Queens College's newspaper, reporting in the interest of the QC community with an emphasis on hard news.
16
THE KNIGHT NEWS November 1, 2011 Volume 17 Issue 5 Journalism in the Interest of the Queens College Community theknightnews.com Breaking News & Video TRAVELING TOWARD AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE Graphic by Omera Begum After illegally entering the United States, undocumented immigrant students are safe from deportation while attending college but still carry a burden. Two Queens College students are raising awareness by trying to start a club. SEE PAGES 2-3 POET LAUREATE SHARES WORK AT QC SEE PAGE 8 QC ALUM INSPIRES “GEEK TO VISIONARY” STORY SEE PAGE 9 This map explains the route Byron Pullutasig, an undocumented student, took to illegally reach the United States. Now a Queens College student, a career path after graduation remains unclear.
Transcript
THE KNIGHT
NEWSNovember 1, 2011
Volume 17Issue 5
Journalism in the Interest of the Queens College Community
theknightnews.comBreaking News & Video
TRAVELING TOWARD AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE
Graphic by Omera Begum
After illegally entering the United States, undocumented immigrant students are safe from deportation while attending college but still carry a burden. Two Queens College students are raising awareness by trying to start a club. SEE PAGES 2-3
POET LAUREATE SHARES WORK AT QC SEE PAGE 8
QC ALUM INSPIRES “GEEK TO VISIONARY” STORY SEE PAGE 9
This map explains the route Byron Pullutasig, an undocumented student, took to illegally reach the United States. Now a Queens College student, a career path after graduation remains unclear.
2 | November 1, 2011 www.theknightnews.com
Nearly a decade before Byron Pullutasig became a Queens College student, he traveled through seven countries in a span of three months until he illegally reached the United States. An uncertain future now awaits the 19-year-old as he strives to pursue a degree in physics in hopes of becoming a professor, an aspiration that will be unsuccessful without legal documentation. Pullutasig crossed the Mexico-California border at age eight, holding two toys while pretending to sleep in a car driven by an agent. The agent was part of a network of people in the “border crossing business” called “coyotes,” who told Pullutasig that he should “pretend as if he fell asleep playing with toys on the way.” He obeyed, so that the immigration authorities could not match his face to the American passport borrowed from a coyote’s U.S. citizen relative. The three month journey to America from Quisapincha, Ecuador, Pullutasig’s hometown, began in November 2000. His parents hired a “coyote” to bring him and his 11-year-old brother to New York in hopes of a better chance at education. “In my town, only the well-to-do families got to go to school and we didn’t belong to a rich family. So my parents spoke to the coyote and my aunt, and told me and my brother that we were going to meet our mom and dad,” said Pullutasig. The first bus ride, from Quisapincha to Lima, began as Pullutasig wondered why he had an identification card with a name that was not his. The identities continued to change as Pullutasig and his brother traveled to Panama and then to Costa Rica lying under a truck and passing through trees. They traveled in desolate areas of the countries, stopping at perfectly mapped checkpoints where the next coyote would take them to the next station. From Costa Rica, the brothers flew to Honduras because they were the youngest travelers. “For me this was an adventure,” Pullutasig said. “But I could see that the adults in the batch [of 10 people], who later joined us in Honduras, were terrified on a boat that almost tipped over and killed us.” Pullutasig journeyed to Guatemala from El Salvador and then arrived at Tijuana, Mexico’s tip and the border of California. “Crossing the California border and flying to New York with that same passport was one of the biggest moments of my life despite the almost drowning, long walks, bad conditions and bad food, because I was seeing my parents after five years,” he said. The trip to America was a success when he arrived in January 2001; but there were more obstacles to overcome after his illegal entry.
As a fourth-grader, he stood in long lines waiting to get all his vaccinations to start an American life, attending P.S. 71 in Ridgewood, Queens. Proof of address, past school records and vaccinations were main components for enrollment in an American elementary, middle or high school. “School was fun, I took ESL and I picked [English] up really quickly,” Pullutasig said. “And my first teacher, Miss Chen, always encouraged me to speak in English. I remember my first full sentence, ‘May I go to the bathroom?’ and all my classmates applauded, kept me for almost 10 minutes to congratulate me.” Pullutasig realized his undocumented immigration status three months after he arrived in Ridgewood. His class assignment was to fill out a form for a library card and it required a social security number. “My parents didn’t know what to do when I asked them for my number and they told me that I didn’t have one. I told them that my teacher told me not to leave any part blank. My dad at the time got a driver’s license which had a nine digit number so he used that. They didn’t really check, so it worked and I got my library card.” Pullutasig barely felt the effects of being an illegal immigrant until he applied for a driver’s license and then later when he applied to college. A New York education law allows admission and remittance of in-state tuition for undocumented students who have studied in New York high schools. However, they can only pay for college through private scholarships or out of pocket. Some peers in the college community resent any relief for illegal immigrant students. “I do not feel [bad] for the situation. Illegal immigration contributes to the dramatic population growth overwhelming communities across America,” said John Walsh, 22, QC senior and political science major. Without legal immigration status, Pullutasig will be ineligible to work legally after he graduates or receive government financial aid if he chooses to study further. To raise awareness of this he has spearheaded the Queens College Dream Team. Pullutasig is not the only undocumented student facing this dilemma upon graduation. “I am almost done with my anthropology major,” said Francis Madi, an undocumented QC senior. “I don’t really know what’s going to happen after I graduate. I won’t get to work legally or even contribute to the U.S. economy even though I want a chance.”
UNCERTAIN FUTURE OF AN UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTSALIMAH KHOJA News Reporter
Byron Pullutasig, 19, is an undocumented Queens College sophomore. Along with another student, he is starting a club on campus to raise awareness about the struggles he encounters.
“We Are All Immigrants.”
Photo by Salimah Khoja
www.theknightnews.com November 1, 2011 | 3
Two undocumented Queens College students have attempted to start a club to raise awareness about struggles illegal immigrants encounter, particularly post-college, after a U.S. bill that would have made their immigration status legal failed. The club, QC Dream Team, will be the eighth of its kind within the CUNY system if approved by the Student Association. It will serve as a platform for undocumented students to come together and share their stories with others. Sophomore Byron Pullutasig and senior Francis Madi have continued to get the club started this month after submitting paperwork at the end of September. The Dream Act was rejected by the U.S. Senate after falling short of five votes to bypass the Republican filibuster in December 2010. If passed, undocumented students like Pullutasig and Madi would qualify, upon completion of two years of college or service in the military, for a pathway to citizenship. “We were so close in passing the Dream Act,” said Pullutasig. “But this actually gives me the hope that we can do it again, that’s why I want to raise as much awareness as I can about the Dream Act and share my story…our stories.” Undocumented students come to the U.S. from a young age and are able to assimilate to the culture by studying in western schools and growing up in western environments, but are “left educated and unemployable,” according to research by Vice President of Student Affairs Joe Bertolino, during his sabbatical on undocumented students in fall 2010. Under an education law passed approximately nine years ago by former N.Y. Governor George Pataki, undocumented students are allowed to pay in-state tuition if they studied in a N.Y. high school. “We’re not required by law to keep tabs on undocumented students or records of undocumented students,” said Bertolino. The school determines that a student is undocumented if a student leaves the citizenship status section blank on his or her application, which is what “usually
happens” according to Arpita Paulemon, international transfer credit evaluator for undergraduate admissions. Paulemon also said that the student receives a notification from the admissions office that they have been identified as undocumented and will be paying an international student fee. Compared to an in-state, full-time student who pays $2,565 for up to 18 credits, an international or out-of-state student pays $460 per credit or an estimated $5,520 for 12 credits each semester, excluding other fees such as the student activity fee or technology fee, according to the QC Bursar’s website. These students can appeal to pay for in-state tuition by providing the admissions office their expired passport, a notarized affidavit intending to legalize their immigration status and proof of residency of at least one year in New York, according to Paulemon
who also evaluates applications of incoming undocumented students. “If we ever get audited, since we don’t report it to USCIS [United States Citizenship and Immigration Services], we can say that the students’ intention was to legalize their immigration status, but whether they did it or not is totally up to them,” she said. Madi, 22, said paying for college becomes difficult because she does not have a social security number and is ineligible to receive federal financial aid. “You can’t even get a good job to pay for school yourself [because you do not have a social security number], so you work odd jobs like me, sometimes doing a job for two people on your own for less money - that’s why I can only go to school part-time,” Madi said. “If you break the law or the parents break the law, despite being the nicest person in the world, you don’t deserve free things off of tax
payer money,” said Ryan Girdusky, senior and former president of the Republican Club. Undocumented students are given a CUNY ID number, which is a nine-digit number starting with a zero or a nine used in lieu of a social security number for school purposes within the CUNY system only, not for paying taxes or working. However, now CUNYFirst replaces each student’s social security or CUNY ID number with a CUNYFirst ID. “I’m more than a nine-digit number, I am a student aspiring to be a physics professor and change the world and show them I exist and I am a dreamer,” Pullutasig said. In fall 2011, 293 undocumented students including undergraduates and graduates, were admitted to QC. Paulmone said there is no definite list of undocumented students, but suggested that Institutional Research may know
of one. The estimated number and demographic of undocumented students currently studying at QC is being compiled by Institutional Research at the request of The Knight News. After graduation, undocumented students face difficulties pursuing a master’s degree because they are unable to pay for it without financial aid or scholarships. Furthermore, students aspiring to pursue a career in medicine, law or any field that requires a license cannot obtain the license without legal immigrant status. “It’s heartbreaking that [there are] so many wonderful students I have known in my time here [who are undocumented and face uncertain futures],” Bertolino said. “I remember a student coming in here right before graduation; he was just in tears and didn’t know what to do. So many students come to me in their senior year just petrified.”
UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS START THE DREAM TEAMSALIMAH KHOJANews Reporter
Sophomore Byron Pullutasig and senior Francis Madi are hopeful to start the QC Dream Team, a club that will provide a platform for undocumented students to come together and share their stories with others.
Photo by Salimah Khoja
4 | November 1, 2011 www.theknightnews.com
An anonymous online news tip service, Localeaks.com, was created last fall as a class assignment for an entrepreneurial journalism class by a CUNY Graduate School of Journalism student. “Anonymity is nothing new in journalism, but people must not feel important stories are getting out, or else they wouldn’t use these types of sites,” said Matthew Terenzio, creator of Localeaks. Jeff Jarvis, director of the
CUNY J-School, taught the course that sprouted this idea. Although created for the purpose of the class, Localeaks.com is not owned by or affiliated with CUNY. The site was originally part of a project called Media Lobby, “where the news cycle starts with the users.” The feature of making the tips anonymous was initiated after the explosion of WikiLeaks, an international non-profit organization that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous
news sources and leaks. The site receives tips from hundreds to thousands of news tips and are sent to different news organizations at the same time. Each newspaper organization has an email in the database and the tips come in that form. When the idea popularized on many blogs, Terenzio realized that it would be too much to run on his own. After two weeks, he programmed a system to automate the process. Aside from
the occasional spam he has to filter, Terenzio tries to keep the relationship solely between the user and the newspaper organization. “I know that the future of online journalism comes from innovation, which is what I strive to contribute to. Whether or not this site continues to be used [is something] I can’t say, but I’m sure that anonymous leaks will continue to transform media organizations, for better or worse,” said Terenzio. Terenzio continues to make
advances toward the future of citizen journalism and is working on a project called FollowThis, which allows users to follow a specific story and be notified of updates and related news items.
Evaluation data from Queens College students has been displayed on a beta website that demonstrates graphs and serves a similar purpose to that of Ratemyprofessor.com, while also offering information about course enrollment and schedules. The site, courses.qc.cuny.edu, contains data from course evaluations from spring 2001 until fall 2010 and is extracted from CUNYFirst. The Course Information System remains in beta mode until a few glitches that still remain are fixed. It comes equipped with tabs for instructor evaluation, course evaluation, schedule, enrollments, about and help. For information regarding feedback from evaluations of professors, it shows a graph from one to five, and rates the professor based on clarity, interaction, feedback, assignments, availability and readings. In a bar graph, there is a red dot to show the average of all the instructors who taught that course. This allows students to see where this professor stands in comparison to the average. The difference between the Course Evaluation System and Ratemyprofessor.com is that the former goes by the instructor and although a user can include which course
they took, their feedback is not limited to that course. In the evaluation system, the data presented is separated by each course the professor taught and there is no comments section. But, that may be in the future for the
website if it is presented and approved by the Academic Senate. After viewing the instructors evaluation data, there is a separate tab for grades which shows exactly how many A’s, B’s, C’s, and F’s,
that a professor gave for a course. The site does not provide student comments, but it guarantees that the results of this data is from QC students. “I encourage them [students] to do
their evaluations, I hope that they will find the site so useful that they will go and use this site in selecting their courses and their instructors,” said Dean Savage, professor and sociology department chair.
The idea originated from a program written by Jonathan Bearak as an assignment, while he was a student at QC. The idea continued with the help of programmer Minhan Song of the Office of Converging Technologies [OCT] and contributions from collaborative assistance of Eva Fernández and Andrew DeMasters from Center for Teaching & Learning, Tony Ko of OCT and Savage.
LOCALEAKS.COM’S ROLE IN JOURNALISMMELANIE BENCOSMENews Reporter
MELANIE BENCOSMENews Reporter
NEW SITE, TOOL FOR STUDENTS
“I encourage them [students] to do their evaluations, I hope that they will find the site so useful that they will go and use this site in selecting their courses and their instructors,”
–Dean Savage, Professor and Sociology Department Chair
www.theknightnews.com November 1, 2011 | 5
In the digital era, where many industries have converged to online platforms, it was inevitable that higher education would follow these footprints with online courses. Online course offerings may be unfamiliar to some, but a new initiative has been implemented to change the teaching and learning experience for Queens College faculty and students. With a $30,000 grant from the CUNY Office of Academic Affairs, the Teaching Online Initiative [TOI] was formed under the Center for Teaching and Learning. TOI is a program that aims to expand the number of courses taught as hybrids (partly online, partly in-class courses) at QC and to provide sustained support for faculty who teach online, according to the center’s website. This program is a result of CUNY’s Hybrid Initiative, a response to University Chancellor Matthew Goldstein’s call for the expansion of hybrid instruction at CUNY. Thirteen campuses received grants and implemented similar projects. Since its inception in 2010, Eva Fernandez, director of the center and professor in the linguistics and communication disorders department, along with coordinator of the TOI and professor in the early elementary and childhood education department, Michelle Fraboni, have made significant progress toward fulfilling the objectives of the initiative. Currently at QC, there are 56 online courses being offered for the fall semester: 28 fully online and 28 hybrids. Through hybrid workshops, 48 faculty members have been trained to teach online courses. “This initiative is important because we
are looking at the pedagogical implications of teaching courses in an online/hybrid mode,” said Fernandez. Although offered in limited quantity and in few departments, providing online course options correspond to the wishes of the students. Forty-five percent of students said they want QC to offer more fully online courses while 48 percent want more hybrid courses, according to the 2010 Student Experience Survey.
“I didn’t choose my class because it was a hybrid [course],” said Carmen Cowick, upper junior. “[But] the fact that it was a hybrid was a bonus. I get to do things online and experience both the traditional and non-traditional aspects of learning.” While there is no tuition difference for students or salary difference for professors teaching online courses, these courses can be more time and labor intensive. Professors and students have to be more active in their roles in order to fully engage in online schooling. “You have to be on 24/7 and all your interactions online require writing. Students take some time to adjust,” said Samuel Heilman, a sociology professor who teaches a hybrid course this semester. “But, by giving them set tasks to do each day and lots of feedback, the instructor teaches them they
have to work on their own and be responsible for themselves.” Heilman said he would not suggest online courses for the passive learner. “I don’t recommend it for anyone not ready to take an active role in her or his education. Those looking at a hybrid or online course as an easy ride will be disappointed, [but] those who want to become independent in their ability to learn will, however, find this sort of learning a great
way to get an education,” Heilman said. Instructors also face the challenge of how to make the online course as rich an experience as a traditional classroom course. Dr. William Muraskin, an urban studies professor teaching an online course, creates interactive readers’ guides to complement everything he assigns. He also writes up an answer document that includes everything he would have said if he was lecturing in a classroom. “I believe that online courses are an important choice that the college should make available to students,” Muraskin said. “And it is vital that professors make sure they are solid courses.” Despite early success, it is too soon to determine whether the TOI will succeed in establishing online courses as a mainstay in QC. Additional funding will be needed for
technology use to provide these courses and for continual faculty training. Further progress toward solidifying online courses in the QC curriculum would include the development of a college-wide policy on teaching hybrid and online courses and a way for faculty to propose hybrid/online courses, approved after by their department and the Academic Senate, Fernandez and Fraboni explained. “Even more important than policy
is guidelines – that our hybrid/online curriculum is taught by faculty who are properly trained, so that students taking hybrid/online courses know what they’re signing up for. And so that the right resources are available for faculty and students involved in those courses,” said Fernandez. With their bi-weekly “tech-talks”
and the use of online learning tools, such as Epsilen and the Docutek electronic reserves at the library, professors implement innovative learning and teaching tools in their curriculum for a better experience outside the boundaries of a classroom setting. Through the CUNY Hybrid Bootcamp, instructors explore the possibilities of online classes and are encouraged to use Wordpress, Blackboard and Qwriting as tools for outside classroom instruction. “Many faculty who have participated in our workshops have commented that it gives them a chance to look closely at the current design of their courses and think deeply about their course objectives and assignments,” said Fraboni.
CENTER FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING EXPLORES ONLINE MEDIUMS FOR CLASSROOMS STEPHANIE DAVISNews Reporter
“I believe that online courses are an important choice
that the college should make available to students,”
Muraskin said.
CROSS COUNTRY PLAYER OF THE YEAR SHARES HER STORY SEE PAGE 15.
6 | November 1, 2011 www.theknightnews.com
there’s a better way to rentIt shouldn’t cost a fortune to live in the neighborhood that you want and a place that has easy access to everything you need to live comfortably. Find out more about our renovated apartments and see why we’re different. We’re changing what it means to rent.
Thousands of NO FEE Renovated Apartments Surrounding Queens College
Studio to 3 Bedroom Apartments Now Available
Contact us today for more information! [email protected] • www.vantageliving.com
NO FEE APARTMENTS
IN QUEENSFirst Application Fee also waived
when you mention this ad!
OMG4278_5.6x6.7.indd 1 10/24/11 4:24 PM
THE KNIGHT NEWSis in search for the next big . . .
The New York State Education Department granted Queens College $2.6 million to create a graduate level teacher program that will train new science graduates how to teach in various settings and engage with students. The grant was announced by QC’s Office of Communications on Oct. 7. The program is called Science Pedagogy, Inquiry and Research in Teaching Across Settings [SPIRITAS]. The two-year program culminates with students earning both a master’s degree in secondary science and a NYS teaching certificate. Similar grants have been given to 10 other schools, including CUNY Lehman, SUNY Albany and Oswego, New York University and Fordham University. “This grant helps all of us at the college
think differently about our roles as educators and how we prepare teachers,” said Dean of Education Fran Peterman. The program is the result of NYS’ $700 million win in the second round of the federal competition, “Race to the Top.” A little less than half, $348.3 million, will be allocated toward recruiting teachers, teacher and principal preparation and supporting new curriculum models and assessments. The program is partnering with the New York Hall of Science and five Queens high schools; Long Island City, Forest Hills, Flushing, Francis Lewis and Newton. The curriculum will be designed for teaching and learning to occur anywhere, including settings such as the museum, the playground and the school’s surrounding community. This new model will also allow
future teachers to experiment with and explore how young students absorb information. “These future secondary-school teachers will think like scientists as they explore how children learn science over time and in settings beyond the classroom,” said Peterman. SPIRITAS will start next summer with 25 candidates. The program components include science and education courses totaling in 39 credits; 150 hours spent observing and working with students in various settings and an internship where students will be assigned to one of the partner schools for the academic year. Each candidate will receive a $10,000 scholarship their first year and will be paid to teach classes of their own the second year. Faculty members will collaborate to
link course curriculum within the program, which will include fieldwork and performance assessments. Courses will be taught over the span of two semesters. Project Director David Laurenson has already begun setting up the initial components of the program. An informational brochure has been created and a SPIRITAS website is under way. Before faculty and students can fully explore the meaning of teaching and learning across different settings, the program has to be approved by the Secondary Education and Youth Services Curriculum Committee, then by the Graduate Curriculum Committee and finally by the Academic Senate.
$2.6 MILLION GRANT IMPROVES SCIENCE TEACHERS AT QCSTEPHANIE DAVISNews Reporter
CUNY students began to show interest in the Occupy Wall Street movement by hosting weekly general assemblies, encouraging campus activism and plannings to march to Zuccotti Park. General assemblies at Hunter College, conducted by CUNY affiliates every Friday at 4 p.m., started as assemblies solely for Hunter College students and then spread to incorporate all of CUNY. These meeting are in solidarity with the general assemblies at Occupy Wall Street, which address the issues being raised in the movement and how they are being allocated. Occupy Wall Street is a movement or to some an “American Revolution” based on the primary belief that the majority of wealth is distributed to one percent of the population and that as the 99 percent they should no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the one percent. Also, the activists who believe to be the 99 percent promote “real” democracy. “We understand we need to mobilize students through education. We understand that the economic system that we are in can only be possible because of the racial construction we have accepted,” said Fernando Pardo Herrera from CUNY John Jay. “The only way we can understand that, grasp that and tackle that is through education. We understand that education has
to be fought for and that is why we are here today.” People Powered Movement, an activist group along with Students United held a lecture on Oct. 27. The four guest speakers that attended the lecture were CUNY alumni who took part in historical CUNY takeovers. The alumni, which included Louis Reyes Rivera from the 1969 takeover, Mark Torres and Christine Moore from the 1989 takeover and Vicente Montera from the 1991 takeover, spoke about their experiences of civil disobedience and how their tactics of strong activism may help this movement. CUNY students have been protesting against the CUNY system since 1969, when CUNY was a free university. In 1969 CUNY declared “open admissions” as a result of protestors, specifically African Americans and Puerto Rican students, acting in support of integration of all races in what was mainly an all white college. “What 33 people did one morning , somewhere between 6:30 and 7 a.m. they got to the college and broke the locks on the gates, changed the locks and asked the security to leave because they were taking over,” said Rivera. “They immediately contacted the people at the dorm, I was in the dorms. By 11 a.m. more than 400 people were behind those gates. We stayed there for two weeks.” Ever since then CUNY students have
been protesting against the CUNY system over several issues such as putting an end to “open admission” in regards to no tuition. CUNY tuition has raised by an additional $300 this year, and may continue to do so over the next five years, which would bring the total tuition hike to approximately $1,500. Torres, who is also the chair of People Powered Movement, instructed the 40 people in the audience how to start an activist group and aware students about the movement. “Know your campus. Organize your campus. Each campus is responsible for pulling people out,” he said. He began to encourage students to approach other people who feel strongly and seriously about the matters then promote the issues to clubs and student governments on campus and then lastly reach out to other campuses. “In our concept of organizing... we try to incorporate it into work or become supporters of those who are working on those areas,” said Torres. “Same thing with Occupy Wall Street we are not going to drop our work and all of the sudden all of us get a tent out, that’s not how we are going to do things. But you know what the Occupy Wall Street people came out and said we need an anti-corporate agenda and we said yes we support that.”
On their seventh week of occupation on Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street has well spread all over the nation to 1,200 occupations, according to OccupyColleges.org. This trend has encouraged students to create Occupy Colleges which began three weeks ago. Occupy Colleges, which was created in Los Angeles by UCLA alumni, came up with alternative methods of “occupations” and involvement by promoting nationwide acts of activism and awareness in colleges. This was primarily created for students who are unable to leave their responsibilities and take part in their local occupations sites to be able to voice their concerns and show their support. Occupy Colleges has organized two nationwide walk-outs along with planning teach-ins on Nov. 2 and 3. Over 150 colleges, including scattered number of CUNY schools and students, took part in these walk-outs, though only 50 colleges are signed-up to conduct teach-ins. CUNY's Brooklyn College will be holding their teach-in on Nov. 3 at 12:15 p.m., featuring professor Nancy Romer and Corey Robin. Along with the Nov 3 teach-in, CUNY students as a whole will march to Zuccotti Park, which was previously scheduled for Oct. 29, but due to inclement weather the march was postponed to Nov. 5.
CUNY BECOMES PART OF 99 PERCENTSWEETINA KAKARNews Reporter
8 | November 1, 2011 www.theknightnews.com
The 83-year-old man smiled widely as he looked across the hall at his audience, which held on to his every word. As they roared with laughter, Philip Levine shared his story with a nonchalant smile and a humble nod of his head. Who would have thought that a boy from Detroit, who received a mail-ordered masters degree, would become the 18th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry of the United States. Levine, inducted two days before his reading at QC on Oct. 19., charmed, warmed, stunned and touched his audience with jokes and recollections as he read 10 poems, selected impromptu, from two of his collections. Poet Laureates, appointed annually by the Library of Congress since 1985, are responsible for overseeing ongoing poetry readings and lectures at the Library and are expected to promote poetry nationally. Organized and co-sponsored by the Poetry Society of America and the Queens College Masters in Fine Arts Program [MFA] within a series of readings called “The New Salon in Queens,” this was not an average, stiff, academic reading. Chronicling events that
shaped his life, Levine told his story of becoming a poet while reading the poems that were, in turn, shaped by those events. “Phil gave us permission as writers and showed us how important poetry was,” said Nicole Cooley, director of the MFA program. “It is a real honor to have him here.” Levine’s many accolades include: 20 collections of poems, winner of the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, two national book awards and two national book critic circle awards. Strongly affected by jazz, the Korean War and his mentors – poets Robert Lowell and John Berryman – Levine writes mainly about the familial, social and economic world of 20th century Detroit, leaving a strong testament of mid-20th century American life. During the moderated portion of the reading, Levine sat down with his former student, Cooley, and shared insight about what makes poetry. “Talent, luck and stubbornness. Stay at it forever,” encouraged Levine, who told poets to focus less on prosody and more on doing what they do best. “Your responsibility is to write well and be true to your emotions.” “There is something transcendent about his work without losing the realism,” said
professor Kathryn O’Donohue of the English Department. Harold Schechter, professor and assistant chair of the English Department, said Levine is one of his favorite poets. “He has an amazing evocation of time and place. He captures a moment when life has potential to be a lot more terrifying,” Schechter said. Levine joined the reception
after the reading where he signed books and interacted with visitors. As he exited the hall, Levine left his audience reflective and a little bit more aware about poetry, values and life. “They are gone now, the three—Vallejo, Lupino, Cohen— into an America no one wanted or something even worse, so bless their certainties, their fiery voices we so
easily resisted, their tired eyes, their cheeks flushed with sudden blood, bless their rhetoric, bless their zeal, bless their costumes and their cards, bless their faith in us, especially that faith, that hideous innocence.” ----- Excerpt from “Our Reds” by Philip Levine, 2005.
U.S. Poet Laureate Philip Levine reads at Queens College
Images of a Japanese soldier urinating into a Chinese boy’s mouth, drinking water turned pink from the blood of corpses and dead females, naked from the waist down after being raped, are the stomach turning images presented in Ha Jin’s novel, “Nanjing Requiem.”With constant hand gestures offering explanations beyond his
words of broken English, Ha Jin, the most recent guest at the Queens College’s 35th annual Evening Readings session, read from his most recent novel. The book was published two weeks ago. It is set in 1937 and tells the story of rapes that took place in the town of Nanjing, China. According to Jin, most of the graphic images he wrote about came directly from Japanese recordings that were translated into Chinese, which he then translated
into English. “The writing process was very depressing,” said Jin. “At moments I felt I couldn’t continue.” While writing, he recalled there was a “half-hour in which I could not stop the tears.” Jin, also known for his poetry, felt “Nanjing Requiem” needed to be written as prose because it allowed him to be more expansive in the subject matter. As an experienced teacher in China in the 1980s, Dr. Joe
Cuomo, director of the Evening Readings said, “Of all the work I’ve read in English, I have never seen the incident reflected as accurately as it was in his work.” Directly following his reading, Jin sat down with moderator Leonard Lopate, host of “The Leonard Lopate Show” of radio channel WNYC. During the discussion, the audience learned that Jin joined the Chinese military at 14. He said it was either going to the military or
working in the countryside, so he chose the military because the food was better. The audience was extremely eager to ask Jin questions, who in turn was grateful for having a platform for his work and extremely receptive to the QC audience. “This is a piece of literature I really wanted to transcend history [with]. Whether I succeeded, I don’t know,” he said.
POET LAUREATE, PHILIP LEVINE, CHARMS QUEENS COLLEGEMEHER MOHSIN AND STACEY MARTINNews Reporters
Photo by Meher Mohsin
RECREATING THE HORRORS OF NANJING AT THE ‘EVENING READINGS’STACEY MARTINNews Reporter
www.theknightnews.com November 1, 2011 | 9
Before being named one of the 16 global visionaries impacting media entertainment and politics by Details Magazine, Jeff Gomez (’85), was a geek from Flushing, who “somehow made his dreams come true,” after graduating Queens College. At QC’s Alumni Day on
Oct. 23, the creative thinker gave his “Never Surrender” seminar and shared the lessons of his life. “One piece of advice that stuck out the most was the perspective of following your ambitions no matter what. He told me to never give up, and those words will hold great significance now and into the future,” said Marcos Ynoa, president of the Science Fiction and Animation Club. Gomez, 48, is in the business of transmedia storytelling - telling stories across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies. As CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, Gomez has worked on blockbusters such as Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean,” Microsoft’s Halo,”,James Cameron’s “Avatar,” Hasbro’s “Transformers” and Mattel’s “Hot Wheels”. Gomez’s company was launched in 2000 with partner and Vice President Mark Pensavalle. They focus on turning intellectual property/story into transmedia
successes. They also work on the story and create a book of worlds for each story called mythology books, so when the story moves from movie to video game, the video game creators can follow the same story and learn all there is to know about the story world. “He has a unique ability to marry both creative and business sense, where most people are either one or the other. Only a few can do both,” said Pensavalle.
Since 1988, Gomez has offered his “Never Surrender” motivational seminars in more than 1,000 venues to more than 120,000 students, educators and professionals. Gomez graduated from QC with a degree in film and communications arts and sciences. QC professors that were inspirational to Gomez were Robert Kapisus, Royal Brown, Edgar Gregerson and Jonathan Buchsbaum. “Jeff was quiet and serious, smart and inquisitive. The cinema we watched and studied stimulated him in a way that I like to think contributed to his later success. I’m thrilled to hear that QC played a role in that deserved success,” said Buchsbaum, current QC media studies professor. Gomez took a semester off to write a novel that later developed into a movie called, “Red Light August,” that debuted at a film festival in 1999 about a
boy who suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder [OCD]. The movie not only related to his struggles with the disorder, but also greatly helped launch his career, according to Gomez. Gomez was born from a Jewish mother and a Puerto Rican father, with a facial paralysis on the left side of his face from a forceps delivery where the doctors used tongs during birth. He has had corrective surgeries over the years
for aesthetic purposes. Because of hard economic times, Jeff Gomez’s mother gave him up to foster care soon after his birth. “It actually wasn’t that bad...They [foster parents] were the ones who named me Jeffrey,” said Gomez. After two years, his mother and father asked to take back custody and the foster family conceded. He was moved from suburbia in New Rochelle to the projects in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. “Growing up in the projects there was always something in the back of my mind that said it does not have to be this way. There are other ways to perceive the world. All great stories in some way or another do that and I want to be part of telling great stories,” said Gomez. When his mother moved from the projects to Hawaii in the 1970s, Gomez’s previous interests of Godzilla and science
fiction increased. In Hawaii, he was introduced to transmedia through a Japanese comic book called “Kikaider.” The comic read backward and all three volumes was translated to Gomez, From there, the comic was turned into a television series and abruptly ended, leaving audiences with half the cast dead and the villain triumphant. H i s friend informed him that the story actually ends in movie form, only
playing across town. With a dime in his pocket and a hope for closure, Jeff Gomez got on the bus and went to see the movie version that proved evil is always defeated. This turning point gave Gomez a vision for telling stories that utilize multiple media platforms in different ways. Gomez came back to N.Y. from Hawaii in 1976 and lived on Kissena Blvd. “I would be the only human being in the United States, with the exception of a guy named George Lucas, who ever understood how these stories get told,” said Gomez. As a teen, Gomez developed OCD. As a therapy, he began writing down his feelings in small handwriting so it could remain secretive; however, he shamefully ripped them up. It was then that Gomez read about a Fantasy Role Players Guild that mentioned Dungeons and Dragons in a copy of the then-QC student newspaper, Phoenix. From then on, Gomez was hooked into these worlds and
the people who played them. He began to realize that playing video games and becoming involved in this group soothed his OCD. Gomez spoke of a moment in the science fiction clubroom where a group of the “cool kids” passed by and it gave him the realization that he was a nerd. In that group, was a woman with a magenta crew cut, who would later become his wife. Chrysoula and Jeff have been married for 21 years and have an
8-year-old daughter, Evangelia, who loves to write stories and gets help making short films on her iPhone from her dad. “For Jeff, the money that comes with good business is the cherry on the sundae. He loves the work and he deeply believes in what he’s doing,” said his wife. Gomez is a board member of the Producers Guild of America, on the New Media Council and Power to the Pixel Board of Advisors. He was awarded the 2011 Marc A. Levey Distinguished Service Award and was part of Digital Media Wire’s 2011, “25 Digital Entertainment Executives to Watch.” “I took my geeky love of science fiction mythologies and applied it to cutting edge technology to create practical transmedia narratives for huge corporations and billion dollar franchises. And I do it all with love in my heart for every kid who has looked across a river and yearned to find out what was on the other side.”
FROM GEEK TO VISIONARY MELANIE BENCOSMENews Reporter
Jeff Gomez, CEO of Starlight Runner Entertainment, made his dreams come true after graduating
QC in 1985. He spoke to an inspired crowd during this year’s homecoming on Oct. 23.
Photo Courtesy of Nancy Bareis, Queens College Photographer
10 | November 1, 2011 www.theknightnews.com
Yoga, cooking lessons and panels on health, social action and public service, all in the name of ‘food-justice’ made up this year’s CUNY FoodFEST. Sponsored by a grant from the William R. Kenan Scholars program of the Macaulay Honors College, the two-day event brought together over 30 participants from all over New York City for a day of learning and action. According to the Macaulay website, the Kenan Scholars program seeks to incubate and foster social vision and courage within its recipients, to help them build identities as agents of change, and to encourage them to draw meaningful lines of connection between scholarship and the communities in which they live. The CUNY FoodFEST 2011 focused on educating and engaging participants in conversation about various topics in the ‘food-justice’ movements. Food justice is a call for action to achieve food security: a belief that everyone should be free of hunger and the fear of starvation, as a basic human right. The student-organizers,
Dasi Fruchter, senior from Queens College, Lakshman Kalasapudi and David Weinberger, seniors from Hunter College, Lashika Yogendran, senior from Brooklyn College and Elizabeth Kelman, junior from City College, decided to manage an event bringing together all the issues they sought to raise awareness about, after realizing their passions for public health, community, action and food. “This gives Macaulay students a grant and a chance to carry out social action and public service
projects,” said Fruchter.
The day consisted of puppet shows, workshops and panels covering topics such as food stamps, food and faith, and composting; cooking lessons, and other activities such as preparing meals for homeless people, which were then handed out at that night’s mid-night run to feel homeless people led by the Bowery Mission in Manhattan, New York. “We sought to organize a place where people can enjoy food together, be activists and build community,” said Fruchter.
On Sunday, Oct. 23., attendees
participated in workshops, cooking lessons, and meet with various food justice organizations from around the city. Speakers and organizations included Madea Allen-Gueye, of “Just Food,” Sylvia Ng, a Hunter College alumna and nutrition consultant for the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Services Program known as “SNAP-Ed.” A variety of food journalists, critics, activists and musicians attended as well. The day’s food was catered by “Sacred Chow,” a restaurant located in NYC, committed to serving
quality vegan and kosher food. Part two of the FoodFEST was held on the following day at various campuses across CUNY. Students organized healthy food demonstrations, film screenings and lectures to further raise awareness about food-justice. “I loved that it was such a colorful event with people from all ages and different walks of life, kids and older people,” said Fruchter. “I think this really had immense power creating understanding across differences and we hope to continue this every year.”
Photo Courtesy of Yuan K
Photo Courtesy of Yuan K
A team of joyful faces are behind a table laden with an array of colorful vegetables, fresh blueberry jam and raw honey. Open since July 2011, the Pomonok Farmers Market is in an unexpected location; a stone’s throw from Kissena Blvd. and our very own Queens College. The market, which has been a success thus far, is the result of a community survey that demonstrated a need for high quality and organic produce at a convenient location for the many senior citizens in the area. The Farmers Market is run by the Queens Community House and Pomonok Senior Center in Flushing. Once the project was implemented, senior citizens from the Pomonok Senior Center were trained on how to run a farmers market and produce was grown in their community gardens. A number of contributors donate fresh produce to the market, including John Bowne High School, who has their own gardens and an agricultural program for students. Many farmers come and spend a day each week volunteering in the market. Mr. and Mrs. Brian Won run a farm in upstate, New York, and their wide variety of fruits, vegetables and pickles are also sold at the market. The market is funded by NYS Fresh Connect, NY Community Trust, Community Experience Partnership and the NYS Department of Agriculture. Many incentives
exist to shop at the market, including reduced prices and a $2 coupon for every $5 spent. EBT cards are also accepted. The focus of the Pomonok Farmers Market is to make fresh produce accessible to locals and cultivate healthy eating habits for all ages. There are also cooking demonstrations early in the afternoon to show customers how to use the produce they purchased. Fast and easy recipes are demonstrated in order to prove that cooking healthy food does not have to be difficult. On Oct. 13, Chef Evelyn Banker, author of the cookbook “The Magic of Spices,” made lentil soup using a few simple ingredients. Amy Tam-Liao, community organizer of the Queens Community House and Pomonok housing projects, said that offering organic produce that is fresh and inexpensive is a wonderful way to give back to the community and promote healthy living. The farmers market has also been a good way for seniors to remain active and involved in something enjoyable and rewarding.
Location: 67-09 Kissena Blvd. Flushing, NY, 11367
Hours of Operation: Every Thursday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. until Nov. 11
Price Range: $5-$10 will get you a good assortment to use for a few meals
Payment Method: cash, EBT cards and major credit cards
To find out more: log on to www.queenscommunityhouse.org
or call 718-591-6060
STUDENTS CELEBRATE ACTIVISM WITH FOODMEHER MOHSINNews Reporter
Attendees partake in a cooking-lesson
Attendees participate in a “Food Policy” workshop
with Joel Berg at the CUNY FoodFEST
THE KNIGHT NEWS FOOD CULTURE REPORT: An Unexpected Delight on Bustling Kissena Boulevard EMMA KESTLERNews Reporter
Photo by Emma Kestler
Photo by Emma Kestler
Fresh farm grown produce available every Thursday until 11/11/11
People gather at the Pomonok Farmers Market on Kissena Blvd.
Pieces by the late American abstract painter and sculptor, Sasson Soffer, often go unnoticed on the Queens College campus even with the strong liberal arts reputation at the school. “Romanesque Remembrance” and “Gothic Remembrance,” created by Soffer in 1978 and donated to QC in 2007, are located between the Dining Hall and Rathaus Hall. Soffer was born in Bagdad, Iraq, in 1923 and came to the United States in 1950. He enrolled in Brooklyn College and studied with abstract expressionists Mark Rothko and Ad Reinhardt. Based on his positive experience with CUNY, Soffer encouraged his children and grandchildren to honor these institutions by giving back. It was with this philanthropic mindset that his grandchildren, Samuel Liberman and Eve Liberman (the children of Peter Liberman, professor of political science at QC, and Sarah Soffer), donated these two
pieces to the school. The sculptures, assembled at the T.W. Dick factory in Gardener, Maine, are made of one-inch carbon steel plates sandblasted and weathered in salt-water air and then covered with a protective coating made of warm orange patina. Soffer’s interest in this medium began in the 1970s and his work has been shown in Battery Park, Lincoln Center, Soho and various national and international museums and universities. Because of Soffer’s warm orange patina, and his grandchildren’s philanthropic gesture, QC students will be able to enjoy these sculptures for a very long time.
“Romanesque Remembrance” and “Gothic Remembrance,” by Artist Sasson Soffer
When the Benjamin Rosenthal Library was completed in 1988, the Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Clock Tower was just a structure without bells, clock faces or even a name. A tower was seen as a necessary part of the library during the construction planning in the early 1980s. All three proposed designs for the library included a tower to serve as a visible indicator for the library on campus. “Although Kiely Hall dominates the campus, a secondary focus, visible both night and day, is important to mark the library and its entrance,” said Architectural Design Concept notes from Dec. 7, 1983, housed at the Queens College Archives. On May 10, 1989, the tower was dedicated as the Chaney-Goodman-Schwerner Clock Tower, named after James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, three civil rights workers murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi during the summer of 1964. Goodman was a QC student who volunteered with the Mississippi Summer Project, a program set up to register black voters and organize schools – also known as “Freedom Summer.” Chaney and Schwerner trained Goodman and were staff members for the Congress of Racial Equality. The tower dedication was
held as part of the 25th anniversary of “Freedom Summer,” according to Joseph Brostek, coordinator of the event. Shirley Kenny, QC president until 1994 also helped plan the event. Civil rights leader Aaron Henry and Andrew Goodman’s mother, Dr. Carolyn Goodman also attended the event. “Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner were part of history and of bringing the world’s attention to the struggle for civil rights,” said Bostek, who also coordinated the dedication of the tower’s bells. “It was an honor to be associated with the dedications.” On Nov. 7, 1990, five bells, which chime at the start of every hour, were dedicated - one named after each of the three men. The bells were originally supposed to chime every 15 minutes, according to the Undergraduate Bulletin of 1991-1993. The time changed after a Kew Gardens Hills resident, who felt that the bells
tolling every 15 minutes would contribute to noise pollution in the neighborhood, sent a letter to President Kenny in November of 1990. “Don’t destroy our lives anymore,” said the angry writer. “Shame on you and Queens College for having the nerve to disrupt and cause increased anguish to the whole community.” The tornado that hit New York in September 2010 caused damage to the campus and the clock tower, silencing the bells. The bells were back in operation by the fall 2011 semester. On July 5, 2011, a QC alumnus proposed to his girlfriend, a QC student, in the clock tower, which is usually off limits to students. QC administrators, Public Safety, and Buildings and Grounds crewmembers helped him pull it off. The clock tower is used to light up the Quad for those on campus
after dark and its lights change color in recognition of various causes and events. In October, the lights were purple to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness Month. The clock tower stands as a
practical marker for the library and a warm welcome to everyone who sees it and hears its bells.
A LOOK AT THE CLOCK TOWERMONICA PALERMO News Reporter
Photo by Melanie Bencosme
Photo by Monica Palermo
The clock tower lit up purple to commemorate Domestic Violence Awareness in October
The Library-Clock tower was dedicated in 1989
TIMELESS ART GIVEN TO QCMELODY BATESNews Reporter
Photo by Melody Bates
12 | November 1, 2011 www.theknightnews.com
A secret NYPD intelligence division conducted undercover investigations of CUNY’s Muslim Student Associations based on its members’ faith rather than any suspicion or leads, according to an Associated Press story in early October that The Knight News followed up on. With the actions of the NYPD and FBI (both unrepentant) under scrutiny by the media and general public, The Knight News believes it is about time reform comes around to our country and our state. On a more intimate and relatable level, we believe it has to start on the Queens College campus. The procedures of the FBI and NYPD are in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Title VI which prevents discrimination by government agencies that receive
federal funds. Do exaggerated and outlandish suspicions override basic human rights? How is this different from McCarthyism? With lawmakers and civil rights groups around the country calling for reform within The Patriot Act and an end to the NYPD’s “Demographics Unit,” we, at QC need to ensure that our campus is a safe place for everyone. Our administration needs to make clear that students, who feel threatened, bullied, harassed or plainly profiled, can go to seek help, counseling and above all; defense. In turn, students, when noticing something unusual, need to stand up and say something. Profiling in the U.S. has been a recurring problem since our founding. This problem needs to come to an end.
Mission Statement:“We aim to serve the Queens College community through a tireless pursuit for truths that may be hidden, obstructed or otherwise unknown, to empower our readers with the information they need to
inspire change.”
Editor-in-Chief: Will SammonManaging Editor: Salimah KhojaBusiness Manager: Fred MagovernCopy Chief: Shiryn Ghermezian
Correction: In the Oct. 18 issue of The Knight News, the photos on page six were wrongfully credited to Jackie Weber. The photos were courtesy of Nancy Bareis, an award-winning Queens College photographer.
On CUNYFirst (after Gerard Manley Hopkins)
No worst, there is none. Pitched by pitchmen who
Will say anything and will stop at nothing:
Consultation—when were you operating?
PSC-CUNY—what is it you do?
My job sucks, big-time. Now I waste my hours with you,
Old-fangled, elaborate and irritating
System that stinks! We were promised something
Better than what we had before. It was not true.
My mind has its limits. Spreadsheets appall—
Vast, drear, no-human-fathomed. Hold them cheap
May who ne’er logged in. Nor can my small
Patience deal with this heap of [BLEEP]. I weep,
Kvetch, grumble and whimper, tell myself sadly:
All change makes things worse; wolves come dressed as sheep.
- Stephen Grover, QC chair, philosophy
To The Knight News,
Can you do an article about the frustration of bursar holds? I found out I have a bursar hold while trying to register for classes. My CUNYfirst homepage said I have no holds, and when I searched for my holds it still said that I have no holds. I had to go through my old QC emails to find an email from the bursar informing me that I have a hold. When I called the bursar on Friday, at about 2:00 p.m., I followed the option that says to wait for a representative. I did this five times within an hour and each time, after waiting for two or three minutes, someone would pick up the phone, I’d hear some background noise for a second, and then they would hang up. This happened five times. The bursar hotline says their hours are Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. But their email that was sent to me says Friday working hours are until 1:00 p.m. I’m sure everyone in the college has in some way been irritated by the bursar in some way or another, whether it is long lines, or
frustrating bureaucracy. The semester is not even over yet and already they are putting holds on people’s accounts, thus making registering for the classes a person needs even harder than it already is, considering the difficulty of getting into a class before it is full. I’m tired of it and I feel like other people are tired of it, and The Knight News is probably the best way for the students to voice their opinions about the college’s students’ unrelenting source of frustration that is Jefferson Hall.
-Donny Eckhaus, Upper Senior, Sociology major
Editor’s note: We are currently in the stages of reporting on a story that will be featured in our Nov. 15 edition highlighting these alleged issues. The Knight News is not interested in simply voicing complaints in the future article, but instead offering a platform for multiple sides of the story.
LETTER TO THE KNIGHT NEWS
www.theknightnews.com November 1, 2011 | 13
In a recent issue of The Knight News, reporter Fred Magovern wrote about the NYPD “spying” on Muslim students. The article raises some important questions. The primary question is this: Should the NYPD have an aggressive anti-terrorism strategy that includes an increased focus on certain parts of the Muslim community? The answer is perhaps politically-incorrect. The answer will perhaps be disagreeable to some. But the answer is a definite yes. Before anyone suffers apoplexy and declares this to be Islamophobic, let me be clear about one thing: Most Muslims are not terrorists. Most Muslims are not supportive of terrorism. Indeed, the vast majority of Muslims are good, decent, patriotic Americans. Of this we should have no doubt whatsoever. On the other hand, we must not hide from reality—even if that reality is uncomfortable or politically-incorrect. The fact is that although most Muslims are not terrorists, a large and disproportionately high number of Muslims have been involved in terrorist attacks and terrorist plots. The U.S. State Department maintains
a list of major terrorist attacks around the world. The fact of the matter is that radical Muslims are disproportionately represented on that list. The list does not even include attempted attacks that have been thwarted by good police work. According to a recent report by the Heritage Foundation, there have been at least 40 terrorist plots right here in the United States in the decade since 9/11. Those plots were not hatched by radical Catholics, radical Buddhists, or radical Mormons. Just last year, Adis Medunjanin was arrested and charged in an al-Qaida bomb plot. Why is that significant? Mr. Medunjanin is a 2009 graduate of none other than Queens College. The tone of Mr. Magovern’s article suggests that the NYPD is engaging in some sort of sinister activity that unjustly punishes all Muslims. That is just not the case. They are in fact protecting all New Yorkers—Muslim and non-Muslim alike—from homicidal maniacs. The NYPD is simply following the evidence and adjusting their strategy accordingly. For them to do otherwise would be irrational and completely foolish. It’s time to stop ignoring the facts. While
we must never forget that most Muslims are law-abiding citizens, we can’t ignore reality. The threat posed by Islamic extremists is as real as it gets. The threat affects all of us because bombs don’t discriminate. So instead of blaming the NYPD for being aggressive in their efforts to keep all New Yorkers safe, perhaps we should be thanking them.
Professor Tim RosenBusiness and Liberal Arts Program
Queens College - CUNY
Fred Magovern: While Professor Rosen’s letter to the editor contains many inaccuracies, there is only space to address a few. It’s unfortunate to see any professor, especially one who teaches “Critical Thinking,” sacrifice careful thought in a perceived war against political correctness. His argument relies on the unstated assumption that this policing strategy works best. In fact, targeting all Muslims regardless of any evidence of wrongdoing or suspicion
undermines that community’s trust in the police, a key resource for successful policing. We must define ‘successful policing.’ Professor Rosen correctly submits that it is about keeping the public safe. The NYPD, however, is more interested in “making numbers” - we strongly encourage readers to listen to part 2 of This American Life’s episode “The Right to Remain Silent” for a primer on the NYPD’s corrupt institutional culture. Lastly, the foiled terrorist plots he references consist almost entirely of the FBI relying on disreputable informants to convince vulnerable individuals over considerable periods of time and with great pressure to participate in plots that didn’t exist, arguably entrapment. There must always be a trade-off between civil liberties and security but the NYPD’s blanket targeting, in collaboration with the CIA no less, represents an egregious imbalance.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
14 | November 1, 2011 www.theknightnews.com
Andrea Slavin and the Queens College women’s soccer team fell to the undefeated University of Bridgeport 3-1 on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, the Lady Knights fell to 3-3-1 in conference play, missing the playoffs by one game behind Molloy College. After Bridgeport’s Katie Kenny found the back of the net off a corner kick in the 11th minute, QC senior Janine Guerra tied the game at 1-1 in the 24th minute, scoring on a rebound shot from Brittany Silipo. That was all the Lady Knights could muster against the Bridgeport (7-0 ECC, 16-0 overall), defense, and when Purple Knight Julia Colley scored off of a right-side cross in the 31st minute, she put Bridgeport up for good. Jenny Hwang buried her first goal of the season in the 60th minute to give the Purple Knights a 3-1 advantage. With the loss, Slavin, Silipo and Katherine Colon played their last match in a Queens College uniform. The Lady Knights will miss the playoffs after advancing to the ECC Finals just a year ago.
WOMEN’S SOCCER FAILS TO MAKE PLAYOFFSJOE TREZZA Sports Reporter
Photo by Bradly Levitt
The Queens College men’s soccer
team has been riding the right foot of
Danny Stoker all year.
Through 17 games, the junior
striker-turned-defenseman, who leads
his team in all major scoring categories
and stands second in the East Coast
Conference [ECC] with 13 goals, has been
the Knights' undisputed leader on both
sides of the ball.
That is why, when in the second half
of Sunday’s match at Bridgeport, QC down
1-0 with a playoff birth on the line, it was no
surprise who stepped up.
In the 76th minute, after a Bridgeport
foul, Stoker buried a free-kick from 20 yards
out to tie the score at 1-1. The score would
stick and the Knights were able to earn a
draw and salvage the point they needed to
secure the fourth and final playoff spot in
the ECC tournament. They will play No.
1 seeded C.W. Post on Nov. 2 in the ECC
semifinals.
In a match originally scheduled to be a
home game, Queens was forced to travel
to Connecticut and play the third seeded
Purple Knights on their turf because of the
weekend snow.
"We were expecting to play at home,
which would have been to our advantage,"
said Peter Touros, who is second on the
Knights with 20 total points. "But we
brushed it off and got the job done."
After Stoker's goal, the Knights'
defense held a relentless Bridgeport
attack scoreless for 14 minutes in
regulation and for a 20 minute overtime
period, despite 19 shots from the Purple
Knights. Bridgeport also held an 8-2
advantage on corner kicks.
"In overtime we weren't just going to
lay down. We knew what we were playing
for," said Touros. "Now we're in the driver's
seat. We can make our own destiny."
STOKER’S GOAL PROPELS KNIGHTS INTO PLAYOFF PICTURE JOE TREZZASports Reporter
“In overtime we weren’t just going to lay down. We knew what we were playing for,” said Touros. “Now we’re in the driver’s seat. We can make our own destiny. ,” –Peter Tourous, junior forward
www.theknightnews.com November 1, 2011 | 15
Queens College senior standout Indira Avila ran to a course and personal record, 5,000-meter time of 18:35.72 on Oct. 23, good enough for first place honors in the conference championship.
CROSS COUNTRY STAR READY TO MEET NEW COMPETITION
The summer of 2011 might forever be synonymous with the number 60 for Indira Avila. She ran that many miles a week for three months in an effort to achieve a goal. “I wanted to win ECC. I wanted to have a good season,” said the Queens College senior. Avila, 21, achieved first-place honors at the 2011 East Coast Conference [ECC] Women’s Cross Country Championships on Oct. 23. She ran to a course, and personal, record, 5,000-meter time of 18:35.72. After being awarded with conference player of the week honors four times this season, she was recognized as the Conference Player of the Year. Avila devoted little time toward reminiscing on her glory after accomplishing the goal she set out for herself prior to the start of the season. “I worked for it so hard, for so long. When I got there [finish line], I was like, ‘OK, what’s next?’ I’m
already waiting for the next thing,” said Avila. Instead of ending the season for Avila, the victory has prolonged it. What follows is another challenge for the cross country standout student athlete. Avila will now travel to Boston to compete in the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship on Sunday, Nov. 6. “It is going to be tough. It is probably a 50/50 chance. For the ECC [race], I felt 90, 95 percent [confident in winning]. I was runner of the week four times out of six - I had to. Next is regionals and the competition is at a whole other level,” Avila said. A challenging level of competition is not entirely new for Avila. Though only 5’2”, the Forest Hills High School alumna can easily be spotted when she is practicing on the track. Cross country head coach Greg Welch, in an effort to motivate Avila by challenging her, has the star athlete practice with the men’s team.
“I don’t want to practice with no one in front of me,” Avila said. Welch realized the caliber of runner she was in her junior year and then switched her practice setting. Though Avila is unable to always keep pace with her male peers, she is highly respected. “Indira really is an amazing runner. Take someone with her talent then add her determination and what you get is a champion. I am glad she’s in good enough shape to run with the guys sometimes,” said men’s cross country team captain Max Gazzara. She mostly trains with the men on easier workout days. The team’s race paces are faster than hers, therefore it is harder for her to keep up with the men on the workouts, according to Gazzara. “We basically consider her part of the guy’s team and we sometimes take for granted and forget how good she is compared to other girls,” said Gazzara. The work ethic, skills and
determination came later for Avila, who started running in middle school for an after-school program. She gave the sport a try during high school, but described her freshman year as “torture,” because of the long and tedious practice hours. She failed to make cross country a priority in her life until she experienced success on the track. The success enabled her to be confident in her ability. She later realized that the sport was a possible key to a scholarship toward college. After earning an athletic scholarship to QC after her senior year in high school, Avila learned why she was a natural on the track. “Its a sport where you don’t have to depend on anybody other than yourself, you have no one to blame but yourself, your competing against your last personal record. It is an individual sport like swimming. Usually, on any other team, you lose because someone did something they were not supposed to and then pointing fingers start,” Avila said.
Described as a “leader” by her head coach, Avila’s sportsmanship is just as recognizable as her records. A recent example was displayed toward the end of her last race. Avila trailed a woman who started to veer in the wrong direction. Instead of letting her opponent lose in a “cheap” way, the former Sportsmanship Soccer Award winner shouted at the rival to inform her of the mistake. Though Welch characterized her goals of making it to regionals and nationals as a bit unrealistic earlier in the season, he is now convinced by her character, mindset and determination. “Halfway into the season she made me a believer. Now her goal is to make it to the nationals, its going to be tough, but if she believes it, then I believe in her,” said Welch.
CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE YEAR ON TRACK TO REGIONALS
Photo by Bradly Levitt
Indira Avila, 2011 East Coast Conference Runner of the Year, is headed to Boston to compete in the NCAA Division II East Regional Championship on Nov. 6.
