While he has worked for the URI Police Department for the past 14 years, Lt. Richard Moniz has spent almost his entire life working in law enforcement. At 14-years-old, Moniz began working in a police department as a clerk. He worked there full time until he was about 20, when he started going to…
The University of Rhode Island is implementing a new course that seeks to raise awareness and education for HIV/AIDS. Kyrsten Carlson and Carly Amurao are students in the honors seminar class. “We are reopening the topic of HIV/AIDS because recently it’s been getting swept under the rug in our generation,†Carlson said. “Most of…
Michelle Caramadre, concerts president of the Student Entertainment Committee (SEC) at The University of Rhode Island, spoke to the Cigar about what goes on behind the scenes of the club. Caramadre talked about how the first thing SEC plans to do is spend the bulk of its money on the first show of the…
As May quickly approaches, graduating seniors prepare themselves for what’s felt like a long time coming. But one student has been waiting longer than most. Apart from his degree taking him six years, rather than the standard four after transferring from Manchester Community College in Connecticut, Jesse McVaney, 32, had a bit of a…
The Public Relations Student Society of America at the University of Rhode Island may not be a well-known group on campus yet, but they’ve gone a long way in helping to provide opportunities to students interested in public relations and communication through lectures, panels and workshops over the past several years.  The PRSSA has…
There are many professors and faculty at the University of Rhode Island who work with underrepresented minorities. Among this list is Bryan Dewsbury, Ph.D., a biology professor who studies underrepresented minorities in higher education. “I study the social constructs of learning,†Dewsbury said. “And by that I mean things that happen in everyday society that…
University of Rhode Island police officer Mark Chearino has a partner while on the job, but this companion is a 10-year-old yellow lab named Astro. The pair often makes its appearance at community policing events across campus, and students always seem to know the two by name. “I don’t know what he does, but…
Over the past year, the University of Rhode Island has made significant efforts to diversify its pool of staff members. Just 10 months ago, Fernando Guzman, the university’s director of diverse faculty and staff recruitment and retention, made it his personal mission to attract faculty and staff with diverse backgrounds to URI. “Many universities…
Pablo Youngs, nicknamed “Picasso†in preschool, has more in common with the famous artist than a shared first name. Not through his artistic style, but he does have a similar passion and drive to be a great artist. Youngs’ artistic talent has been encouraged from a young age, and almost all of his art…
Throughout the country many college students are becoming involved with activism in one way or another. Activism has become a controversial issue among people across the age span. Here at the University of Rhode Island, Robert Vincent of the Center for Student Leadership Development is breeding the next wave of young activists. In his class…