On March 7 during free hour, retired United States Navy SEAL Kristin Beck spoke to a crowd in the Summit Flex Space about her experiences as a transgender woman, with a message of inclusiveness and self-acceptance. Despite the inclement weather, the event had over 60 attendees. After an introduction by Veterans Club President Ricardo Acuna, Beck began her presentation by showcasing a long list of labels and accomplishments ranging from ordained minister to surfer. Beck then explained to the audience that everyone has a list made up of the facets of their own identity. The diverse list underlined a central theme of the speech, which concerned the complex navigation of…
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Panel of professors discuss rise of FAANG
On Nov. 29, during Free Hour in the President’s Lounge, the Economics and Business Club presented a panel titled “The Demise of Brick and Mortar Stores and the Rise of FAANG: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google.” Three QC professors gave presentations on the past, present, and future of FAANG while explaining key concepts and clarifying misconceptions, followed by a Q and A session with the audience. First to present was Charles Gomez, professor of sociology. Gomez, who spent eight years in Silicon Valley and a summer as an employee of Facebook, explained the cultural context of FAANG. He said that the perception of Silicon Valley as being in a…
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Art, Design Faculty
The Godwin-Ternbach museum held an opening reception for the Design Faculty exhibition on September 13th. The exhibition showcased the work of over 20 Queens College faculty members, and the diverse artwork on display included sculptures, interactive displays, flipbooks, envelopes, film posters and more. Matthew Thurber is an adjunct professor in the design department and teaches classes on graphic novels and traditional animation. His contribution to the collection was several flipbooks, which visitors to the museum can pick up and engage with themselves. “I could have made this an animation on a screen, but I thought it was more interesting to make it anti the spectacle of the screen,”…
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Privacy paramount for social movements on campus
The digital privacy of students at Queens College is a controversial topic for social activist groups on campus. According to Claudia Colbert, Assistant Vice President for Information Technology and Chief Information Officer, QC employs multiple levels of network security, requiring usernames and passwords to access the network. Additionally, Colbert said the network is policed using tools that continuously monitor network traffic to identify malware, botnets and other forms of malicious behavior. Ali Wassem, a sophomore and accounting and finance major minoring in Arabic, said he is more focused on his education but digital privacy and surveillance is a concern. “We’ve had informants inside our organization, and it is scary,” Wassem…
