Published: 14 March 2013 By Claudia Balthazar
For the first time in 1,000 years, a non-European leader has been chosen to head the church. On Wednesday March 13, 2013, Cardinal from Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, emerged as the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, the first time a South American broke the glass ceiling.
L to R, Yeni Castro, Ashley Kowal, Brian St. Hubert, Christina Whitehurst, Dr. Elizabeth Venuti Photo credit: Claudia Balthazar
Women all over the world are breaking through various barriers to work in the corporate world of America. Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity, held the panel “women in business”, on Feb. 6, 2013 at Hofstra University, to inform the audience about a woman’s experience in the corporate world of business. During the panel, women discussed how females could play positive roles in their positions.
Photo of Mayor of the Village of Hempstead taken by Elaine Rezende.
The nation is weeping over the Sandy Hook massacre that left 20 children dead in Newtown Connecticut on Friday; a cry for more gun control.
“It’s important that we have gun control because anyone can buy a gun right now,” said Mayor of the Village of Hempstead, Wayne Hall Senior and a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, at a candle light vigil held at Hofstra University on Dec. 17. 2012. “There’s only a certain amount of mayors and some of them don’t believe in gun control. We need the voters to stand up and say enough is enough.”
The Xi Psi chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. along with Hofstra’s Black Student Union and the Nu Tau chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc. brought the Hofstra community together for a moment of silence, a prayer and an exchange of thoughts for the people who lost their lives at Sandy Hook.
“This was something that struck us as very important to speak up about,” said Amanda Medina, Vice President of the Nu Tau chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho.
Jessica Downing-Brown, President of the Sorority exclaimed, “This is not enough. We should step up more.”
After the vigil was over, Vice President of the Xi Psi chapter of Alpha phi Alpha, Deion Toppin said, “It upsets me when it takes something like this to bring people together. Gun violence has always been a problem.”
Mayor Wayne Hall Senior said, “We’ve seen our share of gun violence in Hempstead. In all the minority communities we have gun violence.” He added, “It can happen anywhere as you can see on Friday.
After the vigil, the division of student affairs at Hofstra University also held a prayer and an additional vigil for the Hofstra student body.
The gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, was said to have a history of mental health illnesses. On Friday, he killed his mother, children and adults, and then committed suicide.
On Sunday evening, President Obama spoke at the Sandy Hook vigil, “calling for an end to the epidemic of gun violence in America,” according to an article in the Huffington Post.
The nation is stricken by this tragedy.
-Claudia Balthazar
Published in Black Ink, the official newsletter for the Hofstra Association of Black Journalists.
The New Year is right around the corner, and while most people are probably worrying about their New Year’s Resolutions, there are still concerns about the fiscal cliff.
Depending on the President’s and Congress’ decision, America’s economy may have to face reduced spending for safety net programs and tax increases on higher income families to address the nation’s deficit. On Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2012, the Center on Children and Families at Brookings and Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity, held an event at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. to discuss what’s in store for the next four years.
The fundraiser is always held to honor Donegan, a prominent member of the NCCK who passed away in 2005.
“The idea to have a fundraiser at the Cornerstone Pub was Kathy’s idea,” NCCK vice President Patricia Harrington said. “She was a volunteer there [at the Adelphi Breast CancerHotline] and they were very helpful to her so she wanted to give back.”
Law clerks and attorneys from the Mineola courthouses were invited to serve as guest bartenders being given a crash course on basic duties. Tips received by the guest bartenders were contributed towards the fundraiser.
“I knew Kathy for many years. She was a dear friend of mine and I believe everyone who (volunteers) will do it in her honor,” Miriam Lemus of the Nassau County Court, who also was a guest bartender, said.
Numerous raffle drawings were also held with prizes including $400 in cash. All of the proceeds went to the Adelphi University Breast Cancer Hotline and Support Program.
“Some years it’s not as well (attended) but I’m very happy with the way it turned out today,” Harrington said.
Published in the Mineola Patch
Hofstra University staff and students have settled down from the excitement of the debate that took place the evening of Tuesday, October 16. Organizations that have been working since last semester leading up to the debate can now settle down and go back to their ‘regular agendas’. Excited student volunteers can now post their photos of their credentials on social networking sites and tell all their friends what they were doing on the day of the debate. They were having a once in a life time experience and becoming a part of history.
Numerous Hofstra students volunteered for the 2012 Presidential Debate. Among them were the Hofstra Association of Black Journalists’ President Claudia Balthazar, Vice President Tatiana Brown, Managing Editor Jeanine Russaw and Podcast Personnel Arielle Burton.
Other students who weren’t volunteering for the debate were eligible to enter a lottery for a ticket into the Debate Hall. Molly Tette, a junior, Business Management major at Hofstra University was among them. “I was so excited that I was running and screaming down the hall,” she said, referring to when she received the confirmation email about being able to attend the Debate. She continued, “The whole experience seeing it is so much fun. It’s like the difference between watching a baseball game from home versus actually going to the stadium.”
Although student volunteers weren’t eligible for a ticket into the debate, minutes before the event began, 30 student volunteers were asked to draw a number in order to be seat fillers in the Debate. Burton, was asked to pull a number and she pulled “a lucky number three” she said. “I was so excited. I knew that something great was going to happen,” Burton exclaimed.
Tuesday night’s moderator was CNN’s political reporter Candy Crowley. It was the first time seeing a women moderator for the Presidential Debate in 20 years. New Jersey Montclair High School students, Emma Axelrod, Elena Tsemberis and Sammi Siegel pushed to see a woman moderator for this Presidential Debate.
Back in August, they had a petition of over 100, 000 signatures that they wanted to hand to the Commission on Presidential Debates. Post Debate, Axelrod said on the Washington Post.com that she believes Crowley did a fantastic job. “It’s unclear how much, if any, of the CPD’s [Commission on Presidential Debates] decision can be attributed to the work Sammi, Elena and I put into raising awareness of the need for more gender equality on the debate floor (they refused to meet with us and refused our petitions when we tried to deliver them), but the change we wanted had still been made,” she said.
Debate at Hofstra University was very heated, and questions were asked by voters in a Town Hall style. The final debate for 2012 will be on Monday October 22 at Lynn University and its topic will be foreign policy. Elections are on November 6, another day to make history and leave your mark—especially at Hofstra.
-Claudia Balthazar
Published in Black Ink, the official newsletter for the Hofstra Association of Black Journalists
http://habjblackink.com/2012/10/21/presidential-debate-2012-at-hofstra-university-an-inside-story/
Claudia Balthazar 