Central Connecticut communities raise awareness of pollution in Quinnipiac River

By Emma Robertson

A photographer. An eclectic group of artists. An organization composed almost entirely of volunteers. All different, but with a common goal: to educate Connecticut residents about the Quinnipiac River, the threats it faces and how it can be used for good.

David James, president of the Quinnipiac River Watershed Association (QRWA), believes it is now more important than ever to get local communities involved with the Quinnipiac River.

“We really think that it’s important for people to have a hands-on relationship with their physical environment,” he said. “In a highly technological age like we have, it’s all the more important to get people relating to their world.”

The Quinnipiac is a river with a long history of pollution. The battle against corporations and industries that have polluted it has seen progress and setbacks. But regardless, locals are coming together through art, education, and activism to inform the public about the importance of their local river.

The Quinnipiac River has been an integral part of Connecticut history for 20,000 years. According to the Quinnipiac River Fund, it begins in New Britain and travels 38 miles south, ending in the New Haven Harbor and Long Island Sound. It travels through 14 towns, including Cheshire, Meriden, Wallingford and New Haven.

The Quinnipiac River, which begins in New Britain and ends in New Haven, is 38 miles long and travels through 14 municipalities.

As industrialization spread throughout the country in the mid-1800s, industries and businesses populated the banks of the Quinnipiac River because of advancements in hydro powered manufacturing. According to the Quinnipiac River Fund, “on the upper river, Meriden and Wallingford became (world-renowned) producers of (silver-plating) and (metalware), and their populations rapidly expanded.” As these populations increased, more industrial discharge and sewage were dumped into the river, causing the Quinnipiac to become severely polluted over the years.

In 1972, what had been previously known as the Water Pollution Control Act was amended and renamed the Clean Water Act (CWA). Under the amendment, the EPA gained the right “to implement pollution control programs” and “made it unlawful for any person to discharge any pollutant from a point source into navigable waters, unless a permit was obtained under its provisions.” Under this new legislation, industries and companies were limited to the amount of pollutants they could release into bodies of water. Following the adoption of this amendment, rivers across the country, including the Quinnipiac, began to see improvements in water quality.

Even with the CWA, the Quinnipiac still sees its fair share of problems. There are two categories of pollution that affect it today: point source and nonpoint source pollution. Point source pollution was the target of the CWA. According to the Quinnipiac River Fund, “point source pollution can be traced directly back to a specific origin. Typical sources are the discharge pipes from factories and municipal sewage treatment facilities.” Although the CWA allows specific amounts of these chemicals to be released into the river, companies still manage to find loopholes.

The banks of the Quinnipiac River were a popular location for industries and businesses in the mid-1800s because of advancements in hydro powered manufacturing. As these businesses flocked to Connecticut, increased amounts of discharge were dumped into the river.

Matthew Higbee, research and communications officer for the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, explained that in order to identify a chemical that pollutes the Quinnipiac, scientists have to specifically test for that chemical.

“The problem now is the chemical industry can come up with a new chemical and we don’t even know to test for it,” Higbee said.

Without knowledge of these new chemicals, it becomes incredibly difficult to identify them as pollutants in the river. In situations like this, point-source pollutants can be dangerous and unpredictable.

Nonpoint source pollution, on the other hand, usually takes the form of runoff. These pollutants and substances are carried by water across fields, lawns, parking lots and roads. Nonpoint source pollutants can include fertilizers, pesticides, road salt, animal droppings, litter, car fluids and dissolved metals. According to Higbee, these pollutants are the current major threat to the Quinnipiac due to the close proximity of the Merritt Parkway, numerous housing developments and the plentiful lawns and fields of Connecticut.

Quinnipiac Associate Professor of Biology Courtney McGinnis has been conducting research on the Quinnipiac River since 2015. While she acknowledges that industries do release chemicals into the river in the form of point-source pollution, her concerns focus more on nonpoint source pollution.

“(We need to) reduce nonpoint pollution sources,” McGinnis said. “While there are discharge permits to dump industrial waste into the river, we also need to improve the barriers to divert nonpoint pollution sources, like runoff.”

Because the exact source of nonpoint source pollution is usually unknown, it is nearly impossible to regulate. Therefore, nonpoint source pollution is one of the largest threats facing the Quinnipiac today.

Nonpoint source pollution can take the form of runoff. With the Merritt Parkway’s close proximity to the Quinnipiac, pollutants from the road can often be carried straight to the river.

These two forms of pollution have degraded water quality in the Quinnipiac and citizens are starting to see consequences. Although for years the pollution problem has seemed hopeless, locals are fighting back.

One of the most active and successful local organizations in the fight against pollution is QRWA. It has one clear goal in mind: to advance the conservation of the Quinnipiac River and its watershed. The group, which was created by a concerned group of citizens from Meriden, Southington and Wallingford, was officially registered as a non-profit organization by the state of Connecticut in 1979.

QRWA is made up almost entirely of volunteers. Although it does collaborate occasionally with scientists and politicians, according to James, the organization relies on volunteers.

“It’s a good thing, because part of our mission actually is to try and connect residents of this area with the resource which is the Quinnipiac River,” he said. “So it actually provides a vehicle for us to get people involved with the resource.”

The organization has three major programs through which it promotes improvement of the river. Twice a year, it holds an event called Source to Sound Cleanup. This cleanup can vary in size from year to year and depends on the amount of time that has gone into organization and the volunteer base. Some years, it includes as few as two municipalities and some years it may include as many as nine. The cleanup focuses on the towns of Cheshire, Meriden, Wallingford and occasionally North Haven.

QRWA’s environmental education programs are a way for younger generations to become familiar with the Quinnipiac River. QRWA works with local high schools and middle schools from Meriden, Wallingford and New Haven to categorize small aquatic life based on the species’ tolerance or intolerance of degraded water quality. At the QRWA headquarters in Meriden, students are able to use the organization’s classroom and science equipment to analyze the water samples.

Riffle Bio Assessment by Volunteers (RBV) is a QRWA program implemented by the state. In the RBV program, a small group of volunteers catalog macro and micro invertebrates in rivers across the state in order to judge water quality. However, two years ago, due to a lack of funds, the state stopped testing polluted bodies of water, like the Quinnipiac.

“Our hope is that they begin to save that data again because the Clean Water Act that was passed in the ‘70s and the state mandate that comes from that says that we’re supposed to be collecting data from all water bodies, not just from clean water bodies,” James said. “So we’re hoping that we can correct that and get that data flowing again.”

With more knowledge about the Quinnipiac’s water quality, organizations like QRWA are able to strengthen efforts to improve the river. And that improvement is critical if the Quinnipiac River is to be a usable resource for local residents in more urbanized areas of central Connecticut. James and QRWA understand how important the Quinnipiac can be for local communities.

“A lot of times people who live in urban areas have less ability to access cleaner areas and more rustic areas,” he said. “Just because they’re in an urban area doesn’t make them any less needful of natural resources or less deserving of having access to natural resources.”

Access to natural resources goes beyond a clean river. It extends as well to clean recreational areas surrounding the river. Another local group has attempted to tackle this problem in an entirely different way.

Pick-Up Artists is a group of artists who come together to rid local parks and recreational areas of trash and garbage. After cleaning up the garbage, the group settles down and creates art inspired by the environment. In October of 2018, the group gathered at Quinnipiac River Park in New Haven to tackle the litter that covered the area.

The organization is small, as it was formed in the fall of 2018, and was founded by environmental and political artist Zoe Matthiessen. Matthiessen vividly remembers the moment that drove her to action.

“I had been on a (bike) ride and I was sketching and on my ride home, right in front of me, like literally 2 or 3 feet in front of me, a seagull was hit by a car as it was picking through trash on the street,” she said. “I cried all the way home and I was like, ‘that’s it, I have to try to do something.’”

Matthiessen immediately began creating fliers and distributing them around New Haven. Shortly after her initial efforts, the New Haven Parks and Recreation Department began to help Matthiessen organize her idea and gather supplies.

The first two events, held at Edgewood Park and Quinnipiac River Park, were attended by 10-12 people. Matthiessen felt that the second event stood out over the first.

“I think the second cleanup was even more of a success, we got every little bit of trash out of there, I think we got about 12 bags full of trash,” she said.

Following pickups, members create art of varying subjects, from tree stumps to ducks, tugboats to lamp posts. However, Matthiessen hopes the cleanup events will help Pick-Up Artist members become more aware of how they are using plastic and garbage.

“You think about where the garbage is coming from and the short shelf life it has and how unimportant the function of it was, and it’s very frustrating because the lifespan of the garbage is quite long and the function that it serves is just so brief,” she said. “So I think that it makes you more aware of what you’re doing on a day-to-day.”

Matthiessen plans to schedule more events for the upcoming spring season. She stresses that the events are open to everyone, not just artists. And the end result is worth it.

“It is really satisfying to walk away from a place, seeing all the bags of trash lined up, thinking about how you’re leaving it compared with how it was when you first arrived,” Matthiessen said.

But Matthiessen has not been the only local trying to use art as a form of activism. New Haven photographer Ian Christmann uses photos as a way to illustrate how pollution has affected the Quinnipiac River. He received a grant to photograph the river over the course of two years, highlighting the beauty and abuses.

Although Christmann’s initial goal was to show towns along the river what the conditions looked like upstream and downstream from their corridors, he also made some unsettling discoveries. According to Christmann, he learned that in the ‘80s, the river was the second most carcinogenic river in the country and that to this day, companies continue to dump waste directly into the water. However, one discovery hit a little too close to home.

“One of the most upsetting sights I saw was the size of the discharge pipe pouring into the river behind Cytec Chemicals (now Allnex) in Wallingford, knowing that the water was flowing down into my neighborhood after that point,” he said.

After two years of shooting and exploring every inch of the Quinnipiac River and its watershed, Christmann was able to narrow his final project down to 150 photos that truly highlighted the various conditions of the river.

The final exhibit was displayed in the city hall or library of each town in the Quinnipiac River Watershed. After remaining in each of those locations for a month, the exhibit was moved to the state capital building for one last display. After the completion of the exhibit, the photos were donated to QRWA for educational and advocacy use.

Overall, Christmann was happy that he could fight the battle against pollution in a way he knew so well.

“It was great using my abilities as a photographer to highlight and engage people around the conditions of the Quinnipiac River, in order to amplify the beauty and abuses along the river,” he said.

As the Quinnipiac’s water quality improves, it has the potential to become a beautiful resource for recreational activities.

Overall, it’s important to remember why clean rivers benefit local communities. The Quinnipiac River has been a pivotal resource throughout Connecticut’s history. It can be a home to aquatic life, a resource for recreation, and subject of art. But as James claims, communities should rely on the Quinnipiac for their prosperity.

“I think we have a deep held belief that human health is tied directly to environmental health,” he said. “It’s not really possible to have a healthy community without healthy resources.”

Recent shootings spike fear in Hamden

A shooting incident in a Hamden parking lot has residents worrying once again about crime in their town.

A shooting incident on March 17 outside the Off The Hook Restaurant shortly after closing left two bullet holes in the passenger side of a parked car and one shell casing on the ground.

Though no one was injured in the incident, it nevertheless left some residents worried.

Guiseppe Pellino Jr., a Hamden resident and employee at the Wood-n-Tap restaurant, said he was upset to hear about the shooting on Dixwell Avenue.

“It’s scary to hear that, especially when it is so close to home,” he said. “That’s literally around the corner from me.”

This is one of several crimes involving firearms that happened in Hamden recently. Last month, in a two-week span, there were two armed robberies and a woman was shot in her home

Pellino said he loves Hamden and is worried about the increase in crime.

“Growing up, this was a great town, and it still is… I don’t know what really has changed over the years,” he said. “I worry because I love being in Hamden and I don’t remember this being an issue before.”

The recent shooting in the Off The Hook parking lot is not the first shooting there. In September, a man shot another man in his ankle and a woman in her thigh.

Michael Cheng, the manager at Green Laundry, which is two stores over from Off The Hook, says he thinks the police should have a larger presence in this part of Hamden.

“I don’t think this neighborhood is that safe compared to others, especially at night,” he said. “I think there should be more police patrols in front of this parking lot because of the restaurant [Off The Hook].”

Cheng has managed Green Laundry for three years and says he feels crime has risen since Off the Hook moved into the neighborhood in 2017.

“Before they moved here, there was a crime or incident maybe every few months,” he said. “When they came, it was more and I heard about a lot of fights.”

Operators of Off The Hook could not be reached for comment.

Cheng said he believes that dangerous events like these have a negative effect on his business and customers.

Despite the feeling of people like Cheng, patrol officer Angela Vey said she thinks crime fears are overblown.

“I really do think people feel safe,” she said. “Especially when they see officers in the community and interacting with people.”

Vey said she was unable to comment on the March 17 shooting because the investigation is ongoing.

“We do a lot to ensure safety,” Vey said. “We have a lot of proactive patrols, officers are out stopping cars or suspicious people, we have bicycle and motorcycle patrols and in the summer we have walking beat patrols on certain days.”

Yet, despite Vey’s assertion of Hamden’s general safety, a website that ranks safety of cities and towns,neighborhoodscout.com ranks it in the bottom third of towns and cities in the U.S. when it comes to safety.

Unlike Cheng, Pellino says he has noticed stepped-up police patrols.

“Now, you definitely notice more of a presence,” Pellino said. “Hamden is pretty safe. I feel safe and it makes me feel good knowing there is always patrols on the street and in the neighborhoods, Honestly, they do a great job in the town.”

Humans of Hamden

Jean Hill, 68 years old

“I walk every day because I had a stroke recently. I try to keep my leg going. I love being outside and noticing all the flowers now for spring. There’s everything here, pretty much. Even though it’s a big town, it still has its small town aspects. Two strokes and a heart attack. I woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and I fell on the floor because my leg didn’t work. Luckily there’s an elevator in the building. So I dragged myself downstairs and had the security guard call the ambulance. It was scary because I couldn’t speak right, but I got my speech back and I’m walking better. I’ve been through big things before, so it was just one more thing. Yeah, I’m tough, I get that from my Dad. I have good memories, that’s the good thing you know.”

Bobcat Challenge, a competition full of differentiated opinions

By Elisa Ruiz Martinez

It’s Bobcat Challenge week but some Quinnipiac students and student athletes are not really sure on whether this competition is the best way to raise money.

Bobcat Challenge is back and with only one day left, but do Quinnipiac student know what it is?

Let’s take a look at what some students said.

“I do not know anything about the Bobcat Challenge. If I had to guess what it is maybe they split up the student body into different teams and had them compete in like fun games or something like that… I’m not sure,” senior Quinnipiac student Kyle Gaughan said.

I also asked senior Quinnipiac student Alessandro Woodbridge and he did not know what it was either. “No, what’s the Bobcat Challenge?” Is it something like, I don’t know, you have to act like bobcats or something, like who can act like the the bobcat, the mouse?”

Bobcat Challenge is a race between 21 Division 1 teams where they compete against each other to see which team can raise more money in only 5 days.

Screen Shot 2019-03-30 at 3.31.17 PM.png

Student athletes need the support from alumni, students, parents, faculty, staff and fans. However, some player’s personal reactions to this challenge were not as everyone expected

“Okay so I think it’s a bit weird, considering a lot of people are on scholarships here and we come to expect, especially international students, not to be asked for money, you are always told that athletics has a lot of money…” Division 1 Field Hockey Athlete Anna Wamlsley said.

“I actually don’t like the fact that they force us to do it because it’s a donation you shouldn’t be forced to do, and also you are paying for your own traveling and stuff…” Division 1 Golf Athlete Elena Ybarra said.

Another Division 1 Gold player, Queenie Lai also said “I think it is a good idea, but personally from an athlete standpoint, I think it may not be the most efficient way to raise funds.”

The Bobcat Challenge is over with the Women’s Field Hockey team as the winners. They had 465 donors with over $15,000 raised. They will also be receiving $3,000 as their price.

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Hamden celebrity of the week

Stephen Malawista

Stephen Malawista, Co-Discoverer of Lyme Disease

Malawista was a medical researcher and Professor of Medicine at Yale University. Alongside his Yale colleague Dr. Allen Steere, the pair defined the illness brought to their attention by the Connecticut Department of Public Health as “lyme arthritis” in 1977. They determined that the illness was the result of a tick bite, and after more research outlining the variety of symptoms surrounding the illness, the name was changed to “Lyme Disease.” At the age of 79, Malawista died due to complications of melanoma in his Hamden home in September 2013.

Social media – good or bad for mental health?

Exploring a mixed effect fueled by filters and realities

By Kirby Paulson

Alissa Parker ‘s social media feed masked the horrific reality of her life as a college student mentally abused by an ex-boyfriend.

But she never discussed it because social media clouded her judgment.

“I never talked about it because in social media you look good, you don’t want to show that you’re having difficult problems,” said Parker, now a senior nursing major at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut.. “So instead of dealing with my problems, I posted all the time on social media how happy I was, look what I’m doing because I thought that was a good way to kind of cope with the situation for lack of a better term.”

Parker, then a sophomore, knew she had to confront reality and do so without delay. She turned to her resident assistant for help and got the support she needed. She is an RA herself now, works in Quinnipiac’s admissions department as a tour guide and is a member of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority.

Parker’s use of social media as a mask to hide her personal pain is just one example of how the apps that seem to dominate the lives of the young can work to harm them while seeming to offer endless connections to good times.

“Yeah, it may look like I have my life together on paper and on social media because I’m posting with my boyfriend and I’m posting with my sorority sisters and I look like I’m doing great, but there are times inside I feel for a lack of a better term again, dead,” she said.

She’s not alone.

Nick Calderaro is a senior finance major who works in Quinnipiac’s campus life office, runs an organization on campus, serves as a first-year seminar peer catalyst and is an orientation leader, among other things.

He too has seen social media used as a mask.

“So it’s just so artificial in the sense that you can put whatever you want out there and you know, just make things out to be what they’re not at all,” Calderaro said.

An informal survey of Quinnipiac students in class Facebook groups yielded some telling results about social media and its effect, with a lean towards it having a mix of both a positive and negative effect.

Participants were asked how many social media accounts they use and if they believe their usage has a positive effect, a negative effect, a mix of both or indifferent.

Social Media and Mental Health: Survey Results

Some 150 respondents participated in a Google Forms survey posted in Quinnipiac Facebook groups. One question posed was: do you believe that social media has had a positive effect, negative effect, a mix of both or indifferent on your mental health or personal judgment?

Some 117 students responded to a Google form posted on Facebook that asked questions about the number of accounts they had and whether or not social media generated positive or negative mental health effects, a mix of both or indifferent.

A startling 89 respondents reported that social media generated a mix of positive and negative impacts on their mental well-being.

The idea of social media presenting unrealistic expectations and perhaps seemingly perfect lifestyles is no secret and fires up the idea that it may have an adverse reaction on someone’s mental health.

Quinnipiac counselor Kenneth Wenning, who holds a doctorate in clinical social work, said social media creates an environment of unrealistic expectations among individuals who believe their top goal in life is to be happy.

“I think it does give some people an unrealistic sense of what life is all about because life is always a mixed bag,” Wenning said. “It’s good stuff and it’s tough stuff and it’s drudgery and it’s boredom, it’s not always you know, what’s going on.”

Kenneth Wenning PHD, LCSW

Quinnipiac Counseling Center, Counselor

He also referenced an example drawn from a recent conversation with a patient.

“So, I had a graduate student tell me the other day she was done with social media, she stopped all of it and she said to me ‘and I discovered, I still have a life’ but it’s like life is now being lived vicariously almost in a way,” he said. “When you look at what’s going on with these people, and these people and all of the monitoring and you know, thinking about everybody else’s life and I think that is a real problem.”

But social media is not the evil that some may think.

After the Super Bowl ended on Feb. 3, 2019, content featuring the “world_record_egg” aired on Hulu. The storied egg had been posted on an Instagram account that wanted to break the record for being the most liked post. Through a series of multiple posts, the egg cracked a little bit more each time. When it finally did crack on Super Bowl Sunday, it revealed a message about cracking due to the pressure of social media.

The World Record Egg, now the most-liked photo on Instagram, teamed up with @hulu to raise mental health awareness after #SuperBowlLIII. #EggGang #TalkingEgg #WeGotThis pic.twitter.com/bPBcoHs5JY

— Early Today (@NBC_EarlyToday) February 4, 2019

Mary Dunn, an assistant teaching professor of advertising and the instructor of the Strategies for Social Media course at Quinnipiac, said the campaign worked in unexpected ways.

“They didn’t truly think it was going to turn into what it was and it wasn’t until they had the audience like of ten million that they sat down and decided what they were going to use it for and I think it’s a happy story, a charming story, an inspiring story that they’ve decided to use it as a platform for social messages and campaigns like mental health awareness,” Dunn explained.

MaryDunn copy.jpg — Mary Dunn

Quinnipiac School of Communications, Assistant Teaching Professor of Advertising

Dunn said social media can drive powerful narratives but not all social apps are on-board with that idea.

“So platforms like Twitter resisted this for a really long time,” Dunn said. “They wanted the character limit, they wanted to force people to be succinct in their messages but when you’re succinct in your messages and you limit yourself, it can lead to misunderstandings, to oversimplification and so Twitter had to expand as well, right, and so I think that’s part of why they’re still alive and now they’re actually doing well this year, go figure.”

She also talked about the method of “scrubbing your social,” which involves unfollowing accounts that might be harmful to an individual. Olamide Gbotosho is a sophomore and one of Dunn’s students. In high school, she dealt with depression and said social media had a big influence in that.

Gbotosho has “scrubbed her social” before and finds it effective. While she has unfollowed some accounts of famous individuals that have an “ideal of perfection,” she has also followed others that play a more positive role.

“Sometimes I follow some positive Instagram accounts, so I do have that also,” she said.

There’s also the opportunity for social media to be used as a community builder of sorts for those suffering from mental illness. John Naslund, who holds a doctorate in health policy and clinical research, is a Harvard Research Fellow and has been doing studies on the benefits of peer-to-peer networking and support on social media.

“So we know that this peer-to-peer support is happening naturally online, it’s happening in forums, it’s happening in all kinds of places, well how can we kind of tap into that, tap into these positive interactions to actually support the delivery of some kind of services or programs that can be really helpful,” Naslund said.

While this research has promise to possibly provide support, he made it clear that it should not be replacing the care from a professional.

“This isn’t something that would be a replacement for existing mental health care, it’s most definitely not, it’s not a replacement,” Naslund said. “But what we see across the United States and especially in other parts of the world, the vast majority of people who have mental illness don’t have access to adequate care or don’t have access to adequate services and don’t have access to adequate support most of the time and this is consistent across the entire country where people really, the vast majority of people with mental illness don’t have the support they need.”

Naslund said that despite its negative associations, social media could be used to support mental health.

“Where we really need to think about this going forward (is) just thinking of the future of how social media can potentially be used for promoting mental health is I think really making sure that people who live with mental illness or have mental health issues are informed about how they can use social media in a positive way,” he said.

While social media may be a potential support network moving forward, Gbotosho believes that the best source of comfort may be in the form of the people in your respective circle.

“If you’re looking for comfort, social media isn’t the best place to find it,” Gbotosho said. “Rather finding it through the people that you surround yourself with.

The future of social media as it pertains to mental health and society in general might be uncertain.

But Allissa Parker, Nick Calderaro and Olamide Gbotosho may be able to sleep soundly tonight, knowing that hope may be on the horizon and that they are not alone.

Quinnipiac and Hamden locals surpass QTHON goal

By Michaela Mendygral

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Quinnipiac University students and local families came together Saturday, March 23, for the Miracle Network Dance Marathon, known as QTHON. Surpassing its initial goal of $323,000, QTHON raised a total of $332,567.12 for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

“It means a lot to families like ours for you to put together something like this,” said Bill Stratton, the father of Nicholas Stratton, who receives treatment from Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Children who receive treatment from the hospital and their families had an opportunity to partake in video games, coloring, basketball and other activities with students in Quinnipiac University’s Athletic Center from 2 p.m. – 12 a.m.

“My favorite part of QTHON is I like hanging out with all the girls,” said Emma, a patient of Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

For many of the children, QTHON is an opportunity for much needed fun.

“Having a kid with medical issues you get stuck in a routine so it’s good to get out,” said Stratton.

Defining culture: Revealing an American perspective

What unifies a nation known for its diversity?

By Rachael Durand

A group of millennial-aged college students sat in a dull blue-lit room surrounded by people they thought were strangers. Their professor had an accent: English with a Spanish twang. She asked the students to introduce themselves as if they were meeting her for the first time.

Students introduced themselves by describing their positions in extracurricular activities, hometowns, family backgrounds, favorite animals and what they liked to do for fun.

The responses turned strangers into neighbors, relatives and classmates; each finding a commonality between them. They were students, journalists, Italians, Americans, animal-lovers, travelers, males, females, humans.

It seemed easy for them to identify with a category to define themselves for an introduction. They defined who they were according to labels, titles and interests. But when asked to define American culture, it was blank stares and gaping mouths.

But it is precisely that attempt at defining their own culture that presents the biggest challenge. It is a challenge not just faced by university students. More than 10 people interviewed struggled to come up with a satisfactory definition of American culture.

Well what does America consist of demographically?

The United States of America. The states. The home of the brave. The red, white, and blue. Whatever you decide to call it, 327.5 million people call it home.

Data from the United States Census Bureau 2018 annual report.

According to the Census Bureau, most people in the United States are classified as white.

However culturally Americans consider the United States a diverse country.

Regardless of race and other demographics, Americans are mothers, fathers, workers, immigrants, activists and humans. But what brings together these individuals and how does this create a common culture?

Our culture is the way we connect, but how is American culture defined?

Let’s break it down piece by piece.

What is culture?

Culture is not clearly defined because it encompasses a wide variety of ideas. There are so many factors that contribute to the definition that the Merriam-Webster dictionary has more than six definitions for the word “culture.” If the authors of the dictionary can’t create one cohesive definition, then can we?

The main definition for culture is, “the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group,” according to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary.

Jason Burke, a 53-year-old Navy veteran and the Director of Veteran and Military Affairs at Quinnipiac University, was one of many who had trouble finding the right words to define culture.

What is an American?

“Depends… North American, Central American, South American?” asked Dr. Jorge Freiman, a 54-year-old Latino anesthesiologist and former captain in the United States Air Force living in Houston, Texas.

Freiman was born and raised in Argentina and moved to the United States in 1971 when he was six years old. He is a father, husband, doctor, veteran and Jewish-American.

Freiman is one of the many immigrants that make up what it supposedly means to be an American.

In the United States, there are roughly 44.5 million immigrants living stateside which equals to about 13.7 percent of all Americans, according to the Migration Policy Institute. One in seven United States residents is foreign-born, according to data provided by the American Community Survey.

But does this data support the notion that the United States is a “melting pot” of immigrants and cultures?

The phrase “melting pot” came into popular use in 1908 when a play titled The Melting Pot highlighted the life of a Russian-Jewish immigrant family. The family created an “American Symphony” as they looked to live in a society free from ethnic divisions and hatred in the United States. The play popularized the idea of melting as a metaphor for ethnic assimilation, with the coined phrase “melting pot” representing American culture.The play popularized the term “melting pot,” but in today’s climate, the “American Symphony” as described in the early 1900s is not harmonic but elusive.

“I would call it a melding pot, because melting implies a homogeneous mix versus melding, [which] is smooshed together, but of varying consistencies,” Freiman said.

How do we define ourselves? Are we a melting pot or a salad?

In 2019 it seems the term “melting pot” needs to be updated as it may not be an accurate representation of Americans or American culture.

Don Sawyer, the chief diversity officer at Quinnipiac University, found it difficult to prioritize how he would define himself in three sentences or less. His response highlighted the categories he identified with the most.

Sawyer is no stranger to the word diversity, and recognizes the importance of preserving individual identities in a “melting pot.”

Americans pride themselves on being diverse with labels, categories and identities. Ultimately it is our differences and prejudices that create inner tension and divisions.

“I don’t think there is just one American culture. I think our culture is a collection of various subcultures that can differ drastically,” said Alexis Ali, a 32-year-old working professional woman who is white. “The ‘American’ culture shared by Hawaiian surfers is different than the second generation among immigrant communities in Minneapolis.”

Those categories, or subcultures, have inherent biases based on individual backgrounds and historical contexts. You are white, he is black, she is Jewish, he is Puerto Rican, she is an immigrant, he is a Muslim.

Struggles within American culture?

American culture cannot be defined in one single definition because it is individualized. It is a culmination of socioeconomic factors that work for and against one another. It is groups, labels and boxes, but do they all mix?

“I don’t think [melting pot] is accurate because it’s not a complete melting pot, it’s like single pots,” said Roswitha (Rose) Ladue a 61-year-old German immigrant married to an American veteran who has been living and working in the United States for almost 40 years. “We have single pots– you’re either in this pot or in this pot. We don’t have a whole group that combines everybody, that takes everybody into account. When we talk about including people, it’s certain groups, not all groups.”

Although Ladue is an American by the definition of a green card, her integration into American culture could not be described as easy or comfortable. She knew that marrying an American soldier meant facing the assumptions regarding her German heritage.

“It was a clash in some ways because people did not greet me warmly. ‘Oh, you’re from Germany,’ they said. You were either a novelty, or they said, ‘Oh, what did you do when Hitler was in?’ Because they did not know my history,” Ladue said.

From some perspectives, you don’t have to be an immigrant to feel like an outsider. Historically speaking, dating back to the formation of the United States, there has been civil unrest, much of it related to racial and ethnic differences and biases.

Clifford Burnett, a 65-year-old black male from Springfield, Massachusetts, explains that American culture in today’s day and age is reflective of the struggles of the civil rights movement. Despite the progress made over the years, the political climate has rekindled the divisions that many thought were resolved.

“The current political environment has, in my opinion, pushed us back to the 40’s mentality,” Burnett said.

Burnett is not the only one who feels the shift in American culture over the past few years.

What unites Americans?

Despite the political climate, gender, class and racial divisions, historical backgrounds and prejudices, there is still a force that unites us as American people.

The greatest adversities and tragedies have proven to be catalysts for unity and change.

For Burke, this can be both positive and negative.

“I think sometimes when you get leadership that may be questionable, that really changes things and gets people actually talking or yelling at each other, then maybe eventually that talking changes things in the future,” he said. “So sometimes something less desirable happens but it turns out to be beneficial in the long run.”

Above all our titles, labels and boxes that create our individuality, the force that unites us is the title of being an American.

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What brings Americans together are shared values.

Being an American means having the same basic freedoms. What brings other cultures to America is the potential to enjoy these freedoms.

The idea of the American dream is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and it is the heartbeat of the American people.

What unites Americans is the power of individuality and the ability to be who you want to be with the freedom to express it.

Being an American means fighting for what you believe in even if you are the only one.

Being an American means creating unity through diversity.

So what is American culture?

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American culture cannot be summed up into a single definition because it is individualized.

The titles, categories, and boxes checked are the culminating factors that define our individual cultures. The diversity in America is how we identify ourselves within American culture.

What makes American culture unique is that we all identify as Americans despite our differences and perceptions of what it means to be an American.

“I believe that American culture can not be summed up in just one definition as it depends on each individual’s perception on what it means to be American,” said Adam Beyer, a 27-year-old finance and operations associate from South Hadley, Massachusetts. “Individualism is an important part of being American that we are free to choose what to believe in and how to think.”

American culture is a working definition that calls upon all of us to create our interpretation.

So, how would you define American culture?

March Madness sweeping through Hamden

By Logan Reardon

March Madness is upon us, which means brackets, food and drinks are the three most important things for a few weeks – both nationally and across Hamden.

The first NCAA men’s basketball tournament tipped off in 1939, but it has evolved into a bigger spectacle than its founder – Harold Olsen – ever could have imagined.

The tournament has expanded from eight teams to 68 over the past 80 years. The “First Four” play-in games begin Tuesday and Wednesday night, followed by the first round on Thursday and Friday. With 16 games on both Thursday and Friday, the games are essentially non-stop from noon until after midnight. The second round is played over the weekend before teams finally get a break until the following Thursday.

Throughout the country, billions of dollars in bets are placed annually during March Madness. This year, Americans bet a combined $8.5 billion – yes, billion – on the tournament, according to a report from the American Gaming Association.

In Hamden, local bars must prepare for the uptick in business as the madness ensues.

Side Street Bar & Grill, a Hamden hotspot known for its chicken wings and beer, is one business that adjusts in March.

“We have to make sure we have enough staff members to accomodate for the people that come,” said Sylvia Pinon, a Side Street employee. “We sometimes double all the servers and we have people come in earlier. We have to make sure that’s OK with our staff members first and that they have availability.”

Part of the battle is having extra staffers, but the bar also needs to be sure it has enough food to serve all the extra mouths. In 2015, The Food Network named chicken wings as one of the seven essential foods for March Madness viewing parties.

Side Street is notorious for its wings, which makes it a prime spot in March.

“As far as food goes, we do inventory every Monday, so we make sure we have enough wings and bleu cheese, because that’s what we’re known for,” Pinon said. “We make sure we have our prep guys every morning making things fresh for us. We just try to do our best. There’s only so much you can prepare.”

While you could easily just watch the games at home, many enjoy going to a bar like Side Street throughout the first weekend.

“I just enjoy the social feel during the games because as you know some of them can get very intense and nail-biters,” Quinnipiac junior Matthew Skiba said. “When (the games are) close, the environment of the bars gets up there and I like the energy that it brings.

“I enjoy the energy more than if I was just sitting on my couch at home.”

Skiba is a huge fan of March Madness and is easy to find at Side Street during the tournament.

“I like how it’s make-or-break for everyone, especially when I have competitions or am making bets with friends about certain games,” he said. “There’s also a bunch of upsets in this first weekend, the first 32 games, and that’s exhilarating.”

The upsets are a key part of the tournament. It’s a single-game elimination tournament, meaning one bad game can end a team’s season.

The make-or-break aspect of the tournament makes every game a must-watch. In an anonymous poll sent to Quinnipiac students, 27 of 50 respondents said they have watched tournament games on their laptop during class and eight said they’ve even skipped class to watch the games.

In the same poll, 35 of 50 respondents said they made a bracket this year, and of those 35 brackets, there were 11 different champions picked.

Skiba believes Duke, led by freshman phenom Zion Williamson, is the favorite to win. Ten of the 35 brackets in the poll also picked Duke, which was the highest percentage of any team picked.

Regardless of who wins, it’s clear that March is predicated on madness. Between chaos at bars like Side Street to students eagerly watching games during class lectures, the NCAA Tournament has everyone’s attention for the next few weeks.

Hamden celebrity of the week

Avery Wilson

Avery Wilson, Vocalist and Contestant on NBC’s The Voice

Wilson is an R&B artist, born and raised in Hamden. He is best known for his appearance on the NBC television program, “The Voice.” Wilson, just 16 years old at the time, was a member of team Cee-Lo, where he was eliminated after the “knockout rounds.” He was then signed with notable producer Clive Davis to RCA Records. In October 2018, Avery released his first EP “FYI” which included his singles “Do You” and “Dollar Bill.”