Mod'Spe Program joins Charlie
Hebdo rallly
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VOLUME 69, ISSUE 8
FOUNDED IN 1965
Thursday, February 5, 2015
Junger's "Korengal" offers glimpse into war
BY ADRIANA BELMONTE
Opinion Editor
Last Thursday, students filled up
the Nelly Golletti Theatre to see
"Korengal," the latest war documen-
tary from award-winning journal-
ist, writer and filmmaker Sebastian
Junger.
A
sequel to the Oscar-nom-
inated "Restrepo," "Korengal"
fo-
cuses on the emotions and expe-
riences of the soldiers in combat.
The film featured in-depth inter-
views with several of the soldiers
stationed at the Restrepo post in the
Korengal Valley of Afghanistan. For
some of the men, being overseas was
better than being at home. '1t's hard
to talk about problems back home,"
said Specialist Miguel Cortez.
When asked what he will miss
in Restrepo once he goes back
home
,
another soldier said he'd
miss shooting people, firefights and
adrenaline rushes. There's nothing
like a bullet whizzing by your head,
according to him. Private Misha
Pemble-Belkin added, '1'd rath-
er be there [Restrepo] than here.
I'd go back there now if I could."
While many of the soldiers en-
joyed the combat and the adren-
aline that came with it, others
questioned the moral implications.
'1'm not religious or anything
but for a moment, I thought God
must hate me," Sergeant Brendan
O'Byrne said. ''That's the terrible
part of war when you got to do ter-
rible things and live with it after-
wards. I hate being told 'you did
what you had to do.' I didn't have
to go in the Army. I didn't have to
become airborne infantry. I didn't
have to do any of that, but I did. Is
that what God's gonna say? 'You
I
did what you had to do.' Punch
you on the shoulder and say, 'Wel-
come to Heaven?' I don't think so."
While the common stereotype
of soldiers is that they are sto-
ic
and emotionless,
O'Byrne's
interview
proved
that
there
are at least some who struggle
with the consequences of war.
"I was inspired by the raw pre-
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIST PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Sebastian Junger's current award-winning war documentary features personal
interviews with soldiers about their experiences in Afghanistan.
sentation of our troops-everything
we didn't know and everything we
thought we knew. Regardless of pol-
itics, Junger demonstrated the real-
ity of war in a society that so
_
often
romanticizes it," sophomore Olivia
Jacquith said. In the
Q&A
session
following "Korengal," Junger stated
that one of his intentions with his
film was to show the true aspects of
war, not how Hollywood portrays it.
Junger was asked which films were
most realistic in their portrayals of
war, based on his experience in Af-
ghanistan. He criticized "The Hurt
Locker'' and said that "American
Sniper'' had realistic combat but
lacked the moral dimensions of kill-
ing. With "Korengal," audiences are
able to see how each soldier handles
killing, whether by celebrating or
by maintaining their composure
.
For Junger, his experience in war
reporting has left his life forever
altered. After the filming in Afghan-
istan, both he and Hetherington
suffered from post-traumatic stress
disorder. Before "Korengal" was
SEE
"RELEASED", PAGE 3
Construction
reki
nd
1e
·
s "I nsta"
hotspot
BY MICHAEL CONWAY
Circle Contributor
Marist is constantly changing and
becoming more modern, while try-
ing to keep in touch with its rich
and storied past. The stone facade
that encases some newer cam-
pus buildings is representative of
the Hudson River Valley, paying
homage to the area. Current ren-
ovations have focused on adding
this now-exemplary stone design
to buildings throughout campus
.
This year's major renovations in-
clude the Rotunda, Lowell Thomas
and a new science building that has
just broken ground across Rt. 9, on
the upperclassmen side of campus
.
The Rotunda, a unique
,
pictur-
esque and iconic part of the Marist
campus has recently undergone a
rather lengthy, yet much needed,
face lift. The repairs went way be-
neath the surface of the building,
however, as during construction
several setbacks delayed the project.
Originally scheduled to be com-
pleted in fall of 2014, the project
was prolonged and is nearly done
at the beginning of spring semester.
"One underlying problem that
the Rotunda construction faced
was that we didn't know the full
extent of the damage until we
pulled off the entire facade
,
" said
Greg Cannon, Chief Officer of
Public Affairs at Marist College.
Once seeing the extent of
the damage,
the consiruction
team realized that the project
would entail more work than
th~y
had
orginally
planned
.
"Once we understood the extent
of the damage we were able to ad-
dress the water damage and stone
deterioration
,
which resulted in
the stripping down and rebuild-
ing of the structure
,
" Cannon said.
"Weather was a minor fa.ctor in
the rebuilding of the Rotunda, as
things like freezing rain slowed the
process down a little
,
" he added.
SEE MTHE DRASTIC," PAGE 3
PHOTO
COURTESY OF MARIST PUBLIC AFFAIRS
The Marist community is very famiHar with bustling sounds of machines workiAg
around campus. The iconic Rotunda is looking better and better each day.















































Thursday, February 05, 2015
THIS WEEK
Thursday, 2/ 5
Mentors
In
Violence Prevention
11:00 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
SC 1207
Friday,
2/6
Men's Basketball v. Niagra
7:00 p_.m.
Mccann Center Arena
Friday,
2/6
"The Princess King" Auditions
5:00 -
6:00 p.m.
SC 1205A
Friday,
2/6
SPC Movie:
11
Fury"
6:00 p.m.
&
10:00 p.m.
SC3101
Saturday,
2/7
SPC
Movie:
"Fury"
2:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m.
&
10:00
p.m.
Saturday,
2/7
Tau Beta Sigma Game Night
7:00 p.m.
MU 3202
Saturday,
2/7
Open Mic Night
8:00 p.m.
SC3101
Wednesday, 2/11
Political Science Debate #1
12:30 -
1:30 p.m.
Cabaret
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1/~<r-~ •••••••
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/9:-
.......
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-------
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Campus
www.maristcircle.com
Letter from the Editor
If
you've managed
to
shov.el your-
self out ofla-st week's fake snow
and the real fluffy white stuff on
the ground now, congratulations!
After
'
two weeks
of barely any
classes, we would like to officially
welcome
you to the
"spring'
sem-
ster! Even though the groundhog
has seen
his
shadow and granted
us with
six more
weeks
of
winter ...
maybe
we'll
eventually have
Mon-
,day
classes.
It's golng to take more than a
little snow. though, to shut Marist
down as the college has come hack
going
full throttle
.
In
News this week, read up on
the semesterly construction up-
dates.
Also,
war corr •.-ponden
and
author of '°The Perfect Storm"
Sebastian
J
unger presented
a
screening of
his
new documentary
''Korengal." Thinking internation-
~Y, hear about what happened
at
Charlie Hebdo in Paris and the
Marist
students
studying in Paris.
Over
in
Features, learn about
the groups making a difference
on campus from Project Taalum.a
to
Teachers of Tomonow
.
Also,
find out how
t.o
b~ involved in the
Senior
Class Gift Campaign.
Feeling spring semester blues?
Check out some helpful tips to
survive the spring semester in
Lifestyles
.
Maybe
it's
the vegetar-
ian chili recipe provided
by
one
student
or some helpful
hints from
our advice columnist.
Also,
find
out
.
the happenings
of
Hapitat
for
Humanity
.
Opinion strikes a poltical note
when a student explores Michelle
Obama's decision to not wear a
headscarf
in Saudi Arabia. With
the Super Bowl over, football
fanatics
are still up in arms over
Tom Brady's deflated
balls ... contro-
versy.
Over in
A&E,
Katy
Perry's tiger
ha~ a roar that threw some ah-
back into those oblong balls. With
music on the mind, learn ab9ut one
Page2
student's experience trying out for
American Idol.
Lastly, Sports highlights new
freshman transfer from Wake
Forest University
Tony
Romanelli.
Also, check
in
on how the men's
tennis
team is doing this semester.
For
all
our Circle
enthusiasts,
you may notice we have a slight
-
ly new format. We have finally
entered the 21st century using
InDesign thanks
to
our Features
Editor Shannon Bales.
So, good luck surviving freezing
cold
temperatures while you move
your
car from one side of Beck to
the
other
probably
\Ultil
April.
Therefore, we im.part
this wisdom:
maintain hibernation weight,
study hard and, of course, read the
Circle.
-Amber Case
Managing Editor
·
Katie O'Brien
Managing Editor
Follow
us on Twitter
@maristcircle
Like
us
on Facebook
at
The Circle (Marist)
and check maristcircle.com
for news updates
The Circle
Features Editor:
Shannon Bales
cirdefeatures@gmalLcom
Copy
Chief:
Natalie Zaleski
Natalie.Zaleskil@marist.edu
Faculty
Advisor: Ryan Rogers
Ryan.Rogers@marist.edu
The Student
Newspaper
of
Marist
COilege
tdltor-ln-Chlef:
Michelle
Costello
Michel~. Costellol@marist.¢u
Managing
Editors:
Amber Case,
Kathleen O'Brien
Amber.Casel@marist.edu., Kathleen.
Obrien2@marist.edu
News
Editors:
Cathryn
Vaccaro~
Bernadette Hogan
circlenew.s@gmail.c()m
Lifestyles
Editor:
Shannon Donohue Copy
Editors:
Paige DiFiore
circlelifestjles@gma;.I.com
Opinion
Editor:
Adriana
Belmonte
cirdeopinion@gmail.com
Ad
Manager:
Nicole Souza
circleadvertising@gmail.com
Web:
www.marlstcircle.com
www.twitter.com/ maristcircle
A
&
E Editor:
John Mosho
circleae@gmail.com
Staff
Writers:
Nikolas
Dobies,
Gabri
-
General:
writethecircle@gmail.com
ella Gamba, Malika Rao, Rose Shan-
Sports
Editors:
Avery
Decker.
Mike Wallace
drclesports@gmail.com
non


















www.marlstcircle.com
The Circle
♦
Thursday, February 05, 2015
♦
Page3
Junger depicts realistic combat situations
From page one
released to the public, Hetherington
was killed while reporting on the
Civil War in Libya. It was his death
that ended Jungers 20 year career
as a war reporter, which started in
1993 with the Bosnian War. Jung-
er realized how dangerous the job
had become and was no longer will-
ing to risk his life. Despite Heth-
erington's death, however, Junger
believes that Syria
is
worse than
Libya, in terms of safety because
journalists are deliberately tar-
geted for propaganda.
AB
a result,
the number of freelance reporters
has doubled because major news
organizations do not want to risk
the lives of their main journalists.
Despite labeling himself a lib-
eral and revealing that he refused
to cover Iraq because he felt he
would not be objective, Junger
has received mostly positive feed-
back in both the production and
PHOTO COURTESY OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Junger captivates audience members
with personal tales of the struggle of
war and attempt at rectification.
release of "Korengal," especially
from the men featured in the film.
According to Junger, the military
quickly agreed to allow Junger to
film a battalion once
·
he proved his
credentials and never asked him
to censor anything. This added
to the integrity of Junger's work.
Marist gets a facelift for spring semester
From page one
"The drastic changes to the Ro-
tunda include the new look, it was
dated and had column wrapped
in metal sheathing, the new stone
facade and reconfigured entry-
ways give it a more modern look,
while induding its heritage."
''The minor changes include
the new flooring, trim, stairways
and railings,"
added Cannon.
Alongside the aesthetic chang-
es, structural updates were a
major part of the construction.
"We made these changes in or-
der to make the building more
structurally
sound,
although
refacing the building was the
main
point,"
said
Cannon.
With the finishing touches be-
ing put on the building now the
Rotunda will be competed shortly.
The Lowell Thomas Communi-
cation Center renovations were
completed in the fall 2014. Being
a two-phase project the building
ect
included
the
new
glass
front of the building as well
as
some
interior
updates.
"AB
of the fall of 2014, the Low-
ell-Thomas building is completely
finished," said Canon. ''The second
phase of the construction is a new
renovated top floor that includes
more current standards. There
are new windows, wood panel-
ing and a more modem interior."
While Lowell Thomas is finished
and the Rotunda nearly there,
there are still some long-term proj-
now includes better technology, ects in the works for Marist College.
media production studios, im-
The most recent project on the agen-
was under construction for quite a
while. The first phase included the
actual technology of the building.
"Also updated is the technology
in Lowell Thomas, the building
proved resources, control rooms
and equipment," Cannon said.
The second phase of the proj-
da is a new science building, which
will sit on the Mari.st College campus
extension on the other side of Rt.9.
''The new science building proj-
ect has broken ground, near the
Steel Plant studio, and the bridge
near the upperclassmen
_
hous-
ing.," Canon said. "A warehouse,
used by the school for storage
has been demolished, paved over,
and a foundation has been dug."
With the project running smooth-
ly we should see the steel struc-
ture by this March and then
the completion of the build-
ing around this .time next year.
''The new science building will
house a PA (Physician's ABsistant)
program, which will be operational
around May of 2016," said Cannon.
Fashion students march for Charlie Hebdo
BY
GABRIELLA
GAMBA
Staff Writer
Before setting off to spend an
exciting two weeks in Paris, sev-
en of Marist' s fashion design stu-
dents expected to delve into the
fashion world while being
im-
mersed in authentic French cul-
ture. While they definitely
.
got
what they were hoping for, they
experienced much more as well.
On Jan. 7, the second day of the
winter intercession Mod'Spe Pro-
gram, Islamic extremist terrorists
attacked the offices of a political
satire magazine called "Charlie
Hebdo." 12 people, including car-
toonists and editors, were killed,
making this the largest terror-
ist attack in France since 1961.
The magazine had put out an an-
ti-Muslim cartoon, stirring the
pot with extremists in France.
On the morning of the at-
tack, the girls' trip guide went
to their apartment to let them
know
what
had
happened.
"I looked into it and saw that it
was legitimate, but I think that a lot
of the girls who were there weren't
really concerned until their friends
and
.
parents started texting them,"
sophomore Cara Benevenia said.
Jenna Dickinson, a sophomore,
agreed. "I didn't feel unsafe at
all, probably because I had no
idea of how big an event it was,
or really what even happened
until after the Je Suis Char-
lie gathering,"
Dickinson
said.
She noted that she, the rest of
the girls and the -group leaders
made points to stay in touch with
friends and family at home and
with each other as often as possi-
ble. Dickinson said that although
their classes
and
sightseeing trips
didn't allow them to think about
the incident as much as they could
have, they really all "grew so
much closer in a time of tragedy."
AB
the day went on and the
news progressed, people began
to realize the severity of the at-
tack. The city was on high alert,
and security was everywhere.
''We weren't allowed to go into
the city the day after the at-
tack, and even a few days later,
there were snipers guarding the
Eiffel Tower," Benevenia said.
On Sunday, Jan. 11, the Mod'Spe
girls joined nearly 4 million French
civilians in a somber yet patriotic
rally towards the Place de la
Re-
publique. According to Benevenia,
people were waving French flags,
and holding posters that support-
ed Charlie Hebdo and freedom of
Protestors march
-with
the French flag in the recent Je Suis Charlie pro-
test aganist terrorism and the recent attack on magazine Charlie Hebdo.
speech. The girls chanted along with
the French saying, "Je Suis Charlie"
meaning, "I am Charlie" to show
their solidarity and support. Dick-
inson explained that it was called
a "silent gathering" and that even
though "it wasn't totally quiet, it was
as
if
the world around you sudden-
ly turned the volume down to low,"
even in the midst of so many people.
Both Benevenia and Dickinson
agreed that being in Paris during
this time enhanced their experience
as a whole. Dickinson "was excited
to experience a part of history first-
hand." They were both in awe that
some Parisians approached them,
thanking them for being there and
supporting the fight against ter-
rorism. The girls also noted that it
changed their outlook on terrorism.
"Before going to the gather-
ing," said Dickinson,
'1
wouldn't
have noticed how countries all
over the world, not just the U.S.,
are fighting against terrorism."
Benevenia explained that, "al-
though the attack wasn't as huge
as something like 9/11, it was
very serious, and it was amazing
to see how much people can do
to stop such an issue when they
just come together for a cause."
She believes that
if
only 4
million people in France can
have
such
a
large
impact,
"the world can do big things
.
"


















Features
Thursday, February 05, 2015
www.maristcircle.com
Page4
Making a difference, one book at a time
BY MEGHAN JONES
Circle Contributor
The president of Marist's Teach-
ers of Tomorrow organization, se-
nior Kristen Mateja, spent all of
last semester working with a young
girl who only has one book at home.
''It's
'Charlotte's
Web', and she
reads it over and over," said Mate-
ja. "She knows the whole story."
This girl's situation made Mateja
realize that college students "have
so many leftover children's books ...
in [their] houses that are just col-
lecting dust, and these kids would
thrive so much from having them."
Teachers of Tomorrow, a club
for students studying education,
has over 150 members.
"Teachers
of Tomorrow ... tries
to
make the
majority of their events as a club
community service related, because
we're surrounded by so many school
districts and
...
the City of Pough-
keepsie's a pretty underprivileged
area," said Mateja.
Teachers of Tomorrow runs the
same several events every semes-
ter, including a Box Tops collection;
''Princesses and Pirates," an event
where children from the surround-
ing school district come to Marist
for a Halloween party; and
gift
do-
nations for the nearby Astor Home
for Children. ''When we were pre-
paring for this semester,
we were
trying
to
do something
different,
so
that we didn't keep
.
..
repeating the
same types
of
events," said Mate-
ja. ''We thought that a book drive
would be
pretty
fun."
Aside from providing a new activ-
ity for the club to do, the book drive
was also created as a way
to
help
out in the local community. ''We've
had a lot of field work experiences ...
in the Poughkeepsie school district,
so we've seen firsthand how hard
it is to teach a class that has such
little resources," said senior Kelly
Stein, the club's webmaster.
Teachers of Tomorrow still did
all of its usual events, but the book
drive served as the main communi-
ty service event for the fall 2014 se-
mester. "Each of the club members
was asked to bring in a minimum
of two books," said Mateja. Howev-
er, many students went above and
beyond, bringing in 30 or 40 books.
The club did everything they
could to collect as many books as
possible. ''We asked the faculty
members, and put flyers up around
Marist, and then we also parred
with Dance Ensemble and asked
them to put a box at their dance
show at the end of the semester,"
said
Mateja.
''They donated a pret-
ty big portion too."
The books were finally count-
ed up at the end of the semester.
The members of Teachers of To-
morrow were ecstatic
to
discover
that they had collected over 1,000
books-1,266, to be ~xact. During
finals week, Dec. 15-19, the books
were given
to
several different or-
ganizations. "It's really exciting,"
said Stein. ''They were so thankful,
and it was wonderful to see their
reactions."
The club divided 722 books be-
tween the five different Poughkeep-
sie elementary schools, as well as
the Poughkeepsie Early Learning
Center for preschoolers. They do-
nated about 300 books to Pough-
keepsie High School, including
some SAT prep books. ''There's a
very high dropout rate in ... Pough-
keepsie High School," said Stein.
The club hopes that these prep
books will encourage more students
to take standardized tests, finish
high school, and try to get into col-
lege.
Almost 200 books were given to
the R.E.A.L. Skills (Relationship
Empowerment Affirmation Leader-
ship) Network, a local after-school
program run by Tree Arrington.
Arrington promised that all of
the books donated to the network
would be given to the children as
gifts.
"A lot of their families can't
afford presents for the holidays,"
said junior Dani
Schatz,
the club's
treasurer. ''This is just something
that they can open on Christmas
morning."
Finally, about 70 books were giv-
en to the Marist College library.
The library has a juvenile section,
because education majors need
children's books
to
help them prac-
tice creating lesson plans. The li-
brary had been low on kids' books,
until now.
When the book drive started, no
one in the club could have antic-
ipated the success it would have.
''We knew there were going to be
outliers that brought a bunch, but
we didn't expect anywhere near
over a thousand," said Stein. Mate-
ja agreed. "A lofty guess ... would
have been 500 books," she said.
"I'm so happy. I'm really just excit-
ed about it." Stein believes that the
book drive will "make a little bit of
a difference and .. . give· the kids a
better education, honestly,"
Mateja is happy knowing that the
drive will be able to help children
like the girl she worked with this
semester. ''The fact that these kids
can now ... even have one more book
in their house ... could make a big
difference for them, and that's what
we want to do,'' she said.
Murphy's struggles inspire a friendly foundation
BY CORINNA KAUFMAN
Circle Contributor
Jaclyn Murphy sat in the waiting
room on the ninth floor of the hospi-
tal patiently waiting for her doctors.
Floods of text messages poured onto
her phone; which is unusual consid-
ering cancer patients lose friends. A
little girl curiously turned to Mur-
phy and asked who kept messaging
her; she replied it was her friends
at Northwestern. After the little
girl left, Murphy turned to her
fa-
ther and said, ''We need to get that
girl a team."
This was the beginning of the
Frien<!-s
of Jaclyn
Foundation
whose mission is to help kids with
brain tumors. These kids and their
families are paired up with either a
high school or college sports team to
create a support network through
these difficult times.
When Murphy was just 9 years
old she began throwing up every
morning for two weeks. Her par-
ents started off thinking it was just
a stomach bug, but quickly their
opinion changed. Murphy lost her
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF JACLYN
MURPHY
.
Northwestern University's Women's lacrosse team celebrates with Murphy.
sense of balance and coordination
and something seemed "off." This
resulted in her concerned parents
taking her to Vassar Brothers Med-
ical Center, and there she was mis-
diagnosed with anorexia.
"I was told I could go home when
I stopped throwing up" says Mur-
phy. After realizing she didn't have
an eating disorder, a CAT scan was
done which showed devastating
results;
the doctors wanted to tell
the family in person which Mur-
phy says "is never a good sign." The
tests showed that she had a malig-
nant brain tumor the size of a golf
ball.
Murphy had surgery that re-
moved the majority of the tumor
and underwent chemotherapy soon
after. ''I struggled with shortness of
breath, balancing problems, hear-
ing loss, my growth was stunted, I
lost my hair, and went from 80 to
50 lbs." Despite having a 30 percent
survival rate Murphy remained
positive,
"I
always thought I would
get better." For children under the
age of 18, brain tumors are one of
the leading causes of death. Her
family and support network are
what allowed her
to
overcome this
tough time.
Before she was sick, Murphy
played lacrosse at a local gym with
about 32 other kids (she was one
of two girls) and her coach noticed
a lot of potential. When she didn't
come back for a while, her parents
contacting him and let him know
she was sick. "He wanted to do
something for me with connections
he had to Northwestern Univer-
sity's lacrosse team. They sent me
a care package a few weeks later."
They sent her a media guide with
all their signatures and well wishes
along with other goodies. The team
was playing at Johns Hopkins Uni-
versity and Murphy begged her dad
to take her to the game. He did and
that was the first time she got to
meet the team in the morning, then
my dad at night, and they would
switch off' explains Murphy.
SEE"
TARYN",
PAGE
5

















Features
Thursday, February 05, 2015
www.maristcircle.com
Pages
From page four
Frien~s of Jaclyn expands from humble beginnings
Taryn was also too young to
vis-
it her sister in the hospital so she
often stayed with family friends
and neighbors. Their relationship
is a lot stronger now that they both
are older and Taryn thought it was
important to provide support to sib-
lings like her.
Looking at the list of teams in-
volved is very impressive and there
are over 500 currently on the list
participating. "My dad was just
at Pennsylvania State University
adding their lacrosse and football
teams." There are over a thou-
sand teams on the waiting list for
Friends of Jaclyn.
Murphy has great advice for any-
one dealing with a difficult situa-
tion like hers- she suggests taking
one day at a time and connecting
with people who will understand.
Family is a great outreach but so
are true friends.
''I
wish I involved
my close friends more in my life at
that time" says Murphy who ad-
mits to not wanting them to see her
so ill. The biggest piece of advice is
to live by the motto "live in the mo-
ment, play in the moment" which
she lives by every single day.
Students bring smiles to West African women and children
BY LAUREN ZAKNOUN
Circle Contributor
We're now well into the winter
season and with the holidays now
behind us, the less fortunate often
fall out of sight and out of mind.
Af.
ter another year of strife in Africa
including the Ebola crisis, Taalu-
ma brings joy and peace of mind to
some of the families struggling to
make ends meet.
Taaluma is a company that oper-
ated primarily in Ghana and Togo
dedicated to helping African wom-
en become self-sufficient. Based
in France, they provide the educa-
tion and training the women need
to raise their families, earn their
own livelihood and fund rescue and
recovery efforts for victim of hu-
man trafficking, particularly child
trafficking. Feeding the Orphans,
a U.S.-based company founded by
10 year-old Sydney O'Leary, sells
homemade jewelry, head wraps,
purses, wallets, pocketbooks and
a range of other products made by
these women. Both of these compa-
nies are partnered closely togeth-
er to "provide food, clean water,
shelter, medication and education
to Ghanian families, as ~ell as or-
phans and former child slaves."
On each individual piece of hand-
made merchandise is a tag with a
woman's story. They range from
mothers of several children whose
husbands died or abandoned them
to abuse victims looking to start
their lives over and give their chil-
dren the best chance for success
that they can. For Marist senior
Emma Christiantelli, this message
hits close to home.
"[The mothers]' hearts are their
children," says Christiantelli.
Last fall, Christiantelli decided
she didn't just want to do any old
capping event. She wanted it to
be meaningful and impactful. Lisa
Finnegan, a close family friend of
hers, is the president of Taaluma
and mother of two children adopted
from an orphanage in Ghana. And
so, she teamed up with Taaluma
and Feeding the Orphans to bring
Project Taaluma to Marist. On Dec.
2, Christiantelli organized a sale
in the Student Center. Attendants
could enjoy the handmade wares,
the stories attached right to them,
delicious food and a pen pal ex-
change for the children from the vil-
lage. Students were provided with
stationary and stickers to send to
the children with the option of pro-
viding their mailing address so the
kids can reply.
The orphanage coordinator told
Christiantelli that "the kids were
ecstatic when she told them they're
gonna be getting letters." Chri~-
tiantelli has volunteered her own
mailbox to any kids whose letters
do not include a mailing address. "I
want all the kids to have a chance
to write back."
Christianelli recently heard back
about the arrival of the letters at
the orphanage, reporting that "[the
children] were all so excited!"
Emma Christiantelli was more
than pleased with the turnout. With
more than 55 attendant surveys
with dozens more in attendance,
45 letters written, and over $550
in profits, Christiantelli deems
her capping project as an academ-
ic success and more importantly
a personal success. All the money
generated from the event
will go
towards generating an aquaponics
farm in Ghana which is an efficient
and environmentally friendly form
of farming that can help make the
village and the inhabitants more
self-sufficient.
Because Taaluma and Feeding the
Hungry are not particularly well
known organizations, Christiantel-
li felt obligated to present them in
the best manner possible by ensur-
ing the event had a fantastic turn-
out. Because of all the
work
that's
out into the organizations, Chris-
tiantelli feels that including the
women's stories "and how tliey got
to Feeding the Orphans and how
they're now talented seamstresses
and jewelry makers and to show
their progress" was an extreme-
ly important aspect of the project.
"How far they've come and how far
they'll go is phenomenal."
As
a PR major, reaching out to
people is Christiantelli's specialty.
"Because I'm so passionate about
Taaluma and Feeding the Orphans,
I took any chance to talk about by
project." Christiantelli produced
her own specially printed fliers to
market the event in a more profes-
sional way than the cheaper black
and white fliers most people just
make and copy in the library. To
her excitement, even well after the
date people have held onto their
cards because they're so eye-catch-
ing. More than anything though,
news traveled by word of mouth.
"What I thought was most import-
ant was not pitching it like 'this is
my event,' I wanted it to be more
'come see what these organizations
do.' ... they're changing the lives of
these women and children every
day."
As
fairly well-off college students,
many people are unaware of the
daily hardships of life in such deso-
late places. ''They don't understand
that child slavery exists, they don't
understand that
if
these women
can't support their children, they're
literally taken away from [the
mothers] and put on fishing boats.
I don't think we can grasp that idea
because it seems so archaic .... We
are sheltered over here."
The reaction to Project Taalu-
ma was "overwhelmingly posi-
tive." From the letter writing to
the merchandise, people were very
impressed and enlightened by the
cause. People commented that
they were more aware about child
slavery "the whole idea of holding
something that was handmade by
a woman who didn't know how to
sew, how to boutique fabric, how to
make jewelry ... connected two com-
munities. That was exactly what I
was going for."
She doesn't deny that putting to-
gether the entire event was chal-
lenging but
''I
would do it again in
a heartbeat." Now that she's- estab-
lished this connection between the
organizations and Marist, Chris-
tiantelli feels it's only right to keep
following the thread. She's been
talking with Finnegan about pos-
sibly making a trip out to Ghana
together with the girls she adopt-
ed who go back every so often see
their friends and birthplace. ''Right
now I'm very removed ... but
if
I was
able to go and meet the women,
shake their hands, meet their kids!
I would be so happy."
A small part of Project Taaluma's
success was the season of giving.
Many of the attendants bought
things not just for themselves but
as gifts for others. The organiza-
tion has a website from which peo-
ple can make their purchases. "It
means more than something you'd
buy from a corporation because you
know the hard work that went into
it and the mission behind it and
what it's doing for the families out
·
there." However, items are created
year round and sold online so any-
one looking for meaningful gifts
with a real story behind them can
look no further.
As
for the immediate future, Chris-
tiantelli is committed to spreading
the word about Taaluma and Feed-
ing the Orphans.
''The opportunities are endless,"
Christiantelli said.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF
EMMA
CHRISTIANTELLI





















Lifestyles
Thursday, February 05, 2015
www.maristcircle.com
Page6
How to successfull swi
into second semester
BY GABRIELLA GAMBA
r--------------..1._.:_
_ _ _ _ _ _
_,
look online to see if any iLearn
sites are up for your new class-
es.
If
they are, read through the
syllabi to get a sense of what
your classes are going to be like.
Staff Writer
Just as quickly as it arrived,
winter break has come to an end.
Now, as we-are nearing the end of
January 2015, we find ourselves
starting yet another semester.
As college students, we are
constantly running from place
to place, trying to fit the gym,
work and socializing in between
our heavy class schedules and
workloads. Winter break, how-
ever, tends to move at a much
slower, more relaxing pace.
Sophomore Michelle LaGrut-
ta said, "Aside from working
while I was home, it was re-
ally nice to get away from the
stress of classes and just be
able to relax with my friends."
Since students often find it
easier to fall out of the fast-
paced school lifestyle than to
fall back into it, it may be
diffi-
cult for some people to get back
into the swing of things at the
beginning of second semester.
In. order to beat the back-to-
school struggle and make your
transition into the new semes-
ter smooth and successful,
try following these five tips.
Tip 1: Get Your Textbooks.
Before you get back to school,
be sure to check the Marist
bookstore, Chegg, and Am-
azon to find the best prices
for your textbooks. Try to or-
der them either before classes
PHOTO COURTESY OF TEXTBOOKACE.COM
In order to have a smooth transition into second semester, get your textbooks, get
organized, look through your ilearn account, make a new routine and nix Netflix.
start, or within the first week
of classes to ensure that you
start off the semester ready to
complete any homework that
your professors may assign.
Tip 2: Get Organized. Make
sure that you are prepared with
all of the textbooks, notebooks
and other supplies that you
might need for your classes.
Go into the first day of the se-
mester prepared to take notes
or write down any important
points that your professors
need you to remember. This
will not only allow you to get
a good start for yourself, but
also allow your professor to no-
tice that you came ready and
responsible on the first day.
Tip 3: Check iLearn. Although
some professors may not put
their iLearn sites up over break,
it is still important that you
check. A few days before coming
back to school, take a minute to
Tip 4: Make a Routine and Stick
to
It.
Although your initual in-
stinct is to spend the first week
back staying up late and wak-
ing ~p even ~ater, try to get into
a daily routine as soon as pos-
sible. Definitely set aside time
to go out and see friends, but
first and foremost, check your
schedule. See when your class-
es are and when you will have
time to fit everything else - the
gym, club meetings and meals
- in, and start to follow that
schedule almost immediately.
Tip 5: Get Netflix Out of Your
System.
If
you are like most col-
lege students, you're going to
spend a majority of your time
over break watching an entire
series (or two) of a po_pular tele-
vision show on Netflix. That's
perfectly fine, but we all know
how distracting N etflix can be
when we have tons of work to
do during the semester. In or-
der to avoid mid-semester Net-
flix procrastination, feel free
t~ challenge yourself to finish
that series over winter break
so that when you get back,
you have one less distraction.
By following these five tips,
you will be sure to make a
smooth, painless and successful
transition from your relaxing
month-long break.
Charity on campus: Habitat for Humanity
BY SHANNON
DONOHUE
Lifestyles Editor
How often do you complain
about your housing assignment
here on campus? There's a hole
in the wall, the heat doesn't
work, stinkbugs are everywhere
- the list goes on. What we don't
realize is that people around the
world, even here in Poughkeep-
sie, would be thrilled to have the
housing conditions that we do.
Right now in the U.S., there
are .about 48.5 million people
living at or below the pover-
ty line. The National Center
on Family Homelessness says
that the housing crisis here has
reached "epidemic proportions."
Worldwide, there are 827.6
million people living in urban
slums, a number that is expected
to reach 1 billion by 2020. That
means that within the next six
years, aboti't one in. every seven
people on earth will not have
a safe place to sleep at night.
If
you are familiar with
Maslow's hierarchy of needs,
you know that one of the ba-
sic human necessities in order
to live a fulfilling life is shel-
ter. This means that if millions
of people do not have hous-
ing, they ca~not achieve great-
er aspects of life such as
an
education, a career or contrib-
ute to society in any other way.
Eradicating the global housing
crisis would contribute to a more
vibrant global economy and a
better quality of life for the en-
tirety of the world's population.
Habitat for Humanity Inter-
national is an organization de-
termined to alleviate the global
housing crisis. They have chap-
ters all over the world, including
1,400 in the U.S. and 70 world-
wide in countries such as Ethi-
opia, Serbia, Haiti and Cambo-
dia. The organization has built
over 800,000 houses worldwide,
helping about
4
million people.
In order to build these houses,
Habitat relies on volunteer labor
and donations from partner or-
ganizations and people like you.
According to Charity Naviga-
tor, Habitat for Humanity has
a 97 percent score in terms of
accountability an·d
transpar-
ency. A majority of the orga-
nization's proceeds (about 85
percent) goes to its building
programs. It spends 11 percent
on fundraising programs while
the other four percent is desig-
nated for administrative costs.
Every year since 2009, the
organization's
total
revenue
has been millions of dollars
less than its expenses, mean-
ing that they desperately need
your
donations
and
volun-
teer work now more than ever.
Marist has its own Habitat
chapter right here on campus,
run by students and supported
by students. Joining the club
allows you to attend month-
ly meetings, participate in fun
events and fundraisers, and
attend an actual build in the
surrounding area. The chapter
also takes part in the annual
collegiate challenge, an event in
which students have the oppor-
tunity to travel across the coun-
try and spend their spring break
building and repairing houses
with Habitat for Humanity. You
can join the Marist chapter of
Habitat by signing up at the ac-
tivities fair at the beginning of
each semester or by coming to
one of the monthly meetings and
speaking with the student
board.
"It's an amazing organization
that helps so many w.onderful
families ...
!
have really seen
what a difference we can make in
the world. Everyone should have
a roof over their head," said stu-
dent president Christine Venuti.
Consider
Jommg
Habitat
and
remember
how
fortu-
nate you are to have a roof
over your head as snowy win-
ter
weather
approaches.
PHOTO
COURTESY
OF
SHANNON DONOHUE
Marist's chapter of Habitat for Humanity recently did a build in the local Dutchess area. The
picture above shows the fruits of their labor.



































Lifestyles
Thursday, February 05, 2015
Circle Contributor
Those of us who have moved into
the on-campus townhouses this
year have found ourselves in a po-
sition of balancing classes, activi-
ties, jobs, and now the added need
to cook for ourselves. Finding the
time to prepare and cook healthy
meals while dealing with class-
es and college life can seem like a
daunting task. Luckily, there are
countless easy and inexpensive
recipes that are perfect for the-
busy college student on a budget.
VEGETARIAN CHILI
Total Time: 30 min.
Ingredients:
2 cans crushed tomatoes
½
can beer (optional)
2 green peppers
2c~ots
2 stalk of celery
2 peeled white onions
1 can red beans
1 tbs. olive oil
www.maristcircle.com
Instructions:
l.
Cut and peel all vegetables.
2. Add olive oil to a small pot and
lightly grill peppers, carrots, cel-
ery, and onions.
3. Add crushed tomatoes, red
beans, beer, and chili powder to
them~.
4. Heat on low to medium, stirring
periodically until mixture is hot
throughout.
Enjoy your delicious chili and
check back weekly for more easy
and healthy recipes!
Page7
Dear Penelope,
1:y
nun e
has
be,cn havmg her boy-
friend
ver
lot r
•.
Ev
t
every night.
e
·
h1
g
to
f.
n
forta
M} ncmmo.te and I
really do.so
l don't Imo
ho
ll her without
makin •
l
r mad at m . Ple se help!
Rotten Roommate
Dear Ro te Roomma .
!..et
me st
rt
h
.
aying that I lh"nk
inf,
hle m
ituation.
Un.£
rhmatel} conv r-
rding boyfne1 d wh n :wo
sharing a roo
r often very
aw ~ard. Ho ev r,
I
think add
roo mate as oon
o
that
n
tive en ot1ons
nd
tensions du nut build up
r timr
I
uuld prefacc: th ,
mversabon wit
,;our
roommat(' by
ymg
th t
'
O
re-
all Iik her and her
bo
frt
nd bu ou
wonder if it outd b
i,it
all posmbl to
pht
the um Lhey sl cp at our place
nd his ore venly
.
If
o
re worn d
that your roomm
t
or
her boyfri nd
m y react
m the
wro
y.
peak
with
yo r hoW! m
t
and see if ny of them
arc 1pen to talking to h r a more of a
chili powder (to taste)
PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR
t ttd party looking in a
h
situation
ChUi is
a
hea~thy and nutritious meal that.you can eat for lunch or dinner!
~P ne)Qpe
What are your plans after graduation?
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.
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Information Systems (M.S.)•
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Integrated Marketing Communication (M.A.)*
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*Online format available
**0ffered only at the Florence, Italy Campt,s
As
one of the nation's leaders in the use of
technology
in education,
Marist College is the
perfect
fit for people looking to advance their
careers.
We offer 14
graduate
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certificates, in online as
well
as
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formats, designed to provide you with the skills
and vision needed for the 21st century.
Regardless
of your location,
Marist College
makes quality
higher education highly accessible.
Think






















Opinion
Thursday. February 05, 2015
www.maristcircle.com
Page8
Stop ballbusting the Patriots over Deflategate
BY DAN IPPOLITO
supposed best defense in foot-
Circle Contributor
The deflategate "conspiracy''
has become one of the biggest
stories in professional football
and should not be taken serious-
ly.
It
seems to be just another
reason for people to hate the New
England Patriots and especially
Bill Belichick, the head coach of
the Patriots. People need to stop
tryi:µg to find reasons to explain
why the Patriots win games, oth-
er than the fact that they have
proved themselves
to
be a Su-
per Bowl-winning caliber team.
Some say the Patriots cheated
in the AFC Championship Game
against the Indianapolis Colts
in
mid-January. The statistic
that really caught my attention
was that the Patriots outscored
the Colts 28-0 in the second half
and only 17-3 in the first half.
Several sources revealed that
the balls in the second half were
correctly inflated and approved.
So what doesn't make sense is
that the Patriots played better
in the second half with the cor-
rect balls, than in the first half
ball, to be awarded the Lombar-
di Trophy as World Champions.
I am clearly a Patriots fan,
but that doesn't affect my opin-
ion on the matter because I
have the statistics to back up
my case. The entire Deflategate
"conspiracy'' has become a joke
not only to Patriots fans but to
NFL
fans. They have recognized
these statistics and realized how
the Patriots were clearly the bet-
ter team and that nothing was
going to change the outcome of
that game. Some s1;1y the New
- - . . . 1
England Patriots are the most
PHOTO COURTESY OF
NATIONAL
PUBLIC RADIO
hated team in football because
Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have come under fire for Deflategate. they are cheaters. The Patriots
were found guilty of the Spygate
incident in 2007, but this has
nothing to do with that. Ever
since that incident the Patri-
with the so-called deflated balls. Patriots' fault? It isn't their fault
There is another example to because they still won the game
prove that the Patriots were not 45-7. There shouldn't have to be
cheating and that this entire De-
any more proof than the score it-
ots have been a fair team and a
flategate commotion is just for self.
If
a team is really going to
the hype. The footballs under in-
outplay their opponent so badly, talented
·
football organization.
vestigation in the first half were then having footballs deflated by
Deflategate should b~ in t~e
also approved by the referees a pound or two is going
to
make paSt . because the Pat~ots did
who were officiating the game no difference. Beating the Seattle nothmg wrong or anythmg that_
that night according to both Seahawks in the Super Bowl is :;~d ~~nge_ the ;:tcoI~e
0
!
the
ESPN.com and NFL.com.
If
the enough to back up that statement. h
.
a,:p
10;
flp.
m
one
footballs passed the pre-game in-
The Patriots p~oved they clearly eanng a out
e ategate now
spection, then how can that be the were the best
.
team by beating the that they won the Super Bowl.
Veilgate: A political, not fashion choice
BY ROSE SHANNON
Staff Writer
There are moments in the political
atmosphere, when a fashion faux
pas becomes international news.
Last week, President Obama
and First Lady Michelle Obama
were in the Middle Eastern King-
dom of Saudi Arabia to honor the
passing of the late King Abdullah.
The faux pas occurred when
Michelle Obama did not wear a
headscarf during this short visit.
She did, however, dress conser-
vatively, with her legs and arms
completely covered. Her head re-
maining uncovered caused much
attention, as many said it was
not right that Mrs. Obama was
covered during a recent trip to
In-
donesia, but not in Saudi Arabia.
This situation, dubbed ''Veil-
gate," is more than just about the
first lady not covering her head.
This is not about fashion; this
is political. From a public rela-
tions standpoint, Michelle Obama
wearing a headscarf in one Mus-
lim majority country and then
not wearing one in another with-
in weeks of each other does not
look good. Yes, it is very import-
ant to honor a
country's
unique
culture when visiting, especially
if
you are the wife of the Presi-
dent of the United States. But,
before the white House calls
·
in
Olivia Pope, there are a few as-
pects to this situation to consiqer.
First, although Saudi women
have to be covered at all times as
part of the kingdom's strict sex-
ist dress code, foreigners are not
required to do the same, as the
Associated Press (AP) reported.
Second, Mrs. Obama
is
follow-
ing in the footsteps of other first
ladies, Laura Bush and Hillary
Clinton, both of whom have opted
out of wearing a headscarf. Ger-
man Chancellor Angela Merkel
has also chosen during visits
to
go unconvered. All three women
have made multiple visits
to
the
kingdom, both covered and un-
covered. Perhaps the next time
the Obamas visit, Michelle will
want to cover up, but maybe
not. Due to this loophole, Mrs.
Obama did not break any Saudi
law or go against Saudi culture
Thefirstlady' s attire also sparked
a discussion about Saudi women
and that is the bigger issue here.
There has been discussion about
whether the first lady going un-
covered could be read as a femi-
nist action- was she trying to tell
the world that the treatment of
women in this kingdom was un-
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE HUFFINGTON POST
Michelle 0bama's decision to forgo a headscarf on her recent trip to Saudi Arabia
sparked a debate over whether or not to follow customs in foreign countries.
fair? This self-proclaimed fem-
inist would like to believe so.
Mrs. Obama was standing
up for the millions of voiceless
Saudi women. Michelle Obama
went uncovered, something Sau-
di women are not allowed
to
do
in under any circumstance. As
the AP wrote, "For first lady Mi-
chelle Obama, just a few hours
in Saudi Arabia were enough to
illustrate the stark limitations
under which Saudi women live."
The lives of Saudi women are
dictated by restrictions resulting
from a strict understanding of
Islamic Sharia law, Wahhabism.
Under Wahhabism, women
have to be completely covered, are
infamously banned from driving,
and need a man's permission to
travel, marry, obtain an education
and have specific surgeries. These
are things American women and
women around the world take for
granted. By not wearing a head-
scarf, Michelle Obama silently
made her opinion about women's
rights in the Arabic world very
clear. She is a modem woman
and all modern women want to
see young girls around the world
grow up in societies that respect
and value women, where "girl
power'' is always fashionable.












-
www.maristcircle.com
The Circle
♦
Thursday, February 05, 2015
♦
Page 9
:
dude!
the
Wednesday, February 18
.
SC3102 3105
MARIST
INTERNA'l'IONAI~
PROGRAMS

















Thursday, February 05, 2015
Many are still talking about
that controversial winning pass
made by Malcolm Butler and
the bizarre fight that followed
during this year's Super Bowl.
Unfortunately that seemed to
interfere
with Katy Perry's fabu-
lous halftime performance, which
is-let's face it-the part of the
annual tournament that every-
one looks forward to the most.
Still, Perry did not disappoint
with her usual sexy, kooky fun.
She opened with her girl power
anthem "Roar'' androaredontothe
field in a Trojan horse-styled tiger
sculpture wearing a flamed-out
costume reminiscent of Katniss
Everdeen in the "Hunger Games."
Jennifer Lawrence clearly got
a run for her money that night.
A band of horses then came out
for "Dark Horse," in a spectacle
that could top the Beijing Olym-
pics' Opening Ceremony. This was
cleared out to introduce guitar
god (and "Hunger Games" alum)
Lenny Kravitz who performed
a decidedly more family-friend-
A&E
www.maristcircle.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF FLICKR
Katy Perry dressed in her flame outfit singing
Ml
Kissed a Girr alongside special
guest Lenny Kravitz.
ly duet of Perry's titillating first Snoop Dogg-who is featured on
single
.
"I
Kissed A Girl." The two "California Gurls"- even joked
rocked it out, but the performance during the show that he was
was slightly underwhelming giv-
one of the sharks, in a tweet.
en the hype over Kravitz as a spe-
The biggest surprise was the re-
cial guest during the festivities. turn of rapper Missy Elliot, who
Palm trees and beach balls had fallen off the radar in recent
emerged for the song ''Teenage years in spite of countless rumors
Dream" which she performed of new music. Looking better than
in
a two-piece latex beach ball ever in combat boots and a leath-
ensei:nble with sharks as her er jacket, the rap veteran got her
back-up dancers. She followed "freak on" with Perry during per-
with her popular summer an-
formances of her songs, ''Work It"
them, "California Gurls." Rapper and ''Lose Control." Missy could
Page 10
ponentially on Spotify shortly
after the performance. For this
performance, Perry stormed out
in a bedazzled football jersey.
Her final costume change was
a star-powered dress that she
donned for a moving performance
of her hit "Firework." Perry was
hoisted up on
·
a platform with a
big shooting star on top and lifted
across the stadium as fireworks
(what else?) blasted outside.
Like many of her fellow pop stars,
Katy Perry
is
often dismissed for
making insubstantial music and
having less-than powerful vocals.
Still, the critics were silenced for
one night as Perry brought her
quirky energy to the biggest con-
cert of the year. Her act may not
have pleased everybody watching;
however she did not let her fan-
base down and even brought some
new fans into the picture as well.
Katy Perry's show will certainly
increase her fandom even though
she is currently the most-fol-
lowed
celebrity
on
Twitter,
with 64.5 million followers and
shows no signs of slowing down.
Ryan Clark auditions for ''American Idol"
es that his dreams can come true,
but there is always room for im-
provement. With constant prac-
tice and preparation, he knows
that he can always get better.
BY DANIEL ABRAMSON
Circle Contributor
Ryan Clark might seem like your
average sophomore on campus,
but he is far from it. It was for
this reason why I decided to inter-
view the 19-year-old marketing
major, who is a singer-songwriter
who tried out for American Idol.
He started off by telling me
about his experience on the day
he tried out this past summer.
He arrived
to his audition bright
and early to a humongous line.
There were cameras interview-
ing people, producers judging at
different booths and a lot of wait-
ing. Clark did not get to audi-
tion until 9 hours after he got
to
Nassau Coliseum on Long Island.
He told me how he met a bunch
of incredibly talented people
during the long wait. He made a
group of friends and before they
all auditioned, they said a big
prayer to help lift their spirits
and push them to do their best.
Out of those 10, just Ryan and one
other person made it past the pro-
ducers. This experience greatly
impacted Ryan moving forward.
''This is what I
·
want to
do for a career," he stated.
He knew before Idol that he
wanted to pursue his dream of as his biggest asset. He current-
becoming a musician while si- ly manages himself and has a
multa:11eously _obtaining a degree, team that helps
him record mu-
but his Amencan Idol experience sic in different studios and pro-
h~lped
~im eve~ further along. duce videos right here on campus.
Amencan Idol tied the ropes and
"I want to k
k"
·th
.
.
·
eep wor mg w1
made 1t more believable for me to go the sam t
b
th
,,
.
e earn ecause
ey are
after ~y dreams,. said Clark. The incredibly talented," he stated,
expenence gave
h~
hope th~t one
''I
couldn't do it without them."
dayhecouldmake1tmthebusmess.
Cl k
.
For hIS" future
1 Cl k .
t
ar wants to grow as an artist
goa s,
ar is pu -
d h
.
t .
.
d
an
e contmues to research how
mg more music an content on
his YouTube channel. He is try- to become more popular. He has
ing to become more popular as an learned t~ stay hum~le and stay
artist and he is using the Internet true_ to himself for his own sake
·
movmg forward. Now he realiz-
PHOTO COURTESY OF RYAN CLARK FACEBOOK PAGE
Ryan Clark posing outside of the "American Idol" audition room with his guitar.
He wants
to continue playing
shows, realizing the importance
of being a good studio musician as
well as a good live musician. When
playing music, Clark realizes he
needs
to provide entertainment
value to those listening to him.
As
for Idol, he's coming back
next year to try out. Just a year
later, with even more drive and
goal in mind, it may make the dif-
ference for him moving forward
in the competition. For now, he
has been releasing content on
YouTube and each cover song get-
ting more popular then the next.
His last video was a cover of
"Wonderwall" by Oasis, which
received about 2,500 plays in its
first day. Clark also plans to re-
lease an album of covered songs
on iTunes, find other musicians
to collaborate with, create some
original material and contin-
ue
to find new gigs to play at
both in Poughkeepsie and in his
hometown of Queensbury, NY.
Make sure to check out
Ryan Clark's music and so-
cial media accounts on Face-
book, YouTube and Twitter.























Sports
Thursday, February 05, 2015
www.maristcircle.c·om
Page 11
Men's tennis looks to keep dominating MAAC
BY NIKOLAS DOBIES
Staff Writer
With the new year comes anoth-
er new season for the Marist men's
tennis team. The Red Foxes were
selected second in the Metro At-
lantic Athletic Conference Presea-
son Coach's Poll behind Monmouth
marking the first time in eight years
the Red Foxes were not picked first.
Monmouth is returning five of
their top six players while the
Red Foxes have a lot of young
players who look to step up and
fill the shoes of four seniors
that departed after last season.
"Seedings and polls are what
other people think of you. Pro-
duction and results are what you
think of yourselves. I truly be-
lieve we can be competitive with
every team in the MAAC and I
look forward to playing all the
teams,'' said head coach
Tim
Smith.
So far the team has faced soine
tough competition in national-
ly ranked number
29
Harvard,
a tough Binghamton team and a
good Bryant team. The Red Fox-
es were competitive in all three
matches, and were able to earn a
victory against Harvard at fifth sin-
gles with freshman Timo Tanzer
winning the match 4-6, 6-3, 10-8.
''I'm very proud and pleased with
the way our entire team performed.
There were a lot of long points and
the guys never gave up, this was an
exciting start against the
#29
team
in the country," Smith said. "Our
doubles are still a work in progress
but this group of guys are eager to
learn and I feel that we are going to
peakcomeMAAC tournament time."
In their second match of the sea-
son, Marist came up just short
against Binghamton in a 4-3 de-
Regular Season Schedule:
Feb. 7: Georgetown, 11 a.m.
Feb. 20:
@
Army,
5
p.m.
[Mar. 7:@Yale,
9
a.m.
Mar. 8:@
FDU, 9
a.m.
Mar. 28:
@
Fairfield,
2
p.m.
*
Mar. 30: vs. Rider 3 p.m.*
Mar. 31: vs. Hofstra 2 p.m.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MARIST MEN'S TENNIS
Apr. 1: vs.
St.
John's 3:30 p.m.
The Red Foxes look to continue their reign over MMC foes. Marist was not
picked first in the MMC Preseason Poll for the first time in eight years.
feat, but won two out of three
doubles matches. Joe Motta and
Fredrik Bjerke defeated Bingham-
ton's Sid Hazarika and Ismael Din-
ia 6-4, while Rudolf Kurtz and Jo-
seph Dube teamed up to take down
Binghamton's Thomas Caputo and
Vihar Shah 6-2. The other victo-
ries for the Red Foxes came in
sin-
gles with the triumphs of Rudolph
Kurtz and Justin Chanthalangsy.
In
the third match of the season
Marist defeated Bryant, the reign-
ing Northeast Confer
.
ence Champi-
ons, and earned their first victory of
the spring season by a 5-2 score. The
Red Foxes pulled out two victories
in doubles and five total singles vic-
tories. Fredrik Bjerke and Joe Mot-
ta defeated Bryant's Oliver Welsh
and Ernesto Arguello 6-4 while
Justin Chanthalangsy
-
and Matteo
Guidici earned a hard fought 7 ~6 (3)
win over Bryant's team of Matt Ku~
har and Richard Sipala. 1:n sing~es
Joseph Dube, Timo Tanzer, Justin
Chanthalangsy and Matteo Guidici
all picked up wins for the Red Foxes.
"This season I expect the team
to perform and behave the way
we have for the past two weeks.
I am very proud of our team we
have fought for every point in each
match so far. Our ultimate goal
is to win the MAAC and go to the
NCAA tournament and I am con-
fident we can achieve fjust that],"
said Guidici, the team's captain.
The Red Foxes return to Pough-
keepsie to face Big East pow-
erhouse Georgetown, but with
matches already played against
high-level
competition,
Marist
will be up for the challenge.
"I have seen the best attitude I
have had on the team in eight years
which will help us grow and com-
pete during the season;" Smith said.
The team has already showed
that they can remain focused
throughout the season in order
to achieve the ultimate goal, be-
ing the last team standing at the
end of the MAAC tournament.
Apr. 7: vs. Quinnipiac, 3
p.m.*
Apr. 10: vs. St. Peter's, 3:30
p.m.*
Apr. 11: vs. NJIT 12 p.m.
Apr. 13: vs Siena 3:30 p.m.*
. pr.
15:@Monmouth,
3
p.m.*
Apr.
18:@Niagar~ 12 p.m.*
*Conference
Games
Romanelli comes home to the Hudson
From page twelve
career.
The
coaching
staff
seemed great, and I just thought
it was an all-around great
fit for me," Romanelli said.
An
important factor that led
to Romanelli transferring to
Marist was the fact that he is al-
ready comfortable with the area.
"I am very exciting
to
be able
to play where I have been play-
ing my whole life," Romanelli
said. "It's nice
to
be able to con-
tinue right where you left off with
your family and friends around
to support you. Being here,' I feel
very comfortable and I think that
all of these factors will play in
to my success here at Marist."
Once Marist and Wake Forest
finish working out the details
that will a;tlow Romanelli
te
play
during this upcoming spring sea-
son, Romanelli expects to ben-
efit from a lot of playing time.
Marist is hoping that the ad-
dition of Romanelli will great-
ly improve a pitching staff that
struggled in
2014.
Every sin-
gle starting pitcher on the Red
Fox roster had an ERA that was
worse that 4.00, and the only
pitcher that posted a winning
record was then-freshman Sean
Keenan (4-1), who started just
3 games while appearing in
14.
Finishing with a 17-32 overall
record and a 10-14
_
record
in the
MAAC,
-
Marist definitely has
room for improvement in 2015.
Although the Red Foxes were al-
ready excited about this upcoming
season, the players b~lieve that the
addition of Romanelli will provide
Marist with the extra edge that
they needed to bounce back and
have a great turnaround season.
The players are "very excit-
ed to have Tony as a part of the
team," sophomore pitcher Tyler
Dearden explained. "He is a great
guy on and off the field with a lot
of talent." With the addition of
Romanelli, Dearden is very confi-
dent about the upcoming season,
saying "getting a player from an
ACC organization is very exciting.
If
everyone performs to the level
they are capable pf, Marist base-
ball can accomplish anything."
Romanelli, along with the
nine other new freshmen re-
cruits should prove to be very
important in the Red Foxes'
return to MAAC dominance.
Marist opens the 2015 season
in two weeks with a three-game
series in Charlottesville, Vir-
ginia against another promi-
nent ACC team, the University
of Virginia. The first game
will
be Friday, Feb.
20,
which will
be followed by one game each
on both Saturday and Sunday.


















Sports
Thursday, February
05, 2015
www.maristcircle.com
Page
12
Marist baseball welcomes ace Romanelli
BY BEN HAYES
Circle Contributor
Tony Romanelli is coming home.
Romanelli, a coveted prospect who
grewupjust25minutesfromMarist,
has transferred from Wake Forest
to
Marist College to play baseball.
Having grown up in the Hud-
son Valley, Romanelli has been
recognized as an elite starting
pitcher in the area as early as
his
sophomore year of high school.
Back in 20
·
12, after the c-0mple-
tion of his sophomore year and
second varsity baseball season
where he posted a 6-3 record with
an impressive 0.41 ERA and 75
strikeouts in just 51 innings, MSG
Varsity writer, Kevin Devaney
Jr.
labeled Romanelli as "Section
l's brightest baseball star'' and
"among the elite on the East Coast."
Dev~ney could not have written
truer words at the time. In fact, go-
ing into his senior season at Beacon
High School, Romanelli was listed
by National Prospect as the fourth
best pitcher on the entire East Coast.
Romanelli certainly lived up to the
pre-season hype, pitching Beacon
High School to the Section 1 Class
A quarterfinals with 7-0 record
and a 0.57 ERA. In 49 innings, Ro-
to sign with the Demon Deacons
.
Romanelli and Healy formed
a close bond, and Healy was a
big factor in Romanelli's deci-
sion to commit to Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons decided to
release Healy from their coach-
ing staff during the summer and
signed former Missouri pitching
coach, Matt Hobbs, to replace him.
Romanelli was able to maintain
his
full scholarship and played for
Wake Forest the entire fall, but
did not feel as comfortable playing
for the Demon Deacons as he once
did. Despite still being
·
on the ac-
tive roster for Wake Forest going
into the spring season, Romanelli
decided that he wanted to transfer.
PHOTO COURTESY OF MICHAEL WALLACE
When asked why he chose to
Local superstar pitcher Tony Romanelli (Beacon,
N.Y.)
is returning to the Hudson
Valley this semester. Romanelli, a freshman, transferred from Wake Forest.
manelli allowed just 21 hits, while
striking out a whopping 81 batters.
As a true freshman, the 6'2"
left-handed pitcher is expect-
ed to be a dominant figure at the
helm of the Marist pitching staff
and have an immediate impact.
Wake Forest received a verbal
commitment
'
from Romanelli to
play collegiate baseball shortly af-
ter he completed
his
outstanding
sophomore season. As expected, Ro-
manelli then proceeded to officially
commit to the ACC powerhouse.
However, coaching changes dis-
couraged Romanelli from wanting
to play for the Demon Deacons.
Former Wake Forest pitching
coach Dennis Healy, who happens
to have also been the head coach at
Marist from 2005-2009, played a
major role in recruiting Romanelli
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Romanel-
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explained that it was the
best choice for him to make.
''Marist was always a school that
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"Being that it was so close to home,
I knew so much about [Marist]."
Although Romanelli also considered
Hofstra and Fordham, he said that
Marist was his clear-cut favorite.
''When I decided that I was leav-
ing, I felt that Marist would be the
best move for me in my baseball
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