By NICOLE CASTRO

Suspicious landlords and unsympathetic employers are just two of the obstacles Neville Layne would have to overcome in his quest to make it as an international student at the City College of New York.

Layne came to New York from Barbados in the fall of 2004 for two reasons: school and new experiences. During his first month in New York, Layne stayed with family friends, rent free. Soon after he was able to find an apartment that he shared with another Barbadian. Though splitting the rent made the apartment affordable, he quickly learned how costly living in the city can be.
“It was difficult in the first year finding an apartment because I didn’t know the city so even if I saw an ad for an affordable place it was hard to know if it was also in a safe neighborhood and easy to get to,” Layne said. “I didn’t know what a fair price was and soon realized that the New York City rental was extremely competitive.”

Approximately 200 international students were admitted to City College this year. Adjusting to a new place like New York City would be difficult for anyone, but international students must overcome a number of obstacles incomparable to those American students may face, like applying for a job or finding management companies that will accept non-residents as tenants in their apartment buildings.

Layne had been living in the city for a little over a year. Once his lease was up on his apartment he needed to find another place to live. The freedom of knowing his city better allowed Layne to move to areas once considered unfamiliar territory. Layne used a number of Internet sites, like Craigslist, to find roommates and anything else he needed in the city.

“I got to know the city better which made me feel more comfortable venturing out of the Caribbean neighborhoods,” Layne said.

In Barbados, most people don’t apartment hunt. They house hunt. The demand for real estate is far less than in New York City. The initial deposits that management companies require are much less and normally there is not a credit check.

“It isn’t the frantic ‘run as soon as you see the ad’ scene it is in New York City,” Layne said. “It would be more comparable to small town America.”

Another international student at City College, Rita M., encountered similar obstacles during her transition. This student, a senior at the college, asked that her real name and initials not be used because she was working in the United Staets illegally in order to pay for her schooling and living expenses. Rita M. moved from Guyana to New York in the fall of 2004 as well.

“Living in NYC can be challenging in terms of expense, finding a decent apartment and being able to rent it,” she said. “For me the most difficult part was finding the money to pay the rent.”

Student visas limit how much money international students can earn. They are only allowed to work for the school that they attend or a company within their field of study, which is subject to school approval. At City College, international students may work only twenty hours a week. Most jobs require students to have social security numbers. For some employers, the process is so drawn out and complex that some offices on campus no longer hire international students looking for first time employment. The process can take anywhere from six weeks to two months.
“Very few jobs are going to wait two months just to put you on staff,” said Layne.

Paying bills and supporting oneself is a challenge for many Americans. But how many Americans are discriminated against or perceived as a burden when it comes to job hunting, looking for an apartment, or finding health insurance. Living in America without citizenship poses problems that typical Americans don’t face.

“We live with discrimination daily,” said Rita M. “No green card means no citizenship, and no citizenship means people don’t want to deal with you.”

Like Layne, Rita M. relied on family as her bridge to independence in New York City. She moved in with her relatives in a five family apartment unit, in the Bronx, that they also own. Rita M. acted as unofficial superintendent: running errands, attending to the other tenants’ problems in the building, and doing some chores around the house.

“The living conditions were not that great,” Rita M. said. “I shared facilities with many people. However I was able to adjust with that because where I came from it was more or less the same.”

In her efforts to find a place of her own, Rita M. found herself working a number of different jobs. Always on a constant search for a better job, Rita M. worked in retail and as a cashier making minimum wage. Not having a social security number affects job opportunities, limits real estate options, and denies international students any federal help in finding health insurance.

“No social security means management companies don’t trust you living in their apartments,” said Rita M. “It also means employers don’t want to hire you.”

Even a dream like going to Medical School is crushed by Rita M.’s lack of citizenship. Most medical schools in the United States will fill seats with American students first. If there happens to be any spot still open after all American students have been considered, those seats will then be offered to international students.

With 20.4 percent foreign born persons living in New York City, moving to America didn’t always feel like living in a foreign country.

“Living in a city where there are so many foreigners made me feel like I wasn’t the only one going through this,” Rita M. said. “The diversity of the people here made me feel welcome and more comfortable. I was able to assimilate like all the other international students here.”

Layne and Rita M. are approaching their last year at City College this spring but neither plans on an immediate return home. After four years, Layne now has a social security card, though his job opportunities are still limited by his visa. Rita M. still plans on applying to medical school.

Editor’s Note: The name Rita M. is a pseudonym.

By ANTONIETTE PEMBERTON

You are being watched–while shopping, entering the subway, and even in movie theaters. Now you can add City College to the list. CCNY has launched CCTV.

CCNY has installed 14 cameras in undisclosed areas throughout the campus to monitor areas not secured by an employee of the Public Safety department, according to George Crinnion, assistant director of Public safety. There are 54 exit doors on campus. The CCTV system allows security officials to watch the exits of the building that cannot be staffed with people.

The campus doesn’t “have fences,” Crinnion said. “The public walks through here all the time.”
With increased college violence throughout the nation and City College’s own gun incident occurring last spring semester, in which a student entered the Administrative building and held a female student captive, City College has heightened its security presence on campus. In addition to closed caption television cameras, the college has posted guards at additional areas, such as in front the Financial Aid office and throughout the North Academic Center.

Students expressed mixed views over having to balance security with personal privacy.
Some CCNY students said they felt unsettled to have another aspect of their lives under surveillance. “That’s excessive security,” says Shantavia Inabinet, 26 a City College senior. ‘Where do you draw the line at privacy.”

Despite the public academic atmosphere on campus many of the students say they feel safe on campus.

It’s a “good idea,” say Omar Nasar, 19 a City College sophomore, but “keep it external, not on campus. We show ID everywhere.”
CCNY’s campus is available to students, faculty and the public it spans 34 acres and houses 15 buildings, which support the 14,536 students, according to the statistics from The City College “City Facts,” office of Institutional Research. The public safety department has the challenge of maintaining a safe environment for students and faculty.
With increased college violence throughout the nation and City College’s very own occurring during the spring 2008 semester in which a student entered the Administrative building and held a female student captive, there’s a heightened security presence on campus, with guards posted at additional areas, such as in front the Financial Aid office and throughout the North Academic Center. Although, it is a public academic atmosphere many of the students feel safe on campus, however, it is unsettling to the students of the CCNY community to have another aspect of their lives under surveillance. It’s a “good idea,” says Omar Nasar, 19 a City College sophomore “keep it external, not on campus, we show id everywhere.”
The City University of New York (CUNY) implemented “CUNY Alert,” where students are notified through text messaging in the event of an emergency, CCTV, is another security measure that will assist in providing a safe community for CCNY students and faculty. There are cameras located at various locations throughout campus. The staff of the public safety department will continue to ask students for identifications cards when entering buildings on campus and they will inquire when something doesn’t seem right in an effort to maintain safe environment on campus. “I love the fact that it’s a public campus, you’re not secluded,” says Stefanie Aguirre, 23 City College senior, “and not in a bubble speaks very much to the nature of New York.”

By JESSEN JURADO

On a chilly fall evening, dozens of shivering students lined up in front of the NAC building: scarves tied, winter coats buttoned to the top. When the City College shuttle bus pulled up at exactly 7:30 p.m., the loose line of students tightened in anticipation of its arrival.

In the next moment, however, sounds of confusion and dismay were heard from the students as the bus made a sudden left and disappeared behind the Robert J. Marshak Science Building.

Beginning October 19, both the shuttle bus and the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s bus, the M1, ceased traveling down Convent Avenue for at least six months. This is because of construction that will occur at Convent Avenue near the bridge on the campus’ south side. The M18 and shuttle will instead travel down Amsterdam Avenue, sharing part of their routes with the MTA’s M100 and M101.

When bitter cold and slippery sidewalks make the short but steep trek to the campus unpleasant and dangerous, shuttle buses play a vital role in helping students travel safely to school. But when construction forces shuttle detours, the job of transporting an ever-increasing number of students becomes harder.

At fifteen minutes past seven, the next shuttle bus arrived, and students piled on. Lite FM poured from the shuttle’s stereo, and the bus operator hit the accelerator. The bus, however, did not make the expected trip down Convent Avenue, but also made a left and disappeared behind the Science building. Again, groans emanated from the boarded students, and most got off at the next stop.

Some students started walking in the direction of the 145th Street train station, but many returned to the stop to wait for the next bus. On this night, the detoured bus was fairly crowded, but was it usually so? “Sometimes, but only in the mornings,” proffered one graduate student, who did not wish to give her name. “I mostly take evening classes, and the shuttle bus is usually empty.”

Taking the M18 to school instead of the shuttle is an option for students who don’t mind paying the $2 fare, especially now that the shuttle and bus use the same route. However, students still have to walk one block, or about three minutes at a brisk pace, to the bus stop and wait two extra minutes for the bus to make a right on Amsterdam Avenue, traffic allowing. Additionally, an official CCNY email bulletin advises students to “anticipate an extra five minutes of travel between the college and subway stations.”

According to statistics on CCNY’s own website, student enrollment is up, with twenty-five hundred more students at the college in 2007 as compared to a decade ago. Retention is at an all-time high, with more than half of the student body being comprised of returning freshmen. Every school day these students, as well as faculty and college employees, take advantage of the school’s shuttle bus service, which has been carting school-goers to and from the nearby subway stations since the fall of 2005.

The shuttle bus fleet consists of two large buses and two shuttle vans. Additionally, the school’s Public Safety office also employs two vans for transporting students during Saturdays and late nights when the shuttle bus services do not run. According to the college’s Office of Public Safety, shuttle bus service and their own vans do not run on Sundays or holidays, even if the college is open.

Shuttle bus operator Ron Willis claims that the larger buses are capable of carrying just over fifty students and the shuttle vans about twenty. This means that in the mornings, when the bus operates most frequently, the shuttle service is able to transport eight hundred and forty students to the campus per hour. Mr.Willis has been operating the shuttle bus since service began in 2005. “Coming back from school, most people get off at the dorms, ever since they were built in ’06,” he claims. Sure enough, on this evening’s ride the bus emptied in front of The Towers; the remaining students continued on to the 125th Street and Morningside Avenue stop for the A, C, B, and D trains.

The shuttle bus has recently added service to this train station, in addition to the 145th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue train station. Service from the 1 and 9 trains at Broadway and 135th Street was discontinued in 2006, but service to the station has since been restored as of last semester. Students traveling from that station must still hike up the steeper hill on 135th Street to reach the college, however.

According to Mr. Willis, the bus makes scheduled stops at both high schools on the campus, in addition to the dorms and in front of the NAC Building. Students cannot, however, request an unscheduled stop along the bus route, says Mr. Willis, citing safety concerns.

If the influx of new students, the dorms, and the construction along Convent Avenue is taxing the college’s shuttle bus service, however, some students haven’t noticed. “This is the first time I’ve taken this bus,” says Nasira Ramos, a junior. “I always see the bus but it’s only a few blocks (to the train station). I think most people just walk.”

By MADI CEESAY

Students in the city that never sleeps are using sleeplessness to cope with the end of semester academic work load is sleep deprivation.

“I have a friend who doesn’t sleep,” said Maria Stern,22, a freshman major in International Relations. “My friend is graduating. She has a job, exams to study for, and three term papers to write. She is always stressed out.”

After 16 weeks of studying, many students around the City College campus are complaining about the excessive levels of their stress caused by having to work, study, manage families and relationships. Many of them are really stressed out because they do not have enough time to get things done.

The story of Richard Che,18, a freshman major in mechanical engineering is all too familiar. He has a part time job working 14 hours a week. Che said with just one week to the end of the semester he still has not finished writing his two English class essays each about 7 to 10 pages, an engineering project and a music project.

“ In the last two weeks, I have been staying up all night, five days a week,” he said “I will continue doing that through next week.”

Many students find themselves in this stressful environment because they are lazy.

“I am a procrastinator,” said an 18 year-old Music major freshman who gave his name as “Henry. “I have a speech due this Wednesday but I still don’t have a topic to speak about.”

And Henry does not have a job and is taking only four classes. He said he has no other distraction that could keep him from doing his school work on time.

When students can no longer bear the burden of their stress , there is only one place to seek help: the CCNY Wellness and Counseling Center located at room J-15 in the Marshak Science Building.

“Midterm to end of semester is one of the most stressed-out periods,” said Patria Marin,PhD, a counselor/psychologist with 25 years of experience and one of the only two full time counselors at the understaffed center. 

She said students are stressed-out because they have multiple roles to perform:school,work,kids,taking care of their elderly parents and managing relationships.

Though statistics about patients are confidential, Marin said said she attends to an average of six students a week. And the same is true for her colleague.

However, she said because of the stigmatization of mental health issues in minority communities students from these communities feel reluctant to come forward to the Center for help.

“They usually turn to elders ,priests, and family members for counseling,” Marin said. “ So this service is new to them.”

With about 87 percent of CCNY students from minority communities, she thinks it is wise for them to seek counseling in the center.

“Services are free and confidential,” she said.

When a student goes to the center for counseling he/she undergoes a treatment for a maximum of eight weeks to be bailed out of his/her stress, said Pereta Rodriguez,director of the center. “If they don’t feel better we refer them to private clinics,” she added.

While CCNY may not be the most stressful school Marin said “the students complain that Cty College is stressful.”

Stressful as the end of the semester may be, students like Maria often live and die by their own work ethic.

“I have been consistently doing my work,” she said. “But Facebook is my worst distractor.”

By JESSEN JURADO

There are a lot of bicyclists at City College, especially compared to some of the other CUNY schools–even though there are few places to lock your bike up.That means City College students have to get creative about where to lock their bikes.

On a recent fall day, dozens of mountain, racing, touring, fixed gear, and folding bikes were chained to the bike racks and railing near the City College’s main entrance. Although City College does not have a bike lane on Convent Avenue and offers just one officially designated bike lock-up area, the college appears to be more attractive to bicycle commuters than other CUNY Schools, students say. One reason is that many students say they feel their bike is safe on campus, even if students must find creative ways to lock their bike.

“I feel my bike is very safe here,” say Jim Kroener, a Childhood Education major at CCNY who rides a Specialized mountain bike that he locks to the railing beside Wingate Hall. “I have a used, but very nice bike and I feel safer locking it up on campus than I do in the surrounding neighborhood. One time I even left it here until 2 a.m.–it was fine.”

While bike theft is down in New York City, according to the Kryptonite Lock Company’s statistics for 2007, it is still one of the top three bike-theft cities in the U.S.. Despite this, City College bicyclists are willing to risk theft for the convenience, exercise, and pollution-free transport. But finding a place on campus to lock a bike can be a challenge.

An informal search for bike racks on campus found just one designated place to lock up bicycles on campus: the six racks near the main entrance, next to Wingate Hall. These racks are usually packed with bicycles, and the safety railing that leads to Wingate Hall’s basement access usually pulls double duty as extra lock-up space. The National Bike Registry recommends locking bicycles near other bikes as a deterrent to theft; City College bicyclists mostly heed this advice, judging from the numerous of bikes at Wingate Hall. On a recent weekday, approximately thirty-five bikes were seen locked to bike racks, trees, and the railing that leads to Wingate’s lower level. Not everyone is thinks this is an ideal situation, however.

“All over the college people are tying up their bikes to trees or railings, which they shouldn’t be doing,” said Lydia Shestopalova, a history major at City College. “But the racks at Wingate are so crowded.”

Students who have been at the college for more than one year will remember the recent addition of new carpets, doors, picnic tables and benches appearing that have appeared on campus since last fall. Assuming this trend of improvements to student life and comfort continues, will there be money, in light of recent budget cuts, for more bike racks at City College?

Other senior colleges in the city such as Queens College, provide bikers with paths, racks, lockers, or a combination of all three.

“It would be nice to have more racks, by the NAC entrance especially.” says Ayame Mizutome, a History major at City. The racks here are too close to the street, and I take my bike seat and handlebar with me.”

Other senior colleges in the city such as Queens College, provide bikers with paths, racks, lockers, or a combination of all three.

With winter here, the need for more bike racks on campus will disappear under the snow and ice. But along with the warmer weather, the problem of bike rack space at City will return for the spring semester.

Grant 1986

Grant today

The atmosphere on campus was electric as people from the college and beyond thronged the Aronow Theater to witness the first ever Mr. and Miss City College body building competition.

A pastime that developed from guys hanging out together and lifting weights ended up that night in April 1986 in the crowning of the first ever Ms. CCNY.

Kerlin Grant, who majored in Nursing and is now a practicing nurse at Mt. Sinai Hospital in Manhattan, took home the honor of the coveted trophy.

“It had to do with going to the gym with my friends,” said Grant “My girlfriends oiled me up and prepared me for the contest. I was excited and nervous as hell and kept bumping into other participants.”

City College use to have a basic body building course back then which the students took for an easy A. It was in one of such classes that Grant found out about her abilities in the sport. Twenty two years ago, the first ever Mr. and Miss College body building competition was held in the school. This event brought together enthusiasts of this muscle flexing sport all over campus. Over the years however, it has come to a stop.

Grant was more of a track and field specialist who aspired to join the track team but couldn’t because of family obligations. Weight lifting became her athletic outlet.

“You can say the sport was an escape for me from my outspoken demeanor on campus back then. It wasn’t about winning or losing, it was purely a fun thing. In fact, it was my friends who urged me on to enter into the competition.” Grant said on the reason behind taking up the sport of body building and taking part in the competition.

What caused the demise of such competitions on campus and are we to expect similar contests soon?
Not exactly, says Dr. Kevin Rahman of the Sports and Recreation Department of the City College of New York and who also heads the school gym.

“It all depends on the students, if they want such a competition we can hold one for them,” Rahman said. “There was a brief period during the mid 1990s when a club called City Bodies held power lifting but not body building contests in the school. The students use to come from all over and lift weights for show.”
According to Rahman, there isn’t an official body building program these days at City College but for students who wish to train, the gym is always open. The college provides for free a professional personal trainer who guides students interested in pumping iron at the gym.

Kerlin Grant was surprised to learn that there are no more weightlifting competitions on campus.

“They probably ceased holding such contests because of the younger generation,” she said. She also lauded the sport as being fun and great for girls to take up since it builds bone mass and helps the mind focus.

“It’s a wonderful sport, it will be good if they could organize it on campus again,” said Grant. “Body building provides for a very rounded life.”

By MADI CEESAY

Owing to the shaky economy, New York State has cut at least $3 million from the City College of New York budget for this academic year and administrators fear more budget cuts if the economy worsens.

According to CCNY’s Vice president for finance Richard Metz, $ 83 million of CCNY’s $125 million annual budget comes from the state, about $ 31 million from student tuitions and the rest from rental and vending machine incomes.

In an email to senior college administrators in August, CUNY Chancellor Mathew Goldstein said CUNY budget cut would total $50.6 million.

But this figure raises questions. Currently, there are eleven senior colleges in CUNY and City College is one of the largest. So, if $50.6 million is divided evenly by eleven, each senior college should suffer a cut of $4.6 million, which is over a million and half dollars more than the figure that City College administrators seem to be willing to reveal.

In late October, Goldstein dispatched another email stating that CUNY was “closely monitoring its financial situation in response to still unfolding economic events affecting international, national, state and local markets.”

To allay fears and to show CUNY’s readiness to survive through the current recession, Goldstein said “since the first implementation of the CUNY Compact in 2006, the university has committed itself to a wide range of productivity and efficiency measures, including the careful use of reserves set aside in anticipation of potential fiscal difficulties. This judicious management has enabled us to minimize the effect of state and city budget reductions.”

City College administrators said the reduction has yet to have an impact on students.

“We have not yet placed any academic program aside,” Metz said.

Students, however, say they are nervous about the impact State budget reductions will have on them.

“It worries me a lot,” said Rebecca Affi, an Ad/PR major. “I get financial aid, so does this mean that my allowance will be reduced?”

The Financial Aid Office did not respond to requests for comment

“My fear is this cut will impact on our ability to provide services to students,” said a school executive who wished to remain anonymous.

A press release posted on the New York State Governor’s official Web site said tuition would increase by $300 in the spring. The release states that the “full annual $600 increase would become effective in the following academic year.”

A representative of the Undergraduate Student Government said they had not yet been informed by the Administration about the reduction.

“But, if it does happen,” he said “we will sit down with the Administration to discuss it.”

With so many physical projects underway on campus, there are concerns about how City College intends to make up for its cash shortage. School executives said one of the measures that City College and CUNY have taken to save money was to put into effect a “hiring pause.” This means that CUNY Senior colleges including City College will not be hiring new faculty members this academic year. However, hires that had been approved before the “pause” will be honored.

This fall Gov. David Paterson announced statewide educations cuts totaling nearly $1 billion.

By OMAR PAGAN

The City University of New York established programs specifically for veterans throughout its system. But not for veterans at City College. This semester, Robert Rodriguez changed that.

As director of Affirmative Action on campus, Rodriguez established the Office of Veterans Affairs, an office created to encourage veterans of the U.S. Armed Forces to enroll at City College and become a part of the CCNY community.

According to Rodriguez, the Office of Veteran Affairs plans to get together with other offices on campus to better assist vets seeking to come to school here.

“These are a new group of students,” he said. “They need the support.”

About 15,000 students are enrolled at City College. Some 150 are veterans of the armed forces. Most of the veterans, according to Rodriguez, major as engineers here. By seeking the assistance of financial aid, CCNY’s Wellness and Counseling Center, and other services, the Office of Veteran Affairs hopes to give vets special attention suited for their needs.

With a revised G.I Bill passed by Congress last summer and due to take effect in August 2009, Rodriguez hopes that in the next few years more vets will choose CCNY and enroll into the Schools of Architecture, Engineering, The Sophie Davis Medical Program, and the sciences.

“We want City College to be the choice for vets,” he said.

Some veterans came back from combat in need of counseling and other related services. The Office of Veteran Affairs received $12,000 from the Vets Reentry Program, a CUNY grant providing funds for personal counseling, peer mentoring, and space for a new counseling center.

“Many come back having post traumatic stress disorder,” Rodriguez said.

Last spring, financier and World War II Navy lieutenant, Jerome Kohlberg donated $400,000 to the school for current and future students who are veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars.

Issued before the revised G.I. Bill, the grant offers money for scholarships awarded to veterans. It also pays for their tuition, provides funding and support for veterans services, and provides funding for housing. Kohlberg sponsored the grant under the Fund for Veterans Education, an initiative he set up a year ago.

Don Gomez, an International and Asian Studies major and U.S. Army veteran, re-established the City College Veterans Association this fall. He said that the military and the veteran community have been engrained into City College’s early history.

The school’s second president, Alexander Webb, was a graduate of West Point, served in the Army as a Maj. Gen. and received of the Medal of Honor. Issues of The Campus newspaper dating back to the 1940s indicated that over half of the student population were veterans who served in World War II. And during the 1960s and 70s, the school had the largest Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program in the country.

“Somehow, over the years the veterans services and veteran community at City College disappeared,” Gomez said.

Gomez also said that while veterans deserve to take advantage of benefits like the G. I. Bill, the school’s bureaucracy, Gomez said, makes it hard to do so.

“A veteran has to do a lot of groundwork to unlock benefits that they both earned and paid for,” he said.

Despite receiving the $400,000 grant last spring, the school has not formally recognized the existence of Rodriguez’s Office of Veteran Affairs. As a result, the money has not been used yet.

“Once that office is established, the money can be used,” he said. “This money is enough for office space and two representatives to work in the office.”

After attending Queensborough Community College, Gomez, 26, enlisted in the Army in 2001 and served as paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C. Five years later after doing two tours of duty in Iraq, he left the Army and decided to go back to school.

“Achieving a high level of education has always been a goal of mine,” Gomez said.

Although he never served in combat, Gomez wants to help others who did.

“I have taken a leadership role here at City College for a simple reason,” he said. “No one else was doing it.”

Like Rodriguez, Gomez realizes the need for the campus to open up communication with returning veterans, saying that City College should position itself as the flagship school for them.

For Gomez, being a vet and readjusting to civilian life has had its obstacles.

“In a lot of ways, civilian life can be more challenging than military life, especially in New York,” he said. “But at least here you aren’t getting shot at, or at least you shouldn’t be.”

But Gomez is thankful to have left the Army without injuries. “I have a great support network of friends and family that have made my transition smooth.”

Despite the school’s system, Gomez considers City College to be outstanding, comparing it to the Army.

“You get out what you put in,” he said. “Everyday I learn about new opportunities that the school offers that are unique to being a City student.”

But what is important for Gomez and the club is to get the word out to other veterans within the community.

“We are more than a club”, Gomez said at their first meeting on October 23rd. “We’re trying to develop lines of communication, getting through to other students who are also vets.”

Gomez also urged vets here at CCNY to be proactive.

“Seek out other veterans for advice and guidance,” he said. “Be relentless in getting the benefits that you have earned.”

Like Robert Rodriguez, Gomez and the CCVA hope to get CCNY to take in more vets. “We hope to convince the College to take a more active role in recruiting veterans to City,” he said. “The establishment of the Office of Veterans Affairs will be essential in making this happen.”

As for Rodriguez, he hopes other vets will take note also. “We want them to know that we care,” he said. “We want to be ready.”

By NICOLE McDOWELL

Sagging jeans are a common trend seen on many male students at City College, but soon it may be illegal, as cities across the country initiate laws to ban the style.

Over the last two years, at least 10 cities have created bans, fines, or community service for persons who wear sagging jeans or show 3-inches or more of their boxer shorts. Proponents of the bans argue that this trend is a violation of the Communications Decency Act of 1996. This act was created by Congress to regulate indecent and obscene material on the Internet to protect children. Law makers believe that this fashion trend is equivalent to indecent exposure.

Among the cities that are proposing such bans are Opalocka, Riviera beach, and Tallahassee, Florida; Pine lawn, Missouri; Pine Buff, Arkansas; Dallas, Texas; Flint, Michigan; Trenton, and Patterson, New Jersey; and Baltimore, Maryland.

Although several proposals have been made, they have been met with strong opposition from citizens. One judge in Florida ruled the laws unconstitutional after a 17-year-old spent a night in prison for exposing 4-inches of his boxers above his jeans.

In July 2008, Flint Michigan became one of the first cities to put the ban into law and clearly defining punishments for various lengths of exposure.
“It’s a dumb look, but to ban it is a bit much,” said Selorm, 22, of City College, said “People will just do it more anyway, kinda like that whole ’Keep off the grass’ sign thing”
According to correctional officer Charas Ebron, the look originated in prison, where belts are taken away from inmates so they couldn’t be used as weapons or to commit suicide.

Randall Duperval, 21, said “Not everyone knows where the look originated. They think ok I see weezy and other hip hop artist’s doing it, and think, hey that’s cool, I should do it too. It started in jail though, why would you want to look like you just came from jail?”

Twenty-eight year old Jayvard Smith is a District Manager for ADP, from 9 to 5 Monday through Friday he is only seen in high end tailor made suits and Ferragamo dress shoes. He dresses for success and feels the sagging pants trend is a “whack look.”

“Most of them are fake thugs.” Smith said. “They look low class and dirty. Some grow out of the trend, but too many stay with it in my opinion.”

Even on his down days, he wears polo tops and jeans that fit how they are supposed to.

Whether or not these laws come to New York is still unclear. But if the opinion of Tiffany, a City College student is what most people really think about the trend, it may not be long before students find themselves regulated by the fashion police. “They look stink with it. They can’t run, can barely walk and they always pullin ‘em up. Just put on a damn belt”. This is a good ending.

By NICOLE McDOWELL

City College’s 15,000 students,produce over 27,000 pounds of waste and consume more than 427,000 kWh of electricity daily. To help lessen the college’s environmental impact City College has created a plan called Sustainable CCNY.

Sustainable CCNY is sponsored by the NYC Materials Exchange Development Program, part of the college’s Department of Civil Engineering. The program promotes social, ecological and economic practices that will benefit the entire CCNY community, not just the campus.

“We hope to inspire others to reduce their own waste and emissions,” Said Ellis Simon, the director of public relations.

The group is focusing mainly on waste prevention, reuse, recycling and composting as well as ways to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse emissions while encouraging environmentally friendly purchases, like recycled-content office supplies, remanufactured office furniture, non-toxic cleaning supplies and local/seasonal food for food services. Good detail.

During club hour, students for sustainable CCNY sometimes have a table in the rotunda during where they pass out flyers and take survey to help educate students about what is being done and how they can help make their community more environmentally friendly. The club is also showing a series of environmental documentaries, some on campus and some off campus

Future projects include a waste stream system for each building on campus. This would include setting up specific bins for the designated type of waste, paper, plastic, glass. It would start in just one building and then expand depending on how effective the project is. There are several of these bins located throughout the NAC.

The club, located in Steinman hall room 102, is an offshoot of the initial project CCNY GREEN. It’s one thing to say that things are going to change and another to actually see things changing,

“The first floor bathrooms have automatic faucets and dryers, at least the men’s room do, I haven’t been in the female one lately,” 21 year old Serge Donat, a senior Biomed engineering student said, “And the Towers and the new Architect building are using some new heating efficiency system.”

A report from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York it is anticipated that the project would incorporate green building design standards that lead to certification that a building is really as “green” or eco-friendly as its builders claim it to be.
Ellis Simon stressed the fact that CCNY is the first campus to have its CO2 gas emissions report officially done. Officials have made this report as well as all other information regarding how the college is going green accessible to students and anyone else who is concerned about the environment and wants to change it.