MARCH 27, 2019 • VOLUME 89 • ISSUE 21
The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929
OPINION: TRUMP AND McCAIN P. 5
ARTS & LIFE: QTHON RAISES $332,567.12 P. 6
A framework for the future
SPORTS: MEN’S LACROSSE P. 10
Sleeping Giant set to reopen with concert
President Olian’s estate, the Strategic Plan and outlines for the future See photos of presidential estate on page 3
CHRISTINA POPIK/CHRONICLE
Sleeping Giant has been closed since a tornado hit Hamden last May. By AMANDA PERELLI Managing Editor
By JENNIE TORRES Associate News Editor
The university-wide strategic plan to renovate President Judy Olian’s estate was addressed in further detail by Vice President of Facilities and Capital Planning Salvatore Filardi on Wednesday, March 20. Filardi’s explanation brought up the motivation behind the ownership of the property and how this could benefit the student body for years to come. The university-owned property is located at 305 Spruce Bank Road behind the Hilltop parking lot on the Mount Carmel campus. Filardi explained why the ownership of the property is a part of the university’s strategic
plan by introducing the university’s history on attempting to purchase it. “Most towns have planning and zoning requirements that only allow a certain ratio of building to overall land,” Filardi said. “If you have a hundred-square-foot parcel and it’s 20 percent, you could only build a 20 square foot footprint. The other 80 percent needs to stay open. One of the things that we found over the years is that [the university is] butting right up against that ratio of the town.” Filardi considers it a positive thing that the university is acquiring new land because it removes the ratio issue, however he says
it wasn’t easy to obtain at first. The objective of gaining the property on Spruce Bank Road began in 1990, when the university was able to get board approval to go up to a certain dollar amount to bid for the property at a real estate auction. However, they didn’t count on being met with a higher bid. “In the 28 years since, the owner of that property who outbid us that day became friends with the university, has been closely associated with a lot of things,” Filardi said. “If you’re familiar with the ice hockey rink, See FRAMEWORK Page 3
Hiroya Tsukamoto will perform a free concert, awakening the Sleeping Giant State Park from its nearly year-long slumber. The composer, guitarist and singer-songwriter will perform April 2 at the Quinnipiac University Theater Arts Center, according to a Quinnipiac University press release. The concert will serve as a celebration to the reopening for the park later this spring. Tsukamoto will perform a special piece dedicated to Sleeping Giant that he composed, according to the press release. The exact date the Giant will reopen remains unknown, but is expected sometime this spring. The free concert is open to the public and is a part of a series of events planned to celebrate the reopening of the Sleeping Giant.
QU Physician Assistant program ranking drops from five to 15
Faculty and students alike are still inspired, despite the fall Copy Editor
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Only 54 students are accepted into the Physician Assistant graduate program each year, according to Dennis Brown. It is a very competitive field, according the graduate Quinnipiac Physician Assistant to Brown. Only 54 students are accepted into program every year. Furthermore, accepted
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The Quinnipiac Physician Assistant program recently dropped in the U.S. News’ rankings from fifth to 15th. Despite this, students have not wavered in their support of the program. “I don’t look at it as if we really fell,” Dennis Brown, the Program Director and Department Chair of Physician Assistant Studies, said. “We are doing this dynamic dance here with the top people.” The program is in the top six percent of all Physician Assistant programs in the country, according to Brown, competing with 237 other schools like Duke University (1), University of Iowa (2) and Emory University (5). It is also currently the highest ranked in Connecticut and in the top one percent in the Northeast. Before Brown joined the Quinnipiac faculty six years ago, the Physician Assistant program was 11th in the country. “We came down and shared five with a few others for the past four years,” he said. “Now, with this latest rankings, they brought us up to share 15 with a few others.”
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students generally have GPAs in the top 10 percent of their high school class, SAT scores over 1400 and ACT scores over 30, according to Brown. One senior in the Entry Level Physician Assistant Program (ELMPA), Kirsten Gardner, believes the program has not fallen in quality, despite the fall in rankings. “In my opinion, 15th is still a great ranking considering all the PA schools there are in the country,” Gardner said. “It’s definitely a little upsetting to have dropped, but the reputation of the QU PA program is still exceptional. Quinnipiac has had a 100 percent pass rate of the certifying exam for the past several years.” Gardner said this program has continued to live up to her hopes. “The ELMPA program especially is amazing because we are automatically accepted to grad school, which very few schools offer,” she said. “Graduate school is extremely rigorous, in attempt to prepare us for the real medical world.” Freshman PA (ELMPA) major Pratibha See PA RANKING Page 3
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INDEX
By GARRET REICH
Opinion: 4
Arts and Life: 6
Interactive: 9 Sports: 10