MEN’S SOCCER MOVES INTO 1ST PLACE — PAGE 15
SHOULD SERVICE BE COMPULSORY? — PAGE 7
SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS
1918-2011
OCTOBER 26, 2011
VOLUME 93, ISSUE 18
Naison Analyzes Wall Street Protests
Scavenger Hunt Finds Success By KAREN HILL CONTRIBUTING WRITER
COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY
Dr. Mark Naison talked to students about “Occupy Wall Street” that is currently taking place in Lower Manhattan.
By CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY STAFF WRITER
“Mic check,” Dr. Mark Naison said. “Mic check,” responded a group of about 50 students gathered in a Campbell Hall classroom last Monday. In a talk arranged by the Resident Assistant staff of Campbell
Hall, Naison, of the African and African American Studies Department, discussed the “Occupy Wall Street” protests taking place in Zucotti Park in Lower Manhattan. He began his talk by introducing himself and his background, and by demonstrating the socalled “Human Microphone,” a method of amplification that uses
a crowd around a speaker that repeats what the speaker says. It has been used in Zucotti Park to circumvent regulations that prohibit amplification aids. Naison then discussed his own history of student activism. In 1968, while a student-athlete at Columbia University, he participated in the occupation of the SEE NAISON ON PAGE 2
On Oct. 13 at 9 p.m., dozens upon dozens of eager Fordham students congregated outside the cemetery to meet the “Gatekeepers” of the Rose Hill Code. The perfectly foggy night created an eerie setting for the commencement of this hunt. Each of the more than 100 teams was presented with a scroll on which the secret clue was printed. Some gave up early and others, after an hour of thought, rushed to the first location, and the Rose Hill Code began. The race continued until Wednesday, Oct. 19, at precisely 9:08 a.m., when Team Diggory emailed in the final, unlocked clue. “The Rose Hill Code is an epic scavenger hunt,” Residence Hall Association’s (RHA) Chief of Staff Kevin Yevchak, GSB ’12, said. The Code, inspired by The Da Vinci Code, was originally created in 2009 by former president of RHA Jake Braithwaite, GSB ‘11. The Code aimed to establish
creative and interactive programming on campus. In its third year, the Code has acquired incomparable and unexpected success. Yevchak estimated that about 30 teams would sign up and about 10 would actively play. To his surprise, over 150 teams registered, equating to 450 players. “I was blown away,” he said. “This [turnout] was beyond my wildest dream.” Each team was supposed to have a personally chosen name, but a dilemma arose. The unpredicted high participation was disproportionate to the minimal amount of man power to customize each team’s name. Instead, the organizers randomly assigned names and digital crests. The teams were cleverly-named after aspects of the popular series Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and “Game of Thrones.” For example, the winning team, Diggory, was named after the character Cedric Diggory from the famed Harry Potter series. SEE ROSE HILL CODE ON PAGE 4
Axelrod Shares Experiences as Chief Strategist for Obama
PHOTO BY STEPHEN MOCCIA/THE RAM
RAM ARCHIVES
A fridge malfunction caused a minor fire and the activation of sprinklers.
Fire in Finlay Caused By Sparking Fridge By GIRISH SWAMINATH STAFF WRITER
At 9 a.m. on Monday, Oct. 14, a room in the basement of Finlay Hall caught on fire due to a faulty refrigerator. It was plugged-in appropriately and kept under normal conditions, with no clothes or items stuffed behind it. The wire connecting the electrical outlet and the refrigerator sparked and started a fire, eventually spreading to the student’s desk and chair.
“[Facilities] has the refrigerator and attempted to examine the cause of damage but does not know exactly how the fire started,” Elizabeth Amico, assistant director for housing operations at the Office of Residential Life, said. The sprinkler in the room eventually activated, flooding it. The water seeped under the door of the student’s room into the hallway of the basement, and then entered five other neighSEE FINLAY FLOOD ON PAGE 4
David Axelrod, current chief strategist for Obama, started out as a journalist on a paltry salary.
his school’s theme song, going back to his childhood years, when, at seven years of age, he witnessed an inspiring speech by President John F. Kennedy in New York, which he claimed, set his life on a political course. Axelrod said he began his political experience by working for a Democratic Party candidate at age nine.
Axelrod credited this seminal experience with his life passion for politics, and, in 1972, he moved to Illinois to study political science at the University of Chicago. He decided to write for the newspaper in order to get more practical experience. “In order to satisfy my interest in politics, I started writing,”
Sports PAGE 20
Opinions PAGE 9
Culture PAGE 14
Higgins throws for career-high 413 yards in loss.
Poverty in New York City is on the rise.
Up ’Til Dawn campaign to benefit St. Jude’s Children hospital.
By CONNIE KIM NEWS EDITOR
David Axelrod, chief strategist and senior advisor to President Barack Obama, shared his life story, political career and his days with Obama on Oct. 19 in Keating 1st Auditorium to a crowd of students and faculty members. Axelrod began his story with
SEE AXELROD ON PAGE 4
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