The Observer, Volume L, Issue 14, 12/07/18

the

Case Western Reserve University volume L, issue 14 friday, 12/7/2018

Observer

Radical Student Union protests gentrification of University Circle

Courtesy of Erik Drost/Flickr Construction of One University Circle during the summer of 2017. Radical Student Union held a protest of gentrification of the University Circle area and cited luxury aparments as a problem.

Matt Hooke Arts & Entertainment Editor Chants of “Cleveland’s not for sale” rang out from the KSL Oval as, on Friday, Nov. 30, the Radical Student Union (RSU) protested the closing of two neighborhood staples, the Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern and Falafel Cafe.

Around 15 RSU members held signs and passed out a list of demands that they want to be addressed by University Circle Inc. (UCI) and Case Western Reserve University. The group felt the closing of the two restaurants is a symptom of what they see as the larger problem of gentrification in the University

Circle area.

Gentrification is a process where low-income residents of a neighborhood are displaced by an influx of middle- or upper-class residents that drive up rents and change businesses. The expansion of both Case Western Reserve University, and the influence of UCI are to blame for this process according to the RSU. “UCI has a lot of control for who gets to be a business here,” said third-year student and member Nicholas Leberer. “The closest place that sells cheap food is Aldi [1.8 miles away]. If you don’t have an RTA pass, you’re shopping at Constantino’s, and that’s expensive. To be more sustainable, you have to

look at the least well-off person in University Circle and say, ‘Alright, this place has to be liable for them.’”

University Circle has seen a massive amount of development in recent years, much of it expensive. Two luxury apartment complexes, the 276-unit One University Circle complex and the 272-unit Centric Apartments, have been developed this year. Both apartment buildings are costly, with a studio apartment at One University Circle costing between $1,562 and $2,100 per month and a studio apartment at Centric costing between $1,415 and $1,570 per month, currently. A studio apartment on East 4th Street, one of the premier entertainment districts in down-

town Cleveland, costs anywhere from $1,060 to $1,195 a month.

“The people who they are trying to attract are really wealthy people,” said Leberer. “They don’t mind paying higher rents if they live in a hip new part of town. They wouldn’t be able to get away with it if the people living here owned their places of work and owned their homes, but since everyone rents, UCI can do whatever they want.”

RSU officer and third-year student Gillian Prater-Lee believes that UCI needs to court a wider variety of housing and dining options so people of different income levels can afford to live and eat in the area. The demands which RSU distributed cited high storefront rents, expensive parking, police harassment of people of color and a lack of affordable housing as problems which both UCI and CWRU needs to address.

Prater-Lee said RSU has not received a response to their demands, and UCI did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

Locally owned restaurant Falafel Cafe was forced out by UCI without an explanation, according to co-owner Mae Elassal.

Even when the 18-year-old Middle Eastern restaurant offered the development corporation more money, the non-profit refused to renew their lease.

Falafel Cafe will move to the former Crop Kitchen location near the Cleveland Institute of Art, according to Elassal, wh o hopes to reopen the restaurant in March. The space is owned by a different landlord, ensuring the situation with UCI does not repeat itself.

She said that a main problem with the development in University Circle is a lack of free parking to compensate for the increased number of residents and visitors who come with the new apartment developments.

“It’s just building; nothing has changed,” said Elassal when asked about what has changed during her almost two decades in University Circle. “There are no new things going on except for the ice rink. I don’t feel that something new is coming or that they did something new. They just build buildings.”

Also in University Circle, Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern closed for financial reasons, according to co-owner Sean Watterson.

MaDaCol creates memorable experience for audience, dancers alike Kyle Smith

Dance productions are not for everyone.

The Mather Dance Collective (MaDaCol) wants to change that. MaDaCol is one of Case Western Reserve University’s oldest student-run organizations, founded in 1984 with the goal of making

dance productions accessible to students and members of the Cleveland community. That goal lives on to this day in the group’s once-a-semester productions which showcase pieces performed by students, faculty and community members alike.

Before each semester, choreographers, usually CWRU graduate students, are picked to plan dances for that semester’s show. Once the pieces are announced,

anyone is free to join the performance.

No dance experience or university affiliation is required; dancers simply show up and sign up for the piece they want to be involved with.

The choreographers spend the rest of the semester working with their dancers to create a performance. At the end of the semester, the show is performed for one weekend in the Mather Dance Center.

Last semester’s pieces offered a wide

range of different emotions and themes, from personal transformation and arguments to board games and the life of a struggling artist. The material of this year’s performances were more limited in scope but offered a glimpse of the many different ways a concept can be represented in dance.

News

A&E

Opinion

Sports

pg. 3 Starting open dialogue

pg. 6 Local bakery on the rise

pg. 10 Semester Grades

pg. 15 Indoor track & field begins

Staff Reporter

to DANCE I 7

news Greek chapter makes philanthropic impact Nihal Manjila Staff Reporter

Pi Kappa Phi (Pi Kapp) is the only fraternity in the nation which owns its own philanthropy organization, making it one of the most charitable at Case Western Reserve University. The CWRU chapter of Pi Kapp, however, is also partnering with Up Side of Downs, a local Cleveland organization that supports Cleveland’s Down’s syndrome community, primarily children.

This week, from Monday through Thursday, Pi Kappa Phi tabled in the Tinkham Veale University Center to run Sweets for Suites, a fundraising event for the Ability Experience organization. Candy canes with customizable messages were sold for about a dollar each. The candy canes and messages were then be delivered to friends and classmates around the CWRU campus.

Pi Kappa Phi’s philanthropy organization, Ability Experience, has the goal of creating an inclusive community for people with disabilities through shared experiences between people and improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.

To this end, Ability Experience runs various events to connect brothers of Pi Kappa Phi with individuals with disabilities and perform service around the country.

This past November, Pi Kapp hosted Beardsgiving—inspired by No Shave No-

vember and Thanksgiving—to fundraise for the Ability Experience organization and raise money for its various events. Pi Kapp raised $238 in three days between three brothers, serving as a fun time for the participants and as an opportunity for the brothers to come together.

Roston Shore, fourth-year student and philanthropy chair of Pi Kappa Phi, also spoke about the Build America summer trip, a six-week-long trip from Boston to the East Coast to Texas and back up the Midwest region. The task of this trip is the building of accessible amenities for people with disabilities at various camps; projects included necessities like ramps, but also special projects such as a sensory garden which would give campers the park experience.

Seventeen Pi Kappa Phi members took part in the latest iteration and each member was required to raise $4,000 to take part in the trip.

Build America is one of three largescale philanthropy events put on by the Ability Experience organization, the others being Journey of Hope, a cross-country cycling trip from coast to coast, and Gear Up Florida, a cycling trip from south to north Florida.

Recently, the CWRU chapter of Pi Kappa Phi partnered with Up Side of Downs and sent brothers to various events throughout the year to perform service and

Ryan Yoo/Observer

Case Western Reserve University’s Pi Kappa Phi chapter recently partnered with Up Side of Downs, a local organization which supwports the Cleveland Down’s syndrome community. This fraternity is the only one in the nation which owns its own philanthropic organization. spend time with the attendees. Just this past Sunday, Pi Kapp sent volunteers to Independence, Ohio for a holiday party.

The children attending were met with fun events like face painting and meeting Santa Claus.

Another event, the Fall Family Festival, held this past October in Medina, Ohio,

had 12 brothers of Pi Kappa Phi go out to help set up various activities and games, like temporary tattoos, hay rides and giant Jenga, and run them for three hours.

“It’s awesome to spend time with these kids and see the smiles on their faces,” said Shore. He spoke about the joy of seeing the children have fun and enjoy themselves.

ADVANCE YOUR EDUCATION AND CAREER WITH A GRADUATE DEGREE We offer graduate programs in the fields of: Anthropology Applied Mathematics Art Education Art History Astronomy Biology Chemistry Clinical Psychology Cognitive Linguistics Communication Sciences Dance English French Geological Sciences History Mathematics Military Ethics Music Education Musicology Physics Political Science Psychology Religious Studies Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Sociology Statistics Theater World Literature

artsci.cwru.edu/gradprograms

news

observer.case.edu

3

Open, compassionate dialogue fostered by Women’s Center director

Jordan Reif

Staff Reporter In her two years as the director of the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women, or the Women’s Resource Center (WRC), Lisa Nielson, Ph.D., has worked to promote an environment of inclusion, respect and collaboration across campus.

The WRC is a campus-wide resource for students, faculty and staff at Case Western Reserve University. The Center strives for gender equity through advocacy, education outreach with programs like Sexpo and partnerships with clubs and organizations including Women in Science and Engineering Roundtable, Planned Parenthood and the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center. Additionally, the WRC provides confidentiality as well as mandated reporting for events requiring these services.

The Center has affectionately been considered a place for all people to hang out, promoting the four C’s they always have readily available: coffee, candy, condoms and camaraderie.

Notably, this spring, the WRC will co-sponsor the showing of “Mankiller” with the Ellipsis Institute for Women of Color in the Academy, which strives to create space for women of color in all roles. “Mankiller” is a film celebrating Wilma Mankiller, the first woman to be elected as the Cherokee Nation’s principal chief.

Nielson embodies the ideals of the

WRC as she attempts to live and model the meaning of empowerment for all women and people. “What can we do to have more dialogue?” she asked. “How do we make room for everyone to be [included] and heard?”

Throughout her term, the director has, and continues to, amplify the voices of the unseen, unheard and ignored.

Nielson acknowledges the trying times of society today and suggests solace can be found in the prioritization of listening and learning.

“Listen to one another,” she said, emphasizing the need to engage in dialogue with people, even when it is challenging. Additionally, she encourages people to “learn [their] history.”

As a Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship professor and Anisfield Wolf Fellow, Nielson has often been prompted with the conundrum of how to solve America’s many social ills. In response, she encourages studying history to understand why our “racist, sexist society” is the way it is.

She challenges her students to recognize their unconscious biases and find a way to have conversations with people who have very different political, economic, social or scholarly opinions.

Nielson also wonders how people can be “[taught] with compassion,” asserting that humans will inevitably offend others and that people often say things with unintended meanings. Politely and respectfully addressing a comment or joke is one way to “give us [a] gentle

Community partnership helps human trafficking victims Anna Giubileo Staff Reporter

In its inaugural year, the Clothesline Project is working to provide clothes for girls and young women who have fallen victim to human trafficking.

From Dec. 3 through 21, students, faculty and community members can donate gently used clothes to the project, which is an effort by the Begun Center for Violence Prevention Research and Education Case Western Reserve University. The various drop off locations are located around campus and include Fribley Commons, Wade Commons, the Social Justice Institute in Crawford Hall and the Center for Civic Engagement and Learning in the Tinkham Veale University Center.

“We wanted the project to happen near the end of the semester, when people are packing up to go home,” explained Jeff Kretschmar, managing director at the Begun Center. “Hopefully, when people are going through their clothes, they’ll find some items that they want to donate rather than take home with them.”

The Begun Center has partnered with RAHAB Ministries in Akron, Ohio, which will be the recipients of the donations. RAHAB works with the county juvenile court to provide specialized ser-

vices to children who are at risk or are victims of human trafficking. These include mentoring, providing transportation to counseling and doctor’s appointments and providing basic necessities.

By providing clothing to these children, RAHAB decreases the hold traffickers have over the victims and helps allow the victims the opportunity to leave that lifestyle.

“A lot of the kids that RAHAB works with don’t have much and are in bad financial situations. That can actually lead them to human trafficking, and the trafficker can keep them there and hold control over them by promising things like clothes which is really appealing to these kids,” said Kretschmar.

RAHAB Ministries and the Clothesline Project’s main demographic is women and girls ages 12- to 20-yearsold. Winter-appropriate clothes are of particular interest for donations, including long-sleeved shirts, boots, jeans, sweaters and jackets. RAHAB Ministries is always in need of help from the community through donations of clothing, toiletries and gas cards, or in volunteers.

Kretschmar said, “This agency does really great work. I am really happy the people on campus stepped up and allowed us the opportunity to put this event on.”

For more content, visit our website at observer.case.edu

check [and] learn something,” she said.

Nielson promotes these ideas by encouraging listening and being gentle with one another and oneself.

Additionally, her efforts to promote greater respect, understanding and “thoughtful listening” among people extend to trying new things. Nielson reiterated the number of opportunities present on campus for students, faculty and staff to broaden their horizons.

“At the end of the day, we will always [have] something in common [with one another]; maybe it is just breathing oxygen, but that still exists, and with that, [we] can move mountains.”

“If you’re an engineering student and you love to write, go to a poetry reading,” she encouraged. “Broaden your minds,” she calls on the CWRU community. “When we are afraid to explore, we automatically limit ourselves.”

While acknowledging the difficulty, Nielson promoted the need to have open and non-judgmental dialogue while de-

nouncing hate speech. “Learning how to have these conversations and how to engage with people who are absolutely different is what college is about,” she said.

Recognizing that the readily-available supply of information can be overwhelming, Nielson suggests that the community just “dive in.” She noted that while people have different interests, there is great importance to reading different perspectives and opinions.

Ignoring one angle, she said, results in the loss of the greater, holistic picture.

The disciplines of the WRC are “not just for [you and me],” said Nielson.

Rather, “everyone needs to be concerned about [the struggles for human appreciation, respect and equity].” She stressed that “if we do not start caring— all of us—about the issues that touch us all, we are not going to get anywhere.”

The WRC encourages all students, faculty and staff to unpack identity issues, unconscious biases and explore personal values and then live by them.

While actions may seem small, they can have a lasting effect on the world and each individual personally.

As embodied by Director Nielson, the WRC strives to empower all women, promote gender equity and be welcoming to people of all gender identities.

After all, as Nielson said, “At the end of the day, we will always [have] something in common [with one another]; maybe it is just breathing oxygen, but that still exists, and with that, [we] can move mountains.”

Multicultural Dinner bridges diversity, inclusion Nathan Lesch Staff Reporter

The International and Multicultural Exchange (TIME) held its first Multicultural Dinner on Sunday night from 6 to 8 p.m.

“The purpose of the Multicultural Dinner was to bring students of varying backgrounds together to celebrate and learn about different cultures in our community through food and trivia,” said second-year Anthony Nunnery, TIME’s public relations chair. Due to the success of the dinner, TIME plans to organize another one next year.

Held in the Excelsior Ballroom in the Thwing Center, the event gathered a crowd of students. By the time TIME staff started the event, the line of students waiting patiently to gain admittance stretched all the way down to the first floor of the building. As they were being admitted, students were given raffle tickets to use on prizes including a hammock, beauty supplies and a blanket. Inside the ballroom, students listened to cultural music while being served various foods by TIME members, before heading to a table. Once sitting, students could compete, as a table, in multicultural trivia. One of the questions was, “What state primarily makes up the Horn of Africa?” Winners received additional raffle tickets.

The Multicultural Dinner seemed perfectly emblematic of TIME’s mission.

“The mission of TIME,” Nunnery explained, “is to promote cultural diversity on campus through engagement in ethnically rich programs, to enhance members’ knowledge of various heritages and to work with other cultural organizations on campus to create a close-knit campus community open and understanding to each group’s differences.”

To achieve this goal, TIME often hosts cultural events which pair food with events and traditions. In the past, TIME organized a Ha-

waiian Luau night, a Vietnamese New Year’s celebration, a Bollywood themed Indian culture celebration, an Ethiopian New Year celebration and the Multicultural Mashup—an annual end of the year cultural celebration.

TIME’s second semester plans involve both new and old events.

According to Nunnery, “Our upcoming events for next semester will be for Black History Month, the Saint Joseph holiday, Multicultural Mashup and a smaller event in January.”

Nunnery has been a part of TIME since 2017 after his first-year resident assistant recruited him to join. Nunnery continued with the organization because he found its mission and its methods interesting and important.

Nunnery feels that TIME fills an important niche on Case Western Reserve University’s campus. Described by Nunnery as the “the difference between a flat or well-rounded secondary education,” TIME gives students the opportunity to explore different cultures outside of the classroom.

“Participation in TIME to me means accepting the challenge of making a space shared by many individuals from many backgrounds come alive in a way that emulates what home is to them,” added Nunnery. He also stressed that TIME is as inclusive as CWRU intends to be.

According to Nunnery, “TIME is open to any and all CWRU students,” so anyone who is interested in club activities or wants to join should register for the organization on CampusGroups or go to an event.

Nunnery and TIME have high hopes for what achieving their mission could do for CWRU. “I have a belief that if this school was more unified in [its cultural inclusivity], then the atmosphere would change in a way that’s hard to imagine.”

4

news

12/7/18

Student organization supports pre-medical students, provides key resources Justin Hu

Staff Reporter For premedical students, it can be a struggle sorting through the overwhelming amount of information they are presented with the moment they step foot on campus. The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the largest and oldest group of physicians-in-training in the country, is an organization that helps to streamline and clarify the the premedical experience.

The AMSA carries out its mission by bringing together pre-medical students, medical students and practicing physicians, meaning that pre-medical students are able to receive guidance from more experienced members who have personally gone through the same process. The organization also allows members to receive practical experience by hosting clinics and demoing medical technology.

For Jasmine King, a second-year chemistry student, AMSA provided a way to connect to peers who were going through the same academic journey.

“From med school mentors to handson experiences, AMSA truly provided a young premed like me with helpful guidance, new friends to tackle these next four years with, and a deeper understanding of the medical field,” said King.

The local AMSA chapter at Case Western Reserve University focuses on being an educational resource for aspiring doctors while providing a variety of activities and opportunities that students otherwise may not be able to find. Some of their activities include bringing in speakers in different healthcare fields, issuing resources for taking the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and volunteering at the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge. As a basic requirement, members are expected to attend AMSA’s programming and contribute a minimum of 10 service hours.

Since AMSA brings together such a large portion of the medical community, it is a resource for students to find new branches of the medical field that they previously may not have considered. Group members carry positions in a diverse range of occupations each with their own interests. For some, that means looking at universal health care policies, while for others, that interest lies in trying to the AIDS pandemic globally.

“Even though there were many premed organizations I signed up for, AMSA stuck out to me,” said Tara Tadimalla, a third-year chemical biology major. “Each meeting offered new opportunities and perspectives on the medical field.”

In particular, the speakers helped King expand her view on potential ca-

reer paths.

“As both [Doctor of Medicine] and [Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine] from a variety of fields came to speak,” she said, “my rigid view of the path to becoming a doctor was altered and expanded as I learned about different specialties and careers in the medical field.”

Most recently, AMSA hosted their fourth annual benefit dinner, which took place last Friday on Nov. 30. The event, which supported the local organization Mission4Maureen, was coordinated by the director of philanthropy Ria Mittal.

Based in South Euclid, Ohio, a Cleveland suburb, Mission4Maureen focuses on providing financial assistance to families dealing with the heavy cost of brain cancer treatments. The dinner was an open event and featured performances from student groups like Spartan Bhangra and Solstice.

Even though AMSA has finished with their their events for the semester, fourth-year student Nimra Hassan, the organization’s president, is busy planning a variety of initiatives for the upcoming year.

“Some of the events we are programming for next semester are doctors of osteopathic manipulative training, a suture workshop, a guide to the medical school application and blanket making for Rainbow Babies with Operation Smile.”

Politics you should care about

Jackson Rudoff Opinion Editor

Michael Flynn to receive little jail time President Donald Trump’s former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn returned to headlines this past week. Robert Mueller, the head of a Justice Department inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election, announced Flynn had cooperated extensively with the investigation and should be given little, if any, jail time for lying to prosecutors early in the investigation.

While it remains ambiguous why Flynn was untruthful about his conversations with a Russian operative, this development brought Mueller’s investigation back into the spotlight after a prolonged quiet period.

Since taking on his role as Special Counsel in 2017, Mueller has faced considerable opposition from Trump, his supporters and other right-wing figures. In addition to criticisms regarding the legitimacy of his work, Mueller has even endured bizarre accusations about his personal character, including a fabricated accusation of sexual assault.

While it is still unknown exactly how much or what information Flynn divulged, the Justice Department indicated that his level of cooperation encouraged the same from others implicated in the inquiry. Documents detailing Flynn’s statements were released, but his comments will need to be judged on length rather than content, as nearly every bit of information was redacted.

Despite the uncertainty that still surrounds the investigation, progress is clearly being made. Mueller’s findings could lead directly to an impeachment hearing—if Congress chooses to indict—demonstrating just how high the stakes are if he recommends official prosecutory action on the part of the Justice Department. Flynn’s collaboration with investigators is either a sign of the walls caving in around Trump’s team, or that there was in fact

not much for him to hide. Either way, this will be one of the most interesting and controversial experiments regarding American democracy perhaps since Watergate.

Wisconsin’s governor will struggle to govern State politics will often fly under the radar by nature. Unless the conflict is within your own state, there seems to be little reason to care.

But you would be falling into a trap if you ignore what’s occurring in Wisconsin. On Wednesday, the state legislature worked deep into the night and into the early morning passing a series of bills restricting the power of the governor. The most important of these provisions restricted the governor’s ability to create or participate in the construction of laws. At the same time, it reserved the powers stripped from the executive to be granted to the legislature.

What was supposed to be a lame-duck period has rapidly evolved into an endeavor for partisan entrenchment.

Voters in Wisconsin ended the leadership of Republican Gov. Scott Walker in

the midterm elections by electing Democrat Tony Evers. The overwhelmingly Republican state legislature responded with what is essentially a nullification of the voters’ choice, a gross infringement on the doctrine of separation of powers.

Unfortunately, it is not surprising the Republican caucus could undertake such a drastic effort. Wisconsin is one of the most gerrymandered states in America and was at the center of a major Supreme Court case until this past summer. But nothing came of the case, which enabled Republicans to win 63 out of the 99 state legislature seats despite earning 190,000 less votes.

This may be one of the most dire actions resulting from a gerrymandered state government yet seen, though. Regardless of your political affiliation, you must recognize the dangerous precedent this situation establishes. It simply encourages any state legislature with a partisan supermajority to bolster its own power when it faces opposition from another branch.

As long as we continue to ignore state politics, however, these sorts of predatory political actions will proceed without obstruction.

Courtesy of ABC KTRK-TV13 Former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn has been extensively cooperating with the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller

Cleveland Catchup

Sophia Yakumithis News Editor

Medical marijuana harvest kicks off in Eastlake Bringing potential Ohio patients one step closer to medical marijuana access, workers at Eastlake’s Buckeye Relief are harvesting thousands of marijuana plants this week, Cleveland.com reports.

The plants will be sent off later this month for testing and state approval, as the process is entirely mandated. Buckeye Relief, whose 60,000-square-foot facility is located behind a school bus depot, conducts testing in house as well.

The crop was planted on July 31 and consists of approximately 1,500 plants.

This makes them the oldest plants in the state.

Ohio House passes exemption on feminine hygiene products On Wednesday, the Ohio House voted on legislation which would end a sales tax on all tampons and other feminine products purchased in the state, according to Cleveland.com.

If put into law, the “pink tax” bill would exempt tampons, panty liners, menstrual cups, sanitary napkins and similar products from sales tax.

A legislative analysis reported that an estimated $78.6 million will be spent on feminine hygiene products this year, but if the bill is passed, the state could surrender about $4.5 million in sales tax revenue.

Rape kit tracking system bill passed by Ohio lawmakers Cleveland.com reports that on Wednesday, Ohio lawmakers supported a “rape kit” tracking system which will allow survivors of sexual assault to track information on the status and location of evidence from their cases.

The bills were passed together unanimously in the Ohio House and Senate and are the latest in series of efforts to address a backlog of thousands of untested rape kits, kits which contain evidence from rape cases. This includes both physical evidence and information from DNA.

Urban farmer Damien Forsche dies 50-year-old urban farmer Damien Forsche passed away after a heart attack on Nov. 29, according to Cleveland.com.

Forshe, the co-founder of Rid-All Green Partnership, operated a 26-acre plot on “The Forgotten Triangle,” mostly vacant tax delinquent properties between E. 79th and E. 84th streets. He revitalized the land into an urban farm producing thousands of pounds of fresh produce every year. The operation, which is run by employees and volunteers, includes a tilapia fish farm and a training center for people who want to create their own gardens.

Forshe was also an advocate of gun violence victims, organizing the “Toy Gun Buyback” program after 12-yearold Tamir Rice was shot and killed by police for carrying a convincing toy gun.

The program aimed to reduce similar situations in the future.

5 | advertisement

12/7/18

216-368-0090

The Jolly Scholar

jolly.scholar @JollyScholar 216-368-0090 jollyscholar1@gmail www.thejollyscholar.com Monday-Wednesday 11am-12am Thursday-Friday 11am-2am Saturday 12pm-2am Sunday 12pm-12am

Now Hiring

The Jolly Scholar is hiring work-study cooks, managers and brewery assistants.

Positions open immediately with competitive pay.

Events all week, every week!

• Sunday – All You Can Eat Wings & Fries - $9.99 Time: Noon - Midnight • Monday – The Singing Bro’s Time: 7pm – 9pm • Tuesday – Gimmicks and Trickery and Trivia with Clark Time: 7pm – 9pm • Wednesday – Three Dollar Scholar Night Time: 9pm-Midnight • Thursday – Graduate / Senior Happy Hour (5pm - 6pm) and Late Night Karaoke w/ Kyle & Dennis (9pm - 2am) • Friday – $5 “40’s” Fridays Time: 9pm – 2am • Saturday – Fundraiser Night: We Will Work With Your Group To Raise Money For Your Charity, stop in for details

arts & entertainment Editor’s Choice

Fluffy Duck Cafe brings homemade pastries to Cleveland

What to do this weekend Matt Hooke

Arts & Entertainment Editor

Friday, Dec. 7 Design Spotlight Where: Sears think[box] When: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

See the hard work of your fellow students on display at this free event hosted by the Case Western Reserve University and Cleveland Institute of Art chapter of Design for America. Students will be displaying their personal projects, from start-ups, nonprofits and projects done with other campus organizations.

The event will include free food from Barrio, drinks and a guest speaker.

Winter JamGrass 2018 Where: The Winchester Music Tavern When: 6 p.m.- 1 a.m.

Experience all the diversity bluegrass has to offer at this concert. Four bands, from the Grateful Dead influenced The Dirty Grass Players, to the reggae inspired Ind’grass, will perform while artist Jess Hamilton paints along to the music. Tickets cost $10 for presale and $12 at the door. Anyone under 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.

Saturday, Dec. 8

Henry Bendon/Observer Fluffy Duck Cafe co-owner Ben Woods and baker Ange Lupica start baking at 2:30 a.m., at their location by the Cleveland Clinic.

Henry Bendon Staff Reporter

Running a bakery is a long and exhausting process.

For the Fluffy Duck Cafe, located across from the Cleveland Clinic, baking starts everyday at 2:30 a.m. The Fluffy Duck employs three people, including the owner, so it is an all hands on deck operation most of the time. This includes arriving at work hours before the sun rises to get started on the variety of breads, pastries and special orders that the Fluffy Duck churns out on a daily basis.

“On a good day I get to leave around 6 p.m.,” said Ben Woods, the owner of the Fluffy Duck Cafe.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you leave then,” replied Ange Lupica, the pastry chef at Salt and a part-time baker at Fluffy Duck.

“Today it’s gonna happen,” replied Woods. “I have a mandate from a friend who runs a bar.”

The first thing to hit the slab are croissants, which take three days from the initial mixing of the dough to turn into the flaky and delicious pastries that are eventually sold. The process of making them is fairly intensive, which is why they are the last thing worked on every night.

The first day involves making the dough and letting it chill. The second day is for “locking in” butter, which in the case of the Fluffy Duck is a European imported high-fat butter that gets

folded into the dough over and over until there are tens of layers of dough and butter stacked on top of each other.

Then dough is shaped and kept frozen in a walk-in freezer set to minus 5 degrees until ready to bake.

Woods has been baking professionally since 2006, the year he finished culinary school at the Culinary Institute of America in New York. Since then his career has stretched across continents— he’s made stops in Portland, Oregon, Georgia and England, before coming back to Cleveland and setting up the Fluffy Duck, which opened two years ago this month.

His 12 years in the industry shines through in his bakery. The Fluffy Duck makes everything from scratch, going through 300 pounds of flour every week, producing everything from brioche buns sold wholesale to Cleveland area restaurants to Kouign-Amann, a hard to find multi-layered pastry. “[The Kouign-Amann] is why I got a job here,” Lupica said while spraying egg wash on a batch of brioche buns. “I came in and tried one and knew I wanted to get a job here, so I just kept bothering Ben until he brought me on.”

For his part, Woods seems excited about her addition.

“It’s sort of the same every day here,” said Wood. “Wake up, make croissants, feed the starter, etc. With Ange here, it’s more exciting.”

Lupica said that she came in to learn more about bread baking, which may be the best thing that the Fluffy Duck produces. They have a variety of differ-

ent loaves and flavors, including a sourdough that is made from a starter older than the restaurant itself, and most of their current revenue comes from wholesales. Their brioche buns are the current bestseller, with more than 1,500 buns sold per week, but Woods hopes that in the long run they can move away from the wholesale business.

The Fluffy Duck hopes to benefit from the increased foot traffic that the completed Cleveland Clinic Medical School building should provide. Despite this new development, Woods has some concerns about the local food market.

“It’s a lot of work, and it makes very little money,” Woods said. “At the moment we’re just sort of holding out until they finish the hospital across the street and then hopefully we’ll be able to rely more on foot traffic.”

The grand vision, once that foot traffic appears, is for The Fluffy Duck to expand, opening satellite stores and spreading their products across Cleveland, hopefully tapping into the wealthier markets of Brook Park and Westlake, Ohio.

For now, the Fluffy Duck is in a bit of a holding pattern and Woods is just trying to keep the machine running. On this particular day, a day he deemed light enough to possibly be off work by closing time, he had two hours to finish two special orders and run a few deliveries, after which he planned on visiting a few bars.

“You don’t get a lot of sleep,” Woods said. “But you don’t just wanna go straight home after work. You gotta unwind and have some fun too.”

Coventry Village Holiday Festival Where: Coventry Village When: 11 a.m.- 11 p.m.

Coventry Village is one of the most eclectic neighborhoods in Cleveland. Experience everything the area has to offer at this celebration of the holiday season.

If you want to go on an ugly sweater bar crawl or just play with kittens from the Cleveland Animal Protective League this event has you covered.

WJCU’s 10th Annual Cleveland Metal Holiday Show at Beachland Where: The Beachland Ballroom and Tavern When: 4 p.m.- 11:59 p.m.

Twelve bands will perform on two different stages at this annual event at the historic Beachland Ballroom. The free concert, sponsored by John Carroll University radio station WJCU-FM, features head-banging for a good cause. The venue will be accepting non-perishable food items and cash donations to benefit the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Friends of the Cleveland Kennel and the Alzheimer’s Association.

The Room Where: Cedar Lee Theatre When: 10 p.m. - 12 a.m.

See “The Room,” a film widely regarded as one of the greatest bad movies of all time, on the big screen at this event. The film, written by, directed by and starring Tommy Wiseau, was the foundation for the Academy Award-nominated “The Disaster Artist,” starring James Franco.

“The Room” depicts a love triangle featuring Wiseau as Johnny a wealthy man who discovers his fiancee Lisa is cheating on him. This central plot is quickly obscured by countless sub-plots, strange lines and nonsensical scenes that make “The Room” a viewing experience like no other.

a&e 7

observer.case.edu

Playlist of the Week Kyle Smith

One-Act Festival provides bitesized entertainment for CWRU Yvonne Pan

Staff Reporter

December has come and so have finals. With such pressing academic concerns before them, many students might find themselves slacking off and ignoring their extra-curricular activities and hobbies. Instead of slacker anthems, this week’s playlist is about songs, bands and albums that have the word “December” in them.

“December (again)” - Neck Deep feat. Mark Hoppus

In “December (again),” Welsh punk band Neck Deep remade an older track in an upbeat style. The original song, “December,” is a pity-fest, as vocalist Ben Barlow thinks back on a failed relationship. With the addition of guest vocals from Blink-182 singer Mark Hoppus and more traditional punk instrumentation, the song becomes a gettingover-you anthem. Instead of self-loathing, the song embodies how living well is the best revenge.

“A Long December” - Counting Crows

In typical Counting Crows fashion, “A Long December” is sad. The simple accordion harmonies add texture to the band’s usual piano-rock sound, creating a swaying, dreamlike quality. The song addresses the many ways that experiencing hardship changes your perspective on life. The lyrics imply that the change hardship causes is two-sided. Tragedy makes you more appreciative of simple pleasures, but too many losses can give you the “feeling that it’s all a lot of oysters, and no pearls.”

“Love Like Winter” - AFI

“Love Like Winter” is the second single from punk-rock band AFI’s 2006 album, “Decemberunderground.” The song is something of a time capsule to the pseudogoth punk-rock of early 2000’s bands like Evanescence and My Chemical Romance.

The lyrics are heavy with gothic imagery, such as “She bit my lip, and drank my warmth,” a reference to vampirism.

Staff Reporter Do you have the attention span of a squirrel? Do you often find yourself losing interest in plays only minutes in? Players’ Theatre Group (PTG) provided a solution to both problems through their hour and thirty minute long One-Act Festival, held in the Eldred Black Box Theater on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.

The compilation of five plays, “Mary Just Broke Up With This Guy,” “Black Eye,” “This Property is Condemned,” “Words, Words, Words” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” (as adapted by second-year Monica Hammil) captivated the audience.

In “Mary Just Broke Up With This Guy”, Mary (second-year student Emma Risley) goes on more than a dozen dates after her and her ex-boyfriend, Tony, broke up “last Tuesday” after six years of dating. The play perfectly captured the frustration of meeting people with misleading online profiles and the discomfort of dating.

“Black Eye” begins with Miss Marshall (third-year student Nicole Coury) leading Amanda (fourth-year student Quinn Hom) to the principal’s office after she found herself in an altercation with three boys on school grounds. Amanda proudly shows Miss Marshall how she fought the boys, before being interrupted by Mr. Kent (third-year student Adam Steel). Mr. Kent and Miss Marshall explore the idea of expelling Amanda, but Miss Marshall blackmails Mr. Kent into letting her stay in school.

In “This Property is Condemned”, Tom (first-year student Ethan Kinstler) meets Willie (third-year student Sarah Parr, the Observer’s director of business operations) as she balances herself on the railroad tracks, while he tries to fly his red kite in the windless sky. She reveals that her family has left her alone in the big yellow house they shared,

The 1975 fall dangerously in love with the internet Julia Knight

“December 24” Earl Sweatshirt

Staff Reporter

From Earl Sweatshirt’s album “Some Rap Songs,” released Nov. 30, “December 24” demonstrates the lyrical mastery expected of Sweatshirt but features a departure from the production and style of his previous two albums. Sweatshirt abandons the deep raspy delivery and clear piano-heavy beats of his earlier albums for a nasally tone and muted lo-fi beats. Sweatshirt’s penchant for inventive internal rhymes shines through in lyrics like “Don’t think he said he pro-violence, but it’s gon’ be your problem if he did, though.”

“Travelling On” The Decemberists

An outtake from their January 2017 album “I’ll Be Your Girl,” “Travelling On” finds a new home as the title track for the “Travelling On EP,” a collection of B-sides and tracks recorded for the album that did not make the final cut. The song discusses the life of a touring artist, constantly moving from place to place. Despite the band’s success, the track does not paint a picture of fame and success but one of exhaustion and despair, with singer Colin Meloy proclaiming, “find me a toilet to die on. L.A., London, barely funded, give me a wheel and I’ll

Find all these tracks online with our weekly Spotify playlist at observer.case.edu All photos courtesy pluspremiers.us, genius.com, directlyrics.com, and wikipedia.com

and she has “inherited” her sister’s lover after her death. Willie’s naivete and precarious situation is thought-provoking and poignant.

“Words, Words, Words” follows three chimpanzees, Swift (first-year student Savannah Walters), Kafka (fourth-year student Michelle Berg) and Milton (Coury) who are part of an experiment to prove that chimpanzees forced to type perpetually will eventually write “Hamlet.” As they ponder their demeaning plight in captivity, Milton plots revenge on Dr. Rosenbaum, the researcher in charge of the experiment.

“The Tell-Tale Heart,” as adapted by Hammil, is a conversation between the madman who murders the old man in Edgar Allan Poe’s version (first-year student Joseph Flynn), and Death (first-year student Sabrina Costales). Hammil, who was the Assistant Production Manager for the festival, said “The Tell-Tale Heart” came about because the director, second-year student Paul Jensen, wanted to direct a play adaptation of the short story. Since Hammil has a playwriting concentration, she offered to write it for him.

The long process of adapting the short story started in October, when she created an outline of the essential events in Poe’s version, determined what she wanted to do and worked extensively with Jensen to edit the script.

“I wrote a thirteen page version first, which got cut to five, expanded to 10 and was eventually completed up at 15,” said Hammil.

That dedication extended to the rest of the cast, whose rehearsals started on Nov. 9.

“I think it was really cool how the actors were unfazed, despite being literal inches from the audience,” second-year student Yugan Sakthi said. “It really shows how much effort they’ve put into this show.”

The dedication from the cast and production staff of One-Act Festival created a wonderful show that was both thought-provoking and entertaining.

The 1975’s latest album “A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships” turns a critical eye to the manifestation of technology in everyday life. Released on Nov. 30, the record showcases the band’s diverse sound.

The album goes from soft acoustic tracks to hard rock and from spoken word to indie pop.

The album’s opening song, “The 1975,” features a chaotic blend of muddy harmonies and unpredictable moments of pure silence.

The vocal tracks are reminiscent of Imogen Heap’s classic “Hide and Seek.” This dynamic vocal arrangement becomes a trope for the rest of the record and makes its first comeback in “How to Draw / Petrichor.”

The first half of the song blends ambient piano melodies with childlike wind-chime sounds, followed by a jolting transition to a glitchy, electronic dance music-style beat with distorted vocals. The blending of these vocals with a variety of synthesized instrumentation makes “How to Draw / Petichor” one of the more unique songs made by a popular modern alternative band.

“A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships” also includes well-known hits by the band that were debuted as singles before the album’s release. “Give Yourself a Try” has become a smash hit, gaining traction on alternative radio stations across America.

Apart from hit singles like “Give Yourself a Try” and “Love It If We Made It,” the band moves away from their well-known indie pop vibe throughout the album with songs like “Be My Mistake” and “Surrounded

By Heads and Bodies.” Both tracks feature refreshing combinations of serene acoustic guitar lines and mild vocals.

Adding to the variety of genres is a striking spoken word piece titled “The Man Who Married A Robot / Love Theme.” The song depicts a lonely man who finds friendship and intimacy in the personification of the internet. The entire track is narrated by British male voice of Apple’s Siri. “The Man Who Married A Robot / Love Theme” is a unique attempt at social commentary which forces listeners to face the startling reality of the modern intertwining of man and technology.

Continuing their big data theme, The 1975 close the album with “I Always Wanna Die (Sometimes).” The track is a conclusion of the band’s commentary on the virtual world we live in. The film soundtrack-like music imparts a cinematic ending, featuring strings by David Campbell from the Goo Goo Dolls.

“A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships” showcases relevant themes, both musically and rhetorically. The album not only highlights The 1975’s versatility but also leaves listeners contemplating the complex and often disturbing reality of the internet’s impact on our lives.

w

8

a&e

12/7/18

Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry Dave Lucas

This is the fourth monthly column by full-time lecturer and Ohio Poet Laureate Dave Lucas. The column will appear in other publications.

What makes poetry, poetry?

Ask that question of a dozen poets, scholars or readers and you’ll get as many different answers, maybe more.

Some won’t be much help: “Poetry is the sort of thing poets write,” Robert Frost is said to have said.

I’m sorry I asked.

If we struggle with poetry, this struggle to define it is partly to blame. It would be easier if poetry obeyed certain rules—if we could trust it to rhyme, or appear in lines or make sense.

Easier, maybe, but certainly less exciting: set a limit for what “counts” as poetry, and poetry will defy that limit, out of necessity or spite. Critics who fume “that’s not poetry” today will tomorrow be laughed out of the room.

Maybe Frost was on to something: maybe we should be less concerned with defining what poetry is and more interested in understanding what it does.

Poetry awakens us to the aesthetic qualities of our language. Words are thoroughly weird: how is it that we have come to agree that these seemingly random sounds and marks mean what they do, that they mean anything at all?

Yet words are everywhere, so we may take them for granted as familiar, practical tools. Poetry reminds us how artful—how strange and sly—those words can be. And that language is a stage for the play between sound and sense, speech and writing, the literal and, as we’ll see in another column, the metaphorical.

For instance: poetry works in tension “between the written word and the spoken word,” as former United States Poet Laureate Charles Wright notes, either maximizing or minimizing the difference between them.

Take Lewis Carroll’s “Jabberwocky”: ’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves Did gyre and gimble in the wabe.

All mimsy were the borogroves, And the mome raths outgrabe.

These lines blur the line between

speech and song, sense and nonsense, until we forget the details of the story for the pleasure of its sounds. We don’t need a thesaurus to imagine the slime and burble of those “slithy toves;” we understand them sonically if not semantically.

Or consider William Carlos Williams’s “The Red Wheelbarrow,” a poem that hews so closely to plain speech that an indignant student—a younger me, maybe—might object “But I could have done that!” I couldn’t have. so much depends upon a red wheel barrow glazed with rain water Courtesy of StockFreedom

beside the white chickens

Of course, when the language of poems so much resembles speech, it can become difficult to know, in the words of literary theorist Stanley Fish, “how to recognize a poem when you see one.”

Here the distance between the written and spoken word almost collapses.

But, like the charged field that repels two like magnets, that tension remains.

All the poem’s ordinary specifics—the white chickens, the glaze of rain, the wheelbarrow itself—add up to an extraordinary, unknowable “so much.”

How much depends? So much.

Each poem tiptoes its own tightrope: “Jabberwocky” between sense and nonsense, “The Red Wheelbarrow” between the humdrum and profound. The former finds the familiarity in language’s strangeness, the latter the strangeness of its familiarity.

Of course, when the language of poems so much resembles speech, it can become difficult to know, in the words of literary theorist Stanley Fish, “how to recognize a poem when you see one.”

In his essay of that title, Fish argues

Love our content?

that what differentiates poems from other artifacts of language is not what poems do but what we readers do with them. “It is not that the presence of poetic qualities compels a certain kind of attention,” he writes, “but that the paying of a certain kind of attention results in the emergence of poetic qualities.”

In other words, just about anything can be a poem if we treat it as a poem.

I realize this is about as satisfying as Frost’s non-answer. By this logic you could, say, cut out a section of the newspaper and call it a poem.

You could, but Kenneth Goldsmith already did. Goldsmith’s “uncreative writing” takes whole swaths of text from the newspaper, or a weather report or the radio broadcast of a Yankees game, and treats them as found art, as poems. Simply reading them as such pushes our question—“what makes poetry poetry”—to a logical extreme.

In “The Weather,” Goldsmith makes poems of the one-minute weather reports from WINS-AM in New York.

From the opening of the “Winter” section: A couple of breaks of sunshine over the next couple of hours, what little sunshine there is left. Remember, this is the shortest day of the year. [. . .] Not a bad shopping day tomorrow, sunshine to start, then increasing clouds, still breezy, with a high near fifty.

Mostly I find this more compelling in theory than in practice, less interesting to read than to read about. But every so often Goldsmith’s poems awaken me to the aesthetics of a word or phrase— “what little sunshine there is left”—that I would otherwise have taken for granted.

Indeed, as Fish argues, when we change the quality of the attention we pay to our language, we begin to see— and hear—poetry everywhere.

Sometimes we hear it before we can see it. I don’t know how many times I “read” Harryette Mullen’s “Kirstenography” in frustrated silence before I finally read it aloud, and felt the poem open before me: K was burn at the bend of the ear in the mouth of remember. She was the fecund chill burn in her famish. She came into the word with a putty smoother, a handsewn farther, and a yodeler cistern.

They were all to gather in a rosy horse in a piety sweet in Alligator Panorama.

Read these lines silently first. Then say them aloud and listen. From what had looked like an error-riddled transcription of another text emerge the challenges and pleasures of the poem.

In order to read the “real” story—“K was born at the end of the year, in the month of December”—we must first misread the words on the page. We must instead hear what is not said. We must listen for words that are not there, words to which the poem only alludes.

Mullen’s “Kirstenography” reminds us just how precarious words can be, that—in Mark Twain’s famous phrase— the “difference between the almost right word and the right word [is] the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning.”

But what are ever the “right” words?

Those we read or those we hear? Those we say, or those we mean? The words we already have, those we invent or those we still cannot find?

Poems offer no easy answers to these questions. But to ask them in ways that perplex and delight us, to use words to try to transcend words—these are just the sorts of things poetry can do.

Join our team!

Apply online at observer.case.edu the

Observer

Positions available, no experience required

a&e 9

observer.case.edu

Elephante transforms Jolly Scholar during final UPB fall concert

Igor Tuttleman/Observer Elephante performing at UPBeats EDM night for a packed crowd at The Jolly Scholar.

Aura Rossy

Accounts Manager Elephante is no stranger to switching tracks, whether that be with his music or in life. The Los Angeles-based DJ drew the semester to a close with a concert at the UPBeats EDM night at The Jolly Scholar on Saturday. The performance transformed the venue into a miniature nightclub resembling the typical atmosphere of Elephante’s performances.

In his prior visits to Cleveland, Elephante has performed at the Magnolia nightclub and will host the venue’s New Year’s Eve event this year. When asked about which sort of venue he prefers performing at, he responded that it’s all about the crowd’s energy and how they connect with and respond to the music.

from DANCE pg. 1 The night opened with “Metro Life,” the first MaDaCol piece by second-year CWRU graduate dance student Yuting Zhao. The piece showed an abstraction of a train commute in a busy city with a crucial twist. Dancers filed around the stage in fluid imitations of swaying train car passengers. The dancers waited in line, checked their schedules and used their phones. Following them were their thoughts, dancers costumed in corresponding colors, roaming around the stage displaying impatience, wonder and a range of other emotions. The piece asked the audience: with all the distractions of modern life, are you still aware of the individuals around you?

For Zhao, the role of choreographer meant putting on a show for her dancers, as well as the audience.

“I wanted to give my dancers a new experience. A chance to express themselves and nurture creativity. It brings the dance more diversity, and hopefully the audience will see that. For a non-professional group,

The crowd at Jolly was nothing short of energized. The EDM tracks played by Elephante engaged the entire audience and even some of the bar’s staff. When asked about the root of his interest in the genre, he pointed to the inspiration he gets specifically from dance music.

“I grew up playing guitar and singing, which I still love, but it’s like if you’ve been drawing in pencil your whole life,” Elephante said. “I got introduced to dance music and it’s like all of a sudden I had every color that had ever existed and not existed before. I looked at it as a whole new world.”

Not long ago, Elephante was in a similar position to undergraduates at Case Western Reserve University, working toward a degree and a secure job. He ended up with a nine to five job he hated. He

never explored the possibility of a different career path, especially growing up as an Asian-American for whom expectations were laid out before he even had a chance to develop as an individual at university.

After graduating from college, he interned at a recording studio in Boston and played at open mic nights throughout the city. He described this transition period as “the breeding ground” for all the music he makes today. During his undergraduate years he constantly worked on music when he could find time on nights and weekends, often sacrificing his social life to work on his craft.

“At a certain point, there was a voice inside me that was like ‘you’re never going to forgive yourself if you don’t give the music thing a shot,’” Elephante said.

“When you’re young and hungry, I think you need a little bit of that foolishness of youth. Sometimes you just got to go for it.”

For students contemplating a major change or looking to explore new interests in the new year, Elephante offered some words of advice.

“One is: don’t wait to start doing what you want to do,” Elephante said. “For a long time, I wasn’t doing it [music] because I thought it would help me do it for a living. It was just what I wanted to do. The other thing I’d say is: don’t get discouraged. You have to realize that the people who become masters are the ones who can get past the frustration of being a beginner. If you work at it long enough and you try and you keep at it, then things will happen.”

you have to engage them first,” said Zhao.

“There needs to be something from them that grows out. With a volunteer group, I feel the responsibility of letting them express themselves as much as possible.”

A performance by MaDaCol veteran and third-year dance graduate student Yizhen Hu followed Zhao’s piece. “Inevitable” is Hu’s third MaDaCol piece and stands in stark contrast to her piece “Steal The Thunder” from April 2018.

“Steal The Thunder,” gave a bombastic, brightly-colored showcase of pseudomartial arts dancing meant to convey how two sides of an argument can respect each other, despite holding opposing beliefs.

In contrast, “Inevitable” offered a manifestation of the variety of emotions experienced by those faced with deep loss.

High, mournful, otherworldly singing rang across a stage washed in grey, watery light.

In the midst of a sea of motion, one dancer dragged another’s limp body across the stage. At another time, the dancers tried desperately to break through the barred arms of two others, clawing and pleading to be let through to the warm light offstage.

“Down & Through,” the third and final

piece of the night, had similar themes of loss and the emotional cocktail it brings. Choreographed by Brandon Gregoire, a secondyear graduate dance student, the piece took a different approach than Hu’s when it came to displaying emotion. Where Hu’s emotions were demonstrated in the motions of her dancers, Gregoire’s came from the dancers body language. Clenched fists, tucked shoulders and paralyzed shaking could all be seen on the frames of Gregoire’s dancers as they performed the piece.

The nature of the auditioning process, or lack thereof, presents a unique challenge for the choreographers. Gregoire noted that the best plan for working with such a diverse group was to not have a plan.

“One thing that is very special is the variety of experiences and age difference.

You don’t get to know who is going to be in [your piece] until the first rehearsal. It’s like a gamble, but it’s fun,” said Gregoire, “[The piece] was always evolving. I had ideas in my head, but the best process I found was to go into each rehearsal with a clean slate.”

For others, the challenge looked more like an opportunity.

“Something that is harder to do with very professional dancers is to bring everybody’s different experience into the piece,” said Hu, “They may not have danced before, but they know the emotions.”

The audience did not have a hard time noticing this synthesis of the directors’ plans with their dancers’ emotions.

“It was really unique how the dancers told a story without using words,” said Nicole Doyle, a fourth-year student who saw the show to support a friend from the CWRU softball team.

Zhao and Gregoire will be returning as choreographers next semester. With their philosophies of off-the-cuff directing and dancer engagement, and the experience gained from this semester’s participation, their contributions to the next MaDaCol production are sure to be even more riveting and emotional.

MaDaCol truly is a dance performance for everyone: dancer, audience member or choreographer. The production offers a unique and important opportunity for everyone involved to learn, experience and express themselves in a way that only MaDaCol can provide.

10 opinion

12/7/18

opinion Semester grades

Editorial

With finals fast approaching, The Observer wanted to wrap up the semester by handing out grades. We reviewing some of our editorials from throughout the semester and compiled our thoughts into these grades. Next semester there will be even more news on campus, and we look forward to both covering and analyzing it in the months that follow.

B-

Diversity

The fall semester was up-and-down for diversity efforts around campus.

A positive response can be found in the campus reaction to anti-Semitic rhetoric that appeared around campus in the form of fliers and graffiti in bathroom stalls. Snyder hosted a discussion on Nov. 26 so students could voice their questions and comments, enabling dialogue on an oft-forgotten issue. Paired with the condemnation Snyder vocalized in an email to the student body, the controversy was handled as well as you could’ve asked.

But the administration also made a questionable decision when they chose to cut two tenure-track positions in African-

A

Renovations

Several changes to campus were made over the past semester, both in buildings and in the exterior green spaces.

The Nord Greenway was completed, improving views of Wade Oval from the Tinkham Veale University Center.

With its fresh grass and stadium lights, it is perfect for hosting athletic clubs and other university events such as Springfest. Both Strosacker Auditorium and Tomlinson Hall were renovated at the end of the summer as well, refreshing the looks of the two buildings for the upcoming

C-

American history, as well as a postdoctoral position. While the postdoctoral position has since been restored, the ambiguity and lack of communication regarding the situation has fueled both confusion and resentment. If the university does not reinstate these positions, it would demonstrate a rather out-of-touch view of this campus’s role in the Cleveland community.

There were some other significant actions, such as the filing of an amicus curiae brief in support of Harvard University’s defense in a Supreme Court hearing related to affirmative action policies. The two major actions we’ve discussed, however, best exemplify how this campus is nurturing diversity across campus.

CWRU started off the semester with fun new dilemma: too many first-year students, not enough dorm space.

Immediately, there was a scramble to find room for these incoming students.

Clarke Tower’s second-year floors were

academic year. New seating in and a remodeled entrance for Strosacker gave a much-needed facelift to one of the most frequented buildings on the entire campus.

Plans were also announced for a new attachment to the Milton and Tamar Maltz Performing Arts Center, which would provide more space and room for theater programs. The modern-looking addition was funded primarily by an outside donor, and is overall a good representation of the numerous areas of campus being brought into the 21st century.

We hope that similar renovations to first-year living spaces will appear in the coming years.

Communication and Security

C-

The shooting of a student on Nov. 3 reopened a number of questions regarding both safety and communication on campus. While the incident was thankfully nonfatal, it revealed a number of issues related to Case Western Reserve University’s preparedness for violence on campus.

For starters, the CWRU Rave notification system was not, as we had hoped, well-adapted for a pressingly dangerous situation. Yes, the campus was informed both by text and email that a shooting had occurred. But this came over 40 minutes after the first shots, rather than as soon as campus security was aware of an active shooter situation.

The aftermath was also not as smooth as one would hope. Administrators did reach out to campus through mass

emails, and a press conference with President Barbara Snyder and other high-ranking officials was held the next afternoon. Furthermore, there was considerable attention given to their Facebook Live Q&A which ended up being just 10 minutes long and answered only a few of the student body’s questions.

It was also during this Q&A that they made reference to the fact that campus only had “about four” Safe Ride drivers, not nearly enough for an urban campus of more than 5,000 undergraduate students.

Progress has been good thus far, with more Safe Ride drivers being added as well as extended hours for Daylight Saving Time. The general security presence has also been increased, helping ease the peace of mind for residents of South Side areas that were hot spots for muggings.

Hopefully, these staff changes will be paired with improvements in communication for the coming semester.

Transportation

C+

Recently, Undergraduate Student Government (USG) and CWRU announced the extension of the hours of the Safe Ride service by an additional hour. At least until the middle of March, students will be able to request a Safe Ride starting at 6 p.m. instead of 7 p.m. with the end time remaining at 3 a.m. The reason for the lengthening is the end of Daylight Saving Time at the beginning of November. This is definitely a positive step forward for the campus, and it shows the administration responding positively to student voices, who pushed for longer hours. Of course, there will still be long waits at peak safe ride hours, namely weekend nights, but at least students won’t have to walk home in the dark at 5:30 p.m.

anymore.

In other Safe Ride news, during the Facebook livestream following the shooting on Nov. 3 CWRU Chief of Police Jay Hodge admitted there were only four Safe Ride drivers on campus. Now, The Observer has noticed an uptick in Safe Ride vehicles driving around campus, a good response to the backlash of students shocked about the low Safe Ride numbers.

The other main transportation on campus, the shuttles known as “Greenies,” are also working to be improved. USG is working with the administration to address student concerns about the system. Those concerns include: random breaks, shuttles not on routes, and an ineffective mobile app. While The Observer is glad the administration is considering additions or changes, we would like the changes to be made sooner rather than later.

Housing reduced in number. Stephanie Tubbs Jones Residence Hall, traditionally reserved for third- and fourth-year students, found some of its rooms occupied by groups of first-year students. Many upperclassmen were displaced, having to move to other facilities such as the Triangle Apartments or Euclid on 115. While credit can be given

The Observer is the weekly undergraduate student newspaper of Case Western Reserve University. Established in 1969, The Observer reports news affecting students and provides an editorial forum for the university community.

Unsigned editorials are typically written by the opinion editor but reflect the majority opinion of the senior editorial staff. Opinion columns are the views of their writers and not necessarily of The Observer staff. For advertising information, contact The Observer at (216) 302-4442 or e-mail observer-ads@case.edu.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be e-mailed to observer@case.edu or submitted on our website at observer.case.edu. Letters otherwise can be mailed to Thwing Center 11111 Euclid Avenue, Suite 01, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. For policy and guidelines related to the submission of Letters to the Editor, refer to observer.case.edu/submit-a-letter.

The Observer is a proud member of CWRU’s University Media Board. Follow The Observer on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @cwruobserver.

to the university for providing alternate accommodations, housing once again has proven to be a point of difficulty for CWRU. Beyond overcrowding, CWRU never followed through on a promise to put new furniture in all the first-year dorms.

Numerous buildings have suffered

infrastructural issues, such as Howe House’s elevator breaking down leaving students on the 5th through 9th floors to use the stairs.

The familiar problems of mechanical failures, combined with the newer ones related to space, paint a fairly grim picture of the state of CWRU housing.

the observer

established in 1969 by the undergraduate students of case western reserve university executive editor & publisher EDDIE KEREKES director of web & multimedia ALEXANDRA FACCENDA director of business operations SARAH PARR director of design RYAN YOO news editor SOPHIA YAKUMITHIS a&e editor MATT HOOKE opinion editor JACKSON RUDOFF sports editor ANDREW FORD a&e designer DALLAN GOLDBLATT web editor PRESTON WILLIS opinion designer KATHY YAO social media editor CHRIS HEERMAN adviertising manager DARIA RYABOGIN photo editor JAY KASSEL LEWIS accounts manager AURA ROSSY copy editors marketing manager BRADLEY SCHNEIDER development editor GRACE HOWARD MARY MCPHEETERS EMILY YOUNG advisor JIM SHEELER WON HEE KIM

opinion 11

observer.case.edu

Stop idealizing apathy: Why I am leaving CWRU She Actually Doesn’t Go Here

Sophia Yakumithis I’m out. As in, I’m leaving this place forever.

I know you’re probably devastated since my sense of humor seems to resonate in this otherwise apathetic school. But for that reason, I must now leave.

Let’s rewind to my senior year of high school. After being rejected from the colleges I hoped to get into, I tried my hardest to embrace the idea of Case Western Reserve University. Note that I am a history major at a STEM school.

My parents and friends kept saying: “It ranks highly,” “you’ll be a big fish in a small pond,” etc., and all those loving reassurances carried me through my first year.

However, they carried me through only that. Last summer, a few incidents involving the university’s inflexible policies caused me to miss out on some credit-based internships and that did it for me.

I planned on “toughing out” this year like everyone suggested, but during the second week of classes this fall, I had to turn down yet another internship opportunity for the same reason. I am not one to settle, so I decided to drop out like a hot potato. Actually, a lukewarm potato.

Deciding to exit the university on “personal leave” within a 48-hour span was mentally and emotionally draining.

During that short window, I decided my mental health and career trajectory were more important than other people’s expectations. I broke the news to my friends, family and various faculty who I developed meaningful bonds with. I moved out alone. Packing was depressing and so was the prospect of leaving my independence and moving back home, which made that arguably the most isolating evening of my life.

However, the light at the end of the tunnel was that I felt like I was moving in a better direction. A lot of people told me my decision was foolish and rash, but I alone somehow stayed true to

myself and carried on just fine.

That sounds like a pity party, but it was the best decision for me. I feel that despite the circumstances, I made the most of my time at CWRU and my time after it. When I left, I found a non-academic internship, maintained close relationships with people in the community and remotely continued to work as News Editor for The Observer.

This paper has been incredible and through it I’ve met people who have changed my life while also gaining a better understanding of the university itself—for better and for worse.

You could argue that humanities majors have an obligation to “pave the way” for prospective students or that being a “big fish in a small pond” is a

“However, the light at the end of the tunnel was that I felt like I was moving in a better direction.”

good thing. I considered those notions and realized that in college, my priority is to feel academically supported and emotionally fulfilled. While paving the path for others sounds great, my biggest concern is in my own academic career and engagement, something challenging at a stressed out, bureaucraticallydominant institution. College is about personal growth and learning to use different resources in order to reach self-actualization.

For all you pre-meds, I want you to consider this: do what makes sense for you in context of your individual journey.

I felt that sharing this story was important for the people I know who feel they’re at a disadvantage or stuck in a motionless vortex. There are things you can do for yourself aside from caving to the university’s different “wellness” programs and offices; I’ve met people who have grown from the stagnation in the respect that their work ethic has wildly become more efficient, but I also know people who just take CWRU for what it is and enjoy themselves that way. While those things didn’t work for me, I believe that staying true to yourself is ultimately the biggest step to that actualization and I hope other students can reach it as well.

My final request is that everyone— faculty and students included—stop idealizing apathy. It’s getting really annoying and led me to transfer out.

The next battle in the war on Christmas

Dastardly Liberal Schemes Steve Kerby

Happy holidays.

This is my favorite time of year.

Sure, I’m terrible at getting meaningful presents for others, and I’m downright bashful when presented with any present larger than a sock. Sure, the weather tends to be uncomfortable and cold.

Still, the gingerbread cookies, long nights, vacation from school, decorated tree, family time and all the rest more than make up for the occasionally inclement weather. Most people seem to celebrate something around December, and there are so many traditions and cultures bundled up within Christmas.

I’m not, therefore, afraid to say “happy holidays.”

Christmas is not Jesus’s birthday. The Queen of England has two birthdays, her actual birthday, Apr. 21, and her official birthday, the second Saturday in June. In America, we celebrate George Washington on Presidents’ Day, but his birthday was Feb. 11 in the Julian calendar.

Similarly, Jesus’s “official” birthday is Dec. 25, 1 B.C. Scholars generally hold that Jesus was born between 6 and 4 B.C. when Herod was ruler of Judea.

Mentions of flocks of sheep and other tidbits seem to indicate it was not winter when Jesus was born.

Why do I mention all this boring timekeeping? When the early church codified the celebration of Christmas, it was placed on Dec. 25. Though the exact reasoning is lost to time, its

proximity to the winter solstice began a long process of pagan customs leaking into Christmas celebrations.

Nordic customs like decorating a tree and Santa, plus Roman traditions like gift giving and open fires gave us our modern Christmas traditions. After the Protestant Reformation, Christmas’ multicultural heritage lead some Protestants to ban Christmas as “too pagan.”

Therefore, when we celebrate a modern Christmas with a decorated tree and Santa breaking into houses, we’re partaking not only in a celebration of

Jesus’s birth, but also in ancient pagan celebrations like Yule and Saturnalia.

People might get mad if you tell them “A festive Saturnalia to you!”, so “happy holidays” can be a subtle acknowledgement of this heritage.

Besides Christmas’s diverse ancestry, there are many other holidays also celebrated near the Solstice. To list a few, winter sees religious festivals like Bodhi Day in Buddhism, Saturnalia, Hanukkah and secular celebrations like Boxing Day and Kwanzaa. Many people smash some of these holidays together to create their own unique way to

Designed by Jack Lewis/Observer

celebrate the shortest day of the year. It helps that approximately 90 percent of humans live in the northern hemisphere, otherwise there would be a mix of summer and winter solstice traditions.

I’m no culture warrior, and I’m not going to get riled up if someone says “Merry Christmas.” My family has always celebrated a fairly generic Christmastime, with cookies, gifts and stockings. It’s basically tradition for my mother to make me sick of Christmas music by Dec. 23. Most people celebrate something else, a mix of Christian and pagan traditions, or nothing specific at all. Saying “happy holidays” is just acknowledging that the world is diverse.

I was confronted by an advertisement in front of a Youtube video last week featuring an old white man arguing that Christians are being persecuted and squashed by some evil liberal-pagan cult. Or at least, it was something like that, but regardless I could only stomach so much. He would probably say I’m a member of that cult, but I would assure him and you that I am not saying “happy holidays” to be malicious to Christians, but rather to be welcoming to druids.

A piece of advice to those who fear facing a family member who is convinced there is a war on Christmas: tell them “Oh, I don’t celebrate Christmas, I celebrate Saturnalia” and then wait around until your victim wishes you a “Happy Saturnalia.”

This could make your bland Christmas dinner much more interesting.

Steve Kerby is a fourth-year studying astronomy and physics. He is done applying to grad school, and that’s the best birthday present in the world.

12 opinion

12/7/18

Mario Kart is Nintendo’s masterpiece Peter for You Peter Wilson Many people have tried. Many more have failed. But the ultimate test of skills between friends is the infamous Mario Kart for the Wii. No other game allows players of all backgrounds to come together with little prior knowledge and compete on equal footing with only a few test runs.

The multitude of runs and unlockable vehicles adds to the task of beating your peers in seemingly the most basic of challenges: the race.

It truly is the perfect game to compete against your friends, regardless of skill level or amount of practice.

There are a range of customizations for your character of choice, giving some players clear advantages over others.

There are three types of characters to choose from, each with their own distinct vehicles. Large characters, being

the heaviest, can easily bump smaller characters off the course. Conversely, small characters move faster, giving them the agility and speed to avoid the larger characters.

In addition, each character has their own selection of bikes and carts. Bikes are inherently faster than their fourwheeled counterparts, but carts have an advantage when it comes to handling.

They are also heavier, which, once again, allows for some bumper cart action. No one choice is better than the other though, which leaves room for fun in your strategization.

Will Luigi, a medium-sized character racing in a fast bike, beat Donkey Kong, one of the largest and most solid characters, racing in a heavy cart? The outcome could be different with each race.

The vehicles aren’t the only equalizer, though. Item boxes lay all throughout each course, giving the character who picks them up an advantage over their counterparts. Red, blue and green shells, can be picked up and thrown

in the direction of opponents to stop them in their tracks. Banana peels can be laid down to trip other characters up and slow them down. Mushrooms can be consumed to give your character a boost.

These items add small, distinct advantages to the players who pick them up, but the advantages can be quickly turned against them when their opponents pick up the same. The inclusion of item boxes provides parity for each race, and thus no player can truly claim to be immune to their effects.

But perhaps the single most important component of Mario Kart’s legend is the selection of maps. There are 32 different tracks to be unlocked, ranging from trivial to extremely difficult. Groups can choose from the easiest map, the uncomplicated ellipsoid that is Luigi Circuit, to the hardest and last unlocked Rainbow Road, which is slippery, convoluted and long.

The large number of maps means there is something for everyone,

regardless of skill set. Each map holds different secrets and serves as a final equalizer between those with the most experience and those who have never played.

Because of its broad accessibility, Mario Kart is the perfect way to settle any argument. Not because it proves who was actually correct, but because no matter the outcome, both parties will have fun. It’s the perfect way to bond with your friends over some easy competition. The game entertains as much as it tests.

Sometimes, the experienced will be rewarded. Yet, the new bloods always have a fair chance to seize victory.

In the end, friends should just be able to be together, and Mario Kart for the Wii is the perfect vehicle for shared fun.

Peter Wilson is a second-year biomedical engineering student on the biomaterials track. He works in the Gustafson Lab and can be found on Twitter at @wpieltseorn.

Finals season: difficult but survivable Columnist Kehley Coleman Alright, there’s just no getting around it: this is a stressful time of year.

We’ve officially made it to finals season. I’ve been dreading this period between Thanksgiving and winter break since the semester started, and for good reason. The past few days have been extremely stressful. Between starting to study for my finals and trying not to fall behind on assignments still due over the next few days, I’ve definitely been feeling the finals crunch.

As a first-year student, I have never experienced a college exam season before. While we had exams in high school, they were far less frightening.

High school exams also took place after winter break, meaning that there was a more defined break between the end of new course material and the final exam, giving us enough time to devote ourselves to studying for exams.

I’m definitely missing that break

before exams right about now. I’m struggling to split my focus between wrapping up my courses and preparing for exams. It’s hard to determine which I should be spending more time studying for—the physics test worth 10 percent of my grade taking place this Friday, or the math exam worth 25 percent of my grade on next Tuesday? Not to mention the two projects due on Friday night or the essay due on Monday.

As of the time I’m writing this, we’re still learning new material in a few of my classes. It’s certainly enough to make me reconsider all the time I spent in high school complaining about how I would still have to take exams once I got back from break.

Not that I would want things to be done that way here, though. I’m very much looking forward to heading into break without the stress of exams yet to come hanging over my head.

Besides, the month-long break between semesters in college is significantly longer than the not quite two weeks we got in high school. Certainly it’s enough time that would cause more educational harm than benefit if we did have post-

break exams. Let’s be honest, how much studying would we honestly get done with this type of academic calendar?

But still, I do wish that the pace of my classes had slowed down more than it has going into this week to leave me more time for preparing for finals.

That said, overall it has been easier to cope with the stress of this time period than I thought it would be. While it’s true that we’ve been learning new material up until the last moment, there has also been some review time built in to most of my classes this past week or so. It’s been proving less difficult than I had feared to recall material from the beginning of the semester.

And, honestly, when it comes down to it, I’ve realized that I actually have more time for studying than I thought.

Now that I’m consciously working to spend more of my time studying or working, I’m realizing just how much time I previously wasted on Netflix or browsing the internet. This is not to advocate that everyone stay off their phones. I like my phone, and I’m not looking to tell anyone what to do. But I would like to point out to everyone

I’ve heard complaining about staying up until 4 a.m. to get through schoolwork that they’re probably spending far more time than they’re aware of on their phones. Those minutes spent sending texts or checking feeds throughout the day tend to add up more quickly than we realize.

It is generally possible to balance a reasonable academic workload and a life outside school work without cutting back too much on sleep and self-maintenance, even around finals season, provided one is careful about exactly how they’re spending their spare moments.

So overall, I won’t say I’m not feeling stressed about finals—I very much am.

But I’m finding the review process not quite as awful as I expected. I’m fairly confident that I’ll be able to finish the semester reasonably intact.

Kehley Coleman is a first-year student planning on (maybe) majoring in chemical engineering. When not in class, she can typically be found reading trashy teen fiction and/or in rehearsal for something or other.

A late reflection on the Texas Senate race Case Embraced

Christian Reyna I waited months for Election Day to come.

I turned 18 this past February, so this Election Day was going to be the first general election I would be voting in. I was unsure who to vote for or who was even running. However, one man stood out to me and others around Texas and the United States: Congressman Beto O’Rourke.

As many of you probably know, O’Rourke was the Democratic nominee for the United States Senate, running against Republican incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. O’Rourke inspired a new generation of young voters in Texas and around the country to get involved politically. I was one of those young voters that finally overcame their apathy toward midterm elections.

O’Rourke was an interesting figure. He seemed genuine, listened and responded respectfully to anyone wanting to tell him something and seemed to have a limitless supply of energy. He visited all of Texas’s 254 counties during his campaign which

is not an easy feat to accomplish. His road trips were livestreamed on Facebook to give updates on his campaign, where he was heading to, and answer questions from commenters.

All of his campaign money came from people’s donations, not super PACs. He put his heart and soul into setting a shining example of what a true Texan is: friendly, down-to-earth and approachable.

All of these traits are what made me interested in this past Senate race. Coming from a predominantly Republican state, it was unheard of for a Democrat to come so close in the polls against a strong incumbent like Cruz.

This gave me hope for a different Texas that could initiate change nationwide.

A Texas that can show the United States what happens when someone with enough passion and authenticity runs for office.

A Texas that showcases the beauty of our country.

With each passing day, I grew more confident that O’Rourke had a genuine chance to become a senator. All of my friends and family supported him with as much enthusiasm as possible. “Beto for Senate” stickers and pins were bought, donations were made and the word was

spread. He gained media attention all over the country as people from other states vocalized their support. Celebrities like LeBron James, Khalid and Lin-Manuel Miranda joined in this effort. O’Rourke was quickly becoming a political star in the Democratic Party.

Election Day came, and it was packed with stress. There were times during election night when Texas was blue. The exit polls showed a tight race around the state. Big cities like Dallas, Austin and Houston voted in favor of O’Rourke.

In the end, Cruz won the election.

At first, I didn’t know what to feel when the news broke of O’Rourke’s defeat. It seemed impossible to me that he lost. How can someone with so much support and political momentum lose to a nationally unpopular senator?

I lost the will to do anything and had to ignore the news. But after the news had a couple weeks to settle in my mind, I realize that not all is lost.

O’Rourke created many new opportunities for young voters to be politically active. He inspired a new generation of Texas voters to have their voices be heard. His defeat was only by a narrow margin, which in the context

of previous results, shows that there is still some hope. When a strong underdog candidate comes this close to winning, who knows what the future holds for them.

O’Rourke’s future in politics is bright, and he has enough influence to incite change. If he becomes the vice presidential nominee on the Democratic ticket in 2020 to capitalize on the nationwide support he garnered for a state race, I wouldn’t be surprised. Even then, the door might be open for a potential presidential bid.

However, I still want to congratulate Cruz on his reelection. I may not always agree with his politics, but he should still be respected as a U.S. Senator and as a human being.

I wish him luck in his new term as Senator from the great state of Texas, and I hope he heeds the concerns and voices of the new generation of Texans that turned out in 2018.

Christian Reyna is a first-year biomedical engineering major who is also planning on obtaining a Spanish minor.

He’s a proud Texan, absolutely loves dogs and probably procrastinated in writing this article.

observer.case.edu

fun

Ken Ken The aim of the puzzle is to fill the whole grid with numbers. The only numbers you are allowed to use are 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. No number may repeat in a column or a row. Each “cage” (or a shaded box) contains a target number and the arithmetic method needed to be used to obtain the target number.

fun page | 5

Horoscopes What the signs put on their holiday wishlist

Aquarius A hug Pisces $400 Aries Attention Taurus Cookies

Sudoku Normal

Gemini Wizard101 membership Cancer A lava lamp Leo You Virgo A special meal swipe

Hard

Libra Hand-knitted sweater Scorpio Love Capricorn Affection

Joke of the Week

What do Santa’s elves learn in school?

The Elf-abet For solutions and more content, visit our website at observer.case.edu

Sagittarius Something practical

14

sports

12/7/18

Athlete Spotlight

Fourth-year wrestler driven by competitive nature Niko Kamlet Staff Reporter

Though wrestling isn’t always viewed as a team sport, I like the camaraderie that comes with being part of a team. Each year I feel like the team gets closer, and the returning individuals grow as people.

Furthermore, I enjoy the competitive atmosphere associated with college athletics. It gives me something to work toward when I’m fed up with school.

Where did you get your passion for wrestling? Any good stories?

Courtesy of CWRU Athletics Gavin Dersh-Fisher is a fourth-year student and wrestler on the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team. Last season, he earned a 21-13 record along with National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-American recognition. He decided during his second year of college to switch into polymer science and engineering because he wants to take something small and relate it to the big picture. He also has a strong passion for the environment.

What is your favorite part of being on the wrestling team? Why?

I think from college, one match in particular that stands out is my very first match my [second] year. I was wrestling against a redshirt [first-year] from Kent State [University], who afterwards I was told was a state placer in Ohio the year before. Going into the match I was nervous because I knew this guy was from a Division I school, but I won by pin. After [my first] year where I felt subpar, winning this match just justified that all the hard work I had put in during the offseason was paying off. It also told me that I could compete with wrestlers at any level, and I had the skill and drive to compete.

I started wrestling back when I was in sixth grade. A friend and I agreed that we would both show up to a preseason practice to see how we liked it.

He never showed up, but I did. I stuck with it through high school, where I was the captain my senior year. I came from a very academically focused school, so our team was never that big. There were two or three tournaments during my senior year where I was the only athlete from my school to attend. During the sectional tournament my senior year, I came one match away from qualifying for the state tournament. I lost 3-2 to a guy I had beaten in the quarterfinals the previous day. I was heartbroken, but after talking with a couple coaches and seeing [that CWRU] had a Division III team, I wanted to continue my passion and pursue wrestling in college.

Aside from wrestling, what else are you involved in on campus?

Can you explain what you do in them?

Do you have any games that you remember being particularly special? Why?

I used to be in Beta Theta Pi, but I dropped it after my [second] year. I’m not really involved in any other organizations on campus. The closest thing

Go

to

Where did you get your passion for wrestling? Any good stories?

I used to be in Beta Theta Pi, but I dropped it after my [second] year. I’m not really involved in any other organizations on campus. The closest thing would be my research lab in the macromolecular science and engineering building where I work on looking at the physical interactions between polymer grafted nanoparticles.

Kenya

on

would be my research lab in the macromolecular science and engineering building where I work on looking at the physical interactions between polymer grafted nanoparticles.

Why are you majoring in polymer science and engineering? What interests you about it?

I used to be in Beta Theta Pi, but I dropped it after my [second] year. I’m not really involved in any other organizations on campus. The closest thing would be my research lab in the macromolecular science and engineering building where I work on looking at the physical interactions between polymer grafted nanoparticles.

What do you hope to accomplish with the degree?

I used to be in Beta Theta Pi, but I dropped it after my [second] year. I’m not really involved in any other organizations on campus. The closest thing

What do you hope to accomplish with the degree?

Along with my undergraduate degree, I am also pursuing a [master of science] degree as part of the BS/MS program.

With both of my degrees, I hope to pursue a job in industry. Ideally I would like to work for a company that is environmentally conscious, where within the company I hope to work within the manufacturing department.

Spring Break!

ORIGINS & Ev BIO! Hunt for hominoid fossils with famed paleoanthropologist Isaiah Nengo & help with med and science outreach to pastoralist villages!

Associated Course can be taken with or without trip:

Turkana Past & Present:

From Evolution to Evolutionary Medicine

ANTH 367/467, BIOL 368/468, EEPS 367/467, PHIL 367/467, ANAT 467, PHOL 467 Topics in Evolutionary Biology Check out our other Spring Semester Courses: fmi: evolution@case.edu

Life, the Universe & Everything ORIG 101 (1 credit) Evolution ANTH/BIOL/EEPS/HSTY/PHIL 225

Join Us!

Origins.case.edu/major Origins Club is a diverse group of students interested in evolution, cosmology, astronomy and other origins topics, especially Origins Science majors. Many of us work closely with faculty in a variety of areas from lab science to field biology and paleontology. Some of us have traveled to do fieldwork in the deserts of Mongolia, the jungles of South America, and the remote outback of Turkana, Africa. You can too.

sports

observer.case.edu

15

Spartans four game win streak snapped David Chang Staff Reporter

After opening the season 4-0, the Case Western Reserve University women’s basketball team suffered their first loss of the season against Ohio Northern University, 71-57.

Ohio Northern started hot in the first quarter, making four of seven threes while the Spartans failed to make any shots, missing all six of their attempted threes in the first quarter.

Taking a 21-11 lead into the second quarter, the Polar Bears used their perimeter threats to space out the floor, which allowed easy cuts for layups. The Spartans called a timeout two minutes after their deficit reached 14 points.

After the timeout, fourth-year forward Hillary Hellmann hit a three to trim the Polar Bears’ lead to 11. Both teams traded baskets for the rest of the quarter, and another three by Hellman cut the lead to 38-29 going into the half.

“We were really looking forward to playing [Ohio Northern,] … they were a really good three point shooting team, we worked hard on defense, but their shots just went in,” second-year guard Emily Todd said.

In the second half, Ohio Northern continued to swing the ball for open jump shots and worked their way into the paint, but the Spartans matched their scoring. It was a team effort to cut the lead, as six Spartans managed to score in the third quarter. Two threes from first-year guard Alyssa Hyland and a three from Hellmann forced the Polar Bears to call timeout with four minutes remaining in the third. The closest score was 50-48 after Hyland’s three, but the Spartans’ shots from the perimeter stopped falling after that.

On Hyland’s performance, Todd said: “Alyssa has been awesome, as a freshman,

Courtesy of CWRU Athletics/Chris Wenzler Graduate student forward Kara Hageman (2) is the second leading scorer for the Spartans this season, averaging 17 points on 50 percent shooting. After returning from an injury that derailed her season last year, she has come back to pace the Spartans to a 4-1 record. being confident and bringing positive energy [helps the team.]”

Both teams struggled to score in the fourth quarter, shooting a combined 10-for-36 from the court. The Spartans failed to score a basket after Todd’s jump shot to start the fourth quarter, as Ohio Northern went on a 15-2 run.

Although Hellmann did hit a three with two

minutes left in the game, the lead was too much for the Spartans to overcome.

“We had a rough shooting night … we’ve been working hard in practice and we’re proud of [applying] the things we worked on [in game],” Todd said.

Hellmann led the team in scoring with 17 points and nine rebounds, while graduate

student forward Kara Hageman scored 16 points, five rebounds and three assists. Her four blocks made her one of five players to ever record 100 blocks in their career.

The Spartans will look to bounce back against Baldwin Wallace University this Saturday, Dec. 8 at home in Horsburgh Gymnasium.

Track and field, swimming teams succeed Andrew Ford Sports Editor

Indoor track and field

Chris Heermann/Observer The women’s track and field team won the Sixth Annual CWRU Spartan Holiday Classic on Dec. 1, their first meet of the season.

The Case Western Reserve University men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams both took home first place finishes at the Sixth Annual CWRU Spartan Holiday Classic on Dec. 1.

Third-year athlete Dominic Oddo paced the men’s team with a first place finish in the long jump and third place finish in the 60-meter hurdles. First-year runner Christopher Heermann (who also is The Observer’s social media manager) won the mile race, beating out fellow first-year Spartan Raul Mikkilineni by a mere three-hundredths of a second. The men’s 4x200-meter and 4x400-meter teams earned first place in their respective events as well.

The women were led by graduate student Cassandra Laios winning in shot put and the 4x200-meter team finishing in first. Firstyear athlete Jana Fisher had a solid outing in her first meet of her career, taking second in the one mile-run and second-year Julie Hines finished second in the 400-meter dash.

Men’s and women’s swimming Both men’s and women’s swimming racked up the points at the Wooster Invitational, dominating the field for first place finishes.

The women notched 2,163 points in total, more than 900 points more than any other team in the 11-team field. Fourthyear swimmer Suhan Mestha recorded an NCAA “B” cut time in the 100-yard freestyle. Second-year swimmer Caitlyn VonFeldt earned first in the 200-yard backstroke. Both Mestha and VonFeldt contributed in the Spartans’ victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay. Third-year swimmer Olivia Picchione took home first place in the 200-yard butterfly.

The men won the invitational for the ninth straight season. First-year swimmer Calvin Tescon was the top finisher in the 100-yard individual medley. Fourthyear swimmer Keith Erichson won the 1,650-yard freestyle. Both teams have more than a month off now, returning to competition on Jan. 19 with a dual meet at the State University of New York at Geneseo.

Discussing possible names of the new Seattle hockey team

Andrew Ford Sports Editor

On Tuesday Dec. 4, the NHL announced they will expand the league to 32 teams, with a new franchise beginning play for the 20212022 season in Seattle.

This addition is a win for both Seattle and the NHL. Seattle is a sports town that boasts some of the best fans in the United States. For the NHL, the league gains more exposure for a rapidly growing sport in the U.S. Plus, Seattle

offers the perfect mix of a rapidly growing city featuring a number of booming business with the allure of a city without a major winter sports team.

Many sports fans may not know of the history of hockey in Seattle. The Seattle Metropolitans were a member of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association from 1915 to 1924. In fact, the Metropolitans were the first American hockey team to win the Stanley Cup in 1917.

The real question that remains though is

what mascot the team will take. Some advocate for the Metropolitans, a throwback to the team of old. Totems is another well spread option, a reference to a former minor league team of the 1950s and the tradition of Pacific Northwest Native Americans. OddsShark has the Emeralds as the current betting favorite. Of course, Seattle is known as the Emerald City for its vast forests.

Choosing a logo is no easy task. An uninteresting mascot will limit the popularity of the franchise, while a unique one will attract

fans from across the continent. A mascot with local significance is the most important factor.

Based on this criteria, Emeralds is the clear choice of the current hypothesized mascots.

It differentiates itself from common mascots, like big cats, and it resonates with Seattle citizens. The good news, though, is that there is plenty of time for new names to be considered.

If a better name emerges, I will gladly jump on board. If not, I will accept the Emeralds, while also advocating for the best mascot of all: the Seattle Kraken.

sports Quidditch: Bringing a fictional game into reality

Wrestling takes second in BW Invite Andrew Ford Sports Editor

Daniel Brenner/Observer The Quidditch club brings the mythical Harry Potter sport to life, even competing against other schools. In addition to the sport, the club throws an annual Yule Ball that students can purchase tickets for.

Riley Simko Staff Reporter The Case Western Reserve University club Quidditch team, or CWRUcio, has enjoyed a magical fall season, and are looking forward to a clean sweep in the spring.

The Quidditch team is inspired by J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, which features the popular wizarding sport. The Chicago Tribune calls Quidditch a “combination of basketball and rugby with elements of hockey and dodgeball mixed in.”

Many people know what Quidditch looks like in the “Harry Potter” universe, but without broomsticks and self-flying game pieces in the real world, the sport takes on a new shape. A team member or volunteer acts as the golden Snitch, but the players do actually have broom-like sticks they must use throughout the game.

The three hoops at each end of the field are maintained by a keeper, just like in the books, and the chasers work to score goals through those hoops to earn points.

Here at CWRU, the Quidditch team operates as both a sport and a club, with co-captains as well as an executive board.

But make no mistake, Quidditch is a highly competitive sport.

They practice three times a week, according to fourth-year co-captain Nat Bick.

“Our practices are captain-run, and usually consist of warm-ups, drills, and scrimmages,” Bick said. “We run some drills for the specific positions—Chaser, Beater, Seeker, Keeper—to try to refine our players’ skills and play to our strengths, but a lot of players bounce around to different positions because it’s really helpful to have people practice the different positions. It gives them a better understanding of the

game and also gives our team more options during matches.”

Brandon Smith, also a fourth-year, is Bick’s co-captain, leading the practices for the team and inspiring the club’s players. Their goal is to “strive to help everyone think beyond the possible, unleash the magic within their hearts and make the world a more magical place.”

CWRUcio’s hard work and magical intent shows throughout their successes and

Their goal is to “strive to help everyone think beyond the possible, unleash the magic within their hearts and make the world a more magical place.” memories this fall season.

On Oct. 6, the CWRUcio team competed in the Great Lakes Tracebreaker Invitational. Cleveland Quidditch hosted teams from CWRU, Ohio State University, Indiana State University, Purdue University, Kent State University (KSU), Ohio University, Ashland University, Oberlin College and Ithaca College.

CWRUcio lost to KSU 120-110 and to Ashland 130-80. In both matches, the opposite team caught the snitch, securing their win. CWRU came out on top against Oberlin, winning 120-30, despite an Oberlin snitch catch. The team also secured a win against Indiana State, winning 120-90.

On Nov. 10, the team competed in Oberlin College’s Just Beat it Part II: Bludger Backbeat Tournament. CWRU placed high in the tournament, winning against the University of Dayton and Oberlin but losing to KSU. Third-year student and Yule Ball Chair Joel Hauerwas said, “The team is hopeful for our next semester, where we will have a series of tournaments and show matches at Dayton and West Virginia University.”

Hauerwas also mentioned that the club is looking into hosting their own tournament in the future.

While the CWRUcio Quidditch team’s competitive schedule for next semester is not yet set in stone, they do have their biggest event of the year on the books.

The Yule Ball, an annual event hosted by the club Quidditch team, will take place Feb. 9 from 9 p.m. until 11 p.m. in Thwing Ballroom. The Yule Ball in “Harry Potter” takes place during the Triwizard Tournament, meant to break up the serious challenges with a night of butterbeer and ballroom dancing. Tickets are $7 for individuals and $5 per person for groups of four or more. The team plans to sell their tickets online and across campus leading up to the event.

“This year’s Yule Ball will hopefully be the best yet,” Hauerwas said. The team is also planning to host Harry Potter-themed craft nights to gear up for the Yule Ball.

The 2019 Yule Ball theme is the Forbidden Forest. In the “Harry Potter” series, the Forbidden Forest is a haven for all kinds of magical creatures, from unicorns to massive spiders. But don’t worry, CWRUcio President and third-year student Patrick Hogrell says their version of the forest won’t include any of Aragog’s eightlegged family.

The Case Western Reserve University wrestling team has wrapped up its “first season,” according to Head Coach Danny Song, finishing second in the Baldwin Wallace University (BW) Invitational and tenth at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) Invitational.

The Spartans’ season is split by a month-long winter break. Their last action before the new year was on Dec. 1 at the RIT Invitational, and they won’t be back on the mats until Jan. 5.

Song will use the time off to drill individual development and technique.

It was CWRU’s first time under Song participating in the BW Invite, and they showcased their talent and depth. Thirdyear wrestlers Alec Hoover and Isaac Collier paced the Spartans to the team’s best finish in this early campaign, both finishing second in their weight classes.

Collier and Hoover each pinned their first opponent to move into the semifinal match, where both wrestlers won.

However, they each lost to BW wrestlers by major decision in the first place match. BW dominated their own invitational, scoring almost 100 points more than the second place Spartans.

CWRU had three first-year wrestlers place fourth in their weight classes: Brandon Callow, Jack Chipps and Aidan McCooey. McCooey recorded two pins in the tournament.

Also placing in the top four for the Spartans were second-year wrestler Brian Kent in third and fourth-year wrestler Brian McNamara in fourth.

In the Rochester Institute of Technology Invitational on Dec. 1, Collier notched the best finish for CWRU, placing fourth. He ended with five victories that day, capping off his day with a technical fall victory to secure fourth. Hoover finished tied for fifth in his weight class. He also finished with five victories and won three of those via pins.

Third-year wrestler Jacob Frisch tied Hoover for fifth, but the two never faced off. Frisch finished his day with four victories including a technical fall.

Last year, Frisch and Collier’s seasons were cut short due to injuries. Song has praised their ability to come back this season much improved after dedicated summers. Both have had excellent seasons thus far.

After the long break, the Spartans will return to action in the Waynesburg Invitational and host the Lourdes/Theil Throwdown on Jan. 9.

For more content, visit us online at observer.case.edu