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It’s Like Poking, But In Real Life...
By Michelle Frantino
“If you build it, they will come,” is
the quote posted on the new website,
EduHookUps.Com. And after its
launch just a few short months ago,
come they did. The new social net-
working site attracted over 10,000 col-
lege students to its forums. The
controversial site provides a place for
students to post anonymous ads, look-
ing for partners interested in having
“casual sex.”
“Jessica Cominsetta, a junior at
Chicago University, posted an ad on,
EduHookUps.com, reading, “Ready for
fun, seeking hot stud, for a bedroom
run.” Soon after the post went up, a user
named “ChicagoBigShot” responded,
and they set up a meeting place: outside
the student recreation center two hours Screen grabs from eduhookups.com showcasing its registration system and real posts
from Yale, Northwestern, University of Mississippi, University of Illinois and University of Chicago students.
before midnight. They both would be
wearing red. launched the website in early March at The site does also offer a “Safety” page for sex.”
Cominsetta said they had “casual Chicago University. “When the site first where students can get tips about using The English major said that stu-
sex” and parted ways. “I’m not sure launched it got 300 to 500 Google the site in the safest way possible. “We dents around campus have been
what his name was, I never asked,” searches a day,” said one of the creators. encourage safe sex,” said one of the cre- buzzing about the new site. “Everyone
Cominsetta admitted. “I didn’t want to “Now we receive over 3,500 hits on the ators, “but we can’t take any legal liabil- is on it, and everyone is talking about
know. I don’t plan on seeing him ever site every day.” ity to something that may happen as a it,” Paladeno explains. “Nothing excit-
again, it was just sex.” “We never expected this to take off result of using the site.” ing usually happens here, so this is a big
The website is spreading through- outside our home campus,” Danny said. Stanford University is one of three deal.”
out colleges across the country. It re- “It started only as a fun project and we colleges that have a link to the school’s Stanford University did not wish to
cently announced that the Stony Brook had no intention to make a personal “Sexual Health Peer Resource Center.” comment on the recent development of
University forum has gone live. “The profit.” When asked about the sites re- A representative from Stanford’s Health the schools forum on
universities in New York are vital to our cent popularity and presence at the Center, who wished to remain anony- EduHookUps.com, but they did release
expansion,” said one of the sites school, Chicago University said they mous, feels that this is the only way to a statement stating that the University
founders, “Danny,” who asked not to be had no comment. promote any kind of safe sex associated does not support or endorse the web-
identified due to privacy reasons. The website quickly expanded to with the site. “The website is attracting site, EduHookUps.com.
“Stony Brook is our first SUNY School Ohio State, Penn State, Boston Univer- thousands of our students and based on Corrine Clevensky, a senior at the
to join the site, due to the number of re- sity and Harvard within the first month what we hear, they are using the site to university, says the mood of the school
quests we received from students.” of it opening. “The more universities have one-time sexual encounters with has changed since the arrival of
The website sets up forums for se- added, the more news we stirred up,” an array of different individuals,” said EduHookUps. “More and more people
lect universities that allow students with said the creators. “Our primary source the representative. “Any information we are beginning to talk to each other on
valid college emails to access their of advertising and news is split between have to educate students about safe sex campus,” says Clevensky. “There has
schools page. Once registered, users can television news programs and Face- is better than nothing. I just hope they even been just ‘Hook Up’-themed par-
post and respond to other ads only book,” they added. are reading it.” ties,” he added.
within their university forum. What According to the developers of the Students from Stanford University Matt Schneider, an avid
makes EduHookUps.com different site, “The administration at both say the website has made going to class EduHookUps.Com user, says the web-
from other social networks is that it al- Chicago University and Loyola Univer- more exciting. Andrea Paladeno, a site has given the school a new atmos-
lows its users to remain anonymous. sity both expressed concern about the sophomore at the university, said she phere. “It’s like Northwestern got a
“We have a strict privacy policy in place site.” has “hooked-up” with five different men face-lift,” jokes the Biology major. “Fi-
in order to protect the anonymity of our EduHookUps is not affiliated with through the site. “I don’t think it’s that nally a website where students can just
users,” said one of the sites founders. any of the universities on its website, but big of a deal,” Paladeno said. “People use be honest and say, ‘I want sex.’”
Two undergraduate students, who gives schools an opportunity to have a Facebook and Craigslist for the same Stony Brook students seem to be
wish to remain anonymous, first link to their health centers on the site. thing; it’s just not advertised exclusively excited about the launch of the website,
which went live on April 26. A user of
the site, who did not want to be named,
said she has already had encounters
with men through the site. “I hooked up
with a guy last week,” said the sopho-
more. “It’s a great place to meet people
who are interested in the same things as
The Stony Brook Press News 3
you.” The engineering major said she’s contains condoms and information health awareness.” The commuter at about the network can be shared. The
not afraid of sexually transmitted dis- packets to be given out in a constructive Stony Brook said even though she is not founders of the site want people to keep
eases. “I protect myself against disease, way to residents,” Valerio said. The HIV a resident, she received a packet from an open mind, referring to the websites
and I’m smart about where we meet— prevention material is funded by the the CPO that included condoms and motto, “Where fun comes to thrive.”
always in public and I always tell a New York State’s HIV Prevention grant educational information. However, she Stony Brook University had no
friend.” which Stony Brook applied for and re- said the concept of the website is un- comment about the website. The cre-
Stony Brook seems prepared for the ceived last May. The CPO also offers ethical. “I think it’s dangerous and dis- ators of the site said earlier this week
arrival of the site, having a number of HIV testing events, counseling for stu- gusting that students are using this site,” that they will be including all credited,
resources available to students in order dents, along with training for residen- Kim said. “Even with Stony Brook’s ef- four-year universities in the United
help protect themselves against sexually tial hall employees, staff and campus fort to protect students, the website States to their website, resulting in over
transmitted diseases. Kathleen Valerio, groups on well-being and healthy de- gives us a bad name.” 1,807 school forums by the end of the
a health educator at Stony Brook Uni- velopment. Eduhookups.com is certainly grow- academic year. The creators of the site
versity, works for The Center for Pre- Kim, a senior at Stony Brook who ing in publicity, being featured on The said they are moving full speed ahead.
vention and Outreach, which offers did not want to give her last name, says Today Show, CBS Chicago and on Jay “We are hoping to add more features to
many events to promote and educate the school takes steps to educate stu- Leno. The site’s controversy has been the site and continue expanding,” said
students on healthy choices. “At the be- dents. “In comparison to other schools, largely debated in the media and as a re- Danny. “We currently have over 350,000
ginning of each semester the RAs are Stony Brook has a wide variety of pro- sult, the website decided to add a “Wall visitors to the site a week, and we’re
given a packet from the CPO, which grams and events all designated to of Shame” where all negative press looking to double that number.”
Tour de Brook
partially allocated towards safety equip-
ment like helmets and lights, and par-
By Carol Moran tially allocated towards bike parts, such
as lubricants, chains and wires, accord-
The grease stains at the bottom of ing to Aiello-Lammens.
Dean Miller’s corduroy pants are a tes- But despite the increase in bikers at
tament to the trek he makes to campus Stony Brook and the safety equipment
every morning. Miller, director of the that the collective hands out, biking can
Center for News Literacy at Stony be dangerous.
Brook, hops on his maroon Mongoose “I think it’s hard to be bike aware as
mountain bike and rings the metal bell a driver in an area where there aren’t a
mounted on his handlebars to warn lot of bicyclists,” Aiello-Lammens said.
pedestrians of his approach, quite often “You travel a lot faster on the roads
with a bowtie around his neck. here...On 347 you can do 65 miles per
“It’s a lot cheaper,” Miller said. “I hour, so it’s always going to be a little bit
think it’s going to cause my insurance to more difficult for bicyclists in the sub-
go down because my mileage is nil. It’s bikes equipped with bells, lights and big was even in the discussion stages, Free- urbs.”
environmentally sound, and there is no metal baskets, as part of a recently de- wheel Collective, a non-profit bike shop Political Science Professor Helmut
parking space needed.” veloped bike share program. As a signa- that offers students the opportunity to Norpoth has been riding his bike to
Students and faculty at Stony Brook tory of the American Colleges and rebuild donated and found bicycles, as work since he moved to the area in
are shifting gears along with Miller to- Universities President’s Climate Com- well as repair their own bikes for free or 1979, and he said cars have a blind spot
wards the more sustainable and trendy mitment, Stony Brook has promised to for a minor cost, was harboring the for bicycle riders. “You have to be very
mode of transportation. There are over be carbon neutral by 2050. The bike two-wheeled trend. Biology and evolu- observant yourself, and that’s the only
six miles of bike paths spread across share program is meant to reduce vehi- tionary ecology students started the col- thing that counts.”
campus, and the more than 100 bike cle traffic from commuting residents lective in an off-campus basement New York State does not have a hel-
racks are often filled to capacity. and faculty. before moving it to a community center met law, though there are New York
“The culture is changing,” Director Twenty-five students will be chosen and then to the farthest corner of the State Vehicle and Traffic laws that apply
of Environmental Stewardship Amy through a lottery system to participate Stony Brook Union basement, just be- to bikes. Provenzano says they highly
Provenzano said. “I think everyone’s in the program. After a $15 per semes- hind the anime club. The noisy, fluores- suggest that participants in the bike
healthy habits are improving, so I think ter fee and a $15 deposit, they’ll receive cently lit room is filled with bike parts share program wear a helmet. Partici-
people think more about using a bike a helmet and a key that will unlock any and the sounds of students pumping up pants must also watch a safety video
instead of a car.” of the 25 bikes that are to be stationed tires or brushing rust off metal bike provided by the National Traffic Safety
With gas prices soaring, biking is a across campus. petals. Board.
cheaper alternative. Whether or not “We have close to 100 applicants al- “Anybody—students, faculty, com- Everhart has been in two biking ac-
people are attempting to reduce the ready so we’re so excited that there munity members are welcome,” Man- cidents since she came to Stony Brook,
amount of fossil fuels they burn, Matt seems to be such interest in it,” Proven- ager Jennifer Everhart, said. “We one of which left her with two broken
Aiello-Lammens, a manager at Free- zano said. “We’re hoping that we get a provide the knowledge and a lot of the ribs last semester after a student that
wheel Collective on campus, said peo- great core of students to start because parts, and in turn, the people come was texting while walking knocked her
ple are trying to save money on gas by we’re looking for what works really down there and get to learn how to fix over on the zebra path. That didn’t deter
riding bikes. great for the program and what are up their bicycles—they provide the her from biking, though she doesn’t hop
Starting within the next week or some of the things we can improve on. labor, we provide the knowledge.” onto her green fixed-gear without a hel-
two, the bike racks at Stony Brook will Our hope is to expand the program.” The Graduate Student Organiza- met.
be home to 25 custom-made, shiny red But before the bike share program tion funds the collective. The money is
4 Vol. XXXII, Issue 14 |Wednesday, May 17, 2011
Editorial Board
Executive Editor
editorials
Nick Statt
Managing Editor
Carol Moran
Associate Editor
Round Two
Evan Goldaper
Here at the Stony Brook Press, we necessary to attribute that success to the readers into thinking not only that we
Business Manager are not critical of events, public figures determination and seemingly endless vi- were advising that USG should attempt
Siobhan Cassidy or campus administration simply be- sion of Student Programming Agency a Culture Shock, but also that it was even
cause we see it as our role to undercut Director Moiz Khan, the face pasted on possible for USG to do so.
Production Manager
Mark Greek everything around us. That is a sorry the primary alien of the Mars So first, let us give you said context.
definition of “alternative,” and as the Attacks! front cover of our last issue. SUNY Purchase is a drastically different
News Editors campus’ alternative paper, we would like Yes, Khan made more enemies than school encased in an equally different
Inquire Within to be trusted to go beyond the surface of he ever imagined by refusing to compro- administration, and both factors con-
Features Editor sensational negativity just to be different, mise, as he says in the graciously allotted tribute greatly to its ability to orchestrate
Alyssa Melillo despite the fact that our campus’ primary opinion space of the Statesman in a piece something like Culture Shock. Not only
publication seems content on never ris- title, “Tearing Red Tape and Breaking does the school’s undergraduate govern-
Arts Editor ing above licking the boots of the estab- Down Silos.” When he took his position ment own the space on which the con-
Alexa Rubinstein
lishment. in USG last year, it was amid the contro- cert is held, but the school is also
Multimedia Editor That said, let it be centered around the
Vincent Barone known that our last arts, including majors
Ula Gradowska
issue featuring a com- in sound production
Copy Editor parison and accompa- and other areas of event
Lauren DuBois nying editorial between planning that allow
the recent Bruno Mars them to pull straight
Sports Editor
Vincent Barone concert and SUNY Pur- from their student body
chase’s Culture Shock to organize and run the
Social Media Editor festival was not in any- event. Purchase also
Kenny Mahoney way a feeble attempt to has a long history of
Ombudsman dig up a source of criti- performing arts and a
Carolina Hidalgo cism just for the sake of number of bands have
being critical. It was deep rooted connec-
meant to highlight not tions to the school, in-
Layout Design by
Jowy Romano only differing view- cluding this year’s
points when it comes to organizer, lo-fi legend
future campus event R. Stevie Moore.
Staff planning, but also to These differences
Sam Aldenton make it very clear just make the likelihood of
Michelle Bylicky how much money is something like Culture
Lionel Chan
Natalie Crnosija being used for this cam- Shock at Stony Brook
Mike Cusanelli pus’ entertainment, to what end it is versial restructuring of SAB, but in only near-impossible due to the extreme lim-
Eric DiGiovanni
Brett Donnelly being used and how it could be im- one year in the post, he brought numer- itations put on campus events from or-
Amanda Douville proved. We stand by our decision to de- ous acts that performed to increasing ganizations like University Police, the
Lauren DuBois
Sarah Evins
nounce the Bruno Mars concert on the crowds, with Bruno Mars marking the private security firm forced onto anyone
Andrew Fraley grounds that he was a safe choice, one culmination of all his effort. who books the Sport Complex and the
Colleen Harrington
Samuel Katz
that does not represent a true college act Khan wanted to change the univer- dozens of other barriers and restrictions
Nicole Kohn and one whose success at Stony Brook on sity, and he most certainly did. However, that exist here at Stony Brook but not
Iris Lin
Andi Liao
May 6 was, from the very start, to be the changes are not always completely Purchase, as Khan himself would happily
Erica Mengouchian measured by ticket sales and the demon- positive, and not always cleanly and effi- point out to anyone who asks.
Frank Myles
Howie Newsberkman
stration of the organizers’ hard work, but ciently looking towards a better future But this likelihood would only be
Vanessa Ogle not by how much the performance for our school or its hugely expensive near-impossible if we decided to stupidly
Carlos Parreno would represent a true and calculated events, as we wanted to point out in the dive in head first. That was not what we
Gabriel Panadero
Jessica Rybak desire of the campus body. comparison. But this comparison, as it were implying USG should do, nor did
Emily Torkel Now, we recognize that it is neces- stands in our last issue, is noticeably we think that dozens of cheap bands that
Matt Willemain
sary to point out just how much of a suc- lacking context. We would like to hold no one has heard of mixed in with only a
cess the concert was, and it is also ourselves accountable for misleading any handful of recognizable names is the
news
Spending on Science:
What it Means for Our Future
By Nick Statt
For months, Brookhaven National
Lab was staring at the face of devastat-
ing House budget cuts of $1.1 billion
that threatened to cut the staff by 930,
or one third, and potentially discon-
tinue the operations of internationally
renown facilities like the RHIC particle
accelerator. But a budget compromise
released on April 8, called FY11, re-
duced that $1.1 billion to only $35 mil-
lion, marking a definitive effort to not
let science take the back seat even amid
the nation’s struggling economic recov-
ery. Photo Credit:
“We don’t yet have any new info on Brookhaven National Lab
how or if the final budget deal will af-
fect us,” said Media & Communications The Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) at Brookhaven National Lab. If the House cuts were enacted, operations
at RHICwould have to be cut back, which would lead to layoffs of 300 science and support personnel, according to
Manager Pete Genzer, but he stressed wesupportbnl.org, a website created by Rep. Tim Bishop to garner support against the cuts.
the words of BNL’s Deputy Director for
Science and Technology Doon Gibbs,
future growth. of scientific research must be acknowl- plea to keep it from being trampled by
who said in a statement provided by
Dr. John H. Marburger III, cur- edged for what it is: the key to our na- the elephants,” he added.
Genzer, “…We deeply appreciate Sena-
rently vice president of research at Stony tion’s future.” He also cited an estimate But Marburger, with his rich polit-
tor Schumer’s, Senator Gillibrand’s, and
Brook University, the university’s for- from economists that “approximately ical background, understands the com-
Congressman Bishop’s support for sci-
mer president and a former Science Ad- half of post-WWII economic growth is plications involved with FY11 and
ence and their willingness to protect the
visor to President George W. Bush, directly attributable to R&D-fueled asserts that the resolution did more
Lab and its programs.”
fought back voraciously when the orig- technological progress.” forestalling than it did solving by way of
Despite the drastic reduction in
inal budget cuts, which came packaged Now that FY11 has replaced the gearing itself more towards non-con-
cuts, the political intricacies of the de-
in the House of Representatives’ HR 1 draconian HR 1, Marburger can reflect troversial cuts than those to big science.
cision make it difficult to claim the po-
plan, hit the public limelight back in on his appeal to such future progress “It is hard to consider the FY11 budget
tential passing of FY11 a victory for
February. being placed in the hands of research. a ‘victory for science.’ I would say it is
science. As the economic situation fails
In a April 7 Huffington Post op-ed “What I intended to convey…was that more like a confirmation that the par-
to meet the nation’s spending standards,
titled, “House’s Science Cuts Threaten science is all-pervasive in the general ties regarded big cuts in science as too
all sectors, not just science, are taking
Our Future,” Marburger made a stand cultures and economies of modern na- controversial to push any farther at this
big hits. But proponents of scientific re-
for science research, writing, “In the ne- tions, and especially the U.S.,” he said in time. That is good news, but it gives few
search, including scientists and politi-
gotiations now underway to determine an email message. “Science, however it’s signals about forthcoming budgets,” he
cians alike, have ignited a fight to prove
what share of needed budget cuts must construed, is a small-time player in a said.
the worth of institutions like BNL in
fall to the tiny and already beleaguered budget game that is now of world-his- Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southamp-
their contributions to not just scientific
domestic discretionary budget, the role torical dimensions. My op-ed was a ton) was another major player in the
development, but all areas of the U.S.’s
backlash campaign against HR 1
throughout the last few months. He or-
ganized a large body of bipartisan sup-
port and even set up a website,
www.wesupportbnl.org, according to
Spokesman Oliver Longwell.
Despite Bishop being in full sup-
port of federal spending cuts, which he
expressed through the voting support of
a $38 billion federal year-to-year spend-
The Stony Brook Press News 7
ing cut, he, like Marburger, also saw HR One such example is BNL’s participation popular legend. People love the idea of
1 as a threat to future development. “I in the Department of Energy program, black holes, dinosaurs, expanding uni-
recognize that we cannot get our budget America’s Next Top Energy Innovator. verses, extra dimensions and space ex-
under control without painful cuts and The program helps increase the number ploration,” he said.
without compromise. The litmus test I of startup companies by reducing the What it comes down to for Mar-
will apply is whether cuts are painful as cost of options to license available burger, and in a sense the entire scien-
opposed to destructive and whether patents to $1,000, which is a fraction of tific and political community that is
they will cause real damage to Long Is- the regular cost according to the BNL pushing so hard to keep science aloft, is
land’s economy,” he said in a statement press release dated May 2. The ‘option’ the universal benefits that the hundreds
provided by Spokesman Longwell. “I refers to the ability for a company to ob- of thousands of projects all around the
will continue to advocate against cuts to tain a 6-month time window to apply world are providing to everyone, not
scientific research and education that for a patent license for a particular tech- just the scientists doing the experiment.
will hurt our ability to compete in the nology, but only if they submit an in- “The public deserves to know why
21st century global economy and ham- tensive business plan outlining their their most talented and productive
string future growth,” he added. strategy to market the technology. members care so passionately about
Longwell himself expresses extreme The program, although only a pilot Photo Credit: these things. The public wants to share
concern over such spending cuts and that will remain in effect until Decem- stonybrook.edu that passion, and it’s up to scientists to
what they mean for the future. “Frankly, ber 15, 2011, is aimed at building a bet- John H. MarburgerIII help. The SSC scientists explained their
I am dumbfounded that the Republican ter future in corporate science. “We search for the Higgs boson in a way that
But he steadfastly stands by all
majority in the House of Representa- believe the program will increase the made it seem as if we were just looking
forms of science, even the enormously
tives voted to gut federal investment number of successful companies and for some more particles, like the ones
costly projects like the RHIC particle
in science, which would cede the lead- create new jobs that our nation needs — we already found but smaller,” he said.
accelerator. “These projects are not just
ership of the next generation of scien- particularly clean energy jobs,” said Marburger is referring to the theo-
‘probing around for answers.’ They are
tific innovation to China, India, and Walter Copan, manager of Brookhaven retical Higgs boson particle that the
part of a deep-seated passion that hu-
other nations who are massively ramp- Lab’s Office of Technology Commer- largest particle accelerator on the
manity has to understand the world it
ing up their own investments in re- cialization and Partnerships, in BNL’s planet, Switzerland’s LHC, is currently
lives in…today we have extraordinary
search,” he said. “Fortunately for official press release. searching for. It is, as the Standard
tools that are revealing astonishing as-
Brookhaven Lab, Long Island, and our Dr. Marburger, one of the most po- Model of particle physics suggests, the
pects of our world,” he said. “This is se-
nation, wiser judgments were able to litically and scientifically astute propo- source of all particles’ mass.
rious stuff – as serious as the art and
prevail in this case,” he added. nents of this idea that science is a “The idea of ‘explaining mass’
religion and literature that many people
Brookhaven National Lab, the cen- principle foundation of our future, is seems an odd thing to drive such pas-
think are what make life worth living.”
tral focus of these cuts here on Long Is- not too optimistic about federal spend- sion, and in fact that’s not really what it’s
Marburger even makes the claim
land, is home to more than just ing on research down the line. “All ‘big all about. What is at stake is a vision of
that esoteric science is still supported by
expensive research projects like particle science’ is at risk in the coming years, the nature of all reality. Try explaining
the public, despite them not under-
accelerators, and the proponents of sci- mainly because it is big and Congress is that to your congressman.”
standing it. “Einstein is the world‘s most
entific research as a key to our future under extreme pressure to save money,”
popular scientist, and Feynman is a
development make that very clear. he said.
Hotel Lawsuit
NEWS IN BRIEF done on the site, we will demand that everything be
removed and the land restored.”
New York State Supreme Court Judge The court’s decision on the appeal could take any-
Ralph Gazzillo ruled last month that the where from six months to over a year, according to
two plaintiffs trying to stop the construc- Locker.
tion of a 135-room hotel on campus had Pizer, Weyl and Stony Brook Environmental Con-
no legal standing to bring a lawsuit against servancy, Inc., a non-profit organization, originally
SUNY—or that they didn’t prove that suf- filed the lawsuit in December 2009, on claims that the
ficient harm would result from the action special legislation enabling SUNY to lease 13 acres of
challenged. campus to a private developer, Harbor Construction
Attorney George Locker said the two Management, had expired before SUNY entered the
plaintiffs, Michelle Pizer, a Stony Brook lease, among other complaints, according to court
alumnus and former president of the envi- records.
ronmental club, and Muriel Weyl, long- According to Stony Brook’s website, it plans to
time community member and former build the hotel on 11 acres of land east of the Admin-
faculty of Stony Brook University, will ap- istration parking garage. The project will undergo an
peal the decision. environmental assessment, and the building will com-
“We fully expect to win the appeal,” ply with various green building standards.
Locker said in a phone interview. “I have
already notified SUNY through their
lawyer the Attorney General that if we win
an appeal, as we expect, and if any work is Carol Moran
8 Features Vol. XXXII, Issue 14 |Wednesday, May 17, 2011
Stony Brook University has plans pensate for increases in the cost of living hours of the Union dining facilities stay sity that it should be,” he said.
for major renovations to begin in 2013. and inflation. Since the fee is restricted the same and have the meal plan fee in- The plans to tear down and recon-
And to prepare, the Faculty Student As- to residential meal plans, the FSA voted crease by half as much. struct the Union and build the new din-
sociation is digging deeper into stu- to increase the price of food, so that the Enciso said he abstained because ing facility nearby are only a small
dents’ pockets. burden of funding the construction “the students have not been appropri- portion of the outline the University has
The FSA Board of Directors passed projects will also be carried by com- ately consulted” as to the allocation of drawn, which includes the construction
a budget Friday night that includes a muters, faculty, and students on the their money. of new residences, academic buildings
$35 increase in the residential meal plan and other dining facilities.
fee and an increase in the prices of food According to Barbara Chernow,
on campus, which will be partially allo- “...the University will close Campus Connection, vice president for facilities and services,
cated to the construction of a new din- the master plan will close the gap be-
ing facility between the Wang Center the H-squad dining facility, next fall.” tween East and West campus, move the
and Mendelsohn Quad, and partially al- School of Marine and Atmospheric Sci-
located to extended hours at the Union ences to the academic mall and balance
Commons, the Union Deli and Star-
“To compentsate, the Union deli will be open until three a.m. student housing more evenly across
bucks, according to members of the campus.
FSA Board of Directors. Before construction begins, the
The university plans to complete budget or west apartments meal plan. USG President Matt Graham, who University needs to submit a budget re-
the new dining facility to accommodate Students with the residential meal plans voted in favor of the FSA budget, said quest to Governor Andrew Cuomo and
students during the reconstruction of that are already paying the fee will re- students can avoid paying the fee in- the State Legislature, which, if fully
the Stony Brook Union. To further raise ceive a discount at the registers so that crease and the rise in the price of food funded, will cover the construction
money towards the new dining facility, they aren’t affected by the price in- by living off campus and cooking, and projects until 2023.
the University will close Campus Con- crease. that he is supportive of renovations to Chernow said that the new and ren-
nection, the H-Quad dining facility, David Mazza, Undergraduate Stu- the dining facilities, which haven’t ovated buildings will support the en-
next fall. To compensate, the Union deli dent Government vice president for caught up with the renovations of resi- rollment projections for Stony
will be open until three a.m., and the communications, was the only FSA dences in the past 20 years. However, he Brook—about 3,000 new students, as
Union Commons and Starbucks until Board of Directors member to vote said it’s a tough decision to place the well as the academic plan and the re-
midnight. against the budget, and Froylan Enciso, cost of the construction onto the stu- search plan for the university.
On top of the $35 fee increase, res- President of the Graduate Student Or- dents.
idential meal plans will increase by 2 ganization, was the only to abstain. “It’s because the state isn’t providing
percent, as they do annually, to com- Mazza said he would rather see the the proper support for a public univer-
The Stony Brook Press Features 9
10 Vol. XXXII, Issue 14 |Wednesday, May 17, 2011
features
James O’Connor, director of trans-
portation and parking on campus. “Ul-
timately, it increased the traffic on the
roadway, increased our carbon foot
print and reduced our sustainability,”
said O’Connor about the old form of
residence parking.
As for the money, it goes back to
ensuring that more tickets are issued
and safety is ensured, at least according
to Barbara Chernow, vice president of
facilities and services. “It’s used to pro-
mote safety, because if we didn’t have a
traffic enforcement staff, handicap
spaces and fire lanes would be continu-
ally blocked and the number of acci-
dents would skyrocket.”
Of the total 30,255 tickets issued in
2009, more than half were unauthorized
parking violations while there were
9,656 expired meter violations. To put it
in comparison, there were 9,190 unau-
thorized parking violations in total in
2005.
For Dean Miller, director of the
Stony Brook News Literacy program,
parking has made him ride his bike to
work as often as he can. “I use my car as
little as possible,” said Miller, who will
leave notes on his car pleading not to
get ticketed, as was the case when he
was a new professor without a permit.
“When I do drive, I find I’m going to
pay. It’s going to cost me 30 or 40 bucks.”
Miller has been ticketed for an ex-
pired meter, parking in the stadium lot
after he couldn’t find parking in the fac-
ulty lot on the day of a final he had to
CONTRIBUTOR LIST
ROMAN BELOPOLSKY
LIZ EARLY
SARAH EVINS
COLLEEN O’CONNOR
GINNY MULÉ
EVAN GOLDAPER
GABRIEL PANADERO
R.J. HUNEKE
ULA GRADOWSKA
A man is dead-
I turn to Donne
and I ask:
Is there an exception
for whom the bell
should toll?
4 the stony brook PRESS
POEMS
ROMAN BELOPOLSKY
A Man That’s
Always Smiling My Mistress
in the sleepless toro, these old (forty-something-sexy) books;
there is a place that sleeps dream- my Sofias, my Esperanzas, my little poems on
less. the appendix, the pueblo Alcalá. introduction.
down the cobble callé a sign I’ve overheard (people say): “I love old books,
creaks in the somnambulant breeze, they have such character- ”
“la biblioteca,” a bar without -they are characters
POEMS
Beverage Kiss
Writing a poem in ten minutes
On lots of coffee:
Modernity
Fuck modern philosophy
Sacred steaming roasts, like kisses
The case needs action
Wet grasping
Not the whining of bookish
Rejuvenating, invigorating, inspiring
Timidity!
The cup tilts
Grappling
Study the great philosophs
Like my lover’s trembling thighs
Wield the very books
Her moistened lips
To replace the dumb rulers
Her tenderest kiss
Fanaticists
Rushing and sloshing
Slowing and sweating
Sitting by idly rapes us
Bare
To burn the soft brains
Delicious…
Will file the ideas
Beverage Kiss.
(Ground) down to ash
Dust sticks to the human race
Cobwebs cling to ears
We don’t move or hear the cries
Of suffering
We have modernity.
LITERARY SUPPLEMENT SPRING 2011 7
POEMS
R.J. HUNEKE
Chasms
Crossing countless chasms of Ginsbergian trials And you took my hand from the soft silent ocean depths of
emerald flashes
The hand is taken the foot is scorched about the ruined
Ground Zero And brought me up to the thick ignoble air
Still flickering like a worn brass candle-lantern in the rusty
wind shivering that is not ignorable
Terror spreads like a ruptured praying mantis egg-sack
The hand is taken on and up the rubble
Tiny ripples escape, sheer numbers overrun and within an
Above hour the green expressions are gone
Building, building, building In their wake one might remain to devour the outlying epicen-
ter of its masses
Broader, deeper, taller
Unless the masses take the youth by the swiveling triangular
Below head and make food of this
Why have the pits grown in the open aired urban clusters So the mantis is surrounded on a hedge-island; a being that
And the rural shrinking back-woods Americana was not given the time to grow
Jerky-laden teeth Fuck Me for jerky, so long as you’re not a In its buried Depth
Yankee But the hand reaches into the gaping mouth of the deadly
sharp bush-cave
The hand holds me up when all of this tugs on my sticky ven- For faith in the risk, the difference, could mean art’s survival
tricles and pulls hard and down and humanity’s
Yanks and anchor chains as big as circular hands lapping about The twiggy abyss scratches and claws at the hand pushing for-
my scrawny feet and bent toes ward and contorting
(Now it’s personal, I know, but the third person singular will Blood spills, inevitable in this life, but the hand moves, moves,
limit no one no more!) grasps and cradles:
For I was drowning amidst despairing apathetic TV-holics, The baby mantis is saved.
false clergy and demonic ignorants
8 the stony brook PRESS
POEMS
R.J. HUNEKE
Individual Dawn
Give me wit give me humor: Beach sands sacred rites
Fuck Troilus, fox news, msnbc Media shrunken head culture
Nun-fucking cleric indulgences Soul sharing well beyond
Are uncompromisable, but the Warped religious damnation
Whipped Troi, the tame president, That tears, claws and
The oligarchy that is called Rapes the minds, bodies, spirits
The United States Congress And perceptions of our
Ruled by Insiders in the Insiders Naked Creator
On the Inside, without public votes,
Will fall via the most Scrape the page and rehash
Trojan of horses The palimpsest in search for
Leap from the giant bunny A new voice
Suspend disbelief and imagine Bob Dylan, MLK, X, Lennon
A place without family guy Gracious Ginsberg
Mixing laxatives and stool hardeners, Need Company
But also a place of unforced Rise individuals, one by one
Artistic expression and freedom of will Pick up your dusty feet and march
Free from Down on and upon Highway 61’s
The horrors, the shackles, Porcelain clay gray china
Of TV, democracy, apathy, hypocrisy, War plates
Anarchy to Lining the roadside from
Wrench out the bolts of the Here to eternity
Dead society In tired twisted
For individuality Pieces
A community of the risk-taking Smelling like scrambled eggs
Individual will win peace Ere the echoes of a robin
Praise art sunsets owl’s Greet the sad sunrise.
Flight sunrise hoots
LITERARY SUPPLEMENT SPRING 2011 9
POEMS
Jesus-Mary
Mary, you carried a god Mary, misrepresented
The masses killed him Is your son today
And it rained Bastardized
Mary, your daughter formed church Mary, the body count weighs
Fanatics use it Heavier than time
For control And it rained
Mary, lost are the teachings Mary, I pray your ears are
Do any kill in Not deaf like the New
Buddha’s name? Testament
LIZ EARLY
10 the stony brook PRESS
POEMS
GABRIEL PANADERO
Wild Hours
coursing unreality is
threading its way through
my self unwinding one
sputtering firecracker
bouncing down the street
into darkness
and even though
there is all that
future
waiting
it feels like
time is hunting me down
with teeth rattling
against seconds
tearing moment from moment
separating days into
nonsense
until I won't
recognize myself or
even old photographs
where I thought this is
set in stone
LIZ EARLY
or at least paper
and can never be changed.
LITERARY SUPPLEMENT SPRING 2011 11
POEMS
LIZ EARLY
Infinite Power and Strength
Infinite power and strength,
crashing down on our bodies,
lifting our souls.
Majesty born of gentleness and beauty tempers fear.
Life. Death.
Renewal and destruction, not opposites, but half of the same whole
SARAH EVINS
Trigemenial Nerves
I feel the crush of my lips beneath my teeth,
Our words colliding into a sea of fricatives and velar plosives in the chill air of night.
Lately, the weight of my teeth can’t help but linger around the thought of you,
it gnaws, unbidden,
But,
I realize,
SOMETHING FISHY
GINNY MULÉ
T he sun was streaming through my window as
the alarm on my cell phone jolted me awake. I
grabbed the phone to silence it, and was taken
aback by the screen that greeted me. “That’s weird,”
from my left wisdom tooth, I snapped myself back into reality
and began compiling my list.
Cheddar (my pet goldfish)
Ninja (my roommate’s beta fish)
I thought. “It seems that no one called or texted me The tuna sandwich in my fridge.
last night while I was asleep. I’ve got to get to the bottom of this.” Those were all of the fish I could think of in my life. It wasn’t
My first instinct was to call my friend, Molly Miller, and ask much of a list, but it was a good start. As I started thinking about
her why exactly she had not called me between the hours of 2 how I would get the answers I needed from these sources (who
and 8 AM. But no, if something was afoot, that’s exactly what did I know that could serve as a Fish-English translator?), my
they’d expect me to do. And I was sure that there was something mind began to wander, looking for inspiration. What was it that
afoot. So sure, that I’d even go as far as to say that there was some- Molly Miller had told me just the day before? “There are plenty
thing AFEET. That’s the plural of afoot, so you know that it must of fish in the sea…”- that was it! Of course, it all made sense at
be more important. Feet creep me out, so I knew I was going to that moment! I lived on an island! There were fish all around me,
have to be creative to get to the bottom of this. and with that many fish around, the laws of probability said that
As I got dressed, I reviewed the facts in my head. Something at least one of them had to know the solution to my mystery.
was fishy about the situation; something just didn’t smell right Feeling rather smug, I began to pack my bag for a trip to West
to me. Fish! Feet! Smell! Why didn’t I realize the connection be- Meadow Beach. I looked around my room for bait and fishing
fore? I was obviously dealing with some sort of athlete’s foot-in- supplies, but to my dismay, I had none. Hmm, I guess this rusty
fested ichthyoid. I’ll have to make a list of all of the fish I know old clothes hanger and this old tuna sandwich will have to do, I
so that I can question them and take notes, just like real detec- thought as I shoved them into my bag.
tives do. When I got to the beach, I noticed that I had a missed call on
By that time, several minutes had passed, and I realized I was my phone. Molly Miller. That’s strange, I thought. Why would
going to be late for my marine ecology class. But how could I she call me during the day, but not in the middle of the night? I
even think about going to class at a time like this? I had bigger dialed my voice mailbox and typed in my PIN to hear her mes-
fish to fry. Mmmm. Fry. I realized at that moment that I was hun- sage. She sounded worried, inquiring why I hadn’t been in class
gry, so I looked in my refrigerator to see what I had to eat. Noth- that morning. “You know exactly why I wasn’t there, Molly,” I
ing was there but a week-old tuna sandwich that was starting to thought to myself. If only I knew.
smell funky. This won’t do, I thought to myself, and so I found a I spent all day sitting on the beach, dangling my sandwich
half-eaten package of Swedish Fish on my desk, and began to into the water just like I’d seen real fishermen do in movies and
chow down. stuff (although I doubt they had used moldy tuna sandwiches).
As I shoved fish after sugary fish into my mouth, I found it I guess the fish just aren’t biting today, I thought to myself as the
difficult to concentrate because my molars were being cemented sun went down, so I packed up and headed back to campus.
together in a cherry-red, high-fructose corn syrup-laden mess.
As I concentrated on removing a particularly stubborn piece
LITERARY SUPPLEMENT SPRING 2011 13
UNCONSCIOUSNESS
ULA GRADOWSKA
16 the stony brook PRESS
PAINLESS
EVAN GOLDAPER
(WITH THANKS TO THE TALKING HEADS)
S
o you’re getting’ off at Kingston Station, you are? and you find yourself sitting inside, watchin’ one of the little TVs
Ah. That’s the first time I can remember someone they got up there, and wondering if they’ll ever fix the joystick on
doin’ that in a long time. You got family there, the old Asteroids machine.
kid? Heh, probably. Can’t see any other reason to Yeah, nothing really changes. Hell, what’s a pizza place but
stop there. a bar for a different vice? Oh, we tried, to move on, but we migh-
Ever been before? No? ‘Course not. tas well’ve been doing nothing. One thing is nobody ever took a
You’re in for something, kid. It’s quite the place. Places stand, you hear? We had heroes, but they weren’t much to cling
don’t get more…less than Kingston. Hm? You confused? I can to. A bassist signed to an obscure metal band, a minor league
put it this way. You got time for a story? ‘Course you do, we’ve got pitcher, this pre-teen whose self-published work of high fantasy
ten stops t’go. only gets copies sold at our annual street fair. We stuck with
Well, this story’s as true as they come. Oh, it’s got exag- them, as if no other town had these specimens. Hung their pho-
gerations, but you know, sometimes, exaggerations got more tos in the old schoolhouse, emblems for the youth. This, the pho-
truth in ‘em than your straight facts do. There was this one day tos say, ‘s the best we can offer, the best you can be. Hope you
that I was on this train with this crazy guy in an ill-fittin’, dirty ol’ like commutin’ to your accounting job, because all we are is a
suit, and he told me that facts are lazy and facts never do what town to take the rail through. You ask anyone you meet if they’ve
you want ‘em to. Then he started hittin’ himself and seizin’ and all heard of Kingston, and the best they’ll ever tell you is that they
that, but I think he mighta known what was really up around rode through it once while headin’ up to the big city.
here. So this story’s for him, and it’s got the real truth in the same Ay, we never managed to be a town that was charmin’, like
way that the old songs had the real truth in ‘em. And it goes a lit- the little towns down by the ferry docks. It was just dreary and all
tle like this. that, like an ol’ Wild West ghost town. You’d walk around, won-
Growin’ up, I lived in Kingston. You think y’know about derin’ if you’d ever see anythin’ worth looking at. But all that was
small towns? Kingston, you see, is right here in the worst possi- really around were those abandoned hospital buildings looming
ble place for a town to matter. We’re too far east t’be a part of the overhead. Yeah, no one ever took ‘em down, for whatever rea-
big city, but too far west t’be a place where rich folks would go to son. Maybe if they did, the town’d fall apart. But there they were:
get away from all that. Who’d want to live here anyway, unless Jagged edges, dark corners, and no one ever stepped inside any-
you just didn’t have a choice? So we just got by with the same more. I mean, I like quiet an’ all, but those…mausoleums of ill-
families that always lived here, back when Kingston was just a ness just made the back roads seem a little too, uh, sepulchral. I
nameless potato farm for the big city. never wanted t’be around there anymore and kid, I suggest you
Oh yeah, we used to be a potato farm, but then we all got stay away too. ‘Specially after dark.
lazy an’ gave that up. There are farms out east, we musta figured. But where else can you go, eh? The main streets just seem
We could focus on other things, like opening more bars than any like they’re tryin’ too hard. “Oh,” the town said, “I’ve got stuff for
other town. Man, we had that record in the bag and we weren’t you to do. You want to play Bingo at the firehouse? You want to
even a real town yet, just some abandoned potato fields. Not until look at some flowers near the library, permanently shut down
they built the hospital. Even then, the town was created just t’pro- due to asbestos I’ll never clean? Hey, I got a museum,” the town
vide some resources to the staff, which, I mean, based on what we insisted. “Come down, come down, you can see a railroad tie
got, was just booze. But you need that when your day job’s from 1886, you can see a potato shovel from back before we even
watchin’ the terminally-ill. You don’t believe me that our town had a railroad. Sit outside the bank and stare at a pigeon, you
just existed for the hospital’s benefit? Lemme put it straight. You could do that, you could.”
wonder why we’re called Kingston? Kid, the name of the com- And then, three years back, our savior came. I tell you, it
pany that owned the dang hospital was Kings, and we were just was hope for Kingston in the form of artificial sweetening and
the town for ‘em. Kings-town. Kingston. So when the hospital frozen water. When they opened a little Italian ice place next t’
shut down, we were lost, you hear? A crew without our ship, a the old junk shop, our town changed, it did. I don’t remember
platoon without our cause. what it was before—it practically came outta nowhere, like a mi-
Was a good thing we had all those bars, lemme tell you. rage—but when the shop opened, there was no doubt that the
But as time went on, we got bored of those too. Call it gentrifi- new place was different from anything we’d had before. On a
cation if you want, but it’s not like anythin’ got better. It’s just in street of crumbling brown-brick shops with dirty windows, the
a town where nothin’ ever changes, you change what you can. blue-an’-orange awning and smilin’ lemon mascot stood out like
And so bars became pizza places, an’ pizza places became hair nothin’ else.
salons, and if you’re not with the mold you become either aban- Within a week, Main Street was flooded in a way it never
doned or a laundromat. And eventually the driers break down was before. People came out of the woodwork to spend time on
LITERARY SUPPLEMENT SPRING 2011 17
PAINLESS
a street they’d avoided for years, I tell ya. I saw children I had ever finishing. Just some cobblestones coverin’ the old aban-
never seen, eating a mango ice or whatever other frozen dessert doned lot. A swing. Some benches. A table for playing chess.
they wanted instead of keeping indoors. Young couples, old men, And a pillar in the center of the square, covered in histor-
a dog, teenagers, adults. Dozens of people every day, crowding ical facts about Kingston. Did you know that the town was built
into the empty lot between the ice shop and the rail station. around a hospital? Course you knew that, I told you. Heh. Yeah,
We’d never had anything like this, and no one quite knew the whole history of Kingston fit on one pillar, stuck there like a
how to react. I swung by one day after I got out of work. Inside, poster for a lost dog. Kid, I read it a few times over while eatin’ a
the staff was friendly an’ clean, and it was a bit…disconcerting. cherry ice, and I can tell you that there’s nothin’ on that pillar I
Where was the chippin’ plaster, I asked, where’re the sullied win- haven’t told you already.
dows an’ dim lighting? Not here, they smiled. Not here. Have a The town claimed the park was about all that, an homage
cherry ice. And I stared at it, put a few pennies in the tip jar, and to how great it’d been all these years. Hell, all the homage was ‘s
sampled it. a paved lot with benches, an’ lord knows a town like this doesn’t
It wasn’t great. I’d picked up similar snacks at the ol’ gas deserve a greater homage than that. But look, kid. I’ll believe a lot
station for less. But it was a change, an’ it was painless, and we of things, but that’s just facts, an’ those ain’t ever what they seem
needed that more than anything. to be. Here’s the truth: it’s a monument to ices, a tribute to dessert.
But people came in droves. It was like the ices spawned a The best Kingston ever offered. At the end of the day, we were
bacteria culture of enthusiastic townspeople, and the town finally still nothin’, and nothin’ could make that better.
got what it said it always wanted. “Ah, you like me now,” the town And that’s the real truth. That, kid, is all there ever was.
smiled. “Let’s see what we can do, eh?” Puttin’ up Main Street Will it ever get better? I’m still waitin’.
Park was the first public works project I can remember anyone
LIZ EARLY
18 the stony brook PRESS
“What’s your name, love?” Tessa stepped quietly over to the lock and turned each of
“Uh, who? M-me?” the officer stuttered, pointin’ at him- Monroe’s keys in the hole until she found the right one that
self. opened the cell door. She slid out makin’ as little noise as possi-
“Of course you, silly. Ain’t nobody else over there, ble. “Sorry, honey,” she said to Officer Monroe as she stole a
right?” lamp off a nearby desk and smashed it over the man’s head. She
“R-right,” he mumbled. “My, uh, my name’s Monroe. J- took his gun and slipped it into the back of her pants.
Jackson Monroe.” “Hey! Wait!”
“Officer Jackson Monroe?” Tessa corrected. Tessa turned and saw a beat-up, broad-shouldered man
“Hah, yeah, that’s right. I’m not so used to the title yet.” standin’ at the bars of his cell.
“That’s okay, honey. How long ya been on the job?” “Ya can’t just leave me here, sugar. C’mon, help me out.”
“Few months now.” Tessa took a deep breath. She looked at Monroe and
“A few months and ya don’t got a badge?” then at the door. “Dammit!” she hissed as she made her way
“Badge? No, uh, I got a badge, miss,” Officer Monroe quickly over to the other cell and opened the lock. “Hurry up,”
replied, gropin’ for the metal on his chest to reassure himself. she said as she made her way to her exit.
“Why now, I can’t see that from all the way ovah here. Tessa and her tag-along partner rushed out the door and
Why don’t you shuffle on ovah so I can see it?” she baited him. saw that there was one car left outside. It had to be Monroe’s.
Officer Monroe got up out of his chair real hesitant-like. “We better get outta here ‘fore Chester gets back,” Tessa
He fumbled a little bit, knockin’ over a cup of pens as he got said just before the other renegade twisted her arm and pushed
out of his seat. He picked it all back up and then made his way her against the wall of the station. “What the hell are ya doin’?”
in front of the girl’s cell. The other man left in the station still she cried out.
hadn’t moved, but Tessa could feel his eyes on her from behind “Gettin’ the hell outta here,” the man answered and
the shadows. pulled the gun out from its home near the small of Tessa’s back.
“Well, now that is a real nice lookin’ medal ya got yoself,” “You really shouldn’t be so trustin’, sugar,” he breathed down
she said to the officer and slowly placed her slender fingers on her neck. He pressed himself up to her back and he brushed
the badge. She let her touch linger and slide down the young away a tear from her cheek with the barrel of his newly ac-
man’s arm. “Ya know? No one can evuh decide what color mah quired gun.
eyes are. What do you think? Look real close now.” “Please,” she wimpered.
Monroe leaned in closer to the bars. He shook a bit, like “Please, what? Please don’t hurt you? Please don’t rape
a dead leaf in the middle of a northern winter. “They’re light. you?”
Like gray. A real light gray.” “Please don’t leave me here,” she confessed squeezin’ her
“Officer Monroe, I have always thought my eyes were eyes shut.
gray too. Thank you.” Tessa extended her arms through the The man looked at the girl for a second longer before
bars and placed one on his shoulder and one on his hip. tearin’ himself away and headin’ for the solitary vehicle. A
“Uh, miss, I think I should, uh, get on b-back to my desk shabby, worn-out waste of an engine, but it would get him
now,” Monroe told her nervously and found that he couldn’t where he needed to go.
look the girl in the eyes anymore. “Please,” Tessa cried out, standin’ meekly near the door
“That’s fine, honey,” she answered. “I understand. Ya of the station, arms hangin’ limply at her sides. “I don’t got no-
don’t wanna go and get yoself distracted now. Otherwise that body.”
Winchester will have ya badge.” The man stared at her through cold, dark eyes. He was
Monroe laughed and took a step back, tripped over his half-way in the car already.
own feet, caught himself, and then walked to his desk. He “Well that’s just too damn bad, sugar.”
made sure not to knock over anythin’ this time.
“Moron,” she said almost inaudibly.
20 the stony brook PRESS
PHOTOGRAPHY
LIZ EARLY
LITERARY SUPPLEMENT SPRING 2011 21
REACHING OUT
ULA GRADOWSKA
22 the stony brook PRESS
ULA GRADOWSKA
LIZ EARLY
LITERARY SUPPLEMENT SPRING 2011 23
A GHOST STORY
COLLEEN O’CONNOR
T
here are ghosts in my house. I see them every day. I almost wish I could know more about them, because
They walk the halls and talk to each other like their lives must have been so sad. I watched the ghost of a mother
they don’t notice me. I used to be scared of them, putting her baby to bed, and after that, the baby ghost was gone
but after living with them for so long, I just hate and the mother walked around the house crying endlessly. One
them. I hate them so much. time, she looked past the veil that separates us from them, and
she saw me. I didn’t see fear in her eyes—just sadness.
I started seeing ghosts after I came down with a terrible
fever as a little girl. I forget what life was like before that, but I can I don’t care to go outside any longer, not when there are
remember lying in bed and crying. I was sweating and vomiting, ghosts roaming my hallways. I climb the stairs and watch them
and my mother was holding my hand, and I remember her cry- sit at the table and mouth words to each other. I think of noth-
ing too. I must have fallen asleep after that. When I woke up, two ing but following them, because they are in my house, and I hate
ghosts were laying in my bed, right next to me. I screamed so them so much for it. But when they yell at me late at night, or
loud that they jumped up and ran away. I didn’t know that my when they’re alone in a room with me, I see them mouth that
house was haunted, but let me tell you—even the most normal this is their house now. It is not. I was here first.
house has ghosts in it, if my home is any indication.
Before my fever I didn’t know that ghosts slept, but now I
But the ghosts in my house, they are strange. They change do. They sleep at night, or they try to make me think that they’re
their shapes to fool me, and move things around when I’m not sleeping. I stay up and watch them, to make sure they don’t get
looking. I will go upstairs and pass the ghost of a little boy with up and try to move anything else. I sit at the edge of the bed, or
blonde hair, and when I come back down, the little boy has at the dresser across the room from them. It’s cramped up there.
turned into a young man with the same blonde hair. And the I usually tuck my knees under my nose and drum my fingers as
couch will have been moved. I hate it, living with ghosts. One I wait. I don’t need to sleep since I started seeing ghosts. I sit and
time when they were moving a table in the kitchen, I got so angry I watch them every night in my house. I can’t let them think that
that I lost my temper. It was embarrassing, come to think of it! I they’ve won. They can come and go all they please, but I will stay
picked up a vase and hurled it against the wall and screamed for here and watch them, and one day, I will frighten them off for
them to stop. Well, the ghosts did stop after that for a bit, but it good and they will leave me alone with the sunlight that slants
was only a matter of time until they changed their shape and across the dusty floor of the attic, and my little bed that I don’t
started up again. sleep in anymore.
I can tell they’re the same ghosts because they remember Because this is my house. My house.
me. They know that the person who does live here is
angry at them. I see it in their eyes and the way they
steal around, as if they’re waiting for me. I rattle the
doors at night and pound on the windows so they
know that I’m still here, haunting them, they way
they haunt me.
LIZ EARLY
The Stony Brook Press Features 13
14 Arts & Entertainment Vol. XXXII, Issue 14 |Wednesday, May 17, 2011