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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...
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