Article 1
Clara Fadina
Feature Story
Can a Commuter College Have Unity?
By CLARA FADINA
The scene is all too familiar: A room packed with alcohol guzzling frat boys and sorority girls partying away until the wee hours of the morning. The noisy, filthy, or obnoxious roommate who makes you want to pull every strand of your hair out. The drugged up hippie that constantly suffocates you with marijuana smoke. Yes, at times, dorm life can be a really tough experience. At the same time, however, on-campus living can offer students the full college experience, freedom from Mom and Dad, and strong companionship with fellow students. Commuter colleges, or colleges with no dorms, may not have the distractions of residential campuses, but are there any downfalls to commuting to college rather than living there?
Lehman College, a commuter college in the Bronx, New York, struggles to maintain school spirit school unity, according to some students and staff. Despite having over 40 clubs and organizations, the school has a tough time uniting it's 10,000 plus student body.
To some students, Lehman College's commuter school status negatively impacts the school's unity. “I have gone to other universities that do have dorms and the unity and the bond, you can see i t there ,” says Augusto Alarcon, a 23 year old Lehman College student. Alarcon related a story of when he volunteered at a soup kitchen as part of a charity program called Part of the Solution. “There weren't too many people participating because there wasn't enough advertisement for the event,” Alarcon said. Jason Jeremias, who is the chairman of Lehman College's Student Conference, admires Lehman's diversity of cultures and ideas, but admits that “dorms aid in increasing student activities.”
Some students, however, have no problem with Lehman College's commuter status. Elizabeth Smith, a freshman at Lehman College, loves the Lehman College campus, and says “not only are you close to where you live, but you start to develop a close relationship with people.”
Jorge Javier, the Entertainment Programmer of the Campus Association of Student Activities at Lehman College, believes that Lehman “is a close knit community, especially for a commuter school. Of course it's not as close as residential colleges for the simple fact that students have different lives they get back to at the end of the day.” Javier realizes that commuter schools face challenges many residential schools don't. “A huge percentag e=2 0of our school are adults, and many of them are parents,” Javier says. “This means that their time and energy devoted to school functions is limited. Many have jobs and other responsibilities outside of school that just aren't on residential campuses. On residential campuses, all student life is centered in one area, which makes it easier to reach them.”
A popular misconception about commuter colleges is that the quality of education isn't on par with that of residential campuses. Javier is quick to dispel this notion. “Many people think that because most students take the train to get there it can't possibly be a good school. The fact of the matter is that.....we have 337 full-time faculty members, 85% of whom have Ph D's....My message to anyone who doubts it, is to come check it out, Most are surprised at the amount of resources we have at our disposal.”
Granted, residential campuses generally offer students a strong sense of community and opportunities for social interaction. However, if one were to stroll through Lehman's picturesque campus, they would see people of all different nationalities and ethnicities, a commodity that many residential campuses don't have. Perhaps commuting college students aren't given e nou gh credit: Juggling college studies and home life is no easy task, but many students at Lehman College, as well as students at other commuter colleges, are able to do so.
Article 2
Thao Nguyen
Professor Lanahan
Feature Story
Behind the Scenes at Lehman’s SUMMERWORX Festival
By THAO NGUYEN
The cool air from inside the theater was very much welcomed after having trekked through the heat wave outside. The smell of fresh paint and the sight of various people lightly running around finishing last minute details are hard to miss as you walk across the lit room. Juan Ramirez, the play’s writer and director, makes his way behind the large set piece with four doors and quickly sweeps his eyes approvingly across the maple colored frame. Although the debut premiere of his play, Red Light, is set for the next day, Ramirez has a collectively calm rush about him despite having to go over numerous details.
With this year’s SUMMERWORX Student Theater and Dance Festival, Red Light, a deliciously decadent murder mystery, is one of many anticipated productions that aim to showcase the talents of Lehman’s stage students. Ramirez, a recent Lehman graduate, gets to showcase his smart writing abilities as well as his directorial skills in Red Light.
Dante Albertie, Lehman Stages’ Director, approved Ramirez’s “original play” in light of looking for plays that can be directed with integrity. “Juan is a very good writer,” Albertie noted. “The play is a lot of fun for the audience even though it deals with prostitutes. The thing is, it doesn’t preach – which makes it enjoyable.”
The play, according to Ramirez, was helpfully inspired by the recent events involving former Governor Spitzer and his scandals with an escort. It was also a chance for Ramirez to write a contemporary play that included a “brothel big enough, important enough for an audience to care about.”
Going back to rehearsals the day before opening night, it is clear Albertie chose the right person. Just before the run-through for the night, Ramirez runs from place to place on the theater, placing pieces of glow-in-the-dark tape for reference set points. Suddenly, red lights filled the pitch black room, a cue for the stage hands to come out and switch set props. Ramirez, hoping to get a smooth set transition down pat, looks at his stage hands and nods. “That was good you guys,” he exclaimed.
Henry Ovalles, Lehman Stages’ Assistant Director, sits in the back of the theater and coolly observes what’s going on into last minute details. “Juan’s one of the brightest students to have come here; he’s very committed,” Ovalles states. “He helps out with all that he can, whether it’s with lights or building sets. He’s just very determined and reliable. It’s important to have a play made by recent alum from our school”.
The time now draws close to 8:15. It won’t be long until tonight’s rehearsal takes place. But till then the actors are just going around, doing what they can to breathe life into the set pieces. LeRé Ovalles, one of Red Light’s actresses, is off in a corner draping curtains on a bare naked wooden frame. Her small frame works quickly against the long yards of cloth; determined to beautify the large frame, she hammers a nail upon the cloth in squarely in place. Singing the words to Dreamgirls’ title song softly to herself, or possibly to the lone reporter in the theater audience as well, Ovalles’ relaxed state captured the mood of the moment. Although everyone was working to bring Red Light alive, they were surely having fun at the same time.
Charit Louis, a College Now assistant as well as a stage hand for Red Light, strides from the back entrance over to LeRé. Although the lollipop Louis had was long gone by now after running around and helping Ramirez, Louis looks at LeRé and offers a slurred yet audible giggle. “Wow that really looks like a whore [house] entrance”, she quips. LeRé returns with a quick laugh while Ramirez, who came just in time to hear Louis’ comment, shakes his head in comical disbelief.
Finally, after hours of listening to Sinatra croon about lady luck in the background as everyone worked out stage details, tonight’s rehearsal is about to take place. Ramirez runs up the steps in the seating area and offers a quick acknowledging nod to both Albertie and Henry Ovalles in the back. As he makes himself comfortable front and center of the stage, Ramirez yells out light cues to begin and waits to see his production to life again. Although it’s not opening night yet, anticipation is clearly present to see what little tweaks are left to be remedied.
For this debut writer and director, expect more from him in the future. “I am a writer. Always has been. [Being both] has its good and bad. I can cut out, add and change whatever I want in the script. [However] I really need to stay objective and make sure I'm doing it for a reason. It has to be justified. So I can cut, add and change, as a writer, but then I must adjust and justify as a director.”
Glancing back at Ramirez, it is oddly funny to see him as the show’s director and writer. With his loose blue tank and baggy sweat pants stained with maple colored paint, Ramirez seems more like your average kind of guy. Yet you know there’s something more to him as he leans slightly forward towards the stage. Perhaps that’s what’s so appealing about this play and its creator. On the surface, you get a physical story. But behind the curtains of Red Light’s Cat House scenery, there’s just something a little extra that you have to find out for yourself.
Article 3
Feature
Aleksandr Smechov
The Lunch Manager is a Perfectionist
The typical mystery meat might suit some public schools, but at Lehman College the workers strive for quality dishes, not your average B grade meal. Patrick Thong, the manager of the lunchroom, is working hard down in the basement, where the kitchen is. The kitchen itself, a spotless and mostly quite room, is occupied by several people: the chef and the cook. Each have fluent, almost mechanical movements as they do their work. On a normal day Patrick and his staff work from 7:30 in the morning, to 10:45 at night.
Patrick and his crew have already worked five years at the Lehman College lunch room, serving out six days of work, while still trying to maintain their excellent cooking.
A former Natural History Museum cook in Manhattan, Chef Valentin Marin is not new to high class horderbs. His hands are swift; a noticeable flaw can’t be detected in his motion. “Temperature, cooking something right, and timing are very important” stresses Marin. “The food not that high quality, because 50% of it is frozen,” he adds. He makes the best of it, trying to make the food delicious, he says. And delicious it is.
“I mean it’s way better than Lehman High School food” says Alex Grahm, who is a biology student at College Now.
“My boss orders from Sysco. That very expensive” says Patrick, trying to project the image of quality. Not only does he make sure the food is well made, but he also takes care of the kitchen. He mops, he cleans, and he helps the cook. “I do every damn thing!”
Ignoring an incoming phone call, Patrick sits in his small office. “Four, five years ago, the food was bad” Patrick says. He emphasizes the word ‘bad’. “You could have wrote your name on the floor!” he says. He has transformed his kitchen into a spotless, well organized, and maintained cooking environment. This fluid environment cannot be disrupted, or else Patrick’s peaceful demeanor will dissolve.
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Patrick’s new Pizza Guy had been hired to be the successor of the last Pizza Guy. He even claimed that he was a lot better than the old one. The new Pizza Guy did not exactly carry out what he proposed. He had been late 2-6 times a week, often from being lazy, talked back to co-workers, and performed nowhere near the quality of the last Pizza Guy. On top of that, the Pizza Guy was swearing at customers. “He was cursing customers in Spanish! I don’t understand Spanish, so I don’t know what he saying!” says Patrick.
“One day, a black lady comes up, and he think she is black, she doesn’t know Spanish, but this lady knew very good Spanish!” As she went up to get her food, she hears the Pizza Guy’s swearing under his breath. “I know all these damn things your saying!” retorted the lady. She went up to Patrick and told him what she heard. At this point Patrick was already aggravated, but this was the last straw. He completely cracked, shouting at the top of his lungs at the Pizza Guy, in front of dozens of students. The Pizza Guy was later fired.
Patrick’s new Pizza Guy had produced the first hairline fracture in his perfectionist kitchen environment, and continued to expand it with his antics, eventually making Patrick lose his senses. Now, with the Pizza Guy out of the way, Patrick has a smile along his face, and once again, he is indulged in his perfectionist world.
