slid his hand down the small of her back, startling her and forcing her to jump before being groped, she said.

Tammy, which is not her real name, went to Public Safety the next day to report the issue, but she was never given information about how the college would conduct an investigation, only that they would look into the event and talk to the other student.

One of the most startling revelations in Tammy’s case, though, is how York College had failed to report the case to the NYPD or immediately notify the student body as required by federal law.

Tammy had to wait and continue seeing her abuser during class every Wednesday and Thursday for the rest of the semester.

“During the time I hit rock bottom,” she said.

“It was emotionally draining. I got sick from it, I had to go to the ER and get an I.V. in my arm because I broke out in stress hives.”

Tammy was left to file a report at the 103rd precinct

6

the following Monday by herself, but continued to be under the assumption that the college would handle the investigation.

“The school tried to look like they were doing something, when really they weren’t doing anything,” she said. “It was more of me asking what’s going on?

The thing is, even if I asked what’s going on, I pretty much got a BS answer.”

At one point, York College officials within Public Safety and the Administration said her claims were due to a “cultural” difference. During a meeting with school officials in charge of handling sexual assaults on campus, she was yelled at and told to not pursue the case, she said.

“I’m still kinda shaken up from it even though this happened six or seven months ago,” she said.

But according to last semester’s crime reports, there is no record of Tammy’s assault ever being filed by the Public Safety office, and York’s Office of Legal and compliance would not confirm Tammy’s story.

Her story has exposed a number of issues with the way Public Safety handles crimes on campus, including how they are recorded and then reported to the NYPD, if they ever are.

reporting the numbers

T

hough crime rates on campus are considerably low compared to the area surrounding the college, a recent investigation by Pandora’s Box of incident reports filed by Public Safety since 2012 show that of the crimes that do happen on or near campus grounds, slightly more than 21 percent of felonies and misdemeanors were reported to the NYPD. More than 90 percent of cases are still open for investigation, according to records provided to the newspaper through the Freedom of Information Law.

But according to the daily crime log which is provided to all students on request via the Public Safety office, nearly all of those same cases are closed.

Pandora’s Box reached out to Dawn Smallwood, the director of Public Safety to explain the discrepancy, but she declined to comment or provide insight to how cases are handled after they are reported and how often open cases are reviewed.

In general, it’s not uncommon for cases to remain open, especially when they involve a lost phone or stolen computer. But petty theft and larceny make up less than 10 percent of the 118 incidents that were filed with Public Safety from 2012 through October of this year.

By far the most common crime on campus is misdemeanor harassment involving students fighting with each other in the Academic Core building.

Of the 40 harassment incidents, only 20 percent were either reported to the NYPD or the victim was referred to file a report at the 103rd Precinct which oversees the York College area.

And that points to the biggest question on how Public Safety handles incidents on campus and when it’s deemed appropriate to report to the NYPD.

Phone calls and e-mails to CUNY’s Director of Public safety, William M. Barry, asking to clarify the University’s policy on reporting events to city officials were not returned.

Of the 33 felony incidents reported on campus dating back to January of 2012, only 10 incidents were referred to the NYPD and almost all of those cases are still open for investigation.

Of the two instances listed as “forcible touching” on campus, which Pandora’s Box reported on in October, one still remains open and unreported to the NYPD. The daily crime log, however, lists that case as closed. The other case was reported and resulted in an arrest.

yorkpbnews.com

And there are other instances on campus which are vaguely documented, such as an incident in June where a staff member walked into Public Safety and said that a student wanted to file a complaint against an adjunct professor in the Behavioral Sciences department. The incident was filed under Title IX, the federal statute for campus assaults, but the incident report gives no clear indication if the professor was interviewed and is not labeled as either a misdemeanor or felony. The professor could not be reached for comment and therefore his name will not be published.

The validity of the individual incident reports is also questionable, as some show that only a violation had occurred when, in fact, there was evidence of misdemeanor domestic abuse on campus.

In November of 2012, a woman was choked with a scarf by her husband outside the Starbucks in the college atrium for talking to her English tutor. After she reported the event to Public Safety, she was told to contact the office if she felt her safety was at risk in the future, according to the report.

Typically, domestic abuse cases that result in physical harm are considered aggravated harassment class-A misdemeanors which can result in a one-year jail sentence. The November 2012 incident was labeled a violation, carrying only a warning and possible submission to the administration for action. It’s unclear if either of those actions had happened.

Earlier in the semester, Public Safety released their Annual Security Report which detailed the list of crimes on campus as required by federal law. But the report only requires Public Safety to disclose certain crimes in the report, leaving a number of the incidents reported on campus unknown to students.

In 2012, the security report listed that the college had 25 cases, and 20 of which were reported to the NYPD. In 2013, the report said there were 31 cases with 23 of them reported to the NYPD.

However, based on the review of incident reports given to Pandora’s Box, there were 39 cases in 2012 with only five reported to the NYPD. In 2013, incident reports show that there were 29 cases, and only three were reported to the NYPD.

The question remains as to whether the discrepancies between the public documents made available through Public Safety and the documents Pandora’s Box obtained through York College’s legal department are simply because incident reports aren’t updated after they are filed, or if there were clerical errors when filing the Annual Security Report.

7

PB M A G A Z I N E

simply because incident reports aren’t updated after they are filed, or if there were clerical errors when filing the Annual Security Report.

T

the missing link

ammy’s case, though, is completely missing from all records that public safety have both made publicly available to students and in the documents obtained by the newspaper. There was no e-mail blast sent out to the college community about the harassment and the student who touched Tammy was only told to not approach her anymore.

But he didn’t leave her alone.

In fact, Tammy went back to the Public Safety office on three different occasions. Twice she felt that she was being stalked by the student and the third time to report she had seen him with a knife in her class, which made her feel unsafe. For all three instances, Public Safety said none of the events could be corroborated.

“We have not found any indication that your safety is in jeopardy,” wrote an administrative official in a letter to Tammy. “Again, we would like to suggest you take advantage of our Counseling Center should you feel the need.”

But in an earlier letter to Tammy, the Administration acknowledged that she had been touched on two separate occasions by the student and that it was inappropriate.

8

“According to [the student], his touch was meant as a friendly gesture,” said the letter.

“Although his touch was inappropriate, we do not believe these two incidents of touching rise to the level of sexual harassment or sexual assault.”

On March 19, Tammy was called into the college’s Legal and Compliance Department to have a sit down with the student and “clear the air,” she said.

In that meeting, Tammy said that the student told her it was his culture to touch women like that. One of the administrators in the room had taken his side, she said.

“She just backed up his comments,” Tammy said.

An email response sent the next day to Tammy’s mother proved that the administration had taken sides against Tammy.

“What I explained to [Tammy] was not about a particular ‘culture’ but our nature as individuals,” wrote the administrator. “I am not condoning his behavior and it is being handled according to the appropriate protocol.”

So far, Tammy has been asked to sign a no-contact agreement, where she would have to keep a distance from her harasser, but she has refused on principle.

Tammy filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights and the Department of Education. Both departments agreed her case had grounds for an investigation into York College’s handling of sexual assaults according to a letter sent to Tammy on May 7.

Tammy’s abuser is still attending classes on campus and it’s unknown if he will be disciplined in the future.

York College’s officials would not comment on the case.

yorkpbnews.com

Waited Too Long for Those Holiday Plans?

Okay. Breathe...Alright. Now take a look at these last minute romantic ideas below.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s I can bet that almost every girl has seen this romantic classic. What better way than making your significant-other feel like the never-ending beauty Holly Golightly? Grab a couple of scones and coffees from a food truck in the city, take her to 727 5th Avenue and re-enact the best parts of the movie. Give her that moment to make her feel as beautiful as Audrey was.

Recreating The First Date You can go way back into time and recreate the first time you took her out romantically. It’s a great thoughtful gesture that shows you pay attention to the details. Pick a small private café, enjoy a small snack with hot chocolate and do everything that applies above. To make up for your forgetfulness, maybe buy a mistletoe in advance and make her feel special as you exchange gifts. Don’t forget to put the mistletoe above you somewhere. Yes, way corny, but somewhat cute and super do-able at the final hour.

There are many ways to make someone feel special. Last minute plans don’t have to suck and they don’t have to seem last minute. Show her you care by planning something small without losing half your paycheck.

The Classics: Rockefeller Center

The biggest star in New York this holiday season is in Rockefeller Center… on top of the tree, that is.

Thousands of lights make the dark winter night a little bit more bearable. Make reservations at Carmine’s, a family-owned Italian restaurant on West 44th street, and for a perfect ending, drink hot chocolate as you watch the holiday festivities take place all around you. Take pictures and make this holiday one which you guys will look back fondly.

Skate through the pain at Bryant Park Ice skate with other families and couples and enjoy the night before Christmas. You will undoubtedly fall on your butt a few times which will, of course, make for cute banter (she’ll be laughing too hard to suspect that this was a last minute idea, which is fantastic for you).

This time of year, holiday markets open all through the park selling homemade chocolates and handmade jewelry. Walk around after skating and try out all the free samples.

9

PB M A G A Z I N E

Pandora’s Box York College of The City University of New York’s Independent Newspaper Since 1968 Staff: Editor in Chief:

Joseph Darius Jaafari Joseph@yorkpbnews.net News Editor: Yvette Brown Yvette@yorkpbnews.net A&E Editor: Trone Dowd Trone@yorkpbnews.net Sports Editor:

Raymond Mora Raymond@yorkpbnews.net Send all inquiries, marketing advertisements and letters to the editor to: news@yorkpbnews.net Or call us at: (718) 262-2529