Volume 101 Issue 8 by The Fordham Ram

The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 101, Issue 8

FordhamRam.com

April 3, 2019

MSA Hosts Candlelit Vigil

RHA Reveals "Emerald" Theme

By SARAH HUFFMAN

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

By HELEN STEVENSON NEWS EDITOR

The theme for this year’s annual Under the Tent, hosted by Residence Hall Association (RHA), is "A Night in the Emerald City," inspired by the Hollywood classic “The Wizard of Oz.” This year, RHA worked in conjunction with the Office for Student Involvement (OSI) to make the transition to online ticket sales — meaning students will no longer have to camp outside McGinley in order to get tickets. According to Connor Cunniff, FCRH ’20 and Executive Programmer of RHA, attendees to the event should expect to be treated to Emerald City's finest decor and music from a live DJ. “The main tent will be bathed in green lights, but if you ever feel tired from dancing all night, you can take a rest in the poppy fields like Dorothy and get a SEE EMERALD, PAGE 3

CHIARA GIAMMATTEO/THE FORDHAM RAM

Members of the Fordham pep band surround Fordham's mascot and show school spirit after a basketball game.

Fordham Pep Band Brings School Spirit to the Sidelines By SARAH HUFFMAN

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Attendees at any Fordham basketball game can always spot a group of maroon-clad individuals, holding instruments and using all their energy to cheer on the team. This is the Fordham pep band, a

group of 26 musically-inclined individuals that dedicate their time to bringing school spirit to various sporting events throughout the academic year. They are a staple within Fordham athletics. The pep band plays at every home football game in the fall and men’s and women’s basketball games in

the winter, only traveling for tournaments. Since the women’s basketball team won the A-10 Championships and advanced to the NCAA tournament, the pep band’s season was longer than usual, performing at around 20 SEE PEP, PAGE 3

CAB Releases SW Lineup By HELEN STEVENSON NEWS EDITOR

change program. Rienti encourage students to think about their career goals when making their decision. “You really have to think about what you want to do, and that’s why we’ve structured the application around that idea,” said Rienti. “Think of it as a bridge to something rather

Campus Activities Board (CAB) announced this year's Spring Weekend concert lineup including headliners Sean Kingston and Whethan, as well as a performance from Bryce Vine. Sean Kingston is a rapper and producer, known for his classic 2000s hits such as “Fire Burning” and “Beautiful Girls.” His fellow headliner Whethan, DJ and producer, is best known for his songs “Be Like You” and “When I’m Down.” Bryce Vine will open the concert. The rapper is most recognizable by his 2017 single, “Drew Barrymore.” Madeline Cialini, FCRH ’21, and Elizabeth Roberts, FCRH ’19, co-chairs of the CAB concert committee, said pop, hiphop and rap have been the top genres in the Spring Weekend concert survey for the past few years. Based on the genres, they work with an agent to find

SEE ABROAD, PAGE 6

SEE CAB, PAGE 5

KYLIE ELWOOD/THE FORDHAM RAM

About 47% of students opt to attend one of the university's 110 study abroad programs worldwide.

Study Abroad Programs See High Student Participation Rates By ELIOT SCHIAPARELLI ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

To go or not to go? That is the question students struggle with when considering study abroad. Even once they decide to go, students still have to decide where. At Fordham, one has a multi-

tude of options: 52 countries and roughly 110 programs according to Joseph Rienti, Ph.D, director of international and study abroad programs. He said about 47% of Fordham students decide to go abroad whether it is through a summer program, semester program or ex-

Students gathered on Keating steps at 2:30 p.m. on Friday, March 29 for a candlelight vigil to honor those who lost their lives in the attacks in New Zealand and Mali a few weeks ago. The Muslim Student Association (MSA) hosted the vigil. “The vigil was a moment of solidarity for those who were brutally murdered in Christchurch and the village of Ogossagou in Mali,” said MSA CoPresident Abdul Rahim, FCRH ’19. “The vigil was necessary to remember all those who died for believing in themselves and their religion.” Candles and programs were passed out at the beginning of the vigil. The program listed prayers in multiple faiths, including Islam, Judaism and Christianity. MSA members led the crowd in the prayers. After the prayers, Rahim read off all of the names and ages of the people killed in the Christchurch attack. He said he was repeating the names so people could put names to the faces that were killed in the attack. “Unfortunately, they had to pass away, but we’re not going to forget their names, and we’re not going to forget their faces,” he said. “They are real human beings and that’s how we’re going to treat them.” After a closing prayer, MSA members passed around roses to attendees. They encouraged people to take the roses and give them to anyone they felt like to spread the word of peace. MSA also hung a poster for people to sign and write a message to send to the mosque in New Zealand. Rahim said MSA wanted to show the community and victims of the attacks that everyone is in this together and that they feel for those who lost their lives SEE VIGIL, PAGE 6

in this issue

Opinion

Page 12

Fordham Lacks Diversity, But Not Diversity Resources

Sports

Page 20

Track Competes in N.J. and N.C.

Culture

Page 16

Peele Does It Again: 'Us' Exceeds Expectations

NEWS

Page 2

PUBLIC SAFETY BRIEFS

April 3, 2019

Bronx Chef Uses Family Tamale Recipe Makes Thousands of Tamales Per Week By CLAYTON WALTERS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

March 26 Public Safety Office 3:00 p.m. A student applied for a job posting on Handshake. The student set up an interview, but the employed told them they had to purchase software first. The post ended up being a scam and was immediately removed. March 26 Hughes Avenue 9:13 p.m. A student reported to Public Safety that she was flashed on Hughes Avenue and Fordham Road. Public Safety responded and observed a male fitting the students description. Public Safety chased him, but he was not apprehended. The 48th Precinct responded and is conducting an investigation. March 28 Walsh Library 10:05 a.m. A vehicle backed into a lamppost outside Walsh Library and accidentally knocked it down. There were no injuries. The lamppost was repaired. March 29 Salice-Conley Hall 11:46 p.m. Two students were trapped in an elevator in tower four of Salice-Conley Hall. Public Safety and a mechanic responded. The students were released, and there were no injuries.

At 4 a.m. each morning, 29-year-old chef and restaurant owner Israel Veliz comes into work to make tamales. He first opens the restaurant, called City Tamale, then begins the process of making 3,000 to 4,000 tamales every week. “Anybody that works in the restaurant industry knows it’s a lot of hours,” said Veliz. “The restaurant opens at 5:30 a.m., and my day goes from about 4 a.m. to 6 p.m.” The restaurant specializes in Mexican tamales, including chiles with cheese, green salsa with chicken and pork in red salsa. Veliz first opened City Tamale in Hunt’s Point in the Bronx in 2016. The idea to open City Tamale came to Veliz in 2014 when he was enrolled in college. “I was majoring in marketing, and we had to create a product and launch it,” said Veliz. “I thought it was so interesting, creating an idea and bringing it to life. I always liked the food industry. I have been working in the industry since I was 15 years old. So it just made sense. I took what I learned from school and from my restaurant experience and created a brand around tamales.” The recipe for the tamales came from Veliz’s mother. Veliz spent most of his life with his mother, moving back and forth

CLAYTON WALTERS/THE FORDHAM RAM

City Tamale is loated in Hunt's Point in the Bronx. Veliz makes tamales every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday.

between Mexico and the United States. At the age of five, he moved from New York City to Mexico. “The tamales represent my culture,” said Veliz. “I grew up in Mexico for 10 years. I have memories of myself going to school and stopping on the way to buy tamales for breakfast.” Veliz makes the tamales in the restaurant every Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. The tamale process starts with creating the masa dough and making sure that it is both fluffy and airy, according to Veliz.

April 1 Main Gate 8:30 a.m. A student exited an Uber at the main entrance. The student realized she lost her phone after walking into her dorm room. The tracking app was not working. -Compiled by Sarah Huffman

CLAYTON WALTERS/ THE FORDHAM RAM

The tamales are made with masa and are usually filled with chicken or pork.

The tamales are then assembled, and the masa dough gets spread evenly onto the corn husks that have been soaked in water to hydrate. The tamales are filled, usually with pork or chicken, and rolled in wax paper. “It is a lot of work,” commented Veliz. “Tamales are very tedious to make, requiring a lot of handson care.” After 10 years in Mexico, Veliz moved back to New York City to study and find better opportunities. “It was hard when I came back from Mexico,” said Veliz. “It is very difficult going to a country with a different language. I did not speak English, and it was hard, just like any immigrant coming from a different country adapting to a new environment.” “Being born in the United States definitely influences who you are in the future,” said Veliz. “But also, being exposed to my Mexican heritage has shaped who I really am. I am a little bit of both countries. I do consider myself Mexican but also American.” Veliz mentioned that he sees a lot of himself in the City Tamale restaurant, being both American and Mexican. “Our food is influenced by Mexican cuisine, but it’s not Mexican, it’s also American,” said Veliz. “Because we are in New York, we are exposed to a much different clientele. We had to adapt our product to fit that need. We had to create new items not on the

menu to better serve our community.” City Tamale offers a wide range of tamales, which include a sweet pumpkin tamale and ingredients such as Hot Cheetos and Oreo cookies. City Tamale also created non-spicy tamales, vegan tamales and vegetarian tamales. “Our food also reflects the trends that are happening,” said Veliz. “Everyone is trying to eat more healthier.” Being located in Hunt’s Point, City Tamale’s clientele mostly consists of people from bluecollar, working class families, according to Veliz. “Hunt’s Point is an industrial neighborhood,” said Veliz. “We mainly serve garbage disposal workers, meat market workers and employees from other factories at affordable prices.” Veliz said he hopes that he can act as an inspiration for Hispanic immigrants in New York City. “City Tamale is valuable for Spanish-Americans because they see someone from the same background making it and being successful in America,” said Veliz. “I want to bring hope to people.” He said he is planning on expanding City Tamale nationwide and even moving the business to other countries. Currently, City Tamale is located at 1316 Oak Point Avenue in the Bronx and is open Monday through Friday from 5:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This Week at Fordham Wednesday April 3

Wednesday April 3

Saturday April 6

Sunday April 7

Meditation Session

An Evening with Robby Mook

FFP Fashion Show

Bronx Celebration Day

Fordham Flava Spring Showcase

Fordham College Democrats are hosting campaign manager and strategist Robby Mook, who served as campaign manager for Hilary Clinton. He will be speaking about his experience, the midterms and looking forward to 2020.

Fordham Fashion for Philanthropy is hosting its annual fashion show to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. VIP tickets will be on sale through Friday, April 3 and cost $20. The event will be in McGinley Second and will feature a raffle.

Campbell Multipurpose Room 5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. The Meditation Club is hosting an event to help students relax. The event will take place in Campbell Multipurpose Room at 5:30 p.m. The club hopes to promote happiness and wellbeing through meditation. All are welcome.

Flom Auditorium 8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

McGinley Second 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Fordham Plaza 8:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Fordham Club and the Fordham Road Business Improvement District are partnering to host the third annual Bronx Celebration Day. The event will have food and merchandise from Bronx vendors and performances.

Rose Hill Gym 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Fordham Flava is hosting its spring showcase. The hip-hop dance team will perform in the Rose Hill Gym for students to enjoy. The team recently performed in the cafeteria to promote the upcoming event. Admission is $3.

NEWS

April 3, 2019

Page 3

Fordham Pep Band Brings Music to Athletics FROM PEP, PAGE 1

basketball games this season. However, the pep band does not mind dedicating their time. President Chiara Giammatteo, FCRH ’21, said the pep band generally cares a lot about the sports teams and wants to see them do well. They often make signs and start chants as another spirit squad for the sports teams. “I like to think we make a difference at athletic games," she said. "We get everyone fired up and the players feel like they have someone backing them up.” Charlotte Utschig, FCRH ‘21, a member of the pep band, expressed her pride in the energy and determination of the band. “I'm such a big fan of the pep band because they are so passionate about what they do," she said. "At games where attendance is often lacking, the pep band is always there, giving it their all each and every time." Giammatteo said the band was very excited to see the women's basketball team win the A-10 Championships. The coaches even waved the band onto the court when they were receiving the trophy. After that, they got to go through the process of finding out where they were going to be part of the NCAA tournament. “We had to go to this whole other tournament," she said. "That was really exciting, because it’s only happened one time before in 2014. No one in the band has ever gone before. It was a long season, but we

KATHRYN SCHULTE/THE FORDHAM RAM

The Fordham Pep band often plays popular music to hype up the crowd at home football and basketball games.

got see them do really, really well.” Giammatteo said the band does not interact much with the football team or the men’s basketball team, but if they see them go by on the court, they high-five them. “We feel personally involved with them, because we’re always cheering them on," she said. "We’re always keeping up with how they’re doing." She said they feel closer with the women’s team, especially because of the longer season this year. When they went to Pittsburgh, the band visited the hotel where the women’s team’s was staying and lined up in the lobby to play the

fight song and send them out onto the bus. Giammatteo said the women’s team reciprocates the support. She said the athlete’s parents told them how supportive they were and one time the women’s team bought the band dessert. She said there were even suggestions of setting up a women’s team versus band basketball game. “They are amazing and the games just wouldn't be the same without them," said Utschig. "Even if you're not into sports, for example, I'm not, I recommend turning out to the games just to see the pep band work their magic."

Giammatteo said the group is fun to spend time with outside of rehearsals and games. They spend a lot of time researching the other teams and making signs together. “It’s a pretty well-oiled machine," said Giammatteo. "We have such a good time at rehearsals.” The pep band is the student-run branch of the Fordham University band and orchestra. The director of the orchestra, Brian Reynolds, a Fordham alumnus himself, conducts the orchestra and advises the pep band. Giammatteo said the band program used to be completely separate from the music department,

but they have recently become more cohesive. The department and band advertise for each other and being in orchestra earns credits. Music majors also have to be in an ensemble, so a lot of majors and minors complete the requirement through pep band. The two ensembles are separate entities, but according to Giammatteo, a lot of the same people are in both. The orchestra is a more formal ensemble, with a concert at the end of the semester, while the pep band is more casual, playing popular music. “It is definitely not less about musicianship, but it’s less about the study of music and more to make everyone else have a good time,” said Giammatteo. “We’re studying music, but we’re also supporting the basketball team. It goes hand in hand.” Giammatteo said that while the band members are enthusiastic about the games and school spirit, the music is the most important part of being in the band. Fordham has a rich band history that includes a military band, similar to a marching band. Giammatteo hopes to continue to grow the band program and reach a point where school events of all kinds will reach out to the pep band and invite them to play. “It’s a really big part of campus culture," she said. "Our program is not as big, but it’s important to have and to get the crowd excited. Join band. It’s not too late and anyone can join.”

Under the Tent to Follow "Emerald City" Theme RHA Offers Online Ticket Sales for Students FROM EMERALD, PAGE 1

breath of fresh air,” he said. The event, in alignment with years past, is semi-formal. Cunniff encouraged attendees to dress in accordance with the “Emerald City” theme. “We encourage semi-formal dress, and guests who are really in tune with the theme can wear green to match the Emerald City vibe, or if they're feeling adven-

turous, try to take a look inspired by one of the characters from the movie,” Cunniff said. Cunniff said RHA came up with the idea to emulate “Wizard of Oz” last year when brainstorming. 2019 is the movie's 80th anniversary, and it ended up resonating with RHA’s general board. “What really sold us on this theme was ideas on how we

COURTESY OF THE RAM ARCHIVES

Under the Tent: "A Night in the Emerald City" will be on Martyr's Lawn.

could incorporate various elements from the movie, like the Emerald City itself, the poppy fields and behind the Wizard's curtain, into the decor of the tent, and of course, reimagined fashion possibilities inspired by the Emerald City and the characters from the movie,” he said. The online ticket sales will take place through University Tickets, an online vendor, during the week of April 8. On April 8 at 1 p.m., senior tickets will go on sale; on April 9, junior tickets; on April 10, sophomore tickets, on April 11, freshman tickets. On April 12, students from all classes can buy Under the Tent tickets, as well as purchase them for nonFordham guests. Cunniff said the new online process limits transactions to only credit or debit cards, and tickets will be limited to two per transaction. He said tickets will be the same price as last year, $30, but there is also a $2 processing fee that goes to the vendor. He also wanted to make it clear that if the website were to crash during ticket sales, there will be an online waiting room. “If this message comes up, one should not refresh the page,” he said. “University Tickets is holding their place in line, but refreshing will put

COURTESY OFTHE RAM ARCHIVES

Students dance beneath the tent during Spring Weekend.

them right to the back of the line.” Cunniff said that Under the Tent planning is a semesterlong processes that requires RHA programmers to attend weekly meetings in the spring. “We discuss decorations, photobooth ideas, entertainment, the check-in process, and have crafting sessions for DIY

decorations,” he said. “The Executive Board also works very closely with the Office of Residential Life on the bigger orders, like the tent itself, bathrooms and security.” “Emerald City” will come to Martyrs Lawn for Under the Tent on April 27, and the tent will open at 9 p.m.

NEWS

Page 4

April 3, 2019

Research Spotlight

USG Column

Oral History Projects Examine Significant Sites

Student Compiles Archives into Digital Map By ELIOT SCHIAPARELLI

By KRISTEN MCNERNEY

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

As a research assistant for Fordham’s oral history initiatives, the Bronx Italian American History Initiative (BIAHI) and The Bronx African American History Project (BAAHP), Alison Rini, FCRH ’21, said she saw shared themes between the two projects. Soon after that, Rini said her research mentor Kathleen LaPenta, along with Co-Director of BIAHI, Jacqueline Riech, approached her with an idea to create an interactive map showcasing the interviews the project had completed. “I think they also suggested putting it in a conversation with the African American History Project to show that this was all the Bronx at the same time,” Rini said. “This is hopefully just the first of many formal collaborations.” BIAHI has produced dozens of oral interviews and BAAHP has created hundreds. They interview Bronx natives about their experiences growing up in the Bronx and create transcripts and recordings in an archive. The archive is open to the public but Rini said it can be hard to navigate due to the volume of content. Rini created an interactive digital map that combines the two projects by juxtaposing the two archives. The map, which was created using a software called Storymap by Knightlab, physically shows places people talk about. Rini found two main categories: public housing projects and economic centers. Once a user clicks on a dot on the map, they can find pictures and recollections of participants in the two projects. “Sometimes they have pretty similar experiences in the same places and sometimes they’re different but it just kind of shows how the Bronx wasn’t as segmented and everyone was kind of in the same places,” said Rini.

Photo of the Week:

USG Looks at Housing CONTRIBUTING WRITER

COURTESY OF ALISON RINI

Rini presents her interactive map. It tracks significant places from both BIAHI and BAAHP through a Digital Map.

She also said she tracked the different themes she had recognized during her time as a research assistant. “I kind of went through and looked to see common themes because as a research assistant all these common themes kept popping up,” she said. “They all talk about how the neighborhood has changed over time and the differ-

ent people.” Some nearby examples of places featured on the map are Arthur Avenue and the Grand Concourse. “I think it’s a really great way to learn about the Bronx and Bronx history, because being a student at Fordham, it’s important to know about where the school is and the history of all the people who were

MACKENZIE CRANNA/THE FORDHAM RAM

Yankee Stadium is located a few miles from Fordham’s Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. The original stadium was built in 1923. It seats 54,000 people and was at capacity on opening day on March 28.

here,” Rini said. “It was such an important hub for so long and history is really interesting, especially oral history, to just talk to people for an hour or two. A lot of them talk about the same things without prompting; they just have similar memories.” Rini said she liked hearing about what she called the “golden age” of a lot of public housing projects. “I think something that came to light is just how much these people were in the same places, like the public housing projects at one point were the best place to be. It was really hard to get into them, and they were communities where people looked out for each other,” she said. Rini also encouraged fellow students to attend events put on by the two projects. She said the African American History Project has had art events, speakers and concerts recently. Rini plans to add more sights to the map now that she has a framework, and the map will eventually be accessible to the public on the website of each project. “Anyone can access the archives right now, but they’re all in individual videos and transcripts,” said Rini. “Projects like this that are interactive and you can just sort of learn a little bit and get some key insights, I think are going to be really useful and just a fun way of representing what we’re doing at the two projects.”

At the Senate meeting on March 28, Executive Vice President Kaylee Wong, GSB ’20, brought light to Fordham’s gender-inclusive housing policy, which she said is in place to make students who are transgender or gender non-binary feel more welcome. Wong said the policy should be made available on Fordham’s website to encourage growth at a Jesuit university. Vice President of Rose Hill Patrick Fox, FCRH ’20, presented information on what will be a Rose Hill career exploration course, modeled after Gabelli’s Career Exploration Integrated Project. Fox, along with Senator Ryan Dicorpo, FCRH ’19, said the class is a one-credit elective, taught by members of Career Services, to introduce students to professional opportunities in liberal arts fields, and provide assistance with resumes, cover letters and creating professional social media platforms. In an effort to make USG more transparent, Senator Nicholas Abbasio, GSB ’21, proposed a multitude of layouts for seating guests at future USG meetings. The Senate is still deciding on which option is best. Senator Abbasio is also working on having all uneaten food from the cafeteria sent to Part of The Solution (POTS) to be donated. Katie Mercanti FCRH ’19, delegate from Campus Activities Board, said Spring Weekend will include a ferris wheel on campus and two other rides. Vanessa Reyes, FCRH ’19, delegate from Commuter Students Association, reminded senators that Bronx Celebration Day is April 6, and will include a multitude of vendors, music and food. She said a commuter appreciation reception will be held on May 3 from 1-3 p.m. at an unknown location. Model UN won Club of the Month, as members attended their first international conference in Madrid during spring break. President Connor Sullivan, FCRH ‘19, awarded Senator of the Month to Senator Dean Corrado, GSB ’19. Dean Arcuri said Senior Week tickets are still on sale, but there are few available. Co-advisor Stephen Esposito said Commuter Assistant applications are due April 5. Esposito also encouraged senators to attend the Global Diversity and Inclusion Conference on Wednesday April 3. Senator Carsyn Fisher, FCRH ’21, said she is working on putting together packets for RAs on how to implement diversity programming. Senator Katie Keane, GSB ’21, said she is working on a list of all non-working water fountains on campus. Senator Margaret Rothfus, FCRH ’20, said there will be a sustainability brunch on April 28 in which members of the committee will be tabling. Senator Griffin LaMarche, GSB ’22, said installation for printers in freshman dorms will begin shortly. USG will be holding a constitutional convention on Thursday, April 4.

NEWS

April 3, 2019

Page 5

CAB Reveals Spring Weekend Performers Sean Kingston and Whethan to Headline FROM CAB, PAGE 1

relevant artists in the university’s price range to choose the best possible artists. “As the concert committee, it is our job to represent the wants for the students,” they said in an email interview. “We spend

months pushing for more diversity in the Spring Weekend performers.” In order to push for more relevant performers for the Spring Weekend concert line-up, Cialini and Roberts said they met with representatives from the

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Sean Kingston will headline this year''s annual Spring Weekend concert.

Office for Student Involvement (OSI) almost every week. “This was definitely more than in the past, but it was worth it to get a musically diverse and exciting show,” they said. As a result, they said they had started working on the 2019 Spring Weekend Concert in April 2018. “We have had Sean Kingston headlining and Bryce Vine as the opening act since November of 2018,” they said. According to Cialini and Roberts, when CAB president Kathryn Teaney, GSB ’19, made the decision to remove rapper Soulja Boy from the original concert lineup, they put in a proposal to have Whethan perform. “We still wanted to put on a good show so we attempted to search for a replacement at the last minute,” they said. “Luckily, out of the handful artists left that were available we were able to put in a proposal for Whethan who now completes our lineup.” However, despite the secretive nature of CAB’s Spring Weekend lineup, there were several leaks prior to the formal announcement. Sean Kingston posted a tour date on his verified Instagram account, and a representative for Bryce Vine confirmed his performance to The Observer. Cialini and Roberts said they

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Whethan, DJ and music producer, will headline the Spring Weekend concert.

are unsure why there were so many leaked announcements this year, but they are hoping it is just a singular occurrence.

Make a difference. Become a teacher. Earn your graduate degree at Fordham.

Fordham’s Graduate School of Education offers more than 30 specialized and accelerated full-time, part-time, and online programs in • Adolescence Education • Bilingual Education/TESOL • Childhood Special Education

• Early Childhood Education (Birth–Grade 2) • Early Childhood Special Education • Childhood Education (Grades 1–6)

Current Fordham undergraduate students can start taking master’s courses during their fourth year and earn their M.S.T. the following year.

“We’re reviewing our lines of communication to see if we can avoid such an early leak in the future,” they said.

TWO CAMPUSES: LINCOLN CENTER CAMPUS

in Midtown Manhattan WESTCHESTER CAMPUS

in West Harrison, New York

fordham.edu/gse

NEWS

Page 6

April 3, 2019

MSA Honors Lives Lost in Recent Attacks Holds Candlelit Vigil on Keating Steps FROM VIGIL, PAGE 1

in the attacks. “This is the least we can do, and we felt that a vigil was an appropriate way to remember the beautiful lives of those who were taken away from us way

too soon,” said Rahim. MSA events coordinator Eesha Khan, FCRH ’19, said they did not choose the vigil’s date for a specific reason, but Friday is a holy day in the Islamic faith, and the vigil was held on

COURTESY OF ABDUL RAHIM

Students attended MSA's vigil to mourn those lost in Mali and New Zealand.

the same day of the week, around the same time as the New Zealand attack. “I think there is a significance there that we tried to make," Khan said. "It’s the same day, same time, but we’re united, and we’re spreading love, and we’re spreading awareness, and that’s what’s important to us.” She said they wanted to hold a vigil shortly after the New Zealand attack, but then the attacks in Mali occurred and MSA wanted to include all of them as part of the vigil. Khan said the Islamic faith has a lot of stereotypes associated with it that are scary to some people because they have not been able to talk to an actual Muslim person and learn about who they really are. “For us, it’s important that we reach out to as many people as we can and be like, ‘Hi, I’m Muslim and I’m your classmate, and I’m your friend, and this is what Islam is actually about,’” she

COURTESY OF ABDUL RAHIM

Holding flowers, students stood on Keating steps for the silent vigil.

said. “If we can all do our part in spreading knowledge and awareness, then I think we can fight these moments in our lives where there’s a lot of tragedy and devastation.”

Khan said Fordham’s key principles are love, awareness, education and support. MSA hopes to nurture those same values amongst the students and faculty on campus.

Fordham Abroad Programs Attract Attention: Nearly 50 Percent of Students Study Abroad FROM ABROAD, PAGE 1

than an end in itself.” The study abroad application asks applicants to think through the academic goals, reasons for choosing a study abroad program and personal development. Fordham itself offers programs in South Africa, Spain and the UK. The Fordham program in Granada, Spain is a language immersion program and the program in South Africa is service learning-based. The London program has more options, as it offers both business and liberal arts classes. It also has an internship program through which Fordham students have worked for members of Parliament and Simon and Schuster.

Of the students that go abroad, 50% choose to go to the UK. Erin Flynn, FCRH ’20, is currently in London. She said that so far she has visited France, Germany and Ireland, among other destinations. “I was on the fence about going because I was scared of flying, but it was the best decision I’ve ever made,” said Flynn. “It gently forces you to get out of your comfort zone and you experience the world in a whole new light.” The debate as to when to go abroad depends on the student. Rienti said the earliest someone can go abroad is the summer after their freshman year, but most students go abroad as juniors. Dylan Mazzarella, GSB ’20, went to London last year as sophomore.

COURTESY OF RAM ARCHIVES

50% of students who study abroad attend the London Centre Campus.

“Going abroad was an experience that allowed me to challenge myself while having one of the best semesters in college," said Mazzarella. "Having never been out of the country beforehand, I was nervous to spend four months so far away from home.” Mazzarella said the only flaw in his program was that he did not get to meet anyone who lived in London. “I made a lot of new friends from Fordham and traveled with them but never met anyone from London, which would’ve been cool,” he said. Nationally only 10% to 15% of students study abroad but Fordham has a goal of a 50% participation rate. Participation used to be between 30 and 40% but through an initiative from The Institute for International Higher Education, called Generation Study Abroad, Fordham has been working to improve its participation rate. If the Fordham run locations are not right for a student, the study abroad office also offers exchange programs. Fiona Shea, FCRH ’19, went to Paris, and said the experience was very positive. “It sounds super cliche but studying in Paris absolutely changed my life,” she said. “I studied through the Center for University Programs Abroad (CUPA) program, so I took four French classes and lived with a host family. It pushed me so far out of my comfort zone that sometimes I felt challenged or nervous.” Shea said there are some unknowns and difficulties at times with non-Fordham programs.

For example, she said French universities do not release the classes they will be offering until two days before the semester starts, which means students can get to France and find out that the classes they want to take are not offered. Shea said this happened to her but she still loved her experience. Kristen Sulewski, FCRH ’20, went to Copenhagen. “The worst thing about my time abroad was probably the loneliness," she said. "Because I didn’t go to London, where there would be a bunch of Fordham kids who I already knew, I had to make new friends, which takes time. But the best part is so hard because there were so many. If I had to pick just one, it would be the people I met.” One piece of advice Rienti has for students is to start planning for study abroad early. “What we tell people is any minor or major can study abroad," said Rienti. "Some of them take a little bit more planning. What I would tell people is if you’re concerned about it and you’re doing a major that might be a little less common for study abroad, make yourself available to meet with us as well as your academic advisor.” Another common question students have is whether to save core classes for their time abroad. Rienti said he does not think this is necessary. “Most core does have to be here on campus and there are some exceptions to that,” he said. “I typically wouldn’t tell people to save things. What I would do is look at the different programs and check for sure whether you can do, say, Texts and Contexts in London.” If a student is unable or does not

want to spend a whole semester away, they can head to London, Rome or Spain for the summer. Rienti said the decision of which year to go and whether to go during a semester or in the summer is mostly a personal choice based on housing, activities on campus and even weather. Natalie Migliore, FCRH ’20, took a class in London the summer before her junior year. “I think the best thing about the study abroad program, especially in the summer is that you can take just one or two classes so you get really familiar with the people in your classes and what you’re learning,” said Migliore. “We did so many walking tours and went to so many exhibits, and everything revolves around both the subject of the class and the city and culture.” While the majority of students that apply to study abroad are approved to do so, Rienti recommended applying early action. “The times that I see students not get their first choice program is a lot around timing,” he said. “So if you apply right at the deadline it might be a situation where we have to put you on the waitlist.” He said the application cycle for spring 2020 just opened and students should be aware of an early deadline of June 30 and a final deadline of Oct. 1 for Fordham programs. Vincent Ciulla, GSB ’21, is currently studying abroad in London. “The best part of being abroad is definitely the ability to travel to another country every weekend,” he said. “Studying in London gives you access to inexpensive flights to so many popular tourist destinations. The only downside is that my time in London is coming to an end.”

NEWS

April 3, 2019

Page 7

Bronx Community Sees Effects of Gentrification By KATHERINE LEONARD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The community surrounding Fordham University is one of many identities, including an immigrant and student population. As rents rise in this blended community, the question of gentrification is at the forefront. An analysis done by RentCafe for DNAinfo New York stated that the Fordham area saw large increases in wealthy renters. In the Fordham and University Heights area, the median rent has risen from $900 in 2000 to $1,140 in 2016. The median asking rent in this area of the Bronx in 2017 was $1,600, meaning that someone looking to move into a new residency would inevitably result in a higher rent. Residents in the area surrounding Fordham are already severely rent-burdened, with 48% of households spending 35% or more of their income on rent, according to a study by New York University’s Furman Center. As rents continue to rise in the area, some residents may be at risk of displacement. This problem is currently affecting the entire borough. There has been a migration of people to the Bronx as people have been priced out of other boroughs and are looking for more affordable rents. The Bronx is the cheapest borough, with the median rent in 2016 being $1,150, as compared to $1,690 in Manhattan. Greta Gilbertson, Ph.D., pro-

fessor of sociology at Fordham, said the Bronx is becoming a more popular choice because of its affordability. “My sense is that people are really scrambling to be able to afford to live in the city and the Bronx may be the best option,” she said. Investors have noticed this trend, and after years of disinvesting in the Bronx, they are now putting money into developing more attractive properties. From 2010 to 2016, city property records indicate that investors spent $9.2 billion on the purchase of Bronx apartment buildings. This tactic, called predatory equity, is used when investors expect higher income residents to move in. Investors buy property for higher rates than they are worth with the intent of increasing rent as the property value rises. Investors can earn money by purchasing apartment buildings in the Bronx through this strategy. Gilbertson said she sees gentrification as a natural result of investors capitalizing on the demand for property in the Bronx. “If there is a greater demand for properties, then rents will increase and those higher rents are going to exclude people,” she explained. However, Gilbertson stressed the importance of properly defining gentrification. She said the term is generally used to indicate when people can no longer afford to stay in the neighborhood as a result of being pushed to leave. “Not all upgrades of neighbor-

hoods results in that,” Gilbertson said. For instance, Mayor de Blasio’s recent ten-year plan NYCHA 2.0 puts $24 billion towards repairs to New York City’s public housing. The mayor also initiated the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing amendment in 2016, which requires the allocation of affordable housing that is permanent. While many view the mayor’s efforts as a good starting point, some still see it as problematic because it caters to the middle-class. One student who moved off campus as a junior, Brian Daaleman, FCRH ’19, a member of Fordham Club's Bronx collaboration committee, said he has sensed this change. Daaleman has noticed more housing outside of Fordham that specifically markets their properties as stu dent housing. “It’s very intentional who they want living there,” Daaleman said. Daaleman said he struggles with wanting to pursue a career that would help to solve this problem while knowing he would be contributing to the problem. “When I graduate I will probably move to an area where I am a gentrifier, and I feel hypocritical,” he said. Daaleman said that he is technically part of the problem, but he knows that moving off-campus while at Fordham and living in the city after graduation is a com-

KYLIE ELWOOD/THE FORDHAM RAM

Artu Viale, on Arthur Avenue, is a popular housing community near Fordham.

mon part of the Fordham experience. He notes that there are ways Fordham students can help combat this problem when living offcampus, like getting involved with anti-displacement organizations like the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition and the Communication Action for Safe Apartments. He advocates for educating yourself and doing research on realtors and landlords before moving into an apartment to see if they use tactics that perpetuate displacement. In terms of living offcampus, he said students should

be conscious of the community. “We are only here for four years, and while we should embrace the Bronx, this isn’t necessarily our home,” he says. “Students often treat the neighborhood as a playground in terms of noise and litter — be mindful of your space.” According to Daaleman, Fordham could help ameliorate this problem by making it more attractive to live on campus for all four years. He pointed to the expensive living costs that push many to move off-campus as a source of the issue.

Yo Mamma Delivery Service Thrives at Rose Hill By PATRICIA WHYTE

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Yo Mamma takes care of you, whatever you need. Yo Mamma Delivery is a delivery service available to students both on and off campus. Students place an order by texting a phone number and pay a five dollar delivery fee for someone to go pick their order up and deliver it to them. Haseeb Babar, GSB ’22, created the service in November, coming up with the idea late one night studying with his friends. The group wanted food but did not want to break their concentration by going to get it. “I was like, a delivery service, not a bad idea,” Babar said. He decided to create a poster offering to deliver food to students on or off campus for a fee. “I put that on my Instagram story at like 1 a.m., went to bed, the next day, I get 16 orders. I said, 'Wow, there’s a lot of potential here,'” Babar said. The business has since grown. Babar is no longer doing it by himself, as he now employs delivery persons. Since its beginning in November, Yo Mamma has accumulated over 100 clients. Yo Mamma delivers more than just food. The business can also pick up orders from the bookstore, Walgreens or even the laundromat. “During finals week last se-

JULIA COMERFORD/THE FORDHAM RAM

Haseeb Babar runs Yo Mamma Delivery, a delivery service available to students on and off campus.

mester, we had a bunch of kids ordering pens and notecards,” Babar said. “It’s not really all about the money, it’s about helping people out and helping them adjust.” Unlike other delivery services like Uber Eats or Postmates, Yo Mamma can deliver anywhere on campus, as it is student-run. Babar is working to have more employees, and hopes to expand Yo Mamma to the Lincoln Center campus.

In addition to being a more accessible delivery service for students, the business aims to create a community on campus. Babar said the business works hard to foster relationships with its clients. Since starting Yo Mamma, Babar has been able to meet and work with many new people. “There’s a lot more benefits than just monetary benefits," Babar said. "You get to meet people, established connec-

tions like that, it is kind of fun at the same time.” Currently, all orders are placed by texting the phone number posted on their Instagram page or by direct messaging the account. Babar is currently working on creating an app so customers can place orders more easily. Babar said his biggest competitor right now is Tapingo, a popular app students use to place orders and skip the lines

at on campus restaurants. “Yo Mamma is cooler in the sense that you could do the same thing, you could place the order for whatever you want, and then someone will go pick it up for you, bring it to you wherever you want,” Babar said. Babar hopes to eventually expand Yo Mamma to college campuses nationwide, as a part of meal plans. The goal, he says, would be to give students the option of using meal swipes, declining cash balance and delivery swipes. “Essentially it’s to be across every college,” Babar said. “The benefit from that is for the students themselves, it helps them adjust, but the students that work for this, it’ll be just another on campus job.” Babar has several students working for him as delivery people, including James Mesce, GSB '22. Mesce said working with Yo Mamma has given him a broader sense of the Fordham community. "Working for Yo Mamma has been a rewarding experience that has allowed me to meet new people and further my appreciation of the Fordham community,” Mesce said. Like Mesce, Babar himself has made several friends and connections through this service. “That’s the incentive for a lot of the delivery people I have: they deliver to people, make friends, and you know, that’s what we want to do for people,” Babar said.

NEWS

Page 8

April 3, 2019

The Office of CDO Hosts Inaugural Event Showcases Art Created By Women of Color By SARAH HUFFMAN

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The Office of the Chief Diversity Officer hosted its inaugural event celebrating women of color last week. On March 25 and 26, it hosted the first Visionary Women Building Strong Communities Art Reception. The event showcased art created by local women and Fordham students. All of the art was created and submitted by women of color. Kendra Dunbar, assistant director of equity and inclusion with the Office of the Chief Diversity Officer, said they wanted to start an initiative and create a space for women of color. She hoped the event was an opportunity for conversation and community, especially between the Fordham and Bronx communities. Dunbar and Erika Marte, administrative program assistant in the office of the Chief Diversity Officer, said they wanted to inspire thinking about what a strong community looks like for women of color. They said this event was the beginning of a dialogue about women of color. “We wanted to bring folks together to explore the theme and the idea of community and to begin to be in conversation with one another about what community means to you, how we build strong communities and what a strong

community would look like here at Fordham, particularly one that takes seriously and centers the experiences and lives of women of color,” said Dunbar. The event showcased artwork in a variety of mediums. Artist Jessica Space had three paintings on display. They were entitled “Froed,” “Cornrowed” and “Tapered”. The paintings showed the profile of women’s faces, each with a different hairstyle. Another artist, Diane Davis, had two paintings entitled “Misty” and “Nature’s Composition.” “Nature’s Composition” is part of an ongoing series inspired by algorithms in nature. Artist Ijeoma D. Iheanacho said when she was first contacted, she was shocked that the event was happening at Fordham. “I think it’s an amazing event. The idea that we get to see images of ourselves made by ourselves in a place like this is stunning to me,” she said. “And I think it’s an important moment, especially with it being Women’s History Month.” Student artist Caden Jones, FCRH '19, had one drawing and two paintings on display. Her drawing, titled “Bug’s Life,” showed an ant drawn in a realistic style. Jones said she wanted to be a part of the show because it celebrated women of color, and she had not seen many opportunities like that at Fordham. She appre-

SARAH HUFFMAN/THE FORDHAM RAM

The office of the Chief Diversity Officer hosted its inaugural event highlighting art created by women of color.

ciated that the event brought the community together. Artist Aleathia Brown had two paintings of a series entitled “Sunday’s Supper” on display. Brown said each painting has a painting in the background that leads to the next one in the series. She said they are painted on banana leaf paper because banana leaves grow in a bunch, which represents the families in her paintings. Brown said she wanted to make a connection with Fordham even before Erika Marte reached out to Bronx 200, an artist directory, and invited artists. Brown said this event was an easy way to make the transition.

Brown expressed her desire to show her work at college campuses to open up conversations and dialogue. “There are so many things that are happening at this time that it’s another rebirth or renaissance where, women and our voices are being morphed into a more visual place,” she said. The reception also showed a video created by a Fordham alumna, Perla de Leon, FCLC '74. The video was about the changes that have occurred in the Bronx over the last few decades and the effects they have had on the neighborhoods. Christie-Belle Garcia, assistant dean for student support and suc-

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cess, made a speech at the event. According to Garcia, it is Fordham’s duty to build communities so that women of color do not feel so lonely or isolated. She said women of color should feel like their stories matter and that Fordham is providing the support they need to be the best they can be. “If we’re not a community, we sacrifice way too much," she said. "We can transform institutions and challenge people who have power to share their power.” Garcia said she felt honored, grateful and proud to be a member of that community, and she was proud to be at Fordham and see a huge shift to something beautiful.

April 3, 2019

OPINION

Page 9

The Fordham Ram

Why Not All Speech Should Be Protected By NICK ZAROMATIDIS CONTRIBUTING WRITER

This past December, Bill C-76 was passed in Canada requiring all online platforms to keep a record of all political and partisan advertisements that they directly and indirectly publish. In response to this, Google Canada’s Head of Public Policy Colin McKay stated Google “will not accept advertising regulated by Bill C-16.” Bill C-16 is a part of the larger election regulatory laws, passed to promote transparency and content integrity. My initial urge is to cry out that these citizens have First Amendment rights, protected by the Constitution to exercise the freedom of religion, speech, assembly, etc. The small piece of information that my initial urge inevitably forgot was that these rights are protected by the United States Constitution — not the Canadian counterpart. Although on the surface this may seem unfair, Google could pull the plug on political advertising in the United States. I am not promoting this in any sense, but Google, as a private company, can refuse political advertising as long as it is equally applied to the entire United States. We have no protected right to see political advertisements on Google; we do have the right to receive accurate information upon request, but not through the

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Though the protection of free speech is crucial, it is understandable that Canada would want to prevent misinformation.

form of the verified political advertising Google has provided in the past. Even though Google has banned political advertising on its platform in Canada, it has a list of credible sources to point voters in the right direction about the candidates on the ballot. This decision was neither meant to discourage a flow of information nor display Google’s authority over information. This decision was meant to underscore Google’s dedication to ensuring the accuracy of information that is viewable through their search engine. Although I do believe it is the individual’s right to filter through infor-

mation, I have to applaud Google for its dedication to accuracy and effectiveness, even though it was prompted by a change in Canadian law. According to Google’s political advertising politics in the United States, New Jersey, Maryland, Nevada and Washington do not allow local or state officials to advertise through Google. This may come as a shock to some, but with increasingly strict election laws in neighboring nations, the United States is starting to see the need for a trend in electoral reform. I feel that this minimal prevention of political advertising has had effects on the local and state levels. There have been numerous stud-

ies examining the effects of political advertising through social media and platforms such as large search engines like Google. A study performed by Oxford concluded that the effects of political advertising are all contextual to the situation. It depends on what was being shown in the advertisement, what it relates to, what message it promoted and the current state of the viewer. The viewer could see an advertisement that focuses on the candidate’s policy of anti-animal cruelty while you are snuggled up with a dog in bed. This may elicit a much stronger feeling than simply hearing about topics disinteresting to the specific

viewer. Although some political advertisements are positive, this initiative will prevent the needless slander between candidates and other political organizations. There is not a place for negative advertisements in the media, especially in a political environment. If there must be a form of negative advertising, then the individual should be presented the information in a much more diplomatic manner. In other words, if an individual is inexperienced or has flaws in their political stances, then it should come to light in a political forum or debate between candidates. Private or familial issues should not have any bearing on a candidate’s ability to assume the position that they are running for. Too many negative political advertisements which have a negative effect on me; I look to the aggressor with disgust because they funded a specific mailer or for the information to be coordinated and released. Therefore, with the information provided from this research, political advertising is all about perfect timing. With that being said, Canadians will have to resort to other platforms to gain more accurate and effective information regarding their candidates.

Nick Zaromatidis, GSB ’21, is an applied accounting and finance major from Franklin Square, New York.

Small Steps Count Towards a Better World

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Try following these guidelines for to help not only with getting through college, but to also help you live a better life.

By OLIVIA MACDONALD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

On paper, college is an opportunity with no runner-up. In practice, the experience and the degree in your hand undoubtedly put you in a better position for success. College is one of the only ways to develop the skills a person needs to be ready for the world. But if you ask any college student, they will also be sure to mention the challenges that come with college life — and the consequences of said challenges. Often those consequences negatively affect the Earth. For those who want to set in motion a surge of change, it becomes painfully apparent how difficult it is to see even a trickle of that change

within the confines of a university. You’re in this limbo where you’re supposed to be an independent adult, yet you don’t really feel like an adult at all. So, what can you do? Here are some ways you can put your passion into practice. 1. Start or join a club. You may think that your efforts and actions won’t make a difference because you’re only one person. If everyone adopts a similar mindset, it sets a wave in motion — and it works both ways. When you get that rush of motivation to clear out your closet and donate the extras to charity, a group of people doing so makes it even more fruitful. On the other side, when you toss that plastic bottle in the garbage because “it’s only one”

ultimate means millions of bottles packed into a landfill or drifting into the ocean (and this is the reality). 2. Become a weekday vegetarian or vegan. Because college is a full-time job, becoming a vegetarian or vegan can seem like a commitment — and it is. It involves a sweeping lifestyle change, and that can be tricky, even for people who want to do it due to the limited types of food colleges offer. However, you may consider dedicating weekdays or certain days of the week to eating vegetarian or vegan. Here are some things to know if you want a loose engagement to this diet. The New York Times reported that farming is responsible for the equivalent of 574 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in the

United States each year and 56 million metric tons in Canada. To put it in perspective, worldwide, livestock accounts for between 14.5 percent and 18 percent of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Whether or not veganism/vegetarianism is going to be the way you make a difference, it’s good for your health to limit animal product consumption. If you are conscious of maintaining nutrition in the absence of meat and dairy, plant-based eating has actually been found not to only be sufficient but also progressively beneficial. According to the American Dietetic Association, “appropriately planned vegetarian diets, including total vegetarian or vegan diets, are healthful, nutritionally adequate, and may provide health benefits in the prevention and treatment of certain diseases.” College is about doing what you can to keep yourself healthy and doing more for yourself when you have the luxury. Even a weekly day of vegetarianism (i.e. Meatless Mondays) can give the environment a break, especially if you can encourage your friends to do it, too! 3. Live with less. Sometimes I wonder if college is a game to see how little you can get by with. Reaching into a fridge brimming with food is a summer luxury, and cereal starts to look pretty tasty for two meals a day. With the mass consumption mindset that plagues our Earth, college can be an opportunity to see how much you can reduce your foot-

print. If you can find a compost center — at Fordham University, you can try St. Rose’s Garden behind the parking garage—keep as much of your biodegradable waste out of the trash as possible. 4. Connect with the community outside your campus. A close-knit campus community can make a daunting place feel like home. You start to know who you’ll smile at on your walk to class and who will greet you for your morning coffee. But this home isn’t confined to the perimeters of your campus. Take the time to explore the communities around you. 5. Vote with your wallet. You can vote at your local polling center, or you can fill in an absentee ballot, but election day isn’t the only day that your values matter. Every time you shop, be mindful of supporting businesses that are sustainable and ethical. If streets trimmed with trash are any indication, NYC and cities around the globe could use our help. As is the case with many of you, the urge to help a seemingly crumbling world is charged and ready to ignite. Being a college student should not have to be synonymous with being a bad denizen of our planet. Sometimes it’s better to start small to see what you can do with your passion alone. Movements have to start somewhere — why not with you?

Olivia Macdonald, FCRH ’21, is a communications and culture major from Chester, Connecticut.

OPINION

Page 10

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

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

The Fordham Ram’s editorial is se-

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

April 3, 2019

From the Desk | Dylan Balsamo

Dementia in Modern Media

Some of the most important and formative experiences in my upbringing were watching my parents go through losing their parents. Their strength as individuals during the worst times in their lives helped shape who I am today. In January of 2015, my maternal grandmother, Doris Lane, passed away at the age of 76, having been diagnosed with dementia a little more than a year earlier. My mother, the youngest of her mom’s three daughters, a nurse practitioner and the medical professional of our family, had been my grandma’s primary caregiver, going with her to her doctor’s appointments, visiting her more and more often and even having her live with us before spending her last few months at the Oakland Care Center in New Jersey. Dementia is the worst. A few months before my grandmother’s passing, one of my personal inspirations, Robin Williams, had committed suicide and was found after his death to have what we now know was Lewy Body Dementia. But it was during the process of my grandma’s diagnosis and decline that I was able to watch my mom and get a true understanding of the strength it takes to go through the agony and heartbreak of being the caregiver of a dementia patient.

All of this had me thinking: how is the role of a dementia caregiver portrayed in media? When going about answering this question, I found myself looking to what I think is our most powerful form of media: film. It is easy to derive our understanding of different things through what we see on the big screen. That being said, I think it is very important we examine cinema through lenses such as this one to see if we are getting the real story. Here’s a movie that got it wrong: 2014’s “Still Alice.” This is an example of a film that portrays the conditions of the patient very well, having been told from her perspective. Alice, played by Julianne Moore, is a middle-aged author and professor with a husband and three beautiful children who all of a sudden goes from occasional forgetfulness to wetting her pants because she forgot where the bathroom was and is eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. The piece shows the deterioration of its protagonist in the best way that a two-hour flick can and shows that it can happen to any person well before they hit what are supposed to be their golden years. However, “Still Alice” hardly touches upon the effect that this condition has on Alice’s family, if at all. The children become essentially un-

important to the plot, and the viewer does not get to see very much of the impact Alice’s disease has on her husband, her primary caregiver. My mother essentially took on a second job continuously having to visit her mom, who was divorced and living alone before she came to live with us for a while. I am thankful every day that my mom is in medicine. Here’s a movie that got it right: 2001’s “A Song for Martin.” This Swedish film centers on an elderly couple: the husband, Martin, a composer and the wife, Barbara, a violinist, face issues when Martin becomes stricken with Alzheimer’s. What it is that this movie does hit perfectly is the unpredictability in both what Martin does and how Barbara reacts. In one scene, Barbara is bringing Martin’s newest score to the post office when she opens it and finds it a mess with blank pages and arranges to have a pretend concert performed. Another scene shows Martin smashing a belonging of Barbara’s and her becoming so mad that she hits him. It is impossible to stay consistently sane and accommodating for a dementia patient during the process of watching them fall apart and living your entire life around it. There were days when my mom would be able to find humor in some of the strange and outrageous things she would hear her

mom say. There were also days where she was so heartbroken that she did not want to talk to any of us. “A Song for Martin” tells the caregiver story in a way “Still Alice” does not. The deterioration of my grandmother through dementia and the agony my family experienced because of it are things I wish could never happen to anyone again, but if we cannot make that happen, the least we can do is give caregivers a story to identify with. The strength and courage that my mom had during this time was unimaginable, so much so that I had to go to college and write in a newspaper to express how much I admire her for it. So for her sake, and for the sake of caregivers and all of the world, let’s get the story right.

Editorial | Scheduling

Ramshackledness of Ram Registration

Picture this: it’s relatively close to the end of your spring semester. Along with impending deadlines for lengthy term papers and the anticipation of cumulative final exams comes the awareness that soon you must construct a potential schedule and register for fall classes. This moment is typically when an array of both hyper-individualized and general stressors begin to pop up for many Fordham students. Registration is not a studentfriendly process. Semester after semester, Fordham students face an exorbitant amount of stress in the days leading up to and during this period. Much of this pressure has to do with personalized issues, circumstances and concerns about one’s own future or career plans. However, a large and unacceptable amount comes from the university’s unreliable electronic infrastructure, the inaccessibility or lack of guidance from some advisors and the university’s extensive core requirements. The MyFordham registration portal is the catch-all spot for students in crafting their potential schedules. The site allows them to “browse classes,” “plan ahead” and eventually register for courses. Similarly, DegreeWorks is an online program that enables students to track their academic progress. These two sites are integral to the scheduling process and garner much student interaction during registration periods. Yet, despite students’ absolute reliance on their sustained functionality, these programs are disorganized in the information they convey. DegreeWorks often displays the same

course in its pop-up windows three, even four times. It is also unable to effectively communicate the special nature of certain courses like theses that count as additional, honors credits but are presented instead as fulfilling major requirements. These programs are unreliable in performance on heavily-trafficked registration mornings. The site has repeatedly crashed on the morning of registration for various students and for varying periods of time, causing some to be disadvantaged in their class pickings and heightening stress levels. It is imperative that Fordham finds ways to improve the state of these systems to make them more user-friendly. Some of the confusion caused by these wonky websites might be easily cleared up by an advisor or dean that is particularly experienced in their usage. However, many students do not have positive experiences with their advisors. Some are less informed about certain issues than the students themselves. Some are extremely overburdened with advisees. As a result, these in-demand advisors can be difficult to get in touch with. According to the Communications and Media Studies department, the department assigns around 40 students to each advising professor. As a student, it is difficult to feel as though an advisor has a good sense of who you are, what you want out of your education and how best to advise you if they are not good at keeping in contact or are overwhelmed by other responsibilities, which often include academic workloads

amidst advising ones. Another grievance many students have with Fordham’s scheduling process is that some see the university’s extensive core requirements as a hindrance to their obtainment of a degree in the area of their choice. The Ram acknowledges the benefit of the core curriculum. Wideranging and diverse coursework is both part of the mission of our university in its intention to cultivate cura personalis and the reason many find the institution’s education valuable. However, if the university is going to require all students to fulfill an extensive core, it should make doing so easy for all students. Those in the Visual Arts department, for example, have significantly fewer course options available to them that fulfill both core requirements and major or minor requirements in their department. As a result, certain students are forced to forego classes they find engaging and helpful to their future academic pursuits for the sake of taking multiple course levels in departments outside of their areas of interest. Similarly, these individuals wind up having to take more classes (which also translates to spending more money) than those in more robust departments whose core requirements frequently overlap with their major/minor ones. The university should aim to offer core classes that also count as major/minor requirements across all departments in a more uniform way so all students have more equal opportunities to fulfill them, or it should revise the core to be less taxing as students continue in their

education. To return to the opening anecdote, now it is almost registration day. You’ve spent the better part of a few days, maybe even weeks scouring DegreeWorks or MyFordham and in contact with your advisor. You have finally found classes that work with your needs in terms of requirements, academics and interests. You’ve done everything right, taken all the proper precautionary measures. You’ve learned from all of your previous mistakes as a freshman, sophomore or even junior. Except, things may go awry anyway. Maybe MyFordham crashes. Maybe there is a hold on a certain class that you or your advisor didn’t know about. Maybe you run into some other unforeseen obstacle in the road despite trying so carefully to avoid crashing. To come out of registration with a course load that satisfies your scheduling needs and academic interests feels incredibly lucky. We at The Ram believe it shouldn’t take a stroke of good fortune to have a successful registration period. The university should be making it as easy as possible for students to take its courses and, more importantly, to want to take its courses. The university should also make it easy for its students to graduate with the degree of their choice in a timely and cost-effective fashion. Too many students have a lingering fear they won’t be able to graduate within the timeframe or budget they previously anticipated. Fordham must take steps to clean up its registration process for the benefit of its students’ education.

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April 3, 2019

Peele Does It Again: “Us” Exceeds Expectations By MATTHEW DILLON STAFF WRITER

“Us” is the newest horror film to come from Jordan Peele, director and writer of the highly acclaimed “Get Out.” A family vacation sees Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o) return to a theme park where she underwent a traumatic experience as a child. Her lifelong fear that this fateful encounter was never resolved is proven right as her family members confront twisted doppelgangers of themselves. “Us” leans fully into the conventions of the horror genre, and it is very much modeled on the slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s. However, the movie’s journey through this well-established territory has an almost unprecedented amount of intelligence. The film has a riveting atmosphere and manages to be consistently funny and scary. “Us” is one of the most memorable films to come out of this decade and should put to rest any

assertion that horror movies somehow do not constitute “real” art. The film manages to overcome the largest pitfall of the horror genre by providing excellent characterization. Even the best the genre has to offer often fails to see its protagonists as anything more than victims. “Us” presents a cast of characters with believable, complex personalities. Each character’s personal growth is just as engaging as the gruesome frights. The film’s best movements are when those two elements intersect. Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex give great individual performances as Adelaide, her husband, her daughter and her son, respectively. Their personal arcs receive satisfying resolutions. Some of them even force you to question who is really to blame for the events of the film. The main actors also fashion one of the most believable families I have seen in any genre of film. The writing and performances tap into common

Nike’s: Unlikely Hit

Even the ugly duckling, so harshly ridiculed, was recognized as a beautiful swan eventually. What is the point of this poetic B.S.? The point is that Nike’s Pizzeria, if you look closely enough, may just be the ugly duckling of the Bronx. Let me begin by saying that I, even to this day, have only heard bad things about Nike’s pizza from others. People really have nothing good to say about this place. Now, to be clear, I kind of get it. The lighting is dim, and the floor is dingy. It’s probably not the cleanest place you’ll find. The tables and chairs are reminiscent of old bars back in Wisconsin sitting on the side of country highways. But, as the wise Abraham Lincoln once said, “don’t judge a pizza shop by how creepy it seems when you first walk in.” Where exactly does the good part start? Good question, let me continue. The first time I went to grab a slice from Nike’s was on a Thursday afternoon, and the place was closed — on a Thursday afternoon. A little weird, but give Nike’s some credit for playing by its own rules. The next week I went back again. This time it was open. Score. I walked in, and it was just how I described earlier, a little dim, a little dingy, a little old. The place is on the corner of 189th and Hughes Ave. and is one open square room. There were two other patrons in Nike’s, so by no means was the place packed. The scene behind the counter was a classic: a pizza display, huge red menu sign and double-decker oven in the back. I went up to the counter and was greeted by the only guy working in the entire place. Snapback-hat turned backwards, and, with no ex-

citement in his eyes, he asked what I wanted. I ordered a slice, he tossed it in the oven to reheat, and I sat down. Still wondering where the good part comes in? Almost there, I promise. So, as I wait to get my slice, I go to sit down knowing it will be a couple minutes. At that moment, I realized they had a TV in the restaurant. On the back wall they had a small, old TV hooked up. Now, a lot of restaurants and slice shops have TVs, but this one was placed by the corner of the back wall seemingly with no purpose. The best part is they were playing reruns of “The Office.” Actually, even better was that either the TV was messed up or they had copped some bootleg episodes, because the audio was not synced with the visual so the words barely matched the scene, and the picture was zoomed in so it cut off the entire outside of the shot. Classic. Soon enough, I get my slice on the white paper plate and return to my throne at the old wooden table facing the bootleg “Office” reruns. In a strange sense this place was starting to feel like paradise. I grab the slice. Perfect size. I fold it over and take a bite. Not bad. To be sure, this wasn’t the best slice of pizza I have had, but honestly there was not much wrong with it. The crust was a bit doughy and could use a little more crunch on the outside, but they put on just enough sauce, and the cheese was solid. I enjoyed every bite as I watched Date Mike show off his smooth moves at the bar. Nike’s Pizzeria may get a bad rap from time to time, but give it a chance because you may just find yourself enjoying your own dim and dingy paradise.

experiences while also giving each character a distinct identity, all without relying too much on stereotypes or tropes. The film’s story is open about its influences, but it combines what it borrows with innovations. The end result is an entirely fresh take on a well-worn genre. The film regularly subverts your expectations in a way that makes the plot more dynamic. This adds even more tension to the already enthralling atmosphere of “Us,” as you genuinely do not know what to expect. The film’s technical aspects are just as impressive as its narrative. The camerawork and the music not only make for great scares but also prove to be genuinely thoughtprovoking when paired with the writing. “Us” even manages to offer a regular comedic focus without jeopardizing its role as a horror film. Very few modern films manage to reconcile humor with drama, regardless of genre. Meanwhile, “Us” effortlessly mixes the two together.

Overall, the film’s sheer style makes up for the rare occasions that its more substantial elements fail. Despite the discourse surrounding the film, there is little in common between “Us” and “Get Out.” Comparing the two would be useless. They are both horror films with strong political themes, but the content and presentation of each are entirely different. “Us” is primarily about class, asserting that the American idea of

success is a hollow promise coming at the expense of others. That message, while never overtly stated, is present in every aspect of the film, from the horror elements to the character’s individual arcs. “Us” sports Peele’s distinctive style and is exceptionally well made, but otherwise it is not comparable to “Get Out.” Peele has already proven himself to be a brilliant filmmaker and “Us” affirms that by being a self-contained work.

COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

Jordan Peele’s latest horror film, “Us,” successfully mixes drama and horror.

Thrift Shopping for NYC Students Let’s get real: Rose Hill could step up its fashion game. Among many other things, I am over seeing the same Oxford button-down shirts, Canada Goose coats (which are incredibly tacky) and Vineyard Vines merchandise floating on bodies at this university. Now, I understand that investing in something a bit more stylish can take a hit on one’s wallet. What college student is able to afford Valentino or Alexander McQueen? I have been asked multiple times how a college student can step up their fashion game, and my most reasonable advice is take to your pennies to any thrift, consignment or vintage store in New York City. In one of the fashion capitals of the world, it is only natural that high-end, fashionable pieces trickle down to second-hand stores spread throughout the five boroughs. Not only do second-hand stores provide an opportunity to save a few bucks and look good while doing it, they also allow the opportunity to finally get away from basic

retail stores like Zara or TopShop and avoid running into someone that has the same exact shirt as you. Although I’d usually never give away my secrets to where I find clothing, I have decided to swallow my pride for the sake of saving the school’s long list of fashion faux pas. I have compiled a list of some second-hand stores that have contributed to my survival in the fashion-forward Vogue offices. To start off with the most basic second-hand store, Urban Jungle, right off of Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn, is a thrift store mecca. The store recently extended its space, even though it was already extremely large to begin with. Separated by clothing types and pieces, the space gets overwhelming at times, but I always seem to leave with an item (or ten). The price median is around $10 per piece, give or take a few dollars. I recently went and picked up two pairs of pants, a button down Brooks Brothers Shirt, a button down Ralph Lauren shirt and a windbreaker for a total of $38.

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Second-hand shopping in NYC is a great way to save money and look fashionable.

If you are looking for cheaper prices than retail but are still willing to pay a few extra bucks, 10 Ft Single by Stella Dallas, right off of Lorimer Street in Brooklyn, is the place to go. The consignment store has been one of my favorites since freshman year of university, as it is well-curated and fairly priced. Pants and shirts are at the base price of $25, while nice wool sweaters and overcoats range from $60-$100. This place is a great start for people that have lived in a bubble their whole lives and think that second-hand shopping is gross, as the store’s clothes are extremely clean and well-taken-care of. A lot of my Fashion Month looks were birthed at this site. Finding a home near Union Square, Cure Thrift Shop is one of my most recent finds in the city (ironic, because it is literally in one of the most overly populated spaces of Manhattan). I still think about the leather Tom Ford pants I laid eyes on during my first visit and cannot help but think whoever ended up buying the piece is one lucky guy. Cure Thrift Shop has two levels and is really cool because they also have a large, well-curated collection of antique furniture and accessories. Three is my limit, and I will not be divulging any more hidden gems. However, I encourage students to venture out of the Urban Outfitters-Zara mindset and explore the many second-hand stores in the city. Places like the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Lower East Side and Brooklyn are filled with thrift and vintage stores. Did I mention it is also better for the environment?

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The Glamorization of Depression BY KELLY CHRIST Depression is one of the most widespread mental illnesses across the globe. Also known as major depressive disorder, depression “causes feelings of sadness and/or a loss of interest in activities once enjoyed,” as outlined by the American Psychological Association. The disorder can have drastic consequences, often affecting one’s physical health and ability to function in society. With suicidal thoughts among the major symptoms of depression, it can be incredibly dangerous if left untreated. Due to its prevalence, depression is often featured in media. From songs to movies, there is no shortage of references to depression. The way in which the subject is handled is incredibly vital to the understanding of the illness in the eyes of the public. For decades, those struggling with mental illness, especially depression,

have been dismissed. “It’s all in your head,” patients have been told countless times. Unfortunately, depression is frequently misrepresented in the media, reinforcing these harmful stereotypes and attitudes. As I touched upon in my first article for this column, mental illness is often difficult for writers to portray. In cinema, several films that are widely considered to be among the greatest of all time include depictions of depression. These films, such as “Silver Linings Playbook” (2012), “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) and “Girl, Interrupted” (1999) portray depression accurately for the most part. However, there is a troubling trend that has emerged, especially in recent decades, in which depression is glamorized or dramatized to be used as a plot device. Using “glamorization” and “mental illness” in the same sentence may

seem unlikely, but the combination is part of a disturbing obsession in popular culture today. Mental illness is often seen as largely beneficial, sometimes romantic or even ideal. In more direct terms, it is a simplification of the struggles that mental illness entails. As one article from The Guardian points out, this perception is often limited to a specific group of mental illnesses, which are seen as the “cool kind” or the “artsy kind.” Social media best highlights this trend. Instagram and Tumblr, populated in large numbers by impressionable adolescents, are filled with song lyrics and images that portray mental disorders, such as depression or eating disorders, in a romantic light. This may include glamour shots of anorexic models, disturbingly noted as “thinspiration,” or photos depicting gorgeous actors with quotes referencing depression or suicide. Much of the media targeted at young adults suffers from this glamorization. “Twilight,” the massively successful movie franchise, heavily features depression. Edward Cullen, the love interest to protagonist Bella, is romanticized for characteristics that

Living Sustainably at Fordham By MARGARET ROTHFUS COPY CHIEF

With the start of April comes the start of sustainability month here at Fordham. Not only is Earth Day coming up, but organizations like the United Student Government’s (USG) Sustainability Committee and Aramark have decided to emphasize environmental awareness this month. As environmental movements have gained more mainstream support, it is important that people at Fordham know what their sustainable options are and that a sustainable lifestyle is more than possible for college students to achieve. Here are some tips and insights on how to live sustainably at Fordham. Perhaps the most essential part of a student’s life, especially when they are a freshman or sophomore, is making use of on-campus dining locations. Aramark has already instituted a policy at each location not to give out plastic bags unless asked. If you do need a bag while shopping at P.O.D., consider bringing your own or purchasing a reusable bag from that location. Also offered are reusable mugs and straws that come with cleaning brushes. At the Marketplace, one can purchase a reusable to-go container to use at any dining location at Rose Hill. This also extends to any reusable cup or mug, just make sure that your container is clean before bringing it to Urban Kitchen for a smoothie, for example. If you frequent Starbucks, try asking for a straw-less lid. Even if it seems small, a conscious effort to reduce plastic usage will help sustainable habits form. Aside from other habits such as turning your dorm room’s lights off when they are not in use, there are bigger actions students can take for sustainability. The St. Rose’s Garden gives students the opportunity to compost on campus.

“We have students drop off their compost and we use it as fertilizer,” Molly Brodowski, FCRH ’20, stated. She also mentioned that the club upcycles trash, such as repurposing plastic containers into a place where plants may grow. While St. Rose’s Garden is only so big, the Fordham Plaza Greenmarket has a composting option as well. The Greenmarket occurs on Fridays in June through November, so take advantage of it in the fall semester (or if you live on campus over the summer). Composting may seem a bit daunting to some, but it can start out on a small scale. “I started carrying around a little mason jar in which I can put my banana peels or apple cores during the day so that I can add it to my compost container (which is a Chinese takeout container that I keep in my freezer), which I empty at St. Rose’s,” Anita Gitta, FCRH ’21 and head of Students for Environmental Awareness and Justice (SEAJ), shared. If students have time to dedicate themselves more to sustainability, there are several groups on campus that they can reach out to. St. Rose’s Garden, as already mentioned, is a community that supports the Commuting Students Association (CSA) and encourages students “to eat healthy and buy local,” as described in a statement from the club’s Instagram. Any students interested in growing their own produce, partaking in a sustainable community, or contributing to the occasional potluck should look into joining. USG’s Sustainability Committee, chaired by Gabby Perez, FCRH ’21, offers students an active role in sustainable efforts. Last weekend, the group brought “Earth Hour,” a national event of one hour with no essential electricity, to Keating steps. Each month, the committee promotes a different sustainable item, spanning from reusable straws to Dr.

Bronner’s soap. Along with SEAJ, USG also runs Fordham Flea, an occasional pop-up thrift store in McGinley where students can donate clothing items and buy used ones for cheap. The committee meets weekly on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. in Bepler Commons. Another student-run organization to consider is SEAJ, which has a great history of collaboration not only with the Sustainability Committee but also with other clubs such as the Humanitarian Student Union, with whom they are screening National Geographic’s “Paris to Pittsburgh” on April 30. SEAJ hosts regular meetings on Thursdays in Dealy 204 at 7 p.m. and anyone is welcome to attend. Lastly, another way to get involved is to become a residential hall’s “ecorep.” While these elections are done in the fall semester, it is good to keep this position in mind. Eco-reps help their fellow residents become more sustainable and can assist with composting at St. Rose’s. Gitta encouraged starting small. “There are a lot of easy switches that a person can make to become more sustainable,” she said. “Getting in the habit of having your own reusable cup, bag or utensils is something that isn’t too difficult but makes a huge difference.” Perez from the Sustainability Committee also shared her tips. “Buy less, and take care of what you have. Overconsumptions, especially in wealthier nations like the United States, is what fuels the environmentally-destructive and exploitative corporations. … Be a conscious consumer,” she continued. “The most sustainable thing to do in any situation is to use what you have.” Whether it is educating yourself on proper recycling practices or learning where you can recycle on campus, even the little things can help out.

reflect depression. Edward is “defined by his unhappiness,” as one article describes it. Bella has thoughts of suicide after Edward breaks up with her. These depictions simplify the severity of mental illnesses like depression. Teenagers viewing these films will not understand the dangers of mental illness. Depression is not cured by a romantic reconciliation, nor does it make someone more attractive. The ability to overcome the obstacles that mental illness throws in one’s path should be celebrated, not the illnesses themselves. The music industry is at fault as well. Singer Lana Del Rey faced backlash after a 2014 article in The Guardian quoted her saying, “I wish I was dead already.” She discusses death and mental illness frequently in many of her songs, such as “Cruel World,” “Dark Paradise” and (perhaps most flagrantly) “Born to Die.” Lana is not alone, though, as there are countless artists who highlight such dark themes in a glamorized manner. Another criticism that spawned from her interview was Lana’s note of the early deaths — by suicide and alcohol poisoning respectively — of

musicians Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse. The two are members of the so-called “27 Club,” which consists of popular celebrities who died at the age of 27. The obsession with early deaths is incredibly frightening, especially when considering the young audience of these artists. There is an important distinction to make regarding the glamorization of mental health. It is not that these representations encourage suicide or mental illness in general, but instead that they “perpetuate the norms that discourage seeking help and prioritizing mental health,” as one article by The Daily Dot about mental health depictions in music points out. Individuals battling mental illness face so many challenges as it stands. Promoting misunderstanding or minimizing the severity of their struggles are the last things needed. Accurate portrayals are certainly possible and they can have a substantial impact on the awareness of mental illness. The media often neglects to depict healthy solutions. Instead, it romanticizes the struggle, showing only the beauty in the pain without acknowledging the danger it indicates.

Mimes Renders “Proof” Excellently By KIERAN PRESS-REYNOLDS CULTURE EDITOR

For four nights last week, the Fordham Mimes and Mummers put on “Proof.” I attended the first showing on March 28th and I was blown away. “Proof” is a play by David Auburn. The play premiered OffBroadway in mid-2000 and transferred to Broadway later in the year, eventually winning the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play. The play follows four characters, starring 25-year-old Catherine (Amanda McNulty, FCRH '21), her sister, Claire (Cat Rabus, FCRH '20), her father, Robert (Michael Bottei, FCRH '20) and a longtime student of Robert, Hal (Patrick Jennings, GSB '21). Throughout her adult life thus far, Catherine has been both figuratively and literally living in Robert’s shadow. Her intellect is dwarfed by her father’s mathematical genius, and when her father becomes severely mentally ill, she must stay at home to care for him instead of pursuing her own career. When Robert dies, Hal attempts to sort through the hundreds of notebooks Robert scribbled into during his final years, trying to find anything remarkable left behind. Catherine and Hal become intimate, which leads Catherine to give Hal the key to a locked drawer in her father’s office. In the drawer is a notebook containing something incredible: a groundbreaking proof about prime numbers. To Hal and Claire’s shock, Catherine reveals she wrote the proof. Hal and Claire do not believe

that Catherine wrote the proof, which outrages her. Claire attempts to bring Catherine back to live in New York with her — fearing that she has become ill like her father — and Hal takes the notebook to confirm the proof. Eventually, Catherine refuses to go to New York and Hal apologizes to her. The play ends with Catherine explaining the proof to Hal. It is a fascinating narrative, full of hilarious comedic bits — like when Claire gets wicked drunk and spills a bunch of beer pong cups — and balanced with poignant, unsettling segments, including an especially chilling flashback scene when Catherine realizes that her father has truly gone mad. The acting was superb and compelling. McNulty did a stellar job at portraying Catherine, lending the character a sharp sense of distress and forlornness. Rabus, Bottei and Jennings, similarly, played their characters excellently. McNulty and Jennings’ chemistry was evident, especially during the romantic portions. The lighting and sound were also great. Some scenes were dimly-lit, conveying an apt level of mystery and emotional ambivalence, while others were bright. Haunting ambient music filled in the gaps and helped to cultivate the atmosphere as well. “Proof” deals with many critical topics, like the need to de-stigmatize mental illness and the importance of believing women. As Sam French, the director, writes in his Director’s Note, “Since Proof was first performed in 2000… great strides forward have been taken… but we have a great deal of work still to do.”

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April 3, 2019

Who’s That Kid? | It's Zach Abu-orf, FCRH ’22!

Freshman Brings Talented Voice to Ireland By KATIE MORRIS DIGITAL EDITOR

Zach Abu-orf, FCRH ’22, can usually be found in one of three places: a Keating basement music practice room, McGinley, rehearsing with the Ramblers, or his room studying. Abu-orf is a pre-law student and plans on majoring in anthropology and minoring in either African and African American studies or Middle East studies. In addition to his academics, Abu-orf sings with the Ramblers, is a member of the Middle Eastern Student Association and plays on an intramural soccer team. In early September, only a few weeks after arriving on campus as a freshman, a cappella auditions started. Abu-orf said he did not have a specific group in mind, but he knew he needed an outlet for musical and creative expression. Spotting his talent, the Ramblers asked for a callback and subsequently offered him one of the highly coveted spots on the oldest a cappella group on campus. Abu-orf said the Ramblers are a welcoming and exciting community. “Being a Rambler is extremely re-

warding,” he said. “I love to sing, and I am constantly inspired by the talent of the amazing people I sing with.” Every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, the Ramblers spend two or three hours mastering songs they arrange themselves. Their hard work culminates in an impressive concert at the end of each semester. In the most recent fall concert, Abu-orf sang “Japanese Denim” by Daniel Caesar as a soloist. In addition to two full-length concerts, the Ramblers perform at other various gigs throughout the year and travel on two tours. For the fall tour, Abu-orf travelled with the Ramblers to Boston where they met up and performed with two other a cappella groups. For the spring tour, Abu-orf had an incredible opportunity to visit Ireland with the Ramblers over spring break. Abu-orf’s trip to Ireland started in Dublin where he sang in Trinity College with the university’s all-girl a cappella group, the Trinity Belles. The Ramblers then fulfilled their basic tourist obligations by walking around Dublin, visiting the Cliffs of Moher, touring the Guinness factory and exploring Galway. In Dublin and Galway, Abu-orf and the Ramblers “busked,” or per-

formed, on the street for voluntary donations and made over $200. “Having the opportunity to travel, sing and just hang out with these guys has been some of the best times, and getting to do that in Ireland was just so amazing," said Abu-orf. Even though he has not yet completed a full year at Fordham, he has already immersed himself in its rich culture and opportunities. Abu-orf is excited for his next three years of experiences and adventures with the Ramblers. He said he plans to get even more involved in the campus music scene and is considering joining musical theater. For those interested in Fordham’s music culture, Abu-orf avidly encouraged participation. “Getting involved in music on campus has been the best decision I could have made," he said. "The a cappella community is so welcoming and fun, and anyone who wants to try and get involved with it should.” He said the experiences and friends made along the way are life-changing.

COURTESY OF ZACH ABU-ORF

Zach Abu-orf, FCRH '22, recommends everyone to get involved in a capella.

Editor’s Pick | Music

Flume's Dazzling, Disorienting Splurge of New Electricity By KIERAN PRESS-REYNOLDS CULTURE EDITOR

I don’t remember the first time I heard Flume. Surely, though, he made an impact — he provided the soundtrack to all of my cross country runs in high school. His songs sounded more divine than anything I had ever heard, from the crystalline oscillations of his remix of Lorde’s “Tennis

Court” to the glassy lattices of vocal shards on “Insane.” The bleeps and bloops of tracks like “Smoke & Retribution” traced the neural trails of my brain as my pounding feet traced the trails of California. The toll of long-distance running, done properly, is complete mental and physical exhaustion. But when the hyperventilation subdues and you feel the gaseous rush of dopamine, you realize why you

run. The world changes. Music, for one, becomes hyperreal, the slightest melody transforming boring freeway landscapes into cylinders of color. The dizzied euphoria of school bus rides back from races became fused with Flume over time. His electronic music surging through my earbuds and into my aching muscles. It was

COURTESY OF TWITTER

After a two year break, Flume returns with an excellent mixtape full of ear-pleasing textures and mind-melting drops.

the only thing powerful enough to compare with the effort exhausted, the agony and ecstasy of pushing my body to near collapse. Arguably more influential than many of my coaches. Coinciding with my graduation from high school and running, it seemed Flume had graduated from music. Two years passed with no original music, only a batch of remixes. Then, out of nowhere, in strode Flume like a cowboy in an old Western, proclaiming his return with a tip of the hat and a gunshot in the air — with the announcement that he had an entire mixtape ready to release the next day, March 20th. When I begin listening to “Hi, This Is Flume,” I immediately feel a strange sense of déjà vu. I can predict the rhythm of the sliding doors on “Ecdysis,” a complex set of chords so intimate it conjures a double-take. I feel flesh in the clipped croons of “Daze 22.00,” the spitting image of Flume-ified vocals I’ve heard many times before. I experience glitches of memory and emotion as “Vitality” thrills and twitches through time. Does the familiarity of the sounds never fade, or have I never left 2015? A quick recap for those that don’t know Flume: the Australian DJ rose to fame in the middle of the decade for his unique brand of electronic dance music. He took future bass, a sound characterized by bright melodies and sheeny sprees of chords — in a word, hyper-happy — to the mainstream. Flume’s allure always has been his ability to create seemingly

endless configurations out of the same set of sounds. “Hi, This Is Flume” is Flume’s best configuration yet. The album is an ecosystem, condensing a spectrum of sounds into a 38-minute-long spectacle. Everything is perfectly cohesive; transitions allow songs to merge perfectly into the next. The best transition joins “Voices” to “MUD.” A masterclass in manipulating tension, Flume wills the fervent climax of a swelling cocoon into a cacophony of industrial fluttering. This bionic butterfly makes a statement, which, really, applies to all of Flume’s music: technology has the ability to be more organic than real life. Using immaculately-sculpted digital dazzle, Flume animates the Computer Age so well that it takes over reality. I think about running and realize how intertwined some of my happiest moments are with Flume’s music and the music of other electronic artists I listen to. When the power of music is used to soundtrack one’s life, the unreal is superimposed on top of reality. One’s memories of that time of life are indelibly welded to that music. Perhaps what scares me most about this tape is that it’s my true time-passing album. I’m no longer the 16-year-old runner. There’s no limitless future on the horizon. I realize that part of my experience listening to Flume was what I put into it — stitching to his radiating chords and vibrating synths my own radiant, vibrant imagination. Only some artists are capable of inspiring this sort of reflection. Flume is one of them.

April 3, 2019

CULTURE

Page 17

Renn Woods Remembers “Hair” 40 Years Later By RYAN DI CORPO

CULTURE EDITOR EMERITUS

The theatre critic Clive Barnes, in his 1968 New York Times review of the Broadway musical “Hair,” provided a few disclaimers regarding the content — lyrical and otherwise — of the production. Barnes, responding to requests to “warn readers” of what they would witness on stage, referred to explicit nudity, drug use, homosexual references and a particular tune that lists sex acts “more familiar to the pages of Kama Sutra then ‘The New York Times.’ But this was America in 1968, and Mr. Barnes, despite his august reputation, had much to praise about the show. Written by Gerome Ragni and James Rado and featuring music by Galt McDermot, “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” transported the zeitgeist of the late 1960s counterculture and peace movements onto a startled, electrified stage. The musical, which premiered at The Public Theater in 1967 before moving to Broadway, follows Claude (James Rado at the Biltmore Theater) as he debates, along with his free-love companions, whether to break the law and refuse conscription in the Vietnam War. The original Broadway cast also included Melba Moore, Paul Jabara and Diane Keaton. In 1979, Czech director Miloš Forman, primarily recognized in the States for his 1975 film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” adapted this gleefully radical, an-

ti-war freak-out into a legendary cinematic landmark. To mark the occasion of the film’s 40th anniversary last month, The Fordham Ram spoke with actress and singer Renn Woods on her memories of the film of “Hair” and why working with Forman was a treasured experience. Woods, a former child star, portrayed Dorothy for part of the 1976 Broadway national tour of “The Wiz” and played Fanta in the 1977 television miniseries “Roots.” Her debut solo album, “Out of the Woods,” was released in 1979. Woods appears in the opening of Forman’s film — flowers in her hair, some 200 feet in the air — making the song “Aquarius” forever her own as it rings through Central Park. Perhaps the film’s most famous number, “Aquarius” proclaims an epoch of love and goodwill towards all people, as evidenced by the song’s first stanza: “When the moon is in the Seventh House / And Jupiter aligns with Mars / Then peace will guide the planets / And love will steer the stars.” Woods told of how her performance at age 19 burst into life on film. “What happened was my agent at the time called me and said, [the production team is] looking for background singers … to do call-and-response for the song, ‘Aquarius,’” said Woods. “I love the theatre. My heart has always been in the theatre. And I had not heard of Miloš Forman, but [my agent]

said, ‘Would you be interested in auditioning?’ So I said, ‘Sure.’” The song, originally coupled with the film’s closing number, was recorded by The 5th Dimension as “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In.” The track spent six weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. Woods was expected to sing “Let the Sunshine In” for her audition. “The audition was called,” said Woods. “It was for me to be at the Sunset Marquis and the piano player would be available there for me. And I walked into the Sunset Marquis Hotel, and there was this room of these beautiful, smiling, expectant panel of judges — but not judgmental. The piano player counted off [“Let the Sunshine In”], and I sang the lead. What Woods sang was “Aquarius.” “Well, the room erupted,” said Woods. After her audition, Woods was selected to perform the number in the film, but she did not initially agree. “Because I wanted to sing ‘Easy to Be Hard,’” said Woods. “My favorite song was ‘Easy to Be Hard.’” Heartbreakingly rendered in the film by Cheryl Barnes, “Easy to Be Hard” describes the pain of Hud’s fiancée after Hud (Dorsey Wright) leaves her and their young son. “[Forman] kept saying, ‘You’re too young, you’re too pretty, you’re too — no, no, no,’” said Woods. Determined to perform the song, Woods met with Forman at the Hampshire House in New York. Soon, some special guests

arrived. “Baby, let me tell you, we had a ball,” said Woods. “…Several people that worked on the film came in. [Ann] Roth came in, Twyla [Tharp] came in.” According to Woods, Tharp expressed concern that “Aquarius” is “really a man’s song.” Forman was not concerned. “‘Controversy is good,’” said Forman to Woods. Forman was no stranger to controversy. Prior to his arrival in the United States, he faced artistic censorship, severe backlash and possible imprisonment following the release of his 1967 film “The Firemen’s Ball,” which the communist regime in Czechoslovakian interpreted as a political affront. Woods had endured her own controversy, as “The Wiz” and “Roots” — both starring African-American actors and the latter concerning slavery — had plenty of detractors. “[Forman] gave me the ability to see the wink in my work, never to take myself so seriously that I wouldn’t try something,” said Woods, who considers Forman to be the greatest director she has worked with. Wading into controversy, Woods agreed to sing “Aquarius,” and recorded the vocal in a single take in New York. “It was just a session,” said Woods. “It was just me and a rhythm section; none of the background singers were there. And we just went in and we put it down.” For the dizzying opening sequence, which finds the viewer

spinning around Woods among the trees in Central Park, Woods stood atop large crane. Shooting for the sequence lasted approximately ten days as Woods, also starring on the television sitcom “We’ve Got Each Other,” flew back and forth between Los Angeles and New York. “I was not allowed to see dailies, but I saw [the sequence] at the premiere and it took my breath away,” said Woods. Woods’ appearance in the film certainly aided her already burgeoning career. “Whew, the phone never stopped ringing,” she said. “Hair” was nominated for two Golden Globes, including Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy. In his review of the film for Time, Frank Rich wrote that the picture “exceeds at all levels — as lowdown fun, as affecting drama, as exhilarating spectacle and as provocative social observation.” The musical, which James Rado and Gerome Ragni have distanced from the film, was revived on Broadway in 1977 and in London’s West End in 2010. Woods comments on why “Hair,” both in film and on stage, continues to attract an audience. “Because the themes are universal,” said Woods. “the people want freedom, the people don’t want war, the people want us to be united. Those things are universal. They don’t change.” More stories from Renn Woods’ career are to be included in her upcoming autobiography, “You’ll See It ‘Cause You Believe It: Child Star Stories and Faith.”

Across 1. See 74-Across 6. Bag partner 10. Fyre Festival, say 14. Don’t get lost in it 15. Part to play 16. Red Sox manager Alex 17. Thigh and shin connector 18. Change 19. What the Barnyard BBQ is 20. Like a wallflower 22. Soft cast 24. Where Fordham is opening a campus 30. Paragon 31. Things that make you cry in the kitchen 32. Group together

ANSWERS TO ISSUE 7

34. Direction to Brazil, from New York (Abbv.) 35. Little car brand 36. The Spring Weekend perform er, usually 38. Biblical garden 39. Things knocked off by some thing great 40. Inhabitant of 38-Across 44. Jackson, but maybe Tubman eventually 46. “Of ___ and Men” 47. iMessage alternative 50. Hippie rock musical 51. “7 rings” singer 53. Common New York pollution type 55. What Spring Weekend is 57. Small arms of a river

59. Slippery fish 60. What tuition is 61. Deity of the aliens in “Toy Story” 64. JPEG or PNG, for example 69. Have an affection for (with “of”) 70. Help 71. _____ beaver 72. Groups 73. Raise 74. With 1-Across, what the circled answers are Down 1. ___ Jeeves 2. Stovetop cookware 3. Young girl who dies in “The Hunger Games” 4. Most of Antarctica 5. Ease 6. “_____ Anatomy” 7. Fishing need 8. Boxing family 9. “Place your ____!” 10. Chide, generally to a child 11. Cheats on homework or a test 12. The Oracle in Oakland and The Q in Cleveland 13. Yankee great Mickey 21. Day dividers, briefly 23. Sherlock Holmes accoutre ment 24. End point of the Iditarod 25. Katelyn Nacon on “The Walk ing Dead” 26. Bottle of red or bottle of white

ANSWERS IN ISSUE 22

27. Like one of 17-Across 28. Carmen from “Baywatch” 29. Gross, to a five-year old 33. Honorific for some women 36. Famous hedgehog 37. Sixth-most spoken language

India 39. Bigger than a lake, smaller than an ocean 41. Call 42. Picture day pocks 43. Fermented honey and water 45. Pique your appetite 47. Deals with a drippy nose

CREATED BY CLAIRE POLACHECK, JACK MCLOONE AND GABBY GILLESPIE

The Fordham Ram Crossword:April’s Fools

48. Fifth president 49. “_____” Library, MTV game show 51. Service point 52. Feeling of reassurance 54. Things on strawberries or ev erything bagels 56. More recent 58. Injury reminder 62. Two truths and a ____ 63. Law that requires ramps and elevators, briefly 65. Infamous Chairman 66. “A long, long time ____” 67. Hair product 68. RNs’ locations

Page 18

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April 3, 2019

SPORTS

April 3, 2019

Fordham Men’s Tennis Win One of Two in a Rainout Week By DYLAN BALSAMO

Page 19

Beyond the Scoreboard: If I Could be Like Manu By ANDREW POSADAS

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

What, perhaps, has been Fordham Men’s Tennis’s Achilles’ heel this season has been maintaining consistency. This was a problem for the team yet again; not only did they suffer through inconsistency but also bad weather. Fordham came into the week expecting to play four games, all of which were to be played at home on the Hawthorn/Rooney Tennis Courts. Only two of them ended up being played. The other two games were going to be played on Sunday, March 31 but were not played due to rain. The first game against Yeshiva was scheduled to be played on April 3, and the second game against Manhattanville was cancelled entirely. As for games that were actually played, the Rams found major success on Wednesday, March 27 in their first home spring season match, shutting out Rider 7-0. Fordham was ahead out of the gate, sweeping the doubles matches as well. Juniors Allen Thornes and Fabian Hansch Mauritzson defeated Lysander Payano Almo and Peter Komosinki 6-2, Sophomore Max Green and Junior Finn Kemper beat Javier Melendez and Nicholas Salazar 6-2, and sophomore Lutwin de Macar and sophomore Alex Makatsaria took down Brandon Gildea and Griffin Clark 6-0. After securing that first point, the Rams won all six singles matches. Kemper swept Melendez 6-0, 6-0, Makatsaria beat Almo 6-2, 6-2, junior Jeremy Chung took down Peter Komosinski 6-1, 6-2, Thornes won against Ciacarro 6-3, 6-4, freshman Jofre Segarra beat Griffin Clark 6-0, 7-5 and ju-

I held back tears while watching the San Antonio Spurs raise Manu Ginobili’s No. 20 jersey into the rafters last Thursday night. Quite frankly, this is the only jersey retirement ceremony I can recall going out of my way to watch live on TV. And of course, in typical Manu-fashion, he remained humble by saying the only thing on his mind while thinking of a speech was, “what am I doing here?” At one point, Ginobili simply called himself “one of the lucky ones” when explaining that life had dealt him an exceptional hand of cards to play with. The greatest moments in his life all required a “lucky break,” as he put it. Upon hearing that, I smiled knowing that a lucky break 16 years ago introduced me to the Argentinian superstar. Before I fell in love with the game of basketball, I harbored some resentment for the sport as a kid. Let me take you back to a distant moment in NBA history, circa 2002-2003. At that time, the Los Angeles Lakers were the equivalent of Thanos in “Avengers: Infinity War”. Coming into the 2002-2003 season as winners of three straight NBA Championships, there was no reason to believe the Lakers “gauntlet” of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal would not secure a fourth title in a row. Over on the East Coast, a 39-year-old Michael Jordan was embarking on his 15th and final season in the league with the Washington Wizards (yes, the Wizards!). Jordan’s greatest games and highlights seemed to be on every day for young fans like myself to watch just how spectacular His Airness was. By season’s end, it was hard not to fall in love with Jordan during his farewell tour. Yet, something was holding me back from fully embracing basketball. I could not put my finger on it until I saw the Houston Rockets select Chinese Phenom Yao Ming with the first overall pick before that season began. I thought to myself, “Where are the players like me in the NBA?” Disenchanted, I chose to not keep up with the first four months of the ‘02-’03 NBA season. What was the point? It seemed like the stereotype back then of Latin American athletes were that they excelled only in baseball or soccer. I felt I should probably stick to what I know and keep myself limited to playing soccer. On March 18 of 2003, my mother was frantically preparing

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Men’s Tennis continues to have consistency issues so far this season.

nior Steven Duka dominated Salazar 6-0, 6-1. Fordham was not able to find the same success when they returned to action on Saturday, hosting George Washington and dropping the day 5-2. The Rams’ points against GW came from singles wins from Green, who beat Zicheng Zeng 1-6, 6-4, 6-3, and Makatsaria, who defeated Dennis Afansev 6-4, 7(7)-6(2). However, the rest of the sunny day in the Bronx was pretty dreary for Fordham. They dropped the doubles point after being swept in the round, as Mauritzson and Thornes fell to Ben Barnett and Zeng 7(7)-6(3), Green and Kemper lost to Jakub Behun and Lawrence Sciglitano 6-4, and de Macar and Makatsaria were defeated by Hanyu Liu and Ryan Navarro 7(7)-6(5). Fordham lost the additional four singles matches, as Mauritzon lost to Navarro 6-1, 6-0, Kem-

per dropped his matchup with Ben Barnett 7(10)-6(8), 6-2, de Macar fell to Sciglitano 6-4, 6-2, and Chung lost to Hanyu Liu 6-1, 7-5. After the loss, Kemper admitted that with this being the start of their outdoor season, “most of the team, I included, had some difficulties to adapt to the windy and colder conditions. We only had three outdoor practices so far, and GW was obviously a tough opponent to face. We will work hard the next couple of weeks to be ready to play our best tennis at the A10s.” As those Atlantic 10 Championship inches closer next week, the Rams will see another four games played, with the game against Yeshiva being rescheduled on Wednesday, April 3 and road matchups against Saint Joseph’s and St. Francis College of Brooklyn before returning to the Bronx on Sunday against Baruch.

Women’s Tennis Falls Short in Home Opener to LIU Brooklyn By GIGI SPEER STAFF WRITER

The Fordham women’s tennis team had its home opener against LIU Brooklyn this Friday, coming just shy of a win at the Hawthorn/ Rooney Courts. The 4-3 loss to the Blackbirds came with two wins in doubles, enough to secure the overall dou-

bles point. Sophomore Arina Taluyenko and senior Tatiana Grigoryan won 6-2 in first doubles, while sophomore Gianna Insogna and freshman Nicole Li clinched the third doubles win 6-3. The Rams couldn’t sustain the momentum in singles, winning two out of six matches. The two wins came at the fourth and fifth positions, as the third doubles duo

reigned supreme: Insogna won fourth singles 6-4 and 6-4, and Li won 7-5, 6-3. Grigoryan won the first set in third singles yet lost the second 6-4 and dropped the tiebreaker 6-3. The Rams are on the road again this weekend, making their way to Philadelphia to face Atlantic 10 opponent Saint Joseph’s University this Saturday at 1:30.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Women’s Tennis had its four-match winning streak come to an end after the loss to LIU-Brooklyn.

the house for my younger sister’s birthday party. Growing up, one of her rules during our birthday parties was that no TVs were allowed on during the festivities. However, I was a young rebel with a huge cause: not attending my sister’s “dumb” party. It is an unwritten rule for Latino people to celebrate birthday parties for at least six to eight hours before going home, so I was not surprised in the slightest to see people still partying in my house after 9 p.m. at night knowing they had been here since 3 p.m. that afternoon. Bored out of my mind, I successfully snuck out of the party in search of greener pastures — or just anywhere I could watch television. In my parents’ room, the first minute or so was spent surfing on the channel guide. I flipped to the MSG channel and saw the New York Knicks were playing. New York was on the road to face the Spurs that night. One player caught my attention immediately. I squinted to read the name on the back of his jersey. “Ginobili?” I could not tell you how many points I remember him scoring against the Knicks. Or how many rebounds he grabbed. That was irrelevant to me. What mattered to me was that a young man from Argentina was sharing the same court alongside the best basketball players in the world. All of a sudden, I had a favorite player to root for in Ginobili. My favorite team in the NBA became the San Antonio Spurs. The love affair between me and basketball started right there. Sixteen years later, I’ve seen the Spurs and Ginobili win four NBA titles, something head coach Gregg Popovich admits in his speech would never have happened without No. 20. Ginobili was a baller in every sense of the word. He made taking a layup fun again by introducing a new move to the NBA: the Euro-Step, which inspired the likes of Dwyane Wade and Kyrie Irving. Ginobili put international basketball on the map by leading Argentina to its improbable gold medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics. No matter his role, Ginobili gave you solid production. He did not pout or complain when Popovich asked him to come off the bench; he took the role in stride and won a sixth man of the year award because of it. No Latino will ever contribute more to the game of basketball than future Hall of Famer, Emanuel David Ginobili. Gracias, Manu. Gracias.

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Basketball would not have been the same for me without Manu Ginobili.

SPORTS

Page 20

April 3, 2019

Track Splits to Compete in North Carolina and New Jersey to Start Outdoor Season By ANDREW POSADAS ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

For the second consecutive weekend, Fordham Track and Field split its squad to participate in two different meets. The majority of Track and Field took a short drive to Lawrenceville, NJ for the Rider Invitational, while a select group of Rams headed to North Carolina to compete in the Raleigh Relays. With the start of spring comes the most popular time for Track and Field: the outdoor season. To begin this season, Fordham’s first two weekends saw the division of the team into two groups to compete in two different meets. North Carolina State University played host to the Raleigh Relays, a two-day event that commenced on Friday, March 29. To say that Fordham had a good first day would be an understatement. The Rams made their presence known, with five runners posting qualifying times for the Eastern College Athletic Conference IC4A Championships in May. Junior distance runner Ryan Kutch posted a ECAC/IC4A qualifying time of 29:20.25 in the 10,000 meter run. Kutch finished 20th overall, but his time breaks a school record set by none other than Kutch himself just last year. Not to be outdone, senior

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Standouts for Fordham Track and Field this past weekend included junior Kathryn Kelly and senior Ryan Kutch.

distance runner Abigail Taylor gave Fordham its second qualifying time in the 10,000 meter run, finishing 17th with a time of 36:11.36. The best finish on Friday belonged to graduate student and distance runner Brian Cook. His time of 8:56.66 in the 8,000

meter steeplechase earned him a team-best sixth place finish, in addition to qualifying for the IC4A. Despite only having two runners competing on day two, the Rams came away with one more ECAC-qualifying time in Raleigh. Sophomore sprinter Kath-

ryn Kelly finished just outside of the top-10 in the 200-meter dash on Saturday, completing the race in 24.66 seconds. While Kelly was putting the final touches on an outstanding weekend in North Carolina, the bulk of Fordham’s squad spent Saturday participating in the Rid-

er 5-Way Invitational. Sophomore jumper Nikolas Reardon scored in both the long jump and high jump, finishing top three in each event. His mark of 22 feet and 11 inches, while good enough for second place, left him just shy of qualifying for the IC4A. 10 others scored in various events on the men’s side as they ultimately finished third out of six teams. Fordham’s most impressive result at the Rider Invitational came from the women’s side. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, junior mid-distance runner Sydney Snow finished the event in 11:33.37 to take home first place. Right behind her was freshman distance runner Sarah Daniels with a time of 11:36.32, giving the Rams both first and second place. Nine more would score for the women’s team en route to finishing last out of five teams. Great showings and performances in both meets bode well for the Rams. At full strength, Fordham has great balance and potential for success on both the men’s and women’s sides in the coming month. Track and Field will be back in action this week from April 4 to April 6 at the Colonial Relays. The relays will be hosted by the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.

SPORTS

April 3, 2019

Page 21

Student-Athlete Column: A Wild Week in the Life By MARIA TRIVELPIECE STAFF WRITER

Becoming a student-athlete in college was probably one of the best decisions I have made in my lifetime, so when I was asked to write this column, I was exuberant. However, in my four years as a softball player at Fordham University, I have found that the grind is more difficult than I would have ever guessed. Everyone told me it was going to be hard, but I believed I was ready for the challenge. I do not think I realized how hard and how demanding it is. This past week was the perfect example of the things that they do not warn you about. Monday looked like this: two classes in the morning, treatment on my sore shoulder, two meetings, my internship and then a night class that let out at 8:45 p.m. After my night class, I finished homework for the following day and fell asleep. On Tuesday I had a weightlifting session in the morning, practice and class. Then, I headed off campus to film for my journalism class, ate dinner, did homework and then wrote articles for work until I fell asleep. Wednesday was game day, but first I had to write a paper. I had to call out

from work. We played and lost; after I had to head to another night class. Thursday is a heavy class day on top of practice and packing for our road trip to George Mason. I wrote for a few hours, edited a video project and went to daily mass, since I was probably going to have to miss church on the weekend. On Friday, we drove to George Mason. I studied on the bus for the two tests I had the following Monday. We traveled for six hours, ate dinner and went to bed. On Saturday, we played two games and won them both. We finally arrived back at the hotel at 8 p.m. after being gone since 9 a.m. I showered, finished some homework and then hit the pillow again. Sunday saw another game, then a six-hour trip back home. We arrived on Fordham’s campus at 10 p.m. at night… and those two tests on Monday were not going to study for themselves. So, I was up late yet again. The following morning, I woke up to do the past week on repeat. This has been my life for the last four years, and with graduation approaching, I do not know what I will do with myself in a few months. But there will be more on that in future columns.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Student-athletes, like everyone, have weeks that are more difficult than others.

By DYLAN BALSAMO

ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Interest in soccer has been on the rise in the United States for a long time now, but in recent years the rate of growth has accelerated rapidly. All of the world’s major leagues have bigtime American TV deals, World Cup television ratings continue to rise even after a change of networks and Major League Soccer, despite its issues, is profitable and is in the middle of a lucrative television contract itself. Millions of people play the game all across the country, from youth to collegiate levels. The current president even said in an interview on CBS This Morning during this past Super Bowl Sunday that his son Barron plays soccer and that the sport is growing “quite rapidly.” Not so sad! This could also not be a more exciting time to be a soccer fan. The UEFA Champions League is down to eight teams in the quarterfinals and resumes action next week. The English Premier League has become a dog race between Liverpool and reigning champions Manchester City, and coming into April 3 matches are only separated by two points. Cristiano Ronaldo is on track to score as many goals this year with his new team, Juventus, as he did last year. And American Christian Pulisic is making his final few appearances with German side Borussia Dortmund before he begins with Chelsea next season. There is just so much, but in the world of soccer, there always is. And yet, soccer still finds itself left on the wayside by most Americans. In the United States, there are so many options at the sports buffet that it is difficult to bring a new dish into the mix. There is baseball, football, basketball, hockey and a few others also trying to find their way into the grander scope. This past month saw one of the sporting events that Americans go the craziest for: March Madness, or the NCAA Basketball Tournament. You do not have to be Jon Rothstein to adore March Madness. The entire country fills out brackets and pretends they have been watching college hoops all year to see the 64 best teams in the country play for the National Championship. March Mad-

ness is never not exciting. Well, American sports fans may be surprised to learn that international soccer and college basketball are really not all that different. Not only do the sports themselves have similarities, but the formation of their seasons is pretty identical. For one thing, these two sports are arguably the two sports played most around the planet. Of course, there are the obvious similarities of two teams trying to get more points than the other by passing a ball around and putting it into a net. Soccer and basketball are also quicker in gameplay than other sports. While baseball and football struggle to stay under three hours, basketball games can theoretically be played in two hours and soccer is always inside two. The games themselves are not so different. More similar than the games, however, is the construction of soccer and college basketball seasons, which both begin around the fall and typically finish in the spring. Before the season starts, however, teams will play sides from other countries in exhibition matches (International Champions Cup, friendly matches). These are just like the beginning of college basketball season, which starts with preseason tournaments and games against non-conference opponents. However, the core of soccer season in every league around the world, is the domestic league season (Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga). These are leagues of usually 20 teams that play a home and away match against every other team in order to better their place in the league table, or

the standings. This format is just like a college hoops team’s conference schedule. Soccer clubs also play in tournaments against domestic opponents for separate titles (FA Cup, Copa del Rey). Though it is not a direct translation, think of these as similar to NCAA conference tournaments. If a team plays well enough during their domestic season, the following season they will also get to play in an additional tournament called the Champions League against other top clubs from the continent (UEFA Champions League, CONCACAF Champions League). These tournaments are like each continent having their own NCAA Tournament, or their own March Madness. In addition, the top soccer players in the world also play for their home country in international play. The United States has historically gone crazy for Olympic basketball, specifically with the “Dream Team” of 1992 in Barcelona. In soccer, every country has their own “Dream Team”, and they play in more than just the World Cup. There is the Confederations Cup, continental titles, the Olympics and, of course, the newly-founded Nations Leagues. Any American sports fan finds themselves going crazy for college basketball in March, and anyone who goes crazy for that would go bezerk for soccer year round. While basketball is played all over, soccer is one of the main sports of the world, and it’s time for Americans to join the fun. As the British might tell you, “All we are saying is give soccer a chance.”

COURTESY OF FLICKR

Soccer has caught on quickly across the world, but the U.S. is late to the party.

Varsity Calendar HOME AWAY

Thursday Apr. 4

Friday Apr. 5

Softball

Track Rowing

St. Joseph’s 3 p.m.

Dayton (DH) 12/2:30 p.m.

Dayton 12 p.m.

St. Joseph’s 2 p.m.

St. Joseph’s 12 p.m.

Colonial Relays Williamsburg, VA (All Day) San Diego Crew Classic/ Cooper Invitational Regatta

Golf Men’s Soccer

Monday Apr. 8

Tuesday Apr. 9

St. Francis/ Baruch 10 a.m./3 p.m. St. Joseph’s Davidson 1:30 p.m. 11 a.m.

Women’s Tennis

Baseball

Sunday Apr. 7

Wednesday Apr. 10

St. Joseph’s 4:30 p.m.

Men’s Tennis

Saturday Apr. 6

Adelphi 7:30 p.m.

Dayton 7 p.m. St. Bonaventure (DH) 2 p.m./4:30 p.m.

Columbia 3:30 p.m.

Wildcat Invitational All Day (@ Villanova)

Siena 3 p.m.

N.Y. Cosmos 4 p.m.

SPORTS

Page 22

Softball Takes Two of Three At George Mason

April 3, 2019

Brunner, Dunn Compete Nationally for Swimming and Diving By JIMMY SULLIVAN SPORTS EDITOR

It was a great season for Fordham junior diver Molly Dunn and senior swimmer Tara Brunner, but the two weren’t done when the team’s season ended. Dunn earned the right to compete at the NCAA Zone Diving Championship on March 12 an account of her career-best score of 273.15 in the one-meter diving event against Manhattan College all the way back in December, which she won. Dunn also finished in fourth place in the same event in February’s Atlantic 10 Conference Championship and came into the Tournament on a high. At the Zone Diving Championship, which was held at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, Dunn put up a very respectable score of 204.40, which put her 51st out of 64 competitors. Dunn will be back next season and will look to build on this year’s strong performance. She was consistent from last year into this year, which included earning women’s Performer of the Week honors on Dec. 11. While Dunn will be back with the Rams next season, senior Tara Brunner had one last chance to compete as a Fordham swimmer just days later. Brunner qualified for the CSCAA National Invitational Championship in Cleveland, Ohio after medaling seven times at the Atlan-

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Fordham Softball won two out of three games against George Mason.

By EMMANUEL BERBARI STAFF WRITER

Fordham Softball showcased its resiliency in Sunday’s series finale at George Mason, rallying for four runs in the seventh to tie the game, but the Patriots walked off in the bottom half to salvage one win on the weekend. Two wins on Saturday paved way for a potential first threegame sweep of the season, but the Rams were unable to seal the deal, falling to 11-19 overall and 4-2 in Atlantic 10 action. With the win, the Patriots improved to 12-17 and 2-4, respectively. Fordham’s offense never truly broke through during the weekend set. Dominant pitching efforts by junior Madie Aughinbaugh and freshman Makenzie McGrath paced the Rams in both legs of the doubleheader. On Sunday, they were limited to one run over the first six innings, but the seventh proved to be a different story. Consistently stringing together hits had been a weekend-long issue prior to the frame. Three key seniors started the magic, as Deanna Burbridge singled, Chelsea Skrepenak reached on an error and Jordy Storm drove in Burbridge with a single to left. Once Aughinbaugh reached on a second error of the inning, the bases were filled with Rams. Sophomore Rachel Hubertus delivered in a tremendous way,

breaking the spell and driving in Skrepenak with an infield single. However, senior Maria Trivelpiece provided the biggest lift, singling through the left side to drive in a run and set up senior Molly Roark, who knew exactly what she needed to do, lifting a fly ball deep enough to tie the game at five. That momentum was shortlived, as the first three Mason batters of the home half reached base, culminating in redshirtsophomore Adriana Erickson’s walk-off double to right-center off McGrath. The freshman’s third loss wrapped up an overall productive weekend for Fordham that ended short of satisfaction. Hubertus, Roark and Trivelpiece all tallied two hits apiece, but the offense has not reached dynamic form as of yet. Aughinbaugh continues to be dynamite in every sense of the word, and can be credited for much of Fordham’s conference success thus far. Over the weekend, she went 6-for-12 at the dish and registered a 1.91 ERA over 11 innings in the circle. Storm and Trivelpiece produced 5-for11 weekends, while Roark led the way with five runs battled in. Fordham will play home games for the first time in 2019 this weekend, welcoming Dayton on Saturday and Sunday for noon first pitches. The Flyers are off to a red-hot 5-1 start, making the series a litmus test for this version of a decade-long dynasty.

RODERICK PEREZ/THE FORDHAM RAM

Tara Brunner (above) and Molly Dunn represented Fordham nationally.

tic 10 Championship and becoming just the second Ram to ever do so. She started with a 28th-place showing in the 50-yard butterfly, but this would mark by far the worst finish of the invite for the Fordham standout. Brunner qualified for the “A” final in the 50-yard freestyle and earned a sixth-place finish with a time of 23.04 seconds, which was 15 hundredths of a second faster than her preliminary time. She then reached the “B” final of the 100-yard butterfly competition, which she won with a time of 53.70 seconds, a personal best in her second-to-last collegiate event. Amazingly, however, that was

not her best performance of the championship. Brunner was at her best when her best was required in the final event of her career, the 100-yard freestyle. She reached the “A” final with a time just under 50 seconds, and reached the podium in that event with a bronze-medal winning time of 50.09 seconds. With the scintillating performances of Dunn and Brunner in the books, the 2018-19 Fordham Swimming season has concluded. The Rams will miss Brunner next season, but head coach Steve Potsklan and his staff will be thankful to have Dunn back for one last ride at Rose Hill.

Golf Gets Off to Rough Start At Lehigh Valley Invite By JIMMY SULLIVAN SPORTS EDITOR

Fordham Golf had a rough fall. The Rams were unable to finish in the top ten of any of their events and Fordham profoundly felt the sting of losing Matt Schiller, Joseph Trim and James Mongey to graduation last year. Unfortunately for head coach Paul Dillon’s team, it has picked up right where it left off in the fall. Fordham finished 14th out of 20 teams at the Coca-Cola Lehigh Valley Invite this past Sunday and Monday. The Rams got off to a rough start on Sunday, as they limped into the clubhouse in a tie for 16th place after 18 holes. Senior Josh Madarang and junior Tomas Nieves, who missed the entire 2018 season, paced Fordham with rounds of 74 and 75, respectively. After those two standouts, though, it was tough sledding for the Rams. Senior Tommy Hayes shot a nine-over 81, while freshman Billy Harrison and sophomore Anthony Wells also struggled to the tune of an 82 and an 83. The Rams dug themselves into a very deep hole on Sunday. They were unable to climb out of it in the second round on Monday. Madarang led the charge for Fordham and came in a tie for sixth in individual scoring with his round of 70 on Monday. Nieves also continued his strong play and finished at +4 after shooting a 73 in the second round. However, the continued

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Fordham Golf finished in 14th place finish at the Coca-Cola Lehigh Valley Invite.

success of Madarang and the return of Nieves were the lone bright spots of the tournament for Fordham; Hayes finished at +15, Harrison was +19 after 36 holes and Wells’ final-round 81 left him near the bottom of the tournament leaderboard at +20. Madarang says that it wasn’t all bad news for Fordham. “It was nice to see that guys don’t get too down on themselves when they play badly and can bounce back easily,” he said. The Fordham senior was also encouraged by his individual performance, which left him just three strokes behind the tourna-

ment’s individual winner, Bucknell University’s Chris Tanabe. That being said, he still sees room for improvement, saying he needs to “stay focused” on his game to get better. Dillon also submitted freshman Justin Pellegrino to compete as an individual, and he struggled, too. He did show some positive signs, though, and followed up his first-round 86 with a round of 82 to finish his tournament. After their rough start to the spring slate, Fordham will travel to Malvern, Penn. to participate in the Wildcat Invitational next Monday and Tuesday.

SPORTS

April 3, 2019

Anthony Cardone Baseball Opening Weekend Oh, how sweet it is to hear the fans cheering, the baseballs hitting the gloves and the memories being made. Baseball has finally returned and what a weekend to kick off the year. We saw history, walk-offs and amazing plays all in just four days to start the season. The Phillies swept the Braves this weekend, and Bryce Harper hit his first two home runs with his new team, including an upper deck, 465-foot shot on Saturday. Christian Yelich of the Brewers hit a home run in all four games he played, including a walk-off two-run double to take the series from the Cardinals. Josh Hader pitched an immaculate inning on Friday with nine strikes and three strikeouts. The Cardinals’ new first baseman, Paul Goldschmidt, had a night of his own, hitting three of the four home runs in the series on Saturday to make a statement with his new team. On the East Coast, the Mets and Nationals rivalry continued on Opening Day with a pitching duel between reigning Cy Young winner Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. The Mets came out on top with a 2-0 victory on Thursday, and the two pitchers broke the record for most strikeouts between two pitchers on Opening Day with deGrom recording 10 and Scherzer fanning 12. Pete Alonso, one of the Mets’ top prospects, went 6-10 in the series with three RBI. On the West Coast, the Dodgers and Diamondbacks had an explosive weekend in the scoring department. The Dodgers hit eight home runs on opening day (a new record) and won 12-5. Then the D-Backs came back the next day to win in extra innings in the longest regular season game at Dodger Stadium. You would think the Dodgers would be tired the next day, but they went to work early and often, winning the game 18-5. Cody Bellinger had four home runs on the series, while Joc Pederson had three and Kike Hernandez had two. The defending World Series champion Red Sox lost the opening series to the Mariners with Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi and Rick Porcello all giving up five or more runs to a Mariners team that has started 5-1 on the year. Domingo Santana and Tim Beckham were the best players in this series, with Santana now having three home runs and 10 RBI and Tim Beckham going eight for his first 10 with three home runs. Some surprises so far were the Orioles beating the Yankees two out of three on the road, the Rays taking three out of four from the Astros and the Rangers beating the Cubs in their first series, which included a walk-off wild pitch to close out an 11-10 win on Sunday. In smaller news, Manny Machado got his first hit as a Padre while White Sox top prospect Eloy Jimenez and Padres top prospect Fernando Tatis Jr. got their first career hits. And that was only one weekend. Baseball has hit the ground running.

Page 23

Chris Hennessy

Varsity Scores & Stats Baseball Fordham Sacred Heart W: DiMeglio (1-1) L: Pinto (1-1) (FOR) Guercio: 2-3, 2 RBI Fordham Rhode Island W: Mikulski (3-3) L: Twitchell (0-2) S: Zimmerman (2) (FOR) Vazquez: 2-2, RBI

8 2

2 0

Men’s Track & Field Raleigh Relays Individual Results Only (FOR) Cook: 3,000m Steeplechase - 8:56.66 6th

Softball Fordham Rutgers W: Price (8-4) L: Ranieri (0-4) (FOR) Aughinbaugh: 1-3, RBI

Rider Invitational Individual Results Only (FOR) Reardon: Long Jump - 22’ 11 ¼” - 2nd

Fordham George Mason W: Aughinbaugh (6-9) L: Ansbro (6-6) (FOR) Storm: 2-3, R

3 1

Women’s Track & Field Raleigh Relays Individual Results Only (FOR) Taylor: 10,000m - 36:11.36 - 17th

Fordham George Mason W: McGrath (3-2) L: Gordon (1-8) (FOR) Aughinbaugh: 2-4, R

5 4

Rider Invitational Individual Results Only (FOR) Snow: 3,000m Steeplechase - 11:33.37 - 1st

Fordham George Mason W: Ansbro (7-6) L: McGrath (3-3) (FOR) Hubertus: 2-4, HR, 2 R, RBI

5 6

Fordham 8 Rhode Island 9 W: Brosius (2-0) L: Zimmerman (1-1) (FOR) Bardwell: 3-6, HR, 2R, 2 RBI Men’s Tennis Rider Fordham (FOR) Kemper: 6-0, 6-0

0 7

George Washington Fordham (FOR) Green: 1-6, 6-4, 6-3

5 2

4 3

Men’s Golf Lehigh Valley Invitational Team results: 14th of 20 Individual Results: (FOR) Maradang: 144 - 6th

Athletes of the Week Matt Mikulski

Sydney Snow

Sophomore

Junior

Baseball

Women’s Track Snow, a junior, only needed one event to rule the weekend, winning the 3,000 Meter Steeplechase at Rider with a time of 11:33.37. Snow’s win secured 10 points for Fordham, and she beat fellow Ram Sarah Daniels by three seconds.

Mikulski pitched seven shutout innings in Baseball’s Saturday win against Rhode Island, allowing three hits and three walks while striking out 10. He received Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week honors for his performance, making it the fourth straight week a Ram has won the award.

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

News & Notes •

NHL Surprises and

Women’s Tennis LIU Brooklyn Fordham (FOR) Insogna: 6-4, 6-4

A-10 Tickets Available

Tickets to the 2019 Atlantic 10 Conference Baseball Championship, to be held at Fordham’s Houlihan Park for the fourth time, are officially available. The Tournament will be held May 2225. Tickets for a single day are $8 for adults and $4 for children under 18 and senior citizens. All session tickets are $25 for adults and $12 for children and seniors. All tickets are available free to all A-10 students with a valid Student ID. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Fordham Ticket Central Page or by calling the Fordham Ticket Office at (718) 817-4759. Group sale tickets of eight or more people can also be purchased in advance at the Ticket Office.

• Golf Starts Spring Schedule

Sunday and Monday saw Fordham Men’s Golf

officially start their spring season at the CocaCola Lehigh Valley Collegiate invitational, played at Lafayette College’s Silver Creek Country Club. After the two rounds, the team finished in 14th place overall with a score of 614. Each member of the team improved on their Sunday score on Monday, and the team was led Josh Maradang’s total of 144 that saw him tied for sixth overall. Next for the Rams is the Wildcat Invitational at the White Manor Country Club in Villanova April 8-9.

• Mikulski Receives Honor

Fordham pitcher Matt Mikulski has been named

• Men’s Soccer Hires Coaches

this week’s Atlantic 10 Conference Pitcher of the Week, the conference announced on Monday. Not only is this Mikulski’s first individual weekly award of the young season, but this is also the fourth consecutive week that this specific honor has gone to a Fordham pitcher, with the last three being one won by John Stankiewicz (two times) and Cory Wall. This week saw Mikulski toss seven scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and striking out 10, snagging his third win of the year.

Head coach of Men’s Soccer Carlo Acquista an-

nounced on Friday two additions as assistants to his coaching staff: Philip Bannister and Richard Ongaro. Bannister has been an assistant under Acquista before, having done so at Adelphi University for two seasons and being on a staff that won 2017 East region Coaching Staff of the Year Honors. Ongaro spent last season at Old Dominion as a volunteer assistant, coaching the goalkeepers, including Mertcan Akar, who was named to the Third Team All-Conference USA squad.

– Compiled by Dylan Balsamo

Disappointments

2 10

One week from now, the NHL regular season will be over, and the playoffs will be upon us. Before we dive deep into the playoff action, let’s look at the surprises and disappointments of the regular season. First, the surprises. New York Islanders: Duh. If you’ve read anything that Andrew Becker and I have written in this paper, you pretty much know the story. Coaching and goaltending. Barry Trotz should be the Jack Adams winner for the coach of the year, and Robin Lehner recently was announced as a finalist for the Bill Masterson trophy for perseverance and dedication to hockey. Last year, Lehner was dealing with mental health issues and addiction and has had an unbelievable bounce-back season. The best story in hockey meets a young and exciting team in the stacked Eastern Conference. What a season it has been. Calgary Flames: You would not have been made fun of for saying the Flames would be in the playoffs this season, but to say they would have a firm grasp on the Pacific Division Crown and first place in the West would have been absurd. Nonetheless, the Flames will be in great position in a wide-open Western Conference. Bill Peters is a candidate for the Jack Adams Trophy, and New Jersey’s own Johnny Gaudreau has put together an MVP-caliber season. St. Louis Blues: St. Louis started out this year as a disappointment but turned its season around at Thanksgiving by firing coach Mike Yeo and hiring Craig Berube on an interim basis. Now, they are in a divisional spot in the power-heavy Central Division and are most likely going to face the Nashville Predators in the first round, a fate they gladly would have taken if you asked them in December, when they were last in the league. Rookie goalie Jordan Binnington has been the catalyst on the ice and will certainly be a candidate for the Calder trophy for Rookie of the Year. There were also some disappointments. New Jersey Devils: After making the playoffs last year, the Devils are in the basement of the Metropolitan division. Coach John Hynes was given a contract extension earlier in the year, so the front office believes in him, but there will be some roster overhaul this summer. The entire season cannot be blamed on Taylor Hall’s extended absence. Buffalo Sabres: They were the popular pick to make the playoffs in the East this year, but their winning streak at the beginning of the year was not sustainable, and they fell off the pace. They will be back in the draft lottery once again, with Phil Housley remaining at the helm. Their young core is extremely talented, and the future is bright if they improve the defense and goaltending. Los Angeles Kings: There are many similarities between LA and New Jersey from last season to this one: a solid team which snuck into the playoffs last year, did not do much in the offseason and stinks this year. The Kings fired their coach, John Stevens, back in November and have rode with Willie Desjardins ever since, but that did not change their fate like St Louis. It is time to move on from Johnathan Quick, Dustin Brown and the other players that brought the two Cups and rebuild. It will be a long road for Los Angeles.

Page 24

SPORTS

April 3, 2019

The Fordham Ram

Women’s Basketball Loses to Syracuse in NCAA Tournament By JACK MCLOONE

SPORTS EDITOR EMERITUS

Sometimes — most times, in fact — Goliath wins. And so did Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA Tournament over Fordham, 70-49. The Rams, a 14-seed, put up a strong fight against the nationally-ranked four-seed Orange but ultimately couldn’t keep pace. The Orange ran out to a quick 8-3 lead in first quarter, but the Rams finished the quarter on a 12-6 run to take a 15-14 lead into the quarter. In the middle of the quarter, both sides flashed their defensive prowess, with the Rams’ hounding man-to-man and the Orange’s zone keeping either side from scoring for over three minutes. Fitting for what would be her final game, the Rams first took the lead when one of their three seniors, guard Lauren Holden, hit a three from the right wing to give the Rams the 13-10 lead. But all the positives for Fordham were wiped away almost instantly in the start of the second quarter. Syracuse’s Gabrielle Cooper hit a three 18 seconds into the quarter to put the Orange up 17-15. The Orange ultimately started the quarter with a 14-0 run and never trailed again. Though that wasn’t for the Rams’ lack of trying. After heading into halftime down 10, the Rams tried to get back to what drove them all season: defense. And it worked to some degree, as the team held Syracuse to just 13 points in the quarter, not allowing a single three. However, the defensive effort seemed to exhaust the Rams, who

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

A magical run for Women’s Basketball came to an end in the first round of the NCAA tournament after losing to Syracuse, 70-49.

couldn’t seem to score, especially when that often would mean trying to weave through the trees in the interior of the Syracuse zone. While the team hit four threes and a layup to outscore the Orange 15-13 in the quarter — often bringing the Syracuse lead back to single digits — the Rams missed 13 other attempts, including seven threes, many of them forced. By the fourth quarter, David was spent, and the Rams simply couldn’t catch their Goliath, getting outscored 19-7 in the final quarter. With 1:28 left, head coach Stephanie Gaitley subbed out her two starting seniors, Holden and for-

ward Mary Goulding, who shared a long embrace on the sideline of their final collegiate game. Gaitley also checked in graduate student Alexa Giuliano before she too was checked out for a hug with Gaitley. The Rams understandably struggled offensively all game, shooting just 28.6 percent from the field, including just 29.4 percent from three. Surprisingly, the Rams’ leading scorer was freshman forward Kaitlyn Downey, who scored 15 points on 6-12 shooting, including 3-6 from three. Fordham’s leading rebounder — and the rebound leader for the game — was Goulding, who picked up 12 in her final game in

maroon. She also had eight points. It was a fitting pair, as Downey will have to take a big step forward to replace Goulding as the team’s prominent player inside next season. Holden finished the day with three rebounds, three assists and nine points — all from threes — in her final official game as a Ram. Most damningly on the offensive side for Fordham was redshirt junior guard Bre Cavanaugh’s nine points on just 2-10 shooting from the field. She paced the Rams with 17.3 points per game this season, earning first team all-A-10 honors (along with Goulding), but struggled with ef-

ficiency all season and was smothered by the Syracuse defense. While steps forward as a program always look better in hindsight, a loss to end your season will hurt whether it comes in the first round of the tournament or the championship game. This was one of the best women’s basketball teams in Fordham’s history, the first to win the A-10 regular season championship and just the third to make it to the NCAA Tournament. Being the David is never fun, and this loss will probably always sting. But looking back, these Rams should be proud to have been facing Goliath at all.

Baseball Now 3-3 in Conference Following 1-2 Weekend at Rhode Island By JACK MCLOONE

SPORTS EDITOR EMERITUS

“I think, when you talk about just our conference games, I’d say we are at a B-,” said Fordham Baseball head coach Kevin Leighton about his team’s performance thus far. That grade seems fair, considering the Rams have now had a 2-1 Atlantic 10 conference series (against St. Bonaventure from March 22 to March 24) and a 1-2 series this past weekend against the Rams of Rhode Island. If there’s any one player that could get an A in conference play, its sophomore pitcher Matt Mikulski, who was the winning pitcher in Fordham’s lone win this weekend on Friday. Mikulski earned A-10 Pitcher of the Week honors following his seven innings of shutout ball on Friday that earned the Rams a 2-0 win. He struck out 10 while walking three and also hitting a batter. He allowed just three hits. It was Mikulski’s second straight start with 10 strikeouts, and his 32 strikeouts are the secondmost on the team. “Matt has front-line stuff when he commands his fastball,” said Leighton. “I think in his last two outings, he’s been able to do that and work ahead of hitters more, which has led to more strikeouts.” That makes it four consecutive weeks that a Fordham Ram has won A-10 Pitcher of the Week. Sopho-

more pitcher John Stankiewicz won last week and three weeks ago, with freshman pitcher Cory Wall sandwiched in the middle. The Rams sent their ace in Stankiewicz to the mound on Saturday. While he pitched well — 5.2 innings, two runs (one earned), six strikeouts and two walks — he wasn’t very efficient, clocking 107 pitches in those 5.2 innings. He was replaced by senior Anthony DiMeglio, who struggled almost immediately. He came in with a runner on third and two outs with Fordham up 2-1 but struggled to finish and gave up four runs before finishing the inning. They were all charged as unearned, but he certainly didn’t help himself by giving up a two-out single and triple. The offense wasn’t able to muster much of a comeback, scoring just one run in the seventh before losing 5-3. The final matchup in the Battle of the Rams started on Saturday but turned into a marathon that had to be completed on Sunday morning. Junior starter Alvin Melendez gave up a two-run home run in the first inning and another in the second without recording an out before he was pulled in favor of freshman Gabe Karslo. Fordham was already down 3-0. For the most part, Karslo locked down the Rams of URI, allowing just one run over five innings of work while striking out six. After scor-

ing a run in the fifth, Fordham tied the game at three on an RBI double from sophomore second baseman C.J. Vazquez and an RBI single from junior outfielder Jake Baker. However, Karslo’s lone run came in the bottom of the frame, so once again Fordham trailed. Things got dire in the top of the ninth, with Fordham down three runs, 7-4. However, some Ram-style station-to-station baseball allowed two runs to score on a single by sophomore first baseman Nick Labella. The Rams then took the lead in a not-Fordham way, a two-run home run by senior catcher Justin Bardwell, who has been struggling so far this season at the plate. He came into that game batting just .214 but went 3-6 to raise it to .233. “I think Justin will heat up,” said Leighton. “He’s always been a pretty clutch hitter. I think at times this year he’s tried to do a little too much and just needs to try stay up the middle, which sounds easy!” The Rams had junior closer Kyle Martin on the mound, who leads the team with four saves and had 10 last season. But with two outs and a runner on second, the Rams couldn’t close the door. Vazquez committed an error to extend the game and a double by the next batter tied it to send the game to extra innings. The two Ram squads ended up playing 12 innings, but suspended the game after 11 innings to finish up the following morning. After

COURTESY OF FORDHAM ATHLETICS

Men’s Baseball has a 16-12 record after 28 games this season.

Fordham failed to score in the top half on Sunday, they sent senior Anthony Zimmerman to the mound, who had yet to allow a run in 11.2 innings this season. After striking out the first two batters, he walked the next two and hit a third before allowing a walk-off RBI single to end the game 9-8 in URI’s favor. “We need to do a better job of limiting the free bases, whether that be walks, [hit by pitches] or errors on the defensive side, and we need to execute better as an offense,” said Leighton. “We have some tough opponents coming up, and we need to

start clicking on all cylinders if we expect to win.” While the Rams had 39 hits this past weekend, they only had 15 runs to show for it, and rarely scored them in clutch situations. The defense committed just three errors, but all of them resulted in crucial runs as well. As a pitching staff, the Rams combined for 23 walks and hit by pitches. Fordham is next in action today against Siena at 4 p.m., then at home for three games against St. Joseph’s this weekend, starting at 3 p.m. on Friday.