Student group brings national divestment movement to Geneseo

Although many businesses, organizations and even whole cities have dropped their investments from the fossil fuel industry in recent years, many colleges and universities across the country still have money invested in oil, coal and natural gas companies. “For colleges that are supposed to be preparing us for the future, we don’t think it’s appropriate for them to be investing in something that is destroying our planet,” junior Jessica Kroenert said.

Kroenert is a member of Divest SUNY Geneseo, the campus faction of the greater “divesting movement,” which works to convince investors to take their money out of the fossil fuel industry across the nation. The goal of this campaign is less about the actual investments, however, and more about taking a stand against the fossil fuel industry and its role in climate change.

“Geneseo divesting, or even the whole [State University of New York] system divesting, isn’t going to make a huge difference to the fossil fuel companies,” junior Mallory Ennist said. “But it’s more of a public demonstration that we don’t want our future powered by fossil fuels.”

While divesting is a relatively new initiative for Geneseo, Kroenert said this isn’t just a local concern; there are many student-led divestment campaigns across the country.

Geneseo’s campus has been taking steps over the years, including changes to reduce waste from dining halls, increase recycling and make newly constructed buildings more energy efficient.

Kreonert added that although Divest Geneseo is working on getting campus groups to drop any investments they have in fossil fuels, both the Geneseo Foundation and Campus Auxiliary Services still have investments in fossil fuel companies.

The group is making progress however, and eventually hopes to spur divestment in the whole SUNY system.

“This is a movement that’s really growing,” Kroenert said. “And for us to be the ones that start it off rather than jump on the bandwagon at the end would be a really positive thing.”

According to Kroenert, the group has been working on ways to spread the word, including forming partnerships with other clubs, beginning a letter-writing campaign and raising funds for typhoon emergency relief in the Philippines. It will also screen a film about the movement, titled Do the Math on Nov. 21.

The group has also been trying to use the movement’s signature orange backpack squares to get people talking about the cause. The group’s unofficial arts and advertising manager sophomore Jason Phillips said Divest also plans aesthetic displays constructed in the Union to grab people’s attention.

“We know that a lot of what we’re working toward is a big symbolic gesture,” junior James Kruegler said. “But we’re hoping that, by becoming part of this bigger coalition, it becomes such a big, thoughtful act that people start [to] think more about these ideas – or maybe start [to] think about them at all.”

Livingston CARES revolutionizes student perspective, Zach Bodenweber explains

A year after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast, and nearly 10 years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, Geneseo students, faculty and community members of Livingston County CARES remain dedicated to relief efforts. According to Livingston CARES President and Dean of Leadership and Service Tom Matthews, Geneseo students and community members created the program in fall 2005, after student response to Hurricane Katrina prompted the college to reach out to victims of the disaster.

“We came together and, in a total of maybe 40 minutes, Livingston CARES was born,” Matthews said. “It was the first time the college had, as a college, come together to do a service project like this.”

Matthews said that since its first trip in spring 2006 the organization has sent a total of 914 volunteers on 37 separate trips to Biloxi, Miss. and, after Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, to Staten Island and Long Island to aid the disaster relief and recovery efforts there.

While Matthews said he always encourages students to volunteer in any way possible, he claims the trips offer a uniquely fulfilling service experience.

“One day of service can certainly be meaningful,” Matthews said. “But a full week dedicated to this kind of volunteerism can be life-changing for many people.”

The rewarding nature of the work is what keeps some students coming back year after year. Senior Zach Bodenweber, Matthews says, is one of those serial volunteers.

Bodenweber, a member of the Livingston CARES board of directors and the newly appointed student trip coordinator, is a four-time Biloxi and Long Island trip veteran, who will be returning to Mississippi in January 2014 for his fifth and final trip.

Like many students, Bodenweber said, he signed up for the trip thinking of the opportunity as merely a resume builder.

“But it turned out to be so much more than that for me,” Bodenweber said. “[The trips] inspire this commitment to service in people, anyone who's been involved with service can understand how rewarding it is.”

Both Matthews and Bodenweber said the program is continually working on ways to promote the trips to the student body and encourage students to get involved.

Bodenweber said that, for him, the most important part of program is its ability to “foster a passion for service in the volunteers.” This passion has helped him determine his potential career path.

“Meeting the families and realizing the root of so many of their struggles are due to the legal and social structures of our country has opened my eyes,” he said. “[It has] changed the type of work I want to do, the kind of graduate programs I want to look into … It's what inspired my interest in social policy.”

WAC explores legacy of feminism through creative expression

From the pictures of notable female figureheads displayed around the room to the elegant black and purple table decor, the ambiance was set for Womyn's Action Coalition's annual dinner on Nov. 1 in the College Union Ballroom. According to WAC President senior Zoeë Davidson one of WAC's top priorities is “to ensure that the discrimination based on gender, sexuality, sexual orientation, as well as class and race, ceases.”

The Girl Power dinner displayed a celebration of women's achievements and contributions with pride.

The dinner began with introductions by emcees and seniors Julia Antenucci and Emma Jean Liberman.

Both wore costumes that had significant meaning, drawing from the dinner's theme. Antenucci donned a hamburger-illustrated sweater, saying that women are not meat, while Liberman wore a red dress that was reminiscent of a Roy Lichtenstein work's depiction of a two-dimensional woman.

Beginning with an a cappella act by senior Maddy Smith, the pulsating beat of empowerment continued with performances by the G-Steppas and Slam Poets.

Senior Jon Tilles reflected on the entertainment, saying, “The performances were great. The sense of girl power really showed, and being one of the few guys there, I really learned a lot.”

Davidson described Girl Power as a great way “to revere the accomplishments we have made, and continue to make, as women. We thought celebrating in this way would create a positive and empowering environment."

“The idea for the dinner was kind of a spontaneous thought during our brainstorming,” she said. “We were basically reminiscing our childhoods - mostly what and who influenced us in the '90s. We realized the whole girl power mini-movement was pretty pivotal for all of us.”

Specifically, the dinner's theme drew on cultural references such as the “riot grrrl” movement of the '90s.

Aside from the purple balloons and other decor, there was paint, magazine cutouts and paper at each table.

One of the unique facets of the dinner was the art of magazine making - more colloquially “zine-making” - throughout the night.

WAC plans to scan guests' crafty contributions from the night and compile them in an online zine specifically for the event.

Antenucci pointed out at the beginning of the night that the zine-making at the dinner was very much inspired by young feminist Tavi Gevinson's Rookie Magazine. The online magazine inspires teenage girls to create new ways of self-expression through art and writing with a feminist appreciation in mind.

The four-song set by the campus female a cappella group Hips 'n' Harmony ended the night perfectly, including a Britney Spears medley, which summed up the evening of reverent female self-expression.

Geneseo economics enthusiasts triumph in first round of College Fed Challenge

In light of the developments in the economy over the past six years, most cringe at the idea of trying to understand the forces at play. Geneseo's Fed Challenge team doesn't just try to conceptualize economics but also uses it as a toolbox to craft policy ideas. The College Fed Challenge is a “team competition for undergraduate college students inspired by the working of the Federal Open Market Committee,” according to the Federal Reserve of New York's website.

Team Geneseo is comprised of seniors Andrew Hessler, David Ceely, Noah Seifert, Katrina Steinley and Tyler DeRubio, and advised by assistant professor of economics Léonie Stone.

Each team plays the role of the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee, a body that meets frequently to create policy to mediate current issues in the American economy - it's kind of like mock trial, but for economics nerds. In recent years, the semiautonomous group has been working to aim efforts at speeding up the pace of recovery after the 2007-2009 recession.

Hessler has been involved with Geneseo's Fed Challenge team since his freshman year.

“This year we are definitely at an advantage because some of the team members have been involved in the club in the past, so generally we are all on the same level of understanding,” he said.

The team as a whole has been preparing since August. Team members work on the competition both together and individually. Hessler said he has been “personally working on it for two or three hours a day.”

The Challenge is almost “like an extra class” due to the amount of work they are putting into it, according to Hessler.

The competition is split up into two parts: a 15-minute oral presentation and a 15-minute question-and-answer session, both in front of a panel of judges. The presentation “is about the economy, the state of the economy, the direction of Fed policy and where you think Fed policy should be going,” Hessler said.

The question-and-answer session is when the judges will differentiate the teams.

“A lot of the teams are going to have similar presentations because we all analyze the economy pretty much the same way,” he said.

The question-and-answer portion shows their teamwork.

“You need to have multiple team members answer questions and need to know what the other person is going to say,” Hessler said.

The team won at John Jay College in New York on Nov. 5 against teams including New York University, West Point, Ithaca College and Hamilton College. The group will proceed to the next round at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. If the group advances, it will attend the third round at the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, D.C.

Gandy Dancer magazine offers new opportunities for student publishing

Geneseo's newest literary magazine Gandy Dancer brings a whole new level of publication to campus. While it is one of many student-run publications, including The Lamron, MiNT Magazine and Opus, it is the first to require a course to participate.

Professor of English Rachel Hall, who is behind Gandy Dancer's creation and the current faculty advisor said that, while student interest in a high-quality publication was high, the idea often became neglected when other classes got in the way.

She proactively decided to make it into its own three-credit course, “in order to sustain interest and involvement,” she said.

Many perks come from publishing in the classroom. Funding increases, so hard copies of the literary magazine will be bound like paperback books instead of stapled together. As students meet deadlines much more consistently when their grades are at stake, the magazine becomes a priority for those enrolled.

Hall described it as “almost an internship” because most work is done in the classroom, and it teaches valuable career skills for English majors, such as publishing, using online programs such as Adobe InDesign and critical analysis of literary works.

She said students will “learn a lot of skills here that they aren't going to learn in another English class but will be useful in [the] publishing world.”

The technology involved in Gandy Dancer increases its range of communication. While Hall calls herself a “handwriting person,” the students are embracing the challenge. Hall said she enjoys it as well, and it gives her a chance to “learn along with the students.”

The online edition also allows the magazine to include longer works of fiction; because printing costs are not an issue, pieces are chosen solely based on quality.

Also, due to its online submission process, the magazine can receive submissions from any State University of New York student. For its first official edition, which came out at the end of the spring 2013 semester, students from over 60 campuses entered submissions.

Electronic resources and digital scholarship librarian Joe Easterly offered extensive assistance and guidance in teaching Hall and the students the basics of online magazine editing and publishing.

As for its audience, Hall believes “there's something for everyone” inside the magazine, which features poetry, fiction, nonfiction and artwork. The group selects pieces based on their depth, and she said she hopes that reading the magazine will cause readers to rethink the way they view the world.

As Hall put it, “Everything in there should make you think about something.”

Food Day highlights sustainable food access

The Geneseo community joined in the celebration of the nationwide Food Day 2013 on Oct. 24 in order to highlight a culture of healthy, sustainable nutrition. In recognition of this occasion, Think Local Geneseo hosted speakers and advocates from Livingston County to share their knowledge about healthy, environmentally conscious lifestyles.

Notable speakers included Elizabeth Henderson, author of Sharing the Harvest: A Citizen's Guide to Community Supported Agriculture, and Lisa Beardsley, senior public health educator of the Livingston County Department of Health.

“If you're looking for a farm, you can find one in this area,” Henderson said. She has over 25 years of organic farming experience. Her book describes the necessary relationship between the local farmer and consumer to create an effective use of the local food supply. She gave advice to students on her own techniques for organic farming, which included rotating crops to avoid soil depletion.

“We have really rich microbiology,” she said. She addressed her avoidance of pesticides and other chemicals to allow natural growth throughout her farming.

“We have been able to keep it up for 25 years just because of the extra labor just from people wanting to learn,” Henderson said, stressing the importance of participation and engagement from the young adult community.

Beardsley focused more on health-related issues within Livingston County.

“I don't have a green thumb, and I'm not very good at farming,” she said, shifting into the recent development in the Livingston County Department of Health. She highlighted the New York State Department of Health's Prevention Agenda for 2013, which includes prevention of diseases and promotion for healthy lifestyles.

“Every five years we have to go through the Community Health Assessment,” Beardsley said. According to the results of the last assessment, Livingston County ranks as the number one healthiest community in New York State. Both the prevention agenda and the assessment play important roles in the Department of Health.

“The goal of this is to make our community healthier,” Beardsley said.

In addition to these experienced speakers, the Geneseo Environmental Organization and Campus Auxiliary Services presented the film Forks Over Knives in contribution to the Food Day festivities.

“Food Day is a national celebration of local, sustainable, and healthy food options,” GEO Student Association Representative junior Molly Ennist said. “We have a really big interest in sustainable food. Food is a huge part of the environmental crisis. It has a huge impact.”

“As a consumer, if you choose to eat local and sustainable choices that are in season, it really reduces the carbon footprint,” she said.

The video focused mainly on the influence of food on human health, specifically promoting a plant-based diet and discouraging processed foods and meats. It detailed the American epidemic rates of obesity and disease due to improper food consumption.

Food Day is an annual nationwide grassroots effort to support sustainable, healthy and affordable food consumption.

Autumnfest welcomes parents into Geneseo community with new fall traditions

Despite the wind and the chilly weather this weekend, locals, students and visiting parents bundled up and came out to celebrate the second annual Main Street Autumnfest on Saturday Oct. 26. Throughout the afternoon, hayrides gave guests a tour of the historical Wadsworth Homestead, and local artisans and organizations set up booths along the sidewalks.

Main Street businesses and restaurants welcomed customers into their crowded establishments to warm up before heading back out into the festivities.

Junior Lauren Hollasch, the Geneseo Main Street manager, was responsible for most of this year's setup and details that were meticulously planned out.

Hollasch has been a part of Autumnfest for both years of its existence and has been working with the Geneseo merchants since she took the communication internship last year.

“My official definition is that, as Geneseo Main Street manager, I work with the Livingston County Development Corporation to promote the downtown district of Geneseo through different events and advertisements,” Hollasch said.

Hollasch works directly with Spring Morrow from Frugal Fashionista and Bob Davis from Geneseo Computers. “The three of us are basically in charge of the entire event - we coordinate everything,” she said.

This year, the sisters of Sigma Delta Tau helped coordinate free pumpkin painting and, with the help of the of Alpha Chi Rho and Alpha Phi Omega, conducted and supervised the “Great Pumpkin Race” down Bank Street.

For the first annual pumpkin roll-off, participants could buy a pumpkin for $1 and roll it down the hill on Bank Street to win prizes from different Main Street businesses.

For those brave enough to cross the traffic-filled road, local vendors offered fall-time treats like donuts, apples, kettle corn and sandwiches from “Cheesed and Confused” along Center Street.

The festival also included live entertainment from local and college groups including Southside Boys, Geneseo Bhangra, The Whale and the Warbler, Ralph Louis Scicchitano, Hieronymus Bogs, Hips 'n' Harmony, Geneseo Knightline, a magic act from senior Phil Romano, Geneseo Throws Up Juggling Club and Slainte Irish Dance.

Hollasch said events like this work to bring the Main Street merchants and the college campus together.

“The best part about Autumnfest is that it's on Parents Weekend - and that's on purpose,” she said. “It's a great way to show the SUNY campus and the parents the community we live in and how it really is a part of our college life.”

Hollasch said she hopes that Autumnfest will let people know what exactly Main Street has to offer and will get people to utilize all the services it can provide.

“Geneseo has so many hidden gems. There are places besides Mama Mia's and Pizza Paul's on your Friday and Saturday nights,” Hollasch said. “And it's so hard to get people to really see that until they come to events like this.”

Ago fundraises through fear with annual haunted house

In the spirit of Halloween, local sorority Alpha Kappa Phi hosted its annual haunted house on Wednesday Oct. 30 for Geneseo students and residents to enjoy. “Because we're so old and we're not national, we have our own house; we have our own rules,” senior Brooke Barron said. “We were trying to think of something to do [for charity], and we thought, 'We have the house for it.'”

The event is a success not only in its contributions but also in its turnout.

“One hundred percent of the proceeds go to charity; we don't take any [profit],” she said. “Last year we raised around $300 dollars for the Bivona Child Advocacy Center in Rochester,” to whom they donate annually.

“We're hoping a lot of people come. We had about 100 people last year, so we're hoping for that again,” Barron said.

In order to ensure a good showing, the haunted house is scheduled for Wednesday of Halloween week.

“We always try to do it the Wednesday before Halloween … People go out Thursday and Friday, so Wednesday is our best bet,” she said.

Tradition lends itself handy as Ago puts on the event at little cost, allowing for more funds to go to Bivona.

“We have a lot of stuff left over from previous years, so pretty much the only new things we buy are tablecloths, tape, stuff like that,” she said.

Each member's annual dues also cover much of the cost.

This doesn't detract from the quality of the house, however, and the setup is extremely well done and fairly intricate.

“It's really creepy, and the whole house gets transformed,” Barron added.

With virtually every room of the house - from the top floor to the basement - transformed into a nightmarish fantasy world, even the most composed individuals will find themselves shrieking in terror.

Regarding the decorating design, Barron said, “What we do is take each and every room in the house and give it a theme.” The themes range from a haunted circus to an insane asylum. The house does indeed offer a variety of horrors.

Spooky tales of Geneseo

He said his interest in possible hauntings first came from “large, historic homes” such as Wadsworth Homestead and through stories told by members of the town. Parish has been compiling stories ever since. He heard a number of stories of “ghosts, legends, what people remember,” during his time as president of the Livingston County Historical Society.

“When I became involved with the museum, there was still an older generation in Geneseo that remembered stories, and you have to listen very carefully to what went back two, three generations,” Parish said.

But the spooky accounts continue to pour in today.

His personal favorite takes place on Lima Street, where a merchant was murdered while walking to meet his lover in 1830.

Rumor has it that animals still get nervous walking in the place of his death, and a rosebush blooms every year in the spot where his lover was waiting for him - where he never arrived.

As for the Geneseo campus, Monroe Hall is supposedly crawling with spirits, with numerous sightings and stories since the 1970s. Cleaning staff members have often heard their names called, and two students have reported seeing ghosts inside of their dorm rooms.

There are multiple theories surrounding these frequent sightings. Some say the ghost is a student who fell in a hole and died while the hall was originally being built.

“One of the theories is that, immediately to the west of Monroe, down the hill is an ancient Oneida cemetery,” and their spirits regularly inhabit Monroe, Parish said.

Others have endearingly named the spirit Eric and claim he has done activities such as move furniture, turn computers on and off and make soup for the residents.

Ghosts also supposedly reside in Erie and Ontario Hall as well as the sorority house of Alpha Kappa Phi. Locations on Center Street, Lima Street and Main Street all have reported sightings of spirits, such as the Wadsworth Homestead and Big Tree Inn.

Geneseo students are also involved in many of the tales in Parish's book, such as “A Memory of York Road.” Others have originated the stories, such as in “Ghosts on Geneseo's Second Street,” in which a student recounts spotting a ghostly pair of lovers running down the street behind him but disappearing when he turned around.

Parish called himself “skeptical” about these stories, but said people “must keep their minds open.”

Walk for Water uses jerry cans exercises to raise awareness

Spending Sunday afternoon lugging two hefty water containers around campus is not exactly the preferred way to spend the last day of the weekend. Yet participants in EcoHouse's third annual Walk for Water alternated towing the vessels behind them throughout campus on Sunday Oct. 27.

Known as jerry cans, the water containers were the centerpiece of activism for the event.

“Jerry cans are what women in developing nations use to carry their water from their water source back to their homes,” Putnam Hall Council President and Geneseo Environmental Organization co-liason sophomore Jason Phillips said. “When you fill them up them up they weigh 40 to 50 pounds.”

According to Phillips, women around the world must carry these vessels for hours each day, just to provide stagnant water for themselves and their families to survive.

“People couldn't even carry the jerry can for 10 minutes,” he said. “Just imagine doing it for eight hours every single day.”

Prior to the walk, environmental enthusiasts gathered at the KnightSpot, grabbed a snack and listened to performers including Geneseo student band OK Artichoke, setting the hopeful tone for the rest of the event.

The walk was aimed at fundraising for charity: water, a nonprofit organization that supports developing nations build fresh water wells where there is lack of access to the resource.

Fundraising began in mid-September when Putnam's Hall Council reached out to Main Street businesses to put out collection jars. According to Phillips, the group collected about $57.

In reaching out to the community for participation in the event, Phillips turned to GEO and the Greek community, among others.

GEO is an organization dedicated to promoting on-campus sustainability projects. In previous years, senior Jen Benson helped forge a connection between Putnam's Hall Council and GEO through her positions as Hall Council president and GEO president, according to Phillips.

“With this kind of an issue, it's important that we make as much of an impact as we can,” he said. “I think the issue at hand was really that this crisis isn't something that directly affects us. Something like building wells in Africa or India is not something we get to see, so we aren't really affected by it … spreading awareness is a little harder in that way.”

Family-friendly 'Spirit Walk' brings history back to life at Temple Hill Cemetery

Geneseo Central School junior Mallory Crane used a bit of ghostly local history to benefit Geneseo's financially struggling Temple Hill Cemetery on Saturday Oct. 26. The family-friendly Spirit Walk was the last in a series of four public service projects that Crane organized as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award.

“The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouts, equivalent to an Eagle Award,” Crane said, and to earn it, she must complete 80 hours of community service with a self-created project.

Crane was entirely responsible for the creation and execution of the Spirit Walk, complete with in-costume characters, candle-lined paths, full historical scripts, hot cider and donuts.

She has organized four fundraisers and maintenance projects in the past year, all benefiting Temple Hill, which has been struggling in recent years as the income from lot sales and funerals has not been enough to keep up with costs.

“They're in a bit of a financial pinch right now,” Crane said. “And so, I thought, since they needed help and I had a reason to be here, I'd help them out.”

In order to raise funds, there were suggested donations of $5 per person or $20 per family, with all proceeds directly benefiting Temple Hill Cemetery.

At the event, tour guides led groups to historic gravesites where, at each stop, performers acted out brief biographies of the deceased Geneseo personality.

Geneseo professor of education Philip Natoli played William Brodie, a famous Geneseo freemason who laid the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty.

Other famous characters on the tour included Revolutionary War soldier Horatio Jones, Governor John Young, Civil War General James Wadsworth, Historian Lockwood L. Doty and others.

Natoli also recruited some students from his CURR 320: Arts & Career Education in Community class to act as tour guides throughout the night, including juniorsAlexandra Lionetti, Melinda Kuwik and Taryn Burris.

Despite the creepy location, Crane's Spirit Walk stayed true to Geneseo's historic roots by taking a nonscary approach to Halloween-inspired fun.

“I wanted it to involve families,” Crane said. “And having things pop out at little kids from behind headstones didn't seem like it would attract a lot of people.

“The cemetery is very old - it's one of the most historic places in town,” she said. “There's a lot you can find to talk about history-wise, so I decided that was the route to go.”

Juice bar to replace Taco Bell after winning favor in student survey

The results of the polls are in: Due to a landslide of votes, a juice bar will be replacing Taco Bell in the spring 2014 semester. The juice bar won the survey over the candy bar by a huge margin, with 779 votes compared to the candy bar's 74.

After failed negotiations with Taco Bell, which demanded expensive changes and an all-or-nothing 10-year contract with Geneseo to stay in its current location, Campus Auxiliary Services made plans to replace the food station.

CAS has been monitoring student opinion to see what the best utilization of the newly opened space would be. The school is optimistically welcoming the change.

Jonna Anne, director of culinary operations and executive chef of CAS said, “There's so much more we can do when it's ours - when it's the students' choice.”

Both Anne and Becky Stewart, CAS' marketing coordinator, stressed the importance of student opinion throughout the decision-making process. Not only did students make the final decision but they also had a voice in what the two options were.

“Student feedback played a part in [deciding] those concepts,” Stewart said. “They didn't just come out of somebody's head while they were sitting locked in an office.”

CAS implemented social media, online surveys and sales history to determine what the two final options should be.

The new juice bar will be open from breakfast through late night and will provide students with a variety of options.

“Juice is one of those things you can drink any time of the day,” Anne said.

Many students have commented on the decision, some pointing out that juice hardly qualifies as a meal, but the space has limited room and close to no cooking equipment, so options are slim.

Students are “very enthusiastic towards the nutritional aspect of the juice,” according to Stewart. CAS is planning on incorporating foods that can be locally produced such as kale, spinach and beets. They prioritize the inclusion of local foods, using a total of 41,000 pounds of New York State produce during the 2011-2012 school year.

The next step will be to utilize focus groups to decide what specific ingredients and options will be offered.

On Nov. 6 and Nov. 15, interested students can participate by trying samples of options and their voices will decide which options are kept or dismissed. Options being debated right now include chia seeds, flaxseed and protein powder.

The biggest problem students seem to have with the juice bar is that Taco Bell will no longer be offered on campus. There is a bright side: Similar food is still sold at Fusion Market as well as Southside Cafe.

Anne reassuringly said, “Burritos still live.”

Classic stories make for spooky autumn reads

Now that the cool October winds are here, there will be days that it will be necessary to stay in bed with some warm cider. Capture the essence of the season with a breezy read! For a book to complement your post-midterm despair, a perfect classic is Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, which not only matches your mood but also the season, as protagonist Rodion Raskolnikov strides in anguish through brisk autumn winds.

In college, sometimes you will realize you do not have the time or the attention span to attack a full novel, making poetry a perfect and convenient medium to turn to.

With the spookiest season upon us, there is no better man to turn to than Edgar Allan Poe.  A writer of short stories and poems, his work is perfect for this time of year and a busy schedule.

Michelle Costello, an educational and instructional design librarian at Milne Library, suggested a few books to try out with Halloween coming up.

The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton by Edith Wharton is a top pick. The book is broken up into 11 stories, making it easy to pick up at a moment's notice for your fill of New England hauntings.

If you want a twist on a much-feared classic, The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova provides a modern take on the well-known tale of Count Dracula. Published in 2005, it tells a story of Dracula's potential successor and how his daughter slowly discovers his true identity.

Geneseo Pride provides acceptance, safe space to students

If you pass the Hunt Room on Thursdays at 8 p.m., it is likely you will see a stuffed zebra sitting on top of a pride flag. Alejandro, the mascot for Geneseo's Pride Alliance, is an emblem for meetings. The organization is a forum for the discussion and expression of the genuine self.

“To me, Pride has always been this safe space. Since freshman year, I would look forward to Thursday evenings ... Our door is always open for everyone,” Vice President junior Joey O'Connor said.

Pride spends much of its time exploring issues surrounding the LGBT Plus community while also trying keep members actively involved in the club.

“We have this anonymity box that goes around, and people can write comments or questions to the group that they don't necessarily feel comfortable saying out loud,” O'Connor said.

In order to ensure the maintenance of the safe space, the club uses the “ouch and oops rule.”

“If someone says something you might find offensive you might say 'ouch' so they know what they said hurt you,” he said. “Then the person who said this comment can say 'oops' and explain what they meant.”

“One of the things we're doing much better this year is planning new things to get people excited to go to Pride,” Secretary sophomore Victor Borges said. “Last year we had a lot of lectures. Those can be interesting, but it's a lot more fun to get members and even e-board members more involved.”

One of the club's bigger events Second Chance Prom took place on Friday Oct. 18 in the KnightSpot.

Members of the club formed a prom committee that planned the event, turning the KnightSpot into an enchanted forest masquerade. Second Chance Prom was an opportunity for Pride to work toward its aim to create a comfortable space for its members.

“Lots of times a lot of LGBT Plus folk couldn't go to prom with whom they wanted,” O'Connor said. “They couldn't go to their prom dressed how they wanted because high school is a very closed-minded environment.”

Pride also initiates a discussion in honor of National Coming Out Day, in which members share their personal anecdotes of coming out to their friends and family.

“The best settings we have are discussions,” Borges said. “It really lets us share our own personal ideas, even though they may vary among us.”

During the coming out discussion, O'Connor said it's “amazing that people feel comfortable to share their stories with us. It gets very emotional.

“I always leave the meeting feeling that the people come to Pride are such strong people,” O'Connor said.

Student participation at annual 'Amy's Walk' supports local domestic abuse programs

Saturday Oct. 5 marked the efforts of a multi-organization initiative embodied in Amy's Walk at Highland Park. Pride Alliance and Womyn's Action Coalition worked with Livingston County's domestic violence program Chances and Changes, and Curves of Geneseo to participate in the 5-kilometer fundraiser.

The walk commemorates Amy Sayle, a woman from West Sparta, N.Y. who was killed by her boyfriend in 2006, according to Karen Tremer, executive director of Chances and Changes.

Sayle's sister Jane Williams was already a longtime supporter of Chances and Changes when her sister was killed, Tremer said.

Williams' proximity to both the problem and the solution is ultimately what led to the creation of Amy's Walk as a way to raise awareness about how inescapable and often undetectable abuse can be.

“It's a crime that knows no class, race or gender,” Tremer said. “But no one ever wants to talk about it.”

According to WAC president senior Zoee Davidson, participating in events like Amy's Walk is vital to WAC's overall mission to “abolish any type of discrimination based on gender and or sexuality.”

“Violence against women in any form is unacceptable,” Davidson said. “So it was important for us to show our commitment to that cause.”

Because domestic violence is so often a factor in homelessness, Tremer said, Chances and Changes works to offer shelter services to people affected by abuse in the community.

“[Domestic violence] is a pattern of behavior that is ongoing and takes many forms, including physical, emotional, sexual, financial and even judicial abuse,” Tremer said. “It's all about the cycle of power and control.”

Tremer said this abuse is sometimes hard to understand from an “outside” point of view, but the pervasiveness of the violence impacts everyone across the nation - either directly or indirectly.

In the future, Tremer said the organization aims to increase participation with student clubs, campus events and even Greek life.

In coordination with student interns and groups like Pride and WAC, Tremer said Chances and Changes hopes to help spread awareness about dating and domestic violence across the campus community.

“Since October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, [WAC] will be catering our upcoming meetings towards the issue,” Davidson said. “We'll also be tabling and passing out purple ribbons to heighten awareness about domestic violence itself.”