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THE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF MANHATTAN COLLEGE | SINCE 1924
Volume CVII, Issue 12
NEW YORK, April 25, 2023
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MC’s Spring 2023 Budget Cuts Explained Jilleen Barrett Senior Writer
Just before spring break in March, club leaders received some tough news: budget cuts were being made. These cuts were originally going to make it impossible for some groups to pursue any activities unless they already agreed upon funding with the Office of Student Engagement. An email sent out by Student Engagement explained the circumstances of the budget cuts. “Regarding Student Engagement and Student Government funding for the remainder of the 2022-2023 academic year, please note, no new expenses are being accepted at this time,” the email stated. “This includes previously allocated or approved funding; they unfortunately will no longer be funded unless contractually obligated as per approved contracts through the General Counsel’s office.” The email was sent to all official clubs on March 6, 2023. Emma Pizzullo, vice president of Student Government, was relieved when the Office of Student Engagement told the board that they found a way to avoid taking money from any clubs. However, this did mean some larger projects the board was pursuing would be affected. According to Pizzullo, the Jasper Day of Wellness (JDOW) on March 22 was supposed to include massages and food trucks, but they were no longer able to pay for them. John Bennett, the executive director of Student Engage-
IN NEWS:
MC to resend COVID Vaccine Requirements on pg. 3
ment, explained the reason the money got removed from JDOW and Springfest and reinstated for the clubs is because the office feels that student clubs/organizations are more significant to the individual student’s experience at Manhattan. “When we’re looking to cut budgets, the first thing we always look to do is cut budgets that won’t affect a specific student,” Bennett said. “We’re just scaling [larger events] back a little bit while not taking away from somebody’s specific sorority or fraternity, or engineering club, or communication group.” Part of this reasoning is due to the fact that students are paying to attend MC and that a wide range of student interests needs to be accommodated for. “The truth is that day-today activities like clubs keep students the busiest,” Bennett said. “[Clubs are] probably more important in terms of satisfaction, involvement, in terms of the friends you have on campus and your social circle.” Because Manhattan is a largely tuition-supported institution, the number of students who attend the college fulltime affects how much money the college has to spend on student engagement and programming. There are specific fees paid for by those students every year for these purposes. William Clyde, provost and executive vice president, explained that while less students means less money, it
Students Enjoy Springfest Carnival on the Quad Manhattan College students enjoyed both the Nav concert and the carnival prior to the concert. ANGELINAPEREZ/THEQUADRANGLE
STEM Outreach Events Makes Impact in Local Communities engineering fundamentals to minority groups, whether that’s teaching middle school or high school students, the basic concepts of engineering and kind of introducing to them the field,” Velbeth said. “A lot of these places and schools that have a high percentage of minority students, they don’t get the ability to get well informed on the different kinds of jobs that they can do in the field.” By showing them different uses for engineering, students can find their own interests within the field. Mechanical engineering student Brody Sims stated how he gained a passion for engineering from his interests at a young age. “In elementary and middle
school, my interest [in engineering] had to do with my passion in cars that I have had ever since I was young,” Sims said. “Anything from sports cars to your everyday drivers that you’d find on the road. It always took a fascination with me. I’ve always wanted to be able to build and design them. That’s why I chose engineering as my major here at Manhattan College.” The event focused on showing young students different examples of engineering and how it impacts the world. The societies demonstrated different things such as making drawbridges and seeing how
IN FEATURES:
IN A&E:
IN SPORTS:
Riverdale Restaurant Week on pg. 5
MCTV Collaborates with Players for 9 to 5 on pg. 8
Chi Alpha Sigma Inducts First Class on pg. 13
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Andrew Mannion Asst. Sports Editor
Manhattan College’s STEM outreach event focused on reaching out to local communities and schools to provide opportunities for students to learn some of the basics of engineering. The engineering societies at MC did a multitude of demonstrations at local schools, churches and other gathering places. One of the hosts of the event, Velbeth Cifuentes, described the work that the societies do and how it benefits students in the area. “Our mission is to bring
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