FEBRUARY 3, 2021 • VOLUME 91 • ISSUE 10
The official student newspaper of Quinnipiac University since 1929
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OPINION P.4: $GME AND YOU Hedge funds struggled against their mortal foe – the average American
got tested?
SCREENSHOTS FROM EVENTS
A&L P.6: A VIRTUAL DISCUSSION ON MLK Patrisse Cullors and Yamiche Alcindor spoke to the New Haven area about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s impact
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY MICHELLE JAY/ILLUSTRAITON BY MORGAN TENCZA
SPORTS P. 10: FROM THE BOBCATS TO THE WHALE
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Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey aluma Abby Ives reflects on her Quinnipiac career after her NWHL debut
QU to introduce a new fraternity next fall
By WILLIAM GAVIN Staff Writer
The Delta Chi fraternity will join Quinnipiac University next fall as part of the university’s ongoing effort to expand Greek life chapters on campus. Delta Chi was first founded in the late 1900s at Cornell University as a justice-minded fraternity and soon after became a leader among fraternities abolishing “Hell Week,” as well as all other hazing rituals in 1929. Since its founding, Delta Chi has initiated over 116,000 members and started 137 undergraduate chapters and 36 active alumni chapters. According to Divante Hamilton, director of fraternity growth at Delta Chi’s international headquarters, the fraternity wants to introduce its values of justice and equality to the Quinnipiac community. “The values of Delta Chi as a whole are to promote friendship, develop character-advanced justice and assist in the acquisition of a sound education — and we were originally founded as a law fraternity,” Hamilton said. “So, that’s where you kind of see that, that justice piece and something that we hold near and dear to our heart, as something that we can bring to the Quinnipiac community.” Katherine Pezzella, director of fraternity and sorority life at Quinnipiac, said new chapters bring “energy and vitality” to the commu-
nity, particularly the 83% of male-identifying undergraduate students that do not already belong to a fraternity. While new chapters may be capable of bringing that energy, they first have to spread their message and induct new members, a task made more difficult by safety restrictions against COVID-19. “Without a pandemic, the fraternity would normally send multiple staff members to live in Hamden and be present on campus throughout the recruitment period,” Pezzella said. “Their expansion efforts would also include local alumni and perhaps even undergraduate members of other chapters close to QU. We anticipate we may have to make some adjustments to this plan due to QU’s current policy limiting visitors to campus, but we are actively monitoring that situation and will pivot as necessary.” Hamilton confirmed that alumni living in Connecticut are planning to be active in the outreach process, but that no efforts are fully planned due to restrictions. Delta Chi has expected to begin “outreach tours” for students toward the end of the spring semester as well as over the summer to cultivate interest. The fraternity also intends to hold community events such as virtual game nights, alumni panels and networking opportunities for interested students.
While outreach may be dampened by the safety restrictions, the fraternity is coming to the university at a time when connecting with other students is challenging , largely due to the move to virtual learning, and a lack of space for in-person activities. “In the pandemic, we have seen increased interest in fraternity life as students are looking for ways to connect with other students, find their people on campus and have things to do that follow the pandemic safety guidance,” Pezzella said. “We hope this will continue into the fall semester and help Delta Chi have a large pool to pull from in addition to the existing fraternities.” Students involved with Greek life have been supportive of Delta Chi’s announcement, such as Francis Malabanan, a sophomore international business major who
also serves as a vice president on the executive board of Alpha Sigma Phi. “It’s an opportunity to connect with others in Greek life, and develop meaningful connections with a group of guys new to Greek life,” Malabanan said. “As a member of the board we’re always looking for new opportunities to expand and improve Greek life and having See FRAT Page 2
ILLUSTRATION BY CONNOR LAWLESS
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MEET THE EDITORS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Brendan O’Sullivan MANAGING EDITORS Toyloy Brown III Jessica Simms CREATIVE DIRECTOR Connor Lawless NEWS EDITOR Emily Flamme ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS Chatwan Mongkol Nicole McIsaac OPINION EDITOR Michael Sicoli ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Emily DiSalvo ASSOCIATE ARTS & LIFE EDITOR Ashley Pelletier SPORTS EDITOR Riley Millette ASSOCIATE SPORTS EDITOR Peter Piekarski DESIGN EDITOR Michael Clement PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Morgan Tencza PODCAST PRODUCER Xavier Cullen ASSOCIATE PODCAST PRODUCER Kalleen Ozanic COPY EDITOR Melina Khan THE QUINNIPIAC CHRONICLE is the proud recipient of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors’ award for College Newspaper of the Year in New England for 2011-12, 2012-13 and 2015-16. Sign up for our weekly newsletter, by emailing Brendan O’Sullivan at bgosullivan@quinnipiac.edu. Search “Chron-versations” and “Chronicle Weekly Report” on streaming platforms for the latest news. THE CHRONICLE is distributed around all three university campuses every Wednesday when school is in session except during exam periods. Single copies are free. Newspaper theft is a crime. Those who violate the single copy rule may be subject to civil and criminal prosecution and/or subject to university discipline. Please report suspicious activity to university security (203-582-6200). For additional copies, contact the student media office for rates. ADVERTISING inquiries can be sent to advertise@quchronicle.com. Inquiries must be made a week prior to publication. SEND TIPS, including news tips, corrections or suggestions to Brendan O’Sullivan at editor@quchronicle.com LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be between 250 and 400 words and must be approved by the Editorin-Chief before going to print. The Chronicle reserves the right to edit all material, including advertising, based on content, grammar and space requirements. Send letters to editor@quchronicle.com. The opinions expressed in this paper are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the Chronicle.
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COVID-19 testing to be approached differently this semester By EMILY FLAMME News Editor
COVID-19 testing at Quinnipiac University looks different this semester with every student that has not tested positive in the last 90 days needing three negative tests before starting in-person activities, and all undergraduate students being tested every week in February. “We will probably be quicker to respond to cases, at least in residential settings,” said Dr. David Hill, the university’s senior medical adviser and professor of medical sciences. “If we see some signals through our testing that there are three or four or five cases that seem to be clustered on a floor or in a dorm, we may choose to quarantine the dorm, until we get more information.” As of Jan. 31, Quinnipiac has entered a “yellow alert level” with 54 active cases in isolation. According to the COVID-19 dashboard, campus operation doesn’t change other than increased communication with the community. In the email about the shift to yellow alert, Hill said there were clusters identified in the Hill 10s building and the Commons residence hall. Students who live there will have to quarantine for 10 days, regardless if one tested positive or has COVID-19 symptoms. They can end their quarantine after getting a negative PCR test result on Feb. 9. “We regret having to impose these measures,” Hill wrote in the email. “However, we know from prior experiences and those at other campuses that this is the best approach to manage outbreaks.” Juliette Lapointe, a first-year media studies major who lives in Commons, said she was not informed of the quarantine prior to the mass communication. “I could feel and hear the frustration throughout our building,” Lapointe said. “I feel very frustrated that this happened before our campus-wide containment period was over.” Although Lapointe is upset she has to quarantine for another 10 days, she thinks having frequent testing is a smart choice since it can prevent an outbreak. “I just hope this will not be an ongoing cycle of our residence halls going into quarantine throughout the semester,” Lapointe said. A new measure of safety this semester is that Quinnipiac is partnering with the University of Connecticut to conduct pooled saliva testing for students who are in quarantine. “So we might want to test an entire floor, or an entire dorm, quickly quarantine the dorm until we get the results back,” Hill said. “And then make our decision on what we want to do with a dorm. So we’re really looking very hard that we don’t get into the situation we were in the fall where it seems that the case numbers got ahead of us.” Hill also said that part of the new testing protocol is that the university will use two different kinds of rapid tests: BinaxNOW and Abbott’s ID NOW. BinaxNOW was used last semester for students who showed COVID-19 symptoms, but is not as precise at detecting asymptomatic cases. The new test, Abbott’s ID NOW, is a molecular test, which is more accurate for detecting asymptomatic cases. In-person classes did not lead to the spread of COVID-19 last semester, Hill said. However, all faculty and staff have been tested prior to their return to campus as an added
TOYLOY BROWN III/CHRONICLE
Long lines are common for COVID-19 testing now that all undergraduate students will be tested every week in February.
Quinnipiac Spring COVID-19 Testing Pre-Arrival Testing
Positive: 182 3.3%
Negative: 5,545 96.7%
safety measure, since last semester they did not have to be tested. They can also request to be tested whenever they want under Quinnipiac’s health insurance. Hill also discussed how since COVID-19 is more prevalent now, it has posed more of a challenge upfront as compared to last semester. This semester’s pre-arrival testing had 182 positive cases, as opposed to last semester when there were about 20. Another concern is the new variants of the virus that are being detected, such as the British strain, which has been found to be 50-70% more infectious. There are eight confirmed cases of the British variant in Connecticut, and two live in New Haven, according to Gov. Ned Lamont. However, it has not been found to cause more severe symptoms. “I think that’s a big challenge is that (COVID-19) is all around us,” Hill said. “And it’s going to be easier to catch it. So the second big challenge is that our students need to be as responsible as possible. And that’s why, you know, the messaging has been so strong, trying to get our students to protect themselves and protect the community.” Hill also talked about how last semester went downhill really fast after some students
Cumulative OnGround Testing
Positive: 54 0.5%
Negative: 10,383 99.5% GRAPHIC BY CONNOR LAWLESS
broke the COVID-19 policies, leading to a total of 525 cases in the fall 2020 semester. “A small percentage can ruin it for everyone,” Hill said. “I mean, there’s no other way to look at it. A small percentage shut down our campus by their behavior. We can’t have that kind of thing happen in March because we want to be on campus — we want to enjoy the spring.” Lapointe said she is worried that something similar to the fall semester outbreak could happen again this semester. “It was very frustrating all week to hear about and see other students breaking the containment rules within our first week back because it affects the rest of our community,” Lapointe said. Despite starting off with more COVID-19 cases this semester, Hill is optimistic that this semester will not end early. “I think we’re going to be on top of this by our testing approach,” Hill said. “We’ve done everything possible to be successful in terms of the way we’ve set up our dorms and our classrooms and our meals and our messaging. And now it’s up to all of our faculty, staff and students to run with it.”
Malabanan: ‘having Delta Chi on campus will be good for the QU community as a whole.’
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Delta Chi on campus will be good for the QU community as a whole.”
@quchronicle
February 3, 2021
Greek life on campus will have plenty of opportunities to expand over the next few years, as the Pi Beta Phi sorority is also scheduled to return in the fall, and the Chi Upsilon Sigma sorority and the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority are
in discussion to reopen their Quinnipiac chapters. The Alpha Phi Alpha and Kappa Alpha Psi fraternities and Zeta Phi Beta sorority are also working with the university to open new chapters in the future.
The Quinnipiac Chronicle
February 3, 2021
News |3
QU alumnus’ company named to Forbes 30 under 30 By NICOLE MCISAAC Associate News Editor
Quinnipiac University graduate Chris Meade’s company Crossnet was recently recognized as one of the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 sports companies. “It doesn’t surprise me that he’s finding success,” said David Atkins, associate professor of film, television and media arts. “The combination of his easy-going personality combined with a respectful disregard for rules suggested early on that he had a strong potential to innovate and achieve after life at Quinnipiac.” After receiving a film, television and media arts degree in 2014, Meade developed Crossnet alongside his brother, Gregory, and childhood friend, Michael Delpapa. Spawning from a combination of both four square and volleyball put together, Crossnet is the first four-way transportable volleyball game that can be played both indoors and outdoors. “Once we came up with the idea for fourway volleyball, we did a quick Google search to see if it was already made. Nothing was on the internet,” Meade said in a previous Chronicle article. “We couldn’t believe it, it felt too good to be true.” Since launching the company in 2017, Crossnet has expanded its employee roster, embedded itself in over 2,000 retail stores across the United States, established a warehouse in Canada and developed a branded partnership with Wilson. Once realizing the credentials of the brand, Meade said the company applied to Forbes 30 Under 30 and went through an extensive interview process before being selected.
“When we woke up and saw that we were on the list, we were all in shock,” Meade said. “It was amazing to see all of our favorite sports athletes on the list next to the picture of the three of us. It was a wild feeling to see that.” Despite recent expansions in the company’s outreach, Meade said the most rewarding factor of the recent title has been watching their hard work and perseverance finally pay off. “We’ve seen a good increase in sales,” Meade said. “But it’s also just nice to ultimately get the recognition we have been working so hard for. In the last two months since we’ve been nominated, we have talked to a lot of higher quality individuals and CEOs.” Matthew O’Connor, dean of the School of Business, emphasized that the foundational base to starting every business begins with a strong idea and is later followed by all the basic business management functions. He said Crossnet’s recent recognition is an exciting accomplishment and establishes a firm sense of promising opportunity for the future. “I think 30 Under 30 is a symbol of possibility,” O’Connor said. “You’ve got enough traction that you caught people’s attention, but people are also saying ‘this is a good enough idea that it’s going to continue to grow.’” Aligning with the work produced by other Quinnipiac graduates, O’Connor said Meade’s success with Crossnet reflects directly on the education taught at Quinnipiac and the mentality the school continues to instill in its students. “There’s a lot of creativity and innovation among Quinnipiac students,” O’Connor said. “I think that when you put creativity and in-
novation together with a willingness to go to work on a project and really see it through to the end, you’re going to have successful people like Chris.” Meade said that although he didn’t come from the most financially stable background, he could blend the skills he learned from Quinnipiac with his strong-willed determination to turn his idea into a reality. “Chris was always an engaging and creative student when he was at Quinnipiac,” said Mike Medina, director of campus life for recreation. “I’m proud of the ingenuity he has displayed in creating Crossnet and excited that his team has found a way to keep people active with their innovative product.” Although Meade didn’t foresee an entrepreneurial career path when he graduated, he said that following his dream of Crossnet was the most worthwhile decision he’s yet to make. “Chris was inquisitive and engaged with his experience at Quinnipiac,” said Danielle Reinhart, assistant dean of student services for the School of Communications.“It is gratifying to see him enjoy such success.” Despite seeing an exponential rise in success and making the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, Meade said the company plans to continue to find ways to expand and develop a wider outreach. “The biggest thing for us this year is growing a global presence of the sport,” Meade said. “My end goal for the company is when someone sees a four-way volleyball, they will automatically know it’s Crossnet and know how to play the game. I’m not going to be happy until everybody knows that.”
CONTRIBUTED BY CHRIS MEADE
Quinnipiac alum, Chris Meade, founded Crossnet, a popular outdoor sports game.
CONTRIBUTED BY CHRIS MEADE
Crossnet has gained success in the last year earning it a spot on Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
Students wary of self-care days in place of spring semester break By MELINA KHAN Copy Editor
Quinnipiac University students expressed mixed responses toward the university’s decision to implement self-care days as a replacement for spring break. In an October email, Provost Debra Liebowitz announced plans for the spring semester, including self-care days that were noted to be in the interest of “students’ continued physical and mental well-being.” As it stands, there are two scheduled selfcare days for the spring semester: March 9, and April 21. The latter is noted as “Bobcat Day” in the academic calendar. There is also a study day on May 3, in preparation for finals. “We wanted to continue to have an opportunity for students to be rejuvenated and to make sure that they had smaller breaks,” said Tom Ellett, chief experience officer. Matt Roteman, a sophomore nursing major, called the self-care days a “good alternative … to prevent students from contracting COVID-19 over a longer break.” However, Roteman said the self-care days should be implemented regardless of the pandemic. “Students go through enough stress and trouble as it is,” Roteman said. “Now we’re in a pandemic, which adds on even more stress, and these self-care days are only an alternative to spring break?” As for whether self-care days will continue after the pandemic, Ellett said he has no comment on anything beyond this year but that he’s looking forward to hearing student feedback on whether the days are successful. Caroline Emery, a first-year film major, echoed Roteman’s views. “I think adding self-care days to the calendar is a great idea,” Emery said. “But tak-
ing away a very important and refreshing break away from students, especially in the climate that we’re in now isn’t sufficient.” Other students wish the number of selfcare days equated to the number of days normally given for spring break. Taylor Sherwood, a third-year 3+1 accounting major, called the self-care days “a good call” but that the three days is not adequate. “Students should be given five self-care days because that would equal the total five days of spring break we usually receive in March,” Sherwood said. Ellett said there are five break days throughout the semester. “If you add the MLK Day and then four others — three plus the day for reading,” El-
lett said. “So, we just took the five days that one would have had in the spring break and then moved them around.” Noah Gilbert, a junior entrepreneurship and computer information systems double major, said the self-care days are a good idea, but a “slap in the face to students.” “The fact (that) they’re called ‘self-care days’ but then (Quinnipiac) put them in finals and midterms week,” Gilbert said. “No student is going to use those days to recharge, they will just use it as more time to study.” The March 9, self-care day falls during midterms week, and the May 3, study day is implemented during finals week. Ellett said a faculty senate voted on the selection of the self-care dates and wanted to
give students a variety of days off. Anesu Mhene, a sophomore legal studies major, said the self-care days could be successful if done right. “I think the school should at least increase the number of self-care days and spread them out more,” Mhene said. Mhene added that she thinks the lack of semester breaks will have a strain on students and professors alike. “Two self-care days is definitely not enough to serve as a replacement for five days of spring break,” Mhene said. “Not only do I think it will lead to academic burnout for students, but it will also put professors under much more stress.”
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The Quinnipiac Chronicle
4| O p i n i o n
Fe b r u a r y 3 , 2 0 2 1
Opinion Residential hell
BY EMILY FLAMME News Editor
After a series of difficult events that took place in January, I could not return to campus until after my assigned move-in date. I fully expected that I would have to follow some different procedures for my return since I would be arriving during the campus-wide containment period, but what I didn’t expect was how difficult it would be to get this necessary information. Once I learned I would have to return late to campus, I called Residential Life. The person on the phone said they had no information on how the process would work, but that I should email Residential Life so someone would know to get back to me. The next day I heard back and was told I would have to arrive on a testing day because I would need to receive a COVID-19 PCR test immediately upon arrival. I was also informed that I would need to stay in quarantine housing until my results came back, which would be approximately two days. I remember thinking how organized the process seemed. I was dead wrong. I wanted some more information about how those two days would go as well as what I exactly needed to do when I arrived on campus, but three of my emails were ignored for four days. Finally, I heard back again and was told that the original plan of staying in quarantine housing was still what I had to do, but I was also informed that I would not be able to bring my belongings to my actual residence hall. I sent another follow-up email asking what the policies were for living in quarantine housing and if it would be different during the campus-wide containment period. I never heard back. At this point, I started to sense that there wasn’t a clear plan for students moving in late. This feeling became a fact when I called Residential Life and after each question I asked, the worker responded with, “I’m not sure, I’ll get back to you on that.” I don’t know if there were more people than expected moving in late so the organization wasn’t properly prepared,
EMILY FLAMME/CHRONICLE
Eight ripped streamers hardly made Sahlin feel like home while students are in isolation.
but it was frustrating on the student side to not know what was going on. I called back the next day and no one answered. I left a message and no one got back to me. I planned to move in on Jan. 28, and the morning of Jan. 25, I was still not fully aware of what the procedure would be. Later that day, I received an email that said I would have to stay in quarantine housing for seven days after getting a rapid test at the school and a PCR test. I called Residential Life since I was confused as to why the plan changed so suddenly and drastically. No one answered, but they got back to me the next day. The person I spoke to was very nice and explained a lot of the information to me. My issue with this experience was never the attitude of anyone I spoke to, it was the fact that it was so difficult to get in contact with people. On top of that, half of the time I got in contact with someone, they didn’t have the information I needed. I understood that they weren’t intentionally being confusing, but during one of the more difficult weeks I’ve had, it would have been nice if the school was more prepared. I was dealing with a family emergency and the last thing I needed to do was have to constantly contact people at the school for updates. I was informed that the COVID-19 task force made its final decisions on late arrival procedures on Jan. 26, two days before people were set to arrive. Other people I spoke to that were arriving late said they were just as confused as me and expressed similar communication issues. I noticed that this seems to be a repeating theme at Quinnipiac University. Students frequently complain about how difficult it is to get in contact with the right people. Over the past summer when housing assignments came out, people were not placed where they originally signed up to live. As the Chronicle reported, students had a difficult time getting in contact with the university to remedy their situations. My experience is just another example of how the university needs to improve its communication. I would have been satisfied if someone let me know in
EMILY FLAMME/CHRONICLE
Quinnipiac’s lack of communication suggests that it is not thinking about you.
an email that Residential Life was working on arrangements and would have the final plan on a specific day. That would also probably limit a lot of frustrating conversations with students and parents. Once the plan was finalized and I arrived on campus, there weren’t too many issues. Getting tested and moving in wasn’t complicated, but there were still things I was not informed of until I arrived. I was not aware that I would be living with other people in quarantine housing. I was surprised when I found out since it seemed to go against everything Residential Life was telling me about why I had to live there for seven days. If the point was to not infect my suitemates, I wasn’t sure why infecting these people was better. I know that if I moved back into my suite, I would be disturbing their containment, but it would have made much more sense if I lived in quarantine housing alone. After I moved into my containment housing, I found out that I was getting another PCR test on my seventh day and will actually be required to stay until those results returned . Even though Residential Life said it was seven days in containment, it’s realistically eight or nine. Again, none of this is a complaint about following COVID-19 safety protocols. Having a containment period is a smart decision, but the plan for late arrivals was contradictory at points. I was supposed to be put into this housing for seven (but actually eight or nine) days to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to my suitemates, but I was moved in with five other girls I could potentially infect or get infected from. They all moved in the same day as me and had the same tests I did, but if we’re all waiting to see if any of us were incubating the virus, why would it make sense that we could infect each other? Overall, I think the university is doing its best to keep the students safe, but there could definitely be better planning and coordination to make the process less confusing and overwhelming.
The Quinnipiac Chronicle
Fe b r u a r y 3 , 2 0 2 1
Opinion|5
Opinion Bringing power back to the people
Day traders and retail investors flip the script on hedge funds BY WILLIAM DEAN Staff Writer
The stock market wasn’t leading headlines last Monday. But within 48 hours, papers, TV stations and Twitter pundits lost their minds over a small retail store that hadn’t been relevant since you last wanted to get a couple extra bucks for your old Nintendo DS games. Last Tuesday, GameStop (or $GME in Wall Street lingo) rode the crest of the largest black swan event in recent memory. After opening at just $95 per share on Tuesday, Jan. 26, $GME had a successful day and closed at $146. The next morning, it shot up to $342 within minutes of the market opening, fueled by stimulus checks and a free trading app called Robinhood. Day traders and retail investors, armed with just a public message board, flipped Wall Street’s decades-old pump and dump scheme on its head. The same hatred for insider privilege seen in the Occupy Wall Street and Tea Party movements a decade ago finally had a competent plan, albeit in the hands of Reddit. Wall Street fat cats got tangled in their own velvet yarn — a refreshing change from the broken system that envelops the finance sector. The populist gamer uprising took the stock market by storm and their beloved GameStop stock skyrocketed more than 250% in just two days of trading. This is all possible thanks to the unwise investments of Melvin Capital, who shorted more $GME stocks than what actually existed. By now, you may have heard that “shorting” a stock is betting that the stock will go down. While true, it does not give the full picture. The first step of shorting a stock is taking a loan of stocks from a broker. Then, the trader sells those shares in the open market. Once the price drops, the trader buys them back for pennies on the dollar. The trader closes the deal by keeping this profit and returning the stocks to the broker. If you’ve heard of the phrase “buy low, sell high,” think of shorting as “take a loan, sell high, buy low and return the loan.” This is where the infamous r/WallStreetBets comes into play. It discovered that if the stock rose even a few dollars, Melvin Capital’s bet would crumble. No matter what the stock price was, Melvin Capital’s short contract required them to buy back the shares. So, the redditors bought and bought, driving the price higher and higher.
“On any kind of fundamental basis, if the stock were worth more than $20 or $30 I think it would be something to behold,” said CNBC’s Andrew Sorkin as GameStop fell from $340 to $325 and bounced back again. “There is nothing normal about what you’re seeing when it comes to this stock right now.” When the market closed and the big green $347.51 flashed next to $GME, it did not represent the value or potential future earnings of the company. For a brief moment in time, a stock represented something more than money. It meant disgust at the system. It meant retribution for 2008. It meant empowerment. Instead of making millions on the deal of a lifetime, Melvin Capital lost billions to Reddit users like u/deepfuckingvalue. Reuters estimates that the entire short-seller market lost upwards of $70 billion. Then the unthinkable happened. TD Ameritrade banned $GME trading on Wednesday. Robinhood followed suit and expanded the ban to other heavily shorted stocks like BlackBerry, Nokia and AMC Theatres. In the blink of an eye, r/ WallStreetBets’ club vanished. “Amid significant market volatility, it’s important as ever that we help customers stay informed,” Robinhood’s official statement read. No one in the company seemed to notice that banning consumers from buying GameStop flew in the face of their mission statement to “democratize finance for all.” In other words, Robinhood believes in free markets but doesn’t think its consumers are smart enough to navigate it. This move was clearly designed to stop the price rising and benefit the hedge funds. Robinhood and others lifted the ban on $GME and other stocks on Friday, but by then, the damage had been done and the moment was lost. Funds like Melvin Capital were able to cut their losses and sold out of their short positions before the stock rose any higher. This is a mask-off moment for the finance class and the Washington, D.C. regulatory regime. When both Nasdaq Inc. CEO Adena Friedman and the Senate call for regulating small trades, the little guy is guaranteed to get screwed. Pleas from financial and political insiders like Friedman to allow the market to “recalibrate” are no more than an excuse to get out of dodge. Oh, and nevermind that United States Secretary of the
PHOTO COURTESY OF TRADING-U.COM
Robinhood banned common people from investing in certain stocks like GameStop to allow hedge funds to escape the situation they created.
Treasury Janet Yellen took $810,000 in speaking fees from the firm that bailed out Melvin Capital. Acting as fast as a federal agency could, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared they were here to save the day and “protect retail investors” by limiting their “abusive or manipulative trading activity.” When a few thousand redditors all buy a stock, it’s market manipulation. When Melvin Capital shorts stocks and actually manipulates the stock price, it’s just another day on Wall Street. The main complaint from financial insiders is that r/ WallStreetBets constitutes collusion between traders and allows for easy market manipulation. If brought to court, the judge will likely agree but would necessitate ignoring all coordination between insiders. Last week, America saw the regulatory leviathan in D.C. and New York act in real time as they crushed a revolt against one of their own. Practically every relevant financial institution from the SEC to the CNBC opinion pages coordinated to “protect” the little guy from himself. Every once in a while, David’s aim is true and he hits Goliath. A few hundred investors on r/WallStreetBets brought down a hedge fund with $13 billion in assets. It’s just sad when you realize how big Goliath really is.
Don’t get sick
Quinnipiac Student Health Services needs to be better BY LACHIE HARVEY Contributing Writer
It’s a new semester and another chance for me to tell a horror campus arrival story. Last semester, I was put in isolation while waiting to get tested for COVID-19 and had issues with food and the heat, but I was still better off than my fellow isolator Phillip, who didn’t have bedsheets when he arrived at 1 a.m. But that was last semester. When I woke up to fly back to Quinnipiac University from New Zealand this time, I felt more confident. I knew the new route that I had to take to get directly to Hartford. This trip had a few hours of layover added to my flight plan to round it up to an unpleasant 47 straight hours of travel, but I had faith. I arrived in Hartford and in the three days that I was isolated in a hotel, I made the unfortunate mistake of not drinking enough water. I didn’t realize this at the time. The dehydration meant that I arrived on campus feeling very nauseous. One cheeseburger from the York Hill campus cafeteria and no water pushed me over the edge and at around 6 p.m., I was feeling incredibly fatigued and sick. I had some diarrhea, and once that was over, I assumed I was in the clear for a while. I was wrong. My stomach became worse. I then had what I assume was a panic attack as it fit all the criteria for one. I asked my friends to call an ambulance and vomited what little remained in my stomach. After a brief talk to the medical staff in the ambulance, they elected not to take me to the hospital as they determined I wasn’t showing COVID-19 symptoms, but rather symptoms of an extremely bad stomach bug. They thought that if I went to the hospital, there was a chance I would contract COVID-19, which could be severely harmful while my immune system was compromised. After being sent back into Crescent, I was soon contacted by the residential director and was sent to Mount Carmel cam-
pus to get a rapid COVID-19 test, a PCR test and to be isolated. I sat in front of two health service nurses, quite clearly very weak and dehydrated. One of them even said they thought it would be a bad idea to put me in isolation by myself. Nevertheless, they did anyway, and I spent the next two days in pain from the food that was being sent to me, worsening the condition of my stomach. I asked multiple times for plain food, but I received acidic fruits and sauce-covered sandwiches. It wasn’t until the final day, just before I received my negative COVID-19 PCR test and was allowed to leave that they gave me food I could eat. This story isn’t designed to make you pity me. I’d like to think of myself as someone who is in a pretty good place medically. I shared my experience to warn people about what to expect from health services. If the health services workers can’t determine that someone who is extremely weak and barely able to concentrate is not someone who should be left by themselves, they shouldn’t be trusted. If I hadn’t figured out that I was extremely dehydrated, I might have passed out in my bed, thrown up in my mouth, choked and died. Thinking back on it now, I have a few people I have to thank for ensuring that didn’t happen to me. My roommates who gave me the crackers that I was able to digest, just before I left for isolation. The public safety officer who came to ensure I
was getting better in the middle of the night. And finally, the residential life worker who gave me some plain food on my last day, even though it wasn’t her responsibility to do so. As for health services, I don’t have many positive thoughts to share. I now have a fear of getting sick or injured, not for the sake of the ailment, but for how health services will treat me when I come to them for help. So, unless you test positive for COVID-19, you’re probably better off sitting in your room in pain than seeking their aid.
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL CLEMENT
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Arts & Life
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A virtual discussion centered on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reveals connections to present-day topics By TOYLOY BROWN III Managing Editor
It's a new year, a new presidency and a new semester, but students who attended a discussion about Dr. Martin Luther King's life and legacy on Jan. 27, were reminded there is still work to be done. “The Work Ahead, the Work Within: Reflecting on King’s Dream” was a virtual conversation that honored King’s life, dream and legacy in the context of today. The Zoom webinar was an intercollegiate event cosponsored by Yale University, Quinnipiac University, Southern Connecticut State University and Gateway Community College. Yamiche Alcindor, an MSNBC political contributor and White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour, guided the discussion and posed questions to Patrisse Cullors, a community organizer and co-founder of Black Lives Matter, about both King and modern-day issues. The conversation between Cullors and Alcindor exemplified the interconnectedness between King’s life and the state of the country after the election of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the insurrection at the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, and the ramifications of what Cullors described as the “twin pandemics” of racism and COVID-19. Early in the conversation, Cullors mentioned the importance of reflection and how King was constantly assessing if “what he asked of Black people” at the time was the correct way to move forward. She also explained how King's criticism of "white moderates" in particular is relevant today with the change in the White House. “As we move into a new administration and feel the excitement of no longer having Donald Trump as president, now is the time, more than ever, for us to remain vigilant about white moderates and white moderate politics at how it actually didn’t get us free before Donald Trump and it won’t get us free now,” Cullors said. “I wholeheartedly believe that this administration has to move forward in really creating a Black agenda. I’ll say this over and over again, but until Black people are free, no one else will be able to get free.” Cullors also talked about how we can learn more about King besides his struggle and was reminded of this when a picture of
“One of the first things universities need to do is decide if they are willing to recruit, develop, retain and appropriately pay Black women. There’s a lot of universities who say they are and then Black women get there and they don’t continue on the promise,”
Patrisse Cullors, community organizer and co-founder of Black Lives Matter
SCREENSHOT FROM EVENT
Yamiche Alcindor, a MSNBC political contributor and White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour (left) moderated the discussion in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his relevance in today's era. King in Jamaica circulated online during the namesake’s holiday. “We kind of froze King in time as an ancestor on a podium, as if he didn’t have a full expansive life,” Cullors said. “He had children, he had a family, he had flaws. I think when we’re able to remember King in his full humanity, we’re able to actually give him more space and breadth and it thus gives other movement leaders more space and breadth.” Cullors also talked about how the siege on the Capitol was a reminder of the existence of white supremacy and its link in American history. “I remember watching it and the very first thought I had was ‘Oh my goodness, imagine if that was Black people, imagine if that was Black Lives Matter,’ there’s no way that, one, it wouldn’t be a massacre but, two, folks wouldn’t be arrested in the thousands,” Cullors said. “This action on the Capitol comes from a long legacy of white supremacist mobs trying to upend democracy.” When recalling the nationwide Black Lives Matter protests during the summer, in the heat of the pandemic, Cullors explained how monumental the moment was in history. “Black people and our allies went to the streets in the middle of a pandemic to challenge racism,” Cullors said. “People risked their lives to show up for both ourselves and also it was the largest multiracial movement in human history and people felt inclined to show up for what we call the twin crisis, the twin pandemics: racism and COVID. I feel really moved by our movement.” In the question and answer section of the program, moderator asked an attendant’s question to Cullors and Alcindor that centered on self care and maintaining positive mental health during these turbulent times. Alcindor explained how music from artists like Bill Withers has helped her a lot. She also gave encouraging advice for college students. “I know that there are probably a lot of college students on here, I just really implore you to try to take a break on yourself,” Alcindor said. “Try to be gentle on yourself … these are times where you cannot spend all day beating yourself up.” While King was a Black man, the discussion did spend time addressing the dual forms of oppression that Black women face. One response highlighted a university's responsibility to have a pipeline of Black women in higher education. “One of the first things universities need to do is decide if they are willing to recruit, develop, retain and appropriately pay Black women. There’s a lot of universities who say they are and then Black women get there and they don’t continue on the promise,” Cullors said. “This has to be an institution-wide initiative. This cannot be (only) certain individuals at the campus who are excited
to bring on Black women, I’ve experienced this myself.” Cullors continued by describing the reality that for there to be Black women in leadership positions in companies and predominantly white institutions (PWI) especially, there must be white people who are moved from those places of authority. “We are not going to actually change the systems that we live in if we don’t have folks moving out of their seats of power,” Cullors said. “It’s just not gonna happen. So there has to be a real confrontation around whiteness and why there’s sort of an obsession with whiteness at the university, at PWIs in particular.”
FLYER FROM EVENT
Local universities such as Quinnipiac and Yale came together to host this event for its students and faculty.
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Arts and Life|7
New semester, new you Get a head start studying and organizing this semester By ASHLEY PELLETIER Associate Arts & Life Editor
As the spring 2021 semester begins, the Quinnipiac University community is facing higher levels of COVID-19 than it did in the fall. There is only so much students can do to control the spread of COVID-19. However, they can control the habits they create for the new semester. Taking time out of your busy schedule to study and do homework can be tedious and stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. With the proper study habits, you will be able to take your learning into your own hands and feel better about it. Avoid using your computer when you are studying if you can. After spending your day learning over Zoom, using blue-light screens to review can lead to even more eye strain. According to a survey in the Washington Post, 73% of people in their 20s show some symptoms of digital eye strain. If you have to work online, consider buying a pair of blue-light-filtering glasses that will lessen the stress on your eyes when looking at your study materials.
Discover how you learn best. There are several learning styles that may apply to you. If you use these learning methods when you study, you will retain more information and find that it is easier to do so. There are four main types of learning: auditory, visual, kinesthetic and reading. Auditory learners should try explaining tough concepts to a friend or reading your notes out loud. Visual learners may find that drawing charts and diagrams helps them absorb information better. Pacing while going over study materials can help kinesthetic
learners. For those that learn through reading, traditional methods of studying such as rewriting and going over notes will help. Once you learn how you learn best, it will be helpful to make a schedule to keep track of when you should be studying. This will ensure that you are reviewing each topic equally. For instance, make a goal that you want to go over course materials for each class for at least three hours a week. It does not have to be all at once, but make sure that you fulfill your requirement. If you find that you need more time to study for a certain class, simply adjust your goals and try again. The best way to keep track of exams and assignments is through an online planner. There are many different options available including My Study Life, myHomework and Todoist. Currently, I am using Todoist, but each website has its own benefits. Try one out and see how it works for you. If you find that you are having a hard time in your classes, reach out to the Learning Commons. It has many resources that are available to students including academic coaches, peer tutors and writing tutors. According to the Learning Commons page on MyQ, peer tutors are available for most 100-level courses as well as some higher-level courses. You can sign up for 30 or 60-minute sessions on its MyQ page. Reach out to your professor for help. Most professors have established office hours you can go to, but some will also be willing to make a Zoom appointment with you to go over the material you are struggling with. Lastly, don’t forget to take care of yourself. While it is important to get your work done and study, you won’t be able to do that if you’re neglecting your needs. For instance, research shows that sleep plays a role in our memory consolidation, which solidifies our memory. Rather than cramming at the last second for an exam, get a good night’s sleep so that the knowledge you absorbed is retained in your memory. Make sure you stay hydrated, eat a balanced diet and take care of your mental and physical health. Remember, this is a new semester. You do not have to let your academic performance from previous terms define your achievement. There are always ways that you can improve.
ILLUSTRATIONS BY MICHAEL CLEMENT
8|Arts and Life
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Local Art Corner
Painter William McCarthy has seen the world but still notices the beauty in Hamden DESIGN BY MICHAEL CLEMENT
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY WILLIAM MCCARTHY
By EMILY DISALVO Arts & Life Editor
Hamden resident and landscape painter William McCarthy began his career in the 1990s when he was working as a gallery supervisor at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. He spotted a painting of an abandoned landscape that emotionally struck him. “From that epiphany, I have been creating landscapes ever since,” McCarthy said. “I refer to them as atmospheric landscapes because I am not trying to capture the most perfect crashing wave or the most perfect country road scene or the intersection of two streets. Just a sense of place and atmosphere.” McCarthy creates his work from memory and his imagination using light, color and selection of composition. As he was working at Wesleyan, painting “took over his life.” “Eventually in early 2008, I took an early retirement from Wesleyan so I could just paint,” McCarthy said. “(Painting is) all I do now. Everything is because of painting.” A fellow painter asked him to teach a class, which eventually evolved into a teaching workshop in Italy that takes place several times a year. Painting led McCarthy to become a teacher, giving him an opportunity to share his gift. “You learn a lot about yourself once you start teaching,” McCarthy said. “You learn not only how to visualize your work but put words to what I am trying to do.” Most of his work is done on canvas, but he also uses treated paper, linen and plexiglass of all sizes — his largest being about four to six feet high. This inspiration for McCarthy’s work starts with a thumbnailsized sketch of an image he has imagined or seen in the past. When he gets an idea, he sketches it in a moleskine notebook that
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY WILLIAM MCCARTHY
William McCarthy paints with an ‘atmospheric’ style which includes less specific details and more abstraction. he always carries in his pocket. “I fill up a whole book of these little sketches and those really help me to guide me along to what I am doing with the landscape,” McCarthy said. McCarthy works out of his home in the Hamden suburbs. Throughout February, his work will be displayed in the Miller Library in Hamden, where his wife works. “The paintings are going to be inside the library on the glass windows there,” McCarthy said. McCarthy’s work is also displayed and sold at galleries in Connecticut, the Boston area and Florida. “You never get to meet the person who buys the painting,” McCarthy said. “You never get to have the conversation about how you did the work so it’s kind of like a vacuum or a void. I have sold hundreds and hundreds of paintings through galleries
PHOTO CONTRIBUTED BY WILLIAM MCCARTHY
William McCarthy’s work will be displayed at the Miller Library in Hamden this month
and I have no idea where they are.” Certain areas of Hamden have inspired McCarthy’s work, including Sleeping Giant State Park, right across from Quinnipiac University’s Mount Carmel campus. “It’s this historic area but also the relationship between the shape of the land and one’s self,” McCarthy said. “The fact that it is this massive structure that goes up so quickly and is so dominating, but is also a part of something else.” But if you saw McCarthy paint Sleeping Giant, it might not look exactly as you remember it. The secret to McCarthy’s abstract paintings is to “see what you want to see in it” rather than giving the viewer all of the details of the scene. “I am not being so descriptive that it is stagnant,” McCarthy said. “There is a lot of room for interpretation.”
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Arts and Life|9
Book of the Week
A book full of lessons ‘Tuesdays With Morrie’ taught me how to make the most out of life By JESSICA SIMMS Managing Editor
For as long as I can remember, my grandfather shared books with me that he thought I would enjoy. Every time, the book he suggested was great and one I could not put down. My favorite was “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom. After not staying in contact with his former professor Morrie Schwartz for 15 years, Albom, who narrates the book, rediscovers Schwartz through a news special that showed that he was terminally ill with ALS. Soon after, Albom starts to visit Schwartz every Tuesday until his final day. During the time they spend together, Schwartz teaches Albom different things he has learned as someone who is dying. While this true story is sad as Albom watches his professor slowly die, he learns a lot from watching, speaking and spending time with Schwartz. Quickly, Albom and Schwartz’s relationship changes from that of a professor and student to two friends. Albom brings food, spends hours in Schwartz’s house and starts to look forward to going to Schwartz’s house rather than going about his own life at home. The lessons Schwartz teaches Albom are those that we should all have the chance to learn. They help us understand how to make the most out of our lives, encouraging us to spend quality time with loved ones and live each day to our fullest potential. While these lessons seem like those we have heard before, Schwartz goes into detail as to why they are important and have helped him embrace the reality of dying. Schwartz feels that he could leave Earth thinking he lived a fulfilled life. One thing he mentions a few times throughout the book was the idea of being physically present with others. Schwartz is always attentive toward who he was talking to, even when the illness starts to make him incredibly weak. He thrives off of being able to connect with others. He teaches Albom to always pay attention to the others he is with. What if the conversation is one of your last with a loved one? You would probably want to be able to remember that conversation forever.
Now with technology readily available and serving as the primary way to communicate with others outside of our family unit, in-person interactions are even more meaningful. Instead of checking your phone when you are with another person, leave it be. Be attentive and take in the idea of being present with another human being. Your phone will be there when you are done, but your friend may not. Schwartz also emphasizes the importance of being happy and feeling loved. He tells Albom that money doesn’t buy true happiness by saying, “If you’re trying to show off for people at the top, forget it. They will look down at you anyhow. And if you’re trying to show off for people at the bottom, forget it. They will only envy you. Status will get you nowhere. Only an open heart will allow you to float equally between everyone.” As a person that worked his way up in the workplace, Albom needs to hear from someone that lived a meaningful life that there is more to life than making money. In Schwartz’s mind, friends, relationships and love are what matter most. For college students, the lessons taught in “Tuesdays With Morrie” are those that we should learn now as we are entering the real world in the near future. While success is great, Schwartz’s emphasis on preserving meaningful relationships and making the most out of each day are important to keep in the back of our minds as we live our busy lives. Take the time to have an uninterrupted conversation with a friend safely in person or on video chat, step away from your computer screen and work for a bit to do something that you love and reach out to a loved one that you miss. Like Schwartz says, “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in,” and in my opinion, love is invaluable. Thank you, Papa, for recommending this book and helping to remind me to always make time for myself and others so I can make the most out of my life.
JESSICA SIMMS/CHRONICLE
'Tuesdays With Morrie' portrays the importance of preserving important relationships in life, no matter how busy you are.
‘WandaVision’ leaves fans with a weekly cliffhanger By NEHA SEENARINE Staff Writer
After a two-year hiatus, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is back with its latest installment, “WandaVision,” which was released on Disney+ on Jan. 15. Marvel fans have experienced this everlasting saga through movies, which had post-credits teasing to what is coming next. They were left feeling content and curious about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, “WandaVision” also leaves them hanging without any context at the end of the episode. “WandaVision” is confusing. The show’s title mentions the main characters, Wanda and Vision. It also emphasizes Wanda’s alternate world where she lives a happy life with Vision through sitcom motifs. Every episode takes place in
a different decade, celebrating the culture of television from each period. For example, the first episode was based on the 1950s and felt like an “I Love Lucy” tribute with the fashion and laugh tracks in the background. It seems like an ordinary family show, but there are surprises in Wanda’s world at the end of each episode. I question if what I watched made any sense. What is real and what is fake. It then cuts to the credits leaving fans to overanalyze episodes and coming up with theories about what is going on. They examine repeated symbols and try to match the show with comic book storylines. It seems like there is a never-ending mystery behind Wanda’s alternate world. Wanda is a tragic character. Throughout the Marvel franchise, she faces the loss of her twin brother, Quicksilver,
and her significant other, Vision. Wanda killed Vision to prevent the supervillain, Thanos, from taking his mind stone and completing his mission of wiping out half of the life in the universe. Thanos brought him back to life and snatched Vision’s stone to complete the Infinity Gauntlet. Wanda experienced grief, losing the people that were the closest to her. The alternate world is her way of coping with this loss. Wanda’s reality encounters trespassing from the real world. She uses her powers to prevent people from intruding on her happiness. Although Wanda is not a villain, she resembles Thanos, who watched his home die from a lack of resources. He wanted a universe free of suffering, so his intention was to get rid of half the population. Wanda shares a similar theme of getting rid of anything that comes in her way. All she wants is a life with Vision, and she will not let anyone take that away from her again. The beauty of a limited series is that it leaves audiences begging for more. A new episode is aired every Friday. This is different from other streaming services like Netflix because it is common to release an entire season all at once. Due to the pandemic, filming and releasing movies became difficult. People would pay to see them, but it is easier to watch a show from a paid subscription service. Forcing viewers to come back weekly is a smart play on Disney’s part because a viewer can easily get bored in the middle of a season and stop watching. I look forward to Fridays knowing that there will be a new episode of “WandaVision.”
LOGO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
PHOTO FROM WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
'WandaVision' lead actors Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany take questions at 2019 San Diego Comic Con International
The Quinnipiac Chronicle
10|Sports
February 3, 2021
From the Bobcats to the Whale
Abbie Ives reflects on her Quinnipiac career after debuting in NWHL By PETER PIEKARSKI Associate Sports Editor
Building upon her historic Quinnipiac women’s ice hockey career, Abbie Ives has been nearly impenetrable between the pipes for the Connecticut Whale in the NWHL. Ives announced her presence with authority, stopping 24of-25 shots en route to her first NWHL victory in her first start. Through her first four games, Ives has posted a .936 save percentage (SV%) and a 2.01 goals against average (GAA). “It’s been really exciting,” said Ives, who graduated from Quinnipiac in 2020. “Getting to play against some of the top players and kind of just play that pro-style game and to be in this bubble with a chance to play on national TV, it’s just been really cool.” Since she was young, Ives knew she wanted to be a Bobcat. She came to games at the then Frank Perotti Jr. Arena while in elementary and middle school. When it came time to commit, her decision was clear-cut. “The prospect of being able to compete for a national championship, I think it was kind of a no brainer, that I wanted to go (to Quinnipiac),” Ives said. “I knew that if I went there, I really had the opportunity to be as good as I possibly can. The whole staff is working with you to do anything they can help you get better. And wanting to compete for a national championship every year.” During her four seasons at Quinnipiac, Ives was nothing short of spectacular, carving her name in the Bobcat history books. In her freshman year, she appeared in six games, started in three of them and allowed only one goal in 259:10 minutes of game time. She also recorded two shutouts out of her three starts. Following the departure of starting senior goaltender Sydney Rossman in 2017, Ives was promoted to the starting role. In her first season as the starter, Ives posted a .921 SV% and a 1.78 GAA which ranked fourth amongst starting ECAC Hockey goaltenders, which was only .002 away from second place. “We relied on her every game,” Quinnipiac senior defenseman Olivia Konigson said. “She made the solid saves every time we needed her to. And she made the outstanding saves that not every goalie would make. So that set her just above and beyond. She was just a huge part of our defense.” As a junior, Ives emphasized her level of consistency, finishing with a .924 SV% and a 1.89 GAA. Only this time around, she doubled the number of shutouts from the previous season, finishing with six total. Senior year was the time for Ives to shine. Recording a .927 SV% and a 1.90 GAA alongside three shutouts, Ives transformed into a brick wall for the ECAC Hockey playoffs. Her third season with a plus-.920 SV% and sub-2.00 GAA was only completed by three other teams during her Bobcat tenure. However, she was the only starting goaltender in the ECAC Hockey to accomplish this in three consecutive seasons. “As a defenseman, it was nice to know if you made a
mistake, (Ives) was kind of your extra layer behind there to back you up,” Konigson said. “It made us more competent in our abilities to be able to make those more risky plays knowing that she would have her back back there.” During the playoffs in her first two starting seasons, Ives was sound in net and able to keep Quinnipiac in all four games. But in the 2019-20 ECAC Hockey quarterfinals, Ives played lights out. Following a game one loss, Ives stopped 85-of-90 shots for a .944 SV% and a 2.00 GAA in games two and three, both of which went to overtime. Unfortunately for Ives, her Bobcat career ended after game three’s loss. Ives commanded the respect of the entire team, serving as the backbone of the defensive core, not only during the quarterfinals against Princeton, but throughout her entire career. “She was super motivating,” Konigson said. “She led by example, she worked so hard on and off the ice. She pushed everybody to want to work as hard as her which was nearly impossible. I don’t know if I’ve ever met anybody who
loves hockey as much as she does. But she was always a vocal leader. Always there in between periods to rally up the team and always led by example.” Ives left a legacy behind her as she joined the Whale. Her time with Quinnipiac will forever be remembered in the program’s history books as she finished her career with 2,231 saves (second all-time), a .926 SV% (third all-time), 14 shutouts (third all-time) 47 wins (fourth all-time) and a 1.73 GAA (fifth all-time). As Ives ventures on with the Connecticut Whale, she said her experience at Quinnipiac was nothing short of memorable. “I definitely owe a lot to Quinnipiac,” Ives said. “Just the experience of playing in the ECAC. And not only the ECAC, but playing for Quinnipiac, where you have high expectations on you all year round, to be training, to be performing, to win games. I think just that pressure every day and those expectations and accountability has shaped me into who I am today and allows me to be able to kind of go into these big games and know what to do and know what I have to do.”
ORIGINAL PHOTO MICHELLE JAY / ILLUSTRATION MORGAN TENCZA
‘I don’t know if I’ve ever met anybody who loves hockey as much as she does,’ Konigson said.
Rigoni: ‘The things that motivate and drive me everyday since I’ve been here is to be the best team at the end of the year’
RIGONI from Page 12
“Jake is the guy who has been the cornerstone of Quinnipiac’s basketball culture. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met and a guy who has your back during the toughest moments of the season,” said Rich Kelly, a former Bobcat and three-year teammate of Rigoni’s.
Rigoni Career Stats 9.7 .415
17-18 Season 2nd best in program history
27 1007 MORGAN TENCZA/CHRONICLE (2019)
Rigoni is averaging 11 points per game and 6.6 rebounds per game this year, both career highs.
GRAPHIC BY CONNOR LAWLESS
February 3, 2021
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Sports|11
Does home court advantage matter in college basketball during COVID-19? By KEITH SAVAGE Staff Writer
Home court advantage was once considered a big deal in college basketball, but is it still an important part of the game? We are used to seeing schools like Duke University filled to capacity with fans as loud as can be. However, due to the pandemic, fans are not able to attend games or in some cases only a small number people can spectate. This is a stark change from the normal attendance at college basketball games. We have seen how important home court advantage was for Duke, but how has not having fans in the stands affected the Bobcats? The men’s basketball team has been successful thus far, posting a 4-0 record at home. On the road, however, it is 0-2. On the women’s side, the team has had similar home success as it did last season. In the 2019-20 season, it was 8-7 at home and now it is 3-3 to start out the year. Quinnipiac women’s basketball head coach Tricia Fabbri explained how the empty stands are difficult to get used to, but also said at away games it does help her ability to coach. “There is usually a roar, and an atmosphere,” Fabbri said. “Our pep band, our cheerleaders, our fans, when we needed them the most, not when things are actually going well, when you need that stop, when you need the lift.” Fabbri is also not in favor of the fake fan noises, saying how it can be annoying at times. “Every game just feels like a scrimmage,” Fabbri said. Junior guard Amani Free said she thinks it is easier to play with no fans because she can hear the coaches better. She never thought home court advantage was an important part of the game and said she treats every game the same. “It is easier to hear the coaches and your teammates talking on defense or offense, communication is really nice,” Free said. “It doesn’t matter where you are, you just have to
‘It doesn’t matter where you are, you just have to compete against the other team,’ Free said. compete against the other team.” The University of North Carolina men’s basketball team has proven that not having a packed stadium does matter that much. The Tar Heels are 5-0 at home while they are 1-4 when they are not at their place. North Carolina State is experiencing something similar. The Wolfpack are 5-1 at
COURTESY OF QUINNIPIAC ATHLETICS
their place but still has not won a game outside of their arena through five games. The season is far from over, but all signs are pointing toward that the players find more success playing at home, even without fans.
Three in the key: A big problem for opponents Seth Pinkney’s maturation as a sophomore has been key to the Bobcats’ success
By BRENDAN O’SULLIVAN Editor-in-Chief
Kevin Marfo was a force for the Quinnipiac men’s basketball team last season, leading the nation with 13.3 rebounds per game (RPG). Now, he’s at Texas A&M University, leaving the Bobcats’ starting big man role to sophomore center Seth Pinkney. Last season, Pinkney primarily backed up Marfo, playing 11.1 minutes per game (MPG). This year as the full-time starter, Pinkney has more than doubled the average, playing 25.9 MPG. “I think (Pinkney’s) been putting it together,” Quinnipiac men’s basketball head coach Baker Dunleavy said following the Jan. 8, game against Manhattan. “For our first four games, he’s been one of our bright spots for sure. He’s just so unique. He’s so talented. He’s so smart. And for him, he’s battling to learn for consistency.” Pinkney played a career-high 42 minutes in a doubleovertime win against Manhattan on Jan. 8. He scored 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field — career highs for
MORGAN TENCZA/CHRONICLE(2020)
‘He’s been one of our bright spots for sure,’ Dunleavy said. ‘He’s just so unique. He’s so talented. He’s so smart.’
points, field goals made and field goals attempted. “Overtime was probably one of the biggest leaps I had as a college player,” Pinkney said after the game. “Even getting into that stance, just playing in that moment is big for me.” Standing at 7-foot-1, Pinkney is the tallest player in the MAAC and uses this to his advantage. Similar to Marfo, Pinkney has become a consistent threat on both ends of the floor. He’s a regular option for alley-oops and lob passes for finishes in the paint. Through 10 games, the sophomore is shooting 83.3% from the field, all of which are 2-pointers. The 83.3% doesn’t qualify for Basketball Reference’s NCAA field-goal percentage rankings, but Pinkney sits in first in 2-point field-goal percentage at 83.3%. He leads the next best by 4.4%. Additionally, Pinkney creates havoc on the defensive side of the ball. It’s easy to predictimagine he’d be a strong shot blocker given his height. He’s currently averaging 2.9 blocks per game (BPG), good for second-best in the MAAC. That said, Pinkney’s defensive impact isn’t limited to just the painted area. He’s a solid perimeter defender as well. In
the closing moments of the Jan. 8, game against Manhattan, Pinkney blocked a jumper and secured the rebound, sealing the win for the Bobcats. “When we switch, coach tells us to stay on the big because he knows I can guard guards just as much as I can guard big men,” Pinkney said after the game. His defensive impact goes further than his individual statistics. The Bobcats limit their opponents to 36.8% from the floor — second in the nation — and 28% from behind the 3-point line — 10th in the nation. Though the Jan. 8, game against Manhattan stands out as a night of career highs for Pinkney, his season as a whole has been strong. Dunleavy said after the game that Pinkney’s matured greatly since last season. “This was a huge step for him,” Dunleavy said after the game. “He’s worked really hard with our strength and conditioning staff on his body. And a year ago, last spring, no way he can play 20 minutes let alone 42. So, it’s a tribute to the hard work he’s putting in. I think when you have moments like this, it makes you want to work harder.”
CONNOR LAWLESS/CHRONICLE (2020)
Sophomore center Seth Pinkey’s minutes per game jumped up to 25.9 minutes per game from 11.1 minutes per game last year.
12|Sports
The Quinnipiac Chronicle
February 3, 2021
Sports
@QUCHRONSPORTS
Jacob Rigoni hits 1,000 career points MORGAN TENCZA/CHRONICLE (2019)
As the sole senior, Rigoni reflects on his accomplishment By DALTON RICE Staff Writer
As the only four-year player on this year’s Quinnipiac men’s basketball team, forward Jacob Rigoni has accepted his leadership role wholeheartedly. With four freshmen, five sophomores and four juniors on the roster, head coach Baker Dunleavy handed Rigoni the keys to the team, knowing the positive impact that he would have on the younger players. “I’ve seen a lot of ups and downs throughout my time here,” Rigoni said. “I think the guys really respect me and want to learn from me, it’s something I’ve really enjoyed.” The last 10 months have been all but normal, starting in March when the MAAC tournament was canceled before
Quinnipiac could play a game due to COVID-19 concerns. Flashing forward to the start of this season, the men’s basketball team had only played four games from Nov. 25 to Jan. 7, and 10 total due to multiple positive COVID-19 tests within the program. Even though the Bobcats have only competed in 10 of their 17 scheduled games, there have been many bright spots along the way, most notably Rigoni hitting 1,000 career points. Needing only 16 points heading into a weekend series at home against Niagara, Rigoni put up 12 points in the opener and 11 the next game where the Bobcats won the final contest of the series 78-69. Knowing he exceeded 1,000 career points, Rigoni simply gave the camera a smile and brushed off the achieve-
ment, saying his attention was focused on an intense weekend matchup against a MAAC opponent with a victory. “I was more focused on the team and trying to get two wins this weekend, unfortunately we didn’t get that done last night (Jan. 22), but it was a great job by us bouncing back,” Rigoni said after the Bobcats win. “Obviously, it’s a nice milestone for myself. The things that motivate and drive me everyday since I’ve been here is to be the best team at the end of the year and that’s something I still really want to achieve.” Rigoni improved consistently over his four years in Hamden, visibly getting better in a statistical category every season, especially this year. Rigoni’s 11 points per game (PPG) and 6.6 rebounds per game (RPG) in 32.4 minutes per game (MPG) are all career highs that have contributed to Quinnipiac’s four wins. Going forward, Rigoni and his Bobcats have 14 games left to push their way into the MAAC tournament. “A lot of my time here I have been looking in the future too much rather than enjoying the moment. I’ve had a great perspective over these three years … I’m really just soaking in this year and have a really successful senior year here,” Rigoni said. Regardless of what he does after graduation, Rigoni will have already cemented himself as the 43rd member of the Quinnipiac men’s basketball 1,000 point club. He’s also 25 3-pointers away from breaking the program record for most made 3-pointers. See RIGONI Page 10
“Jake is the guy who has been the cornerstone of Quinnipiac’s basketball culture. He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever met and a guy who has your back ...” – RICH KELLY
FORMER QUINNIPIAC BASKETBALL PLAYER Senior forward Jacob Rigoni is the only senior on the active roster for the Bobcats to begin 2021
MORGAN TENCZA/CHRONICLE (2020)