Pandora's Box Spring 2019 IV 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 IV: Thursday, May 2, 2019 yorkpbnews.net

Mother of Deceased York Student Continues to Fight in Her Memory

Doniqueca Cooke. Photo Courtesy: Juliane Williams

By Angel Adegbesan Juliane Williams, the mother of a York student who died in 2016, is seeking the college community’s help in petitioning the local government to name a street in her honor.

In the petition Williams is asking for the section of Junction Boulevard where her daughter was killed to be co-named Do-

niqueca Cooke Way. “I take signatures from the community but I need to involve my college community,” Williams said. “People sign and put their signature, what they have to say about her, leave their emails and stuff like that.”

Cooke was killed in June of 2016 when the driver of a speeding vehicle lost control, which jumped the curb and struck her.

Cooke, who was known to her friends as “Niiqua,” aspired to be an occupational therapist.

Williams provided Pandora’s Box with a copy of the petition to be signed if any member of the college community is interested in signing.

Williams also said she is working with the office of the president and the college administration to make copies of the petition readily available to students, such as in the library. She also plans on working with the Student Government Association on this issue.

Williams, who was also a student at York, said that before her daughter’s death they both had plans to graduate together.

Williams had passed her nurs-

ing exam toward her pursuit of a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing at York while Cooke was an Occupational Therapy student.

When the tragedy happened, Williams was unable to return to school, so she got involved with the community. She taught English as a Second Language at her church and also began donating slightly used clothes to clothing drives for the poor.

Williams said she is trying to resume her education at York for the Fall 2019 semester.

“Because I was in grief, I can’t really resume normalcy in my life to come back to school and stuff,” she said. “I just started to do community work.”

Subsequently, she started a foundation called NiiquaBeeFaith as a result of the community work she was doing in honor of Cooke’s memory, along with the support of Cooke’s friends.

The mission of the foundation includes raising awareness about reckless driving, doing community work for those in need while giving back to the community at the local level but also aspiring to a global level.

“So, we just get involved in all things that are of service because that is what my daughter was,” Williams said. “Niiqua was in everything. She loved and she cared, so she did a lot. So the foundation was designed to give back to the less fortunate whilst denouncing reckless driving in all forms because she was standing on the sidewalk just waiting to cross when the car got up there and took her life. So that’s what her foundation is about.”

Williams is also persuading York College to award her Cooke’s bachelor’s degree posthumously. According to the college’s official rules, a posthumous degree can only be awarded when the deceased is in senior standing with at least 90 credits completed.

According to Williams, Cooke had less than 90 credits before she passed away.

“It’s not fair for any child so hard-working to live their life like that and the college has a rule whether they should graduate and I’m trying to override it with the help of politicians and pastor and everybody. Including alumnis, nursing students and her fel-

low classmates,” Williams said.

“What benefit is this?” she asked. “It is to honor their life and it does something for us, for me as the mother. My daughter’s life was taken unjustly but at least her hard work was accounted for.”

Williams said she is hosting a vigil in honor of her daughter for the third anniversary of her death on June 29. The vigil will be held at the intersection of Junction Blvd and Horace Harding Expressway where the accident happened.

“If there is anyone who is interested, in music or performing arts that is willing to do something, I welcome it,” Williams said. “So we just don’t have politicians stand and talk and we have young people involved. We’re going to be giving t-shirts and buttons.”

If anyone is interested in signing the petition stop by the Pandora’s Box’s office, located at 2C13, Monday to Thursday from 12 p.m to 5 p.m.

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

New York State Budget Allocates $7.6 Billion to Higher Education

By Danielle Cruz The state legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo passed a $175 billion New York State budget on March 31 which included approval for $7.6 billion in funding for higher education, an increase of nearly $143 million from last year’s budget.

The budget includes an increase to the Excelsior Scholarship Income Eligibility Threshold, raising it to $125,000 from the $110,000 allocated last year. According to the FY 2020 Executive Budget Briefing book this increase will allow for approximately 55 percent of all full time students to be able to attend CUNY or SUNY for free.

The budget includes $119 million set aside for free tuition for an estimated 30,000 students, as well as $2.5 million for CUNY’s Accelerated Study in Associate Program which aims to help low-income students attain Associate’s degrees.

Perhaps one of the more progressive acts passed was the Jose Peralta New York State Dream Act which provides undocumented children enrolled as students in the state an opportunity to attend college by allowing them to apply for financial aid.

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The Dream Act also made way for the creation of a DREAM fund commission and a DREAM fund that will provide undocumented students scholarships programs to help pay for college. The act also allows for undocumented families to open a New York State 529 family tuition account under the New York State College Tuition Savings Program.

The act was passed as part of NYS response to the federal government’s failure to pass a federal Dream Act, which has been stalled in Congress for more than 16 years. That act would have allowed for anyone who entered the U.S at a young age apply to become a permanent resident if they had either graduated from high school, were attending college or serving in the military.

“So the New York State Dream Act Bill is basically for young people who have gone through the New York state public schools but don’t qualify for financial aid so they can’t get students loans and things like that to help them go to college,” said Midori Hills the York College Immigration Center attorney. “So New York state can’t say you’re a permanent resident but they can say that regardless of what your immigration status is, if you qualify under these rules then you may be able

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to get some kind of help to pay for college at least. The main thrust of it is that undocumented students can get financial aid.”

The budget also passed a plan to help combat student loan debt.

According to the Executive Budget Briefing book in NY there are approximately 2.8 million student loan borrowers.

“Those 2.8 million borrowers have tens of billions of dollars in outstanding student loan debt, which is serviced by about 30 student loan servicers,” the briefing book continues. “These servicers, however, are neither licensed nor regulated in New York, even though the student loan servicer industry has repeatedly been cause for serious consumer protection concerns.”

The budget calls for more protections for student loan borrowers by requiring student loan companies to have a state license and meet certain standards and regulations. According to the briefing book this “will also ensure that no student loan servicers can mislead a borrower or engage in any predatory act or practice, misapply payments, provide credit reporting agencies with inaccurate information, or any other practices that may harm the borrower.”

The budget also included the

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Middle States Update

LGBTQ+ Art Exhibit

Senator Leroy Comrie visited York on May 2.

Photo Credit: Angel Adegbesan

Family Empowerment Community College Program. This program will work to provide support for 400 single parents per year attending a SUNY or CUNY. The program will provide on-campus childcare, personalized advisement, educational supports, career counseling and assistance in transitioning to a 4-year school.

While the budget may have

had some positive implications for CUNY students and faculty, many faculty unions, like the Professional Staff Congress (PSC) CUNY, remain dissatisfied with the levels of state funding for public education.

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NEWS PB Thursday, May 2, 2019

Two Officers Hurt In Crash On York Campus

York Holds Merit Scholars Reception

Two civilian cars and one police cruiser were damaged in the crash. Photo Credit: Edwin Rios

By Richard Heaton With a loud bang, the area in front of York College became a hazard following a three car accident involving a police cruiser, Just before 2 p.m. on Apr. 12, the cruiser collided with an SUV at the intersection of Guy R. Brewer Boulevard and Liberty Avenue.

According to police, the cruiser was travelling down Liberty Avenue responding to a call while the SUV was turning onto Guy R. Brewer Boulevard. Following the crash, the SUV lurched onto the sidewalk, nearly rolling into the gate surrounding the campus.

Moments after the accident, the cruiser’s rear passenger door was found lying on the sidewalk.

While there were multiple injuries the accident did not involve anyone affiliated with York and did not result in damages to campus property, according to York’s Public Safety Director Rufus Massiah.

Both officers in the cruiser sustained minor injuries and were taken to Jamaica Hospital while a third person was taken to Queens

Hospital Center, according to police and FDNY reports. A third vehicle was involved in the accident with no injuries reported.

For approximately four hours after the accident, Guy R. Brewer was closed to non-emergency vehicles between Liberty and Archer avenues. All traffic was redirected to 160th and 165th streets and the 165th street entrance into the east parking lot was opened while two NYPD traffic agents worked the intersection.

The accident was just the beginning of a dangerous weekend for the neighborhood. Just 12 hours after the cruiser was towed away, police were alerted to gunfire just three blocks away from the school, according to the Daily News. When police arrived, a 48-year-old drive-by victim was found in his car at the intersection of Guy R. Brewer and 108th Avenue. Two days later, another man was shot, at the intersection of Guy R. Brewer and Linden Blvd.

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

Photo Credit: Edwin Rios

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Photo Credit: Pamela Garcia

By Pamela Garcia Alumni and current York College students filled every corner of the the new Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning building for the celebration of the college’s staff and students during the Merit Scholarship Reception on April 11.

Students spoke about their struggles and the rewards of their hard work despite their own doubts and the doubts of those around them.

“You will never be anything and you’re not going to make it,” said merit scholar Natalia Gayot, referring to a refrain she heard several times. Gayot also recalled that some of her high school teachers did not believe in her and received a round of applause after saying, “I leave those who doubted me embarrassed.”

Another scholarship recipient, Victor Ansor, gave accounts of the many times he went to bed hungry. Growing up in Nigeria, with a single parent who had to take care of him and seven of his siblings, he said he knew his circumstances would change with education. Ansor noted that the memories of his mother’s hard work to sustain the family became his motivation to continue

to achieve his dreams.

Ansor also assisted President Marcia V. Keizs in handing out awards to honor Dr. Shirley Ostholm Hinnau and The Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation.

Beth Lief, the foundation’s executive director, accepted the award and expressed to guests that each time she helps a student receive a scholarship, she strives to help even more students. Lief also noted that students who are awarded scholarships from the foundation are amazing for overcoming challenges and not giving up on their goal of getting a college education.

Lief also reminded everyone that the funds from the Milton Petrie Foundation can make the difference between students not being sure if they could complete college and going on to graduating and become professional leaders in their fields.

Upon receiving her award, Dr. Hinnau expressed her gratitude to those who came out to support her and praised the accomplishments of the countless students she has educated and counseled.

“York has so many diamonds in the rough and in life there is so much talent but not always opportunity (and) York College is a place of opportunity,” said Hinnau.

Gisele Santana, a senior at York, assisted President Keizs in presenting Hinnau with her award. Santana said Hinnau had always believed that she could become a lawyer and became the main reason why she decided to study pre-law instead of continuing her studies to become a social worker.

“Thank you for helping me pursue my dreams of social justice on a micro level,” Santana told Hinnau. “And because of you I can accomplish my dream on an international level.”

Pamela Garcia is a contributing writer. She can be reached at pamela.garcia@yorkmail.cuny. edu

York Reacts to NYC Congestion Pricing in Uptown Manhattan

By Asar John As part of the 2020 New York State Budget, the NYS Legislature reached a deal to start congestion pricing, which would mean that starting late next year drivers travelling south of 60th Street in Manhattan would be charged a toll.

The NYS legislature hopes to use congestion pricing as a new tolling policy system that will discourage driving in certain public areas in New York that often experience overcrowding due to increased demand. In this case, the public area would be Manhattan Central Business District.

Though the price of the toll is currently undetermined, 80 percent of the money made off of the tolls will go to the MTA, as part of their “Fast Forward Plan,” which is spearheaded by the New York

Photo credit:Joiseyshowaa via Flickr

City Transit Authority President Andy Byford. The other 10 percent will be given to the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad.

Proponents say the move will generate nearly $1 billion a year, and reduce the amount of pollution in that area.

“This plan was once to deal with congestion in a particular

part of Manhattan,” said Robert Chaouad, a Political Science professor at York. “A second element decided that the amount of money generated from the taxes could be used to repair the subway system, and a third could be congestion pricing being used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

York students had several things to say about the new toll-

ing policy, from whether they believed it would help with congestion and reducing greenhouse gases to whether it simply would not and was just another way for the city to take more money from New Yorkers.

“I think it is ridiculous because the price for transportation is already high and they want to raise it,” said sophomore Rehana Anif, an Education major. “There is no point of trying to charge some other people if they are not even using public transportation.”

Some students also pointed out the fact that the MTA is already increasing ride fares despite the fact that they will be receiving funds from the tolls .

Fares rose on April 21, but only for certain fare payments.

For example, 7-day unlimited MetroCards rose from $32 to 33, and the 30-day unlimited went from $121 to 127. However, the base fare for a regular MetroCard

remains at $2.75.

Students also pointed out that there are already 15 toll crossings in New York City, with the highest tolls charged on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, which is $19, without EZ-Pass. The Verrazano-Narrows also has the highest toll in the nation.

“I think this is just an excuse to make more money from people,” says Jahan Shah, a computer science major, who frequently drives into the soon to be tolled section of Manhattan. “Yeah it might decrease traffic, but it’s just not fair to drivers to put tolls there because there is already so many tolls.”

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

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York Expected to Be Off the Warning List Following Middle States Visit

Photo credit: Middle States Commission of Higher Education

By Angel Adegbesan York College may be getting off the Middle States Commission of Higher Education (MSCHE) warning list after representatives from the organization visited the campus in March.

The MSCHE will have their annual meeting in June to make a final decision on whether the college will keep its accreditation based on the visiting team’s report.

“The visiting team came and spent the whole day with us on Tuesday and on Wednesday morning, they gave us their exit report which was identical to the

report they submitted to the Middle States,” Provost Panayiotis Meleties said. “We did not have any reason to make comments or ask them to change their report because it was a very good report.”

Last June, York was found to have only met six out of the seven accreditation standards established by the MSCHE. The school also failed to meet the eighth and tenth affiliation requirements.

The college was placed on a warning list in June 2018 and was also given two years to meet the standards and affiliation requirements to get off the warning list.

After the MSCHE decision in June, the York community

formed three committees to meet the fifth standard assessment and the requirements of the eighth and tenth affiliations. Each committee generated a report that was submitted to the Monitoring Report Committee and became part of a monitoring report that was submitted to MSCHE by March 1, 2019.

The Middle States visiting team came to the college for two days in March. Their exit report indicated that York appears to be in compliance with the necessary requirements.

“The faculty, staff and administration are making significant strides in developing a culture of assessment and college wide systematic processes that indicate compliance with the requirements of affiliation 8 and 10 and Standard V,” the exit report stated. “It is important that these efforts continue and are sustainable for the future.”

The report also had eight commendations, three recommendations and two suggestions for the college.

“Remember when I said we wanted to get an A-plus, We got an A with eight “plusses” not just one,” Meleties said proudly.

“That’s why everybody is very re-

laxed and the president is smiling everywhere she goes because we received eight commendations.”

The commendations and summary of institutional strengths included effective communications about the ongoing assessment activities, an inclusive process that engages faculty staff and administrators in the ongoing assessment activities. Other commendations included a shout out to the president, provost and student body for their support and clear commitment to the success of the college.

“We are pleased with the visiting team’s exit report, in which the college received numerous commendations on the actions taken since last year to address the concerns around Requirements of Affiliation 8 and 10 and Standard V,” President Marcia Keizs said in a statement. “The observation from the visiting team is that the college appears to meet the Standards to remain accredited and we are optimistic that the action from the Commission in July will affirm that.”

The Federal Government requires that all colleges receiving federal funding be accredited.

The United States Department of Education delegates accreditation

authority to seven regional higher education accreditation commissions. MSCHE is one of them.

According to the MSCHE website this accreditation process, through the monitoring of MSCHE, aims to continuously assess the college’s operations for continuous improvement of student learning outcomes and success.

“As a college community, we are delighted that the large amount of work that was done in the last year was recognized by the commission and resulted in this very good result,” Meleties said. “We believe that we’re going to have a very good decision by the commision of higher education.”

Responses, decisions and reports are public records and are available on York’s website. More information can also be obtained on the MSCHE website.

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

York’s Career Services is Available to Help Get Jobs

By Rachel Dalloo Danielle Cruz Career Services at York College has developed several online networking and and national database connection services to help students enter the 21st century workforce.

The office provides interested students with opportunities to gain and refine skills needed for the workplace and offers students with professional help with their career development.

This includes services to help students with writing their resumes, applying for jobs or internships, as well as granting access to leadership workshops and networking opportunities.

They offer a variety of programs like Internship Tuesday, which goes over how to navigate Cardinal Careers as well as other resources, and Focus 2 Career Tuesday, which helps students decide what career best suit them and discusses how to use Focus 2, an online career, major and education planning system.

“We want to prepare students, not for a job but for a career,” said Linda Chesney, the Career Services director.

Cardinal Careers is one of the online services provided by Career Services and helps link jobs and internships to York Students.

Students can access cardinal careers by going to the Career Services page on the York College website. (The password for Cardinal Careers is separate from the one used to access campus computers and to sign up all you have to do is have your emplid on hand.)

According to Chesney, before students start searching and applying for jobs on Cardinal Careers there are some requirements

that they must meet.

“Once a student sets up their password, then they have to upload their resume. However, they will not be able to look at jobs until their resume has been critiqued and it has been uploaded,” said Chesney. “And the reason for that is because we want the students resumes to look professional before they upload them and it is sent out.”

Along with Cardinal Careers students can also access Simplicity, which is a national database and management system used by several other CUNY schools that refines the jobs that students are looking for.

“So the jobs that they are looking at we refine them to be mostly in the Tri-state are or some key locations that we feel the student might be interested in,” said Chesney. “From there the companies can put their jobs on but, in most cases the jobs are submitted by the companies through a national database or a targeted database for the particular schools that they are interested in.”

Career Services has also recently started working closely with City University of New York (CUNY) Success Initiatives.

According to Chesney, Success Initiatives is a university-wide program that connects a students academic development to career opportunities and development.

“It is clear that students are not here just for education but in the end for careers and if they have not obtained the soft skills or the hard skills necessary for what companies are requiring then we are doing them a disservice,” said Chesney. “So this is to try to get students to be more aware of what skills are required for employers.”

For students interested in Health Services they also offer a

Career Services is located room 3M01 in the Academic Core Building.

peer-to-peer program.

“We were granted funds to match students with peers in the health services areas because many students were coming here to the campus hoping to get into the professional programs that we have but, we just do not have enough seats,” said Chesney. “So they actually were given information by peers like themselves, other students that we hire to be trained in January and then they met with students to show them what some of the other career alternatives are.”

This year Career Services has helped to connect students to programs like the Thurgood Marshall Leadership Institute and various role model programs.

Recently 19 York students were chosen to participate in the annual New York Coalition of One Hundred Black Women Role Model Program that was held at L’Oréal’s New York headquarters.

The program, which was held from April 22 to April 25, allowed students to participate in vari-

ous workshops and mentorship opportunities. At the end of the program two students from York were granted scholarships based on essays that they had submitted. One student received the highest amount, $2,000, and another received $1,000.

While the services provided are free it is important to note that there are requirements that students must meet before they are able to utilize the career services that they have to offer.

Students must attend an orientation, which is held every Tuesday from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m., where they will be given an overview of all the services as well as get a break down of the current opportunities, programs and resources that are available to students.

“It’s so that students know in advance what we have to offer, because too often they come for one thing or they come when they are going to graduate and they missed out on many of the opportunities,” said Chesney Directly after the orientation is a required Resume Clinic, which

Photo credit:Fiifi Frimpong

is from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., where students are required to bring in copies of their resumes.

“The resume clinic gives us the opportunity, because I have a very, very small staff, gives us an opportunity to speak to a lot of students on a regular basis and have them bring their hard copy resume in so that we can critique it,” said Chesney. “We are not here to do resumes, we are here to help students do resumes.”

The Career Resources Center is located in the Academic Core Building – 3M01. Students can also reach out to the office by emailing them at career@york. cuny.edu

Rachel Dalloo is the assistant News Editor. She can be reached at rachel.dalloo@ yorkmail.cuny.edu Danielle Cruz is the Editor-in-Chief. She can be reached at danielle.cruz@yorkmail. cuny.edu

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NYS Budget (Cont. Pg.1) For instance, while funding for the Federal Pell Grant program and the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) was continued, the budget failed to close the TAP gap, which is the difference between TAP funding for students versus the actual tuition costs.

“TAP and Pell funding was continued,” said Senator Leroy Comrie a senator form the 14th Senate District. “We weren’t able to close the TAP gap, it was just too much money and unfortunately the state wound up not having a surplus this year. We were actually projected to have almost a billion dollars short in revenue so it made it very difficult to make up those gaps.”

In an interview with The Chief , PSC President Barbara Bowen said that the money allocated to CUNY is still not enough to keep up with increased student enrollment.

“While the budget agreement includes some important advances, especially on community college base aid, it makes little progress on addressing the fundamental problem of diminishing public funds for CUNY,” said Bowen.

She also pointed out that the budget did not address or provide enough money to address the salaries that adjuncts are paid. Bowen said that increased funding would have made sure that adjuncts were receiving a fair wage and ensure that students were faced with “shortages of courses, resources, and time with faculty.”

“Another failure that we were not able to do was to increase the pay for adjuncts, which is an important issue that we need to try to address but we just didn’t have the money,” said Comrie.

“It’s crazy in a budget were it is $170 billion that we don’t have enough money but you know we wound up not having enough money. Between the TAP gap and the adjunct adjustments it would have been $500 million that we just didn’t have. ” While York officials have projected a $2.9 million dollar budget deficit for the 2019 fiscal year, it remains unclear how CUNY will allocate funding from the recently passed budget. Traditionally the allocations are decided upon during the summer.

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

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York Prof. Reacts to NY Ban on Single-Use Plastic Bags

By Rachel Dalloo Retailers in New York will no longer be able to provide single-use plastic bags starting March 1, 2020. The state became the second in the country, following California, to pass a statewide ban on plastic bags in stores.

The ban, which was proposed

by Governor Andrew Cuomo in April 2018, calls for retailers in NY to replace their plastic shopping bags with alternatives, like paper bags, which they charge customers a 5-cent fee per bag, if requested. Customers may also bring in their shopping bags as another alternative.

The law was part of the state’s $175 billion budget for 2020 that was passed in April.

“As an environmentalist, I thought this was a good thing,” said Dawn Roberts-Semple, an assistant professor of Earth and Physical Sciences at York College.

“Because plastic is not biodegradable, there has been so many studies that show how plastic can be harmful to the environment.

As it breaks down, and gets in the land and ocean, there are organisms that it impacts.”

Plastic is made from petroleum and does not break down organically. This had led to many bags polluting the sidewalks,

waterways, and landfills, mainly harming wildlife. Alternatives, made from things like paper and cornstarch, are recyclable and compostable in facilities that generate enough heat to break them down.

California became the first state to ban single-use plastic bags in the country in 2016. In the state, businesses can offer paper bags and thicker plastic bags for about 10 cents for each of those items.

If cities and counties opt for the 5-cent fee on paper bags in New York, 40 percent of the revenue would support local programs to buy reusable bags for low- and fixed-income consumers, and 60 percent of the revenue would support utilizing the state’s Environmental Protection Fund.

“I think there are some people who find this being an imposition, where they can’t afford it, like low-income people,” Roberts-Semple said. “I do think some people are willing to pay, and some are able to afford it.”

There will be exemptions to the ban, including food carryout bags, dry cleaning, garbage bags and bags for fruits, vegetables and wrapped deli meats at the grocery store.

“I think for the residents themselves, it should be a good

Join York’s Political Science Club

Photo Courtesy: Pamela Garcia

By Pamela Garcia College students can go their entire four years without ever joining any student clubs or activities. This was almost the case for Timothy Girel, a senior majoring in Political Science at York College. But, because of him, there is now a Political Science Club at York.

Girel said he had always wanted to get involved with the school community in a meaningful way but was unable to because of his busy course load. Still, Girel had a passion to start a Political Science Club before he graduated.

Girel organized the club and its elections in the Spring 2019 semester while preparing for midterms and working as an intern.

He was determined to create a unique club.

Girel said there were moments when he felt like the goals he had for the clubs creation required too much effort, especially since he had to go through the process of starting a club at York as well as encourage his peers to run for cabinet positions and join the

club.

His persistence finally paid off when he was informed by Student Activities that the Political Science Club met all the requirements and is now a fully established and acknowledged group at the school.

The official cabinet members of the club includes Achasha Hate as the vice president, Meredith Innocent as the secretary, Vincent Anasor as the treasurer, and Girel as the president.

Girel’s determination and drive will continue to set the standard for hard-working students to develop the club way after he graduates this spring. He wants the club to be open to all students regardless of their major.

Anyone who is interested in current affairs, United States’ history or social issues are encouraged to join the club. Anyone can then run for a position, organize events and help make decisions in this club.

All meetings are held in room 3B01on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12 p.m to 2 p.m. to accommodate student’s schedules.

Pamela Garcia is a contributing writer. She can be reached at pamela.garcia@yorkmail.cuny. edu

thing though it might not be convenient,” Roberts-Semple said. “I think there will be a level of discomfort first for consumers. So, we’ll have to get used to finding alternatives.”

“I think the impacts will be positive in the long run because there will be less litter and there’s a good cause that goes with it for us,” she added. “ I guess for the store owners and entrepreneurs, I’m not sure that will be a plus for them but I know manufacturers of plastic bags will not be happy.”

Following the state-wide ban,

Photo Credit: Newtown Grafitti via Flickr

New York City has taken the latest step in its battle against plastic by banning single-use plastic utensils like forks, spoons and cups in city agencies. On May 1 Maine became the first state to ban styrofoam food containers beginning in 2021.

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

News Briefs: By PB Staff

The York College Theatre - Department of Performing and Fine Arts presents Ruined by Lynn Nottage.

Set in a small Congolese mining town on the edge of the rainforest, Ruined, presents a graphic portrait of women as the perennial victims of war. With glimmers of hope and a tribute to human endurance the play offers an unflinching depiction of what people are prepared to do in order to survive in a world torn apart by civil war. (Adult situations, parental guidance advised.)

Tickets for students are $ 7 and showings, listed below, are held in the Milton G. Bassin small theater.

Friday May 3 at 4 p.m.; Saturday May 4 at 7 p.m.; Tuesday May 7 at Noon; Friday May 10 at 7 p.m.; Saturday May 11 at 2 p.m.

The Commencement speaker for the graduating class of 2019 will be Letitia James, attorney general for the state of New York. The 49th Commencement Exercises of York College will be in the Health and Physical Education Building, located on Liberty Avenue between Guy R. Brewer Blvd. and 160th Street.

The 10th Annual Undergraduate Research Day will be held on May 9 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Academic Core atrium and faculty dining room.

The Undergraduate Research Day is a celebration of undergraduate research and creative scholarship in all disciplines at York College. The conference also offers opportunities for students to connect with potential faculty mentors.

The Women’s Center at York will host the Women’s Empowerment Film Series for the month of May on May 7 from 12 p.m to 2 p.m. The featured film is Oceans 8, the first in the caper franchise to star eight women as the leading roles in the cast. The Center invites students to take a break from studying and come out to relax while watching eight ladies pull off the heist of the century and look good while doing it. Light refreshments will be served.

The Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center at York College will be hosting an Arts Festival “YCArts Fest: York Live!” from May 15 to May 17 in the main stage theater. The festival will feature free live performances from York College students and clubs as well as music by special guest DJs and artists plus a free DJ workshop.

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Fine Arts Gallery Presents 360 VR Art Exhibit: LGBTQ+ In Queens

Turn to the photo gallery on pg 6 for more pictures of the Exhibit. Photo Credit: Danielle Cruz

By Asar John The Fine Arts Gallery at York College, in collaboration with Future American Retrospective, opened to the public a new interactive and 360 degree art exhibit titled LGBTQ+ in Queens.

The Future American Retrospective, which is a project started by associate professor of communications technology, Daniel Phelps, aims to record oral histories for a short period of time. He says that some of the topics discussed in the exhibit are hyper-local and/or hyper-timely.

“What that means is something that is a very specific area and a very specific topic,” said Phelps.

“The show showcases an

LGBTQ+ symposium we did in the spring and it showcases just that because we collected so much data, interviewing 28 people in virtual reality and high quality audio.”

The exhibit focuses on the history and hardships of the LGBTQ+ community in Queens.

“Choosing LGBTQ+ culture for the project had to do with looking at Queens and some of the struggles that a very small community has had in Queens over the past 40 to 50 years, or even longer than that,” said Phelps.

Many of these struggles include those of Irish-born gay rights activist Brendan Fay. Fay, who spoke at the exhibit on April 17, spoke about his experience fighting for LGBTQ+ equality. One part of Fay’s expe-

rience was his termination at an all girls’ catholic school, that used to be not that far from the York campus.

“I still think back to the actual moment,”, said Fay. “It reminded me of the prejudice that LGBTQ+ people still experience, where we are told we are not welcome, we have to hide ourselves, not be ourselves.”

Fay has been involved in several LGBTQ+ movements in Queens and around the city. He was also responsible for organizing groups like the Irish Lesbian Gay Organization (ILGO) and the Lavender and Green Alliance.

Phelps believes that Queens is overlooked in LGBTQ+ culture and wanted to showcase the credit it the borough deserves.

“Manhattan has gotten a lot of the spotlight, but to really look at Queens and to view the historical artifacts we have including photos, interviews and Councilman Daniel Dromm who started the Queens Pride Parade; that did not get as much national attention as Manhattan did,” said Phelps.

Councilman Daniel Dromm, who serves city council District 25, was also in attendance during Fay’s talk and spoke briefly at the beginning about his experience as a gay rights activists and how he came out in 1992 while he was working as a school teacher.

“I think it is really important that we show LGBT lives and how they live and survive in this borough,” says Dromm. “Being out and visible and having an exhibit like this is important.”

Dromm says that since he came out in 1992, things have changed dramatically because of the LGBTQ+ community’s willingness to be more visible.

“Things have changed and a lot of it is because of our visibility, so I think it is important that people know we are your family,

friends, neighbors and so on and so forth,” said Dromm. “When people know that, I think it is less likely people will discriminate against us.”

The exhibit features different methods of immersive video technology, such as Virtual Reality and 360° video formats.

“This show explores the different ways to view immersive video,” says Phelps. “It is taking those formats that we use to acquire images and playing them back in different ways.”

This allows viewers to choose exactly what they want to see in a certain part of the exhibit.

“I want them to have a different experience every time they walk in,” says Phelps.

One part of the exhibit features four television screens, each showing a different angle of last years LGBTQ Symposium.

“As humans we have eyes that point forward, but if we hear something behind us, and there’s different images behind us we are going to choose our own narrative. The narrative is the story that is being told.”

One part of the exhibit, called “Little Big Planet”, is composed of two pieces that uses high quality video, and goes about in a way where virtual reality goggles are not needed. This is opposed to a piece that lives in the center of

the exhibit, which are VR goggles mounted to the ceiling. However, the VR goggles do not come with the same sort of experience as the other pieces.

“One person is experiencing that,” Phelps says, in reference to the goggles. “I wanted to explore what the options were because I think VR goggles is a very limited experience.”

Although the project will wrap up at York on April 26, Daniel Phelps hopes it will travel outside of the campus.

“Larger projects like this take time to create, evolve and figure out what you are actually trying to do,” says Phelps.

He also mentioned that the Queens Public Library has already expressed interest in hosting projects and exhibits similar to this one.

“I have been shooting immersive video with them about gentrification, land use, and what the past present and future looks like,” said Phelps. “As an artist you do not create art just for one small event and one group of people, you create it for everyone and hope that everyone is influenced by it.”

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

Councilman Daniel Dromm visited the exhibit on April 17.

Photo Credit : Danielle Cruz

The Benefits of Joining The York College Drama Club

The Drama Club meets in the performing arts center every Tuesday and Thursday during club hours. Photo Credit: Stephanie Velazquez

By Stephanie Velazquez Why should you join the York College Drama Club? It can help you build up your confidence, create new friendships, and even give you an opportunity to participate in various performances in

the performing arts center.

The York College Milton G. Basin Performing Arts Center has produced many play and musical productions. One play that was recently performed was The Selected Scenes of Sarah Ruhl, which was a collection of scenes taken from plays written by Sarah

Ruhl.

Amanda Gardner, a speech communications and theater arts major, was one of the actors from the drama club that was cast in the play.

Gardner’s start in the theatre/ drama world began when she was in the 9th grade.

“My first entry was when my 9th grade Drama Teacher asked me to read something for the class and I did not think anything of it,” she recalls.

The teacher later asked her if she wanted to be in a play. “There was only me and two other girls in the play and I had to memorize so much I was like I could either quit and regret it or I could man up and do this. I have loved it ever since.”

Joining and participating in drama productions can also help boost your confidence up.

“I would say it does, in fact, boost confidence because you have to perform not knowing what you look like. Like you do not get to see yourself perform until after you do it,” she said.

“So you gotta just suck it up and give it all you have to talk to a live audience but you have to project so there is no way you can hide from speaking.”

Most people view theater as a simple extracurricular activity but joining drama clubs can be beneficial for those involved.

Starshima Trent, another speech communications and the-

ater arts major at york, also says that she believed that being a part of the theatre world has lead to a positive experience.

“I first got into the theater world when I was in elementary school,” she said. “I fell in love with learning my lines and getting into character because it gave me a voice that I thought I never had.”

Trent has a learning disability and through theater, she found confidence in herself. “I was put into special education classes because I was told I had a learning disability,” she said. “I felt very depressed because of that I thought I would never be normal again but when I found my love for theater it gave me a voice and it gave me power back.”

The York College Drama Club club meetings are held during club hours every Tuesday and Thursday in the Performing Arts Center across the street from the main academic building.

Stephanie Velasquez is a contributing writerShe can be reached at stephanie.velasquez@yorkmail.cuny.edu

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Gallery B PB Thursday, May 2, 2019

yorkpbnews.net

PB Photo Gallery: LGBTQ+ In Queens Art Exhibit

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

yorkpbnews.net

Gallery B PB Thursday, May 2, 2019

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PB Photo Gallery: Staff vs. Students Baskeball Game

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

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What to Watch After Avengers: Endgame

most intense trailers of the winter. The trailers promise an epic battle of oversized monsters that will be even bigger in larger viewing formats such as IMAX.

Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (Aug. 2): The Fast and Furious franchise has made a huge left turn after the first few films. The series is way more comedic and “animated” and Hobbs and Shaw is even more so. The second trailer has already revealed a lot about the film and promises a ton of high octane and very impossible action sequences.

Photo Credit: Derks24 via Pixabay

By Richard Heaton 11 years ago Iron Man was released and on Apr 26, the culmination of all those years of work have come full circle with Avengers: Endgame. Millions of people have already seen Endgame, most likely you have also already seen it as well.

But now that you’ve seen it, what’s next? You can’t just stop going to the movies because your favorite saga is over, but what

else is there to watch?

So here’s a list of all the big blockbuster films that you need to watch following Endgame. ~ Aladdin (May 24): Disney is set to release their live action remake of Aladdin and in less than a month you will get to see Will Smith as the genie. It’s supposed to be one of the biggest non-Marvel films of the year and it’s directed by Guy Ritchie, who found success with his unique directing style seen in Sherlock

Holmes and King Arthur.

Brightburn (May 24): Originally Brightburn was supposed to be released in 2018.

Now the James Gunn film is being viewed as the scariest film of the year. The film is already being compared to last years Hereditary in terms of horror.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters (May 31): The newest film in the Godzilla franchise featured one of the

Game Developers Set On Becoming More Digital and Phase Out Physical Products

Game developers are starting to phase out physical versions of their video games.

By Richard Heaton For decades, video games have been a staple of American entertainment. This year, game developers are taking the first major step in turning the industry into one that is digital-only.

What do I mean by the first step? Haven’t digital games and game streaming been around for years?

Yes, for years gamers had the ability to download games to their console or stream games through the use of different apps. But digital games always shared the spotlight with physical games. Even today, physical games are more prominent than digital ones. Storage requirements, game price, and the need for a powerful internet connection made digital gaming possible only for wealthy gamers. You would need to buy extra hard drives and more powerful consoles in order to handle all the digital games you wanted to buy.

Since most data for physical games are stored on the disc or cartridge, less space is needed

and the price for a physical game is almost always cheaper because of the need for stores to move inventory.

But now that’s changing because developers want to eliminate the middleman and make even more money. In the last month, both Sony and Microsoft have taken measures to completely eliminate physical games.

First, Microsoft unveiled a brand new Xbox One S. You guessed it, it’s digital only. It does not take physical games at all, so if you want this console and you already own physical Xbox One games, you need to re-purchase every single one of those games in digital form and at full price.

Once you do that, all your physical copies will become worthless to you.

If this console is successful, there would be nothing stopping Microsoft from making all future consoles 100 percent digital.

What Sony has planned isn’t as drastic but still hurts. Right now, there are two ways to buy digital games. You can put your card info into the digital store and buy games, or you can go to a

Photo via Pixabay

physical store and buy a gift card.

You can walk into a Gamestop, Wal-Mart, Target, or wherever and buy a physical PlayStation gift card or a physical card with a code for any game.

The cards are great for people who want to pay with cash or are wary of having their info online and great to give as gifts. Sony wants to get rid of that.

As of April 1, Sony has banned the sale of all gift cards and game codes at physical retailers as well as online retailers such as Amazon and eBay. Last year I worked at Gamestop and I would see nearly 100 gift cards and game codes bought every day. So while there is still definitely a huge demand for the cards and codes it looks that’s not what’s in store for the future.

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

Joker (Oct. 4): Lots of film lovers enjoyed joking about how bad the first few films of the DC Universe have been. They talk trash about both of the Superman films, Suicide Squad, and Justice League. Then it looked like things have turned for the better with Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam. Now, people are saying that Joker could be the best film in the universe. If you are a fan of the DCU, this should be easily at the top of your list.

Terminator: Dark Fate (Nov.1): If you are a fan of the original Terminator films, you’re

probably going to love this. Dark Fate retcons everything that happened after Terminator 2: Judgement Day. As of Nov. 1, the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Salvation, and Genisys will have never officially happened. Not only is Dark Fate continuing after Judgement Day, it also brings back James Cameron as the films writer and producer.

Cameron hasn’t worked on the series since Judgement Day.

Frozen 2 (Nov. 22): Your probably going to end up seeing this film simply because someone who saw the first will probably drag you to see it.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Dec. 20): This film is in the same boat as Endgame. It’s the big finale to the newest trilogy and if you’ve ever been a fan of Star Wars, you’re going to want to know how it all ends, right? It is very likely that this film will crack $2 billion in the box office, similar to The Force Awakens.

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

Shazam! Becomes DC’s Latest Success

Zachary Levi. Photo Credit:Gage Skidmore

By Emiree Campbell Following the success of last years Aquaman, DC Comics released Shazam! on April 5.

Directed by David Sandberg, who is best known for directing Lights Out, Shazam! stars Asher Angel as Billy Batson and Zachary Levi as Shazam.

The movie begins with little Thaddeus Sivana, later played

by Mark Strong, arguing at night with his father and brother in their car. Along the way an ancient wizard, played by Djimon Hounsou, summons Sivanna to the “Rock of Eternity” a magical sanctuary hidden in a parallel dimension.

We eventually learn that the wizard’s name is Shazam and he is the last surviving member of the Council of Seven Wizards.

He appears to be very weak and is desperately searching for a “new champion” who is “pure of heart” because their previous champion became evil and unleashed the Seven Deadly Sins onto the world.

Sivana is tested by the wiz-

ard to prove his worthiness but quickly fails and is immediately sent back to earth.

We then meet Billy Batson, a fourteen-year-old foster kid, who seems to always find trouble and is set on finding his real birth mother. He has just been placed in a new foster home, managed

by Victor and Rosa Vazquez along with five other kids.

Billy becomes close to his new foster brother, Freddy Freeman, played by Jack Dylan Grazer. Billy protects Freddy, who is your typical superhero obsessed nerd, from some school bullies one day and is able to escape onto a nearby local train. Little does Billy know this train ride changes his life forever as Shazam summons him to the “Rock of Eternity” and deems him as his new champion.

Billy’s powers are activated when he calls out the word Shazam, which transforms him into an adult superhero. The wizard tells Billy of the huge responsibility that comes with these powers before he turns into dust.

Billy returns home (looking like Shazam) and tells Freddy of everything that happened. Freddy vows to help Billy discover and master his powers.

Billy however, is not the only one who has acquired powers.

The Seven Deadly Sins have also found a new host and Billy needs to grow up fast because the fate of the world depends on him.

That’s a huge responsibility for a fourteen-year-old kid?

Wouldn’t you agree?

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

Thursday, May 2, 2019

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Movie Preview: Hustlers

By Tylaisha Davis Jennifer Lopez and Cardi B are teaming up once again, but this time it’s for a movie.

Hustlers, which is set to be released Sept. 3, will also star Keke Palmer, Lili Reinhart, Constance Wu and Julia Stiles.

Hustlers is centered around a group of strippers who band together to scam their male Wall Street clients out of thousands of dollars. The film, which is currently being filmed in New York and is being directed by Lorene Scafaria, is based on Jessica Presslers 2016, New York Magazine article, The Hustlers at Scores.

Jennifer Lopez describes her character, Ramona, as a tough, unapologetic money maker, and single mom from the Bronx. In an interview with radio host Ebro Darden, Lopez talked about how in order to prepare for the film she would go to strip clubs and talk to the women who worked there.

“I am exposing myself in a way, like emotionally and physically, more than I ever have in a movie” Lopez told Darden.

Lopez also talked about how she challenged herself and

trained her body for the role because of the pole dancing and lack of clothes the role required.

“It’s easy when you’re twenty, it gets progressively harder as you get more mature,” said Lopez.

Cardi B also recently talked to Variety about the upcoming film and how excited she is to be filming alongside Jennifer Lopez and show what happens inside strip clubs.

In a radio interview with the Breakfast Club on Power 105.1 FM, Jennifer Lopez also revealed that she personally called Cardi B to ask her to be in the movie and worked around Cardi B’s crazy schedule to make sure that she was in the film.

“You know she knew so much about this world already,” said Lopez. “So it was a thing that hit home for her and I was like you know I just think this would be a great thing for you to be involved with.”

Tylaisha Davis is a contributing writer. She can be reached at tylaisha.davis@yorkmail.cuny. edu

Hellboy Is the Most Thrilling and Disturbing Film In Years

By Richard Heaton Hellboy is a very different kind of film from others released throughout the year. It’s a little action, weird fantasies, and a whole lot of crazy all boiled down into around two hours.

It’s very rare to find a film that isn’t for everyone; if someone doesn’t like comedies, they would still at least be entertained by a comedy film. Hellboy is one of the exceptions, because it’s not for everybody but tailored towards a very specific group of fans.

Even if you are a fan of the comics or even saw the old Ron Pearlman Hellboy films, the newest reboot might still end up being a bit too much to handle. It has some solid humor and great acting from some of the films stars, but a lot of the action and violence is very over the top.

It’s like every couple minutes you see someone die in a way you never thought possible, and each death is more gruesome and disturbing than the last.

I saw the film in Dolby, which makes the sounds more intense, and the person who was sitting to my left kept reacting like it was a crazy horror film and it kind of was.

I’m used to these kinds of outrageous films, I saw Army of Darkness a bunch of times, but a lot of this film was too bloody and disturbing. So only viewers who like that kind of action would fully enjoy the film, while the average viewer would end up cringing more than a couple times.

Hellboy is just as thrilling as it is disturbing. There are a lot of action scenes that are just so

ARTS PB

grand and jaw-dropping. There’s a long scene where Hellboy is battling some giants and it’s very intense and cool looking, despite also having a few gross moments.

As for the acting, David Harbour plays the titular Hellboy, but the real star of the show is Milla Jovovich. She plays the villain, a powerful sorceress, and she does a great job. Her performance is captivating and takes a small detour from what we usually see in modern villains.

When it came to Hellboy, David Harbour did an okay job. He can definitely pull off the look and most of the humor, but didn’t really pull off the acting as great as he could have.

The film was directed by Neil Marshall, who is mostly known for directing two episodes of Game of Thrones but other than that doesn’t have much on his resume. There were a few aspects of the film that were in fact inspired from his work with the show.

Overall, I feel like Hellboy is what you would get if you took a film like Deadpool and had it directed by Quentin Tarantino.

It was a good film, Jovovich’s performance and the colorful action sequences make the film fun but the over the top and disturbing scenes coupled with poor dialogue choices really affect the film. Still a fun film and I would give it a score of 70 out of 100.

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

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The Creative Corner

Love Isn’t As Scary As You Think

By Shanaé Harte Tanna sat on her bed and thought about how she was going to tell Daniel how she felt. He had been her best friend since they were toddlers and she felt sick to her stomach thinking about what he was going to say.

She took her journal out, which was a gift from Daniel, and started to put her thoughts into words. While making her notes, her phone rang- it was Daniel.

Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and she contemplated not answering but knew if she didn’t then he would overreact and come to her house to make sure she was okay.

She let out a big sigh and answered. “Yes Daniel?”

“What’s with the attitude? You can’t be mad at me on my birthday.” Daniel said.

“Oh is that today? I forgot.” Tanna said jokingly.

“Haha. Very funny.” Daniel said, sounding very displeased.

His voice became lighter as he said, “I’m just calling to find out what time I should get you this evening. We’re still on for tonight right?”

Tanna bit her lip nervously and said, “I’m sorry Danny, I don’t think I can make it. I’m really sorry but I don’t feel good.”

In one breath Daniel said, “Tanna Noella Crawford, you can’t be serious! Going out on our birthdays have been a tradition since we’ve been 10. I won’t forgive you for this!”.

“Calm down homeboy.”, said Tanna, “I’m only joking. I’ll be there. You can pick me up at 7.”

“Okay.” Daniel said and then hung up abruptly.

Tanna felt even more horrible than she did before because now Daniel was upset. There was no way she could tell Daniel how she felt if he was upset. She decided to forget about it and continued to make her notes.

She wrote until her fingers hurt. When she checked the time she realized it almost 6 and jumped off her bed to get ready. She wanted to look extra nice this evening because she wasn’t just going to be having a normal evening with her best friend, she was about to tell him something important to her and she had no idea how things would turn out.

After showering, and doing her make-up, she browsed through her closet and decided on a yellow sundress that hugged all her curves and wore a necklace that Daniel had given her for Christmas.

As soon as she finished getting ready she received a text message from Daniel saying that he was outside.

Her heart raced as she walked down the stairs and out the door. She walked to Daniel’s car and sat in the passenger seat next to him. He didn’t say anything to her and that made her even more nervous.

“So you’re just not going to say anything to me? Maybe we shouldn’t go anywhere,” Tanna said in a very low voice.

Daniel burst out in laughter while saying, “I keep forgetting how sensitive you are. I was being funny. I’m sorry, okay?”

She gave a faint smile and nodded. She was hoping that he was actually upset so that the evening could by faster. Tanna was quiet for most of the ride because she kept rehearsing her speech over and over in her head. She was so focused that she had not even realized that they had arrived to their destination.

She looked up and realized where they were and said, “Chinese?”

“Yeah”, Daniel said, “I was in the mood for it.”

They got out of the vehicle and walked into the restaurant. They sat down to eat but neither of them said anything.

“Why…” they both said at the same time. They laughed and had about 5 rounds of “no, you go first.”

The room grew silent and Tanna thought it was the perfect opportunity to tell Daniel how she felt.

Nervously, she said, “Daniel, I have something to tell you.”

At that moment, he raised his head and looked at her attentively wanting to hear everything she had to say.

She looked down at her hands and said, “We’ve been best friends for as long as I can remember. You really are an amazing friend and I know many people say we’re almost like siblings, but I don’t see you as my brother. I like you as more than a friend and more than a brother. I understand if you don’t feel the same way but I just thought I needed to tell you. You…..”

“Stop” , Daniel said, interrupting her.

Her head shot up and her eyes filled with tears. She wanted to ask him why he stopped her but her voice would not escape the walls of her mouth. She got up from the table and blurted, “I have to go.”

As she was making a run for the exit, she felt someone grab her. She turned around and saw her best friend staring intensely at her. He cupped her face and said, “I like you too.”

She looked at him for about five seconds and then finally spoke up and said, “Then why did you stop me?”

“Well for one, I wanted to tell you I liked you first. And secondly, you suck at giving speeches”, he said jokingly.

She couldn’t help but smile. They walked back to the table and had dinner and had an amazing time together. That evening was the most fun they have ever had together. At the end of dinner, the waiter brought the bill as well as a few fortune cookies. Daniel opened his fortune cookie to read the fortune.

He kept staring at the fortune and couldn’t help but smile. Out of curiosity, Tanna asked, “What does yours say?”

He passed the very small piece of paper over to her and she found herself smiling as well.

The fortune read, “Love isn’t as scary as you think.”

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

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PB Speaks to Adjunct Professor on Insufficient Salaries at CUNY

Photo Credit: The City University of New York

By Rachel Dalloo The City University of New York (CUNY) is considered to be the nation’s leading urban university. There are eleven senior colleges, six community colleges, one graduate school, and one law school, the School of Professional Studies and The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education.

CUNY is filled with professors and adjunct professors who come from all different parts of the country and world to educate students. Even though CUNY may have high rankings, they do not have high pay for adjunct professors. If you were to look at the salaries of some adjunct professors on sites like seethroughny you would see that some make no more than $20,000 a year, while full-time faculty members can earn between $45,000 to $128,000.

Though adjuncts and full-time professors may seem to do the

same amount of work and present the same amount of class presentations, adjuncts are the ones stuck going to the extremes just to make a few extra dollars to keep their lives on a somewhat balanced track. CUNY is not realizing their mistake of taking advantage of their adjunct professors.

These professors currently teach more of the CUNY courses, just to get a few thousand dollars for the courses.

One adjunct professor who is not afraid of speaking out against CUNY’s rigged pay system is Jillian Abbott. She is an award-winning writer and journalist, her pieces have appeared In The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Australian, and The New York Daily News. The York College adjunct english professor also earned her MFA in creative writing, a terminal degree that is the highest in her field.

“I have been talking about this for a long time.” Abbott said. “But

Joe Biden Accused of Unwanted Touching

By Tylaisha Davis Former Vice President Joe Biden has recently been accused of touching people in ways that made them feel uncomfortable.

The accusations were first brought to light by former member of the Nevada Legislature, Lucy Flores, who in an article in New York Magazine accused Joe Biden of “demeaning and disrespectful” behavior. In the article Flores recalls an incident in 2014 where Biden, allegedly, gave her and unwanted kiss on the back of her head.

“Just before the speeches, we were ushered to the side of the stage where we were lined up by order of introduction,” Flores told New York Magazine. “As I was taking deep breaths and preparing myself to make my case to the crowd, I felt two hands on my shoulders. I froze. Why is the vice-president of the United States touching me?”

Though Biden has since apologized for his unwanted touches, a spokesperson for Biden has also said that the former vice president does not recall kissing Flores on the back of her head.

More women came forward and told their piece of their interactions with Biden in New York Times. Freelance writer Amy Lappos claims Joe Biden rub noses with her. 59-year old D.J. Hill says he put his hands on her shoulders and did weird things to her back, and 22-year-old Caitlyn Caruso says Biden put his hand on her thigh and gave her a lingering hug. Hill and Caruso didn’t say anything to Biden at

the time, but both stressed that they did not like or welcome the touching.

President Trump took a jab at Joe Biden at a dinner with Republican lawmakers saying “Are you having a good time Joe”.

Since these allegations pictures of Joe Biden with women have surfaced and also with young kids and people are now saying he was being inappropriate with children also.

Since allegations of Joe Biden actions have come forward, on April 3 Biden released a video apologizing on his Twitter account. Biden has said in his career he has tried to make personal connections with people by hugging them, putting his hand on someone shoulder or shaking their hand and saying they can do it. Biden says things has changed with social media and more so taking pictures and not being to personal so he will adjust to the idea of personal space.

Former Vice President Joe Biden has argued he is the most qualified person for the job to be president and despite these accusatins he is still expected to announce his running for the 2020 presidential race by the end of April.

Tylaisha Davis is a contributing writer. She can be reached at tylaisha.davis@yorkmail.cuny. edu

there has been a lot of ignoring going on, not just the pay but the ply of adjuncts of the things that have been happening, especially to me have just been extraordinary. I have been communicating with CUNY, with the Chancellor, with the Union and this is now an idea of a time where people have finally come around to listening.

I have always been talking about this and I will continue to for as long as I can.”

With the release of her OpEd piece for the Daily News, she has been applauded by many adjuncts for speaking out on their behalf. CUNY is scattered with adjuncts like Abbott that possess the highest degrees in their subject field, but aren’t pushed pushed to higher positions by their administrators.

“Many have reached out and I mean it’s kind of touching,” she said. “Adjuncts are people that are so devoted and so exploited.

The thing people say to me the most is that they are grateful, but I kind of feel grateful to be one of them. They are an inspiring group of people.”

Living off of $21,000 - $28,000 a year is not easy for anyone, let alone someone who has earned the highest degree in english.

With a degree that high in prominence, why work for CUNY when you can reach as far as Columbia University or New York University. In Abbott’s piece, she doesn’t

fail to mention her daily struggles, the workload burden that ensues 18-hour shifts, seven days per week. Leaving her no time to catch up with her writing or scholarship.The measly pay has also left her struggling with her health issues.

“It’s very unfortunate because the adjuncts are the ones who do the actual teaching, we’re the ones in the class,” Abbott said. “I really do love my students and I would do anything for them.”

She added “Well, I have all of the dental work that needs to get done. It’s really terrifying, because where am I going to get all of that money from? I have to constantly borrow money in order to survive. I am in like a house of cards and eventually it’s going to fall.”

Abbott went into further detail explaining how CUNY adjuncts deserve these full-time positions.

There should be no excuse as to why they don’t deserve what other professors have within the CUNY system. Many professors in different departments feel that inequality is one of the most devastating issues that has hit very close to home for them today.

“This adjunct situation is not good,” Abbott said. “There is no reason why all of us shouldn’t be full-time. Anyone who has taught successfully in any CUNY for 5 years should be a full-timer automatically, with a living wage.

There is no reason why that can’t happen, there is a lot of fat in CUNY. A lot of fat in administration, they could take away a lot of money away from the administration and employ us all if they wanted to.”

Abbott has proven to me personally that she is indeed a warrior. She has been an adjunct since Fall of 2010 who wasn’t afraid to be outspoken then, and she still is not afraid to be outspoken today.

She claims she feels like a slave who would row warships in the old movies about Rome. When she feels like giving up, she always asks herself, why keep rowing?

“I don’t know, I really don’t know,” Abbott said. “I don’t know what else to do, I have always rowed. Part of it is because I don’t want to be a burden to my kids. Part is like a crazy kind of optimism that somebody will see me and help me. Part of it is just (that) I am a fighter, that’s who I am. I just can’t stop.”

She added “When I said I thought about stopping and I really did, but then what? At this point, if I keep rowing maybe I won’t be a burden to my kids. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

ing nurse midwife; Afrika Owes, Fulbright Scholar, former convict and women’s self-empowerment advocate; Mohammed Ashour, co-founder and CEO of Aspire Food Group, which is a company that cultivates and processes insects for food on a commercial scale and Hebh Jamal, advocate and speaker for education reform and muslim discrimination.

Each speaker had the floor for about 15-20 minutes accompanied by their own visuals to add depth to their presentation. The event went until 5 p.m., and was split into three sessions.

Bruno performed a beautiful poem on embracing and honoring of her Trinidadian culture while assimilating into American culture. She spoke about the perils of American girls questioning and mocking her flagrant accent.

She also talked about her ability to jump in between two different cultural customs; her native one, and her adopted American one.

Ashour talked about where he sees the future of nutrition going and it’s not what we all thought.

His idea has six legs.

After receiving a degree in nutrition, he began to explore how other countries got their protein.

He realized many American food products have some amount of whey protein, which is a dairy protein. He found that crickets are a high source of protein and apparently aren’t that bad tasting.

Apparently every 100 grams of cricket contains 69 grams of protein. Compared to the same portion, there is 43 grams in beef and 31 in chicken.

I’ll take his word for it, but it’s going to be a while before I decide

to willingly eat an insect. You can visit the Aspire Food Group website for more information.

Amongst my favorite presentations was Owens.

Owens was arrested in 2011 as part of a mass gang-indictment case in Harlem at the tender age of 17.

Owens said she had fallen madly in love with a popular drug dealer and would do favors for him, including holding his firearms. She had always been an academically superior student, but back then her love for her boyfriend was the most important thing to her.

After serving time, she was sent to Africa to teach at an allgirls school. She discovered that many of her students had low self-esteem and were exhibiting the same self-destructive behaviors she had because of their boyfriends.

So Owens started Soul Sistas, a women’s empowerment group aimed at helping those young ladies learn to love everything about themselves and practice better judgement and self-care.

Now she is an administrative assistant for the Center for Constitutional Rights and still speaks to young women in her community about self-love.

Overall, this was a great TEDx talk and I’m looking forward to what powerful speakers the event invites next year.

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

Pandora’s Box Attends TEDXCUNY Held at John Jay College

Photo Courtesy: Dwayne McBean

By Dwayne McBean TEDx (the “x” representing an independently organized TED event) and the City University of New York (CUNY) hosted its fifth annual TEDxCUNY event April 5, themed “What Matters Now”.

The event was held at the Gerald W Lynch Theater at John Jay College. Hundreds of students filled the lobby beginning at 9 a.m. with anticipation for the sold out event.

Students were greeted with TEDxCUNY goodie bags filled with; a notepad and pen, bean chips (hmm… thanks!?), little chocolate filled snacks, corn chips; chips made out of corn kernel (umm… thanks again!?), and other little snackables.

Some of the day’s speakers consisted of: Camryn Bruno, York College’s very own award-winning poet; Carlos Maza, producer of Strikethrough, a Vox video series focusing on journalism in the Trump era; Lin Liang, doula and aspir-

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

PANDORA’S BOX SPORTS Thursday, May 2, 2019

yorkpbnews.net

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Harris Rappel Announced As New Assistant Athletic Director SCHEDULE

Harris Rappel was appointed as the new assistant athletic director on April 8.

By Fiifi Frimpong York College Athletic Department has appointed Harris Rappel as new assistant director of athletics for external relations/ sports information director.

Denee’ Barracato, director of athletics and recreation, appointed Rappel to the vacated position on April 8 after conducting an extensive nationwide search.

“Harris clearly has an outstanding administrative, compliance and sports information background, and I was confident he would help lead our department towards success,” Barracato said. “I believed he would have an immediate impact not only administratively, but externally through the engagement of our campus community through our social media platforms and websites because of his 13 years of previous experience in SUNY Old

Photo Courtesy: York Athletic Department

Westbury.

Rappel joins the York staff after 13 years at State University of New York (SUNY) Old Westbury.

During his stint with the school, he’s worked as a compliance officer, sports information director, assistant director of athletics and scheduling coordinator.

His new role at York will be to oversee communications and scheduling for all sports teams.

Rappel spoke about his opportunity at York and what attracted him to the community.

“Being able to get an opportunity to broadcast to over 8,000 current students and an alumni base of over 50,000,” Rappel said. “[York] has a great faculty and staff environment.

The Long Beach, Queens native will also serve in a leadership role for student athletes at the school.

“It’s all about contributing to the student-athlete experience,” he said. “I look to make an imme-

diate impact by promoting York’s successes on the field of play, in the classroom and in the community.

Rappel received his bachelor’s degree in business management and entrepreneurial studies at the University at Hartford. During his time at the university, he noted that he developed a joy for building a career in higher education.

Being part of a campus is a huge takeaway from his undergrad years and the opportunity to give back what he’s learned is high on his priority list.

“When I went away for school, being part of a campus was a great experience,” Rappel said.

“Now to be able to actually teach our student athletes and student workers, that’s an area where I really get a chance to give back.”

At his time at SUNY Old Westbury, Rappel was able to put together a respectable list of accomplishments in those 13 years.

“I have been fortunate to contribute to the development of student-athletes and students throughout my career, he said.

“Celebrating championships, All-America selections and Major League Baseball draft picks during my time in this industry come to mind, but I’m most proud of being able to provide students with real-work experience to develop them into being productive members of society. Aside from that, garnering coverage from ESPN and Sports Illustrated were also major accomplishments.”

Rappel doesn’t plan to waste any time upon arrival. He’s already mapped out ideas to enhance the athletic department to increase awareness inside and outside of York.

With the experience of growing the social media presence and getting coverage from top publications at SUNY Old Westbury, Rappel wants to bring that success with his tenure at York.

“Visibility is a short and long term goal here at York,” he said.

“This past year I implemented video streaming. We were shooting high definition with all of our campus sports. Whether it’s using a 4K camera indoors or rigging a GoPro camera to the backstop outdoors for softball, it’s all about making it happen. Making sure we share as much information with people as possible.

Softball May 3: vs CUNYAC Semifinals @ Staten Island, NY TIME TBA May 4: vs CUNYAC Finals @ Staten Island, NY. TIME TBA Track May 2: Mens vs CUNYAC Semifinals/ Finals CUNYAC Championships @ Flushing, NY 3:00 p.m.

May 4: vs St John’s University Tom Farrell Classic @ St. John’s University (NY) All Day May 12: vs CUNYAC Championships @ Randall’s Island (NY) 9:00 a.m.

PBPB Fiifi Frimpong is the Sports Editor. He can be reached at fiifi.frimpong@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 Arts/Ent. Editor: Richard Heaton richard.heaton@yorkmail.cuny.edu

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

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Aleah Cole aleah.cole@yorkmail.cuny.edu Emiree Campbell emiree.campbell@yorkmail.cuny.edu

Shanae Harte shanae.harte@yorkmail.cuny.edu Tylaisha Davis tylaisha.davis@yorkmail.cuny.edu Pamela Garcia pamela.garcia@yorkmail.cuny.edu Stephanie Velazquez stephanie.velazquez@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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PANDORA’S BOX SPORTS

yorkpbnews.net

Thursday, May 2, 2019

Students Regain Title After Blowout Win In Annual Staff vs Students Game

Players on the student basketball team holding the trophy they won during the Staff vs. Students Game.

By Fiifi Frimpong York students avenged last years loss with a blowout 75-45 victory against staff members in the annual staff vs students game on April 17 in the York College Gymnasium.

The event, hosted by Student-Athlete Advisory Committee(SAAC), is an anticipated and is a great opportunity to display school spirit here at York. With this year’s victory, the students reclaimed the trophy after a three-point lost year that kept the trophy in the public safety office.

Kevin Caraballo, York student senator, participated in the game

and gave his thoughts about this years victory.

“The game was amazing,” said the senior. “Last year we lost by three points but this year we won.

So it was a good turn out. It was a good game. Hopefully, everyone enjoyed themselves.”

The student team, coached by senior guard on the men’s basketball team Taishaun Forehand-Jenkins, certainly enjoyed themselves the whole way. They controlled the pace throughout the whole game.

The first quarter ended with the students up 19 after stiff defense that led to quick fast break buckets. Most fast breaks were headed by the main ball handler

Photo Credit: Adisa Sobers

Kwasi Koranteng.

In the second, the staff started with quick back to back scores thanks to Kevin Spies, first-year men’s basketball assistant coach.

Rhea Codio, women’s basketball assistant coach, contributed with needed buckets after quick student scores in the period but wasn’t enough to fight the student’s pace. At the half, staff were down 37-25.

The wheels started to fall off for the staff during the third period after more threes began to rain down for the students.

Fan favorite Kevin Rodriguez racked up four-three pointers in the quarter, notching three in a row at a point. Fans quickly re-

More pictures from the game can be found on page 7.

sponded each time Rodriguez touched the ball to see how many more shots he could hit with his unorthodox jumpshot.

Students kept the lead in double digits for the rest of the game.

The lead rapidly surpassed 20, then 30 by the final buzzer.

The coach of the losing side, Denee’ Barracato, wasn’t in bad spirits after the defeat. The athletic director gave her thoughts on what an event like this does for the school community.

“The significance of school spirit is paramount to the success of our programs and the support and pride our students and staff have for sports at York College,” she said. “This event provides all

Photo Credit: Adisa Sobers

participants with an opportunity to encourage school spirit and engage in good old competition.”

She also added what the staff team has to do to come out victorious in 2020.

“The staff team will need to practice, practice, practice, and of course, communicate better for a shot at bringing the title back in 2020.”

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

Student Athlete Spotlight: Taylor Bellman and Dayana Jacome

By Aleah Cole Taylor Bellman starts her morning commute to school from Queens taking the train to get to her health class at 9 a.m. Her english essay assignment is due and she spent all night finishing it before the 11:59 p.m. deadline.

When she finishes her classes at 2 p.m., Taylor goes to library to do some of her homework or to the school’s gymnasium to prepare for practice from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. After that is done she goes home, prepares for the next day and hits rewind.

Just a day in the life of a student athlete.

Bellman, freshman at York, juggles the challenges of academics and athletics here in school.

She’s constantly working on assignments at deadline after practice, sometimes affecting her arrival on campus for class in the morning.

“Some professors are ok with being late or missing classes but as long as you email them in advance they’ll understand.” she said.

Bellman’s Spanish professor understands what her student is going through. Her professor knows Taylor would email her

two days in advance if she can’t make it to class. Otherwise, her coach, Anastasia Bitis, would give letters to the students to deliver to class during basketball season.

Bellman is doing well in her classes but probably not as good if she wasn’t a student-athlete.

She conditions with her teammates during basketball season.

The team practices six days a week, Monday to Saturday at 8 a.m to 12 noon and their coach chooses which day to rest.

“During basketball season, the beginning is always rough but sometimes we get one or two days off either Wednesday or Thursday,” Bellman said.

A simple task like getting to practice can sometimes pose a challenge for Taylor, but missing out has never been an option for her. “ It’s something I am passionate about, so I make the time for it,” she said.

The difficulties of combining training, practice, games and academic work can sometimes add loads of pressure. She noted that dealing with these things can be stressful but it’s part of the process of being a student-athlete.

Like her practices, she tries her best to never skip class. Taylor makes an effort to get most

of her work done in advance but sometimes barely completing assignments the night before is inevitable.

“Even though I struggle with academic work from time to time, I take it easy,” she said. “Some of my professors know that I play sports so they are fine with me missing classes but I make sure I get the work done.”

Just a couple locker spots over, Dayana Jacome, junior guard, goes through the same struggles as a student-athlete.

The Brooklyn native started playing basketball at York in 2017 and also has plans to join the soccer team in the future. She’s pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Movement Science and shares the same conflicts with Bellman.

“Even though I struggle with academic work from time to time, I take it easy-- some of my professors know that I play sports so they are okay with me missing classes but I make sure I get the work done,” she said.

Dayana mentions that the journey of being a student-athlete gets better as the years go on. With time and experience, she’s seen improvements with grades and management.

Dayana and Taylor work hard in the classroom not to disappoint

their professors, the same goes for their coach.

Unfortunately, the past season came with a couple bumps in the road.

After a 66-52 loss to Baruch College on Jan. 3, Anastasia Bitis, women’s head coach, had an intervention with the team. The disappointed Bitis got with the team and a line stuck out from that meeting.

“We have got to do better,” the head coach said.

Bitis is strict with her student-athletes about punctuality and always participating because it shows their dedication to the team and understanding of what she is giving to them.

“If you do not want to be here you should make an opportunity for someone who does,” Bellman said.

Understanding that her players are indeed student-athletes, coach Bitis connects with them to ensure they’re doing well on and off the court.

“If we do not have off days and we are not on the court, you need to focus on your academics,” Bellman said. “Education comes first at the end of the day.”

Student-athletes could be ‘benched’ if they aren’t performing well in their classes. If the

coach is aware of an athlete struggling academically, she will try to refer them to the proper tutor.

“It was rough in the beginning but we have the hang of it.” Bellman said.

Jacome mentioned that being a student-athlete has gotten easier now because she’s more efficient with time and does a better job keeping up her grades.

Both student athletes suggested some advices for other students-athletes like themselves that are dealing with the same experience “Make sure you are always on schedule no matter what. Even though you play a sport you have to keep your grades up; you need a 2.0 or higher to participate in sports.” Dayana said.

“Make sure your classes does not overlap with practice. So, try to look for classes that are before or after basketball practice.” Bellman added.

Aleah Cole is a contributing writer. She can be reached at aleah.cole@yorkmail.cuny.edu