The Quinnipiac Chronicle, Volume 93, Issue 4

Men’s

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QU no longer tracking COVID cases on campus as cases rise in CT

By CAT MURPHY Staff Writer

Quinnipiac University students and faculty members are voicing concerns about the univer sity’s response to a recent spike in COVID cases in Connecticut.

COVID cases in New Haven County, which encompasses Hamden and Quinnipiac, in creased by 12.42% between Sept. 15 and 21, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although CDC data reveals that COVID cases in the county subsequently declined by 5.72% between Sept. 19 and 25, Dr. Ulysses Wu, the chief epidemiologist at Hartford HealthCare, Quinnipiac’s health services partner, said cases in the area will likely continue to increase in the coming months.

“There will likely be another spike in cases once the weather gets colder,” Wu wrote in a state ment to the Chronicle on Sept. 16.

However, Quinnipiac no longer monitors CO VID case rates on campus, Associate Vice Presi

dent for Public Relations John Morgan said.

“We do not have data on case rates because we are not conducting recurring surveillance testing and most tests are self-administered rapid tests,” Morgan wrote in an email to the Chronicle on Sept. 15.

The university also no longer conducts contact tracing. Instead, students, faculty and staff who test positive for the virus are responsible for notifying anyone with whom they spent 15 minutes or more at a distance of less than six feet in the 24 hours pri or to their test result, according to a Sept. 14 email to the Quinnipiac community.

Some students voiced surprise with the univer sity’s lack of monitoring.

“I’m just surprised that they’re not tracking it since the past two years, they’ve definitely been on it,” said Qiana Torres, a junior sociology and inter disciplinary studies double major.

Residential students who test positive for COVID are required to travel home to isolate themselves if they live in the region, according to the university’s fall 2022 isolation protocols.

Students who live beyond a three-hour drive of campus are allowed to quarantine in on-campus isolation dorms.

Ashley Winfield, a junior psychology major, said she experienced issues with the university’s isolation procedures after testing positive for the virus on Sept. 26.

Winfield lives in Connecticut, but her immu nocompromised father’s pre-existing health con ditions prevented her from going home to isolate. Although Winfield eventually received a quaran tine dorm, she said the university did not initially seem to consider her situation an “extenuating circumstance.”

“Everyone that I contacted…and explained my situation to didn’t seem to care about my health or my father’s health, and never mind other students at Quinnipiac’s health,” Winfield wrote in a state ment to the Chronicle. “I had to fight with Quin nipiac for 5 hours to get a quarantine room when they weren’t even all filled up.”

Although the university does not track test re sults, COVID testing is available by appointment

at Student Health Services. Students can also ob tain free at-home COVID test kits from the vend ing machine located in the old Student Health Center building.

“Quinnipiac University continues to follow COVID mitigation strategies based on community and public health guidelines to protect the health of our university community,” said Chief of Pub lic Safety Tony Reyes, the chair of the university’s COVID Task Force, in a statement to the Chronicle on Sept. 26.

However, students can obtain a maximum of three tests from the vending machine.

Alice Mahon, a senior theater major, expressed frustration with the limited quantity of COVID tests available to students, saying that three tests only got her “through two weeks of the semester.”

“I was just recently exposed this week,” Mahon wrote in a statement to the Chronicle . “Why am I being told that I can’t test at the health center? What are they there for?”

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NEWS P.2: SGA elections Students voted on their student govt. association representation in the fall 2022 SGA elections Sept. 20

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OPINION P.4: Time to BeReal Contributing writer Zachary Carter laments BeReal and social media’s hypocrisy

BY MARINA YASUNA

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SGA holds fall 2022 elections

By CAT MURPHY Staff Writer

Students voted in the fall 2022 Quinni piac University Student Government Asso ciation elections at more than twice the rate than in the spring, according to a Sept. 20 SGA press release.

A total of 1,305 students cast votes in the SGA election on Sept. 20, according to the re lease. This figure accounts for under 20% of the university’s approximately 6,800 undergraduate students, according to fall 2020 data from the university’s website.

Although less than one in five undergradu ate students voted in the election, the 19.2% voter turnout rate this semester is a marked in crease from the 8.6% turnout rate in the spring 2022 election.

“The Student Government Association would like to thank everyone who participated in this fall’s election, and encourage all students to find their passions and become involved on campus during their time at Quinnipiac,” SGA wrote in the release.

Sixteen students were appointed to serve on the SGA judicial and ethics board, in individual class cabinets and in the specialized representa tion cabinet. None of the five positions on the SGA executive board was on the ballot, as each position was filled in the spring 2022 election.

After leaving all four senator positions vacant in the spring, the class of 2023 elected nursing major Gio Kanter, accounting major Delnaz Amroliwalla and finance major Jacob Wigington to serve in the class cabinet. The fourth senior senator position is currently vacant.

The final junior senator position also remains unoccupied. The class of 2024 did not elect a senator to fill the vacancy, as there were no can didates on the ballot.

The class of 2025 elected two new sena tors to the sophomore cabinet: accounting major Elyssa Finkel and marketing major Gia Iwanec.

With 322 votes, the class of 2026 elected

J.P. DiDonato, a political science major in the accelerated 3+3 dual-degree juris doctor pro gram, as president. Six first-year senators were also elected: Kaitlyn Sternhardt, a psychology major; Grant Smith, a health science studies major; Alex Ramnarine, a 3+3 criminal jus tice major; Youssef Hammoud, a biochemistry major; Anna Villineau, a political science and mathematics double major and Carla Guirguis, a 3+1 biology major.

DiDonato hopes to work with the first-year senators to “address various issues relating to campus safety and the reliability of school ser vices,” he wrote in a statement to the Chronicle.

“From expanding the current blue light sys tem on campus, to improving and adding water fountains in dorm halls and academic buildings, there is a lot that we are looking to do to add to the student experience,” DiDonato wrote.

Political science major Nick Pestritto, who is a contributing writer for the Chronicle, and criminal justice major Paige Pray were elected to the SGA judicial and ethics board, with 612

and 560 votes, respectively.

“I hope to be as impartial and professional as possible while handling SGA matters,” Pray wrote in an email to the Chronicle on Sept. 26. “I’ll handle cases and their issues as they come, and do my best to resolve them in a way that is beneficial to all parties.”

First-year health science studies major Nich olas Lofgren was elected with nearly 1,100 votes to fill the vacant veteran senator position.

Lofgren ran for the position “to represent those who make the greatest commitments to our country,” he wrote in an email to the Chronicle.

“I grew up surrounded by veterans,” Lofgren wrote. “I knew the second I saw the position that it was the one for me.”

Lofgren, who is not a veteran himself but is from a military family, will represent the veteran community at Quinnipiac, which was recently ranked third among over 300 universities for military students.

“I feel honored and privileged to fulfill the veteran senator position and can’t wait to start representing veterans and military students at Quinnipiac,” Lofgren wrote. “I hope to bring the voice of veterans to decisions made by SGA and represent them the best I can.”

Sophomore Melissa Martins, a health science studies major, was elected to the commuter sena tor position with nearly 85% of the vote. Mar tins, who commutes from Beacon Falls, is the first student to fill the position since the previous commuter senator resigned in November 2021.

“Seeing this role was vacant, I knew it would be a great opportunity to run and express the hardships that we commuters face,” Martins wrote in an email statement to the Chronicle. “I am ready to make a change for commuters.”

Martins is aiming to address the “issues com muters face on a day-to-day basis,” she wrote.

“As a commuter, I have experienced many issues and students have brought issues to my attention, such as the difficulty of parking and commuter meal plan situations,” Martins wrote. “I want to find the solutions to fix these issues for students and myself so Quinnipiac University will feel like our home away from home.”

However, Mahon said students often disregard these requests.

Although Wu advises symptomatic individu als to test themselves for COVID, he does not cur rently advise individuals without symptoms to test regularly. Rather, Wu recommended implementing preventative measures, such as indoor masking, vaccines and self-isolation, to prevent the spread of the virus.

“Many of my professors who request that their students wear masks for their meeting times, even for just (an) hour, are ignored, and even laughed at,” Mahon wrote.

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Quinnipiac loosened its indoor masking poli cies in July. Despite the recent uptick in COVID cases across New Haven County, students, facul ty and staff are no longer required to wear masks in classrooms.

The university also asks students to respect requests from faculty and staff to wear masks in classrooms or individual meeting spaces.

The Quinnipiac community received updates on the university’s COVID protocols via email on Sept. 1 and Sept. 14. The emails provide in formation and resources on the university’s cur rent masking policies, testing resources and iso lation protocols.

The university issued these updates “to ensure everyone remains aware of, and vigilant with, our COVID protocols and resources,” Morgan wrote.

Some students expressed having few concerns about COVID.

Gabriel Lewis, a first-year biology major, called the virus “benign.”

“I really don’t think it’s that big of a deal at this point,” Lewis said. “It’s more just like a flu at the moment.”

However, other students expressed frustration with the university’s underwhelming response to the uptick in cases.

“Personally, I think there could be a lot more done by the university to handle this recent spike in cases,” Mahon wrote.

Mahon said she feels the coronavirus has be come “a joke among the students.”

“Frankly, I am appalled by the lack of concern for the general public,” Mahon wrote. “(Students) do not feel heard, and most importantly, we do not feel safe.”

COVID from cover

JACK SPIEGEL/CHRONICLE

J.P. DiDonato was elected SGA president of the class of 2026 with over 300 votes.

JACK SPIEGEL/CHRONICLE

Nicholas Lofgren, a first-year health science studies major, said that he will use his experience growing up in a military family in his role as veteran senator.

Arnold Bernhard Library honors Banned Books Week

By JACKLYN PELLEGRINO Copy Editor

Quinnipiac University’s Arnold Bernhard Library hosted an event titled “Banned Books, Canceling and the Freedom to Learn” Sept. 21 during Banned Books Week.

At the discussion, five panelists of various academic backgrounds discussed books being restricted by administrators in schools of all levels, what literature students are exposed to and the negative effects limiting this informa tion can have on students.

“We’re talking about what it means for us to live in this environment that is hyperpolar ized in terms of ideas and also in terms of our resistance to certain ideas and how that’s being played out in different facets,” said JT Torres, director of the center for teaching and learn ing, assistant teaching professor of english and event panelist.

According to The New York Times, par ents, school administrators and government officials in the U.S. are challenging books fast er than ever. The American Library Associa tion received 330 reports of book challenges in fall of 2021.

As an educator, Torres said students go to college to get exposed to new ideas and to grow and work through ideas even if they are com fortable. But, he said that “the science of learn ing is a balance of comfort and discomfort.”

“One thing I tell (first-year introduction to academic reading and writing students) is that if they graduate from college, and they still hold the same beliefs and ideas that they came to college with, college might have failed you,” Torres said. “At some point, at some level, we are here to change. Otherwise, we didn’t need to come here.”

Katie Bauer, associate director for collection development and management and event panel ist, oversees the Arnold Bernhard Library’s col lection of books. She said there is a professional

code of ethics that librarians follow.

“At the core, the most important thing that we are supposed to do is to uphold the prin ciples of intellectual freedom, freedom to read and resist all efforts to censor library resourc es,” Bauer said.

Kearston Wesner, associate professor of me dia studies and event panelist, said the banning of books can challenge the First Amendment, which protects free speech.

“The first thing you need to know about the First Amendment is that we’re dealing with government restrictions on speech and that would extend to things like school boards or administrators censoring student’s speech and so these are going to invoke big First Amend ment questions,” Wesner said.

Vivian Quinlan, a graduate student in the elementary master of arts in teaching program and event panelist, said she wrote her undergraduate capstone paper on four

banned books, why they were being banned and what they had in common.

“I wrote about how books allow people to find their own identity and place in the world and I think books are being banned because systems and power do not want students to find their place in the world,” Quinlan said. “But rather, they want to tell students their place in the world.”

She said that banning books from libraries is “shutting down” the chance of having conver sations about race, gender and sexuality.

According to the American Library Asso ciation Office for Intellectual Freedom, three of the top most challenged books in 2021 were “Gender Queer” by Maia Kobabe, “Lawn Boy” by Jonathan Evison and “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson. They were banned for LGBTQ content as well as because they were considered to be sexually explicit.

Quinlan said that as a future educator, she

began to worry about what would happen if her students didn’t have access to certain books that “transformed their thinking” because she believes that diversity and representation are “extremely important” in literature.

Mordechai Gordon, professor and chair of education and event panelist, shared his perspective on the topic based on the book he wrote titled “Education in a Cultural War Era: Thinking Philosophically about the Practice of Cancelling.”

Patricia Rondini, a part-time faculty mem ber who teaches English, attended the event and encouraged her students to go to the event be cause she said she teaches her students to look at everything from “multiple lenses.”

“Not only put yourself and your own past history into it but other possible cultures and religions …looking at things from a different point of view that we would have never done before and then to think about that and how they all go together,” Rondini said.

Diana Rodriguez, a first-year undeclared major who attended the event said she also felt that banning books is more about cen sorship. In addition, she said the banning of books in the classroom would lead to stu dents being “unfulfilled.”

“Obviously, we can’t know all the informa tion in the world but I feel like we should have a good idea on a number of topics to fully be able to go into the world, ready to help as many people as we can,” Rodriguez said.

To conclude the event, all panelists gave final remarks about what students can do and where they can go with the ideas presented.

“I would just ask people, if you think that’s an important topic, when you hear about chal lenges and book bans, maybe in your communi ties, speak up and support teachers in schools that get accused of sharing bad material, speak up for librarians and speak up for authors,” Bauer said.

Quinnipiac School of Education remains without underrepresented faculty for second consecutive year

Quinnipiac University’s School of Educa tion has no full-time faculty members who identify as underrepresented minorities, lim iting the perspectives from which students learn, according to the university’s 2022 Eq uity and Inclusion report.

Based on the 2021 report, this is the second consecutive year the School of Education is the only department or school within the uni versity without a full-time faculty member that identifies as a URM.

Not having minority professors in the School of Education is not unfamiliar for some students. Class of 2022 English program graduate Justin Ellis said he doesn’t remember having a URM professor for a class.

“I never had the opportunity to be taught by a professor from a minority population,” Ellis said. “However, the professors who ac tively taught our diversity-based courses were extremely knowledgeable.”

Hiring professors from diverse back grounds can keep underrepresented students in the classroom, according to an article by Vector Solutions, a consulting and manage ment firm.

“A diverse faculty can help improve re tention rates among minority student popula tions,” the 2017 article said.

Not only are minority students more likely to be retained, but all students have the op portunity to learn a fresh perspective from an underrepresented professor, according to Interfolio, an academic faculty management company. In addition, URM faculty can ex pand “societal knowledge and understanding” on topics already researched.

Gordon said Quinnipiac is not pleased with its lack of diversity within the School of Education but the report must be taken into context.

“The School of Education is a very small school,” Mordechai Gordon, professor and chair of education, said. “It’s more like a de partment, a small one at that.”

The School of Education currently has 13 full-time faculty members. Apart from Gordon, all are white women. As of 2019, there were 322 students enrolled in the School of Education.

Gordon also said it is “unfair” to compare the School of Education’s demographics with a larger school, such as the College of Arts and Sciences.

According to the report, 17% of full-time faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences identify as URM.

Throughout all schools at Quinnipiac, around 1 in 5 full-time faculty members are from a URM background, according to this year’s report. The School of Business, with 55 full-time faculty, leads the way with around 45% identifying as a URM.

The second-most diverse school in terms of faculty is the School of Law, where 23.8% of full-time faculty identify as a URM, fol lowed by the School of Computing & Engi neering, at 20%. All other schools at QU have less than 20% URM full-time faculty, accord ing to the report.

Outside of the School of Education, the next lowest rate of URM facult comes out of the School of Nursing, where 9% of its 31 fulltime faculty identify as a URM.

Gordon said there is more diversity among part-time faculty in the School of Education.

The Equity and Inclusion report did not dis close the demographics of part-time faculty members at the university.

“In the School of Education, we have mul tiple minority part-time faculty,” Gordon said. “They come from various backgrounds, and it is important we recognize that.”

To counteract the lack of diversity with in the school of education, Gordon and Vice President for Equity and Inclusion Don Sawyer said the school is opening two new faculty positions and are prioritizing URM candidates.

“(The School of Education administration) understand the importance of diversifying the faculty,” Sawyer said. “And so they have a plan in place when they have a role open to be able to expand it and cast the net wide and hopefully find someone that would be able to fill that position.”

However, Sawyer said the university can not “force it.”

“It has to happen organically,” Sawyer said. “We can’t tell people who to hire, but we need to make sure that the pool is diverse and representative of the field.”

JACK SPIEGEL/CHRONICLE

Arnold Bernahrd Library Associate Director for Collection Development and Management Katie Bauer spoke about resisting censorship at the event Sept. 21.

PEYTON

The School of Education has the least amount of diverse faculty among QU schools at 0% underrepresented minorities, followed by the School of Nursing, which has 9% URM faculty.

By ZACHARY CARTER Contributing Writer

Social media has been boiled down to a point where its users want to know exactly what others are doing at any moment dur ing the day. What was once a collection of platforms to connect with friends and family around the world has now become a toolbox that borders on an invasion of privacy.

Insert BeReal, an app designed to do ex actly that. Launched officially in 2020, the app remained relatively unknown until this year, when it began to spread like wildfire among college campuses in the U.S.

The app sends an alert once a day, at a randomly assigned time that provokes users to take a photo with the front camera and one with the back within two minutes of receiv ing the notification. Encouraging you to “be real,” the user can literally see exactly where their friends are and what they are doing at that time. Failure to post within the two-minute window marks one’s post as “late.”

BeReal possesses a design that is so simple, it’s difficult to believe nobody thought of it sooner.

Now picture this. It’s 1:47 p.m on a Mon day. You are lying in bed after three consecu tive morning classes that started at 8 a.m. Your phone flashes, time to BeReal. “Great,” you think. All of your friends are going to think you’re lame because you’re sleeping in the af ternoon rather than being productive elsewhere.

Here lies my first gripe with the app.

A double-sided picture describing your

current actions does not do your online pres ence any justice. Without context, I can eas ily make judgments about my friends, what they’re doing and why they’re doing it.

In addition, the app provides a retake feature that allows users to try again if they’re unsatisfied with how their first picture turned out. If you regret posting your BeReal for that day, you can delete it altogether. Does this not go against the whole point of the app? Yes, the app displays to other users how many retakes each person used, but it seems redundant to in clude it altogether.

By the time I first downloaded the app in late August, most of my friends had already familiarized themselves with it. I considered it a way to keep in touch with them when we all went off to our respective colleges. But the more I used it, the more I began to realize it wasn’t worth my time.

As I scrolled through my feed, I real ized that almost every picture that I saw was posted late. The range varied from 10 minutes

– Zachary Carter CONTRIBUTING WRITER

late to 10 hours late. It was obvious that peo ple didn’t care enough to post at the exact time that the notification came in because it was too much of an inconvenience to them. If BeReal popped up at 6 p.m., I probably wouldn’t see most of my friends’ posts until after 10 p.m.

In addition, I’ve seen BeReal users bla tantly ignoring the threatening warning signs headlining the notification, opting instead to wait until a later time because they will have something more interesting to show to the world. They sacrifice posting on time for the clout they would receive by posting something cool. In doing so, they are straying entirely from the core values of the app.

The whole point of BeReal is to spread some authenticity in a world smothered by so cial media artificiality. Instagram users can pick and choose when and where they post. They put on a persona to appear more likable to their fol lowers. TikTok users are forced to comply with the ebbs and flows of ongoing trends in hopes to retain the following that they have amassed.

BeReal, in theory, is supposed to do the exact opposite, and it has failed. Once again users of this app find themselves put ting on a front to appear more personable to their followers.

If it was up to me, I’d make the app even simpler. Don’t allow users to post late. Miss the two-minute window? Too bad. Pay closer attention tomorrow so you can participate with the rest of us using the app correctly.

But that raises the question, “What if I’m not on my phone at that time?” A solution is to broaden the timing window. Up the time that somebody has to “be real” from two min utes to 10 minutes so that more people can en gage. Posting 20 hours late defeats the whole purpose of using the app.

Social media has a big problem and Be Real’s transcendence has only made it worse. In a world full of phony authenticity, the app is blatantly intrusive. People are too dependent on social media, so much so that they need to know exactly where people are and what they’re doing at all hours of the day. If you ask me, that seems a little creepy.

BeReal gives its users too much infor mation in real time. Those who choose not to abide by the app’s design may as well not use it at all.

Posting late is an oxymoron. Ignoring the notification to instead post later when you are doing something more interesting is cheap.

The app itself is counterintuitive, so why have

at all?

“They sacrifice posting on time for the clout they would receive by posting something cool. In doing so, they are straying entirely from the core values of the app. ”

BY MARINA YASUNA

Opinion

It’s you, not me

Why cutting people off is good for you

By A.J. NEWTH Staff Writer

I will never speak to you again.

There is something that strikes a nerve in that sentence, something that infuriates the person on the other end. It could be the “nev er” or “again,” because both signify an indefi nite amount of time. The word that bothers me is “speak.”

In life, we cross paths with people that we know will be around forever. Then plans change, and we find ourselves removing con tact, ignoring messages and blocking accounts on social media.

Many believe that cutting people off is never the solution and that making things work is the best-case scenario. I whole-heart edly disagree, and encourage you to take your hypothetical scissors and cut ties with anyone who brings you negative energy.

The idea of cutting people off receives pushback from those who believe family does not fall under that umbrella. There is a popular concept that “family is blood” and any wrong doings should be forgiven no matter what be cause of genetics.

Difficulties within familial relationships are old news and many will agree that they have struggled with certain family members. More than 1 in 4 Americans ages 18 or older have cut off a member of their family, accord ing to The Journal of Psychology and Behav ioral Sciences.

There are several reasons for cutting off a family member ranging from abuse, finan cial issues or toxic behavior, the reason I resonate with the most. Receiving that abuse from someone who is supposed to give uncon

ditional love can cause severe mental health issues, stress and low self-esteem, according to Parents Magazine. In that case, it is simply better to let go of that person than keep them around and hurt yourself in the process.

Family is not the only type of relationship that can require estrangement. Friendships also need to come to an end in some cases. We look for friends that fulfill the different parts of our personalities, which is why we could have different groups of friends that all hold sepa rate roles in our lives, according to Insider.

Healthy friendships allow us to feel need ed, loved, comfortable and happy. However, at times those relationships can falter. There are many reasons for this, among them is a betray al of trust, excessive negativity, unnecessary drama or they simply make you feel bad.

Noticing changes in a friendship can make

things very difficult, especially if it is someone you’ve known for a while or pictured your life with in the long-term. Having a negatively im pactful friend can be draining, and similar to family, it can severely deteriorate your mental health. If one of your friends is making you feel poorly, the best option is to cut them out of your life and surround yourself with friends who appreciate and support you.

Lastly, cutting off significant others is argu ably one of the hardest relationships to sever. A familiar idea with cutting off significant others is the concept of “taking a break” and resuming the relationship after giving each other space and test-driving how to survive without one another.

Another idea is ghosting, a concept where you abruptly cut off your partner with no further communication. Although I prefer communication, I believe cutting someone

off is better than taking a break.

If your significant other is affecting your happiness in any way: emotionally, mentally or physically, you need to leave. Many people believe in second chances, but I think the more you let your significant other make mistakes and forgive them, the more they believe they can get away with hurting you.

Cutting off your partner, although difficult, can have amazing effects on your well-being. When relationships become all-consuming, it is very easy to lose yourself. Cutting that per son off allows you to rediscover who you are as a person, develop stronger emotional skills, improve your self-love and find new sources of happiness, according to Mind Body Green.

I understand that cutting someone off is an extremely difficult decision and not one you make overnight, whether that person be fam ily, a friend, or a significant other. I person ally know how difficult it is to leave someone who you are supposed to love or be loved by, especially family. Losing that relationship can be heartbreaking, but compared to the damage it was doing to you, letting go is the best deci sion you can make for your happiness.

What I am suggesting is not a simple task. Many people will read this and go back to that toxic, draining relationship thinking that push ing through tough times means it will last or be worth it. I promise you, it’s time to let go. You are worthy of happiness, of love, of support and of the peace you will feel once that nega tive energy is gone from your life.

Toxic relationships are keeping you tied down. Once you finally cut those ties, you will be able to breathe again, and it will be the sweetest relief you have ever felt.

Find comfort in familiar media

By ETHAN HURWITZ Sports Editor

When you are feeling stressed or anxious, what is your go-to move?

For some, it is lounging on the couch and cracking open a good book. For others, it may be popping in some headphones and listening to your favorite artist. Others may turn to differ ent forms of media, like television or podcasts.

Finding comfort in a favorite movie or tele vision show has become more common during the COVID-19 pandemic. 60% of Americans spent an increased amount of time huddled with a blanket and some popcorn to enjoy a movie according to a 2020 OnePoll study.

I have been doing the same thing for years and it has worked every time, without fail.

“Billy Madison,” Adam Sandler’s break out 1995 role as a spoiled man-child who goes back to elementary school to earn the respect of his father, is my favorite movie of all time. I cannot go a full day without making a refer ence to a number of hilarious scenes, much to my family’s displeasure. One of Billy’s most famous lines, “Stop looking at me swan,” even found its way as my senior year quote in my high school yearbook.

But whenever I turn on a TV, why do I stay in my comfort zone and stick with “Billy Madison?” Why don’t I explore the depths of streaming services and change up my movie choice?

Re-watching a movie or television show is comforting for people, as they already know

the outcome. It allows them to become famil iar with the lines and actors and become fully immersed with the film. According to health care network Patient, people will consistently repeat these actions to become more familiar and thus, fall in love with it.

Former opinion editor Xavier Cullen wrote last year how celebrities and social media in fluencers are not your friends. While I agree with the overall concept, I do think that there are some things that these social media users and actors can help with your stress levels.

People consume social media in a number of ways. These parasocial relationships, which are relationships that are completely onesided, are extremely common with content creators and in this case, actors and actresses. While these celebrities may not be in touch with you on a personal level, they have a dras tic impact on one’s life.

While these relationships aren’t reciprocat ed, that does not mean they should be looked down on. If you want to enjoy your Friday night watching a TV show, we should not shame a person for appreciating an actor, but we need to be realistic that the actor does not know who we are. We cannot expect to be on a personal level with our favorite celebrities, but we can consistently enjoy their work and let it impact us in a special way.

Say you just broke up with a significant other and you are feeling down in the dumps. Finding outlets to remove yourself from that situation can help ease your mind and recharge your emotions. Obviously, the podcasters that

you are listening to are not providing real ther apy to you as you heal, but in a way, they are.

Inadvertently, they are easing your mind, which is why people build these connections online with these forms of media. Whether it is binge watching your favorite Netflix show, listening to an album for the 50th time or just reading a novel you’ve opened a dozen times, it helps provide a comforting feeling that we are used to.

There is no better way to connect with someone than over a bond of a movie or show, according to Psychology Today. Making these connections over a favorite media outlet can help strengthen your bond with others, as well as yourself. Being able to find a correlation between a movie you enjoy and a real-life ex perience can make the movie more personal to you and in a way, more immersive.

I truly think that I have seen “Billy Madi son” over 40 times. I have “Revolting Blob” shirts in my closet, a trio of stickers from the movie on my computer and I even have a run ning tally of fantasy football names over the past four years that relate to the movie. Some people may call it an obsession, but finding a movie that puts a smile on my face has been something I’m proud of.

Whether someone disagrees with me and thinks what I have said is “one of insanely idiotic things” they have ever heard or if it is someone who thinks this piece is as cool as Myles Davis, I think that we all can find a fa miliar media outlet that brings us some joy and inner peace.

ILLUSTRATION BY SARAH HARDIMAN

Arts & Life

QU Kickline team kicks into high gear

By DAVID MATOS Arts & Life Editor

Quinnipiac University Kickline team captain Jessica Boesenberg, a junior 4+1 interdisciplinary studies major in the master of arts in teaching program started her first year when COVID-19 was in full swing, making it difficult to build a connection with students less than six feet apart. However, it was Quinnipiac’s Kickline team that made the university “feel like home” for Boesenberg despite how isolating that year was for her.

“I was able to have friends and (do) something outside of my dorm because it was really all we could do,” Boesenberg said.

The Kickline team is a dance organization that is reminiscent of the Radio City Rockettes. However, instead of decking the halls, the group of 25 to 30 women radiates the People’s United Center with school spirit through their exactitude of 45-seconds to two-minute-long, high-kicking skill routines and closing signature jump split. Students can customarily find the Kickline team at Quinnipiac’s basketball games and schoolsponsored events.

“We all grew up dancing competitively, or just at a dance studio, and we all want to find a

college without so much stress,” said Kickline captain Lauren Scoopo, a senior graphic and interactive design and advertising and integrated communications double major. “It's just like a stress reliever. You make so many friends, and it's just like a fun thing to look forward to in your week.”

Jillian Catalano, a junior 3+1 public relations major and Kickline captain, started dancing when she was three years old performing for the first time at a local dance studio. However, it wasn’t until she witnessed her older sister trying out for her middle school Kickline team that she began to have an interest in the sport herself.

Catalano’s passion for dance developed into devotion to kickline, staying with the sport through high school. However, she said it was “very intense and very competitive,” and Catalano yearned to utilize her dance skills to hype up the crowds on the court and not to compete, leading her to pursue kickline further at Quinnipiac.

“Kickline is something that's very specific that not a lot of universities have,” Catalano said. “And when I saw that Quinnipiac had it, I definitely wanted to continue my love for it, but also, just have fun with it … I wanted something that was related to school spirit, and that was exactly what the team embodied.”

The Kickline team is completely studentrun, meaning that every kick, turn or twirl you see on the game floor was choreographed by a passionate team of women equipped with matching yellow and blue uniforms.

Boesenberg said that her favorite memory with Kickline is the preparation involved and hours spent coordinating seamless performances in time for the season in November. Nonetheless, after practicing every week, Catalano said the

payoff on the center stage and performing with people you consider family is all the more rewarding.

“We do take it seriously and we do put forth our best work not even (just) when we’re practicing, but on game days as well ... there’s a lot of work that goes into it, but it’s definitely worth it,” Catalano said.

Though the club sport looks effortless from the stands, the precise synchronization amongst the group of dancers is also no easy feat.

“You definitely have to rely on each other,” Boesenberg said. “Like stamina-wise to be able to kick for that long in a line, it definitely took a while to build up the endurance and stamina to be able to keep kicking, and it's a lot more difficult than it looks.”

We’ve seen it time and time again in movies where a cheerleader is one step behind the rest of the group, causing the whole pyramid to come crashing down. In kickline, any misstep is eye-catching due to how synchronized every movement is.

“Kick is very dependent on your timing, and how precise you are with your movement because we're all dancing as a team in one big line,” Scoopo said. “If one person's the tiniest bit off, it's very easy to tell … if the person next to you, or I'm falling behind a little bit, it affects the whole thing.”

Scoopo said that sometimes performing in front of screaming crowds can also be a tense ordeal. Nonetheless, she described pre-performance nerves as a “team bonding experience” making the unit feel less like comrades but rather a “big family.”

“We all just have fun on the sidelines and then, when we do perform, we all stand under the tunnel waiting to go out onto the court, and we're all nervous just going over altogether,” Scoopo said. “And then, once we're performing, and the crowd gets hyped up, you just feel very happy. And then once we run off we're like ‘Oh, my God, that was so cool! We can't wait to do it again.’”

The overwhelming Bobcat pride from

“There's definitely an adrenaline rush for me,” Catalano said. “It's always when we get to that point where we're all in one line at the same time, I get like the biggest adrenaline rush, it's very exciting.”

Every year the Kickline team constructs a new team of zealous dancers who express interest in being a part of the spirited unit of women. This year’s tryouts ran for two days, beginning on Sept. 12, and coming to a close the following day.

On the first day, the group of interested dancers learned two different dances, jazz and kick. The next day is when the women got to really show off their unique set of skills, whether it’s dips, splits or twirls, it was the final moment to wow the captains and parade what you bring to the table. The trial concluded after the girls demonstrated the two dance routines they studied the day before.

This year Boesenberg is particularly excited for game days due to the sheer amount of talent that was displayed at tryouts along with the mask optional policy at games that was enforced for the first since the start of the pandemic.

“I'm really excited to see what we could do with our dances because we had a lot of great girls try out this year,” Boesenberg said. “Just in general, we haven't been performing even without a mask, so it'll be nice to just be able to perform in front of an audience like them see our faces, too. So I'm just really excited for that aspect.”

The dominant passion from the girls at Kickline bleeds onto the dance floor when they perform for crowds of students, supportive parents and faculty. Kickline continues to show what authentic Quinnipiac pride is one kick at a time.

Quinnipiac sports fanatics decked out in university merchandise is exemplified through their loud cheers and applause during game days. Catalano said the feedback from the crowd on game day is exhilarating.

BY

PHOTO BY JOHN HASSETT/CONTRIBUTED BY KICKLINE

‘Making personal care personal’: QU student starts skincare small business

By NEHA SEENARINE Arts & Life Editor

Brian Ziegelhofer, a business administration graduate student at Quinnipiac University, spent his summer in 2021 making lotions as a hobby. He then took himself to Google on how to flip a knack for a small business named Composure Products.

However, a business does not happen overnight. Ziegelhofer took his time to discover what methods were best to bring Composure Products to life.

“I spent so much time trying to figure out the right way to start my business,” Ziegelhofer said. “I didn't know what to do first and dealing with the IRS and the state seemed super daunting…There are several step-by-step guides that all essentially say the same thing and make the process easy to digest.”

Composure Products is a skincare business focusing on “making personal care personal,” according to Ziegelhofer. The company is dedicated to homemade products for consumers’ individual needs.

“My formula was unique, super effective for moisturizing, and something that I could monetize,” Ziegelhofer said. “I then spent the remainder of the pandemic on research and development so I could eventually expand into other products ranging from shower steamers to massage oil.”

The global skincare industry is projected to reach USD $200.25 billion by 2026 according to Fortune Business. Zigelhofer saw the rise in the demand for skincare and took a chance on it on his own. However, he wasn’t concentrated on the profit, but rather on the people Composure Products would reach.

“(The skincare industry) is predominantly dominated by two companies, Bath and Body Works, in the domestic market and Lush in the international market,” Ziegelhofer said. “These giants are profit-driven rather than peopledriven. My goal is to create an affordable, people-driven personal care company that can

adequately compete in today's market.”

Ziegelhofer received opportunities from Quinnipiac University to expose his business to the community around him.

“There have been pop-up shops on campus which have allowed me to sell and network with my peers,” Ziegelhofer said. “ There have also been individual vendor opportunities at the tables outside of Tator Hall. I was even given a partial grant from the Innovation Hub to help pay for labels for my room sprays.”

Composure Products has made its appearance at two Quinnipiac pop-up shops,

Ziegelhofer said the feedback is the most rewarding part of owning a small business.

“The feedback from recurring users has easily been the most fulfilling part,” Ziegelhofer said. “I did the pop-up shop at the beginning of this year and several people recognized me from last year's pop-up shop and told me how much they have used and liked my product. It is a small scale at the moment, but the positive feedback is super fulfilling.”

When working for a company is a traditional path after graduation, 61% of

college graduates are interested in starting their own businesses according to The CT Corporation survey.

“Starting a business or a non-profit is super do-able,” Ziegelhofer said. “Even if it does not end up becoming the next Google or Tesla, it is reasonable to create something semi-successful. If you have an idea that could potentially improve someone's life, but do not know if or how to get started, starting anywhere is better than never starting at all.”

By JONNATTAN PEREZ Contributing Writer

There are a lot of things to love about Marvel such as the superpowered beings, hateful and vengeful villains, even including the death of some beloved characters. 2008’s blockbuster, “Iron Man” started what we call the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Nearly 15 years later, Marvel transitioned into Phase 5 and announced new projects that will expand the universe that Iron Man set up so long ago.

The next films that makeup Phase 5 and 6 of the MCU will begin with the threat of Kang the Conqueror culminating in the 2025 movie, “Avengers: Kang Dynasty.” Kang is a villain from the Marvel comics that is a threat to the Avengers as his goal is to conquer Earth as he finds it easy to take over a planet. Kang has been shown in the comics as a major villain that the Avengers face and have struggled against and the movies in Phase 5 are building towards the introduction of Kang the Conqueror himself.

After Kang is defeated, “Avengers: Secret Wars” is also set to release in 2025, connecting it more to the comic book version of the same name. Other films like “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” are going to show the wider ramifications of T’Challa’s death. Namely, that the rest of the world considers Wakanda ripe for the picking. The second Black Panther movie will be great as from what I've seen from the trailer it’s going to fully show how Wakanda will do

without T’Challa and how his sister will take up the mantle of the Black Panther.

Similarly to the “Black Panther” sequel, “Captain America: New World Order'' is getting a lot of hype from the superhero fan base and Marvel Studios. Sam Wilson known as Falcon (Anthony Mackie) is now taking over the shield in his own movie and it's going to show him as the new Captain America that is different from Steve Rogers (Chris Evans). Rogers Trusted that Wilson would be a good person to take up the mantle and gave him the shield and in the Disney+ show, “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” which shows Wilson coming to terms with the loss of Rogers as Captain

"It's amazing," Mackie said at the Disney's D23 Expo in Anaheim, California in September. "I've always come out as a secondary character in a movie. It's really humbling to come out as the lead character for the first time, in a movie, being in this universe for so long.” I am very excited to see how Falcon does as Captain America in this new movie.

The Marvel timeline is heading in a direction that could be building up to Galactus who is a villain who eats planets and worlds,“Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame.” In the half-decade gap, more multiverses are included and the timeline can skew in different directions. An example of this is the

show “What If…?” which features different plots that could have happened in the MCU. Kang will also be an upcoming threat they are building to in the Marvel timeline.

Many MCU characters, such as Wanda Maximoff, have received developments lately. She went through an arc in Disney+’s “WandaVision” that showed her missing her lover, Vision but she realized that she couldn't truly get him back. Her arc culminated in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” when she wanted to remove herself from an alternate timeline and take her place with her kids but towards the end of the movie she realizes her sins and sacrifices herself to save America Chavez and Dr. Strange. Peter Parker known as Spider-Man had also received development as he lost Aunt May and everything due to his actions of tampering with Dr. Strange’s spell.

I've enjoyed Phase 4 even if the quality of the movies decreased due to questionable writing choices.The future Phase 5 and 6 of the MCU are going to be comic books with twists. I am skeptical of the quality of the films set to release as the computer-generated imagery and writing haven’t been the best since “Spider-Man: No Way Home” causing fans to stray from Marvel, which makes me doubtful of the future movies and projects. We've had some good and exciting news for the future of the MCU and I am very anxious to see how Marvel develops over the next few years.

Brian Ziegelhofer (left), a business administration graduate student, turned his interest for skincare into a small business, Composure Products.

Wasted potential takes center stage in ‘Don't Worry Darling’

By ZOE LEONE Contributing Writer

Olivia Wilde’s sophomore film as a director, “Don’t Worry Darling,” was released in theaters on Sept. 23, but has been floating through the media since its announcement in 2019. Described as a psychological thriller with a feminist narrative, it’s easy to let the work itself be overshadowed by the ridiculously entertaining drama that has surrounded it.

The controversies started with cast replacements, and went on to include in-cast dating, feud rumors and leaked text messages, only to round out with speculation that Harry Styles had spit on Chris Pine at the Venice Film Festival. Spoiler alert: he did not. However, amid the ridiculous gossip and delightful drama, “Don’t Worry Darling” has legs, even if they’re shaky ones.

The film follows Alice and Jack Chambers, played by Florence Pugh and Styles, respectively, who appear to be the ideal 1950s couple. They live in an experimental living community run by Frank, played by Pine, the seemingly omniscient leader of the Victory Project, the company that all of the husbands work for. Everything there is simply perfect.

That is until one of the housewives in the neighborhood starts straying from the spoon-fed perfection of her husband and Frank’s guidance. She tries desperately to warn Alice that the Victory Project is much more than just “developing progressive materials,” but she is quickly silenced by the community’s leaders, as they push the narrative that she’s suffering from a manic episode. Still, the seed was planted and Alice’s perfect life began to fracture.

The undeniable tour de force of the film is Pugh, who shines in her character as a woman being gaslit through a breakdown. It’s reminiscent of her character in “Midsommar,” as a young woman in a relationship spiraling

Let

By NEHA SEENARINE Arts & Life Editor

Ever since Yung Gravy released “Betty (Get Money)” in June, I have thought about him every day. It’s not that I have a crush on him, it’s that his legal first name is Matthew.

Although Gravy haunts my thoughts, my odd fascination with him led me to listen to his latest single, “C’est La Vie” featuring bbno$ and Rich Brian released on Sept. 23. Before listening to this track, I knew what I was getting myself into: meaningless lyrics with 80s references and Gravy rapping about clapping cheeks.

However, I don’t need to listen to a song with a deep meaning to enjoy it, so I’m all aboard the Gravy train.

“C’est La Vie” was released at the wrong time of the year. The song sounds like a love child between LMFAO and Macklemore during their prime on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2012. In my mind, it would be perfect for college kids to listen on spring break in Daytona Beach.

Despite the track coming out as people are trading in their flip-flops for fuzzy socks, it’s a fun listen. The six-second introduction of “C’est La Vie” starts with an electric guitar before cueing a beat perfect for fist-pumping.

There is zero complexity to this song as Gravy raps, “Finger-lickin' good like it's KFC / I learned to count a mil' before my ABCs.” I’m pretty sure “C’est La Vie” will

downward, surrounded by a community that is not as it seems. The similarities only go to show how well Pugh has perfected the art of losing her mind on screen. Her stellar performance makes it almost distressing how bad Styles is.

His chemistry with Pugh is hard to buy and his overacting is difficult to watch. When a fight scene between the couple shows Pugh overshadowing a monologue from Styles with a single look, it begs the question of whether the film could’ve been stronger

with a different male lead.

Wilde and Pine both deliver particularly strong performances as well. Wilde plays Bunny, Alice’s best friend who is a meticulously perfect housewife. While she seemed in control of every situation with her fingers wrapped around a martini glass, there is a chaotic look in her eyes that unfolds beautifully throughout the film.

Similarly, Pine pulls off the chilling role of the megalomaniac in charge. He’s calculated and cold but taunts the unraveling Alice with

a perfect smirk that conveys his spot as the alpha male of the Victory Project.

“Don’t Worry Darling” as a whole, however, is most notable for its wasted potential. The concept of the film is fascinating, but the narrative simply stretches on too long before things start to get on-the-edge-of-yourseat interesting. It has an incredibly slow build that goes on far longer than necessary, which just makes it all the more disappointing when the climax does hit.

When I watched it in theaters, the audience audibly gasped as all secrets were revealed, but just as things start to get truly fascinating, the film fades to black as the title screen appears. It’s the kind of ending that leaves audiences sitting in their seats through the credits, hoping that there is just simply something else.

While the film was pushed by Wilde as a strong female-pleasure-driven story, it lands just off the mark. The themes of feminism and female autonomy are certainly present and easily understood, but they simply just aren’t as fleshed out as they could be for maximum impact. The two sex scenes themselves seem out of place, with both occurring within the first-hour of the movie, and they seem to serve no purpose other than to show Styles going down on someone.

“Don’t Worry Darling” does feminism better than most self-proclaimed movies have recently, but the subtlety is just another disservice to the narrative.

The film isn't the extravagant psychological thriller it was advertised to be, but it’s also not as horribly devoid of value and entertainment as critics across the media have made it out to be. The film is visually stunning in every way and the revelation of the truth of the Victory Project is a genuinely shocking twist. For fans of a psychological-feminist narrative, the star-studded cast or just simply the drama, it’s worth a casual watch.

live his

not be studied in a music history course in the foreseeable future.

Before the song’s release, I was not familiar with featured artists bbno$ and Rich Brian. Gravy and bbno$ have collaborated multiple times and it seems like he is the Robin to Gravy’s Batman. The duo understands each other’s flow, but at the same time, they’re not codependent.

Rich Brian is an Indonesian rapper who gained success on SoundCloud. “C’est La Vie” was my first introduction to Rich Brian and there was a point where I couldn’t differentiate his voice from Gravy. It wouldn’t surprise me if he was featured on more of Gravy’s projects.

The track is the second single from Gravy’s upcoming album, “Marvelous.” “C’est La Vie” compared to “Betty (Get Money)” shows listeners that Gravy has common themes in his music. His songs usually thrive off of groovy beats sampled from songs like Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” and his experiences with different women.

However, in “Betty (Get Money),” the song succeeded from its addictive bridge, “Damn Gravy, you so vicious / You so clean, so delicious / How come you ain't got no misses?” This part of the song is the sole reason why I’m so invested in Gravy’s work. If I somehow missed this single in the past few months, “C’est La Vie” would not have had an intriguing impact on me.

Gravy’s music has been popularized by

ILLUSTRATION BY AMANDA RIHA

c'est la vie

TikTok creators dancing to his songs, “oops!” and “Betty (Get Money).” He also has shared his commentary on the social media platform on his admiration for mothers and making it his entire personality.

If Gravy wasn’t an artist, I’m sure we’d

see him as another 6’7” guy from a fraternity and that’s what seems genuine about him. He doesn’t have the superstardom persona attached to him, Gravy just wants to live his life, c’est la vie.

Men’s ECAC Hockey preview

By CAMERON LEVASSEUR Sports Editor

One would imagine that being the youngest team in the nation would lead to a wealth of in experience and mistakes. That was not the case for Harvard last year.

The Crimson, who boasted an average age just above 21 and had 14 players who had never played a shift of college hockey prior to the season, met every challenge they faced with equal force. They won 21 games in the regu lar season before upsetting Quinnipiac in the ECAC Hockey championship game. Expect this

After a tremendously successful season that saw the Bobcats win 32 games (second most in the NCAA) and come just short of a Fro zen Four appearance, Quinnipiac looks primed and ready to avenge its loss in the 2022 ECAC Hockey title game.

The Bobcats have had the highest turnover in the conference, losing 13 players, including captain Wyatt Bongiovanni and Ty Smilanic, the highest NHL drafted player in program history, but a mixture of returning veterans and highlytouted freshmen should keep this roster danger ous heading into 2022-23.

year’s iteration of Cambridge’s finest to match or exceed the play of its predecessors when the puck drops in October. The team may have lost Nick Abruzzeze and Casey Dornbach, who both donned the “C” for the Crimson last season, but Harvard’s treasure trove of young talent is only getting richer.

“I really felt we came together at the end of the year,” head coach Ted Donato said. “This year we’re trying to build off that … the guys have come back hungry and ready and I think the sights are set pretty high as a group.”

Sophomore Matthew Coronato, who led

CORNELL

A strong regular season for Cornell in 202122 ended in disappointment, as it fell to a gritty Colgate team on home ice in the second round of the ECAC Tournament.

Head coach Mike Schafer and the Big Red are determined to create a different outcome this time around.

“For us, it’s coming into the season with a different mindset, something to prove,” Scha fer said. “Coming off of COVID, coming off of not playing, all the conversation seemed to surround that rather than the present. So I

Five of eight seniors who donned the blue and gold last season elected to return to Ham den for a fifth year, among them All-American defenseman Zach Metsa and alternate captain Ethan de Jong. Quinnipiac will also continue to be backstopped by sophomore goaltender Yaniv Perets, who was a finalist for both the Hobey Baker and Mike Richter awards last season and broke the 18-year-old NCAA record for Goals Against Average.

“Having third year, fourth year, fifth year players, you know, they’ve been there and done it,” head coach Rand Pecknold said in a preseason media call. “They know our culture, they know our identity … it’s nice to have those older guys.”

the team in scoring as a freshman, posted seven points in five games at the IIHF World Juniors this summer, while junior Sean Farrell notched six in 10 in the World Championships.

The Crimson’s incoming class is nothing to sneeze at either. Five of eight freshmen have been drafted, including 2020 Maple Leafs 6th rounder Joe Miller, who tallied a top-15 point total in the USHL last season.

Entering the season as the reigning champs, there’s nothing to suggest that Harvard won’t be duking it out for its fourth Whitelaw Cup in the past decade come mid-March.

think that (there’s) a lot of refocusing going on in our program and kind of getting back to some of the basics.”

Cornell lost eight players to graduation or the portal, including impact forwards Kyle Betts and Brenden Locke, but Schafer isn’t worried about the team’s depth.

“Probably the most balance and depth I’ve had up front as a coach in some time,” Schafer said.

The Big Red are returning a majority of their core from last season, including their top four scorers and reigning All-ECAC First Team de

Among the players joining the team is sopho more forward Collin Graf, who transferred from Union after notching 22 points for the Dutchmen (second highest on the team) in 2021-22.

This season will also see the debut of Arizo na Coyotes draftee Sam Lipkin. The big, skilled forward ranked in the top five for goals in the USHL last season, posting 36 en route to a 71 point campaign.

With the title game loss to Harvard still fresh on their mind and a plethora of talent joining the ranks, it’s safe to say the Bobcats have the mo tivation and skill to bring home the program’s second ever Whitelaw Cup.

Clarkson is an interesting team heading into this season. The Golden Knights found them selves just one period away from their third straight ECAC title game appearance in March, but massive roster turnover leaves some ques tions with the season looming.

Up front, the team lost captains Jack Jacome and Zach Tsekos, who combined for 56 points last season as well as another proven goalscorer in Luke Santerno.

Clarkson returns four 28+ point scorers to the

roster, including All-ECAC First Teamers Alex Campbell and Mathieu Gosselin, but beyond that group, the Golden Knights lack scoring depth. No other forward on the team managed more than four goals last season.

They’ll instead look to the point for offensive production, where an experienced defensive core looks ready to invigorate the Golden Knights’ of fense.

Clarkson’s veteran back end is highlighted by four juniors and a senior, including AllECAC Second Team defenseman Noah Beck, who was top five in the conference for points

at his position a year ago.

With all the top-end talent on the Golden Knights’ roster, Jones knows it’s crucial to not back down from a hard-nosed style of play.

“We’ve got to make sure that our skill wants to play hard,” head coach Casey Jones said. “That we want to fight through stuff, that we want to get to the dirty areas, we want to be difficult to play against. It all starts (with) defense first.”

Clarkson has historically proved itself to be a team that’s always in the mix, so we should expect nothing less from the 2022-23 iteration.

fenseman Sam Malinski, who tallied 23 points a year ago.

They’ll also continue to be backstopped by sophomore goaltender Ian Shane, whose impres sive freshman campaign won Cornell several key games, including an overtime victory over then-No. 1 Quinnipiac in Ithaca.

That, combined with the addition of play making junior centerman Gabriel Seager from Union and freshman goaltender Remington Ke opple, who played with Team USA at world ju niors this summer, puts Cornell in the Whitelaw Cup conversation for 2022-23.

There are two words that best describe Col gate as a team: veteran and gritty.

It was those identities that helped the Raid ers topple Cornell to earn a Lake Placid bid a season ago, and with another year of experience under their belts, this group is looking to take the next step.

The Raiders roster is fairly similar to the one that took to the ice for the 2021-22 season, re turning 13 upperclassmen, including their top three scorers and all but one defensemen. That older presence has allowed the coaching staff to take a less hands-on approach with the team.

“It’s almost like you’re just steering the rud der and letting them take ownership (of) the team,” head coach Don Vaughan said. “That’s been really rewarding as a coach.”

In net, the Raiders will be relying on a big season from junior Carter Gylander, who posted a .908 save percentage and a 2.76 goals against average across 16 appearances in his second year with the program. Behind Gylander, both other netminders are freshmen.

With that in mind, in order for it to make the leap and compete for a conference title this sea son, Colgate will need to place a bigger emphasis on offense.

“We scored enough last year, but we also had

some incredible goaltending down the stretch, we can’t always rely on that to get the win,” Vaughan said. “We have to find a way to be a lit tle bit more explosive, more offensive … trying to create, manufacture some goals if you will.”

A sibling duo of senior forward Colton Young and junior forward Alex Young should help the Raiders reach their offensive potential. The pair each tallied point totals above 30 last season and look to build off that performance playing alongside one another in 2022-23.

They have the will, they have the experience, if Colgate is able to score enough to offset its depth in net, it will be a tough out come tourna ment time.

PHOTOILLUSTRATION BY CAMERON LEVASSEUR /PHOTOS BY CONNOR LAWLESS/CHRONICLE ARCHIVES, HARVARD ATHLETICS, CLARKSON ATHLETICS

CLARKSON

It was a hectic season for Union in 2021-22. Longtime head coach Rick Bennett, who guided the Dutchmen to the program’s only na tional championship, stepped down in January in the wake of a school investigation into his coaching practices. The team struggled down the stretch following Bennett’s departure, but ulti mately put together a sweep of Princeton in the opening round of the ECAC Hockey tournament and a close series with Clarkson in round two. This year, under the leadership of former Clarkson assistant Josh Hague, the Dutchmen

may surprise people.

Boasting one of the bigger rosters in college hockey, the 33-man team has the pieces to make some noise.

Most of all, they have depth. Union’s for ward core returns 14 players from last season, among them sharpshooter Liam Robertson, who had 13 goals for the Dutchmen a year ago.

Union lost the goal scoring of both senior forward Gabriel Seger and sophomore forward Collin Graf to the transfer portal, but brought in even more in the form of graduate student forward Chris Theodore, who had 29 points for Atlantic Hockey champions AIC last season as well as for

RPI

It’s seemed like for the past few years that Rensselaer has been on the brink.

In 2020 they cracked the top four in ECAC Hockey before the pandemic cut the season short. Then after a year off, the Engineers re turned to the ice last season, winning a hard fought series against Dartmouth before pushing eventual league champion Harvard to the verge of elimination.

This year, after severe offseason turnover, the

mer Lake State forward Josh Nixon (8-12-20) and former Cornell forward Ben Tupker (3-4-7).

Trying to implement a new system under Hague while also attempting to develop an in experienced blue-line group is sure to lead the Dutchmen into some tight spots early in the cam paign, how they respond to that adversity will define their season.

With a new coach and a new system, Union is ECAC Hockey’s biggest wildcard heading into the season. If the pieces start to click as the weeks bear on, who knows what could happen in a playoff environment.

question is whether they’ll be able to build from the past or start to regress backwards.

RPI lost five of its top six scorers to the por tal, including graduate student forward Ture Lin den, who’s 20 goals and 39 points both led the conference in 2021-22.

The Engineers dug into the transfer market themselves to recoup their losses, picking up junior forward Austin Heidemann and senior forward Brandon Budy among others from Mer cyhurst and North Dakota respectively.

Heidemann and Budy play into an identity RPI is looking to emphasize this season: speed.

“Our individual skating ability and speed is just at a higher level than it was, head coach Dave Smith said. “(Budy and Heidemann) can really get up and down the ice.”

The Engineers will need that speed to consis tently translate into goals if they’re going to be a near.500 team this season. A lack of returning scorers and depth on the blue line leave a lot of question marks heading into the year.

ST. LAWRENCE

Much like RPI and Union, St. Lawrence is another team that will be in the middle of the table mix this season.

The Saints have returned a significant portion of their roster that earned them the eight seed last season, chiefly graduate student goaltender Emil Zetterquist. Zetterquist started 34 games for the club in 2021-22, posting a .904 SV% and a 2.57 GAA.

“I think he’s an all-league type goaltender,”

head coach Brent Brekke said. “Obviously we need to give him some more run support.”

St. Lawrence also brought back 14 forwards and all but one defenseman, creating a wealth of veteran talent up and down the lineup, something that will be key for the Saints in finding ways to create that run support and win games this season.

“I think experience is a big piece to have in success,” head coach Brent Brekke said. “You’ve got to go through the ups and downs and get that experience under your belt. It’s finding a way to

DARTMOUTH

After finishing last season in a four-way tie for the second-fewest wins in the nation, things might be starting to look up for Dartmouth, who haven’t finished the year with a winning record since 2015-16.

That’s not to say that The Big Green will come close to .500 on the season, but there definitely seems to be a gap opening between them and some of the other conference bot tom feeders.

get over the top in tight situations.”

Winning those close games was something the Saints struggled with last year. Their seven ties were the most of any team in the country, and on top that, eight of their 19 losses came in one goal affairs.

With the season on the horizon, only time can tell whether a more experienced Saints ros ter will be able to make the most of their chances and chase a winning record for the first time since 2016-17.

Little roster turnover and a large incoming group gives Dartmouth the resources to pick and choose talent when constructing the on-ice roster for the team this season.

For the second straight year, the Big Green have brought in a sizable freshman class, with seven first-years making their collegiate debuts in Hanover this season. Among them is forward Robert Flinton, a 2021 Lightning draft pick who tallied 21 points with the USHL’s Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in his only season of junior hockey.

Dartmouth also added defenseman John Fusco out of the portal from Harvard. The Maple Leafs prospect is a good two-way defenseman who boasts a solid point shot.

Crafting such a large roster gives head coach Reid Cashman plenty of flexibility to shake around the lineup as he sees fit through out the season.

With the sea of irrelevance lapping at their ankles, the Big Green are looking to make a push toward mediocrity in 2022-23.

A common phrase is “defense wins champi onships,” and to an extent, that’s correct, but in order to win championships in hockey, you have to be able to score, and that’s an ability this Yale team has been sorely missing.

The Bulldogs were backstopped by solid de fensive play and decent goaltending from junior Nathan Reid and sophomore Luke Pearson a season ago, but their lackluster offensive produc tion cost them a number of games, as Yale was shut out a total of eight times on the year.

While the wins weren’t there, head coach Keith Allain was encouraged by the strong back half of the season put on by his group.

“What I like about my team is really the way our team finished last year and how much growth I saw through the course of the season in the group last year,” Allain said.

Senior forward Justin Pearson, who led the team in points three seasons ago, left the Bulldogs for greener pastures after a year where he was un able to even halve his freshman production.

If the Bulldogs are going to win more than prescribed this season, they need goals in any

PRINCETON

There are several ECAC Hockey teams whom the 2021-22 season was not kind to, Princeton is one of them. The Tigers won a meager eight games in a campaign high lighted by both nine and eight game losing streaks, the culmination of the former being a 9-0 loss to Quinnipiac.

Picked to finish dead last in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, the spotlight remains on Princeton for all the wrong reasons, something

way possible. But the question becomes who will step up for this team.

Sophomore forward Briggs Gammill could be the guy to do so. The New Canaan, Connecti cut, product managed the second highest point total on the team in 2021-22 and with a year under his belt is sure to do more damage on the scoreboard going forward.

Regardless of if the Bulldogs see an offen sive explosion from a player or two this season, it’s unlikely that will reflect on the team’s overall record in what appears to be another rebuilding year for Yale.

that head coach Ron Fogarty is well aware of.

“Seeing from the coaches poll, there’s only one way to head, (and that’s) up,” Fogarty said. “I love that, where we’re picked and we’re go ing to embrace that and utilize that, not for extra motivation, but just what we need to do to get back to relevancy.”

Turning things around for the Tigers means a complete 180 in their style of play, getting away from a timid, soft possession style and leaning into a more hard-nosed, gritty approach on the ice.

“That’s going to be our identity, we’re go ing to be the toughest team to play against in the ECAC,” Fogarty said.

If Princeton is to compete this season, that toughness is going to have to translate into keep ing pucks out of the front of the net, something they weren’t able to do a year ago, with all three Tiger goaltenders posting save percentages well below .900.

When all is said and done, it’s likely we’ll see Princeton hanging out in the bottom three of the conference once more come March.

Brown struggled mightily on the scoreboard in 2021-22, managing an NCAA-worst 50 goals for on the season, about 1.6 per game, which translated into a meager 7 win campaign and a bottom-four finish in the conference.

Its scoring woes seem imminent to persist into this season, as the Bears lost their three top scorers, who accounted for 58% of the team’s goals last year, to graduation and the transfer

portal, and are not returning a single skater who tallied more than three goals in ‘21-22.

They are in desperate need of a breakout sea son from a veteran forward or an incoming fresh man to lead the charge. Freshman Ryan Bottrill might be that guy. Bottrill’s creativity with the puck and passing ability led the 20-year-old to set records for both assists (42) and points (59) this past season with the Maryland Black Bears of the NAHL.

“We’re just trying to work each and every day to make sure that when the puck’s dropped … that we’re performing like I think we can,” head coach Brendan Whittet said. “Where that puts us at the end of the year, time will tell.”

Brown’s solid defensive core promises to keep them in games, but with an offense in dire straits, the Bears will be swimming against the current to keep themselves out of last place in ECAC Hockey.

Quinnipiac field hockey at crossroads

Offensive output crucial in difficult upcoming stretch Sports

By MICHAEL LAROCCA Opinion Editor

When a team is in the middle of a rebuild, there is a crucial choice for them to make be tween two simple options. Does a team at tempt to win as much as possible with what they have, or do they stay patient and let suc cess come naturally? For Quinnipiac field hockey, the next two weeks will show us what decision they made.

Currently sitting at 4-5, the Bobcats are in the midst of their best start to a season since 2018, already surpassing their win totals from both 2021 and 2020. However, after back-toback losses against No. 13 Old Dominion and Towson this past weekend, the team is in a rough spot heading into what might be its toughest stretch of the season.

The next four games the Bobcats are scheduled to play are as follows: a road game against No. 16 Liberty on Sept. 30, a road game against rival Yale on Oct. 2, a road game against No. 9 UConn on Oct. 7, and a home game against No. 12 St. Joseph’s on Oct. 9.

This is a stretch that would concern even the mightiest of field hockey programs, but it’s Quinnipiac that will have to muster up the courage and fight through.

When a team has a string of tough games in a row, most coaches will say they plan to take it one game at a time. But for the Bob cats, that mantra has taken physical form.

“We just talked about our game day break down, we’re going to spend the next few days and work on our ARC and our DRC work, which means we’re working only inside the attacking (quarter of the field) and only in the defensive (quarter of the field),” associate head coach Montana Fleming said after the Towson game on Sept. 25. “Meaning we’re

going to work on the areas and the places that we need to be better in, which will help us from game to game. Yeah, so taking it game by game, but that’s also going to help us the rest of our season.”

The main problem for the Bobcats on the field is finding ways to finish off offensive opportunities when they are handed to them, as well as thwarting opportunities from other teams when they appear, especially during penalty corners.

For example, in the match against Towson, the Bobcats were awarded 12 penalty corners and only scored on one of them, while the Ti gers were awarded three penalty corners all game and scored on all three.

Overall, the Bobcats have outshot their opponents on the season 112 to 101 and have put more shots on goal (69 to 65), but have been outscored 25-17.

The worst example of this inefficiency from Quinnipiac’s offense came in its match against UC Davis on Sept. 19 when it put 12 shots on goal before one finally found the back of the net, and that goal was off a pen alty stroke.

“It’s an interesting look for us,” head coach Becca Main said after the game. “We’re not used to shooting this many times and last season we struggled to get the shots off. So now, if you’re gonna take 26 shots, some have to drop for you.”

Despite the offensive difficulties, the Bob cats have been able to find balance amid their goal scoring output. Through nine games in the 2021 season, Quinnipiac’s only goalscor er was then-freshman forward Emilia Mas sarelli, who had four.

And now, nine games into the 2022 sea son, the sophomore Massarelli only has two

goals, however forwards senior Stella Tegt meier and sophomore Lucia Pompeo have four apiece. Senior midfielder Eva Veldhorst also has three thus far after missing the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to COVID-19.

“It has been really nice to come back and play with the seniors,” Veldhorst said after the UC Davis game. “They were from my grade. And I really know their way of play and it’s nice to have a big class. So yeah, coming back it felt normal to play with them. I knew where they were going to pass the ball and we were just off a little bit on the tactics, but it was good to catch up. It’s so nice.”

So while offense has been difficult to find heading into the middle of the season for the

Bobcats, the improvement from 2021 is evi dent. So now, as the schedule’s most difficult stretch approaches, will those improvements make a difference against a set of opponents Quinnipiac is 10-32 against all-time?

The jury is still out on the answer to that question, but so far, this season has been a victory for Quinnipiac, with success seem ingly on the horizon for the Bobcats.

“The future is bright,” Fleming said. “We have a lot of young players on our team that are very talented. We have a lot of players that could develop and continue to develop. I think the next thing is piecing it all together on both sides of the ball.”

PEYTON MCKENZIE/CHRONICLE

PEYTON MCKENZIE/CHRONICLE

Quinnipiac field hockey is 4-5 on the season with 10 regular season contests left to play.