Volume 101 Issue 13

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

NEWS

Page 2

PUBLIC SAFETY BRIEFS

September 18, 2019

Brigaid Brings Healthy Meals to Bronx Kids “Fuel Our Kids” Serves Kids this Summer

By SARAH HUFFMAN

Sept. 11 Tierney Hall 4:00 p.m.

A student tried to hang a hammock between two trees behind Tierney hall. A passing student observed them using a knife to cut rope. It is a violation to have a knife on campus. Public Safety responded and the student cooperated with them.

Sept. 11 McGinley Center 7:16 p.m.

The fire alarm in McGinley Center went off. Aramark Employees stated there was a ventilation problem in the kitchen.

Sept. 12 McGinley Center 2:30 p.m.

The odor of gas in the fitness center was reported to Public Safety. Public Safety and Facilities responded. Utilizing a gas meter, they deemed the area safe.

Sept. 12 John Mulcahy Hall 5:37 p.m.

A custodian was trapped in a stuck elevator on the fifth floor of JMH. An elevator mechanic responded.

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Brigaid has been serving free meals to children in the Bronx since the fall of 2018, but this summer the company took the project on the road with the acquisition of a food truck.

According to the Brigaid website, founder Dan Guisti formed the company to challenge traditional school lunches by putting professional chefs into public schools to cook real, wholesome food from scratch.

He started the program in New London, Conn. before expanding to New York City public schools, the nation’s largest public school district. He declined to comment about the program.

Brigaid is currently working with the Department of Education’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services to provide three meals a day in two Bronx schools, Morris Academy and PS 218, according to PIX 11.

April Kindt, Brigaid’s regional chef overseeing New York City, said the company was originally hired as a consultant for the initiative called the scratch cooking program.

Its goal is to bring meals made from scratch to public schools in

COURTESY OF FLICKR

NYC’s Public School system has implemented a scratch cooking program to bring healthier lunch options to students.

the Bronx.

Kindt said she has been in the city for about a year and a half, helping to plan and execute this

Sept. 15 McGinley Center 6:00 p.m.

A member of the Fordham community reported she was in McGinley Center between 6:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. and lost a 35mm Nikon Camera. The incident is under investigation.

— Compiled by Sarah Huffman

Follow us on Twitter! @TheFordhamRam

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Brigaid acquired a food truck to hand out free, healthy meals at parks.

program at Morris Academy and PS 218. Brigaid assisted in hiring and training two chefs, setting up the kitchens for scratch cooking, developing menus, training the staff at both schools and converting both kitchens to scratch menus.

This summer, the program was transformed into a food truck that was outfitted to transport and serve hot meals to kids from the Bronx. The program was called "Fuel Our Kids."

Kindt said the two chefs from the elementary school programs spent the summer with her at several New York City Play Streets.

“It was great to travel to different locations throughout the city and meet students and parents from several boroughs, as well as the wonderful people who oversee the Play Streets and show up for these students every day so that they have somewhere safe to play during their summer break,” she said.

The chefs served food, collected feedback from students and had the opportunity to engage with the students.

“The communities we visited were so welcoming, and the feedback we collected this summer

was invaluable and helped us begin the school year with a strong menu of student tested and approved recipes,” said Kindt.

Kindt said the food truck served recipes that were created in collaboration with the New York City Office of Food and Nutrition Services menu management department.

Most of those recipes have transferred city-wide to the September school lunch menu.

“They were simple, delicious recipes, made mostly from scratch, that could be executed in almost any school kitchen in the city,” she said.

Kindt said these recipes support the Office of Food and Nutrition Services’ long term goal of increasing scratch made preparations on their city-wide menus. Brigaid will continue to collaborate with the New York City Department of Education on recipe development throughout the school year.

Brigaid's website said they hope to bring their food service program to more school districts around the country.

It said their ultimate goal is to help change"the landscape of school food nationwide."

This Week at Fordham Wednesday Sept. 18

Friday Sept. 20

Saturday Sept. 21

Sunday Sept. 22

Sunday Sept. 22

A Moment of Magic Disney Trivia Night

FET Blacksheep Poetry Show Blackbox Theater 8:00 p.m.–9:30 p.m.

FET Improv Comedy Show

Blackbox Theater 8:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.

Ampersand Trip Brooklyn Book Festival

Sunset Kayaking Tour

The event in honor of Pediatric Cancer Awareness Month this September costs $20 per 4-5 person team. The proceeds go toward A Moment of Magic’s programming for families with sick children. Prizes will go to the top three teams.

Join FET for their first performance poetry show of the semester. The one night only performance starts at 8:00 p.m. and the club is asking people to line up at 7:30. The show will be in Collins Hall’s Blackbox theater.

The first Stranded in Pittsburgh Improv comedy show of the semester will be held in the Blackbox theater of Collins Hall. The show starts at 8:00 p.m. so FET wants people to line up at 7:30. Join them for a night of laughs.

Fordham’s literary magazine, The Ampersand, is taking their annual trip to the 2019 Brooklyn Book Festival. MetroCards will be provided for the first few poeple to sign up. The free festival features books, food and authors.

The Outdoors Club is taking a kayaking trip on the Hudson River. They will meet guides at Hudson River Recreation, go over safety procedures and kayak while watching the sunset. The club will depart campus at 3:45 and be back around 9:45.

Dagger John’s 8:00 p.m.–9:30 p.m.

Brooklyn, NY 12:00 p.m.–4:00 p.m.

Sleepy Hollow, NY 3:45 p.m.–9:45 p.m.

NEWS

September 18, 2019

Page 3

Alumni Buy Property for Fordham Water Teams

Crew and Sailing May Recieve Waterfront Land FROM WATERFRONT, PAGE 1

rowing team, said her team would benefit greatly from the property.

“We haven’t discussed having our own boathouse in depth with the coaches, however the rumor has been spreading like wildfire among the women’s and men’s teams due to the press it has received,” said Guglielmi. “Hav-

ing a new waterfront would allow Fordham’s rowing program to expand and explore new avenues.”

The teams currently row at the Harlem Yacht club on City Island where much of their equipment is stored outdoors and on portable racks. Bonanno said the new space will provide indoor storage for the equipment.

JULIA COMERFORD/THE FORDHAM RAM

The new property would allow Fordham's rowing program to expand.

“We will also have ample space to store all our equipment, that has been stored both on and off campus,” said Bonanno “In addition, we will have indoor storage for our shells and oars that currently need to be secured outdoors and are subject to weather conditions.”

According to Bob Howe, Fordham’s assistant vice president for communications, the teams need better accommodations and the group of alumni purchasing the property came to Fordham with the offer.

“The teams have facilities needs for practice and competition, which we are trying to accommodate better,” said Howe.

Bonanno agreed that the new space would change the game for Fordham’s rowing team.

“The primary benefit of this new property is it will give us a permanent home and identity for our rowing and sailing programs,” said Bonanno. “Rowing has moved five times during my years as coach and I know sailing has also had to relocate in the past. This is a result of having short term agreements with the organizations that have leased us space within their facilities.”

Johnny Norfleet, head coach for the sailing team, said his team hopes the new facility will build floating docks to store

JULIA COMERFORD/THE FORDHAM RAM

The sailing team would be granted access to the waterfront property.

their boats during the season, granting them easy water access.

“We're very excited at the prospect of moving into a new waterfront facility. The property is a short trip from campus and sits on a prime location in Eastchester Bay that would serve as an excellent practice venue for the team,” said Norfleet.

According to Norfleet, this waterfront facility will hopefully rank amongst some of the best collegiate sailing facilities, and set the team appart apart in attracting talented athletes to the program.

"In short, it will be a huge boost to Fordham Sailing, offering both immediate and long-term benefits to our program," she said.

Cuchifritos Remains Bronx Staple for Generations FROM CUCHIFRITOS, PAGE 1

Puerto Ricans started coming to the Bronx, there was a demand for it, and that’s how my family started even though they aren’t from Puerto Rico.”

“Today, my typical customers are working people from all over,” he said. “Regular Puerto Rican families and now a lot of Dominicans, Spanish and Central Americans.

They come here because of the flavor of the food. It’s very affordable, and everyone feels comfortable when they walk in here.”

In Spanish, the word “Cuchifritos” translates to “fried pork” which is the staple of what Cuchifritos sells.

“Mostly the food we serve here is from pork,” Coto Sr. said. “We serve a stew of pork ears, pork stomach, fried pork bellies and then we added the rice and beans and the other type of Puerto Rican food like the beef-stew, the chicken stew, and all that to compliment the cuchifritos.”

The dish known by the restaurant’s name “Cuchifritos” is a popular plate served with pig ear, pork tongue, banana and blood sausage, according to Coto Sr. said.

“Other popular meals are the mofongos, rice, beans and pork and all the fried items,” Coto Sr. said.

“These include the alcapurrias, the bacalaitos, rellenos de papa.”

The mofongo is a dish of deep fried plantains mashed together with pork. Alcapurrias are starchy fritters, rellenos de papa are deepfried croquettes and bacalaitos are sal-cod pancakes. All these meals are Puerto Rican specialities.

Celebrities such as Anthony

CLAY WALTERS/THE FORDHAM RAM

According to Coto Sr., most of the food they serve at Cuchifritos is from pork, such as pork ears, stomach and bellies.

Bourdain, Daddy Yankee and boxer Felix “Tito” Trinidad have all made trips to Cuchifritos to try the Puerto Rican food.

“They are very good people and very into the community. [They] all loved the food and that’s why they came,” Coto Sr. said. “Bourdain loved the chicharrones we make.

He wanted people who watched his Food Network [show] to come and enjoy the food.”

Bourdain had even called Cuchifritos to deliver chicarrons to the CNN office in downtown Manhattan. Although Cuchifritos never delivers, they were willing to make a special case for Anthony Bour-

dain.

“For the Bronx it’s a signature restaurant,” Coto Sr. said. “They know we are related to Puerto Rican food for years and years and everybody wants to know what that is like. Everyone comes to the Bronx wanting to see real Puerto Rican food and a part of the Bronx’s history.”

Coto Sr. said many Fordham students patronize Cuchifritos.

“A lot of Fordham students once in a while will drop here at night coming from downtown, and pass by coming from the train station,” Coto Sr. said. “They have a very good relationship with the

community.”

Coto Sr. hopes that his son Jose Coto Jr. will continue his legacy and run Cuchifritos for another 40 years.

“I grew up my whole life seeing my father working here and doing everything very passionately,” Coto Jr. said. “It influenced me to be passionate about it as well.”

He said he remembers being a kid in the kitchen helping his dad.

Puerto Rican food is what he grew up on.

“We are a staple of Puerto Rican food,” he said. “If you’re from the Bronx you’ve had Cuchifritos.”

Long time customer Eddie Cruz

has been to Cuchifritos more than 30 times, loving what he calls the cheap price and fresh quality of the food.

“I absolutely recommend this place to others,” said Cruz. “The food is great and cheap with a taste of real authentic Hispanic food.”

Another customer, Francisco Espinoza, who is originally from Ecuador, eats at Cuchifritos almost every day.

“The food and the customer service here make me come,” Espinoza said. “It just makes me feel like home.”

He said you cannot get food like this anywhere else.

“You won’t get the same service, and food nowadays is usually already frozen and just heated up, but this is made fresh daily.”

Espinoza said one of his favorite parts about Cuchifritos is the immense diversity inside the restaurant.

“I enjoy the cultures that are here, such as the Puerto Ricans and Dominicans,” he said. “There’s a lot of things in Cuchifritos that bring cultures together unlike any other place.”

Coto Jr., who will one day inherit the business from his father, hopes that Cuchifritos will continue to receive the same satisfaction from its local and celebrity customers.

“As long as everyone else is happy and everybody enjoys the food, that’s good enough for me,” Coto Jr. said.

Cuchifritos is located near the D train station on 188th and Grand Concourse and stays open from 9 a.m. to midnight daily.

NEWS

Page 4

September 18, 2019

Research Spotlight

USG Column

Student Researches Trends in Political Parties Focuses on Democratic National Committee

USG Elects New GSB ’20 Senator

By HASNA CERAN

By SARAH HUFFMAN

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Christian Decker, FCRH ’21, spends his time reviewing newspaper articles that report about the Democratic National Committee and the changes the party has faced over time. Decker is a research assistant for Professor Boris Heersink, an assistant professor in the political science department.

Heersink’s project looks for trends in party building and party reduction, especially to see whether or not party building goes up during election years and down when the president is already in office.

Decker’s role is to look at newspaper articles from roughly around 1917 to 2014 about the Democratic National Committee (DNC).

Decker said he originally researched both the DNC and the Republican National Committee (RNC), but Professor Heersink brought in another research assistant who focuses more on the RNC. They then put everything that came up into Dropbox and begin sorting them as relevant and not relevant.

“We’re mostly focusing on different activities they were engaging in, so whether or not someone was like ‘on behalf of the party’ or the DNC chairs themselves,” he said.

He said one of the big events they sorted was when they established the Democratic advising committee in the 1940s and ’50s. That committee planned out Democratic policy changes, said Decker.

“It’s been interesting to see the changes from hard news organizations over time,” said Decker.

Once they determine which articles are relevant or not, they go

On Thursday, Sept. 12 the United Student Government (USG) welcomed a new senator, Simon Rodriguez, GSB ’20. Rodriguez proposed multiple initiatives in his speech to the Senate, including a proposal to get club leaders more involved in knowing what happens in the Operations Committee, and more incentives for Gabelli and Rose Hill students to get involved in clubs not directly related to their majors.

He also said he advocated in favor of more avenues for international students to explore options for therapists who speak their language, as he believes that the language barrier prevents many international students from getting the mental health care they deserve as Fordham students.

Vice President of Communications, Thomas Reuter, FCRH ’22, unveiled new posters for the USG club showcase, which will be occurring on Sept. 18 on the Keating steps. He said the “Meet the Candidates” event for freshman candidates will also be occurring on Sept. 17, at 5:30 p.m. in Bepler Commons.

Executive President Kaylee Wong, GSB ’20, and Executive Vice President Ashley Qamar, GSB ’20, proposed a possible new initiative in tandem with Campus Psychological Services (CPS) in their executive report. It is an online program teaching students about mental health and wellness, similar to the AlchoholEdu program.

There was also a discussion regarding USG joining the Jesuit Student Government Alliance (JSGA), a network of presidents of student governments in other Jesuit institutions.

JSGA is a body that brings together all of the student governments of Jesuit universities around the United States. Fordham is currently a member of the Alliance and Wong is the co-president of the JSGA. During the advisor report from the Office of Student Involvement, it was revealed that the Collins elevator project would begin that weekend, and would be underway this past Saturday. They said the project will continue into the summer.

The Dining Committee, chaired

by Domenic Setaro, FCRH ’21, discussed the lines in the Marketplace during his report, and considered switching to a tap system for the cards like those found in the residence halls.

He also discussed rumors of “swipers,” cashiers, being mistreated

by Aramark’s employees, with two people claiming the new chairman of the Marketplace asked the swipers to not sit anymore, and that they actively had their chairs taken away from them. The Dining Committee planned to investigate.

The E-Board received funding this week totaling $57,000, of which $37,000 dollars is to be left over for clubs. In the spring, the Budget Committee has a final budget day where they estimate the budget based on enrollment number, but they always underestimate. Last week, they got the finalized enrollment numbers and received a more accurate number based on student activity fees.

During the open floor, there was a discussion of the president of Ireland’s upcoming visit to Fordham.

Photo of the Week:

COURTESY OF CHRISTIAN DECKERI

Decker is a research assistant to Professor Boris Heersink, who has a larger project looking at political parties.

back and code them by topic, date and whether or not it’s about the DNC or RNC, he said.

Decker said in general, the parties seem to follow the trend of building during election years.

Decker said he has been working on this project for two years.

He said he was taking a class with Professor Heersink, who reached out asking if he wanted to work on the project.

He said he thinks the project is in a good spot, but couldn’t say how long the project will keep going. He plans on working on it for as long as he can.

“I’m just fascinated by everything with politics,” he said. “And you get to read a lot of interest-

ing articles. Sometimes over the course of the work you might not find an article that’s relevant, but there’s interesting stuff in there.”

Decker said he had the opportunity to learn a lot about how party organizations work and why they operate the way they do. He gets to learn whether or not they actually have an effect on the presidential election process. He also gets to learn about a lot of people you don’t learn about in history class, he said.

“You learn about the presidents, but you don’t learn about the people behind them,” said Decker.

He said he thinks this research is important because it looks at how parties ran in the past and whether

or not that affects presidential elections. It analyzes how people today are using those same strategies, and how that affects us.

“Politics affects all of us whether or not we choose to pay attention to it,” said Decker. “So learning about the process and how it works and whether or not it does have an effect on our choice is important because a lot of the times these are how they pick the nominees or how they choose to brand themselves.”

Decker said he thinks it’s important that we understand how parties work so we can make more informed choices about who we want to be in charge of the country.

SAMEER RAKHANI/THE FORDHAM RAM

The photographer spent a month in Tanzania, Africa on a community service trip this past summer. On the trip, she saw wildlife, including this African elephant.

This breed of elephant is classified as endangered, and there are less than 700,000 left in the world.

NEWS

September 18, 2019

Page 5

University Sees Mixed Success in National Ranking

McShane Discusses Causes and Action Plans

FROM RANKINGS, PAGE 1

ing from 148 to 141 out of 650 schools and 48th among private national research universities.

McShane cited an action plan by the Retention Task Force to enhance first-to-second year retention rates and graduation

rates as one way the university is working toward improving its rankings. McShane also said the university is hiring a communications firm to communicate Fordham’s accomplishments more widely and effectively.

According to McShane, in

COURTESY OF RAM ARCHIVES

Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of Fordham, addressed rankings.

the Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, which measures whose graduates do the best financially, the university came in above the median in every category. Of the 4,600 research universities in the United States, only 20% are ranked by WSJ/THE. “We are trying to understand some apparent inconsistencies in this ranking in particular: we came in 74th nationally despite being ranked 34th in Best Undergraduate Teaching,” he said.

McShane also said the decline in the U.S. News & World Report could be attributed to changes in methodology, the approximately 100 new institutions entering the National Research Universities category and the university’s endowment size. Fordham’s endowment is less than 5% of the average Ivy League endowment, according to McShane.

According to U.S. News & World Report, high school counselor opinion is no longer considered an expert opinion, and there is a 'small' difference in how other factors were calculated in rankings.

In his closing, McShane said

KEVIN STOLTENBORG/THE FORDHAM RAM

Fordham University ranked #176 out of 800 universities for the WSJ.

the quality of a university cannot be expressed in one number and said he is very proud of the faculty and students.

“All of you know Fordham best, and appreciate the quality

Recycle

The Ram

of the education we offer. There is no metric for educating students of conscience, competence, and compassion, nor do the numbers speak to our intellectual rigor,” he said.

NEWS

Page 6

September 18, 2019

“Distant Relatives” Explores Christian Iconography Artist Depicts Plight of the Modern Individual FROM EXHIBIT, PAGE 1

ancient art style.

Zavitsanos said she sees the plight of the modern individual as equatable with the struggles of the early saints often depicted in Byzantine religious art.

“We are all saints,” she said.

“The images I create are mostly social commentaries reflecting

the sorrows of this world, and maybe an answer in the heavenly, or the divine.”

The exhibit features one painting, entitled “Jonah Repents, Rachel Weeps, and the Memory of the Rose Lives On.” This work features images of Antwon Rose, a young victim of police violence, as well as the biblical figure Ra-

ALEXANDER WOLZ/THE FORDHAM RAM

Zavitsano's exhibit resides in the Museum of Greek Etruscan and Roman Art.

chel, who mourned for the death of her children in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah.

Zavitsanos said that by juxtaposing these two figures, she aimed to direct the same sympathy to Antwon Rose that is expected for Rachel.

Other young victims of violence are featured in her exhibit. The young girl from Pakistan who was almost assassinated for her efforts to educate local women in her native land is the main feature of her namesake work, “Malala,” which is hung centrally in the museum library.

“You’ll see many things you see on the news or hear about on the radio, and I am trying to interject those into the paintings, and not to make a political statement, necessarily, but more so just for awareness, to bring about awareness,” Zavitsanos said.

Zavitsanos said she spreads a message of reverence for modern-day icons like Malala Yousafzai, and hopes her art will convey to people the same sentiment as religious icons, which evoke piety and contemplation in worshippers and believers around the nation.

She said her own life experience inspired these works of art and the ancient styles they feature.

Zavitsanos’s father, Diamantis J. Cassis, was an iconographer of Byzantine works and early Christian art. She said she

ALEXANDER WOLZ/THE FORDHAM RAM

“Distant Relative” is inspired by Christian iconography in Byzantine Empire.

spent many hours with her father in the presence of the austere images of Byzantine religious art, and from this childhood experience, she draws the theme of her current work.

Zavitsanos said she chose Fordham's Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art as home to her work as it contains works from

the same region as the Byzantine iconography, which inspired her art and employed her father.

In 2020, Joni Zavitsanos’s upcoming exhibit of a larger collection of her works is to be housed in her native Texas, at Houston's MATCH Gallery as a solo exhibition titled “My Father’s Daughter.”

ABC Hosts Third 2020 Democratic Primary Debate College Democrats Host Debate Watch Party in Dealy FROM DEBATE, PAGE 1

vice president of College Democrats, said people at the watch party were excited to see the top 10 Democratic candidates all on the same stage on the same night.

“There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm,” she said. “I know some attendees were glad to see foreign policy brought up in the debate, as it is an issue that was not a focus during the first two.”

On the topic of trade relations with China, moderator George Stephanopoulos asked the candidates whether they would repeal the tariffs President Donald Trump has placed on China. In a question posed specifically to Andrew Yang, Stephanopoulos queried, “Would you repeal the tariffs on your first day in office?

And if so, would you risk losing leverage in our trade relationship with China?”

None of the candidates, including Yang said they would repeal the tariffs. Elizabeth Warren answered a similar question by saying she would negotiate with China to bring down tensions that have led to a trade war and to use the United States leverage to force the country to correct human rights violations.

“We have millions of Uighurs, for instance, in China that right now are being imprisoned and

KEVIN STOLTENBORG/THE FORDHAM RAM

The College Democrats hosted a debate watch party in Dealy Hall for the third Democratic Primary Debate.

mistreated,”said Warren. “And in North Korea, this president is elevating a dictator. We need to stop that. We need to return to ensuring that America leads again

on human rights.”

Fissinger said that although no candidate in particular stood out, no one hurt their chances at winning the pri-

mary either. However, he did say that there were some standout moments.

He and Hardy agreed that they were impressed with Beto

O’Rourke when he announced his willingness to implement a gun buy-back program in response to the shooting in El Paso.

Fissinger also cited U.S. Senator Kamala Harris’ (D-CA) and U.S. Senator Julián Castro’s (DTX) strong moments.

“Kamala Harris put the healthcare portion of the debate on hold to remind everyone that Trump and the Republicans will do anything possible should they win power again to repeal Obamacare and take healthcare away from millions of Americans,” he said. “Julian Castro called out Joe Biden for wanting to take credit for the good portions of the Obama administration and claiming to have less influence on decisions that have been viewed poorly in hindsight.”

Hardy said she enjoyed the responses that all the candidates gave to the final question, which was about professional setbacks and how they dealt with them.

“Even though it was a classic job interview question, I thought the answers provided some of the most moving moments of the night,” she said.

Despite these moments, Hardy and Fissinger do not anticipate this debate shaking the race up in any major way.

September 18, 2019

OPINION

Page 7

The Fordham Ram

CSA Brings Changes to Commuter Culture

By SALMA YOUSSEF

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Do you take the subway, train or bus to campus? Do you drive?

Do you walk over from your apartment? If your answer is yes, that means you are a commuter like me.

Fordham has always been a commuter school and continues to have a high percentage of commuters to this day. However, a lot of commuters feel underrepresented and left out of campus life. We all want to enjoy our college experience, but in a way that fits our schedule and lifestyle.

My path to finding that balance was through joining the Commuting Students Association (CSA), which is one of the Big Four student organizations on campus.

CSA represents the needs of commuters through working on commuter-friendly programs and policy initiatives that improve campus life. Becoming a part of CSA made me realize that commuters face similar issues and have common needs. This was my way to get involved and make a difference.

I plan several events to help engage commuters and develop their sense of belonging at Fordham.

My favorite events are our annual fundraiser, Thanks-Give-Away, where all proceeds benefit the local community through Part of

COURTESY OF STEPHEN ESPOSITO

The Commuter Students Association creates commuter-friendly programs and policy initiatives that improve campus life.

the Solution (POTS), and Commuter Week, which is a week of events that celebrate commuters. I look forward to these events every year, and I now have a very colorful collection of CSA event T-shirts (which we always give out for free).

The other main focus of CSA is policy which falls under the Commuter Life Committee (CLC).

The committee is open to all students and works on initiatives that

cater to commuter needs. As the executive vice president and head of the committee, I work with university administrators and other clubs on campus to improve the Fordham experience for commuters.

Through CLC, we increased the number of lockers available to commuters in McGinley, and worked with the Office for Student Involvement to improve the McGinley Student Lounge. We also have been

working on initiatives to improve parking conditions, provide informational pamphlets to new commuters at orientation, post flyers about microwave access and provide access to feminine-care products on campus.

As representatives, we are proud that the commuting student population represents an ethnically diverse group from all over the tristate area with a unifying experi-

ence that brings them together. In addition, many of these students are residents of the Bronx, who add a valuable perspective on the cooperation between Fordham and the local community.

As an advocate for commuter needs, I work for a more inclusive campus so that every student feels comfortable. I am joined by a group of students who share this view and work tirelessly on these programs and initiatives. The more power commuters are given, the stronger their voices become within the majority. To align my voice with an underrepresented population on campus is to send the message that commuters matter.

I am calling on all commuters to get involved and share their voice.

If you love organizing fun events, want to work on policy or just want to make new friends, then you should join CSA. We hold elections every year and represent freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors.

We have varying roles from marketing to programming to treasury.

We welcome all students to run for elections and stay connected with us on our socials.

Join our team and advocate for commuters.

Salma Youssef, FCRH ’20, is a biology major from Alexandria, Egypt.

Avoid Vaping in Light of Deaths

By TONY BARBUTO

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

A common misconception of college students is that vaping is a safer alternative to smoking cigarettes. However, vaping devices have only been around for roughly 10 years, and cases involving deadly pulmonary diseases have just come into play recently. Although the direct cause of these sudden illnesses is still unknown, scientists suspect it could be vitamin E. Large amounts of vitamin E are typically found in the THC cartridges used in marijuana vapes.

The FDA has recently put out a recommendation to stop vaping any product containing THC, and the CDC has also issued a warning for consumers to stop using e-cigarettes.

The proof is in the pudding, as six Americans have died from vaping. The FDA is unable to regulate all major vaping companies’ products, therefore nobody can be sure the product they are buying is completely safe.

More importantly, if there is one thing to take away from all of this, everyone must stop buying vaping products from the black market immediately.

Anyone can buy empty cartridges and fill them up with whatever liquid they please. There are plenty of well-known websites that these people can use to sell

their fake product to anyone.

Users are diluting their cartridges with products that can cause permanent damage to your lungs. People can do this with nicotine products or THC. It’s a simple trick that these people are continuously doing to make a quick buck. In my opinion, no vaping product can be worth experiencing the symptoms of the 450 cases of severe pulmonary diseases found nationwide.

Constant coughing, chest pain and shortness of breath are symptoms that nobody wants. If these symptoms are avoidable, then one must do their best to avoid them. If you have socially used a vaping device on one or two occasions, these illnesses most likely will not affect you.

However, in order to avoid severe lung issues for your future, as well as an early grave, stop buying vaping products completely.

Juul has been successful in leading the e-cigarette market over the last couple years.

Now that the FDA is threatening to impose regulations on them, some of their competitors, who have not received as much media attention and would be exempt from the ban on flavored vapors, could start to take their business.

Do not be fooled. They are all the same, and all carry the same risk.

The black market is the most common place where fake products can be purchased and the most common way to destruct your lungs. Anyone making these products is doing so at their own discretion.

Even well-known brands include whatever ingredients they want.

Any type of cartridge containing THC is just as likely to have vitamin E as any other on the black market.

Stay away from the street purchasing of vaping products as a whole. Do not give someone your money to damage your body — that is a deal nobody should ever take.

People need to realize that the six people who have died were just like everyone else. They had no idea something like that would happen, and we have no idea how many more fatal cases are to come.

Although it is possible that

the chemical responsible for the deaths could be eliminated from the market in the future, scientists are not yet sure that vitamin E is the only chemical causing the deaths, and vaping remains extremely dangerous.

It is possible that there will come a day when vaping is safe, but that day is not today.

Tony Barbuto, GSB ’23, is undecided from Hanover, Massachussets.

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Vaping devices have caused over 450 cases of mysterious illness and six deaths in the United States alone.

OPINION

Page 8

R

Serving the Fordham University campus and community since 1918 The Fordham Ram is the university journal of record. The mission of The Fordham Ram is to provide a forum for the free and open exchange of ideas in service to the community and to act as a student advocate. The Fordham Ram is published and distributed free of charge every Wednesday during the academic year to the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center and Westchester campuses with a readership of over 12,000 and a web readership of over 300,000. The Fordham Ram office is located in the basement of the McGinley Center, room B-52.

Website FordhamRam.com Email Address theram@fordham.edu

Editor-in-Chief Aislinn Keely Managing Editor Hannah Gonzalez Business Director Donald Dugan Operations Director Briana Scalia Editorial Director Lindsay Grippo Executive Director Colette Nolan Copy Chiefs Vanessa DeJesus Maggie Rothfus News Editor Helen Stevenson Projects Editor Erica Scalise Assistant News Editors Eliot Schiaparelli Sarah Huffman Opinion Editors Briana Scalia Collin Bonnell Culture Editors Rachel Gow Kieran Press-Reynolds Sports Editor Jimmy Sullivan Assistant Sports Editors Andrew Posadas Dylan Balsamo Digital Producers Kristen Egan Katherine Morris Photo Editor Julia Comerford Visual Director Bojeung Leung Faculty Advisor Jesse Baldwin-Philippi Editorial Page Policy

The Fordham Ram’s editorial is se-

lected on a weekly basis and reflects the editorial board’s view on a campus issue.

Opinions Policy The Fordham Ram accepts submissions to fordhamramopinions@gmail. com. Commentaries are printed on a space available basis. The Fordham Ram reserves the right to reject any submission for any reason, without notice. Submissions become the exclusive property of The Fordham Ram. The Fordham Ram reserves the right to edit any submissions. The opinions in The Fordham Ram’s editorials are those of the editorial board; those expressed in articles, letters, commentaries, cartoons or graphics are those of the individual author. No part of The Fordham Ram may be reproduced without written consent.

September 18, 2019

From the Desk | Andrew Posadas

Stop “Keeping It Real” We live in a society heavily predicated on social media use. Because of this, a strong contingent of social media users have unwittingly acquired an occupation not normally seen on any resumé you will read.

This occupation requires them to desperately seek attention and admiration, whether it be associated with something positive or negative.

This is otherwise known as clout chasing, engaging in actions, whether good or bad, for personal gain and popularity.

We see the negative aspect of clout chasing constantly on our Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds. Trolls criticizing through comments and posts, looking to get a response from a famous actor, musician or politician, knowing just one reply can thrust them into the spotlight for their 15 seconds of fame.

But, at the moment, that does not concern me. Haters will always hate.

It just so happens that now they have a platform to spew judgment for the world to see. That does not look to change in the foreseeable future.

What I am alarmed with is when those seeking clout use genuinely kind acts in order to further their

own popularity. Unfortunately, this is something I am seeing more frequently than I would like. As most of us are, I have become brazenly dependent on my Twitter feed to keep me up to date with everyday events.

Throughout the day, I happily stumble upon what I consider the best Twitter videos, in which someone is being recorded helping another in need, whether it be a lost child, senior citizen or someone homeless.

The keyword in my previous sentence: being. Unfortunately, in the last two weeks or so, I have seen videos where the person helping also happens to be the person recording.

One video in particular left me speechless. A young man, likely in his early 20s, was walking down the street with multiple stacks of money.

The video began with boasting and bravado from this person, talking about money being inconsequential to him. He then passed by an older homeless man on the street and abruptly stopped.

He proceeded to toss the homeless man some money, but what he did next left me baffled. The young man’s first action after giving this homeless individual money was to

turn back to his iPhone that was still recording and promote his various social media handles. Then, to top it all off, he walks away as abruptly as he initially stopped.

Never once did he even engage in conversation with the man he helped. Not even the slightest courtesy to look the homeless man in the eyes or wish him well. And how could the young man? What I intentionally failed to mention earlier about this video is that the homeless man … was asleep.

I imagine the man eventually woke up, saw the money and was grateful to have been given some help. But would he be so grateful if he knew the person who helped him used the situation to further their own popularity?

There was nothing genuine about that video. It felt superficial and staged. You could tell the young man felt no emotion in giving away money to someone in desperate need of some.

The only desperation you heard was from his voice as he essentially begged for everyone watching to follow him. Solely because he had committed an “act of good.”

It seems clear to me that there are no moral boundaries when it comes to clout chasing in social media. Gaining fame and followers on these platforms is absolute power for those in hot pursuit of it. Nothing is off the table, not even faking acts of kindness to get a like, retweet and follow.

But as British historian Lord Acton so eloquently put it, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” For those esoteric clout chasers, they will soon realize that in the end, they were really just chasing waterfalls.

Editorial | Rankings

Consider Endowment in Light of Rankings Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university, expressed to the community on Thursday that Fordham’s newest rankings — compiled by U.S. News & World Report (U.S. News), Wall Street Journal/ Times Higher Education and Forbes — show mixed success for the university.

For students already established within a particular university community, rankings are not very likely to affect one’s day to day life. These lists, though not insignificant, take a back seat to the lived experience they receive each day on their respective campuses.

But for prospective students searching for an environment in which they can thrive during the next phase of their lives, as well as for graduates hoping their degrees will hold a certain weight in the workplace, rankings can matter.

Despite their widespread consumption, these lists are based on criteria that can be confusing and seemingly disjunctive. Even when laid out in a succinct way, categories start to blend together and numbers — varying from 176 to 141 to 74 — can lose meaning or require a decent amount of additional information to be put into proper context.

Nonetheless, university rankings can have a monumental impact on the choices of students to attend or avoid certain schools, in the same way that RateMyProfessor ratings (an online platform which allows students to rate professors) can easily deter or convince students from taking a certain instructor’s class.

The numbers do not necessarily have to encompass the full picture to have a palpable effect on people’s viewpoints: Students typically avoid a professor with a bad rating, just like they typically consider a university ranked above 50 to fall short of prestigious status.

U.S. News markets its services to students attempting to “find a college that’s a good fit.” Its goal is to “take some of the stress out of the school research and selection process” and aid students in creating “a shortlist of places in which to dig deeper.

Unfortunately, this report is also the one in which Fordham suffered a drop in ranking, moving from 70th to 74th National University. If U.S. News were the sole resource among prospective students, parents and advisors in identifying worthwhile collegiate options, Fordham would face challenges in attracting new members of its community.

As a way to improve rankings going forward, McShane cited an action plan by the Retention Task Force to enhance first-to-second year retention rates and graduation rates, as well as the university’s plan to hire a communications firm to communicate Fordham’s accomplishments more widely and effectively.

U.S. News bases its rankings reports on six categories: Outcomes, Faculty Resources, Expert Opinion, Financial Resources, Student Excellence and Alumni Giving. Only time will tell if these proposed changes will suffice in raising both the quality of experience at the university and its rankings, but they appear at face value to be reasonable first steps in that direction.

McShane also said the drop in the university’s ranking could be attributed to changes in methodology, the approximately 100 new institutions entering the National Research Universities category and the school’s relatively small endowment size.

Though U.S. News notes there were no changes in the weights assigned to each ranking factor for the 2020 edition — with the exception of the high school counselor opinion being discounted as part of the expert opinion section and “small differenc-

es” in how some other factors were calculated — McShane emphasized that small changes often translate to significant differences in certain rankings and that Fordham’s endowment is less than 5% of the average Ivy League endowment.

Fordham administrators have long pointed to the size of the university’s endowment as a detracting factor in the institution’s standings. U.S. News takes into account Alumni Giving as 5% of overall scoring, as it cites giving as a measure of student satisfaction and post-graduate engagement.

If the university values significant upward shifts in its ranking — and endowment continually proves a hindrance to this shift — changes should be implemented in a direct attempt to increase endowment size, such as considering alternative investment strategies or further advertising need.

The matter of Fordham’s relatively minuscule endowment also raises the question as to why university alumni do not actively give back to the community in ways mimicking those of Ivy League alumni.

With an ethos of cura personalis and emphasis on social justice at the core of so many students’ experience here, it seems far more likely that the university produce social workers, teachers and participants in other traditionally lower-earning but generally impactful fields than other institutions. Forbes sets Fordham’s Average Early Career Salary at $58,700, while the Ivys’ range from $68,200 to $79,000.

In short, Fordham culture — what makes the university so great in unquantifiable ways — does not necessarily translate to the significant monetary earnings that may afford alumni the ability to give back to the school in impactful ways: ways that may increase its competitive standings.

However, when it does, some donations are given to specific areas of

the university, like the new Waterfront Property which, if approved, will be primarily used by Fordham’s rowing and sailing teams. These types of donations might not always have a positive impact on our rankings, but they almost always have a positive impact on those intended to engage with them.

Prestigious rankings are not the be-all and end-all for our experience of Fordham University. Declining rankings might have an effect on who looks to come here in the future or on alumni’s cultural capital in the workplace, but the value of a Fordham education has always encompassed more than the esteem of some number on a list or a hefty 11-figure endowment.

With so many conflicting categories, delicate balances and minute details, it is difficult to get a clear idea of what collegiate rankings actually mean for their respective universities — which is precisely why people tend to lean on these numbers alone as telling facts.

That being said, if the university does aim to secure a more prestigious ranking, it should undoubtedly look to bolster its endowment.

As with everything in life, it is important to put Fordham’s rankings in perspective. As consumers, we should allow these sorts of rankings to inspire us to want aspects of certain universities to be better, but we should not rely on them in their entirety for our perception of a certain institution, its reputation or its community members.

Fordham students go on to lead lives of meaning and achievement, as they lead right here on campus and in the surrounding area, as well. The university should continue to focus on supporting these individuals in all of their endeavors, as well as the faculty and alumni who prove invaluable to their success.

OPINION

September 18, 2019

Page 9

Americans Should Embrace Financial Literacy

CAMRYN SCHUMACHER/THE FORDHAM RAM

Many Americans have a low level of financial literacy and fail to understand basic economic concepts.

By NOAH OSBORNE

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

No matter how you slice it, high school is an unforgettable experience to many in today’s society.

More often than not, it plays a pivotal role in the trajectory of many young people looking to become financially well-established.

Many high schools today boast a myriad of extracurriculars, advanced placement courses and other resumé builders. However,

one thing I have rarely heard mentioned in this conversation is the fundamental structure that forms the foundation of career and financial success: financial literacy.

Though financial planning is often thought of as exciting, it also plays a crucial role in supporting oneself.

Financial literacy is the comprehensive understanding of money, including topics such as budgeting, investing, spending, paying off debt and more. Without a sense

of financial literacy, there will forever be a stigma in the young adult mind that it is nothing more than an arbitrary, tedious affair shrouded in complex understandings of numbers, math, postulates and all of the other things we have come to dread as a society.

However, financial literacy is more complex than it appears.

One way to introduce more people to the world of financial planning would be to introduce it to American schools. If the Ameri-

can education system were to encourage the teaching of financial literacy, more Americans would not only know how to survive in a constantly fluctuating economy but thrive in it.

According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, approximately 6.5% of Americans were unbanked as of 2017, which is praised as a record-low from the prior 8.2% in 2011. While these numbers could be due in part to barriers like poverty and lack of access, a lack of financial literacy among the American public is likely another contributor. This is why I believe that financial literacy courses should not be a choice, but an obligation.

Many Americans fail to recognize that it is imperative to have an understanding of money, how it works, how one can use it with a sense of shrewd decision-making and how to acclimate to an everchanging economy.

According to a quiz study that was conducted by CNBC, approximately 94% of Americans were below competency in fundamental concepts dealing with financial literacy.

These numbers are rather troubling. Without at least some level of financial literacy, college students can and will find themselves inundated in seemingly-insurmountable piles of debt.

But it does not have to be this way. The American education system could undergo an overhaul in which it opts to introduce a course that will forever shape the way we choose to live our lives.

Instead of superfluous extracurriculars, our government should allocate more funds to the establishment of financial literacy courses.

As a result, we may see less debt in our country, efficient spending and shrewd business decisions going forward.

Emphasis on the terms “going forward,” as a study done on behalf of Business Insider reports that approximately 61% of adults in the United States don’t keep track of their money, how it’s budgeted and how it’s spent.

You must be cognizant of the fact that by choosing to invest more in financial literacy courses, no one loses.

Either way, there is something to be gained from the knowledge offered by a financial literacy course.

An investment in financial literacy would be the best investment for our generation and those to come if financial literacy classes became a new investment.

And that is something I would not mind betting my last dollar on.

Noah Osborne, FCRH ’23, is a journalism major from Harlem, New York.

Disagree with our takes?

Let us know!

Write in to us at fordhamramopinions@gmail.com!

CULTURE

Page 10

September 18, 2019

EARTHGANG Invites Listeners to “Mirrorland ”

By TAYLOR MASCETTA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Within the first few seconds of rap duo EARTHGANG’s debut album “Mirrorland,” listeners know they’re in for something special.

On “Mirrorland,” EARTHGANG aims to express their individualism in their music.

Members Johnny “Olu O. Fann” Venus and Doctur Dot “Eian Undrai Parker” have always pushed for their music to be 100% derived from their own effort, without the overbearing influence of a record label. The two burst onto the music scene after signing with J. Cole’s label, which allows them to exert full creative control over their music.

Originating from Atlanta, Ga., EARTHGANG recognizes the importance of incorporating the influence of their hometown into their music. To them, “Mirrorland” is a dedication to the richness of black culture. In an interview with Pitchfork, Johnny Venus said, “Atlanta is the Land of Oz. It’s black people just being unafraid and unapologetically creative. Just running around being themselves.”

“Mirrorland” is a seamless blend of Southern-inspired hip-hop and soul. Inspired by the musical “The Wiz,” “Mirrorland” is a colorful, magical place that inspires the listener to look deep into a reflection of their soul.

The album welcomes listeners to its world with the upbeat track “Lala Challenge.” Johnny Venus opens the song rapping, “Come on/Sit down in here and get comfortable/Place your head on the mat” with an inviting piano tune echoing in the background. “Lala

Challenge” is a standout on the album, expertly setting up the trippy journey that its listeners are about to embark on.

According to a July interview with Pitchfork promoting the album, Johnny describes the opener as “the intro to the whole record. It’s really colorful. It’s really dangerous. It’s really trippy.”

The following songs, including “UP” and “Bank,” have a much faster, trappy beat. The first half of the album culminates with “Proud of You,” a song that features fellow rapper Young Thug. The track expresses the pair’s pride in those who work hard for what they want.

The chorus, which repeatedly chants “I’m proud of you,” gives the listener a boost of self-confidence.

It provides the comfort of knowing that they’re making someone out there proud.

Following “Proud of You,” the album shifts in a more relaxed, soulful direction. The slower the songs get, the deeper the lyrics are. “This Side” is especially notable; it is a trippy, sing-songy revelation of EARTHGANG’s paranoia that comes with their newfound fame. The song is slow for the first few moments, but suddenly jumps into a panicked rush of words expressing fear for their lives following the deaths of fellow stars XXXTentacion and Nipsey Hussle.

The lyrics found within “Blue Moon,” in particular, are relatable to every college student. Doctur Dot raps, “I been hustlin’, I don't get no rest, once in a blue moon/Every time I got life figured out, I get bad confused/bad confused, bad confused, bad confused, bad confused.”

The smooth jazz of the tune offers

a relaxing mood despite its lyrics describing overwhelming feelings.

Other notable songs in the second half of the album include “Tequila” and “Trippin,’” featuring T-Pain and Kehlani, respectively. “Tequila” is a song that listeners would definitely dance along to at the beach. Its dark lyrics about drowning in a bottle of tequila in the face of overwhelming pressure are disguised by the song’s dip into the Latin genre.

The maracas and horns playing in the background give the song a unique feel compared to the rest of the album. Guest star Kehlani’s verse on “Trippin” is also worth mentioning — her sultry set of lyrics are especially memorable, considering it is one of the only “romantic” songs on the album.

The album culminates with “Wings,” which is an excellent closer.

The song makes references to both Johnny Venus and Doctur Dot’s past in Atlanta. Johnny tells his listeners, “I’m still findin’ a way, spread my wings/Spread my wings, spread my wings/I’m still grindin’ today, spread my wings (Yeah)/Spread my wings, spread my wings.” The song summarizes the main message of the album as a whole.

“Mirrorland” advises all of its listers to keep “grinding” and spreading their wings. The theme of a continuous grind is found multiple times throughout the album.

EARTHGANG reminds us that working hard brings struggle, paranoia and a desire to drown your sorrows. However, in the end, we will reap the rewards.

In order to recognize our own inner strength and grit, we must look into our reflection and enter our own mirrorland.

COURTESY OF TWITTER

EARTHGANG is an up-and-coming hip-hop duo from Atlanta.

Pixies Disappoint on “Beneath the Eyrie”

By PATRICK HEAVEY

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Pixies are more important to rock history than any band not named The Velvet Underground or The Beatles. On Friday, they released their seventh album “Beneath the Eyrie.”

Famously formed in 1986 when Kim Deal responded to Francis Black’s ad calling for a bassist who liked both Hüsker Dü and Peter, Paul and Mary, the band released their debut EP a year later and then one album per year from 1988 until 1991. All were classics, but out of the first four, it’s the first two, 1988’s “Surfer Rosa” and 1989’s “Doolittle,” to which the Pixies owe their legacy.

On “Surfer Rosa," Black injected his melodicism into a style mostly derived from ’80s hardcore and post-punk, and which was filtered through the raw, lo-fi production values of producer Steve Albini. Kurt Cobain liked the album’s sound so much he hired Albini to produce “In Utero” in hopes of recreating it. “Doolittle,” on the other hand, offered a polished version of “Surfer Rosa” which solidified the band’s crucial innovation of loud/ soft dynamics. Kurt Cobain credited “Doolittle” with inspiring him to incorporate hooks on “Nevermind”

and claimed that “Smells Like Teen Spirit” was an attempt to rip off the Pixies.

But the Pixies’ influence went far beyond Nirvana. The loud/soft dynamics that the Pixies developed would go on to reshape mainstream American rock. The whole ’90s indie rock movement can find its roots in the Pixies’ first two records. Indeed, bands like Pavement, Spoon and Modest Mouse all began their careers as glorified Pixies clones. Bands of contemporary indie rock such as Car Seat Headrest and Mannequin Pussy have absorbed the Pixies influence as well.

After breaking up in 1993, the Pixies reunited in 2004 and spent 10 years in an endless tour cycle before releasing new albums again in the '10s. These albums, 2014’s Indie Cindy and 2016’s Head Carrier, were met largely with criticism and derision. Fans felt betrayed by the albums, which abandoned both the band’s trademark loud/soft dynamics and their formerly ever-pervasive theme of danger. The albums also felt the absence of Kim Deal to an uncomfortable degree — Deal had initially joined the Pixies in their reunion but quit the band in 2013. She, however, continues to release new music with her excellent 1990s altrock band The Breeders.

It was not the stylistic change or loss of a key founding member that made the albums bad, however. If the Pixies wanted to make their version of "Loaded,” that’d be fine.

Instead, these albums revel in the utmost mediocrity. As it turns out, Black Francis the singer-songwriter/ tunesmith is both a terrible singersongwriter and a heavily inconsistent tunesmith.

“Beneath the Eyrie” is unfortunately no different than its 2010s predecessors. The album is not without its redeeming qualities. Black Francis’ devotion to hooks guarantees him at least a few catchy songs per album; on this one, they come with titles such as “In the Arms of Mrs. Mark of Cain,” “Catfish Katie” and “Long Rider.” The band’s rhythm section also receives quality showcases in the form of David Lovering’s propulsive drumming on “In the Arms of Mrs. Mark of Cain” and Deal-replacement Paz Lenchantin’s excellent baseline on “On Graveyard Hill.” Guitarist Joey Santiago seems to be the only band member committed to recapturing the band’s original sound, and he find modest success through his use of feedback on “On Graveyard Hill” and his outbursts that punctuate the lines of each verse on “Catfish Katie.”

But if you’ve noticed my compli-

ments have all been limited to the same handful of songs, it’s because this album is ridiculously front-loaded. Past its opening trio, and with the exception of “Long Rider,” the LP is boring.

Even during his experimentations with tedious slow tempos on songs like “Silver Bullet” and “Daniel Boone,” Francis reveals that he only knows one way to write a melody. At least he knows that one way, though — both he and Santiago are, throughout the album, completely incapable of finding anything melodious to play on guitar. And the value of dynamics is called into question entirely when Francis tries to vary his vocals; his shouting on “St. Nazaire” — which would have been perfectly at home on any of the Pixies’ first four records — sounds silly now, starkly demonstrating Francis’ age.

Speaking of silly, the album proves that when not making use of shock value, Francis cannot write lyrics. “Donna picks out a flower/Gives her a witchy power” (“On Graveyard Hill”), “I don’t mind the rain/But I’m ready for love” (“Ready for Love”) and “The Lord Howe reef/Looks like Daniel Boone / And he was showing me his smile” (“Daniel

Boone”) are all plenty embarrassing, for very different reasons.

But “Beneath the Eyrie” is not defined by its lows anymore than it is defined by its highs. Rather, it is defined by the merging of the two into a thoroughly fine and mostly mediocre forty minutes of rock music.

You could listen to this record, but it’d be a waste of time. You’d be better off listening to the Pixies’ classics, “Surfer Rosa” and “Doolittle.” Whether you’d be listening for your first time or your hundredth, there will still be far more to discover than in here.

You’d also be better off listening to Kim Deal’s albums with The Breeders; 1993’s “Last Splash,” in particular, towers over all the Pixies albums that Francis has made without her.

You’d be best off listening to any of the countless contemporary indie rock bands who have absorbed the influence of the early Pixies.

These bands have adopted not only the sound of the Pixies, but also the danger and spirit of bold innovation.

The actual Pixies have become dinosaurs of rock before our eyes.

CULTURE

September 18, 2019

Page 11

Marta Minujín's Chaotic, Immersive Art

By SARAH LOBDELL

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Marta Minujín, the artist behind the interactive and innovative art space, "Menesunda Reloaded," located on the third floor of the New Museum, seeks to challenge her audience’s beliefs about popular culture and the media.

The exhibit is temporary and will only be open until Sept. 29. However, according to the New Museum, "La Menesunda," Minujín’s original installation of this “participatory environment,” opened in 1965 at the Center for Visual Arts at the Institute Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The original piece features 16 spaces, separated by humanshaped entrances. Although Menesunda Reloaded has many of the same rooms as the original, it is missing spaces such as the dental office.

Regardless, the influence of Minujín on both of these pieces is legendary and continues to impact contemporary Latin American artists today.

The New Museum’s Menesunda Reloaded exhibit consists of 11 individual spaces connected intricately by a human-shaped entrance, narrow staircases, cramped hallways and a spinning doorway. Upon entering the exhibit, visitors first experience a room full of neon lights haphazardly placed on the two opposing walls and ceiling in various shapes, colors and light intensities. Next, visitors follow a hallway lined with televisions playing at full volume, then unexpectedly

and uncomfortably walk into a room with a couple lying in bed.

Other spaces in the exhibit include a refrigerator blowing cold air, a salon with a makeup artist, a hallway of foam pieces and a room full of long, soft, fuzzy cylinders hanging from the ceiling. Before exiting the exhibit, visitors must walk into a mirrored, octagonal room with fans blowing confetti.

The New Museum describes Minujín's work as a mix of “experimental theater, film and television, advertising and sculpture.” These elements create “environments that place viewers at the center of social situations and confront them with the seductiveness of media images and celebrity culture.”

Minujín’s work seeks to recreate the realities afflicting Buenos Aires from an artistic standpoint. Specifically, each piece highlights the effects of the rise of advertising and mass media in

Argentina. The neon room, for example, represents the bustling streets of Buenos Aires at night, while the makeup room, featuring a peephole with a woman’s face inside, represents how makeup and appearances are now seemingly the only thing women think about.

Minujín’s work also reveals her resistance to institutionalized structures and societal norms. Many of her pieces are composed of short-lived materials such as foam, confetti and plastic, so they are not meant to last very long.

Other pieces are considered shortlived simply because they include hu-

man beings who cannot be part of the scene forever. These fragile and temporary pieces challenge traditional art, which endures the test of time and can be sold as collectible art objects. Her pieces are radical and directly oppose the consumer culture and mass media the 1960's Argentinian institutions promoted.

In fact, she wanted her art to inspire her audiences to act upon the injustices they saw.

M a r t a Minujín was born in 1943 in San Telmo, Argentina, where she continues to receive inspiration for her work. She studied at the National University Art Institute and first presented her work at the Teatro Agón in 1959.

The following year, she received a scholarship from the National Arts Foundation to go to Paris to continue her studies in art.

In 1963, she created her first performance piece, "La destrucción," similar in style to "La

Menesunda." In this piece, Minujín dipped pillows in paint and sculpted mattresses hung on frames. She then invited other artists to an empty public lot in Paris and asked them to destroy her work with elements of their own art as a form of symbolic destruction. Progressive artists such as Carlos and Paul-Armand Gette were among those who painted, cut and burned Minujín’s work.

According to Haverford College, the destruction of her works ensured they would not sit in the “‘cultural cemetaries’ of museums and galleries where art goes to die.”

After leaving Paris and returning to Buenos Aires in 1964, she received the Premio Nacional Instituto Torcuato Di Tella for the interactive piece “Reqvuélquese y viva.”

She also received the Guggenheim Fellowship in 1966 for “La Menesunda,” which prompted her move to New York City.

The overthrow of the Argentinian government by Juan Carlos Onganía later that year censored radical art such as hers, so she continued her passion in the United States.

When democracy returned to Argentina is 1983, Minujín created a monument featuring 30,000 banned books to encourage freedom of expression in her home country.

Minujín's work now permanently resides in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and Centro de Arte y Comunicación in Buenos Aires.

SARAH LOBDELL FOR THE FORDHAM RAM

“Menesunda Reloaded,” an intensely immersive art experience, is open at the New Museum.

The Lumineers Get Personal on “III”

By GRACIE DAVIS

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Lumineers’ third album, “III,” which is split into three parts, tells the story of the fictional Sparks family and dives into the painful progression of addiction from the early to late stages and from generation to generation.

The album’s story begins with Gloria, who struggles with alcoholism and raising her son, Jimmy. The opening three songs chronicle her painful battle with both alcohol itself as well as the divisions she creates in her family because of it. In the second group of songs, Junior, Gloria’s grandson, wonders if his

grandmother is still alive, since she left her family so long before he got to know her. In “Leader of the Landslide,” he asks, “Is she dead? Is she fine?” He can only imagine.

Junior’s own mother abandoned him as well — he has only his father, Jimmy, who is preoccupied with a gambling addiction. The addiction stems from the hurt of both his mother and wife leaving him as well as from financial necessity. This abandonment comes roundabout when, after listening to his father’s selfish advice to never take in hitchhikers, Junior ignores a man walking back from the casinos who needs a ride. Jimmy, barefoot and alone, watches his son drive past him, com-

pletely unempathetic as a result of his own self-interested instruction.

The song “Jimmy Sparks” pieces together these fragmented memories and morals learned from each other’s ventures and mistakes.

In an interview with NPR, lead vocalist Wesley Schultz and drummer Jeremiah Fraites were asked if this kind of melancholic music is difficult to play at concerts, where people are supposed to be having fun. They believe, though, that the point of music is to bring people together — not necessarily to give people a fun time.

The vignettes of “III” are not uncommon in the families of The Lumineers’ audience, and Schultz and

Faites know the stories well themselves; each has a close personal friend or family member that had in part inspired the album.

“You know they talk about addiction. It's a progressive disease.

It's not something where you just wake up and you're homeless and you're begging for crack or heroin,” Fraites said to NPR. The album’s buildup reflects addiction itself — each song with a more tragic story than the last.

Incredibly deep character development occurs over the course of this hour-long experience.

The various characters and stories of “III” show how a painful, oppressive past can encourage

reckless, free living, even if the living is far from perfect. The Lumineers don’t quite sugarcoat the bleak aspects of life about which they tell, but they make the imperfections in life seem bearable — necessary, even — in order to have a complete spectrum of emotions, a complete being. They celebrate uncertainty and throw nonchalance at the things they can’t control.

This richly honest and hopeful album is an anthem for the struggling and the oppressed.

It is a plea for people to realize the power of influence and to realize the impact that sharing your story can have.

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September 18, 2019

Creative Essay | Michael Murphy

The Day My Earth Stood Still

My mother phoned me at around 2 p.m. to remind me that I had a routine check-up in a couple of hours. I had forgotten about it; my best friend and I were in the middle of walking his little sister home from her first day of school.

In my 14-year-old mind, going to the doctor or the dentist was second fiddle to pretty much anything else. I knew, though, that it was a necessary evil. I was starting my first day of high school the next day, and I needed a medical form filled out. I also figured it wouldn’t take too long, an hour at most if there were a lot of people.

Then, I could go home and prepare myself for the next day.

My mom and I arrived a little past 4 p.m. It didn’t take long before they brought me in to take all of the necessary samples for the tests. This went by quickly. I sat on an examination bed covered in a thin roll of waxy paper waiting for the doctor to check me up and let me go home. I was eager to

continue daydreaming about tomorrow. The doctor burst into the room with a scowl on his face, but I wasn’t worried. I’d known him my whole life.

That scowl was just his face.

I was wrong about that. He looked straight into my eyes through his oneinch thick glasses and scrunched his curly gray eyebrows. The next three words out of his mouth broke my entire world. “You have diabetes,” he said hastily. “You have to go to the hospital.”

I slid myself off the bed in shock, knocking over a half-drunk bottle of water that shattered on the floor.

I wanted to apologize for the mess I made, but my mind was too overwhelmed. The doctor explained to me that I had a blood sugar over 600, which doesn’t happen to people who don’t have type 1 diabetes.

I headed to the hospital. That car ride might have been the longest 20 minutes of my life. My mom tried to tell me all sorts of comforting things.

I’m sure they were comforting, I just

wasn’t listening. I was very quiet. I had no idea what was going to happen when I arrived.

The doctor called ahead, and, before I could begin to take in my surroundings, blood was being drawn from my arm. “There’s no way I have diabetes, right?” I asked the nurse as she was leaving to take blood tests. “Couldn’t it be a false alarm?”

“It could be,” she replied hopefully, unsuccessfully hiding her insincerity.

At this point it was 7 or 8 pm. At least four or five different doctors and nurses circulated in and out of my room, performing many additional tests to make sure they were correct about what I had. Somewhere in the middle of all of this confusion, and my entire life being turned on its head, I was asked if I wanted to watch a movie while waiting.

The movie I chose was “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” easily one of the best alien invasion movies ever filmed. It felt fitting, considering that

I was feeling like an alien in my own body. Unfortunately, once the movie started, I realized it was the 2008 remake with Keanu Reeves.

As much as we all love Keanu, this definitely didn’t help my state of mind.

Finally at midnight, one last doctor came in to confirm what I’d been dreading for the last eight hours: I did in fact have type 1 diabetes, and it isn’t something you can get rid of.

I genuinely had no idea what was going to happen. I had even forgotten about the start of school the next day, and how this was going to affect everything that I had planned. I could see myself going to bed that night dreading what was to come, instead of embracing it.

But then the doctor said some-

thing that would become immensely important to me. “This is a part of your life now, but that means you can live with it.”

That was all I needed.

MICHAEL MURPHY FOR THE FORDHAM RAM GRAPHIC BY KIERAN PRESS-REYNOLDS

Pictured: Michael Murphy.

The Fantastical, Mesmerizing World of Satoshi Kon’s “Millennium Actress”

By MATTHEW DILLON STAFF WRITER

Much like Japanese director Satoshi Kon’s other prominent works — “Perfect Blue,” “Paprika” — the animated film “Millennium Actress” blends reality and fiction. The 2002 animated film recounts the life and acting career of Chiyoko Fujiwara (Miyoko Shōji). TV interviewer Genya (Shōzō Iizuka) and his beleaguered cameraman Kyoji (Masaya Onosaka) try to get her story, only to find themselves inserted into a mixture of her memories and her body of work, an experience Genya is more than willing to be a part of.

The unique storytelling approach of “Millennium Actress” leaves the film’s narrative difficult to navigate.

Thankfully, the core premise is fairly simple. A young Chiyoko becomes infatuated with a mysterious anti-war revolutionary she assists in the 1930s.

She starts acting with the hopes of finding him again after he disappears into a Japanese-occupied Manchuria.

Understanding her quest to find him becomes more complicated as her filmography intersects with her account of the actual events.

The end result is disorienting but memorable. Much of the story of “Millennium Actress” unfolds through a series of animated recreations of samurai films, “Godzilla” style kaiju flicks, American-influenced post-war dramas and plenty others. By the end of the film, it’s largely unclear whether a given event happened in Chiyoko’s own life or in one of the films she starred in.

Around the same time, “Millennium Actress” convinces you that this is a meaningless distinction.

The gleeful merging of real and unreal produces a story with a strong voice, one that takes full advantage of animation’s consistently overlooked potential. There isn’t a single sequence that doesn’t look amazing, as

“Millennium Actress” manages to combine various genres and time periods into a seamless whole without erasing their distinguishing qualities. The clever use of animation does similar favors for the mix of tones throughout the film. It lets the heavy emphasis on comedy and drama coexist and intersect without overwhelming the other.

The film’s exploration of our obsession with fantasies, particularly the ones that show up in cinemas, underlines everything about it. Chiyoko and Genya use the films of their youth to confront a troubling past and smooth over the gaps left in decades-old memories. What’s even more interesting is the larger implications. Just as the characters of “Millennium Actress” use fiction to explore their lives, the movie argues entire cultures engage in a similar process.

The film heavily involves Japan’s history in the '30s and '40s, both as an imperialistic aggressor and later as an occupied country. The most effective moment of “Millennium Actress” has Genya insulting Kyoji for mistaking the scene of a Japanese city being de-

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK GRAPHIC BY KIERAN PRESS-REYNOLDS

Satoshi Kon's "Millennium Actress" is being re-released in 4K at the Metrograph for a limited amount of time.

stroyed by American bombers for “science fiction.” Images like this, coupled with the film’s handling of the actual events in question, present a clear argument that Japanese culture has used film to deal with a complicated history and the ethical quandaries posed by it.

While it’s far from the only film to deal with our collective fixation with storytelling, few of them make an argument about it as strongly as “Millennium Actress.” The film’s jumbled story still manages to carry an array of themes and emotions to the very

end. It also ends up being more powerful than the vast majority of conventionally-structured narratives. By doing this, “Millennium Actress” says the same thing about films as a whole. Engaging in our fantasies might distract us from our real goal. It also carries its own set of risks, ones the film does its best to explore. Even then, fiction often gives us the resolve and the means to go places we might have otherwise avoided altogether.

The individual pieces of “Mil-

lennium Actress” coalesce into a work of art that forces the viewer to confront the stories of their lives, good or bad, cinematic or otherwise. Movies that examine their own medium often end up pretentious, cold and incomprehensible.

“Millennium Actress” can be confusing but the engaging characters and fulfilling narrative avoid that problem entirely and instead offer a one-of-a-kind movie experience.

CULTURE

September 18, 2019

Page 13

White Claw Shortage Affects Community

By MAGGIE ROTHFUS COPY CHIEF

Editor's Note: everyone interviewed was over 21 years old. The Fordham Ram requests readers drink responsibly.

It was hot girl summer, it was the summer that Lil Nas X reigned Billboard, but, most notably, it was the summer of the Claw. While spiked seltzer grew in popularity this past year, it was not until summer that the White Claw brand seemingly appeared out of nowhere and onto our peers’ Instagram and Snapchat stories.

Now, it is the drink of choice for many, but that title could be in jeopardy.

Calling White Claw “a victim of its own success,” CNN reported on Sept.

6 that the company is currently experiencing shortages due to high demand for the product. While White Claw is the top contender amongst its competition, other brands have yet to encounter similar stocking issues.

The Fordham Ram evaluated the national trend and crisis on a local level: How has the White Claw shortage affected 21 and over Fordham students, their lifestyles and local businesses?

Student opinions on spiked seltzer vary depending on which brand each person talks about. Some students still have not had the chance to try White Claw, perhaps because of the shortage causing them to buy other brands. White Claw or not, student

demand for spiked seltzer of any brand is apparent. One particular trait that CNN cites as a reason for the seltzer craze is its effect on health when compared to other alcoholic beverages.

“Spiked seltzer is more appealing because it’s low-calorie and will not leave you feeling too bad the next day,” said Mary Interdonati, FCRH ’20.

“You can drink a lot without feeling too sugared out,” stated John Hansen, FCRH ’20. However, some seem to drink spiked seltzer a bit begrudgingly.

“I kinda like them because they are low calorie and stuff, but the taste is not great,” said Adam Borak, FCRH ’20.

Waheeb Alfahad, an employee at Rams Deli, offered his input on the matter. He said that spiked seltzer is popular because it’s the healthier drink as opposed to something like Four Loko, which is made with unhealthy chemicals. An added bonus is the array of flavors that seltzer offers. White Claw is available in five flavors: black cherry, mango, raspberry, natural lime and ruby grapefruit.

While opinions differ on seltzer flavors, the general consensus is that the taste component of the drink is necessary. When asked about his favorite spiked seltzer, Frank LaGumina, GSB ’20, responded, “White Claw, since it has the best taste to me compared to competitors. [Spiked seltzer] is easier to drink and lighter than, say, beer or something like that. Also, it has unique flavors not typically seen in other alcoholic beverages.”

Monica Morra, GSB ’20, added that she prefers White Claw because she finds that they have “the lowest calories and taste the best,” but also mentioned that the new Smirnoff spiked seltzer is a good replacement during the shortage.

As for White Claw flavors specifically, Rams Deli has been out of mango for over two weeks, and as of Sept. 16, the only “flavor” available was White Claw Pure, an alternative to a vodkasoda.

Other seltzers in Rams inventory include Truly, the number-two bestseller after White Claw, Bon & Viv, Svedka, Natural Light, Pura Still, Cape Line and Arctic Summer. None besides Truly sell as well as White Claw. While Rams still gets shipments of usually 20 to 30 cases per week, before the shortage the deli could sell over 100 cases to Fordham students in a weekend. Each weekend, Alfahad says, White Claw sells out instantly.

On the same block of Rams Deli is 7-Eleven, which also had White Claw as its top-selling drink. When The Ram spoke to employee Carlos Correa on Sept. 16, he revealed that the store sold its last White Claw the day prior. According to his manager, no more shipments of White Claw will be coming to 7-Eleven. Before the shortage, the store had ordered 100 cases. Currently, 7-Eleven offers Smirnoff, its next bestseller, Truly, Bon & Viv, Natural Light and Corona Refresca.

Rams and 7-Eleven are not the only

stores facing the consequences of the White Claw shortage. Local bar Mugz’s had attempted to add the drink for $4 each to its menu on Sept. 4. However, on Sept. 10, Daniel “Suits” Morse announced via Instagram that Mugz’s could no longer offer White Claw. “Mugz's apologizes for not having any more White Claw due to the short supply … as soon as we get more you will be notified,” the post read.

The Fordham Ram spoke to Morse on the trend of seltzer and the disaster of White Claw.

“Last year we tried Truly, and it didn’t sell too good,” said Morse. “I guess I didn’t advertise it as well … but when I put the White Claw out I was amazed — two cases in two days. Faster than anything we sold.”

The beverage performed better than the classic Woo Woo, Mugz’s current best-selling drink. Unfortunately, Mugz’s is unable to order any more White Claw at the moment.

However, the bar still plans to ride the seltzer wave until it ends.

“I was shocked when my boss told me there was a shortage."

Morse continued, "I didn’t even realize what was going on. “We’re gonna be trying different stuff.

We’re trying to pass off a new one called Natty Light seltzer.”

When asked about trends in the alcohol industry, Morse said that this is the biggest craze he has encountered. “I’m 43 years old; I see

so many different trends come and go. … Years ago Cruzan rum used to actually sell and then it took forever to sell the rest. I hope [the shortage] ends soon, because if White Claw sells, why stop it?”

If Mugz’s is able to find a White Claw replacement, so too can the rest of the Fordham community?

Some say yes.

“I have tried White Claw, but I definitely prefer Bon & Viv spiked seltzer. The flavors are so much better,” said Magee Snyder, FCRH ’20.

“To be honest I think White Claw is overrated.”

Interdonati agrees: “My favorite spiked seltzer is definitely Bon & Viv because they have super interesting and different flavors — pear elderflower is bomb.”

Only time will tell if this is all just hype. As Morra proposed, the popularity is “ridiculous.”

“Probably just a marketing scheme to create a supply shortage and increase demand,” she said.

If Fordham students are lucky, then White Claw will make a comeback in inventories around the area.

Based on the high demand, and on students likening seltzer to a new alternative to beer, spiked seltzers may have a permanent place in people’s coolers. White Claw, meanwhile, is still in a state of limbo on its own, leaving its number one spot vulnerable to competitors like Truly and Bon & Viv.

COURTESY OF TWITTER

Maggie Rothfus investigates the recent White Claw sparkling seltzer shortage as well as the response of the Fordham University community and why demand is so high in the first place.

K$upreme Flexes Fiendishly on “Caught Fire”

By PETER WHOULEY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

I first noticed K$upreme three years ago when I heard “Stack It Up,” a collaboration with Lil Yachty.

His woozy, casual flow grabbed my attention as I’d never heard someone with such a unique sound. His Instagram, full of photos of him wearing rare and expensive clothing and sneakers, has attracted a large following of fans. He has a remarkable collection of streetwear goods, some of which were released before his fans were even born. Combine this with his idiosyncratic rap style and you have a very intriguing figure.

A renowned flexer in the SoundCloud rap sphere, K$upreme has been on the scene for a while. First gaining notice as a member of Lil Yachty’s Sailing Team collective, it took him a lot of time and effort to surpass the limiting label of “Lil Yachty’s friend.”

As the collective began to disband, he started to receive major notice on his own with the release of his mixtapes “Flex Muzik” and “Flex Muzik 2,” which were both critically wellreceived.

Landing big-name features like Rich the Kid and Chief Keef brought K$upreme some notable success.

However, his true breakout moment came with the release of his first main-

stream hit, “GUCCI COLOGNE,” which dropped in 2018 and was shared on Instagram by the likes of Tyler, the Creator and Lil Pump. The music video for it has garnered more than 2.5 million views on YouTube.

His newest project, “Caught Fire,” released on Sept. 13, 2019 — Friday the 13th, mind you — has a slightly different feel than K$upreme’s past projects. A maker of self-described “flex music,” K$upreme’s past mixtapes almost felt like a conversation between friends as he described his exotic, flex-worthy lifestyle.

“Caught Fire” has a much more serious tone​to it, and very much feels as though K$upreme is announcing that not only is he one of the top

flexers in rap music, but also a star in his own right. With lyrics like “dropped Gucci Cologne, I caught fire” on the first track, logically named “CAUGHT FIRE,” it is clear that he is letting all of his listeners know that he is no longer a random SoundCloud rapper with ties to Lil Yachty.

K$upreme’s past projects have typically had several features, but not “Caught Fire.” In fact, “HOT HAM” is the only song with support. Lil Yachty features along with Chief Keef, someone he has cited many times as one of his biggest musical inspirations. It seems as though it was a calculated decision to go with fewer features on

this project, and very much a statement by K$upreme that he is his own artist and more than capable of producing hits unassisted.

Compared to the first mixtape, which was recorded in his friend's closet, K$upreme’s new production on “Caught Fire” has a much clearer sound.

The songs chosen for “Caught Fire” have all the staples of a K$upreme project: talking about fast cars, exotic marijuana, expensive jewelry and shopping at Saks.

But what's new is super-producer CHASETHEMONEY’s exclusively hard-hitting beats, which make “Caught Fire” my favorite K$upreme project by far.

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Page 14

September 18, 2019

Flushing, Queens: The Other Chinatown

By DEVAN VANDERPOEL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Being born in Singapore may not make me remotely Singaporean, but the coincidence of my birthplace has triggered a life-long affinity for Southeast Asian culture, people and, of course, the food. Therefore, the first place I dragged myself to when I moved to New York was Chinatown. Chinatowns, much like Starbucks, seem to be popping up all over the place. But I hadn’t lived near one since I was six years old — that is, if we count Singapore.

The most commonly known Chinatown in New York is located in the Lower East Side and has been the destination of choice for Chinese immigrants since the mid-eighteenth century. Somewhere around 70,000 to 150,000 people live there among hundreds of restaurants.

The subject of this article, however, will not be Chinatown. Rather, it will be Flushing — the bigger, better and downright sexier Chinatown of New York, located in northern Queens.

To talk about Flushing, you have to talk about Manhattan’s Chinatown first. In the last couple decades, a new wave of Chinese immigrants arrived in New York. But while the already-formed Chinatown consisted of mainly Cantonese speakers, this wave brought mostly Mandarin speakers. The resulting language barrier, as well as inflated housing prices in Manhattan, diverted many of the recent immigrants to Flushing, Queens, which soon picked up the name Little Taipei.

DEVAN VANDERPOEL FOR THE FORDHAM RAM

Flushing, Queens is the lesser-known Chinatown of New York City, but perhaps the better one.

Flushing is poorer and clearly less visited than the incredibly touristy Manhattan Chinatown, which is why it evokes a special charm that Manhattan has struggled to keep hold of in recent decades. It is more authentic and diverse than its Manhattan counterpart. The Chinese immigrants who moved to Flushing hail from all provinces of China and brought with them a plethora of cuisines. Groups of Koreans and Taiwanese people have also come to New York, many settling in Flushing.

As a result, it is not just Chinese food that made me fall in love with the area, but the wide selection of Korean, Taiwanese and Malaysian restaurants. In fact, my favorite restaurant in all of New York City is a small, unassuming Malaysian spot fittingly dubbed Malay Restaurant.

I’ve taken too many people there to count, most of whom had even never heard of or tried Malaysian food — it blew their culinary palettes away. The puny authority I have on the subject of Malaysian food — one backpacking trip in Borneo — compels me to recommend the chicken satay, which is skewered chicken with a mildly

spicy peanut sauce.

Another must-try is the beef rendang as well as the Asam Laksa, a spicy, sour rice noodle broth served with fish and a choice of an apple, pineapple or both. It is delicious and uniquely authentic. I was once asked by the people next to me if I like it because “most westerners don’t.”

The place opens at 11:00 a.m. and is usually packed with Malaysians, which is always a good sign.

Another place I like to take my lucky friends, or usually just my lonely, sad self, is the wonderful Shanghai You Garden. Experiences at Shanghai You Garden follow this general order: You get no less than three dishes each because they each cost around six or seven bucks, leading you to believe they'll be small.

After your food comes you realize how very wrong you were as three huge, albeit delicious, meals crowd the table. The surprises keep coming as the waiters bring traditional pork soup dumplings free of charge, as well as other random dishes. By the end of your meal, half-eaten plates span the entire table end-toend. You won’t like everything, but it will be an awesome experience and the insane kaleidoscope of food

you and your friends try should cost less than $15.

Another great restaurant, especially if you’re into eating desserts that look like potted plants, is Spot Dessert Bar. I confess, when I first stepped foot into the eatery, I was looking for a real bar, but was not entirely disappointed when I figured out that it serves some of the best and most Instagrammable desserts in the five boroughs.

The Thai-inspired menu showed off a number of enticing options, including but not limited to the Mango Tango; champagne-infused mango; and a warm, buttery bun served with coconut sticky rice and coconut ice cream. But for those of us who like to live on the edge, The Harvest is the only real option.

It looks like a potted plant, but is in fact a delicious dessert made of layers of berries, cheesecake, oreo crumbs with raspberry sorbet and a sweet earl grey milk tea that I hope was meant to be poured on top because that is what I did with it.

When it comes to drinks, Ten Ren on Roosevelt Avenue sells my favorite lychee bubble tea in a neighborhood with bubble tea at every second store.

Personally, I love Ten Ren because one of the cashiers accidentally filled out their loyalty card for me so I tend to go back hoping to catch him on his shift again. Oh, and their tea is excellent. That is the drinking you were thinking of, of course.

If you do plan a trip to Flushing, make sure you leave earlier rather than later. From Fordham, you can either take a combination of the Bx9 and the Q44 or the 7 train from Grand Central. Either way, it will take you an hour or so to get there. Because of the commute, it's best to do as much as possible while you’re there. Go to New World Mall on Main Street. Just do it. Hiding underneath it is a food court with 32 different ethnic food vendors serving inexpensive specialties from North to South East Asia.

Then head all the way up to the top floor, past dozens of other restaurants, and, if you’re lucky, you’ll get a glimpse of a Chinese wedding. Before you leave, you have to explore JMart, a huge Chinese supermarket on the first floor stocked with unfamiliar goods. If you like to cook, pick up a pack of dumpling wrappers, and try out something new at home.

I leave New York in three months, and Flushing, Queens, will be the neighborhood I miss the most, maybe because it reminds me of my childhood in Singapore. Many people, even lifelong New Yorkers, often fail to realize how special New York is, especially Queens.

NYC contains a massive variety of cultures and cuisines, so get off your couch, hop on the D train, and go somewhere.

Charli XCX's “Charli ” Expertly Blends Mainstream and Experimental Pop

By SHELBY DANIEL

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

UK-based singer Charli XCX is no stranger to the United States music charts. She has most famously played support on summer pop radio-friendly hits like 2012’s “I Love It” with Icona Pop and 2013’s “Fancy” with Iggy Azalea. Charli herself has not been fully able to integrate her experimental sounds into the pop mainstream. Instead, she has occupied a space on social media and Spotify reserved for experimental pop with a cult-like following.

“Charli” is only the third studio album in Charli XCX’s discography.

Her commitment to experimental sounds resulted in two extended

mixtapes in 2017 in the place of studio-produced LPs. Half a dozen songs from the new album were dropped as singles, and they left me excited but nervous with anticipation. It was unclear what exact tone Charli was aiming for on this studio release.

Leading up to the album's release, Charli adamantly expressed on social media the personal nature of her new songs. I was not exactly reassured by this sentiment when she released “Blame it On Your Love,” featuring newly-minted pop supernova Lizzo. The single reworked the ethereally experimental song “Track 10” from her last mixtape, “Pop 2,” into a more radio-friendly bubblegum hit. If this was the direction of

her new album, I was hesitant.

But then came the release of singles “Gone” and “February 2017,” featuring Christine and the Queens and Clairo and Yaeji, respectively. “Gone” marries vulnerability with a hard-hitting beat and dramatic percussion breakdown that makes me want to dance while angry-crying, reveling in both isolation and self-realization.

“I see myself, and I look scared and confused/Wait, did they just talk? Why is it too loud?/Do they wish to run through me?” are my favorite lyrics from the track. They convey the all-too-familiar college feeling of being stuck in a room full of people making you feel intensely unseen.

The less conventionally produced “February 2017” delivers lyrically what I find to be the best work on the album. On the surface of the short, dainty, bouncy electro track is a longing to repair a relationship after some serious missteps. When Charli sings, “Hope I get one more chance/Hope I get one more call/I only know what's good once I have lost it all,” you can feel her reveling in the mistakes of her past relationships.

Despite the personal intimacy of “Charli,” the body of work still includes party-goer anthems. “Click” features underground pop’s latest rising star Kim Petras and Estonian rapper Tommy Cash. The track celebrates luxurious squad-style party-

ing, and ends with a musical coda that can be closely equated to the sound of ice in a blender — and I absolutely adore it.

“Charli” presents the listener with a 15 track journey covering both personal relationship woes and party anthems all the same.

Personal vulnerability is enhanced with expertly placed features that somehow never feel overbearing or distract from Charli’s ownership of the album’s narrative.

In the end, I echo Charli XCX’s review of herself, which she wrote on Twitter: “CHARLI IS A 5 STAR ALBUM AND IM A SUPERNOVA — THATS THE ONLY REVIEW YOU NEED TO READ TBH.”

CULTURE

September 18, 2018

Page 15

Fordham Fashion Magazine Takes the Runway

By ALEXANDRA LANGE CONTRIBUTIUNG WRITER

Walking around the club fair during the first week of your freshman year can be an intimidating experience. With the seemingly infinite number of tables wrapped around Eddie's and enthusiastic club leaders screaming praises for their clubs, it can be difficult to find one that is a perfect fit. Last year, as a freshman, I experienced the frenzy of the club fair for the first time.

Hardly knowing anyone at Fordham, I felt the pressure to find a club that would give me the opportunity to meet new people and form lasting friendships. I was searching for something that meshed with both my social and extracurricular interests, yet also had the potential to benefit me in my future career.

As I perused the clubs along Eddie's, one in particular caught my eye: Mode. Its bright pink sign and spread of gorgeous magazines captured my attention, so I made my way to the table and signed up for the club.

Before attending the first club meeting, I had no idea what to expect and thought I wouldn’t have much of an opportunity to get really involved with the magazine since I was only a freshman. However, after I went to the first meeting, I realized I was completely wrong.

Just from the first few moments of the meeting, I discovered that the entire mission of Mode is to allow every member to express their creativity in whatever way possible, no matter your skills, age or interests.

Within the first few weeks of the

semester, I already had written an article that would later be published in the magazine and had developed close friendships with other members of the club.

As the year went on, more opportunities to get involved presented themselves, and I quickly jumped at the chance to put more of my personal stamp on the magazine. Since I have always loved English and reading, I excitedly joined the editing team and had the ability to evaluate others’ work and help perfect their pieces.

This not only benefited the quality of the final publication of the magazine but also made me a better writer as I made note of small changes that can ultimately transform your writing.

Later in the semester, I was still eager to get more involved, so I decided to join the layout team, even though I had no experience with layout or InDesign. However, Mode made it very

clear that no matter your experience, anyone is welcome to join the team by offering workshops in which more experienced members taught the basics of InDesign.

These workshops were extremely beneficial to me and piqued my interest in creative design and digital production.

Thanks to Mode, I have learned a number of skills that will benefit me in my professional career. It has even given me potential job and internship opportunities thanks to their LinkedIn group “Mode Magazine Networking Group: Alums and Current Members" in which alumni and current Mode members share internship and job opportunities for fashion and lifestyle.

Showing potential employers the finished product of Mode is such a satisfying experience know-

ing that every member puts their heart and soul into the magazine’s creation.

Being a part of Mode, though, is more than just writing articles or being involved in the magazine’s creation — it truly is a family in which everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves and speaking freely.

The expressive outlet Mode offers sets it apart from other clubs on Fordham’s campus. I appreciated the community of like-minded, unique individuals that make up the club, and I truly feel at home whenever I attend a Mode meeting.

Being a part of Mode has been one of my favorite experiences at Fordham, and I have honestly loved every moment of my time with Mode.

If you are interested in joining the Mode family, don’t hesitate to come to a meeting. They are usually on Mondays at 9:30 p.m. in Keating First Auditorium and are key to tak-

COURTESY OF MODE

Mode, a fashion publication at Fordham, allows members to showcase their artistic talents and writing abilities.

ing advantage of all the opportunities Mode gives you.

It may seem intimidating coming to a meeting without knowing what you are really getting into, so it is always beneficial to know a little background on the club before diving into their meetings.

To have a better understanding of Mode, you should know that it is a student-run magazine at Fordham University and highlights the unique fashion sense of students across campus.

The magazine is published once per semester, with a fall/winter edition released in early December and a spring/summer edition in late April.

Each edition of the magazine features multiple sections including fashion, beauty, arts and entertainment, love and relationships and lifestyle.

Student editors manage these sections, but the magazine is ultimately run by the editor-in-chief and the creative director, senior Mackenzie Merriman and junior Jeffrey Pelayo, respectively.

Along with the editors of the five sections, there is also a fundraising team, blog team, layout team, photo team and modeling team that are integral to the final publication of the magazine. As I found out last year, there truly is a place for everyone at Mode, no matter what your interests or talents are.

From the friendships I have made to the professional experience it has taught me, Mode is a club unlike any other. No matter who you are or what you are interested in, Mode has a place for you, so don’t miss out on being a part of the Mode family.

Splitting Up or Going the Distance

By ELIZABETH HAYWOOD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Before going off to college, many incoming freshmen in relationships feel pressure to break up with their significant other and enter college single, even those who have been in a relationship for years. Where is this pressure coming from?

The answer can be partially attributed to “hook-up culture,” the pervasive expectation that when you go out to a bar or to a party you will leave with someone and consensually hook-up.

Some people believe these experiences are necessary to immerse themselves in college life fully, and end relationships as a result.

It is not just to partake in the party scene that people decide to break up, however. Alexandra Danehy, FCRH `22, and her boyfriend of a little over a year initially decided to attempt a long-distance relationship; however, the two decided to breakup two weeks into freshman year.

“We knew the distance would make it challenging to see each other and within two weeks we both knew it was not going to work out,” she said when explaining her and her ex’s decision to end their relationship.

“There was already a lack of communication, and it was hard

to fully start a new life at Fordham knowing that a huge part of my life was in a different state.”

Danehy said she only regretted ending their relationship when “[she] did something or saw something [she] knew he would like, and couldn’t tell him about it like [she] used to be able to”— something that can be said about all breakups.

Starting college is new and exciting, and it can be difficult to immerse oneself in the experience when still holding on to parts of your former life. This is one reason couples decide to call it quits before starting school.

Some couples decide that they do, actually, want to continue to date long-distance while away at school. For instance, Michael Ryan, GSB `22, has been dating his current girlfriend since 2014, with the exception of a small break while he served in the Israeli Army for two years after high school graduation.

When asked how the two make their relationship work, Ryan said, “We usually try to visit each other every month and a half to two months.”

When asked what the biggest challenge of a long distance relationship was, Ryan answered, “Travel. We have to find a time that works for both of our schedules and then spend $300 for a three-day vacation, but it is always worth it.”

Ryan would not recommend en-

tering into a long-distance relationship before going to school unless you already know the person or have been dating for a while.

“I do it because I got lucky with my girl,” he said when explaining his reasons for still continuing a long-distance relationship. "In terms of the pressures of hook-up culture on his relationship,” Ryan explained.

“It was never and is still not an issue. I have less of a motivation to go out, which saves me money, and do not try to pursue anything with girls I meet in class or while I am out.”

There are certain benefits that can come from being in a long distance relationship with someone at a different school. “In my opinion, one of the benefits is wanting to see the person more, since it is usually much harder,” John Semararo, GSB '22, explained about his relationship.

“Although I would obviously want my relationship to be closer, like on campus, I would rather be happy in a long distance relationship as opposed to spending too much time with my girlfriend to the point where it takes away time from my guy friends.”

Finding a balance between a relationship, schoolwork and hanging out with friends is chal-

lenging enough as it is, so it is a slight benefit only to have to balance phone calls and Facetimes with a girlfriend or boyfriend at a different school.

Deciding to enter into college

single or continue a relationship is a personal preference, with some choosing to be single and others committing to long distance relationships that require they see their partners less often.

COURTESY OF SAMEER RAKHANI

Long-distance relationships can be positive for many college students.

CULTURE

Page 16

September 18, 2019

Anxieties Warm Along with the Climate On season two of the HBO series “Big Little Lies,” the main characters attend a meeting at their children’s school addressing the consequences of educating their children about climate change.

In class, the teachers taught the children about the impacts of climate change, resulting in one of the children having a panic attack.

Laura Dern’s character, Renata, berates the teachers for the lesson, but the teachers insist that the children are already “bombarded” by the constant headlines about the Earth’s endangered future,

and that it is their responsibility to help them understand it.

Although the show’s portrayal had a tongue-in-cheek nature, there is a growing occurrence of what has been coined “climate depression” or “climate grief.”

This refers to the detrimental impact of climate change on mental health. It’s on the rise, and with the bombardment of headlines readers see on a near daily basis, it is likely not going away any time soon.

It may seem exaggerated, but the constant stream of news ar-

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Global climate change has begun to take a toll on people ‘ s mental health.

ticles and alerts from various environmental organizations on the immense damage wreaking havoc on our planet has been affecting many individuals.

The Yale Program on Climate Change Communication conducted a survey in April 2019 that found 62% of Americans were at least “somewhat worried” about the climate and 23% were “very worried.”

The 24-hour news cycle and social media has escalated the coverage. Although it is great to have more awareness for such an important issue, there may come a point at which it does more harm than good.

One question that the “Big Little Lies” scene inspires is whether the younger generations are the most likely to worry.

There have been several studies focusing on the mental and emotional impact of climate change on children and adolescents in particular.

As with many other issues, teenagers have emerged at the forefront as activists for the fight against climate change. This may be in line with the cynicism of older generations compared to the passion for change found in younger groups, but it also may be a direct result of the fact that climate change will affect the younger generations more.

Their children and grandchildren will be the ones that suffer the worst, should nothing change.

While some young adults are deciding not to have children due to the bleak outlook of many climate change reports, younger generations do not want to have to make that sacrifice.

Many therapists have reported encountering the subject with their patients. In fact, the American Psychological Association even created a climate change guide for mental health professionals to help them in aiding climate-worriers as well as to promote awareness for the condition.

This may suggest that those who are already prone to anxiety are the most likely to suffer from this “climate depression.” The biggest fear highlighted by these individuals is a hopelessness about the future, feeling like the burden placed on the Earth is irreversible.

It is a situation that seems to be out of our control at this point. The fear of the drastic and potentially deadly consequences has caused mental distress symptoms to increase.

The weather changes that have occurred as a result of climate change have also contributed to worsened mental health. Global warming has led to higher temperatures, which has been shown to have a negative impact on an individual’s mental health.

This is in part due to exacerbating preexisting mental health conditions as well as adversely affecting the physical well-being of patients taking medication for their mental health. In addition, increased precipitation aggravates symptoms of depression and stress.

The extreme natural disasters that have risen in frequency due to climate change have caused catastrophe for millions. The loss of life, homes and communities has undoubtedly contributed to rates of depression and anxiety.

The anxiety of a changing climate and endangered future for the whole planet, though sometimes difficult to deal with, can lead to a positive force for change. The new generation that struggles from “climate grief” has especially taken on the responsibility of organizing a multitude of events to promote environmental awareness and protection.

As one teen activist, Grace Curley, explained to Willamette Week, "Our government needs to realize that we are the people who will experience the effects of climate change in the future.”

Perhaps the conversation about climate depression is one that will become an impetus to make a real difference.

The Under 15 Club: Rams Deli Plus

By CHRISTOPHER CAPUANO COLUMNIST

The Receipt 1x Chicken over Rice $5.00 1x Wise Honey BBQ Chips $0.50 1x Raspberry Arizona Iced Tea $1.00 Total: $6.50 The Review New York City may just be the most diverse city in the world, home to hundreds of languages and millions of people. Thanks to this diversity, the city overflows with culture. One aspect of NYC where this diversity of culture is known to shine is its food.

Throughout all five boroughs, food can be found from nearly every corner of the planet. But most college students simply do not have the means for frequent high-class establishments with menus curated by famous chefs from around the world.

Therefore, this column will focus on no-frills spots around NYC where delicious food can be acquired without breaking the bank. More specifically, you can go to any of the restaurants featured here and spend less than $15 to fill your stomach.

To start things off, it’s only right to feature an establishment that any

Fordham student will instantly recognize: Rams Deli Plus.

Better known as Rams, it is one of the two bodegas across East Fordham Road from Rose Hill, and, thus, it is incessantly compared to its down-the-road neighbor, Best Deli & Grill (I’ll leave myself out of the debate about which one is better, but you see that I have chosen to write about one and not the other).

Rams is open 24 hours a day; you’ll see why if you’re ever close by on a weekend between midnight and 3 a.m. Nico Riodan, FCRH `22, calls it “the best spot for a late-night sandwich,” and it seems that many people agree.

Most times of the day, Rams serves a mix of Fordham students, members of the Belmont community and others. One bite into anything on the menu makes it easy to understand its wide-ranging appeal.

Rams has a menu that will look familiar to anyone who has ever been in a bodega before: a wide array of sandwiches, burgers and the like, along with platters such as chicken over rice.

Matt Chang, FCRH `22, recommends the Downey or the Bronx classic chopped cheese but also advises, “If you want to switch it up, try the Burgerrito.”

Like most bodegas, there are more than enough options for you to find a favorite (I, too,

COURTESY OF RAM ARCHIVES

Rams Deli Plus, a 24-hour bodega on East Fordham Road is a staple in many Fordham students' diets.

endorse the Downey as a starting point). Most of it will run you well under $15, and each menu item has more than enough food to be considered a meal in itself. In other words, you will run out of room in your stomach before money in your wallet.

If you are somehow still hungry after a hero, however, Rams has plenty of snack and drink (alcoholic or otherwise) options, too, and it is relatively easy to stay within

a $15 budget even if you purchase food plus a bag of chips and a drink on the side.

For this review, I went with an order of chicken over rice (which includes peppers, onions, lettuce, tomato and white and hot sauce) with a bag of chips and a drink on the side. The delicious and filling food only set me back $6.50.

While most of this information is old news to anyone who has lived in the area for more than a couple of

weeks, I think it’s only right that the first edition of this column covers a Fordham favorite.

Rams’ name alone should indicate that it is just that. In case you need more convincing, stop by (at any hour of the day, I might add) and order anything from the menu. Chances are, you’ll understand why Rams has customers coming in all day and all night. Better yet, you won’t empty your wallet in the process.

CULTURE

September 18, 2019

Page 17

Editor’s Pick | Music

Chicago Duo Transcends Genre on Two Albums

By COLLIN BONNEL OPINION EDITOR

I spent much of this summer trying to expand my musical taste and find new artists.

While I was very successful and entered this school year with a newfound love for the music of Tame Impala, Pond, Vulfpeck and Glass Animals, Whitney stands out as my favorite discovery.

Whitney, an indie folk duo from Chicago, began as a project by two former members of the Smith Westerns, a garage rock band, after the Smith Westerns broke up.

Their first album, 2016’s “Light Upon the Lake,” signaled a vast departure from the sound of the Smith Westerns, with a heavy focus on relaxed folk.

Many of the songs on their first album include a liberal use of horns and what sounds like a pedal steel guitar. The entire album is also cast in a blended sound which makes it resemble Bon Iver’s early albums.

Whitney’s second album, “Forever Turned Around,” was released on Aug. 30, 2019, and represents a further embrace of this approach to folk.

While often simplistic, Whitney’s music is extremely versatile. I find it interesting that I first discovered them through my psychedelic playlist on Spotify rather than through my folk playlist.

As soon as I heard the recom-

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek started the band Whitney, following the break up of the band Smith Westerns.

mended song, a cover of Glen Campbell’s classic “Southern Nights,” I added it to my psychedelic, indie and folk playlists.

I rarely put songs on multiple playlists, but the sound of the track blends so well with each of these genres.

Whitney’s strategic use of instruments, ranging from horns to keyboards to acoustic guitars allows their sound to blend within multiple genres.

At the same time, the band employs these instruments

in such a way that they retain a sense of simplicity.

The subject matter of the songs on “Light Upon the Lake,” range from the disillusioned narrative of “No Woman,” which details the protagonist’s flight to California and a road trip across the state after a break up, to the nostalgia of “Golden Days,” which contemplates the narrator’s desire to return to a past relationship.

Whitney’s second album tones the narrative nature of their music back a bit in favor

of simplicity and fewer lyrics.

“Forever Turned Around” has a more consistent theme centered on perseverance, with “Giving Up” expressing a desire to struggle through the lows of life, and “Valleys (My Love)” focusing on the protagonist’s desire to adapt to the changes around him.

The album is more homogeneous and relaxed than “Light Upon the Lake,” yet I think it holds up better because of its more minimalist sound and lucidity.

While many of the songs on

“Forever Turned Around” only include two stanzas separated by a recurring chorus, this lack of lyrical content enriches the song and adds to its value as background noise.

The long instrumentals between stanzas also allow the listener to focus on the melody of the songs and reflect upon the album’s theme of perseverance and cycles.

One of the reasons I love folk music is that songs from artists like Whitney don’t require our immediate attention, and allow listeners to focus on other tasks without being disrupted by some vast change in the music.

Whitney’s new album is great in this regard, as it doesn’t demand our attention in the same way that recent works from other folk musicians do.

“Forever Turned Around” comes at a time when many folk musicians are trying to embrace a more electric and complicated sound, and Whitney’s decision to reject this trend and embrace a simplistic approach to music shows the value of their minimalist style.

The band is continuing to make great and relaxed background noise at a time when such music is hard to come by.

Whitney is all the better for their decision to embrace simplicity, and “Forever Turned Around” stands out as a testament to the duo’s ability to produce great folk music.

Three Celebrity Collections End NYFW With a Bang

By NORA HAYES

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The end of New York Fashion Week, Fall 19 was indicative of the changes happening within the industry, namely runway alternatives and a push toward diversity.

A constellation of star-studded showcases including Zendaya, Serena Williams and Rihanna, the celebrity it-girls of NYFW 19, helped accomplish these revolutions. Williams debuted her first original collection, Rihanna’s SavagexFenty returned for a sequel, while ZENDAYAXTOMMY kissed the runway goodbye.

ZENDAYAXTOMMY, Zenda-

ya’s collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger, was a blowout success.

The collection was an unmistakable ode to the 1970s, featuring loud patterns, bold textures and multiple menswear-inspired pieces.

Zendaya is known for rocking a perfectly-tailored power suit, so it came as no surprise that her Fall 2019 collection included killer jackets and trousers.

The business-casual look is hot right now, and Zendaya turned the temperature up with her chic sets for in and out of the boardroom.

She sported a sexy snake print suit while her co-conspirator Hilfiger sat clad in black and white gingham. Her fel-

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

Zendaya teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger for the show ZENDAYAXTOMMY .

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

Rhianna sports lingerie from her SavagexFenty collection, which will stream on Amazon Prime on Sept. 20

low "Euphoria" cast members sat in the front row enthusiastically cheering on the models.

Although this is the last we will see of ZENDAYAXTOMMY, Zendaya is surely not jumping ship on the fashion industry. The style icon had a wildly successful year with the release of "Spiderman: Far From Home" and the hit HBO show "Euphoria." 2019 propelled Zendaya into superstardom, and she has every intention of maintaining that status.

The SavagexFenty show will be available to stream on Amazon Prime on Sept. 20, and sneak peeks from the show did not disappoint. Rihanna is capitalizing on the move away from the runway.

The singer turned fashion mogul certainly did not forget her roots as a performer in planning the concept for her lingerie

show. The show featured Rihanna surrounded by her models dancing on staggered platforms in a music-video esque showcase. A$AP Ferg, Tierra Whack and Migos were some of the big name artists who provided the live soundtrack to the show.

Diversity is always at the core of Rihanna’s makeup and apparel ventures, reflecting her commitment to inclusive lingerie. Victoria’s Secret should take notes if they want to keep their reign on the lingerie industry.

Serena Williams has made a name for herself in the fashion world as of late. She won the U.S. Open last August in a black tutu designed by Virgil Abloh.

Her neon yellow Versace Met Gala gown paired with Off-White Nike Air Force One sneakers made a statement this May. S

by Serena was a celebration of

women like herself who break barriers and cause controversy.

The collection featured animal prints and lively colors much like ZENDAYAXTOMMY. The pieces draw from `90s street style, a trend that has had a hold on the runway for quite some time. Williams’ purple zebra print and neon green trench coats are not for women who tend to stay quiet.

A wide range of sizes was also the hallmark of S by Serena, ensuring women of all body types and builds feel included.

The week was a huge step off the beaten path. Celebrities wowed with original collections while designers exhibited more socially-aware shows.

The very fabric of the fashion show is changing rapidly.

Spring 2020 in New York is bound to showcase even more originality and innovation.

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Page 18

September 18, 2019

Who’s That Kid? | It’s Evan Jaenichen, FCRH ’20!

Senior Stumbles On His Future in Philosophical Ethics

By JIMMY SULLIVAN SPORTS EDITOR

Evan Jaenichen, FCRH `20, will be leaving Fordham in May with a very different career path than the one he envisioned a couple of years ago.

Jaenichen, originally from Long Island, wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to do entering college.

He initially wanted to become a physician’s assistant or physical therapist.

He planned on joining the pre-med program but decided

COURTESY OF EVAN JAENICHEN/ THE FORDHAM RAM

Senior Evan Jaenichen has found his passion working at WFUV.

against it because he knew he ultimately wouldn’t be interested.

“I had worked with a physical therapist that summer, and while I enjoyed it at times, it was not something I could have seen myself pursuing,” Jaenichen said.

So, in his sophomore year, Jaenichen was back at square one. In February 2018, he chose new media and digital design as his major, but he still didn’t know what he wanted to do or where he wanted to go with said major.

He took a philosophical ethics class his senior year and happened to meet Charlie Maisano, FCRH `20, who is currently the sports manager at WFUV. The two became friends, and Jaenichen wandered into a new passion in just about the last way you could imagine: watching a Mets game on his laptop.

“Charlie and I talked, and eventually he told me about all of the cool stuff WFUV students get to do, which I never really knew about. So I basically said, ‘What the hell!’ and signed up for the trainee program the following semester, since it sort of pertained to my major and I love sports.”

Armed with this knowledge and sudden change of direction, Jaenichen got to work, involving himself in podcasts, beat report-

ing and production at the station.

Soon, he became a WFUV beat reporter for NYCFC, one of two local Major League Soccer teams.

He also got involved in video training at the station and, due to his proficiency in that medium, was named WFUV Sports’ video coordinator this past April.

In the span of less than a year, he went from questioning his future to creating it.

“I would have to say that the most rewarding part of working there is the process of completing a daunting project, and then getting to see the final product,” he said. “The station has made me more of a perfectionist, and in many rights, I attribute that to both Charlie and Bob [Ahrens, WFUV Sports’ executive producer.] I'm sure most students would say the same about working on any project with Bob Ahrens. However, the end product is very rewarding.

And you get to learn so much!”

One of those daunting projects was a July trip to Cooperstown, N.Y., where he got to witness the Baseball Hall of Fame induction of former Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, the first unanimous inductee in the Hall’s history.

His latest undertaking is videography for Fordham Football,

posting highlights of the game along with WFUV’s radio calls.

Jaenichen is having a good time with what he is doing right now, but in eight months, he’ll be launched into the real world with the rest of the class of 2020.

No matter how accomplished your college career is, graduating is bound to come with anxiety and concern. Nonetheless, Jaenichen has a far better idea of what he wants to do than he did just over a year ago.

“After graduation, I would love to work in sports in pretty much any capacity,” he says. “One thing that I have really found a passion for is video production, especially special projects that involve a degree of thinking and foresight.

In that respect, it would be really cool to work somewhere that I can be creative with video production, or even just be involved in live production, as it is also a kind of art in its own right.”

No matter what he does, the senior just wants to have fun and be happy.

“Overall, I am just looking for something I can find enjoyment out of,” Jaenichen says.

Jaenichen has found his direction and his passion. He has come a long way from watching the Mets in philosophical ethics.

Fordham Ram Crossword:A New Beginnng 1. Where Cleopatra may take her Khufu for a cruise 5. South Korean Singer from 2012 8. Home of Robin Sparkles 14. Latin eye minus “us” 15. Something that prefaces an alias 16. Dracula does this when the sun goes down 17. Largest waterfall in the world, named after a queen 19. Actress that played Aunt May 20. A charged atom or molecule 21. Pixar movie where you may find Snipes while exploring the wilderness.

22. Soccer commentator's “zero” 23. Noon’s counterpart 28 passive response 30. Collect $200 for passing this square 31. After B.C 33. Greatest American cycler who had a fall from grace 37. Brad’s costar in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” 39. League the Mets are in, abbr.

41. Japanese Mafia 42. Popular character from “Van derpump Rules ” 44. Popular sports attire brand, (abbv.)

46. “Whatever you like” Rapper 47. Prince of Bismarck and first chancellor of the German Em pire 50. Greek god of the sun 53. Describe yourself 55. Knight’s title 56. What senior citizens need when they have fallen and can't get up

60. Combine with 53 across and you get a viral internet joke 61. Goes with like for a simile AS 62. Model of iPhone 63. St. Charles' Surname 67. Web address 69. A southern mother 71. What you say when you drop your ice cream 72. “Ray” plus popular reddit question format.

75. Actress who took a fall at the 2013 Oscars 80. Done in a spooky way 81. Suffix with “ranch.“ 82. Tyler the Creator album 83. A furry South American pack animal 84. When you change the DNA of a carrot it is a 85. Owner of a popular chain of hardware stores Down 1. Scorpio month abbr. and Sagi tarius 2. Here, in French 3. The types of dreams Juice WRLD has 4. Rocket Man 5. Something Happy Gilmore aims for 6. Go down the slopes 7. Grammatically incorrect affir mation 8. Childish Gambino's first al bum 9. First three letters of 16 across 10. An association that the Prop erty Brothers may be a part of.

11. Related by blood 12. An architects purpose 13. Clocks with hands 18. Ogre’s are like these accord ing to Shrek (singular).

MADE BY KEVIN DINEEN

Across

ANSWERS IN ISSUE 14

23. Starcourt complex in Stranger Things 24. “Light bulb” 26. Response to a good meme 27. Sample 28. Nickname for a famous or phan mouse 29. Rice but Italian and big ger 34. Yoga equipment 35. Aquatic boarding activity 36. Please brother may I have some 38. Snowman who enjoys the s um

mertime 40. Break in the action 43. The peak 45. Not a lager 48. What McConaughey would say is a Flat Circle in “True Detec tive.”

49. Milk’s favorite cookie 51. Canoe necessity 52. The Fushigi ball is one of these 54. A goof 56. Sounds like Yanny, to some 57. Jordan's neighbor 58. Goes with fro 65. Last name of an Irish lad or

lass 66. Name of the giant ginger bread man from “Shrek 2 ” 68. Constellation named after a stringed instrument 69. Deceased television salesman Billy 73. Ready, _____, Fire 74. Teachers require this format 75. Where your tibia is 76. Like 75 across but with a dif ferent thing on the end 77 What you may say on a roller coaster 78 Barnyard Bovine 79 Before, poetically

SPORTS

September 18, 2019

Page 19

Women’s Soccer Still Beyond the Scoreboard: New Fair Pay to Play Act Finally Looking for Answers on Offense Puts NCAA on the Clock

By ANDREW POSADAS

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Last Wednesday, Senate Bill 206, known as the Fair Pay to Play Act, was passed by the California state Senate unanimously by a tally of 39-0. SB 206 would essentially give student athletes the opportunity to finally benefit financially from the use of their names and images while playing in college.

Now, the bill is destined for California Gov. Gavin Newsome’s desk. In the next 30 days, Newsome will have the final say in deciding whether or not to sign the bill into law. If he were to sign off on the bill, college athletics as we know it would set an irrevocable precedent in favor of its players.

Right on cue, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has made it clear that its interests lie within the organization and not for the studentathletes it represents.

On the same day the Fair Pay to Play Act was passed by the Senate, the NCAA took it upon itself to send a letter to Gov. Newsome, urging him and the state to reconsider passing the bill. Their reason? The NCAA believes it to be unconstitutional, saying the act “uphends the balance of natural competition in college sports.”

Unfortunately, the NCAA fails to mention one slight problem to its argument: the natural competition in college sports has already been compromised and continues to be unbalanced, particularly in college football and basketball.

For example, the University of Clemson, college football’s reigning national champions, put $55 million dollars into its football facilities back in 2017. In each of the two years since, Clemson has been in the top-three in recruiting high school players to its football program.

A coincidence? I think not.

When elite high school football prospects visit Clemson, their ex-

pectations may be to see a locker room and workout area that contends with every program in the country. What may pleasantly shock them is that Clemson’s facilities also includes an indoor slide, bowlings alleys and even a miniature golf course. As someone who has been around the athletic facilities here at Fordham, I can assure you we do not have those extra luxuries when recruiting student athletes to Rose Hill.

No, not even a mini-golf course located somewhere behind Rose Hill Gym or Jack Coffey Field.

In college basketball, teams like Duke University and the University of Kentucky have snagged a majority of top high school prospects with the extra amenities offered at their respective facilities. They include things such as first-class, airplane-like luxury chairs with every locker and LED screens that fill the walls of their hallways. Even something as superfluous as a multi-million dollar water fountain at the facility entrance is common for major university programs in its pitch to recruit players.

Knowing this, the NCAA has yet to answer the most prevalent question surrounding college athletics: if there are millions of dollars being generated at these top athletic universities, why can’t student athletes be compensated sufficiently in order to maintain everyday expenses?

Former University of Florida Gators quarterback and now an analyst for ESPN, Tim Tebow, went on ESPN’s First Take to discuss his displeasure with the bill.

Tebow states that never once did he ever want to profit from his likeness while at Florida, where his jersey was one of the top-selling in the country. Tebow went on to say, “Yes, I know we live in a selfish culture, where it’s all about us, but we’re just adding and piling on to that.” Tebow spoke passionately about how his family wanted him to go Florida, it be-

ing his grandfather’s dream to see him win a SEC championship for the Gators.

Unfortunately, here lies the problem with Tebow’s perspective on the matter. In this situation, his view is clearly in the minority of how other former star college athletes think about players being paid. Former University of Georgia tight end and NFL pro-bowler Benjamin Watson had a perfect response to Tebow’s opinion, saying the Fair Pay to Play Act should have an “opt out clause” for those like Tebow who do not require the financial benefit and play because “they love the game!”

The truth is that a majority of the elite high school student athletes come from poorer, urban areas where financial support is scarce. In most cases, these young men and women are playing their respective sport not just because they love doing it, but because it is their only ticket to a better life for themselves.

Plain and simple, not every prospective athlete in college is born into financial privilege. This is something the NCAA continues to avoid addressing, while the revenue from said athletes continues filling its pockets with each sporting event.

Towards the end of its letter to Gov. Newsome, the NCAA concluded this new bill ultimately eliminates California’s 58 schools who play under the association, saying, “these outcomes are untenable and would negatively impact more than 24,000 California student-athletes across three divisions.”

How could potentially paying 24,000 athletes for the money that they help their respective universities earn every year have a negative impact? Seems like the NCAA’s true motive is to have their proverbial cake, eat it gluttonously and not pay anything for it at all.

COURTESY OF FLICKR

The Fair Pay to Play Act benefits both the NCAA and its student athletes, yet the NCAA is unwilling to play ball.

By CHARLIE MAISANO STAFF WRITER

The out-of-conference schedule for the Fordham women’s soccer team is nearing an end, and the team has dealt with some tough competition to date.

This past week, the Rams faced off against the Yale Bulldogs and the Syracuse Orange. Both games were away. Following the team’s tie against Lehigh on Sept. 8 at Jack Coffey Field, their record was 1–4–1 and they looked to gain any possible momentum before Atlantic-10 play begins this week.

The first matchup against Yale last Thursday night started off on a bad note. In a high-pressure first half, where Yale only outshot Fordham 5–4, the Bulldogs scored two goals off of mistakes by the Rams. Ellery Winkler broke the ice for Yale after she intercepted a careless pass and scorched one from the top of the box past Rams senior goalie Kelly LaMorte. It was Winkler’s fourth goal of the season.

In the 42nd minute, Mia Grillo notched her first goal of the season off a header, thanks to a cross in the box by teammate Saje Brar.

Grillo was open in the box because she was unmarked, which made it easy for her to score.

“I thought we played very well against Yale,” said head coach Jessica Clinton. “It may have been our best soccer to date as we were solving problems, holding on to the ball and possessing well. Yale caught us on two of our own mistakes, but those are fixable mistakes.”

The Rams were unable to get anything going in the second half, and ultimately, fell to the Bulldogs, 2–0. That dropped their record to 1–5–1 and improved Yale’s record to 3–2–0.

The bus rides didn’t end there, as Fordham hopped right back on and headed north to face Syracuse on Sunday afternoon. Entering the day, the Atlantic Coastal Conference squad had a long bus

ride of their own during the week.

They fell to St. John’s in Queens, 1–0, on Thursday night, extending their losing streak to four games. Both teams were working hard to get into the win column.

While the Orange had plenty of opportunities to end their streak, the Rams defense and LaMorte had other plans. LaMorte made a career-high nine saves and held Syracuse scoreless the entire game. The Rams wouldn’t capitalize on either though, as the day ended in a scoreless tie. It was LaMorte’s 13th career shutout and is only one behind Megan Fitzgerald (16), for third all-time in program history.

“She put us in a position to be successful, but so did our defensive unit,” said Clinton. “The best part is, what we are seeing, is that our back line, defensively, is starting to come together.”

Up next, the Rams play one more road game at Stony Brook and then return home on Sunday for their first A-10 matchup of the year against St. Bonaventure.

With the out of conference schedule on the verge of conclusion and the Rams’ record sitting at 1-5-2, Clinton believes there were plenty of positives for making the schedule as rough as it was.

“The goal was to have the team be uncomfortable in the beginning, where it became the norm,” said Clinton. “Thus far, how we are finishing the non-conference portion, despite the results when we’ve been exposed, we’ve dealt with it and have worked on those details. This is the toughest nonconference schedule that I believe the program has seen in quite some time. Hopefully, we get to move forward and see some success in conference play that will lead us to the postseason.”

The A-10 Tournament is a long way away, but clearly Clinton has a lot of confidence moving forward, and her team is making strides to be the best team possible come November.

JULIA COMERFORD/THE FORDHAM RAM

Fordham Women’s Soccer has been held scoreless in its last three outings.

SPORTS

Page 20

Water Polo Continues Success at Princeton Invitational

September 18, 2019

Cross Country Competes at NYIT

By SABRINA BOYD

By JIMMY SULLIVAN

Fordham University Water Polo had an impressive showing at the Princeton Invitational in Princeton, New Jersey this past weekend, increasing the team’s overall season record to 5–2. The Rams started off with a 12–9 victory on Saturday night against Santa Clara.

On Sunday, the Rams finished 1–1, winning 14-10 against St. Francis Brooklyn but ultimately falling short to Harvard with an 11–8 loss.

Fordham was off to a strong start against Santa Clara, showcasing their offensive star power. The 1st period remained close with the score tied up at 3–3 before Fordham scored two consecutive goals and retained a 5–4 edge by the half. Fordham then scored four unanswered goals in the third period, before tacking on two more in the 4th to cement their victory. Sophomore Dimitris Koukias had four goals, tying his 2018 season-high for goals in one game. Senior Jake Miller-Tolt made his contribution with three goals and five assists.

Junior Phillip Wang and senior Joseph Agabs scored two apiece, and senior Oscar Nomura rounded out the scoring with one goal. Sophomore goalkeeper Bailey O’Mara had a solid outing as well, with eight saves in net. The final score was 12–9 in favor of the Rams.

The Rams continued their winning record with an exciting victory over the 17th-ranked St. Francis team. The Rams had a solid 10–6 by the half. The St. Francis Terri-

Both the Fordham men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at this weekend’s NYIT Invitational, hosted by the New York Institute of Technology, in Old Westbury, N.Y. The men’s team raked in a secondplace finish, trailing only Seton Hall, while the women finished fourth behind Seton Hall, St. Thomas Aquinas and USMMA. On the men’s side, the team was led by junior William Whelan, who finished seventh in the 8K race with a time of 23:34.26. Fordham finished in each position seventh through tenth, as three of Whelan’s teammates — freshman Ryan Fahey (23:52.48), junior Patrick Norako (23:52.78) and junior Dylan Serino (23:56.72) — rounded out the top 10. Also competing for the Rams was sophomore Patrick Tuohy, who finished the race in a time of 24:17.75, good for 17th place in the event.

“As a runner for over seven years, it always feels great when your summer training starts to pay off,” Whelan says. “I knew going into the NYIT Invitational I was one of the fastest runners, and I could score low for Fordham. Placing seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth is a great sign, but the competitiveness in me thinks we could have been lower.”

Moving over to the women’s team, sophomore Bridget Alex had her second straight solid performance, crossing the finish

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SPORTS EDITOR

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Fordham Water Polo moved to 5-2 after this weekend’s matches in New Jersey.

ers fought back in the 3rd, tying the game up at 10–10, but Fordham pulled ahead with four unanswered scores and led by 15–12 at the end of the third. The Rams solidified their lead 19–13 early in the 4th quarter. Jake Miller-Tolt was an offensive nightmare for the Terriers, scoring a career-high nine times and adding four assists.

Dimitris Koukias also dominated offensively, scoring five. Bailey O’ Mara had a stellar appearance in goal, tallying 16 saves and adding on two steals for the game. The Rams triumphed over The Terriers with a 19–14 win, bringing their record to 5–1 overall by Sunday afternoon.

The Fordham winning streak finally came to an end with a loss against 12th-ranked Harvard to conclude their Invitational showing. The Rams put up a fight

against the Crimson, keeping the game close until the end. Harvard led 3–1 in the 1st, increasing their lead to three goals with a 6–3 score by the half. The Rams then outscored Harvard 3–1 in the 3rd, coming within one goal of the Crimson with a 7–6 score.

But Harvard was able to maintain the lead and increase it in the 4th, making it a three-goal difference.

Dimitris Koukias led the Rams with five goals. Joseph Agabs had two goals and Jake Miller-Tolt tacked on one. Ultimately, Harvard came away with the 11–8 win.

Overall, Fordham Water Polo had a lot to be proud of coming out of the Princeton Invitational.

The Rams will return to the water on Sept. 21, when they travel to Lewisburg, Penn. for the Bison Invitational. Their first game will be at 1 p.m. against Bucknell.

line before of any other female Ram in 20:09.85. Junior Bridget White placed 19th in 21:29.06 while sophomores Jill Jones and Angelica Piccini finished 27th and 28th, respectively, with times of just over 22 minutes. Junior Julia Herms also placed for Fordham, crossing the finish line in a time of 22:18.65.

This was the second event of the regular season for the Rams, after last week’s Fordham Fiasco, in which both the men’s and women’s teams came in fifth place. Fordham will have a return home of sorts this coming week, as the Rams will compete in the Paddy Doyle Invitational this coming Friday; however, Fordham will not be hosting. Instead, Iona College will be hosting the event, even though it will be held here in the Bronx, at Van Cortlandt Park.

“We are a strong group of athletes, and starting this crosscountry season, we have been holding each other more accountable for small things like stretching, core and other important priorities that may be overlooked,” Whelan says. “With that being said, running more tight as a pack during workouts may give us very similar feel to when it comes time to race, and when the time comes to race, we will used to seeing, pacing and running next to each other, whether ahead or behind, and start to pick off other runners.”

Fordham will look forward to doing that this Friday.

Women’s Tennis Competes at Columbia Invitational

By MATT WEST

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Fordham women’s tennis team looks to improve off last year’s campaign in which it finished 11–11, which was good for eighth in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Rams kicked off their 2019-20 season competing at the Columbia Invitational, where senior Maia Balce led the way for the team by winning the Nassau Draw. She started off the competition strong with a 6–1, 6–3 victory over Katerina Atallah from Colgate. Balce then went on to defeat Columbia’s Yekaterina Alferova and continued her dominance, storming her way to the championship round. There, she won the draw with a decisive 6–4, 7–3 win over Columbia’s Ari Pollack, capturing the championship.

In the Westchester Draw, Rachelle Yang came out victorious in the consolation final. She began the tournament with a disappointing 6–3, 6–4 loss to LIU’s Ekaterine Jorjoliani. In her next match against Rebecca Wolf from Colgate she won in a hard-fought tiebreaker 7–5, 7–6, 11–9, and then defeated Briana Omar from NJIT in the consolation final 6–3, 7–5, 11–9.

In the Bronx draw, Avery Aude faced off against LIU’s Victoria Erechtchenko in a 6–1, 7–5 victory. However, she could not repeat her success from the first game in her second-round matchup, where Aude lost to Harvard’s

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Fordham Women’s Tennis started its 2019-20 season this past weekend by competing at the Columbia Invitational.

Sophia Ho 6–1, 7–5. She then advanced to the third round, but the match was not played due to unknown circumstances.

Junior Arina Taluyenko returned from an outstanding sophomore season where she

was named first team All-Atlantic 10 and got off to a fast start in the Brooklyn Draw with a 6–3, 6–4 win over Alejandra Ruffini of Hofstra. Taluyenko headed into a second-round battle with Akanksha Bhan from Columbia

where she lost 6–0, 7–6. However, she was able to bounce back in her third-place matchup where she showed off her incredible her power which propelled her to victory over NJIT’s Joleta Budiman, 6–2, 7–5 to finish in third place.

In the Manhattan Draw, Valeria Deminova followed Taluyenko with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Hofstra’s Jasmine King. Deminova then went into a tough second round matchup against Harvard’s Mihaela Marculescu but lost 6–3, 7–6. In her third and final game Deminova found herself in a hole early, losing the first set to Oceane Garibal of St. Johns. Despite this, her resiliency was put on full display, as she managed to win the second set 7–5, and the tiebreaker 10–4 to secure a thirdplace finish.

Sophomore Genevieve Quenville got off to a shaky start, dropping the first set 6–3 to NJIT’s Shamika Dhar, but bounced back by winning the second set 6–3.

Dhar took the tiebreaker 12–10.

In Quenville’s second match she came out victorious against Columbia’s Melissa Sakar, winning 7–6, 2–6, 11–9. In the consolation final Quenville came up short against Camila Ordonez of St. John’s 6–3, 6–2 to finish in third place.

With some success this past weekend the team looks to capitalize on the momentum and carry it into the next tournament.

The Rams are back to business this Friday, Sept. 20 as they begin play at the Cassie Leary Invitational at the University of Pennsylvania.

SPORTS

September 18, 2019

Kevin Durant Deserves Your Respect

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Kevin Durant was widely and wrongly reviled for joining the Warriors in 2016.

By ALEX WOLZ

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

One of the most polarizing moves in professional sports history came on July 5, 2016, when NBA superstar Kevin Durant signed with the Golden State Warriors. After losing to the Warriors in a seven-game series in the Western Conference Finals with the Thunder, Durant followed the age-old phrase “if you can’t beat them, join them.” Similar to Lebron James in 2014, Durant received an abundance of criticism from fellow players, general managers, fans and analysts throughout the world, with notorious ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith going as far as calling Durant’s decision the “weakest move I’ve ever seen from a superstar.” Durant changed the landscape of the NBA, and to seemingly everyone outside of the Bay Area, that was a problem.

In all the frustration, there was no consideration of Durant making a decision in which he put himself first, regardless of what everyone would think. Instead, he received nothing but criticism from people who put their own interests before those of Durant himself.

Now, three years later, Durant has made another move in his career, leaving the Warriors and joining Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets. The reaction this time has been the opposite of 2016, as Durant has made a decision which satisfied fans of the league. Recently, Durant spoke out for one of the first times following his move to Brooklyn and provided some important comments to the Wall Street Journal about his deci-

sions and the toxic environment of the NBA. These are points that very few professional athletes are willing to examine but need to be discussed.

In the article, “Kevin Durant’s New Headspace,” Durant shifts the focus away from himself and chooses to analyze the toxic nature of the NBA, particularly in its fanbases, management and what Durant refers to as the “circus of the NBA.” Perhaps, most notably, Durant discusses how the league is often concerned about the mental health of professional athletes, but that lens is rarely turned around to those involved in the sport in other ways. The powerhungry nature of management and the entitled feelings of fanbases are significant mental health issues that are never discussed. People have developed an unhealthy relationship with the business of basketball, so much so that it has taken away from the joy that someone like Durant has always felt playing the game.

In speaking about his time with the Warriors, Durant said, “It didn’t feel as great as it could have been,” largely as a result of the massive amount of criticism revolving around his decision and the ways in which he navigated the politics of the NBA. People should celebrate the abbreviated run of one of the greatest dynasties in basketball history, as the Warriors advanced to three consecutive NBA Finals with Durant, winning two championships. Furthermore, it cannot be denied that the Warriors are an absolute joy to watch and a team that plays basketball with its entire roster in one of the purest forms, unlike the isolation basketball

of so many other teams in the league.

But ever since the arrival of Durant, there has been nothing but frustration with the Warriors amongst those involved with the NBA. One striking example of the unhealthy behavior of fans comes from Durant’s 2016 departure from Oklahoma City, the franchise that he grew up with since he was drafted in 2007, when the team was in Seattle and known as the Supersonics.

Durant poured countless amounts of time and money into Oklahoma City, yet after making his decision to leave, this relationship devolved into one of completed hatred. Durant recalls “people coming to my house and spray-painting on the for sale signs around my neighborhood” and “burning my jerseys and calling me all types of crazy names.” People chose to degrade a person as an individual because of a decision made in a career, completely negating all the dedication Durant showed to the city for many years and destroying him for making a decision with which they did not agree.

Though he initially planned on rejoining years down the road, this disturbing behavior has caused Durant to lose all sense of attachment to Oklahoma City due to a loss of trust amongst fans and ownership.

This distant positive relationship was nothing personal, but, rather, just business. Upon his departure all that love instantly disappeared, and everything he did for the community for almost a decade meant nothing.

Durant had become an enemy.

People do not have to agree with the decisions professional athletes make in their careers, such as Kevin Durant choosing to join the Golden State Warriors, but these decisions need to be respected. People, particularly fanbases, need to lose the sense of entitlement they place on athletes and instead must encourage players to make decisions that best support themselves and their own interests before those of anyone else.

Most importantly, fans need to stop criticizing, berating, insulting and completely degrading athletes because of the decisions they make in their careers.

To dislike a decision is one thing, but to criticize someone as an individual is something far worse. This practice has become far too common in the sports world of today, and there is perhaps no one better to speak of it than Kevin Durant. It is incredibly important that he did, and regardless of whether you like him or not, we should all take a listen.

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Email: fordhamramsports@gmail.com

Page 21

Golf Finishes 14th at Hartford Invite

By CHRIS HENNESSY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The Fordham golf team traveled up to Bull’s Bridge Golf Club in South Kent, Conn. for their second tournament of the season, placing 14th out of 16 teams in the 54-hole event. The Rams were led by Anthony Wells and Chan Park, who posted matching scores of 234 over the three rounds, with Park posting the low round of the event for the Rams, an even par-72 during the first round on Monday. This was another step for the Rams towards improving their young players, like the freshman Park, and their results from last year.

In the 2018 season, the Rams placed 17th out of 20 at Bull’s Bridge, so they showed no improvement this week, still third from last in the tournament.

The University of Central Florida won the tournament with an 840, 16 shots above second place Texas Christian, and 109 shots better than the Rams. The lowest individual score belongs to Wenliang Xie of Seton Hall, who posted a 10-under par 206, with all three rounds coming under par.

Chan Park has become an important player for the Rams early in his career at Rose Hill, as he placed T-1 amongst the Rams this week and came two shots short of first for Fordham last week. Park will have to continue to play well in order for Fordham to place well this season and in the future. Park’s even par-72

in the early session on Monday provides hope for Coach Paul Dillon for the future. Park’s placements are promising especially because of his young age. He has only played in these two events in his college career and is already impressive. As he becomes more comfortable with the college game and the pressure that goes along with it, he will only score better, leading to better finishes for the Rams. I predict he will become the number one player on the Rams within this season, if he is not already.

The next event for the Rams is this Saturday and Sunday in Quechee, Vt. at the Quechee Invite hosted by Dartmouth at the Quechee Golf Club. Last year, Fordham placed 11th out of 12 teams in Quechee, as they continue their quest to improve on their lackluster results from the 2018 campaign.

Fordham is currently sitting two events into their six-event fall schedule, with two very different results to write home about. Their first one, a top 10 finish at the Ryan Lee Memorial last week that provided a glimmer of hope for the season with impressive finishes from their new arrivals. This week not so much, with six rounds over 80 posted by the Rams.

Also, their rounds posted were higher than those posted last week at the Ryan Lee. They need to continue to improve if they want to have a good season in 2019. Quechee will be an important tournament for the fall season for them to get their momentum back towards the winning ways.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATLHETICS

Fordham Golf’s two top finishers tied for 70th at the Hartford Hawks Invite.

Page 22

Volleyball Takes 2 of 3 at Dartmouth Invite

By GIGI SPEER

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Consistency is the key for Fordham Volleyball. The squad has finished each of the past three weekends with two wins and a loss, earning a 6–3 overall record so far this season. In addition, the team continues to set individual and team records to propel it into this week’s game and Atlantic 10 play next week.

Coming off a strong performance last weekend in Virginia that included highlight-reel-worthy blocks, kills and digs, the team was ready and excited to play Friday, sweeping Hartford University 25–23, 25–14, 25–20. The win was decisive, as both teams were 4–2 heading into the match.

Senior outside hitter Kaitlin Morley racked up 10 kills, while junior McKenna Lahr followed with nine and a block and junior Olivia Fairchild and sophomore Joey Landeros each tallied eight.

Fairchild also racked up three blocks, and senior middle blocker Elise Benjamin led the way with six blocks across the three sets.

Heading into Saturday, the Rams won the first set of the day against Hofstra 25–22, yet could not keep the Lionesses away, losing the match in four sets.

Despite this setback, the team did what it does best: deliver a win with an impressive statline to dominate the other team. Better yet, they did it against the home

team. Fordham dominated Dartmouth in four sets, breaking the record for team digs with 103, and individual digs with Morgan Williams’ 42.

On what has elevated her game, Williams credits technical work as well as “the support of the entire team and coaching staff.”

The help is more than just emotional. Performances around her included 14 kills and 14 digs from junior McKenna Lahr and 11 each from senior Kaitlin Morley and sophomore Bella Ureña, a new season-high for the Ureña.

Sophomore setter Makaela Tanaka had 10 and 18 assists, while freshman setter Megan Brzozowski had 25 assists and a seasonhigh 14 digs. Sophomore Claire O’Neil contributed four blocks, while Morley and Urena each had two and Fairchild one.

“It really helps when the block gives me a clear lane to dig,” Williams said as a reason why she was able to break the six-year school record for digs in one less set (Maria Rodenberg’s 38 in five sets in 2013).

Williams is excited for what’s to come. “I’m honestly looking forward to everyone getting better and seeing how our hard work during preseason transfers to the conference,” she said.

The Rams will play New York competition this week: Manhattan on Wednesday, Columbia on Thursday and LIU Brooklyn on Friday.

JULIA COMERFORD/THE FORDHAM RAM

Fordham Volleyball continued its consistent play at the Dartmouth Invitational.

SPORTS

September 18, 2019

By JIMMY SULLIVAN SPORTS EDITOR

It is no secret that in sports, most coaches and managers would rather follow the herd.

In basketball, teams trudged their way through 84–82 games until a coach like Don Nelson pioneered a run-and-gun offense with the Warriors and Mavericks in the 90s and 2000s. Baseball managers refused to acknowledge advanced analytics until those same numbers spearheaded teams like the Rays and A’s to success in the mid-to-late-2000s.

Football has not yet seen that evolution, and the game could use a Billy Beane, Joe Maddon or Don Nelson.

What I’m referring to is the archaic in-game management of the vast majority of coaches at the professional level. Here’s an example that comes by way of new Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, who was hailed for his advanced offensive tactics and avantgarde attitudes towards an evolving game when he was hired in January.

None of this actually mattered because, more importantly, Kingsbury was friends with 33-year-old Rams coach Sean McVay, who all NFL teams with a coaching vacancy were trying to clone last offseason.

That makes what happened in Sunday’s Cardinals-Ravens game all the more bizarre.

The game turned into a competitive battle between two of the game’s most promising young quarterbacks, Arizona’s Kyler Murray and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson. While Jackson slightly outdueled Murray, Arizona had plenty of chances to steal a win and move to 1-0-1 against the defending AFC North champions.

Instead, Kingsbury swallowed those chances. Cardinals kicker Zane Gonzalez kicked three field goals with his team inside the five-yard-line, and two of those field goals came with two or fewer yards needed to get a first down. Kingsbury also punted on his own 44-yard-line with a fourthand-one early in the first half instead of going for it. In summation, Kingsbury cost his team an opportunity at 15 points. The Cardinals lost by just six. Kingsbury’s offense, which is not one of the more explosive ones in the league, has averaged 5.4 yards per play in its first two games, meaning

it could likely muster the necessary yardage to convert in those situations in which he chose to punt and kick field goals.

According to Stats LLC, the Cardinals’ inept decision-making on Sunday was also historic; Arizona became the first team in over 30 years to kick three field goals inside the fiveyard-line while losing. Kingsbury was hired to be an advanced thinker, but his thinking was just the opposite on Sunday, and it may well have cost his team a victory.

Let’s look at the other end of the spectrum and examine what happens when coaches play to win instead of not to lose.

Eagles coach Doug Pederson has burnished a reputation as being one of the most aggressive fourth-down coaches in the league. His team has been among the top two in the league each of his three full years as Philadelphia’s head coach, and he once again played smartly and aggressively against the Falcons on Sunday night.

His offense was faced with a fourthand-goal from four yards outside the goal line in the third quarter, but instead of ending a third-straight trip to the red zone with a disappointing field goal, Pederson went for it. His quarterback, Carson Wentz, found wide receiver Nelson Agholor in the back of the end zone for six points instead of three. The play increased the Eagles’ win probability by 8.9%, while a field goal would not have had the same effect.

While the Eagles eventually lost the game, they didn’t play not to lose. Pederson stuck to his guns, and, despite the team’s ultimate failure, its head coach won’t have too many decision-making regrets about how the game transpired.

The flock of NFL coaches says that you should avoid risks like the one Pederson took on Sunday unless they are absolutely necessary. Many in the coaching community, which has progressed on this issue in the last few years, would likely side with Kingsbury’s logic in taking the sure points.

This also points to another issue with the hiring and firing practices of NFL teams, particularly when it comes to their head coaches. While risk is not necessarily always rewarded, it should be at least respected when it comes to game strategy and hiring a new head coach. Kingsbury was thought of as a “risk-taker,” which is a notion he quickly disproved in week two. He never earned this reputation; rather, it arose from who he knew and other characteristics like his age (39) and background, which included coaching future NFL quarterbacks like Davis Webb and Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech.

So when you watch the next slate of NFL games, whether it’s this coming week or in the future, look at the decisions certain coaches are making.

Then, remember this: while they may think they are, not all of the league’s 32 head honchos are coaching to win.

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Eagles head coach Doug Pederson is one of the league’s most aggressive coaches.

Varsity Calendar HOME AWAY

Thursday Sept. 19

Friday Sept. 20

Volleyball

Follow us on Twitter at @theram_sports

Water Polo

Stony Brook 7 p.m.

Columbia 7 p.m.

Women’s Tennis Men’s Tennis Golf

Monday Sept. 23

Tuesday Sept. 24

St. Bonaventure 1 p.m.

LIU 6 p.m.

Bucknell/ Wagner/ Salem Int’l.

La Salle 1 p.m./6 p.m. 1 p.m./6 p.m.

La Salle 2 p.m.

Men’s Soccer Cross Country

Sunday Sept. 22

Stony Brook 6 p.m.

Football Women’s Soccer

Saturday Sept. 21

Paddy Doyle Invitational 10 a.m.

Cissie Leary Invitational All Day Cissie Leary Invitational All Day Queechee Invite All Day

Manhattan 7 p.m.

Wednesday Sept. 25

SPORTS

September 18, 2019

Stephen Lebitsch The Giants’ Early Season Woes In the months and weeks leading up to the 2019-2020 season, also known as the National Football League’s 100th season, the New York Giants continuously stressed to questioning media and fans their team-wide goal of being a competitive football team while rebuilding the weak spots in their roster. As Big Blue kicked off their season with their biggest rival, the Dallas Cowboys, various moments in the game and the final score showed otherwise.

Following an exciting first drive that resulted in a touchdown, the Giants were manhandled by Dallas who simply took advantage of their defense, especially the cornerbacks, and quickly ran up a 35-10 score. It seemed as if the Cowboys were running at a different speed and level than the Giants, whose offense would only tally on one more touchdown.

The New York Giants’ coaching staff did not employ the right scheme throughout the game that could have changed the outlook of the game.

From the start, the cornerbacks were put in a position and coverages where they were vulnerable to getting beat by the Cowboys’ talented receiving core, and that really showed. Coming off an offseason where some of the biggest and most talented defensive players were traded or let go, it was the first time that some of their guys were asked to go up against respectable offensive talent in the first game of the season.

Additionally, the Giants’ defense posed no threat to the stat sheet of Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott,.

With a complete lack of a pass rush, he was able to move freely in the pocket until teammates or spaces opened up, the latter of which resulted in big runs that torched the defense.

There were times during the game when the Giants were knocking on the door of the endzone, with the chance to make the game interesting, yet the ball was not placed in the right hands to convert.

Anyone who watched remembers well the 4th and 1 mishap on the Dallas seven-yard line.

What is the main gist of giving this short recapitulation of the Giants’ Week One shortcomings, one might ask? It is to make the point that the success of the remainder of their season will depend on employing the right scheme that will make them competitive.

The New York Giants — despite having one of the most eventful offseasons in the league which saw numerous stars leave for different teams — have one of the game’s best running backs in Saquon Barkley still holding down the backfield. His ability is unmatched, and he can use his footwork and speed to turn small plays into big runs and find the hole that advances the drive.

Saquon Barkley will most likely be the Giants’ biggest weapon offensively this season, so without completely running him into the ground, they must put him to use in their game to game scheme.

The New York Giants have the talent and schedule, despite what the experts and critics say, to rally some wins.

If they have that goal for this season, then it all starts with having the right game plan and making the right calls.

Page 23

Anthony Cardone

Varsity Scores & Stats Football Fordham 29 Bryant 14 (FOR) DeMorat: 15-33, 187 YDS, TD Women’s Soccer Fordham Yale (FOR) Bingman: 2 SH, SOG Fordham Syracuse (FOR) LaMorte: 9 SV, 23 SF

0 2 0 0

Men’s Soccer Holy Cross 5 Fordham 0 (FOR) Oldand: 2 G, 2 SH, 2 SOG Fordham 2 Clemson 3 (FOR) Fathazada: G, SH, SOG

Men’s Golf Hartford Invitational 949 - 14th (FOR) Wells: 234 - T70th (FOR) Park: 234 - T70th Men’s Water Polo Santa Clara Fordham (FOR) Koukias: 4 G

9 12

Fordham $17 St. Francis (FOR) Miller-Tolt: 9 G, 4 A Women’s Cross Country NYIT Invitational Individual Results Only (FOR) Alex: 5K - 20:09.85 - 5th

19 14

Women’s Volleyball Hartford 0 Fordham (FOR) Morley: 10 K, Ace Fordham Hofstra (FOR) Benjamin: 8 K, 3 Tot

Women’s Tennis Columbia Invitational Individual Results Only (FOR): Taluyenko - 3rd

Ryan Greenhagen

Morgan Williams

Sophomore

Senior

Football

Volleyball

Also a Defensive Player of the Week winner, Williams had a historic weekend at the Dartmouth Invitational, averaging 7.45 digs per set and setting a Fordham record for most digs in a set with 42 against Dartmouth.

Each week, The Fordham Ram’s sports editors honor one male athlete and one female athlete for their on-field performances as their “Athletes of the Week.”

News & Notes •

Track Has New Asst. Coach

Fordham Track & Field/Cross Country coach Brian Horowitz announced on Monday that sixtime All-American runner Lindsey Scherf will be an assistant coach. “To be able to add someone with the experience of Lindsey Scherf to the Fordham staff is tremendous,” said Horowitz of Scherf, who specializes in road racing at the Westchester Track Club. “Lindsey had a great collegiate career at Harvard and Oregon. Her prior coaching experiences and professional level racing provides our program with a wealth of knowledge. We are looking forward to the impact she will have with our student-athletes.”

• Williams Receives Honor

The Atlantic 10 announced on Monday that

the conference’s Women’s Volleyball Defensive Player of the Week would go to senior libero Morgan Williams, who earned her third weekly award with the honor. This past weekend at the Dartmouth Invitational, Williams averaged 7.45 digs per set, and with her 42 digs against Dartmouth, she set the Fordham record for most digs in a game. “Well-deserved honor in conjunction with that record-setting match for Mo,” said head coach Ian Choi about Williams.

Have Left?

3 1 3

Fordham 3 Dartmouth 1 (FOR) Lahr: 14 K, 2 Ace, 1 Tot

Athletes of the Week

Greenhagen won Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Bryant. He led a strong Rams defense, earning himself 10 tackles. Seven of them were solo tackles, and one of them was for a loss of yards for Bryant.

How Much Do the Mets

Men’s Cross Country NYIT Invitational Individual Results Only (FOR) Whelan: 8K - 23:24.26 - 7th

• Football Has Two POW’s

Fordham Football’s sophomore linebacker

Ryan Greenhagen and junior kicker Andrew Mevis were both honored by the Patriot League this week, earning Defensive Player of the Week and Special Team Player of the Week, respectively. In Saturday’s win over Bryant, Mevis led the Rams’ defense with 10 tackles, seven solo, and one for loss. Mevis kicked three field goals and two extra points during the game, meaning 11 of the 29 points came from his foot. For both players, this is their first weekly honor of the young season.

• Alumni Game for Baseball

Fordham Baseball will will host its 14th annual

Alumni Game on Sunday, October 6 at 1 p.m. in Houlihan Park. The event is aimed at welcoming back all of the program’s former players in order to celebrate Fordham University’s baseball tradition during the fall season. Alumni are also encouraged to bring along their families to reconnect with Rams of the past while also getting a look at those of the present. To RSVP for the event, contact Tony Mellaci at amellaci@ fordham.edu.

–Compiled by Dylan Balsamo

Coming into the 2019 season, the New York Mets were predicted to be a contender and bring back the feeling they had four years ago when they went to the World Series.

With a rotation led by reigning Cy Young award winner Jacob Degrom, followed by Syndergaard, Wheeler, Matz and Marcus Stroman, who was acquired from the Blue Jays in July, New York was favorited for at least a wild card spot in the NL. Now we’re in mid September, there’s 13 games left and Mets, once again, are on the outside looking in, four games back of the Cubs and five-and-a-half games back of the Nationals for a wild card spot.

So what was the problem this season? Why couldn’t they get it done? The offense wasn’t a problem, with a lineup led by rookie sensation Pete Alonso, who has set the record for most home runs by a Met with 47. The Mets also got a breakout season from Jeff McNeil, who is a hitting machine at the top of the lineup.

As it turns out, the fate of the Mets has come down to the bullpen. The acquisition of Edwin Diaz has imploded in general manager Brodie Van Wagenen’s face. Despite giving up top prospects to the Mariners for second baseman Robinson Cano and Diaz, the Mets lead the majors in blown saves in 2019 and it seems like every time a starting pitcher does their job, the bullpen finds a way to lose the game.

Four games back with two weeks to go isn’t easy when the teams you’re chasing are hot. The Cubs’ offense is on fire and the Cardinals don’t seem to lose in the second half. The Nationals’ rotation is finally healthy and the Brewers, who are one team up on the Mets, have one of the easiest remaining schedules in the National League.

The Mets go to Colorado for three games, which could go either way. Next they go to Cincinnati, who has been good as of late with the other major league home-run leader, Eugenio Suarez, facing off with Alonso. They then come home to face the Marlins for a four-game set. If they are still in it at that point of the year, those four games could really help with the worst team in the NL, but then they take on possibly the best team in the NL to end the season in a three-game divisional matchup against the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves.

So after losing the series against the Dodgers, is it out of the question to say the Mets are out of it? They will need to win at least eight or nine of the 13 final games and have help from the teams above them to gain ground.

Mickey Callaway’s job could be in jeopardy and it could be a long offseason for the Mets, as they watch their crosstown rival Yankees represent New York again in the postseason. If the Mets are going to make it, it’s gotta be something amazin’.

Page 24

SPORTS

September 18, 2019

The Fordham Ram

Rams Beat Bryant on the Road, Earn First Win This Season

By DYLAN BALSAMO

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Anybody who has been watching Fordham Football in 2019 knows that the team has talent. The amalgamation of players brought to the Bronx by the program in an assortment of different ways each have their individual athletic abilities that altogether make for a pretty strong football team. It just takes some time for those pieces to learn how to fit together.

For the Rams, Saturday was the day they finally figured it out.

After keeping themselves in the game through the first three quarters, the Rams exploded for 23 points in the fourth to come out on top of Bryant on the road 29–14 in Smithfield, Rhode Island. This was the Fordham program’s first-ever win at Bryant, who is now coached by former Rams defensive coordinator Tom Masella. All that Fordham needed to find themselves as a team was just one bit of time to completely dominate, whether that be a game, a half or even a quarter. This fourth quarter may have been it.

The Rams entered Saturday’s game with Bryant 0–2, but of course, there is plenty more beyond those numbers. The opening night loss at home to Central Connecticut State was a hard-fought game that was only lost on a lastsecond field goal after icing the kicker. Week two’s matchup with Ball State was certainly no close game, but Fordham had both offensive and defensive standouts.

There has been plenty of positives for the Rams thus far, and they were bound to click together sometime.

Their date with Bryant did not get off to the strongest of starts.

After a few scoreless drives, Bryant got on the board first with Dan Adeboboye’s four-yard run that bookended an 85-yard march down the field. In the second quarter, not much else happened for the Rams or Bulldogs except for two Fordham drives that resulted in two field goals off of the foot of Andrew Mevis, one for 30 yards and the other for 27. By the end of the half, the score was 7–6 in favor of Bryant. Nobody had truly taken control of the game.

The third quarter: pretty much the same. Nobody had true control. However, in the middle of the third, Bryant made quick work of the Rams defense by going 57 yards downfield in a little over two minutes when Bulldogs quarterback Chris Hindle nailed a 38-yarder down to Anthony Frederick that put Bryant up 14–6, and that was the score after three periods of play.

The Rams had certainly not played a bad game. Bryant had won their last three meetings with Fordham, and there was only an eight-point difference in the affair. The Rams had not even gotten themselves a touchdown yet. They were yet to figure out how they functioned as a system, yet to turn their talent into an equation that resulted in them earning the victories they clearly were good enough to have.

By the fourth quarter, the Rams

finally found its balance on offense.

Starting with a time-consuming drive of over six minutes that resulted in yet another field goal for Mevis — who also turned six of his seven kickoffs on the day into touchbacks — the Rams brought the difference to one scoring play, making it 14–9 with plenty of time to keep working towards Bryant. On their next possession, Fordham only needed 56 seconds to get the job done. On the third play of the drive, Fordham sophomore quarterback Tim DeMorat launched a 45-yard pass that found the hands of sophomore wide reciever Fo Kokosioulis, good for a touchdown that made the score 15–14 in favor of the Rams.

Fordham was now leading the Bulldogs. For a team that was 0–2, such a situation was in no way new and unchartered territory, as the Rams led Central Connecticut in the fourth quarter in Week one.

What the Rams did to Bryant and failed to do to CCSU two weeks beforehand was continue to push.

Just three minutes later, the ball was in junior running back Zach Davis’s hands, and he found his way from the Bulldogs’ 48 yard line to their endzone to give Fordham another seven points. At this point, it was 22–14, and the Rams showed no sign of letting up now.

With just a minute and a half left, Tim DeMorat gave himself seven points and TD, as he successfully completed the QB sneak and ran 20 yards for another Rams touchdown. The score was 29–14, and it would stay that way.

JULIA COMERFORD/THE FORDHAM RAM

A strong fourth quarter powered Fordham Football to its first win of 2019.

After two weeks of good football without success, the Rams had secured their first win of the young and promising season. It was a 23-point fourth quarter for Fordham, and it was very clear from those 15 minutes that the team had found their key to success.

Saturday’s win was another testament to Fordham’s tendency to explode when they have possession of the ball. Compared to Bryant’s 13, the Rams converted for 23 first downs in the game.

Totaling 444 offensive yards, the wealth was spread quite well.

Fordham rushed for 257 yards overall, and 140 yards came from Davis, who set his career-high with the total. Junior running back Trey Sneed and sophomore running back Naim Mayfield also had particularly good days on the ground, rushing for 75 and 27 yards, respectively.

Receiving-wise, multiple Rams did their part to bring out a win on Saturday, with the top three catchers being junior wide receiver Hamze El-Zayat for 68 yards, Kokosioulis for 57 yards and freshman wide reciever Dequece Carter for 53 yards. The defense was led quite powerfully by sophomore linebacker Ryan Greenhagen, who totaled 10 tackles. Freshman defensive back Parker Spillers and junior defensive lineman Anthon Diodato both had six.

The trip to Bryant was a success for the Rams. Up next, a Saturday evening meeting with Stony Brook on Long Island at 6 p.m. at Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium.

Just like Bellichick and Brady, good football programs are a system in which players can be plugged in like numbers and produce. Joe Conlin seems to have figured out the right formula moving forward.

Men’s Soccer Holds Its Own Against Clemson in Overtime Loss

By ANDREW POSADAS ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Fordham Men’s Soccer finally got its first win of the season at home against Holy Cross over the weekend, dominating the Crusaders en route to a 5–0 win. Four of the Rams’ five goals came from the defensive back line, with junior Luke McNamara and senior captain Joergen Oland putting in two goals each. Senior midfielder Bart Dziedzic added one more goal to cap off an offensive explosion Saturday night.

However, celebrating the first win this year did not last long for first year head coach Carlo Acquista and his squad. The Rams would have to move on from the win quickly considering their next opponent: the seventhranked men’s soccer team in the nation, the Clemson Tigers.

The Tigers came into Tuesday’s matchup with Fordham averaging five goals per game, out-scoring its opponents 25–4 through five games so far this season.

Despite being outshot 11–3 in the first half, Fordham showed no signs of fear in a game most believed could manifest into a potential blowout. In fact, the Rams would strike first and put the Tigers on early notice that this game would be no walk in the park.

Great passes by both Dziedzic

MACKENZIE CRANNA/THE FORDHAM RAM

Fordham Men’s Soccer gave the No. 7-ranked Clemson Tigers all they could handle on the road Tuesday night.

and sophomore Jack Sluys led to a great finish off the foot of junior forward Sameer Fathazada in the 23rd minute, his first goal of the season.

The 1–0 deficit seemed to wake up Clemson’s offense immediately, as the Tigers mounted constant pressure on the Rams defense in its pursuit of the equalizing goal.

Fordham’s lead would last exactly 10 minutes, until Clemson midfielder Robbie Robinson tied up the game at one. Robinson did not stop his offensive onslaught

there. Four minutes later, Robinson ripped a shot from outside the box, getting it just by the outstretched arms of grad student goalkeeper Konstantin Weis. Less than five minutes had gone by and suddenly, the Tigers looked exactly as good as advertised. Clemson took a 2–1 lead into halftime.

The second half saw the tempo get a bit slower and more methodical on Clemson’s end, happy to play defense to preserve its one-goal lead. Fordham was able to take a 5–4 advantage in shots,

with its best chance in the 61st minute, a shot on goal by senior forward Johannes Pieles, saved by opposing goalkeeper Daniel Kuzemka.

Clemson still had full control of this game entering the 74th minute, when Sluys put a cross in the box for Fordham. It should have been an easy clearance for the Tigers back line defense.

However, miscommunication between Kuzemka and Clemson defender Malick Mbaye resulted in an unexpected own goal. The

Rams had gotten its lucky break on the road, with a possible upset bid still very much in play for the visiting team.

Ninety minutes would not be enough for either squad. The momentum seemed to be in favor of Fordham heading into overtime considering Clemson’s defensive blunder. Unfortunately, the Tigers would lock down on both sides of the field in extra time.

Clemson held Fordham without a shot in the first overtime period, and looked to have secured the golden goal in the 97th minute, but its game-winning goal was called for offside. The Tigers were on the move two minutes later, when midfielder Alvaro Gomez took a shot from just inside the 18-yard box. Weis looked to have a relatively easy save on his hands, but the ball rolled right past him and into the back of the net.

The loss drops Fordham to 1–3–1 on the season, but the result should have coach Acquista and his team optimistic knowing they were competitive against a top-10 ranked team in the country.

Fordham Men’s Soccer is back in action this upcoming Saturday.

The Rams host the La Salle Explorers as Atlantic-10 conference play officially gets underway.