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NARR: On Wednesday, April 11th, Fordham University held it’s 11th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. The Symposium showcased the scholarly accomplishments of Fordham — Rose Hill undergraduates, featuring the work of students from across a wide variety of majors.

Erin Shanahan, a senior, started working on her pilot study in February 2017; choosing to monitor the correlation between sleep patterns and non-suicidal self injuring behavior in adults. In preparation to present her work at the symposium, Shanahan says she learned a lot about the process of conducting a research study.

SHANAHAN: The point was to learn about research methods and just learn how hard it is to conduct research and add something to the scientific bank of knowledge, which I feel like I’ve done, so it definitely feels really rewarding to present something, at all, at the research symposium. So, I’m really excited to be there.

NARR: Shanahan’s hard work paid off, she managed to achieve a 96% response rate and being able to spot trends supporting her thesis that poor sleep patterns among high-risk participants lead to higher rates of self-injuring behavior.

NARR: Another senior, Caitlin Calio, had a research project that was close to home. Growing up with a disabled brother, Calio recognized the value of speaking to others with a shared experience. She created a support group for students who had disabled siblings to research how the relationship between the siblings shaped the students’ sense of identity.

CALIO: And this came out of my own experiences, just knowing how much my role as a sibling is so much a part of my identity and how much my experience with my family has shaped a lot about my own life. So, I wanted to see how much that was true for other people in a similar, in similar circumstances.

NARR: Calio found that 66% of the themes discussed in the support groups centered around the family rather than the individual experience, showing how closely the students identity is tied to the responsibility that comes with having a disabled family member.

On Wednesday Calio and Shanahan showed off all of their hard work and answered questions presented by the crowd. They have until May to complete their research and defend their conclusions in a thesis defense essay.

From Fordham University in the Bronx, I’m Emily Ruchalski.

By: Emily Ruchalski

On Tuesday, the New York Landmark Preservation Commission held a public hearing to consider the designation of landmark status to two North Madison Square buildings, the Hotel Seville, now the James NoMad Hotel, and the Emmet Building.

The Seville, located at East 29th Street and Madison Ave, opened in 1904 and was designed by architect Harry Allen James, a graduate of Columbia Architect school. The building is adorned with striped limestone, red brick, and lions head figurines in a classic Beaux Arts-style.

The building stands as a testament to the bustling commercial and entertainment boom of the NoMad area at the time of its construction, according to the Landmarks Commission staff

Christa Bell Gogh, from The Society for the Architecture of the City, expressed regret on lack of Commission action in preserving other buildings in the NoMad area. “The hotel Seville was a secondary player among the other hotels, but a charming one and a survivor it seems,” she said, in favor of landmark status to the Seville.

“It marked a trend from affluent to more moderate,” said Andrea Goldwyn, of the New York Landmarks Conservancy. She spoke of the historic value of the site, noting the building of the nearby subway made the hotel more accessible for the middle class.

After the Landmark Preservation Commission closed public discussion on the Seville, they moved to hear comments about the second building they were considering Tuesday, the Emmet Building.

The Emmet Building stands across the street from the Seville at 95 Madison Ave and was built by the firm Barney and Colt for Thomas Addis Emmet, a prominent doctor in the early 20th century. It is an example of neo-renaissance style, with French ornaments such as medieval figures and gargoyles.

Emmet commissioned the 16-story building as an office building but maintained a lavish apartment at the top for himself, making it one of the first penthouse properties in the city.

“It is a beautiful building, well deserving of landmark designation,” said Meenakshi Srinivasan, chair of the Commission. She complimented the preservation of the Emmett building, which she observed during an onsite visit.

The current steward of the building, Rita Sklar, testified to her painstaking maintenance of the Emmet building, which began in 1943 when she became its steward. Sklar spent almost 2 years conducting research on the building, which she had previously presented to the New York City Landmark Commission.

“Without you New York would have lost so many historical treasures.” Sklar said, thanking the commission for their consideration of the Emmett building,

Ms.Goldwyn took a different tone when readdressing the commission, this time for the preservation of the Emmett building. She reminded the commission of their duty to protect and guide the preservation of historic landmarks in a city with rising skyscrapers and costs.

“The Emmet building is just one of many commercial places facing developmental pressure,” said Goldwyn.