Volume 94 Issue 12

Page 1

Sports PAGE 24

Opinions PAGE 10

Culture PAGE 13

Football starts the year off strong with a decisive 55-0 victory over Lock Haven.

Should financial aid be offered to undocumented students?

Tips on how to have the best school year yet.

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SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS

1918-2012

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

VOLUME 94, ISSUE 12

Skelton Poor Ratings, Campus Culture Put Sodexo in Jeopardy The Princeton Review Names Fordham’s Food the Worst of 377 Top Colleges, Administration Quickly Responds Named NFL Starter John Skelton, GSB ’10, to be Starting Quarterback for Arizona Cardinals By DAN GARTLAND SPORTS EDITOR

Now in his third NFL season, former Fordham Ram John Skelton was named the Arizona Cardinals’ starting quarterback for Sunday’s season opener against the Seattle Seahawks. “It’s kind of a weight off my shoulders, I think,” Skelton told the Associated Press. “You know, the speculation and waiting is over. But at the same time, I think there’s another weight placed on. Now you have to move forward as a starter and think of it that way.” Skelton, who still holds numerous Fordham records, including single-season and career passing yards, appeared in eight games for the Cardinals last season. He compiled a 6-2 record. He was a replacement for the injured Kevin Kolb, who had recently been acquired from the Philadelphia Eagles in a costly trade and signed to a $65 million contract. The Cardinals paid him a $7 million bonus this summer after they were unable to sign free agent Peyton Manning. Kolb, a former second round draft pick out of the University of Houston, was thought to be too highly-paid for the Cardinals to put on the bench. Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt, however, announced there would be an open competition this year for the team’s starting job. Skelton outperformed Kolb in the Cardinals’ preseason games, but some reports said that he struggled in practice, which is why Whisenhunt waited until the last possible moment to name the starter. Whisenhunt made it clear that with another talented quarterback holding a clipboard, Skelton will have to play well to keep the starting job. It is likely that he and Kolb will keep trading spots throughout the season if neither one emerges as the clear-cut favorite. If Skelton manages to hold on to the starter’s role, he will play in front of a New York crowd for the first time as a professional when the Cardinals visit the Jets on Dec. 2. Skelton’s younger brother Steve, a tight end, will be a member of the Cardinals practice squad for the second straight season, after failing to make the 53-man roster. The younger Skelton may be promoted if one of the club’s four tight ends suffers an injury.

PHOTO BY JULIAN WONG/THE RAM

The Marketplace, in the McGinley Center, gets ‘A’ grades from New York City’s Health Department, while other campus eateries have struggled in the past.

By CONNOR RYAN & KELLY KULTYS NEWS EDITOR & ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Since The Princeton Review named Fordham’s food the worst of the top 377 colleges included in the education service company’s annual guidebook, old wounds of numerous health violations cited in March 2011 have been reopened, and a campus culture of dissatisfaction with Sodexo, Fordham’s food service provider of 30 years, enlivened. Last year’s 2012 edition of the guidebook pegged Fordham at number 19 on the list of colleges with the worst food. The jump to number one, making Fordham’s

food the worst on the list, was a surprise for Brian Poteat, the general manager of Fordham’s hospitality services and dining. “We are extremely disappointed with the ranking and do not feel that it accurately represents the quality of the food we serve, or the feelings of the majority of the students at Fordham,” Poteat said via email. Fordham officials have announced that an independent consultant will be on campus to evaluate the University’s food service program, including food quality and customer service, according to an email that was sent to the Fordham community. The announcement said that a new food service contract would likely be in effect no

later than next fall. According to The Princeton Review’s website, the book’s 62 rankings — ranging from “Happiest Students” to “Top Stone-Cold Sober Schools” — are based solely on 122,000 student surveys taken from the 2011-12 or two previous academic years. Each survey contains 80 questions that range in topic from academics to various aspects of student life. Because the survey is completely student-driven, and representatives from The Princeton Review do not visit campus to conduct any tests or taste the campus food, Sama Habib, GSB ’14 and president of the Student Culinary Council (SCC), said she believes the “psychology of the students” led to Fordham’s food

ranking. Habib, along with other student members of the SCC, is an employee of Sodexo. “I think it comes down to almost like a simple bullying situation where the people who do have a problem with [the food on campus] just roar louder than the people who don’t,” Habib said. Fordham’s proximity to the highly-regarded food on Arthur Avenue and the high cost of tuition have apparently played a role in the minds of students expectations for Rose Hill’s food continue to grow. “I feel like our rating was so low because everyone knows we pay a lot for our room and board, so we see our average food as terrible,” Scott Van Duyne, GSB ’15, said. SEE SODEXO ON PAGE 2

Administrator Resigns in Fordham Welcomes 1,175 Wake of Abuse Lawsuit New Rose Hill Residents Westchester Administrator Forced to Resign on July 20 By CONNOR RYAN NEWS EDITOR

Brother James A. Liguori, former associate vice president and executive director of Fordham’s Westchester campus, submitted his resignation on July 20 after being linked to a child sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit filed on July 19 in New York, according to the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The suit charges that Liguori sexually abused a boy, now identified as John Doe, in 1969 while Doe was a student at the Cardinal Farley Military Academy in Rhinecliff, NY. The Irish Christian Brothers, a New Rochelle, NY-based Catholic order (now known as the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers), ran the school at the time of the alleged abuse. Liguori is a member of the order. “Brother Liguori passed a criminal background check in fall 2011, when

he was hired by Fordham,” a statement that was released to the Fordham community on the behalf of Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, said. “University officials began investigating immediately, and on Friday, July 20, Brother Liguori submitted his resignation, effective immediately.” Doe reportedly disclosed the abuse to California officials in 2008, but his allegations were pushed aside, as the Irish Christian Brothers found Doe’s allegation “unsubstantiated due to major inconsistencies,” according to a statement sent to the Pelham Patch. A lawyer for the diocese, however, reportedly said that she believed the allegations to be true. “It’s not often that church officials come out and say that they believe a victim,” Joelle Casteix, western regional director of SNAP, said in SEE ABUSE ON PAGE 2

PHOTO BY CONNOR RYAN/THE RAM

New Families Gather for Annual Welcome Mass Fordham’s Office of Residential Life reported that 1,175 of the 1,859 enrolled members of Fordham’s Class of 2016 moved into Rose Hill residence halls on Sunday, Aug. 26.


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Volume 94 Issue 12 by The Fordham Ram - Issuu