By Ryan Broderick, Edtor-In-Chief
Club baseball, the environment and Dutch Treats’ relative distance from The Netherlands were all part of the eclectic collection of issues brought to the administrators at this year’s Town Hall.
The open forum between the administration and the rest of the Hofstra community featured a panel of President Rabinowitz; Karen O’Callahan, Director of Public Safety; Jessica Eads, President for Enrollment Services; Joseph Barkwell, Vice President for Facilities and Operations; Sandra Johnson, Vice President for Student Affairs; Peter Libman, Dean of Students; Jimmy Wells, SGA President; and Kenny Cordero, Representative for Student Senate.
Representatives from the club baseball team, Matt Fera, Jim Mancari and Ben Posner, opened the forum, asking the panel of administrators about the club’s lack of access to the varsity baseball field.
Mancari, a graduate student, played club baseball at William & Mary before coming to Hofstra. He made the point that William & Mary’s club baseball team had open, or close to open, access to their varsity team’s field and was better because of it.
“I don’t see why we should settle for another field,” Mancari said.
Libman and Rabinowitz agreed with the concerns of the club baseball team, both offering up potential solutions for finding a proper field for the team to play on.
“Sports clubs are a vital part of Hofstra,” Libman said. Rabinowitz added, “We think they’re crucial.”
“Of course, NCAA teams have priority,” The President conceded.
The next group of students that approached the microphone were from the Law School.
“Do you notice my portrait there,” Rabinowitz joked. “You get your best studying done under it.”
The two law students, Gregory Burgano and Ashley Haelen, commended the steps The University has taken towards making the campus more environmentally friendly.
“Hofstra as a whole, not just the law school, as a community can take it to the next level,” Burgano said. He advocated for better solar infrastructure, saying, “it’s a ten year cost and then after that it’s free.”
Barkwell took most of Burgano’s question, explaining that The University has made many environmentally friendly steps but the student body may not be aware of them.
“We produce 30 percent of our own power,” Barkwell said. “We’re looking at a residential house, environmental house for students interested,” he added.
Natasha Juisinghani came to the microphone next, asking a question on behalf of commuting students unable to work within the Blue Beetle’s schedule.
“I’ve been commuting since the fall semester,” Juisinghani said. “The only time the bus goes to Mineola is in the morning,” she said, asking if administrators knew a way to fix the eight-hour gap some commuters have to wait through.
“It’s definitely something we’re looking into,” Director of Public Safety Karen O’Callahan said. She said there were some logistics concerning traffic that needed to be looked at before altering the schedule, but that Public Safety was looking into ways to help stranded commuters.
Billy Finnegan, a first-year, followed Juisinghani to bring up the difficulty for freshman to walk from The Netherlands to Dutch Treats in the winter.
“Is there anyway we can get another 24-hour dining location?” Finnegan said.
“We can sit down with Lackmann and look at venues in The Netherlands,” Barkwell said, admitting that adding another 24-hour dining location would cost a lot to staff and maintain.
Rabinowitz interjected, joking, “You got to get a warmer coat.”
Towards the end of Town Hall The Chronicle approached the microphone and asked the administrators about the lack of alumni presence on campus.
“We do everything we can to curry favor with our alumni and bring them back on to campus,” Rabinowitz said. “You know, it’s another one of those areas where we think we’re getting the word out about who the most successful alums are.”
Johnson echoed Rabinowitz to say that many alumni activities go on, unknown to students, using “virtual communities” as a way to reach out to recent graduates.

President Rubinowitz and other administration hold open forum with students (Ryan Broderick/The Chronicle)