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.

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“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.

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“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.

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“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.

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“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.

What we are watching this week …

PRESIDENT TRUMP ATTENDS HIS FIRST UNITED NATIONS MEETING

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By Owen Kinglsey

President Donald Trump will attend his first United Nations meeting this Tuesday, since taking office and many are concerned as to how he will interact with other members and what type of impression he will leave. Trump will have the opportunity to meet and talk with many of the world’s most influential politicians and diplomats, many of which will try to create a relationship with who is considered to be one of the most unusual and unconventional world leaders in recent memory.

One of the main points of interest that will be asked of Trump will be about his decisions earlier in the year to withdraw from both the International Agreements of free trade and climate change. Decisions that some are worried may alienate the president from discussions and future agreements with other world leaders.

Other topics and questions for the president will range from his role on global leadership to his tensions and comments regarding North Korea to the uncertainty of what he will do about former President Barack Obama’s nuclear agreement with Iran. While Trump has received much criticism over his first few months as president, both domestic and foreign, this will be his opportunity to explain and defend his choices and plans as president thus far.

Students to stand up for DREAMers

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By Anna Sackel

QUnited, a club on campus that identifies themselves as a group that is “working to make Quinnipiac a safer and more inclusive campus,” is holding a vigil on Thursday to show support for undocumented citizens at Quinnipiac.

The vigil will happen at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday in front of the Carl Hanson student center. For more information about DACA and what the Quinnipiac community is doing in regards to this issue, check out our story here.

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the race to pass a state budget

By Anna Sackel

The Connecticut General Assembly agreed on new Republican budget for the state. While Democrats control the Connecticut legislature, the Republican produced budget passed in a 77-73 vote early Saturday morning. Governor Dannel Malloy still may veto the budget, which would leave the state lawmakers scrambling to prevent major spending cuts.

Malloy, who is not seeking a third term as governor, said on Friday that he would veto the budget if no amendments were made. The budget that was passed would cause major changes to the department of education, including a cut to the money given to the University of Connecticut.

New whispers of bipartisan negotiations may lead to a new budget being passed, with education being a large part of debates. If no new budget is passed, Malloy should make a decision on whether or not to veto the budget in the coming week.

President Trump to make his first United Nations appearance Tuesday

By Owen Kingsley

President Donald Trump will attend his first United Nations meeting this Tuesday, since taking office, and many are concerned as to how he will interact with other members and what type of impression he will leave. Trump will have the opportunity to meet and talk with many of the world’s most influential politicians and diplomats, many of which will try to create a relationship with who is considered to be one of the most unusual and unconventional world leaders in recent memory.

One of the main points of interest that will be asked of Trump will be about his decisions earlier in the year to withdraw from both the international agreements of free trade and climate change. Decisions that some are worried may alienate the president from discussions and future agreements with other world leaders.

What we are watching this week …

By Erin Reilly and Katherine Koretski

QU Responds to DACA with”Dreamer” Discussion Nov. 13

In recent days, President Trump has rescinded DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. This policy protects immigrants who came to the country illegally as minors, known as “Dreamers,” from being deported. A sixth month period has been put in place to “wind-down” the program. A discussion facilitated by Stefan Keller from Connecticut Students for a Dream, will take place at Quinnipiac University on Monday, Nov. 13 at noon. Reactions and stories from the QU community will be published this week.

Latest on Hamden elections

Hamden residents took to the polls to vote in council elections on Tuesday. The primaries were held in the third and fifth districts. The second district was also scheduled to have a primary, but candidate Christopher Vega dropped out, forcing this primary to be canceled. Two newcomers to the Democratic party swept the ballot for seats on the Legislative Council, according to the New Haven Register. Justin Farmer and Athena Gary won the primary for the Democratic party. A notable candidate in the election is Quinnipiac professor Melissa Kaplan, who is running for the board of education. For more information on the elections, follow us on Facebook and on Twitter at @HQPress.

Hurricane Irma

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Floridians are bracing for impact as Hurricane Irma plows through the Sunshine State. The storm made landfall in Florida on Sunday morning, as a category 4. Later in the day the storm had weakened to a category 2. As of Monday morning, Irma has transitioned into a tropical storm. Irma is effecting the Quinnipiac community as well. “It would have been the biggest one to hit south Florida…but it changed course,” Florida native and Quinnipiac senior, Nicole Kessler, explained. We will have more information and reactions as the week progresses.