Shauna Golden – Page 2

Quinnipiac University’s Puerto Rico relief efforts

By Camila Costa and Angela Varney

It has been nearly two weeks since Hurricane Maria swept across Puerto Rico, destroying nearly everything in her path. However, residents of Puerto Rico are still continuously working to rebuild their community.

Miles away from Puerto Rico, Quinnipiac University students currently living in Hamden, Connecticut are doing their part to support Puerto Rico’s recovery from the recent devastation.

One student, Kelsey Bombon, reacted quickly. Bombon is a health science studies major and is of Puerto Rican decent. She also happens to be the President of Latino Cultural Society on campus.

After Bombon found out about the damaged caused by Hurricane Maria, she felt it was necessary to discuss it during her club’s general board meeting, especially because all members of the executive board are Puerto Rican.

“Our public relations chair was born and raised there and she came here when she was very little and pretty much said her old elementary school and old house were all completely gone,” Bombon said. “But she’s here where she has the blessing to get food whenever she’s hungry while her grandma has no food and is so hungry, we all had limited contact with our relatives, so we all comforted each other. By the end of the board meeting, we pretty much had a whole fundraiser week planned.”

The last event Bombon and the Latino Cultural Society are planning will happen on Oct. 13 at Buffalo Wild Wings in North Haven, Connecticut.

The participants have to present the flyer for the event and their check will go towards Bombon’s fundraiser. 10 percent of the total proceeds will be donated to their fund.

The Latino Cultural Society tabled on Sept. 26 and collected $300 in one day. Mark Thompson, Executive Vice President and Provost of Quinnipiac University, made an appearance and tried to help their cause by getting the attention of other students and faculty.

Bombon’s club is working on a website where people will be able to donate online without having to participate in events or tables, because she understands a lot of students and faculty might not have the time.

“We have faculty members saying they want to donate but can’t make it to the tabling, so they have been contacting me to give me money directly,” said Bombon.

In the meantime, they are working with organizations such as Unicef and Amizade.

“For specifically Mexico, we are working with Unicef so we trust that the money goes to where it needs to go,” said Bombon. “For Puerto Rico, we had a lot of organization recommendations to work with, but we wanted to know specifically where the money is going so we did research.”

Bombon goes above and beyond to help her community, whether that is at Quinnipiac or in Puerto Rico.

“I even went to Hartford and met with Connecticut legislators and decided to go with the organization Amizade. And, the Chief Diversity Officer here at QU has worked with them in the past– and for one of her classes she plans to bring students with her to Puerto Rico in January to donate the money personally.”

Bombon is counting on other organizations, inside and outside of Quinnipiac, to help with her cause. She has been working with Quinnipiac’s Student Government Association to help promote her club’s events as well as to help expand their ideals across Quinnipiac.

The last fundraiser will be happening next week, but in the meantime, if anyone wants to donate to help the victims in Puerto Rico, Bombon says she is available.

“I am always on main campus, so if anyone is ever interested in donating and needs to find me, I’m always here,” said Bombon.

Quinnipiac University Town Hall

By Karli Regalbuto

Hamden- Quinnipiac University held a town hall to discuss diversity. A panel of people, including Vice President Mark Thompson, spoke about surveys and focus groups being conducted. According to the research, Quinnipiac’s diversity has increased. However, students and faculty want to see more.

The focus groups found both strengths and weaknesses that Quinnipiac holds. Mark Thompson believes the weaknesses are reachable goals for change.

<br />

Students and faculty engaged in the conversation. Some students think that having more classes include diversity into everyday discussion could be beneficial. The faculty encouraged Mark Thompson to include more diversity programs and classwork into upcoming curriculum.

There are many upcoming events where similar conversations will be held. Students and faculty are encouraged to attend future events and to be a part of the change.

Screen Shot 2017-10-03 at 11.02.40 PM.png

Starbucks now open on Quinnipiac University’s Mount Carmel campus

By Lindsay Pytel

Starbucks is officially open on Quinnipiac University’s Mount Carmel campus. Located in the upstairs of the Carl Hanson Student Center, students wait patiently in line…sometimes for over an hour to get their beloved drinks and treats.

Now that Quinnipiac has two well known brands selling coffee, Starbucks and Au Bon Pain, what exactly does that mean for Dunkin’ Donuts? The closest Dunkin’ Donuts is located near QU’s York Hill campus on Whitney Ave.

A manager from the Whitney Avenue Dunkin’ Donuts said he had no comment on the new Starbucks and how it might affect their business.

Students and faculty answered a one-question survey sent out by HQ Press on Facebook and Twitter, asking which coffee shop they’ll go to now that they have another option. Their choices included:

1. I’ll go to Dunkin’ because I like it better

2. I’ll go to Starbucks because it’s convenient

3. I’ll go to Starbucks because it’s convenient and I like it better

4. I’ll go to Au Bon Pain

Screen Shot 2017-10-04 at 2.23.02 PM.png

The survey included 35 participants and found that 51.4 percent (18 votes) will go to Starbucks because it’s convenient and they like it better. And even though it’s off campus 22.9 percent (8 votes) will still go to Dunkin’ Donuts because they like it better.

The choice with the least amount of votes was for Au Bon Pain. Only 8.6 percent (three votes) of those surveyed said they’d go to Au Bon Pain because they like it better. It was evident at the grand opening of Starbucks on Oct. 4 that more students are interested in the new facility.

The line that is usually the longest in the morning at Quinnipiac University is Au Bon Pain, but maybe not anymore.

What we are watching this week …

QU’s response to racism

by Lindsay Pytel

A discussion will be held on Oct. 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. to inform students and faculty of actions that will be taken in response to answers from a campus climate survey focusing on inclusion and racism on campus.

The conversation will be held in the Mount Carmel Auditorium and is set to inform everyone the ways in which the university can improve.

Racism is an ongoing issue on college campuses across the nation. This conversation comes after events like Charlottesville and the influx of blackface reports that happened in 2016. One incident even happened at Quinnipiac when a female student posted a Snapchat with a black face mask on with a caption reading “Black lives matter.”

Executive Vice President and Provost Mark Thompson encourages the entire Quinnipiac community to attend in an email sent out to the university on Sept. 26.

Connecticut prepares for Puerto Rican students to arrive at its schools

Embed from Getty Images

by Michael Brennan

Connecticut school districts are waiting for an influx of Puerto Rican students in the wake of Hurricane Maria. New Haven mayor Toni Harp is fully supportive of integrating these children into their public school system, according to WTNH.

“We’ve already seen an influx because of the unfortunate economic conditions in Puerto Rico have lead to a lot of people to come over and live here in New Haven and our state… they are welcome in New Haven,” Harp said.

Connecticut governor Dannel Malloy thinks that the damage to Puerto Rico is so severe that it is inevitable for students to come to Connecticut and other states in the northeast, according to FOX 61.

“I think Massachusetts will, I think New York will, I think New Jersey will, I think Pennsylvania will; I said that to leaders last week,” Malloy said.

Ready, set, open Starbucks!

Embed from Getty Images

by Lindsay Pytel

With the commencement of National Coffee Day on Sept. 29, students and faculty are eager for the new Starbucks to open in the student center at Quinnipiac University’s Mount Carmel Campus.

The coffee shop is reportedly set to open Wednesday, Oct. 4, but some students have already been able to view the new facility.

Sophomore media studies student Charlotte Gardner got to take a look around the new Starbucks on Sept. 28. She says she heard some students were expecting it to be an express outlet just like Au Bon Pain, but that instead it resembles that of a full-on Starbucks store.

“It still looked super behind on the building aspect of it,” she said. “But, it has tons of outlets for kids who are studying and a lot of tables for (them) to sit at…(Also) there’s going to be separate entrance and exit lines so it will have a much better flow as opposed to Au Bon Pain and some other longs line in the cafeteria.”

Workers on Monday have been giving out tickets to students to allow them to take a look around and even taste some of the drinks they offer. Stop by to see if you can get a first look. They will be doing it on Tuesday as well for a few hours during the day.

Be sure to look out for our full coverage this week at the grand opening.

A first look inside Quinnipiac's new Starbucks                                                                                                                                                                                                    Photo by Dorah Labatte — A first look inside Quinnipiac’s new Starbucks Photo by Dorah Labatte

Humans of Hamden: Father Matthew Gworek

By Shauna Golden

Sitting alone quietly at a Quinnipiac University cafeteria table tucked underneath a set of stairs, 30-year-old Father Matthew Gworek offered up a friendly smile.

Father Gworek is a Catholic priest who works down the road at Our Lady of Mount Carmel and is also a chaplain at Quinnipiac University. Taking a minute out of his day at Quinnipiac, Father Gworek gave his perspective about recent events going on in the world.

When asked about the protests of the National Anthem during recent NFL games, Father Gworek explained that this issue falls into a gray area, it is not simply black and white.

data-animation-override>
“I think, you know, you can see different perspectives and a lot of different sides. I think it was, maybe the best example was, I think it was a player for the Pittsburgh Steelers this past weekend, who had this big struggle because his team was doing one thing but he was also a veteran, so he had to kind of walk the line and try to support both groups and both sides.”

Father Gworek explained that individuals have the opportunity to use this issue as a way of working together to find a common ground.

data-animation-override>
“Hopefully the NFL and the players and the teams and whomever will look at that and say we can use this as a way to pull together instead of just ripping us apart.”

When asked about the Cassidy-Graham Healthcare bill, the proposed plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Father Gworek offered up an opinion similar to his last. He explained that the country must come together instead of dividing itself.

data-animation-override>
“Unfortunately, there’s probably no perfect system. Because it comes from different perspectives and ideas, that leads to differences of opinion and kind of leads to, unfortunately, the kind of situation we’re in, where you have two different sides that see very differently. I think that whatever happens and whatever way the country decides to go it should be something that’s well thought out and considered and really does support as many people as possible.”

When the conversation shifted away from current events and transitioned to the topic of priesthood, Father Gworek’s bright blue eyes lit up and his nervousness visibly lessened.

The priest, who was ordained just under 18 months ago, explained that becoming a man of the cloth hadn’t always been his path in life.

data-animation-override>
“I never thought I was going to be a priest. I actually went to UConn and I studied music there, I wanted to be a music teacher. That was the plan.”

However, after becoming heavily involved in the church on UConn’s campus, Father Gworek simply couldn’t walk away from something that had become such a big part of his life.

data-animation-override>
“It was a really cool experience where I came to look at these people around me, especially the priests who really seemed to love what they were doing and who they are and what they’ve decided to do with their life and whatever I do I want to find that happiness.
”

Father Gworek has found his happiness in serving as a priest at two different churches. Gworek offered this advice to those who are still actively looking for what will give them happiness in their lives:

data-animation-override>
“I think for all of us that’s the driving force. We want to do something that makes us happy…and for everybody that’s a little bit different based on who we are and the talents that God’s given us.
”

Father Gworek is a human of Hamden and Quinnipiac.

Humans of Hamden: Lauren McGrath

Photo by Karli Regalbuto

By Karli Regalbuto

Lauren McGrath is a junior journalism major at Quinnipiac University. Her minor is creative writing and she is from Long Island, New York.

Upon first glance, McGrath is on the shorter side and has fair skin. She has medium length curly blonde hair, matched with a big smile and bright blue eyes. Just from that description alone, one may have already created their own version of who they think she is. However, McGrath revealed deeper parts of her personality as she spoke.

data-animation-override>
“I’m the editor of the Barnacle, which is like the satire newspaper on campus,” she said. “I really love creative writing and I want to go to into like comedy writing. That’s more ‘creative journalism,’ so I wanted to have that background.”

She goes on to explain what she thinks makes her unique.

data-animation-override>
“I say a lot of stuff that people don’t expect me to say,” McGrath said. “I’m like a small little blonde girl and then I think people are surprised when I curse or make crude jokes and stuff, which is like one of my favorite things to do.”

When asked about the world and what has surprised her, Lauren responded candidly about her feelings on the President.

data-animation-override>
“Surprised about?” she said. “‘Sad about’ is a better (term). Just basically the state of America and the world and I hate Donald Trump with every fiber of my being, and his supporters, which is terrible to say, but like the people that are like die-hard supporters that are like sexist, racist (and) I just can’t understand or agree with.”

Connecting to some of the major stories affecting the area and the country, McGrath had a lot to say about the hurricanes as well.

data-animation-override>
“Oh, it’s so sad,” she said. “And I think another thing that is really sad is that I heard a lot of people, I don’t remember which hurricane it was, it was either Irma or Harvey, it hit Cuba instead of Florida and everyone was like ‘Oh thank god it hit Cuba’ and I was like ‘there are still people in Cuba.’ Like, you should still be sad about that. It’s really terrible and I feel like Mother Nature is kind of coming back and being like ‘f**** you guys’ because we’ve made so many problems in the world.”

The last topic that Lauren touched upon was the paving in Hamden. She voiced her concern about the decision to pave right around when students began moving back to campus.

data-animation-override>
“Why would they wait until we came back to school?” she said. “Like, why would they not do it as soon as we left, it just didn’t make any…it’s just f***ing Quinnipiac…like they always do everything in the worst possible way. It’s good they’re paving the roads, but they just have to do it in the worst way possible, because that’s how Quinnipiac works.”

This is a part of who Lauren McGrath is, a short, outspoken girl from Long Island. She is a human of Hamden and Quinnipiac.

Humans of Hamden: Phil Carola

Photo by Karli Regalbuto

By Karli Regalbuto

Phil Carola is one of the maintenance supervisors at Quinnipiac University. He is 75 years old with a lot of life experience.

He is short to average height with olive skin, with some noticeable wrinkles on his face and his hands. The hair on his head is grey and his smile is more of a straight line. His eyes appear slightly opened. The interview gave a little insight into his life.

When asked what he was looking forward to in life, Carola responded with a bit of humor.

data-animation-override>
“What am I looking forward to?” he said. “I’m going to be 75 this summer and I plan on getting out, retiring.”

Carola also made a bit of a joke about the hurricanes, Jose and Maria, that are approaching the United States.

data-animation-override>
“As far as the hurricanes, I hope Jose goes out to sea, we don’t want him here,” Carola said. “Then we got Maria right behind him and right now that looks like it may hit us (too). It may not, but I think we are prepared because we do have a preparedness team here.”

He switched gears and began talking more about his personal life and not so much what is happening in the world. Carola went on to talk about his work and his family.

data-animation-override>
“I’m into my 23rd year,” Carola said. “(In) my first job I had…back when corporate America was getting bought out by a lot of other companies, I lost my job of 28 years. And then I was lucky enough to get in here to Quinnipiac. Started as a night custodian, worked my way up to a day custodian, worked my way to a supervisor. And that’s where I’m at right now. I’ve got a wife. I’ve got two daughters. I’ve got three granddaughters, which two of them are here right now, freshman and a junior.”

This is a small look into the life of Phil Carola, the 75-year-old supervisor, father and grandfather. He is a human of Hamden and Quinnipiac.

Humans of Hamden: Kathy Ross

Photo by Shauna Golden

By Karli Regalbuto

Kathy Ross is a retired nurse from North Haven, Connecticut. She is a mother of six middle-aged children: four sons and two daughters.

She is an older woman and has noticeable wrinkles on her face and hands. Her hair is a shade of white and her skin is fair. Ross wears glasses and has light blue eyes. One may create their own idea of who Ross is just by looking at her. However, the conversation dove deeper into the life of Kathy Ross.

data-animation-override>
“I’m still working, part time, at Health Tracks and I exercise 6 days a week,” Ross said. “I love to swim. I grew up in Wilson, Connecticut, a very small town. And I trained in New York City at St. Vincent’s Hospital. And then when I was forty-ish, I decided I wanted to go back to school, so I went to the University of Hartford and got my undergraduate degree in psychology and then went to UConn and got a degree in adult education. Because I love education. I did most of my career in hospital infection control, St. James’ for 20 years and then I retired from the VA in 2003.”

When asked about what she considered to be her unique quality, Ross said her naturally curly hair. She followed up by saying, “I don’t know…I think I have a pretty good sense of humor. So yeah, I like people, I like what I do, and I have a very good life.”

Kathy briefly touched upon issues such as the hurricanes. She recalled the hurricanes during ‘her day’ by saying they were fun.

data-animation-override>
“What did I have to do?” she said. “Nothing. I was all taken care of and, you know, it was kind of scary, but I was very secure. Oh, I knew hurricanes when I was a girl, let me tell you. ”

She not only viewed the hurricanes in a positive light, but she also looked at the roads being paved in Hamden as a positive.

data-animation-override>
“It’s annoyed me…but in a good way,” she said. “It’s progress, it’s good. We get so used to having our own way and just being able to go where we want to go.”

Ross, the retired nurse, the mother of six and the positive woman. She is a human of Hamden.

Humans of Hamden: an overview

In the world today, people are judged upon first glance. Some people create their own version of a person within the first few seconds of seeing them. However, a face cannot explain the full story; it may provide some context, but does not expose the whole truth.

HQ Press decided to find out more about the people that make up the Hamden and Quinnipiac community. The stories shared go beyond the what is seen and touch upon what is felt. The accounts range from personal stories to opinions on what is currently happening in the world. The people range from a college student from Long Island to a seventy-five-year-old custodial worker.

These are the humans of Hamden and Quinnipiac.

Humans of Hamden: Sara Bacchiocchi

Photo by Shauna Golden

By Karli Regalbuto

Sara Bacchiocchi works at a hair salon in Wallingford and at Eli’s on Whitney in Hamden, both towns in Connecticut. She lives in Hamden up the street from Eli’s Restaurant.

She is average height and has olive skin with dark hair and eyes. Bacchiocchi has a big smile on her face. People may have prejudged her, but this conversation goes deeper into who Bacchiocchi is.

data-animation-override>
“I’ve been here for about, I don’t know, six to eight months,” she said. “I grew up in Wallingford, so I just moved here. I started here, at Eli’s, in, maybe March, so right after I moved to Hamden, I got this as a second job.”

Driving to work can be a pain for Bacchiocchi, but she has found a way around the paving projects.

data-animation-override>
“Oh, yeah. It’s been a complete nuisance coming off the highway, especially over at Route 40,” she said. “I take the Merritt a lot so I kinda avoided all that traffic, but there’s definitely a lot of traffic at night still.”

Another issue Bacchiocchi touched upon was the hurricanes. Although she was not personally affected by them, she helped in the relief effort.

data-animation-override>
“I don’t know anyone off the top of my head (who has been affected),” Bacchiocchi said. “I know one person who lived in Florida but she lives closer to the south of the state so they were not affected by it at all, so that was good. I don’t know anybody in Texas. There was somebody I knew that lived on one of the islands off of Texas, but they’re okay.”

She actually helped with the relief through her job at the hair salon.

data-animation-override>
“We did a fundraiser and sent that money to people affected by Hurricane Harvey,” Sarah said. ”The fundraiser was in (support) of the people (from Texas) salons. (We) gave that money to help them rebuild (the ones) that were all broken down and everything so that they could get their business back.”

Sarah is a young woman, who works two jobs and helped the relief effort for Harvey and Irma. She is a human of Hamden.