Out of the Darkness Walk brings suicide awareness to light

Sisters Making a Change hosted the second “Out of the Darkness” Walk on Sunday April 27. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention sponsored the walk to fight against the darkness and silence surrounding suicide. The walk attracted a total of 91 total participants. “We started in the morning with the route … and spread signs around campus to map out the two-mile loop for the walk,” SMAC co-service chair sophomore Jane Skinner said. “Tim Hortons donated food, [Campus Auxiliary Services] donated water … There were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and I brought bananas, so there was plenty of food, which we appreciated.”

“We did really well, and ended up almost reaching our goal [at the walk],” Skinner said. “We want to keep fundraising until we reach it too, so were currently reaching out to other people for donations.”

Skinner explained that SMAC also worked closely with the local chair of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Sarah Clark Baughman, who aided them through the process and help facilitate the walk from AFSP’s end.

“We’ve worked with Sarah for both years, which has been great,” Skinner said. “And [AFSP] gave us a bunch of guidelines: packets of information on how to run the event, how to fundraise, templates for flyers, t-shirts, a banner … they’re very helpful.”

According to Skinner, the only downside to having the walk sponsored by AFSP is that there is no registration fee, which cuts into the walk’s fundraising.

“We had a lot of people come who didn’t donate because there was no fee, which is actually okay, because the main goal is to raise awareness,” Skinner said. “We did have a lot of organizations involved too, and Pathways came and supported us.”

Despite the lack of registration fee, Skinner said that they were only about $50 away from reaching their $2,000 fundraising goal.

Stoerger explained that the funds from this event help fight suicide and its effects through educational programs, scientific research and resources for survivors, people at risk and people who have lost someone to suicide.

“It’s a very real issue, especially on college campuses,” Stoerger said. “Chances are, everyone knows at least one person who’s been affected by suicide, which is sad especially because it can be avoided.”

“Even if you don’t know someone whose been affected by suicide, you probably know someone affected by depression,” Skinner said. “If you do know someone who needs support, make sure they’re getting it, and don’t be afraid to talk about it – it’s not something to be ashamed of.”

“Pathways is a great resource if anyone ever needs help because those counselors are well-trained,” Skinner added. “And there’s always the suicide hotline.”

Both Skinner and Stoerger said that they look forward to holding the walk again and hope to expand their efforts of raising awareness and aiding in suicide prevention next year.

“We had almost double the involvement this year, and made almost 800 more dollars, which definitely shows that we got the word out there, and that’s a major improvement,” Skinner said.

Geneseo Diabetics Association starts strong with talent show

There are two types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2, which affect approximately 26 million people in the United States alone – including a significant percentage of students at Geneseo. As a Type 1 diabetic since the age of five, Geneseo Diabetics Association President sophomore Jonathan Anderson said that after encountering other diabetics at Geneseo, he decided that it would be beneficial to have a place for those students to support one another.

In type 1 diabetes, the body does not produce insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar and other food into energy. This causes a person’s blood glucose, or “blood sugar,” levels to remain unregulated in the body, according to the American Diabetes Association website.

“I had never seen so many diabetics in my life,” Anderson said. “I think you feel this sort of instant connection with other diabetics, because you have this sort of shared experience, even though you’ve never met.”

In fall 2013, with the help of sophomore Aaron Spector, Anderson helped found GDA in order to give those students a forum to talk about what it means to be a diabetic today, as well as what it specifically means to be a diabetic in college.

Anderson said that GDA was officially sanctioned only about six weeks ago, but decided to waste no time in getting its name out into the community and hosted the first event, “The Geneseo Diabetics Association’s First Annual Talent Show,” on April 18 in order to raise both awareness and funds for the cause.

As the philanthropy chair for Sigma Nu Chi fraternity and current GDA treasurer, Spector said that he decided to enlist the support of his fraternity brothers to prepare for the show and give the club the kick start it needed.

“Without Sig Nu the event would not have been possible, they really stepped up.” Spector said. “I’m so proud and so thankful for their help, they deserve a lot of credit.”

“They went above and beyond,” Anderson said. “We gave them a list of things to do on Friday, and then we came back in, like, five minutes and it was completely done. We needed them, and they were great.”

In total, 10 acts competed in the event, which incorporated a variety of unique talents, including original music by senior Atosa Ghasripoor, extreme hula hooping by freshman Ben Spaid, performances by the Slainte Irish Dancers and a Winterguard performance so big it had to be moved outside.

Anderson said the Talent Show was successful beyond their expectations, bringing in what Spector said was much more than they anticipated.

“We raised [over $800] in total, which was way more than we expected,” Spector said. “We’re really happy with it, and hopefully next year will be even better.”

Anderson said that looking to the future, GDA has three essential goals they’d like to keep in mind: to support students who currently have diabetes, to spread awareness about the disease to the campus community and to raise money to support the efforts of the American Diabetes Association.

“I think there used to be this common misconception that having diabetes comes from being out of shape, which isn’t true,” Anderson said. “Growing up, you always heard those ‘Someone had ten candy bars and ate them all, now what do they have? They have diabetes’ jokes – but I think that’s definitely changing. People are becoming more understanding and open about it.”

Geneseo Genealogy: Torture Tree exposes a more sinister, rich valley

About five miles outside of Geneseo, a large, ordinary tree stands in the middle of a small town park in Cuylerville, N.Y.; an area with a dark past and haunting history. Known by locals as the “Torture Tree,” the old oak marks the site of two Revolutionary War-era murders in what is now Boyd and Parker Park, located on Route 20A in Leicester, N.Y.  – about 10 minutes outside of campus.

According to Livingston County historian Amie Alden, in 1779, Gen. George Washington sent troops into Western New York with hopes of dislodging the Seneca Indians from their protective posts outside of the British Fort Niagara.

“The Genesee Valley was a serving as a kind of bread basket for the Indians that lived there, who were mostly farmers because of the fertile land,” Alden said. “And these Indians had formed an alliance with the British, and were therefore supplying food to the British army.”

“And so, in September of 1779, Gen. Washington sent Gen. Sullivan’s army on an expedition to burn the villages in the area [in order] to get to Fort Niagara,” she said.

Marking the western limit of what would come to be known as the Sullivan Campaign, the “Torture Tree” stands in the midst of what was formerly known as Little Beard’s Town, a powerful Seneca village in the Genesee River Valley.

According to Alden, a few days before Boyd and Parker’s deaths, Sullivan sent out a scouting party of about 16 men to survey the area before the troops advanced. As part of Sullivan’s company, Lt. Thomas Boyd was ordered to lead the party.

The coast was reported clear; however, on their way back to camp the group was ambushed by the Seneca. They massacred the majority of Boyd’s party, leaving only Boyd and one of his men, Sgt. Michael Parker, alive to be captured and taken to Little Beard’s Town.

“No one really knows why they took Parker,” Alden said. “No one knows much about him other than he was one of the men in Boyd’s scouting party.”

Unfortunately, Parker’s life prior to his death remains a mystery. The exact events that transpired in Little Beard’s Town after Boyd and Parker’s capture are unclear. A popular account collected from the diaries and letters of the remaining men of Sullivan’s company depicts the captured soldiers being tied to the tree with their own intestines and brutally tortured until they were finally scalped and beheaded.

While Indian raids and ceremonial torture were common at the time, Alden explained that the manner in which the two men were killed “was unusual, for sure,” and that although it is not confirmed, it is speculated that there may have been involvement and instigation from the loyalist tories who were allied with the British at the time.

“In 1927, [the University of the State of New York] put together funds to organize events across the state to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Revolution,” Alden said. “And as part of the series of commemorations following the path of Sullivan’s campaign,” funds were provided to place a boulder and bronze tablet at the burial mound of Boyd and Parker.

According to Alden, the town of Leicester now owns the park, where the creepy urban-legend history of the “Torture Tree” has continued to flourish for more than two centuries.

Relay for Life advocate contemplates service, dedication

For some people, getting a simple haircut can be a huge ordeal. For junior Coli Bacharach, however, making the decision to shave her head to raise money for cancer research was surprisingly easy. “I saw students doing it last year and I thought it was awesome,” Bacharach said. “I’ve seen so many people suffer unnecessarily and I thought if I could do this small part to help, then why not do it?”

Bacharach has chosen to shave her head at Relay for Life on Saturday, April 5 in front of hundreds of supporters, surrendering to the clippers in the name of curing cancer.

“I just keep thinking about kids that have been confined to a hospital by cancer, living a life they don’t deserve,” Bacharach said. “They don’t have the choice to shave their heads, they don’t do it because they want to; they’re just victims of circumstance.”

“Your entire life can be uprooted by cancer and then on top of that, you have to shave your head. That’s your security, which you now have to get rid of it in the midst of this [trauma],” she said.

Bacharach admitted that the idea of losing the “security” of her hair made her a bit nervous at first.

“As much as I tell myself it’s just hair, it is a little scary,” she said. “People may look at me differently but so what? I don’t have cancer. I’m lucky enough not to.”

Bacharach hasn’t been contemplating this decision all year, rather it wasn’t until after she returned from studying abroad last semester that she decided to part with her locks.

“On the way up [to Geneseo], I told [my family] that I was thinking about doing this and at first I was afraid of what they would say,” Bacharach said. “But they were proud of me and it’s nice to have their support.”

Bacharach had raised over $2,500 within a few months, surpassing her goal and the individual fundraising amount at Geneseo; earning the title of Relay for Life Emerald Individual Fundraising Club member.

Bacharach explained that even in high school she had a passion for giving back. Bacharach has spent much of her time traveling and volunteering all over the world, meeting many children and adults who have struggled to win their battles with illness.

“They have such a spirit about them,” Bacharach said. “And I feel like most of us don’t appreciate our health until something bad happens. I’ve visited hospitals all across the United States and met a lot of great folks who have battled many diseases, including cancer.”

Throughout her time at Geneseo, Bacharach has been very involved on campus; serving not only as editor-in-chief of MiNT magazine, but also as the social and new student engagement chair of Hillel, a sister and service chair of the Royal Lady Knights and a resident assistant in Allegany Hall.

“I’ve had support from every group that I’m a part of, which I’m so thankful for,” Bacharach said. “And I’ve been so humbled by it … even people that I didn’t feel like I had that strong of a connection with have supported me.”

Though Bacharach said she was thankful for the support she’s received for her fundraising efforts, not everyone is totally on board.

“I have friends – really great friends – who still can’t believe I’m doing this and say they could never deal with the societal pressures,” Bacharach said. “And that’s really upsetting: that we would be so afraid of the opinions of others that we would keep ourselves from doing something important that we know will have a great response.”

Despite her incredible accomplishments, however, Bacharach has remained modest and thankful. She points out that contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to be a “certain kind of person” to make a gesture like this.

“I feel like anyone can make a difference. If you want to do something great, just go ahead and do it,” she said.

Bacharach has upped her goal to $2,650 and is still looking for donations, which will be accepted until Friday.

“I had no idea that we would break everyone’s records with the support I got … it makes it all worth it,” Bacharach said. “I’m ready to be bald.”

A taste of Ghana on this side of the Atlantic

Senior Sarah Ackerman said she’s never considered herself a master chef, but ever since her trip to Ghana in 2011, she has worked hard to recreate the flavors of many West African dishes every year at the Ghana Gala. Ackerman is the donation coordinator of The Ghana Project, the organization that fundraises for education in Ghana and educates individuals about Ghanaian culture.

“After I got home, I realized I really missed them,” Ackerman said. “So I got a cook book and started to practice. They’re never quite as good, but they’re close.”

Ackerman said that Ghanaian food is simple, yet flavorful and that the main dishes are usually organized around high-calorie staple foods, like rice and grains.

“Meat is a sign of wealth and luxury in Ghana,” Ackerman said. “Usually the meals consist of hearty stews, plantains, fermented grains and, of course, a lot of fruits.”

Ackerman explained that the club usually steers clear of some of the more unfamiliar traditional foods, like the fermented grain dishes or starchy dough like foods like fufu or banku, in an effort to cater to their guests’ preference for Westernized cuisine.

“These are American-paletted African foods,” Ackerman said. “While the stuff we make is definitely authentic, we try not to include anything too out of the ordinary – like traditionally Ghanaians will cook the whole fish, eyes and bones and everything, […] or goat meat.”

“[Ghanaians] also eat with their hands a lot, and we provided forks,” she added.

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James Mattson/Asst. Photo Editor

Although The Ghana Project has switched up the menu a little over the years, there are three things that Ackerman said they include every year: jollof rice, “Red Red” bean stew and fried plantains.

Ackerman said these items are not only her personal favorites; they are also authentic staples in Ghanaian dining.

Similar to Spanish paella, East Asian fried rice or jambalaya of Louisiana, jollof rice is a well-known traditional rice recipe that can be made with many variations.

The basic ingredients of the dish include rice, tomato, onion, salt and red pepper, but after the foundation is prepared, nearly any kind of meat, herb or spice can be added.

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James Mattson/Asst. Photo Editor

“Lots of people add chicken to the rice, […] and I know we used ginger tonight,” Ackerman said. “Everybody likes rice and beans – they recognize it; they love it.”

The other popular Ghanaian dish “Red Red” is a bean stew served with fried plantain, earning its name from the palm oil that tints the ingredients. Ackerman said that the fried plantains are a little different each year, but the idea remains the same.

The proceeds from this year’s dinner on Saturday March 1 went to the children of the Agogo Clinic in Ghana, a children’s ward that Geneseo has donated funds and food to over the years.

In addition to the delicious food, the Gala also included a Ghanaian fashion show, several dance numbers, a performance by the Korye Dance Theater and presentations from four different speakers.

Adjunct professor of English Glenn McClure closed the speaker series with warm wishes and congratulations to the club and all those involved in the many Ghanaian projects around Geneseo.

“I hope someday to see the Ghana Gala so big that it no longer fits in the ballroom,” McClure said. “I look forward to many more years of partnership, dedication, celebration and, of course, delicious food.”

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James Mattson/Asst. Photo Editor

BSU shares comfort food, memory at anniversary

Food is often one of the most fun and expressive parts of a culture, and it’s no secret that food is embedded in the cultural experience. In the African American community, how food is prepared, served and shared can be one of the most important expressions of love.

The Black Student Union celebrated its 25th anniversary with an assortment of classic soul food dishes, including fried chicken, artichoke-spinach dip, peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream, fresh green salad and barbecue ribs.

According to BSU President junior Christopher Bland, these dishes, along with other classics like black-eyed peas, fried catfish, collard greens, cornbread, macaroni and cheese and candied yams, have been served throughout black households across the United States for decades and are staples of the southern soul food cuisine that families across the world enjoy.

“[Soul food is] something traditional that you’re going to eat and it’s going to bring you back,” Bland said. “It’s about those memories of warmth and family and love.”

After months of preparing, this year’s Soul Food Dinner turned out to be anything but a simple and traditional home-cooked meal.

The event was complete with a red carpet, photographers and scholarly speakers – it looked more like a grand gala than a family dinner at grandma’s house.

“We went all out,” Bland said. “It’s our 25th anniversary. It’s extravagant, and I like extravagant things, but it’s has to be – we’re celebrating 25 years [of being] here.”

Red carpet or not, Bland said that no matter how the meal is laid out, the preparation of soul food always has a special way of commemorating big events, bringing families and friends together and healing relationships.

“That’s what it’s all about; it’s food that comes from the soul to feed the soul,” Bland said. “It’s hearty, robust, fattening – it’s the kind of food that’s so good and savory you really can feel it warm and soothe your soul.”

Of course, Bland clarified, while almost all soul food is southern food, not all southern food is considered soul food.

“There’s a cross-over, I think, a blend, but it’s not all one and the same,” Bland said. “There are certain dishes that apply to both southern and soul, like the fried chicken, but soul [food] always has connections [to] family and celebrating being happy – and alive.”

And although the event was held right in time to end Black History Month, Bland explained that soul food is not actually a universal expression of black culture, but rather a predominantly African-American identifier.

“It’s not something everyone grew up with,” Bland said. “Most of our [executive board] is not African-American, actually, so this food isn’t something their ancestors made.”

With its roots buried in southern cultural tradition, the soul cuisine has a distinctly southern comfort flavor – something very unlike some of the other cultural foods celebrated in some divisions of black culture, like the plantain-based Jamaican or Haitian cuisine, Bland said.

“A lot of members haven’t been brought up with these kinds of foods,” Bland said. “They’re used to specifically Caribbean food or maybe Ghanaian food, which is totally different than this.”

Luckily, events like the annual dinner serve as a great way to blend and celebrate all sorts of different cultures and traditions. Like many other cultural clubs at Geneseo, Bland said, BSU strives to promote acceptance and diversity on campus, specifically attempting to bridge those cultural dissonances through the power of its guests’ taste buds.

Three keynote speakers also contributed their thoughts, songs and experiences to the cultural conversation throughout the night. In associate professor of history Catherine Adams’ speech, she echoed Bland’s emphasis on the necessity of having functioning and flourishing Black Student Unions today.

“I think being black is an ambiguous idea, but it’s something BSU allows people to explore,” Bland said. “Is being black something that you look like, or is it something that you participate in? It’s a question we struggle with, but I think it’s a mixture of both.”

Former high school transforms into eco-friendly flagship

After nearly four long years of remodeling, the construction vehicles finally drove away and the orange fence officially came down around Doty Hall. Although the building has been open to students and faculty since the middle of the fall 2013 semester, in an effort to properly celebrate the big unveiling to the community, the college put together a Grand Opening of Doty Hall for March 1 and 2.

“While the building is always open to the community, the grand opening gives community [members] an opportunity to spend some time in the building and feel welcomed,” said Becky Glass, executive secretary to the president. Glass is a member of the committee that planned the opening.

What was once a high school, Doty is now “the first place for prospective students and their families to get to know Geneseo,” Glass said. The building was completely stripped and reconstructed to become the new home of Geneseo Admissions, International Student Services, College Advancement and other administrative offices.

While the administration made efforts to keep the outside of Doty completely intact, Glass said a few features were added to accommodate the many departments and facilities housed there.

“There have been a few additions over the years as well, but they were all done in matched brick facade.” Glass said.

Although the outside essentially looks the same, the inside of the building was completely remodeled from tower top to basement bottom.

“The high school used to be a traditional layout, with one long hallway and good-sized classrooms on either side, which the departments used as offices,” Glass said. “But now there are multiple hallways, individualized offices and specialized rooms for different purposes.”

The garden level was also renovated for the continued use of the Office of People With Developmental Disabilities. As a multifunctional building, Doty is also now home to the community based Small Business Development Center and the Center for Inquiry, Discovery and Development, a facility that bridges the gap between the campus and the wider community through student ambassadorships.

The old gymnasium was also converted into a state-of-the-art recital hall – one that Glass said is “very nearly acoustically perfect” and will serve as an alternative to Wadsworth Auditorium.

In conjunction with these structural changes, Doty Hall also now includes many Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design components, including geothermal heating and cooling energy, recycled content products, porous pavements, the use of regional materials, rainwater harvesting and water efficient plumbing fixtures.

“Not all the rooms are outfitted quite the same way,” Glass said. “But honestly, one of the best things is how bright the building is – there are so many beautiful windows, both newly constructed and remodeled.”

And while compared to Erwin, Doty Hall might seem a bit out of the way to on-campus students, Glass said the change of scenery for the administration is functional as well as favorable.

“Erwin is now exclusively dedicated to student services,” she said. “So not only is admissions more accessible to the community, but Erwin is now ‘one-stop shopping’ for a lot of the things that students need.”

Of course, while most of the changes are practical, the remodel also added several newfangled aesthetic and technological advancements into the building that make Doty feel a bit like the inside of the Starship Enterprise: programmable frosting glass, automatic shades, shiny new elevators, flashy media centers and new web conference rooms.

While the spaces that employ these technologies are not yet available to students, Glass said the college hopes to make them accessible in the future. Rooms will be available for classes before clubs and groups will also be able to reserve rooms through a student manager system, similar to the College Union.

Of course, the open house event aims to celebrate both the old and new aspects of the building, and throughout the weekend guests can enjoy refreshments, tours, exhibits, displays and the opportunity to reminisce and explore the building.

The open house will officially begin with a ribbon cutting in the Doty Hall lobby, followed by the unveiling of a ceramic relief by professor of studio art Carl Shanahan. Other events include a presentation of original leather-bound copies of the four-volume History of the Genesee Country series by Lockwood R. Doty and a “Reflections on Doty” panel in which alumni and audience members will share memories of Doty as a high school and workplace.

Between the two days, there will also be a musical performance by some of Geneseo’s most accomplished student musicians and an inaugural concert by faculty musicians in the Doty Recital Hall.

It’s an event that “will hopefully serve as a formal invitation to everyone to come see the finished work,” Glass said. “The renovation has been very public; people have been watching it happen for years, and now we [want to] give people a chance to come and check it out.”

Littlerature takes on recording project for preschoolers

For most people, part of the college experience is learning about who you are and what interests you, but not everyone has the passion and motivation to turn those interests into a community service.

As the founder of Littlerature, the newest book club on campus, senior Joanna Simone said that literature has always been important to her, and the idea for the club actually came from reading a book as well.

“I was reading a book called The Happiness Project [by Gretchen Rubin], which discussed a woman’s journey through happiness,” Simone said. “In the book, she talks about pursuing what she really liked, regardless of what other people thought, and eventually creates a children’s literature book club and finds other people that are interested.”

In the fall 2013 semester, when Simone first came up with the idea for a book club, she said she wasn’t sure she wanted it to be as official as it is now.

“I discussed the idea with a couple of my education major friends, and they [said], ‘Yes, and we should make it into a club,’ and the next thing I knew they [said], ‘Look, we wrote up a constitution,’ and then we were approved,” Simone said.

Now, as a Student Association organization, Littlerature spreads awareness of children and young adult literature through its meetings and its work in the community. Simone said the main goal is to share in reading and to work to inform teacher candidates about current, popular children’s and young adult literature.

As president and sole executive board member, Simone said running the club herself is a lot of work.

“All of my friends are student teaching this semester, so all of my e-board members are gone,” Simone said. “Plus, we were approved only a few days before the Student Organization Expo last semester, so we had to pull our club together really quickly, which didn’t give us enough time to elect a new e-board from our remaining members.”

Despite this, Simone said the club has had immense support from the education department. Through the resources offered by the library and media center on campus, she and the rest of the club have been able to continue sharing and discussing popular children’s and young adult books at weekly meetings.

“We have a lot of great resources at our fingertips,” Simone said. “And we’ve had a ton of involvement from faculty and staff – we have a lot of help across campus; it’s been pretty great.”

Simone explained that the club is working closely with other educational resources as well and even attended the Rochester Children’s Book Festival, where she spoke with different authors and had books and lesson planning materials donated to the fledgling club.

“We have a bunch of things we’ll be working on and sharing with the club this semester,” Simone said. “We have plans to work with poetry too, and do some author studies – plus, there have been a few people on campus who have written and illustrated books, so we’re hoping to get a chance to work with them.”

The group is working to organize a few more future projects, including one set up with professor of education Brian Morgan and a local school.

“There’s a preschool teacher who said she wants books on tape for her classroom, so we’re actually recording real books on tape for her to use with her students.” Simone said. “It’s a very cool opportunity.”

According to Simone, the project will begin within the coming weeks, but in the meantime, Littlerature will continue its discussion at weekly meetings and its volunteer work at Wadsworth Library’s read-aloud Story Time nights.

“We have accounting majors; we have a biochemistry major,” Simone said. “The club is just for people who genuinely enjoy this kind of stuff – and who doesn’t enjoy a good story time?”

Looking for love? There's an app for that

Online dating has been around since before the turn of the 21st century, but a lot has changed since Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks first used the Internet to find love in You’ve Got Mail. In recent years, mobile apps have become one of the most popular ways to meet a potential partner. Today, in our increasingly digital world, many of the target demographics for these apps are men and women between the ages of 18 and 35. And across the country, college campuses are being inundated with new mobile dating trends.

“I can’t speak for other colleges, but I feel like [dating apps] are pretty popular at Geneseo,” freshman Meredith Hansalik said. “I think they’re more widely used on Northside than Southside, but they’re kind of big all over campus.”

While the demographics of users vary, Hansalik said that, because “freshmen have programs and are already coming out and talking to each other,” she doesn’t see as much of a dependence on apps, but for upperclassmen, these sites may offer people more of an opportunity to “see what’s going on, without even having to go out."

And ideally, that’s what the sites are meant to do: bring people together who wouldn’t otherwise meet. Therefore, it’s no surprise that a technology-facilitated hookup culture is booming.

“I think with bigger universities there’s less of a need to rely on technology or going online to meet people,” sophomore Zoraida Dooley said. “But you definitely see it a lot more now than maybe 10 years ago.”

Some sites are more popular than most, and whether you’re looking for a romantic connection or just a sexual encounter can often influence where you should be looking.

Tinder, for example, an app that has recently spiked in popularity, is famous for taking the awkwardness out of technology-based dating. Advertised as being better than real life, the app matches people based on interests, networks and location linked with your Facebook profile.

Not all devices are just based on interests, however, and some have been collecting criticism for becoming more gendered. Grindr, a popular location-based app designed specifically for guys interested in guys, has garnered unwanted attention for being overtly sexual in nature.

Additionally, review apps like Lulu, which allows women to anonymously review men they’ve dated, have raised controversy for being inherently discriminatory. Nicknamed the “Sex in the City” of dating apps, this app was created for use with Facebook and basically lets girls see pictures of male Facebook friends and rank and comment on their qualities based on their experiences with the guy.

Recently, apps like these have been criticized for being generally geared toward casual sexual encounters rather than actual potential relationships, but, at least for college students, this level of hook-up culture isn’t new – it’s just changing.

“It’s not something you have to hide anymore, and you see the advertisements all the time,” Hansalik said. “Especially with our generation’s dependency on technology, sure it’s a lot different than a couple years ago, but it’s here to stay.”

If you’re tempted to test your luck in online love this Valentine’s Day, jump into the dating pool cautiously. Don’t send anyone money, don’t meet up with strangers unless in public spaces and don’t wind up on “Catfish.”

Peace Action Geneseo flattens misconception, animosity

Recently, nonviolent organizations throughout the nation are becoming vocal about their plea for peaceful resolutions in politics. This is all in the hopes of reaching out to a nation of people whom the President of Geneseo’s Peace Action Coalition junior Patrick McCormick said are “weary of war.” As the first student-led chapter of Peace Action New York State, Peace Action Geneseo has set a precedent for other colleges in the area. Even so, it is still a relatively new group to campus, as it was officially sanctioned as a student organization in fall 2011.

PA Geneseo follows the long-established tradition of nonviolent petitioning in the area, as it frequently collaborates with the local Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace organization in its efforts to encourage peaceful solutions to the world’s problems.

“We’re not naïve, and we try not to be too lofty in our goals about peace,” McCormick said. “But we are working towards a change in some national priorities by addressing anything from military spending to nuclear weapon policy to nonviolent alternatives to war toys.”

Although PA Geneseo is dedicated to promoting demilitarization and peaceful conflict resolution through student activism, the group first aims to spread awareness regarding current United States legislation and foreign policy pertaining to the U.S. government’s nuclear and military programs.

“We think a really important role for us is to be educating college students,” McCormick said. This includes “those who are, maybe for the first time, really starting to read the news and interpret world events without their parents or other people spoon-feeding it to them.”

In the fall 2013 semester, PA Geneseo held a successful benefit dinner to culminate a semester of fundraising efforts for Syrian refugees, and the organization’s efforts helped raise $600 toward aiding Syrian victims through Doctors Without Borders.

This semester, the organization aims to have its attention concentrated on the disputes currently surrounding Iran, including the issues around the six-month suspension of sanctions that are harming Iran’s economy and, most importantly, its people.

“There’s a tendency for a knee-jerk reaction to hate Iran and anything about them,” McCormick said. “But our campaign this semester is to ask the government to continue to leave the sanctions off the table as they enter into these negations with Iran over their nuclear program.”

This semester, PA Geneseo has once again decided take a more humanitarian approach to its mission and is proposing a potential campaign to send messages and pictures of members to participating Iranians.

The organization hopes to start an ongoing relationship of picture circulation, as a way to humanize the nation and people of Iran – a project McCormick said comes out of the vein of an Iranian-Palestinian endeavor originally created by photographers of those nations.

“We encourage people to engage in healthy dialogue about these issues; we want people to form their own opinions,” McCormick said. “As [a club], we’re coming into our own, but we’re striving to do a little more than a just wave a flag around.”