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SERVING THE FORDHAM UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY FOR OVER 90 YEARS
1918-2012
NOVEMBER 28, 2012
VOLUME 94, ISSUE 21
While Most Go Out, Some Stay Behind ... And Wait Sodexo Introduces Rewards Program By CONNOR RYAN NEWS EDITOR
It was right before midnight on a brisk Friday. The crew had just gotten back to campus after a quick trip to the nearby 7-Eleven for chips and soda. The three students on duty simultaneously received a call from the dispatcher, located in the Office of Safety and Security, as they walked through the door of the Fordham University Emergency Medical Service (FUEMS) office. It was the third call of the night, but it was the first “intox” (intoxicated person) call. Snacks were tossed on a table and the crew was back out the door. The conversation hushed as everyone assumed their respective duties and got into “Rig One,” the newer of the two ambulances that FUEMS uses. As Rob Raffaele, FCRH ’15 and first lieutenant, quickly rounded the corner to bring the ambulance onto the narrow road behind SaliceConley Hall, he subtly turned up the radio. A pop song was playing, and he quietly hummed along.
PHOTO BY CONNOR RYAN/THE RAM
Jim Benischeck, FCRH ’14 and second lieutenant, prepares to sterilze a stretcher.
Jim Benischeck, FCRH ’14 and second lieutenant, and Bryan Galligan, FCRH ’15 and administrative officer, were in the back of the ambulance taking final inventory and preparing the Patient Care Report (PCR) for easy access. The nature of the call was unknown — as it often is — but the atmosphere inside the ambulance remained composed and focused.
Like starting basketball players before a big playoff game, the crew was getting into the zone. A male freshman, clearly intoxicated and whose identity has been withheld to maintain confidentiality, was sitting in the bushes near a residnce hall. A security guard and a girl in a tight, white skirt were standing over him. She said that the two of them
had been drinking earlier that night at Barstool Blackout, a nationwide college concert tour, in Manhattan. He apparently had 14 or 15 drinks, mostly vodka, before returning back to campus and collapsing. She said that he might have fallen, but confirmed later that he did not hit his head. After the student vomited in front of the crew, they loaded him into the ambulance and prepared to transport him to St. Barnabas Hospital — one of the hospitals to which FUEMS transports patients. (FUEMS also transports to Montefiore Hospital and the Jacobi Medical Center, depending on the call.) Before moving out, Galligan asked the patient to provide some basic information (such as his home address and telephone number) for the PCR, which must be filled out with every FUEMS call. The student spoke mostly incoherently as he floated in and out of consciousness, vomiting every few minutes into a plastic red bag fastened around his neck. When he did speak, he pleaded that the crew not call his parents and later apoloSEE FUEMS, PAGE 4
Peter Singer Leads Panel on Animal Rights, Christianity Four Panelists Discuss Controversial Issues Related to Animal Rights Including Factory Farming, Medicial Research By KELLY KULTYS ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
On Friday, Nov. 16, well-known modern-day philosopher Dr. Peter Singer headlined the panel of “Christians and Other Animals: Moving the Conversation Forward.” The event was co-sponsored by the department of theology, the Center for Religion and Culture, the Office of the Provost, the dean of Fordham College at Rose Hill and the dean of Fordham University Faculty. This panel also featured Dr. David Clough from the University of Chester, Dr. R.R. Reno from Creighton University and Fordham Ph.D candidate Eric Meyer. The four speakers offered different perspectives on the controversial issue of animal rights, while tying it into Christian beliefs. The main topic of the panel included how nonhuman animals should be treated according to Christian doctrine. “I thought it was really cool that we [as students] were able to attend,” Victoria Cipollone, FCRH ’14, said. “It was also really cool to have someone renowned, like Peter Singer, speak to us at Fordham.” The panel discussion began with opening remarks as the four introduced their own personal beliefs. Singer started by discussing how the Western world views animals. According to Singer, in the Western world animals are viewed in human eyes as a “means to an end.”
They are seen to have no moral status, which is suited to the interests of the society. Singer touched on the issue of “speciesim” which is defined by Merriam-Webster as a “prejudice or discrimination based on species.” Singer mentioned that there is no reason to discount animals or discriminate against them because humans and animals share many of the same emotions, such as pain and suffering. Clough followed Singer, connecting his idea of nondiscrimination between humans and animals to his Christianity. Clough called for a “faith-based” vegetarianism, since, for Christians, there are religious reasons to abstain from eating animals. Meyer then built on Clough’s ideas, by stating that we need to see ourselves as animals because then the distinctions fall and we are able to treat them the way we would like to be treated. Opposing these pro-animal views was Reno, titled the “sympathetic skeptic.” Reno said that nature depends upon humans and humans alone, since they can take charge of nature through their morals. He stated that humans control the fates of animals. The panel then moved into an open forum between the four speakers, facilitated by Reno. The discussion covered a wide variety of topics in the realm of Christianity-related animal rights, including how animals feel pain and suffering and factory farming. Clough reiterated that humans, specifically
COURTESY OF JOEL TRAVIS/WIKIMEDIA
Singer, author of Animal Liberation, discusses the quality of life of animals.
Christians, have a natural duty not to inflict pain on animals. Reno responded that morally justified human concerns should be valued over animal concerns because humans and animals are different beings. Singer then brought up the issue of factory farming, which is a method used to mass produce meat products by raising animals from a young age in farm-like conditions where they do not have the ability to see the “outside world.” Clough mentioned the specific instance of chickens that
are genetically-enhanced to create better meat, but their legs cannot support the additional weight, so the animals will eventually die of hunger and thirst. Reno brought up the common rebuttal that although these techniques may be horrible, for many poor human beings it is one of their main options for food. Singer responded by reinforcing the idea of vegetarianism. “I’m glad that it was a panel,” Cipollone said. “We were not lectured at and we got to listen to opinions interacting.” SEE PANEL, PAGE 2
By KELLY KULTYS ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Sodexo Inc, the food service provider for Fordham University, recently released a QBOT app at the start of the 2012-2013 academic year. QBOT is “the first app of its type that allows consumers and businesses to directly connect in a social environment, allows students, staff and community members at pilot campuses to find information and deals for campus dining and retail locations, according to as Rebecca Moore, the District Marketing Specialist for Sodexo. Students with smartphone accessibility can download the app and then use it when they visit any of the Sodexo-sponsored places on campus. Students who have downloaded the app will receive offers and discounts through it. They can show these offers via the app at the cash register and then scan the QBOT app code at the register. Students will then begin accumulating points and purchases to gain access to exclusive deals. If they use the app frequently enough, students can become VIP members, which will give them even more exclusive access and notifications. Right now, the QBOT app is in its pilot stages at 12 universities across the nation, including George Washington University in Washington, D.C.; Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles; Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore; Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY; Seattle Pacific University in Seattle; University of Denver in Denver and; of course, Fordham. Sodexo decided to join with QBOT because of how much college students interact with their smartphones. “Sodexo realized that this presented an opportunity to reach students and offer them campus dining rewards and special offers in an entirely new and more convenient way, so we partnered with QBOT,” Moore said via email. Currently at Fordham, the QBOT app is available at SubConnection. “Students [can expect the following] QBOT Rewards at SubConnection — VIP reward: 50 percent off any foot-long sub; two point reward: free fountain beverage; four point reward: 50 percent off check and a six point reward: free six-inch sub,” Moore said. “An additional benefit to the QBOT program is that loyalty rewards SEE QBOT, PAGE 3