Lehman Professor Fired After NYPD Charges Him with Arson, Trespassing
Marc Lamparello. Photo credit: Lehman College
by Felicha C. Stevens
A part-time Lehman College philosophy professor was charged with attempted arson, trespassing and reckless endangerment at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, two days after an electrical fire destroyed much of the 800-year-old Notre Dame’s Cathedral in Paris on April, 15, 2019.
Marc Lamparello, a 37-year-old Hasbrouck Heights N.J. resident, taught online classes as an adjunct lecturer at both the Lehman College and Brooklyn College philosophy departments. On April 17, 2019 Lamparello was arrested on Fifth Avenue and 50th Street near the Cathedral, while carrying four gallons of gas, two bottles of lighter fluid and a plastic bag.
A security guard who works at the church spotted Lamparello as he entered the church with the items in his hands. During his questioning, he alleged the Cathedral was a shortcut to his car parked on Madison Avenue, which needed gas. But after searching his vehicle, the police found his car tank was full, debunking his alibi. Two days before Lamparello’s arrest at Saint Patrick’s cathedral, he was also apprehended at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark, New Jersey for not adhering to their closing-time schedule.
Since being charged, Lamparello has undergone a psychiatric evaluation at Bellevue Hospital and has since been fired from both Lehman College and Brooklyn College.
“It’s really weird because he was a philosophy professor, what were his ideas when he was doing that?” said Lehman sophomore Gianna Gonzalez, a 19-year old Film and Tv Studies major. “That’s a danger to us, as students because he’s in the same campus as us. And what example is he giving his students?”
“I was very surprised when I found out he was a Lehman professor,” said Lehman junior Breny Zunaga, a 25-year old Dietary major, and Manhattan resident. “Actually, it’s not that surprising now days because there are a lot of crazy people in the streets.” He heard the news through an email sent by Lehman College Vice President Jose Magdaleno, which stated that since Lamparello was a professor on campus they were going to find another professor to substitute his class because there were still students taking that class,” Zunaga added.
Shortly after this incident, three predominantly African American Baptist churches were burned down in Louisiana as hate crimes within 10 days of each other. Holden Matthews, 21, son of a local sheriff, was charged with these hate crimes.
“I don’t understand why hate crimes are done,” Gonzalez commented. “I think people should respect others for who they are, if you don’t like them because of that then don’t talk to them.”
“I’m a Christian and we believe that’s not right. We should care for each other instead of hating each other,” said Zunaga. “It doesn’t matter what religion we practice, we are all human beings, and we deserve to be treated with respect and love.”
In the wake of these crimes, New York City’s temples, churches, and cathedrals have been under high supervision by the NYPD to detect nearby suspicious activity.
Sarah Ramsey, a spokesperson for Lehman, said the school is aware of what happened at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and is “taking appropriate steps to terminate the individual's employment with the college.”
Fee Increases Will Stress Students
By Felicha C. Stevens
Bursar Office in Shuster Hall. (Photo Credit: Felicha C. Stevens)
“My parents’ income is not a reflection of my own and shouldn’t be used as a determinant for how much aid I receive as a student. I understand that some people don’t need financial aid, but I do. These high fees don’t help,” said Lehman senior Alex Monroe when asked how a future increase in student fees will affect her.
By the 2021-2022 school year, the part-time per-credit cost at Lehman College will increase to $85, according to CUNY’s administration and finance department; it took five years for these annual charges to rise. Collegefactual. com reports that nationally the per credit cost for the 2018-2019 year is expected to be $607 and may reach $696 per credit by 2021–2022.
“I am not surprised our student fees are increasing,” explained Monroe, a Yonkers resident majoring in social work with a minor in political science. It’s becoming very costly to pay for school. As a middle-class person, financial aid is not something that is given freely, but sparingly. This causes me to look for higher-paying work. Considering I’m going into my masters next semester, I can’t imagine the amount of stress I will experience working full time, my academic performance, and making time for my personal life.”
Some Lehmanites are also concerned that the raise in student fees will result in students dropping out of college. “College is expensive as it is, so increasing the fees will only add more stress to these students, resulting in dropping out, or not being able to finish on time,” said Lehman junior Sabrina Nunez, a psychology major with a minor in disability studies and sociology. As of fall 2018, the undergraduate full-time rate was $3,265 for students pursuing 12-18 credits. For graduate students seeking full-time classes of between 12- 18 credits, the rate was $5,225 and for master of social work students looking to attend full-time, it was $6,895.
In “Best Colleges for Your Money” 2018 edition, Lehman was ranked one of the top schools in the country. CUNY.edu details the CUNY schools-- nine senior colleges and two community colleges--that dominated the Chronicle of Higher Education’s rankings of public U.S. campuses with the greatest success in lifting low-income students into the middle class. Lehman ranked number two on that list, as well as 37 in “Top Public Schools” and 120 in the 2019 edition of “Best Colleges in Regional Universities North.” However, with the projected increase in student fees, Lehman could lose its top ranking in the list of affordable public colleges in the U.S.
“I attended a CUNY school for convenience,” said Monroe. “Its location and cost were and continue to be most ideal for me. This news is disappointing but not surprising. I feel our economy is in a period of inflation and students and educators have begun to feel the effects.”
“I was attending a private school but transferred over to Lehman College because CUNY schools are supposed to be cheaper right now,” Nunez said. “I’m not paying tuition out of pocket but I do feel like it will be a burden to most students that have to.”
NYC’s Proposed Financial Plans Put More Costs on CUNY Students
By Felicha C. Stevens
Mayor Bill de Blasio pictured in 2013. Photo courtesy of Flickr.
While New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s ten-year plan for the city, FY20, makes big promises about greater affordability, his 2020 budget proposal calls for large funding cuts to city agencies including CUNY, Citywide Administrative Services Department, New York City Health and Hospitals, and the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).
Announced on March 7, the $92.2 billion plan incorporates a loss of $600 million dollars in federal money, which will result in cuts to the funding of agriculture, education and health care organizations. Budget shortfalls will include $125 million in financial assistance for families in need, $59 million in vital health services for New Yorkers and $300 million in education funding.
According to NYC Open Data statistics, these cuts will burden 1,620,356 New Yorkers who rely on government assistance to help with their monthly expenses, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Human Resources Association (HRA). CUNY students and their families will be affected in major ways, some by multiple cutbacks at the same time.
“I suffer from a lot of illness. I’m HIV positive and I struggle to make it,” said James Foster, a 60-year-old student at Lehman’s Adult Learning Center, “If they cut my food stamps that means I would have to spend more money, I’m only getting $192.00, and food is very expensive.” Foster will be affected by the cuts to both financial assistance for families in need and health services.
The cuts were ostensibly made in response to the state’s $2.3 billion shortfall in the 2019 Income Tax Revenue and a $1.6 billion projected shortfall in 2020, according to nyc.gov. City agencies were able to find $1 billion in savings from the 2019 and 2020 preliminary budgets, but this leaves another $750 million in agency savings needed. Many Lehman students and staff fear the outcome will make their lives harder.
“I find it outrageous [and] I’m extremely upset about it! I know it’s going to hurt my students. I know it will affect me. I’m hoping the numbers are just negotiating points rather than real numbers,” said Mindy Levokove, a reading, writing and math instructor at the Adult Learning Center for GED preparation at Lehman.
Lehman junior Genesis Ramos, a 22-year-old English and journalism double major, concurred. “As a student, it affects me. The money that is being cut is the money that I need for my books. It’s the money that I could be using for Metro Cards or to get food on campus.”
“The food in the grocery store is expensive, we get a little bit of food stamps, and we have to use that to budget for 30 days. You have to budget how you eat because we need those food stamps,” said Michelle Solomon, 53, a Castle Hill resident and student at Lehman’s Adult Learning Center.
De Blasio’s FY20 plan promises a more affordable city, with guaranteed healthcare access for 600,000 uninsured New Yorkers, improved access to care including mental health services and more financial contributions to “3-K for All.” However, many students remain skeptical of these promises.
“I feel like it’s insane because I don’t think we are going to see the money being used for this stuff,” said Ramos. “If we actually see this it will be good for us, but it’s hard for many people, especially, when you come to the Bronx to see the things they say they are doing. They say they will have better public health care and we don’t. Many people complain that their health care, especially when it’s public, is really expensive and they have to pay out of pocket.”
Felicia Turner, a 28-year-old student at Lehman’s Adult Learning Center and mother of two small boys, disagrees. “I have a 6-year-old, and school is a big deal. Kids need their education,” said Turner, who has benefited from “3-K for All.” “It has helped my son a lot with his ABC’s; his reading level has improved a whole lot. The pre-K he was in had four teachers. It was hands-on, and they knew how to deal with kids.”
“The government operations are laughable, except nobody’s laughing.”
- Mindy Levokove, a reading, writing and math instructor at Lehman’s Adult Learning Center
The FY20 will launch in the summer of 2019 in the Bronx and city-wide in 2021. The ten-year plan will cost $104.1 billion dollars with the majority of its revenue going towards infrastructure. The financial plan summary anticipates that 37 percent of the budget will focus on infrastructure and 29 percent on government operations, leaving only 22 percent for school, and 12 percent for housing.
“I feel like there might be a little bit of neglect when it comes to [school costs],” said Gregory Morelo, a 23-year-old Lehman senior and music major. “It does sound like a real low number in comparison to everything else, especially since there are thousands of students across the city that would also need financial assistance because they’re attending school.” However, Morelo supported the focus on infrastructure “because some of the neighborhoods here in the Bronx are a little bit outdated and run down. They deserve to be updated.”
“They can take all the money away from government operations as far as I’m concerned,” Levokove said. “The government operations are laughable, except nobody’s laughing. I want the mayor to stop running all over the place and make good on all of the promises he made before he became mayor.” Before he was elected, she recalled, “I believed what he said, and other than the universal pre-K, I don’t see what he’s done. He needs to focus on helping people in the city and forget what else he’s got in his mind.”
Lehman Students Protest Proposed MTA Fare Hike
By Felicha Stevens
The iconic MTA Metrocard. Photo courtesy of Flickr.
The MTA could potentially increase the current $2.75 bus and subway fare to $3.00 in March 2019. CUNY students, community members, local riders and transit workers spoke out against the hike at numerous town hall meetings throughout the tristate area.
At the MTA’s public hearing at Hostos Community College, several CUNY students confronted the agency’s board members about the approved fare hike.
“I take the bus to school every day for $2.75. I refill my card weekly because it ends extremely fast,” said Crystal Dennis, 18, a freshman biology major who takes the 55 and 20 buses from Mount Vernon, NY. “To tell the truth, $3.00 will end faster, I will have to refill [my card] constantly.”
The last MTA fare hike, implemented in March 2017, priced an unlimited 30-day metro card at $121.00. The newly proposed fare will increase this price by 4 percent to $126.25. According to data released by Georgetown University Center for Education and Workplace, the fare increase will financially impact college students, 25% of whom nationwide are both full-time students and employees.
Photo by Felicha Stevens.
“I don’t really have a luxurious income that I can use to afford MTA transportation fares of this kind. I rely on my parents, who are already struggling with their many bills and expenses, such as rent, light, and food. The fare increase will hurt all of us long-term,” said Moussa Payinkay, Lehman senior and biology major.
Sasha Murphy, a case manager at a Bronx shelter said, “These fare hikes are not bettering our community. We have people who are struggling every day because rents are going up, our wages are staying stagnant and now the MTA will increase fares even more. How can people meet basic needs while already struggling to sustain themselves?”
Murphy is an advocate of NYC Swipe it Forward, a campaign started by activists, such as Black Youth Project 100, New York Chapter and Police Reform Organizing Project, which challenges New Yorkers to swipe strangers on the subway using their unlimited MetroCards. The campaign not only helps reduce the amount of summons for turnpike jumps but helps people who cannot afford to ride the train.
Many students also object to paying more for deplorable service. Train delays caused by major incidents such as signal problems, medical emergencies and train track issues are getting worse. Data from the Subway Performance Dashboard shows a total of 24 signal problems and 11 track malfunctions in November 2018.
Kimberlin Ballard, a Lehman junior and political science major who rides the D train to and from work is frustrated with the delays. “Trains are still delayed, everybody is late for their job or school. I just feel like this money is not going to a greater cause.”
She is even more frustrated that she will have to pay more for a decaying system. “It is money out of my pocket. I don’t get free metro cards instead I pay more money to commute to school. It affects me financially because I also have to pay for my books.”