A frog keychain causes problems against coworkers.

By: Jen Orlando

Tension in the communications department was palpable when Melanie assaulted Marek in front of an entire class. What started out as a minor interruption degenerated into an ugly confrontation. Who would have thought it was all over a froggy keychain?

“Give me the key, or I’ll have to get security!” exclaimed Melanie, secretary for the communications department at Manhattan College. She was sent to get the key from Marek for another professor who needed it for his class. 

Marek, who is a journalism professor at Manhattan College, was in the middle of leading his students in the critiquing of an article. Upon Melanie’s disruption, he had vehemently denied that he had this froggy keychain, even saying to a student: “John, don’t you have the key?” Marek’s distraction was quickly undone, though, because he let his hand slip from behind the paper where this key was hiding.

“You have the key! It’s there in your hand!” Melanie finally thought she had won, but while she crept closer, Marek retreated back. The sight for this journalism class was one of an epic back and forth battle between two heated sides.

With the key in clear view, Melanie stood there with her hair pulled back and a confused look on her face. No one in the class really understood why this little green frog caused so much turmoil, but the sense of an uncomfortable situation mixed with hilarity loomed over the classroom.

Still, Marek stood there with a look of indifference in his face. At the aforementioned threat of security, he concluded that he “didn’t care” and that she could go ahead and call security, she was not getting that key back, not without some struggle.

The students were sitting watching this scene unfold in front of them, when it turned for the worst. Melanie charged at Marek, grabbing from his hand the little green frog, while shouting, “Give me the key!”

She had now won. In her hand was the silly green frog keychain of the communications department. She gave Marek a hit on the shoulder, and sulked away mumbling something to herself.  Marek was left there in the center of the room, all of his students looking for some sort of answer on his strange behavior.

With a violent outburst like that in front of students, much is to be said about the nature of both of these professionals. The aspect of a green frog keychain should never bring anyone to violence, especially in a work environment. Still, to have someone get hit over a little frog, it even made his class chuckle at a point.

Maya Little

Tension Between MC Comm Secretary and Proff. Leaves Secretary Heated and Students in Shock and Laughter

Tension in the Communications Department at Manhattan College became palpable when Melanie assaulted Marek in front of an entire class. What started as a minor interruption degenerated into an ugly confrontation.

Secretary of the Communications Department, Melanie waited at the door to be recognized with a head nod by communications professor, Marek Fuchs. “Do you have the key?,” Melanie said while walking into the classroom and ignoring the class of 12 students. “No, I don’t have the key,” Fuchs said with a straight face.

“I know you have the key Marek. Professor Gabowski needs it, can you just give it to me,” said Melanie.

“I don’t have it,” Fuchs claimed.

The back and forth dialogue about the questioning of the key and reasoning for needing it was constant for some seconds until Fuchs randomly asked a student present in class sitting in front of him in the second row, John Banta.

“I don’t have the key. John do you have the key?,” Fuchs said quickly with a straight face.

After questioning Banta for the key, Marek moved a green froggie keychain from behind a peice of paper he was holding and the tone of the conversation took a turn. Melanie threatened to call security if Fuchs did not hand over the keychain.

“I don’t care if you call security, but I am still not giving you the key,” Fuchs said before continuously handing Melanie the keychain, but quickly snatching it back before she was able to grasp it.

Some students of the class began snickering.

Following Melanie’s demand for the key Fuchs remained defiant and said “ I forgot I had the key, but I am not giving it to you. If Grabowski needs it tell him to come up and get it himself.”

“Give me the keychain!,” Melanie said as she began walking closer to Fuchs. After asking Fuchs a few more times for the keychain Melanie snatched the keychain from Fuchs followed by a hit on his shoulder.

Melanie exited the room, mumbling under her breath, still never acknowledging the students.

The students all sat in laughter and shock before Marek continued his class lecture about writing news articles.

This incident marks the second to the disappearance of an item belonging to the department, although the first item, a camera tripod was never found, snatched from a teacher in a room full of students or returned.

Confrontations in the Communications Department

Confrontations in the Communication Department

-Samantha Fox

Journalism student received more than they planned for on Thursday, October 14, 2010, when a minor interruption degenerated into an ugly confrontation between Communications secretary Melanie and Communications professor Marek Fuchs. Who would’ve thought it was all over a Froggy keychain?

“Can I have the key to 208?” Melanie asked as she popped her head into classroom 322 of the Leo Engineering Building at Manhattan College. “I don’t have it,” replied Marek, while standing in front of his silent classroom. A piece of paper he was holding concealed the green plush keychain he held in his left.

“But they said you had it,” probed Melanie, slowly stepping in front of the class. The fluorescent lights burned onto the pair like spotlights, the two looking like Romeo Montague and Tybalt Capulet about to duel on stage. “I did have it, countered Marek,” I put it back though. Someone could’ve taken it, maybe a student? John what did you do with the key? Did you take it?” While jokingly accusing a student of pilfering the key, the fuzzy frog in question became exposed in his hand.

“You have it in your hand! Give me the key,” yelled Melanie. She gestured towards the object as Marek dangled the keychain jokingly. As he continued to refuse her the keychain, Melanie began to look nervous, pleading that Professor Grabowski needed the key to unlock the room for his next class. “Tell Grabowski to come up here nd get it himself,” was Marek’s response.

It was then that threats were made. “I don’t want to have to call Security,” she stumbled. “Like, give me the key. Give me the key now” she ordered while inching closer to Professor Fuchs. The tension was palpable as Melanie tried to capture the key again; this time grabbing the sleeve of Marek’s brown ribbed knit sweater and clawing the fuzzy animal out of his grasp.

“So ridiculous,” she muttered under her breath while hastily, yet victoriously, exiting the classroom with her prize. 

Class witnesses argument between college employees

By Matthew Rocco

A dispute between two Manhattan College employees in the Communication Department boiled over in front of an entire class Thursday.

Marek Fuchs, a journalism professor, was leading a discussion in his class when Melanie Morales-Woo, the department’s secretary, entered the room looking for the key to a computer lab in the Leo Engineering Building.

After being asked about the key, which is attached to a large frog keychain, Marek claimed to know nothing about its whereabouts. He even went as far as suggesting a student in the classroom who works in the department’s office might have the key.

“I don’t have the key, maybe John has it,” Marek said, looking in the direction of student John Banta.

What started as an innocent conversation took a turn for the worse when Melanie spotted the keychain in Marek’s left hand, despite his best efforts to hide the key behind a piece of paper. Marek remained unrelenting as he refused to hand the key over to Melanie.

“I forgot I had [the key], but I am not giving it to you,” Marek said with a stern expression. Melanie moved closer to Marek and said, “You have to give me the key. Grabowski needs it for class.”

“Then tell Grabowski to come up here and get it himself,” said Marek, who remained defiant.

Quickly becoming aggravated, Melanie threatened to call security before forcefully taking the keychain from Marek’s hand. She proceeded to hit him on his left arm and storm out of the room.

The embarrassing incident does not come as a surprise. The department has experienced some tense moments in recent days following the disappearance of an expensive camera tripod, which has yet to be recovered.

It is not known if Marek has previously displayed a similarly provocative attitude. This is the first public incident that he or Melanie has been involved in at Manhattan College.

Comm. Argument Leaps Out of Control - Danielle Valente

MC journalism students witnessed a Comm. Department quarrel firsthand when Melanie briefly interrupted Marek’s class with a simple request.

The short but tense dispute escalated when Marek refused to hand over the coveted possession: a froggy keychain. Who would have thought that a small plush toy sporting a Jasper tee would wreak such havoc?

Melanie, an amiable secretary in the Comm. office, arrived in the small 322 classroom of 15 students with a pleasant attitude and simple favor.

“I need the key,” she said politely, thinking this process was going to be relatively simple.

At first Marek seemed surprised with Melanie’s demand. He laughed somewhat anxiously while placing the blame on his student John, as if he was the one tightly gripping the frog in his palm for 2 days. It was undeniable that John had nothing to do with the froggy keychain’s whereabouts.

Marek’s witty joke came to a halt when he stood upright and looked at Melanie with a serious face, “I don’t have it.”

She was definitely not buying it.

Inching closer with her eyebrows arched, she could not understand why he had refused to hand over the frog.

“But I need it,” she said, becoming more perplexed and more disgruntled.

Melanie’s posture weakened as she leaned forward hoping to uncover something in Marek’s hand. He did not budge, but gripped the 8x11 piece of paper tightly as not to unveil the frog in his left hand. Her threats to call security and pleads to give the key to Dr. Gryzbowski were to no avail.

Then it happened.

Melanie’s patience finally ran out as she lifted her hand to thrust Marek. Fortunately for him, it was a light tap that was in his “good” shoulder, so extended physical therapy visits will not be needed.

Melanie conquered, as she paced out of the room, frog at hand. She quietly mumbled to herself and did not look back at the crazy scene she had just left. Students sat giggling, wondering why Marek just could not hand over the frog.  

MC’s Athletic Facilities Look Ahead

By Pablo Kay

Ask almost any Manhattan College student about the state of his or her school’s athletic facilities, and the response is not likely to be a flattering one. As a Division I school, MC dedicates hundreds of thousands of dollars to sports programs but its main athletic facility, the multi-use Draddy Gymnasium, is usually criticized more often than it is praised, particularly for the state of its fitness center and recreational facilities.

However, according to Athletic Director Robert Byrnes, a few short-term changes are in the works. A new wooden court intended for basketball and volleyball teams is being built in Draddy, which will give an opportunity for up to three intramural teams to practice at the same time. Four new flat screen TVs are being installed in the much-maligned “fitness center” to replace the antique tubes whose fuzzy picture and sound quality is known to frustrate treadmill users trying to watch shows like SportsCenter and The Price Is Right.

As for the long-term, it turns out that significant changes could one day be on the way for the gym MC students have come to know in recent years. In the coming weeks, said Byrnes, Draddy will be evaluated by an outside architect for recommendations on possible enhancements that would provide more locker room space and make use of “underutilized” space on the gym’s second floor.

Such an evaluation would be “a start in making a master plan for improvements at Draddy” said the athletic director, who cautioned that long-term plans have yet to be developed. Spatial factors such as the parking lot north of Draddy, the main campus area to the south and Alumni Hall to the west would make an actual expansion of the gym area on MC’s landlocked campus complicated.

As for Draddy’s fitness center, commonly known among students as the “weight room” (not to be confused with the nearby varsity weight room for athletes), it is frequently criticized for being too small in space, lacking workout equipment and having outdated machines. 

“Every time you go in there, a machine is broken,” said Glenis Forbes, who works out at the fitness center every day and has studied on and off at MC for the last nine years. “We need more space and more machines, especially bikes and ellipticals.”

“Our students deserve a better free weight room area for everyone [athletes and students]. It’s a great recreational plus. Any change is an enhancement for students,” said Byrnes, suggesting that the possibility of a bigger, better weight room was being looked at as the athletic department prepares for Draddy’s evaluation. When asked about a possible timeline, Byrnes said that he is aware students want to see results. “Talk is cheap…action is what matters,” he said.

When Draddy was designed and built more than thirty years ago, there actually was no fitness center included in the original plan. According to Byrnes, today’s weight room was originally designated as a food catering area for the gym.

While a new Draddy fitness center remains just a possibility for now, Manhattan College’s planned Student Commons area is in fact expected to house fitness facilities. The director of Student Development, Elaine White, said that her department is “committed to having a fitness center in the Commons” that will eventually be built on the site of the Waldo parking lot. Yet the multipurpose building faces challenges similar to Draddy’s: the Commons is expected to cost upwards of 30 million dollars and is still trying to meet fundraising goals.

            

United Spokes

By: Lynette Perez

The cool wind blew my hair back as I quickly rode past the slow pedestrians afoot on Manhattan College Parkway. At that moment I thought, ‘man it feels good to ride a bike.’

When I arrived at 242 and broadway, I locked my bicycle out front and walked into United Spokes, a new bicycle shop located right off campus. The small space is crawling with bikes of all sizes (some hanging from racks on the ceiling, others perched on their kick stands) anxiously awaiting their first real ride.

On the wall opposite the register sit hundreds of gadgets, accessories and components a bicycle owner would find useful. If you look to the far end of the store, you will usually find the store owner, Ian Jacob working on a bicycle.

On this occasion, though, the young, rugged mountain biker stood in the front of his store talking to two older male customers. After finishing his conversation, he turned and greeted me with a smile, recognizing my face from an earlier visit.

Intrigued by his apparent young age I asked him if he had ever owned a business before. He said that United Spokes is his first bike shop. Upon asking why he opened it, Jacob responded “I grew up in Riverdale. We had a bike shop for 35 years and they got rid of it. It was sad. I always had it in mind [to open a shop]-- especially in this neighborhood. We really need it.”

Why do we need it, you may ask. To begin, most students on campus do not have cars. Cycling is an eco-friendly, quick and efficient means of transport (especially when you’re running late to Leo!). It is healthy for the body and mind, stress relieving and interactive. In a college setting where students and professors are constantly stressed, a bike ride to class or simply on a lunch break could provide tension relief.

United Spokes’ success has proven to Jacob and the community that Riverdale needs a bicycle shop. Since the grand opening on July 1, 2010, Jacob noted that although our country faces a nation-wide recession, there has been a lot of traffic in and out of the store and a lot of activity from the college.

The main reaction he gets when students walk in is “wow, cool, I didn’t realize there was a bike store here...” and although most have just discovered it, many MC cyclists come into the store interested in starting a bike club but are discouraged because they are not aware of how many bikers attend the school.

In addition to students’ apparent interest, Jacobs mentioned a meeting with the head of the physical education department, Dr. Shawn Ladda who has incorporated a bicycle unit into the Physical Education curriculum.

Dr. Deborah Adams, assistant professor of Phys. Ed. will teach the first biking unit MC has ever seen to her class next week.

In this class, students will learn to change tires, size their bikes, change gears properly, ascend and descend hills with proper weight shifting and will learn about foot placement on the pedals (Jacobs is also willing to hold similar clinics).

Dr. Adams, a small, vibrant woman, seemed thrilled at the idea of the biking unit. She said the idea was based on an effort to change the curriculum. “When our students become teachers we want them to stay active and teach their students to be active people.” She also mentioned how bike riding is a social and life-long activity that will never hurt your knees and will benefit personal well-being.

Adams noted that although there is too much traffic on and around broadway, there are good roads behind the school for riding. To stay on the safe side, however, the students will be riding mountain bikes (from United Spokes) on trails in Van Cortlandt Park.

Although the cycling community has grown throughout Riverdale, Adams rightfully said “this is not a biking campus.” It is small, ill-equipped with bike racks, and as she pointed out, the one biking lane located on MC parkway is painted with a cyclist but has not gotten any wider. However, if enough people band together and show an interest in the sport, the campus has the potential to become more biker-friendly and reduce its carbon footprint.

Jacobs enthusiastically said “I’d love to help the school out with anything. Cycling could be a new sport for MC.” There are a lot of races in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and a ton of trails for mountain biking around the area.

Willing and able to hold repair clinics and classes, go on rides and enter students in races, how couldn’t the Manhattan College community seize the healthy, exciting and eco-friendly lifestyle Jacobs and United Spokes is willing to offer?

If you love to ride but have not yet been inside, check out United Spokes and the bikes and clinics they offer!