Pandora's Box Spring 2019 III Edition

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Pandora’s Box

“Let the truth be told though the heavens may fall”

Serving York College of the City University of New York and the Surrounding Jamaica, Queens Community Spring Edition III: Monday, April 8, 2019

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York College’s Budget Deficit Is Expected to Rise to $2.7 Million

Academic Core Building. Photo credit: PB Archives

By Danielle Cruz The 2018 Fiscal Year saw York College enter into a $1.5 Million budget deficit that led to York administrators enacting a hard hiring freeze and budget cuts to various departments in an effort to reduce spending.

Despite these efforts the budget deficit is still projected to rise to $2.7 million by the end of the 2019 Fiscal Year.

In order to generate funds to decrease the deficit, York administrators began searching for ways to generate funding, new ways to reduce energy consumption and work towards increasing student enrollment by 1.5 percent.

The hard hiring freeze, which put a hold on the hiring of all full time staff, was announced by

President Marcia Keizs during her 2018 Convocation Address, where she addressed the college’s efforts to generate new revenue.

“In addition, the college implemented a hiring freeze on fulltime appointments, except for positions related to life, health and safety and accreditation,” said Ismael Perez, the assistant vice president for planning and budget administrative affairs.

He added “An across-theboard expenditure reduction also went into effect, reducing the amount of funding allocated to Temporary Services (part-time staff) and OTPS expenses such as supplies, color printing, cell phone usage, travel (excluding PSC), etc.” The expenditure reduction is expected to total $1 million.

The college also reserved $1.4 million in order to support the

expenses of their new collective bargaining agreement.

According to Perez, York is participating in the New York State Demand and Response Program in an effort to reduce the price of the college’s energy bill.

The program calls for York to reduce energy to certain high energy consumption systems for a certain amount of time, whenever the state initiates a Demand Response. This causes York’s energy bill to become lower than it normally would be and the rate in which they are billed during the Demand Response is the rate they will be billed the following year.

The Demand Response period is usually activated during the summer when the demand for electricity in New York is at its peak.

York also has the deployed the use of software programs that are meant to determine and maintain the most efficient level of energy consumption for certain equipment in the Academic Core Building. This includes changing the lights on campus to ones that consume less energy.

“With the assistance of CUNY Central, York College is currently undertaking a lighting study to further reduce our energy consumption while improving overall lighting levels within the Academic Core Building,” said Perez.

“The initial project will only be for the Academic Core but York will continue to explore ways to

improve lighting efficiency in all of our buildings.”

Along with these energy and revenue saving protocols, President Keizs also established a Revenue Generating Committee in January to meet bi-weekly and discuss ways to generate funds and reduce the college’s budget deficit.

The committee was charged with finding ways “to develop and evaluate ideas to generate new revenue from diverse sources to support the College’s operations,” said Perez. “The committee was also asked to identify areas where efficiencies could be achieved and to solicit ideas from all segments of the college community.”

The Revenue Generating Committee consists of Perez and six other York College staff and faculty members: Panayiotis Meleties, the provost and vice president of Academic Affairs; Professor Margaret MacNeil, the department chair for Biology; Russell Platzek, from the office of legal affairs and labor relations; Suzette Foster-Jemmott, the business office manager; Christina Roberts, the development manager for institutional advancement and Maureen Becker, the Dean of the School of Health and Behavioral Sciences and School of Health Sciences and Professional Programs.

The committee has also received several ideas from the

York community and is still looking to receive ideas from the student body on how to generate funds. At the end of April the committee will submit a report of their recommendations to President Keizs.

The budget deficit is also expected to affect school amenities, like the library.

The library is facing staggering budget cuts that will affect its ability to maintain the services and programs it already has and future services and programs that want to implement.

This year, the library’s total budget is a little over $443,000 and is meant to cover the cost of everything from books to basic office supplies. (This does not include the fees for technology as that is covered by students’ tech fee that is paid through tuition.)

“I mean I don’t know if it has affected anyone quite yet because we are sort of just working through the year,” said Meredith Powers, the library’s head of electronic resources. “The fiscal year isn’t over so they may decide to give us more money before the year is over but we’ll see. So far they have given us about 10,000 dollars on our book line which as far as a book budget goes is, well you know how much a book costs, right? Like $100/$150.”

Cont. on Pg. 3

Athletic Building Gets More Repairs, Courtesy of Student Senators

By Angel Adegbesan After student government representatives made a public display of photos of broken toilet seats, wires and acoustic tiles hanging from the ceiling and a variety of broken and dilapidated exercise machines in the college’s Health and Physical Education Center (HPEC), administration have taken preliminary steps to fix the longstanding problems.

The public display came in the form of a PowerPoint presentation made by Krishna Fnu, the student program council president, at a College Senate meeting held on Feb. 26.

Fnu, said a group of 10 senators decided to inspect the facilities in the building. He acknowledged that there was always an understanding that there were damages and repairs that needed to be done but they decided that they were going to document the damages.

Among the damages listed in the PowerPoint included five ex-

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ercise machines that don’t work, ceilings with missing tiles and water stains, bathroom and shower stalls that have no doors, the mold found on the showers, floors and ceilings and the odor in the locker rooms. Within two weeks of the presentation an email blast to the college community indicated that repairs were being fast-tracked.

“Everybody was shocked, even the President,” Fnu said of the reaction he received after the presentation was made. “Because everybody knew there were some problems to be fixed but nobody saw it physically or even in the photos. So when we showed it, even the president was shocked that this is happening in her college. That’s why I think after seeing that in person and seeing the photos, progress is being made at this speed.”

He added “otherwise, we all know they have been repairing it since 2016 and nothing happened.

But, doing this, we got the support of the faculty caucus as well, many of them reached out and even the administrators, everyone

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IT Ongoing Projects

Loose ceiling tiles and ceiling leaks in the AD Building . Photo Courtesy: Student Government Association.

is throwing out their support.”

According to the Deneé Barracato, the director of Athletics and Recreation, repairs have been going on in the HPEC building for at least the nearly three years of her tenure.

“The improvements to the HPEC building have been an ongoing project, discussion and ‘labor of love’ since I arrived in August 2016,” Barracato wrote in an email. “We have been attentive to the building and have made significant improvements since this

time.”

However, according to Fnu, the reason for the damages was because of delayed contract negotiations between the administration and the equipment repair company for the fitness center.

“We found out that there wasn’t a new contract,” Fnu explained. “So yes, they were negotiating that, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t fix what’s happening in the bathrooms and what’s happening with the ceilings.”

Barracato says otherwise. She

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said the reason for the delay is because the work order put in for repairs with the company was not done or processed properly.

According to Barracato, a new repair company that the athletics department is working with is not familiar with the paperwork filings of a public institution. She said the company was sending in invoices and not quotes for work to be done rather than work that is already done.

“They cannot send in an invoice for work that hasn’t been approved,” Barracato said. “They need to be approved first and then we go through a quote process, we submit the quote for a withdrawal request and that gets approved based on budget and after the appeal gets dispatched to the company, they do the work based on appeal that is released and then they submit their invoice for work that is completed and then you get paid based on your invoice.”

Cont. on Pg. 4

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Monday, April 8, 2019

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The Women’s Center Hosts the First LeadHERShip Series of the Year

By Dwayne McBean A panel of distinguished women discussed their experiences in male-dominated industries and their successful rise through the ranks by “breaking the glass ceiling.”

The panel was the second installment of the LeadHerShip series. It is also the first LeadHerShip event of 2019.

On March 28 the Office of Student Activities and The Percy E. Sutton SEEK program hosted the “The Journey of LeadHERship: Shattering the Glass Ceiling,” in the York College Faculty Dining Room.

The panel consisted of Dr. Donna Chirico, the Dean for the School of Arts and Sciences at York; Patricia Obamije, an Industrial engineer; Okema T. Moore, a producer and creative director; Ebonie Jackson, the director for the Women’s Center at York; Latasha Summers, a senior level flight attendant of JetBlue Airways Corporation and Tammie Williams, a community practitioner and former Nassau County Political Candidate.

Each woman examined the start of their respective careers, how they broke through the glass ceiling, and being a female leader in and out of the workplace.

“Being a woman of color in the field of politics [is a very] heavy ceiling,” Williams said about the glass ceiling in her industry. “You don’t have to be loud in the room because your presence is enough.

You come from a line of people

that died so we can be able to shatter the ceiling.”

Chirico, an educator, acknowledged that while glass ceilings do exist, sometimes the path to stop them is blocked by unimaginable obstacles.

“We make an assumption that the people trying to stop you are men, but sometimes it’s women,” said Chirico. “Rather than working together to change the systems, we stop each other from changing the systems. Be mindful before you’re the one trying to stop somebody from advancing before you.”

For Patricia Obamije, the path towards her career was clear from the beginning but ended up hitting a roadblock. Obamije’s interest in engineering started from childhood. She noted how she would take apart electronic devices and determine how to put them back together.

“When I was younger, I always felt like I had an engineering spirit,” she added. “My high school teacher told me it’s going to be too challenging to be successful in an engineering career so look for something else.”

Currently, Obamije is part of the less than two percent population of black women working in the engineering field and became the first African American women manager at her current place of work.

Moore, an actress and producer, noted that the entertainment industry is similarly difficult, but in a different way.

“You couldn’t get into the business to make movies unless

From left to right: Okema Moore, Tammie Williams, Patricia Obamije, Latasha Wise Summers, Ebonie Jackson, Donna Chirico. Photo Credit: Dwayne McBean

you were white, Jewish, male or had family relations,” said Moore.

In her field, Moore acknowledged that people were often times shocked when they found out that she was a producer due to the lack of diversity in the industry.

“When I first started producing and I would go to set people would think I was an actor, extra, or crafty,” she added. “As an actress I still push. I wanted to be a producer so I can hire people that look like me.”

The panel acknowledged the difficult and strenuous experience that women have in the workplace in a bid to be seen as hard working. Jackson, a mother of three, recommends a 30 min-

York Alumnus Appointed Queens Park Commissioner

Michael Dockett. Photo Credit: NYC Parks

By Asar John York alumnus Michael Dockett became the new Queens Park Commissioner on March 6, replacing former Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski, who retired after serving as commissioner for 14 years.

Dockett graduated from York in 1991 with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting and went on to pursue his Masters in Business Administration at St. John’s University. He started his career in the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation in 1984, when he became a park ranger while studying at York.

“I was involved in scouting and nature, then I was studying accounting on the side,” said Dockett. “When I was a student at York I saw the advertisement for park ranger and I said, well this is something I do in my spare time and I can get paid to do it.”

Though he started as a ranger, Dockett credits his promotions through the ranks to his hard work, dedication and the opportunities provided to him after he took several civil service exams and interviews, a requirement for city employees.

“As a ranger I conducted a lot of events such as environmental affairs, and I was good at the administration part of the work,” said Dockett. “If you are doing a good job at the job you are doing, you are kind of sought after.”

After being promoted to the position of a supervisor, Dockett was offered other promotions across the city.

“You kind of have to go where the opportunity is,” says Dockett.

“If you think you have the skill set or the desire to learn, then step outside of your comfort zone,” which the commissioner said is the formula for success when trying to progress.

Prior to becoming the commissioner, Dockett served as the assistant commissioner for the Urban Park Service since 2008.

For the past 13 years, he was tasked with monitoring the Park Enforcement Patrol Unit, the Cen-

tral Communications Division, the Coordination of Activities at beaches and pools and Emergency Management at Parks.

As commissioner for the Queens Parks Department, Dockett is now responsible for overseeing hundreds of capital projects related to the ongoing rehabilitation of parks.

“My job is to make sure these projects are proceeding and progressing to completion,” said the commissioner.

Several other aspects of the commissioner’s job include focusing on maintenance and recreation divisions as well as working alongside partnering organizations, such as conservation groups.

“I want to work closely with those groups and encourage new groups,” said Dockett.

Dockett encourages students who may potentially change their career path like he did to keep learning and to also get involved with different clubs.

“Study hard while you are in school and learn all you can,” said Dockett. “Don’t just focus 100 percent on academics, but have a good time while you are in school, join the clubs get into the honor society and many other engaging activities.”

Asar John is a staff reporter. He can be reached at asar.john@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

utes alone-time a day for working women as part of self-care routine.

Summers equates self-care with being surrounded by friends.

“Self-care is important in all industries and Having a good network of friends is important as well. They don’t have to be the same industry, they don’t have to look like you.”

The women gave advice to college students that are planning on entering the workforce.

“Whatever you’re doing make sure you’re having fun,” said Chirico.

“Lifting while you climb, bring someone with you, and enjoy your college years,” said Moore .

“Find a mentor, seek out a

mentor,” said Obamije. “Find a sponsor, similar to a mentor but in your industry that can advocate for you.”

“You can’t plant the seed and eat the fruit on the same day,” said Summers. “When you reach success, bless somebody who wants to be where you are; mentorship.

Pay it forward, pay it back.”

“Lead with passion,” said Williams.

“Lead with integrity, don’t be afraid to take chances and make mistakes,” said Jackson.

Dwayne McBean is a staff reporter. He can be reached at dwayne.mcbean1@yorkmail. cuny.edu

News Briefs: By PB Staff York students are encouraged to purchase a ticket for the 2019 Merit Scholarship Reception Raffle to win prizes. Prizes include a pair of Delta round trip tickets, two pairs of JetBlue round trip tickets, two “Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon” tickets, four NY Yankee tickets, four NY Mets Baseball tickets, signed memorabilia with the opportunity to watch Batting Practice and so on. The reception plus raffle will be held at the Jamaica Performing Arts Center at 6:00 p.m on April 11. Representatives from the Office of Institutional Advancement will be in the Atrium during club hours to sell raffle tickets to support The Fund for York. Tickets can also be purchased online anytime. A single ticket costs $25. More information can be obtained from Donor Relations Manager, Christina Roberts.

York’s School of Arts and Sciences is announcing that a Barnes and Noble Scholarship is available for for students who have attained junior status.The intent of the scholarship is to provide support for expenses associated with applying for graduate or professional study. Six scholarships of $2,000 are awarded for each academic year. Students apply in the spring and the funds will be awarded in the fall. All application must be sent electronically from a York College student email address to Dean Donna Chirico at DChirico@york.cuny.edu. The deadline for the Spring 2019 semester is April 19th.

York College Department of History, Philosophy & Anthropology and the Local Organizing Committee will host the 2019 New York African Studies Association (NYASA) annual conference. The conference will be from April 12 to April 13 from 8:30 a.m to 5:15 p.m. Registration will be from 8:00 a.m to 12:00 p.m and breakfast will be from 8:00 a.m to 9:45 a.m. Expected attendance is between 300-500 with individuals coming from all over the world.

The NYPD will host three active shooter classes in Jamaica during the month of April. York College will host the third session at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 16 at 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Blvd. Members of the public are welcome to attend. There is no fee and no RSVP is necessary.

The Counseling Center in conjunction with the Office of Student Development is hosting a workshop titled “Why wait, Don’t procrastinate” on April 16 at the Counseling center from 12 p.m to 1 p.m. Students can help put an end to their procrastination or control it by learning ways to stop putting things off.

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Interim Chief Information Officer Continues Progress on IT Projects

Claudio Lindow. Photo Courtesy: Claudio Lindow

By Angel Adegbesan Business is going on as usual with the Information Technology department at York even with though it’s Chief Information Officer(CIO) just retired over a month ago.

The interim CIO, Claudio Lindow, says that there has been no major shift in policies because the IT team is enduring business continuity. He started the new job in March when former CIO, Peter Tighe, retired in February.

“From the time when CIO Tighe was in office, he made sure that we all work as a team and we haven’t changed that,” Lindow said. “The difference is that it’s just me gathering a consensus from our team and communicating it to the rest of the community.”

One major project that the team have been working on con-

cerns the kiosk program that is set to be introduced to the college by the end of the year.

According to Tighe, kiosk program would be a free standing device similar to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) kiosk program that shows the arrival and departure of trains and buses.

Rafael Nunez, the Web System director and the person leading the WayFinder initiative, said the kiosks would have a digital map application of the entire campus, including offices and classrooms. It would also have other applications as the weather, time, calendar, campus news announcements and official student events. He also said the applications would be in different colored tiles.

According to Lindow and his team, there are four kiosk on site and two of those are already prepped to be deployed.

“We are waiting for the other locations to have power and data,” said Lindow. “We partnered with facilities to understand the space and make sure that we don’t put them anywhere, it should be a place that makes sense for people to come in and have public safety verify that the person have access to the campus and then they can go on the wayfinder or access the kiosk.”

He added “The two locations where we are on going to deploy them have already been retrofitted. In total, the plan is to complete those four before the end of the year and expand as needed.

At least to have one at the entrance of each building and for this building, it would be for each major entrance.”

According to Lindow, the kiosks would also have a PC Reservation Map for the Library and

the Student Government Computer lab on the third floor. The application will allow a user to see in a single view the computer use in the library and SGA lab.

The color coded application tells a user the PC that are occupied and those that are vacant.

Currently, the IT department is partnering with Facilities Planning and Operations, Buildings and Grounds and Public Safety to put the kiosks out based on traffic and accessibility.

“We’re not waiting for the WayFinder, although it’s pretty close, but we’re going to start to put them out now,” said Vega who is the Director of Service Delivery. “We have everything else now that we need. We do need to test power and data and make sure that everything is going to run in all those locations then the wayfinder application is going to catch up to it.”

Among other projects the IT is working on, there is the also refreshment of the PCs and update of all PCs to Windows 10. There is a plan for continuous refreshing of the fleet of computers in the library. Part of the plan include replacing the computers and the operating system as well. Vega said currently, about 50 percent of all computers on campus are now Windows 10 including the student labs, staff and faculty computers.

“The refreshing program is because we don’t want to get to the point where we have to replace every single computer at the same time, because that would be too expensive,” Lindow said. “So, through good planning, we get to partition a total of over 240 computers. A large portion of those computers have already been replaced and we’ll continue to refresh.”

There is also the project of making classrooms technology enabled, commonly denoted as “smart classrooms”. Currently, there is a plan for nine rooms to be technologically enabled and ready by Fall 2019. According to Vega, technology are being deployed where research and data shows that there is an actual need for it in the classrooms.

“We run reports and see where faculty seem to be getting a loaner in equipment,” Vega explained.

“And we get numbers and we see that that room has a high rental, they are constantly using equipment and that might be a candidate. The goal is to eventually have all the rooms have all the technology needed. All classrooms are on the map for this.

It’s just a matter of timing and resources.”

Lindow was previously the deputy director of Application Support and IT administration before he was appointed to the position of interim CIO. He holds an MBA in Management Information System and Business Policies, a M.S. In Computers Sciences and a B.S. in Computer Sciences from Long Island University – Brooklyn. He joined the college in August, 2011.

“I was asked to be the interim CIO and I accepted the responsibility,” Lindow said. “It has been awesome and It has been a great challenge and I have relied heavily on the rest of the IT managers.”

Angel Adegbesan is the News Editor. She can be reached at angel.adegbesan@yorkmail. cuny.edu

Budget Deficit (Cont. Pg1)

In the 2016-2017 fiscal year, the library’s budget was $510,000 and now with the college expecting to increase enrollment by 1.5%, the budget cuts will limit funding to new programs and services they want to provide. “ So we went from $510,000 to $443,000 to $10,000 and enrollment grew at that time and we added programs, so it’s like the budget gets smaller but we also add more stuff so it is very hard to keep up with that kind of demand,” Powers said. “I know we are growing so for our budget to shrink, it just hurts. It affects whether or not we can buy new books. We want to offer more ebooks because it is more convenient for students to use and more students can use them at the same time. It (budget cuts) just limits what we can do.”

Danielle Cruz is the Editor-in-Chief. She can be reached at danielle.cruz@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

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York Hosts Women’s of Excellence Leadership Workshop

By Sherry Shivprasad As part of York College’s Women’s History Month Celebration, the Women’s Center hosted The Women’s of Excellence Leadership Workshop on March 26.

The workshop was led by Ebonie Jackson, the director of the Women’s Center, and Diana Hilaire, a Brooklyn Crown Heights native and the multicultural community engagement manager at Macy’s Inc. Speaking to high school students, York students and faculty Hilaire, who in 2015 started Macy’s Modern Man (a program to teach men how to dress for success), provided first hand advice on how to prepare for a new job and even how to deal with hardships and stress caused by the job.

“At 23 years old I was sad and didn’t have any directions, no one to guide me, my family is from Haiti, and I am a first generation immigrant,” said Hilarie.

After realizing that she needed to further her education in order to reach the level of success she desired, Hilaire explained that she went on to obtain her mas-

Photo credit: Sherry Shivprasad

ter’s degree from Georgetown University.

Hilarie talked about the importance of having a mentor or sponsor and other supportive people in your life in order to have a successful professional and personal life.

“I had hardships, failures and depression, but if you have friendships, they could help to pick you up,” said Hilaire. “I’m a boss mom living the dream.”

As a first generation immigrant from Haiti, she said she had no direction or guide when she first emigrated to America.

Hilarie said that she owes a lot of her success to her mentor/sponsor, Dr Juan Battle, who put his

“name on the line” and helped her find a stable job.

“I owe a lot of my success to my mentor and sponsor, it is super important to have a mentor,” Hilarie added.

Hilarie is one of the many guest speakers that The Women’s Center has invited this semester as part of their Women of Excellence Series, which brings professional, successful women to York so that they can talk about their careers and give advice to students on how to achieve their professional dreams.

Hilarie acknowledged that education is an invaluable experience, sometimes, despite the cost. She realized that she needed

to further her education in order to reach the level of success she desired.

“Sometimes you have to overlook the money and categorize the experience,” Hilarie said.

“One day you never know who is going to provide you an opportunity such as a janitor or someone from the cafeteria... it could change your life.”

She, however, stressed the importance of applying to scholarships, as she is still trying to finish paying off the loans she took out to attend the masters program at Georgetown University.

Hilarie even gave advice on how to quit a job when it’s time to move onto a better paying or even more enjoyable job.

“It’s about moving on when you’re dragging your feet,” Hilarie explained. “If you’re not happy because there is no purpose then you know it’s time to quit.

But, before quitting, start looking for a job and go for interviews and then send the resignation letter. Have a 60 to 90 day plan after you quit. You need to have a plan about what are you going to do now.”

She also encouraged the audience to not be discouraged by rejection after the first interview,

explaining that she interviewed at Macy’s six times before she got the job. She has now been working at Macy’s for six years.

The workshop also included Hilarie sharing successful tips that she learned through the mistakes she made at work.

“Be diligent, make sure that the dates and times are correct,” said Hilarie. “When meeting with clients, make sure the agenda is super tight, be early to calm down, cool off and to review paperwork.”

Evelly Boiguene, a Sports Management major and a senior at the York Early College Academy, said that she knows that the experiences and advice that Hilarie gave will help her in the future when she starts her career.

“It was relatable because she had experience and she gave advice,” said Boiguene. “Her story will help me in the future because I will know that I am not alone in certain situations.”

Sherry Shivprasad is a staff reporter. Shee can be reached at sherry.shivprasad@yorkmail. cuny.edu

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AD Repairs (Cont. Pg.1) She added “They were doing everything backwards and it took a while for us to get them to understand that we are a public institution. Here, we require quotes before we tell them that yes, you can move forward the work.”

Barracato also said that the degree of damages in the building increases because the building is old and the regular wear and tear takes a toll.

“We all try to do our best and be notified of anything that’s wrong with the building or damaged and has to be repaired,” she said. “There are so many things that needs work and sometimes we have to prioritize depending on how much staff you have and the budget that we have. And, I think our staff does the best that they can.”

Barracato mentioned that there are many users of the building. Such as the Queens High school on campus, athletic teams, students using the recreational services, rentals (gym and pool), student activity groups, classes that are scheduled in the building, and other college events. She says it is very difficult to manage all improvements and repairs because of the various activities and events constantly going on in the building.

“It’s also about how we care about what we have,” She said “It’s just a matter of how well we as a community take care of what we have. I don’t know if it’s a perfect solution, I don’t know if it should be a blaming game because I think we all have the responsibility of maintaining and keeping the facilities up to standards.”

She added, “I know it’s a collaborative effort and I think it’s everyone’s responsibility to come together and bring it to light in a professional manner.”

Fnu was critical of the way money allocated to the Athletic Department was being used. According to the PowerPoint presented, the Athletic and Recreational programs were allocated over $265,000 every year to support teams and provide students with recreational hours. $25,000 of that amount is allocated towards maintenance.

“We all know the money problem,” Fnu said. “There is no way that they have enough money to do all of (the repairs) at once. So, even if they take care of big problems like the ceilings and equipment, that will be acceptable for us right now with the problem we’re having.”

He added “We definitely think more should be done but as we all know York, it takes time,” Fnu said. “But like right after the presentation, within a week, we were informed about the disability chair, they fixed the broken seats and now they are working on the ceilings, so that is a start.”

Angel Adegbesan is the News Editor. She can be reached at angel.adegbesan@yorkmail. cuny.edu

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PB Attends Wall Street Journal’s Student-Editor Summit

By Rachel Dalloo York College was one of the colleges from across the city that was invited to The Wall Street Journal’s (WSJ) annual Student-Editor Summit. The March 22 Summit consisted of editors from WSJ, who spoke to the students about the current positions they hold.

They elaborated on reporting for a prestigious news organization and the danger of reporting during the current administration.

They also discussed their previous careers as reporters before ending up at their present job at WSJ. Speakers Emma Moody, Louise Story, Jillian Melchior, and Lena Bell are all currently employed as editors at WSJ. Emma Moody, who currently serves as the WSJ Deputy Chief News Editor, discussed how covering stories during the Trump Presidency can be quite a handful. According to Moody, reporters are constantly under intense pressure and constantly get stuck in between some extreme situations.

“It’s extremely tough,” Moody said. “It’s not something I ever thought that we would encounter. It’s sort of a broad critique of what we do, and a questioning of what we do. No matter what we do, it is actually factually and truthful. That is something that we are constantly aware of. We are not going out of our way to be in the drama and say ‘It is true! It is true!’ We’re just doing what we do.”

The Trump administration has made many attempts to block reporters from multiple news organizations from having access to the White House press briefings.

The current administration has also labeled the press as the “enemy of the people” and repeatedly called multiple media organization “fake news”.

“It is our job to make sure we

The Wall Street Journal held their annual Student-Editor Summit on March 22. Photo credit: Rachel Dalloo

are fair and accurate at all times, Moody added. “You are not doing the job of a journalist, if people like your articles half of the time. We don’t want to be paid for our journalism.”

Louise Story, the newsroom strategy editor for WSJ, commented on the newsroom situation at the WSJ. She noted how the publication has made a decision to join Apple’s new paid subscription news service. Currently, the WSJ is the only print news organization to join. Both The New York Times and The Washington Post have decided not to join the service.

“We’re focusing on both current and future audiences,” said Story, who was also an Investigative Reporter for The News York Times for 12 years. “We both look and add new content to our platform. Younger people are the voices of the future.”

They also talked about how newspapers are seen as one of the most trusted sources of information. According to a 2018 Forbes article, The Wall Street Journal was found to be the most trustworthy news source in the coun-

try.

“The newsroom is not taking a side in politics,” said Story. “The Journal has long been down the middle. We don’t tell people what to do or how to think. We just lay out the facts.”

Jillian Melchior and Lena Bell both explored the topic of news versus opinion pieces. A news article, they said, tends to focus more on the who, what, where, why, when of a story and opinions of the reporters do not appear in these articles. However, opinion pieces are often found in newspapers as well, where writers mix both facts and opinions.

“Don’t be afraid to take on the news,” Bell stated. “Find a story that you like, think about what the writer is doing. Make a statement, and back up with statistics or quotes. Quoting an allegation, put “alleged” to protect your name. To all young journalists, know your history.”

“Our country is so divided right now,” Melchior said. “Being straightforward and honest about our opinions make a difference.

Compelling news arguments are based on facts. There are good ar-

guments on both sides. We don’t cover it if it’s not true or accurate.

While there may be many setbacks and cons to be being a journalist they assured the student reporters that there are, in the end, more pros that come with a profession like this. A journalist affects the public by providing information to help shape the future. Journalists are meant to be watchdogs, storytellers and informants for the world. They hold the responsibility of providing the truth to their audience.

“Always be interested in the truth,” said Melchior. “Your core of being a journalist is being interested in telling the truth. If you can get a scoop that no one else can get, the door is open. Nine times out of 10 times, when a story is off limits, that’s where it’s most corrupted.”

Rachel Dalloo is the assistant News Editor. She can be reached at rachel.dalloo@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

MAKE SURE TO GO OUT AND VOTE IN THE STUDENT SENATORIAL ELECTION FROM APRIL 16 TO APRIL 18 FROM 9 A.M TO 9 P.M. IN THE ATRIUM OF THE ACADEMIC CORE BUILDING

ARTS PB Monday, April 8, 2019

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Men’s Center Director, Jonathan Quash, Is Set to Debut His First Musical

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Spring 2019 Fashion Trends Belted, paper bag pants have also started to come back into style.

Sweatsuits: Whether it’s sweatsuits modeling the iconic 2000’s look or the more modern day crop top sweat suits, this spring you can look forward to seeing a lot of people wearing two piece sweatsuit sets.

Not only are they the most comfortable fashion trend right now but they’re usually the cheapest and easiest outfit to find and buy.

Rent, Purlie, and The Wiz could possibly be named as influencers, for different reasons.”

PB: How is the production of the play going?

JQ: “Production has not started as of yet as I am still in the publication phase of the musical.

But, I have already spoken to a number of designers and actors regarding potential involvement and so far, the response has been excellent.”

PB: How does this musical help relate with social issues in our society today?

Jonathan Quash. Photo Courtesy of Jonathan Quash

By Rachel Dalloo Jonathan Quash, the director of York Colleges Men’s Center, is working on putting together his first musical, Set Me Free. The musical centers on a young man’s destiny to find the true meaning of himself with the help of music and features musical pieces that acknowledges the heritage of African Americans.

Pandora’s Box sat down with Dr. Quash to discuss the background and future plans for his musical. ~ Pandora’s Box (PB): What made you want to start your own musical?

Jonathan Quash (JQ): “Basically, it was a product of years and years of working on musicals but also something that I’ve wanted to do, to challenge myself since I was young. I wanted to be able to do that because, I love musicals and I have serviced many plays

both on and off campus. But I’ve never written one, so I’ve always wanted to do that.”

PB: What are the main influences behind your decision to come out with your own play?

JQ: “The influence behind the musical is essentially all of the great musicals that I grew up with as a kid, as well as the great musicals that I have had the pleasure of being the musical director of while at York College. Some of those shows include Little Shop of Horrors, Fame, Rent, Dreamgirls, Aida, Five Guys Named Moe, Mother Courage and Her Children, and Tambourines to Glory.”

PB: If you were to compare your musical to one that is already established, which one would it be? Why? JQ: “I think my musical is unique in a lot of ways and I tried my best to not let existing productions influence what I have written. However, I do think that

JQ: “There are issues of dealing with marginalized populations such as those with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ community. There are also issues of dealing with self-love and healing, which I think is extremely important.”

PB: What impact are you hoping to have on the audience with this play?

JQ: “The message that I am trying to convey will be one of discovering and embracing love of self. Another message that I am hoping the audience walks away with is to support all aspects and members of the community, not just a select few. We are all part of one community, and we need each other to survive.” ~ Set Me Free is expected to have its opening night in either December 2019 or January 2020.

Rachel Dalloo is the assistant News Editor. She can be reached at rachel.dalloo@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

Photo credit: Daniel Adesina via Pexels

By Autumn Matthews Now that Spring is here it is finally time to take off those heavy winter coats and put on a nice windbreaker or jean jacket, with a sweater underneath of course.

Spring fashion this year is a bit different from what we have seen in the past years, from neon green outfits to rubber outfits, so there are definitely a few new fashion trends that you have to try out.

Neon Green: From sweaters, sweat suits, dresses and even catsuits, neon green has become the new favorite spring color, replacing the usual pink, yellow and white .

For those who might find wearing an entire neon green outfit a bit to bright for their taste you can always try choosing outfits with neon green accents, paneling or trims.

Retro Look: Though this trend of wearing clothes inspired by the late 1990’s hasn’t gone out of style since it returned a couple of years ago, a lot of brands are now creating collections dedicated to this trend.

One notable collection is the Zendaya x Tommy Hilfiger collection. The collection, which recently launched with a fashion show in Paris featuring models of different body types, includes bell bottom jeans and boho satin shirts.

Rubber: Unlike sweatsuits rubber outfits may not be the most comfortable, or quiet, thing to wear but it has definitely became one of the more popular outfit choices, especially for women. Clothing outlets like Fashion Nova and Forever21 have also begun to produce variety of rubber outfits like bodycon dresses and bandeau tops.

Clear: This is another fashion trend that hasn’t necessarily gone out of style but I have seen more of a variety of clear outfits and accessories. Now that you don’t have to worry about snow, clear heels are staple accessory for the spring since they go with every outfit. Clear bags have also become a trending spring accessory, just put the items you don’t want everyone to see inside a separate smaller purse.

Square Neckline: Goodbye scoop necks and v-necks. One trend that we will definitely see a lot this spring and even summer is square necklines.

While square neckline bodysuits are probably the most popular outfit choice another outfit choice that has begun to make an appearance this spring is square neckline shirts with puffed sleeves.

Autumn Matthews is a staff reporter. She can be reached at autumn.matthews@yorkmail. cuny.edu

Hear Her Call Festival Showcases Caribbean American Female Playwrights

Photo credit: York College Perfomring Arts Center

By Sherry Shivprasad York college hosted the annual Hear Her Call Caribbean- American Women’s Theater Festival on March 29 in the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center.

The festival, which was organized by Conch Shell Productions, featured a variety of 10 minute plays written by Caribbean-American female playwrights.

According to the festival’s press release the plays are meant to celebrate “the unique and diverse voices of Caribbean-American women who employ innovative methods to use theatre to inspire social change.”

In total there were seven one act plays that were all performed by seven actors of different nationalities.

Magaly Colimon-Christopher, the founder, producer, co-direc-

tor and co-curator of Hear Her Call, said that she put together the festival as a way to encourage diversity, give minority women playwrights a space to showcase their work and drive home the idea that “theater is for community.”

Each play also allowed for the audience to explore different cultures and see “7 different Caribbean-American women’s views on issues that need to change in society,” said Christopher.

AnJu Hyppolite, one of the actresses participating in the play, said she signed up to act in the festival so that she could help bring life to the stories being told by the Caribbean playwrights.

“I auditioned because I learned that the plays were written by Caribbean playwrights, it made my heart sing, these are powerful pieces the stories are powerful,” says Hyppolite The Dark Creature by Rossely Harman, who was born in the Dominican Republic, was a play

based on the tale of El Chupacabra that Harman heard growing up. It was terrifying to see actress Wendy Arimah, talking about a mysterious creature who she wanted to kill. This was the beginning of Amirah’s rage and anger that had built up against the people who had enslaved her race. Arimah explains that she is not a product that could be sold into slavery and is in fact strong and very beautiful.

The Dark Creature was also voted the best play showcased at the festival by the audience.

Pan Gyul by Juliette Jeffers, who is a native of St. Kitts, caught the audience’s attention while discussing the sweet treat called sugar cake. While teaching the audience about sugar cake, Pan Gyul also tells the story of a female steel pan drummer from the 1950’s fighting to play in a male dominated world.

Another one of the plays Fall

by France-Luce Benson, who hails from Hati, delves into the oppos-

ing feelings of what culture is, the African diaspora and the price that is paid when people assimilate and start to forget their roots.

Fall also talks about why mothers are often times tough on their offspring once they have moved to a different country with more opportunities.

“It was a wonderful experience to dive into the characters,” said Hyppolite. “I play four different roles. I had to dig into their stories. It’s challenging, but it is fun to explore who those women are.

The women had to fight hard in their countries. They put food and clothes on their children’s back.”

The festival not only showcased the theatrical work of the playwrights but also doubled as an expo for local, non profit Caribbean-American artist and vendors.

Sherry Shivprasad is a staff reporter. She can be reached at sherry.shivprasad@yorkmail. cuny.edu

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Gallery B PB Monday, April 8, 2019

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PB Photo Gallery: Hear Her Call Theater Festival

Photo Gallery By Adisa Sobers Written by Danielle Cruz, Angel Adegbesan, Fiiifi Frimpong, Richard Heaton and Pedro Bermejo

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Gallery B PB Monday, April 8, 2019

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PB Photo Gallery: Shiggy Spring Slam

By Danielle Cruz In collaboration with No Weak Parties and Team Boom Cups, comedian, actor and social media star Shaquille “Shiggy” Mitchell hosted a Spring Slam Celebrity Charity Basketball game on March 30 in the York College Health and Physical Education Complex.

The sold-out event went from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and included both a red carpet event and the celebrity basketball game. In attendance were notable celebrities like New York Jets Running back Le’Veon Bell; Cleveland Cavaliers JR Smith; Denver Nuggets Nick “Swaggy P” Young; and New Orleans Pelicans Josh Smith and former wide receiver of the New York Giants, Victor Cruz.

The Charity Basketball game was part of Shiggy’s week long birthday celebration and all the proceeds from the game went to D-Up-On-Cancer.

Danielle Cruz is the Editor-in-Chief. She can be reached at danielle.cruz@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

Photo Gallery courtesy of Deneé Barracato

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Earn $60 an Hour In Movie Tickets, What’s the Catch?

Screenshot of the PreShow App from their Kickstarter page.

By Richard Heaton PreShow, an app created by MoviePass co-founder Stacy Spikes, wants to pay you $15 to watch 15 minutes worth of ads.

What’s the catch? For one, the money you earn can only be used to purchase movie tickets. That’s great for movie buffs. What’s the other catch? If you take part, you agree for the company to track your eye movements while you watch the ads.

This means that for 15 minutes, every little thing that you look at is tracked and recorded. This company will know if you’re actually looking at the screen and what catches your attention as the ads play.

Right now PreShow is still in its Kickstarter phase. Normally a Kickstarter campaign is done in

Photo Credit: PreShow

order to raise funds to release a product while giving supporters and donors all sorts of rewards.

This one works differently because, at this time, the only way to access the program at all is through Kickstarter.

That’s right, access to the app is invite only.

The campaign has three tiers, or prices that you can pledge to pay, which range from $15 to $60 and each tier comes with a certain number of invites. If you pledge $60, you can invite up to 30 people to download the app, without them having to pay for access to the app.

The goal was to raise $10,000 in order to launch the program, and all the funds were raised within a day or two thanks to hundreds of movie nerds rushing to try it out.

Once PreShow launches, each

member is going to receive a digital debit card, kind of like what AMC does with their A-list subscription service. You download the app and when you’re ready to get money to watch a movie, you just log in and watch an ad.

For the entire duration of the ad, the program will be watching your eye movement. Even if your eyes veer downwards ever so slightly to look at your keyboard, PreShow will know you aren’t watching the video and it will pause. The program will also know exactly what you are looking at in the video. It will know if you were interested in one part or avoided other parts.

According to Spikes, the app will not even open if it doesn’t recognize your face, so others won’t be able to watch ads on your phone.

After you watch the video, the app will credit your digital card with enough funds to buy your movie ticket. However, the program supposedly will not allow you to purchase anything other than standard 2D tickets, regardless of the number of funds your digital card holds.

Those who pledge with the $60 tier on the Kickstarter campaign will have access to the app first when it launches this July. Everyone else who donated will gradually be given access throughout the fall.

Richard Heaton is the Arts and Entertainment Editor. He can be reached at richard.heaton@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

Disney brings back James Gunn for Guardians of the Galaxy

Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore

By Richard Heaton In a surprising turn of events, Disney re-hired James Gunn to be the director of Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3.

Last July, rape tweets of Gunn’s dating back to 2008 and 2011 were discovered and Disney immediately fired him. Follow-

ing his departure, there was an outcry from fans and co-workers alike who were both shocked and disappointed by the news.

Within days of the sacking, an open support letter in Gunn’s honor was posted online. This letter was signed by numerous Guardians cast members including Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper,

and Vin Diesel.

Before being brought back, Disney was originally going to use the script that Gunn wrote for Volume 3. Even with him being fired as the director, he still would have been credited as a writer.

After being brought back, Gunn took to Twitter for the first time in months. His last tweet before the news was in last July.

Then, on March 15, he jumped back following the most recent news with a letter to fans.

“I deeply appreciate Disney’s decision and I am excited to continue making films that investigate the ties of love that bind us all. I have been, and continue to be incredibly humbled by your love and support,” he said.

In addition to Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3, Gunn will also write and direct the Suicide Squad reboot, which will be released sometime in 2021.

Richard Heaton is the Arts and Entertainment Editor. He can be reached at richard.heaton@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

yorkpbnews.net

The Creative Corner True Freindship Never Dies

By Shanaé Harte It’s been a year since Kysa had heard from her former best friend Hanna, but for some reason, Hanna was all she could think about today.

She still loved Hanna very much but could not help but think about the way their friendship had ended. Hanna had let a boy come between them, and for Kysa, that was unforgivable especially since this was not just any boy. Hanna had let Nathan, the boy that Kysa had warned Hanna about, get in between them. He was no good and everyone knew it.

Kysa could not help but become even more furious when she thought about how Nathan had told Hanna to choose between her and him and, to Kysa’s dismay, Hanna chose him. She hasn’t heard from Hanna since.

To Kysa’s surprise, as soon as she decided to stop thinking about the situation between her and Hanna, her phone rang- it was Hanna.

“Why is she calling me? I have nothing to say to her,” Kysa thought. She watched the phone ring for what seemed like forever before eventually answering.

“Hello,” Kysa said in an angry tone.

“Hello, is this Kysa Charles?”

Kysa did not recognize the voice on the other line and immediately knew that something was wrong.

“This is she,” Kysa hastily replied.

“Hi. My name is Priya Manichand. I am a nurse from Carval Hospital. A patient named Hanna Melville was just brought into our hospital and you are listed as her emergency contact.

She was reportedly walking on the road and collapsed. She is unconscious and desperately needs blood and I was wondering if you would be available to donate some to her.”

Kysa hung up the phone without responding.

As tears filled in her eyes, she thought, “They should call Nathan and let him donate his blood.”

Kysa pondered for a few more minutes before making up her mind and heading to the hospital to donate as much blood as she could, even though she was deathly afraid of needles.

When Kysa arrived at the hospital she asked to be taken straight to Hanna’s room, wanting to give blood in the same room Hanna was in.

When she entered the room and saw her former best friend laying on the bed with a swollen face and bruises all over her body, tears escaped her eyes and rolled down her cheeks.

After donating her blood, Kysa asked the nurse to leave and after a lot of begging and pleading, they obliged. She moved closer to Hanna’s bed and held her hand and started singing the theme song from their favourite childhood show, Barney, “I love you, you love me….”

Kysa at first thought that she was imagining things when she saw a tear leave Hanna’s eyes.

However; as she continued singing more tears began to fall from Hanna’s eyes. Moving closer to Hanna’s ear Kysa whispered, “Hanna if you can hear me, squeeze my hand,” and though it was very faint, she felt Hanna squeeze her hand.

At that moment nothing else mattered, Hanna was alive and even though it was going to be a long road to recovery for her Kysa knew that she was going to be there for her best friend.

She whispered once again to Hanna, “We’ll forget about what happened in the past. You’re going to be okay and I will be right here to make sure you are.”

Shanaé Harte is a contributing writer. She can be reached at shanae.harte@yorkmail.cuny. edu

ARTS PB Monday, April 8, 2019

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The Beach Bum Is the Movie Millennials Don’t Want to Watch

Matthew McConaughey plays Moondog in The Beach Bum.

By Richard Heaton

The Beach Bum was so bad that after seeing it, I had to go for a half hour walk before heading home because of how stressful the experience was.

That’s not something that I normally say about a film, I usually would try to find something good to say no matter how bad it may have been. This is not one of those times.

Before seeing the film, I had high expectations due to the fact that both Matthew McConaughey and Zac Effron would be starring in it. But afterward, it

Photo credit: Gabbo T

was added to my Do Not Watch List, which until then only had three other films on it.

The only positive thing I can say about the film is that McConaughey’s acting was amazing.

He was really in character and he never let his foot off the gas when giving this crazy performance. It was the kind of performance that bring Oscar nominations.

One would think that with such a powerful lead performance, the film would be great, but in reality, it had flaws in almost every area. Aside from McConaughey, many of the films other leading men put on

performances that were rather cringe-inducing.

Effron and Jonah Hill each had minor roles and Snoop Dogg had a few big moments but all of their performances seemed forced and exaggerated.

There are many scenes that are dry and in some cases, boring. There are also plenty of scenes where events are over-exaggerated or even disturbing.

The Beach Bum does a terrible job of showing a concrete, steady plot. There’s one scene at a wedding where we see McConaughey’s character, Moondog on a pier. He sees something happen that in most films cause the main characters to go on angry rampages but instead of reacting to it Moondog acts as if it never happened and goes on with his life.

Even when it is brought up again later on, he quickly brushes it off. It’s honestly an irrelevant scene,but if they had just given the scene and McConaughey’s character a couple more minutes to react to it it could have set up a deeper more dramatic storyline with drama, The film also does a terrible job with characters. New characters are added left and right, to the point where top-billed actors are only seen for a few

Jordan Peele’s Releases New Horror and Suspense Thriller, Us

minutes. Moondog moves from one setting and posse to another without any sense of direction or purpose.

Another downside of the film are the themes. Yes, it’s supposed to be a comedy and not realistic. In essence, the film follows the life of a man who watches his wife die in front of him and becomes homeless while acting as if it didn’t mean anything.

Then we see this man break out of rehab to smuggle drugs and return to his old life.

If anything, the message of The Beach Bum is that you can do anything you want if you don’t do anything at all, or even that you can do anything you want with no consequences at all.

Not only does the film feature outrageous and harmful themes but it’s also scary in a sense.

Most films are supposed to entertain you and some others are meant to inform you.

In a way, The Beach Bum is scary because you go in expecting something funny but you might end up leaving the film worrying about how your life will turn out. This film can have that kind of effect on viewers, as it gives a harsh look into the future and what some people do.

This wasn’t director Harmony

By Tonieann Harvey With all the makings of a horror and suspense thriller, Us is an intriguing and interesting film that leaves you with more questions than answers about Jordan Peele’s underlying message due to his unique use of metaphors.

Us is Peele’s second directorial film and hit theaters on March 22.

Jordan Peele made his directorial debut with his blockbuster film Get Out in 2017. It was an enormous success, that won Peele an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and nominations for Best Director and Best Picture.

He debuted as a writer and producer in 2016, with Keanu and was nominated for his second Best Picture Academy award for BlackKklansman in 2019, which

he also wrote and produced.

Us begins with the Wilson family returning to their family beachfront home. The mother, Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), becomes haunted by a traumatic experience from her childhood that causes her to become increasingly suspicious that something bad is about to happen.

Soon, her worries become a reality when four masked strangers descend upon their house forcing themselves inside and forcing the Wilson family to now fight for survival. When the strangers remove their masks, the family is surprised and terrified to find themselves face to face with their evil and mute doppelgangers.

According to Peele, the movie offers a terrifying vision of “Judgement Day.” He also makes a reference to the Bible verse, Jer-

Photo credit: Daniel Benavides

emiah 11:11. The verse foreshadows the family’s fate and serves as their warning about the meeting of their doppelgangers. However, this warning does go unnoticed by the family.

In Us, Peele depicts humans and society as faithless, detached, superficial and self-absorbed.

Us is a must watch. It has all the elements one looks for when watching a suspense thriller. I would rate this movie a 9.5 out of 10. The only changes I would make to this film is having a preview of a possible sequel at the end of the film so that the story can be continued.

Tonieann Harvey is a contributing writer. She can be reached at tonieann.harvey@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

Richard Heaton is the Arts and Entertainment Editor. He can be reached at richard.heaton@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

The Umbrella Academy Review

By Emiree Campbell

Jordan Peele’s new film Us was realsed on March 22 and stars Lupita Nyong’o.

Korine’s greatest film. His last film as director, Spring Breakers was released in 2013. It was certified fresh by Rotten Tomatoes with a 66 percent score.

When it came to ticket sales, The Beach Bum had a miserable opening, making only $1.7 million from Friday to Sunday, which was 10th overall. It is McConaughey’s worst opening week ever. Before this, he’s never had a wide-release film earn less than $3 million and his average opening is usually around $15 million.

As for scores, Rotten Tomatoes gave The Beach Bum a 51 percent with an audience score of 33 percent.

If the film hadn’t featured such a strong and captivating performance from McConaughey, it could have done much worse at the box office and it’s very possible that the film could have been hated, with the audience score dropping even more.

Personally, I give The Beach Bum a grade of 40 out of 100, with most of the score from McConaughey.

Adapted from Gerard Way’s comic book, the Netflix Original series The Umbrella Academy is both chilling and nerve-wracking.

Developed by Steve Blackman and Jeremy Slater, The Umbrella Academy revolves around an interesting family of American superheroes who all struggle with their interpersonal relationships and mysteriously striking superpowers.

The show starts with women around the world giving birth on the same day which is creepy and odd due to the fact that none of the women were pregnant beforehand. The main characters of the series are seven of the children born from this odd event, who soon after they are born are adopted by the very rich Sir Reginald Hargreeves.

After discovering that most of the children have unusual abilities, Sir Hargreeves decides to become a mentor to the children.

Instead of being a loving father, he teaches them how to use their powers so that they could form a superhero group called The Umbrella Academy After discovering that most of the children have unusual abilities, Sir Hargreeves decides to become a mentor to the children.

Instead of being a loving father, he teaches them how to use their powers so that they could form a superhero group called The Umbrella Academy. You can assume this to be true because he does not bother naming them instead he refers to them by numbers ranging from oldest to youngest.

Luther Hargreeves, “Number 1”, is the oldest whose power is

super strength and he also struggles with his outer appearance.

Diego Hargreeves, “Number 2”, bears a great affinity for knife throwing and he struggles with the idea of love. Allison Hargreeves, “Number 3”, can alter reality and influence people by saying the words “I heard a rumor” and struggles to keep her family together. Klaus Hargreeves, “Number 4”, can communicate with the dead and is emotionally detached from reality, struggles with sobriety, and is still discovering himself. “Number 5” or “The Boy” has teleportation powers and disappears for a great length of time before returning with devastating news about the future. Ben Hargreeves, “Number 6”, had the ability to shapeshift but suffered a terrible fate while on a mission. And lastly, Vanya Hargreeves, “Number 7”, surprisingly does not have any powers, or so we are told.

Though the series begins with the children forming The Umbrella Academy it mainly focuses on them as adults after they have grown apart. They reconnect after learning that Sir Hargreeves has died and they are forced to face a new threat.

While Netflix has only released the first season, it is clear that the family has a lot of secrets that are slowly coming to light as the series progresses but, will they be able to work out there differences and save the world? Will the family be successful? You’ll just have to watch and see!

Emiree Campbell is a contributing writer. She can be reached at emiree.campbell@yorkmail. cuny.edu

OP PBED Monday, April 8, 2019

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York Student Thinks The U.S. Congress Is Being Taken for Granted

By Rachel Dalloo On March 22, the Special Counsel Robert Mueller sent in his final report to Attorney General William Barr. The report, according to Barr, detailed that there was no collusion between President Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia to influence the election. He also later said that he will be delivering to Congress a redacted version of the report after many have called for the full report instead of Barr’s summary.

Congress should be able to get the full report without redactions.

The American people need to hear the truth behind those blacked out lines. What is behind those redactions may expose more truth to the country, about the president and his 2016 Campaign, mostly than others in the report.

“First, Mueller’s scope was limited to finding out the truth about possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Interference in the 2016 election,” Warren said. “Until the full unredacted report is release to Congress, there is going to be continued speculation as to what actually happened. This is going to be difficult for the Democratic controlled House because the Republicans control the Senate and has blocked every effort to release the full report.”

With the release of Special

The United States Capitol Building. Photo credit: Architect of the Capitol

Counsel Robert Mueller’s highly anticipated report that investigated the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential Election, many are questioning whether Mueller did his job right. Throughout the past two years of Donald Trump’s presidency, many people that are tied to the president, whether they worked with his 2016 Presidential Campaign or directly in his Administration have been charged, subpoenaed, or even convicted of felonies. Sometimes on charges that they have misled prosecutors on details about relations with a foreign government.

The U.S. Government consists of the executive, judicial and the legislative branch. The duty of the

Congress is to make laws that will impact and influence the lives of the American people all around the country. A hearing done by Congress is to question those who have the information, get to the bottom of a controversial situation and expose the truth to the American public as much as possible.

Michael Cohen, former personal lawyer for Donald Trump, pleaded guilty to lying to prosecutors about the Trump Moscow Project, back in 2016. When Cohen decided to come forward and spill the truth on Trump, in front of a public congressional testimony, President Trump went on a Twitter rant.

“Michael Cohen was one of

Boeing 737 Max Airplanes Should Stay Grounded

Photo credit: Jeff Hitchcock

By Autumn Matthews Most people’s biggest fear when flying is getting on a faulty plane that then crashes midflight. So when two Boeing 737 Max airplanes crashed and left no survivors, people were rightfully afraid to keep flying in planes with faulty sensors that caused pilots to lose control and ultimately crash.

The issues with the Boeing 737 Max planes first came to light back in 2018 when a plane leaving Jakarta, Indonesia crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers and crew aboard. Then on March 10 when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, leaving from Bishoftu, Ethiopia crashed killing all 157 passengers.

The second crash led to airlines putting the planes out of service due to fear of their crew and passengers safety. However, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) refused to issue a statement grounding Boeing 737 Max airplanes citing the fact that

the flight crew should know the proper training to prevent a crash regardless of the faulty sensor.

Boeing 737 Max airplanes were not banned in the U.S. until March 13, when the Trump Administration ordered that all Boeing 737 Max planes be grounded in the U.S. until a proper investigation could be made into the cause of the Ethiopian crash.

Despite the FAA saying that pilots can prevent crashes with the proper training and following proper procedures, a report recently released by Ethiopian officials on April 4 stated that the pilots of the fatal crash followed the correct safety procedures to prevent the crash, should the faulty sensor cause the plane to nosedive. They followed the proper procedure provided by Boeing manufactures by turning off the sensor in order to regain manual control but were unable to pull the plane out of the nosedive. Then in an effort to fix the problem turned the sensor back on which caused the plane to nosedive again in a manner that the pilots were unable to recover

from. Even in the Jakarta crash, the pilots had followed the proper procedure but were unable to get the planes nose to the proper altitude due to the sensor malfunctioning and pushing the nose down.

So unlike what the FAA had implied, about pilots not following the correct procedure which led to the planes crashing, the pilots had followed the procedure but were unable to fix the issue.

All I can think about is how the pilots in both planes must have felt when they realized that the procedures they had been taught were not working and they were going to crash.

Even watching videos recovered from passenger phones, you can see how scared the passengers were just before they crashed. I mean can you imagine that instead of being excited to be going home or visiting your loved ones you are on a plane scared as it starts to dip and then moments after you are told to brace yourself as the plane is about to crash.

The Ethiopian plane crash could have been prevented if the planes had been grounded and Boeing had issued a recall to ensure that the sensors were all fixed when the Jakarta plane had crashed last year.

Autumn Matthews is a staff reporter. She can be reached at autumn.matthews@yorkmail. cuny.edu

many lawyers who represented me (unfortunately). He had other clients also. He was just disbarred by the State Supreme Court for lying & fraud. He did bad things unrelated to Trump. He is lying in order to reduce his prison time.

Using Crooked lawyer!” Trump tweeted.

Even though, Trump had tried to downplay both his and Cohen’s connections, they had shared a mutual personal friendship over 10 years. Trump may be right, claiming that Cohen may have decided to “come clean” to shorten his sentencing. The truth, however, is that that is not how Congress works. You do the crime; you do the time. Michael Cohen lied to Congress the first time, by not providing the factual details on the Trump-Moscow meeting.

The issue that surrounds all of this is that, no one can seem to wrap their heads around the fact that Cohen would really put his own life on the line for a man who would not even think twice about doing the same for anyone but himself.

“I do not think that Cohen is continuing to lie for Trump but will do everything in his power to reduce his sentence,” said Junis Warren, an associate professor of Political Science at York. “He is between a rock and hard place, having been rebuffed and rejected

by Trump, he feels that the only

out of this mess is to tell the truth to save whatever little reputation he has left.”

In late 2018, multiple reports showed that Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, had lied to Congress about Trump officials having contact Russians. He is among multiple people that are willing to lie on behalf of the President. He had also lied about payments made to cover up his personal debt. It is quite obvious that Manafort is not in line with telling the truth.

“Manafort can’t be trusted,” Warren added. “He has continued to lie to Mueller and refused to cooperate because he is expecting a Presidential pardon. It is his ace-in-the-hold. A bargaining chip that he will continue to hold over the Trump administration.”

Sometimes, it may seem like Congress is filled with too many people who cannot agree on policies, and for that, they may be taken for granted. However, Congress should never be taken for granted. They serve the American people and help provide the truth whenever possible when the nation demands it.

Rachel Dalloo is the assistant News Editor. She can be reached at rachel.dalloo@yorkmail.cuny. edu

Why Bribe Colleges?

By Autumn Matthews Imagine your parents are filthy rich and it is time for you to go off to college. Your dream school is Yale University but your grades are not so good and your SAT scores are less than stellar.

But you still get into Yale anyway because your parents were able to bribe various administrators into accepting you into the program.

On March 12 federal prosecutors indicted 50 people in a college admissions scandal where parents paid William Singer, an admissions consultant, millions in order to cheat the system and have their kids attend elite schools like Yale, UCLA, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of Southern California. The report stated that the parents paid for their children to be allowed to cheat on their SAT or ACT test by either having someone else take it in their place or have the proctor change their answers after they had taken it. It also allowed for them to be recruited for sports teams despite the fact that they did not play the sport before their “recruitment” or while attending the college.

Two of the people indicted were actresses Lori Loughlin, former Full House star, and Felicity Huffman, former Desperate Housewives star. According to officials, Loughlin had paid for her two daughters to be placed as recruits for the University of Southern California crew team, even sending in a photo of someone else rowing a boat as evidence of their skills.

Honestly speaking I’m not all that surprised about this college

admission scandal, I have always suspected that some rich families have used their money to bribe the schools that they want their children to attend just so they can get in and get their degree without having to actually work for it.

What I don’t understand; however, is if you know your child does not want to go to college or has no interest in learning or earning a higher degree, why make them? Why go through the trouble of bribing the college just so your kid can attend a couple of days each month?

Loughlin’s daughters were both rising models who spent more time doing photo shoots then actually attending classes. So why not just funnel that money into helping their modeling career or into enrolling them into online courses so they could study while they were on the go.

I mean think of all the hard-working students and athletes who study day in and day out or practice everyday to be the best athlete they can be and then they end up not getting into the college of their dreams simply because someone used their money to cheat their way in.

I think that if my mom was rich I would not want her to bribe colleges so that I would get in. It is very unfair that everyone else had to go through the process of taking the SAT and ACT tests while some simply had to hand over their credit card in order to score high.

Autumn Matthews is a staff reporter. She can be reached at autumn.matthews@yorkmail. cuny.edu

OP PBED Monday, April 8, 2019

yorkpbnews.net

Women in Aviation Club President Reviews Visit to Aviation Conference

When One Elevator Opens, Another Closes

By Richard Heaton

By Sujaya Roy The 30th Annual Women in Aviation International Conference was held at the Long Beach Convention Center in Long Beach, California on March 1416, 2019; and 12 students and one faculty from the CUNY Aviation Institute at York College were in attendance representing the college. This annual event attracts students and aviation professionals from across the nation. The York students were members of the York College student chapter of Women in Aviation.

We, the York College CUNY Aviation Institute students were blessed with an opportunity to attend the conference and set our feet into the aviation networking industry. The conference accomplished the goal to connect, engage and inspire aviation heroes and future aviators. The conference had approximately 5,000 people from diverse backgrounds in attendance. We were able to meet with astronauts,

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Photo credit: Sujaya Roy

corporate pilots, maintenance technicians, air traffic controllers, business owners, educators, journalists, flight attendants, high school and university students, and airport managers.

The exhibit hall featured representatives from 170 companies and organizations, representing all aspects of the aviation community. Moreover, numerous scholarships were distributed to the youth aviators for their academic endeavors and career path in aviation.

The conference provided us a great opportunity for networking with experienced aviation professionals who could guide us through the requirements of one day working for a major airline. In addition, the workshops we attended fascinated us to learn about the history of women in the field of aviation. We aspire to emulate the achievements of past female aviators, and they

have become our role models.

Now we have an outline to pursue towards our career aspiration. Attending the conference has molded our leadership skills and enhanced our perspective towards the co-curricular activities such as volunteering in the airport exercise or participating in Foreign Object Debris (FOD) removal project under Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

The students also thank Jet Blue Airways for providing tickets for their flight; and Volunteer Services for Children, for funding their registration.

Sujaya Roy is a contributing writer and the President of the York College Chapter of Women in Aviation. She can be reached at sujaya.roy@yorkmail.cuny.edu

After a year of students and faculty forced to use stairs to get from one floor to another. York College unveiled three shiny new elevators.

On the morning of April 3 the elevators in the B and F corridors, as well as the one in the classroom building, were re-opened after being under maintenance for the better part of three semesters.

The new elevators feature a bright interior, flashing lights, and audio recordings that tell you what floor you’re on. Riding the elevators now is quicker and a lot smoother than what the experience was like in the past.

It’s not all fun and games though as the elevators are still facing some problems. For one, the elevator in the B corridor broke down a few hours after opening.

The lights and speakers stopped working, and then eventually the elevator stopped responding altogether. While this was quickly fixed, it wasn’t the only problem that the elevators faced.

That same day, an email went out saying that more elevators were about to face the same fate.

Now that these were operational, others were going to close down for maintenance. That’s right the elevator in the H corridor, as well as the freight elevator, were shut down.

Hopefully, these won’t be down for the same amount of time as the others. The press release stated that the maintenance would last only four months, so

Photo credit: CUNY York College

they should be up and running in time for the start of the fall semester.

Regardless of how long they’re down for, the closing of the freight elevator will result in numerous problems campus-wide because all deliveries and shipment utilize this elevator. As a result, it will be more difficult and will take longer to make routine deliveries of items such as mail, paper, computers, and whatever else the school orders.

It’s required though, as these elevators are old and to some may be viewed as unsafe and need to be updated.

Once the entire ordeal is done with, and each building has a full set of operational elevators, the campus will be much easier to access and a lot of people, students and staff alike will be happier.

PBPB

Photo credit: Sujaya Roy

Richard Heaton is the Arts and Entertainment Editor. He can be reached at richard.heaton@ yorkmail.cuny.edu

Pandora’s Box EDITORIAL BOARD:

Editor-in-Chief: Danielle Cruz danielle.cruz@yorkmail.cuny.edu

STAFF REPORTERS: Asar John Autumn Matthews

Managing Editor: Pedro Bermejo pedro.bermejo@yorkmail.cuny.edu

Dwayne McBean dwayne.mcbean1@yorkmail.cuny.edu Sherry Shivprasad sherry.shivprasad@yorkmail.cuny.edu Theodora Danso Theodora.danso@yorkmail.cuny.edu

News Editor: Angel Adegbesan angel.adegbesan@yorkmail.cuny.edu Assistant News Editor: Rachel Dalloo rachel.dalloo@yorkmail.cuny.edu

asar.john@yorkmail.cuny.edu autumn.matthews@yorkmail.cuny.edu

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Emiree Campbell emiree.campbell@yorkmail.cuny.edu Shanaé Harte shanae.harte@yorkmail.cuny.edu Tonieann Harvey tonieann.harvey@yorkmail.cuny.edu

Arts/Ent. Editor: Richard Heaton richard.heaton@yorkmail.cuny.edu Sports Editor: Fiifi Frimpong fiifi.frimpong@yorkmail.cuny.edu

Photo Editor: Adisa Sobers adisa.sobers1@yorkmail.cuny.edu

Faculty Advisor: Bill Hughes w.hughes@york.cuny.edu

This policy states Pandora’s Box position on discrimantion. This policy applies to all Pandora’s Box employees, volunteers, members, clients, and contractors. Pandora’s Box follows an equal opportunity employment policy and employs personnel without regard to race, creed, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender expression, age, physical or mental ability, veteran status, military obligations, and marital status. This policy also applies to internal promotions, training, opportunities for advancement, terminations, outside vendors, members and customers, service clients, use of contractors and consultants, and dealings with the general public.

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yorkpbnews.net

Monday, April 8, 2019

York College’s Track Team’s Past and Future Performances SCHEDULE

By Fiifi Frimpong The York College’s track teams are knee-deep into their outdoor track season following a promising indoor season that featured multiple accolades from the Cardinals.

The indoor season ended with multiple runners qualifying for the East Coast Athletic Conference Championship.

Last year’s indoor season failed to record any ECAC qualifiers or weekly nominations on the men’s side. The next season saw three weekly nominations and four ECAC qualifications. They were also able to take home six medals at the CUNYAC Championships.

For the women, they turned one weekly nomination to three nominations and six ECAC qualifications. They also went home with nine medals from the CUNYAC Championships.

Indira Avila, Head Track Coach, mentioned Shevon Walker and Rohjn Miller’s abilities to contribute in various relay races throughout the season. Destiny Scott and Kalice Hitchman were often the usual suspects providing needed points throughout the season.

“Kalice is a multi-athlete,” said the head coach. “She does a lot of events. She did very well in the shot put. Nicole Ovelheira did very well during the season as well. Dammon did well too.

Slowly but surely, there is improvement.

The Cardinals began their outdoor season at the Wagner Invitational in Staten Island, NY. York, a division three CUNY school, en-

Women’s Tennis April 20: Away @ Cairn University (PA) 12:00 p.m.

April 23: Away @ College of Saint Elizabeth (NJ) 3:00 p.m.

Photo credit: York Athletics Website

tered the division one tournament expecting stiff competition at the meet. The Cardinals weren’t phased with that, as the recorded five top-3 finished at the event.

Prior to The College of New Jersey Invitational, Coach Avila noted that this meet was still part of training and focusing on weaknesses from each runner.

“It’s still early in the season,” she said. “For some, the meet is part of their training and working under weaknesses and finding out where they’re at. We want to see the time trial as well, getting a time and estimate of how they’re

doing.”

Avila also pointed out that she hoped TCNJ Invitational would be better, in terms of weather, compared to their first meet of the season.

“I’m hoping that it’s not going to be as windy,” she said. “That means better weather, better results. So I’m hoping to see some good performances.”

Avila expects to continue progressing the track and field program here at York with better results and more participation in other events that hasn’t seen much success in the past. She

looks forward see a better representation in the jumping events this time around.

Bigger accolades are always in sight for her athletes, but she prioritized meeting CUNY standards before striving to accomplish ECAC feats.

“I think once everyone starts meeting the CUNY standards, there will be more development,” she said.

Fiifi Frimpong is the Sports Editor. He can be reached at fiifi. frimpong@yorkmail.cuny.edu

Upcoming Staff Vs Students Game

By Fiifi Frimpong York College faculty members are looking to repeat their win against York students during this years staff vs. students game on April 17 at 6 p.m.

2019 marks the third straight year that the athletic department has hosted a staff vs. students game and it has been an enjoyable experience for past participants. This year’s contest will award prizes and feature surprise participants.

After a month-long poll on the York Athletics website, consisting of 100 votes, basketball was chosen as this year’s game, winning more than half the votes, beating out soccer, volleyball, and softball.

Students participating in the game are looking forward to avenging last year’s contest that ended with the staff coming away with the victory.

Denee’ Barracato, York’s Athletic Director, coached her team last year to victory after a hard fought battle against the students. The athletic director will once again coach the faculty team against the students and is hoping to have a repeat performance.

“I’m not playing I know my role,” Barracato jokingly said. “I will be coaching the game again.

We’re reigning champs and I’m looking to win again.”

The star performer from the faculty’s team last year was Jamel

Photo credit: York Athletics Website

Gist, the Men’s Basketball Assistant Coach.

Amy O’Connor, the Head Athletic Trainer, shared her thoughts about last year’s game and what to look forward to this time around.

“Jamel Gist on the staff team played some exceptional basketball,” said the athletic trainer. “I think our men’s and women’s basketball coaches had a great time refereeing the game as did our two basketball athletes who coached the student team.

The vibe around the event was very positive and the game was played in great spirit.”

The winners of the game will receive a trophy and of course bragging rights. The trophy that was won last year is currently being displayed in the public safety office until the students can win it back from the faculty.

“The students will be looking to bring it back across campus this year,” said O’Connor. “I’m sure!”

Both students and faculty members were eligible to sign up on a first come first served basis for the basketball game. Registration didn’t close until all 15 roster spots on both teams were filled.

The only caveat to the rule is

that students that are currently on the basketball roster aren’t eligible to participate. However, student athletes are eligible to coach the student team.

Both students and faculty members are eligible to sign up on a first come first serve basis for the basketball game. Registration will stay open until all 15 rosters spots on both sides are filled

Fiifi Frimpong is the Sports Editor. He can be reached at fiifi.frimpong@yorkmail.cuny. edu

Softball April 9: Away @ Sarah Lawrence College (NY) 3:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.

April 12: Home vs. Lehman College (NY) 3:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.

April 13: Home vs Brooklyn College (NY) 2:00 p.m. & 4:00 p.m.

April 16: Home vs Yeshiva University (NY) 3:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.

April 23: Away @ Notre Dame of Maryland University (MD) 3:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.

April 24: Away @ Rosemont College (PA) 3:00 p.m. & 5:00 p.m.

Men’s Tennis April 9: Away @ Baruch College (NY) 3:30 p.m.

April 13: Away @ Lehman College (NY) 12:00 p.m.

April 18: Away @ Farmingdale State College (NY) 4:00 p.m.

April 19: Away @ Rutgers-Newark (NJ) 4:00 p.m.

April 23: Away @ College of Saint Elizabeth (NJ) 1:00 p.m.

Track April 19: vs Queensborough Relays @ Queensborough CC (NY) 3:00 p.m.

April 20: vs Queensborough Relays @ Queensborough CC (NY) 11:00 a.m.

April 28: vs Brick City Classic @ New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJ) Time TBA