The Statesman 10-28-19 by The Statesman

Monday, October 28, 2019

Volume LXIII, Issue 9

sbstatesman.com

Expectations for next president outlined

Domestic violence awareness walk held

By Brianne Ledda

By Alek Lewis

The Presidential Search Committee outlined “key qualities” and expectations for Stony Brook University’s next president in a position profile, linked in a campus-wide email sent out on Wednesday, Oct. 23. Stony Brook is at a “critical” time in its history and the incoming president will have a “profound impact” on the future of the university going forward, according to the profile. “In its next President, Stony Brook University seeks a demonstrated visionary and strategic leader with administrative experience and with a thorough understanding of and an uncompromising commitment to academic distinction,” the profile read. The 17-page document emphasized that the next president should have a “proven track record of incorporating shared governance and collaboration with faculty, students, and staff,” and possess “the interpersonal skills necessary to manage

coming president views the university “as an intellectual whole.” The school’s primary objective should not be to evaluate programs based on “a budgetary sense,” but to provide an “excellent and well-rounded liberal arts education coupled with excellence in research and scholarship,” the profile read. Many programs saw cuts or were shut down in recent years, as the uni-

Students, faculty and domestic violence prevention organizations marched together in “Take a Stand: Walk With Me” on Oct. 23 to raise awareness about domestic and relationship violence. The Spirit of Stony Brook Marching Band and the Stony Brook University Dance Team led the march, as the participants raised signs displaying phrases such as “You are not alone,” “Seawolves care for each other” and “Love should not hurt.” Starting and ending at the Student Activities Center (SAC) plaza, they marched around Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library and Staller Center for the Arts, chanting “Seawolves break the silence, help us end the violence!” The march was organized for National Domestic Violence Awareness Month, which the National Coa-

Continued on page 4

News Editor

Contributing Writer

SARA RUBERG / THE STATESMAN

The Diwali Festival of Lights was held Wednesday, Oct. 27 in the Wang Center Theater. Diwali honors the gods Rama, Krishna, Vamana and, above all, Lakshmi. strategic change and lead a broad academic mission.” “We’re looking for a president who demonstrates commitment to both undergraduate and graduate students’ academic success and the high quality of education, as well as continues to improve the life quality and work experience of graduate student employees,” Xiaoqing Zhang, a fourth year PhD candidate in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, and a member of the Pres-

idential Search Committee, said in an email. Graduate students protested fee increases last semester, which went up $90.25 per semester for graduate students starting this fall. Protesters argued that the nearly $1,600 graduate students pay in fees per year are not sustainable, especially since their average annual salaries are below the cost of living in Suffolk County. The profile went on to emphasize that it is “vitally important” the in-

The Law School Admission Test switches to a digital platform By Deidre Redhead Contributing Writer

As of Sept. 21, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) will be administered digitally. The next opportunity to take the computerized exam is on Oct. 28. According to a press release from Kaplan Test Prep, an organization that specializes in higher education test preparation, a tablet and stylus will replace the traditional pencil-and-paper format. “From around the country, test takers and test center workers reported that the Microsoft Surface Go tablets used to administer the Digital LSAT generally worked as expected and provided an easy, accessible, and secure digital version of LSAC’s (Law School Admissions Council) reliable and unbiased law school entrance exam, widely considered the premiere test for measuring the skills needed to succeed in law school,” the LSAC website wrote. The transition began on July 15, 2019, when the test was originally “soft launched.” Half of test takers took the digital version while the other half were assigned the newly digital test. By September, the LSAT transitioned into a fully digital exam.

“The LSAC has been working on this for years. It has been happening gradually,” Glen Stohr, a Kaplan LSAT teacher for over 20 years and the company’s senior manager of instructional design, said. He noted that the digital switch was the biggest change to the LSAT since the 1990s. On test day, test takers get their admission ticket and booklet scanned. Each booklet has a unique code that, when scanned, randomly starts test takers on different questions, preventing them from cheating. On the digital interface, the tablets are enabled with a software that disables and turns off the tablets when they are out of range of the designated testing room. The test is taken on Microsoft Surface Pros, equipped with features like highlighting, annotating and increasing the size of the font. In a test run with 10 of his top students, Stohr said that eight of them embraced the new features. Troy Lowry, senior vice president of technology products and chief information officer at the LSAC, noted that many students utilized the features the tablet offers. “[Students] loved how smooth the digital experience was, as well as specific features like navigating between

questions, flagging questions to go back to, the ease and quickness of selecting answers with a single click, and the on-screen timer and five-minute warning,” he said via email. Stohr recommended getting acquainted with the new LSAT beforehand to alleviate stress or concerns about the digital delivery. On test day, he hopes the test takers “think about the test and not the tablet.” Lowry said that LSAC.org offers services to help people gain familiarity with the format before the exam. “Our free Get Acquainted with the Digital LSAT site shows how the tablet test works so that test takers can feel confident on test day and allows test takers to practice using the tools and features they will use on the day of the test,” he said via email. “In addition, we have published several full digital practice tests to the Digital LSAT familiarization site. These practice tests provide an experience that mirrors the Digital LSAT. And, our free Official LSAT Prep with Khan Academy provides an excellent way to practice for the LSAT in a digital environment.” There hasn’t been any changes made to the test since 1992, but Stohr cited the 2000 LSAT

News

Arts & Culture

Students and faculty participate in protest.

Highlights relationship between science and art.

Domestic violence awareness walk held.

MORE ON PAGE 9

Football upsets No. 5 Villanova on road. MORE ON PAGE 12

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NEWS

Presidential Search Committee announces "key qualities" in profile Continued from page 1 versity tried to rein in a multimillion dollar budget deficit. The humanities suffered in particular — for instance, the Department of Theatre Arts suspended admissions, and several adjunct professors in the Program in Writing and Rhetoric did not have their contracts renewed. Three other departments in the College of Arts and Sciences merged, resulting in the dismissal of several lecturers. Though Interim President Michael Bernstein announced this semester that the university budget is balanced for the upcoming year, the presidential profile lists experience with university finances and budgeting as a must for the next president. “While Stony Brook has taken steps to rein in costs and operate more efficiently, it has been less active in discovering new sources of funding and must undertake serious efforts to identify future recurring resources, including ‘out-of-the-box’

ideas, to allow the institution to continue to enhance excellence in all aspects of the University’s mission,” the profile read. It added that the president should, transparently, involve the Stony Brook community and other stakeholders “in discussions and actions on moving the University forward on its upward trajectory.” Beyond just managing the budget, the incoming president will be expected to “plan and then execute a major campaign” on a similar level to the “Campaign for Stony Brook” fundraiser, which ran for seven years and raised $630.7 million, exceeding its goal of $600 million by 5%. Even as the university worked to balance its deficit these past few years, however, it saw total spending on research and development activities rise from $238 million in 2017 to $245 million in 2018, according to Bernstein’s university address on Oct. 19. Sponsored research in particular soared to new heights, with a record of nearly $192 mil-

lion in 2018 — that number has not been beaten so far in 2019, at $180.6 million. The profile pointed out Stony Brook’s partnerships with Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, and the university’s proximity to New York City — which is about 50 miles away, or approximately two hours by train. It speculated that the university could “become one of the preeminent research institutions in the U.S. and, indeed, the world.” Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and SUNY Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Nicole Sampson — who is on the Presidential Search Committee — emphasized via email that the incoming president should “understand the opportunities and challenges for a public research university in a rapidly changing global society and economy.” Sampson added that she expects the next president to collaborate with “diverse constituencies inter-

nal and external to the University to bring his/her vision to reality.” The incoming president should also, according to the profile, “support the development of a strong clinically integrated network of health care institutions and continued growth in the footprint of where Stony Brook Medicine services are offered.” Stony Brook Medicine has been rapidly expanding in recent years, stretching out to the east end of the island. The university acquired Southampton Hospital in 2018, according to the profile, which came with 125 beds and several specialized treatment centers, including 32 satellite care centers throughout Long Island’s South Fork. Earlier this year, the university also acquired Eastern Long Island Hospital, which comes with 90 beds and more than 20,000 annual clinic visits, the profile stated. “There is ongoing discussion about further acquisitions which must be balanced by the need to

maintain the quality of existing programs,” it read. Closer to campus, a new Medical and Research Translation building dedicated to cancer care and research, in addition to imaging and neurosciences, was constructed. A children’s hospital was also built. Both are expected to open in November. Before launching into an appendix describing the university, the profile laid out a bulleted list of qualifications the Presidential Search Committee is looking for in candidates, which were discussed in a meeting at the end of September with SUNY Chancellor Kristina Johnson, and with search consultants from recruitment firm Isaacson, Miller. Ads for the position are being run in various publications, including the New York Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education and Diverse Jobs in Higher Education. Samantha Robinson contributed to reporting.

Annual march preaches message of awareness for relationship violence Continued from page 1 lition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) declared to be October in 1981. One in four women and one in nine men suffer some kind of severe violence or stalking from intimate partners, according to the NCADV. The event was organized by the Center for Prevention and Outreach (CPO). Before the march, Christine Szaraz, the coordinator of Sexual Violence Prevention and Outreach Programs for CPO, delivered opening remarks to the crowd and spoke about domestic abuse as a prevelant issue on an emotional, psychological and social level. “I think it’s important to be aware that violence, in any form, affects us in lots of different ways,” Szaraz said in an interview with The Statesman. “So we can see it coming out in our academics, in our social lives; so somebody who is pulling back from their social circle, maybe it’s because they’re really busy, but maybe it’s because there is something happening in the dynamic of their relationship where they don’t feel that they can feel that they can feel open with their friends or stay as connected. That isolation and that withdrawal and part and parcel of the relationship experience for many people.” After her speech, Szaraz introduced Swallow This!, a program run by the CPO Health Education Office and the Department of Theatre Arts, who performed a scene and spoken word meant to encapsulate the experience of victims in a controlled relationship, inspired by stories anonymously published to the CPO’s database. “It’s something that even if we personally haven’t struggled with it, we all know somebody who at some point in their life has dealt with it,” Noah Talavera-Greenberg, a fifth year studio art major and Swallow This! performer, said. “It’s amazing to bring these issues to light, it’s amazing to see how a community

comes together to bring awareness to this issue and what we can do to solve it.” In attendance were members of the One Love Foundation, a national organization founded in 2010 that is committed to stopping and raising awareness about relationship abuse. Michael Harley, engagement coordinator for the One Love Foundation, travels around New York to present student training workshops focused on breaking the silence and stigma around relationship abuse. “What One Love does, is we train students to be able to lead workshops that have these conversations about healthy and unhealthy relationships and relationship abuse,” Harley said. “I am also here tonight in conjunction with this event to train a lot of the students here to be able to keep having these conversations in a really constructive and positive way.” Student peer educating organizations that were in attendance included the Green Team with the Green Dot Program, a group of volunteers that help educate the campus community on sexual and relationship violence and bystander intervention as well as Red Watch Band, which trains students on how to intervene if a peer consumes too much alcohol. University Police were also in attendance supporting the event. “I feel like domestic violence is very prevalent right now in college students’ lives,” Maria Kefalas, a senior psychology major and member of the Red Watch Band, said. “I feel like it’s not talked about enough. People don’t know the signs of it, people don’t know what to do when it’s happened to them. I think that events like this opens a gateway for recovery.” Derrick Wagner, a second year graduate student in the occupational therapy program and graduate coordinator for LGBTQ+ Services, held a pride flag while he marched with his organization to condemn domestic violence. Members of the LGBTQ+ youth community experience higher rates

of domestic violence than their heterosexual counterparts, according to a 2017 report by the Research Triangle Institute International, a nonprofit organization that provides research and technical services. “The Take a Stand, Walk With Me march, everything that it’s standing for with relationship violence awareness and helping to break the stigma and more education and start the conversation on all these sorts of things is definitely something that is very important overall,” Wagner said. “LGBTQ+ Services tries to help support people of all different identities and all different struggles to build support for everybody.” National organizations at the SAC plaza included the Family Violence and Rape Crisis Center, Brighter Tomorrows Inc. and the Crisis Victims Center, which all work to spread awareness of do-

mestic violence and help people suffering from domestic abuse. “A lot of people aren’t aware of all the different types of services that are available to them, like legal services, shelter, counseling groups with people who have had similar experience is helpful,” Andrea Weisse, a counselor at Brighter Tomorrows Inc., said. The Violence Against Women Act, first signed into legislation in 1994, is intended to create and support “cost-effective reponses” to domestic and sexual violence, including stalking, against women in the U.S. The bill’s recent draft for reauthorization, which is required every five years, improves the bill by adding services to provide safety and justice for women suffering from domestic abuse. The reauthorization was passed in March with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives, but the bill has yet to be passed in the Senate.

“I know the Violence Against Women Act has not been reauthorized by the [U.S.] Senate yet, and that has a great impact on the service that we are able to offer,” Weisse said. Richard Gatteau, the dean of students and the vice president for Student Affairs, echoed the importance of awareness and safety as a university priority. “It’s just so important to raise a level of awareness about issues around sexual and domestic violence, and that we have a rapport responsibility as a campus to do everything we can to educate our students, faculty and staff and also be a leader in helping reduce any kind of incident or situation that can harm someone,” Gatteau said. “Safety is an important priority for the campus, and the prevention and outreach efforts that we do really make a difference in the lives of our students.”

ALEK LEWIS / THE STATESMAN

Domestic violence prevention advocates marching together in the “Take a Stand/Walk With Me” on Oct. 23. The march took place on the Academic Mall.

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ARTS & CULTURE

Diwali: Festival of lights illuminates Stony Brook University campus By Patrick Tuminski Staff Writer

This past Wednesday, the Charles B. Wang Center and the Mattoo Center for India Studies co-hosted a presentation on the famous Diwali festival of lights. The festival is a combination of cultural and religious celebrations that happen every lunar year centered around India, although they have a presence around the world. Diwali, sometimes spelled “Deepavali,” is a celebration that traditionally takes place over the course of five days; this year, it begins on Sunday, Oct. 27. It is held starting on the 13th day of the lunar month Karthik, which is a day for celebrating wealth and prosperity. Diwali is similar to Thanksgiving in a lot of ways, as it also tends to coincide with India’s own version of the end of the growing season; families tend to come together and celebrate the year’s harvest with a feast and offer food to the less fortunate. S.N. Sridhar, who is a professor of linguistics and India studies at Stony Brook University, along with Professor Yelleshpur Dathatri, formerly of Farmingdale University, were the guides through a detailed explanation of the meanings and celebrations of Diwali.

SARA RUBERG / THE STATESMAN

Diwali Festival of Lights, co-hosted by the Charles B. Wang Center and the Mattoo Center for India Studies in the Wang Center Theater. Sridhar began with a request to the audience: “Let Diwali bring up the light in our hearts.” He then gave a brief lecture on the various days of Diwali and their meanings. Dathatri performed a ritual “puja,” or invocation of a Hindu god. In the process, a portrait of Lakshmi with a small shrine built

around it was blessed by the professor, who first cleansed himself with holy water before reciting the 100 names of the goddess. Afterwards, the audience was welcomed up onto the stage one by one to offer prayers to the goddess. Each audience member was given flower petals and a candle

(a plastic LED, as per regulations of the Wang Center) to offer and was gifted with sweets. The sweets are as important as anything else, and it is Indian tradition to give them out to guests, especially if they are children. Dathatri claimed that he was particularly disappointed that a real flame could not be used

for the ritual, as that is a key factor in all Diwali performances, hence the moniker “Festival of Lights.” However, he relented for the sake of the educational value he saw in it. Diwali honors the gods Rama, Krishna, Vamana and — above all — Lakshmi. She is seen as the figure which offers blessings of prosperity through the darkest day of the year, and it is to her that most prayers are offered. Lakshmi is considered the bringer of affluence and prosperity, and it is no coincidence that the financial year in India begins with her most important day. It is uniquely important because it is perhaps the only holiday that is celebrated across all of India; there are even celebrations of Diwali that exist outside Hinduism. Jains celebrate the festival but instead of honoring Lakshmi or the other gods, they celebrate the ascension of Mahavira from the cycle of moksha. Sikhs also used the festival for their own purpose: celebrating the freedom of the Sixth Guru from Mughal prisons. All throughout the world, Lakshmi will be honored along with her fellow gods. Sweets and gifts will be exchanged and prayers given in celebration of the holiday.

Imagine Wednesdays: Creative Writing professors share their work By Isabelle Panza Staff Writer

The “fishbowl,” was filled with laughter and claps as the professors read their works. Students listened and watched intently as the original and creative stories were almost mesmerizing. Imagine Wednesdays are for professors in the creative writing department to share some of their most creative works — some of which are published and other more personal ones. Tyler Penny, a professor and lecturer in the creative writing department, started this particular Imagine Wednesday by introducing each professor before his or her speech, with an embarrassing yet funny fact. Professor Quinn Adikes teaches Creative Writing (CWL) 202: Introduction to Creative Writing. His fun facts are that he got into two motorcycle accidents, both of which he insisted were not his fault, and that he has a severe addiction to coffee. Naturally, his fictional story, “A Bunch of Tough Guys Burning Shit,” consisted of the two. His story began with him trying to kick his addiction to coffee and then leaped to him kicking off car side mirrors while on his motorcycle. He then got into a fight at the “clubhouse,” a place where the fictional motorcycle group hangs out with his fellow motorcyclists, Poop and Sticky. In the end, he got “turned on”

ISABELLE PANZA/ THE STATESMAN

Imagine Wednesdays are for professors in the department to share some of their most creative works. after Karen, a lawyer, beat him in a black coffee chugging contest. As Adikes read his story, the room was filled with laughter from start to finish. His writing style was also super creative and enjoyable and his knack for coming full circle was appreciated. “I do always try to come full circle in my writing. Amy Hempel taught me that trick. She calls it ‘recursive’ writing when you cycle through a story and bring forward the elements you used earlier. It makes the ending add up to something, and is usually satisfying for the reader,” Adikes said. Soon after Adikes finished, Professor Carina Kohn amused the crowd with

her four innovative poems. Kohn has taught both CWL 202 and CWL 310: Forms of Poetry. Her fun fact was she willingly played with Barbies until the age of 15 and is also overly impressed with tiny objects like the mini plastic tables in the middle of a pizza. She read a total of four poems, but her two favorite ones were, “Asking the Bedouins” and “Relationship.” “I wrote, ‘Asking the Bedouins’ on my phone in the bar, ‘Tidewater,’ while everyone else was drinking and partying! I wrote ‘Relationship’ two days later, seven in the morning. I enjoy these poems the most be-

cause they were generated by classroom prompts, and they are my freshest material. The words and arcs of the poems came quite naturally to me, on the spot, without much mulling over — which is quite rare when I write,” Kohn said. “Relationship” was a poem unlike many students in the room had heard before because all the words came from the Apple License agreement. It had to do with consent, relationships and sex. Kohn’s ability to take the universal themes of love and consent and tell it through the terms of an Apple License was astonishing. Maybe that is why one of Kohn’s favorite poets is John Ashbery. “I love his rambling language, the way he is able to mix conversational and lyrics lines, and especially the way in which he tells you so much in his poems while also keeping some things private, secret to himself,” Kohn said. Then there was Professor Valerie San Filippo, who made the room belly-laugh when they learned that her fun fact was that while in college, she was in a band called “Bob Ross and the Happy Accidents” and their lyrics were all Bob Ross quotes. Her fictional story, “The Housekeeper,” was about how her living room was held up by a broomstick and a muddy woman lived underneath her house, trying to get the broomstick out. While the story at face seems like a creative and kooky sto-

ry, there are some deeper underlying meanings. “The muddy woman living under the house was inspired by two things. Last summer, I woke up in the middle of the night to a memory of my childhood home, where part of the floor was held up by a broom handle. Around that time, I was reading a lot of feminist theory about the invisible labor of women. That night something clicked in my mind: if there’s a broom holding up the house, a woman is holding that broom,” San Filippo said. Imagine Wednesdays are held biweekly and are between 1 and 2:20 p.m. in the Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library, room N3045 which is also known as the “fishbowl.” All students are welcome to come and listen, not just creative writing majors and minors. Destiny Kohlhepp, a freshman marine biology major said, “I come to this, A, because it is very enriching and also because I get extra credit from my teacher.” Sarah Bahatti, a senior math major, said, “Creative writing is what I’m passionate about.” Students who attend are given free pizza, cookies and soda while listening to some excellent writing. It is also an excellent chance for any student interested in the Creative Writing major and minor to get more information on declaring. On Wednesday’s when Creative Writing isn’t the topic of discussion, meetings for the film program are held.

Arts & Culture

The Statesman

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Art of Science: Selections from the collection at the Simon Center By Amaya McDonald Contributing Writer

On Oct. 24, the Simons Center Gallery opened “The Art of Science: Selections from the Collection,” a compilation of pieces curated by Lorraine Walsh that highlight the relationship between science and art. The collection of photographs, portraits, etches and textiles were pieces visualized by a group of 16 mathematicians, physicists and artists that made it their goal to show that science and art “share a great curiosity to see the world in new ways.” The 16 scientists and artists that contributed to the exhibition were Nikolay Bogoliubov, Insup Choi, Jean-François Dars, Eric J. Heller, Avi Ma’ayan, Gary Matthews, Dan Meyer, Ryan and Trevor Oakes, Anthony Phillips, Prithviraj “Raj” Rajebhosale, Elena Sanchez-Rodriguez, Xiwei Shan, Claudia Silva, Frédérique Swist and Jacqueline Thomas. Each piece in the collection, made by these collaborators from two seemingly incompatible fields, demonstrated that the desire to gain new perspectives and finding ways to share them with the world is universal and should not be limited to one area of study. Following the gallery opening and an opportunity for the guests to enjoy wine and cheese while discussing the art, Ethan Edwards — a

AMAYA MCDONALD / THE STATESMAN

“The Art of Science: Selections from the Collection,” in the Simons Center Gallery, was curated to highlight the relationship between science and art. researcher with the Experiments in Arts and Technology (E.A.T.) Program at Nokia Bell Labs — stood in as the guest speaker for the Head of Experiments at E.A.T., Domhnaill Hernon, and presented an interesting lecture: “On the Importance of Fusing Art and Science to Humanize Technology.” Although Hernon could not be in attendance, he took advantage of the technology that would later be both praised and criticized by Edwards. In a video presented by Ed-

wards, Hernon apologized for his absence and explained that the goal of E.A.T. is to find “ a way to better humanity” by fusing the disciplines of art and science. In his talk, Edwards made a point to engage his audience with interactive videos and audio clips to showcase “the current trends in technology and engineering, some things that might be wrong with those and some steps we may be able to take to better use these different disciplines to create the

innovations that humanity really needs right now.” Edwards acknowledged the great contrast between art and science, admitting that the two disciplines do not necessarily complement each other. While scientists are generally reductionists that use logical and linear thinking, artists are usually expansionists that favor non-linear and “illogical” thinking. Edwards then revealed that the differences between

these areas are exactly what requires them to feed off each other to produce innovations, which Edwards defines as “simple, basic adjustments in understanding” rather than the more complex and high-risk attempts taken by scientists and artists in order to create “the next big thing.” As explained by Edwards, “the important skills of the engineer and the important skills of the artists” are needed to allow members of both communities “to exist as translators between [the] two worlds … and to make sure that people aren’t just making things in one field and going in an entirely wrong direction for the things that we really need.” Edwards explained that rather than having “innovations,” what we really need in today’s society is new perspectives — “this fusion of being able to tackle the hard problems that are out there in nature, out there in science, but also be able to look at them with this askew, human, nonlinear perspective.” The marriage between art and science as influenced and beautifully displayed by the contributors in “The Art of Science” proves Edwards’s claim that the collaboration between artists, who are “master communicators,” and scientists, who are finding new ways to further develop technology everyday, is desperately needed to better humanity.

"Little Shop of Horrors" Off-Broadway is a hilarious must-see musical

By Alek Lewis Staff Writer

“Little Shop of Horrors” Off-Broadway does the impossible by somehow increasing the charm of the musical cult classic, thanks in part to its stars Jonathan Groff, Christian Borle and Tammy Blanchard. The production, which opened Oct. 17 at the Westside Theatre in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen, brings new energy to the 1982 cult classic horror-comedy musical. Director Michael Mayer, who won a Tony Award for his direction of “Spring Awakening” in 2006 reunites with Groff, Tony nominated for both “Hamilton” and “Spring Awakening”, to create a production filled with exceptional performances and production value. When a flower shop assistant, Seymour, played by Groff, finds a strange and mysterious plant during a total eclipse of the sun, it grabs the attention of everyone in the city, including his boss Mr. Mushnik, played by Stephen Berger in the performance I attended, and his co-worker/crush Audrey played by Blanchard. The plant, which Seymour names Audrey II, turns out to have certain appetite for human meat. The story follows Seymour through his struggles with love, greed and exploitation as he attempts to better his life with the discovery of the plant that ends up changing the world. The musical is based on the 1960 film “The Little Shop of Horrors,” written by Charles B. Griffith and directed by Roger Corman.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

The poster for the Off-Broadway show called "A Little Shop of Horrors," which opened on Oct. 17. The score, created by beloved Disney duo Howard Ashman (lyrics and book) and Alan Menken (music), is an energetic 1960’s pop-rock style mixed with musical theatre, doo-wop and Motown sound that makes the audience bop their heads during every number. Warning: all the music will be stuck in your head after the show.

Groff, who also stars in Netflix’s “Mindhunter,” leads the production with immaculate talent. His voice and acting are a perfect match for the meek and innocent Seymour, whose actions transform him throughout the show. His voice, beautiful and tender, is a highlight of most of the music in the show. His acting matches and

perhaps surpasses that of the 1986 musical film Seymour, Rick Moranis, whose performance helped mold the film into the cult classic it is today. Blanchard, who portrayed a young Judy Garland in the film “Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows,” portrays Audrey, who’s abused and broken by her boyfriend Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. played by Borle and dreams of a quiet life with Seymour. Blanchard sings in a broken voice that fits well into the emotions of her broken character. Audrey’s standout performances in her solo “Somewhere That’s Green” and her duet with Seymour in “Suddenly Seymour” are soulful and beautiful. Blanchard’s performance creates a strong empathy for Audrey throughout the show. Her chemistry with Groff escalates the relationship of the characters. Borle, a two time Tony winner for “Something Rotten” and “Peter and the Starcatcher,” plays Scrivello, the sadistic dentist and abusive, laughing gas addicted boyfriend of Audrey. His voice lends well to his character’s signature song “Dentist,” originally sung in the 1986 musical film by Steve Martin, who portrayed Scrivello. Borle’s comedic timing is impeccable in this production, as it is in all the productions he is in. Scrivello’s bad boy attitude and style are both hilarious and disturbing; Borle is presented with the challenge of delivering some very heavy material as Audrey’s abuser while also keeping the audience in good spirits. Borle also portrays several smaller ensemble roles throughout

the show, which all have unique speech, movement and personalities throughout the show. The bellowing voice of Audrey II is portrayed by Kingsley Leggs, who shakes the small theater with his haunting bass vocals. Audrey II acts as the devil on Seymour’s shoulder; there’s a certain seduction in Leggs’s voice that commands Seymour throughout the show. Eric Wright and Teddy Yudain, bring Nicholas Mahon’s Audrey II puppets to life. In combination with Leggs, the character is given life; without all three of them working perfectly together, Audrey II would not have been as brilliant as it is in this production. Berger fits the mold of the cynical flower shop owner Mr. Mushnik perfectly, bringing a voice and acting ability that fits in naturally as an understudy. Mr. Mushnik is usually played in this production by Tom Alan Robbins. Julian Crouch’s set transforms the intimate theater to the immersive dirty slums of urban Skid-Row, while the lighting by Bradley King creates eerie horror vibes or triumphant spectacle depending on the mood of the show, utilizing green and red lighting. The band gives a great musical performance, but can sometimes drown out some of the performers throughout the show. “Little Shop of Horrors” at the Westside Theatre is a delightfully entertaining show with memorable performers in an intimate, immersive space. To lovers of musicals, freaky cult films and to those looking for a great night at the theatre, this “Little Shop of Horrors” production is bound to entertain.

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The Student Health Service Center. Students who are enrolled in the Student Health Insurance Plan can receive a discount deductible rate there.

Breaking down SBU's student health plan By Matina Douzenis Contributing Writer

When you have something handed to you in life, you tend to take it for granted. As a young child, your parents dedicated their lives to assuming responsibility for anything and everything related to your health. This includes, but was not limited to, scheduling annual well checks, dental cleanings and — most importantly — paying for any outstanding balances. Fast forward 18 years later: the time has come for you to be autonomous and attend Stony Brook University. Prior to classes commencing, you log into SOLAR to review all of your expenses that are due. You realize a fee of $1,542 for student health insurance is tacked onto the long slew of other fees in your total tuition. An amount of $2,134.46 will also be charged to your spring semester statement. In total, the student health plan’s rate fails to account for the additional costs that accumulate from deductibles and copays. To break these large values into more digestible amounts, the Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) is charging students $306.37 per month. This is the same amount I personally allocate for my groceries on a monthly basis. The average insurance premium through the health care marketplace is astronomically higher than the discounted rate the university provides. Still, $3,676.46 for each calendar year is a hefty price tag for any student generating little to no income. According to Stony Brook’s Student Health Service page, the United Healthcare Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plan consists of a $200 deductible. This amount reflects how much you need to pay in a policy period before the insurance covers your medical expenses. For each appointment with a specialist or a primary care physician, a fixed amount of $35 — coined as a copay

— would be your responsibility the day of the service. A $15 copay to any in- or out-patient mental health provider and a $100 copay for any visits to the emergency room are also part of the plan’s provisions. No mention of pharmacy benefits is explained; however, a separate deductible for prescriptions is commonly included in other health care plans. If students go to the Student Health Service Center on campus, they get a discount deductible rate. However, if a student seeks treatment from an out-of-network provider, higher fees and balances are likely to result. While I cannot personally attest to Stony Brook’s services at their health center, students have expressed valid concerns via Google reviews. “The campus infirmary is closed on weekends, when most people need it. That’s pretty ridiculous. They also close very early even on weekdays,” one review says. As the season of sniffles and coughs is upon us, it is quite essential that access to medical attention is readily available. More importantly, for those with chronic diseases. Most — if not all — of us are so engrossed in our studies during the week, that we only truly have time to tend to anything outside of that realm on the weekends. This implication should not weigh on our health and pockets. A glimmer of hope does exist, however. Students have the option to waive their health insurance fee. If you are someone that falls under the category of enduring financial hardship, you may qualify for government subsidized insurance plans, known as Medicaid. Stony Brook will consider those plans originating in New York and have comparable coverage; they will then deduct the cost of the student health fee as long as you can access a health professional within 25 miles of the university. You can also waive the fee if you claim and prove you fall under your parent’s health insurance. Punctuality counts too, as

you must fill out the waiver on time each year. At 26, I waved goodbye to my parents no deductible, $0 copay health plan. After two years of living life on the edge and being uninsured, I began my own quest of finding a plan that suited my health needs. Signing up for the most inexpensive plan with the most comprehensive coverage was the goal. I never knew that these two factors did not exactly coexist. I decided to join the catastrophic plan through Oscar costing me $170 each month. This specific plan is designed for those under the age of 30. It is suited for extreme circumstances, preventing copious amounts of money to accrue in medical bills. A simple physical, OB-GYN preventative screening, as well as any lab work that may be performed during the encounters are all covered. Anything beyond that is subject to a whopping $10,000 deductible. As a healthy, young woman, this premium makes sense, or so I thought. Stony Brook did not deem this health plan to be adequate enough to waive my student health insurance and therefore denied my request. This leaves students like me with no other option, but to cough up the cash. Although the introduction of the Affordable Care Act significantly lowered the amount of people between the ages of 18-23 who don’t have health care, this demographic continues to remain the largest population without insurance — just under 20% to be exact. It is no coincidence that this age group falls in the realm of those attending college. With costs rising and education of what insurance consists of dwindling, a solution and a call to action are pertinent. The jargon and complexities within the world of insurance create a space for misconception to run haywire. We must not only be our own best advocates by remaining informed, but also cognizant of what our health is truly worth.

Corrections

Diversity Issue

The author for the article “Getting festive with edible Sukkah making at Stony Brook” in the Volume LXIII, Issue 8 should have been Justin Mitselmakher. The author for the article “The census omits Middle Eastern and North African identities” in the same issue should have been Shakeb Zia.

Opinions

The Statesman

Monday, October 28, 2019

Working while attending college full time improves time management

It must be stated, however, that students should know how to balance school and work in a healthy way.

By Fanni Frankl Contributing Writer

In U.S. colleges, where 41.6% of students experience anxiety and 36.4% experience depression, the question of whether working while attending college full time is a choice that takes careful consideration. Working can increase the stress already present among students, making it even more difficult to balance work and personal life. However, working while in college proves to be an asset for students by giving them the experience necessary to find future jobs, along with teaching time management and potentially decreasing the amount of loans that students take out to pay for college. A study by Georgetown University found that working less than 15-20 hours a week can prove to be beneficial to students by increasing good habits and raising academic performance. However, anything over 15-20 hours a week can prove to be harmful to a student’s academic performance and aspirations. Working allows students to practice time management and perfect it, which can also lead to better habits for schoolwork too. Thus, those with better time management have a higher chance of earning better grades in school. Working while in college also increases the chances of future employment. According to NACE’s

“ . . . there is a study that shows working between 10-19 hours a week will increase a student’s grade point average (GPA).” MAYA BROWN/THE STATESMAN

Students at the Business, Healthcare and Human Services Job Fair. A study by Georgetown University says working less than 15-20 hours a week can benefit students. Job Outlook 2017 survey, almost 91% of employers prefer that their candidates have work experience, and only 5% stated that work experience is not a factor when hiring new graduates. Although working may cause increased stress from balancing it with school, it may decrease since these students have a higher chance of finding a job after college. Additionally, since the money earned

during college years can be saved up, the added pressure of having to pay off loans can be quelled. Students who are in debt from colleges are now closer to paying it off thanks to the work that they did during their college years. This would, therefore, decrease another factor of stress that is common among many students today. For those who work while in college, there is a study that shows

working between 10-19 hours a week will increase a student’s grade point average (GPA). As working students get more accustomed to managing their time, they feel less overwhelmed and more adept at keeping stress under control. Without practicing time management, knowing how to break up work into more sizable pieces would likely be more challenging.

In the study conducted by Pennsylvania State University, working 30-40 hours a week has an adverse effect on a student’s GPA. So, in order to keep stress under control, keeping the amount a student works between the intervals of 10-30 hours seems to be the healthiest option for preventing burnout. Working while in school may seem overwhelming at first, the benefits provided from doing it lessens stress in the long run.

Violent video games aren't always connected to mass shootings in the U.S. By Matthew Yan Staff Writer

Whenever the topic of gun control gets brought up on television or in Congress, there are always two scapegoats the National Rifle Association (NRA) tend to present: mental health and video games. President Donald Trump has been accusing video games of “creating monsters” since 2012. Since August 2019, he also claims the production of “gruesome and grisly video games” should be stopped following the consecutive mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas. This is in spite of the fact that the American Psychiatric Association found no correlation between video games and criminal violence. So why are violent video games a constant talking point in the war for gun control? On April 20, 1999, two 18-yearold high school students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot and killed 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School in Colorado before killing themselves. Terrified parents began to speculate and spread rumors about what convinced these two suburban boys to commit mass murder. Some said they were bullied. Others whispered that they were part of a “trenchcoat mafia,” who were — despite their ominous name — merely a group of video game and Dungeons & Dragons enthusiasts. One rumor that was true, however, was that both boys played the video game “Doom,” a first-person shooter game where the player blasts a gory swathe through the demons of hell with a variety of firearms and laser cannons.

In a desperate effort to make some sense of the tragedy, parents immediately demonized video games and demanded research on how it affects the psychology of teenagers. Villanova University psychology professor Patrick Markey, Ph.D. calls this phenomenon “moral panic” in his book, “Moral Combat: Why the War on Violent Video Games is Wrong.” Prior to the Columbine shooting, mass shootings were not uncommon in the U.S., but were rarely blamed on societal factors compared to individual circumstances. According to Markey, the number of studies into the psychological effects of violent video games increased by 300% four years after the Columbine shooting. Psychological studies since then have been decidedly split on the actual effects of violent video games and people’s mental state. Some studies found a strong correlation between increased aggression and playing violent video games, while others say there is no correlation. However, no longitudinal study has ever found a direct correlation between habitual video game usage and criminal violence like mass shootings. One of the most oft-cited arguments against video games is the psychological notion of “priming,” where being repeatedly exposed to the same images or actions desensitizes the viewer to them and makes them more likely to commit those actions. Proponents argue that exposing children and teens to aggression, violence and weapons will weaken inhibitions and compunctions against committing those same acts when placed in a similar situation. They point to cases like a news report in

2009 from Infopackets where a sixyear-old boy decided to use his parents’ car to drive to school and cited “Grand Theft Auto” as the reason he was able to successfully drive six miles before crashing into a utility pole. More recently, people gawk at and make memes of videos of infuriated players destroying their PCs and TVs after a bad game of “Fortnite” or “League of Legends,” two of the largest eSports games in the world. When people try to set world records for the greatest number of kills, preen about their kill-death ratios online and disparage those lesser than them, it’s easy to buy into the idea that violent video games make their players predisposed to violence. But the argument falls apart when the number of gun deaths is actually compared to the number of gamers. According to the

Entertainment Software Association, a trade association that represents American video game developers, over 164 million Americans play video games in 2019. Statistics from 2018 show that the European Union (EU) has over 300 million gamers. But there have been over 40,000 reported gun-related deaths in the U.S in 2019, compared to nearly 6,100 reported deaths in the EU. Even with a total population of roughly 1.6 times that of the U.S., the EU has less than a fifth of the gun-related deaths, including suicides and gun accidents but excluding deaths during war. The World Population Review also states that the U.S. is among the top six nations with mass shootings and gun violence.

Although many of these countries possess gun cultures of their own, the act of getting a license to buy and own firearms takes far longer in many countries outside of the U.S. Some of these countries also maintain a digital database to track the movement of guns from buyer to seller, which the NRA has lobbied to make illegal in the U.S. Even the excuse of mental health fails to hold ground as the American Public Health Association published a report that said only 3-5% of violent crimes in the U.S. are performed by the mentally ill. There’s no reason to continue this nonsensical back-and-forth about the root cause of gun violence in the United States. Tighter gun restrictions will lead to fewer deaths from gun violence annually.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

A person holding a PS4 controller for PlayStation. President Donald J. Trump has blamed violent video games as a motive for mass shootings in the U.S.

Opinions

The Statesman

Monday, October 28, 2019

Another letter from Santiago: A cataclysmic week in Chile By Eric Zolov

Contributing Writer

When Chile erupted into civil unrest after the government increased rates for public transportation, Stony Brook associate history professor Eric Zolov — who is teaching at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile on a Fulbright Scholarship — found himself in the middle of political turmoil. “Ta-ta, ta, ta, ta.” That’s the beat of protest, heard at random on the streets. It grows louder as one approaches the center, and reverberates off apartment buildings in the evenings following the start of curfew. A simple banging of a spoon on a pot, the symbol of a peaceful protest. On Tuesday, Oct. 22, President Sebastián Piñera offered a remarkable mea culpa and announced a series of pretty significant reforms on pensions, guaranteed minimum salary, taxes on wealthy, etc. Not one of these proposals echoed in the streets. But there are no interlocutors between the political class, including the left, and the protesters. Instead, the demands — located in the signs and graffiti — remain profound: the president should resign, the country should hold a new constitutional convention, and the military should return to the barracks. But there are no leaders. The movement has no organizational structure, so there’s no one to negotiate with. Although the protesters include whole families and the elderly, it is the young, especially, who feel empowered. The streets are clearly theirs.

Then on Sat., Oct. 26, Chile experienced the largest mass demonstration ever in its history. According to official government figures, 1.2 million people flooded the main boulevards of downtown Santiago, though unofficially the numbers were likely closer to 1.5 million. Police and military guarded key government buildings, such as La Moneda (the presidential headquarters), but otherwise stood clear. There were simply too many people. Any intervention would have provoked a massacre.

“Although the protesters include whole families and the elderly, it is the young especially, who feel empowered.” Following Saturday’s demonstration, Piñera stated that “all of us have heard the message. Everyone has changed.” In a dramatic political move, he announced that his entire cabinet would resign. He also announced

ERIC ZOLOV / THE STATESMAN

A sign in Santiago that translates to “It’s not over 30 pesos but for 30 years.” The line is from a rap song by artist Ana Tijoux, a daughter of Chilean exiles. the end of curfew and plans to lift the state of emergency. There are signs, at least here in Santiago, of the military retreating to the barracks. They no longer guard our local metro station and their absence has brought a semblance of normalcy, at least to our neighborhood. School for our children is scheduled to resume on Oct. 28, but the

principal announced there will be a half-day of classes throughout the week. Everyone is still watching and waiting to see what comes next. Already the walls of Santiago are being scrubbed and painted over. Yet a fresh coat of paint will not erase the significance of this past week not only for Chile but for the region as a whole. If

this country, a paragon of democratic, capitalist modernity, could erupt so unexpectedly, what does this suggest about the costs and benefits of the neo-liberal model more generally? As the slogan painted on the walls invokes, “It’s not about 30 pesos” — an allusion to the increase in subway fare that sparked the revolt — “but about 30 years.”

The Statesman

Monday, October 28, 2019

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SPORTS

Football upsets No. 5 Villanova on 22-yard kick as time expires By Andrew Zucker Assistant Sports Editor

After a pair of losses at home and coming off the bye-week, the Stony Brook football team looked to take down a top-five nationally ranked team. The final, 36-35, does not truly reflect what occurred during the game. It was a tale of two different football teams in two different halves. The Seawolves traveled to Villanova Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 26 to take on the Villanova Wildcats, in search of a much needed victory. A statement win to jump start the second half of their season. They did just that. A 22-yard field goal by redshirt-senior kicker Nick Courtney sealed the victory for the Seawolves (5-3, 2-2), a moment he will not soon forget. “I ran out there, I knew it was going through. I was so confident, I was so proud of everybody for not giving up,” Courtney said in a video released by the team. “When I got down there I was so confident. Right off my foot I knew that was going through. It’s such an incredible feeling man, I’m so happy.” Throughout the first half, the Wildcats played like a top-five ranked team. By the time the game went to halftime, Stony Brook found themselves down 28-10. They had allowed the Wildcats to rush for 108 yards, and pass for another 251 yards. The Seawolves looked out-matched and flat out sloppy. They desperately needed a break. Villanova converted five of their seven third down attempts, more than one of which required the Wildcats to get at least seven yards. As the defense struggled to contain the Wildcats, the offense did not fare much better. The Seawolves reeled off a few plays of 15-plus yards, including a 15-yard touchdown run by redshirt-junior quarterback Tyquell Fields to put them up 7-0 with 10:15 to go in the first. A 27-yard field goal by Courtney in the second quarter gave the Seawolves their other three points of the half.

An ill-advised throw by Fields with less than 15 seconds remaining in the second quarter led to an interception on a drive the Seawolves desperately needed points on. Having won the coin toss at the start of the game and deferring, the Wildcats were set to receive the ball

Gregory Young II picked off junior quarterback Daniel Smith, and returned the ball to the Wildcat 34yard line. After four plays and 24 yards, redshirt-freshman running back Ty Son Lawton scored on a 10yard run to cut the Wildcats lead to 28-20 with 9:48 remaining.

endzone was called a touchback. The Wildcats proceeded to brush off their special teams miscues and went up by 15 with 9:14 remaining, after a twoyard rushing touchdown by freshman running back DeeWil Barlee. Facing a fourth and nine on the Villanova 32-yard line, the Seawolves

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Redshirt-junior quarterback Tyquell Fields during a game against Fordham. On Saturday at Villanova, Fields put Stony Brook up 7-0 with 10:15 in the first quarter. to open the second half. On the ensuing kickoff, Villanova junior wide receiver Josh McGrigg fumbled the ball, which Stony Brook recovered. Initially, the play was ruled down by contact only to be reversed, and the Seawolves gained possession of the ball on the Wildcats 24-yard line. Stony Brook was forced to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Courtney, his second on the day, missing an opportunity to cut away at the large Villanova lead, which was now 28-13 with 13:39 remaining in the third. The third quarter was an all out defensive battle, evident by Stony Brook settling for a field goal after starting in excellent field position. Both teams combined for only 148 yards throughout the quarter. On the ensuing Villanova drive, redshirt-freshman defensive back

Stony Brook defense forced Villanova to try a 44-yard field goal on the following drive, only for it to go wide right. A couple of drives later, the Wildcats muffed their second punt of the night, only for the refs to, once again, rule in their favor. On the same drive, failed attempts on third and fourth down to get five yards and gain a first led to a turnover on downs and the Seawolves starting with the ball on their own 33-yard line. At the end of the third, Villanova led 28-20, with the Seawolves keeping the Wildcats off the board and going on their own 10-0 run. After flirting with Lady Luck throughout the third quarter, it appeared she had left the Seawolves behind after another muffed punt by Villanova that went out of the

went for the conversion. A few plays later, Fields found freshman wide receiver Shawn Harris Jr. for a 10-yard touchdown pass. It was Harris’s first collegiate touchdown and Fields’s tenth TD pass of the season. With Lady Luck back on the Seawolves’s side, they were able to quickly force a Wildcats punt from their own 31-yard line, which redshirt-sophomore running back Seba Nekhet fair caught on the Stony Brook 25-yard line. Down eight, 2:42 left in the game and the ball on their own 25 with two timeouts remaining, the Seawolves had plenty of time to drive down the field and tie the game. And that’s what they did. Almost. After a 47-yard run by Lawton, the Seawolves hurried to the line and Lawton proceeded to rip off a

three-yard run for a touchdown. After review, Lawton was ruled down six inches from the line, and on the following plays, Fields ran it in for his second rushing touchdown of the day. 35-33 Villanova with 1:32 remaining. Stony Brook would be forced to attempt a two-point conversion. Fields threw a pass directly at the chest of a cutting redshirt-senior wide receiver Andrew Trent, only for the ball to slip through and fall to the ground incomplete. Following a failed onside kick attempt by the Seawolves, the Wildcats started the drive with the ball on their own 45-yard line. Following sacks by redshirt-junior linebacker Elijah Duff and redshirt-sophomore defensive back Jabari Reddock and Villanova facing a long third and 32, Stony Brook called a timeout with 1:15 remaining. After a two-yard run by Barlee, the Wildcats let the game clock trickle down to 0:28 remaining before calling a timeout of their own. On the punt, Nekhet stood in the backfield to catch the punt, in place of the mysteriously absent graduate transfer wide receiver Jean Constant. Fields then reeled off a 19-yard pass to Trent, followed by spiking the ball, and then a signature deep pass to redshirt-senior wide receiver Nick Anderson for 40-yards and then another ball spike with 0:04 remaining. “At the end of the day, we fought to the last second,” Stony Brook head coach Chuck Priore said in a video released by Stony Brook Athletics. Courtney proceeded to hit the 22-yard field goal, for his third made field goal of the game, while setting a career high in made field goals in a game. Aside from Courtney, Fields also set two career highs during the game, passing for a career high 320 yards after completing a career high 21 of 37 passes, including a touchdown and an interception. Following the upset victory, the Seawolves will head to Richmond, Virginia to face the Spiders next Saturday, Nov. 2. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m.

Frankie Policelli, Dayton transfer, ruled ineligible for 2019-20 season By Ethan Tam

Assistant Sports Editor

After months of being held in limbo, the NCAA has officially made a ruling on sophomore forward Frankie Policelli’s waiver, denying the request and forcing the Dayton transfer to sit out the 2019-20 men’s basketball season. NCAA transfer regulations require a player to sit out one year when transferring from one fouryear college to another. Waivers can be filed by the school on the player’s behalf that, if approved by

the NCAA, would allow the transfer to be eligible immediately due to extenuating circumstances. Policelli’s move to Stony Brook would allow him to be closer to his family in the midst of a medical issue. “To say that we are disappointed that Frankie’s waiver request was denied would be an understatement,” Stony Brook Director of Athletics Shawn Heilbron said in an issued statement. “I’m frustrated because our contention was that the totality of circumstances regarding his transfer to Stony Brook should have allowed him to compete right away.

Frankie is a tremendous young man who is an important part of our Stony Brook family. Although I strongly disagree with the decision, we will move forward and support him in every way possible.” Policelli, a native of New Hartford, New York, was a three-star recruit coming out of Long Island Lutheran (LuHi) and committed to the Dayton Flyers in April 2018. Although Dayton head coach Anthony Grant initially announced his intent to have Policelli redshirt his freshman season, he made his collegiate debut after junior guard Jhery

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Matos suffered a season-ending left foot injury. Policelli did not receive much playing time in his freshman year, averaging 4.8 minutes per game as a bench piece. On April 10, 2019, Policelli announced that he would be transferring from Dayton after one season. Less than a month later, Policelli committed to Stony Brook, a team that had heavily recruited him coming out of high school and showed renewed interest as he searched for his new destination. “Stony Brook had always wanted him,” his father, Frank Policelli, said.

“They had talked to him since he was a junior in high school. He visited the school and liked the school and that’s where he decided to go.” Unsure of his status for the upcoming season, Policelli traveled with the team to Europe over the summer and was allowed to play, scoring 12 points in Stony Brook’s 78-49 victory against Cergy-Pontoise on Aug. 19. The Seawolves have less than two weeks to adjust their game plan as they open the season at Island Federal Arena on Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. versus the Yale Bulldogs.