Concordiensis - March 11, 2021

Concordiensis T H E S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R O F U N I O N C O L L E G E S I N C E 1 8 7 7 Thursday, March 11, 2021

Volume. CXLVIII, Issue XIII

concordiensis.com

International Women’s Day Keynote Speaker, Abby Stein

By Megan Brown co-New Editor

On Monday, March 8, Abby Stein, tenth-generation descendant of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the Hasidic movement, came to speak with the campus community in honor of International Women’s Day. Sponsored by the Office of Intercultural Affairs, Union

Hillel, Union Pride, LGBTQ+ Affairs Committee, Women’s Union, Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies and Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, the event began with Stein sharing an excerpt from her book, “Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman.”

She started with reading a section from her memoir because she said it felt “very timely for International Women’s Day.” From the epilogue,

she shared the part of her journey when she came out to her father about her identity.

Stein mentioned that she was in an apartment on the upper west side of Manhattan alongside a rabbi that was helping her come out to her dad. As written in the book, after Stein told her father that she was a girl, he responded with, “But I don’t get it. Men have a higher place in society. Men have better roles in the world. Why would you do that?”

Stein says that the reaction by her father was one of her first direct, “one-on-one” experiences with sexism.

After reading that part from her book, she divided the discussion into three parts: her life in the Hasidic community, through a lens of gender segregation and sexuality, gender within Judaism, and then the final part being an emphasis on celebration as opposed to tolerance or acceptance.

Stein brought a slideshow to accompany her story that

shared more specific details about her personal life and upbringing in the Hasidic community. For instance, Stein is the sixth child out of 13, her family comes from a “long dynasty of Hasidic Rebbes, from all sides, including the founder of the Hasidic movement the Basal Shem Tov.” She also mentioned that she was engaged at 17, married at 18, her child was born at 19, and she was then divorced at 21.

See STEIN on page 2

Economics professor analyzes endowment investments

By Akriti Dhasmana co-Editor-in-Chief

***This article is solely based on the research work conducted by Professor Motahar and interviews conducted by Harrison Berger ’23 that were shared with the Concordiensis.*** In January 2021, Professor Eshragh Motahar from the Union College Economics Department publicly released a report analyzing Union’s endowment investments. On March 10, he discussed the findings of his report in an event hosted by the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) chapter at the college. The report suggests that the college has been spending large amounts in investment management fees and incentive Opinions, page 4 How false allegations hurt students

fees for investments that the report shows yield low returns.

Motahar told Concordiensis that he started investigating endowment performance four years ago after a Union alumnus who now works in the Finance sector in NYC pointed out to him that the Union’s endowment is poorly managed on a structural basis. After receiving no response on the matter from Diane Blake, the Vice President for Finance at Union College at the time, he started “examining Union’s annual Financial Statements covering 15 years and its IRS-990 tax returns covering 11 years”.

According to Motahar’s report, in the period 20062019 there was a 109 percent increase in the investment management and incentive fees paid by Union, while the investments underperformed the S&P 500 by 3.4 percentage points. Professor Motahar Sci Tech, page 7 Music therapy can help memory

explained in the YDSA event that the S&P is a stock market index for the performance of the top 500 companies in the U.S. stock market.

He further explained that it is his conclusion that had Union practiced a “passive investment strategy”, that is invested in a diverse set of assets rather than concentrated amounts in remote companies, “the college would have accumulated $189 million by the end of 2019 on top of its endowment”. Instead however, according to the report for the period 2013-2018, on average 44 percent of the endowment had been invested in Central America and the Carribean.

“We can only guess that Union has put some portion of it in hedge funds and private equity funds that are located in the Caribbean islands, such as the Cayman Islands, because that is where many hedge and private equity funds

We’re beautiful on the inside, too

World, page 6 Brexit protocol hurts Ireland

Courtesy of Eshragh Motahar Upward trend in investment management and icentive fees as a percentage of endowment

are now headquartered,” Motahar told Concordiensis.

On April 27 2020, President David Harris announced a freeze on salary and wages as a part of cost-cutting measures for the COVID-19 crisis. This was accompanied by a one-year pause in the College’s contribution to its employees’ pension 807 Union St., page 9 Trevor Noah and cancel culture

fund which is 11 percent of the employee salary, according to Motahar’s report.

On January 29, during an office hour session hosted by the President’s Office, President Harris See ECO on page 3

Sports, page 10 Liberty League All-Academic Team

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Sydney Lewis

STEIN Continued from page 1

Next, Stein went into depth about the marriage rituals in the community, explaining that “weddings are arranged, and at times bordering on forced. The whole community life revolves around family and marriage.” She also added that she got married within the standard age range of 1820, but also that divorce was heavily frowned upon.

Additionally, Stein notes that the LGBTQ community did not really exist in the Hasidid community while she was there, let alone hated.

She explains that the LGBTQ community could not exist because it was a “woman’s responsbility to help the men control” their “uncontroablle sexual desire,” so how could marriage be within the same sex?

After sharing videos from marriages she attended herself, she went on to explain that, “while the Hasidic community might try to create a bubble, and pretend that they live in a bubble … they actual-

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | Concordiensis

ly don’t.”

Stein said that it took her leaving the Hasidic community and working and living in the outside world, to “realize how much of the same understanding of gender and sexuality, both gender roles and sexuality, exist in the most progressive communities.”

She emphasizes that the sexism she faced within the community she grew up in is, in large part, really no different than many other sectors of society. After working on different political campaigns, mostly that of female candidates, she shared, “I think every woman I ever worked with … kid or not, married or not … at some point has been asked how they balance their family life and their work. I don’t remember the last time I heard a male politician or male CEO being asked that same question.”

Stein shared many examples that exemplify the idea that “our [progressive] community is not much better” and the “Hasidic community is not as radical as they think. They are simply a more radical … version of society as a whole.

We all have work to do.”

At the end of the hour, Stein reiterates her final, most important points. She starts by explaining that “Identity is synonymous with soul because your soul is your true

identity.” This was shared in the context of people “erasing” the history of the LGBTQ

“We don’t need anything to justify who we are … we don’t have to let go of every-

Stein speaking with community on Zoom

community. Stein emphasizes that just because the LGBTQ community was not known or talked about, does not mean that it did not exist. That community has always existed, and needs to be remembered as such.

Finally, she shares the importance of understanding the difference between being celebrated and being tolerated.

Specifically, she ties her identity with the LGBTQ community back to her Hasidic roots.

lewiss4@union.edu Eva Erickson ’21 is one of the many that helped put the event together and noted that

Photo contributed by Megan Brown ‘21

thing from our background … I want people to know that there is a way, in their community, in their tradition, not just to accept who they are, but to celebrate who they are.”

Just because Stein left the Hasidic community, does not mean that she has to abandon her religious roots. There are ways to make pasts work together and celebrate those tandems. “I hate tolerance … it is not meant for people. We need to learn to celebrate.”

Stein’s emphasis on celebration rather than tolerance was her favorite part of the discussion.

Erickson said, “Too often on this campus, we settle only for the tolerance of marginalized groups, and I witness this in the treatment of the LGBTQ community. Tolerance is not enough.”

Ryan Keytack: Assistant Dean for Campus and Community Living and Learning

By Sydney Lewis co-News Editor

On February 1, 2021 Ryan Keytack joined the Union College community as the new Assistant Dean for Campus and Community Living and Learning. Starting his new position amidst a pandemic, he shared parts of his history, interests and future plans for Union with the Concordiensis.

Keytack works with Residential Life, the Minervas, Community Standards and Fraternity & Sorority Life in order to bring the campus experience to life. Keytack “looks

forward to working with the students and staff in those areas to achieve the main goal of developing an intentional and stellar journey for Union students from their first-year through graduation.”

Keytack worked as Senior Director in the College House system at the University of Pennsylvania previous to arriving at Union. He has also worked at George Washington University and Case Western University. Keytack graduated with a degree in English-Comunications while studying Education from Walsh University in Canton, Ohio which was followed by several years of professional acting. He

also received his masters in Theatre Studies and College Student Personnel at Bowling Green State University in Ohio as well.

Alongside his role as Dean, Keytack enjoys a wide variety of music ranging from the band Pearl Jam to Lady Gaga, Beyonce and lastly, musical theatre such as Hamilton. He grew up in Western Pennsylvania where he developed his love for the MLB team, the Philadelphia Phillies and NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins. His last travel experience prior to the pandemic was ice cave hiking and exploring Iceland. In addition to music and iCzech-Slovak her-

itage influences his love for cooking.

His time in the position of Residential Advisor and on the Programming Board inspired his future within higher education. This is demonstrated in his professional career which has revolved around student affairs and developing residential experiences through the conduct process as he served in the role of academic advisor.

When asked what his day to day schedule is like, Keytack responded with the following words: “Back in Philly, we used the word colloquial noun: jawn. A jawn is used to refer to “a thing, place, per-

son, or event that one need not or cannot give a specific name to.” That’s my day to day at Union. The student experience is pretty much a jawn too. We get to figure it out all together.”

Keytack shared that his most memorable moment at Union was his very first steps on campus as his life and work is primarily remote. He described the Nott as “a Victorian beacon welcoming me home,” in a snowy Schenetady setting. He hopes to provide this type setting to Union students through his role as Assistant Dean for Campus and Community Living and Learning.

News

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ECO

Continued from page 1 told Harrison Berger ’23, that this is just a temporary pause in those contributions, assuring that it will be reinstated in the future. In a document shared with the Concordiensis, Motahar illustrated the inequity introduced by this “pause” to the retirement contributions with an example of two professors, A and B. He mentioned that if Professor A had 30 years until retirement and B had only 1 year until retirement, A would be impacted more negatively than B. In the footnotes, Motahar observes that A is more likely to be a person of color and/or a woman. “The long-run effects of the pause on the younger faculty are much more inequitable, by several orders of magnitude (as I have demonstrated), than on those members

of the faculty who are closer to retirement,” Motahar said.

He reiterated that had Union made passive investments since 2006 onwards there would have been enough returns to fund 34 times the amount required for retirment contributions for the faculty. He further mentioned that even if the college had just lowered the investment management fees and incentive fees by ten percent every year, then the amount would have been sufficient to cover the costs for retirement contributions.

At the YDSA event, Motahar also shared that Michelle Gibson, the VP for Administration and Finance told him that the endowment “is managed by an investment committee, composed of volunteer trustee executives who have significant depth and investment expertise.” Motahar mentions in his report that after consulting “6 independent experts/ scholars” on their assessment of the report, all agree that the

2 percent investment management fees is excessive for the 6.5 percent rate of return.

Motahar concluded the event by highlighting that the management of the endowment has a far reaching impact on all budgetary decisions taken by the school.

He hoped that more transparency in the procedure and more prudent investment can hopefully improve the situation. “Speaking of the need for transparency and accountability, I note that the reporting of investment management fees (including incentive fees) has been censored as of the 2020 Financial Statement,” Motahar told Concordiensis.

The report has been publicly available since January 22, 2021, when it was sent to the academics listserv, according to Motahar. “I have been informed by faculty representatives on the relevant governance committees that the administration is aware of my report,” he said. Despite this, he has not received a

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Courtesy of Eshragh Motahar Eshragh Motahar, Professor of Economics at Union College concrete response from the college, he told Concordiensis. On reaching out to college spokesperson Phil Wajda, Concordiensis was informed that the college will be releasing more information on the

endowment in the upcoming days.

You can read the full report by Motahar here====> https:// www.unionaaup.com/budget

COVID-19 cases fluctuate while vaccination eligibilty grows

By Daniel Wilcox co-Editor-in-Chief

COVID cases have decreased significantly since the beginning of Winter term, with the highs experienced in January not being repeated so far. According to the Union COVID-19 Dashboard, on Tuesday, March 9 there were 645 results returned, with three of those being positive, the highest since February 9 when, out of 576 results, three positives were returned for students, and one returned for a faculty/staff member.

This week members of the college community have been provided with packs of disposable masks following on from an email from the Director of the Environmental Health & Safety Department, Elizabeth M. Dobson-Davis, CCHO, announcing the findings of the Center for Disease Control studies showing the increased protection from “wearing a cloth mask over a medical procedure mask.”

From March 1, employees in dining services, the bookstore, the mailroom, campus safety, the testing center and

health services received their masks, with “all other employees and students” receiving their packs during their COVID testing appointment.

With vaccinations becoming more commonplace around the country, there have been discussions about the ability of staff, faculty and students having access to the virus. With the distribution of the vaccine currently being handled by New York State, Phillip Wajda, Director of Media and Public Relations for the college, explained that the college is “preparing to administer the vaccine if and when it becomes available (to the college).”

The Interim Chief Human Resources Officer, Beth R. Glassman informed the college community that the eligibility for vaccination will be expanding from March 17, with “in-person staff” and “adults 60 and over” now being eligible, reduced from the previous age barrier of 65 and over. It was restated by Glassman that Union “encourages all employees” who meet the criteria, “including student employees” to receive a vaccination. As confirmed by Angela Stefanatos, the Health

Center Director, the college is not currently planning to mandate the vaccination for staff, faculty or students.

Amanda Iverson, the Director of Residential Life, followed up with Residential Advisors and Reslife Work Study students, offering support for these students to sign up for a COVID vaccination.

Glassman, as well as the Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Fran’Cee Brown-McClure, and Dean of Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Strom Thacker, commented on March 9 on the new guidance released by the CDC regarding the reduced restrictions for those fully-vaccinated. They expressed being “cautiously optimistic” that restrictions could be “eased” with the increasing number of community members being vaccinated, although noted that the health and safety protocols currently “remain unchanged for all individuals.”

The college as of March 10 has six active cases/individuals in isolation, with that being made up of five students and one faculty/staff member, according to the COVID-19 dashboard. Moreover, there

Stephen Nadler | Concordiensis Signs in residential halls and buildings warn students of the lingering pandemic are 48 students in quarantine, to the same date.

March 12 is the one-year anniversary of the college reporting its first COVID positive case. This led to the college announcing that all students needed to leave the campus a few days later, with a virtual program of study continuing throughout the spring trimester, until September 2020. The Communications and Marketing Office requested the campus community submit reflec-

tions from the past year, with the highlights being planned to be shared on Friday.

Past Concordiensis editions can be viewed at concordiensis. com/virtual-newspapers or by scanning:

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Kelsey Delaney

OPINIONS C

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delaneyk@union.edu

False accusations and their impact on the students

By Kelsey Delaney and Victoria Dema Opinions Editor and Contributibuting Writer

According to Amanda Iverson, the Director of Residential Life at Union College, “there were 231 findings of responsibility for COVID-19 violations in the Fall term out of 489 possible COVID-19 policy violations.” Iverson did note that “several cases have yet to be resolved due to extenuating circumstances.” It can be gathered that 47.24% of those cases had evidence which proved the accused party to be found responsible for violating COVID-19 policies. But what about the other 258 outstanding cases? And how exactly does the college go about handling the

sorts of cases where there is no explicit evidence against someone, only a report filed?

Looking at these statistics it can be assumed that a fair number of these violations were falsely reported. In conversations with other students on campus it has come to the surface that a lot of students are being falsely reported this term, not only to the office of Residential life but to campus safety as well.

Anyone is able to submit a COVID-19 violation report without the use of a real name, email address, phone number, or even student ID number. With that being said, it is obvious why there has been such an influx of false accusations. Union College’s system of handling student conduct can be interpreted as negligent in such a way that it can have negative and damaging effects on individuals who are

being accused, especially in cases where an anonymous report is made that contains false information. When someone files a report to the college, Union’s immediate response is to initiate a conduct meeting for those being accused. Initiating a conduct meeting to someone accused of a violation without first validating that the claim is real, is harmful to the person being accused. There is virtually no work done on Union’s part to validate the claims which are being made. When someone files a report, since they do not have to include their student ID number, someone could potentially put in fake names and fake emails. It is not an excuse for the college to claim this is for reasons to protect the individual filing the report because regardless, that information would remain annoymous. Those who are ac-

cused have virtually no rights when it comes to knowing who their accuser is. There are no measures to investigate or contact the individuals who file the reports. If someone is called for a conduct meeting, this should imply that there is clear evidence against them and the college knows exactly who filed the report. It is problematic and puts those accused through tremendous stress. The system makes it so anyone can accuse anyone of anything and there is zero protection of those accused because of the lack of investigatory procedures. Those who are falsely accused also deserve protections. Being falsely accused of something is a serious matter and the college does nothing to provide reparations to those who are found not guilty. Being falsely accused of something can carry a lot of weight on

someone for a long time. Furthermore, even though in real world scenarios you have the right to know your accuser, because the college does not allow you to know, you are unable to do anything about the fact that you are being falsely accused without the college calling it “retaliation”.

In all cases where there is minimal to no evidence the college should have a protocol in place to reach out to accused students before calling them into a conduct meeting.

The way that the system is set up as of now breeds distrust between the students and the institution. It also enables more students to send in false reports. There are so many reasons why someone might send in a false report including: disliking someone, jealousy, or even pure boredom.

Something needs to be done to change this.

Editor’s Column: Why did I join the Concordiensis?

By Sarah Davenport Staff Writer

For the longest time I wanted to grow up and be just like Rory Gilmore, go to an Ivy League and become a journalist. The idea of attending one of the most prestigious schools in the country, while pursuing a career in writing, was something I had always dreamed of doing. However, things do not always work out the way you intend them to.

While applying to college I had a change of heart. I realized I wanted a smaller school and that my interests were very science oriented. I ended up deciding to major in Neu-

roscience, planning to one day attend medical school.

Again, things do not always work out the way you plan them too, as I soon realized a life in medicine was also not for me. By this point, the beginning of sophomore year, I had little idea of what I wanted to do and completely lost hold of what activities brought me joy. I had, for the first time in my life, so much free time that I didn’t know what to do with myself.

Although the idea of having free time is nice, it leaves a lot of room for boredom and dormancy. This made me extremely unhappy, very quickly making me realize that I needed to find an activity and become involved in the campus community in some way. I

started reading the millions of club emails that are sent out each day and finally landed on one regarding the Concordy. I had previously thought of becoming a staff writer, but my intense course load freshman year deterred me from ever making the commitment. I was very excited that I finally had the time and resources to become involved.

At first, I had no idea what I was getting into and worried that it would be overwhelming.

However I found it to be quite the opposite. I enjoyed finally having an extracurricular activity at college where I could share my ideas and rekindle my love for writing. Even if no one read my articles, it was still satisfying to see my words published weekly in the pa-

per.

I am no Rory Gilmore by any means, however joining the Concordy allowed me to live out a little bit of my high

school fantasy. It helped me escape my slump of boredom and become a more confident and well rounded writer.

Concordiensis Vol. CXLX, Issue XIII, March 11, 2021 Akriti Dhasmana and Daniel Wilcox Editors-in-Chief Megan Brown, News Editor Sydney Lewis, News Editor Dante Sasso, 807 Editor Isabelle Yee, Sports Editor Kari Kimball, Sci/Tech Editor concordiensis.com Email: concordiensis@union.edu Office: 406 Reamer Campus Center

Matt Farr, Managing Editor Kelsey Delaney, Opinions Editor Chris Doyle, World/Business Editor Stephen Nadler , Photo Editor Mail: Concordiensis Box 2577 807 Union Street

Do you have something you want to say? The Concordiensis is now accepting Letters to the Editor. Share your thoughts about campus, news, trends, or anything you want to write about!

All letters should be sent to dhasmana@union.edu or wilcoxd@union.edu. They should be less than 250 words in length and must include the writers full name and email address. Any letters longer than 250 words may be edited for length, word choice and accuracy.

Opinions

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Faculty retirement benefit cuts and endowment mismanagement

By Harrison Berger Contributing Writer

****Any views expressed in this article are solely the opinions of the writer, not necessarily the opinions of the Editorial Board of the newspaper.**** On January 29, I attended an open office hours session with President David Harris during which a senior Schaffer Library employee asked when she might expect to receive her next retirement pay.

The 11 percent contribution, a contractual benefit, had been cut for most staff and faculty over the summer, despite a 127 faculty-signed letter which had urged reconsideration. The letter laid out a variety of objections to the austerity measures, questioning the necessity of the cuts and proposing alternative strategies for managing the budget.

It was in this context that the librarian posed her question to the administration, to which President Harris replied, “We had to make cuts due to budgetary challenges. We may face similar challenges in the future. Benefits will be reinstated once those challenges are met and properly dealt with.”

In the moment, this made some sense. But upon further scrutiny, I think the logic falters. The faculty and staff signed a deal for their labor and expertise with Union College, a deal which the institution has since reneged on. Decisions like this require explanation on behalf of the Board of Trustees.

Recent research on our endowment from Professor Eshragh Motahar, from the Union College Economics Department, questions many of the claims made by the college in defense of these decisions. Using publicly available

data, he found that from 2006 to 2019, Union College spent an average of 6.5 million U.S. dollars annually in investment management and incentive fees, placing our school in the top 6 percent of all institutional spenders on a normal curve study in that particular budgetary category.

For those fees, our college received an average of 3.4 points below S&P 500 value on an annual basis, underperforming our peers. What’s more, if we had simply only invested in S&P for that period of time, our returns would

23 and on January 29, he explained the endowment issue using a real estate analogy. “It doesn’t matter what you pay the realtor,” he tells me, “it’s about what you clear on the house.” I would like to consider this for a moment.

Our endowment is performing on average 3.4 points below market while our fees are much larger than our peer institutions on a peer reviewed normal curve. Further, as Professor Motahar’s analysis indicates, “In the period between 2006 and 2019, fees as a percentage of endowment Courtesy of Harrison Berger ’23 Investment Management and Incentive Fees reported on the annual KPMG report vs the fees reported on IRS

Courtesy of Harrison Berger ’23 Union College Investment Growth vs S&P Growth (2006-2019)

have been 189 million U.S. dollars greater. With this information in mind, the decision to cut retirement benefits appears questionable. Had the Board of Trustees passively managed our endowment those retirement cuts would not have been necessary.

Despite recent interviews with administration on the issue, a variety of questions still remain. Firstly, we do not yet know who the recipients are of those high fees. Additionally, we do not know why the fees are so large or what metrics the college is using to determine appropriate fee totals.

When I asked President Harris what justified the high fees for such low returns on January

increased by 109%, displaying a statistically significant upward trend, while performance showed zero trend.” In other words, there is no correlation between the increase in fees and returns on our endowment. What then explains the increase in fees?

An additional question concerns the nature and location of our investments: on any given year the college invested between 39% to 55% in Central America and the Caribbean. I would like to know why that is.

There is also the issue of fee classifications, existing as two separate categories of “investment management fees,” which are reported to

the IRS, and “incentive fees,” which are only reported on the annual KPMG report. In the accompanying graph of the difference between those fees for the studied period of time the existence of “incentive fees,” as a distinct category with much higher totals than IRS reported “investment management fees,” is confusing. I would like to know what determines the classification of these separate fees and if the college plans on disclosing future fees of this nature to the IRS. Responses from the relevant decision makers would comply nicely with our institutional policy of “transparency and accountability,” highlighted in our Strategic Plan.

Returning to the retirement cuts, it becomes clear that private risks taken at the level of a discrete board had consequences for the livelihoods of many in our campus community. Those risks have been socialized in the form of schoolwide budget cuts.

One can additionally wonder if these management practices have had other consequences on our budget, like the fact that at Union, we are only able to pay many full time dining staff a total of $12.60 an

hour, a situation which forces many to take on multiple jobs and rely on overtime pay (additional working hours). If we had invested our endowment properly, would we perhaps be able to pay a $15 living wage to those hard working members of our community?

One can and should apply this logic to a wide range of institutional expenses from academic hiring to tuition costs.

We can clearly see that decisions that the board makes, while done in isolation and with discretion, have consequences well beyond their table. And the reverberations from their decisions, whatever they are, always flow down even to the lowest levels of the institutional hierarchy. It’s what makes these issues particularly political.

I urge our campus community to pay attention and ask further relevant questions on behalf of those who cannot.

Do you have something you want to say? The Concordiensis is now accepting Letters to the Editor. Share your thoughts about campus, news, trends, or anything you want to write about!

All letters should be sent to dhasmana@union.edu or wilcoxd@union.edu. They should be less than 250 words in length and must include the writers full name and email address. Any letters longer than 250 words may be edited for length, word choice and accuracy.

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Chris Doyle

World / Business

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | Concordiensis

doylec@union.edu

The destruction of the democratic process in Myanmar

By Jing Chen Contributing Writer

CNN reports that almost 40 civilians have been killed by the Myanmar military since a coup started on February 1 after the military-affiliated Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) seized power. The USDP forcibly detained Aung San Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD) leader and 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

The November 2020 general elections results provoked the coup as the NLD and Suu Kyi won an overwhelming majority in parliament. As the BBC underscores, this is the first time in 25 years that a party other than USDP won the general

election.

The USDP refused to accept NLD and Suu Kyi’s victory and—with 90 other small parties—claimed that voter fraud and “irregularities” disturbed the system. On February 1 when Suu Kyi was ready to take office—the USDP declared a state of emergency and closed its borders, restricted travel, and regulated social media. Furthermore, the USDP accused Suu Kyi of conducting several criminal violations and arrested her under charges like infringing on coronavirus restrictions, according to NPR. Dissent aroused in the crowd and students, teachers, civil workers, monks, and religious leaders organized to demonstrate peacefully on the streets of large cities like Yangon and Mandalay. They cried

for the release of Suu Kyi and other NLD members. However, the USDP sent troops to besiege and suppress the rising civilian resistance.

They went as far as firing and shooting the crowd, and have killed almost 40 people since the coup started, all of whom were peaceful protestors.

One victim was a 19-year-old female protester wearing a T-shirt that prints “Everything will be OK.”, who was fatally shot in the head in Mandalay, according to NPR. Moreover, in Myingyan, a 14-year-old boy was lethally shot and wounded in the neck. NPR also released videos of the USDP security forces brutally beating and humiliating emergency service members, although the validity of the video has not been verified.

The international interna-

tional response to the coup has been mixed. According to NPR, China and Russia have been deliberate in their response and have advocated for no further violence towards Myanmar’s public. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations did not come to an agreement to issue a statement to call for the restoration of Suu Kyi, but instead expressed that they are ready to “assist Myanmar in a positive, peaceful, and constructive manner.” Conversely, neighboring countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Singapore have individually supported Suu Kyi’s release. UN Secretary General António Guterres condemned the military takeover and asserted that it was a “serious blow to democratic reforms”, according to the BBC. U.S.

President Joe Biden and the State Department denounced USPD’s violent measures.

The coup has resulted in horrors and in Myanmar as it strives to restore democratically-elected leadership. In the midst of the violence, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo noticed that “today, the country is like the Tiananmen Square in most of its major cities.”

Pope Francis has advocated and called attention to the young people suffering the terror. He expressed hope that “the young people of that beloved land get the opportunity of hope in a future where hate and justice be replaced by meeting and reconciliation.”

Good Friday Agreement threatened by Britain/EU protocol

By Chris Doyle World and Business Editor

On March 4, the Loyalist Communities Council (LCC) of Northern Ireland denounced the Good Friday Agreementin reaction to the Northern Ireland Protocol agreement between the UK and the European Union, according to the BBC. The Protocol establishes a trade barrier between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, which includes the UK country of Northern Ireland.

LCC Chairman David Camp-

bell denounced the barrier as an infringement of the rights of UK citizens, according to a letter to the Irish News.

The northern six counties that makeup the current Northern Ireland were heavily pro-UK and Protestant in the 1920s. The rest were mostly Catholic and republican. By the 1960s, tensions between Catholics living in the North and more wealthy, influential Protestants burst into what is today called the Troubles, an insurgency between the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British Army, and unionist paramilitaries the LCC traces its lineage from. The thirty-year violence claimed

3,600 fatalities and over 40,000 were injured, according to Amnesty International.

A cease-fire between all parties was declared in 1997, and the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 established a truce that included free movement and trade across all of Ireland, citizenship guarentees, and the acknowledgement that the people of Northern Ireland are entitled to self-determination.

Since Brexit, one of the most contentious issues has been the question of Northern Ireland. The freedom of trade and movement had been facilitated by the European trading bloc, and the establishment of a “hard border” would be

Courtesy of Wikimedia The UVF was a unionist paramilitary force that the LCC supported during The Troubles

necessary for the inspection of goods moving into the Eurozone, which would threaten the freedom of movement es-

sential to the peace accords.

60-Second News

The European Parliament voted to strip the exiled leaders of the Catalan independence movement of soveriegn immunity, facilitating attempts by Spain to extradie them.

Jury selection has begun for the trial of Derek Chauvin, the ex-police officer from Minneapolis, over the death of George Floyd.

The Chilean public health network has recalled 276,890 packets of birth control pills after discovering wide-scale ineffectivity.

Kari Kimball

Sci/Tech

Thursday, March 11, 2021 | Concordiensis

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kimballk@union.edu

Antioxidant in green tea proves to protect against cancer

By Kari Kimball Sce/Tech Editor

There have been many speculations throughout the years over the medicinal qualities of green tea, but nothing has been proved. Recent claims have said that green tea can have inhibitory effects against cancers such as breast, lung, prostate and colon cancer. A new study suggests that there is an antioxidant, named epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), in green tea that can stimulate a rise in p53 protein levels, according to Lab Roots. The p53 protein is an integral molecule in cells that help repair DNA and protect against cancer. One of the ways p53 does this is by temporarily stopping the growth of a cell when its DNA is damaged while the

DNA is being repaired. Once the DNA is repaired, growth and division resume and the repaired DNA can then be passed down to the daughter cells instead of the damaged DNA. EGCG is a natural antioxidant abundant in green tea and is also sold as an herbal supplement. The amount of EGCG in green tea ranged from 200 to 300 milligrams in a brewed cup (240 milliliters) of green tea, according to the study report published on Nature Communications.

Antioxidants help repair damage done by free radicals, which can be helpful or harmful depending on where they are in the cell as well as other factors. Free radicals can be dangerous when they are at high levels as they can lead to oxidative stress. However, antioxidants counteract oxida-

tive stress so antioxidants are being studied for prevention and reversal of the effects of the free radicals and oxidative stress in cancer.

This study on green tea’s effect on p53 showed that EGCG interacts with p53 to stop the degradation of p53.

This is a monumental discovery because normally, p53 is quickly broken down after encountering a protein called MDM2 and is in a continuous cycle of production then degradation. One of the study authors, Chunyu Wang, a professor of biological sciences at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, states, “Both EGCG and MDM2 bind at the same place on p53, the N-terminal domain, so EGCG competes with MDM2 … When EGCG binds with p53, the protein is not being degraded through MDM2, so the level of p53 will

increase with the direct interaction with EGCG, and that means there is more p53 for anti-cancer function. This is a very important interaction.”

This study also looked at the effect EGCG in green tea has on cancerous cells. Their study found that EGCG can induce apoptosis in cancerous cells. They were unable to determine the underlying mechanism of how EGCG does this but they believe it still has something to do with EGCG’s interaction with the p53 protein. With that being said, one must consume at least ten cups of green tea a day in order to have a significant enough effect on cancer cells. Therefore, if people do not want to have to consume that much green tea, it might be beneficial to take EGCG in its herbal supplement form.

Additionally, researchers are

also looking at ways of enhancing the effect of EGCG or developing another antioxidant that is more efficient.

This development could be instrumental in the development of new cancer therapeutics and even Alzheimer’s disease. Mutations in p53 are found in over 50 percent of human cancers. Due to this popular occurrence of mutations in p53, scientists have been working to develop a targeted drug to inhibit the effects of these mutated p53 proteins. Chunyu Wang states, “Now we find that there is a previously unknown, direct interaction between the two, which points to a new path for developing anti-cancer drugs.

Our work helps to explain how EGCG is able to boost p53’s anti-cancer activity, opening the door to developing drugs with EGCG-like compounds.”

Study shows music therapy can bring back lost memories

By Avanti Khare Contributing Writer

Do you have a song that forces you to stop whatever you’re doing when it comes on? Even if you hear it randomly while walking through a store, it will still arouse strong feelings in you. Music is such a part of our collective culture that it translates easily into memories and emotions. These connections between music and memory are often deeply personal and no two people will have the same emotions attached to the same song. Dementia is a neurodegenerative disease that strongly impacts

how people interact with their memories.

Alaine Reschke-Hernández is a music therapist who wanted to study this connection. According to Science News, she partnered with neuroscientists around the country to study the positive emotional effects of music exposure on people with dementia. The study involved both healthy older adults and older adults with dementia.

Both groups were asked to pick a song they associated with happiness and a song they associated with sadness.

The songs were then played for them and each participant had to rate their feelings after listening to their chosen

songs, as well as whether or not they remember the song being played to them. The study found that participants could still feel emotions from their songs of choice for up to twenty minutes after listening to them, whether or not they could remember having listened to them.

To Reschke-Hernández and her colleagues, this research has strong implications for how long-term care workers go about assisting patients with dementia in their daily lives. Music also has the potential to cause adverse effects because of the deeply personal nature of memory associations with music. For music therapy to be success-

Courtesy of Em. M via Unsplash A guitar is a possble instrument used for music therapy ful, it would likely have to involve a constant dialogue between the practitioner and their patient.

Reschke-Hernández says that it would be interesting to continue this work with a more

diverse group of participants in both age and ethnicity in order to better understand the ways in which music can activate memory.

Green tea can fight bad breath and benefit oral health.

Green tea might be able to increase life expectancy.

60-Second Sci/Tech

Antioxidants in green tea can improve brain function.

Antioxidants in green tea can lower the risk of heart disease.

Green tea is often recommended as a fat burning supplement.

PICTURES OF THE WEEK

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Reappointment Review Committee

A reappointment review committee has been formed for Jennifer Grayburn, Director of Digital Scholarship & Public Services, Schaffer Library. Members of the campus community are invited to offer written or oral testimony to committee members.

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Jennifer Grayburn, Director of Digital Scholarship & Public Services, Schaffer Library — Members of the Review Committee: Peter Koonz, chair, Library (koonzp@union.edu); Joanna DiPasquale (Library); David Cotter (Sociology)

Courtesy of Trey Everett ‘22 and Stephen Nadler ’21 | Concordiensis Exercise equipment in Alumni Gym (U-L), Old Chapel and Hale House (U-R), Union College student on the basketball team (L-L)

CRIME & FIRE LOG 03/4/21 - 03/11/21

3/7/21 7:04 PM Alcohol violation - underage possession. Referred to Campus Judicial. Davidson House.

3/8/21 9:08 AM 21-259 Vandalism to building - time of occurrence unknown. Closed. Referred to Department. Theta Delta Chi 3/8/21 10:12 PM 21-263 Drug violation - possession of marijuana / paraphernalia - confiscated. Referred to Campus Judicial. Fox House.

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Dante Sasso Jr.

Thursday, March 11. 2021 | Concordiensis

sassod@union.edu

BSU and StuAct host events centered on cancel culture

By Justin Aguirre Contributing Writer

Over the course of Black History Month at Union College, the Black Student Union and the African Students Association have held various events to promote the African American experience and highlight Black Excellence. One event held by both groups was a listening party on the 16th of February to highlight the achievement of successful Black artists featuring the likes Jhene Aiko, Beyonce and Jay Z as well as other talented musicians.

In addition to these events, Upperclass Dining honored Black culture by cultivating an African-American inspired cuisine featuring Jamaican beef patties, plantains, mac and cheese and more. Two events during the month, BK

Chat With BSU and Student Activities’ “An Evening with Trevor Noah,’’ overlapped in their discussion of cancel culture.

During the course of the BSU event, several examples of “canceling” with varying degrees of seriousness were brought up. In this discussion, a few recurring questions were raised. The first: how can society put their two cents into a situation in which they have little to no facts about? The second: Is cancel culture effective? In other words, does “canceling” someone actually have the opposite effect of criticizing and ostracizing an individual, brand, or entity?

Lastly: The group was concerned with contribution and if an individual’s artistic, scientific etc. benefaction mattered in whether or not a person deserved to be canceled?

Over the Trevor Noah event, a question was posed

by one of the audience members asking Trevor to expound on his feelings on the topic.

He reported feeling as though cancel culture was actually a “misnomer,” and when he first heard the term it was a bit confusing to him. He stated that if ‘canceling’ someone involves a music album success, like in the case of Morgan Wallen, then to “sign him up.” Noah alluded to the idea that cancel culture actually works in the opposite way in which it was intended to work, and that for criticisms to work effectively in a mass media cancel culture manner that the movement itself needs specific parameters to actually be effective.

Both Trevor and BSU raise some important thoughts, questions and concerns over cancel culture. It seems as though cancel culture doesn’t effectively allow people to make mistakes, and doesn’t offer offenders of the vague

Courtesy of Getty Images norms a clear path to rehabilitation once an honest mistake is made. It may be easier to create a clean cut definition of canceling and also define what events qualify as something worth being canceled for and what events are simply honest mistakes, as this could give a more clear definition

to what cancel culture is. By doing this, cancel culture has the potential to be effective at ousting those who’re simply racist, homophobic, sexists, obnoxious, immature, and disrespectful among other things.

Union College’s Woman of the Week: Ashley Boland

By Marcy Forti Staff Writer

Nomination: Since the fall semester Ashley has been overseeing any student who has been in quarantine with Covid.

Some of the things she does for these students: getting rooms ready, making beds, getting the students snacks and supplies they need, calling and texting to check on them making sure they are doing ok. She has been working from home since March and continually gone to Target to get supplies, to campus, to the Stockade Inn, even on nights and weekends. She is a “mom” to these students doing what she can to take care of them while they are in quarantine. Ashley also has two young children of her own. She has been doing all this in addition to her full time position.

Nominated by: Wendy Duff

What are your proudest accomplishments?

My proudest accomplishments are my two munchkins, Reagan (6) and Rory (2)! The campaign launch happened during my daughter’s school break week, and we had an unexpected child care issue.

In true mommy-juggling fashion, hours before the launch, I raced from Memorial Field House and scooped up my daughter who I promptly put to work as my special helper for the evening. In retrospect, there is no greater way I could have shown her that you can be a working mother.

I would say though that my proudest professional accomplishment was planning the launch to kick off Powering Union:The Campaign for Multiple Tomorrows.. President Harris had envisioned a highly interactive event that engaged students, faculty and staff. Everyone needed

to feel welcome and a part of something special, and the program had to demonstrate the many ways in which Union students lead with “wisdom, empathy and courage.” In thinking back, I should have been scared as well. I wasn’t just planning an event. I was planning a pivotal moment in Union’s history.

What are you passionate about?

My family (Derek) and friendships, running, golf, traveling, improving myself, emotional intelligence, cabernet (particularly from Napa), the Georgia Bulldogs and setting a good example for my kids.

Who do you look up to?

My mom. My colleagues/ mentors: Maura, Deb and Bo. My therapist who told me, “Ashley, you can do anything, but you can’t do everything.” Those are life-changing words. RBG. Our nation’s

Courtesy of Women’s Union Ashley Boland, Director of Alumni and Parent Engagement & Advancement Events healthcare workers especially Dr. Adetayo (children’s cleft and craniofacial surgeon who did my son’s cleft palate repair), teachers and first-responders.

What does being a woman at Union mean to you?

It means that I can do it all.

I can have a family and a fulfilling career. I love this community and the people I get to call colleagues and friends.

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Isabelle Yee

Thursday, March 11. 2021 | Concordiensis

yeei@union.edu

Student-Athletes named to Liberty League All-Academic Team

By Annie O’Donnell Staff Writer

Nineteen Union College student-athletes were recognized for their academic excellence by being named to the Liberty League Winter All-Academic Team.

The Winter All-Academic Team is composed of athletes who are members of the men’s and women’s basketball, swimming & diving, and squash teams.

To be named to the team, a student-athlete must at least be a sophomore with a cumulative grade point average minimum of 3.30. The 3.30 standard follows the criteria for the CoSIDA Academic All-America awards.

Following are the members for each team where one star denotes a two-time All-Academic selection and two stars

denote a three-time All-Academic selection.

Women’s Basketball: Kendall Degenhardt ’23, **IreLee Ferguson ’21, Megan Lee ’23, *Darby Leid ’22, Elizabeth Pica ’23, *Amber Raisner ’22, *Laura Vinton ’22 and Sarah Zukowski ’23.

Women’s Swimming and Diving: Mel Boyle ’23, *Anna Kennedy ’22, Anna Lehr ’22, *Elise Liebow ’22, Jojo Sasso ’21 and Emma Withey ’23.

Men’s Basketball: **Rhona Eseyade ’21, Eamon Fitzpatrick ’23, **Jackson Mannix ’21, Justin Regis ’23 and Sean Regis ’23.

Three seniors, IreLee Ferguson ’21, Rhona Eseyade ’21 and Jackson Mannix ’21 maxed out this award and had successful careers at Union.

IreLee Ferguson ’21 appeared in 21 games during her freshman year and averaged 3.5 points and 1.3 rebounds per game.

During her sophomore year, she made 21 appearances and had a season-high nine points with two rebounds, a block, and a steal in 21 minutes of action against Vassar.

In her junior year campaign, she appeared in 22 games. She hit 2-of-3 shots from the field and all four free throws in against MCLA and had a season-best of four assists in 13 minutes against Ithaca, matching her season-high with eight points against Bard.

Off the court, she volunteers at COCA House, a member of Union College’s Scholar Program, and a member of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority.

Rhona Eseyade ’21 played in 21 games off the bench his freshman year, averaging 3.1 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He ranked second on the team with 26 blocks.

In his sophomore year, he appeared in all 24 games

off the bench. He led the team with 118 rebounds (4.9rpg) and posted a Liberty League-leading of 55 blocks ranking 24th nationally in blocks per game.

In his junior year, he was the only Dutchman to start all 26 games and led the Liberty League for the second year in a row with a career-best of 57 blocks and ranked second on the team with 127 rebounds.

Furthermore, he shot a teambest of 49.9% from the floor.

At Union, Eseyade is a manager of the Wells House, a member of the Student Investment Fund, and a campus ambassador for Morgan Stanley.

Jackson Mannix ’21 played in all 28 games off the bench as a freshman, averaging 5.8 points per game, and shot a team-leading 42% from beyond the arc.

In his sophomore season, he started in 20 of 22 games

leading the Dutchmen with an average of 12.5 points per game. He was also awarded the MVP at the Sig Makofski Invitational after scoring 23 points in the title game win over Westfield State.

In his junior year campaign, he started in 21 of 23 appearances, finishing fourth on the team with an average of 8.3 points per game.

He led the team in 86.5% shooting from the charity stripe and shot 43.1% from the field and nearly 40% from beyond the arc. Mannix also had a string of seven games scoring double-digits.

At Union, Mannix is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.

Heiting ’22 and Kosack ’21: student finalists for Hockey Awards

By Tyler Mar Staff Writer

Grace Heiting ’22, a forward on the women’s ice hockey team was named as a finalist for the 2021 Mandi Schwartz Student-Athlete of the Year.

The Mandi Schwartz Student-Athlete of the year is given annually to an ECAC women’s hockey player to honor Mandi Schwartz.

Mandi Schwarz was a hockey player at Yale from 2006 - 2010 who passed away in 2011, at the age of 23 from acute myeloid leukemia.

The ECAC office describes this award as belonging “to a student-athlete who excels in the classroom, participates in fifty percent of the team’s games, and demonstrates leadership on and off the ice”.

In order to be selected for the award, a team’s head coach nominates a student-athlete and a committee made up of school administrators selects the recipient.

Heiting has had an outstanding career at Union thus far.

During her freshman year

season, she played in all 34 games and finished the season with 10 points, and five assists tying for a team-high.

In her sophomore campaign, she led the Dutchwomen in points.

She has been award Union College’s Female Sophomore Athletic Prize and the Terry Lynch-Jackie Havercamp Cuttita Memorial Award.

She complements her time on the ice with a well-rounded set of academic and extracurricular activities. Heiting is a double major in Spanish and biology on the pre-med track.

She is a two-time ECAC Hockey All-Academic Team selection and a 2019-20 AHCA All-American Scholar. She is also a member of Union College’s Beckman Scholars program and a member of the Honor Council where she resides on maintaining academic integrity on campus.

Lastly, she is an ambassador for Gift of Life, an organization that recruits donors to join the national bone marrow registry.

Head Coach Josh Sciba describes Heiting as “the epitome of a Union College student-athlete. She truly embod-

ies leadership, commitment and achievement both on and off the ice, and she is a high achiever that we trust to set an example for other student-athletes to follow.”

On the men’s side, Josh Kosack ’21 was named as a finalist for the 2021 Hockey Humanitarian Award.

The Hockey Humanitarian Award is given annually to college hockey student-athlete to “acknowledge the accomplishments of personal character, scholarship, and the giving of oneself off the ice to the larger community as well. The Humanitarian Award is meant to be seen as a true measure of a person’s worth, not just as an athlete, but as someone who embodies those values that merit our recognition” as described by the Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation.

Last year, Kosack developed “Kozi’s Kids” a program that gives Schenectady children a chance to watch a college hockey game.

Kosack utilizes unused game tickets and concession vouchers from Union players.

He gives the children a tour of the locker room before

Courtesy of Union Athletics Grace Heiting ’22 and Josh Kosack ’21 are both finalists for Hockey Awards the game with a mini Q & A session.

Despite not having a season this year due to the pandemic, Kosack raised more than $5,000 purchase presents for COCA House in Schenectady.

He has also delivered more than 100 coats to another local Schenectady charity as part of an initiative he started on campus. .