Pandora's Box Spring 2019 V 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 V: Tuesday, May 21, 2019

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York’s Student Lecturer is the 2019 Valedictorian in a Surprising Twist

Twahid Pranto is this years valedictorian.

By Angel Adegbesan A deleted email and an encounter in the hallway was how Tawhid Pranto found out he was the valedictorian for the class of 2019.

Pranto, a Physics major, said the original valedictorian offer letter sent to him by Provost Panayiotis Meleties was accidentally deleted. It was not until Pranto encountered Meleties in the hallway that he realized what had

Photo Courtesy: Tawhid Pranto

happened. Meleties resent the email, Pranto accepted the offer, and the wheels were set in motion.

“It’s still overwhelming,” he said. “I did not know it was going to be a big deal. I knew the term valedictorian but, I didn’t know what it meant. It’s been overwhelming because I don’t like much attention.”

Pranto comes with an unexpected twist. He is a graduated student of the Fall 2018 semester

and is now an adjunct lecturer in the Physics department for the Spring 2019 semester.

“As soon as I graduated, the department offered me the position to join as an adjunct lecturer,” Pranto said. “So, right now, I’m teaching two entry level introductory courses.”

Pranto said he is also scheduled to teach a summer course in the department as well.

He acknowledged that the spring semester was a somewhat unusual for him because he was neither a student nor actually a professor.

“I still see them as mentors because I still do research with them,” Pranto said about his former professors who are now his colleagues. “Because, when you’re talking about physics, it’s like solving problems, so any new idea is welcome.”

He was originally scheduled to continue lecturing in the Fall semester but was unable to commit to it after he was accepted into the Physics PhD program at the City University of New York Graduate Center.

“But, they always mentor me even for my PhD program,” Pranto said. “They know some of the teachers from the other facilities in the CUNY grad school program amd they advise me how to find a research advisor and how

York College’s Asbestos Abatement Period Extended to November

Original (Left) and Newer (Right) Abatement Notice.

By Danielle Cruz New signs have been posted around York College’s Academic Core Building stating that the asbestos abatement period has been extended until Nov. 1 as opposed to the previous end date of May 1.

While notices were posted, no email was sent out this semester notifying students about the extension of the abatement.

The original abatement began with an email sent out in the Fall

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Photo Credit: Angel Adegbesan

2018 semester to the student body on Nov. 8 stating that, due to the upgrades being done to the elevator and escalators, on Nov. 13 and 14 they “will be removing asbestos-containing materials from an elevator machine room located on the 5th floor.”

The email sent out stated that only small quantities of asbestos were being removed by a hired abatement contractor, Citywide Environmental Services, and monitored by LiRo Engineers INC. and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York

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(DASNY).

According to David Patnaude, the Executive Director of Facilities Planning & Operations, all materials that have been removed and then tested for asbestos have since come back negative. However, the college is continuing the abatement as a precautionary measure as they continue to remove materials.

“DASNY, CUNY’s DDCM (Department of Design, Construction and Management) and York College will proceed with the same steps for all remaining items that might contain asbestos regardless of the negative test for the presence of asbestos,” Patnaude wrote in an email. “York College along with both CUNY Central’s and DASNY’s Departments of Design & Construction Management take the safety of our students, faculty & staff very seriously. To that end, we adhere to precautionary measures that exceed normal construction practices.”

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to get a grant for the summer.”

When he migrated to Jamaica,Queens from Bangladesh, Pranto originally wanted to pursue an engineering degree at a neighboring college. Because York does not offer a degree in Engineering, he decided to take the pre-engineering courses that were available at York and was prepared to transfer to either Stony Brook University or City College to complete his degree.

However, after he got accepted into Stony Brook, he was discouraged by friends who had previously gone to the college.

“Because physics and engineering, their start is the same, so as I took the upper level courses in physics as well, that interest me a lot,” he said. “The one I was looking for was actually physics, but I thought it was engineering because I didn’t have much knowledge about it.”

He also credits Professor James Popp and Professor Tim Paglione who influenced his decision to stay at York.

Because he was able to find his passion, Pranto wants to help others find theirs as well. He mentors about three of his students who have to make the same decisions he did as a student about physics and engineering.

“I tell them to come to me, and they actually do, they ask advice

on professors and classes to take,” Pranto said. “I tell them take this class, or not, this is what you can study or this books are actually better for you.”

Pranto said his first career choice is to become a research professor in universities like CUNY. He said if he does not go through the education route, he would become a scientist in the industry.

His plan to become an experimental physicist combines his former passion for engineering and his current one for physics.

Pranto is also a member of the college’s Honors program as well as the award winning Astrobotics Research and Design program.

Ever since he became the valedictorian, Pranto said he has been receiving much attention. He said his boss, Jonathan Quash, at the York’s Men’s Center is always introducing him to people as the valedictorian.

Pranto said he planned on writing his speech as soon as the semester was over.

“Because it’s finals week, and I’m a little behind on my grades, so, I’m catching up on the grades,” he said. “After, I’m done, I’ll write the speech.”

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

Letitia James To Speak at 2019 Commencement

Letitia James.

Photo Credit: Matt Cohen via Flickr

Letitia James, the first African-American attorney general for the state of New York, will be the commencement speaker for the graduating class of 2019. James is also the first woman to be elected into the position. She was also elected to be the city’s public advocate in 2013 and was succeeded by Jumaane Williams. 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.

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York Continues to Lobby for New Academic Village and Conference Center

By Danielle Cruz During his visit to York College, Senator Leroy Comrie mentioned multiple times the possibility of York College receiving funding for the proposed Academic Village and Conference Center (AVCC) this June.

While Senator Comrie remained skeptical of Governor Andrew Cuomo agreeing to fund AVCC, he did say that getting funding for the building was one of the top priorities for the City University of New York Central office, which increases the chance for funding to be approved.

Since funding for capital projects were not decided during the adoption of the 2020 Fiscal Year budget, there is a chance that the school’s lobbying will pay off when the New York state legislature comes back into session.

“I support the academic core project and anything else that we can do for York College, I am trying to do at my level in the state senate,” said Comrie. “We normally get the capital right when we do the budget but the governor in his trickery has now decided that he is not doing capital until June because he is trying to beat up on us for other legislature, he is trying to reduce the amount of capital that we do overall.”

Funding for huge capital projects like the AVCC are almost never given in full, and are instead broken up into steps.

“Right now they need at least 50 percent committed before they move forward to the next level,”

said Comrie.

According to Comrie, York would potentially receive around $300 million in June if they were approved and then gradually receive the rest of the money from then on.

The total cost to build the entire York Campus in Jamaica, during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, was $159,374,000.

According to a spokesperson for the college, “The Academic Core Building, which is the closest in size to the proposed AVCC, by itself was $109,980,000.”

Even after receiving the total funding required for the AVCC, it would still take another five years for the building to be completed, according to Comrie.

The AVCC, which was first approved by the CUNY board of trustees back in 2011, is supposed to be a nine-story, technologically-advanced facility, measuring more than 162,000 gross square feet that will be built where the Classroom Building currently stands. The Classroom Building was originally only meant to be a temporary structure when it was built.

The AVCC is expected to help York keep up with their growing enrollment rate which in the past two years gone from 5,985 students to 6,095 students.

“The AVCC is one of our most important capital projects of the last 10 years,” President Marcia Keizs said in a statement. “The expansion is absolutely necessary to address our existing space shortage and to support future growth in enrollment and program offer-

Blueprint of the proposed Academic Village and Confrence Center.

ings.”

According to the blueprint for the AVCC, the building is expected to house the school of business, the art gallery, information technology, conference centers, the loading dock, the small business development center as well as a cafe, student lounge/recreational area, and sustainable rooftop garden.

David Patnaude, the Executive Director of Facilities Planning & Operations said even if York did not receive funding for the AVCC Building, the college has several renovation projects already lined up.

These renovations include elevator upgrades in the different buildings around campus, upgrades to the bathrooms are pro-

jected to start in 2020 in order to make the bathrooms accessible according to the Americans with Disabilities Act standards, and upgrades to the exterior entrances in the Academic Core are expected to begin on 2021.

Construction to the Faculty Dining Room, and Lecture Halls 2M04 and 3D01, construction is expected to start mid- summer and last 12 months. Renovations to the Performing Arts Center are expected to start during the summer of 2020 and end in June 2022.

Upgrades to the York Track & Field is expected start in September of 2020 and be completed in March of 2021.

The comprehensive lighting study and analysis that the Academic Core is currently undergo-

reflection of what’s happening in the large society of people voting.

So its importance has that one vote, that one power, to make a difference.”

The elections for senators-at-large brought about a tie for the last seat. A runoff election was held three weeks later to break the tie. Banrey said because there was a tie, the results of the spring election was not certified.

Although, he noted that the four departmental senators and 27 senators-at-large who had won their seats were notified of their victories almost two weeks after even though it was concluded as unofficial.

Paola Veras, the assistant dean of Student Development shared the results of the spring election with the Senate Elections Committee (SEC). The committee came to an agreement on proceeding with the runoff election for the two students to contest for the last seat.

“So, what had happened was that the election ended that Thursday and the next day, we had received the unofficial results,” Banrey said. “Due to spring break, the committee didn’t meet.

They met today (April 29.) to discuss the strategy in order to do this runoff.”

Banrey added “as soon as that is done, the Students Election Review Committee, which is a separate committee will then meet to certify the results.”

An electronic glitch in the Fall 2018 special election disenfranchised 97 students. The error made it impossible for students to vote for less than four candidates but allowed voters to vote for all 10 candidates despite instructions saying that people could only choose up to four people. Banrey noted that appropriate steps were taken to prevent such glitch in this election.

“We worked with our IT Department here, as well as with the IT firm (e-ballot) and we made sure that we had a concrete listing of all students who were eligible to vote,” Banrey said. “In addition to that, we also requested each major of those students who are voting. We sent that down to the company and took the files of all of the students running and made sure all of the department designations were all coded correctly and sent that to the firm as well.”

He added “basically they were setting up the system where they did a test and we did several tests, the day before the election, for each of the departments.”

Rare Democratic Student Election Yields Low Voter Turnout and a Runoff Election

This semesters election only had a 5.12 percent voter turnout. Photo Credit: PB Archives

By Rachel Dalloo The student government for 2019-2020 year have been announced. The Spring 2019 student senatorial election was the first democratic election in three years.

There were 35 candidates running for 32 seats in the college senate.

Previous elections have has less than the needed candidates to fill the seats. It then always lead to a special election in the subsequent Fall semester.

Five students ran as departmental senators for four seats while 30 ran as Senators-at-large

for 28 seats. The Spring election held from April 16 to April 18 had a 5.12 percent voters turnout, according to Vincent Banrey, the vice president for Student Development. Banrey said a total of 339 students voted out of the 6,627 students who were eligible to cast a vote.

“We sent out several collegewide news blast, we had put announcements in the York Cardinal app and we sent it to departmental chairs, encouraging them to tell students and faculties to vote,” Banrey said. “So, it’s just a matter of people turning out.

It’s sad to say, but it becomes a

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

Photo Courtesy: York College

ing is expected to result in energy saving lighting upgrades. The upgrades are expected to start in November of 2020 and be completed

by Spring of 2022.

While funding for the AVCC is not guaranteed, President Keizs and various administrators remain hopeful that in the near future they will receive funding and until then will continue to lobby on behalf of York.

“We remain optimistic that with the help of our supporters in government and at CUNY, the AVCC will be built,” said Patnaude.

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

Asbestos (Cont. Pg.1) There are some dissimilarities in the the abatement notices.

The first one which was kept up during the beginning of this semester had a start date of Sept. 9, 2018 and an end date of May 1, 2019. The current one has a start date of Nov. 13, 2018 and an end date of Nov 1, 2019.

The current notice also list more types of Asbestos Containing Materials (ACM). The older version listed only the ARC Shields and Brake Pads while the current one includes the Roof Exterior wall waterproofing/tar/ flashing.

The abatement extension comes as York continues to work on upgrades they started on April 8 on the elevators in the H corridor as well as the freight elevator in the F corridor.

According to the email sent out notifying student of the closing of the elevator, upgrades are expected to last only four months with the elevators expected to be ready by the start of the Fall 2019 semester.

This is not the first time that York has undergone abatement.

An abatement contractors was hired in 2015 as they fixed a leak in the roof of the Academic Core.

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

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York’s Alumnus Heads to Medical School With High Ambitions

By Angel Adegbesan A York Alumnus is excited about being accepted to Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. Salim Gnabode, a graduate of York’s class of 2017, decided to attend the University after in Fall 2019 after screening five acceptance offers.

Gnabode, who holds a Masters degree in Biomedical Science at Duke University, will also concurrently pursue an MBA in healthcare management at Brandeis University through TUSM. “I’m really excited,” He says about his acceptance offers. “I feel like my experience at York and my masters has really prepared me for Med school.”

While at York, Gnabode majored in Mathematics and was the President of the Pre-med club as well as the Vice President of Student Government Association.

Though he started his college life as a Biology major, Gnabode later switched to Mathematics, a favorite course, because he was not successful in most of his Biology classes.

“Getting into med school, you really don’t have to major in biology, you just have to major in something you like and get a good grade,” Gnabode said.

“That’s something most people

don’t know or they know and just don’t want to do. They just want to do biology and they sometimes mess up their GPA because of it.

Your GPA is really important at the end of the day.”

He added “ the math classes were easy for me compared to biology classes. If I could start over, i would have majored in French or something. And, I would have probably gotten an easy A in those classes.”

Gnabode said he decided to pursue a Masters degree before Medical school because he wanted to amass more knowledge in Biology.

“I didn’t really feel confident about my knowledge in biology, and if you want to become a doctor, you really need to be well-knowledged in Biology,” He said.“My long term goal is to become an orthopedic surgeon and to become an orthopedic surgeon, you really have to do well in Medical school so that’s why I really went to do the Masters.”

Gnabode, who was born in Benin, West Africa, has worked hard in pursuit of his goals. He said he hopes to work as an Orthopedic surgeon in urban areas like New York City. But besides this, he hopes to do some things on the side as well.

He hopes to turn his personal blog into a professional health blog in the future. His goal is to be

a bridge between healthcare professional’s jargon and the general population.

“The general population don’t read scientific articles so there is like a disconnection,” Gnabode said. “So, if I start blogging and writing in simple terms that everyone can read, maybe they can understand most stuff. I think that is what I will do in the long term -- something like giving people advice on what to do.”

Gnabode also wants to create his own start-up business, where he would help create medical devices and survival technologies as well for countries in need.

“I was born in Africa and I know in some places in Africa, some people don’t have clean water or proper sanitation and and so I’m thinking about creating technology that will help people to get those basic things like clean water,” he said. “So, that is something that I want to do on the side.”

Gnabode says the startup idea is one of the reasons why he is getting his MBA. Even though he does not have experimental experience, Gnabode says he has done some helpful research while he was in graduate school.

“I feel like people go into medicine for different reasons,” he said. “If you’re well rounded which is the goal for some people, anything you do,really is kind of

Salim Gnabode is set to attend Tufts University School of Medicine. Photo Courtesy: Salim Gnabode

important, it separates you from the rest. I feel like everything I have done when I was at York was important in some way.”

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

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Pandora’s Box Presents: Spring 2019 Semester Highlights have taken a preliminary step to fix the longstanding problems such as broken toilet seats, wires and acoustic tiles hanging from the ceiling in the college’s Health and Physical Education Center (HPEC). This was after student government representatives made a public display of the longstanding problems, 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. Within two weeks of the presentation an email blast to the college community indicated that repairs were fast-tracked.

York’s Astrobotics Research and Design Program won a trophy for the smallest and most efficient robot. Photo Courtesy: Daniel Phelps

By PB Staff President Keizs Celebrates 14 Years President Marcia Keizs celebrated her 14th year as the President of York College this semester. Keizs was appointed as the President of York on Feb.14, 2005. The college presented a big heart to Keiz on Valentine’s Day to mark the special occasion. One of her anniversary gifts included a big chocolate heart handed to Keizs by the college mascot during the spring symposium on Feb. 14.

New CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez became the first Latino and minority educator to head the City University of New York. He was appointed as the eighth Chancellor of CUNY by the University’s Board of Trustees. Matos Rodriguez, 56, assumed the post on May 1.

He was formerly the president of CUNY’s Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College, before his appointment as President at Queens College from 2009 to 2014. He holds a B.A from Yale University and a doctorate in History from Columbia University.

Former Chancellor James Milliken stepped down in June, 2018. #MeToo Founder Visits York Tarana Burke, the founder of the #MeToo movement visited York as part of the Women’s Center’s annual Women’s History Month Colloquium. Burke said the movement was originally started to uplift the survivors of sexual violence within communities of color. However, in the recent years it has expanded to include adults and people of all races and genders. Burke explained at the event that the movement about giving people access to healing, to make sure the most marginalized amongst us have an opportunity to start a pathway of healing from the trauma of sexual violence. The term #MeToo, which was coined by Burke in 2006, years before the movement

gained international attention 11 years later when ctor Alyssa Milano tweeted about sexual assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

Biology Professor Awarded Research Money York Biology professor was part of a team awarded over $500,000 for research. Outreach to explain the discoveries at the New York Aquarium, will be the focus for researchers such as Dr. Elizabeth Alter, a biology professor at York, along with colleagues from the Wildlife Conservation Society. York became one of the three investigative teams to be awarded almost $570,000 for an ocean research grant. The grant was provided by a partnership between the New York Sea Grant and the Department of Environmental Conversation.

The grant will help the teams discover the variety of life in the ecosystem of New York’s coast and research species and uses of the environment around it. The research grant was set to begin in March, 2019 and represents just one of two requests for proposals awarded through 2021, the other through 2023.

York’s Budget Deficit Increases 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.

Men’s Center Director to Debut Musical Jonathan Quash, the director of York College’s 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. Quash said the message he is hoping to convey will be one of discovering and embracing love of self. He also said he hopes the audience is able to walk away to support all aspects and members of the community, not just a select few because we need each other to survive.

CUNYAC Awards Three York athletes received awards after the City University of New York Athletic Conference (CUNYAC) announced its yearsend honors for the 2018-2019 basketball season. Freshman guard Devine Chrisholm received rookie of year honors after averaging 9.2 points per game and 2.8 assists per game for the Cardinals. Senior guard Taishaun Forehand-Jenkins was awarded second-team all conference after averaging 15.1 points per game while shooting 43% from the field. Sophomore forward Akil Vaughn earned a spot on the sportsmanship team after averaging five points and seven rebounds per game.

HPEC Renovations Begin The college administration

New Assistant Athletic Director The York College Athletic Department has appointed Haris Rappel as the assistant director of athletics for external relations/ sports information director. His new role at York will be to oversee communications and scheduling for all sports teams. Rappel joins the athletic departments staff after 13 years at the State of University of New York (SUNY) Old Westbury. During his stint with the school, he has worked as a compliance officer, sports information director, assistant director of athletics and scheduling coordinator. Denee’ Barracato, director of athletics and recreation, appointed Rappel to the vacated position on April 8 after conducting an extensive nationwide search.

Athletic Department Senior Night York’s athletic department held a senior night to mark the end the Spring 2019 basketball season. The Seniors on the men’s and women’s basketball teams concluded their Cardinal careers with senior night on Monday, Feb. 11 in the York College Gymnasium. The senior ball players on both teams played their last game against Medgar Evers College. The women’s team battled for a 71-58 victory against the Cougars that capped their season at 5-20. The men’s season came to an end to after a 95-83 defeat that put them at 9-16. The seniors were greeted at half court by their family, coaches and athletic director hugging and praise them for their hard work as student athletes.

Caribbean-American Women’s Theater Festival York College hosted the annual Hear Her Call Caribbe-

Repairs were started in the HPEC Building this semester.

an-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. Magaly Colimon-Christopher, the founder, producer, co-director 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.

York Adjunct Speaks Out On Salary Julian Abbott, an adjunct professor, wrote an editorial in the Daily News about CUNY’s rigged pay system against adjuncts. Abbott wrote on how CUNY is scattered with adjuncts, like herself, that have the highest degrees in their subjects field, but are not pushed to higher positions by their administrators. She says that many adjuncts in CUNY do not make living wage and they have to get a side job just to make a substantial wage.

York Team Wins Award at NASA Robotic Mining Competition York’s Astrobotics Research and Design Program have been working on their most advanced robotic entry in the past five years. The college’s team is one of a few non-engineering schools in the country competing at a national level. Although the team did not advance to the qualifying round in the NASA Robotic Mining Competition, the astrobotics program brought home their first ever trophy for the smallest and most efficient robot. Members of the Program traveled to the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa for the Robotic Mining Challenge held May 6-10. Twenty-eight teams accepted the invitation to travel to the university from North Dakota, Alaska, California, New York and around the country.

Photo Courtesy: York Student Government Association

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Spring 2019 York College Art Festival

Photo Credit: Asar John

By Asar John This years annual Arts Festival at York hosted a variety of events, ranging from free workshops to live performances by both students and special guests.

“York Live!” was just one of the several events held in the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center, with performances from Tewa Leah, Sayonne, J4Y King and many others.

According to Interim Director of Arts at York, Kwame Clarke,

this is the second year the college is hosting the arts festival and it is part of a four-day festival with a jazz band performing on Wednesday May 15, the student performances on the 16, dance performances on the 17 and a comedy show on the 18.

“Every year we look to build on the last to get it to something that students are behind,” said Clarke. “We get a lot of student participation with the clubs and individual bands.”

“This event was really fun but I wish it was more packed au-

Turn to page 8 for more photos from this years art festival.

dience wise,” said Janelle Paul, sophomore mathematics major.

Despite Paul’s disappointment with audience turnout, she said she plans on coming to more events like this because she was quite entertained.

“It was just really empty and I’m really sad because it was fun,” Paul said. “People missed it.”

The Caribbean Folk Dance Workshop was another event hosted as part of the festival, which took place on May 17.

“The folk dance that I taught today was Jamaican folk dance,”

said Sophia Walsh- Newman, a board member of Braata Productions and teaching artist of her company, Asoso International.

There is a variety of folk dances that exist in Jamaican culture, one of which is the “Dinki Mini” dance, which was concentrated on during the workshop.

“Dinki Mini” is traditionally performed during “Nine-Night”, the period in which a family grieves for their dead relatives.

“What I wanted to accomplish today was to get the students at York College to be exposed to tra-

Photo Credit: Asar John

ditional folk dances so it can be retained,” said Walsh-Newman.

Some students said they were successful in understanding Walsh-Newman’s goal.

“It brought me back to my own roots,” says senior biology major, Ishaq Cooke. “I have heard of the dance before but I never really partook in it, so it’s really cool since my ancestors were doing that dance.”

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

Student Artworks Exhibited In York’s Fine Arts Gallery

The exhibit will be open until June 7.

By Aleah Cole Selected students of all majors exhibited their artwork in the art gallery on May 14, right before the 2019 York College Arts Festival.

According to Margaret Vendryes, Fine Arts department chairperson, the artwork exhibited is chosen by five full-time Fine Arts faculty members. The jury chooses from a pool of art collected by professors throughout the semester, from art classes like photography, graphic design, advanced

Photo Courtesy: Margaret Vendryes

painting and sculpting.

The artwork is then chosen “based on the quality of all the artwork submitted and the space available for display,” said Vendryes.

“As chairperson of the department, an art historian, and a visual artist, I am always impressed by the work our student artists create in only 14 weeks of studio time,” said Vendryes. “The provocative themes and craftsmanship are a true sign of the value of visual art in a Liberal Arts education.”

Two York students: Francis

Carrillo and Joseph Macasaet were proud to see their artworks displayed in the gallery.

Carrillo, a junior Accounting major at York, took Fine Arts 381, an introduction to film photography class, as an elective.

Her two artworks are themed as the “Two Different Sides of New York City”. She took pictures of the Vessel at the Hudson Yards which opened on March 15, 2019 and stated that it had an interesting “architectural side.” As for her second art piece, she took a picture at an art-scrap yard. She said that the photo is meant to

have an “artsy-grungy side.”

“The project took two weeks to complete but the process of developing the pictures took about 30 minutes,” Carrillo said.

She was surprised to see her artwork being displayed. Especially since she is not a Fine Arts major and this was her first time taking a photography class. Nevertheless, she is satisfied to see her hard work pay off.

Carrillo shared that her favorite experience in photography was the process of developing pictures.

“It’s pretty cool itself because when you put the picture in water in a dark room, the picture comes to life! So, it’s pretty interesting” Carrillo said.

Joseph Macasaet, a senior Accounting major, had two of his photos taken for his Photography II class displayed on the gallery.

The two pictures displayed are ones he took of the side of the Vessel at Hudson Yards and a billboard that says “LONG ISLAND” in grayscale.

He claimed that he likes certain perspectives of art where people would pass by a sculpture and see it in a different way than being in front of it. So he decided to take a picture of the side of the Vessel.

“Art is looking at things in an obscure way to get different views of it,” said Macasaet. “So, when I took the picture the lines really intrigued me and honestly, I am so happy the way it came out.”

Macasaet’s said he was surprised to see so many of his photos being displayed in the gallery.

“I know there are students in my class that major in Fine Arts and to do something like this as an accounting major, I was very

grateful that Professor Jennifer Formica saw that my art has potential to be displayed with all of the amazing artworks here,” said Macasaet.

The process of taking at least “one perfect shot” and developing the pictures from the negative films to the actual print took him 2-4 class days to get prefect.

Macasaet mentioned that while he always had an interest in photography, before taking the photography class this semester he had never owned a camera and would typically just take pictures on his phone.

“All of the art pieces in here looks beautiful- art is a form of expression and you get to look at things in a certain perspective,” said Macasaet. “I get to show people the way I look at things just by taking pictures but art is subjective because art could mean anything to people.”

One piece that caught Carrillo’s eye in the gallery was “Casa #404” by Paloma Sentano, which showcases a timeline of photos about a family from the Dominican Republic with a narration written across it in Spanish.

The art exhibit will remain on display in the Fine Arts Gallery until June 7.

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

ARTS PB Tuesday, May 21, 2019

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yorkpbnews.net

Music 299 Class Holds Album Release Party in York’s PAC

Photo Courtesy: Thomas Zalbinger

By Danielle Cruz Nine York College students released their self produced CD on May 14 as part of their Music 299 class.

The album, New York Avenue Records Compilation Vol. 3, is the third time a group of students

have come together to produce an album showcasing the diverse musical talents at York.

“The students did amazing work,” said Thomas Zlabinger, an assistant music professor at York. “It’s a diverse collection!

And they proposed their tracks, demoed them, revised them, the tracks were mastered, and then I

pressed a CD!” According to Zlabinger the CD’s were produced in various places, with some being recorded at home and others in the recording studio in room LL02.

To celebrate the release of the CD the students hosted an album release party in the Milton G. Bassin Performing Arts Center where the performed and presented the tracks they had worked on during the semester.

First up during the showcase was Joe Ferrari on the saxophone, whose track Original Orange Head, was inspired by nigerian musician Fela Kuti.

“Fela was a incredible musician and composers and he also was a big thorn in the side of the nigerian government for over 20 or 30 years,” said Ferrari. “The name of the composition is original orange head. I wonder if you can guess who the orange head is.”

Olivia Lattore went up next and played her track, O The Rose, a song that she said was heavily influenced by Travis Scott and is the first track she has ever completed.

Then following in the theme of instrumentals violinist, Daijha Rabalais, performed her track TRANQUILITY BLUE. Israel Ponte also presented his instrumental track The Grand

Battle, which he composed for a video game.

“It is meant to be played at the end of the game at the beginning of the final battle sequence,” said Ponte.

Rapper, Gra.CD performed his track Blessed for the audience, a track he said produced as an ode to his self journey.

“It is basically a story about overcoming my shyness and becoming more alive,” said Gra. CD. “It’s just about how music changed my life from a depressed kid to confident and just happy.”

Ashton Webb performed his track, Pencils, alongside 2 other vocalist and 2 guitarist. Webb said he wrote the song to raise awareness on the different forms of depression.

“I wrote this song to step away from the idea of depression, being this crazy suicidal feeling,” said Webb. “I know there are a lot of kids out there that don’t understand what they are going through and don’t want to give it a label because the media portrays depression as ‘oh I want to kill myself’ and that’s not just what it is. It comes in many different forms.”

Up next was singer, Tiffany Holland who performed her original track The Key. “I made it (Key) when I was going through one of my real-

able to rebuild his career. When he was signed for iron Man, he was already a star but his career was going down hill.

Downey faced numerous troubles in the early 2000’s, including drug rehabilitation. It is possible that had he not went on to be Iron Man, he may not have had his big break that would have rebuilt his career.

It would have been just as big a change for Tom Cruise. If he went on to play Iron Man, he most likely would not have had the time to do all of his other films. For example, the three most recent Mission: Impossible films would have never been made. Other films such as Edge of Tomorrow and Jack Reacher may not have had the same success either.

Next on the list is Captain America. Chris Evans was not always the first choice to play Captain America. The role almost went to John Krasinski, and Chris Hemsworth stopped him from taking it.

Krasinski once told Conan O’Brien why he did not take the role, and it was a pretty comedic excuse. He made it all the way to the final auditions and had a chance to audition in costume.

Supposedly, as he was putting on the Captain America costume, Chris Hemsworth passed by in full Thor costume.

Krasinski said at that moment he would never be able to pull that off and that superhero roles were not for him. Afterwards, with no competition, Evans earned the role.

One crazy casting scenario belongs to Loki, the God of Mischief.

The leading man to play Loki in Thor was originally Josh Hartnett.

At the time, Tom Hiddleston was not even auditioning for the role.

Hiddleston was auditioning for Thor. According to the producer, he performed very well but lost out to Hemsworth. After missing the mark, he auditioned for Loki and beat out Hartnett.

Another crazy scenario belongs to one of the stars of Supernatural, Jensen Ackles. He first auditioned for the role of Captain America. He did not get the role, but Marvel liked his audition so much that they directly offered him the role of Hawkeye. The role was his, but in the end he had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts.

When Iron Man 2 was being developed, the MCU was still relatively unknown. Only two films were out at the time, and some actors and actresses had no way of knowing if taking a role would truly be all that great.

Enter Emily Blunt. Ten years ago she was a rising star, so much that Marvel went to her and offered the role of Black Widow.

She turned it down because she was working on another film at the time and did not know if it would have been a success.

Later on she was offered another direct role, this time for Peggy Carter but she turned down that role again.

Would you ever picture Glenn Howerton as Peter Quill? It was very close to happening. James Gunn once said that if Chris Pratt did not get the role, that it would have gone to Howerton. Pratt was Gunn’s first choice.

The only problem was that Pratt did not want the role. He even refused to audition. The role was Howerton’s, but eventually

ly darkest places last semester,” said Holland. “But I had a little bit of help, obviously when you hear the song, from my mom.

She is one of the people who really helped me come up with the song, especially when I was going through the rough rough times.”

Leonna Prithwipaul, a singer/ guitarist, performed her song The Way, a song that she said came out of a jam session she was having with one of her fellow classmates.

“With this song it is more of a message on we all go through things in our life some we choose some we don’t,” said Prithwipaul.

“There’s no really right or wrong way to handle a situation. With this song i just felt a vibe of keep of just keep on until you can’t keep on.”

The release party ended with Nick Liddie performing his track Freedom on the drums.

The CD’s are free so anyone interested in getting a copy can either speak to Zlabinger or go on SoundCloud and search up New York Avenue Records Compilation Vol. 3.

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

How Re-Casts and Misses Shaped the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The role of Iron Man almost went to Tom Cruise.

By Richard Heaton Tom Cruise, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Tom Hiddleston, Jensen Ackles, David Duchovny.

What do these six actors have in common? They were all Avengers. At one point.

It is hard to imagine to Marvel Cinematic Universe without guys like Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans, right? Well it turns out many actors have been considered for major parts in the universe. Some actors were even signed on to roles and at the last

Photo credit: Eva Rinaldi

second backed out or had something else come up.

The first big recast is for Iron Man. It is tough to imagine Iron Man being played by anyone other than Robert Downey Jr, but it almost went to Tom Cruise.

There are many rumors as to why Tom Cruise did not get the role. These include that he lost interest because the producers took too long to acquire the rights, he was not interested in the script, and other reasons.

If Cruise played Iron Man, the landscape of Hollywood would be very different. For starters, Downey may have never been

Pratt was talked into auditioning and quickly became interested in the role. The rest is history.

We all know what happened with Hulk right? Eric Bana was in the 2003 version of the Hulk.

That was not part of the MCU, but Bana was signed for the next movie in the series. He dropped out of the film because he thought the film would not be released in theaters.

So Edward Norton took the role for 2009’s The Incredible Hulk. That role only lasted for one film because Marvel did another re-cast and Mark Ruffalo landed the position. Originally, Norton wasn’t going to take the role because David Duchovny had the role locked up.

These were not the only ones who backed out of a role, turned it down, or had the role stripped away from them. Michael B. Jordan went after the role of Falcon and finished as the runner up in auditions and Joaquin Phoenix nearly won the role of Doctor Strange. Jason Momoa was even offered the role of Drax but did not want to take on more “brute roles” that were similar to his Game of Thrones role.

Fast forward 11 years since the start of the MCU and we are all accustomed to the hand that was dealt with cast members. It is hard to imagine what the main Avengers team would have been like with a team consisting of Tom Cruise, John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Tom Hiddleston, Jensen Ackles, and David Duchovny.

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

ARTS PB Tuesday, May 21, 2019

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Avengers: Endgame Brings an End to an Era

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons

By Samuel Cruz Whatever it takes. After 11 years and 21 movies, we have finally reached the endgame.

This review will contain several spoilers so I advise you, the reader, to turn away if you have not seen the film yet. This is another sentence warning you that if you continue reading you will get the movie spoiled for you.

“Wow” is the first word that spilled out of my mouth after I finished watching the masterpiece that is, Avengers: Endgame.

Before watching this epic film I recommend using the restroom because of the length of the movie. It is nearly three hours long and by far the longest Marvel film. The movie starts as soon as the trailer ends.

Usually, Marvel’s cinematic universe films start with the Marvel intro but, there was no intro.

Immediately, the movie starts

with Hawkeye(played by Jeremy Renner) practicing archery with his daughter and then Hawkeye’s family was dusted after Thanos’(played by Josh Brolin) snap in Infinity War. He realizes his family disappeared when he turns around and notices nobody was responding to his callouts.

Thanos’ wrath was extended immediately into Endgame, like as if we needed a reminder of the mad titan. This essentially kicks off what is an emotional rollercoaster of a film.

It was important for Marvel to keep the core members of the Avengers alive at the end of Infinity War to set up a magnificent ending to the “Infinity Saga”.

Tony Stark(played by Robert Downey Jr) was seen inside a broken ship and recording potentially his last message to his wife.

He had run out of food and was a day away from running out of oxygen. Luckily for him, one of Marvel’s new heroes saved him from impending death. Captain

Marvel(played by Brie Larson) swoops in and takes him back to the Avengers headquarters, where we see Tony Stark and Steve Rogers(played by Chris Evans) meet face to face again.

Immediately a malnourished Stark argues with Rogers that eventually leads to Stark falling unconscious. This scene sets the mood for the beginning portion of the movie. Lots of characters were on edge or very sad because of the burden of losing so many people.

Captain Marvel is now formally introduced to the Avengers and she finds out that Nick Fury(played by Samuel L. Jackson) was also dusted. This motivated her to find Thanos and with the help of Rocket and Nebula, the group set out to space to find Thanos and kill him.

Captain America, Bruce Banner, Black Widow(played by Scarlett Johansson), Rocket, Nebula, and Captain Marvel head to space and immediately find the planet that Thanos has decided to live in.

The beautiful scenery of the planet Thanos is currently living at is shown, as well as Thanos in his kitchen cooking up something using the spices he grows.

That calm and nice scene ended abruptly with Captain Marvel crashing in and pummeling Thanos. Thor delivers the worst of it and chops off Thanos’ arm revealing that the gauntlet is missing the stones.

Thanos explains that he destroyed the stones in order to make sure it could not have been reversed, which then led to an angry Thor to chop off his head.

Then Thor delivers one of the most memorable quotes, “I aimed for the head.”

The movie then fasts forwards into 2023, 5 years from when Thanos was killed. This was a smart way for Marvel to fix a timeline

that they have tampered with a bit but stays relevant to the story.

We see Ant-man’s first appearance happen as soon as he gets out of the quantum realm, where he was left because, in Ant-man and the Wasp, the people that were in charge with bringing him back were also dusted by Thanos.

Scott Lang(played by Paul Rudd) is immediately confused with what has happened because five years in the quantum realm is five minutes to him. San Francisco looked like a mess, gloomy just like New York. Lang spots a memorial and immediately is looking for familiar names until he notices one. His own.

He takes off and goes straight to his house to find it only occupied by his daughter. After this touching scene, he goes to the Avengers headquarters to try and pitch an idea to bring everyone back.

Earth changed in that five-year span. Several main characters went through drastic changes.

For starters, Bruce Banner became Professor Hulk straight from the comics. Banner and Hulk have had an internal battle through several movies now and finally, a middle ground was reached. Another character that changed was Thor, son of Odin. He gained a lot of weight in those five years. Also, he lived in New Asgard with Korg and Meek playing Fortnite and drinking beers. Lastly, Tony Stark had a daughter. This was Stark’s official way of retiring to just live a normal life with his wife and kid.

Captain America and Black Widow still want to bring everyone back but, have no idea how to. Until Ant-man comes knocking at their door and explains what happened to him and why he is confused by what happened.

Ant-man then pitches the idea of

time travel, which is a tricky theory to mess with but, at the end of the day, it is fiction. That is one critique I have seen come up a lot with Endgame. A lot of people do not understand how time traveling works or thinks that rules established in the movie were not followed.

Nonetheless, time travel plays a major role in the movie. Majority of the movie is spent finding these stones, which results in some cool scenes like Tony Stark running into his father in the 70s, as well as Steve Rogers running into Peggy Carter once again. There are tons of easter eggs and references, possibly more than 200. If you are a casual fan of the series, I think it is better for you to catch up on films you may have missed or else you will miss out on a lot of fanservice and important references.

Overall, I think Endgame did what it had to do. Endgame successfully closed the door on two of its biggest stars in order to allow the whole cinematic universe to continue. Spiderman: Far From Home will end phase three and lead up to phase four.

With Endgame passing James Cameron’s Titanic to be the fifth-highest domestic box office grosser, many Marvel fans are rooting for Endgame to continue climbing the ladder and defeat Avatar’s record.

In terms of grading this film, I give it a good 97/100. Minor things could have been explained better like the time travel but, all in all, the movie was worth the hype.

Samuel Cruz is a contributing writer. He can be reached at samuel.cruz@yorkmail.cuny. edu

Avengers: Endgame Turned Many Records to Dust

By Richard Heaton We all suspected that Avengers: Endgame was going to make a ton of money at the box office, and we were not wrong.

After its first five days in theaters Avengers: Endgame broke 28 records and that doesn’t count records for countries outside of America, for which there were many more.

During each of its first three days, it broke major American records. It made $157 million on its opening Friday. Before that, the record for biggest Friday was $119 million from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Endgame then broke the Saturday record with $109 million. The previous record was Avengers: Infinity War with $82 million. No non-Marvel film has ever made more than $70 million on a Saturday. Endgame then made $90 million on Sunday, beating Infinity War’s $69 million.

In total, Endgame made $357 million during its domestic opening weekend. That beat the previous record by exactly $100 million.

Endgame also destroyed the worldwide record. Entering 2018,

The Fate of the Furious held the record with $541 million. Infinity War broke that record with $640 million. Endgame made $1.223 billion, nearly twice as much as the old record.

After its opening weekend, Endgame slowed down considerably in America while it continued to soar worldwide. Domestically, Endgame was the fastest to $500 million, reaching the mark in just eight days and following its fourth weekend, it passed Avatar to become the second biggest domestic film ever, with $770 million.

Worldwide, Endgame passed Titanic after just two weeks. It was the first time ever that a film not directed by James Cameron made more money than Titanic.

Following its fourth weekend, Endgame had made just over $2.6 billion worldwide, and it should be able to overtake Avatar for the record by the end of May. Unfortunately, the domestic record is not something that Endgame can break. Currently, the domestic record is $936 million, which is held by The Force Awakens. Despite making $110 million more during its opening weekend, Endgame slowed down so much in America that the gap

Photo credit: Ominae via Wikipedia Commons

between the two closed in just two weeks.

Day over day grosses between the two films put Endgame at $770 million after it’s first 24 days in theaters. The Force Awakens made $812 million during its first 24 days. As a result, Endgame could realistically finish with around $820-$850 million domestically once it’s pulled from theaters, maybe a little bit more.

In total, Endgame has so far

broken 36 major records, with 34 being domestic records. The film has also broken hundreds of foreign records and has made more than $50 million in nine other countries and more than $10 million in 26.

It’s going to be fun seeing how far Endgame can make it on the worldwide stage. While it will most likely break the worldwide record, the real fun is in seeing whether or not Endgame can be-

come the first film to ever break $3 billion. If it doesn’t, Marvel will have plenty of time to try again with the long list of films that they have planned for phase four and beyond.

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

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Gallery PB Tuesday, May 21, 2019

yorkpbnews.net

PB Photo Gallery: Spring 2019 York College Arts Festival

Photo Gallery By Asar John and Danielle Cruz

Article On Page 5

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

yorkpbnews.net

Gallery PB Tuesday, May 21, 2019

9

PB Photo Gallery: York College ESPYS Awards Banquet

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

ARTS PB Tuesday, May 21, 2019

10

Homecoming: A Film By Beyonce Review

yorkpbnews.net

The Creative Corner

Happy Mother’s Day

By Shanae Harte

Photo credit: Jen Keys via Wikipedia Commons

By Autumn Matthews Last month, Beyonce released a documentary titled Homecoming on Netflix. This documentary gave her fans a behind the scenes look at her preparation for her 2018 Coachella performance.

Watching this documentary was very inspiring and amazing.

Not only did we see Beyonce take risks when it came to her preparing for her iconic Coachella performance, we also got to see how she balanced her life as a celebrity, a mother and a wife.

She showed us that if she could do it, that other could find a balance in their lives too.

Watching her explain her diet after having twins was very interesting because I always wondered what was the secret to her body going back to normal after giving birth.

She had no sugars, fish, meat, etc. I have no idea how she did it.

I tried not eating meat for a week and it didn’t work out. So I praise

Beyonce for being able to stay consistent with such a strict diet.

Even though fans saw her performance on Youtube and had to deal with all the crashes and interruptions during the performance, this documentary gave fans the opportunity to see her performance again as if they were there at Coachella.

I loved how dedicated she was to spending time studying historically black colleges and universities. It was mind blowing.

I have to say, Beyonce never disappoints and I would have to call this documentary the best I have seen thus far in 2019. Everyone should go watch it even if they are not a fan of Beyonce.

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

IF YOU HAVE A POEM, ESSAY, LETTER OR SHORT STORY YOU WOULD LIKE TO PUBLISH IN PANDORA’S BOX, SEND IT TO THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AT ANGEL. ADEGBESAN@YORKMAIL. CUNY.EDU

Vani, a regular teenage girl, was laying on her bed doing her homework. Her mother rushed into her room, with tears in her eyes and stared at her daughter and said, “Vani, we need to talk.”

Vani immediately knew something was wrong and put herself in an upright position so she could listen clearly to what her mother had to say.

Her mother said, “Well Vani, I have been trying to hide this from you because I know how much you worry, but I am sick. And I don’t mean regular sick, I am ill. I went to the doctor and he said I only have about three years left.”

Vani’s mother paused and bit her tongue to keep herself from crying and then continued to say, “It has just been you and me for as long as I can remember but because I won’t be here much longer, I want us to do research so we can find your birth mother.” Her mom continued “I would feel better if I know that after I am not around any longer, that someone will continue to be there for you” Vani had been adopted when she was only 6 months old. Her adopted mother did not keep the fact that she was adopted from her and because she was provided with such a good life, she never once worried or cared about who her birth mother was…. until this moment.

She stared at her mother, the only mother she ever knew, with tears in her eyes and for a moment did not know what to say. She eventually said, “I am not going to spend this time looking for a woman that did not even want me in the first place. I will spend all my time with you and if things are to take a negative turn, I will file for emancipation.”

Her mom chuckled and said, “I won’t allow you to do that love. I want you to be fine when I’m gone. Please don’t fight this Vani, just accept my wishes, please.”

Her mom gave her a kiss on the forehead and then left the room. Vani buried her face in her pillow and sobbed uncontrollably until she fell asleep. The next morning, she found a number of the adoption agency her mom used to adopt her.

She rolled her eyes as she thought about finding her birth mother but knew that it was the only thing that would please her mother.

She took a big sigh and got her phone and dialed the number. After what felt like forever, someone finally answered.

“Hello good morning. My name is Sasha Jenkins and you are on to Shine Bright Adoption Agency, how may I help you?”, the voice on the other side of the phone said.

“Hi”, Vani said, “My name is Vani Collins and I was adopted through this agency. I was wondering if I could get access to my files or would you have to speak to an adult?”

Vani did not hear anything but silence and she thought maybe she lost signal. She looked at her phone and then said, “Hello.”

Sasha Jenkins cleared her throat and then said, “Forgive me for the silence. My mind was elsewhere. Let me look up your file. Please hold.” After about a minute Sasha said, “I’m very sorry Miss Collins but your files have been destroyed. We have only recently started using the computer system for filing so unfortunately, I won’t be able to recover the files even if I wanted to.”

Before Vani could respond, Sasha hung the phone up...

To Be Continued

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

ARTS PB Tuesday, May 21, 2019

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Detective Pikachu is the Pokemon Movie We All Needed

Photo credit: Red Light Films via Pexels

By Richard Heaton Pokemon has an incredibly long history on the screen. More than 20 animated films and more than 1,000 episodes of the show.

But after more than 20 years, they took the plunge and gave a live-action Pokemon film a shot.

Fans said it couldn’t be done and non-fans said it was a stupid idea. But here we are, the film having been released already, and both the box office and critics having said otherwise.

Granted, this is still a film that’s tailored to Pokemon fans,

Dennis Quaid stars in The Intruder.

By Richard Heaton It’s not often that we get a horror or thriller film that leaves you

so it didn’t thrive in other areas.

The film stars Justice Smith as Tim Goodman and Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu. The two meet when Tim is told that his father is dead and he finds Pikachu in his father’s apartment. Pikachu lost all of his memories but thinks he’s a detective and that Tim’s father is alive and agrees to help him find him.

Together they go on a crazy adventure (even crazy for Pokemon) and they learn all sorts of details about Tim’s father and what he did, but also about the city he livs in.

As a Pokemon film, Detec-

tive Pikachu is fantastic, but as a generic story driven film, not so much. There are chunks of plot that are very outlandish and if you were to take all the Pokemon parts out of the movie, most of the plot on its own would actually be pretty bad.

Someone who doesn’t like Pokemon wouldn’t understand the first hour of the film, and it’s not because of the Pokemon but because the plot and the tone, and even the acting at times are bad.

The ending of the film however, is fantastic, for fans and nonfans alike. Without trying to give away too much of the film, I can

say that the ending is one of the most emotional scenes that you could ask for.

The best part of the film isn’t the emotion or even the Pokemon, it’s the comedy. Let me make this clear, the movie wouldn’t have been anywhere close to what it is without Ryan Reynolds as Pikachu. Having a different actor voice Pikachu would have sent the film in a different direction with a different tone and style altogether.

Reynolds brought his signature humor with him to this role.

His lines and quips are what brought the character to life and

some of the things that he said are just hilarious on their own.

There are also a few scenes that are just insanely funny, such as a scene where Tim and Pikachu are interrogating a Mr. Mime. You don’t have to be a Pokemon fan at all to enjoy scenes like these.

Another high point of the film was the music. The score was composed by Henry Jackman who is very well known for his upbeat action comedies. He’s worked on films such as Kingsman, Captain America, and Jumanji. The score brought back the original theme from the show and some of the old game music while featuring new songs that fit nicely.

The film performed very well at the box office, especially considering that it was competing with Avengers: Endgame. It made $54 million during its opening weekend, which was the biggest opening for a video game adaptation ever. After just ten days it made $200 million worldwide and made more than any other Pokemon film.

In the end, Detective Pikachu did very well, both as a film for Pokemon fans and as a general action-comedy. It had a little bit of everything and in the end, it’s going to get a solid 90 out of 100.

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

The Intruder Continues Trend of New Horror

Photo credit: Gordon Correll

rattled. That’s where The Intruder comes in. It’s marketed as a thriller and it delivers.

The Intruder is about a couple that moves out of the city to buy a

lovely house that they have been looking at for a while. But things are not really as they seem with the owner of the house and things turn dark quickly.

One of the best aspects of the entire film is the acting, especially that of Dennis Quaid. He plays Charlie, the original owner of the house and he does a great job at pulling off a captivating performance that’s just as dramatic as it is creepy. I would go as far as to say that Quaid’s performance is one of the three or four best that we have seen so far this year and it would not be all that surprising if he ends up with an Oscar nomination come January.

As our couple, Scott and Annie begin to settle in, Scott’s friend Mikey begins to notice that there is something wrong with both Charlie and the house. Quickly Scott and Annie are dragged into a week of terror-fighting for their lives in different ways.

The only issue with the film is that it continued to utilize unrealistic plot devices to move the film forward. For example, while it does not exactly show what Scott’s job is, it is something corporate, like a senior salesman, an accountant, or something of the sort.

But Mikey, who works with him, is able to do all sorts of “detective” work for him. Scott asks him to look up Charlie’s history and background, and he even

finds out that Charlie’s daughter changed her name. If you ask me, a generic salesman or an accountant would not have access to this kind of info, and probably would not even know how to acquire it in the first place.

It works for the sake of keeping the film moving, but it is one of those things that if you think about it too much, you begin to realize that it’s not logical and that half the stuff that happens in the film wouldn’t have happened if it followed any form of logic.

One cool thing about The Intruder is that it is a unique kind of thriller. It starts off like any old horror film but then when the actual scares start happening, they are done in a way that really keeps you on the edge of your seat.

There is one scene right in the middle of the film where Charlie and Mikey are talking while walking down to Mikey’s car. For two or three minutes they are talking and walking. No jump scares, no indication that someone’s going to die or something bad will happen. They are just casually talking and it seems like all is right.

But all I heard for those few minutes was my heart pounding frantically. The entire scene somehow built up an insane amount of anticipation and dread. It was terrifying. There are a few scenes like that throughout the film, that seems to instantly make your

heart do a 180.

Scenes like those have been missing from horrors and thrillers for years. Films that try to be scary now rely on too many jumpscares or plot devices that are silly, nonsensical, or just plain dumb. Over the last few years, we have had some thrillers turning the tides like Us, A Quiet Place, and Hereditary. Before these films, the last one that was arguably scary was The Stepfather in 2009.

Of course, there are plenty of things wrong with The Intruder.

There are lots of scenes that make no sense and plenty of plot holes, but the film really leaves its mark as a thriller and if you like being spooked, this is something that you need to see.

As a plot-driven experience, The Intruder fails hard, but it does have some truly great moments. There are multiple scenes that will actually make your heart stop, and Quaid’s performance is one for the ages. When you weigh those two aspects against the poor ones, it balances out into a pretty great film. Overall, I would say that The Intruder gets an 80 out of 100.

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

OP PBED Tuesday, May 21, 2019

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York Student Reacts to Barr and Mueller Report Saga

Robert Mueller released his report into Russian Interference during the 2016 Election.

Photo credit: Federal Bureau of Investigation

By Rachel Dalloo On March 22, the Department of Justice announced Special Counsel Robert Mueller wrapped up his probe into Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election after a 22-month investigation involving 37 charges against defendants, seven guilty pleas and one conviction.

Following the release of the report, it was noted that there were going to be no more indictments

coming from Mueller. The report has stated that Mueller went on to submit a confidential report to Attorney General William Barr.

The report entailed the decision from Mueller’s team whether or not to prosecute those who were investigated Baee noted.

“Yes, the investigation was worth it, because it is an absolutely vital that the American people knew what took place, which is, am outside country dis meddle in the Presidential election,” said Junis Warren, adjunct assistant

Apple Cracks Down on Phone Usage Apps

By Tonieann Harvey Jack Nicas published an article in the New York Times titled “Apple Cracks Down on Apps That Fight iPhone Addiction” detailing how developers with screen-time tracking apps were finding themselves kicked out of the App Store.

However, the article seemed more misleading to what Apple’s intentions are.

The first thing to take note of is the tone of the article, which seemed very controversial and implied that Apple was kicking out apps designed to compete with the company’s own software.

The article included a short response from Phil Schiller, Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing, without including the extended version of Apple’s underlying reason for them to kick these apps off the app store.

Parents complained in early 2018 about their children being addicted to their iPhones. Apple took this into consideration and included a new feature.

Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, said at a confer-

ence this month that Apple had added screen-time tools to help people monitor and manage their phone use.

“We don’t want people using their phones all the time,” he said.

“This has never been an objective for us.”

Even though Apple says that less screen time is the motive for their new feature, why is it that they are pulling the plug on similar apps or asking them to change their features to make them less effective as there’s?

They are abusing their competitors. Apple told the companies that their apps violated App Store rules, like enabling one iPhone to control another, although it had allowed such practices for years and had approved hundreds of versions of their apps.

If this is their way of treating all apps equally even though there is competition, they are failing from the business perspective.

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

professor of behavioral sciences.

“However, the Mueller report did not get the sunlight it should because of AG Barr’s protection of Trump.”

The redacted 448-page report concluded that there was no possible sign of Russian interference into the 2016 U.S. Presidential Election, though details were provided that supports the claim that Trump sought efforts to have Russia influence into his campaign.

Even though President Trump is “cleared” from one part of the investigation, that leaves the question open on whether he obstructed justice or not. Multiple reports claim that Trump requested his aides to carry out orders, which would have been able to obstruct the investigation.

His efforts into doing so were unsuccessful.

Mueller also stated that he had accepted the DOJ’s opinion that a sitting President cannot be indicted.

“The President’s efforts to influence the investigation were mostly unsuccessful, but that is largely because the persons who surrounded the President declined to carry out orders or accede to his requests,” Mueller said.

On March 24th, Barr released a four-page summary overseeing the full report. The summary has left many confused. What justice is served to the public out of just 4 pages?

That is not the full truth. As citizens, we demand the full truth. He then testified in front of Congress on May 1 defending the way he oversaw the release of the report. Claiming the report, to lawmakers was “his baby”.

If that’s the case, why not do your job the proper way with

your “baby” and serve the justice the public deserves.

Barr’s four-paged summary was a cover up from the real truth that the American people deserve to hear. Due to the fact that Barr did reach his own conclusion on whether Trump obstructed justice or not, because Robert Mueller did not. Barr had quoted Mueller stating “his report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it also does not exonerate him.”

America seems to be split on whether Barr’s conclusion was suitable or not. According to a Washington Post–Schar School poll, 39 percent believe that Barr’s decision was fitting, while on the other hand 41 percent said that it was not a proper made conclusion.

“A.G. Barr lied to Congress and the American people to protect President Trump, Warren said. “Before he became the AG, he advocated for the position by writing a review stating that the President is actually beyond the realm of the lay and can’t be held accountable. Therefore, he was advertising his position before he took the office.

Congress is refusing to take Barr’s answers lightly. Chairman Jerrold Nadler of the House Judiciary Committee had issued a subpoena for the full unreacted of the Mueller report.

“It now falls to Congress to determine the full scope of that alleged misconduct and to decide what steps we must take going forward,” Nadler said.

Due to the fact that Mueller did not come to the conclusion of obstruction against Trump, or exonerate him, he is leaving all of the questions up to Congress themselves. The total reported cost of the Mueller Investigation

is between $32 million and $35 million of taxpayer money.

The American people NEED to hear from Mueller – directly, that is a full statement.

The public and Congress has been misled by William Barr. The job of the Attorney General is to serve the American people, not to be the President’s personal lawyer. Barr should be stripped from his title of Attorney General. The House Judiciary Committee has now voted, 24 to 16, to hold Barr in contempt.

“The Democrats needs to find their spine and demand the full un-unredacted report as it was intended to be,” Warren said. “If this is left the way it is, the Democrats will pay a price at the polls.”

Barr deserves to be held in contempt. His actions as Attorney General are labelled as disgraceful towards our democracy.

We are a country that is in power of the people who we deserve should be there, to serve us justice. To speak for the American people, to be the heart of our legal system.

Barr told a bald-faced lie in front of Congress, which only presses the point that no one is above the law. He did something no man should ever be allowed to do for any president, He effectively said that the president of the United States is above the law. William Barr has settled his own table for his won resignation.

Photo Credit:Wikipedia Commons

One pro is that this could result in people not being so obsessed with the amount of likes or retweets they get from their posts. Without seeing the number of followers who liked and retweeted your post, there would not be such a headache or obsession with it.

The con is that it could cause more of an obsession, especially for users who care a lot about their likes and retweets. Those users would lose their minds to the point that they would start finding alternative ways to count the number of followers who retweeted or liked their tweet.

However, it is important to note that according to Twitter, they are not actually removing the like or retweet feature. Instead, they are going to hide it to make the app more user friendly.

So, for instance, if someone tweets a racist statement, that person wouldn’t be able to see who retweeted or liked that tweet.

You also won’t be able to see how many people liked or retweeted the post. You will just see 10,000 comments with no retweet or like counter.

This metric kills what is known as “The Ratio”, which is a way for Twitter users to gauge how horri-

ble or tasteless a tweet is.

The way it works is simple.

A user would send out a tweet to stand in solidarity with a company that has recently discriminated a particular group of people. The user would gather 100 likes and 40 retweets. But, there are 10,000 replies from angry Twitter users.

The evidence of a bad tweet is right there in the amount of comments screaming off the phone screen.

I feel that this idea is not that bad. All Twitter is trying to do is make the experience healthier for its users. So if that means getting rid of the likes and retweets so be it. It is better to keep things positive instead of negative especially on a popular social media platform like Twitter.

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

Twitter Reveals Plans to Hide Likes and Retweets From Users

By Autumn Matthews Imagine going on Twitter to post a tweet, then a couple of minutes later when you check to see how many likes and retweets you got, for some reason, you are not able to see any retweets or likes. Well, that could soon be a reality.

Last month, Twitter users panicked over the apps announcement that they will potentially remove the amount of retweets and likes their post receives. In my opinion there are pros and cons when it comes to this decision.

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

OP PBED Tuesday, May 21, 2019

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Student Reacts: York College Hosts the 44th Annual NYASA Conference

By Kesi Gordon On April 12th and 13th, York College’s Department of History, Philosophy & Anthropology hosted the 44th annual conference of the New York African Studies Association. “NYASA,” as its members call it, provided an opportunity for intellectuals from all of the globe and from multiple disciplines to gather and present their research about the lives, histories, writings, and health (among other things) of people of African descent. What follows are my thoughts on some of the sessions I attended, as well as my assessment of how the conference impacted me personally and professionally.

Black Studies and Systematic Globalism The discussion on Black Studies and Systematic Globalization included George White Jr., and Amadu Kaba. These speakers spoke on different issues as they relate to Black Studies. George White, Chair of the department of the History, Philosophy and Anthropology at York College, led the discussion with his study of Black Wall Street and Black Consumption. Black Wall Street was a community of black individuals who collaborated to create a unified city where blacks were the owners, producers, and consumers of businesses. One point that Dr. White addressed was that buying black would not be enough to eradicate the disparities of wealth and income that exist in the black community.

Dr. White also made a point that there is a significant difference between the wealth and income gap in the Black Community. Dr. White claims that reparations would be the only way to begin to close the gap. He calls it a “necessity” of moral and ethical justice.

The responsibility of the black community is to resist the factors of individualism and take up the spirit of the “UBUNTU” that pro-

motes community.

Amada Kaba of Seton Hall University shared his work entitled “Sierra Leone as a Cultural Capital of Pan Africanism”. Kaba talked about significant Black nations such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana (the first sub Saharan country to gain independence), Tanzania, Haiti (the first black republic in the Caribbean), and Sierra Leone and their relationship to what he called “cultural capital” in reference to race, knowledge, religion, and language. Although the people who settled in Sierra Leone were from different countries, they were able to connect and share ideas. Along with culture and ideas, the people of Sierra Leone created a language, a form of Creole, understandable by all. By doing this, Sierra Leone became home to black people from many different areas. Other interesting insights from the presentation was that Sierra Leone was the site of the first Christian Church in West Africa and the people who migrated from Sierra Leone are responsible for a wave of Christianity. Kaba got tearful at the opportunity to share the often neglected and overshadowed significance of Sierra Leone to the Black Diaspora. According to Kaba, Sierra Leone is a cultural capital of Pan Africanism because of the inhabitants who left an impact on the continent and beyond.

Sound, Silence, and Flags in Black Studies Omar Diop of Kennesaw State University, “An exploration of Structures of Silence in Selected African Novels”. Diop pays attention not only to what is said but even those nonverbal communications that require deciphering. He argued that people of the African Diaspora must decode the voices that over time have been silenced. It is important to do so because early African societies were prelinguistic and thus many of the history is left to oral traditions. For that reason, for many years’ African history

was “silenced”. Africana Studies began to be taught 50 years ago. Conferences like NYASA celebrate this de-silencing as we learn and share our knowledge.

Diop’s argument was very compelling to me because while he was discussing this, it reminded me of the culture of power. Lisa Delpit spoke on the concept of using silence as a technique of the culture of power to maintain control. Silence is an effective way to maintain power because it is overt and has the ability to keep power concentrated to those who know about it while eliminating those who are unaware of it. This is reinforced by certain actions and mannerisms. It is especially evident in classrooms and places of business. The way a person carries them self will determine their ranking. For some, this will determine their eligibility to get into certain institutions. Silence is an effective mechanism for maintaining power and it becomes our responsibility to be able to decode what is left unsaid.

Expanding Migrations One of the final presentations was Expanding Migrations moderated by Kevin Hickey of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. Hickey’s presentation addressed prejudice from the perspective of blindness. Hickey analyzed Teju Cole’s novel “Blind Spot”, which he compiled with a new perspective after he woke up blind in one eye. Prejudices often come from an individual’s ignorance and are perpetuated when people refuse to educate themselves. Cole took a picture of a young boy in the Congo River, and at first he wrote that the boy’s eyes “disappear” however, when he adjusted the picture, the face and eyes of the boy became visible. This experience from Cole speaks to the idea that individual prejudices are the fault of the individual and not those he/she projects them onto. Due of the darkness surrounding the boy, Cole was unable to see the boys’

face and features and without the light from the filter Cole assumed that the boy was missing features.

However, the light allowed him to see the boy’s face and features.

Cole’s experience also speaks to the fact that in order for individuals to get passed prejudices, it will require an adjusting in the way that individual sees the world and the light is reflective of education.

The quote that sums up the ideas in Cole’s novel is “Darkness is not empty; it is information at rest”.

The implications for me, a York College Student Over the years, I have heard the argument that very little can be done to change the atmosphere of York because of its location.

However, this past weekend, I watched my school transform into an environment filled with intellectual engagement and activity.

This is not to say that the regular courses and events are not intellectually challenging, however, if class was the food, conferences like NYASA are the necessary supplements that complement the meal. From the panel of distinguished guest who came from SUNY Cortland, Columbia University, University of Buffalo, Union College, other universities and countries such as France, Jamaica West Indies and several African Countries. All of whose presence in the conference contributed to the atmosphere. Hearing many engage in conversation in their native tongue made me feel like I was transported out of my regular college. I could not help but inquire about their nations of origin. To one, Dr. Abdul Nanji of Columbia University, I asked “Where are you from?”.

His response, “the same place as you”. Initially, I laughed at his response because this was our first ever interaction, however, I was compelled to discover the meaning of this statement. Throughout the conference, I got my answer.

With no knowledge of who I was, Abdul was establishing the idea

that no matter our separate origins, we were common. Abdul and others gave me the sense of belonging; that my identity, my ideas, and I were welcomed here.

I felt this in every panel session that I attended and it was reassuring to know that people from all over came here to York College so that students like myself could be enriched. With every word that they spoke I felt new passions being invoked. I believe that this passion is a transferable power.

My evidence came when I looked in the eyes of some of our very own professors and faculty, like Dr. George White. I looked into their eyes searching for some of the tiredness that my body felt by the end of the day. Unable to do so made me wonder what literal vitamins they took. But, I believe the environment helped to reenergize them. More importantly, the NYASA Conference helped me to realize that this too is a part of the college experience, and it was offered to me, a York College Student. I met people who are evoking the meaning of the Sankofa bird, the symbol for this year’s conference. The meaning of the Sankofa bird is to go back and get that which was forgotten.

The conference was filled with individuals who find significance in History and are dedicated to using knowledge of the past to invest in the future. In addition, majoring in History, I do not often feel inspired that my career path will be fulfilling. However, Dayshawn Gaines, an alumni of York College, and I agreed that being surrounded by other people who are living examples of who and what we aspire to be provided some well-needed opposition to leave aside those doubts and negative opinions.

Kesi Gordon is a contributing writer. She can be reached at kesi.gordon@yorkmail.cuny. edu

Why Does the MTA Schedule Change Throughout the Day?

Photo credit: Asar John

By Asar John When you enter the train station, the first thing you might do before swiping their MetroCard is look up at the countdown clock to see when the next train is arriving. Now let’s admit it-- nowadays everyone wants to see when their train is coming to carry them

home after a long day of school or work. However, because your mind is preoccupied with other thoughts, such as whether you’re having leftovers or if you will just eat out tonight, you’re probably not thinking about why your train is arriving at that time or how the E train crew knows to leave Jamaica Center at a certain time.

As interesting as it sounds,

this wonder of train scheduling is based on multiple circumstances that range from ridership numbers to planned weekend work.

However, there seems to be one core factor that determines all of these circumstances.

“Follow the money” says Deep Throat, an pseudonymous informant in the 1976 movie All The President’s Men. Although the topic of how the MTA schedules its trains does not carry as much weight as the Watergate Scandal, we still have to take the advice of Deep Throat and follow the money. In order to understand why the MTA schedules its trains the way it does, we have to look at what fits in the budget. This is because just as many organizations both big and small run on budgets, so does the MTA, and scheduling trains is a big part of it.

It all starts at the MTA’s fiveyear Capital Program plan, which makes up over $33 billion of investments that are dedicated to improving and expanding the system. The latest amendment to the program was passed in April 2018.

The budget plan included provisions that are part of the Fast Forward Plan introduced in the Summer of 2017 by President Andy Byford. The plan aimed to improve subway service. Part of this plan includes the implementation of Communications-Based Time Control, a new signaling system that will allow trains to run more frequently and closer together, when ridership demands it, according to the MTA. Now we can get the idea that scheduling may involve the amount of ridership at a given time and that budgeting in this case is an indirect result of this.

It will cost the MTA to install this new system, then as a result of that, trains can and will run more often.

However, budgeting may be too broad of a term involving its association with how trains are scheduled. Budgeting could also involve the amount of train cars the MTA orders that will serve the system.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Peter Cafiero, chief of operations planning

for MTA New York City Transit, said that the authority could run more trains on certain lines if they could, but the rolling stock of 6,400 cars is not enough. Just like a regular car, train cars, cost money.

In regards to the amount of ridership, more trains run when more people are in the system to meet the demands of ridership.

Trains are most frequent during the weekday rush hour, opposed to late nights and weekends.

An example of this is the E train down the block, which runs about every five minutes during the rush hour and every 20 minutes on late nights, according to the MTA website.

Trains may also be scheduled according to weekend work plans and weather related incidents.

When Superstorm Sandy hit the Northeast, many schedules were altered due to storm related damages to different lines.

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

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Pandora’s Box Spring 2019 Editor-in-Chief Says Goodbye

Photo credit: PB Archives

By Danielle Cruz Honestly, writing this goodbye was harder than I thought it would be. Pandora’s Box has become such an integral part of my experience here at York and it’s hard to express exactly what it means to me in a way that doesn’t sound too cliche. I’m going to try though.

If you had told freshman year me, or even told me when I first became the Arts and Entertainment Editor, that I would one day not only consider Pandora’s Box a sort of second home but also

become the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) for the paper, I probably would have laughed. Even now, I’m still shocked that I was elected into such a position and I am forever grateful to those who put their trust in me and allowed me to go through this experience.

I am not going to lie, this semester was probably the most difficult semester for me. Between juggling my five classes, an internship and my responsibilities as EIC, there were definitely a lot of sleepless nights and self-questioning about whether I had bit off more than I could chew. I cannot count the number of nights

where I stayed up past midnight trying to finish the layout so that we would be able to distribute the paper on time.

I also cannot count the amount of times I had to skip a class to make sure that an issue was resolved or make sure that the proper paperwork was in order.

But I made it to the end and that’s what matters the most!

I’m proud to say that this semester, Pandora’s Box delivered on its promise to report on issues that were relevant to the student body here at York. And we published five issues of the paper! In all my four semesters as an editor, we have never been able to do all five issues so I am glad that I was able to experience it once.

It definitely wasn’t easy to report, although when has it ever been? So to all the faculty and administrators that were easily accessible for an interview this semester, thank you for your help!

For those who weren’t I can only hope that next semester our staff is able to get in contact with you, so that they can continue to report accurately without having to wait a month to get the information that they need.

Along with running around trying to get quotes from people I also had to deal with the infamous signature issue. This issue led to me and my editorial staff running around to different departments on campus to try and figure out who was signing where on the withdrawal request so that everyone could get paid for the hard work they put into the paper. It was really just an issue of

he said she said that could have been settled if everyone involved had sat down and discussed the issue and had seen it in writing rather than through word of mouth. Even now the issue is only half solved and I hope that the following editorial staff doesn’t have to run around as much. Again to those who helped us try and figure this signature issue out thank you and to those who only made the situation more confusing please have all your information straight come next semester.

One highlight of the year was definitely being able to fly down to Texas and attend the South by Southwest Conference and Festival. It was definitely a struggle to get everything ready for the trip but it paid off in the end. I definitely learned a lot about the future of journalism from the various panels we attended and while I didn’t network as much as I would have liked it’s still an experience I’ll never forget. So thank you to everyone who made that possible.

Of course an editor is only as good as their staff, so I just want to say thank you to all the editors and writers who worked tirelessly with me this semester to create five issues that we could be proud of. I especially want to thank my editorial staff who stayed up many nights helping me with layout and also lent a hand when it came to filling out various paperwork. So thank you from the bottom of my heart to everyone who wrote for and helped out with the paper this semester and I wish you all the best in your future en-

deavors.

(We definitely need new writers next semester so of you’re interested in writing for Pandora’s Box come stop by room 2C13!)

Come next semester the new editorial staff will be much smaller than the one we had this semester but, I know they will continue to create amazing content for the York community. Angel Adegbesan, the former News Editor, will be taking over as Editor-in-Chief; Dwayne McBean, a former staff reporter, will take over as managing editor; Richard Heaton will stay on as the Arts and Entertainment Editor; Asar John will take up the position of Assistant Arts and Entertainment Editor and Adisa Sobers will stay on as Photo Editor. Congratulations to the new editorial staff, I know you will make the paper even better then it is now and good luck next semester!

I will forever be grateful for all that I have learned during my years at York and as a part of Pandora’s Box and I know that this experience is something that I will take with me as I move on onto the Craig Newmark School of Journalism.

Thank You, Danielle Cruz

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

PBPB

Pandora’s Box EDITORIAL BOARD:

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

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

News Editor: Angel Adegbesan angel.adegbesan@yorkmail.cuny.edu

STAFF REPORTERS: Asar John Autumn Matthews

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

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Aleah Cole aleah.cole@yorkmail.cuny.edu Shanaé Harte shanae.harte@yorkmail.cuny.edu Tonieann Harvey tonieann.harvey@yorkmail.cuny.edu

Assistant News Editor: Rachel Dalloo rachel.dalloo@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.

PANDORA’S BOX SPORTS

yorkpbnews.net

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

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Student Athlete Spotlight: CUNYAC Rookie of the Year, Devine Chisholm

Devine Chisholm.

Photo Credit: York College Athletic Department

By Shanaé Harte Balancing life can be hard; adding sports and school to the mix can make it harder. For many, this balancing act is overwhelmingly stressful, but Devine Chisholm finds a way to make it work.

Devine Chisholm, 18, is a freshman at York College and

plays guard on the school’s basketball team. Although he is new to this team, Chisholm is very familiar with receiving success as a basketball player.

At John Dewey High School in Brooklyn, Chisholm’s team ranked fourth in New York City.

Individually, he achieved the 1000-point milestone and in his first season at York College, he was honored with City Universi-

ty of New York Athletic Conference’s (CUNYAC) Rookie of the Year Award.

“My love for basketball began at the age of two when my dad first put the ball in my hands,” Chisholm said.

He started playing on his first organized team at seven-yearsold and has not stopped playing since. He refers to basketball as his first love but stated that he knew how important receiving a quality education was.

“My academic life is strong because I take pride in being the best student I can be,” Chisholm said. “My coaches and my teammates also help me take pride in that and my parents don’t play around when it comes to school.”

York College has enforced a rule for all student athletes. They must attain above a 2.5 GPA in order to participate in athletics.

Chisholm stated that he does not feel he is a “school person” but is motivated by this rule to do great in school because he would not want to be ruled ineligible.

“I know that the term is student-athlete and without school, I would not be able to play basketball,” he said.

Motivation for Chisholm to succeed in his academics also comes from his younger sevenyear-old brother. Chisholm said his little brother looks up to him and he finds it necessary to set a good example so that his brother will follow the same path.

Because basketball and academics are important to

Chisholm, he has set goals for himself to get better. For basketball, Chisholm wants to be able to make the playoffs next season.

For academics, Chisholm wants to be able to get better grades.

“I’m at a 2.8 GPA,” Chisholm said. It is not the worst but at the same time it is not the best and I know I could do better. My aim for this semester is to get a 3.0 or above.”

The basketball season parallels with the school semester but Chisholm mentioned he always focuses more on school. He stresses that basketball could be taken away from you at any time while you’re playing so you always have to have something to fall back on.

There are many stereotypes about student-athletes that give people the impression that they are not academically inclined.

Another is that other students often complete assignments for student-athletes while they are busy playing their respective sports.

When asked how he felt about these stereotypes, Chisholm voiced his displeasure about the beliefs.

“I think it is unfair,” he said.

“Just because we play sports does not mean we don’t put in the same type of dedication into our academics.”

Because Chisholm juggles school, sports, and a job on the weekend, he sets time aside for himself to relax. Whenever he gets the chance, Chisholm enjoys bowling.

He laughed as he said his friends stopped bowling with him because of how competitive he gets whenever he plays. Nevertheless, Chisholm has not let this hold him back. Though his friends refuse to bowl with him, he still plays as much as he can.

He stated that if he does not become a professional basketball player, he will try to become a professional bowler.

Professional bowling seems like an option to Chisholm, but his ideal career choice would to play basketball professionally. He acknowledged joining the NBA (National Basketball Association) would be a difficult venture, so an attempt at overseas basketball is a more plausible choice.

The freshman has yet to declare his major, but he decided to study journalism so he could have the opportunity to become a sports journalist.

There are many young aspiring athletes that believe they are only required to be amazing at the sport they play. Chisholm offered some advice to those athletes.

“If you don’t think getting an education is important, you might as well not play that sport because wherever you go, education comes first,” he said. “Without education you can’t play your sport, school comes first and your sport second.”

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

What’s Next After Disappointing NBA Draft Lottery?

Knicks. And trying to get him to comment on free agency is like pulling teeth.

Let’s say the Knick’s whiff on one… or dare I say two top free agents, there are consolation options available.

Bronx Native Kemba Walker would be an instant fan favorite and has proven he is a solid allstar point guard in this league.

Jimmy Butler will be on the open market this summer as well. The shooting guard would be a great suitor for the Knicks, bringing his defensive versatility and toughness to the Garden each night.

Zion Williamson is the projected number one pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.

By Fiifi Frimpong “And the number one pick in the 2019 NBA Draft will go to the New York Knicks!”

Those were the words Knick fans waited to hear all year after enduring a brutal 17-win season filled with losing and dreams of the upcoming offseason.

Step one of the 2019 offseason was to strike luck with a 14 percent chance to land the number one pick. Step one failed.

We all know how the draft lottery ended on the 15th. New

Orleans Pelicans landed the first pick and won the Zion Williamson sweepstakes. The Memphis Grizzlies will pick second. The Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, and Cleveland Cavaliers round out the top five.

The Knicks weren’t able to land the Duke superstar, but the offseason doesn’t end there.

There are still all-star free agents to sign and possible trade packages to look for.

Here are some possibilities to look for this summer from the Knicks: Sign Two Free Agents With Max Deals

Photo Credit : Keenan Hairston

The first one is obvious. Free agency begins at 6 p.m. on June 30 and the New York Knicks have enough cap space two bring in two top-tier players that would quickly make the team a contender in the eastern conference. Preferably, the Knicks would pursue Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, who are both likely to opt-out of their current deals. The two are known to be good friends and a signing of one would possibly lead to a phone call to land the other in Manhattan.

Kawhi Leonard will suffice, but there hasn’t been one report that linked the forward to the

Explore Trade Packages for Anthony Davis A little less intriguing with the third pick rather than the first, the Knicks could still explore an avenue to land the all-star big man in the Big Apple. Kevin Knox, Frank Ntilikina, Dennis Smith Jr., and Damyean Dotson are all players the Knicks may be willing to part ways with for Davis.

The centerpiece of the trade is obviously the third pick in the 2019 draft. Add that pick, a selection of aforementioned players, first or second round picks from upcoming 2020 and 2021 drafts and the Pelicans would pick up the phone to entertain the Knick’s offer.

Landing Davis would be ideal, especially after his agent made it known that the Knicks are a desired landing spot where he would be willing to resign if he chooses to exercise his player option at the end of 2020.

However, Knick fans can’t get

their hopes too high. According to the New York Daily News’ Stefan Bondy, the Pelicans “are not high on” Kevin Knox. Ntilkina’s recent regression this season doesn’t make him a must-have for the Pelicans either.

Draft R.J Barrett With Third Pick Assuming a trade for Anthony Davis doesn’t go down, R.J Barrett should be available to grab after Williamson and Ja Morant are taken off the board. The lefty wing player could be a nice piece to potentially play alongside Kyrie Irving in the backcourt.

The 18-year-old has also made it known that the Knicks are one of two desired landing spots. The match works for both sides.

Trade Frank Ntilikina Even if he isn’t included in a potential Anthony Davis Deal, the Knicks should explore the possibilities of what teams would offer for Frank Ntilikina.

The young Frenchman didn’t show much promise during his sophomore campaign in the 2018-2019 season. His sophomore slump was riddled with injuries and a lackluster offensive game.

This led him to spending much of the season on the bench on a roster that was already filled with guards.

The guard still shows promise on defense and with his size, a team may be in the market for Ntilikina on draft night.

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

16

PANDORA’S BOX SPORTS

yorkpbnews.net

Tuesday, May 21, 2019

Athletic Department Two Year Probation Ends

Photo Courtesy: York Athletic Department

By Fiifi Frimpong May 18 marked the end of a two-year probation on the York College Athletic Department due to academic eligibility and other compliance issues during the 2011-2015 academic years.

The violations were revealed on May 19, 2017 after an investigation by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), as well as an internal investigation done by York, revealed that Ronald St. John, the now former head men’s basketball coach, had “engaged in unethical and impermissible conduct and that York

failed to monitor the academic certification process in the men’s basketball program.”

According to the NCAA report, the case consisted of three major violations. First, the institution and/or former head coach, who also served as athletic director, improperly certified the eligibility of eight men’s basketball student athletes from 2011-2015.

The second occurred when St. John knowingly improperly certified the eligibility of two men’s basketball players and provided false or misleading information to the institution and NCAA enforcement staff during the investigation.

Third, York failed to monitor the academic certification process within the men’s basketball program due to weaknesses in the athletics department’s organizational structure.

York’s self-imposed penalties included forfeiture of wins, including the 2014 CUNYAC Championship dating back to the 2011-2012 seasons, a new human resource policy that prevented a coach from serving in any other role in the department, creation of an Intercollegiate Compliance Committee, and restructure of the athletic office.

The NCAA accepted those penalties along with the two-year probation, a $4,000 fine, a public reprimand, and a three-year show-cause penalty against the former head coach.

When asked for comments on the situation, St. John mentioned that all charges against him were dropped in October 2018, five days before his arbitration date.

The former head coach decided to retire after hearing from his attorney all charges were dropped

by York.

“The whole [situation] was crazy,” said St. John. “It was nothing more than a compliance issue that someone wanted to make it more than that, don’t know why.

I guess they decided to hold the athletic director accountable to it.

I didn’t even understand how it got to this.”

The former head coach stressed that the anonymous individual who made the report specifically had it out for the York athletic department. He went on to say situations like these happen in institutions often, and they are usually self reported by the coaches themselves or the school.

In this instance, the compliance issues were reported by CUNY Legal to the NCAA, not from York.

“There are things in place with the NCAA,” said St. John.

“Something happens all the time.

All the schools, Hunter, Baruch, Staten Island. You realize things happen, you check and fix it. You self-report to the NCAA, they say this is how we will handle it and we keep it moving. That didn’t happen in York. Someone else decided to self-report for York, that is how you know something wasn’t correct. That is not how this system works.”

He also mentioned that he was surprised and questioned why the process was dragged for so long.

“I was surprised that it kept dragging out,” said St. John. “You knew something was wrong because these situations usually take nine months to a year to end. Why did mine take over two years?”

Current director of athletics at York, Denee’ Barracato, stat-

ed that as of April 15, 2019 the NCAA approved of York College’s final annual compliance report submitted by the athletic department. The report was followed by a letter from the associations President’s Office.

“York College continues to meet NCAA requirements and has forged ahead in instituting best practices,” said the President’s Office.

To combat a recurrence of the past violations, Barracato said the college now provides ongoing compliance education to staff, implemented multi-layered monitoring protocol with checks and balances, made technological advancements to monitor compliance issues more efficiently, reorganized the athletic program, and enhanced student-athlete engagement, tutoring services, and training.

“These measures among others have supported the integrity and vitality of the College’s athletic program,” Barracato said.

“York College pledges its dedication to monitoring its programs and to the NCAA’s mission of safeguarding the well-being of student-athletes, equipping them with the skills to succeed on the playing field, in the classroom and throughout life.”

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

Athletes and Coaches Star in York ESPYS Awards Ceremony

For more photos from the awards night turn to the photo gallery on page 9.

By Richard Heaton On the second day of finals, athletes and coaches alike from York College’s 17 teams gathered in the Health and Physical Education Complex for one last celebration and to close out the 2018-2019 school year on a high note.

It was a celebration of success.

Dozens of awards were given out to players and coaches for various accomplishments from both the fall and spring seasons.

After opening remarks and the first batch of awards, there was a break for dinner. Everyone in attendance was treated to a catered meal of swedish meatballs, macaroni and cheese, fried chicken, and more.

Following dinner began the bulk of the ceremony. For each team, an award was given for newcomer of the year, most outstanding athlete, and the coaches award. Following these awards,

the sportsmanship and all-star awards were given out. More than 75 awards were given out in this part alone.

Following a brief break for dessert, it was time for the major awards. Geraldine Guess, of the women’s soccer, swimming, tennis, and track and field teams won female newcomer of the year. Devine Chisholm of men’s basketball won male newcomer of the year.

Nicole Ovelheira and Dammon Trimmingham won career awards while Argenis Contreras Sanabria won the I am a cardinal award.

The coach of the year was Anastasia Bitis and the men’s basketball team won team of the year.

The student athlete of the year winners were Mac-Dege Dessourees and Rohan Burrell Jr. One of the big winners of the night was Keshawn Ross, a sophomore from Queens, New York.

The men’s track and field star won five different awards throughout

Photo Credit: Adisa Sobers

Photo Credit: Adisa Sobers

the evening, including a coaches award, a sportsmanship award, and a City University of New York Athletic Conference all-star award.

After winning his first award of the night, Ross talked about his history of winning, that he won a sportsmanship during his freshman year. When asked about his biggest challenge coming into his sophomore campaign, Ross responded “Coming back into the season I was determined to get back in shape and participate and help my team.”

His determination and hard work really paid off this year if his following four awards were any indication.

Another highlight of the evening was a fellow teammate of Ross, Adedayo Epemolu. In addition to track and field, Epemolu also played soccer, where he won a coach’s award. The other award that he won was also the first of the evening, the scholar-athlete of the year.

He won that award by finishing the year with an impressive 3.915 GPA as an Economics major.

When asked about how he manages school and the athletes’ life, Epemolu says it’s all about time management.

“Every day I set out my goal for the day, I try to do as much as possible,” he said. “Sometimes I have hiccups, and those times I have to make up for the loss in the day.”

Not only does Epemolu want to help bring back the “glory days” of York during his time here, he also wants to dominate the education scene and go after his master’s degree.

The evening wasn’t all about sports though. One of the first awards given out were the recognition awards, which included a diverse list of winners from all areas of the campus. Winners included Marcia Moxam Comrie from the office of communication, Glen Roew from building and

grounds, and Dr. Jay Choi from the counseling center, among others.

Nearly four hours later, after the last of the awards have been dished out, it was time for Denee’ Baracato, director of athletics, to give her closing remarks.

Throughout her speech, she tried her best to inspire each of the athletes present, both newcomers and those leaving York.

“Don’t let anyone tell you anything differently,” she said. “You all are the light that shines on this campus. You all are the ambassadors of York College. You all are the most visible students on this campus. Be proud of that, shine bright every single day, and do not forget that.”

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