As quickly as the rain came down last week, it left– at least for most areas in Hamden. But some Quinnipiac University students and residents are still dealing with the aftermath of damage from Tuesday’s storm.
Hamden was struck with the highest amount of rainfall in Connecticut on Tuesday Sept. 25 at 8.5 inches, according to Hamden Town Engineer Mark Austin.
“That [rain was] highly, highly unusual, that much that quickly,” Austin said. “All the water came up very, very quickly but it also went away very quickly which, unlike say the Carolinas right now where they had so much water that stayed. Because it came down so fast, the systems had a very hard time trying to handle it when it initially came down.”
The town received quite a few calls on Tuesday, said Austin, and had over 60 road closures due to flooding. Hamden Police Department and Fire Department took care of the closures while the engineering department has been doing basic clean-ups around the area since.
“Our engineering department is in the process and will be over the next week or two of inspecting some of our local bridges to make sure that there weren’t any damage to those areas and receiving calls about sinkholes and other things that may have come up from the storm itself,” Austin said.
Quinnipiac students also experienced damage from the rain storm on Tuesday afternoon.
Chris Sour, a senior finance major at Quinnipiac, had to deal with two leaks in his off-campus house.
“I was on the top floor of my house and [leak] went from my room to my roommates room below me to even flooding the basement,” Sour said.
Sour had a leak through his ceiling and his window because his gutters were clogged. Sour’s landlord said he would come the next day to clean the gutters but he did not and the leak happened again the next day.
Taylor Pitts, a senior physical therapy major had to stay at a friends house because there was nowhere for her to park due to her driveway being flooded.
“I had to stay at a friends because there was nowhere for me to park my car once I got home,” Pitts said.
Pitts’ landlord spent the whole next day cleaning her basement and fixing her washer and dryer as well as her water heater and furnace.
As well as responding to drainage issues and about six phone calls for sinkholes, the department expects to see minor erosion around bridges.
“So far, so good on [the bridges], most of them seemed to fair pretty well – the ones we’ve looked at,” Austin said.
He believes there will be some minor erosion around the bridges, drainage issues and alot of sweeping and debris pick up.
“Nothing we normally don’t deal with, this is just all at once,” Austin said.
If you need to report damage you can contact Hamden Public Works at 203-287-2600, Hamden Engineering 203-287-7040, or go online to hamden.com and use their online reporting program SEECLICKFIX (seeclickfix.com) where your complaint will immediately be dispatched to the department with your concern.
On May 15, 2018 multiple tornadoes hit Connecticut and it left certain towns in the state, including Hamden, in total disarray.
According to the National Weather Service the winds peaked at 95 mph. It destroyed power lines, homes and also destroyed state parks.
Tree Fallen on Garage Photo Cred: Roger Kepler
The storm had a devastating affect on many residents who were in the areas that were hit by the tornadoes.
Hamden resident Roger Kegler said, “My wife texts me ‘where the hell are you’ as I pull into the driveway. I get my wife and three kids into the basement and put on some candles to calm everyone down”.
The storm was intense and knocked down trees and destroyed property.
Destroyed Car and Garage Photo Cred: Roger Kepler
“We heard a thump and then we hear the dishes shaking in our kitchen…. I was the first one up,” Kegler said. “I saw that the garage and car was completely destroyed by a tree.”
After the storm, the state needed assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for aid and to help clean up the areas affected so the residents could live their once again.
Governor Daniel Malloy reached out to FEMA for individual assistance meaning that FEMA would help out individual homeowners but this request was denied, according to a report by NBC CT. This has left homeowners still dealing with the effects of the tornado.
Kegler said, “After the storm the neighbors house was damaged, the guy across the street completely lost his house and the guy next to me didn’t lose anything…you can still see the destruction if you drive around you can see the trees that are still in the middle of the cul de sac.”
Only recently has the town started to clean up the streets again.
According to a recent statement by Hamden Mayor Curt Leng, “The collection of debris from the May 15 tornado will resume on Sept. 24, and will continue until Friday, October 5. It will be immediately followed by bulk trash collection through the end of October. Storm debris collection will occur only in the Mount Carmel and West Woods neighborhoods, which were most heavily affected by the tornado.”
Leng also told all citizens affected to keep all bills and quotas from their damage so that he can appeal the decision by FEMA so that homeowners can get the help that they need.
Sleeping Giant National Park which is Located across the street from Quinnipiac University, was one of the parks damaged from the storm.
Sleeping Giant Park Ranger, Jill Scheibenpflug, said, “All the trees were knocked down and the trails were disrupted and there were some holes in the roof of the pavilion.”
The damage caused the park to be shut down until further notice. The state is hopeful it will open sooner rather than later.
Scheibenpflug said, “We were hoping for fall but now we are leaning more towards spring for when it will reopen”.
According to Scheibenpflug, when it happened there was a lot of debris and trees that caused the park to stay closed. Contractors came fairly soon to clear the trees so it looks better but there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. All of the rain that has been falling has prevented the park from being able to plant any trees.
With 40 days until the midterm elections, the director of the nationally respected polling institute at Quinnipiac University gave an inside look into the most critical times during an election period.
Every four years, the United States holds midterm elections, general elections near the midpoint of a president’s four-year term of office.
Federal offices that are up for elections are seats in the United States Congress, and all 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
While the participation is not very high during the midterms, they can be very important.
Midterms are capable of changing the political landscape and these changes impact the president’s ability to pursue an agenda during the second half of his term.
Source: VOA News Created By: Mackenzie Campbell
Students, faculty, and staff were invited to join in on a conversation on Tuesday afternoon to discuss what the Quinnipiac University Poll can tell voters about the 2018 midterm elections.
Douglas Schwartz, PhD, director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, and Mary Snow, polling analyst and spokesperson for the poll, presented their work to the students.
They shared a behind-the-scenes look into the nationally acclaimed organization and discussed what students can learn from polling data in the upcoming election.
Dr. Douglas Schwartz and Mary Snow speaking to Quinnipiac students.
Mary Snow is a polling analyst that joined the Quinnipiac University Poll in July.
“I first learned about the Quinnipiac poll when I was a reporter at CNN,” said Snow. “Our political unit had strict guidelines about polls that could or could not be used in our reporting.
“Quinnipiac University was on the select trusted list, and while I am no longer reporting I am still interested on why people make the decisions they do when it comes to electing leaders and voting on issues.”
“As you can imagine there is no shortage of topics for us to ask about in these tumultuous times,” Snow said.
After sharing a personal experience with her first poll, Snow summed up her findings. “The moral of the story is that races don’t always fit neatly into a single narrative or a single tweet. They are complicated.”
Dr. Douglas Schwartz shared his experience of the 2016 presidential election with Quinnipiac students.
“There were several forecasts giving Hillary Clinton high chances of winning, calculating the odds of someone winning an election is not what we do,” said Schwartz. “Polls are considered more of a snapshot in a certain window of time that provides indicators.”
Schwartz believes that another issue is the sheer amount of polls on the scene and who is most reliable. The Washington Post recently reached out to the Quinnipiac University Poll to help determine the reliability of a poll.
Schwartz advises students and the media to look to see how an organization conducts their polls.
“Most surveys conducted online are not scientific. They are based on people who volunteered to participate and therefore the results are not representative to the population, the way a random sample is.”
“While polls are giving indicators, what we can’t know is what will happen between now and November,” said Schwartz. “What headlines may sway opinions but also what the turnout will be and that will be closely watched among you, young voters who are a coveted group for campaigns.”
Schwartz opened the floor to the students and asked why they were motivated to vote in the midterm elections.
“I am motivated to vote [in the midterm elections] because I think that we need change,” said senior Rachel Beaulieu.
Another student added, “I consider voting a civic duty that we all should strive to achieve.” When asked what issue was most important to him going towards the ballet box he said, “I couldn’t tell you an important issue, I am not a one-issue voter.”
In a recent national poll, voters were asked how motivated they were to vote in the 2018 midterm elections.
“Sixty-five percent of the people we polled said that they were extremely motivated to vote in the midterm elections,” said Schwartz.
Some students believed that there are barriers in place that make them unmotivated to register to vote in the midterm elections, such as living in Connecticut and the difficulty registering to vote while at college.
Professor Scott McLean, a political science professor, reminded students that it isn’t too late to register to vote in the midterm elections.
“If you have a cell phone and go to the secretary of state’s website, you can fill out a form on your phone today,” said McLean.
Mary Snow stressed, “It is so important because it is a referendum on the Trump administration’s policies.”
“One thing that I would convey to all of you is to hold off on any predictions,” said Snow. “Use your best judgement.”
Snow thinks that the midterms are important because it is the first time we’ve seen elections to congress after President Trump was elected.
“What about all of these policies that have been put into place, now you, the voter, has the opportunity to weigh in,” Snow said.
“On of the things that we do to reach young people is we call back at least five times over separate days,” said Schwartz. “Because young people are hard to reach and their opinions matter.”
The Quinnipiac University Poll has a standard question asking if voters support or oppose stricter gun control laws in the country. Their experiment simply changed the language used in the question by changing one simple word, control.
“The word control has a negative connotation,” Schwartz said.
“We found that it was different, that if you ask people about gun control they have a more negative reaction,” Schwartz said. “If you ask them about stricter gun laws it is a more positive reaction.”
“Just one word could affect how people feel about an issue.”
Schwartz stressed that when creating questions for polls it is always a team effort, “No one person can write questions for a survey, we all have our own biases and we do our best to keep them out.”
Whether you follow polls such as Quinnipiac’s, Schwartz reminds students that their votes matter. Across the country, 36 states are holding elections for governor, local politicians matter, making students votes in local elections matter.
“There are different issues in different states,” said Snow. “It is a very complex picture.”
Quinnipiac students have been surprised to learn that their reliable TD Bank ATMs and branch are no longer. The Office of Finance announced the change in student banking in May and again in late August when the fall semester began.
With the start of a new semester came the start of a contractual agreement. TD Bank and Quinnipiac had previously arranged a 10-year agreement, which came to a close at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.
Naturally, students became dependent on TD Bank and its services: they’d acquired debit and credit cards, cashed checks, and handled checking/savings accounts through the branch
located in the Carl Hansen student center.
In the statement sent out by Quinnipiac’s Office of Finance, university officials stated, “The first People’s United Bank ATM will be installed in the Carl Hansen Student Center … People’s United Bank plans to open a studio, which will be a lounge area with banking technology that will replace the TD Bank branch in the Carl Hansen Student Center.”
In addition to this, four new ATMs will be installed across all three campuses. It is no doubt that the sudden shift in banking will leave students, faculty and other staff left with no other option than to open a new account with People’s United Bank.
With renovations beginning as soon as Oct. 15, students were advised to think about opening an account with People’s United but some are reluctant to take that step.
“I don’t get why the school would make a drastic change like that. I get that contracts expire but couldn’t they renew it for our [the students] sake?” Vanessa Harris, a senior RA said.
According to a Q30 survey 8.5 percent said they have an account wile 82 percent said they don’t. The ATM swaps are said to go into effect on Sept. 24.
“I never had TD or People’s United Bank, but I do know my friends are having trouble because they now get charged for using the ATMs even though they switched to TD Bank in freshman year. For them, changing it now just created a lot of issues for students who don’t have a lot of money to begin with,” said Kaycie Romanello, a senior at Quinnipiac.
A large majority of the QU student body banks with TD and the consensus around campus is that the swap will cause great inconvenience.
“There’s no going back since they’ve already paid for everything and entered into a new contract but administration should get ready for lots of complaints,” Harris said.
Hamden is in the worst financial position out of all of the towns in Connecticut, according to a report by the Yankee Institute for Public Policy.
Lauren Garrett, a representative at-large in Hamden, says she saw the report coming.
“Our debt is crippling us,” Garrett said.
Marc Joffe, a senior policy analyst at the Reason Foundation, did a study that ranked all of the town’s and cities in Connecticut based on each town’s 2016 financial report. Joffe gave Hamden a 25, which was the lowest in the rankings and 19 points below Hartford, which is experiencing a financial crisis of its own. Any town that received a rating below 50 in the study is thought to be in “severe financial distress.” The state announced that it would pay off Hartford’s $550 million debt over a 20-year period.
The Yankee Institute for Public Policy notes on its website that its “mission is to promote free-market solutions and smart public policy so that every Connecticut resident is free to succeed.” The Yankee Institute strives to help inform Connecticut residents about what is going on in their state. It is self-described as a “think tank” and the institute takes many conservative viewpoints on topics.
Brad Macdowall, a district representative in Hamden, called the Yankee Institute, “a political lobbying firm whose endgame is to push conservative agendas and conservative candidates.”
According to its 2016 fiscal report, Hamden has a debt of $784.1 million and much of that debt comes from promises that the town made to retiring employees that went unpaid according to the Yankee Institute report.
With its debt continuing to grow, Hamden took out a $125 million pension obligation bond in order to bolster its pension fund in 2014. If the town does not invest in the bond correctly, then it will only create more stress for itself, according to the Yankee Institute report.
As the debt in the town continues to increase, so do the property taxes as the town looks to minimize its debt anyway possible. Local government officials are not happy about having taxes increase.
“Taxes in Hamden are onerous,” representative at-large Marjorie Bonadies commented on the Yankee Institute’s original report. “There are twice as many houses for sale or in foreclosure than any of our neighboring towns.”
Marc E. Fitch, the author of the Yankee Institute article, believes that it would be easy for a Hamden resident to move one town over to North Haven.
“I think the rising property taxes will have an effect on whether people stay or leave. Essentially, a Hamden resident could move one town over to North Haven and probably save thousands per year,” Fitch said.
Fitch thinks that Hamden will face competition from surrounding towns but that it still has things that attract people to the town.
“Hamden has to compete with other towns in the vicinity. Luckily, it has some attractive qualities and Quinnipiac University,” Fitch said.
The state as a whole is struggling with debt, so Hamden may receive minimal help from the state government.
“Hamden can’t count on any help from the state,” Fitch said in an email. “If anything, they should prepare for cutbacks as the state faces four years of projected budget deficits.”
Quinnipiac University named Judy Olian as its new president this past January and local officials say they are looking forward to working with Olian to help rejuvenate the local community.
“One of the things that I’m really feeling positive about is the relationship with the new Quinnipiac president,” said Macdowall, the district representative.
Hamden will continue to search for ways to end its financial struggle but residents will likely continue to see taxes increase according to Bonadies, the representative at-large .
HQ Press reached out to Hamden Mayor Curt B. Leng for comment, but did not get a return call.
When Lyn Johnson first walked into the Almost Home Animal Rescue in Plainville, Connecticut, she saw that it wasn’t like other shelters where she had volunteered before. The smell was overwhelming and there were cages stacked on top of each other with minimal room for the animals to move.
Johnson left and didn’t want to come back.
But then she thought her previous experience could help make the place a little better. And so she went back.
“I volunteered twice a week and even after the first two or three times, I knew it was a bad place,” Johnson said. “But she [the owner] didn’t seem too concerned for the animals.”
Johnson gave Meda Talley, the shelter owner, ideas and even researched types of cages that would benefit the animals. Talley didn’t budge. But there were others trying to help, too.
An example of poor structure of animal cages in an animal shelter sent by Connecticut Humane Society.
Plainville animal control officers came in regularly and noted urine and feces in the cages, according to police documents. But because there are no state regulations on how to run a shelter properly, the officers were unable to take legal action to shut this one down. The officers first had to collect evidence proving the animals were in near-death conditions to arrest Talley under Connecticut’s animal cruelty statute.
Susan Linker and one of her dogs.
Johnson, the volunteer, also brought in a friend. Susan Linker, CEO of Our Companions Animal Rescue, told Johnson to get as much photo evidence she could.
“We started building this case and I went to the police,” Johnson said.
With the evidence Linker and Johnson provided, local police were granted a search and seizure warrant and rescued twenty dogs and twenty three cats. Talley, the owner, was arrested. See the full arrest warrant here.
“It was an extremely long process that took a year and a half before anything really happened,” Johnson said.
In the wake of these and other cases, Connecticut law makers are trying to make shelter regulations more strict.
There is no Connecticut statute that requires animal shelters to be licensed or inspected, which leaves room for them to run in unexceptional conditions –for example, with feces and urine in the cages – while giving law enforcement no recourse to take legal action.
Under a new law, officers will be able to take legal action sooner rather than later.
There are around 50 animals shelters in the Hamden and New Haven area. Shannon Rose, an animal control officer at the West Haven Animal Shelter, says the problem is that there are a lot of animal hoarders that are keeping the animals in terrible conditions and there are no rules on how people should run a shelter.
No one wants to see an animal suffer, so what is being done to help them?
Matt Spilka’s (North Haven, CT) three month old fostered German Shepard.
On July 7, 2017 Governor Dannel Malloy signed House Bill 6334, an act requiring the registration of animal shelters. The bill, which took effect October 1, requires all persons who wish to operate or maintain an animal shelter to pay a $50 fee to the commissioner for registration/license. The license can be renewed after two years.
An animal shelter can be defined as any private entity that operates a building or facility that is used solely to house homeless animals for the purpose of rescue or adoption and that is not operated within a private residence.
During this period of time, any law enforcer may inspect any shelter, kennel, pet shop or grooming and training facility and if in their judgement the place is not being maintained in a sanitary and humane manner, the officer may issue a fine of $500. If the owner of the facility fails to comply with the regulations or the orders of the officer, he or she may have the license suspended or be arrested.
“The goal is to avoid it escalating to an animal cruelty level,” Linker said. “If there’s a complaint, an officer can go in and enforce something or the owner(s) can lose their license or be arrested.”
The legislation stems from years of work by State Representatives Themis Klarides and Brenda Kupchick, who brought it forward after a number of animals died at a private animal facility that was run by a repeat animal abuser, Fred Acker. Klarides witnessed first-hand the need for the legislation after trying to adopt a cat at an animal shelter in Monroe that was run by Acker.
“We went to the shelter on a hot summer day and outside were a bunch of dogs in cages,” Klarides said. “When we got inside the owner wasn’t there but it was very dirty and disgusting, all of the conditions seemed very bad so we left.”
Connecticut State Representative Themis Klarides.
When Klarides and her sister left the shelter they decided to call the Department of Agriculture and the state representative of Monroe. They found out the owner wasn’t there because he was being sentenced on an animal cruelty charge in another town.
“Once he was sentenced we knew we needed to change the language of our statutes and make a Connecticut statute in regards to animal cruelty and who is allowed to actually maintain a commercial kennel or shelter,” Klarides added.
Klarides has been fighting to push a lot of legislation forward and, she says, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, but she keeps fighting. After encountering the horrible conditions at the animal shelter, Klarides called up all of the animal advocates she knew to get this legislation pushed.
“I believe things happen for a reason and you keep fighting for them even if they don’t happen the first time,” Klarides said.
Klarides did just that and the bill was signed and put into effect on October 1, 2017.
Some are thrilled with this action and think it will help keep the animals safe. Susan Wollschanger of Connecticut Humane Society wasn’t aware of the bill until recently and thinks anything that’s going to prevent animal cruelty is a step in the right direction.
“As long as people are working together and collaborating, it’s great. It’s always great to have multiple voices,” Wollshchanger said.
Brenda Kupchick, CT State Representative, continues to be an advocate for animals. She is currently fighting for a new bill to be passed regarding the standards of shelters during weather conditions. If passed, it will establish certain requirements for what constitutes adequate shelter for a dog during different weather conditions.
In this clip you can listen to Kupchick’s opinion in favor of the animal shelter bill.
With the bill being the new law, Plainville animal control officer Donna Weinhofer is hoping it will weed out all of the shelters run by those who don’t have good intentions. She also hopes it will professionalize those who mean well and may not know how to properly run a shelter.
“I think it can only help the animals in other people’s care. I think it’ll make it easier for me to make a bust that is necessary, but I also think these rescues are going to start hiding,” Weinhofer said.
To prevent rescues from hiding or closing down information is set up on CT Humane Society’s website so people can understand what the signs of neglect or abuse are. In addition, information on how to properly treat an animal and run a shelter is provided.
The Department of Agriculture can and will inspect any shelter at anytime to check up on the standards and conditions the shelters are in.
“We have something on our website telling you what the signs are and if you think something is going to happen we want it to be a reminder to people to report anything to the officers,” Wollschanger said.
Wollschanger and Linker think it’s important to educate those who want to run shelters so they know how to take care of the animals and keep up with veterinarian exams and medication.
“No person wants to see an animal suffer so we try to empower people to do something and make a difference,” Wollshchanger said.
Noelle Esposito’s (Northford, CT) rescue dog Riley.
According to Wollschanger, the CT Humane Society have training every day on how to handle, treat and care for the animals, because not every animal has the same needs. There are specific crews during different scenarios, such as for a winter weather event.
“We have a specific crew that is trained and ready to care for the animals during a snowstorm,” Wollschanger said.
The legislation is to not shut down the shelters but to professionalize them and help the people that run them learn how to properly care for the animals.
“They mean well, they just don’t know what they’re doing. It became clear that private organizations need a set of standards,” Linker said.
By Grace Manthey, Thamar Bailey and Mary Rose Bevins
Contributions by Rob McGreevy and Samantha Prevot
NOTE: Updated 6:15 p.m., May 3.
North Haven Police rushed to 385 Quinnipiac Ave. on reports of a “barricaded subject,” on May 2 at around 8 p.m., according to the North Haven Police Department Facebook page.
Later reports emerged that a large explosion set fire to the area, injuring first responders and leaving one unidentified person — possibly the homeowner — dead.
Doctors are still treating the nine injured first responders at Yale New Haven Hospital, said Public Information Officer for Connecticut State Police Kelly Grant this morning. These officers came from three different counties and were all a part of the South Central Regional SWAT Team, according to Grant and Deputy Chief for North Haven Police Johnathan Mulhern.
Conflicting reports from witnesses and neighbors make many details hard to confirm, but a White Pages address search listed John Sayre, Jr., owner of Sayre Plumbing Inc., as a resident. His wife Deborah was also listed.
According to Grant, Deborah went to the police department around 2 p.m. Wednesday.
Mulhern said in a press conference Wednesday night that his department responded to a domestic violence incident.
“During the course of this investigation (police) had reason to believe that a tactical intervention or a SWAT team was needed to take the subject into custody.”
At about 8:15 p.m., witnesses say a garage exploded, which injured the first responders.
Sayre has not been apprehended, but Grant confirmed that investigators found unidentified human remains in the carnage. Grant said the coroner will identify the remains.
Four dogs were in the building when it exploded, according to a police officer on the scene, and are presumed to be dead.
Kenny and Nancy Mahoney live next door. They said the blast shook their house and public utilities shut off power for three hours Wednesday night. The Mahoneys got their power back at around 2:15 a.m. Thursday morning.
“We looked out our door and you could see the flames and the smoke. The smoke was unbelievable,” Kenny Mahoney said. “There were a lot of other blasts after that, smaller blasts.”
According to Grant, parts of the structure are still burning.
As of 6:15 p.m. on Thursday, police reopened Quinnipiac Avenue near Orient Lane.
North Haven resident Francisco Garcia said he moved to the North Haven area just six months ago, and noted that the incident was “crazy and just sad” and the smell of smoke was “overwhelming.”
More fire trucks arrived after the first wave, and Connecticut State Police sent an armored vehicle.
Quinnipiac University sent out an email at around 9 p.m. Wednesday telling students to “avoid the area of Quinnipiac Avenue in North Haven, near Orient Lane, because of heavy police activity.”
There’s a familiar face in a different location in Hamden, once located at 3000 Whitney Avenue, MiKro Beer Bar has now moved to 0 Depot Avenue.
Tucked neatly into the space behind Amity Wine and Spirit, and nestled cozily into an old railroad building, MiKro’s new location brings all of the quaint craft beer bar feel of its former location into a bigger and bolder space.
General Manager Greg Vayneris says one of the main reasons for the move is space. “People have loved MiKro for years but our space was so small that people couldn’t come in. They’d drive by and see that it’s full and they’d go some place else,” Vayneris said.
The new location, which holds over 120 compared to the former location’s 53, sits right on the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail, which is something Vayneris emphasized as a major reason MiKro chose the location. Not to mention the historic background at the rail depot which is a spot Vayneris says his partner, Mike Farber, has been eyeing for years.
The interior, which Vayneris describes as “kind of industrial yet homey at the same time,” appears to be made almost entirely of wood and accented with metal. Some of the materials that were used to build the structure came from the location itself.
“We used a lot of reclaimed wood, we used 200 year old chestnut that we found in the building,” Vayneris said. “The railroad tracks that were in the ground when we took the space, we used those railroad tracks on the bar as foot rails. The rail spikes that were here, we used those as tap handles.”
The bar offers 20 draft beers which are in a constant location. “There’s always a couple IPAs, double IPAs, there’s always a couple Belgian beers, there’s always a couple stouts or porters, we always have a cider on that’s gluten free,” Vayneris said.
The bar is fully stocked, but don’t try to order a shot. “We have a full bar but we don’t have everything, we don’t want to have everything. You can’t come here and order a shot, we don’t want people to drink shots, we don’t want people to get drunk here, we want people to have a great experience.”
Vayneris emphasized the culture, or what he calls the counterculture, of craft beer and it’s something MiKro emphasizes from top to bottom. The move forced Vayneris and Farber to toe the line between continuing to cultivate the image they had already established while trying to freshen their style in a brand new location.
“The concern for a lot of the regulars is they didn’t want it to lose the feel of MiKro. So we didn’t, we painted the walls the same color as the old place, the music selection is very similar, the lighting is very similar,” Vayneris said.
The culture growing around craft beer is something that makes Vayneris hopeful for the future of his business. “People drink more craft beer and we want to continue that legacy.”
MiKro Beer Bar is now open at 0 Depot Avenue in Hamden, it’s former location at 3000 Whitney Avenue has reopened as TexiKo Tequilla Bar.
For the fifth consecutive year, the Quinnipiac women’s tennis team is the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference champions. The Bobcats defeated the Marist Red Foxes 4-1 on Sunday to seal their fifth title in as many years as they’ve been in the MAAC.
After shutting out Niagara University yesterday 4-0, Quinnipiac was able to hold on to beat Marist in New Jersey at Mercer County Tennis Center.
Although dominance has become a normalcy for the team, Paula Miller, the director of Quinnipiac tennis and the women’s team’s head coach, says it never gets any easier.
“Everyone always talks about the success,” Miller said. “But every time we come out here to play I feel the nerves and every year the teams actually compete harder against us.”
Miller added that nerves aside, she will always believe in her team.
“I’m always worried but I have the faith in my girls to come out and win,” Miller said.
For this team, faith and trust is a necessity due to the youth of the roster since all of the starters were either juniors or freshmen.
The younger teams came through today when the team needed them most, even after a tough start.
“Payton (Bradley) at number three was down five-one in the second set and ended up coming back and winning the set so my freshmen are tough,” Miller added.
However, the success was not held to only one freshman.
Moments before Jennifer Lu’s clincher, this was Dominique Vasile’s match point at 1 to give the Bobcats a 3-1 lead – Vasile and Lu at 1 and 2 had simultaneous set points and simultaneous match points. pic.twitter.com/C5gbtvfchP
“Two of three (freshmen) ended up winning singles matches for me that so that tells you right there how they are under pressure as freshmen,” Miller said.
Without one senior on the roster, it is important that you build a foundation for a team right from the bottom.
For Quinnipiac, the future looks bright.
“You always think its something you’re gonna have to build,” Miller said. “But then they come in and they grow. But to have that coming as freshmen, I think they’re just going to get tougher and tougher as the years go on.”
On Thursday, December 1, 2016, Quinnipiac women’s rugby players were celebrating their second consecutive national title in the cafeteria of Quinnipiac’s main campus. Joy filled the room-they had done it again with a victory over Central Washington to bring the title back to Hamden. Everything was good, except for one thing: John Lahey, current president of Quinnipiac, was nowhere to be seen.
“He said he shook hands with us and everything but he wasn’t actually present,” said Flora Poole, a senior at Quinnipiac who played four years of rugby. “It’s [President Lahey’s support] that is like one extra thing we haven’t gotten or accomplished yet.”
President Lahey’s office could not be reached for comment.
Hillary Haldane, an anthropology professor with a focus in gender studies, echoed this same sentiment.
“All the things that women do and get no credit for, it’s no different with sports. You hold up and value what the people in power hold up and value,” said Haldane. “The fact that our president goes to the men’s games and doesn’t go to the women’s games is appalling. Your job as the president his to simply act like you care about something.”
Other female athletes say they feel the same way – regardless of success or accomplishment, the lack of recognition for women’s athletics at Quinnipiac will continue.
“In my almost four years of being here there has definitely been a blind eye to the success of the women’s teams,” said Mackenzie Merkel, a senior member of Quinnipiac women’s indoor track and field. “There have been national champions, records broken, huge upsets, but the cycle continues as none of it gets the recognition it truly deserves.”
Despite the victories and consistent success inequality prevails when it comes to women’s athletics at Quinnipiac. There is an argument to be made that women’s rugby is the most successful sport at the school. However, the exposure the team gets and the following it attracts do not reflect that.
Image via Quinnipiacbobcats.com
“The coverage of the sports are different,” said Taylor Schussler, another senior who has played her last rugby game for Quinnipiac. “I think if you’re breaking down coverage it shouldn’t be based off of what’s the most popular sport.”
What Schussler is saying is that although the women’s rugby team is more successful than most sports here, it does not get the coverage that the others do. Lack of recognition and support for women’s athletics is not limited to Quinnipiac, it also extends to the rest of the NCAA.
This inequality stems in part from a lack of opportunity to compete in the first place. Without the opportunity to play, a lot of these women athletes do not even get the chance to earn support.
“Even though female students comprise 57 percent of college student populations, female athletes received only 43 percent of participation opportunities at NCAA schools which is 63,241 fewer participation opportunities than their male counterparts,” according to an NCAA publication cited by the Women’s Sports Foundation from 2014.
Graphic by Bill Ruocco
Even with Title IX in place, there is still a vast discrepancy in the opportunities that men get in sports in comparison to women. And even when women get the opportunity to play, the amount of financial aid granted to men and women athletes remains unequal.
Graphic by Bill Ruocco
“Although the gap has narrowed, male athletes still receive 55 percent of NCAA college athletic scholarship dollars (Divisions I and II), leaving only 45 percent allocated to women,” the 2014 NCAA publication stated.
Title IX implies that men’s and women’s athletics will receive the same opportunities both financially and substantially. That is not what the report reveals.
According to Attorney Felice Duffy, a New Haven attorney specializing in title 9 suits, it is not uncommon for schools to not fully comply with Title IX.
“I don’t think any school has ever had to fully comply with what Title IX needs, they just come up with some type of settlement. I mean, you’re familiar with the situation at [Quinnipiac],” said Duffy.
Back in 2009, a lawsuit was filed by members of the women’s volleyball team after Quinnipiac announced that it would eliminate the team in favor of competitive cheer, which since has been renamed acrobatics and tumbling. Quinnipiac ended up settling after the judge ruled competitive cheering to not be a sport and the school agreed to spend more money on facilities and equipment for women’s “sports of emphasis.”
Differences in finances for men’s and women’s sports, Title IX or not, have always been a problem.
“There is no clause in Title IX that says ‘except if one gender generates more revenue than the other,’” Andrew Zimbalist pointed out in a 2016 New York Times article.
A very good example of gender disparities in athletics is a comparison of the University Of Connecticut men’s and women’s basketball programs. The women’s basketball program at UCONN is one of the best, if not the best, women’s basketball team ever, winning four consecutive national titles from 2013 to 2016 and 11 altogether. The women’s program also owns the two longest win streaks, irrespective of gender, in college basketball history.
The men’s program has won four national titles total in its existence. Nevertheless, the men’s team still attracts about 2,000 more fans than the women’s program to every home game.
In the 2014-2015 season, the UCONN men’s basketball program averaged 10,687 fans at every home game. The women, on the other hand, averaged 8,216 fans per home game.
All together, in the 2016-2017 season, NCAA Division One women’s basketball had an average attendance of 1,538 per home game. NCAA Division One men’s basketball had an average of 4,633 fans in attendance per home game. The disparity is not lost on women athletes.
Graphic by Bill Ruocco
“It is obvious that there is a big difference in attendance between men’s and women’s sporting events,” said Mackenzie Merkel, a senior on the women’s track and field team at Quinnipiac.
Haldane compared the difference in interest in men’s and women’s athletics to the attitude of the restaurant industry.
“I look at sports as no different. Women are good and competent.. can make a mean stew, but it doesn’t come out of that five-star restaurant,” Haldane said.
Though the difference in attendance is glaring, the female athletes here have learned to focus on the task at hand rather than dwell on the negatives.
“We get a lot of support from the people that we care about,” Schussler said. “In my time here I have learned to not put a lot of emphasis on the outside support of the people that we don’t care about.”
Attorney Duffy believes that no matter how much we worry about attendance or financial attention, the problem is deeper with women’s athletics.
“All these things you’re talking about, we don’t pay as much attention, we don’t need a new stadium because of lack of attendance, is all putting the cart before the horse because if they actually supported them the way they supported men’s, it would change the culture and people would look at them the same way,” Duffy said.
This inequality is a problem that players say still bugs them. But some players say that hope is on the horizon for their beloved sport and women’s athletics in general.
“You can see the following grow, even how small it was, incrementally over the years,” said Tricia Fabbri, head coach of the Quinnipiac women’s basketball. “With the platform that social media has, it has allowed us to grow our fanbase … At each home game it has gotten better and better.”
Even locally the support has picked up, with someone noticing this billboard on 91 this past November.
Haldane believes that journalism is a great starting point to attack this problem.
“I think student journalism can help a lot, you create the news that’s fit to print,” said Haldane. “If women’s lives and stories and women’s sports gets printed, it sets a tone for what people are going to think is normal.”
Women athletes are waiting not only for steady attendance, but also the attention and support from their school that they think they deserve. Incremental growth in both attendance and support is key for women’s athletics at Quinnipiac, according to women’s athletes and coaches. It is on it’s way, but just at it’s own pace.
“There has definitely been a great improvement this year with getting the other sports event out there via Instagram,” Merkel said. “I just think its not much of an interest to the students who come out to those things because there isn’t as much hype around it … I hope [recognition] happens sooner rather than later but I do think it will take some time.”
