The Fordham Ram Volume 101, Issue 13
Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 FordhamRam.com
September 18, 2019
Alumni Purchase Waterfront Property
Rankings Reveal Mixed Success
By ELIOT SCHIAPARELLI
By ERICA SCALISE
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
PROJECTS EDITOR
Fordham’s rowing and sailing teams could get waterfront property to use for a new boathouse and practice space from an anonymous group of alumni. The group has purchased a 1.25 acre property located at 3341 Country Club Rd. in the Bronx with the intent of donating it to the university. According to PropertyShark, the land sold for $1.5 million. The stretch of land was previously a private membership beach club. According to The BronxTimes Reporter, it used to have a pier that was damaged in 2012 during Hurricane Sandy, and shut down because the club did not have proper insurance coverage to repair the property. The group of alumni looking into purchasing the land would restore the club’s facilities. Ted Bonanno, the head men’s and women’s rowing coach, said he hopes his team can start to use the new facilities in the fall of 2020. “We are in the process of getting the necessary permits to rebuild a pier and put docks in the water so we will have access to the bay,” said Bonanno. “This process will take about six months and then we can begin new construction. It is anticipated we will be able to use this new location next fall.” According to News 12 The Bronx, Community Board 10 brought up the topic at one of their meetings. All members were in favor of the facilitiy's construction once a discussion involving parking was settled when a representative of Fordham assured those with concerns that students would be transported to the facility by Ram Van. Gabriella Guglielmi, FCRH ’21, a member of the women’s
(A.D. 330–1453). She said it is an alternate view of the religious figures and icons which were common in Byzantine art, as tall bodies with stark visages often engaged in prayer or preaching were the most common features of this
After a series of rankings by Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education and Forbes showed mixed success for Fordham, Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, said the school’s rankings are not where the university wants to be. “The effort is complicated by the fact that the rankings don’t all use the same criteria, and some of those criteria are in opposition (for example, selectivity and social mobility),” said McShane. For the second year in a row, Fordham rose 36 points in the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education rankings, ranking 176 in 800 of the 870 institutions that were nationally ranked, but moved downward from 70 to 74 in the U.S. News & World Report (U.S. News). In Forbes Top Colleges, Fordham rose seven in the ranks, ris-
SEE EXHIBIT, PAGE 6
SEE RANKINGS, PAGE 5
SEE WATERFRONT, PAGE 3
in this issue
Opinion
Page 7
CSA Brings Changes to Commuter Culture
Sports
Page 24
Football Wins First Game of 2019
Culture
Page 13
White Claw Shortage
ALEXANDER WOLZ/THE FORDHAM RAM
Fordham University opened Joni Zavitsanos’s collection of modern art in the Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman
University Welcomes Joni Zavitsanos Exhibit in Walsh By JOSEPH GERNGROSS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Sept. 12, Fordham University opened, “Distant Relatives: Ancient Imagery of the Classical Pagan Past and the Modern Byzantine Icons of Joni Zavitsanos,” in its Museum of Greek, Etruscan
and Roman Art in Walsh Library. Zavitsanos recently received the 2019 Nicholas J. Bouras Award for Extraordinary Archon Stewardship. According to Zavitsanos, this collection of modern works was inspired by the early Christian iconography of Byzantine Empire
Dems Discuss Third Debate By HELEN STEVENSON NEWS EDITOR
On Thursday, Sept. 12, ABC News in partnership with Univision hosted the third Democratic primary debate at Texas Southern University. Viewers numbered close to 14 million, according to ABC, and among that count were students attending Fordham’s College Democrats watch party in Dealy Hall. According to College Democrats President Michael Fissinger, FCRH ’21, about 50 people attended the watch party. “Members came and went, but there was always a group watching during every portion of the debate,” he said. Fissinger said he thinks people were pleased with how the debate turned out. “We haven't had a meeting since the debate to discuss everything that happened, so it's hard to gather a consensus, but I think in general everyone was pleased with how the debate turned out,” he said. Samantha Hardy, FCRH ’21, SEE DEBATE, PAGE 6
CLAYTON WALTERS/THE FORDHAM RAM
Cuchifrito's, near the Fordham Rd. subway station, has served Puerto Rican food to the Bronx for generations .
Cuchifritos Brings Authenticity and Community to the Bronx By CLAYTON WALTERS
ASSISTANT BUSINESS DIRECTOR
The owner of Cuchifritos, Jose Coto Sr., first came to the United States with his family from Cuba in the early ’60s. His family first opened the Puerto Rican restaurant Cuchifritos on Lexington and 103rd street in
East Harlem. “My family is from Cuba, and we’re working people that came to New York looking for a better way of life,” Coto Sr. said. “They introduced me to the restaurant business with Cuchifritos and the new generation continues in the business.”
Coto Sr. created the current restaurant in 1983 in the Bronx, a block away from the Fordham subway station, due to the high demand for authentic hispanic cuisine. “Cuchifritos serves Puerto Rican food,” Coto Sr. said. “When SEE CUCHIFRITOS, PAGE 3