Joey Bada$$’s new album stirs up difference of opinions

It was a gloomy February day when 15-year old Chris Ricketts discovered a new and upcoming rapper’s first single that talked about power and the state of society. That single was called “Survival Tactics,” and that rapper was Joey Bada$$. Five years later, on April 30, 2017, his favorite rapper is coming to Stony Brook.

After listening to his new album “ALL AMERIKKKAN-BADA$$,” which was released on Friday, April 7, by Cinematic Music Group and Pro Era, Ricketts was surprised to hear Joey had come full circle.

“It’s kind of crazy when I think about it,” Ricketts said. “He’s grown so much over the last five years, lyrically and stylistically. I never would have guessed he would have come back to where he started after being so successful already.”

With Joey rapping about the powers that rule above him and society itself on “Survival Tactics,” he crosses the threshold again speaking even more about the current status of the government and social issues themselves on songs like “LAND OF THE FREE” and “FOR MY PEOPLE.”

Within the first day of release, ALL AMERIKKKAN BADA$$, AABA for short, hit number one hip-hop album in the U..S and number four worldwide. Numerous respected hip-hop news organizations such as XXL Mag, HipHipDX, Billboard, HotNewHipHop, DJBooth, and many more are talking about AABA, calling it a ‘politically-charged” album.

With initial reviews saying the album is a step in the right direction, there are some people who believe this album to be an attack on the police, the government, and Donald Trump. Conservative groups have not come out publicly to attack the rapper, but some are not happy that a rapper is expressing his/her opinions that are wrong.

“I think sometimes some of the celebrities have more power than they deserve,” Michael Long, Chairman of the Conservative Party of New York, said to the Long Islander. “I think they sometimes overuse their celebrity status to try to influence their followers. I certainly take umbrage with his disrespect to America and I certainly disagree with the rant slamming the President but they have that right too. The First Amendment guarantees that.”

In the song “TEMPTATION,” Joey raps about government control to society. Saying, “The government been trying to take away what’s ours. It’s really all about the money and the power, I just wanna see my people in power.”

Along with government control, the rapper does not hold back when talking about police brutality. He says, “That’s word to motherland sold us on stolen land. Visions from ‘brother man’ you seen us all holding hands fifty years still see my brothers choked to death, R.I.P. to Eric Garner,” on the song “BABYLON.”

The 22-year-old Brooklyn rapper will come to Stony Brook University for the annual Brookfest at the end of April. The University Student Government (USG) is not worried about backlash from the public about his album and performance.

“The performer [Joey Bada$$] was booked in advance before the knowledge of his album was addressed to the public,” Justas Klimavicius, executive assistant to VP of Student Life, said. “Even with his album available now, we have not received any backlash from our decision to book the rapper.”

Long Island is a dominantly republican area. In 2016, Suffolk County was responsible for a large amount of votes for Donald Trump, 48.6 percent of the island voted for Donald Trump, according to Newsday.

Many public figures and music producers do support Joey and his music. “His album is going to do great,” DJ Kastone from New York’s number 1 hip-hop radio station, Hot97, said to the Long Islander. “Joey Bada$$ has a built fanbase and they support him all the time, so I don’t see this album doing bad at all.”

Joey thanked Hot97 on his Instagram story for being the first radio station in New York, where he resides, to play songs from his new album.

“We from Hot97 supported him from the beginning and I’m expecting him to go gold or platinum at least [with this new album],” the DJ said.

Joey Bada$$ will be performing alongside DNCE and Allison Wonderland on April 30 for Stony Brook University’s annual Brookfest.

New pitch count regulations throw curveball on Opening Day

Joe Cornish would always say yes. Cherishing a love for baseball and as a high school player trying to make it into a college team, he would always answer “yes” when asked, “can you pitch today?” But one too many yeses meant that by the time he was eighteen, Cornish could barely lift his arm after pitching, let alone throw. Now, Cornish is a coach enforcing new regulations that stop young baseball players from over-pitching.

New regulations issued by Little League Baseball and the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFSA) in November 2016 came into effect on Opening Day, Monday, April 3, 2017. These changes update the amount of pitches a player can throw within a certain time frame and how many days of rest they are required to take before they can return to the mound.

“We used to limit the pitchers to innings,” President and coach for Three Village Baseball and Softball League, Cornish said. “Now, an inning is three outs for the opposing team but that could total 50 or 60 pitches in a single inning, which is a large amount […] generally kids should throw 8 pitches multiplied by their age.”

Enter a caption

The new regulations require teams to have official pitch count recorders and for the recorded information from practices and games to be submitted to the league upon request.

“I need a helper,” Cornish said. “I have like a little handheld device that I am able to click off every time they throw a pitch […] so I’m having someone else take care of that in a game while I’m talking about game strategy or paying attention to something in the game.”

The regulations apply to varsity, junior varsity, little league, middle school and high school players and have been revised to protect pitchers’ arms.

“I feel the pitch count implementation was a necessary rule to ensure the safety and well-being of our student-athletes,” Tim Mullins, Suffolk County head of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association, said. “This new rule is a proactive step in doing our part to protect and support our baseball players and their futures. It’s imperative that all stakeholders (coaches, parents, athletes) are educated on the pitch count and why this was added so that we can start protecting athletes arms at a young age.”

A study spanning over 20 years, completed in 2015 by PitchSmart USA stated that from 2007-2011, Tommy John surgeries among teenagers increased 9 percent, and continues to increase.

“The more you throw, the more fatigued the muscle gets, the more strain that goes on the ligament,” Orthopaedic surgeon and expert on Tommy John Surgery, Dr. James Paci said.  “Over time, as the ligament builds up wear and tear, eventually, it fails.”

In the fall of tenth grade, Matthew Buckshaw noticed that his velocity was down and his fastball wasn’t tailing. He told his coaches about the excruciating pain in his right elbow. At just 16 years old, and a critical point in his blossoming baseball career, the sophomore pitcher underwent Tommy John surgery to repair a torn UCL.

“It’s a sport where — at some point — an injury is bound to happen,” Josh Gutes, Hauppauge High School baseball coach, said. “But certainly at the higher level, there’s been an uptick in these injuries, whether it’s the arm, elbow, or shoulder.”

School and Little League baseball players were not regulated by pitch counts until the start of the 2007 season, when pitch counts, rather than counts of innings, were introduced for regular seasons.

“It’s a good thing because young kids, when they’re good, they get overpitched by coaches that just want to win,” Eastchester Little League member who played since he was five and through high school, Andrew Lalli said. “By the time they get to high school, their arms aren’t developed and then their arms start to hurt them and then their future baseball is sometimes in jeopardy if the player has an arm that isn’t that great and overused.”

One surgeon is worried that without regulation throughout all teams and associations these rules may not be successful.

“The thing is, once the kids start playing travel ball, if it gets beyond the little league system, there may not be pitch counts in place and if a kid is throwing on three different teams, that is probably way too many baseball teams,” Dr. Paci said. “That’s three different teams with three different coaches and those three coaches aren’t communicating […] If Mom and Dad aren’t there policing it, if he’s got a gun arm, he’s going to get run into the ground.”

Players and their parents should look into cellphone applications that track pitch count whilst also staying alert to fatigue and bad pitching mechanics, Dr. Paci suggested.

Pitch counts for each age differ by state, according to Baseball America. Those who breach the new pitch count regulations will face a $250 fine to the offending school of the violating player.

Increased anti-Semitism has caused worry amongst Long Island Jewish communities

In the past six weeks, the New York City Police Department reported a 110 percent increase in hate incidents, many of them directed towards Jewish institutions including one bomb threat on Long Island, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

The person responsible for a majority of the bomb threats, an unnamed 19-year old Jewish man from Israel, was arrested this past Thursday in connection with 16 cases.

“When we found out on the news of who did this, it was even more insulting and mortifying,” Ira Litkofsky, Office Manager of the Congregation Shaaray Shalom in West Hempstead, said. “I think people have gotten a bit nervous and more vigilant, making us a bit worried. We are very lucky that we have police presence here day and night around the community.”
Increased anti-Semitism across the United States has caused members of the Long Island Jewish community to worry about their safety.

“Many of our sister organizations and friends at Jewish Community Centers have received forms of anti-Semitism and we are well aware,” Garrison-Feinberg, Director of School of Programs for Holocaust Memorial and Tolerance Center in Nassau County, said. “We are working with many of those other organizations to put out a united front against biased and intolerance of any kind and any anti-Semitism in particular.”

Over 100 Jewish Centers have received bomb threats including Mid Island JCC in Plainview, which was evacuated after bomb threat, according to Anti-Defamation League’s audit on anti-semitic behavior.

In 2015, the number of anti-Semitic attacks had increased by 3 percent. This year, that percentage is expected to rise.

“Supposedly in New York City, there seems to be almost a three times increase in the number of anti-Semitic incidents,” Joseph Topek, Director of Hillel Foundation for Jewish Life, said. “Some of it has been directed at individuals and it’s concerning.”

Suffolk County Police department met with members of the Jewish Center of Bay Shore this month after vandalism to Jewish cemeteries and a dozen bomb threats to Jewish community centers reported across the state.

“Unfortunately right now there has been some people who have felt empowered for whatever reason, to be much more open about their hatred and biased than they might have before,” Garrison-FeinBerg said. “I think it’s troubling. I think that a lot of times when there is a pretty well publicized incident. sometimes it does invite copy cat. Either because people who hold those biased beliefs feel like they can get away with public displays or bc others just want to draw attention to themselves.”

Long Island high school students share their artwork in student display at museum in Huntington

Eighty-four lucky aspiring art students get the chance each year to be displayed in the “Long Island’s Best: Young Artists at the Heckscher Museum” exhibit from March to April. 2017 will be the 21st anniversary of the exhibit.

Along with the 84 student works being displayed, for the first time ever, the Department of Education at the museum has set up a digital slideshow to display the two hundred twenty-two art pieces that weren’t selected for the exhibit at the museum so that every school is represented.

This exhibit allows high school students from all over Long Island to share their artworks through different types of media.

“They [the students] put a lot of work into their entries and we know we only have room for 80-ish works of art, so there’s always that number of kids that don’t get in. So this year, we realized that if they send a picture to us of their work of art, we could show it that way

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

, digitally,”Joy Weiner, the Director of Education and Public Programs, said. “At least there’s some consolation for them and their work is still being seen by visitors.”

The jurors for the artworks for the 2017 Long Island’s Best exhibit were Heckscher Museum Curator, Lisa Chalif and guest juror, Cindy Grimm, the Assistant Director at The Cold Spring Harbor Whaling Museum and Education Center.

“The high school show was conceived as a way of engaging the students more closely with the experience of being in the museum and tying it in with their art classes,” Chalif said. “It gives the students the experience of what it’s like to be like a professional artist.”

This was the first year the Chalif was joined by special guest juror Cindy Grimm from the Whaling Museum in Cold Spring Harbor. “It was a really great experience, you know. We each had initial responses to different works and it was great coming from different perspectives,” Chalif said.

This isn’t the first time Grimm has had to judge artwork.

“I own my own photo gallery. I’ve been a professional photographer for over twenty years, and I’ve helped picked other artwork for other shows across the country.

The art pieces are judged based on creativity, styles, subjects, quality, and a professional-level of art through a broad range of media. This annual educational program allows high school students to connect their experiences at the Museum to their art making in the classroom.

“Everybody in the community loves this exhibit. The quintessential expectation was to inspire students who come to the museum,” Chalif said. “They come here. We inspire. They respond.”

Asante Mills, a Deer Park high school graduate, still remembers the day in 2015 when he found out his artwork would be displayed.

“I was sitting in art class waiting for the bell to ring when my teacher walked in all giddy,” he said. “She runs to me and gives me a hug, and tells me, ‘You were chosen for the museum.’ I couldn’t believe it.”

New Shake Shack in Lake Grove partners with children’s hospital and advocates for health

Suffolk County welcomed its first Shake Shack in Lake Grove on March 7, the third Shake Shack on Long Island to fundraise for the Cohen Children’s Medical Center. Five percent of the proceeds one of the menu items every week proceeds will go directly to the institution.

Families and friends of the Lake Grove staff were invited to attend an invite only pre-opening event on Monday to get a taste of what the food chain will bring to the community. Invitations were also extended to the Stony Brook Athletics Department and the Spirit of Stony Brook Marching Band.

 

http://longislander.info/wp-content/uploads/mai_swaby/

 

“We are super excited to be in Suffolk County, and particularly near Stony Brook, which we know has a huge presence out here in Lake Grove and Suffolk County in general.” Kevin Garry, Area Director of Shake Shack said. “We’ve had a ton of success at our existing Long Island stores in Westbury and New Hyde Park closer to the city and we’re really excited to be here in Suffolk County.”

Cohen Children’s Medical Center was represented in the store on Monday by Debora Riccardi to advocate on behalf of the center.

“The partnership is just that they [Shake Shack] are fundraising for the Children’s hospital and it comes through our foundation office. It is so nice to have the community involved in the medical center.” Dr. Debora Riccardi said. “When I was talking to a couple of the staff members from Shake Shack, they said that they wanted to give back to the partners in the community so that’s kind of where the partnership came in.”

Cohen Children’s Medical Center, located in New Hyde Park, is geared mainly towards the care of children and commits to providing state-of-the-art care in all major clinical areas. Specialists in the program cover a various range of specialties including cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery, minimally invasive surgery, and stem cell transplantation.

The Shake Shack manager in the New Hyde Park location suggested the children’s hospital partnership, in which the rest of the Long Island chains participated in as well.

“Today the hospital is here to give away all the free items to everybody,” Jeremy Graf, the general manager of Shake Shack said. “We ask that anybody was wow’d by the meal, to donate money, especially to our charitable partner, to help them raise funds for the children’s hospital.”

Shake Shack customers can contribute to the children’s hospital by purchasing the “Pie Oh My” concrete shake — a mixture of frozen custard and toppings.      

“In events like this, we can set up and let them raise money here,” Graf said. “We’ll do it at the Melville opening as well and any other way we can partner with them we’ll do that as well.”

The team also reached out to customers with special dietary needs such as vegetarians and people suffering with celiac disease.

“I had a great experience here today. I have an allergy, I’m gluten free, I have celiac disease and they knew what it was, they could accommodate me” Marge Coughlin from Port Jefferson said. “They really made sure there was no cross contamination. They changed their gloves even while serving. I thought this was over the top awesome.”

The Long Island Shake Shacks are looking forward to expanding their presence in the community. “We’re looking forward to partnering with SBU and having a presence on campus at select sporting events,” Abigail Knoff, the public relations director for Long Island Shake Shacks, said.

The Lake Grove Shake Shack officially opened on Tuesday, March 7, expecting much success from the community. When asked about the possible future competition with the next door yet-to-open Chipotle chain, Graf expressed, “We all help each other out. When one’s busier, one can have the overflow and things like that. We really don’t take away from one another.”

A fourth Shake Shack store is set to open in Melville in the upcoming weeks.

Cars used as an alternative to the Long Island Railroad, better for your wallet, worse for the environment

The four percent increase in price of the Railroad makes driving a car more enticing, but may also lead to a dramatic rise in greenhouse gas emissions. The Long Island Railroad’s 355,000 daily riders will pay up to $15 more a month in ticket prices starting March 19th after a fare increase was approved last month.

The price hike was approved on January 25th adding up to 50¢ per way, according to MTA.info.

“Well financially, no one really likes prices increasing but if you look at it from an environmental standpoint, it’s a bad decision because if they increase the prices of the trains and public transportation, people might start wanting to drive more,” Danny Li, a student from New York Institute of Technology, said. “If they wanted to do a smart thing, they should have decreased the price instead. If they decrease the price, they could get a lot more people to take public transportation and then they might even get new customers because of the price decrease.”

In Long Island, a gallon of gas is around $2.19. Penn Station is approximately sixty miles from Stony Brook. The average mile per gallon is twenty-five miles, resulting an average car to use around five gallons of gas driving to and from Manhattan. The total cost of gas would be $11, whereas the average one way ticket to Penn Station from Long Island is $13. During rush hour, tickets purchased from Huntington to Port Jefferson Stations surge up to $18.25 one-way, and $36.50 round trip.

“Well obviously this will inconvenience me,” Li said, “If the price keeps going up, maybe driving will be the better option sooner or later.”

2016 was the year the MTA saw a ridership decrease since 2009. In subway rides alone, there was a decline of approximately six million riders. Although this may be a small decrease compared to the yearly billions of MTA passengers, the decrease says a lot. Subways are overcrowded and prices of public transportation are going up, according to an annual MTA ridership report.

Driving a car is becoming increasingly more attractive as a way of saving money, but for the many riders that are making that choice, they are failing to save the environment. The Long Island Railroad produces 0.34 pounds of greenhouse gases (GHG) according to their website. The average car, according to The Union of Concerned Scientists, “24 pounds of carbon dioxide and other global-warming gases for every gallon of gas.”A single driver therefore, driving from Stony Brook to Penn Station, creates more than 600 pounds of GHG.

If MTA fares continue to rise, millions of GHG may soon be reaching the atmosphere. While a 4% increase may not hurt riders wallets, the idea of taking another form of transportation seems more economic.

“I guess it’s reasonable that the prices are going up because everything else is going up. Four percent over the span of four years isn’t too drastic,” HLing Liu, a frequent rider of the LIRR, said. “I used to commute to work every single day and that cost me $350 dollars every month. It’s already too expensive, but I guess I understand because you are paying for the convenience, opposed to cheaper options such as the bus, where it would take over three hours to get to the city.” Liu has been riding the LIRR for the past eight years.

“The MTA is focused on keeping our fares affordable for low-income riders and frequent riders, and on how we can keep necessary scheduled increases as small and as predictable as possible,” MTA Chairman and CEO Thomas Prendergast said in an MTA press release on January 25th.

“Keeping fares and tolls down was possible because of the continued operational efficiencies and ways we have reduced costs while adding service and capacity along our busiest corridor.”

The Long Island Railroad offers an ecological transportation option for the over 7 million Long Island residents, from Penn Station all the way to Montauk.

“We need an affordable ticket to get home,” Kayla Tarolli, a student from the Fashion Institute of Technology said. “It’s a necessity.”

Renovation of Tesla Science Center in Works After Recent Demolition with Support of Shoreham Community

The restoration of the last standing Tesla building in the world has started demolition this past month in Shoreham, Long Island. The building was home to famous scientist, Nikola Tesla.

President of the TSC non-profit group, Jane Alcorn, is thrilled with her team’s progress, but acknowledges that the process will take years to complete.

“Before we can begin construction, we have to do some demolition,” Alcorn said. She says that they will begin working on smaller parts of the site, starting with what will be the Welcome Center. It is set to open by the summer. “As for Tesla’s laboratory, since it’s a historic building, we want to treat it with care so that the historic parts are not damaged.” This process will take a couple of years to finish.

http://longislander.info/wp-content/uploads/mai_gatta/

There is an architect of the Board of Directors for TSC who has been guiding Alcorn and her team through the process. A local architect even volunteered to contribute to the initial design and planning. As the project progresses, TSC will be hiring people to do architectural work, planning, interior design, landscape design, civil engineering, and more.

“We’re just beginning to look at the possible exhibits and displays that can be presented in the science center,” said Alcorn when asked about what is to be expected. “Many of them will be directly about Tesla and his work, but there will also be activities and exhibits that are in fields that have grown up around his work.”

TSC was able to raise enough money to purchase the property, but are still in need of millions to complete the work. “We’ll be starting a capital campaign in the coming weeks to raise $20 million for the first phase of the project of transforming the site into a science center and Tesla museum.”

When the science center officially opens sometime in the fall, it will be for people of all ages- encouraging family, school, and corporate visits. Alcorn believes her team and this renovation has the unwavering support of the Shoreham community.

“So far, I believe the community is very pleased to see this science center being developed at Wardenclyffe,” Alcorn explained. “It was a former manufacturing facility, and now it will become a welcoming place for the community, both in Shoreham and in the wider Long Island community.”

In 2013, the Tesla Science Center (TSC) launched an internet fundraising campaign, ultimately raising 1.37 million dollars for the project. The non-profit group has purchased the 16-acre property in Shoreham. They plan to honor Tesla by restoring the building and turning the property into a museum/science center.

Many of its neighbors know the significance of Tesla’s legacy. Patty Serdock and her daughter Bridget, who live a couple hundred feet from the area, are extremely excited for what this renovation will do for their community.

“I do think it’s a great idea, that place has been vacant forever,” Bridget said. “I have never been in it myself but just from looking at the outside you can tell how much has changed already. They still have a lot of work to do but I think it is going to be a great addition to our neighborhood.”

With their home being so close to the laboratory, the Serdock’s have slowly learned the impressive legacy Tesla left behind.

“They have done a lot of different events there, just to bring people in to find out about it. Before this project began, different companies wanted to make it into apartments or condos and I am very glad that a person from California organized this effort to preserve what is left of Tesla and his work,” Patty said. “They were going to do a bunch of stuff but this is going to be so much better.”

TSC President Alcorn believes the Welcome Center will be finished by this summer and plans to start building will begin in March.

 

Student Affected by the Travel Ban Hopes to See More Action Taken by Universities

Some 200 students who were stuck abroad made their way back to the United States after Judge James Robart suspended President Donald Trump’s executive order this past week.

Payam Jafari, an Iranian art student who came back to the Academy of Art in San Francisco on February 5th, 2017, after the federal judge suspended the travel ban, risked not finishing his program.

“I was in Iran visiting family when I heard about the ban,” Jafari said. “I saw myself stuck in Iran while I only had one semester left to finish my masters program in the U.S.”

The executive order sought to ban the entry of people from Libya, Sudan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen and Somalia.

“If I couldn’t have come back, My movie wouldn’t have any chance to be worked on.” Jafari, who studies film, and is the director of a feature currently in production, said.

Jafari said his university did not do much to help with his situation, and only offered him the opportunity to finish his program online or wait the three months until the ban was supposed to be lifted.

“I would expect the university to stand up for their students much more strongly and defend their rights loudly against this preposterous ban,” Jafari said in an email. “Volunteers, attorneys, protesters and those Americans who attended to the protests made my way back to SF, not the school.”

The United States has been the home to over 17,000 students from the seven banned countries within the past year. Iran alone sent over 12,000 students to study in the U.S in the 2015 to 2016 academic school year.

Universities such as Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Carnegie, etc. filed a joint amicus brief that specified the university’s standing on the recent executive order on immigration.

“Columbia University seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions,” stated in an amicus brief filed on February 13. “It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.”

“NYU did a great job trying to cover students who are affected and offering support,” Kate Lee, a Chinese international student at NYU said. “But I wish NYU, as well as other universities, could root for their students more firmly in the future regarding similar situations.”

The NYU Student Visa and Immigration service warned students not to sign any documents at the airport, especially the I-407 form, in fear of them losing their citizenships or any legal rights as students.

The New York State SUNY system as a whole host approximately 22,140 international students, 320 of them in which are from the seven banned countries.

“As this executive order is being interpreted by immigration authorities, I want to provide you with information and to offer support, as Stony Brook labors through the new rules governing visas and entry to the United States,” President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. of SUNY Stony Brook said in a public statement.

Hundreds of students hold signs and gather at the Academic Mall at Stony Brook University around 1pm. The rally is organized by the College Democrats and Planned Parenthood.

SUNY Buffalo hosts more than a third of the impacted SUNY students in New York, primarily from Iran. The university, like most, contacted students to offer support based on their personal situation and to help them finish their education. City Universities of New York also offered similar assistance to the affected members of their CUNY community.

“I’m an Iranian citizen and I’m proud of it. I’m here through student F1 visa, and in this situation I cannot leave the country or if do, I cannot re-enter,” Jafari said.

Although the ban is currently halted, universities see their hands tied up on issues concerning the future of the immigration ban and their students. Many other students who are in a situation similar to Jafari, wish that their schools could unswervingly back up their students.