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Alyssa Sciarrone

Alyssa Sciarrone

Alyssa is a journalist, photographer, and audio engineer based in the Hudson Valley. Her writing spans from sports to the arts. Alyssa's photography encompasses an ongoing project documenting the New Paltz music scene. Her audio work includes live radio, podcasts, and music production.

The New Paltz Oracle •

Senior Goodbye: Alyssa’s Farewell to The Oracle

I’ve dreaded the day when I would have to sit down and write my goodbye not only to our paper that I love so dearly and the people who painstakingly create it with me each week, but to my bubble of a world that has been my undergraduate years at New Paltz. 


Even though I am planning to stick around and be a townie for a while, my world is changing and I am not a fan of change. No longer being a student will be the biggest change of my life. I will be moving out of the place I’ve called home f...
The New Paltz Oracle •

A Playlist for ... Graduation

Coming up with a playlist for graduation, just under a month away from the actual day, is surreal. If you want my full sob-inducing take on graduating, go read my senior goodbye. We’re here to talk music. 


Living in New Paltz for four years has left its biggest impact on me through music. It has become my entire world, inspires what I do every day, my major, my future career, my self-expression and has brought me some of the greatest people I will ever know. I have attended every show I possi...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Got Ink? Hudson Valley Tattoo Convention

Walking into the MJN Convention Center in Poughkeepsie, NY this past weekend, people were met with the sounds of tattoo guns and deep cuts from Alice In Chains, rows of booths lining the space and flash art covering every surface. The third annual International Hudson Valley Tattoo Convention ran from April 4-6, with over 200 artists from around the world and hundreds of attendees ready to get tattooed.


The convention showcased mainly American traditional, Japanese traditional and neo traditi...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Roan Martin: What’s Your Hurry and The Fool’s Journey

Local artist Roan Martin released his new single “What’s Your Hurry?” on April 1, followed by a celebratory release party at The Lemon Squeeze later that night. The song will be featured on his upcoming debut album, “The Magician,” a conceptual, storytelling album planned to be released later this year.


The song opens with Martin’s powerful vocals and piano with the line “You’ve gone away again, you seem to slip right through the cracks,” immediately thrusting the listener into the storyline...
The New Paltz Oracle •

The Oracle Takes on College Media Conference ProCon 2025

It is Feb. 27 at 8 a.m. I wake up abruptly and immediately begin packing my bags to make my train to Grand Central Station on time. I get dressed, get in the car, grab my Dunkin and I’m off to ProCon 25. 


ProCon, hosted by the College Media Association (CMA), is a multi-day convention in New York City for students, advisors and other media professionals to network and offer career development opportunities. I attended this year alongside SUNY New Paltz’s Director of Student Media Valerie Turc...
The New Paltz Oracle •

What’s So Wrong With Landing Among the Stars?

I’ve written a few articles for The Oracle’s opinion section in my years here that mostly revolve around the little revelations I’ve had about my happiness since starting college. I’ve told stories about changing my major, facing academic burnout, my first relationship and my passion for photography. I feel as though they are culminating together into this one with my final semester revelation: your goals only have to serve you, not what people think of you. 


So, what inspired this seemingly...
The New Paltz Oracle •

The Schwegs Announce Split After Successful Album Release

The Schwegs are a Hudson Valley-based band that released their first album on Nov. 1. Half Baked is a 10-track album with songs unique to each of the members of the band and kooky names that are just one big bit among the members such as “Bicurious George” and “Herbert Hoover.” 


On Nov. 14, the band appeared on the NPMC Spotlight talk show on SUNY New Paltz’s radio station WFNP to talk about the album. “It was kind of a joke, sort of a not joke when I did that,” said Ian Schweiger, bass guita...
WFNP •

Neon Trees’ New Album Sink Your Teeth Speaks To Their Roots And Their Growth

Neon Trees: a band that has come back time and time again with their relatable lyrics and danceable beats for the past 15-plus years. Their debut single, “Animal,” released in 2010, followed by “Everybody Talks,” released in 2012, cemented them as a defining band of my childhood. 
With the release of their fifth studio album Sink Your Teeth, Neon Trees brings back a sense of nostalgia for the early 2010s while showing the clear evolution of their craft over time. I sat down with the band one-on-...
The New Paltz Oracle •

What does America’s 4B Movement Really Imply?

In the days following President-elect Donald Trump’s win in the 2024 election, women around the country have been grieving and coping with their fears surrounding the unknown future of reproductive rights. One response gaining traction across social media is the 4B movement. 


The movement began in South Korea in the late 2010s and stands for the four “bi,” meaning “not” in Korean, against men. The “Four Nos” are no sex with men (bisekseu), no dating men (biyeonae), no marriage to men (bihon)...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Halloween Spirit Flies High On the New Paltz Campus

Last week SUNY New Paltz held a variety of Halloween festivities that brought students and local residents together in celebration of the spooky season. From music shows by bands in costume to painting pumpkins on Parker Quad, the festivities on campus were as colorful as the season. 


Halloween in the Halls by Sophia Maltzman


On Oct. 27, the dormitories in Parker Quad held their annual trick-or-treating event Halloween in the Halls. From 12 – 3 p.m., select residence halls opened their doo...
The New Paltz Oracle •

A Playlist For...Moving Forward

This week has been a non-stop train of thought about the future. Moving on from people in my past, moving past my anxiety to do things I have always dreamed of, moving out of this town when I graduate and moving towards the future. 


We’ve all experienced these eras of change and transition periods in our lives. Going away to college, relationships, breakups, moving, first jobs and countless other new experiences that take time to get used to. However, this time feels different. College is the...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Paws Up For Mental Health Event Held In SUB

Two of SUNY New Paltz’s Greek Life organizations, Alpha Phi Delta (APD) and Sigma Delta Tau (SDT), came together to raise funds for the Ulster County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (UCSPCA). On Oct. 2 the fraternity and sorority hosted their Paws Up for Mental Health event inviting the UCSPCA to bring some of the kittens up for adoption to campus. Students were then given a chance to play with the kittens for a $5 donation at the door. 


In the fall of 2023, APD hosted this e...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Paltz Encounters: "On the chilly Halloweekend night of my freshman year ..."

“Hallosteen”

On the chilly Halloweekend night of my freshman year, my roommate and I found ourselves with nothing to do and no party to attend. Scrolling mindlessly through YikYak, I saw someone had posted about a house show later that evening. I heard about the New Paltz music scene pre-pandemic, and its lively nature filling the houses of off-campus students; I had yet to attend one.

I figured it was worth the comment and asked for an address, expecting it to be ignored. To my surprise, I was given an answer. I looked to my roommate, “Get up and get dressed, we’re going out.”

We put on our costumes and made the trek from campus to a house well past the Stewart’s in town. We didn’t know if the party was even real until we were about 50 feet from the house and began to hear music.

We were greeted on the porch by a man who I would later find out lived there and is in one of my favorite bands. We went up to the second floor and walked into a living room bursting with music and costumes.

We saw nuns, Princess Leia, lumberjacks, Hogwarts students and Slash. In the years since that night those people have become my community, and every year I find out someone else in my life was at that party too. We may not have known it that night, but we all first met at “Hallosteen.”
The New Paltz Oracle •

Wrapping Up the Spring 2024 Semester With The Hawks

The Hawks had an impressive spring 2024 semester so far with SUNYAC champions, record-breaking athletes and coaches, awards and honors. In the remaining few weeks, we will continue to expect greatness from our Hawks and in the meantime, celebrate our wins. 


Tennis


The SUNY New Paltz women’s tennis team successfully defended their SUNYAC Championship title from 2023. They defeated the SUNY Geneseo Knights with an overall score of 5-0, making this the ninth championship win for the Hawks. Ne...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Rugby Remembers Ray in Memorial Tournament

SUNY New Paltz rugby team hosted their first annual Raymond Rattray Memorial Tournament on April 20. The Hawks held the tournament on the New Paltz Rugby Field and faced off against Molloy University who ultimately won the trophy.


The tournament was initially scheduled earlier this semester before Raymond Rattray’s death on Jan. 23. New Paltz was originally supposed to play against Molloy University and Bard College. However, Bard was unable to attend due to a lack of players available this p...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Mouse Trap Hosts Benefit Show For Palestine Relief Funds

Pali Paltz, a Hudson Valley-based group dedicated to raising awareness towards and uplifting Palestinian voices, collaborated with local house show venue The Mouse Trap to host a benefit concert for the relief effort in Gaza. The event “Lyricists 4 Liberation” took place on Saturday, April 6, kicking off at 3 p.m. with performances by local Arab and Palestinian artists. 


Hashishen, a producer and DJ, took the stage first from 3:30 – 4:45 p.m. His music falls into genres of Arabic pop, Afrobea...
The New Paltz Oracle •

In Basements and Bars: My Life as a Photographer

For the past year and some months, I have been documenting the New Paltz music scene through photography. What started as me bringing my camera along to cover an event for The Oracle became my biggest passion. 


My first time shooting was for my first article on staff covering the Battle of the Bands at Snug Harbor in January 2023. I owned a camera so I figured I might as well bring it along to get some good quality photos to put into my article. I barely knew how to use it, so I had it set to...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Hugo The Hawk Takes On SUNY Mascot Madness Contest

The competition is fierce and the stakes are high as the 2024 SUNY Mascot Madness contest is officially underway. SUNY New Paltz’s very own Hugo the Hawk is competing against 31 other SUNY mascots.


The contest is arranged in a bracket system, modeled after NCAA basketball’s March Madness. It is broken down into four regions with eight schools to start in each. The final four represent their regions and battle for the final two spots. 


SUNY students cast votes for their mascot as a show of...
The New Paltz Oracle •

You Know Nothing Until You Get To College

Life is strange. One day you are a junior in high school waking up at 6:50 a.m. to get to AP Biology at 7:20 a.m. Then, you are going through the rest of your average day of physics, precalculus, AP U.S. history, English and theater classes. You hang out with friends and talk about the future. 


You plan on going to a top university to study genetics. Eventually, you want to get a Ph.D. and lead research teams. You’re never going to get married or have kids. You’re going to make a lot of money...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Remembering Raymond Rattray As Rugby Returns

As the spring semester reaches midterms, men’s rugby returns to the field after a somber start to the semester with the death of team member Raymond Rattray. 


 Rattray was a fifth-year philosophy major at SUNY New Paltz who was killed in a hit-and-run incident Jan. 23 on Route 208. The investigation is still ongoing by the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office. 


To honor his life, memorials were placed on campus, one in the Atrium and another next to the Gunk where students can place flowers and...
The New Paltz Oracle •

NCAA Tournament Brings Wins and Losses for Women’s Basketball

SUNY New Paltz hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA Division III women’s basketball tournament on March 1-2. The Hawks took on Penn State-Harrisburg in the first round and came out victorious with a score of 70-52. They fell in the second round against Baldwin Wallace University 65-42, the following night. 


In the first round, the Hawks started out strong and kept their momentum throughout. Senior guard/forward Brianna Fitzgerald got the first two points on the scoreboard with a layup less...
The New Paltz Oracle •

New Paltz High School Nordic Ski Wraps Up Season at State’s

The New Paltz High School (NPHS) Nordic ski team swept the competition at the Section 9 championships for the third year in a row and competed at the state skiing championships. 


Held at Gore Mountain on Feb. 14, NPHS walked away from the Section 9 Nordic Ski Championships with four medals for the boys and five for the girls. 


Beckett Evans took the overall boys title in the 7.5K skate race with teammates Matei Jirka, Henry Wheeler and Sam Hollman following right behind him. For the NPHS g...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Group Fitness Classes Return To The AWRC This Spring

Group fitness classes are back at the Athletic Wellness and Recreation Center this spring. After the hiatus of classes for the Fall 2023 semester due to staffing issues, the AWRC has made the return possible.


For much of the fall, the AWRC searched for a new Director of Wellness and Recreation. In early November, Robert Simels was brought on to fill the position. It became a priority for him to reinstate the classes for the upcoming spring. 


“I reached out to returning instructors from th...
The New Paltz Oracle •

A Playlist For ... Hometown Holidays

For me, going home for the holidays is filled with many emotions. On one hand, I am so tired and need the rest from school, but on the other I will miss all my friends dearly. 


The holidays remind me of some of the most formative memories of my childhood; spending time with family, opening gifts on Christmas and taking part in traditions. For my family music is a part of everything we do. So, naturally, I have songs I associate with this time of year that reflect who I was during those holida...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Sport or Not? Turkey Trot Traffic

In the previous two years, I’ve been a passenger princess on each trip back and forth for the holidays with my older brother at the wheel. This year, I finally have my own car that I lovingly refer to as Beck. Beck and I will be braving this year’s trek home to the city alone. 


Beck has character. She’s equipped with Apple Carplay, my What? the band magnets and battle scars of dents and scratches, some new and some from before we met. Together, we can do this.


Mentally preparing for the dr...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Until Later Works on Releasing Single With New Paltz Student Producing

Until Later, a student band here at SUNY New Paltz, is making progress on recording their first single and rocking the local music scene.


The classic rock inspired three-piece band has been performing since the fall of 2022 but working closely together as musicians since fall 2021 as first year students. Members of the band include Justin Ruszczycki on drums, Paul Julian on guitar and Evan Harden on bass, keys and vocals. 


Each are music students, Harden and Ruszczycki as music majors and...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Make Like a Leaf and Fall in Love in The Hudson Valley

Cuffing season is well underway, so bench the roster and pick your starting player. It is go-time for cozy movie nights with matching pajamas and tons of fun activities for you and your boo from now until the holidays. 


Halloween is nearly upon us. This upcoming weekend may be your last chance to go pumpkin-picking. Have a fun day on the farm, then head home to carve your pumpkins and watch some scary movies. 


 It’s time for couple’s costumes to fly into your Amazon carts for all your fest...
The New Paltz Oracle •

The Reign of Rugby Returns to SUNY New Paltz

The New Paltz Rugby Football Club (NPRFC) has had a killer fall season. Going 3-1 in their conference makes for an incredible comeback after a year-long suspension. 


The team is one of SUNY New Paltz’s club sports playing in the Tri-State Rugby Conference against other club teams from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. So far this season, NPRFC has played against Drew University, Bard University, Molloy University and Seton Hall. In their games against Drew, Bard and Molloy, the Hawks have...
The New Paltz Oracle •

WFNP The Edge Celebrates World College Radio Day

WFNP The Edge, SUNY New Paltz’s very own radio station, celebrated the 13th annual World College Radio Day (WCRD) on Friday, Oct. 6 with live musical acts across the campus. 


World College Radio Day promotes awareness for college and high school radio stations around the world to increase their listenership. “College radio is the only free live medium brave enough to play unsigned, local, and independent artists on a regular basis,” says the website for the WCRD initiative.


For SUNY New Pa...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Relay for Life: A Time of Love, Light and Reflection

After a rainy morning in New Paltz, the weather finally let up and allowed for students to gather on the North Turf for the Relay for Life walkathon. 


The SUNY New Paltz Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) hosted the event on Saturday Sept. 30. Relay for Life raises money and awareness for the American Cancer Society (ACS), the largest nonprofit organization funding cancer research. 


“The American Cancer Society itself has so many resources for survivors, caregivers and people still...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Sport or Not? Time Management

Time management: a skill that’s just out of reach as you have no time to learn how to manage your time. It takes dedication and trial and error to have an organized and balanced schedule. 


You buy a planner at the beginning of the year. Your play book. It tells you when and where to be, what assignments to tackle and how to get into a position that will allow you to crush this semester. Then, you lose it in the mess of your room that you forgot to make time to clean because you were busy bein...
The New Paltz Oracle •

SUNY New Paltz Welcomes a New Class of Athletes

SUNY New Paltz Athletics welcomes in a new class of first-year athletes eager to hit the fields, courts and tracks. 30 athletes across the seven fall sports teams are part of the class of 2027. 


“I absolutely love the team,” said Katie Singleton, first-year midfielder for New Paltz field hockey, “they are so much fun and such great people to be around. I ultimately decided on New Paltz because I knew it would be a challenging environment for me and would push me to compete to my full potentia...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Dating in Your 20s: First Relationships

Relationships. Some of us grew up waiting for the day we would get into our first relationships, talking with friends at lunch during middle school, imagining future scenarios with the boys sitting at the table nearby as they all played Yu-Gi-Oh! or some other card game. Then we all went to high school, and the first girl in the group got her first boyfriend and it was the talk of homeroom for a month. The next girl met a boy, and the next. There was a breakup, a new boy, another friend’s first....
The New Paltz Oracle •

SUNY Drops Standardized Testing Requirement

The SUNY system has officially retired the requirement of submitting SAT or ACT scores for applicant consideration. The temporary policy that suspended standardized testing scores back in 2020 has been renewed each year since the start of the pandemic. As other universities around the country have opted to keep this policy in place, the State University of New York has decided to follow suit. 


As per the memorandum on April 11, 2023, SUNY Chancellor Dr. John B. King Jr. requested the SUNY Boa...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Sport or Not?: Being an WFNP DJ

Being a radio DJ sounds like a relatively simple and stationary job. You sit in the studio, you play some tunes, you crack a few jokes, you go home. However, I would argue that it is a sport to be a WFNP DJ. 


Now, I’m personally still a rookie to the game of disc jockeying, but I bet even seasoned pros would agree this is a sport; one filled with strategy, timing and speed. 


For me and my co-host, it starts with the relay race. I run from class in Coykendall Science Building (CSB) and she...
The New Paltz Oracle •

New Paltz Basketball Season Ends, Women's Bid in NCAA

New Paltz Women’s Basketball has had a record-breaking season with its undefeated status during the regular season and the Hawks’ fourth consecutive showing in the SUNYAC and NCAA Championships. 


In this year’s NCAA Championship, New Paltz first faced the Gettysburg College Bullets on Friday, March 3. Coming fresh off their first season loss at the SUNYAC Championships, the Hawks rallied and continued to bring their all from the legendary season. Victoria Venus, fourth-year forward, said “Los...
The New Paltz Oracle •

New Paltz Welcomes First Black Owned Beauty Store

While taking a walk through New Paltz and venturing off Main Street you pass some well known spots like Stewart’s Shops and the Salvation Army. But if you walk a little further, turn the corner and you will find a new gem in town. JBee Beauty Supply at 1-3 Henry W. Dubois Drive building 2 is a new Black, woman-owned business selling hair and beauty products: the first of its kind in New Paltz. 


When you walk inside the store, the purple walls and shelves fully stocked with any products you co...
The New Paltz Oracle •

A Jazzy Night: New Paltz Faculty Presents Jazz Concert in Studley

The Faculty Jazz Concert on Tuesday, Feb. 21 is a staple of the Concert Series hosted at Studley Theater.


Each semester, the music department holds concerts where students, faculty and guests perform a variety of different musical styles that are free to all SUNY New Paltz students. A constant among these is the Faculty Jazz performance. Professors in the department come together as an ensemble and play a mix of original compositions, jazz standards and modern takes on some of those classics....
The New Paltz Oracle •

Stopping Academic Burnout in its Tracks

With nearly a third of the semester behind us, it’s right around that time of year where the motivation dips downward and focusing in class feels like it just got 10 times harder. 


Test grades are going up on Brightspace and the mere idea of checking it makes you anxious. Logging on only reminds you of the missing assignments that you still haven’t found the time to do. But who could blame you? You take five classes, work part-time, you’re involved with multiple clubs and of course, you need...
The New Paltz Oracle •

New Paltz Lacrosse Get into “Winning Mentality”

As Week Four of lacrosse preseason comes to a close, the New Paltz Hawks are hard at work readying themselves for the upcoming season.


The spring season has many changes for both the men’s and women’s teams, including new players and coaches. 10 out of the 24 players on the women’s team are freshmen. Five freshmen have also joined the men’s team. 


In November of 2022, the men’s lacrosse team hired a new head coach, Dylan Neisler, after the previous coach, Dwayne Stewart, left the team earl...
The New Paltz Oracle •

The Battle of Snug’s: Battle of the Bands Held at Dive Bar

Walking into Snug Harbor on a cold Tuesday night in January and being met with the chaos of five bands trying to find any open space to store their instruments could only mean one thing — the Battle of the Bands was about to commence. 


The night kicked off at 9:30 p.m. with Until Later, a three-piece band of SUNY New Paltz students performing classic rock covers as well as their original works such as “The Mistress.” Taking the stage next at 10:15 p.m. was O-RAMA!, a local ska band that kept...
The New Paltz Oracle •

Queer Coffee Hour Creates Community on Campus

“At the end of the day, queer people are going to need to be there for each other because one day, they might be all that we have left.” 


When John Alexander, a fourth-year English major, first had the idea for Queer Coffee Hour, it was a sentiment he held close. So when the opportunity presented itself to make this space a reality, Alexander got right to work.  


Pairing with the SUNY New Paltz Honors Program, Queer Coffee Hour was born. The first event was held on Feb. 3 in the Honors Cen...

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