Volume 105 Issue 5

Fordham Reacts to Earthquake in Turkey

By ANTONI ZLATANOVSKI STAFF WRITER

The Republics of Turkey and Syria were hit with a devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake earlier this month on Feb. 6, 2023, at approximately 4:15 a.m. The magnitude struck the south-central part of Turkey near the nation’s border with Syria. Just 11 minutes later, there occurred an aftershock with a magnitude of 6.7. The effects of the earthquake were devastating, with its force easily taking down buildings that were not built to withstand such a rare magnitude of an earthquake. In fact, the region has not seen major earthquakes for more than 200 years, nor has it received any warning signs of such an event. On Feb. 21, 2023, Turkey and Syria were hit with another earthquake at a 6.4 magnitude near the city of Antakya, which is near the border of Syria.

According to various sources, the death toll has officially surpassed 40,000 people. Moreover, various other Balkan and European countries have

SEE TURKEY, PAGE 3

The Fordham Ram

Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918

Fordham Hosts Wellness Week for Students

By GRACE GALBREATH ASST. NEWS EDITOR

Last week, Fordham University hosted Wellness Week, which ran from Feb. 13 to Feb. 17. The week of events were held in a collaboration between Fordham College at Rose Hill, the Gabelli School of Business and the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS).

The week’s events emphasized “cura personalis” and educated the Fordham community on the eight dimensions of holistic wellness.

Faaria Fasih-Ahmad, a higher education leadership fellow, planned the week of events with the help of Patricio Meneses, interim associate dean for student support and academic initiatives, and Marisa Villani, senior assistant dean for undergraduate studies.

By SOFIA DONOHUE DIGITAL PRODUCER

“The whole idea of Wellness Week is to get students to engage with resources on campus. There are a lot of resources, like the writing center and career center, that are there for the students. We are trying to create something where students can access these

SEE WELLNESS, PAGE 4

ASILI Hosts Lecture on Intersection of Blackness and U.S. Criminal Justice

System

By ALEXANDRA RAPP CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This past Wednesday, Fordham’s Black Student Alliance (ASILI) held their annual Black History Month keynote speaker event. The keynote speaker, Kevin Richardson, is a survivor of the Exonerated Five, formerly known as the Central Park Five. Today,

Office of Mission Integration & Ministry Hosts Food Insecurity Event

By TASNIMAH RAHMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This past Monday, Feb. 13, the Office of Mission Integration & Ministry held a food insecurity reflection at Rose Hill by packing 250 meals for neighborhood community fridges

and an Ignatian Reflection from 1-2:30 p.m. This event is one of the projects/programs partnered with Pedro Arrupe Volunteers (PAV) under the Office of Campus Ministry, available to all students to participate throughout the year. It is

Richardson is an advocate for criminal justice reform and regularly gives speeches telling his story with the prison industrial complex and his life during and after his wrongful conviction as a teenager.

Richardson was 14 years old on April 19, 1989 when he and four other teengers

were reprimanded leaving Central Park and subsequently accused of the violent rape and assault of a white female jogger. All five of the boys were convicted on charges including attempted murder, rape and assault, each spending between six and 13 years in prison. Richardson was

SEE ASILI, PAGE 4

Students Face Rising Need for Mental Health Services

By EMMA KIM NEWS EDITOR

A student survey done by Inside Higher Ed in 2021 during COVID-19 showed that 65% of students reported having fair or poor mental health, 47% said they could have used some or a lot of support from their college but only 15% engaged in college-offered counseling in the past year.

In a more recent survey from 2022, only 34% of students

held on both Rose Hill and Lincoln Center campuses and is an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to execute meaningful service. The program shares the vision of General Pedro Arrupe, “Men and women for others,” refocusing

SEE FOOD, PAGE 5

Page 12

who said they struggled with mental health used some sort of counseling.

The Ram reached out to Fordham’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS) about their preparedness to address all of Fordham’s student body’s mental health needs.

Jeffrey Ng, director of CPS, said that CPS served “over 2,050 unique students or about 14% of the student body” last year. Ng added that all clinical

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

Kevin Richardson, pictured on the right, is a survivor of the Exonerated Five, and he was the keynote speaker.

COURTESY OF ALEXANDRA RAPP FOR THE FORDHAM RAM

PUBLIC SAFETY BRIEFS

Feb. 15 Dealy Hall 11:15 a.m.

On Wednesday, a member of the Fordham community became stuck in the Dealy Hall elevator. The supervisor responded and removed the community member without further incident. The elevator company responded and inspected the elevator.

Feb. 16 2484 Arthur Avenue 11:10 p.m.

A fire alarm went off at 2484 Arthur Avenue on Thursday. The supervisor and FDNY responded. Investigation revealed a student was burning a candle, which triggered the smoke detector. The room was ventilated and the panel was reset.

Feb. 18 Alumni Court South 10:50 p.m.

On Saturday, a fire alarm went off in Alumni Court South. The supervisor and FDNY responded. Investigation revealed someone discharged a fire extinguisher.

Alumna Transforms Everyday Objects Into Meaningful Art

By MICHELA FAHY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

By YUKTA SANT CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Artists like Van Gogh, Monet and Picasso made their art on a canvas with oil paints and watercolors in a now conventional way, but artist and Fordham alumna Annie Legnini, FCRH ’16, uses everyday objects to portray people’s daily lives, such as coffee filters, Pokemon cards and paper towels to create portraits of real people.

Legnini has pioneered this original style of artwork as she creates art featuring the lives of people who grew up in the Bronx. During Legnini’s time at Fordham, she said she noticed the lack of awareness about the Bronx among other members of the Fordham community. So, when she graduated from Fordham with a B.A. in visual arts and women’s studies, she said she decided to focus her art projects on stories of the Bronx community.

Legnini spoke about her work on Wednesday, Feb. 16 during Urban Storytelling Through Art, an event hosted by Campus Ministry. She explained that just as Ignatian flourishing is all about immersive imagination which means uncovering thinking patterns, habits, perspectives and the movements of the soul, her art focuses on immersive environments.

For example, Legnini spoke a lot about her Bronx Faces project in which she asked residents of the Bronx to share their unique life stories with her. Based on these stories, Legnini constructed portraits of each participant using conventional materials such as oil paints as well as ordinary materials such as Pokémon cards that were connected to an aspect of their stories. Legnini’s aim was to use these everyday materials to create an extraordinary piece of artwork, or to create “an ordinary that transcends the ordinary.”

Legnini further applied this technique in her portraiture installations, which are paintings that immerse the viewer within a certain space. For instance, when she created a painting of her friend, Brandon, who works in a library in the Bronx, she used pieces of his favorite books to literally construct him because, as Brandon had told her, those books were a part of his soul. The portraiture installations do not have to be about an extraordinary event; instead, they are about the daily lives

Wednesday Feb. 22

Rose Hill Gym 7 p.m.

Come out and support the Fordham Women’s Basketball team as they face off against the University of Rhode Island at the annual Black History Month celebration game.

Annie Legnini is a painter and draftsperson working with mixed media, collage, assemblage and installation.

of individuals.

“Highlighting the individual connects us to their world and to each other. No one exists on their own; we are all interconnected,” said Legnini.

Vanessa Rotondo, associate director of campus engagement and senior advisor for Ignatian leadership, explained how Legnini’s work related to Ignatian values.

“In the true Ignatian fashion,

Annie noted how she finds her passion in the work to highlight the things we ordinarily would miss. Ignatius calls us to be creative as we find God in all things, and I think Annie invited us all into that tradition, through her creativity.”

Robert Parmach, director of Ignatian mission initiatives, said he has similar thoughts to Rotondo.

“St. Ignatius was a big sup -

This Week at Fordham

Thursday Feb. 23

12th Floor Lounge, Lowenstein 6-8 p.m.

The Department of African and American Studies is hosting Khiara M. Bridges, Ph.D., J.D., who will discuss critical race theory and Black studies.

Thursday-Sunday Feb. 23-36

Collins Auditorium 2 p.m., 8 p.m.

The Mimes and Mummers are performing “Jesus Christ Superstar!” Thursday’s 8 p.m. show is free. Admission is $5 with student ID for Friday and Saturday’s 8 p.m. show and Sunday’s 2 p.m. show.

Saturday Feb. 25

Rose Hill Gym 2:30 p.m.

Cheer on the Men’s Basketball team as they compete against the University of Rhode Island and welcome back members of the 1970-71 team that ranked #9 in the nation.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

porter of ‘immersive imagination’ — revealing the contours and reactions of your interior self. Being attentive to the movements of your entire being — attitudes, perspectives, habits, patterns of thought — and then working to offer the best version of yourself in response to the current situation. Visual art is a great way to tap into such emotional and spiritual intelligence with others.”

Tuesday Feb. 28

Bepler Commons 4:30-6 p.m.

Fordham Philosophy is hosting Dr. Linda Martin Alcoff, professor of philosophy at Hunter College and the CUNY graduate center as a guest lecturer of the 2023 Suarez Lecture series.

Fordham Reacts to Earthquake in Turkey

FROM TURKEY, PAGE 1

quickly sent aid to the region, including Serbia, North Macedonia, Croatia, Russia, Greece, Germany and France. The Fordham community is also playing a role in helping those in need. On Feb. 8, Dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill Maura Mast, Ph.D., sent a letter, followed by a statement by Father Lito Salazar, S. J., executive director of Campus Ministry, as to how students and faculty can help the people of Turkey and Syria. These resources include psychological services for those at Fordham who have been affected by such events, in addition to charitable agencies with the mission to provide aid to the region.

Most recently on Feb. 16, Aleyna Ölmez was rescued in Kahramanmaraş, a city near the epicenter of the earthquake, after 10 days of being stuck un

der a pile of rubble. Many call it a “miracle” that she survived for 10 days without any supplies, all while being injured and being forced to withstand freezing weather conditions. Thousands more are being searched for and rescued from other areas of rubble throughout the region.

However, Ölmez was not the only victim who was rescued underneath a pile of rubble. Although she is one of the survivors, others were not so lucky. In fact, professional soccer player Christian Atsu was found in the Hatay province following the collapse of an apartment building. Originally, Atsu was a star in the Premier League and once played for Chelsea and Newcastle United. Ultimately, he was selected to play for the Turkish team, Hatayspor. Although he was scheduled to fly out of southern

Turkey days before the incident, he had decided to celebrate with his club upon scoring the winning goal in a Feb. 5 match.

“It is definitely one of the largest humanitarian disasters that have occurred within the past ten years… We all need to do our part to reduce human suffering as a result of this catastrophe,” said Jakub Gul, GSB ’26.

Fordham’s United Student Government released an Instagram statement on Feb. 18 in response to the incident.

“As representatives of the student body, we would like to express our full support for all students who are directly and indirectly affected by this disaster and bring sources to those in need… Our Jesuit values as an institution call for us all to be aware of the

issues in the world and advocate as citizens for others. Our purpose is to raise our voices and stand in solidarity with those who are suffering.”

For those who wish to support the victims of these events, donations can be made to groups such as: Doctors Without

Junior Researches Physics to Create Educational Website

By ALICE GAALSWYK STAFF WRITER

Jan Bierowiec, FCRH ’24, has been conducting research in physics, specifically creating a website called Physim whose goal is to teach introductory physics material to students through the use of simulations and supplementary material. Physim is distinguished from other popular simulation tools like Phet and Applets because Bierowiec has also incorporated textbook material explaining the formulas within the simulations; moreover, he has included simulations that place this theoretical material into realworld examples rather than just the basic simulation explaining a concept. Finally, Bierowiec’s project includes programming exercises that allow students to garner a basic understanding of how physics examples work through coding and a Latex feature that allows students to print out the examples that they have been working on to have a

more traditional pen-and-paper way to work through the material if they desire it.

Bierowiec, who is advised by Dr. Christopher Aubin of the physics department, started this project last summer and hopes to finish it this coming summer, and then work on testing the effectiveness of his program next fall, basing its effectiveness on student performance increases before and after using the program. Bierowiec has started with introductory physics material, but hopes to add higher level physics material farther down the line.

Coding has been the main focus of Bierowiec’s work on this project thus far. “Usually, I would spend 10 hours a week working on either a simulation, coding up a worksheet or creating a programming exercise.” Bierowiec’s program has many simulations involved; on the topic of vectors alone, there are over 70 simulations, and Bierowiec projects that by the time he is finished, each section of his program will have

20-30 simulations. “This is so students could constantly have practice, see the difference between two dimensions and three dimensions, how that affects the physics formulas, how that affects the properties and whatnot,” Bierowiec explained.

To begin, Bierowiec started out considering how to make the simulations, because there were a lot of different libraries that were available to him to make the simulations in. He eventually settled on using p5.js, which allows the programmer to type up some code in JavaScript, creating the simulation, and then displaying the simulation on a browser. Bierowiec decided that this was the best way to show the simulations. The time that Bierowiec has to dedicate to coding changes depending on the simulation; for example, he is currently working on area and volume simulations that are relatively simple to code,

but he has also undertaken more complex simulations like free fall problems, which took him about a week to complete.

Bierowiec’s interest in this project initially started during his own physics education. “I was sitting in my classical mechanics class, not understanding anything in regards to wave damping, so I was thinking, ‘How can I understand this and visualize this?’”

This made Bierowiec want to create a website that would help physics students see how physics concepts relate to the real world, instead of just learning the theory and the formulas without understanding how they are applicable on a larger scale.

After hopefully finishing introductory physics by this summer and then collecting data on student performance in the fall, Bierowiec is planning on taking a step back from this project. However, he hopes to continue to work on the simulations in graduate school. “Once it’s fully com-

pleted, which I don’t know if that will be ten years, maybe fifteen, the goal behind it is to maybe create a business out of it; have students learn physics not only at the introductory level… but also, learn it at higher levels.” Most simulations that currently exist are for introductory physics, but higher level physics students like Bierowiec himself could also benefit from having access to simulations to visualize more complex concepts. Bierowiec also envisions these simulations as being a new style of learning, functioning as an online textbook that is more interactive for students. For himself, working on this project has helped him relearn physics concepts and delve deeper into the field of computational physics, which he hopes to continue in his future. “I feel like that will be the best takeaway from this project: giving to students, giving to professors and also giving myself a little experience.”

USG Discusses Bylaws and New Proposals

By SOFIA SEMPER STAFF WRITER

On Thursday, Feb. 16, the Fordham Rose Hill Student Government (USG) met to discuss the changes made to the USG bylaws and new proposals. The IT Department delegate presented the new service portal for the IT desk and the Fordham Hub. She explained that the newly launched service portal will make the process of getting help from the IT department much easier and cleaner, and they will soon be launching a service portal mobile app. She also stated that the Fordham Hub has been open to first-years for some time but it will now be opened to all grade levels and will make getting in touch with advisors, or other people who help us complete our studies, easier.

Executive President Santiago Vidal, FCRH ’24, stated that Senator Tiberias Benaissa, GSB ’25, will be unable to continue

in his position as senator due to a scheduling issue and the USG will be opening an election for Senator of Class of 2025 for GSB this week.

Vidal presented and reviewed the proposed USG statement regarding the Michigan State University (MSU) shooting. The statement was published last Friday and stated that the USG sends their sympathies to the people affected by the MSU shooting and explains to the Fordham community the protocols that the university has in place to protect the students against gun violence.

He then reviewed the new USG bylaws. The first major change to the bylaws that Vidal presented was the change in the impeachment/removal from office process. The impeachment process is now not able to be completed by a single student and has to go through many people before it can be completed. This is to prevent personal motives from being the reason for an impeachment. While it is still being called an “impeachment,” it

would actually mean that the officer is completely removed from office. Vidal then explained that the next major change in the bylaws is that both the Dining Committee and International Integration will now be executive committees, rather than joint committees, which increases their power and budget.

Vidal discussed the proposal for an increase in student activity fees. He stated that they are considering raising the activity fees due to the clubs not having enough funding, and he clarified that this money would not be going to the school but to the clubs and the normal percentage still going to the Office of Student Involvement (OSI). He then explained that there has been a more than 30% increase in club membership and prices in general have increased as well, causing clubs to struggle with their budget and a need for higher club activity fees. He stated that the last increase in activity fees was 10

years ago in 2013. The USG will be sending out a referendum to the student body about the possible activity fees increase and they will need at least 15% of the student body to vote “yes” to the

increase before it can actually be implemented. If the referendum works, there would be an additional half a million dollars added to clubs and organizations’ funding every year.

COURTESY OF TWITTER

As of Feb. 21, the first earthquake has resulted in close to 50,000 deaths.

Borders, Save the Children and UNICEF.

Fordham Hosts Wellness Week for Students

resources before they actually need them,” said Fasih-Ahmad.

Pre-COVID-19, Wellness Week focused almost solely on improving mental and emotional wellness. This year, however, Wellness Week developed a multidimensional approach towards promoting full body wellness. Although this is the first Wellness Week Fordham has hosted in two or three years, Fasih-Ahmad is hoping to make it an annual event.

“We are hoping that it is going to be sustainable and definitely are learning things through this week that we will tweak for future years,” said Fasih-Ahmad.

Over the week, three wellness activities were offered per day. A week of RamFit events that focused on physical wellness and a week-long scavenger hunt promoting intellectual wellness were also offered.

Campus events promoting physical wellness included a dance class

hosted by Murat Hosgora and a pull-up bar station which tested grip strength and educated students on the importance of shoulder health.

Popular spiritual wellness events were “Ignatian Spirituality and Yoga” and sandwich making for local food pantries, hosted by Robert Parmach, assistant dean for first-year students.

Fasih-Ahmad mentioned she was looking forward to “Ignatian Spirituality and Yoga” and was enjoying the scavenger hunt, which she helped plan.

“The scavenger hunt is what I really focused on. It is a low effort way for students to go and see where resources are. With the new McShane Center, a lot of things have moved around. The career center is there, CPS is there, CCEL is there. The students can physically go to those places and see where they are.”

Fasih-Ahmad was inspired to recreate Wellness Week after realizing she was unaware of the

wellness resources Fordham offers to students.

“My job when I first came there [GSAS] was to try and figure out what resources for graduate students specifically there are for wellness. I was making a list [of the resources] when I realized that I had been a graduate student here for five years, and a lot of the resources I didn’t know about.”

Fasih-Ahmad said she felt Wellness Week was a success. She said the week’s main goal was to encourage students to explore the expansive list of wellness resources that Fordham provides.

“We are hoping that students are going to be able to engage with resources they haven’t engaged with before, and that will make them more likely to interact with those resources again in the future. I really hope that more people get a chance to interact with the resources. Even if they don’t interact, knowing that they are available and how to interact with them in the future.”

ASILI Hosts Lecture on Intersection of Blackness and U.S. Criminal Justice System

FROM ASILI, PAGE 1

on his way home when a cop told him to “freeze,” and, although he had no real reason to, he ran. As Richardson tells it, he was apprehended by the police, but he “wasn’t scared of being arrested, [he] was scared of breaking curfew.”

The environment Richardson grew up in imbued him and many other young Black men with an inherent distrust of the police, so he ran back into the park, got covered in mud and knocked out by a police helmet. At that moment, he said he thought his life was over.

Richardson does emphasize, however, that “things did happen in the park that day, a woman did get assaulted and lose 80% of her blood — there were six victims that night.”

Richardson, until that point, said he had been a timid kid growing up in Harlem near 110 and St. John the Divine. He said he had dreams of playing the trumpet and college basketball at Syracuse University. In the months leading up to their conviction, the boys were blasted in a media frenzy which painted them as monsters, using terms like “savages” and “wolfpack” to describe them.

Richardson detailed the racist attacks his family endured and the calls his mother received daily telling her “your son deserves to be castrated” among other horrific threats.

Richardson ended up spending seven years in a juvenile detention center.

He said he chalks up his survival in the prison system as a young Black teenager who was accused of a crime he did not commit to three essential elements: resilience, perseverance and strength. Without which, he said, he would not have been able to make it through.

When asked how he kept his optimism, Richardson explained that he “just did,” and that he believes it was God

walking him through the experience. He expressed a deep reverence for the people who supported him and all members of the Central Park Five, particularly his mother, whose “grace and presence kept [him] who [he] is.”

The day Richardson was released on June 24, 1997, he recounted his feelings of fear — a fear that his own community, that society, would continue to reject him. He explained his experience with the parole board and the humiliation of registering as a sex offender and paying weekly fees to stay out of prison.

He was angry, Richardson explained, but not at society. Rather, he was angry at the failure of the media to look at both sides and use logic and angry at the system designed to keep Black people behind bars. Richardson explained that his release was not the end of the nightmare that began in 1989, and that he had to learn to channel that anger he felt towards something meaningful.

Richardson said he began to try to learn how to make sure there’s never another Central Park Five, Scottsboro Boys or Emmett Till — “all the situations where things happened when they shouldn’t.”

“We must unmute the uncomfortable, so people get used to what you’re speaking about,” said Richardson.

When asked what he meant by that, Richardson explained that people need to know about what he, and the people he represents, have been through.

Richardson now works closely with the Innocence Project, which “works to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone.” He said his experience taught him the prison industrial complex benefits from getting more

people into prison.

“Without arresting people, they wouldn’t have revenue, similar to the slave trade. It is designed for you not to come out,” said Richardson.

He and the other men from the Central Park Five are now advocates for the legal codification to

require minors to be recorded from the moment of their apprehension through the entirety of their interrogation. They do not want other young people to experience the same abuses and coercion they did in 1989.

Richardson encourages people wherever he goes that “you do not

need to be an activist to be active.” He said he believes that change takes a community, but he encourages everyone to call and email their representatives and contribute in any way they can to create a true justice system; more than a legal system, but something righteous.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

ASILI welcomed attendees to the lecture at the Leonard Theatre in the Fordham Preparatory School.

COURTESY OF GRACE GALBREATH/THE FORDHAM RAM

Wellness Week attracted dozens of students and faculty alike.

Office of Mission Integration & Ministry Hosts Food Insecurity Event

education to impact our world.

Robert Parmach, director of mission integration & ministry, Ph.D., and Vanessa Rotondo, associate director of campus engagement and senior advisor for Ignatian leadership, talked about the event and explained the course of this program.

“This past Monday afternoon, our Mission-in-Action Sandwich Making program harnessed the spirit and energy of 40 undergraduate and graduate student volunteers with collaborators Dean Chelsea Smith of GSAS and graduate student Faaria Fasih-Ahmad as part of their student development office’s Wellness Week initiative,” said Parmach.

“While having fun listening to some motivating ‘80s music, we all made 250 meal packs for local community fridges and POTS (Part of the Solution) organizations. We grounded the day’s program in the theme of gratitude and had a brief reflection on how Ignatian imagination affects our attitude and habits,” said Parmach. “A similar Mission-inAction Sandwich Making program was recently organized at the LC campus where graduate and undergraduate students, staff and faculty participated, and the meal packs were distributed to neighborhood community fridges on 102nd Street & Columbus Avenue. It’s inspiring to see Fordham community members who care and participate in meaningful collaboration while developing their interior lives.”

Rotondo emphasized the differing population it is hosted to, including the school of business and other communities within the university.

Rotondo said, “Really why we do it is it calls persons to the broader experience of hunger in our immediate community and we deliver to community fridges. We rotate fridges so it’s not the same one but we do meal kits. We do a drink, snack, sandwiches and note

of affirmation to let recipients know someone from Fordham was preparing meals with love, wishing them well and have a good day wherever they are and whatever circumstance may be.”

When the program is held on Rose Hill campus, meal kits are distributed to fridges in the Bronx. Lincoln Center collaborates with Harlem and surrounding Manhattan fridges expanding to the Upper West Side as well. These programs aim to call students, faculty and staff to mindfulness of understanding who this possible recipient could be and one’s contribution through thought fullness.

“When we have students preparing meal packages, it’s not rare to get done in [a] short amount of time. It’s a call to be mindful as you prepare meals. As said before, embodied love to understand who you are in that space-journey of self discovery, in [the] process making you feel, but being able to think about the person who is receiving it. Is it somebody who is in need of food keeping that person in mind as you're preparing a meal realizing that whatever you think whatever the circumstance are even if receiving with that kind of aspect to it as well,” said Rotondo.

“[It is] a great opportunity to spend time with new people and contribute positively to the broader Bronx community. Participating in events like sandwich-making reminds me how important and rewarding it is to turn my values into actions and do work that materially improves people’s lives, even if it's something very small like having an after-school snack,” said Olivia Tafs, FCRH ’24.

“My one hour or hour and a half of making sandwiches will make a legitimate difference in someone’s life. It means a kid gets a snack bag for the park. It means someone who maybe hasn’t had a fresh meal in a few days gets one. It means that someone reads a note we put in the bag and knows there are people who care and people who really do want to help. I’ve

also learned that caring is not only free, it’s fulfilling,” according to Teshley Kamen, FCRH ’24.

PAV set the tone for students interested in ground level work. It started a decade ago when students asked for service hour opportunities with a purpose and wanting to connect with who they were giving to.

“I have learned the importance of taking the time to do something meaningful and being present as I do so. It is integral to engage with the people around me and in the service we are accomplishing instead of carrying out mindless work. You should always connect your heart to your hands when partaking in any of these events,” said Shannon Baurkot, FCRH ’23.

PAV, a ministry within Campus Ministry, was created to work with local churches and community organizations, which mostly surround food insecurity. After students go on a PAV project, they can sign up to be leaders. There are 25 active students helping run projects. Gilda Severiano, administrator of campus ministry operations and advisor of PAV, explained the projects and purpose of the ministry.

“We really look at it not like a prayer but rather an opportunity to take your focus off of the task of making a sandwich and refocus yourself think about people that we’re gonna be working with people will meet on project the different circumstance around food insecurity so it’s really a moment to stop worrying about what you have to do and start thinking about how you're going to engage with your neighbor in our community,” said Severiano.

The desire to connect and engage is rooted within students. “Any chance I get to help those in need and connect with new people I will do it,” said Christopher Shaw, FCRH ’26.

Currently, there is a collaboration with Midnight

Run Organization where PAV prepares meals, toiletries and warm clothing, and then meets with people experiencing homelessness to have a human to human connection. Programs start with a description of who the community partner is and end with reflection.

“[The] most important thing we do is we talk to our community partners and find out from them what they’re really looking for [and] try to develop [a] very trustworthy, respectful

relationship with all of our community partners. Over the 1011 years I’ve been doing this, I have [met] people that know ‘I wont say what I can’t do, and I will do what I do say.’ These are things that are important to us: our authenticity and sincerity, our reliability,” said Severiano.

Students can look out for the Campus Ministry newsletter emailed every Thursday and sign up for projects and information on retreats.

Students Face Rising Need for Mental Health Services

FROM HEALTH, PAGE 1

services are free.

CPS is an “on campus mental health service within the Division of Student Affairs,” whose mission is to “promote and support students’ mental, psychological and emotional health and well-being.”

CPS has different “clinical services; psychoeducational, outreach and prevention programs; and contributions to the mental health professions” to help promote their mission.

He said that CPS has 11 full-time staff counselors, five part-time staff counselors, three full-time post-doctoral fellows, four part-time psychiatric residents/fellows and 14 graduate interns throughout the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center and London offices.

“CPS offers groups and workshops on stress management,

coping skills and executive functioning throughout the year,” said Ng. “We also deliver outreach events and programs on campus and social media to promote well-being, normalize help seeking and increase awareness of CPS services.”

On their website, CPS has a statement on diversity, equity and inclusion, which says they are “committed to the delivery of culturally competent services that honor and are responsive to the needs, strengths and identities of Fordham’s diverse community of students, faculty and staff.”

After an initial screening process, CPS’s website outlines the 11 different recommendations that could occur, which range from individual counseling to referrals to off-campus providers.

Lenora Doanh, GSB ’25, utilized

CPS during the last school year. She felt that CPS group settings needed to be more aware of things such as “cultur[al] ignorance and discrimination about social status,” like a student’s race or status as an international student.

“CPS need[s] to be more serious about the privacy of the attendant,” added Doanh, who said she felt like the information shared in group counseling was not kept confidential.

Emily Kennedy, GSB ’24, vice president of health and security for United Student Government (USG), believes that CPS’s resources are continuing to grow.

“While the CPS staff is incredibly dedicated to our students and offers countless resources, valuable groups sessions and individual counseling flexible

and tailored to each unique student’s needs, there is no such thing as too much support. Especially on a college campus,” said Kennedy. “CPS is consistently prioritizing expanding its supportive resources available and continually creating more accessibility to these resources.”

Farah Elrakhawi, FCRH ’24, former vice president of health and security for USG, sees outreach as an important part of raising awareness of CPS.

“[A] social media campaign would be helpful for our student body, considering many students are still under the false impression that CPS offers a maximum amount of counseling sessions and there’s a cap to how much support a student can utilize, which is not a CPS policy,” said Elrakhawi. “CPS does not limit how many ses -

sions students can use, and I think doing social media outreach or more programming could be beneficial.”

Elrakhawi added that the identity-based group sessions offer a welcoming and safe space for students of similar backgrounds and identities to come together.

Currently, there are multiple support groups for different identities, including for men, BIPOC students and LGBTQ+ students. Information is sent regularly to students' emails, keeping the sessions accessible and available to anyone who is interested.

Further information on CPS can be found on their website or their Instagram, which is @fordhamcps.

Tasnimah Rahman contributed to this article.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

The program enabled students to give back to the local Bronx community.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

Students were able to help with packaging the goods and distributing them.

R OPINION Finding Your Niche is Integral to the College Experience

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 every Wednesday during the academic year to all campuses.

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TheFordhamRam.com

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Editor in Chief

Isabel Danzis

Managing Editor

Sebastian Diaz

Editorial Director

Jamison Rodgers

Production Editor

Michael Sluck

Multimedia Director

Frances Schnepff

Business Director

Matthew Colucci

Copy Chief

Hannah Boring

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Sophia Forlenza

News Editor

Emma Kim

Features Editor

Samantha Minear

Assistant News Editors

Sofia Donohue

Grace Galbreath

Opinion Editor

Nicole Braun

Assistant Opinion Editors

Evan McManus

Olivia Teare

Culture Editors

Kari White

Ilaina Kim

Assistant Culture Editor

Lauren Lombardi

Sports Editors

Nick Guzman

Maddie Bimonte

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Lou Orlando

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Rory Donahue

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Julia Ocello

Grace Campbell

Claire Krieger

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Lily Poorman

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Alexandra Antonov

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Beth Knobel

Editorial Policy

The Fordham Ram’s editorial reflects the editorial board’s opinions or views.

Opinion Policy

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of The Fordham Ram.

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The Fordham Ram reserves the right to reject or edit any submission for any reason, without notice. Submissions become the exclusive property of The Fordham Ram. No part of the The Fordham Ram may be reproduced without written consent.

Every day at college is a chance to do more for yourself and your peers — that’s something I had to remind myself of as a clueless, overwhelmed freshman who was not as involved as I would have hoped. While I had made great friends on campus, I had not put myself out there in terms of clubs and organizations. I had attended some introductory meetings, but as I was nearing the end of my freshman year, I did not feel connected to anything. It’s easy for the four years to go by and stay on the sidelines, but I realized that’s not what I wanted from my college experience.

As I worked my retail job in the summer of 2022, I aimlessly stared out the window, looking at my suburban town and pondered what I could do to make my next semester at Fordham more enjoyable and worthwhile.

During the first semester of my sophomore year, I saw on the Ram’s Instagram story that they had an interest meeting. I knew basically nothing about the Ram besides their Instagram, which I followed to stay up-to-date about news on campus. I overcame my nerves and decided to attend the meeting. While I joined the budget for the culture section, I only ended

up writing one article and sought to gain more from my involvement with the club. On a whim, I applied for a position and am now currently the Social Media Director.

Growing up, my dad was infamous for taking countless pictures, and as I grew old enough to have social media accounts, my love of capturing the moment was apparent online. As I have spent almost two years at Fordham, my joy of creating posts for Instagram has translated into the community here through my involvement with the Ram.

Every Tuesday, I look forward to seeing the digital team and reading all the unique articles different people produce. The digital team is only one part of creating The Fordham Ram and there is so much creativity within the walls of the rooms that make me so proud to be a part of an organization like this. While I did not know anyone at the Ram prior to joining, everyone possesses such admirable qualities that make me grateful to surround myself with such people.

It might seem like when you get to college, you have to have it all figured out, but I believe the most important thing you can do is relax and involve yourself in areas that speak to you. It may not be what

you expect, but there is good in finding your place in the unexpected. Those niche interests you have hold more meaning than you could ever imagine. Often we undervalue our skills without knowing how much they can make an impact on something. I have always had a love to create and share media with the world, but I never knew how I would be able to share this passion or that it would lead me to the Ram.

Not only does getting involved on campus provide a break from school, but it also alleviates stress and allows for a mental break. College is exhausting and taking a break from those stressors

Editorial | Gun Legislation

is important. While I find myself drowning in essays and projects during the week, having other sources of enjoyment make my life so much better. Taking time to do things that I love is crucial to keeping myself at my best and seeking that source of fulfillment will do wonders for your college life.

If you were to tell freshmanme that I would be a part of the school newspaper, I would not believe you, but I have learned many things from this experience. Most importantly, I have realized that the greatest things come from the random things we decide to do, and with that, I am so thankful that I chose to join the Ram!

Stop Sacrificing Students for Gun Rights

One of the most contested topic in the great American political debate is gun control. There is no quicker way to ruin a family dinner or end a friendship than starting a conversation about gun rights in America. It is absolutely unacceptable that mass shootings and gun violence have become not only standard in the U.S., but expected.

For students, school shootings are a daily worry as they become more and more frequent, and schools allot time in the day, taking away valuable teaching time, to practice active shooter drills. Most people will either remember or have knowledge of a particularly brutal school shooting that happened in 1999: the Columbine High School shooting. At the time, it was the deadliest high school shooting with 13 killed and 20 injured. Sadly, that is no longer the case. This can be attributed as the turning point for many when school shootings began to be normalized.

The next devastating school shooting that is ingrained in every generation’s head, but is especially prominent in the memories of Gen Z as this was the first real encounter with school gun violence, is Sandy Hook. This deadly elementary school shooting occurred in 2012 and took the lives of 26 people. Both Columbine and Sandy Hook garnered national attention and remain common knowledge due to the number of people murdered on those days. The years that followed were littered with equally as horrific school shootings with equally as high death counts.

Flash forward to just last week when a gunman killed three people and injured five more at Michigan State University (MSU). In this

instance, the gunman had no connection to MSU, making it more difficult for law enforcement to figure out the motive. Due to a lack of universal background checks in Michigan, the shooter was able to purchase a firearm legally despite having felony charges against him for another firearm related crime. How is it ethical with the current state of the U.S. and with the knowledge of the number of shootings that happen in this country per year to not have legally mandated universal background checks? It is officially easier to buy a gun in Michigan than it is to be approved to rent an apartment.

For a few students at MSU, this is the second mass shooting they have survived. One student survived Sandy Hook 11 years ago and another, Emily Riddle, survived a shooting at her high school 14 months before the shooting at MSU took place. The Sandy Hook shooting was 11 years ago and nothing has changed. It is incomprehensible that a student has lived through two mass school shootings in 21 years. Even in the wake of 647 mass shootings in 2022 alone claiming 44,000 lives, this country does not feel compelled to save the lives of its citizens, but rather turns a blind eye and allows history to repeat itself.

MSU is not the only collegiate shooting to have made national news in recent years. In 2007, there was a mass shooting at Virginia Tech that resulted in the deaths of 32 people. At the end of 2022, there was a shooting at University of Virginia resulting in the murder of three football players and injuring two other students. These types of emergencies are becoming more

and more common in a university setting. Fordham itself has a robust emergency plan in place should an active shooter situation occur.

The first positive thing Fordham has done is require all Public Safety officers to receive alert training from the NYPD counterterrorism unit. There is an emergency messaging system in place in the form of mass text or email communication of the situation, but should community members miss the messages, the blue lights on campus double as speakers and will project the announcement across campus. Additionally, Fordham Public Safety officers are armed and highly trained in how to use their weapon as all officers are exlaw enforcement. Fordham has prepared as best they can, but it is impossible to tell if this planning can withstand the chaos and terror of an active shooter situation. However, most students have grown up preparing for and worrying over this emergency as these deadly attacks on schools became a norm.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said it best in the wake of the shooting at MSU: “Our campuses, churches, classrooms

and communities should not be battlefields.” This is, sadly, what schools, malls, movie theaters and places of worship have turned into because of the selfishness and lack of compassion on the part of those who continue to advocate for gun possession in the wake of these incomprehensible, violent tragedies. If you conduct a Google search of the top risk factors for gun violence, at the top of every list is easy accessibility to guns due to the lack of regulations and laws in this country. No matter what the other risk factors are, they could not contribute to gun violence if there was no gun to begin with.

Owning a gun should not be a right. Owning a weapon that can only hurt or kill a person should be a privilege. If you believe otherwise due to an archaic document written by long dead men even after reading a nowhere near comprehensive list of recent school shootings, then a serious question needs to be asked of your morality.

If you have any questions, concerns or inquiries, please email therameditorialdirector@ gmail.com

February

Page 7

The Gendered Politics of Writing an Email

By ISABEL DANZIS EDITOR IN CHIEF

One of the Ram’s many quirks is the time period that we change staff. Unlike most clubs at Fordham, our positions last for a calendar year instead of an academic one. So that meant this winter break I was preparing to assume my new role as editor in chief in January.

During this time, we dealt with normal transition items: organizing staff, setting up training, making schedules and transferring accounts. One day, while doing this planning from the comfort of my home in Maryland, I was writing a text message to one of my colleagues on the Ram about a training session we were setting up. I opened the text message with the phrase “I think,” but quickly went back on myself and deleted “I think” because I didn’t “think” what I was about to say — I knew it.

The perception of those in charge in the workplace is shifting. Women, nonbinary and gender nonconforming individuals continue to break glass ceilings every day, but the reality is society continues to socialize many people, specifically women, not to take leadership roles in the workplace.

Women, in general, use less assertive language than men. We tend to use a lot of qualifiers and mechanisms to weaken

our arguments. Assertive, confrontational and strong women are often perceived as aggressive and rude. It’s a pervasive double standard, where men use the exact same words and are perceived as confident, good leaders. This has profound effects because advice or statements from women are taken less seriously, which is partly attributed to this nonassertive language. And for me, in my new role (but truthfully, in my role before this as News Editor), it’s been hard to shake my safe words when writing emails or dealing with people. The classic one that I am guilty of is using the phrase “I think” instead of “I know” or not using any opener at all and just saying the facts. Using phrases like “I think” inherently makes you sound unsure and waters down an argument before it’s even said. Not to mention, when you say something, it’s implied that you think it. The phrase acts like a crutch; it invites people to correct me, even when I’m sure of what I’m saying. That’s not to say it’s not important to voice ideas or thoughts to people, but it is used too often as an unnecessary caveat to known sentences and facts.

I find myself using other small words or phrases to soften the blow of my messages. I use the phrase, “I’m just checking in” or “I’m just confirming,”

instead of saying, “I’m confirming,” because using “just” sounds like I’m politely knocking on someone’s door rather than I’m banging. Exclamation points are a good friend when trying to make a message sound more upbeat and less confrontational. Overemphasizing phrases like “no worries” or “it’s totally okay,” despite sometimes things not being “totally okay.” I apologize all the time, even when I don’t have something to be sorry for. I feel the need to thank everyone for simply emailing me, which can also be completely unnecessary. There is still a time and place for these types of words and phrases. As a person, especially as a leader, you should apologize when necessary. You should be gentle when the situation warrants it. You shouldn’t display things that you are unsure of as fact. It’s okay to “think” rather than “know” things. You should let people know when they haven’t done anything wrong. Understanding what tone to strike in a specific situation is a quality of a good leader and something people should always strive to achieve. However, too often, women resort to these phrases to take a weaker, less assertive tone when unnecessary because of how we were socialized to act. Changing the way we view language is a barrier that we have yet to overcome. While

the perception of the way people communicate is changing, the way we communicate is ingrained in our society. And it’s pervasive. It’s an issue that affects so many women. I cannot count the times my friends and I have talked about how we communicate and how we are constantly noticing places where we water down what we are trying to say. One of my best friends and I once spent an hour-long walk discussing this topic.

For the past few months, I have been reviewing every email I send with a critical eye, and I think about things before

I say them. The things that I have to say are worthwhile, and they should be interpreted the way I want them to be because I am qualified to be in the role I am in. They should not be watered-down or changed because I do not want anyone to interpret me in a negative light. Women are strong and capable of the roles they are put into, and that should be reflected in the way we speak.

Unnecessary Frustration Over Menstruation Information

By CAROLYN BRANIGAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

When it comes to the health of high school athletes, it is better to err on the safe side in terms of health data collection, as in: it’s okay for health professionals to have access to private information. However, given the fact that the majority of these athletes are minors, there are, of course, extra measures that must be taken to ensure the athletes medical data remains only in the hands of those who truly need to have it. As such, the recent decision that Florida’s governing body made to remove menstruation questions from high school athletic forms is one with which I do not agree.

used to. And, in fact, irregularities of a female athlete’s menstrual cycle or a long pause in the cycle can indicate a number of adverse health conditions and even point to overtraining. As a result, there is simply no reason that this information could ever be classified as irrelevant or unnecessary, because this data paints a clear picture of the female athletes health.

However, given the political pressure that has been applied to the association to view this through the prism of contentious political issues, it is understandable how the FHSAA reached this decision. Though I myself am in favor of medical privacy whenever possible, there are simply some situations where privacy just does not make sense. And though I can understand how athletes of this age may feel reluctant to share intimate information, the kinds of questions that the form posed were by no means overly invasive. There were a total of five questions, which had already been marked as optional, which attempted to obtain information in regards to the dates and frequency of the individual’s menstrual cycle. Though they are sensitive questions, none of the

questions pointed towards any overly invasive data collection.

Understandably, parents, educators and the community have a right to be concerned about their teens’ data and who has access to it. However, the argument that the FHSAA has no justification for gathering such sensitive data is incorrect. As it stands, the presumption was that other school staff members, such as a coach or sports director, would also have access to this sensitive information if the FHSAA were to enact this menstrual reporting rule. I do not believe this to be completely necessary, however. Only people with the proper and relevant credentials should be able to view the athletes’ health data.

Athletes should disclose their data to the relevant medical professionals, but other staff members such as coaches and other school staff members do not have a reason or a need to access this information. It is unclear exactly how many people would have had access to the data had the questions not been struck from the forms, but as long as everyone who could obtain this information was someone who needed it for the health of the athletes, I do not think it should have been such a

hot-button issue.

In a day and age in which violations of privacy are frequent, I can completely understand the hesitancy and backlash to these kinds of questions on health clearance forms. If this information did get into the hands of the wrong individuals, it would undoubtedly be incredibly damaging not only to the health of the athletes but to their psychological development. With that being said, in the context of the situation, there is simply no reason to assume the information would

be used in a negative way. High school sports are rigorous, and athletes are always at risk the longer that they continue to play their sport. Therefore, questions like these may feel uncomfortable, but they are undoubtedly necessary to ensuring a long, healthy and productive athletic career.

Carolyn Branigan, FCRH ’24, is an Englishandfilm&televisionmajor from Tinton Falls, N.J.

COURTESY OF PIXABAY

Women occupy more leadership roles, but we still face unfair expectations.

COURTESY OF PIXABY

Healthcare officials should have access to atheletes’ menstruation information.

ChatGPT Will Revolutionize the Economy – It Could Do So Much More

By ALEXEI GANNON CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The general purpose language model — as exhibited in programs like ChatGPT that interpret and produce writing automatically — is a fundamentally liberatory technology that has the potential to free working people from the busywork of mechanical writing. Unless something is done, we will not be allowed to use it as such.

The recent controversy against ChatGPT has had two distinct fronts. The first critique is one of skepticism. On the one hand, ChatGPT is unsophisticated: it misinterprets complex prompts and writes in a manner that is clearly technical with no style imparted. Language models lack a uniquely human creativity. The other critique is one of fear. Critics are concerned with the general purpose language model’s existential ability to erase writing as a human skill wholecloth. Students will turn in undetectable AI-generated essays. Our great novelists will be outmoded by AI-generated bestsellers. Writing will become obsolete as humanity is replaced by its gizmos.

As these arguments are contradictory, I’ll choose to analyze the first one; ChatGPT is best at writing mechanically, which means that it is ideal for automating menial forms of writing. Language models are best at replicating sources with many examples that conform to a certain template or pattern. In other words, ChatGPT cannot write “Infinite Jest,” but it is pretty good at writing genre fiction and nearly flawless at writing professional emails or neutral bullet-point summary news articles. Language models do not replace innovation —

they replace busywork and menial writing that forces writers to sacrifice their time and autonomy to mechanical, socially rigid formats. ChatGPT should be understood not as an author but as a translator of common language prompts into the syntax of professional memos, fiveparagraph essays and programming languages.

As it currently exists — freely accessible to anyone with an internet connection — this translatory function of ChatGPT has the potential to flatten epistemic inequalities driven by class disparity. Translational gaps have been utilized to perpetuate social hierarchy throughout human history. Take English, for example. Just as French had been the official language of English government officials in the 11th14th centuries, the British empire enforced English onto its colonial subjects until English became the de facto official language of global trade. Even within the English language, African American Vernacular English has been historically discriminated against by the white ruling class as unprofessional, resulting in racist hiring practices and the development of social techniques like code-switching. In each case, linguistic formats made unevenly available due to socioeconomic inequality have stood as barriers to power. Translation technology closes these gaps by breaking through these epistemic barriers, and ChatGPT is no exception.

Instead of simply translating between languages, ChatGPT translates between modes of writing within a language: prompt to essay, essay to summary, bulletpoint notes to email and so on. What is immediately unique about ChatGPT is its ability to translate large datasets into

comprehensible explanations and its consequent ability to translate natural language into programming language. At the same moment that entry-level coding ability has become an essential requirement for many livingwage jobs, another epistemic barrier to power, ChatGPT now allows all literate people the ability to produce basic, functional code.

There is a great egalitarian promise here: all of human knowledge at our fingertips, translated to be comprehensible and workable. I feel a dreadful urgency to compel you to see what you can do with this technology while it is new and volatile and publicly accessible. Have you ever wanted to build a website? Is there some task at your job that feels like it could be automated? Would you like to never write a professional email again? All of these things are now possible for virtually everyone. Do them! Then, ask yourself what else you can do in all the time you have saved. Let a hundred flowers bloom! Let a thousand machines automate our labor so that we might take our free time to bathe in the sun and blossom as humans. Take advantage of the language model before it is incorporated into the economic framework of our society, as it inevitably will be.

This technology is revolutionary in the same sense that the textile mill or steam engine were revolutionary, but any economic revolution entails the reorganization of human capital. Just as the Luddites lost employment to the textile mill, journalists are under direct threat from this technology, such as 12% of BuzzFeed’s staff laid-off in late January. Amid contemporary layoffs of journalists and tech workers, the market will come

to require different skill sets for writers. Creating complex programs still requires software engineers with the ability to read and edit code in the same way that creating a whole newspaper still requires editors that will fact-check and curate the print. The language model will become part of an iterative cycle of text production that values creativity and curation.

Yet, as the global economy reorganizes around automated language processing, it will squeeze workers for all they can produce. Americans have been victim to a growing gap between productivity and pay since the 1980s.

From 1950-2019, while GDP per capita increased by 293%, mean working hours only decreased by 11%. When you tell your boss that you completed your coding quota for the day in an hour using ChatGPT, he will not tell you to go home, nor will he pay you more. He will quadruple your quota and half your staff, and if

he fails to do so then he will be beaten by his competitors that do. No matter how much we automate, we will labor as long as economic growth directs our society.

The liberatory potential of ChatGPT — the automation of machinic writing in favor of increased free-time — will remain unrealized due to the global economy’s demand for growth. Automation does not allow us to work less because the market requires firms to produce more. Still, the accessibility of language models has put previously unimagined informational and productive power into the hands of everyday people. If the corporations cannot use this technology to improve how we live, then it is up to the people.

School Tactics Put Differently-Abled Students at a Disadvantage

By SAISHA ISLAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Tactics or informal removals are secret off-the-book techniques used by school systems to suspend students with behavioral, neurological and developmental disorders from their classes. These removals “can include repeated dismissals in the middle of the day or shortening students’ education to a few hours a week.” They are in violation of federal civil rights protections for students with disabilities stated in legislation such as the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

According to a report from the National Disabilities Rights Network, these informal removals occur “hundreds and perhaps thousands of times per year” and include “‘transfers to nowhere,’ when students are involuntarily sent to programs that do not exist.”

Due to the lack of recordkeeping on these tactics, it is hard to keep track and measure the complete impact of these informal removals, but they leave children with behavioral issues with academic and social limitations and leave their families feeling disheartened. This is seen in the case of Dakotah Lavigne where informal removals kept him going to middle school for one hour a day, and in Jasim McDonald’s situation, where he faced over 80 informal removals and lack of support from his teacher.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, informal removals increased and students with behavioral issues were especially left behind and tended to be students who had regressed the most. Dr. Jenny Radesky, a developmental pediatrician, states that students that are suspended or expelled can experience “struggles with obesity, sleep ruptures, strained families and suicidal ideation.” Educators

claim that the situation is more complex and that they grapple with smoothly implementing legislation which protects education for students with behavioral issues such as the IDEA act. They state problems with federal funding to “cover the extra costs of special education have always fallen short of the targets in the law” and left them without key resources for helping students with different needs. While this does add more nuance to the situation, informal removals should be monitored and reduced as they put differentlyabled children at an educational disadvantage.

Informal removals may seem well-intentioned in trying to help students have time and space to reflect or calm down and for other children in class to focus, but their overuse does the opposite and sets them back from progressing in their education. In reality, schools may not have the resources to help students with behavioral disorders

or educate teachers and other professionals in the school in the most effective ways to help all students, but the overuse of informal removals does more harm than good.

In order to best reconcile the issues faced by educators, students and their families, there needs to be more funding for resources in order to help students with behavioral issues. This is a rigorous process that would require the active involvement of the school team, teachers and families to accommodate and bring students with different needs up to speed as much as possible so they can participate in classrooms with other children.

Pressure on schools is what keeps them from reporting informal removals and what makes it harder to track them and their effects. While some pressure is required, the root of the problem still lies in integrating students with a wide range of disabilities into a classroom with inadequate resources, education of teachers

or the school teams. An increase in federal funding would aid schools in getting more resources, but it would also be important to define what these resources would be and which would be the most effective to help all students. Informal removals are easy for schools but cause harm to students with behavioral issues; it would be more advantageous to both students and schools in the long run to create an effective plan where students would receive help equally from both schools and their families in order to put more burden on either side. In conclusion, overuse of informal removals should be eliminated and more funding for resources, as well as more planning on what resources should be used and the active involvement of help from schools and parents, should be defined more clearly.

Alexei Gannon, FCRH ’25, is a biology and history major from Allentown, Penn.

Saisha Islam, FCRH ’25, is a biology major from New York, N.Y.

COURTESY OF PIXABAY ChatGPT will remain unrealized due to the economy’s demand for growth.

It’s Time to Reimagine Midterm Season

By MICHAEL SLUCK PRODUCTION EDITOR

With midterm season fast approaching here at Fordham, many students are buckling down for the coming grind. While perhaps not quite as hectic as finals season, midterms present their own unique challenges to Fordham students: namely, trying to balance a demanding exam schedule with an already-taxing course load.

The Fordham Ram will be taking off next week, in order to give writers and editors a break during midterms season. For the first time in my two-year tenure at the Ram, some of my midterms are actually falling during our week off, meaning I can actually take advantage of the vacation to study. Many of my peers, however, are not so lucky, and have exams that extend later into the month.

Part of the problem is that, unlike finals, which take place over the course of a single twoweek period at the end of the semester when there are no classes, there’s no designated season in the academic calendar midterms at Fordham. There’s about a month-long period in which professors may choose to schedule their midterms, and it’s not uncommon to hear of students who are still receiving midterms weeks after

many of their peers have finished theirs.

In order to decrease stress for students and facilitate better performance on midterm exams, Fordham should create a designated period halfway through the semester in which all midterm exams must fall.

While it may be too much to ask that Fordham gives time off from classes during this period, the same way that they give off for finals, having a designated period for midterms would mean that professors might be more lenient about homework.

One of the major struggles of midterms is that, between finding time to go to classes and study, students also have to deal with all their regular homework. This isn’t because professors love heaping work on already-stressed students.

In a class of 20-plus students, however, it’s impossible to design a calendar that caters to each individual’s midterm schedule. If all midterms were to fall in the same period, however, professors might choose to lessen the workload for that time frame, giving students the opportunity to study and do better on all their exams.

Critics of this method may point out that they would prefer having their midterms spread out over a long period of time, rather than mashed into a

fortnight. However, as the system currently stands, there’s no guarantee that your exams will be spread out at all. There’s a chance you might have four midterms over the course of two days, on top of attending classes, finishing homework and any other extracurriculars that might occur.

Having an appointed time frame would also allow other Fordham organizations to adjust their schedules. Resident Assistants could schedule relaxation programs during the midterm period, the same way they do during finals. Clubs could suspend their activities, or offer entertaining alternatives as breaks from exams. Perhaps the university itself could do something similar to finals season’s “midnight breakfast,” where the university offers fun and food to stressed out students. Organizing events like this would be far easier if midterms didn’t take place over a month and a half.

It’s possible that this solution might not work in every major, such as the upper-level STEM courses that have multiple midterms over the course of the semester. In general, however, for many humanities and core classes, setting aside a designated period for midterms would lead to a more relaxed environment. Departments that are unable to conform to the

schedule can be granted some exceptions, but still try to respect the chosen period and lessen their workload a bit for students during that time.

In recent years, Fordham has been facing enormous issues related to mental health and the stress-levels of its students.

A study of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences characterized nearly 71% of the student population as depressed; in fall 2021, Counseling and Psychological Services faced massive wait times and lack of individual care, due to the deluge of students seeking psychiatric help. A survey done by Inside Higher Ed, conducted two years ago, found that 65% of college students across the

United States reported having only fair or poor mental health. Fordham has repeatedly committed itself to caring for the whole person, and taking steps to ensure students are properly supported.

In the light of these issues, Fordham University should be doing everything in its power to ease stress on its students. Delegating a single fortnight in the middle of the semester as the time for midterms is a simple step the university can take to make things a little easier on students.

Don’t Let The Great Salt Lake Dry

By EVAN McMANUS ASST. OPINION EDITOR

When flying into Salt Lake City, it is impossible to miss the unique beauty of the Great Salt Lake. The waters of the lake create a dreamlike mirror of the sky, which is peppered by islands with craggy mountain tops. Although a natural wonder as large as the Great Salt Lake would seem permanent, it is not. In recent years, the lake has been rapidly drying up due to climate change and population growth in the region. The situation is so dire that a study from Brigham Young University predicts the lake could become completely dry in five years. If that happens, toxic dust particles containing arsenic and mercury would contaminate the air of the Wasatch Front and poison the lungs of Salt Lake City citizens. As a former resident of Salt Lake City, the recent news has left me gravely concerned and upset. You never want to read that your former home may become an environmental disaster. That is why I plead to Utah lawmakers to enforce water use restrictions to allow the Great Salt Lake to grow again.

It is important to look at the lake’s ecosystem services for the region to fully appreciate its impact. The lake provides an important resting place for birds on migration paths. Utah’s famous snow

exists because of the “lake effect” from the lake’s moisture that leads to storms dumping more snow. The region also benefits economically from the deposits of lithium, magnesium and other minerals near the lake. Since the lake is drying up, all these benefits are at risk of disappearing.

Many experts are worried that the region could end up in the same position as Owens Lake in California. When Los Angeles rapidly expanded in the early 20th century, it took action to divert water from the Owens river to the city for drinking water. Before Los Angeles’ actions, Owens Lake was a picturesque town. However, the river’s diversion caused the lake to dry up and become the source of poisonous dust storms. The town sued Los Angeles and won. Since becoming responsible for managing the dry lake’s dust, Los Angeles has spent $2.5 billion. Nevertheless, all that money will never restore the lake and town to its original condition.

What can be done to solve this crisis? Some Utah politicians have proposed absurd solutions, like building a pipeline to connect the lake with the Pacific Ocean. The most common sense action is a lot simpler, and it would be for the state to encourage less water usage from its citizens. Although Salt Lake City is in the middle of a desert, it is home to the country’s

cheapest water per gallon usage. If the city increased the water costs, it would mean less water usage by its residents. Neighborhood HOAs also contribute to water waste by making residents water their lawns for curbside appeal. A law banning HOAs from implementing this rule would save even more water usage. However, it would be a lie to say that this simple solution would be easy to implement. A large amount of water is used for farming plants like alfalfa, and many local politicians are worried about hurting that industry. The state’s lawmakers know that they have to do something to save the lake, but they are too afraid to take any action that would upset anyone.

The state has changed a lot since I moved away in 2011. During the 2010s, Utah had a growth rate of 17.6%, which was the largest in the country. Sand lots I drove by as a kid are now fully-built neighborhoods. In many ways, this growth has brought a lot of good to the state. But the harsh reality is that the region has been hugged to death. The growing usage of Salt Lake City’s water supply has caused worries about demand exceeding growth in the 2040s. If the state’s politicians had allowed for population growth to happen in a more manageable way with as much concern for water usage for its citizens as its farmers, then Utahns would not have had to deal with their slew

of current issues.

Like many past and present residents of Utah, I have many positive memories associated with the lake. My family went on many camping trips to Antelope Island State Park at the lake during my childhood. The rugged and quiet beauty of the lake gifted me with a love of the outdoors that has lasted my whole life. Now that the Great Salt Lake is on the precipice of death, I

hope lawmakers in the state decide to let go of their fear of upsetting farmers and enforce water restrictions. If the waters are allowed to flow freely, the lake can be reborn and a new generation of Utahns can gain a love of nature from it.

Evan McManus, FCRH ’25, is a political science major from Dover, Ma.

The exposed dust from a dry lakebed would endanger residents of the region.

The chaotic schedule of midterms adds unnecessary stress on students. COURTESY OF PIXABAY

Michael Sluck, FCRH ’24, is a political science and computer science major from Verona, N.J.

February 22, 2023

Heckling & Unclear Goals at State of the Union

By MICHAEL DUKE CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The State of the Union is an event that allows Congress and the President to come together and set an understanding for the legislative agenda for the year. However, many are questioning the productivity of President Joe Biden’s most recent address. After watching, listening and reading the address, it is the nation’s understanding that Biden was right to call out Republicans at the State of the Union, and Republicans were equally justified in responding to his callouts. However, this does not excuse the partisan divides that were made apparent throughout the evening or the childish finger-pointing that was put on display.

Presidents going farther back than Woodrow Wilson in the 1910s have delivered a State of the Union in person to Congress, and many since have used it as an opportunity to not only present their platform, but to use it as the perfect time to utilize the bully pulpit and call out political rivals to their faces. However, this time the tradition blew up in Biden’s face.

At the State of the Union, Biden spoke on topics that fuel our nation’s pride. From the 10 million Americans who have applied to start new small businesses to the countless Americans whose healthcare costs will be eased by the Inflation Reduction Act,

Biden championed much under his leadership.

Oddly enough, he seized an opportunity amidst his victory lap and accused members of the Republican Party of wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits to those Americans who depend on monthly checks and government help to get by. But the kicker was not only that he had zero legislation come to his desk from Republicans in Congress about Social Security or Medicare cuts, or that as a first term senator from Delaware he tried to sunset Social Security and Medicare cuts, but that certain members of Congress stood up and threw his words back at him and called him a “liar.”

Prominent member of the House and far-right extremist Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga) took offense to Biden calling out her Republican colleagues and shouted multiple times at Biden. Appearing to possess a particular attitude towards Biden’s remarks before he even gave them, she was seen on social media platforms donning a white balloon in the halls of Congress before the affair, an action that was intended to mock Biden’s handling of the recent shootingdown of the Chinese spy balloon. Though it was not only Greene who outwardly expressed her bias against Biden, as other members of the Republican caucus whose outward disapproval throughout

the evening, such as laughter at Biden’s statements or shaking of the head, display a large-scale Republican disapproval of Biden’s statements and his administration on the whole.

This issue of finger-pointing is far deeper than how it might originally present itself. Though Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has assured that such cuts Biden accused Republicans of wanting will not occur, his inability, yet again, to corral his caucus, and this time hear out the president, represents a larger issue in our constitutional republic: the issue of partisan decency and respect across the aisle. For a long time, we have seen the mainstream media transform this honest and positively-natured exchange between the executive and the legislative into a circus. Former President Donald J. Trump had to outdo former President Barack Obama and lay out larger and bolder plans in his addresses, and the same goes for Biden’s attitude toward the event. However, Biden heckling his hecklers earlier this month is not a display of attempting to craft policy across the aisle, but was an attempt to outdo predecessors, namely Trump, but is an example of devolving into the very thing he promised his voters he wouldn’t become.

Not being a brutish crybaby is something that Biden ran on in 2020 and is something he will likely champion in the 2024

contest. Though his track record on the topic isn’t the best, one example being a blunder on the 2020 campaign trail where he called a voter in New Hampshire a “lying dog-faced pony soldier,” his State of the Union ran smoother than previous ones. Despite the back and forth with Greene, Biden’s State of the Union lacked many qualities that were common under Trump, namely making remarks that might lead to the Speaker of the House shredding their copy of the speech, as did former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (DCalif.) in 2020.

To be clear, this affair is a rare opportunity where the President of the United States is able to lay out his checklist for the nation in front of the elected officials that will be able to deliver his wants to his desk in the form of legislation. But by calling out Republicans, especially those in the House who control the government’s budget, what does Biden hope to accomplish? This question is made relevant when put into the lens of where Biden stems his claims from, being based off of stale claims Biden took out of context from Republicans, namely Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), from 10 or more years ago on different conditions and conversations occurring in America. Taking a step away from Congress, many in their workplaces who might have had a difficult coworker or boss know that they’d be less likely to

approach or work with those they have troubles with if they are constantly berated by said individuals. The same goes for Biden towards Republicans and the Republican response to Biden, as very few people walked away from this event and had strong opinions of our government’s ability to operate productively. As a matter of fact, as of this past January, Congress’s approval rating was at an astounding 21%, which is sure to fall further into the teens as the political divide in Washington continues and was displayed in Biden’s speech.

Like the State of the Union, Congress is supposed to be a hallowed space and opportunity for positive change. Unfortunately, both sides are to blame for this understanding if this public display is how governing truly happens in D.C. and how we should expect our nation to operate. Republicans and Biden walked away from the State of the Union Address hyper-focused on the partisan tensions stemming from the event and has shifted focus away from the change that Biden came to Congress bartering for.

Michael Duke, GSB ’26, is undecided from Scottsdale, Ariz.

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The rest of this article is available at thefordhamram.com fordham.edu/gsas

J.K. Trolling and Hogwarts’ Controversial Legacy

By ALLISON SCHNEIDER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“Hogwarts Legacy,” the newest installment in the Harry Potter franchise, has taken social media by storm. Since the first wave of releases of the game on Feb. 10, Twitter users have reported timelines flooded with game spoilers and arguments about the ethics of playing or purchasing the game considering J.K. Rowling’s controversial stance on transgender rights and social issues.

Rowling, the author of the original Harry Potter books and the creative mind behind huge projects like Universal Studios’ Harry Potter World, has a long history of negative press.

Throughout 2020, the bestselling author came under fire for a series of tweets that many people construed as offensive to the transgender community, particularly trans women. Her first tweets on the topic complain that the use of phrases such as “menstruating person” excludes “real” women. Other such remarks have further excluded trans women and denounced their belonging with the female community. She has also condemned hormone therapy as unnecessary and the cause of potential health risks, citing inaccurate scientific studies and other such irreputable sources. But even before these statements, Rowling reportedly liked a series of transphobic tweets from other Twitter users and defended a handful of self-proclaimed “transphobes,”

including YouTuber Magdalen Berns and disgraced researcher Maya Forstater. This behavior dates back to as early as March 2018.

Even more controversial is Rowling’s more recent books, one of which features a cismale murderer who dresses as a woman to attack and kill cis-women. This type of story is often pushed in conservative and transphobic circles as transphobic rhetoric masquerading as protecting women.

Rowling’s history of transphobic comments has caused many people to boycott her products, including the massive amount of Harry Potter merchandise available for purchase. The newest installment in the Harry Potter-verse is a video game called “Hogwarts Legacy,” which allows players to experience life at Hogwarts a century before the books take place. In protest of the game, many online are trying to dissuade people from purchasing or playing the game by posting spoilers online or verbally attacking video game “influencers” who have made content that features the game.

However, some argue that the game is not as problematic as one might think. According to the official “Hogwarts Legacy” website, J.K. Rowling was not a major part of the game’s design process. Other fans of the franchise have pointed out the inclusion of a possibly transgender character in the game, which some see as a peace offering. The character is an NPC

(non-playable character) who players can speak to during their quest. Throughout the game, she never officially claims a gender identity, but instead makes a comment that some think implies that the character is a trans woman: “Took them a second to realize I was actually a witch, not a wizard.” Yet the character’s name, Sirona Ryan, has left something to desire among members of the LGBTQ+ community. J.K. Rowling is not unfamiliar with naming controversy as the Harry Potter books feature arguably racist names such as Cho Chang and Kingsley Shacklebolt. Sirona Ryan, beginning with “Sir” and ending with “Ryan,” a typically male name, seems uncreative and possibly offensive.

The game has also come under fire for antisemitism. The goblin bankers featured throughout the book and movie series have been called antisemitic caricatures by critics, and the “Hogwarts Legacy” game features these same goblins with even more pronounced antisemitic characteristics.

But above all, the strongest argument against the game is how much money Rowling is likely to make from it. Even if she was not involved in the design process, she still stands to make millions off of royalties from game sales. To break it down: Rowling owns the intellectual property of all Harry Potter merchandise, which now includes the content of this game. While it has not been announced what percentage of the

sales she will collect, the industry standard ranges from 1015%, and she currently makes 15% off of Harry Potter book sales. With copies of the game selling from between $60-70, it is likely that Rowling will make about $8 off of each sold copy. While this number may seem small, Forbes estimates that the game will sell at least 10 million copies in the foreseeable future, meaning that Rowling could be pocketing $80 million off of just one game’s release. Economic support for media is the biggest way to show support for the content and the creator behind it. Transgender rights activists encourage potential players to boycott the game not because the game

itself is offensive, but because the creator who stands to profit off of it has continuously demonstrated her lack of support for the transgender community. There are also many alternatives to economically supporting Rowling. Choosing instead to watch video game streamers play the game, buying the game second-hand, opting to split the costs among friends or simply not engaging in the content at all are all viable options. If you are truly desperate for a Harry Potter revival, try rereading the books you might already own, going to the library or checking out fan-made content online. There are so many ways to enjoy the magical world of Harry Potter without supporting its transphobic creator.

Highbridge: The Heart and Soul of The South Bronx

By CALEB STINE COLUMNIST

I first stepped foot in the Bronx long before I became a Ram. Probably a few years before I had even heard of the school I would eventually call home.

It was September 2015 on a beautiful late-summer day. As my dad and I left our hotel on the Upper West Side to make our way up for a Red SoxYankees game donning our Sox gear, I could sense a pulsing energy as the B train departed the familiar streets lining Central Park West and departed into uncharted territory.

The Bronx felt like a different planet in all the best ways. An energy of heart and soul, grit and determination that made even certain aspects of Manhattan seem stale and dull.

I remember distinctly the pushcarts, fruit stands and drill music blasting from speakers both inside and outside of the 161st street station. This was Highbridge. Unfiltered and unapologetically itself. I’ve been back a few times since that day and always forget how vibrant the neighborhood is and have made use of its proximity to Fordham’s

campus — a 20-minute D train downtown to Yankee Stadium.

Named after the High Bridge, which connects the neighborhood to Harlem and was first used as an enclave for the elite, who built large homes to overlook the Harlem River. Highbridge was originally an Irish-American neighborhood from its initial development in the 1840s to the 1960s. Now, Highbridge is mainly home to Dominican, Puerto Rican and Black residents.

Highbridge has given us magnates of 21st-century entertainment, including Tracey Morgan, Cardi B and A Boogie wit da Hoodie.

It would be silly to suggest that Highbridge has a more notable landmark than the iconic Yankee Stadium, as the neighborhood has been home to the Yankees for almost 100 years, the first Yankee Stadium, which stood in Highbridge from 1923 to 2008, and the new and current home of the Yanks, which broke ground in 2009.

It would also be equally as silly to not go any further as to what Highbridge had to offer outside of a seat and a hot dog between March and September.

No, I didn’t mean to say October. Highbridge’s main drag is Jerome Avenue, which later meets up with Fordham Road farther north.

Like many neighborhoods in the south Bronx, Dominican food is in no short supply, and the prices often reflect such an abundance. Don Sazón Restaurante, cornering 165th and Woodycrest Avenue has staples that have my mouth watering as I write. Their popular beef stew will run you less than a swipe at the dining hall, and their chicken soup is as much as a trip on the subway.

For an elevated take on the same food Don Sazón has to offer, Phoenix Bar and Restaurant off of Ogden Ave. and 171st has a dance floor and live music most weekends to work off the calories of their signature sirloin steak or grilled chicken.

For an American-centric night, Billy’s Sports Bar, lying outside the southeastern corner of Yankee Stadium is a popular venue to cheer on sports teams in an electric atmosphere that’s packed to the brim for most New York teams’ games.

Todd Phillips’ “Joker” has an iconic “stair-dancing scene” that takes place in the neighbor-

hood. Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscarwinning performance came straight from a step-street that connects the avenues of Anderson and Shakespeare at 167th street in Highbridge.

I’m not looking to fool you.

Highbridge is not hip. It’s not

artsy, and it’s certainly not trendy. But that can be good. Highbridge is a neighborhood that knows exactly what it is, a frenzy of Dominican culture, the heart of the South Bronx and an area that reminds me time and time again of all that New York has to offer.

Highbridge includes “Joker Stairs,” featured in 2019’s “Joker.”

Rowling’s transphobic rhetoric throws her works’ legacy into question.

Neighborhood Spotlight | Highbridge

Netflix and AMC’s New Decisions Cost Consumers

By NORA LEACH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

How do you prefer watching movies? On one hand, you might log in to Netflix and scroll through the trending tab to find a new movie you haven’t seen. On the other hand, maybe you can’t wait for the movie to start streaming and prefer the bigscreen experience, so you drive to a nearby movie theater to purchase the best tickets. With the recent price increases to use Netflix and attend movie theaters, you might find it more difficult to do both.

Netflix recently shared their new rules to combat password sharing. In an effort to help themselves financially after facing competition from other streaming services, Netflix has decided to charge a fee for password sharing. They have various methods to detect password sharing, one of which is a requirement to create a primary location that you must log on to every month.

Reactions to the new rules have been largely negative, and people on social media platforms, such as Twitter and Reddit, have expressed their frustrations with the streaming service. One argument against these rules is that they place those who cannot regularly go back to their primary network, including college students and those who travel for work, at a disadvantage. The decision even caught the attention of Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, who tweeted that she may

just unsubscribe from Netflix because she does not want to constantly reenter her password. For others, it is merely a lack of enthusiasm for Netflix’s mediocre content library, and some have already canceled their subscriptions. One Reddit user stated that the new password-sharing rules were merely the final nail in the coffin for their subscription, and they will only resubscribe for another month when the final season of “Stranger Things” comes out.

But if people decide to cancel their Netflix subscriptions and start going to movie theaters, they may feel disappointed to see that the best seats are so expensive. AMC Theaters is changing the prices of their tickets based on three different “sightlines”: standard, value and preferred. A standard sightline ticket will be the regular price. Value sightline tickets in the front row are cheaper but only available if you are part of AMC Theaters’ membership, and preferred sightline tickets are the most expensive, middle seat tickets. The new pricing system has already taken effect in New York.

Similar to the response towards Netflix’s new password sharing rules, people were unhappy with AMC Theaters. One of the most popular tweets regarding the decision came from movie star Elijah Wood, well-known for his role in “The Lord of the Rings” franchise. He said that going to movie theaters is no longer an activity

that everyone can enjoy:

“The movie theater is and always has been a sacred democratic space for all and this new initiative by @AMCTheatres would essentially penalize people for lower income and reward for higher income.”

A Reddit user questioned the practicality of the pricing system, wondering whether it would work in empty theaters where people could easily switch seats after the movie starts. A response said that they will just wait to stream movies from now on, stating that “movie theaters are trying to do everything they can to push me away so I won’t bother.”

With all of these criticisms and vows to stop supporting Netflix and AMC Theaters, will they actually negatively affect either company? Netflix’s passwordsharing rules have not gone into effect in the United States yet, but they have in countries such as Canada and Peru. Canadian users on TikTok, which include college students, have filmed themselves canceling their Netflix subscriptions. The new password-sharing rules in Peru were tested last year, leading to confusion as to what counts as a primary household, which caused some users to cancel their subscriptions. Similar to American users, other Peruvian users canceled their accounts due to a lack of interest in Netflix’s catalog.

As for AMC, they already tested whether or not increasing ticket prices would be successful during showings of “The

Batman” last year, charging $1 extra than other movies showing that weekend at AMC Empire 25 in Times Square. A poll from Morning Consult before the movie’s release showed that moviegoers would be willing to pay more money for popular movies released in 2022. However, the poll also showed that it was unlikely that the increased pricing would bring new audiences to the theaters. The film was a box office success, so those who enjoy and can afford attending movie theaters may not be deterred from the new pricing system. Those who were always unenthusiastic about going to movie theaters will most

likely feel more comfortable waiting until the movie comes out on streaming or DVD.

The long-term, widespread effects of these changes are unknown and difficult to determine. Given both of these scenarios, however, one thing is for certain: watching movies is becoming expensive, and movies will no longer be a form of entertainment that everyone can easily enjoy. If you like your Netflix subscription, then maybe the password-sharing rules will be worth it. If not, then maybe it’s time to switch to another streaming service, or you’ll just have to bite the bullet and buy the cheapest seats at an AMC Theater.

Rihanna “Rihturns” at the Super Bowl LVII Halftime Show

By NICOLE DIPIETRO CONTRIBUTING WRITER

During this year’s Super Bowl halftime show, nine-time Grammy winner Rihanna made a comeback performance for the first time since the 2018 Grammys. In a 13-minute mashup medley of 12 of her most popular songs and features, Rihanna delivered

an entertaining performance and a surprise pregnancy reveal with baby number two.

Kicking off the long awaited, highly anticipated show was the iconic “B**** Better Have My Money” followed by various remixes of other hits, including “Where Have You Been?,” “Only Girl in the World,” “We Found Love”

and “Work.” Also included in the spectacle was some of the artist’s best features like Jay Z’s “Run This Town,” Kanye West’s “All of the Lights” and DJ Khaled’s “Wild Thoughts.”

With consistent album releases from 2005 until 2016, when she released her record “ANTI,” Rihanna’s return to music has been chalked up for years amongst fans on social media. Especially because her last album was so successful, it was painful not knowing when the next release would come. That was until recently, when she was featured on the soundtrack for Marvel’s latest project “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” With the movie’s release came two singles by the singer, a beautiful ballad “Born Again” and the track “Lift Me Up.” However, with the pregnancy revealed at the Super Bowl, fans went back to joking about how we may never see her next album. Regarding the halftime show itself, Rihanna wore an all-red jumpsuit and puffy coat while her entourage of dancers wore puffy all white sets and sleek black sunglasses. The performance began on a set of rising and falling platforms over a long stage that covered the middle of the field. As the show progressed and the ques -

tion of her pregnancy lingered in all viewers’ minds, it was hard to blame her for the lack of extravagance that normally accompanies a Super Bowl-level performance. The show featured a lot of silly dance moves that obviously have become trends and have been recreated on Twitter and TikTok, but nonetheless it was a fun watch. People also accused Rihanna for the clear lip syncing that occurred during the set, as some points showed the microphone nowhere near her face, yet it’s not unusual for singers to have a back track during huge performances like this one.

My personal favorite part of the night was finally seeing the opening song after the many theories on TikTok. It’s always fun when the internet gets collectively excited about something like this and there’s tons of content about it on every platform. In the week leading up to the game, I might’ve seen at least 10 theories a day of fans debating how Rihanna would be dressed and what opening note would stun the stadium. And while that was half the fun, it certainly wasn’t the only surprise of the night.

When Rihanna appeared on our screens, I bet most people all had the same thought: Is she pregnant? In those first

five minutes of the performance I had been preparing a spiel about how it is totally normal for a woman’s body to retain weight after pregnancy and that speculation about a woman’s body is never really okay, although extremely normalized. Further into the show however, it was becoming abundantly clear that she was nodding to her baby bump through her dances and the unzipped jumpsuit that put emphasis on it. I’m sure many of us were running to Twitter to see what people were saying, and most fans online had the same thoughts. After the performance was over, many verified accounts and even some news outlets had somewhat confirmed our suspicions and declared that the singer is in fact pregnant.

Rihanna closed out the night by singing “Diamonds,” as she thanked the stadium with fireworks lighting up the sky. Now again, this was no crazy Super Bowl display like we’ve seen before with Lady Gaga’s extravaganza in 2017 or the incredible collaboration between Beyoncé, Bruno Mars and Coldplay in 2016. However, it was just good enough to get people talking about her again, even without having to release an album in seven years.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM Netflix and AMC Theaters implement controversial payment structures.

Rihanna returned to the stage after a seven-year hiatus from music.

Harry Styles Steals the Show at the BRIT Awards

By ISABELLA DEROSA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

On Saturday, Feb. 11, comedian Mo Gilligan hosted the annual BRIT Awards at the O2 Arena in London. This year’s awards featured some of the world’s most famous artists. The awards show itself was filled with iconic performances, fitting wins and questionable fashion choices.

Before the event began, many artists rocked new and iconic looks on the red carpet. There were several stars who were debated to be the best dressed of the night. Lizzo wore a Robert Wun black gown with a large gold ruffle. Harry Styles wore a black flared suit and oversized corsage by Nina Ricci. Yet another fan favorite was Jodie Turner-Smith who sported a stunning Zuhair Murad styled silver gown. On the other hand, Sam Smith was arguably the worst dressed sporting a black latex bodysuit by Harri. The suit had padding in the arm and leg area adding a strange shape to Smith’s figure. Some appreciated the artistic choice in Smith’s wardrobe while many thought the look was ridiculous.

Among those who were set to perform were Harry Styles, Sam Smith and Kim Petras, Lizzo, Lewis Capaldi and David Guetta with Becky Hill, Ella Henderson and Sam Ryder. Styles opened the ceremony with a performance of his single “As it Was.”

Fans were very pleased with his performance, which included his

signature style of dancing and high energy. Many even thought that this performance of “As it Was” was better than his Grammy performance, and Styles’ fans believed he looked much more comfortable on the BRIT Awards stage compared to others.

Rising British group Wet Leg gave a performance of their single “Chaise Lounge.” Wet Leg has been gaining popularity since the hit song was released in 2022 along with their selftitled debut album. Wet Leg’s performance was whimsical and featured a forest-like scene with an all-female dance group.

Capaldi performed the song

“Forget Me,” which was featured on his debut album in 2019. Following that was Lizzo performing a mashup of the three most popular songs from her latest album “Special.” The most striking part of Lizzo’s performance was her attire: Lizzo had worn a baby-pink gown with an oversized clamshell-like attachment. Lizzo’s performance also received much positive feedback from fans. Sam Smith and Kim Petras performed their latest single “Unholy,” which has been receiving mixed reviews since its release. While some fans are mesmerized by Smith’s new style, many are shocked by

their drastic change from classy to bold. Smith’s performance held true to their new style with a grungy car garage theme featuring both them and Petras decked out in dark colors.

Finishing off the performances was Guetta along with musical artists Hill, Henderson and Ryder. They performed a mashup consisting of songs Guetta had produced with each singer and brought an atmosphere of excitement to the ceremony.

Guetta had won Best Producer and Hill had won the Dance Act award. Although of all the most notable performers, Wet Leg and Styles had stolen the show,

taking home the most awards.

Wet Leg had won Best New Artist and Best Group overall. Styles had won a grand total of four Brit Awards, those being Album of the Year, Song of the Year, Artist of the Year and Pop/R&B Act.

On the other hand, Beyoncé won International Artist of the Year and International Song of the Year. Beyoncé’s winning song “BREAK MY SOUL” was a part of her Renaissance album, which was released in 2022. Despite the controversy that occurred after Styles won Album of the Year at the Grammys, there was little complaint about his success at the BRIT Awards. Styles was enthusiastically congratulated by both fans and artists alike. Even those who rooted for Beyoncé to win Album of the Year at the Grammys did get their wish granted at the BRIT Awards, as overall both artists had great success.

This year’s BRIT Awards was filled with awe-inspiring performances, fitting wins and questionable fashion choices.

Editor’s Pick | Film and Television

In the end, Styles had won the most awards out of every artist for the night. Between fashion, performance and awards, it is definitely safe to say that he stole the show. Nevertheless, viewers were also happy to see the success of newer bands such as Wet Leg, or even nominees such as Bad Boy Chiller Crew or the 1975, who won Alternative/ Rock Act despite not winning Best Group. There was certainly a good balance of artists in attendance and nominated, and every award given seemed well-deserved by the winners.

How“South Park” Challenges the Sacred

By MADDIE BIMONTE SPORTS EDITOR

If you know me or any of my roommates, you would be aware of the TV show that has played non-stop on the television every day: South Park. I can’t even recall how we became fiends for such a crazy, outlandish television show, but two months into 2023, we have binge-watched nearly all 26 seasons in its entirety.

On the surface, many see the show as a vulgar, trashy and downright disgusting piece of television. It’s honestly what I thought going into the show, and I had little interest in it. However, the more I watched, the more I became enthralled with what the show’s creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker had done what they had challenged with the creation of “South Park.”

“South Park” hit televisions in 1997, running for a whopping 26 years, and has garnered criticism for being too vulgar, with media advocacy groups such as The Parents Television and Media Council describing it as “a malodorous black hole of Comedy Central vomit.” But the so-called “trashy content” actually had me reflecting on things I learned so far during my time at Fordham.

Last semester, I took one of my favorite classes at Fordham called Church and Controversy, where we discussed how there is a concept the Church relies on to maintain power called the sacred. The sacred essentially means that it is a concept or way of thinking used by a group that cannot be challenged or questioned, or the foundation that the group establishes will fall apart. So when discussing challenging conventions, there’s no better show for the task than “South Park.”

At its core, the show is a satirical take on political and realworld topics that may be seen as too taboo to be addressed. Yet, Stone and Parker took it upon themselves to address these controversal issues such as mental health, abortion and religion.

Through the use of these vulgar elementary school children, the creators inflate the topics to a ridiculous scale to reach both sides of the political aisle. The show notably critiques both major political affiliations rather than taking a single form of agenda.

But what makes the show very interesting to me is how entertaining it is to find humor in almost every single major world event or severe topic. Part of the issue for why there is a lack of

communication between people is they don’t know how to address political issues. “South Park” completely ignores that dielmma by weaving in these topics in such a crazy way that you have to discuss and unpack what you just saw.

The show sees no topic as too dangerous to cover, even blasting celebrities for their poor behavior while also defending those who may not get the proper coverage. In Season 12’s “Britney’s New Look,” in which Stone and Parker commentate on how the media treats people suffering from mental health crises like Britney Spears, they are intentionally disturbing to emphasize the toxicity of how the media treated her. By being so outlandish the episode sticks with the viewer even after it ends, and creating a memorable piece of television is Stone and Parker’s ultimate goal.

The thing that works so well for the creators is how easy it is for them to create episodes. The animation style is simple, with paperlike cutouts, and the episodes run for 20-30 minutes. Coupled with the endless amount of real-world topics and problems to address, it’s possible that “South Park” may continue for years to come.

I think what I like most about

it is that, at the end of the day, it just makes me laugh. One of the reasons people watch television is to be entertained and laugh after a hard day of life. I feel that with “South Park,” I’m getting to discuss problems I think are real and challenging with comedy and humor, something that can unite us all. The show is

almost effortless with how funny it is, and it encourages you not to take life too seriously, something I sometimes find myself struggling to do. But at its core, it is something that bonded my roommates and I together this year as we spent nights sitting on the couch, scrolling aimlessly through episode after episode.

“South Park,” running for 26 years, is known for its vulgar comedy.

Netflix’s Latest Season of “You” Starts Off Strong

By MELISSA NG CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The popular Netflix series “You” has started off with a strong first half of the fourth season. The show is known for its formula of having the charming and well-read main character, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), develop an obsession for a woman which eventually leads into stalking her before actually making a move. Once they become romantically involved, Joe’s obsession consumes him and he goes to great lengths to maintain his relationship (i.e. murder). The show’s audience is used to seeing both the charming and murderous sides of Joe, yet still feel empathy towards him as his internal dialogue narration makes it easy to understand his actions. This season deviates from its familiar layout, not only taking place in London, but also following a whodunit plot, in which our beloved protagonist serial killer is actually framed for a murder. Joe finds himself being manipulated by an anonymous enemy who’s looking to disrupt Joe’s new life by exposing his past. This season also entails the struggle of staying afloat within an environment

full of ridiculously wealthy and entitled people (similar to season three’s rich suburban location, only heightened), thus making the audience side with Joe even more than before as his position is the most relatable. I thoroughly enjoyed watching part one and am anticipating an even better part two.

The creators did a great job keeping audiences engaged with a completely different structure of the show; mysteries and thrillers seem to be all the rage this year, especially those with whodunit plotlines such as “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” “Death on the Nile” and “See How They Run.” I find

that a lot of shows following the same pattern season after season become pretty boring and predictable, but seeing “You” shift to something different while maintaining its lovable attributes is refreshing and makes for a great viewing experience. We as the audience get a whole new experience while

still seeing the recognizable traits of a show we love. On top of that, a result of this murder being pinned on Joe is a form of interesting character growth. We’ve seen Joe, every season, committing the same horrible actions for the preservation of his relationships and every time, there’s a little hope that maybe this time it’ll be different (for Joe’s sake). Season four finally introduces a different Joe where he’s dealing with a murder that isn’t his doing, leading to a change in his self awareness. Joe recognizes he has to work on himself rather than depending on someone else to fix his problems. This is seen with yet another love interest; however, his approach to this one is quite different. Overall, I found myself still rooting for Joe’s success, though I haven’t forgotten about his past actions, but that’s the fun of this show. The moral dilemma of rooting for a bad guy to defeat another not so great guy is the pulling factor “You” continuously pulls off. This season’s strong start makes me excited for what the second half entails. Maybe we’ll see Joe lean into the character growth, or maybe we’ll see him get what he deserves.

Impress with this Low-Stress Risotto Recipe

By KARI WHITE CULTURE EDITOR

While most of college cuisine consists of food meant to satisfy and satiate, there do come moments when you want to impress someone with your culinary craft. The last two articles have described easy ways to better cheap food, but this edition will explore how to make a meal from scratch for someone you want to impress. Whether it be a group of friends, a date or visiting parents, there will always come a reason to have a recipe for a cheap, easy meal that can still make someone laud you with compliments. My suggestion is risotto. A creamy dish consisting of rice, broth and a little bit of wine, it lends itself well to various taste palettes and creative

ingredient experimentation. My favorite risotto, which this article will describe, has very few additions except for a few cloves of garlic and parmesan.

The recipe I used for this meal comes from Martha Stewart’s Parmesan Risotto, which can be found on her blog (she might have done a stint in jail, but this convict knows domestic bliss.) The recipe calls for arborio rice, chicken broth, two shallots, garlic, parmesan, white wine, olive oil, butter and a squeeze or two of lemon juice. I altered it slightly by opting for vegetable broth rather than chicken, which makes the dish vegetarian; using bottled lemon juice rather than squeezing a fresh lemon, let’s not break the bank; and using a yellow onion rather than a shallot, because my roommate

had one already in the fridge.

Like any meal, this one begins in the grocery store. Both of the times that I have made this recipe, I spent around $30. The first time I spent more, when I cooked for about eight people. However, as my friend and I were cooking together, we agreed to split the price. Therefore, both of us spent only about $15. The second time, when we cooked for only four, we spent much less. None of the ingredients cost much on their own, and all are common upon grocery store shelves. The only ingredient that I worried might elude us was arborio rice, and I have since noticed it on the shelves of Rams Deli. So, not elusive at all. At least not in the heart of Bronx’s Little Italy.

Once you have all of your ingredients in your kitchen, you’ll need to get out two pots. Make sure the second one’s big, really big, because that’s what you’ll cook the risotto in. While you’re prepping your ingredients, heat up all six cups of your chosen broth (chicken or vegetable) in the smaller of the two pots. The idea is that the broth will cook the rice through, so make sure that it’s simmering if not boiling.

As the broth heats up, prepare the garlic, onion and parmesan. Mince the garlic, dice the onion and grate the parmesan. Once the ingredients are prepped, turn the heat on underneath the larger pot and add the fats: butter and olive oil. After these get hot, toss in the garlic and onion. Let these cook on their

own until the onions turn transparent. Bite back your tears as they cook, and, when they’re ready, throw in the rice. Stir the rice in, coating it in the garlic and onion mixture. Cook until the rice is semi-transparent, then start adding in the broth. This is where it gets labor intensive. I’d highly recommend stretching.

The first time, add a cup of hot, steaming broth to the pot. Stir the rice until it has completely absorbed the broth, and then add another half-cup. Continue to add a half-cup at a time, being careful not to add more broth until the rice has completely absorbed the last broth infusion. This step dominates most of this recipe’s cooking time, as it takes about twenty minutes for the risotto to absorb all six cups. Once it is done, however, all you have to do is mix in the grated parmesan and voila! Your surprisingly cheap and effectively fancy dish is complete. Throw it in a bowl, add a sprig of parsley and prepare for the praise.

If you want to experiment with different types of risotto, you can add mushrooms, tomatoes, shrimp, pesto and the list goes on indefinitely. Ultimately, risotto is simply arborio rice, white wine and some sort of broth; you can add virtually anything to it. Lastly, I have also made this recipe without the addition of white wine, and, despite the fact that it is a defining facet of this dish, it tastes fine without it. If you’re underage or just not interested, you won’t miss out by forgoing

that single ingredient.

Both times I have made this dish, I’ve done so with the help of one of my closest friends. This was good, because she did all of the stirring. I just sat there and kept her company, occasionally pouring in another half-cup of vegetable broth when she asked for it. As I mentioned before, we only ever made this dish when we were having other people over for dinner. If you have not had the chance of cooking food for your roommates, friends and family, I would highly recommend it. I know it’s cheesy — pardon the pun — but cooking is love. Even if you are just adding a fried egg to instant ramen, intentionally using time to prepare good food is an act of love for yourself and others. If you can think of anything better than those moments when you are sharing a plate of good food, getting closer with people you’ve known for a few hours or a few years, please let me know what it is. Because I can’t think of anything.

This dish costs, at most, $30, and takes about 30 minutes to make. Invite your friends over, light some candles, put on some fancy dinner music and show them how much you appreciate them with a bowl of garlicky, cheesy affection. They’ll be impressed, and you are under no obligation to tell them how easy it was to make.

Because this dish does require a stovetop, two pots and a few knives, I’d rate it as… Difficulty level: Walsh Hall

COURTESY OF KARI WHITE/THE FORDHAM RAM Risotto is a dish that will impress without an extensive grocer y list.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

Netflix’s “You” has returned with a strong fourth season that leaves viewers excited for what’s to come.

“Quantumania” is a Blunder of Massive Proportions

By SEBASTIAN DIAZ MANAGING EDITOR

The latest in Marvel Studios’ series of laughable cinematic blunders, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” may be the nail in the coffin for those wondering if the past three to four years of missteps from the entertainment giant are flukes or the beginning of the end for a franchise 15 years in the making.

In case I didn’t already make it clear, the film is not good at nearly every structural or formal level. As a film intended to be a spectacle showcase that continues to tease the future of the Marvel universe (as each one of these films’ has purported to be, each one with decreasing enthusiasm), “Quantumania” failed to show me anything new or surprise me with anything to jolt me with excitement for their upcoming slate of films.

One of the primary selling points of the film was the full introduction of the Quantum Realm, a subatomic dimension that can be reached by shrinking down (as Ant-Man and his crew do) to a miniscule size. In the source comic books, the Quantum Realm opens a vast corner of the literature to tell brand new stories and give artists and illustrators the opportunity to craft an entire new dimension completely separate from our dimension. The film, however, decides to do away with the visually striking Jack Kirby-inspired comic depictions of this dimension

and replace it with drab and dull landscapes that are largely occupied by floating rocks and random spurts of bright yellow and blue lights against indistinguishable amorphous swaths of purple and brown.

The inhabitants of the respective Quantum Realm suffer the opposite problem: they are visually striking but lacking in character. There are two new Quantum characters, played by William Jackson Harper and Katy O’Brian, that feel as though they could be interesting in their own individual stories but serve very little purpose in this film beyond having some importance in a secondary thematic arc.

The film’s script is also fundamentally lackluster. Written by Jeff Loveness, it isn’t difficult to see him bring experiences and style as a “Rick and Morty” writer to the story structure and characters of “Quantumania.”

If you’ve seen any episode of the Adult Swim show where the characters are placed into an alien planet (as many are), then you’re going to be familiar with the basic story structure and beats at play in this film from beginning to end.

“Quantumania,” along with its predecessors, claim to be directed by Peyton Reed, but if you were to ask me what stylistic features or traits could be identified in Reed’s directorial style, I (who has seen all three of his Ant-Man films) would not be able to give you an answer.

Unfortunately, the utter lack

of inspiration in the film’s direction also carries over into the performances given by the actors. As the film’s star, Paul Rudd provides his signature charm over lines of dialogue that sound as though they were auto-generated and, doing his best, provides minimal new dimensions to the character. If you’re familiar with the character of Scott Lang/Ant-Man from his previous appearances, chances are that you’ll walk out of this film feeling as though you’ve learned little new information about him. The only real depth added to the character is in his interactions with his daughter Cassie, who has been aged up since the last film thanks to the shenanigans of previous Avengers films (as an aside: the aftermath of the last Avengers film has always felt interesting, but only on the periphery as the fallout gets pushed to the side). Scott’s healthy-yet-regretful relationship with his daughter is only interesting for the first act of the film before, like most interesting parts of these films, it gets inevitably sidelined in favor of pushing the main plot forward. Perhaps the primary selling point (and I may be doing it an injustice by waiting until now to reference it) is the introduction of Kang the Conqueror, a multidimensional, time-traveling villain of Marvel comics, whose appearance in this film serves as the first of many as the franchise’s next major villain. As a character, he’s fine. He brings

the same levity and peril that the last major villain, Thanos, did, but the real sticking point is the performance from actor Jonathan Majors, who seems to be doing the best he can in saving the film from being a total disappointment. Majors injects Kang with a sincerity and seriousness that’s a refreshing change of pace from a cast of characters who are all trying to be the primary comic relief. While I don’t doubt the acting ability of Majors, who I’ve thoroughly enjoyed in past projects like “Lovecraft Country,” I’m still unsure whether Kang is a good character in his own right or just in comparison to the rest of the characters in the film.

There isn’t much to say about the performances of the rest of the actors, though it’s always nice to see Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer on screen regardless of the film.

The middling-performance of “Quantumania” is just one of the recent examples of news to come out of Disney and Marvel Studios that seems to suggest that the company’s system of storytelling has become unsustainable. On Feb. 16, the same day as the worldwide release of “Quantumania,” the Hollywood Reporter published an article in which Marvel Studios executives revealed that the company would be slowing down production of its upcoming television shows, moving from its original plan of releasing a whopping five shows this year

Who’s That Kid? | Anna Hinck, FCRH ’25

to just two: “Loki” season two and “Secret Invasion.”

I say this without the intent to offend die-hard Marvel fans, but the only real compelling reason to take the time and pay money to see “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is if you’ve decided to continue engaging in the sunk-cost fallacy of having already sat through 30 films and 8-19 television shows (depending on where you draw the line between Marvel Television and Marvel Studios productions).

Sophomore Shares Passion for Rowing and Climate Change

By HANNAH BORING COPY CHIEF

When you know someone well — and by knowing them, I mean sleeping on a bed six feet away from theirs every night — it’s difficult to come up with interesting and insightful questions when it seems you already know almost everything about them. So, after analyzing the countless number of conversations I’ve had with Anna Hinck, FCRH ’25, there were two subjects for questions I felt myself returning to: sports and the Pacific Northwest.

Interview notes on my laptop and a voice memo recording on my phone between us, Hinck and I sat on the floor of our Finlay Hall triple on a quiet Wednesday night as she answered all of my questions.

Hinck participated in rowing throughout high school in her hometown of Seattle, Wash. Now, she can brag about being a Division I athlete as a proud member of the Fordham women’s rowing team.

“I did it in high school, and I wanted to have a team in college and a team environment like I did in high school,” Hinck said. A team with friends is even

more special, as Hinck said one of the reasons she loved rowing so much was because “I liked how I got to hang out with my friends all the time.”

When asked what her favorite memory from Fordham rowing thus far was, Hinck reminisced on their stay on campus over spring break in March 2022. “Last spring, we stayed at Fordham for a week over spring break, and it was really fun because no one else was really here. So we just all got to hang out together and we did a bunch of team bonding stuff. It was a lot of fun.”

Another reason Hinck enjoys rowing is “how you get to be outside all the time, in every season.” Being outdoors is a vital part of Hinck’s life, partly due to growing up next to a mountain range in the Pacific Northwest area. “I really, really love how close to nature we are, and also how passionate everyone is about protecting the earth and the climate.”

Climate change is a significant issue to Hinck, who said her view on this pressing matter has been shaped by the land she grew up surrounded by. “I think growing up in such a biodiverse place, it really has shaped how I

view the climate crisis and stuff related to that.”

While rowing alongside beautiful nature, skies and waters take up a significant majority of Hinck’s time, it is not the only sport she enjoys. Many times, I’ve walked into our dorm to see Hinck watching live streams of other sports — football, hockey, soccer. Formula 1, another sport I’ve caught her live-streaming, is near and dear to Hinck’s heart, as her brother and father got her into it.

“Actually, I did not like F1 for a large part of my life, and then I started watching with my brother. I got really interested in the technical aspects of the sport, like how the cars work and how everything comes together. I thought that was really interesting,” Hinck said.

Her knowledge of F1 is unquestionably impressive — one day, Hinck made a PowerPoint slideshow for a friend detailing each team, each team’s racers and the type of car they used.

With memories like that at the forefront of my mind, interviewing Hinck could never be truly, completely serious. We joked about her admiration of F1 driver Lewis Hamilton and Seattle Seahawks’ quarterback

Geno Smith, the traumatizing 2015 Super Bowl between Seattle and New England — a “show-stopper” in the Finlay triple, as our third roommate is a Patriots fan — and what NHL team she would want to be a sports journalist for.

But that’s the beauty of being friends with Hinck. You get to experience love for her world, her friends and her family

first-hand. It can seem difficult to hold so many passions, but Hinck manages to add more and more to an ever-growing list of things that she loves.

So, what’s next for Hinck?

The goal: placing top three at the Atlantic 10’s Championship with her team. But for now, she’ll have to wait until she can get back out on the New York waters with her teammates again.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM “Quantumania” fails to impress.

Baseball Drops Opening Weekend Series

By MADDIE BIMONTE SPORTS EDITOR

In the first weekend of play for the Fordham baseball team, the Rams lost all three of their games against Dallas Baptist University on the road this past weekend.

Going into the new season, many new faces made their debut on the 40-man roster.

New freshmen joining the team include Aric Berg, Ryan Egan, Nate Rusher, Bo Bramer, Daniel Bucciero, Jack Vallario, Liam Bowes, Tommy McAndrews and Kyle McTamaney. Head coach Kevin Leighton, returning for his 12th year as head coach, also saw multiple transfers joining the roster, such as juniors Nate Scott and Michael Brueser, and a ton of graduate students in Austin Sachen, Ryan Rockhill, Dominic Cunha, Peter DeMaria and William Simeone.

Kicking off the first game of the series, the Rams brought on graduate student pitcher Gabe Karslo to pitch the first four innings. Karslo pitched great for the Rams, holding Dallas Baptist to one run and putting up three strikeouts.

However, trouble occurred for the Rams in the sixth inning with the Patriots scoring six runs to extend their lead to 7-0. Fordham just couldn’t get any runs on the board resulting in an 8-0 loss to open the series. Dallas Baptist held Fordham to only three hits in the game, and recorded a whopping 18 strikeouts.

Looking to turn things around in the second game, the Rams had a rude awakening as they gave up eight runs over the first two innings in Dallas. The star of the game had to be Dallas Baptist’s Tom Poole, who hit two home runs and drove in four runs throughout the game. His runs helped contribute to the

massive lead the Patriots took going into the fifth, up by 13.

The Rams finally got on the board in the fifth, courtesy of an RBIgroundout by senior Zach Selinger, but the offense was just not in action that day. While Fordham would later put up four more runs late in the game, the damage had already been done. The Rams lost their second game, 19-5.

Finally in their last matchup of the weekend, it was once again not an ideal start for the Rams as they gave up a grand slam to Dallas Baptist’s Miguel Santos in the second inning alongside four more runs, making the score 8-0 early in the game.

The Patriots were not done yet, adding five more runs in the third to bring their total to 13, all before the Rams could score one.

The solo Rams run came in the sixth with Fordham getting back-toback singles courtesy of DeMaria and sophomore Sebastian Mexico. Now with runners on the bases, Bucciero came through with a double, bringing Mexico home. The pitching line for the Rams included junior Nolan Hughes, who allowed six runs in just over an inning. Scott allowed one hit over 2.2 innings of relief and Connor Haywood also threw a scoreless relief inning.

While this weekend didn’t fare much success for the Rams, the team has a lot of young talent and fresh faces to brighten up the lineup. The Rams have room to improve this season, after finishing with a 9-15 record in conference play and a 16-36 record overall in 2022.

The Rams will face Old Dominion University for a three-game series this weekend in Norfolk, Va. The first game is Friday at 3 p.m. After that, Fordham will have their big home opener on March 1 against Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Athletes of the Week

At the Atlantic 10 Championships in Geneva, Ohio, Raptis won the 100 breaststroke and was a part of the victorious 400 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay teams. He also earned a silver medal in the 100 butterfly and a bronze medal in the 200 medley relay.

Fordham Swim and Dive Caps Off Fantastic Season at the A-10 Tournament

By NICHOLAS RAPTIS STAFF WRITER

Saturday, Feb. 18 marked the end of the Atlantic 10 (A-10) swimming and diving tournament and also the end of Fordham’s season for the year. The Rams traveled to Ohio this holiday weekend to compete against other schools in their conference. The men’s team finished fifth out of eight total teams, with the women finishing fifth out of 11 total teams. This wraps up an incredible season for both the men and women. Although neither team took the top spot at the A-10 tournament, their regular season performances make this one of the best teams in recent memory. Overall for the season, the women finished with an undefeated record of 10-0. The men also had a strong season, ending up at a solid 8-1.

After the first day of competition on Wednesday, the men were tied for fourth with St. Bonaventure while the women sat in fifth. The tournament started with the 200 medley races. On the women’s side, a team consisting of sophomores Leire Martin, Emma Shaughnessy and Jessica Zebrowski and graduate student Megan Morris finished fourth with a time of 1:40.17. For the men’s team, freshman Christian Taylor, senior Nicholas Chao and graduate students Paris Raptis and Taras Zherebetskyy finished third with a time of 1:28.28. Both of these times set school records, with the men also taking home a bronze medal for their performance.

The men set another school record later on in the meet during the 800 freestyle relays. Sophomores Taz Kanjanakaset and Vitalis Onu and juniors Alex Wilhelm and Noah Altoff combined for a time of 6:37.94. Although they finished seventh, it was enough to break the previous record set last season.

The second day of competition saw excellent performances from both the men and women. The women made some headway in the standings, pushing themselves forward to third place in the tournament. Senior Clare Culver set a record time in the 500 freestyle event that had been held at Fordham for

over a decade. Her time of 4:47.25 not only broke the school record but also earned her Second Team All-Atlantic 10 honors.

Although the men moved back in the standings to sixth after the second day of competition, they also set another school record during the day’s events. During the final event of the day, a 200 freestyle relay team of Raptis, Taylor, Zherebetskyy and sophomore Alexander Shah finished with a time of 1:20.14. This broke the previous record which had been set earlier this season at the Bucknell Invitational. In addition, this time was also enough to bring home a bronze medal for the team.

The next day of competition saw the men rally to move back up in the overall standings. Solid performances left them sitting in fourth overall after dropping to sixth the day before. Standout performances on the day came from Raptis and Wilhem. Raptis took home first in the 100 breaststroke, an event he had set a record time for during the preliminary round. Wilhelm placed fourth in the 200 freestyle event, breaking a school record in the process. Fordham also took first in the 400 medley relay, after George Washington University was disqualified upon official review.

After the third day, the women made no movement in the standings to remain in third overall. An impressive three bronze medals were awarded to the team throughout the course of the night. In the 400 individual medley, Martin took home a bronze medal with a time of 4:15.80. Shaughnessy earned third in the 100 breaststroke event with a time of 1:01.77.

Finally, in the 400 medley relay, the team finished third behind performances from L. Martin, Shaughnessy, Zebrowski and Morris.

In the diving events, graduate student Millie Haffety completed her dominant season with first place in the 3M event. Haffety has been a reliable component of the team all season, being rewarded for her efforts with a gold medal to end the season. School records continued to be broken on the

final day of the tournament. In the 100 freestyle event, Zherebetskyy finished with a time of 43.79 to not only set a school record but win a silver medal. Altoff then set a new record in the 200 breaststroke event, finishing in sixth but setting a new school best of 1:59.07. In poetic fashion for an amazing season, the men set a school record and took home a gold medal in the 400 freestyle relay, which was the final event of the tournament. The Rams achieved this feat with great performances from Taylor, Wilhelm, Raptis and Zherebetskyy.

Despite more fantastic performances on the women’s side, they slid to fifth overall after the final day of competition. In the 1000 freestyle, Culver both set a new school record and came in third place in the event. This broke a record that she had set herself last season. Ainhoa Martin also broke a school record during the day’s events, finishing the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:11.98. Her performance also tacked on another silver medal to Fordham’s total.

The Fordham Rams may not have finished first at the A-10 tournament, but that does not diminish the magnitude of their regular season and the impressive accomplishments achieved this weekend. The men’s team earned 16 medals overall, with nine being gold. They also set school records in 11 different races. Meanwhile, the women won 10 total medals, with one of them being gold. Four new school records were set for the women throughout the tournament.

This has been an extremely memorable season for Fordham swim and dive. Strong performances, both individual and team, led to nearly flawless records for both the men and women. These solid outings carried over to the A-10 championship, where several medals and new school records emphasized the teams electric season. Fordham will now look to relax and enjoy their offseason heading into the spring. If the team can continue to build upon their success from this season, the future of the Fordham swim and dive program is extremely bright.

Varsity Calendar

AWAY

After nearly tossing a no-hitter in her first career start against Prairie View A&M University last week, Beeman followed up with a complete game shutout against Saint Francis University on Sunday. She allowed just three hits across the seven innings and didn’t surrender a single walk.

Each week, The Fordham Ram’s Sports section honors two athletes for their on-field performances as their “Athletes of the Week.”

Women’s Tennis

Softball Squash

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

The Rams struggled in their opening weekend against Dallas Baptist.

USWNT Seemingly Back On Track Following Two Big Wins

By JULIA MOSS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Doubt has been circulating around the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) since the team lost three consecutive games late last year for the first time since 1993. They dropped games to England, Spain and Germany, all teams that the USWNT could end up facing this summer in the World Cup. While these games were just friendly matches, it’s far from promising for the American squad following their lackluster showing in the Olympics just two years ago, when the stakes couldn’t have been higher. This team’s performance has left a lot to be desired, but as their sights are now set on the SheBelieves Cup, they have the opportunity to change the narrative and shift the momentum back on their side at a pivotal moment.

Heading into this year’s SheBelieves Cup, it’s understood that this will serve as a litmus test for how they could fare in the fast-approaching World Cup.

The USWNT headed down to Orlando to face the Canadian Women’s National team. This matchup had several headlines, firstly being the rematch of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that saw Canada oust the Americans from gold-medal contention. Off the pitch, this game was also important considering the controversy surrounding the relationship between Canada’s players and

By NOAH HOFFMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Black Monday in the NFL is the day immediately following the end of the regular season, when underachieving head coaches discover if their job is secure or not.

Although five coaches were released from their duty this past football season, it was a quiet Black Monday with the lone firing on that day being former Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury. The other four were fired either during the season in Matt Rhule, Frank Reich and Nathaniel Hackett, or as soon as the season concluded in Lovie Smith’s case.

After a 1-4 start to the season, Rhule was the first coach to go this past season with over half of his seven-year, $62 million contract remaining with the Carolina Panthers. Rhule, who found much of his success in college football, returned to that realm after quickly agreeing to an eight-year deal with the University of Nebraska following his departure. Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks was named interim head coach for the remainder of the season, finding much more success than his predecessor. Wilks went 6-6 as head coach, leading Carolina within one game of the NFC South title. At the conclusion of the season, the Panthers decided to move on from Wilks and hire another fired head coach from this past season, Reich.

Wilks was then hired by the San Francisco 49ers to be their

the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) in the players’ pursuit of equal pay with the men’s national team.

Prior to kickoff, Alex Morgan was celebrated as she became the 13th player in USWNT history to reach 200 appearances. Once the game started, it was all America. In the first 10 minutes, the USWNT had 50 attacking-third touches compared to Canada’s one.

The American side even scored their first goal inside the first seven minutes, as Mallory Swanson secured a rocketing volley from just inside the box to bring the score 1-0. The half ended 2-0 following another score by Swanson in the 34th minute. The match would end 2-0, as Canada struggled to get chances against an American team that seemed to be back in normal form.

The USWNT headed into their next game against the Japanese Women’s National team with all the momentum as Japan was

Varsity Scores & Stats

coming off a nail-biting 1-0 defeat to Brazil. This game served as more of a test defensively than Canada, but nonetheless, the American squad came out on top with a 1-0 win with a goal by none other than Swanson.

The biggest story of the matches so far this year is Swanson’s rise to the top. Just last year, she was left off USWNT rosters as head coach Vlatko Andonovski felt Swanson needed a “wake-up call.” Well, it’s clear now she will be a lock on rosters moving forward as she is now responsible for six of the 12 goals scored in the United States 2022 matches thus far.

The USWNT will travel to Texas to face Brazil next. Brazil has one win and one loss, with their victory coming against Japan but then dropping one to Canada 2-0. The match will take place Wednesday, Feb. 22 as the U.S. squad have their eyes solely set on coming out on top in the SheBelieves Cup.

News & Notes

Leah Eberts In As New Director of Football Operations

Fordham Football head coach Joe Conlin recently named Leah Eberts as the new director of Football Operations. Eberts graduated from Kent State University where she previously served as a student manager for the Golden Flashes football team as well as later, a graduate assistant in charge of operations.

A Look at the NFL Coaching Carousel

past couple of seasons looked to continue this trend. He did just that after being hired by the team he used to play for, the Houston Texans.

Ever since Deshaun Watson’s odd ending to his Texans career, Houston hasn’t had a winning culture. After two head coaches in the last two seasons, Ryans will look to break this trend and build a competitive team in the uncompetitive AFC South division.

defensive coordinator, a position that has seen the prior two holders be named head coaches.

Before being hired by the Panthers, Reich was the lead man for the Indianapolis Colts for the last four seasons before a 3-5-1 start led to the team moving on from him. Reich’s tenure with the Colts included two playoff appearances, although he will be remembered for having a different starting quarterback at the beginning of each season. With the Panthers holding the ninth overall pick, Reich can only hope that this franchise, one in which Reich himself was the first-ever starting quarterback for in 1995, will provide him with a cornerstone quarterback for the future.

With Reich getting the boot midseason, the Colts turned to former All-Pro center Jeff Saturday as their interim coach. A highly criticized move at the

time, Saturday proved to be a dud with the Colts managing to win only one more game all season. Saturday did not do enough to win the head coaching job after the Colts signed Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. Steichen helped guide the Eagles to a Super Bowl appearance this past season with one of the best offenses in the game. Steichen’s role in the development of quarterback Jalen Hurts has been pivotal, and the Colts hope that their recent quarterback woes can be solved with him and the fourth overall pick in this year’s draft.

The reigning NFC Champion Eagles not only lost their offensive coordinator in this coaching cycle but also their defensive coordinator as well in Jonathan Gannon. The Arizona Cardinals fired Kingsbury at the conclusion of the season just one year into a

six-year contract extension. After an abysmal season that saw the Kansas City Chiefs win more games in Arizona, two, than the Cardinals managed all year, a change in leadership was deemed necessary. Gannon will look to revitalize an Arizona team that is one year removed from a playoff appearance, however without their star quarterback Kyler Murray for the foreseeable future due to a torn ACL.

In recent years, being a coordinator on Kyle Shanahan’s staff in San Francisco has led to a head coaching position. Former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh became the head coach of the New York Jets while former offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel holds the title for the Miami Dolphins. Going into this coaching cycle, DeMeco Ryans and his resume of leading one of the top defenses in the game the

After acquiring Russell Wilson last offseason and hiring a supposed offensive guru in Hackett, the Denver Broncos looked in prime position to be contenders in the AFC. Instead, Hackett and Wilson managed to produce the statistically worst offense in the entire NFL. Averaging less than 17 points per game, Hackett did not even last the entire season and was fired this past December. In the recent coaching cycle, they were able to nab the highly coveted Super Bowl-winning coach Sean Payton. After taking a year off from coaching, Payton will look to revitalize Wilson’s career and live up to the high expectations that were made for the previous regime.

Hackett meanwhile found himself a new job as offensive coordinator of the New York Jets in their pursuit of Aaron Rodgers.

With the head coaching cycle for the 2023 season complete, teams that succeeded and teams that failed will not be determined until the next season and beyond. What could look like a promising hire could turn out to be a complete disaster, and vice versa.

Sean Payton is now head coach of the Denver Broncos, one of the many coaching changes that have occurred this offseason.

COURTESY OF TWITTER

Mallory Swanson has made her mark thus far at the SheBelieves Cup.

COURTESY OF INSTAGRAM

Overtime: More Money, More Problems

By MADDIE BIMONTE SPORTS EDITOR

Just one year ago, the United States women’s national team (USWNT) signed a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with U.S. Soccer, granting women equal pay to their male counterparts. Now, a new country is facing a similar issue.

The Canadian women’s national team recently expressed their outrage over budget cuts for 2023. In a social media post, players of the national team mentioned that the team has been at an all-time high in terms of success in games as well as generating revenue. Canada won its first Olympic gold medal in women’s soccer in 2021, and the men’s team qualified for the World Cup last year for the first time in 36 years. Knowing this, Canada Soccer still has not funded the organization properly.

But even beyond pay, players are increasingly frustrated with the management of Canada Soccer, including one such player, Jessie Flemming. “There are two larger issues that exist within Canada Soccer,” she wrote in an Instagram post last week. “We are not asking for money that does not exist in our organization. We are asking for the same opportunity to perform and the necessary changes within the organization to ensure financial sustainability moving forward, ultimately supporting both the

senior national teams and youth development.”

In protest of the current management, the Canadian women’s team threatened not to play in the SheBelieves Cup in the U.S. However, management threatened them with hefty fines and legal action to force them into playing.

But the players would not be silenced. The women’s team wore their practice jerseys inside out and purple warm up jerseys with “enough is enough” written on them. Purple is a symbolic color for gender discrimination, worn by many women in the equal pay pursuit.

This recurring cycle, present in women’s sports, has been unacceptable. What is crazy is how detailed the budget cuts are, especially going into the World Cup this summer. The budget cuts have left players with fewer training sessions, some training windows completely wiped from the calendar and fewer players and staff members invited to train. The worst part? Players also have alleged that they haven’t been paid at all for the 2022 season.

Now, the Canadian team is threatening to strike once again in April after the SheBelieves Cup. I truly hope they are able to stick with it and go on strike. At this

Rangers Receive Boost from Tarasenko Trade

By ALLIE COPPOLA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

point, the team has been dealt such a bad card, even with all their achievements. It is crazy to me that in 2023, women athletes are being tossed aside for no reason and essentially reduced to budget cuts.

What is even scarier to think is that the U.S. collective bargaining agreement battle was just the first step — and it took years just to get what they so rightfully deserve. Now, going down the line, more and more countries’ CBAs are going to expire, and the lengthy process we saw with the U.S. will happen to so many other teams.

Canada and the U.S. squared off for the opening match of the SheBelieves Cup, with the U.S. taking the match 2-0.

The Canadians felt “exhausted,” having to shoulder this legal battle and play the game they love so much. Management has to realize that by allowing this to go on, it will have an effect on their performance, and it isn’t fair to the players or the fans watching. Now, with everything going on, it’s hard to predict how difficult it will be for Canada to get the money they so rightfully deserve. But if it’s anything like the U.S. battle, I’ll at least have comfort knowing that one day, the women will get management to back them.

Student Athlete Column: Rose Thrill

By TAYLOR MASCETTA STAFF WRITER

On the track, there’s almost no better feeling than hearing your supporters screaming your name. Teammates, family members, coaches all blur into one cheer of excitement when you’re hurtling down that final straightaway. There is one greater feeling, however, and it’s being that person screaming on the sidelines. I can’t count the number of times I’ve made an absolute fool of myself screaming at my friends finishing their races. That’s why Rose Thrill excites me so much.

In my four years here, I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve gradually made my way toward the front of the student section. One second the guys are ripping their shirts off to reveal some sort of word (last week was “Urgonomics”), the next we’re booing the away team’s fans just trying to find their seats. I can’t help but pity the water boys trying to do their jobs with a mob of Fordham students just screaming at them. Number 11 on Saint Bonaventure’s team may never show his face in the Bronx again. There’s something really sentimental about the mania. A significant relationship has developed between the team and the fans. I’ve never seen anything like it. The crowd shouts “Reapa” every time Will Richardson touches the ball. MVP chants fill the Hill when DQ makes a clutch shot. Coach Urgo will even make a gesture to the fan section, sending everyone into an uproar to pump up the players as the clock winds down.

At the end of each win, the players sprint over the student section with some of the biggest smiles I’ve ever seen. Everyone’s hopping and screaming in unison, becoming one “Ramily” with the victory.

To put it simply, Fordham students are excited about sports. Really excited. And the athletes deserve it.

When I first arrived at Fordham, I was admittedly bummed about a lack of school spirit for Fordham sports in particular. I’m used to people not showing up for track meets — who wants to spend 10 hours sitting in the hot sun for a sport they don’t necessarily understand? — but the empty bleachers at the football and basketball games depressed me. I only remember one game with some sort of crowd — it was a women’s basketball game against Notre Dame, but even that wasn’t a full house.

From the athlete’s perspective, it helps so much to have positive reinforcement practically shouted in your ear. Sure, going to a game expecting to lose wasn’t fun. But if this year proves anything, the fans’ presence pumps up the court.

Post-pandemic gave me hope, with Kyle Neptune ushering in a “new era” of Fordham hoops with Late Night on the Hill and A$AP

After a lot of speculation, the New York Rangers traded for Vladimir Tarasenko on Feb. 9 in a surprisingly early deal with the St. Louis Blues by general manager Chris Drury. The right-winger joined the team the day after getting traded to the Rangers in a game against the Kraken and scored a goal with an assist from his long-time friend and fellow countrymen Artemi Panarin. Though he only has four points through his first six games as a Ranger, morale and chemistry seem to have skyrocketed since he was added to the roster. Since the move, the Rangers have been inching closer and closer to the top of the Metropolitan division standings.

Tarasenko added a boost to the Rangers’ play and made an immediate impact in his first game on the first line with Panarin and Mika Zibanejad. The team was riding a seven-game winning streak, scoring a total of 36 goals in that span until an overtime loss to the Calgary Flames on Saturday night. They’ve gained at least a point in the standings for 10 straight games, with backup goalie Jaroslav Halak proving his worth as a dependable second option in net. Both Igor Shesterkin and Halak have been on a tear lately and are major factors in the Rangers’ success in February.

acquired Niko Mikkola, who has replaced Ben Harpur on the third defensive pair alongside Braden Schneider. The defenseman had a rocky start to his Rangers tenure, racking up three penalties in his first game. Since then, he has an assist in five games and a negative one plus/ minus rating, making himself an improvement from Harpur.

In order to acquire Tarasenko and Mikkola, the Rangers sent former Blues’ player Sammy Blais back to the team, along with prospect Hunter Skinner, a 2024 conditional fourth-round pick (becomes a third if the Rangers make the playoffs), and the latter of the Rangers’ two first-round draft picks in 2023.

Ferg concert. Gone were the days of a losing record and no hopes at an Atlantic 10 tournament. But when Neptune shipped off to Villanova, it felt like a punch to the gut. Little did we know that someone even better waited in the wings. Urgo has absolutely turned this program around, and it’s gotten the campus passionate about Fordham basketball. The guy is already a Fordham legend. As of writing this article, we’re at a 21-6 record, the best in decades.

What’s not to love? Fordham MBB’s Cinderella story is enticing as they approach the A-10 tournament, and it’s gotten people out to the games. I don’t see this excitement going away anytime soon.

One of my hopes for Rose Thrill?

It heads outside this spring for sports like Baseball, softball, tennis and us trackies (pop out for Mets! It’s 20 minutes away!) plan to take the field in just a few weeks. Additionally, Fordham Softball is looking to keep the A-10 title in their hands this year — you don’t want to miss that! The support means the world to all athletes. I hope that this mania slowly, but surely, spreads to all of the sports. The athletes work so hard for everything they do, and it means the world to be recognized by fans. So keep making those signs!

Panarin’s point production has been steady at roughly a pointper-game all season, but since the addition of Tarasenko, his performance has drastically improved; he has 12 points in his last six games. He scored an incredible four goals against the Carolina Hurricanes on Feb. 11 and added an assist to boot. As fans have seen in the past, when Panarin is playing well, he picks the team up with him. He is a big reason why the Rangers have been able to continue their point streak and extend the gap between the next closest team in the standings, the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Not only did the Rangers receive Tarasenko in the trade, but they also

Prior to the season, star rightwinger Patick Kane was rumored to be interested in a deadline trade to the Rangers. The Chicago Blackhawks’ forward expressed his disappointment in the trade, saying that he would have waived his no-movement clause in order to be traded to the Rangers. With the addition of Tarasenko, this seems to be unlikely, but Drury has surprised fans in the past. Another name that was rumored to be in connection with the Rangers is Tyler Motte, one of last year’s deadline acquisitions. He signed with the Ottawa Senators in the offseason and just got traded to the Rangers on Sunday in exchange for forward Julien Gauthier and a conditional seventh-round pick. Motte was excellent for the Rangers in the latter part of last year’s regular season and in the playoffs, as he wins board battles that lead to offensive chances for the Blueshirts, something they occasionally struggle with. He’ll take Gauthier’s usual lineup spot on the third or fourth line. After a loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Monday, the Rangers travel to Detroit to play the Red Wings on Thursday. The trade deadline is in just over a week, and Drury is definetly not finished building his playoff team just yet.

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New addition Tarasenko has helped out the Rangers over the past few games.

By NICK GUZMAN SPORTS EDITOR

Softball Drops Three at Elon Softball Phoenix Invitational

Fordham Softball continued their early season non-conference slate this past weekend at the Elon Softball Phoenix Invitational in Elon, N.C. The Rams dropped their opening three games at the invitational to Elon University, Michigan State University and James Madison University, but finished the weekend on a strong note with a big win over Saint Francis University.

Coming off a four-loss weekend last time out in Florida, Fordham were unable to start strongly in Elon. Against the hosts, the Rams were only able to muster four hits, with two coming from sophomore Mary Grace O’Neill and two from junior Julia Petrovich. O’Neill’s single in the fifth inning drove home freshman Kate McGuire to give Fordham a 1-0 lead. Senior Devon Miller held Elon at bay until the fifth, when she surrendered two earned runs. Elon then tacked on another in the sixth to secure the 3-1 victory.

Looking to bounce back early on Saturday morning, the Rams found themselves matched up with a strong Michigan State team. The Spartans jumped on

Fordham Softball salvaged a difficult weekend with a win against Saint Francis University. with an 8-2 win.

Fordham early, striking three times in the second against junior Bailey Enoch. Enoch was unable to make it through the fourth inning, ultimately surrendering seven earned runs on eight hits and three walks.

Fordham got two runs back in the fifth thanks to a two-run bomb from Petrovich, but it was too little, too late for the Rams as Michigan State walked away

The afternoon cap of Fordham’s Saturday doubleheader against James Madison wasn’t any easier. This time, though, Fordham started strong offensively. Graduate student Julia Martine and senior Michaela Carter scored on a fielding error in the first to make 2-0 Rams. Petrovich then made it 3-0 an inning later on an RBI groundout that scored graduate

student Sarah Taffet.

JMU responded in a flash, scoring eight unanswered runs to win the game 8-3. It was a rough afternoon in the circle for sophomore Emilee Watkins, who surrendered seven earned runs in just over four innings of work. As a team, Fordham managed seven hits compared to JMU’s eight, but the Rams left seven runners stranded on base

and were unable to turn those hits into runs.

Fordham had one last chance to end the weekend on a positive note against Saint Francis on Sunday. That’s exactly what they did, as the Rams walked away with a 3-0 victory. Freshman Holly Beeman was superb in the circle, tossing a completegame shutout while allowing just three hits and no walks. This was Beeman’s second consecutive fantastic start, as she nearly tossed a no-hitter against Prairie View A&M in her first career start last weekend.

Fordham got their offense through a scrappy second inning. O’Neill knocked in an RBI fielder’s choice, while Carter drew a run-scoring walk and Taffet drove in another on a groundout. Those three runs were enough for the Rams, who rode Beeman’s impressive shutout to their second victory of the season.

The Rams are back in the Carolinas next weekend for more out-of-conference play at the Winthrop Garnet & Gold in Rock Hill, S.C. Currently sitting at 2-7, Fordham will be looking to kick start their season into gear.

Breaking Down Michael Jordan vs. Fordham University Men’s Tennis Falls to Davidson

By BRETT TULIP STAFF WRITER

Standing at 6’6” and hailing from the University of North Carolina, the one and only Michael Jordan is undoubtedly a good basketball player, and many would argue the greatest of all time. Because of this, his entire career has been largely studied and analyzed more than almost any other player. Despite regular season box scores being scarcely recorded in college basketball during the 80s, Michael Jordan’s popularity has allowed many to dig up every individual performance of his career. He played a total of 101 collegiate games for UNC. So where does Fordham fit into this? On Dec. 2, 1983, arguably the greatest player to ever touch a basketball played against Fordham University.

Research for this article was not easy, as there is very limited information regarding specific college basketball games from this period of time. After looking extensively, I could not find a single video clip of the game between the University of North Carolina and Fordham University. However, I was able to uncover quite a bit using both The Fordham Ram and the Daily Tar Heel newspaper archives from both Monday, Dec. 5, 1983, and Thursday, Dec. 8, 1983.

It might surprise many that Fordham, in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference at the time, would play against a UNC team that was ranked #2 in the country. However, Fordham was a solid team at the time, finishing 19-15 in the 1983-84 season. Also, New

York basketball was much more prominent overall at the time, with schools such as St. John’s University and Iona College being frequent NCAA tournament participants.

The game came in the Stanford Invitational Tournament. Fordham was heavily undermanned against a team that included not only Michael Jordan, but also future 5x NBA AllStar Brad Daughtery, notable NBA scorer Sam Perkins, future Houston Rockets athletic sharpshooter Kenny Smith and NBA players Joe Wolf and Dave Popson.

At the beginning of the game, the Rams held their own. The game was tied after five minutes of play. Fordham had an intense focus to not let Jordan score no matter what. They would not let him be the reason they lost the game. Fordham head coach Tommy Penders explained, “We tried to trap Jordan every time he put the ball on the floor.” Eventually, UNC pulled ahead. However, this was not without Fordham’s high efforts, as they again cut the lead to seven in the second half. Fordham was playing very well, but the Rams were simply overmatched.

UNC would go on to have six NBA players on their roster at the time of this game, with Fordham having none of their own. Fordham went on to lose the game by 17, with the final score being 73-56. This would not be without effort, proved by multiple quotes from their opposing team. Legendary UNC coach Dean Smith said about Fordham, “They were the first

team that has taken us out of the pressure defense; they made us look slow, I kind of thought we were pretty good defensively until tonight. But they had 10 layups in the first half. I thought they made us look real foolish.” This is monumentus praise from a Hall of Famer and is no doubt something that Fordham basketball should be proud of.

Another quote came from senior small forward and future UNC coach Matt Doherty. Explaining his team’s performance, he would say, “There are some moments of greatness out there, but more often than not there are moments of sloppiness.” This is a credit to Fordham’s quality defense and immense hustle to even hang with such a fierce opponent.

So how did Jordan play? Not very well, as Fordham held the 20 point-per-game scorer to just 11 points, on a poor 5/16 shooting including 1/2 from the line. This was an off day for the future sixtime NBA champion, and an incredible feat for Fordham to hold him to such low numbers when looked back at all these years later. For such a small school with no future professional players on the roster to only lose by 17 is impressive in its own right, but to hold MJ to 11 is even more so.

Although they didn’t win, this performance by the Rams should be remembered fondly and serve as a testament to the resilience and determination of this program. No matter the opponent, Fordham gives it their all and surprises many with their tough play.

By JOE MASTERS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Fordham Men’s Tennis fell to the Davidson College Wildcats on Saturday, losing 6-1 collectively as a team at the Cary Leeds Center.

Once again, the Rams managed to take the doubles point with the duos of junior Giorgio Soemarno and graduate student Quinn Fender winning 7-6 (3) and freshmen Dhillon

Virdee-Oakley and Sampras

Rakotondrainibe coming out on top 6-1. While singles has been a struggle so far for this Fordham Men’s Tennis squad, the team and its three pairings on the doubles courts have played strong all season.

In what could be seen as a glimmer of hope for the rest of the season for the Rams, two

out of their six singles matchups against Davidson went to a third set with Fordham narrowly falling in both matches.

Soemarno went down to the wire with Davidson’s Juan Camilo Perez Gongora, with Soemarno eventually coming up short 4-6, 7-5, 10-8. Additionally, Fender dropped a tight match to William Clark 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

As they grow with experience as the season rolls on, the Rams are hoping that some of their close losses can turn into big wins.

In the meantime, Fordham will be off for a couple of weeks before they hit the road to Lewisburg, Pa. to take on the 4-4 Bucknell University Bisons who are riding a four-game win streak. The Rams currently sit at 1-5 on the season.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Men’s Tennis has lost five of their first six games to start the season.

Men’s Basketball Rolls Over Saint Bonaventure, Suffers at VCU

By THOMAS AIELLO ASST. SPORTS EDITOR EMERITUS

The good times kept rolling on at home for the Fordham men’s basketball team, carrying the momentum from Davidson College back for a rematch against Saint Bonaventure University at Rose Hill.

Their 21st win came last Wednesday at another sold out Rose Hill Gym while the school designated a “White Out” for all in attendance. Bonaventure came in on a two-game skid, losing by six to a rapidly improving La Salle University team and committing 24 turnovers in a two-point crusher to Duquesne University at home.

From the opening tip, the Rams blitzed the Bonnies with an opening 9-2 lead, five of those courtesy of budding freshman Will Richardson, who ended with eight on the evening. Fordham received scoring contributions from 10 of the main 11 who are in the normal rotation, which included 33 points from the bench mob.

Junior Kyle Rose produced well from three for the first time in awhile, pulling in six rebounds and posting nine points on 2-4 shooting from beyond the arc. Per usual, he was tasked with stopping the Bonnies’ leading scorer, Daryl Banks. He’s seen his point totals steady between his overall numbers (15.2) and the games in Atlantic 10 (A-10) play (14.9), making him a consistent threat each game.

Rose put Banks in his pocket the entire game, holding him to 0-7 shooting from the field despite collecting seven points off free throws. The Rams were content with layups inside by eliminating threes from Bonaventure’s offense, where they held them to 2-9 shooting from range.

Sophomore Zach Riley tallied six of his own in only nine minutes of play, while Fordham got five more out of freshman Romad Dean, six from the everimproving freshman Elijah Gray and seven off the bench from junior Abdou Tsimbila along with his six rebounds.

Graduate student guard Darius Quisenberry, despite him having the “big point total,” only ended with 15 points to lead the Rams. Fellow fifth year Khalid Moore posted seven points, a relatively quiet day for the two best scorers on the team.

Game-changing play from junior Antrell Charlton was what flipped Bonaventure upside down as he dished out eight helpers with only one turnover. The second half was total annihilation from Fordham utilizing a 12-3 run in the middle of the second half, then again taking a 14-point lead later in the game to improve to 11-1 when leading at halftime.

Not only did the Rams wipe the boards 39-24 over the Bonnies, but they had one of their better shooting performances of the year going 39% from distance on

9-23 shooting.

For the first time since 2008, Fordham beat Bonaventure at home and looked like a team that could share a piece of the regular season if they just kept on winning.

Fordham headed back down to Richmond, Va. to face off against Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), a team that has distanced themselves from the rest of the A-10 as perhaps the best team.

The Mike Rhoades experience at VCU has been jarring, in a word. No coach in the conference has done so little with so much, producing NBA players such as Bones Hyland and Vince Williams, winning A-10 coach of the year in 2019 and being precipice of a third 20win season in six years with two tournament appearances and one regular season title.

VCU’s season, despite dominating in-conference for the most part, has left things to be desired. An A-10 team expected to carry out one of the three projected bids preseason suffered bad losses to Arizona State University, Temple University, the University

of Memphis, and Jacksonville University out of conference, let alone dropping games in conference to Duquesne University and Saint Bonaventure.

Before the Fordham game, it took a game winner from Zeb Jackson to beat Rhode Island by one point; mind you, Rhode Island dismissed star guard Brayon Freeman from the team just days before.

In come the maroon Rams riding momentum from the party at Rose Hill to the Stuart C. Siegel Center, a place where many visiting teams go to die. The Rams haven’t defeated VCU since 2017, which came at home on a game winner by Antwonie Anderson.

The Siegel Center was not kind to Fordham; from the opening tip it felt like 2015 again as HAVOC seemed to rise from the dead and spook Fordham. 22 turnovers were forced by VCU which they turned into 29 points off turnovers.

The most telling numbers of the game were the points in the paint. Historically, VCU is not known as a laser three-point shooting team but on their 13 attempts against Fordham they hit five timely ones.

Paint defense has been an area where Fordham excels; they are one of the 20 best teams in the nation in blocks per game and one of the top 100 defensive rebounding teams in the nation. Fordham allowed 42 paint points to VCU and were emasculated on the boards 27-18.

Adrian Baldwin chopped up Fordham’s guard play with a 13 point, 10 assist outing and swiping the ball six times. Little used Nicholas Kern had 17 points, all coming in the paint while not taking a single three.

With the relentless blitz to the basket, VCU also generated 32 free throw attempts and hit 22 of them for a team split of 72%.

Fordham’s lone bright spot came again from Richardson, who scored 21 points on 6-10 shooting from distance, his best game ever as a Fordham Ram. Quisenberry did tally 15 of his own but wasn’t impacting with his scoring like normal.

VCU doubled the ball handler, forced them into open space, then trapped to force a turnover. Moore was victim to this six times. Quisenberry also gave it back five times to contribute to 22 Fordham turnovers.

The loss to VCU didn’t destroy Fordham’s chances of earning a double bye in the A-10 tournament, and it certainly didn’t help, but it was quite telling that the program isn’t quite ready to beat teams like VCU or Dayton.

Fordham’s remaining four contests are very much in their favor; a road matchup on Wednesday night at Loyola Chicago, then at home on Saturday against Rhode Island for the 1971 team celebration. Two games against the A-10 basement lurkers, then a road test against an improved George Mason University team and the regular season finale at home against Duquesne University.

Women’s Basketball Faces Crossroads After Three Straight Losses

By COLIN LOUGHRAN STAFF WRITER

As the regular season winds down, the Fordham women’s basketball team finds themselves in the midst of a three game losing streak that has highlighted some of this season’s inconsistencies.

Last Thursday’s 61-49 road loss to the La Salle Explorers illustrated the Rams’ lack of a tertiary scoring option, and Sunday’s 74-63 “Senior Day” defeat against the George Mason Patriots at Rose Hill emphasized their need to have “pristine” shooting performances.

Graduate student Asiah Dingle and senior Anna DeWolfe currently lead the Atlantic 10 in scoring. Dingle’s 19.3 points per game and DeWolfe’s 18.3 points per contest lead the pack. Their success has helped the Rams stay competitive in a top-heavy conference.

Last week’s loss to La Salle was a rare occurrence. DeWolfe and Dingle only tallied 17 and 15 points respectively and shot a combined 13-39 from the field.

The Explorers led from the

opening minute on and received a fantastic performance from graduate guard Kayla Spruill.

The Maryland native posted a game-high of 24 points as well as four made three-pointers, six rebounds and an assist. Mia Jacobs was also key to the Explorer win. She tallied 10 points, eight boards and two assists.

Fordham could not overcome Dingle and DeWolfe’s struggles. Sarah Karpell contributed six points, but graduate students

Kaitlyn Downey and Jada Dapaa could only muster two points apiece.

The Rams shot a lowly 31.8% from the field, and La Salle took full advantage of a team that could not find a reliable third scoring option.

Sunday’s “Senior Day” matinee against George Mason figured to be a celebration. Chloe Chaffin, Dapaa, Kate Deutsch, DeWolfe, Dingle, Downey, Megan Jonassen and Karpell were all honored before the game in a touching ceremony at center-court. However, the Rams’ 74-63 defeat dampened the mood at Rose Hill.

Once again, the Rams suffered

from poor shooting and were outscored 21-13 in the opening frame. George Mason benefited from a number of solid outings, but it was Kaysia Nalani who did most of the damage. She totaled 11 first half points and ended the day with a team-high 19 points.

Kaityln Downey tallied 10 first half points for Fordham in what would be a 12-point afternoon. The Rams trailed by eight at the halfway mark but eventually made an impressive run in the final quarter that almost granted them full momentum. DeWolfe lay-in trimmed the Patriot lead

to three with 4:25 remaining in regulation, but Fordham could not keep pace and succumbed to poor shot selection as time wound down. Dingle finished with a team high 20 points while DeWolfe finished with 17 of her own. Neither player was particularly efficient, and Fordham’s broader offensive struggles are due to their identity as a squad that needs to shoot well in order to win.

Fordham’s advantage lies in having the A-10’s top scorers, but the Rams have not learned how to gut out wins when Dingle and DeWolfe are not firing on all cylinders.

The women in maroon have now lost three games in a row. Their 8-6 conference record has placed them in the A-10’s fifth slot.

Fordham now faces a crossroads. They will have a chance to right the ship Wednesday when the second-place Rhode Island Rams come to the Bronx before ending the regular season on the road against the Davidson College Wildcats on Saturday afternoon.

Fordham’s Atlantic 10 journey continued this week with tough matchups against St. Bonaventure and VCU.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Fordham Women’s Basketball has hit a roadblock in A-10 play with just two regular season games to go.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS