y o u r. i n d y @ g m a i l . c o m editor-in-chief:
Ró i sí n McCarty layout editor:
To m D au er
writers: Jake Agosto Ethan Darling Dylan Green Alyssa Hanna Noelle Moore Jake Mur phy Josh Myer s Mike Reluzco Ste phanie Spencer print manager: Tony Pontius (i )Tommy Roach cover photo by: Tyler Dawson copy editor: Rachel Margolin artwork by: Madeleine Bergman Nicolas Sienty web design by: Danielle Lempp (i )Alexa Dillenbeck
The Purchase Independent is a non-profit news magazine, paid for by the Mandatory Student Activity fee. We welcome and encourage submissions from readers. The Independent is a forum for campus issues and events, to give students the voice they deserve. Letters, articles, event photography and event listings are welcomed. The deadline for submissions is every Friday before midnight, and accepted pieces will be published the following Thursday. Publication of submissions is not guaranteed, but subject to the discretion of the editors. No anonymous submissions will be considered, but we will accept use of pseudonyms on a case-by-case basis. Send all submissions and inquiries to your. indy@gmail.com. Send questions to Madame Query at formspring.me/madamequery. Back page quotes can be submitted to formspring. me/indybackpage or put in the Back Page Box that hangs on the office door. Our office is located on the first floor of Campus Center North, room 1011. Staff meetings are held in the office every Monday night at 9:30; anyone is welcome.
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Today’s issue of The Independent comes out on one of the most important days of the year! Well, for me at least. Today is my mom, Sharon’s birthday. She is one of the most wonderful people in the entire world, and I wish her a fantastic, jolly, and fun 29th birthday. ;) She is the most supportive person ever and I can’t thank her enough for everything she’s done for me, including answering frustrated and stressed phone calls when I’m reaching Indy deadlines and need her voice to get me through it. Another noteable birthday that I meant to mention last week is that of Miss Brittany Mayes, the president of the PSGA and the light of my life. Our Naked Issue photoshoot is tomorrow night! So come out and get naked. (I know it’s 4/20, sorry about that, but our staff is very tolerant and accepting of all holidays that are celebrated here at Purchase.) We’ll be at the PTV studios in the basement of CCN starting at 6 pm. Looking forward to seeing everyone there! Also, congratulations to everyone who won the PSGA elections, and all the best for the next academic year! I will now awkwardly wave to you every time I see you near the PSGA office. Please wave back. I need a win. Stay golden,
y o u r. i n d y @ g m a i l . c o m
CORRECTIONS In the article titled “‘Betrayal’: A Senior Project, Jonathan Schenk’s name was spelled Shenk.
interested in
In the article titled “Don’t Celebrate Just Yet,” Mitt Romney’s last night was spelled “Romeny.” Also in “Don’t Celebrate Just Yet,” there was an “x” at the beginning of the word “right.”
FEATURED STAFF:
What is the title of your position? Josh: Office procrastinator. Noelle: The one everyone thinks is an intern. If you could be any character from movies or television, who would it be?
’s
7th annual naked issue?
Come to our photoshoot on April 20th, starting at 6 pm at the PTV studio (in the basement of CCN) or contact: Tyler Dawson tyler.dawson@purchase.edu Chloe Zetkov chesurecat@gmail.com
Josh: Whatever character gets to make out with
Josh Hutcherson. Noelle: If not Lilo from Lilo and Stitch, then one of the Golden Girls. What’s the best part of working for the Indy?
email us with questions,
your.indy@gmail.com
Josh: Late night fast food runs. Whoops. Noelle: Late night Wendy’s runs with the staff.
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Know your rights BY JAKE MURPHY It’s a good thing to know what your rights are, how to protect them, and how do deal with law enforcement, on and off campus. With Culture Shock on the horizon, the authorities will be cracking down. One thing you should remember is that these officers are just doing their jobs. They were trained for the worst and they aren’t here to start trouble, because it’s just more paperwork for them. That being said, I have personally encountered the type of officer who takes their job way too seriously at inappropriate times and uses their authority as an excuse for excess force and wrongful imprisonment. When an officer stops you, whether in a car or not they can ask you for your identification and also if reasonable suspicions arise they may pat you down very briefly. Anything else you may tell them to stop. A pat down is meant only for the search of weapons, and anything else they find can not be used against you as it is a product of an illegal search. A search of your car, and anything more than a pat down, requires a search warrant. They may be officers of the law but you still have your rights. Any seizure of your belongings (i.e cigarette packs, lighters, regular beverage bottles) is also against your rights, unless probable cause or a search warrant is present they have no right to take anything from you. Any evidence found unlawfully without any reason or warrant is void and can not be used against you, and the evidence found illegally is inadmissible in court.
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Any illegal objects in plain view and plain touch are allowed to be seized by the officer if a search is conducted. The officer can only seize an object if they recognize it as illegal, such as smoking apparatus, knives, or brass knuckles. However, they do have to back up why they expected you to have these items. If there are any unclear causes to seizing the objects, the charges must be dropped. In the event you do get handcuffed by an officer for whatever reason, they must tell you why you are being arrested and read your Miranda rights. The officer cannot take you away from the area you are being questioned in they ask permission, or you are being arrested. You are allowed to voice your rights to the officers, and it’s important to know them, but don’t get out of hand. Officers should be respected, as they are just doing their jobs. Don’t backtalk or use excessive sarcasm. Always be honest, and most importantly, be careful.
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be the master of your time wasting BY Jake Agosto If you’re anything like me, you may realize something about being a student. Damn it, it sucks. There’s something less appealing about hopping from one 8 page paper to another 12 pager than staying up till 3 a.m. making witty remarks on Facebook about girls making duck faces, or looking at a picture of a cat in a sweater with a threatening caption in Impact font. You just can’t seem to shake that allure of wasting time because frankly, it’s so damn easy. Let me tell you something: resistance is futile. You cannot fight the gravitation to procrastination because frankly, it is an absolute. Think I’m wrong? Tell me, why does your room get messy? Why do we get dirty and need to shower? Why do Hub burgers fall apart like toilet paper you blow your nose with? Because order will always fall to disorder, needing be restored. They combat and complement each other. It’s Yin and Yang. Night and day. Coke and Pepsi. This same logic can be applied to your work. You can only be diligent and studious for so long until the siren song of Draw Something calls to you once more, or those begrudged birds need your help putting the hurt on some pretentious pigs again (why are they green? Someone call a damn vet, please.) And once you hop on the Break Time Express, you may find that it may be quite some time before you reach your stop. It’s time for you to be the conductor of this train. I’m talking about monumental stuff: Controlled time wasting. This idea is probably not new to many of you. Do a few pages of work, hit up Tumblr,
rinse and repeat. That’s not the deal here. This is next level business. See, you can’t simply alternate between work and fun. Is your major juggling? I’ve checked the list of majors here on campus, so don’t even try to fool me, slick. That’s a negative. We’re here at Purchase to blossom into our adulthood, to spring forth in our maturity. Part of being mature is commitment to your work. How are you being committed if you keep flip-flopping between school projects and social networking or, or worse…cat videos? Nay, I say. You have to go all in. All your eggs in one basket, baby cakes. How? Just follow these easy steps: 1. Waste a crap load of time doing something stupid and repetitive. 2. Continue Step 1 until you snap out of your stupor and realize what you’ve been doing. 3. Proceed to work like a maniac.
That’s how the hell you study. Allow me to explain: By forcibly wasting your time, you will eventually hit a wall of self-loathing for wasting that time doing that activity. Now that you’ve realized the productivity lost, you can now focus completely on your work because the allure of time wasting has been neutralized. Goodbye, lost hours of work. Hello, A+++’s. Disclaimer: If you attempt to perform this work technique and find it completely ineffective: The problem is you, not the technique. Guaranteed.
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DID YOU HEAR THAT EXTRAORDINARY RENDITION? BY Mike Reluzco When the words “extraordinary rendition” are spoken in sequence, there are only two possible topics. The first, and for some reason most popular, comes in the form of a single sentence, “I heard an extraordinary rendition of Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ the other day.” To which I respond, “I seriously doubt that.” Generally, I try to wrap up the conversation there. The second circumstance of the phrase is more dire. Extraordinary Rendition refers to a practice in which American terror suspects are flown out of the United States and into countries which do not observe the Geneva Conventions (most notably Egypt and Cuba), where they are interrogated and tortured at “black sites,” or torture camps. This was a semi-common practice during the Bush administration and, according to international law, is entirely legal as long as the country involved expressly does not follow the Geneva Conventions, and other international torture laws. The reason this is talked about so little is because the practice of Rendition hit a brick wall when President Obama and his administration outlawed the practice. So nobody argues about it any more, and Amnesty International, as well as many other human rights organizations, added another tally on their “wins for humanity” chalkboards. Thus, in the past several years, extraordinary rendition has meant that I have to listen to cover after cover of irredeemable musical performances. Then there was Poland. While the Geneva Conventions do not
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apply to Egypt or Cuba, Poland is an established democratic power operating under the observance of these Conventions. Rumors would often fly about that the CIA operated a torture site in Poland, but even to some of the most educated activists, this seemed almost as bullshit as The Illuminati. Even I am grappling with the idea that the same people who invented the Cracowe (Read: Pointy Elf Shoe) could ever torture anybody. So let’s break this down for a second. Throughout modern history, Poland has been shat on, and shat on again. The Russians did it. Germany did it twice. Let’s be real, taking a dump on Poland is an early sign of an insane militant state. Now, it’s our turn to spread our shit all over Poland. Thus is the scenario I imagine: The United States has a stash of torture camps, and it doesn’t know where to put it. We tried to hide it in Egypt, but everybody found out. Then we tried to hide it in Cuba, but once they found out what was happening, they were happy to give up the information. At this point, we’re basically being strip-searched for secret torture spots. After careful consideration, the CIA came to a conclusion: we need a patsy. They opened up their atlases and carefully weighed their options. When it came to pushover nations, the two clear options became Poland and Canada. Due to the fact that Canada was far too close for comfort, it was decided that it would be Poland. When the CIA approached Poland with the black site, I can imagine that Poland held it at a distance for a time, but when the Swiss came
news around, the CIA ran off, and Poland, like any good drug mule, shoved the black site up their ass and clenched their cheeks real tight.“Nope,” Poland said, “haven’t seen a black site anywhere around here.” Until now. Poland’s current PM, Donald Tusk, is the first man to speak up for Poland in a long time. When he came into power in 2008, he began a thorough cavity search on Poland, and four years later he has finally found definitive proof that in Poland’s rural bowels there was, in fact, a black site; and this black site did, in fact, belong to the CIA. The CIA looked the other way and whistled as this news flew through American news sources, followed closely by adorable human interest stories about giving cats to African orphans. Now, Tusk is calling Poland a “political victim” of the US, but we all know what’s really going on here. Poland can scream all it wants about the atrocities that the US made them commit, at the end of the day Poland is going to end up taking the butt of all the blame as America saunters off to Africa with a basket of kittens.
TULSA SHOOTING BY Stephanie Spencer Race may or may not have played a roll in the shooting of five African American residents in Tulsa, Okla. earlier this month, that left three dead and two injured. Roommates Alvin Watts, 32, and Jake England, 19, were arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of shooting with the intent to kill, and one count of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony. This occurred shortly after a gun and car matching a witness description at the murder scene were seized. According to Police Chief Chuck Jordan, the five individuals were chosen at random. However, England’s Facebook statuses might indicate that there was a racial component to the killings. Shortly before the shootings England had voiced sadness and anger on his Facebook page towards the shooting of his father, Carl England, two years earlier. The murderer was African American. “If something does happen tonight be ready for another funeral later,” read one of England’s final posts before the shooting. “It’s apparent from the posting on the Facebook page that he had an ax to grind, and that was possibly part of the motive,” Tulsa police spokesman Jason Willingham said in an interview with the Associated Press. “If you read the Facebook post and see what he’s accused of doing, you can see there’s a link between the two of them.” While England and Watts have confessed to the murder spree, they have not confessed to whether or not it was racially motivated and are being held on a $9.16 million bond until they face a judge on April 16.
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THE “TITANIC” NEVER LETS GO BY josh myers On April 15, 1912, the “unsinkable” RMS Titanic sank at 2:20 AM, tragically taking 1,500 lives with it. While the Titanic was being built, new sources were frantically pushing the idea of the “unsinkable ship.” The term was coined by Shipbuilder magazine, who called the ship “practically unsinkable,” and the White Star Line, who used the phrase on countless advertisements. The Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912 from Southampton, England. After stops in Cherbourg, France and Queenstown, Ireland, the ship was ready for its maiden voyage to New York with over 2,200 passengers and almost 900 crew members. Among the notable passengers were J. Bruce Ismay, head of the White Star Line, Thomas Andrews, the ship’s builder, and John Jacob Astor IV, who was the wealthiest passenger on the ship. The amenities on the ship were high above those on other ships at the time. The Titanic had private decks for its first class passengers, multiple smoking rooms by class, and the second class services were equivalent to first class amenities on other ships. While the Titanic was supposed to be “unsinkable,” there was one flaw that could have potentially doomed the ship from the beginning. The watertight doors were electronic and could be operated from a button in the bridge. They also only went up to E Deck. This meant that if the water in the ship ever got higher than E Deck, the water could flow into the adjacent compartments. The lifeboat to passenger ratio was also
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incredibly dangerous. There were only enough for roughly one-third of the people on board. While this number seems low for today’s standards, by White Star Line’s requirements it was actually more than enough. According to the Board of Trade’s regulations, a ship of the Titanic’s size only needed enough lifeboats to be able to carry 900 passengers, and White Star Line provided enough lifeboats for approximately 1,100 people. On the fateful night of April 14, 1912, all seemed well on the Titanic. Weather conditions were calm and peaceful, according to reports, and it seemed like it would be a good night for sailing. For a few days before the sinking, Captain E.J. Smith had received numerous ice warnings, but had been ignoring them due to the beautiful conditions he had been seeing. At 11:40 PM, everything changed. The Titanic struck an iceberg on its starboard side which punctured five watertight compartments. Due to the fact that the Titanic could survive with four compartments flooded, not five, it was clear that the ship was doomed. Builder Thomas Andrews estimated that the ship could survive for no more than two hours, but in its final act the Titanic survived for almost 3 hours before finally disappearing beneath the waves at 2:20 AM. In 1997, filmmaker James Cameron decided that he wanted to honor the Titanic by releasing an “epic romantic historical disaster” film. This film starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as Jack Dawson and Rose Dewitt Bukater, respectively. After many years of research
the titanic and dives to the wreck, “Titanic” was released on December 19, 1997. The movie was immediately met with both critical and commercial success. Roger Ebert described “Titanic” by saying, “It is flawlessly crafted, intelligently constructed, strongly acted, and spellbinding... Movies like this are not merely difficult to make at all, but almost impossible to make well.” He also credited the “technical difficulties” with being “so daunting that it’s a wonder when the filmmakers are also able to bring the drama and history into proportion” and “found [himself] convinced by both the story and the sad saga.” The film was also praised for its general accuracy and specifically the accuracy surrounding the sinking of the ship. Harland and Wolff, the company that built the Titanic, opened their archives to Cameron and his crew to make sure that both the replica and the sets could be as accurate as they could be. Cameron also hired two Titanic historians, Don Lynch and Ken Marschall, to work on the film. During the award show season in 1997, Titanic managed to sweep most of the awards it was nominated for. The film managed to win four Golden Globes, two of which were Best Motion Picture (Drama) and Best Director, and also eleven of the fourteen Academy Awards it was nominated for, including Best Picture and Best Director. While it swept the award show season, it also managed to
do extremely well commercially, with an opening weekend gross of $28,638,131 in the United States. In the summer of 2012, James Cameron announced that he was going to rerelease “Titanic” in 3D in April of that year to commemorate the one-hundredth anniversary of the sinking. Along with a 3D re-release, Cameron also announced that he was re-mastering the movie as well. Rolling Stone critic Peter Travers rated the reissue 3.5 stars out of 4 explaining he found it “pretty damn dazzling”. He said, “The 3D intensifies ‘Titanic.’ You are there. Caught up like never before in an intimate epic that earns its place in the movie time capsule.”
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BLOOD DRIVE Thursday, April 19th Southside at 12pm
NYPIRG: Deflate my rate Student Loan Soapbox
Thursday, April 19th
Suburbia Roller Derby Double Header
Saturday, April 21st The Gym at 6pm
S.O.C.A. It’s four twenty party
Saturday, April 21st Southside at 10pm
Campus Center North at ALL DAY
Thursday, April 19th PAC Loby at 6pm
SOUTHBAY CABARET Hosted by Mike Cronin!
Thursday, April 19th Whitsons at 9pm
• • • • •
DIARRHEA PLANET LITERATURE RUNNY THE HOT FLOOD THE HIYA DUNES
BATTLE OF THE BANDS ROUND 2
Friday, April 20th The Stood at 8pm
Shirley Durst and Durst Family Poetry Society of America: Chapbook Fellows Annual
Monday, April 23rd
Humanities 2062 at 6pm
SOUL VOICES: Spring Concert Tuesday, April 24th
Music Building 1001 at 9pm
Thursday, April 24th PTV Channel 69 at 11:45pm
MIKE CRONIN ON PTV Study Abroad!: Coral Reef Biology and Ecology Info Session
Wednesday, April 25th
Natural Science 2002 at 5pm
3rd Year BFA Acting Program presents: Rock n’ Roll
Friday, April 20th-28th PAC Theater D at 8pm
Saturday, April 21st The Stood at 6pm
QUEER MUSIC FEST!
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OPEN MIC NIGHT Wednesday, April 25th The Stood at 8pm
DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
Wednesday, April 25th The Stood at 6:30pm
events
C LU BS Thursdays Open Swim: Gym 1021 at 12-2pm Fencing Club: Gym 0003 at 2:15-4pm AMG: Witsons at 6:30pm RPGA: Hub Basement at 8pm Green Team: Co-Op at 7pm Trans*Action: LGBTQU at 10pm
Mondays FORTH meeting: Southside at 8pm The Indy: CCN 1011 at 9:30pm Brick Meeting: Red Room at 10pm
Tuesdays DDR: The Stood at 7pm Anime: Commuters Lounge at 8pm Active Minds: Wellness Center at 8pm PUSH: Hub basement at 9pm Complexuality: Hub basement at 10pm GRIOT: Fort Awesome 0136 at 9pm
Wednesdays Hillel: Hub basement at noon Purchase Comics United: Commuter Lounge at 2 Senate: Southside at 12:30pm Chess Club: Commuters Lounge at 8pm Anime: Commuter lounge at 8pm PEMS: Southside at 8pm Nerf: Humanites at 10 pm WPSR: WPSR Office at 10pm PTV: Hub Basement at10pm LGBTQU: Red Room at 10pm
EMA TO REPLACE GRIMES As many people know, Grimes had to cancel her performance at this year’s Culture Shock festival last minute, due to promotional issues with her label. While this is a major loss to our community, it is great to announce an equally stunning artist as her replacement: EMA. On her debut single, “California,” she quotes Bo Diddley, by preaching “I’m just 22/I don’t mind dying.,” something many people hope doesn’t happen any time soon. She comes from a gigantic punk scene, playing with her drone folk band Gowns, until they eventually dissolved. She then created a band named after her initials. This is Erika M. Anderson. EMA’s 2011 debut album was released on Souterrain Transmissions, titled ‘Past Life Martyred Saints,’ and found its way on many end of the year lists. Last year, Rolling Stone named her “Artist to Watch.” Anderson recalls sounds of Patti Smith, mixed with some PJ Harvey, with a vocal delivery style that sometimes brings Lou Reed to mind. Most of her praise has been focused on her sharp and piercing songwriting talents. EMA’s live shows recall the intensity of punk shows that would happen on the regular in the early 90’s, but you never know exactly what to expect when she gets on stage. My friend said that she stole his pen cap while signing his LP one time, so be wary of that. EMA will be performing at 9PM on Saturday, April 28th.
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THE LOTTERY CURSE BY Stephanie Spencer Lottery winners from Illinois, Kansas, and Maryland had the honor of claiming the highest Mega Millions Jackpot of all time last month. With the scent of 656 million dollars singeing the nose hairs of people across the country, deli’s and convenience stores eagerly catered to hopeful winners, many of whom couldn’t afford to buy a ticket in the first place. With the jackpot being split between the three winners, the rest of the country sat in awe and envy of the small town millionaires, completely forgetting history’s grim treatment of its past winners. It’s called the Lottery Curse, and even the recent winner from Maryland is getting a rude awakening as to its meaning. The fact of the matter is, when someone wins a bucket load of cash, there will always be people who come out of the woodwork wanting a piece, and who actually believe that they deserve some of what they have. According to the New York Post, the McDonald’s employee from Maryland not only bought a ticket for herself, but she also bought tickets for the other employees at the restaurant as a part of a giant pool. Assuming one of those employees are tired of flipping burgers from nine to five with 30 minute breaks everyday, it’s not unreasonable to assume that this woman will be coughing up her money for legal fees very soon. Winners of the past have faced similar stresses with family members looking for handouts, believing that just because they’re your cousin’s mother’s accountant’s youngest son, they’ve
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earned a right to your stash. Some have even taken to deadlier measures to get the cash of a lottery winner. In 2005 Jeffery Dampier, winner of 20 million dollars, was kidnapped by his sister-in-law and murdered in the hopes that she would be able to collect Dampier’s money. William “Bud” Post, who won $16.2 million in 1988, had to watch his brother be convicted of hiring a hit man to kill Post to get to his fortune. Post today lives in squander, relying on food stamps to feed himself. Post lives alone. While lunatics tend to show themselves when millions of dollars are at stake, a lot of the time in these cases, the most destructive person in a lottery winner’s life is, well, the lottery winner! Many of those who win the lottery are your average Joe’s (or Jane’s), who spent the two dollars to buy a ticket on the far off chance that they might at least get three of the same numbers that are called on television. The shock that tends to occur when they realize they’ve won the Mega Millions is insurmountable, and tends to last long after they’ve received their check. Mega Million winners are infamous for spending their money on unnecessary luxuries such as cars, clothes, and houses, with the flawed idea that they will be able to keep track of their wealth - most don’t. In addition most who win the lottery tend to come from middle to lower-middle class backgrounds and are not highly educated, therefore the idea of properly investing their earnings usually doesn’t occur. Unfortunately, other than the people tryContinued on page 15
Created by Nick Sienty
evangelicals ANGER STUDENTS BY alyssa hanna The students at Purchase College are used to hearing nonsensical ramblings as a part of their everyday lives. However, when a few older men came to campus to preach the “Word of God” right before Zombie Prom, and on Accepted Students Day, students were confused and angry. These men really did not know what they were getting into. Setting foot on this campus is stepping into a paradise smelling of marijuana and decorated with fabulous rainbows, or as these men would probably describe it, a “den of sin.” And many students on this campus is completely okay with that. When I arrived, there was already a decently sized crowd gathered around these pudgy, middle-aged, white, heterosexual men, who probably don’t know what it’s like to be discriminated against based on who they are and how they were born. The majority of the students on campus know that feeling all too well, whether it be based on their sexuality, the color of their skin, or for simply just being a weird artsy kid. The first man whom I had the displeasure to hear speak was a single man dressed in blue with glasses. I listened to him say, “I’m here to preach the Word of God to you because I love you” and “You are going to burn in Hell” in the span of about three minutes. While there was general outrage, there was also humor, as one student shouted, “Raise your hand if you’re a fornicator!” which received a loud cheer throughout the students that were there to witness the spewing of hate. The Christians on campus, those who have read the Bible, those who are stout atheists, and those who were there for the lulz asked questions, like, “Why is smoking marijuana bad?” or
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“Why don’t Christians today follow all of the laws in Leviticus yet use Leviticus to justify that being gay is an abomination?” The men danced around the questions, but we did learn that marijuana is bad because it’s sorcery. We didn’t get any answers about the Leviticus question though, because answering it would damn them either way. I am a Christian, and after hearing these men speak, I’m almost ashamed to admit that, because these men made an abomination out of a religion that is based on love. I tried to point this out to them, quoting Biblical scripture to back my claims, but I was simply yelled at by this man, his fat, red finger in my face as he said to me, “You are not a Christian.” The worst part was that when I quoted scripture back to him, he told me that I was taking it out of context because of tense issues. Yes, obviously grammar is to blame for your glaring misinterpretation of the Bible. The next man who spoke seemed like if you were to have a one on one conversation with him and he knew you were of a different faith he would not constantly try to win you over to Christ. He was the lesser of two evils. At first he seemed very genuine, that he might conceivably love people unconditionally, but soon became enraged and basically said such loving things as “slavery is okay.” “If you had a gay son, would you still love him?” someone asked. “Yes, I would,” he responded, but then clarified that God wouldn’t love him, but this man was still allowed to love his gay son because “my ways aren’t God’s ways.” It wasn’t just the awful, disgusting, hateful things that these men were saying that angered
opinion our incredibly tolerant and accepting campus, but the sheer audacity that these men had to come here on Accepted Student’s Day to vomit their contradictory drivel at not just the current students, but next year’s potential student body. It got to the point that the Christians on campus were pleading with these men to leave, that they were making an embarrassment, not only of themselves, but of an entire religion. However, these men were so boneheaded that they said they were in an open forum, a public space, a public school. I spoke to a UPD officer who was watching, who said “They’re allowed to be here until five. Once it’s five, we’ll make them leave.” The one thing that was nice to see was the unity that Purchase’s students had to stand against these bigoted men and say, “No, this is wrong.” Atheists, Christians, Buddhists, Wiccans, and every student who falls in between backed each other, putting aside differences in beliefs and lifestyles to unite as a student body to urge these men to leave. As the protesting started to die down, some students printed out piles of gay porn and started handing them out to these righteous men, who said that it made them very uncomfortable. Really? That makes you uncomfortable? Now you know how all of us feel when you tell us we’re going to swim in a lake made out of fire for the rest of eternity for being who we are.
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ing to strip them of their money, winners aren’t usually encouraged to invest by those close to them. Think of the lottery what you will, regardless of statistics or horror stories. Human beings will always try to find the easiest way to live the most lenient existence. It’s hard to blame the 40-year-old mother of three for continuously trying her luck at the lottery, even if all that money could have been used towards something more logical for her family. Ultimately, what the lottery does is poke and prod at our biggest weakness and strengthhope. Therefore whether or not you blame ticket buyers for repeatedly spending money that goes to major corporations who knowingly take advantage of their optimism, or suspect that they should somehow know better and resist the temptations of potential wealth- think about what you would do in the name of a better, more comfortable life.
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A MESSAGE FROM ben schachter BY Ben schachter About a year ago, I found out that I would be the next Finance Coordinator of the Purchase Student Government Association. I had no idea what I just signed up for (well maybe a little bit), but I can honestly say that this has been one of the most rewarding jobs I have ever had. Representing the student body has been an honor, and something I will never forget. I’m so grateful I had this opportunity; through the ups and downs, late nights, arguments, friendships and everything else that came in between. All of the great people I got to meet, students and administrators alike has made this position worth it all of it. When I ran for this position a year ago, I ran with the promise of being more transparent and doing what ever I could to empower the Purchase student body. I have done just that, from being accessible, keeping all financial records readily available online for any student to access and now to publishing my budget in the newspaper for the student body to see. This is your money, every semester you pay $100 to the PSGA, so if there is something in here you don’t like, be the change next year that you want to see. The budgeting process to allocate these funds was also done openly and publicly. All clubs, services, organizations and grants were given a fair chance to come and defend the funding that they received last year, the minutes and proposals from those meetings are in the office for anyone to see. Looking at this year’s budget to last year’s there is a cut in funding from $730,305 to $715,988 that I would like to address. Our organization runs a 501 (c)(3) non-for-profit. In order to comply with the school, our non-for-profit status, and the greater SUNY system every year we
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need to have a savings rate of at least 10-15% of our budget for our general reserves. The general reserves purpose is to protect the organization in the event of catastrophic events (i.e. fires, lawsuits, or any other unforeseen circumstance) that could jeopardize the Purchase Student government as a whole. The reserve is used to serve that purpose and that purpose only (yes we all would like to have diamond encrusted crocs, I know). Meeting that requirement this year was greater challenge. Having lowered the budget to a more conservative figure will help next year’s executive board and administration so that we can continue to have a lively student government. With that being said, get involved. This really is an opportunity that is too good to pass up. Whatever you might be interested in from anime to Zumba, it’s here we have it. Represent your fellow students in the Senate and make that change you want to see instead of being content with what is here. Join a club and meet some of the coolest people who are interested in the same thing you are. If that club, service or organization isn’t there start your own. Yes, we used to have a beard club. This is your campus, this is your learning experience. I love this school and the unique community that can only be found on this campus. It’s been an absolute pleasure. If you have any questions or want to get move involved please get in contact with me. I’m in the PSGA office in campus center north on Mondays 3-4:30 and Wednesdays 2-3:30. Also you can reach me by email at psga.finance@purchase.edu So here you go Purchase, here is the 2012-2013 PSGA budget!
budget
PSGA BUDGET 2012-2013 Payroll Executive Wages (6 x $350 x 16 pay periods) $33,600.00 Office Manager (1 x $125 x 15 pay periods) $1,875.00 Webmaster (1 x $25 x 15 pay periods) $1,875.00 Website fees $1,000.00 Office Assistants (35 hrs/week x 30wks. X $8.50/hr) $8,925.00 Diversity Outreach Chair (1 x $75 x 15 pay periods) $1,125.00 TOTAL Administative and Office $48,400.00 Commercial Liability Insurance Packages $18,000.00 Disability Package $1,500.00 Worker’s Compensation $6,500.00 TOTAL Insurance $26,000.00 Salary $25,000.00 Required Annual Audit $7,000.00 TOTAL Business Office Contract $32,000.00 TOTAL Temporary Holding for Reallocation $10,000.00 Gym Grant (to fund student-run sports clubs) $20,000.00
Gym Grant (to fund off-campus trips) $6,000.00 NYPIRG ($5 x 3400 full-time students) x fall & spring $37,000.00 Service Trip Grant (OSLCP) $16,200.00 Leadership Program Grant (OSLCP) $5,500.00 Campus Initiatives and Programming Fund $2,000.00 Security Relief Fund $4,000.00 Green Fee Fund $28,000.00 Purchase Garden Fund $2,000.00 Student Life Transportation $4,000.00 Student Life Programming Grant $4,000.00 Emergency Fund $13,000.00 TOTAL Savings and Grants 141,700.00 Senator Initiatives 5,000.00 PSGA Public Relations 1,000.00 SUNY SA Conference 1,000.00 Awards Ceremony Fund $500.00 Student Senate Lunch Money [discretionary] $900.00 Public Art Committee $5,000.00 Diversity Outreach 500.00 TOTAL Non Programming Activities 13,900.00
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SERVICES AND CLUBS SERVICES The Alternative Clinic $25,750.00
CLUBS Active Minds $350.00
The Art Co-Op $3,250
Anime Club $1,200.00
The Brick $6,125
Anthropology Club $250.00
The Independent $11,800
Aperature Club $1,200.00
PTV $15,000
Art Club $400.00
Student Center $40,120
Arts Management Club $400.00
Student Run Art Gallery $6,200
Bible Talk $250.00
The Submission $21,040
CANDIES $2,800.00
Tech Services $36,350
Cheese Club $2.700.00
WPSR $10, 250
CBLA $500.00
Purchase Emergency Medical Services $6,738
DDR Club $420.00
Bike Shop $3,575
Film Society $100.00
Print Shop $4,845
FORTH $2,500.00
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budget
FOR 2012-2013 Fusion Christian Fellowships $300.00
Philosophy Club $4,500.00
Gamers United $700.00
Pre Med Club $800.00
LGBTQU $7,000.00
Psychology Club $1,500.00
Transaction $1,500.00
PEA $2,000.00
Complexuality $1,000.00
PUSH Ideas Into Action $6,000.00
Griot Club $400.00
SOCA $5,000.00
Hillel $5,000.00
Sociology $500.00
Hip Hop Club $2,500.00 History Club $100.00 Latinos Unidos $8,500.00 Literary Society $3,000.00
The budget for the 2012-2013 academic year will be openly discussed at Senate on April 25th, at 12:30 pm in Southside. All are welcome. If there any question regarding this, or to be put on the agenda, feel free to email Matt Sekellick at psga.senatechair@purchase.edu
OAPIA $2.500.00 RGPA-P $900.00
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THE PSGA EXECUTIVES FOR 2012-2013 PRESIDENT
CHRISTINA BLANKENSHIP
CHAIR OF SENATE TEDDY O’ROURKE
COORDINATOR OF FINANCE SHOMAR LOWE
COCOAS
JASMINE RIPPEY
STUDENT ACTIVITIES COORDINATOR STEPHANIE BLUM
COORDINATOR OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS JOHN FALLOT
MAJOR EVENTS COORDINATOR KATHRYN WILSON
GENERAL PROGRAMING COORDINATOR DAVID GRIMALDI / RAMOND CHALMÉ
NYPIRG BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BRITTANY BOLLENBACH / GEOVANNA BORDEN