On Friday Nov. 10. a transformer exploded around 7:30 p.m. on Quinnipiac University’s Mount Carmel Campus leaving various power outages. The Outages affected three residence halls.
-Commons: freshman dorms
-Hill: sophomore apartments
-Village: sophomore townhouses
The biggest concern was how cold it would get at night in the residential halls. Officials set up different sleeping areas in the Carl Hansen Student Center and Burt Kahn Gym. If students had a friend’s house to stay at or lived close enough to campus they were advised to find a place to go to to those places for the remaining time.
Quinnipiac posted information on the MyQ website and social media pages to update students on where to sleep and how they were working towards getting power back.
Via Quinnipiac’s MyQ Website
Sophomore Rachael Pasquarose expressed disappointment in the school’s plan for students affected by the power outage.
“I would say they didn’t handle it as well as they could have,” she said. “I felt like there should have been better plans in place and more resources for students who were unable to stay in their dorms instead of having to sleep in the gym.”
Pasquarose ended up traveling to New York as she couldn’t be in her room in Village.
“On Friday Night I stayed in Bakke Hall because they had power,” she said. “My roommates drove to their friends houses who had power and who could fit people in their rooms. By Saturday we still didn’t have power so we ended up driving to New York since we couldn’t be in our room at all.”
Apple launched its new iOS 11.1 update on Tuesday, Oct. 31, the latest update since the iOS 11 update that was released on Sept. 19, 2017. Since the iOS 11.1 update, people have reported that their has been a mass glitch going around on their phones.
The glitch doesn’t let you type the letter “i” without it suggesting different characters like “A” and a question mark symbol.
“Our own limited testing doesn’t really support this: Some phones that have updated iOS 11.1 are still affected by the bug, and other phones that are still on iOS 11.0.3 aren’t,” one of Apple’s support forums said.
Apple was relayed this message and came out with some tips to work around this or potentially fix this problem.
How to fix the lowercase ‘i’ bug in iOS 11
1. Go to Settings, then General, then Keyboard, then Text Replacement.
2. Hit the + button to add a new text replacement shortcut.
Apple has concluded this issue by letting the public know that if they follow these steps this will end the problem for now but are still unsure what caused this problem in the first place.
Apple stated to Loop Insight that it’s “aware of instances where the iPhone X screen will become temporarily unresponsive to touch after a rapid change to a cold environment.”
To prevent this, Apple has recommended to keep your phones in approximately 32-degree to 95-degrees fahrenheit temperature range to get the best out of the Iphone X’s capabilities.
Apple reps also did a test to discover this problem that many people reported having and if it was all models or specific models. They took the phone through different temperatures going from 68 to 41 degrees fahrenheit and reported that “the screen remained responsive as we surfed the web and clicked on emails. Regardless, Apple is planning to fix the problem in an upcoming software update,” according to Don Reisinger of Fox News.
A look into diversity, free speech and issues in between
By Ayah Galal
Devastating. Horrific. Shocking. These are some of the words members of the Quinnipiac community used to describe their reaction to the series of events that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia over the summer.
Hundreds of white nationalists gathered on the University of Virginia campus to protest the removal of a confederate statue on Friday, Aug. 11. They held torches and chanted slogans like “Jews will not replace us” and “blood and soil.”
“I was actually really shocked,” said Mazel Genfi, president of the Quinnipiac chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). “It was a moment of disbelief but then not surprised actually. I guess the country that we live in people actually feel comfortable to do things like that.”
Mazel Genfi, QU NAACP President
By the next morning, counter protesters clashed with protesters and events took a violent turn. A white supremacist drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters and killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who lived in Charlottesville.
The series of events drew widespread attention across the nation and sparked conversation about America’s current racial climate.
Some activists, pundits and universities responded to the incident quickly, saying more conversations about white supremacy, racism and xenophobia need to occur.
Others argued universities should prioritize safety over freedom of expression. Racist incidents have certainly marred Quinnipiac over the years. It has been nearly three months now since the events in Charlottesville. How did Quinnipiac respond? Are conversations on race still happening? Should the university be doing more to address race relations?
Quinnipiac responds
Ten days after the Charlottesville incident, Quinnipiac Vice President and Provost Dr. Mark Thompson sent a memo to the university community.
In the email sent out on Aug. 21, he wrote, “The violence, hatred, bigotry and intolerance demonstrated by white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups in Charlottesville have no place in our world and certainly have no place within our university community. Acts of violence and hatred run counter to our values as a community, and each one of us has a responsibility to ensure that these despicable types of behavior do not occur here.”
He added that students will have the opportunity to participate in social justice and inclusion-related events throughout the year to deepen their “understanding and ability to learn from one another about various aspects of the world in which we live.”
A few days later Quinnipiac President John Lahey addressed the addressed the class of 2021. Each year Lahey welcomes the incoming freshman class during “Welcome Weekend” right before the semester starts. While President Lahey tends to avoid politics during his speeches and statements, this time it was different. He was quick to condemn the hatred and bigotry that was present in Charlottesville.
President Lahey discusses Charlottesville during an interview with Q30 Television
“I must say in light of recent events in Charlottesville it saddens me that in 2017 we still have to publicly and unequivocally condemn and state so clearly how unacceptable the views of white supremacists, Ku Klux Klan, neo-nazis [are]. Those views are simply not welcome here on the Quinnipiac campus,” President Lahey said to the freshman class. “Any behavior associated with any of these despicable kinds of beliefs and activities will not be tolerated on this campus.”
While President Lahey doesn’t consider what he said to be political, many were taken back by how direct and passionate his response was. In an interview with Q30 Television in September, President Lahey said he was “a little surprised by the reaction.” He thinks it’s because of the extent to which he discussed the incident and believes his address was “well-received.”
As students and faculty began settling in for the new semester, the Quinnipiac Center for Religion held an event titled “A Conversation on Charlottesville” on Sept. 5. The event was intended be an open forum for members of the Quinnipiac community to discuss their feelings and reactions to Charlottesville.
The incident especially hit home for Executive Director of University Religious Life Father Jordan Lenaghan. Lenaghan was a former Catholic chaplain at the University of Virginia.
“When I saw images, when I saw media coverage, when I saw news reports, when I saw photographs of places where I hung out with students, where I had worked, it hit me on a very visceral level,” Lenaghan, who helped organize the event said. “I have a job that involves words and I didn’t have words for what I saw.”
Breaking down President Trump’s response
During difficult times, presidents of the United States traditionally try to unite the nation. But at a moment where many Americans already felt divided, President Trump’s words did little to bring together the nation.
At a press conference in Trump Tower shortly after the incident, President Trump said, “I think there is blame on both sides.” Many at Quinnipiac were frustrated that he compared the violence perpetuated by white supremacists with the violence committed by counter protesters.
“I honestly believe President Trump is an absolute idiot,” Genfi said. “For him to say that says a lot about who he is and what he represents – which is basically white supremacy whether he likes it or not.”
But others at Quinnipiac did not consider his response problematic.
“He should have prefaced what he said by saying white supremacists have no place in this country,” Jeremy Wiss, President of the Quinnipiac College Republicans said. “But at the same time, both sides displayed some sort of hatred and violence; both sides showed the bad side of humanity.”
Wiss is Jewish and said the incident hit home because his great-grandparents fled persecution in Germany and Poland. While he says the situation was upsetting, Wiss believes Confederate statues should stay up so that history is not erased.
Jeremy Wiss, President of Quinnipiac College Republicans
“I can see why they continue to perpetuate issues because it is a big deal,” Wiss said.
Is hate speech free speech?
The national conversation surrounding freedom of speech intensified after white nationalists chanted slogans like “white lives matter” and “you will not replace us,” at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville.
But is hate speech actually protected under the First Amendment? The answer is yes.
“A lot of people think that hate speech is given no First Amendment protection,” Kearston Wesner, assistant professor of media studies said.
Kearston Wesner teaching a Communications Law and Policy course
Political speech especially enjoys careful protection under the First Amendment. Hate speech is difficult to define and banning speech because some view it as hate speech would be unconstitutional.
“If we start going around banning speech we dislike, usually what happens is the law that we build … tends to be applied in a broader sense against the people we were initially hoping to protect,” Wesner, who teaches Communications Law and Policy, said.
There is an exception, however. If hate speech contains incitement – an imminent threat of violence – that speech is not protected by the First Amendment.
Additionally, private universities can restrict speech. For example, Quinnipiac could choose to not allow controversial speakers like Milo Yiannopoulos or Richard Spencer on campus.
“Private universities can build their own rules and they can restrict speech how they want to,” Wesner added.
While the chances of extremely controversial speakers coming to Quinnipiac are not high, Wesner said, “It gets a lot greyer how much the university could get in and restrict that [speech] because it has a lot to do with whether it’s a university sponsored organization or an independent organization.”
When asked how Quinnipiac would respond if a student organization on campus wanted to bring a controversial speaker like Richard Spencer or Milo Yiannopoulos to speak, administration did not answer.
Confronting hate
Even before the Charlottesville incident in August, students and faculty have often discussed concerns related to race and diversity at Quinnipiac.
A racially insensitive Snapchat taken by a former Quinnipiac student
In September 2016, a Quinnipiac student posted a racially insensitive photograph and caption mocking the Black Lives Matter movement to Snapchat. The photograph went viral and sparked outrage not just at Quinnipiac, but in other parts of the country as well after large outlets like the New York Daily News picked up the story.
Other incidents such as swastika graffiti, caricatures of of people’s racial identity and use of derogatory terms have plagued Quinnipiac. Student Affairs takes these incidents seriously and has an established a “Bias, Harassment and Discrimination Policy” in the Quinnipiac Undergraduate Student Handbook.
“I would say the majority of the incidents hands down are in the first-year areas without a doubt,” Megan Buda, Director of Student Conduct said. “Traditionally if a student is found responsible for a violation of our bias-related policy there’s some form of removal, whether that’s from housing or separation from the institution.”
The Bias, Harassment and Discrimination Policy in the Undergraduate Student Handbook
The most common type of bias-related incident at Quinnipiac is offensive graffiti, Buda added. While displaying a Confederate flag is not a policy violation, Student Affairs understands that such a display could offend some people on campus, and tries to have constructive conversations with students who choose to do so.
Hate crimes are defined differently from bias-related incidents and the standard for a hate crime is higher since it’s defined criminally.
Screenshot of the Quinnipiac Annual Security report
According to Quinnipiac’s Annual Security Report, there were two hate crimes in 2016, three hate crimes in 2015 and four hate crimes in 2014. The report does not specify the nature of the incidents.
In June 2017, the Connecticut state legislature passed one of the strongest hate-crime bills in the nation. Punishment for hate crimes in the state once was a misdemeanor but the new law treats hate crimes as a felony.
While the Ku Klux Klan has had a presence within the state of Connecticut, the threat of its extreme beliefs is not high, according to Andy Friedland, Assistant Regional Director for the Connecticut Anti-Defamation League.
“Often these days we’ll see an individual print-off flyers from the KKK website, leading people to think there is an active branch of the Klan in their town, which is not true in the state of Connecticut today,” Friedland said.
What is Quinnipiac doing to address race relations on campus?
Especially after the Snapchat incident at Quinnipiac, departments ranging from Student Affairs to Cultural and Global Engagement have been organizing discussions, lectures and even Netflix series screenings to address topics related to race and diversity.
Quinnipiac Chief Diversity Officer Diane Ariza says that race-related incidents like Charlottesville have stirred up a lot of conversation.
“I think that’s healthy because it’s making us not too comfortable of where we’re at in the world,” Ariza said.
In September 2013 the Inclusion, Multiculturalism, and Globalism in Education (IMaGinE) strategic plan was created to help Quinnipiac become “a more inclusive, multicultural and diverse campus community.”
Some IMaGinE events planned for the Fall semester
Ariza, along with the help of the IMaGinE Advisory Board, organizes events that foster discussion of diversity in the Quinnipiac community. Events include “A Place at the Table” and “Circle of Perspectives” discussions.
A Place at the Table is a dialogue series that seeks to recreate an after-dinner atmosphere to encourage informal conversations about issues related to social justice and current events. Circle of Perspectives is a series of nonpartisan group discussions involving critical thinking about diversity and social inequalities.
“I think educating is what we’ve decided our department has decided to do with the social issues,” Ariza said.
Student Affairs is also taking a similar approach. Megan Buda and Mark DeVilbiss, co-chairs of the Student Affairs Diversity and Inclusion Committee, say the committee is dedicated to celebrating diversity and facilitating conversations on race and inclusion. The committee has representation from the Department of Cultural and Global Engagement, Residential Life, Counseling Services, Student Government Association Religious Life and Community Service.
The Diversity and Inclusion Committee started hosting screenings of episodes from the Netflix series “Dear White People,” followed by a discussion.
Dates Student Affairs is screening episodes of “Dear White People”
“It fueled a very thorough discussion of everything, from what it means to be white to what it means to be a person of color on a white campus,” Buda said.
The committee plans to show more episodes of the series during the semester in hopes of facilitating more conversations.
“We want to be able to help people understand and know how to talk about issues of inclusion and diversity, whether that’s religious or racial or ethnic,” Director of Residential Life Mark DeVilbiss said. “I’m proud to be part of the efforts that are happening campus-wide whether it’s in the classroom or something DCGE is doing, or any group on campus.”
Dr. Thompson also announced plans for establishing a new curriculum with more diversity-related courses. Two intercultural responsibility and citizenship courses will be mandatory for future students.
Opening ceremony of the multicultural suite in the Carl Hansen Student Center
Last semester, the Multicultural Suite – a space for culture and identity based organizations – opened in the Carl Hansen Student Center.
Quinnipiac is also hosting a one-day conference on social justice and civic engagement titled “Creating Space: Solidarity, Dialogue, Social Justice, Opportunity.” Director of Community Service Vincent Contrucci says the purpose of the conference is to provide students from across New England with a space for dialogue surrounding social justice related issues.
Additionally, 21 percent of the current freshman class identify as students of color, which makes the first-year class the most diverse in Quinnipiac history.
What still needs to be done
Last semester, the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost and the Department of Cultural and Global Engagement engaged MRW Consulting Group International LLC to help with an assessment of Quinnipiac’s campus climate and help the university identify ways to improve the attitudes, standards and behaviors of the university community.
A representative from MRW Consulting Group discusses findings from the campus climate study during a university town hall.
MRW held focus groups with 134 students over the course of the Spring 2017 semester. The firm interviewed 15 affinity groups including the Quinnipiac NAACP, Latino Cultural Society, Gender Sexuality Alliance and Greek Life. The consulting firm compiled a 51-page report and found areas where Quinnipiac can improve its campus climate, as well as suggestions on how to do so.
Thompson organized a town hall-style event in the Mount Carmel Auditorium on Oct. 3 during which MRW Consulting Group shared the findings from the campus climate study, suggested courses of action and answered questions from the audience.
The report acknowledged the progress the university has been making, but also pointed out areas where there could be more improvement.
The study found that many students felt that more could be done to recruit higher numbers of faculty, staff and students of color. The study also found that it would be helpful to train faculty members to be more comfortable having difficult conversations they may need to have with students.
Many minorities in the focus groups described how uncomfortable they are when asked to represent an entire group in classes. The study also found that Quinnipiac can improve the campus climate by increasing the number of minority Greek organizations on campus.
The firm also suggested that Quinnipiac should “leverage campus commitment by getting everyone involved in solutions.” Many students from the focus groups also emphasized the need to integrate diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism into the core curriculum.
Quinnipiac administrators recognize lots of work needs to be done and they plan to continue to facilitating conversations on diversity and race in an effort to make Quinnipiac more inclusive.
But some students think more can be done to address race relations on campus and make minorities feel more comfortable at Quinnipiac.
“In my honest opinion, I do see that they’re trying, but not trying hard enough,” said Genfi, the QU NAACP president. “I feel like if they were trying hard enough, certain things wouldn’t have happened.”
She believes the university is taking the right steps, but that Quinnipiac should be more proactive. Genfi also thinks that students at Quinnipiac are becoming more comfortable discussing race than they were four years ago.
“People are more open to being educated and stepping out of that Quinnipiac bubble, whereas four years ago that would have never had happened,” Genfi added.
A look into sophomore class president Chris Montalvo’s remarks and reactions from students
By Ariana Spinogatti
The Student Government Association and the Multicultural Student Leadership Council invited members of the community to come speak at its event, “Your Voice, Our Quinnipiac.” The event was hosted in the Carl Hansen Student Center Piazza. The event was scheduled for Monday Oct. 23 to promote the “My Culture is not a Costume” campaign before the start of Halloween weekend. At this open-mic event, students spoke about their personal experiences with diversity, racism and sexism.
Sophomore Class President Chris Montalvo took the stage that evening and said he was going to share his life story. However, Montalvo made remarks that he disagreed with the previous speakers and made statements that left viewers in shock. The overall theme of this speech was that he ignores racially biased individuals and believes students should be educated about various topics before speaking.
Joseph DeRosa, a senior who attended the event, said that after Montalvo spoke he generated a lot of resentment from the crowd.
“I think he made any student who may feel discriminated even more fearful,” DeRosa said. “We already go to a school that severley lacks in diversity. It doesn’t bolster anyone’s confidence in being who they are if the Class President expresses borderline discriminatory views.”
DeRosa said that Montalvo left shorty after he made his comments with a look of disappointment.
“I personally feel that his role assumes much more responsibility than normal, and he should have known better than to spark controversy,” he said. “He also should have stayed to hear the remaining stories the students shared. In my honest opinion, leaving early after saying what he said is quite cowardly.”
Senior Class Representative Ian Zeitlin drafted a petition to impeach Montalvo from The Student Government Association after expressing himself that evening.
On Oct. 25, SGA held its weekly general board meeting where students and other members of the executive committee could participate in an open forum to express their concerns. Students and faculty spoke both for and against Montalvo, but no conclusion was made on whether or not he would be impeached.
10 signatures are needed from current members on the executive board in order make the petition for an impeachment. An impeachment does not always mean an immediate removal from office. There will be a further investigation of Montalvo’s actions to determine a proper evaluation and punishment.
Junior Class President Jack Onofrio said that aside from an impeachment, SGA should censure Montalvo. This would show that student government is disapproving of his comments.
Camilo Lemos, a senior who attended the general board meeting, spoke out against Montalvo.
“I think it has brought up the issue that many students here at Quinnipiac are vastly uneducated in racial sensitivity and sociological education, and can feel free to make offensive comments simply because of their right to, rather than taking time to word things that creates discussion, while remaining inoffensive,” Lemos said.
In wake of the event, Montalvo gave out his personal phone number and email address and offered to speak one-on-one with anyone who was offended or wanted to have a deeper conversation.
Lemos said how he felt Montalvo handled the situation once he saw the impact his speech had on the student body.
“I’d like to preface this by saying I don’t know Chris Montalvo personally, so my comments are based upon what I saw and felt through the days after the speech,” he said. “I know that after I brought up to the SGA that his comments were offensive and that I believed that he should be removed from office, I was contacted by Chris Montalvo on my personal cellular phone asking if I would rather talk to him and instead work it out between him and I personally.”
Lemos said that he rejected Montalvo’s request and saw it as a way for Montalvo to avoid a public issue.
“I saw his wanting to meet with me privately as wholly based upon his reputation and position, rather than wanting to resolve the actual issue,” he said. “His comments on Wednesday during the SGA meeting, that he was sorry about the way people feltabout his comments, indicate to me that he is not sorry about what he said, but rather that people wanted to remove his power because he said it. Most of what he said, that he was not a racist or a bigot and that he felt offended by my accusations of such.”
On Wednesday Nov. 15 SGA will have its weekly general board meeting where they will discuss the fate of Montalvo’s position in student government.
Montalvo spoke to us days after he gave out his personal contact information to see how he felt students have reacted to his jester and how he has changed since this event occurred.
What were your initial intentions before getting up on stage at the event?
“My initial intentions of speaking were to offer my story, and to try and show that it is unfair to rank one’s individual experiences because at the end of the day you don’t really know how that person felt.”
What do you think it was that you said in your speech that got students to react so strongly?
“I’m not quite sure exactly what it was that triggered certain students, but I do know that my words were unprepared, and often times when I go on tangents my word choice is boggled. I made the mistake of not preparing what I was going to say, and the affect that that made is evident.”
How have the responses been with members of the Quinnipiac community since giving out your contact information?
“Unfortunately, nobody has reached out to speak with me. That however, is my fault; I shouldn’t have expected them to do that. What I should’ve said is I will be reaching out to those I offended and see if they are open to a discussion. I am currently working with a member of SGA to try and set those meetings up.”
How do you feel you have changed or evolved since this event occurred?
“I now truly see the need to be prepared when speaking in a sensitive environment. Not being the best public speaker, this is something I need to work on, and will do in the future to avoid this from happening again.”
How did you react to the “impeachment” and “censoring” comments from SGA?
“While I believe there are no grounds to impeach me, I trust the process that is put in place to give our students a voice. I agree with the censure, as my words are my own and should not reflect the Student Government Association if they truly disagree with them.”
Every Sunday evening, the Veterans of Foreign Wars post in Hamden welcomes roughly 20 to 40 people for a few hours of social time.
One of the familiar faces at the post is Loreen Lawrence. Lawrence, 54, is involved at the post as the quartermaster, or as she calls it, the treasurer of the post. In the waning moments before the post opens on Sunday evening, Lawrence, a life-long New Haven resident, is making final preparations as she sweeps the floor and puts tables together.
Lawrence is a veteran herself as she served in the National Guard medical unit for 18 years, including during Operation Desert Shield and Storm.
She’s also a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, and she didn’t even know she had it until she was in therapy after she was discharged.
“Even though I had signs and symptoms of someone that had PTSD, I was never treated for it,” Lawrence said, “Though they did note it in my file.”
Lawrence’s mother was the first to notice that something wasn’t right with her and she went to Veteran Affairs to point out there was something wrong. It was there that she found out she had PTSD, making her a part of the 10 percent of Gulf War veterans that suffer from the disorder, according to Medline Plus.
“It came time to where I could use some extra money, so I saw on the board that they had a study going for people who were serving during Desert Storm and people who were activated for Desert Storm and people who were supportive of Desert Storm,” Lawrence said, “After the study, I asked, ‘What part was I in?’ And they said, ‘Oh you’re in the PTSD part.’ I didn’t even know I had PTSD, I didn’t know they had diagnosed me with it. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I just had a different way of doing things.”
Lawrence mentioned the transition period between deployment and regular life as a contributing factor as to why she didn’t realize she had PTSD.
“I was too busy. I had a daughter at the time, I had to go back to work,” Lawrence said, “The type of work I was doing at the time was family support services. So, I was helping women with their children and stuff like that. I didn’t really have the time to focus on me. And then when we come back, it’s back to life as usual. It’s not really a degree thing, to get you ready to go back to regular life.”
Lawrence said the first time she realized she had PTSD was around 1998, which is seven years after Desert Storm. When she was at a camp that summer, something triggered her about her time in service.
“I had to think of what was it that had triggered me to not being able to sleep, to having flashbacks,” Lawrence said.
And then, she remembered.
“So we were going behind the tanks and stuff like that,” Lawrence explained, “When we got to Baghdad, the tanks were flanked and they’re telling us to go before the tanks and I’m like ‘this doesn’t make sense to me.’ So we go down there and you could see the helicopters shooting people in foxholes and stuff and this is like a movie … it was difficult at times.”
Credit: Loreen Lawrence
Two people died and four people were critically injured, Lawrence recalled.
She also said that during this time, there was no space for women to stay in the “VA hospital.” So, she had to go through one-on-one counseling for roughly 10 years before they made beds available to women because of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.
The stresses of her family services job also became too much, making Lawrence quit her job.
“Some of the issues in the family I felt were unfair and the mother was unable to fix it, so I had to advocate for her,” Lawrence said,“I remember my boss at the time saying ‘Loreen, put the sword down, put the sword down.’ Because I would be angry, fighting mad and that’s where some of the signs of PTSD started going. My boss said, ‘The war is over, you don’t have to fight here.’”
During the first 10 years after she was diagnosed with PTSD, Lawrence remarked on the hardships she faced.
“For about 10 years I was stuck in my room,” Lawrence said, “I was scared to go out and do things, even though I had three children, but the children kind of ran themselves.”
She also remarked that the first few times she did a 90-day recovery program that would expose her to crowds, it was hard for her. She would also have panic attacks on elevators. She was afraid to share her feelings.
Lawrence wants her story to be an example as to why the transition period can be so rough on veterans.
“One day I was in the sand dune and the next day I was in the streets of New Haven,” Lawrence said, “Only you know, nobody knows that you’re coming back from a war. And they treat you like you never left. And you deal with that with the best of your ability. It’s difficult for a lot of veterans.”
Lawrence is now taking her experience and hoping to spread awareness of PTSD in veterans as she is a part of Change Direction, a campaign that helps people recognize the signs of PTSD.
“What I’m doing now is trying to campaign for the 22 veterans that commit suicide daily in the United States,” Lawrence said. “Somebody came out with a campaign called Change Direction and it’s to aide people to see the signs. If a loved one is talking to you and they’re acting a specific way or they’re saying specific things, these are key words or key things for people that are suffering. You need to let them know, you need to get some help.”
Lawrence wants families of those who are serving and veterans to realize the Change Direction’s five signs that someone may have PTSD. Those signs are: personality change, agitation, withdrawal, poor self-care and hopelessness.
“If they need assistance, get them over to the (Veteran Affairs hospital),” Lawrence said, “They have a thing called a vet center, which is a veteran’s readjustment counseling kind of place.”
Lawrence’s ultimate goal is for people to know the five signs so that one person could help save a life and then that person can do the same.
In addition to working on the Change Direction campaign and at the Hamden VFW post, Lawrence is also a post service officer at the Hamden American Legion, where she helps veterans get certain claims to go through.
Even though she’s faced tough times from a result of serving, Lawrence feels that her time in the National Guard was worth it.
“I miss it,” Lawrence said, “Even today, if I could go back, I would.”
The sports center on York Hill has been going through some name changes over the past few months. This past weekend, Quinnipiac unveiled the new name for the hockey arena and the men’s ice hockey locker room.
The ice hockey arena was renamed after Frank Perrotti Jr., who passed away on December 10, 2016. Perotti is said to have been a loyal and devoted fan to the program, showing a lot of support over the years. Perrotti was a Hamden resident and also served his country in the U.S. Army.
In an article published by the Quinnipiac Chronicle, Donald Weinbach, the president of Development and Alumni Affairs, noted that Perotti was a “huge benefactor to the university.”
Frank Perrotti Jr.
Source: Legacy.com
High Points Solution was the sponsor and had naming rights over the arena after they agreed to donate $1 million to Quinnipiac for the next five seasons. The contract was not renewed for this year.
The men’s ice hockey suite, also known as the locker room, was renamed after TJ Baudanza, who was important to Quinnipiac men’s ice hockey and the program’s growth.
TJ Baudanza
Source: Chapman Cole & Gleason
Baudanza was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2011 and passed away in 2015. Baudanza’s father, Tony Baudanza, requested the program rename the team’s suite in his son’s memory.
The family had a lot of support behind them. Numerous people and some of Baudanza’s close friends came to honor his name and memory during the ceremony and suite reveal.
In an article written by Jamie Deloma, the associate director of social media at Quinnipiac, Baudanza’s father said, “We feel so honored to have his name there.”
Baudanza graduated from Quinnipiac in 2006 with a business degree in entrepreneurial studies. After he graduated, he contributed to the making of what we once knew as the TD Bank Sports Center.
Earlier this year, it was announced that TD Bank would no longer be the sponsor of the TD Bank Sports Center. The partnership between Quinnipiac and TD Bank began in 2007, but ended after the bank chose not to renew its contract.
Weinbach told the Quinnipiac Chronicle that for 14 months Quinnipiac had been “aggressively looking for either TD Bank to renew or for another corporate entity to put their name on the arenas.”
A lot of growth is still in the works for the rest of the sports teams and facilities at Quinnipiac, mainly on the Mount Carmel campus. Weinbach noted that the university is already pursuing some companies and individuals to put their names on the field hockey and soccer/lacrosse venues.
In March, the school signed an official partnership with Adidas. With newly updated facilities and Adidas supplying the school’s athletic program’s gear, there is an expectation that the teams will now be taken seriously by big-time schools. It’s all about growth and exposure for Quinnipiac.
Amanda Herbert enlisted in the United States military three days after her 19th birthday. During the four years of her service, she was offered an experience completely different than a job, or college classes, ever could.
“I always look for challenges,” she said, smiling,“I always thought I would regret not doing it far more than I would ever regret doing it.”
Herbert is a 24-year-old legal studies major at Quinnipiac from Wallingford, Connecticut, where she juggles a 21-credit class schedule, a part-time job and being the vice president of the Student Veteran Organization on campus. She spends her summers working with elementary school children at a local camp.
“I like working with kids because there are a lot of problems really fast,” she said, laughing, “It keeps me on my toes.”
Just a few years ago, working with F-15E Strike Eagles for the United States Air Force in England kept Herbert on her toes. She served two out of her four years at RAF Lakenheath base near Cambridge in Intelligence Operations where she was specifically selected to work with air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. Within the two-year time period, Herbert was also deployed to the Middle East for six months — spending one in Israel — where she continued her work with Intelligence Operations.
Referring to herself and others working in Intelligence Operations as “jacks of all trades, masters of none,” Herbert and her unit at RAF Lakenheath spent half of her second year in the service working in anti-terrorism operations. She said that they would typically be given an assignment and have to find all of the information necessary to “negate or destroy the problem.”
“At the end of the deployment, they had a six-month certificate of ‘most valued players,’ and I was one of the only enlisted people to get it,” she said humbly, “It sounds like just a little piece of paper you’d get when you’re little, but it meant so much. You don’t always get a lot of credit, especially in Intel Operations, but I liked not getting credit until the end because … I guess all of my dedication payed off!”
Above all else, Herbert said that her service taught her the most about herself.
“I learned a lot about myself and my strengths and weaknesses,” she said, “The hardest part was working with people that misunderstood certain things about myself or the work I was doing, but it only pushed me to understand that there are different ways to do one thing. Now I’m always looking at things with a billion different perspectives.”
While Herbert noted that the military might not be the right option for everyone, she insists that true happiness lies within — and may look different for everyone. According to Herbert, having a lot on your plate doesn’t always account for happiness.
“Success is based on yourself, not external forces. We always mistake happiness for success and success for happiness,” she said, “I’m doing what I’m doing because that’s what makes me happy, but I couldn’t give that advice to somebody else who isn’t made happy by that.”
When asked to describe her experience in the service, Herbert smiled wide and laughed.
“There’s a joke a lot of us say: If someone were to ask if we wanted to re-enlist today versus tomorrow, you’d have two totally different answers,” she said, “I would not be the person, student, every aspect of who I am, I would not be who I am today without it. But, it’s not everything I am.”
Shamar Farmer had been through 26 foster homes, four group homes and two homeless shelters before serving four years in the Marine Corps. He is now 27 years old and a senior political science major at Quinnipiac University, still celebrating his adoption three years ago with his family.
“I’ve known my family since I was eleven,” Farmer said. “I was supposed to be adopted by them, actually, but it didn’t happen until I was 24. Being in all of those homes and stuff left gaps in my education, so the learning curve was different for me.”
Due to the time spent cycling in and out of foster homes throughout high school, Farmer fell behind in his classes, leaving his teachers to believe he may not be able to graduate on time with the rest of his class. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. Farmer volunteered to take community college classes to make up for what he had missed and, despite his teachers’ doubts, he succeeded.
“I ended up doing it, which, kind of blew me away that I actually did it,” Farmer said, smiling. He continued to attend community college classes upon graduation but soon realized it wasn’t for him.
“I was in class one day and said, ‘I’m not going to be here,’ so I left. Walking down the street, I saw this guy in a tan uniform,” Farmer said, “We started talking and, next thing I know, I’m signed up for boot camp. That fast.”
After completing boot camp, Farmer spent a few years traveling within the United States before being deployed to Japan where he would spend a year and a half immersed in their culture. He was there in 2011 when the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit the country.
“It scared the shit out of me,” Farmer said, shaking his head. “When it first happened, I was coming off of Mt. Fuji after warfare training. I went to the grocery store and thought that the elevation change was why I was about ready to faint and pass out because I was just shaking.”
He realized the elevation change was not to blame, once he began to notice the look on everyone else’s faces: terror.
“We all ran outside and the next thing I know, I see cars shifting parking spaces,” Farmer said. “I was like, ‘Woah, that’s crazy! It’s like the world is going to open up and swallow us whole.’”
Within a week, Farmer and his fellow service members drove 22 hours across mainland Japan to go to Sendai Airport to go help clean up the rubble so the U.S. could fly in supplies.
During his service, Farmer was one of the youngest lance corporals in the Marine Corps’ history to be awarded his black belt red tab in the Marine Martial Arts Program after training while being a chaplain bodyguard in Japan. This, Farmer said, is the fondest memory of his service. The hardest? Losing brothers and sisters that he served with.
“When you try and tell a story about someone that you have lost … it’s very realistic,” Farmer said, “It brings you back to reality when you’re thinking about the great times you’ve had with that person before realizing, ‘Oh wait. They’re not here anymore.’ But, you’re here, and you’re going to do the best you can to live up to their memory.”
Farmer said he has learned a lot throughout his lifetime, but the biggest lesson he learned was about the importance of humility.
“Be humble,” he suggested.
Farmer acted on his own advice after being thanked for meeting for the interview.
“Most veterans I’ve had the conversation with don’t really know what to say when people say thank you,” Farmer said,“It’s not like we expect it, so we say thank you because it’s all about (all of) us.”
Curt Leng can take a breath. After spending Tuesday afternoon wishing for an election score update that doesn’t exist, Leng found out he will remain Hamden’s mayor after beating republican candidate Salman Hamid.
Leng received 74 percent of the votes to earn another term in office. The re-elect is one of several democrats who enjoyed the election results on Tuesday night, as the democratic candidates swept all four major positions up for election, including a town clerk position that was unopposed and claimed by Vera Morrison.
Election Day is underway in Hamden, with polls just hours away from closing at 8 p.m. Hamden could have a new mayor by night’s end, unless democratic representative and current mayor Curt Leng wins today’s election to maintain his position. Leng, who was outside Hamden Public Library this afternoon greeting voters, is feeling confident about his chances to remain town mayor.
“I think we’ve had really good feedback from residents today,” Leng said. “The things they’ve said about the town and what we’re doing are really positive. But you don’t know until the end of the day.”
Leng’s confidence is high, but has noticed a smaller than usual crowd at the polls today.
“You can’t tell what that means until the totals are done,” Leng said.
A possible explanation for Leng is the lack of opposed positions in certain districts in Hamden. There are democratic representatives in every district for this election, but only two districts have republican representatives.
As for the residents who are casting their votes today, their expectations for whoever walks away victorious appear to be fairly straightforward.
“I want the candidate to be a real honest and good person,” Hamden resident Dennis Tucker explained, though he is keeping his vote private. “He’s got to be upstanding and know what he’s talking about. I don’t want a guy who has no idea what politics are all about.”
While residents know what they want in their candidate, the candidates themselves can feel the day’s stress in terms of not knowing.
“I wish they had a scoreboard up and updated it every hour,” Leng said. “Keep everyone’s confidentiality, but let us know how we’re doing. It’s tough because you don’t really know what is happening.”
Democratic voters are feeling confident in their candidate’s chances to repeat as mayor, whether Leng is stressing or not.
“I’m very satisfied with the current administration in Hamden, and they’re in line with my political views,” Hamden resident and democratic voter George Engelhardt said. “That pretty much determined who I was going to vote for.”
Leng and the rest of Hamden will find out the results of today’s election at roughly 9:30 tonight. Leng will be at Mickey’s Restaurant in Hamden after the results are tallied to either celebrate a victory or cope with a loss. The winner will either be Leng or republican candidate Salman Hamid.
