The Fordham Ram Serving The Fordham University Community Since 1918 Volume 96, Issue 17
FordhamRam.com F dh R
October 22, 2014
Initiative Spreads UN Knowledge
Agreement Reached on Faculty Benefits
By AMINHA BHATTI
By JOE VITALE
STAFF WRITER
MANAGING EDITOR
One of the university’s main goals in its mission statement is to transform its students into leaders who are concerned with global issues. Fordham’s Jesuit identity encourages its students to become “men and women for others.” This goal is what Kelly Roberts had in mind when she began the Fordham Impact Initiative five years ago to allow Fordham students to learn more about the U.N. through first-hand experience. The initiative currently allows two designated youth representatives to bring other students to the U.N. to participate in events and programs. Roberts works for Fordham’s Office of International Services and is also a representative of a non-governmental organization (NGO) associated with the U.N. called N.A.F.S.A.: Association of International Educators. In keeping with this NGO’s mission to encourage greater collaboration between universities and the U.N., Roberts developed the Fordham Impact Initiative, as a way for Fordham to become an affiliate with the U.N., and for its students to have a greater involvement and experience through such participation. According to an article by Janet Sassi, “Fordham Granted Special NGO Association with United Nations,” which was published in the 2013 issue of Inside Fordham, the university became an NGO in 2013 along with 16 other universities. The article discusses how Fordham will collaborate with the non-governmental sector of the U.N. to report its own activities as a U.N. affiliate, while providing students with the opportunity to intern with the U.N. and other NGOs. Miranda Morton, FCRH ’15, and Theresa Carthy, FCRH ’15 are the current youth representatives for Fordham. As youth representatives, Morton and Carthy must attend NGO briefings at the U.N.’s Department of Public Information every Thursday. These briefings discuss the Millennium Development Goals
tigated Ben-Atar, Director of the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance Anastasia Coleman, has refused to comment on the case. Other faculty members who were directly involved, however, say that the investigation was appropriate. Ben-Atar, who is based at Lincoln Center and has been employed at Fordham since 1996, said he first learned of the investigation when he
Settling more than a year of negotiations regarding salary and benefits that has frustrated university faculty members and spurred the resignation of the administration’s chief negotiator, the Faculty Senate and university administrators reached a final agreement for a new insurance provider and improved package benefits. The Senate vote, outlined in an email sent by Mary Ann Forgey, president of the Faculty Senate, followedmonths of work by both the Faculty Salary and Benefits Committee and ad hoc committee, which attempted to reconcile the desires of the faculty and the administration. Following what Forgey called “intense conversations,” Friday’s agreement reflected a consensus reached by the Faculty Senate, whose 25 members unanimously approved the latest proposal. “The Senate’s approval reflects the confidence that your senators have in the package as a whole,” Forgey said in the faculty-wide email shared with by The Fordham Ram. “It is the Senate’s hope that the renewed commitment to shared governance evidenced over the past month will continue to characterize the relationship between the faculty and the administration.”
SEE BEN-ATAR PAGE 5
SEE HEALTHCARE, PAGE 6
SEE U.N., PAGE 6
in this issue
Opinion
Page 7
Same-Sex Faculty Receives “Married Benefits”
Culture Page 11 An Overview of Tea in the City
Sports
Page 20
Fordham Offense Employs Trick Plays
CHRISTIAN WILOEJO/THE RAM
Ram Town, Fordham’s annual pep rally to kick off the basketball season, was held last Friday in Rose Hill Gym. Students were treated to free food, t-shirts and a dance-off between the men’s and women’s teams. Additional prizes were given out to several lucky students, including televisions and a trip to Mexico.
After ‘Kafkaesque’ Investigation, Professor Takes Story Public By KATIE MEYER NEWS EDITOR
Last week, Fordham history professor Doron Ben-Atar drew international attention to Fordham by revealing that he had been investigated by the university over the summer on grounds of potential religious discrimination. Although the charge was ultimately dropped, Ben-Atar says that the in-
vestigation, as well as the conclusions drawn from it, were unfair. “I went through a Kafkaesque process in which I was never told exactly what I supposedly did wrong, nor was I ever shown anything in writing,” Ben-Atar said in the now-viral reflection he wrote on the experience. “The Jesuit University of New York,” he concluded in the article, “should do better.” The university official who inves-
Copyright Struggle Keeps Student Show From Going On By LAURA SANICOLA ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
The show must go on, except when it legally cannot. James Demetriades, FCRH ’15, learned this truth two hours before the opening night of Fordham Experimental Theater’s (FET) production of Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. The Office of Student Leadership and Development (O.S.L.C.D.) informed Demetriades, the director of the production, that the rights company would not allow the production to be performed on Oct. 16, the night it was slated to open. F.E.T has postponed the production to Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, 2014. “Rights were not secured at that point in time, but they have since been acquired,” said Shannon Driscoll, assistant director of O.S.L.C.D. “No group can proceed with a performance until the rights are received.” According to Jeff Sharkey, president of Fordham Experimental Theater (F.E.T.), the director had not received the official scripts for the actors or scores for the musicians before Oct.15. “The cast was using a read-only online script and the orchestra was transcribing music from Spotify to rehearse,” Sharkey said. “If they
COURTESY OF BLOODY BLOODY
FET’s latest show has been delayed because, as of its planned opening date, the copyrights had not been properly secured.
waited until the rights had officially been obtained and official materials were released, the cast and crew would not have enough time to rehearse.” The day before the opening night, Musical Theater International (MTI) contacted O.S.L.C.D. inquiring how the cast was prepared to perform if they had just received the scripts. Sharkey relayed the truth — that the cast had been rehearsing without the official materials. “We had done it in the past, but the rights had never taken this long
to obtain,” Sharkey said. On Thursday, Oct. 21, Sharkey received word that the rights to the play were being revoked because the cast had been rehearsing without the official materials. The problem arose after the rights to Rocky Horror Picture Show were denied to F.E.T. over the summer. “Rocky Horror Picture Show was finally approved by O.S.L.C.D. in August,” said Sharkey, “but due to first class option, which prevents a play from being performed if someone else is producing the
same play 50 miles from New York City, we are unable to obtain the rights from the company at that time. Another school was performing the play.” Demetriades was given the option of choosing another play to direct in the fall. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson was decided upon in mid-August, and Demetriades subsequently submitted his request. “The delay in choosing the show caused the whole process to be delayed,” Sharkey said. “The contract had to be approved by Fordham, SEE JACKSON PAGE 3