Volume LXIII, Issue 13
sbstatesman.com
Monday, November 25, 2019
Former swim coach sues SBU for discrimination By Brianne Ledda News Editor
“It’s already enough that one organization, who has already put a lot of effort and time into identifying areas, says this area is important — we should probably listen,” Gownaris said, who is also an assistant professor of marine ecology at Gettysburg College. “But especially when you have a consensus among several different organizations, many of which have very different purposes and scope. If they’re agreeing on an area, then we should really pay attention.”
Former Stony Brook University Swimming and Diving Head Coach Janelle Atkinson is suing Stony Brook University for gender and race discrimination. In a lawsuit filed on Nov. 19, Atkinson claims she did not receive the “same institutional support as male coaches of men’s teams,” and that she was “micromanaged” in a way that “male and/or white coaches and coaches of men’s teams are not.” Atkinson — an Olympic swimmer from Jamaica who also coached swim teams at Fairfield University and the University of Connecticut — was allegedly fired from Stony Brook last year shortly after she was publicly accused of mentally abusing swimmers on the team. Atkinson’s position at Stony Brook was terminated in January 2018, less than a year after she was hired. The number of swimmers on the team dropped from 13 that fall semester to six by the time she left. Former swim captain and alumna, Tess Stepakoff, published an op-ed in The Statesman last year detailing what she describes as mental abuse at the hands of Atkinson. “We were told that we were weak, that we were not enough and we were not trying,” wrote Stepakoff, who was a Managing Editor for The Statesman at the time. “We were cursed at and screamed at during every practice for months. As our physical and mental health declined, we were told to get over it. If we had to miss practice for injuries or illnesses, our spots on the team were threatened.” Another former swimmer on Atkinson’s team, Arianna Rodriguez, spoke out in an article on the popular swimming site SwimSwam.com. She claimed that illnesses and physical injuries were ignored, and that Atkinson regularly told team members that they were not good enough and threatened to take away their scholarships and spots on the team. Stepakoff declined to comment and Rodriguez could not immediately be reached for comment. Atkinson’s lawsuit denies all allegations of abuse made against her.
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EMMA HARRIS / THE STATESMAN
Senior defensive back Gavin Heslop and junior defensive back TJ Morrison hugging after playing their last game together. The Seawolves lost (31-26) against the University at Albany Great Danes on Saturday, Nov. 23.
SBU to form a 2020 Census Complete Count Committee By Cindy Mizaku
Assistant Opinions Editor
As the 2020 census approaches on April 1, Stony Brook University is forming a 2020 Census Complete Count Committee. With Nassau and Suffolk being the hardest-to-count counties in New York State, Stony Brook University was invited to take part in Nassau and Suffolk County Complete Count Committees that aim to safeguard an accurate count for the Long Island region. Lawmakers utilize census data to determine which regions need fed-
eral funding for schools, health care, housing and infrastructure, among other things. These numbers, which provide community demographics, are also used by businesses as they plan to introduce products in different locations. Community Relations Director, Joan Dickinson, who is a leading organizer of the 12-person committee, is seeking students, faculty and staff from the Stony Brook community interested in the plan to inform Stony Brook students and faculty about the impacts of census information and encourage participation.
“I would like to see are people from different areas of the campus who are willing to go back to their respective departments and areas and share information [about the 2020 Census],” Dickinson said. “Make sure people understand what’s at stake. Without an accurate count, we’re losing funding. We’re losing money.” A committee member’s role would be to reach out to students and faculty, explaining why completing the census is important and why it’s important for the future of the community. In the 2010 census, Dickinson said New York State lost two seats
in Congress “because the numbers didn’t correlate to having as many as we had. So it’s really important for our representation in Albany and in Washington that we get as complete count as possible.” Aside from allocating funds within communities, the size of a state’s congressional delegation determines the size of its representation in the U.S. Electoral College. New York’s congressional representation could drop from 27 to 25 seats if the population is undercounted even by 0.6%.
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Map study reveals where to place marine protected areas
By Erika Peters Contributing Writer
A study published last month and conducted by a team including researchers from Stony Brook University has revealed that a large portion of the world’s most important marine areas remain unprotected. The team included Ellen Pikitch, Endowed Professor of Ocean Conservation Science at the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS); Christine Santora, SoMAS Assistant Director for Policy and Outreach; and Natasha Gownaris, a Ph.D. graduate from Stony Brook.
The study, published in Frontiers in Marine Science on Oct. 25, is the first of its kind, compiling and examining 10 diverse and internationally recognized maps that outline marine priority areas across the globe. While there are many initiatives to map globally important marine areas by the United Nations (U.N.) and other non-governmental organizations, the team was the first to overlay this wide range of mapping initiatives. “We wanted to see how much these maps agree on specific areas, and what the level of consensus was on certain areas,” Santora said. “And in addition,
we wanted not just to look at the areas of the highest importance, but we wanted to see, are these really important areas protected, or not?” The criteria used for different maps vary by initiative. For example, some may identify areas because of their high biodiversity, while others may be based on threatened or vulnerable species, or relatively natural state. This results in differences in areas that are identified as important. But by overlaying the maps, the team was able to measure agreement on areas that are significant and conduct analyses of gaps at the global scale.
News
Arts & Culture
The committee aims to gather an accurate count.
The app needs fixing. It's not as good as Netflix.
SBU joins 2020 census committee.
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Opinions
Sports
Schools need to embrace fair and mutual discourse.
Seawolves fall to Albany in four sets to deny three-peat.
Disney Plus app needs a lot of work.
Universities are echo chambers.
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Volleyball ends season in A.E. Semis. MORE ON PAGE 12