PDF - The Kingsman

“The Voice of Brooklyn College Since 1950”
The
Spring 2016 – Issue 7
Kingswoman
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
SPECIAL WOMEN’S ISSUE
Credit: http://www.holycroissolifilm.com/
POETRY AND
PASSION
PG 4
FEATURE:
SAVANNAH RICE
PG 6
TWO GIRLS
TALK SPORTS
PG 8
2\BULLETIN\WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016\THE KINGSMAN
BULLETIN
The
Kingsman
Editor-in-Chief
Dylan Campbell
kingsman.editor@
gmail.com
Layout Editor
Dawn Eligio
layout.kingsman@
gmail.com
Business Manager
& Op Editor
Ashley Matos
kingsman.business@
gmail.com
News Editor
Jherelle Benn
newseditor.kingsman@gmail.com
Arts & Culture Editor
kingsman.artseditor@
gmail.com
Features & Opinion
Editor
features.kingsman@
gmail.com
Sports Editor
Samantha Rodriguez
kingsman.sport@
gmail.com
Contributing Editors
Derek Norman
Paul Frangipane
Advisor
Paul Moses
This issue of The Kingswoman is in honor of Women’s History Month. The editorial staff celebrates the contributions of
women to society and particularly women on our very own Brooklyn College campus. In this issue, we interview female
students about their experiences on campus. Women from the Slam Team are featured and pictured above. We also have
coverage of the “Trapped” documentary screening and the on-campus yoga session, both hosted by The Women’s Center
to celebrate their 40th anniversary. Student Savannah Rice and her accomplishments as a film major, is featured in this
week’s issue as well as the “Throw Like a Girl” show run by hosts Alyssa Paolicelli and Kara Ann Galante. To all women,
we salute you. Stop by The Women’s Center at 227 Ingersoll Hall Extension or call at (718) 951-5777 for information regarding the Center and its events.
Want campus photos and updates? Follow us on Instagram:
@bc_kingsman
Got a Picture? Tag us in it!
#BCKingsman
NEWS
THE KINGSMAN/WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016/NEWS/3
The Lingering Effects of NYPD Campus Surveillance
Dylan Campbell
Editor-in-Chief
It has been 14 years since the
City of New York persuaded
a federal judge to amend the
Handschu agreement, the case
that controls NYPD surveillance of political activity. This
post-9/11 decision ushered in
the NYPD’s preventive prosecution system as a way to comfort a scarred city.
It has been five years since
the Associated Press published
a series of articles and documents revealing the extent of
the NYPD Intelligence Division’s blanket surveillance of
Muslim communities.
It has also been five years
since Melike Ser or “Mel” was
welcomed into the BC Islamic
Society as a friend, a fellow
activist and a newly converted
Muslim.
It has been less than a year
since the Gothamist broke the
story that “Mel” wasn’t the
young girl looking to find her
political and religious voice but
was an undercover cop.
It has only been two months
since the city agreed to implement more restrictions on
NYPD surveillance under the
Handschu agreement. Though
the NYPD does not admit to
any improper practices, William J. Bratton, police commissioner, said the amendment, “is
the latest step in the continuing
efforts to build and maintain
trust within the City’s Muslim
community and with all New
Yorkers.”
But students are still feeling
the paralyzing effects of undercover surveillance on their
campus.
“It is really frustrating because I think of stuff sometimes where I’m just scared …
I’m just super suspicious and
paranoid now,” said Thomas
DeAngelis, a member of Students for Justice in Palestine.
“It just sucks to feel like I’m
some kind of enemy of the
state. It is sort of scary to some
extent. I’m not like worried
about being incriminated or
whatever. I am sure they are already surveilling me. They are
already surveilling my friends.
But I am concerned, I’m scared
because I don’t know what that
could end up looking like.”
This fear of being watched
spawned when the Gothamist
article was scattered across
Facebook feeds breaking the
news that “Mel,” a woman
who “converted” to Islam and
became a “member” of the Islamic Society, wasn’t actually
“Mel” but an undercover cop.
Mel first arrived on Brooklyn
College campus in 2011. She
introduced herself friendly and
eager. She approached some
Muslim students after a meet-
ing introducing herself and
declaring she wanted to take
Shahada, the Muslim proclamation of faith. According to
NYPD lawyers, the investigation took place for most of the
year but was ended in 2012.
Mel’s identity reemerged in
2013 for an unrelated investigation of two Queens women,
Noelle Velentzas and Asia Siddiqui. They were arrested that
spring for allegedly making
bomb threats.
Though the NYPD says her
investigation was terminated in
2012, students say that Mel was
very much engaged on campus
and in their lives through the
years up to January 2015. According to the Gothamist article, students say she continued
to discuss politics and religion
and insert herself, making herself a part of members’ lives
from breakups to weddings.
“She came into a place that
I thought was a safe space,”
said Sarah Aly, voice a bit
shaky, senior and president of
the Islamic Society. “I thought
that these were places that I
was talking with friends, was
talking with peers, was a safe
space, and to have that bubble
burst there, and it really confirmed my feeling that I was
unwelcome here…it wasn’t just
isolated events, it was that the
state saw me as a criminal.”
This feeling of being criminalized was not only felt by
Aly, but Muslim students and
activists. It built a wall of mistrust and anxiety and with that
tension, a stifling of ideas and
activism.
“I just felt really violated.
Even though I know…there
is a history of cops surveilling
colleges,” said Isaiah Rivera, an
e-board member for the Puerto
Rican Alliance. “Just knowing
it was done in such a sneaky
and sinister, insidious way.
Like a betrayal. Just to read
the details and to see what an
indepth sting it was, I was just
really shocked. It just reminds
me that everything I do has a
pair of eyes on it. That I might
not necessarily want on it.”
Carlos, who asked to go by
his first name, explained that
this won’t hurt his activism. He
said he understands an activist
constantly in fear isn’t able to
do his work, but remains cautious. “I’m going to be on my
toes when considering people I
associate with or who I might
do projects with. It just makes
me want to be more cautious,”
he said.
This fear of newcomers and
others isn’t a one-way street.
The effects of surveillance are
not only limited to fear but include paranoia and social anxiety.
“As far as what it did to us,
I think what it did for me was
two-fold. It’s that I would suspect others and the second part
is that I almost feared that people suspected me as being an
informant. So there’s this dual
personality,” said Rabia Ahsin
Tarar, Brooklyn College alumnus who came in contact with
Mel.
The fear doesn’t stretch to
just those politically active,
but all Muslims, some minority students, and activists. “I
am from that particular faith if you want to be friends with
someone, especially someone
who looks different from you,
it’s going to make you skeptical
like ‘why is that person being
nice to me? Is there a hidden
motive?’,” said Mark, a Muslim
student who asked to be identified by this name.
Discussion of surveillance
and its effects on freedom of
speech is not a new one.
In 1971, 16 activists filed
against the City of New York
and the NYPD claiming that
the surveillance of their political work was unlawful and had
a “chilling effect” on their freedom of speech.
That resulted in the Handschu agreement in 1985. It prohibited the NYPD from “commencing an investigation into
political ideology or religious
activities” without “specific
information.” It also created a
small panel that would oversee
the NYPD’s surveillance work
through paperwork.
Then in 2002, in the aftermath of 9/11, the city went to
court seeking to loosen the restraints on NYPD surveillance.
In 2003, a federal judge agreed
to changes that broadened
NYPD access and, according to
police, gave them the ability to
more effectively investigate terrorism and protect the city.
For many though, this is not
a source of protection but an
omnipresent fear. This voice
against surveillance can be
heard across campus.
“What we are often told is
‘if you are not doing anything
wrong then there shouldn’t be
anything to fear,’ but despite
not doing anything wrong. Despite, you know, living a very
straight, clean, clear life, there
is this fear that people will take
what you say out of context,”
said Tarar. “So I think as far
as academic freedom is concerned, just within the college
or within a classroom environment, where you know this is
the one time that in anyone’s
life that really if you go to college you’re expected to come
out of your comfort zone, start
addressing ideas that maybe,
you know, are far fetched or
may not be within what you are
normally used to discussing.
So you will be discussing controversial ideas and you will be
talking about things that are
problematic, but when you go
into a classroom environment
and when you are talking to
your peers and your professors
and you have this fear that you
can not actually discuss these
things to the point where you
are monitoring what you allow yourself to think, it’s such
a stunting, debilitating feeling to experience that you
can’t as a Muslim, because of
your Muslim-ness because of
your particular political views
or ideas or the things you are
interested in…you become a
target…it has such a scarring
effect on my interactions with
individuals.”
She explained that this stifling
on campus is only an example
of what students will face in the
outside world. All of this fear
on and off campus has a lot of
students asking about the benefits of surveillance.
“The fact that surveillance
exists in situations in which
it is warranted does make me
feel somewhat safer. However,
when police officers go undercover without any imminent threat or any reasonable
rationale for doing so—such
as occurred in this case—then
it is no longer protection, it is
discrimination,” said Jonathan
Chevinsky, a pre-medicine
study with a creative writing
major. “And when a group of
students at Brooklyn College
can be infiltrated by the police
seemingly just because of their
religious affiliation, I do not
feel safe. Such ill-advised initiatives by the NYPD will only
serve to further isolate and disenfranchise the groups which
they infiltrate with little likelihood of effectively fighting terrorism.”
Even students who don’t see
the surveillance as a hindrance
to their rights, see the debilitating effects.
“No, it doesn’t make me feel
safer. I appreciate the NYPD’s
work to make the city and
community safer for everyone,
but such a large police presence
on a college campus is both
unhealthy and intimidating, as
well as disrupting to a learning
environment,” said Samip Delhiwala, a Brooklyn College student majoring in psychology. “I
don’t think it directly infringes
on First Amendment rights,
but it sure comes close. It
makes people feel uncomfortable being themselves, including speaking their minds or
even practicing their religion.”
For many of the students and
activists the NYPD surveillance didn’t do anything more
than assert dominance and
fear.
“The utility of surveillance as
safety tool or as a measure so
dismantling this notion that
spying on Muslim communities is a sacrifice for the protection of whether it is college
campuses or society at large
and really just to think about
what that means and what
that entails when we allow one
group whether it’s Muslims
or it can be any marginalized
group of individuals and when
say it’s ok to surveil on this
particular group because of x,
y and z reasons what implications does that have on society
as a whole and where do you
draw the line,” says Tarar.
The Handschu agreement
was amended again on Jan.
7. The amendments will limit
the NYPD’s ability to conduct
surveillance and requires equal
protection so that surveillance isn’t targeting particular
groups. The mayor will also appoint a civilian to monitor the
NYPD’s surveillance and counterterrorism efforts. This is the
first time since the agreement
was approved in 1985 that the
city has willingly agreed to
put a limit on its investigative
abilities and counterterrorism
efforts. It may say something
about where the city is heading.
“I think there are some really
great additions that especially
like, the equal protection language and the installation of
the surveillance monitor, these
new things work together to
provide more constraint on
the NYPD, but I wouldn’t say
it’s a panacea for everything
that was wrong with the Muslim surveillance that was going
on,” said Naz Ahmad, a staff
attorney with CUNY CLEAR,
a project lead by Immigrant &
Refugee Rights Clinic, and the
Criminal Defense Clinic, that is
staffed by CUNY law students.
Handschu is great in the sense
that it’s very unique in terms of
American cities and limits on
investigation on political and
religious activity. They have a
consent decree, they have court
orders, a legal formulation of
these rules.”
CUNY CLEAR is a team of
lawyers who focus on protecting the rights of those who
have been under police surveillance. They provide legal representation and host workshops
to inform people about their
freedoms and do work to address civil liberties. They have
a lot to say about the Handschu
case and other surveillance-related cases. They have been one
of the front- line fighters saying
that surveillance hinders First
Amendment rights.
For Ahmad, the latest turn
in the story of the Handschu
agreement will not end surveillance’s infringement on rights.
“It’s a big step in the right direction,” she said. “But I wouldn’t
say it has everything.”
4\NEWS\WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016\THE KINGSMAN
Ommm...Yoga in the Penthouse
Women dropped by the Penthouse last Thursday for a free yoga session. / Jherelle
Benn
By Jherelle Benn
News Editor
Soft, tranquil music played in
the background as the midday
sun shined through the large
Penthouse windows directly
onto the backs of students engaged in a yoga session. The
yoga class was thrown in honor of Women’s History Month
in the Student Center last
Thursday around noon. The
class was structured to focus
on female reproductive health
and marked the last event
held by the Women’s History
Committee.
Kiersten Cregger, the yoga
instructor, said she was delighted to be invited by the
Brooklyn College Women’s
History Committee. She also
teaches a yoga class every
Monday, Wednesday, and
Sunday at Brooklyn Yoga Collective on Franklin Avenue.
Nearly 20 million Americans
are practicing yoga according to a 2012 study published
in Yoga Journal. A 2014 article about yoga published in
The Huffington Post praised
the practice for being useful and increasingly popular.
“The mind-body practice is
frequently touted for its ability to reduce stress and boost
well-being, but it also offers
wide-ranging physical health
benefits that rival other forms
of exercise,” wrote Carolyn
Gregoire, senior writer for
The Huffington Post.
The on-campus event was
put on by the committee with
intentions of empowering
women through a focus on
their health and body. When
two male students showed up
to the class they were also welcomed to join in the activities.
“The aura in the room was
really comforting,” said Devon Webster, one of the two
male students who attended
the event. Webster, a communications major, said he
enjoyed partaking in the yoga
session. “I closed my eyes and
I wasn’t really here,” he said.
Kelly Guillet said he attended the event to get more flexible. Guillet is currently studying Kinesiology, the study of
movement in humans. “It was
alright. Yoga is always difficult,” said Guillet.
During the session, Cregger
smoothly transitioned about
11 students on yoga mats
through different poses like
the Mula bandha, Surya A,
Goddess Pose, Camel, Frog,
Eagle, Seated Spinal Twist,
Supta Baddha Konasana, legs
up the wall, and more. While
constantly reminding students to breathe in and out,
she maneuvered the large
room staying mostly at the
front to demonstrate each
pose and occasionally leaving
her post to assist an individual with a difficult movement.
The class was taught in Hatha-style, an ancient form of
yoga that emphasizes physical postures. Each stance had
a different effect on the body
geared towards improving
women’s reproductive health,
like increasing blood flow,
adding direct (or indirect)
stimulation as needed, or relaxing tensed muscles. Certain poses, such as the Plough,
decreased stress hormones
while others, like the Savasana, activated hormones only
produced while resting.
The students did about 13
different poses in total with
some appearing more difficult than others. Alternative
stances were provided to ac-
NEWS
commodate students who
were not as flexible. All the
while, Cregger’s voice spoke
just above the music encouraging students to “let yourself
feel stuff.”
“We live in a culture that
teaches us to work really hard,
but we don’t live in a culture
that teaches us how to rest,
take time and take care of
ourselves,” said Cregger.
At the end of the session
all the students rested with
their backs against the yoga
mat and their eyes closed for
about five minutes. During
this time, Cregger offered
each student a brief temple
massage with essential oils.
She also encouraged students
to say something nice in appreciation of themselves.
Sophomore student and
secretary of the women’s history committee, Truth Opaleye, wiped a bit of sweat from
her brow as she gathered her
things, admitting the class
was hard. “But I tried that’s
the point. I’m so stiff from
class lately,” said Opaleye.
“Gotta treat myself.”
Slam Teams Battle it Out
By Jherelle Benn
News Editor
The Occidental Lounge of
the Student Center was transformed into a battleground
for poetry as Brooklyn College invited two other New
York based slam teams to
compete for a spot at the
College Unions Poetry Slam
Invitational last Thursday.
Brooklyn College emerged in
third place with the women
of BC slam team competing
against New York University (NYU) who came in first
place and Barnard/Columbia
College who placed second.
The BC slam team will go on
to continue the tradition of
representing the college on
a national level next week in
Texas.
The Slam
Prior to the slam, five judges
were randomly selected from
the audience and given the
task of scoring each poem on
a scale from 0-10. Two sacrificial poets opened the show in
order to warm up the judges
and set the scale. Judges were
chosen on the basis of being unfamiliar with all of the
competing poets but were
mostly reluctant to give lower
scores.
“When the judges kept giving the 10, that was probably
me,” said Serena Rockingster,
a freshman student and one
of the judges for the slam.
Rockingster admitted that she
is not a poet but “loved seeing
it in action.”
Communications major, Raven Lemon, also served as a
judge for the slam and said it
was difficult to actually score
the poetry performances. “It
was hard because they are all
really good and I felt really
bad,” said Lemon. “If I gave
it a 10, I got chills and it connected with me,” she added.
The competition moved
quickly with four rounds and
each team designating a poet
(or a group piece) to represent
their college for that round.
Poets had to adhere to a strict
three minute time frame and
would receive point deduction penalties for going over
the ten second grace period.
As the host for the evening,
Brooklyn College led in the
first round with Khadijah
Johnson performing a comical poem referencing social
media and pop culture. This
performance was followed up
by NYU senior student, Crystal Valentine. Sister schools,
Barnard and Columbia were
represented by a student who
goes by the name of Natachi
in the first round.
By the end of all four rounds,
students were applauding and
snapping their approval for
the poets, while booing and
gasping at unflattering scores
from the judges.
Most poems performed
were passionate stories of resilience, race, gender, sexuality and love. Some poems were
angry rants about rejection or
“F*** Boys.” Two group pieces were presented during the
slam. While the group poems
were performed by different
slam teams (NYU and Brooklyn College), both outlined
the struggles of being a woman in a patriarchal society.
“To be black and woman and
alive is to be resilient,” said
Crystal Valentine during her
group poem performed with
another female student from
NYU.
The Women of the BC Slam
Team
Jenna Carter-Johnson,
Khadijah Johnson, Soré Agbaje and Kearah Armonie are
the women of the Brooklyn
College Slam team. Together
they represented Brooklyn
College at Thursday’s slam as
well as made various appearances this semester at several
events on and off campus.
Sergio Jimenez, Brooklyn
College student and the only
male on the BC slam team,
sat back and let the ladies
represent during Thursday’s
slam. “The only difficulty is
writing group poems,” said
Jimenez. “When you’re on a
team where topics consist of
‘post f*** boy syndrome’ you
can’t really find a way to take
part. Nevertheless, it does feel
good to be open and vulnerable with them,” he added,
referencing the slam team’s
newly debuted group piece.
Despite having a common
gender, each female member
brings a different style and
different experiences to the
team.
Jenna Carter-Johnson, was
originally inspired to write
poetry by her grandmother
who was a big fan of Langston Hughes. Following in
her grandmother’s footsteps,
Carter-Johnson became a fan
of Hughes herself and “here I
am,” she said, referring to her
role on the BC Slam Team.
Kearah Armonie, who
serves as the secretary for
the BC Slam Team said she
is inspired by “everything
from birth.” Her inspiration
stems from what she has been
through, her experiences, and
life in general. Spoken word
in particular is important to
her because of “educating
others and reaching out to
others through writing,” she
added.
Soré Agbaje also says she is
inspired by everyday life. “Everything inspires me. I have
the need to get things out,”
said Agbaje. Recently Agbaje
served as editor in-chief of
the Brooklyn College Odyssey team. She also works with
a youth empowerment group
called Urban Word NYC
holding slams and writing
workshops for teens.
Khadijah Johnson, one of
the youngest members on the
team says her inspiration for
writing poetry comes more
from the less-notable things.
“It’s more like the small experiences,” said Johnson. “Everything you are passionate
about, that you don’t know it
can be turned into a poem.
There’s poetry in each aspect
of your life that you love,” she
added.
Last Thursday’s slam was
only a glimpse at what the
team will face during the national poetry competition
in Texas. In preparation for
nationals, the team says they
are working harder than ever.
“I’m excited and terrified,”
said Agbaje. “I’ve come to
care about this process a lot,”
she added.
THE KINGSMAN/WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016/NEWS/5
NEWS
The Women’s Experience at Brooklyn College
Students Paola Cabrera and Selena Mendez talk to The Kingsman about their campus
experiences. / Derek Norman
By Derek Norman
Contributing Editor
In light of Women’s History Month, women around
campus spoke on their experience at Brooklyn College,
expressing their thoughts
on social scenes, classroom
atmosphere and campus life
from the perspective of the
fairer sex.
“Being a female has not
limited me,” said Shanelle
Hudson, a psychology major. “It’s been a positive part
of my experience on campus. I think the LGBT community, the Women’s Health
Center, and the overall feeling of security on campus
has been what’s kept anyone
from feeling the opposite.”
Brooklyn College has
earned itself an admirable
reputation in not only gender equality, but catering to
women’s needs through an
office called the Women’s
Center in Ingersoll Hall,
which helps provide students with solving individual social or health problems
and raises awareness on
women’s issues, according
to students.
“I think because this is an
educational environment,
everybody stays polite,” said
Irsa Shahzadi, a psychology
major. “It’s not vulgar like
you’d see at a train station,
catcalling and everything.
I’ve never felt mistreated
or uncomfortable being a
woman on campus.”
While most women have
felt comfortable and secure
on campus, there are still
those that have struggled
with issues and feel more
awareness could benefit the
student population.
“When certain situations
of sexual misconduct happen on campus, it’s widely
swept under the rug. Not
by the school, but by fellow
students,” said Akimah Etienne, a voice performance
major. “It made me out to
be a bad guy amongst my
circle, and maybe that’s just
an issue within my circle,
but it’s something the campus should talk about. I never expected something that
bad could happen at Brooklyn College, but it did and
could happen to anyone.”
According to students, the
responsibility of awareness
on women’s issues should
not come from administration, but the students themselves.
“The Women’s Center is
great, all the women are
empowering there,” said Etienne. “Administration is doing the best they can, but it’s
issues like this that students
should be aware of and talking about.”
Some women have had
experiences on campus that
also parallel gender inequality in the workforce, in social environments and even
households. An example of
this recurring and sometimes common experience
is a woman not being given
as much attention as a male.
“At times as a woman, it
is difficult to get my point
across while having everyone’s attention,” said Selena
Mendez, a biology major.
“You can see female students are often chosen less
to participate compared to
male students, especially
when the professor is a male
himself.”
Despite these everyday advantages and disadvantages
of being a woman on campus, sometimes life’s circumstances can play an even
larger role. Saskia Newton is
a student, journalism major, and more importantly,
a proud mother to her twoyear-old daughter.
“It’s extremely hard and
I’m still trying to find that
balance,” said Newton. “It
all has to do with prioritizing and not taking on more
than I could bear.”
Newton was three months
pregnant when she graduat-
ed from community college
with an associate’s degree
before eventually landing at
Brooklyn College.
“I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I
could still do those five
courses and manage’,” said
Newton. “Having a baby
and being in school is hard.
But, I’m doing it now.”
The diverse experiences
for the women of Brooklyn
College are a reflection of
the diversity of the campus
itself. While some women
applaud the services offered
and respectful etiquette
from fellow students, some
still believe there is work
to be done. One common
theme hasn’t strayed far
from this discourse, in the
words of Akimah Etienne,
“The women are all beautiful at Brooklyn College.”
Student and mother, Saskia Newton, pictured with her two-year-old daughter, shares
with The Kingsman her experience with balancing her mommy duties and student duties. / Saskia Newton
Do you want to write like a King?
Writers and Photographers Wanted!
For more information come to Staff Meeting,
Tuesday common hour, 118 R or email
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6\FEATURES & OPINIONS\WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016\THE KINGSMAN
FEATURES & OPINIONS
Baking Crossiolis with Savannah Rice
Savannah Rice pictured in the center with her film crew on a shooting day. / Savannah Rice
By Paul Frangipane
Contributing Editor
A pastry chef is pressured
to create a new and delicious
treat after introducing his famous croissant-cannoli hybrid, the croissoli. His quickly
obtained celebrity status and
need to live up to his image
creates a cloud over the true
important factors that life has
to offer.
This comedic, yet crucial
plot was brought to life in
three 12-hour days by Savannah Rice, a 22-year-old
Brooklyn College filmmaker,
and her dedicated crew.
As a graduating senior under City University’s bachelor
program, Rice’s film, “Holy
Croissoli,” served as her thesis
project and her debut film.
“I’m ecstatic about how it
looks,” Rice said about the
film after shooting. “Being on
set and the atmosphere, I just
loved it, I totally loved it.”
Rice moved to New York City
in 2013 from Florida, where
she attended two years at Broward College. She moved in
with two filmmakers while
pursuing a finance career and
quickly realized that her passion was in film. After working on friends’ projects, such
as a mini web series, something clicked.
“I’ve never actually been
passionate about something
before that,” said Rice. “In
Florida, I never even thought
of film as a career.”
Moving into the right place
at the right time led Rice to
start interning at New York
Women in Film and Television and eventually attending the bachelor program at
Brooklyn College, where she
was free to shape her major
however she pleased.
After a year at Brooklyn College, where she studied in film
classes, and also obtained the
Rosen Fellowship, allowing
her to make shoes in Argentina for five weeks, it came time
to present a thesis idea.
A high resolution picture of
a delicate looking croissant,
doused in powdered sugar,
hugging together a mass of
cannoli cream bursting from
each side, sits atop a Kickstarter page that urged interested viewers to donate to
“Holy Croissoli.”
Rice needed around $8000
to fund the project, and with
119 backers pledging $8,401,
she exceeded the goal. From
early February to March 4,
the pressure was on to finance
the film. A slow start to the
campaign led Rice and her
team to take to social media
to advertise and send messages personally from person
to person on Facebook urging
them to donate, or at the very
least, share the page.
“It was a nerve-racking process to be honest,” Rice said
in regards to the campaign.
“People say it’s a full-time job
and it is a full-time job.”
Backers to the campaign
were promised croissollithemed gifts such as the
croissoli recipe, a film poster
signed by Rice, a baker’s dozen of croissolis delivered to his
or her home or a simple thank
you note from the team.
Once funding was complete,
it was time to take to one of
the five shooting locations,
Tonnie’s Minis, a small bakery in Inwood. On the corner
of a tree-lined block in upper Manhattan, a small orange entranceway led to the
birthplace of “Holy Croissoli.”
“The bakery was beautiful…
a dream to work with,” Rice
said. Not only did Tonnie’s
Minis allow for the team to set
up and film, they offered their
location for free.
A learning-by-doing attitude brought Rice to her first
directing stage, never having
taken a directing class before
or having any experience in
the position at all. “I was really worried about directing,” Rice said. Random chest
pains for Rice a week before
shooting culminating in the
worst pains on the morning of
day one, went away as soon as
the work began. According to
Rice, talented actors made the
entire experience more comfortable.
“We got incredibly lucky with
these actors,” she said. Student
actors made up the film staff,
working alongside some hired
professionals. After a few nervous periods and three long
shooting-days, Rice said the
crew is impressed with the
work.
“Holy Croissoli” has about
a month left in the editing
process until Rice will try to
show it at the Brooklyn College Film Festival this May.
She will be leaving Brooklyn
College with the artifact of
her first experimentation with
directing, her debut film, the
efforts of a hard-fought financial campaign and the most
delicious croissoli that she
ever baked up.
In Memoriam: Selena Quintanilla Perez
By Samantha Rodriguez
Sports Editor
Envision a little girl around
the age of nine or ten, twirling around her room carelessly, swinging her hips in
sync with each syllable of
“Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.” Imagine the look of passion on her
face, as she pretended to be
the woman singing; a breathtaking Latina with a sultry,
pure voice, dance moves that
came as natural as her breath
and a smile that could make
the coldest heart flush with
warmth. All I ever dreamed
about was being Selena Quintanilla Perez, the queen of Tejano music whom the world
remembers with a heavy heart
as she was killed tragically
at the hands of her fan club
manager, Yolanda Saldivar.
My admiration for Selena
comes with more than just
awe of her stunning beauty
and incomparable talent, but
that little something extra you
can’t explain that makes the
hearts of millions quiver with
adoration. Despite breaking
the molds of being a Hispanic
woman, I have come to believe that it is her selflessness,
living her dream for the sole
purpose of seeing the eyes
of little girls like me light up
with affection that allows her
legacy to live on 21 years after
her death. March 31 marks
this anniversary and here is
a poem to remind her that
we’re still dreaming of her.
For Selena Quintanilla
Perez (1971-1995)
There is a woman of unspeakable beauties. Never before
has there been such a harmonious blend of mind, body
and soul….
She will die, and she will perish beneath canopies of white
roses slightly wilted and yellowed at the curvature of their
petals. It is a fate unwilling to
be forgotten.
She walks here and there they
say, in and out of shadow. The
forest oak tops cannot unveil
her opaque ribbons of hair, or
the fluidity of her stature. It
is the wind she trusts. It carries her tantalizing tune in its
current, a voice laced with ferocity and smiles. Something
gives speed to her passing.
A myth, a legend. Call her
what you may, but she too
asked her mother to read her
into a gentle night’s sleep before she knew what a star was.
Before she understood that
their paths require them to
enlarge, and when their time
is determined, they explode.
She will explode at the hands
of a woman who will utter
these guilt-ridden words: “I
love Selena”
Selena. Greek for moon goddess.
“Are they gonna love me,
mama,” she asks, laying in
her mother’s lap. She is looking into the moon, dreaming, ignoring the glaring imperfections. The craters look
much like the chest cavity she
will bleed from. Empty. With
nothing to fill in their gaps,
but stares of awe and bewilderment.
“Yes, baby, they’re gonna love
you,” her mother replies. Her
mother does not yet fear love,
but the word will someday
send her into nightmares that
remain in her consciousness.
Love must not be confused
with envy and the unrelenting
desire to control….
When a child is born, a new
mother does not come to the
realization that her baby must
someday pass into the unknown, long after their own
passing. Or too soon before
their own. She does not even
imagine that is possible. She
fawns over the life she has
created, the supernova she
holds to her bosom. The ball
of wonder she calls Selena.
When a child is born a new
mother does not come to
the realization that her baby
might someday cause the
passing of another. She does
not even imagine that is possible. She fawns over the life
she has created, the monster
she holds to her bosom. The
hand that will prematurely
determine time, she calls
Yolanda….
A song is heard as Selena slips
into shadow.
“Si vieras como duele, perder
tu amor. Con tu adios te llevas, mi corazón...me marcho
hoy. Yo se perder. Pero, ay, ay,
ay como me duele.”
You can’t imagine how it hurts
to lose your love. With your
goodbye you took my heart...I
am leaving today, but oh how
it hurts.
There is a woman of unspeakable terrors. There is a gunshot.
A star has reached the end of
its lifecycle.
Selena slips into shadow.
She falls asleep in her mother’s lap, beneath the moon,
beneath her canopy of wilting
roses.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
THE KINGSMAN/WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/7
“Trapped”: The Fight for Women’s Rights
By Dawn Eligio
Layout Editor
The battle between government and women’s reproductive rights makes
its way into headlines relentlessly. As the arduous
fight continues on a larger
political and societal scale,
“Trapped,” a documentary
by Dawn Porter, identifies
individuals on the battlefront in the states of Mississippi, Alabama and Texas,
and their personal in-arms
combat with the powers
that be.
The Women’s Center
and The Women’s and
Gender Studies Program
at Brooklyn College
hosted a screening on
Monday for “Trapped” as
part of their 40th Anniversary Celebration. Released earlier this month
on March 4, the film interviews clinics, their
administrators and staff,
patients and a physician
who continue to push for
women’s
reproductive
rights despite attempts
by the government to
deem abortions illegal.
Targeted Regulation
of Abortion Providers,
or “TRAP” laws, aim
to limit the health care
that doctors and clinics
provide with the intention of making abortions
impossible. Such laws
require practicing physicians to obtain licenses
as admitting doctors of
a hospital, require clinics
to designed as ambulatory surgical clinics, or
even require that a clinic
not be within the vicinity
of a school.
Pro-life Governor Rick
Perry (R) signed into law
House Bill 2, which closed
down a majority of Texas
clinics from 41 down to a
crippling seven, according
to the International Business Times. This bill has
been one of the stricter
anti-abortion laws placed
into effect. Senator Wendy Davis (D) filibustered
House Bill 2 for 11 hours
prolonging the progress
of the decision as protesters stood in solidarity with
her fight. Her supporters
cheered her on as she spent
those 11 hours, without
break, in sneakers speaking
out against the bill.
According to Nancy Northup, President and CEO
of the Center for Reproductive Rights, there have
been over 300 laws passed
that have set heavy restrictions on abortion in the
past three years. According
to lawmakers, these restrictions are for the benefit and
wellbeing of women.
The decision of Roe v.
Wade in 1973 constitutionalized abortion as a wom-
are only six clinics for the
whole state, where there’s
one reproductive health
clinic per every 2.2 million
women in the state.”
The argument here is
that abortions will not stop
even if medical abortions
are eradicated by the government. Abortions will
still exist. Women will find
alternatives to safe, medical help — alternatives
that can be potentially lifethreatening and dangerous.
If a health clinic closes, the
out of pocket and the longer they wait, the more
expensive the procedure
becomes. This puts a strain
on women from low-income communities, many
uninsured, that the clinics
serve.
And what of the moral,
religious stance that life
begins at conception?
Trapped covered this argument showcasing Willie
Parker, an OB/GYN, who
spoke about his personal
convictions in the film.
an’s right according to her
personal judgment concerning her body and her
health. The TRAP laws negate the landmark decision.
“Like Roe v. Wade doesn’t
even matter anymore,”
said an administrator at
a Whole Woman’s Health
clinic, Marva Sadler. Located in Texas, Sadler’s clinic,
is one of few clinics that
remains open and is under
scrutiny by government.
The film shows a snippet of The Rachel Maddow Show, where Maddow
states, “Those new regulations that are set to reduce
Texas to a state where there
need for one still remains.
This only means that women, if they financially can,
will travel miles to another
clinic. In situations where
time is of the essence, the
price for an abortion increases into the second and
third trimesters. Different
states have different laws
concerning Medicaid, but
specifically in the states of
Texas and Mississippi, voluntary abortions (for nonmedical reasons such as
fetal impairment) are not
federally funded, according to a report released by
the Guttmacher Institute
on March 1. Women pay
Parker grew up in a black
fundamentalist
Baptist
church community that
preached the sin of abortion. His work, providing
women with early termination and reproductive care,
he feels, aligns with his religious responsibility. After
losing a family member to
pregnancies that were too
close together, Parker feels
his work is justified and
honorable, drawing parallels with himself and the
Biblical character of the
Good Samaritan.
“I’m Dr. Parker, one of two
doctors who flies into Mississippi to provide abortion
care for women. There are
no doctors in Mississippi
who will provide care. As
you know, it’s a very hostile
environment. My decision
to go there was based on
the fact, if nobody else will
go, who’s going to go?,” he
said in the film.
In a scene where Dr.
Parker pulls into a clinic
for work, he is met by a
protester who beseeched
him to return to the faith
and to “stop killing babies.”
“He used to be a Christian,”
said the protester in an
interview. Another protester admonished Dr.
Parker using the Black
Lives Matter rhetoric to
say it is ironic that he,
a black man, kills black
children. “All black lives
matter! All lives matter!”
she yelled.
“When you have a
sense of duty about what
you do, it allows you to
ignore the naysayers,” he
said.
The criminalization of
physicians like Dr. Parker and clinic staff have
only ignited their passion to strengthen their
crusade efforts, but the
criminalization has debilitating effects on the
women who seek abortion.
A young girl interviewed in the documentary cried as she broke
down about her decision
to terminate her pregnancy. “I got through everything,” she said, “the
death of my mother…I
have a hard time forgiving myself,” she admitted. The judgment placed
upon this girl and others
like her give them a sense
of shame that is harmful at
a vulnerable time.
The film ends as the battle is taken to the U.S. Supreme Court. Arguments
were heard on March 2
in the Whole Woman’s
Health v. Hellerstedt case.
Whole Woman’s Health
challenges House Bill 2 and
its violation to uphold Roe
v. Wade and the constitutional right of a woman to
choose abortion under the
protection of law. The final
decision will be made this
June. Stay tuned.
8\SPORTS\WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30, 2016\THE KINGSMAN
“Throw Like a Girl”
The hosts of Throw Like a Girl are passionate about sports and are changing the
game. / Samantha Rodriguez
By Samantha Rodriguez
Sports Editor
If you’ve ever seen “The
Sandlot”, then you undoubtedly remember the scene
where Hamilton “Ham”
Porter delivers the most epic
diss to Phillips in the baseball diamond. The endless
bickering between the two
groups of boys comes to a
screeching halt, and Ham’s
teammates drop their chins,
staring in disbelief at the
utterance of this particular
burn: “You play ball like a
GIRL!”
In some way, shape or form
we’ve all said this. We’ve
all subconsciously mocked
young girls and women, attaching a negative connotation to doing things “like a
girl,” as if strength is so far
from our nature. This could
not be any farther from
the truth and the women
of Throw Like a Girl Radio
strive to bulldoze through
that mold by bringing their
experience and interpretation to the male-dominated
world of sports.
“Our society conditions
young girls and women,
from a young age, that when
we participate in athletic
activity it is inferior to the
participation of our male
counterparts. Throw Like A
Girl Radio is my attempt to
take back the stereotype that
doing things like a girl is 100
percent acceptable, strong
and beautiful,” says founder
Alyssa Paolicelli.
Throw Like a Girl is CUNY’s first all-female sports
show and is currently in its
third and final season on
Brooklyn College Radio. After interning on an all-male
show two years ago, Paolicelli explained that she realized how different her own
interpretations were from
the men she was working
with.
“I knew I wanted to do my
own show, but I wanted to
make it unique since there
are so many other sports talk
shows on the station. That’s
when I thought of the idea
for an all-female sports talk
show. I contacted the program director at the time
and asked if he knew of any
other girls who would be interested and he gave me Kara’s email. It has kind of been
a love story since then.”
Both Paolicelli and cohost Kara Ann Galante
have formed a bond over
their passionate love for
the New York Rangers and
the New York Mets, and
balance each other out in
the most entertaining way.
While Paolicelli asserts her
knowledge and views in a
very matter-of-fact manner,
Galante charms with her
bubbly voice and exuberant personality creating an
excellent 1-2 punch on the
radio waves. But that tandem has grown stronger as
both women have fed off the
empowering reminder that
they ARE women, and they
ARE great, and they DO
have a place in the world of
sports.
“We want to make a difference and show fans that
there is more to sports than
just talking about how Steph
Curry can shoot a three
pointer. There are serious
problems happening in the
leagues we love that we want
to bring to light,” explained
Galante.
Through creative segments
including Woman of the
Week and Confessions of a
Female Sports Fan, Paolicelli and Galante make the
incredible success of women in sports the highlight of
their one hour slot, but they
also illuminate the injustices unfairly brought upon
women, including prejudice
against themselves as radio
SPORTS
hosts and their frequent
conversation about domestic violence and sexual harassment. With Throw Like
a Girl, you’re getting more
than just your average sports
talk, though they cover every topic like professionals. You’re getting the other
side of the story, whether it
be their own anecdotes or
those of the female athletes
they so very much admire.
The radio pair will be
graduating at the end of this
semester, but they hope that
Throw Like a Girl will remain on the air and develop
a legacy here at Brooklyn
College. “It has been my
baby, and I would really love
if two other girls coming up
through the sports ranks
would take it over and run
with it like we have,” Paolicelli explained. “It feels like
we are closing in on the end
of an era in our sports journalism careers.”
Whatever the future holds
for Throw Like a Girl, Paolicelli and Galante have done
women in sports a tremendous justice and will undoubtedly continue their
quest to, as Kara explained,
“make a long lasting impression on the industry. Throw
Like a Girl just shows how
we as women are breaking
the glass ceiling even more.”
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