April 13, 2022

The Emory Wheel Since 1919

Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper

Volume 103, Issue 7

Printed every other wednesday

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Constitutional Council holds Friese v. SGA hearing

By Madi Olivier News Editor The Constitutional Council held a hearing for the case Friese v. SGA on April 11, following plaintiffs Emma Friese (24C) and Sruti Kumar’s (20Ox, 22C) challenge to the constitutionality of the March 29 run-off election for Student Government Association (SGA) president.

Friese and Kumar met while doing campaign work for former SGA presidential candidate Elisabet Ortiz (24C), who was disqualified from the election on March 16 due to her enrollment status as a gap-year student. Ortiz, who later dropped out of the race, urged students to vote “no confidence,” alleging that the Code of Elections only permitting fulltime students to run is unfair to their disenfranchised peers.

The plaintiffs submitted the challenge to the Constitutional Council last week, alleging that SGA governing documents do not contain any “identifiable written procedure for how to fulfill the rules of a ‘no confidence’ win, resulting in a Constitutional Crisis.”

This alleged lack of procedure in the SGA governing documents was the main focus of the hearing.

Citing the “pervasiveness of these ambiguities [which] includes a lack of explicit written procedure for a no confidence victory,” Friese noted that “such lack of procedure forced the Board of Elections to misuse or interpret authority, both by making extreme interpretations not aligned with the direct nature with which the Board of Elections is supposed to abide by the code of elections, and by interpreting the SGA constitution, which they do not have the authority to do.”

Part III Article 2 Section I of the SGA code of elections states that “in the event

that ‘no confidence’ wins, then the position shall be considered vacant, and rules governing vacancies in each governing body shall apply.” Although the SGA constitution does not make an explicit reference to a “no confidence” majority vote, the document outlines in Article V Section 2, the line of succession following the president as the executive vice president, then the speaker of the legislature, followed lastly by a ranking member of the legislature.

Friese noted that although the SGA documents outline how to fill vacancies in other positions, they do not explicitly do the same for the office of the president.

“It's very jarring that it's just absent how to fill a presidential vacancy,” Friese said.

“That would be a fairly easy remedy and would honestly solve a lot of issues that were present in this case.”

The Board of Elections interpreted these documents when the general presidential election advanced to a run-off between Alyssa Stegall (21Ox, 23C) and “no confidence” on March 25, as well as when “no confidence” won the SGA presidential run-off election on March 29. Zelnick said the office of SGA president was considered vacant, so the Board deemed that vice-president elect Noah Marchuck (24C) would assume the position of SGA president and appoint a new vice president.

Zelnick explained that Marchuck will be sworn in as vice president first before succession protocols are carried out to make him SGA president.

Outgoing SGA President Rachel Ding (20Ox, 22B) noted that a similar situation arose during the spring 2021 election, when the Oxford SGA presidential seat was left vacant by a win of “no confidence.”

In this instance, the vice president-elect, who was chosen in a run-off election, took over the position of president.

A lly Hom/Photo Editor

Friese and Kumar argued that without clear procedure, the Board did not have the authority to correctly interpret the documents.

When asked by Constitutional Council Justice Jane Wang (22C) if the plaintiffs are "saying the [presidential] position is supposed to remain vacant until the next election," Friese responded that she does not know the best way to remedy the situation, as she is not a legislature on SGA. Friese added that the Board’s decision was not “inherently wrong or illogical” given the stipulations available in the governing documents, but that the main issue was the lack of clear procedure.

Friese explained that she believes it is the responsibility of the Board to “thoroughly understand” the code of elections and address any ambiguities before the start of the election cycle, and that the Board “violate[d] its own rules” by instituting new elections regulations during the election cycle.

However, Ding said she was not aware of any ambiguities in the election code prior to the 2022 election, and that the Board has the power to make such interpretations.

“I don't think that it's reasonable to ask a student to predict all future vagueness or all future situations of the elections code, but I do think that it is the responsibility of students in the Elections Board to actually read the code of elections,” Ding said.

“That is at a bare minimum.”

Ding added that the code of elections is a “working document” and the entire SGA legislature and cabinet spent a minimum of a month during fall 2021 looking at code changes each week, ultimately passing three bills to “amend and improve the code.”

“These so-called ‘ambiguities’ regarding 'no confidence' in the code … were not realized in the fall of 2021 by anyone sitting on this hearing today,” Ding said.

SGA Attorney General Stewart Zelnick (20Ox, 22C), who represented SGA during

the hearing, also refuted Friese’s claim, saying that while the Board is not against making necessary changes, they are granted the authority to make interpretations regarding election cycles. He cited Part II Article 1 Clause L, which states that the Board should “exercise all powers incident to and necessary for the execution of the above-listed responsibilities,” which includes overseeing the election race for SGA president.

“The Board's interpretation regarding the 'no confidence' vote was necessary to uphold the value of student representation,” Zelnick said. “Elections for the office of SGA president are always decided by majority share of the vote to ensure that the elected president is in support of the majority of the participating student body voters.”

Elections Board Chair Mild Trakarnsakdikul (19Ox, 22B) agreed, saying the interpretations made by the Board were necessary during the election.

‘My worst fears coming true’: Emory reflects on Russian invasion

Single honor code proposed for all undergraduate schools

By Katie Bartlett & Meghan Gupte Oxford Campus Desk & Contributing Writer Seven weeks after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian forces to invade Ukraine on Feb. 24, Russian bombs, missiles and soldiers continue to attack the country. As the conflict escalates, Emory University students and faculty follow the war closely. However, many Emory community members have connections to Ukraine and Russia, leaving them concerned for their friends, family and homeland.

Personal connections Professor of Russian Literature Elena Glazcov-Corrigan was born in Moscow.

Following Putin’s 2014 invasion and later annexation of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine, Glazcov-Corrigan began visiting Ukraine frequently instead of Russia due to Russia’s “repressive atmosphere.”

“I did not respect the mood inside the country, evident in my circle of former acquaintances who believed that the invasion was something to overlook and all in the end would be okay,” Glazcov-Corrigan said.

In Ukraine, she developed many close friendships and found a “truly inspiring community” through her involvement with a publishing house in Kyiv.

Glazcov-Corrigan views Russia’s current

Ukrainian invasion as “a national grief.”

“I’m stunned and I’m grieving,” GlazcovCorrigan said. “The invasion itself was a crime and the way it has been handled is a crime.”

Glazcov-Corrigan also expressed solidarity with Russian protestors, whose decision to speak out leaves them in danger.

Emory graduate student and Ukrainian citizen Anastasiia Strakhova (22G), said that her mother escaped Ukraine following the invasion. Strakhova said that her mother initially “didn’t believe that Putin [was] going

to attack civilians.”

Once this fear was realized, Strakhova’s mother sheltered in place, where she would “hear explosions and see missiles” from her window. Strakhova then urged her mother to take the train to Lviv, Ukraine. After difficulty reaching the train station and securing a legitimate train ride due to phony train tickets and miles of abandoned cars blocking roadways, her mother reached Lviv, crossed the Polish border and flew to Frankfurt, Germany to meet Strakhova.

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Assistant Professor of Finance Tetyana Balyuk also has family who were forced to evacuate. At the start of the war, her parents, sister and other relatives were still living in Ukraine, but many had to leave their homes for safer parts of the country.

Balyuk moved from Ukraine to Canada in 2012 to obtain a Ph.D. in finance from the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. She has lived in Atlanta since Emory hired her in 2017.

“Due to the time difference between the U.S. and Ukraine, I fear to wake up in the morning and realize that I missed something important — a new threat or a turning point in the war,” Balyuk said.

“It would be less stressful for me if my parents and sister came to me, but they chose not to,” Balyuk said. “They want to be with their people during these horrible times and help in whatever way they can.”

Balyuk also highlighted Ukraine’s changing political scene accompanying the start of the war, noting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become “a symbol of Ukrainian resilience.”

“We saw disagreements between political opponents in Ukraine, as in any democracy, in the past, but [now] they all stand side-byside in the face of Russian military aggression,” Balyuk said. “Ukraine’s courage and strength is truly in its people.”

Ana Tsulaia (24C) is from the country of Georgia, 20% of which is occupied by Russia.

The Emory College Honor Council unanimously approved revisions to the Honor Code, stipulating that the same Honor Code be applicable to all undergraduate students. All enrolled undergraduates in Emory College are eligible to vote on the proposal from April 18-20.

The proposed revisions aim to establish one Honor Code for Emory College, the Goizueta Business School, the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing and Oxford College, according to the March 29 email announcement from Associate Dean and Director of the Honor Council Jason Ciejka (11G, 17L). Each undergraduate school currently administers its own Honor Code with different procedures, which Ciejka explained has historically been the case for Emory’s schools.

“Emory is fairly decentralized as a university and as an institution,” Ciejka said. “This is a good move, at least for the undergraduates, to get us all on the same page, so that you all have consistency and you know what's expected.”

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Wednesday, April 13, 2022

The Emory Wheel

Friese, Kumar argue lack of procedure before Constitutional Council MARCH 21

MARCH 17 Ortiz is notified of the Board of Elections’ decision to disqualify her.

MARCH 25

Ortiz announces she dropped out of the SGA presidential race in an Instagram post. She continues to advocate “for a vote of noconfidence to show SGA the necessity of changing its constitution to include marginalized voices.”

MARCH 16

MARCH 19

The Board of Elections votes unanimously to render Elisabet Ortiz (24C) ineligible to be a Student Government Association (SGA) presidential candidate due to her enrollment status as a gap year student.

Ortiz publicizes her disqualification in an Instagram post, alleging that only allowing full-time students to run in elections is unfair to disenfranchised students. She calls upon the student body to vote “no confidence” to stand in solidarity with their disenfranchised peers and advocate for the SGA legislature to amend the Code of Elections.

The SGA general presidential election advances to a run-off between Alyssa Stegall (21Ox, 23C) and “no confidence” after no candidate received over 50% of the vote. Eleanor Liu (21Ox, 23B) finishes last.

Stegall’s running mate, Noah Marchuck (24C), wins the SGA vice presidential race.

MARCH 22

MARCH 28

Voting begins for the SGA elections.

Voting begins for the SGA presidential run-off election.

MARCH 29

“No confidence” wins the SGA presidential election for the first time in recent Emory University history.

The Board of Elections announces that Marchuck will assume the SGA presidency and appoint a new vice president.

APRIL 9

Ortiz posts about Friese v. SGA on Instagram, noting the need for “public support” at the hearing. She writes that, following a “no confidence” win, “the decision to hold a runoff election and to appoint the vice president-elect to the position of president-elect is unconstitutional.”

APRIL 8

APRIL 11

Emma Friese (24C) and Sruti Kumar (20Ox, 22C) submit a challenge to the constitutionality of the SGA presidential runoff election, alleging that SGA governing documents do not contain an “identifiable written procedure for how to fulfill the rules of a ‘no confidence’ win.”

The Constitutional Council holds a hearing for the case Friese v. SGA via Zoom. Friese and Kumar argue that the Board of Elections should not have interpreted the SGA governing documents without clearly stated procedure, while SGA Attorney General Stewart Zelnick (20Ox, 22C), says the Board is granted the authority to make interpretations regarding election cycles.

Madi Olivier/News Editor

Continued from Page 1 Friese also claimed that the Board “cannot be an unbiased source” when interpreting the SGA constitution, claiming that the SGA president serves as an advisor to the Board and is consulted to make interpretations.

However, Zelnick referred to this claim as “patently false” during his opening statement. He explained that all discussions he had with the Elections Board chair, SGA president and SGA advisor took place to “ensure that all relevant protocols were followed after the elections procedure” with full understanding of each government document.

Ding also refuted part of Friese’s claim, saying that during the election cycle, the role of the SGA president is to help aid the process through education.

“The SGA president does not sit on the board of elections, nor does the President [act as] a sitting advisor of the Board of Elections, but mainly is there to provide institutional knowledge, which is very critical to running SGA in general,” Ding said.

The first witness was Second Year Legislature Rebecca Schwartz (24C), who said she agreed that the current situation could be considered a “Constitutional Crisis.”

“It's kind of a running joke in SGA that nobody likes the governing documents or just that they need a lot of revision,” Schwartz said.

Former Speaker of the Legislature Joseph Banko (23C) agreed with this statement, saying the idea that the governing documents should be revised is an “almost universally held opinion” within SGA. Banko, who said he has worked closely with the

Governing Documents Committee during his time on SGA, said “this is a tremendous failure on the part of SGA.” In response to a question from Zelnick, both Schwartz and Banko conceded that interpretations of SGA governing documents, including their own, boils down to a matter of opinion.

However, SGA Executive Secretary Grace Lee (21Ox, 24C), who is a member of the Governing Documents Committee, said that SGA consistently works to update SGA documents. Lee said that the committee made three changes to the elections code and two changes to the finance code this year.

“It's kind of unfortunate that the Gov Docs Committee and that SGA is under these accusations despite all the work that they've continuously put forward,” Lee said.

Friese and Kumar thanked all parties for their “respectful and professional” participation in the trial in an April 12 email to the Wheel.

“We are very grateful for the participation of all parties in the hearing last night including the Defense, Constitutional Council and witnesses,” Friese wrote in an April 12 email to the Wheel on behalf of herself and Kumar. “We would like to thank all of the students who tuned in to watch and the friends who gave us so much personal support throughout this process.

“We are heartened by the respectful and professional way the Constitutional Council conducted the entire hearing and Challenge process, and we know the Council will carefully consider all facts of the case before making a good faith decision. No matter what, we

are glad we brought this challenge as doing so has illuminated concerning ambiguities in our governing documents that might have otherwise gone unaddressed,” Friese added.

Zelnick wrapped up the hearing, reiterating that SGA is not opposed to editing the government documents and that “recommendations will be made to expedite these changes” in hopes of having them prepared for the 56th SGA’s administration next year.

“The 56th does at least face some degree of challenge, but I'm sure they'll be able to overcome it and resolve the ambiguities that are present within this case,” Zelnick said.

— Contact Madi Olivier at madi.olivier@emory.edu

NEWS

The Emory Wheel

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Scholars, students discuss impact of Ukraine war Continued from Page 1 Tsulaia was only six years old when Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, but she “vividly remembers the terror and anxiety of fleeing the bombs.”

“Since that first invasion, the fear of Putin has been an integral part of my life, and the invasion in Ukraine is my worst fears coming true,” Tsulaia said.

Tsulaia noted several overlaps between the two invasions.

“When Putin invaded Georgia, he called his invasion of another sovereign nation a ‘peace enforcement operation,’ and he’s repeating the same narrative in order to justify his actions in Ukraine today by saying that his offensive aimed to save Ukrainian people from the ‘Nazi government,’” Tsulaia said.

“It’s absolutely absurd given that [Ukrainian] President [Volodymyr] Zelenskyy is Jewish.”

University response On Feb. 25, Emory announced that the University “stands in solidarity with Ukraine” and offered Emory’s campus resources, including mental health and religious support and Student Intervention Services to students who were struggling.

Tsulaia said this response is “the bare minimum,” pointing to the challenges, particularly long waits for counseling appointments, that students allegedly face when utilizing the University’s mental health services.

She added that she struggled with the Emory community’s lack of general support.

Following the invasion, her friends at other schools in the United States and Europe attended peace rallies organized by their universities. At Emory, she was left “trying to explain the most basic facts and explain the importance, severity of these events” to her friends and professors.

None of her professors mentioned the invasion in class until she reached out to them. When she asked her professors to offer flexibility to students coping with the war, Tsulaia said that only one instructor offered extensions. The others either ignored her request or offered Emory’s psychological services to students “going through hard times” without mentioning the war.

“Most of us who are deeply affected by this war at Emory are just left with our friends and family at home for support,” Tsulaia said.

However, some professors have made a concerted effort to discuss the war within

their classes.

As she continues to teach Russian literature and culture during the war, Glazcov-Corrigan emphasized the importance of highlighting “noble voices” within her classes.

“The best writers are the writers who spoke against the arrests and the repressions,” Glazcov-Corrigan said. “We don’t teach triumphant practice. Rather, we teach Russian history with a great criticism of Putin’s regime.”

Balyuk echoed the importance of advocacy within academia during Russia’s invasion.

“Emory has a unique opportunity to become a leader among U.S. universities in helping the Ukrainian people who have suffered from the Russian aggression,” Balyuk said.

Foreign responses The U.S. Department of State declared the country as “United with Ukraine” in March, and the government has worked toward this promise in numerous ways. President Joe Biden signed the bipartisan Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act on March 15 to provide Ukraine with an additional $13.6 billion in military, humanitarian and economic assistance. On March 24, the Biden administration announced the United States would accept up to 100,000 war refugees.

However, Tsulaia said that support from the West is “coming far too late.” She pointed to the lack of aid offered by the United States during the 2014 falsified referendum in Crimea as evidence, arguing that the United States and the European Union (EU) “felt no threat” and saw the event as “just another small geopolitical conflict.”

“Now, of course, they are afraid of Putin starting World War III,” Tsulaia said. “I like to see the West support Ukraine, but I also feel like they are just trying to save themselves.”

Balyuk also views the response from the United States and EU to be “slow and insufficient.” She criticized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for “not having the guts to close the Ukrainian sky,” which allows for more air attacks, and Europe continuing to purchase Russian energy, which is “essentially funding the war.” She added that Asian countries reluctant to criticize Russia are “silent accomplices.”

Individual citizens have also taken it upon themselves to help Ukrainians. Adam Meller (22C) has family in Poland who are

helping renovate an old building to serve as an orphanage for disabled Ukrainian children. They’re also fundraising for heating, beds and a kitchen. Meller advocated for this fundraiser at Emory and said that the donations have helped tremendously.

Meller says that the United States should “open up to more refugees,” due to the sheer amount of Ukrainian displacement.

“The last thing people should be worrying about is having a place to go,” Meller said.

“This was deliberate and avoidable agression by Russia.

Russia is brazenly violating international law left and right and stripping every concept of basic morality and humanity that we have.”

— Director of the Emory University International Law Clinic Laurie Blank International implications The Russo-Ukrainian war is the largest European refugee conflict since World War II, leaving more than 4.6 million refugees fleeing Ukraine and upward of “tens of thousands”of people dead, according to an April 11 speech by Zelenskyy.

Director of the Emory University International Law Clinic Laurie Blank said calling the war a “tragedy” is inaccurate, as it was preventable.

“This was deliberate and avoidable aggression by Russia,” Blank said. “Russia is brazenly violating international law left and right and stripping every concept of basic morality and humanity that we have.”

Blank also emphasized that this is one of many recent humanitarian atrocities, noting the ongoing wars in Syria, Yemen and Ethiopia. However, the Ukrainian invasion’s danger to the United States and its allies is “more blatant” and resembles a revival of the Cold War perception of the Soviet Union as “the big, bad enemy.” “[The invasion] is a wakeup call that

people dying is horrific wherever it happens, and it shouldn’t require that it happens in a particular area of the world for us to get this focus,” Blank said.

Echoing Blank’s sentiments, Mikhail Epstein, a Samuel Candler Dobbs professor of cultural theory and Russian literature, described the war as a form of “spiritual suicide” because of the unprovoked and violent nature of the invasion. Epstein believes the only motivation behind this attack — which he described as a “strong trial for the fate of humanity” — was to “impose destruction and suffering.”

The war also has financial impacts.

Senior Lecturer of Finance Raymond Hill explained that Russia’s exports are about two-thirds energy. Russia and Ukraine are also both large wheat producers.

However, the United States will be “relatively immune” to the effects of the war because it is not dependent on Russian resources to the same extent as Europe. The rest of the world will likely see increased food prices, Hill added.

At current prices, the United States can produce more oil to put on the world market, driving down oil and gasoline prices to help consumers across the United States, Hill said.

He does not see a quick solution for a nonRussian alternative to natural gas in Europe.

He also noted that private companies’ sanctions will impact the everyday lives of the Russian people as they’re unable to buy certain products. Currently, nearly 330 companies have withdrawn from Russia, including Apple and Amazon.

Associate Professor of Political Science Hubert Tworzecki described the sanctions as a “form of economic warfare,” and as they hinder Russia’s warfighting capability. Its sanctions will also reduce the chances of a stalemate between the nations, Tworzecki explained, which is exacerbated by the “catastrophic losses of material and personnel” that Russia has suffered thus far.

“As long as the sanctions regime holds up, it will be very difficult for Russia to maintain this war for a long period of time,” Tworzecki said. “Russia's economy simply will not be able to survive without everything that it depends on.”

— Contact Katie Bartlett at katie.bartlett@emory.edu and Meghan Gupte at meghan.gupte@emory.edu

3

Yang elected OxSGA president

By Lara Chu Contributing Writer Andrew Yang (23Ox) won the Oxford College Student Government Association (OxSGA) presidential election, according to an April 11 email from OxSGA. Michael Cao (23Ox) was elected vice president.

Both Yang and Cao ran uncontested.

Results were emailed to students after voting closed on April 9 at 10 p.m. Yang garnered 167 (80.28%) of the 208 votes cast in the presidential election, while “no confidence” received 41 (19.71%). Cao also received 167 (80.28%) votes and “no confidence” received 41 (19.71%) votes.

Yang, who previously served as a first-year senator, told the Wheel that he hopes to create a mentally and physically “healthy Oxford.”

“Rather than just counseling services … we also want to facilitate support groups that are run by peers,” Yang said. “I will also want to work with Student Health Services and connect them more with the students.”

He aims to improve Oxford’s environmental impact as well.

“Environmental health is about sustainability, being more eco-friendly, being more sustainable in our practices not only in our administration and the campus side, but promoting initiatives and campaigns that will hopefully change the student culture as well,” Yang said.

Cao also served as a first-year senator and said that one of his goals is to help clubs on campus to succeed, as he believes they largely “contribute to the fun on campus.” As long as he makes people happier, Cao said he will be “satisfied” with his job.

“I just generally want to make this campus a better place,” Cao said. “There is a lot of potential at Oxford and we just need to try our best to implement changes.”

Five second-year senators were also elected out of five candidates — Amisha Agrawal (23Ox), Rebecca Urato (23Ox), Janvi Choksi (23Ox), Kush Patel (23Ox) and HanMin Kim (23Ox). Patel received the most votes, securing 90 (22%).

Students also voted on two Oxford Continuee Legislators out of three candidates: Arden Chan (22Ox), MaKenzie Jones (22Ox) and Muskaan Vohra (22Ox).

Chan and Vohra won with 50 (35.21%) and 48 (33.8%) votes respectively, beating Jones, who received 40 (28.16%) votes.

“No confidence” received 4 (2.81%).

— Contact Lara Chu at lara.chu@emory.edu

Student voting on revised unified honor code proposal to begin April 18 Continued from Page 1 Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs Pamela Scully asked the schools to create a unified Honor Code in 2019, according to Ciejka. In response, Ciejka convened a working group of students, faculty and staff from all four schools to consider how to create a single set of procedures for undergraduates.

Associate Director of the Honor Council Blaire Wilson said if approved,

the vote in the ECAS will affect only students within the College if approved.

“The other undergraduate schools are proposing votes through their own governance structures as outlined in their current Honor Code. If approved, all undergraduates will have the same Honor Code,” Wilson said.

Ciejka said that the revised honor code would help students to avoid confusion about different Honor Code expectations when moving between

The Emory Wheel Volume 103, Issue 7 © 2022 The Emory Wheel Alumni Memorial University Center, Room 401 630 Means Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30322 Business (404) 727-6178 Editor-in-Chief Brammhi Balarajan bbalara@emory.edu

Founded in 1919, The Emory Wheel is the financially and editorially independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University in Atlanta. The Wheel is a member publication of Media Council, Emory’s organization of student publications. The Wheel reserves the rights to all content as it appears in these pages, and permission to reproduce material must be granted by the editor-in-chief.

The statements and opinions expressed in the Wheel are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Wheel Editorial Board or of Emory University, its faculty, staff or administration.

The Wheel is also available online at www.emorywheel.com.

schools, such as graduating Oxford to attend the College or enrolling in the business school. Ilakkia Anabayan (22C), co-chair of the Emory College Honor Council, agreed with Ciejka.

“It just adds a lot of consistency and this one place to look for information that's going to be even across the board,” Anabayan said.

If these changes get approved, the new Undergraduate Academic Honor Code will be enacted for the fall 2022 semester. Ciejka told the Wheel that even if the new Honor Code is enforced, each school would still have separate honor councils. Honor councils investigate all reports of academic misconduct and play a role in the resolution of each case.

Separate honor councils would give the undergraduate schools “a greater ability to coordinate across the schools and create a more consistent experience for students,” Ciejka said.

The revisions also seek to make the Honor Code more accessible by using clear and concise language in the hopes of tackling confusion expressed by students over the years.

One notable change would be to recognize the informal resolution meeting (IRM) process. Ciejka explained that IRMs began as a way to provide quick-

er resolutions for students accused of an Honor Code violation. These meetings allow students who accept full responsibility for violating the Honor Code to bypass the investigation and formal hearing of their case.

“This has been an opportunity to have productive conversations with students about the Honor Code and the importance of academic integrity, but also a space for students to share about extenuating circumstances or challenges they may be facing that are important context for making decisions in many cases,” Wilson said.

Ciejka added that students currently have to sign a waiver acknowledging that they will not go through the entire investigation and hearing process to have an IRM, so officially adding the IRM process to the Honor Code would make it more accessible.

“That's helpful because students will see it in the code, they'll know to ask for it,” Ciejka said. “It'll be clearer for that.”

Emory College Dean Michael Elliott authorized the informal resolution process, according to Wilson. IRMs were instituted in spring 2020 due to pandemic-related circumstances like the transition to remote learning, Wilson added.

Madi Olivier/News Editor

The Honor Council last revised the Emory College Honor Code in 2017 after voting in favor of including the electronic device policy and testing policy. The electronic device policy prohibits students from using electronic devices during examinations unless previously approved by the professor. The testing policy gives professors the autonomy to institute policies to protect the integrity of online examinations.

Wilson said she believes the Honor code’s policies should continue to be reviewed “regularly.”

“As the field of academic integrity changes over time, so should the policies that cultivate a culture of integrity,” Wilson said.

— Contact Lauren Baydaline at lauren.baydaline@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel

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W��������, A���� 13, 2022 | Opinion Editors: Sophia Peyser (speyser@emory.edu) and Chaya Tong (ctong9@emory.edu)

EDITORIALS

‘We’ll just drop you here and forget about you’: Emory’s terrible case of Oxfordism When Lily Sayre (23Ox) entered Oxford College as a freshman this fall, she planned on pursuing a psychology and creative writing double major.

Oxford told her it wasn’t feasible.

Had she been on the Atlanta campus, majoring in psychology and creative writing, two of Emory’s most popular and well-known majors, would have never posed an issue. But a mere 37 miles down the road at Oxford, life is not so simple.

“I was told Oxford doesn't offer enough psychology and creative classes to offer the double major because I would have to take a ton of psychology and creative writing [courses] in my two years in Atlanta and wouldn't be able to knock out requirements while I was here,” Sayre said. “I had to change my major.”

While Oxford offers numerous benefits that main campus students do not receive, such as more intimate classes and a heavier emphasis on the liberal arts, they lack important resources. Students struggle with access to needed classes, which in turn stifles opportunities such as study abroad, early graduation or even fulfilling major requirements. Cut off from the Atlanta campus, Oxford students have little chance to crossregister across campuses. When they do, shuttles run infrequently, if at all.

This fall, students at Oxford protested the inequities in course registration, lack of courses and small class sizes.

“We had inadequate resources despite the fact that they had the entire semester to prepare for the next registration cycle,” Olu Abitogun (23Ox), a first-year Student Government Association legislator and one of the leaders of the protest, said. “One of the appeals of Oxford is that we are supposed to have small liberal arts classes … however, when those classes are only capped at 25 students … it feels like [Oxford’s] small liberal arts class experience is more of a hindrance than a benefit.”

Several students also indicated that access to courses was so limited that they were left as part-time students after registration. While Emory did add additional courses for the spring

semester, the issues with course registration and offerings persisted into registration for next fall.

Notably, Oxford offers few psychology classes compared to the Atlanta campus and only two creative writing workshops, only one of which can count toward the Creative Writing major even if both are taken (majors need five workshops to graduate) and few 300 level courses in any subject.

Even with a single major in Creative

tles don’t come at all. While Oxford students are allowed to have cars on campus, owning a car is a privilege reserved for those who can afford it.

These are roadblocks many students were unaware of before coming to Oxford, and they harm students’ larger Emory experience.

Unlike the main campus, Oxford has additional liberal arts requirements, such as the Experiential Learning courses (designated with an “E”) and

JOHNSON HALL. COURTESY OF EMORY UNIVERSITY

Students struggle with access to needed classes, which in turn stifles opportunities such as study abroad, early graduation or even fulfilling majors.

Writing, Sayre faces a system that only works against her. With a severe lack of creative writing workshops at Oxford, she must cross-register with the Atlanta campus to fill the requirements.

Even then, Oxford students can only cross-register for one course a semester. Accessibility becomes a further issue, as shuttles from Oxford to Atlanta only run at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 10 p.m.

“If I wound up doing fiction writing at the Atlanta campus, it's a 2:30-5:30 p.m. class, so I'd have to shuttle down at 10 am or 1 pm and leave at 10 pm because there are no options to get back before then,” Sayre said.

It is not unusual for Oxford shuttles to run 45 minutes late, making it impossible for students to get to the Atlanta campus much less get there in time for a class. Sometimes, the shut-

Ways of Inquiry courses (designated with a “Q”). The limited course catalog combined with extra general education requirements (GERs) leaves students scrambling to finish their requirements in time. The “E” requirement in particular has very few and very niche classes that fall under it. For the fall of 2022, classes with the E designation include a 200-level theater practicum class, intermediate Spanish, biology with a lab, a four-hour drawing class and a writing center practicum class. All these classes are inaccessible to most students, as they either require prerequisites, experience or are difficult to build a class schedule around. With Oxford’s limited class sizes, these courses, when accessible, can be unreasonably difficult to get into, according to students.

“We have to do our education in two years, so if we don't get something, it's

a really big deal because we cannot graduate,” Camille Zats (23Ox) said.

For students who wish to graduate early or study abroad, Oxford’s rigid graduation requirements smother yet another opportunity. Students who want to study abroad while they are at Oxford have to fulfill all the requirements they would need to graduate. In other words, students cannot go abroad until they finish all of their GER courses, which they often cannot get into given Oxford’s lack of course offerings.

“My summer plans rely on whether I'm going to study abroad … and it's really stressful because I need to make plans now,” Zats, who is currently a first-year, said.

Back in Atlanta, students can study abroad at any time in their Emory careers. Why worry when you have four years to fill requirements and a plethora of classes to fill them with?

That’s a far cry from reality at Oxford where first years recently registered for Fall 2022 classes..

“I wasn't able to get that E-course,” Zats said. “If I don't get that course, I can’t study abroad.”

“Even though the story of ‘one Emory’ is supposed to mean that it includes everyone even if you’re not part of main campus, it felt as though we were being treated as second-rate,” Abitogun said.

Choosing Oxford shouldn’t doom students to second-class status. They deserve access to all of the academic resources necessary to thrive.

For starters, Oxford should waive the “E” requirement since they don’t have the resources or classes to support it. There’s precedent to do so. For Oxford’s class of 2022, administrators waived the requirement because online learning restricted students’ ability to gain real-life experiences outside the classroom according to Zats.

“This requirement was originally instituted to put a community engagement type of aspect into our education, which sounds great in theory, but if Oxford doesn't have the resources to offer it to everyone, it is unreasonable for them to make it a graduation requirement,” Zats said.

To improve academic access,

administrators also need to increase the frequency of Oxford-Emory shuttles, add more sections of high-demand classes and end the one-course cap on cross-registration. Spots go unfilled every semester in Atlanta campus courses. Why not let Oxford students fill them?

Finally, Oxford students deserve transparency from their university.

Incoming students should be made aware that, at least as it currently stands, Emory and Oxford are not the same school. If Oxford students will not be able to pursue the same majors, access the Atlanta campus through Emory transportation or study abroad with the same amount of ease, Emory must tell them. Oxford students are not privy to the same privileges their peers in Atlanta are afforded, and Emory shouldn’t pretend they are.

Oxford tells incoming students that it’s “a place like no other,” which is correct. At Emory, Oxford really is a place financially, rhetorically and blatantly neglected like no other. From course registration to major requirements, its students at Oxford are routinely deprived of opportunities that Atlanta campus students take for granted.

“It felt as if Oxford was just the second campus where they could keep us here and hope for the best,” Abitogun said. “Like ‘oh, we’ll just drop you here and forget about you.’”

“I know one of the biggest concerns of students here is that ‘they probably view us as being dumb,’ or ‘they probably view us as Oxford being our only option because we couldn’t get into anywhere else,’” Abitogun added.

“It felt as though that was being perpetuated by the lack of resources.”

Next year, a new batch of students will enter Oxford. Like Sayre, they will want to double major. Like Zats, they will want to study abroad. And like all Oxford students, they will want and deserve the world-class education Emory provides. Though it may be too late for Sayre, Zats, Abitogun and the Oxford students in their year, it isn’t for the students that come after them.

Until then, Emory remains an institution that continues to only serve its student body in Atlanta, while Oxford remains forgotten.

The above editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s Editorial Board.

The Editorial Board is composed of Rachel Broun, Jake Busch, Kyle Chan-Shue, Demetrios Mammas, Daniela Parra del Riego Valencia, Sara Perez, Ben Thomas, Chaya Tong and Leah Woldai.

The Emory Wheel Volume 103 | Number 7

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The Emory Wheel

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

5

College is a game many students don’t realize they’re playing to synthesize a student’s academic achievement and make it understood by others (the university, graduate programs, etc.). Doing so inevitably removes valuable pieces of information, creating this “neat little informational packet where I strip off all of the

success matters more than their intellectual development, students choose the easy way “not because they're ‘unmotivated,’ but because they're Life has become gamified. In order rational,” Kohn said. to receive a loan, one needs a high Grades make students focus on what enough credit score, a point system they “need to know” rather than that reduces a complex idea like finanencouraging them to wonder, ask cial credibility down to a single questions and dive into the complex number. Posts on Twitter are subjects they are learning, and they measured by likes and retweets, emphasize success over nuanced a point system to which we have understanding. The game of college arbitrarily assigned value. Our works against one of the key values institutions and social systems of education: learning for learning’s are increasingly being turned sake. into games, sets of rules which “[Games invert] the usual relabreak down the complex and tionship of means and ends,” nuanced reality and turn it into a Nguyen said. “In practical life, we game with point systems and select means for the sake of an clear winners and losers. While independently valuable end. In such systems promote simplicgame life, on the other hand, we ity, they mask the true reality of select an arbitrary end for the sake our lives — a reality that is far of undergoing some particular more human and complex than means.” games can encapsulate.

In the game of college, many College is one of these games. students choose an end, like a The academic worth of students career that their parents want them is judged by their grade point to pursue or a job with a good average (GPA). Strength as a salary, and then follow a largely graduate school applicant is predetermined set of means. They measured by test scores. Success then rationalize this choice by in class is represented by a backing the apparent logic that clearly defined grading strucplaying by the rules will give you a ture. “Winning” at college — to higher potential to “win” the game, succeed within these structures, which restricts the value and regardless of intellectual growth experience of college by examining U NSPLASH /R ANDY F ATH — is disconnected from the value it through a purely economic lens. of the education itself. Students “Winning” at college — to succeed within these structures, regardless of intellectual growth — is disconnected from It would be hard to argue that a are conditioned to think in a way the value of the education itself. good career and comfortable life is that reduces the project of intelan “arbitrary end,” but undergoing lectual exploration to quantificollege simply to achieve our weird context-sensitive stuff and just paying career.

A Georgetown Univerwant to play the game — individuals able units that have been stripped of desired end has narrowed the intrinsicreate something simple.” sity (Wash.) pamphlet titled “Five who want to be immersed in ideas, art complexity.

This reduction and simplification of Rules of the College and Career Game” and exploration rather than intern- cally valuable nature of education.

An expert on ludology, the study of The modern university suppresses information streamline the process of reduces the project of higher education ships, test scores and LinkedIn games and gaming, philosopher C. Thi. inquiry for the prospect of success. It data analysis.

The college admissions to one focused entirely on financial and connections.

Nguyen examines how games have “Grades create a preference for the imposes a linear structure on education permeated many aspects of our lives, system, for example, relies upon easily career prospects. This hyper-profescomparable units of information, and sional focus affects Emory University easiest possible task,” said education and turns college into a game with often without our wariness. He discrete steps and rules. The responsiregardless of how “holistic” the process students as well.

Many people focus scholar Alfie Kohn. describes how games manufacture and Whether students are aware of it or bility of escaping this game does not distort our reality — and what we is claimed to be, it is very much a game. solely on the aspects of college — such Reviewers rank students according to as major-oriented classes and impresnot, we are all impacted by gamifica- rest upon individual students; such a choose to value. In an interview with predetermined metrics: AP test scores sive-looking internships — that will tion.

Knowing that I only have to get a change will only come about with a Ezra Klein, Nguyen describes how one add value to how an applicant is benefit their careers.

This approach is 75% on my labs in QTM to get an A wholesale reimagining of our current of the reasons why we are seeing a rise perceived, participation in extracurricnot inherently harmful; advanced leads me to not try as hard or to not systems — a daunting prospect for in games is because they allow bureaumany people. In the meantime, we cracies and institutions to run more ulars is judged and broken down by degrees have increasingly become work for full understanding. Being need to ask ourselves: do I know how to universalized factors and attributes like expected for middleand upper-midfamiliar with the rubric for an English effectively — a trend that places nuance play? leadership and community involvedle-class careers, making the prospect essay makes students look for the and understanding secondary to easily ment are reduced to checkboxes. Such of economic advancement, or “climb- easiest way they can get the points they transmissible information.

Carson Kindred (23Ox) is from MinneAs a professor, Nguyen uses grades gamification is convenient: it removes ing the ladder,” the primary goal of need for a good grade. the individuality of applicants and college for many students.

When conditioned to believe that apolis, Minnesota.

Carson Kindred

turns them into a set of data, making the comparison and judgment of each student far easier.

Colleges and universities are aware of this game and thus complicit in how students view and treat their education: as a stepping stone toward a high-

Yet narrowing the purpose of college into one focused solely on economic outcomes excludes and leaves behind students who aren’t aware that they are a part of the game, deemphasizing in-depth intellectual exploration. College ostracizes students who do not

Emory, put naloxone in all first aid kits Jake Busch and Alex Sandberg In 1995 prescription opioids took the U.S. by storm. As pain began to be treated as a fifth vital sign in American medicine, pharmaceutical companies began aggressively advertising their powerful new painkillers while doctors started prescribing them, spurring the opioid crisis that has only worsened in the nearly thirty years since then.

Emory University is not impervious to its terror. It would be naive to think that this nationwide problem does not impact peers, mentors and staff on our campus. Lifetime opioid abuse in students may range from 4% to 19.7%.

Opioids, prescription or illicit, can be highly addictive, and it is no stretch to think that they are already on campus.

To ensure the school community is prepared to save someone from an overdose, Emory should make naloxone, commonly referred to by its brand name Narcan, more visible by putting it in easily accessible first aid kits around campus. Additionally, the University should mandate more robust education about opioid abuse and training on the application of naloxone for first-year students. The danger of fentanyl-laced drugs, on top of the potential for prescription opioid abuse and the illegal distribution of prescription opioids, demands swift and aggressive action from the University.

Opioids are usually prescribed for

pain after major surgeries. However, spray that can be administered without restore breathing to someone who has when any opioid is taken in large doses, medical training. The drug acts as an overdosed within two to three minutes it can lead to fatal overdose. Fentanyl, antagonist at the main opioid receptor of administration. a man-made synthetic opioid that is by displacing the binding of the One would think that an antidote as cheap and dangerously potent (100 intoxicating opioid in the person’s effective as Narcan would be more times stronger than morphine) has system, thereby reversing or blocking accessible to vulnerable populations become a major cause of like college students, who concern in recent years. The have opportunities for rate of overdose deaths involvnewfound independence, ing fentanyl has increased access to a bigger drug and dramatically since 2013. party culture and susceptiThough colleges tend to see bility to peer pressure that lower rates of opioid misuse leads many to try cocaine than in the general American and pills. To be fair, Narcan population, this does not mean has been made more availthey are free from its threat, able at some schools like especially considering the the University of Texas at presence of drugs and the Austin and the University stresses that come with acaof Southern California demics and social life at school. already. Emory, though, is Hard drugs, like powdered behind on confronting the heroin and cocaine, are frecrisis, as naloxone is not quently cut with illicitly manuwidely available on campus factured fentanyl (IMF) and and the University continpassed off as the real deal. ues to remain silent on Similarly, pills like Percocet drug abuse. The University and Xanax are commonly did not respond to our pressed with the dangerous interview request by press IMF and peddled as the less time.

C C /P J potent, though still abuseOn a University webprone, drugs they are adver- Along with expanded access to Narcan, the page about “Medical Emertised to be. Recently, multiple University should mandate more thorough drug gency Opioid Overdose,” West Point cadets overdosed on there is no mention of abuse awareness training to all students. fentanyl-laced cocaine during a access to Narcan beyond spring break vacation in Floremergency first responida. Emory is no stranger to cocaine, the dangerous opioid’s effects. In other ders. The University must prioritize and likely not unfamiliar with impure words, naloxone takes the place of the making information on how students opioid and blocks it from carrying out can access the life-saving nasal spray cocaine, either.

Enter naloxone, or Narcan, a nasal its deadly course in a person’s body. more accessible.

Through this mechanism, Narcan can REATIVE

OMMONS

UNCHING UDY

Yet, the University has not offered robust training to students, faculty, and staff, on recognizing and addressing opioid abuse.

Naloxone ranges from $20-40 for generic naloxone and costs roughly $140 for a Narcan kit that includes two doses, as not worth the update to first aid kits. But the financial cost is next to nothing compared to the number of lives Narcan could save. Along with expanded access to Narcan, the University should mandate more thorough drug abuse awareness training to all students, especially about opioids and efforts to combat overdoses. The resources needed to raise awareness and reverse the stigma of opioid abuse are an expense Emory can afford.

We are not the first to voice support for widening the availability of naloxone on a large scale, nor would Emory be the first university to more aggressively address opioids on campus.

While opioid overdose may not be a widespread problem here now, Emory should not risk it becoming one. The Emory administration should act immediately. Even if one student, professor or staff member dies from opioids where Narcan could have been more accessible, we are already too late.

Jake Busch (22C) is from Brookhaven, Georgia. Alex Sandberg (21C) is currently a medical student at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

The Emory Wheel

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

6

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Taking a break from Emory was the best decision Fay Sukparangsee Last fall 2021 was the pinnacle of my anxiety-ridden college experience. My transition to college as an international student was crippled with fear and resulted in an abrupt leave of absence.

Freshly graduated from a private school in the suburban bubble of wealthy families, I was ready to leave the comforts of my privileged lifestyle to seek the American dream of opportunities, independence and freedom.

Like the glorious gates to my promised future, college was like a stepping stone to a stable career and life. My efforts were finally paying off with admissions into Emory University in the “land of opportunities.”

After settling in, I was supposed to be grateful I’d finally “made it.”

However, my feelings indicated otherwise. I convinced myself I liked being alone, even though I dreaded every minute of studying in my isolated dorm. I convinced myself I enjoyed working out, even though I was driven by the guilt I would feel from not exercising. I convinced myself that I was happy after this “adjustment” period despite knowing I had unintentionally trapped myself in a self-destructive cycle of toxic productivity — one where every minute not spent working was wasted.

But in reality, I didn’t like being alone. I didn’t have friends because I became exhausted with attempts to even socialize. I exerted all my energy burying myself in my room all day, grinding assessments and studying for quizzes because I wanted to optimize all the time I had in my hands. The toxic cycle I’d self-induced and perpetuated began consuming me, gradually reaching my core. That was when I realized I no longer wanted to put up a facade that I was “fine” anymore:

because I wasn’t.

The double-edged sword of high functioning anxiety or depression is that we fail to validate feelings of exhaustion and burnout simply because we function well on the outside. Sometimes, I wanted to physically collapse to the ground so others could see how much I was hurting. I wanted someone to reach out a hand to me, acknowledge what I was going through and tell me I deserve rest and help.

The day before my Counseling and Psychological Services appointment, I ended up in the emergency room waiting at the hospital. It started with a panic attack in my dorm room, and my uncontrollable crying made it increasingly more difficult to breathe. I could envision a tunnel where all that was ahead was murky, dark and filled with uncertainty. I couldn’t see myself being strong enough to fight through this very moment. I just wanted to go home, but home was 9,000 miles from Emory, in Thailand.

Despite dropping all academic responsibilities while at college, I couldn’t seem to eradicate a burdening feeling. The more I tried to meditate, the heavier each breath felt. I couldn’t focus on anything but my chaotic thoughts, battling the intrusive ones that held me back from restful days and nights. I felt trapped, and the only way out was to return home.

The 18-hour plane ride home was filled with much contemplation and self-doubt. Though I knew it was the best decision I could’ve made, I feared the judgment and questions that would follow; I feared I had essentially become a failure no one expected me to become. More importantly, there was a fear of uncertainty about whether I’d be able to finish school or become a college dropout whose future was cut short by my inability to handle the pressures of college transition.

Though I couldn’t pinpoint one reason for my culmination of anxiety, I believe it was a blend of the adjustment, my preconceived notion that college was purely a stepping stone instead of an experiential 4 years of my life, my expectations of college and most importantly, my internal state of mind. The consequences of my toxic productivity mindset ultimately caught up to me.

Until now, I’ve dedicated time to doing nothing. More precisely, rather than focusing on productive resumebuilding activities, I’ve been reflecting in retrospect and introspect to find what I truly want out of my college experience and other future experiences. I’ve discovered what brings me excitement and joy in life, like spending meaningful time with people I love and listening to music. My ultimate goal is to fixate my joy in every present moment.

Perhaps the lifestyle I’m living may not be optimal for some, but for me, it’s the best decision I’ve made. But what remains universal is the empathy and kindness we should all have toward others suffering from experiences alike or different from ours. Mental health intervention should never be stigmatized and should absolutely be available and readily accessible to everyone and anyone.

Mishaps in life are often depicted with regret; however, these hardships reveal a nuanced understanding of the complexities of our lives. Learn to appreciate small hope not at the end of the tunnel but in every unique and purposeful path you choose to pursue.

Taking this leave was the best decision I have made because these trying times allowed me to acquire not the strength I hoped to have but the strength I never believed I could have.

Fay Sukparangsee (26C) is from Bangkok, Thailand.

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The Emory Wheel

A��� E������������ W��������, A���� 13, 2022 | Arts & Entertainment Editors: Jackson Schneider (jdschn3@emory.edu) & Eythen Anthony (eaantho@emory.edu)

‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future’ is a hip-hop collage

BY BEN BRODSKY Contributing Writer

COURTESY OF ABGO

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is a frenetic, hallucinatory masterpiece

BY JACKSON SCHNEIDER AND SARU GARG A&E Editor and Senior Staff Writer Evelyn Wang’s (Michelle Yeoh) life is falling apart. She is the middleaged proprietress of a southern California laundromat under audit by the IRS. Her family in China disowned her for running away to the U.S. with her husband, Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), who is now filing for divorce. She feels incapable of understanding her daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu), who wants nothing more than to get away from her mother. She is convinced, in short, that she can’t do anything right.

One can only imagine her surprise when a Waymond from another universe appears during a visit to the IRS and reveals that the entire multiverse is in danger, and she is the only one who can save it. What follows is a senses-shattering plunge into chaos, and one of the best movies to come out in years.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a masterful exercise in joy as an act of courage, vulnerability as a way to heal and absurdity as a vehicle for emotionally powerful storytelling.

It’s undeniable that “Everything Everywhere” draws heavily on existing science-fiction tropes: the heroine who thought she was just average, the multiverse at stake and the ability to conjure powers through drawing on other lives. And yet, the film is without a doubt the most audaciously original work to hit theaters in years.

Though it is a postmodern mashup with far-ranging influences from Wong Kar-Wai to “Ratatouille” (2007), borrowing genre conventions from science fiction, kung fu/action and comedy, “Everything Everywhere” feels fresh and vital, like an injection of pure energy and creativity that mainstream film has been lacking for so long. Some scenes had the audience howling with laughter at one moment and holding back tears the next, as moments that seem ridiculous on the surface carry a devastating emotional impact.

Directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel

Scheinert (known together as “the Daniels”) combine an outrageously original story with daring production to produce an experience truly unlike anything prior. Their fluid and dynamic camerawork takes full advantage of new technologies in a way that doesn’t make each scene feel like a computer-generated product, but rather a piece of art that defies limitations. The use of montage throughout the movie is stunning. For example, toward the beginning, Evelyn sees her life and her choices play out in front of her eyes. Through the Daniels’ masterful use of montage, we get a nuanced picture of Evelyn’s hopes, regrets and fears, all within only a few minutes.

The film moves through its two and a half hour runtime at a breakneck speed but rarely feels overwhelming or tiring. Every productional aspect of “Everything Everywhere All At Once” is brilliantly done, from the surreal lighting to the way the production and set designers portray an ever-deteriorating multiverse.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a masterful exercise in joy as an act of courage, vulnerability as a way to heal and absurdity as a vehicle for emotionally powerful storytelling.

“Everything Everywhere” is driven by its characters, and the film wouldn’t be nearly the success it is without its incredible cast. The linchpin being, of course, Yeoh. She delivers a career-defining performance as Evelyn Wang, who she portrays as a flawed human who loves the people around her but hates her life, daydreaming about who she could have been. While Yeoh’s performance is monumental, she is lifted further by the rest of the cast.

Notably, Quan roars back onto the screen after 20 years, his last notable role being that of 14-year-old Data from “The Goonies” (1985). The role of Deirdre, an IRS auditor, is one of Jamie Lee Curtis’ most audacious

characters to date. Last but not least, Hsu, despite her limited acting experience, portrays Joy with a complexity that arises from the intersection of love and hatred for those who raised you.

Though the film adheres to no limits in its exploration of the human experience, two main themes emerge over the course of its runtime. One relates to the immigrant family dynamic of its main characters — a complete lack of understanding permeates every interaction that Evelyn has with her father, husband and daughter. The film doesn’t present a solution to the complex, generational disconnects and anxieties that shape such a dynamic; in fact, it suggests that a solution is not always possible.

Still, the movie also indicates that simply reaching out with compassion and acknowledging one’s own shortcomings is a good place to start.The other major thematic concern of “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is a rejection of nihilism. Jobu Tupaki, the primary antagonist, experiences every universe in existence simultaneously. She believes that nothing matters because everything is chaos, and when anything positive is born from it, it is only a momentary reprieve.

When Evelyn also obtains these omniscient abilities, she too begins to believe that nothing matters.

However, through her relationships, she realizes that seeking out and living in moments of meaning makes life worth living. “Then I will cherish these few specks of time,” Evelyn tells her daughter, “Of all the places I could be, I just want to be here with you.”

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” puts forth a beautiful, poignant proposal for audiences watching the movie in the midst of global unrest: responding to fear and uncertainty with love is not naive, it is a conscious and immensely powerful choice.

- Contact Jackson Schneider at jackson.d.schneider@emory.edu and Saru Garg at saru.garg@emory.edu

When J. Cole claimed the title of hip-hop’s “middle child” on his 2019 single, he meant that he felt stuck between two generations of hip-hop artists. Denzel Curry is also a middle child of hip-hop, but for different reasons.

Now on his fifth project, Curry is 10 years younger than Cole and has differentiated himself from many of his contemporaries by combining popular sounds with serious and introspective topics. Fellow Floridanative Kodak Black has prioritized mainstream success over focused and complex artistic development.

California’s Earl Sweatshirt attempts

experimental production over music that listeners can dance to. Curry falls somewhere in the middle.

With his newest album, “Melt My Eyez See Your Future,” released March 25, Curry rises to a new level of self-reflection in his music. His introspective lyrics, serious song topics, like mortality and death, and diverse production indicate a leap in personal development for the young artist that is so clearly versed in the stories of past rap legends. Although less conceptually cohesive than his third studio album, “TA13OO,” Curry’s new album serves a different purpose in his artistic catalog. While the collaboration album “Unlocked” was production-focused, and

See DENZEL, Page 8

‘The Dropout’: Girlboss, gaslight, green juice

BY PAULA ACOCAL Contributing Writer

This review contains spoilers and mentions of sexual assault and suicide.

Hulu’s “The Dropout” presents viewers with the image of Elizabeth Holmes as a disgraced girlboss. Once an acclaimed title given solely to inspiring and confident female leaders, the term is now also used to describe women who exploit and bully others for profit.

The series opens with replicated footage of Holmes’ deposition, and its message is loud and clear: America’s youngest female self-made billionaire scammed her way to success. The scene switches to another interview with a media company that fawns over her success. When the reporter asks what word she would use to best describe herself, the CEO responds, “mission-oriented.” This answer foreshadows the show’s depiction of Holmes' loss of humanity as she aimed to build Theranos into a billion-dollar company at the expense of human lives.

The miniseries takes viewers through the wild life of Elizabeth Holmes (Amanda Seyfried), from the construction of Theranos to its eventual collapse. The biotechnological entrepreneur dropped out of Stanford University at 19 to found Theranos, a blood testing company.

Alongside her chief operating officer, Ramesh Balwani (Naveen Andrews), Holmes aimed to revolutionize the blood-testing industry and healthcare. They claimed their “nanotainers,” vials that stored a single drop of blood, were enough to run up to seventy tests on their Edison devices.

The company would offer services such as antibody detection at a fraction of both the cost and the blood-take. These goals were unrealized dreams, as the technology ultimately failed and Theranos lied to investors and patients about the product’s performance.

Holmes stayed true to her “mis-

sion-oriented” self throughout the series. The pilot depicts a teenager intent on inventing a product and building a company in order to achieve her ultimate goal of becoming a billionaire. The biomedical engineering major crossed paths with professors and mentors who would later join her company.

Determined to invent a product, Holmes draws up a patch that would administer and regulate medication to patients. She runs the invention by Phyllis Gardner (Laurie Metcalf), a Stanford medical school professor who provides her with constructive criticism. The esteemed physician later reproaches Holmes when she chastises her for not helping a fellow woman out. The series further shows the scope of misogyny with Holmes’ experience with sexual assault. She then became motivated to rework her prototype to what became Theranos’ signature device: the Edison machine.

The series follows Holmes’ quest for external investment from big shot businessmen, despite initially investing her tuition money into the company. Viewers witness her admission into Silicon Valley after successfully convincing venture capitalist Don Lucas (Michael Ironside), becoming the leading woman during the tech-world gold rush.

Instead of taking pride in her unique background, Holmes succumbs to the masculine aesthetic of Silicon Valley. Her gender performance morphs to fit that of the techbro in an effort to be taken seriously by her male counterparts. Holmes’ dress is a carefully constructed facade of turtlenecks and puff vests, reminiscent of her idol Steve Jobs, which emanates composure and knowledge. “The Dropout” also details the evolution of her distinct voice, a useful tool to command the attention and respect of others. An honest portrayal of her awkward vocal transition includes a scene where she test runs her lower

See THERANOS, Page 8

The Emory Wheel

A&E

Denzel Curry’s New Album Promises Evolution

Continued from Page 7

“TA13OO” a statement of artistic development to the hip-hop world, “Melt My Eyez” is poetic and mature—a fitting next step in Curry’s evolution as an artist.

Beyond interesting cultural references, Curry uses creative wordplay to applaud both modern artists for their contributions to the canon and the legends of hip-hop history. On the track “Ain’t No Way,” he shouts out Atlanta-New York duo Run the Jewels’ Killer Mike and El-P with the line, “Run the jewels ‘cause I kill a mic on any LP.” In appreciating the trailblazers of hip-hop, he begins carving his own path toward artistic greatness.

Curry embraces a recent trend of increased vulnerability in rap, displaying expanded maturity from his earlier days of more straightforward writing. Curry comments on the anxiety surrounding racial identity and law enforcement in 21st century U.S., theorizing on “John Wayne” that “911, emergency will murder me the day that I call ‘em.” For an artist originally thrust into the mainstream off of a meme song, “Ultimate,” this commentary is a far cry from his breakout hit.

Through “Melt My Eyez,” listeners follow Curry as he contemplates serious issues through the lens of current events, such as hopelessness in the wake of the pandemic and reflections on the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement.

On “Walkin,” one of the best songs released this year, Curry brings to light not only the brutality of violence but also the painful repercussions, rapping, “I’m watchin’ massacres turn to runnin’ mascara.”

Utilizing a beat switch halfway through the track to indicate a change of day to night, or as Curry

beautifully puts it, “The sky turns a different hue farther from the color blue,” he controls the theme and setting to match the song’s tone. At the end of the track, we are privy to the meaning of “melt my eyez” and “see your future,” and as with many other conscious hip hop records, the two are dichotomous. The former touches on a societal tendency to

COURTESY OF COMPLEX

neglect open discussion on challenging topics, “melting” our eyes to avoid seeing the conflict around us.

Curry’s commentary reflects the social and political fatigue resulting from the past several years of largely chaotic and distressing events. I imagine that “Melt My Eyez” is a wish similar to many of our’s, that when faced with never ending pain, we could disappear rather than face it. However, the second clause asserts the importance of optimism and humanity, looking forward to fixing the issues and challenging listeners to open their eyes and face the future.

Curry’s artistic attempts at discussing these societal problems are worth celebrating, but he has not yet reached the level of elegant political commentary that all-time greats like Jay-Z and A Tribe Called Quest or slightly more senior artists like Lupe

Fiasco have achieved. Because of Curry’s repeated trials at reaching new heights in his writing aptitude, I believe he is attempting to rise to their levels. “Melt My Eyez” is a step toward their elevated artistry, but not an arrival.

Some lines are clunky and feel like they may have escaped editing filters, like “Nine times out of ten I’m probably going to hell ‘cause I’m the devil, which means I sold my soul to myself” on “The Ills” or unsubtle in their analysis, like “News flash from the office that give me the views I want, but the image that I get is my president bein' a c***” on “Worst Comes to Worst.”

These lines feel immature and half-baked compared to some of this generation’s great lyrical talents.

These are selective criticisms, but in order to ascend to the levels of those he samples, Curry’s poetic writing and creative formatting need to improve.

Still, the album has received both critical and community acclaim, garnering impressive scores on critics’ reviews as well as debuting at 51 on the Billboard 200.

However, even compared to “TA13OO,” “Melt My Eyez” seems to not quite fulfill its purpose. As a result, Curry remains a middle child of hip-hop.

Curry delivers a good album worth listening to, but I take “Melt My Eyez See Your Future” as a step toward his immense potential as a generational artist. In a period oversaturated with social media hits and streaming analytic money grabs, Curry keeps it real and pays homage to hip-hop’s continuing legacy.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

8

Theranos miniseries airs on Hulu

Continued from Page 7

register with an investor who mistakes her voice for an allergy symptom. Regardless, Holmes, powered by green juice, is able to dazzle business partners, striking a deal with Walgreens executives in the aptly titled episode four, “Old White Men.” “The Dropout” shows that despite her girlboss suave, Holmes fostered a culture of fear. Ian Gibbons (Stephen Fry), the head chemist of Theranos, advised her to pull the Edison out of stores because of its fallibility. She dismissed his plea and Gibbons later killed himself the night before he was to testify about the validity of the company’s technology. Holmes remained unfazed and rather relieved at the news of his death.

Viewers watch her eventual return to Stanford as a guest interviewee who admonishes an unnamed Gardner for her weak feminism. Holmes’ illusion of feminism roped in employees like Erika Cheung (Camryn Mi-young Kim), who believed that Theranos would be a workplace oasis for female scientists. These moments encapsulated the toxic feminism I have witnessed, where the sole identity of being a “woman” warrants shielding from valid criticism. Rather than making Theranos an equitable workplace, Holmes allowed superiors to intimidate Cheung after she questioned

- Contact Ben Brodsky at ben.brodsky@emory.edu

the company’s ethics.

The superficial sisterhood pushes Cheung to be a whistleblower alongside Tyler Shultz (Dylan Minnette), the grandson of George Shultz, a Theranos board member. The two co-workers partner up with investigative journalist John Carreyrou (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) to reveal the company’s deceitful actions, which include diluting blood samples to be tested on machines besides Edisons.

“The Dropout” reminds viewers of Holmes’ impact on the perception of female leaders in STEM. The epilogue in episode eight shares that the Theranos scandal affected female entrepreneurs’ ability to find investors in Silicon Valley: in 2019, female-founded start-ups represented 5.2% of all the venture capital funding. The series and its real-life story encapsulate the complexities of girlbossing. Being a female leader in a male-dominated industry should not be a hall pass for bullying and lying to employees and consumers.

Women like Holmes push themselves to play dirty like their male CEO counterparts but face double the consequences. The series excels in its fair, at times comedic, portrayal of Holmes while meditating upon the grim ramifications of her actions.

- Contact Paula Acocal at paula.acocal@emory.edu

BETH DUBBER / HULU

Charmaine Minniefield talks reclaiming Black narratives in ‘Indigo Prayers’

BY MITALI SINGH Contributing Writer

“I searched for traces of me and for memories in front of me through Indigo, through dance, through food and through familiar spaces and faces. I landed in a village of women who were keeping Indigo in The Gambia. And they looked like me.”

Atlanta-based artist Charmaine Minniefield offered the audience a behind-the-scenes look at her new body of work, “Indigo Prayers: A Creation Story,” at the Carlos Museum’s Ackerman Hall on March 30. Minniefield created the project during her time in The Gambia in the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Titled “Sovereign,” “Wisdom,” “Abundant,” “Freedom,” “Love,” “Peace” and “Eternal,” the series of self-portraits that make up “Indigo Prayers” are captivating. I felt as though I could hear the paintings — they are massive and filled with commanding strokes of a vivid blue hue. Spread across three walls, you have to turn corners as you take all of them in, a motion that seems to echo the counterclockwise dance of the women in the ring shout. Each work depicts movement, with the figure’s arms stretched out, neck bent or head tilted. They appear to be both moving and sitting still in time. The plaque describing the work begins: “What if seven Black women spinning counterclockwise, each upholding a single attribute of God, con-

jured creation?”

Minniefield revealed that the title of each painting is an attribute she wishes to see for herself — a powerful reclamation.

“I wanted to be abundant,” Minniefield said. “I wanted to be eternal.

I knew that I was sovereign. That I should have the right to my own body, my own land, my own memories, my own institution.”

In “Peace,” the painting with the most negative space in the background, the color scheme is inverted.

Here, the dramatic splashes of blue and red make it look like a figure is emerging from the background, like a rebirth.

In “Eternal,” I kept seeing more faces the more I looked. Step closer, and you find yourself engrossed in the faces. Step back, and you can see the flashes of limbs reaching out. In some works, there are slivers of white shadows around the figure that are halo-like.

“Sovereign” is quietly explosive.

The woman in the artwork has a red arm and a heart-shaped face. Words like “wild woman,” “rememory” and “remembrance,” play in my head, reminding me of themes in Toni Morrison’s writing, who Minniefield cites as one of her inspirations.

Minniefield’s work is inspired by Indigenous traditions from Africa and the diaspora.

Her art explores African American history, memory and ritual as resistance against Black erasure and

draws from womanist social theory, a form of feminism focused on the experiences of Black women.

COURTESY OF CHARMAINE MINNEFIELD

The Praise House Project is a public art installation that celebrates the Ring Shout, a traditional African American movement and worship that was performed by enslaved people in structures called praise houses — safe spaces to recall and affirm their identity. Minniefield set up her first praise house at Oakland cemetery to honor the 800 unmarked graves in the African American Burial Grounds at the cemetery. She received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to present her project at three different locations across Atlanta: SouthView Cemetery, downtown Decatur and Emory University’s Atlanta campus. Additionally, she was a Stuart A. Rose Library artist-inresidence at the University in 2019 and 2020.

Initiating the talk with a cere-

mony, audience members called out the names of ancestors, to which everyone responded, “Ashe,” a word of affirmation said at the end of prayers, originating from the Yoruba language.

“We’re giving honor to the ancestors that once gave love and care to this earth,” Minniefield said.

When talking about her inspiration, she said that movements like Black Lives Matter directly feed into her work. “Indigo Prayers” furthers Minniefield’s exploration of the Ring Shout while reckoning with the impact of these world events.

“My grandmother reminded me what we would do in the worst of times: We would pray,” Minniefeld said. “We wouldn't just say words.

We let that prayer move through our entire body, and it lifted us onward; it affirmed our life at the moment of remembering our identity. And, as lives were being taken on these streets, I remembered her prayer.”

Minniefield connected with her history and community in The Gambia, saying that she “romanticized and created intricate myths of [her] family,” and tried to tell their stories through her art.

The artist compared the difference in the experience of the Ring Shout ceremony in The Gambia with how she knows it in her own context.

“They swing their arms like hummingbirds, so fast you can hardly see their arms,” Minniefeld said. “And their knees are up high. Ours are the

same movements exactly, but our hips [are] restrained, our feet shuffle, our knees don’t get high because of our circumstances.”

Minniefield described the creation of the work itself as a ritual. Because she did not have access to pigment or canvas in The Gambia and had to look for other means, she used indigo, an Indigenous pigment that traveled to the West alongside slavery, labor and trade skills. She also made other pigments using mahogany bark and crushed oyster shells.

Minniefield says she hopes to accomplish historic preservation with every praise house that is created and create community-specific technology to digitize collections and preserve historic spaces. Minniefield actively reclaims and recenters Black narratives in the face of Confederate memorials and acts of erasure. Her art pushes back unapologetically, taking ownership of physical and emotional spaces.

Minniefield’s fierce determination to spread her art as far as she can is inspiring.

Her creations are living works of art in charge of writing their own history.

“Indigo Prayers: A Creation Story” runs March 19 to Sept. 11 at the Carlos Museum.

- Contact Mitali Singh at mitali.singh@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel

Emory Life

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 | Emory Life Editors: Oli Turner (omturne@emory.edu) and Xavier Stevens (xsteven@emory.edu)

Ukrainian students struggle to help family, friends from afar

By Xavier Stevens Emory Life Editor When she heard the news, Mayya Petrenko-Abdullayeva (23R) could not breathe. On Feb. 24, Russia invaded Ukraine and headed towards Kyiv, where her siblings, friends and former colleagues live. Her mother and father live 30 minutes north of the capital, and they now hear Russian airstrikes and gunfire every day from their basement shelter.

“I called my mom and asked her ‘what [should we] do?’” PetrenkoAbdullayeva said. “I started crying, and she [was] crying. She told me, ‘If you [are going to] cry, then you better come home.’”

Petrenko-Abdullayeva is one of several current and former Ukrainian students at Emory with family and friends still living through the war in Ukraine.

Her mother works as a nurse in a hospital close to the fighting, treating injured soldiers daily. PetrenkoAbdullayeva supports her siblings and their families as they survive the bombings, but they fear fleeing on the main roads to Poland, and other European countries are blocked off by Russian soldiers. PetrenkoAbdullayeva calls each person in her immediate family twice a day to make sure everyone is safe.

“I’m not there, but my heart is there,” Petrenko-Abdullayeva said.

Taking a stand At the onset of the war in Ukraine, current and former Ukrainian students at Emory were unsure of how to fight from their location.

Tetiana Lendiel (16L) cannot sleep until the bombings stop. From Atlanta, she calls her relatives in her village

family find the resources they needed to survive in Ukraine, such as electricity and gas.

As Russian forces surged towards Kyiv, Lendiel’s relatives were forced to flee Myla before Ukraine liberated the village on April 2.

“Ukrainian people are very hard working people,” Lendiel said. “Most of them have had very difficult lives in the past.”

This is not the first time Lendiel’s family or any Ukrainian has experienced Russian violence and suppression. The Soviet Union took control of Ukraine in 1919, and in the 1930s, they enacted Russification, or the forced cultural assimilation of others to give up their own culture and language in favor of Russian culture and language.

For several decades following, Russia used violence to suppress the Ukrainian culture, language and people. From 1932 to 1933, millions of Ukrainians starved to death in a famine known as Holodomor, or ‘to kill by starvation’ in Ukrainian. Throughout the 20th century, the Soviet Union banned Ukrainian schools and language to suppress their culture and expression.

“People didn’t talk about [the Great Famine] until 1994,” Lendiel said.

“They couldn’t even say a word about it because they were so afraid that it could get out to the wrong ears.

You don’t know what may happen to your family, so in our family, [Russian oppression] was never discussed.”

The effects of Russification and the erasure of Ukrainian culture persist today. According to the 2001 census, nearly 30% of Ukrainians listed Russian as their native language.

Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and imposed similar efforts to assimilate eastern Ukrainians to Russian culture.

X avier Stevens / The Emory Wheel

In the window of the door to the Modern Languages building, a sign that reads, ‘Stop War in Ukraine, Putin/All people of conscience”

Myla, which is east of Kyiv, and her family friends in Kyiv.

“Their morning starts with checking everyone is okay,” Lendiel said. “‘How are you? Are you okay? Is your building there? Are your loved ones still there?’”

When she knows everyone is safe, Lendiel can rest.

Born in Myla, Lendiel attended boarding school in Kyiv and lived in the city for 25 years before coming to Atlanta in 2015 to attend Emory’s law school. After graduating in 2016 and passing her bar exam, she started work at a local law firm.

When the war started in Ukraine, Lendiel’s mother was visiting her in Atlanta. Together, they helped their

Ukrainians pushed back against Putin’s annexation of Crimea and his puppet-like control over their government. The Maidan protests, or ‘Revolution of Dignity,’ followed in 2014 with pro-democracy protestors successfully overthrowing the government in Kyiv to reestablish democracy.

In 2022, the war for Ukraine and its culture continues.

“The movement to liberate Ukraine has never stopped, even within the [Soviet Union],” Lendiel said. “There have been many attempts to diminish our language, to diminish our culture. But, nations do not disappear, right? They are either free or they’re enslaved. This time around, I think Ukrainians realize this is now or

MIRANDA’S BOOKSHELF

‘Olga Dies Dreaming’: enlightening but convoluted

By Miranda Wilson Staff Writer

X avier Stevens / The Emory Wheel

Sam Shafiro (25C) lifts up his scarf that his mother made for him over spring break with the colors of the Ukrainian flag. never, and we’re not going back.”

When the war started, Lendiel, a native Russian speaker, started to exclusively speak Ukrainian with her family and friends.

Lendiel is an active member of the Georgia branch of the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America that joins together in Atlanta for protests against the war and fundraising to help Ukrainian civilians. The group recently funded a purchase of 150 first aid kits that were distributed by volunteers to Chernihiv and Kyiv.

“Ukrainian people have made their choice [for democracy], and they’re willing to die for it, and they’re willing to stand for it. And that’s why I think we will prevail.”

Spreading awareness Sam Shafiro (25C) wraps the yellow and blue scarf his mom knit him over spring break around his neck. He wears the color of the Ukrainian flag in his classes and as he walks through campus.

Shafiro is a first-generation Ukrainian college student, whose family lived much of their lives in Odessa, a port city on the Black Sea in Western Ukraine. Throughout his life, his family has constantly been in contact with their relatives in Odessa.

When Shafiro heard the news of the war in Ukraine, he felt disillusioned.

“The news is just tantalizing enough to make us feel that reading something is enough,” Shafiro said. “And, in the end, we feel powerless, we feel like we can’t really do anything, that these things will continue to happen.”

When he returned home from spring break, his parents shared a similar feeling. As they scrolled the news from Ukraine every morning, his parents forgot to get ready for the day or leave for work.

Instead, they decided to put their time and energy toward an aid project that provides medical supplies for those in Odessa.

Through their extended family in Berlin, Germany, the family buys medical supplies to be transported to Krakow, Poland, where they are loaded into donated vans. The vans then drive to Odessa to drop off the supplies, and when they return, the vans transport dozens of refugees to Poland.

“When I came back for break and was exposed to my family, I strongly, on an emotional and visceral level, resonated with this idea of support,” Shafiro said.

Shafiro started to raise money for his parents’ project through his social media and by sharing the mission with classmates at Emory. He donned his Ukrainian scarf when he spoke to each one of his classes about his family’s project.

The project has raised $17,186, as of April 12, with all of the money going toward medical supplies and equipment for a donated ambulance to be used in Odessa. “[Democracy] is part of what created the pushback and ability to create a unified Ukrainian identity in the opposition to Russia,” Shafiro said. “To prevent Russia’s theory of the invasion being welcomed with open arms.”

Everything she can In between lectures, PetrenkoAbdullayeva reflected on her path to the University, as well as the stress of being separated from her home country under attack.

After a life as a successful virologist in Ukraine, she moved to the U.S. with her husband, an American scientist, in 2008. With her Emory degree, she hopes to build up her career again. “​​I’m in this program to get back to doing what I have to do,” PetrenkoAbdullayeva said. “[Emory] lets me get the kind of opportunity and skills to do something more in this country.”

As the war continues to threaten her family’s safety, Petrenko-Abdullayeva does everything she can from Atlanta.

Petrenko-Abdullayeva financially supports her family in Kyiv, and she also works to start a fundraiser for her close friend who works at a Ukrainian hospital for wounded soldiers. She also has attended rallies outside the CNN building with the Ukrainian Community of Atlanta.

At Emory itself, PetrenkoAbdullayeva, with the help of faculty and her peers, has encouraged the Rollins administration to show a documentary about the history of Ukrainian independence and Russian oppression in Ukraine.

“I just want people to see the nation of Ukraine, the people who are fighting to death, what freedom is about, and this humanitarian catastrophe,” Abudellayeva said. “The Ukrainian nation exists. We are an independent and free nation, and we don’t let anybody take our freedom. Freedom is not free, and we have to fight for it.”

— Contact Xavier Stevens at x.steven@emory.edu.

“You must remember, mijo, even people who were once your sails can become your anchors.”

Xochitl Gonzalez’s “Olga Dies Dreaming” is a complex and, at times, convoluted political commentary on the colonization of Puerto Rico.

Gonzalez creates a winding narrative, featuring siblings Olga and Pietro Acevedo, that explores themes of family, freedom and love. Olga is an Ivy League-educated wedding planner, and Pietro is a Brooklyn congressman.

As the siblings attempt to navigate the challenges of adulthood, they face pressure from their mother, Blanca, who left the family when the children were teenagers to pursue her calling as a revolutionary.

Blanca Acevedo criticizes her children through sparse letters, her only form of communication. She critiques Olga’s profession, claiming her daughter is subjecting herself to the system of capitalism. Pietro faces Blanca’s disapproval when he votes for a bill intended to privatize property in Puerto Rico.

Through insight into different political groups, Gonzalez explores the best way to catalyze social change. The book is set in 2017, during hurricanes Irma and Maria, which brought severe damage to Puerto Rico. Much of the island went without power, and government resources were limited, if not entirely inadequate. Gonzalez offers two solutions to such neglect of a U.S. territory: reform from within the government and revolution from Puerto Rico’s people.

While Gonzalez critiques the validity of both avenues throughout the novel, she leaves the question unanswered. If anything, she seems to most heavily critique the idea of revolution.

The end of the book portrays a political fiction based in 2025, where a fictional Puerto Rican revolutionary group violently revolts against the government and bombs governmental buildings. The message Gonzalez sends is unclear. Her characters do not seem to take a stance either way, and the ending of the book implies a sense of apathy from Olga.

The political message was further convoluted with a romantic subplot as Olga pursues a love interest, Matteo.

Matteo’s character seemed fabricated and too perfect. Details of their relationship’s development felt distracting and unnecessary.

“Olga Dies Dreaming” raises important questions about political action and corruption, and the focus on the U.S. government’s neglect of Puerto Rico is given a salient spotlight.

However, the plot did not always support coherent themes. While the novel was an enlightening and humanizing read, its overall impact was slightly diminished.

Rating: 3/5 stars

— Contact Miranda Wilson at miranda.wilson@emory.edu.

10

EMORY LIFE

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

The Emory Wheel

Devised theater thesis ‘Morning Has Broken’ reflects healing, loss

By Alison Barlow Contributing Writer The title of Abrianna Belvedere’s (22C) devised theater thesis piece, “Morning Has Broken,” came from the hymn of the same name that was played at her grandmother’s funeral.

Performed by Belvedere and Cicely Jackson (24C) on March 18 and 19 at the Schwartz Center, the work centered around teenage Belvedere’s efforts to move beyond generational trauma. The performance focused heavily on movement, religion and reflection. “‘Morning Has Broken’ is a piece about the journey of healing from

intergenerational trauma and cycles of trauma and is ultimately a piece about breaking cycles,” Belvedere said. “I was telling these stories, and they were all connected to the ritual of the funeral mass.”

Belvedere worked closely with Jackson and two stage managers to bring the devised piece to life.

Devised theater is a method of creation wherein the performance is created through improvisation and collaboration rather than the traditional playwriting pipeline of writing, editing and producing.

“You have the source material and you decide all of the elements at once,” Belvedere said. “Starting a play in

A lison Barlow / The Emory Wheel

“Morning Has Broken,” a labor of two years for Abrianna Belvedere (22C), was performed at the Schwartz Center.

playwriting is like an assembly line, but devised theater is like a spider web—especially in solo-devised theater—it spins out from the creator.”

For Belvedere, writing the piece proved to be difficult and she struggled with finding a writing process that “felt right.”

“I’m an incredibly stubborn artist,” she said. “I refuse and rebuke forms and ways of doing things all the time.””

Belvedere would go on long drives while recording her thoughts on voice memos which she would then comb through later, searching for things that she wanted to include in “Morning Has Broken.”

Once the initial draft had been created, the two actors and two stage managers honed in on specific language, movements and feelings from the piece. For Belvedere, movement was the intuitive starting point.

“It felt so natural to express a lot of ideas with movement,” she said. “The ending movement was the first thing I made for this piece.”

Belvedere and Jackson would move instinctively when prompted with individual words by the stage managers that the four had deemed essential to the piece.

“We tried to focus on impulsive movement—honoring impulse—and then we would extrapolate pieces of the text,” Belvedere said. “We worked on ‘hollow’ as in ‘holy,’ ‘hollow’ as in ‘empty’, and ‘hollow’/‘holler’ as in ‘a valley in Appalachia.’”

Jackson said that the piece often came together in unexpected ways.

“They would call out one of the words that we felt was important from the script and then we would move,” Jackson said. “[Belvedere] and I would have either similar or completely different movements.”

The found forms were then combined to create choreography. The creators also used movements they observed in their daily lives.

“There were some things that I saw my roommate do that would make me say, ‘Huh’ and then they made it into the piece,” Jackson said.

Students with invisible disabilities hope for increased awareness

By Ella Day Contributing Writer “Sometimes I wish I could physically collapse so others would recognize the pain I was feeling,” said Fay Sukparangsee (25C), a student with an invisible illness.

People with invisible disabilities face unique challenges with healthcare professionals and the general public due to deep-rooted stereotypes and ableism, according to the World Health Organization.

Women, in particular, face issues with other people taking their disability seriously.

An invisible disability is different from a visible disability in that symptoms, such as pain or brain fog, are not apparent to others.

Approximately 10% of individuals in the United States have an invisible disability or chronic illness, according to the University of Massachusetts.

Chronic, invisible illnesses such as Lyme disease, lupus, fibromyalgia and Crohn’s disease are more common in women, according to the Pan American Health Organization.

Those with invisible disabilities, including within the Emory community, must navigate daily life without apparent symptoms.

English Department Chair Benjamin Reiss, who specializes in disability studies and health humanities, said that people who have invis-

ible disabilities can be perceived as “faking” or “exaggerating” their condition.

“That feeling of having to ‘prove’ your disability can also be psychologically taxing, leading to self-doubt or a sense of being misunderstood,” Reiss said.

Additionally, women are often diagnosed later than men. Because of this, women can suffer serious medical complications due to late diagnosis.

“Most women don’t get [their disability] recognized and suffer trying to figure out why they struggle so much,” Sarah Benderoth (95C) said.

Students also described their experiences with feeling ashamed and discouraged to share their health struggles, especially when it comes to their mental health.

Even when individuals with invisible disabilities do not need medical equipment, they still need understanding, Sukparangsee said.

“If the disability is invisible, so might be the barriers,” Reiss said.

“Identifying the barriers is the first step toward removing them.”

Sukparangsee said that she hopes to see more awareness on campus for people with invisible disabilities.

Widespread in the United Kingdom, the Sunflower Lanyard Program involves invisibly disabled or chronically ill people wearing sunflower lanyards to symbolize a need for more space, patience and compassion.

“Often, those suffering may feel that it is just impossible to get through the most impossible times,” Sukparangsee said. “But, hopefully, by initiating important conversations, they can feel that there is hope in every direction that life may take.”

Reiss said that a recent increase in representation of people with invisible disabilities in the media can have a positive impact in spreading awareness.

“One very positive development in recent years is that there are more and more avenues for people to share their experiences openly, through publishing memoirs, websites and social media,” Reiss said. “Film, media, TV representation and educational resources are also vital in increasing awareness.”

For Emory students looking to get involved, the University has an interdisciplinary Disability Studies Initiative, which hosts events and promotes research.

While there are many ways to increase visibility, Reiss said that awareness is often met with stigma and ableism on a college campus.

“Politics is the forum for addressing systemic barriers to full inclusion,” Reiss said. Advocating for disabled rights is imperative for promoting equality.

— Contact Ella Day at ella.day@emory.edu.

In “Morning Has Broken,” teenage Abrianna engages with The Figure, a faceless, cloaked and crowned character played by Jackson. The two move

Belvedere said. “It was a very special experience.”

Both Belvedere and Jackson expressed great affection for the

A lison Barlow / The Emory Wheel

Abrianna Belvedere’s (22C) theater thesis performance featured a character called The Figure, a reflection of herself. in tandem and intertwine both physically and spiritually by the end of the work.

“The Figure, for me, is my healed self, the person I want to grow up to be, and the person who is willing to confront these things with kindness and resolve,” Belvedere said. “It was always The Figure, this kind of ghostly being, leading me around.”

The journey to “Morning Has Broken” has been long for Belvedere, but she has found an inkling of what she was looking for when she began her process.

“It’s been two years since I started working on this piece,” Belvedere said. “It looks incredibly different from what it started as.”

As the piece has evolved over this time period, Belvedere said that she has, too.

“I changed with the piece and the piece changed, as well,”

creation process. The four creators established specific boundaries and got to know each other closely during rehearsals.

“I am so grateful to have been a part of this show,” Jackson said.

“There was no way we couldn’t have grown close. I had never been able to sit down and put thoughts into a piece like that before.”

Belvedere said that her greatest achievement within the creation of her project was finding a sense of enjoyment in the process by not subscribing to perfectionism or focusing on the end goal.

“We let the process take us where we needed to be,” Belvedere said.

“We were working with the shared understanding that what we find is what we need to find.”

— Contact Alison Barlow at ali.barlow@emory.edu.

Mental Health Research at Emory The Mental Health and Development Program at Emory is enrolling participants between the ages of 12 and 30, for an NIMH project on factors that contribute to risk for mental illness.

Individuals who are experiencing a decline in functioning and other symptoms (e.g., social isolation, unusual thoughts/ perceptions, suspiciousness) may be eligible for an assessment that includes diagnostic and neuropsychological evaluations, all conducted at Emory.

Participants are compensated for their time, and if requested, test results can be provided to treatment providers.

For further information, contact the Mental Health and Development Program at mentalhealth.research@emory.edu or (404) 727-7547 or Elaine Walker, Ph.D. at psyefw@emory.edu.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

SPORTS

The Emory Wheel

Time to revisit transgender athlete policies

Continued from Back Page

I would be remiss not to consider the nuance behind the substantial physical advantages of trans female athletes. HRT may increase body fat and decrease lean muscle mass. But with a lack of research, it is unclear how long it takes for this to occur, and to what extent it will affect the bodies of trans athletes and subsequently, their swimming technique.

It’s foolish to dismiss such stark time differences during formal competitions. For the duration of the 2021-2022 season and at the 2022 Ivy League Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, Thomas competed on the women’s team; at the championships, she won the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:43.12. The top finisher on the men’s side, Dean Farris from Harvard University (Mass.), finished in 1:32.67. In many parts of life, nine seconds isn’t much. But in swimming, especially on an elite level such as the NCAA, being nine seconds slower could cause an athlete to fall behind by nearly an entire pool length.

Striving to bridge the gap between the divisiveness of transgender policies in sports is an admirable goal, but it grows complicated when we continuously try to consolidate contradictory research claims on sex and gender.

For instance, HRT, which transgender women sometimes use to lower their testosterone levels, can be an essential

part of the transition process for transgender people. It not only has beneficial physical effects, such as blocking testosterone or increasing estrogen, but also has psychological effects like mitigating gender dysphoria. On the other hand, a 2018 study also claimed that medicine would be unable to completely suppress testosterone levels in about 25% of the transgender women who participated in the study. Another quarter of trans women were able to lower testosterone levels, whereas another quarter could not reach typical female levels but remained below typical male testosterone values.

Scientific research, raging pundits and international sports committees on both sides of the debate have all put forth opinions and claims that often contradict with another. The effects of HRT and studies on hormones are still relatively new. Coming to a consensus on fair policies requires more than just political squabbling. No one can seem to propose a solution that is both equitable and inclusive, and I still have several unanswered questions: how long should an individual have to undergo HRT to be considered athletically equivalent to a cisgender women?

How should fairness be defined in sports – is it about unequivocal inclusion or about ensuring equal competitive opportunity? Do trans female athletes have a significant competitive advantage over cisgender women and,

Acuña, Olson to lead Braves this season

Michael Mariam/Managing Editor

The Atlanta Braves hosted the Cinncinnati Reds at Truist Park on April 8.

Continued from Back Page pitcher Kenley Jansen to a one year, $16 million deal after he spent 11 years with the Dodgers including three AllStar appearances. Outfielder Marcell Ozuna also returns to the team after he got hurt and was later put on administrative leave for domestic violence allegations, serving a 20 game suspension that caused him to miss the team’s World Series run. Upon his return, Ozuna is off to a hot start so far, batting .333 with two doubles.

The biggest addition of the offseason, though, is Olson.

The team’s young core is also all returning. Second baseman Ozzie Albies, third baseman Austin Riley and shortstop Dansby Swanson round out the infield. Albies and Riley are both only 25 years old, so the team’s future continues to be bright.

Outfielder Eddie Rosario, who won the NLCS MVP, is back on a two-year deal, too.

The Braves are lucky to be in the NL East where their only real competition this season is the New York Mets. The Washington Nationals and Miami Marlins are both going through rebuilds, and the Philadelphia Phillies are still lacking on defense despite their big bats. The Mets signed star starting pitcher Max Scherzer to join Jacob DeGrom as the league’s top pitching

duo, and the Mets have a stronger lineup now following outfielder Starling Marte’s signing. However, staying healthy has always been the Mets’ biggest challenge, and they are not off to a good start with DeGrom missing at least the first month with injury and Scherzer experiencing tightness late in spring training. The Braves’ postseason experience will be extremely valuable for them as September approaches and will ultimately lead them to another division title.

However, winning the National League will be even more challenging this year than it was last year.

Atlanta beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS to advance to the World Series in 2021. The Dodgers already had one of the most talented rosters ever, but it only got even stronger this offseason. Los Angeles signed Freeman from the Braves to join the league’s top talent including outfielder Mookie Betts and infielders Trea Turner and Max Muncy. The Dodgers will be the Braves’ toughest National League opponent again, but if they can find a way to get past them again, the Braves have a serious chance to win it all again in 2022.

— Contact Michael Mariam at mmariam@emory.edu and Ted Wilson at ted.wilson@emory.edu

11

if so, to what extent? Hopefully, with more research and involving transgender people in these discussions, we will be able to answer these questions and reconstruct fairness in sports.

I must admit that the news of Thomas’ record-breaking swims perplexed me, likely for the same reasons it has angered elite athletes: how could it ever be fair? At the same time, I can’t help but be in awe and admiration of the time and effort Thomas must have spent training in order to win so definitively in the face of so much vitriol.

Truly, asking Thomas to give up swimming or banning her from the sport would be a devastating blow.

For any elite athlete, the dedication, passion and love they have for a sport is ingrained in their identity. Taking those opportunities away because of someone’s gender expression or identity fails to coincide with the spirit of sportsmanship we try to teach.

Continuous accusations of injustice to women’s sports come from desperation, to be part of a fight for or against Thomas and all other trans athletes.

The true root of the issue lies with clumsy, contradictory and uninformed legislative and administrative voices unwilling to do any research that might unravel their biases.

— Contact Sophia Ling at sophia.ling@emory.edu

Putting team above self is Price’s new mindset Continued from Back Page Price explained track has kept him sane during his first year at Emory.

From the beginning, his days have revolved around practice, just how he likes it. But it took Price some time to adjust to his new environment, which both Nelson and Ngyuen said is expected for new collegiate athletes.

With his Achilles almost fully healed, Price spent the majority of the fall semester with his team, preparing for their first meet on Dec. 3. However, Price missed the meet because he finished the semester virtually.

“I was very set on just running well and giving it the best of my abilities and being consistent,” Price said. “I think coming in and being even more so a team player... was a big thing for me too.”

When Price came back to campus, Nelson said he had a “renewed vigor and focus” for track. His training got more consistent as he shifted his focus to the weightroom, rebuilding the muscle he lost while injured.

He sprinted head-first into the team culture.

“Now he’s really keyed in and he’s making connections with people on the team,” Nguyen said. “That’s helping him and others.”

And when Price stepped onto the track at his first collegiate meet on Jan. 16, he quickly made a name for himself. Price finished fifth in the 200-meter dash finals with a time of 22.37 seconds, tying for the tenth best time in men’s program history, and ranked fifteenth in the 60-meter dash semi-finals. Emory placed sixth in the 4x400 relay, which Price was also a part of.

“Obviously it wasn’t where I wanted it because of the injury and trying to get back, but I would say it was a good start,” Price said. “The coaches were happy with it and everyone was supportive about it. So I couldn’t complain.”

Price’s work paid off at the University Athletic Association (UAA) Indoor Championships. On Feb. 26, Price ran the 60-meter dash with a qualifying time of 7.02 seconds, securing the third fastest time at the meet and tied for the fifth best in program history.

Price did not just think he would win as he was warming up for the

60-meter dash finals, he knew he would. Price tells himself this while warming up before every meet: this is his race. He is going to beat the other athletes, and if he doesn’t, so be it.

They just ran better.

“His mindset, that’s what propels him,” freshman sprinter Chris Belz said. “He thinks he can win any race and goes in with that mentality, and locks in more than most people I’ve seen.”

But when Price crossed the finish line of the 60-meter dash, he wasn’t confident that he won. He was neck-and-neck with another runner, and they stood on the side together, staring at the projected scoreboard while eagerly waiting for their final results. Five minutes passed before Price’s name was shown on top, winning with a score of 7.01 seconds — the fourth fastest time in program history.

“It was rewarding,” Price said. “It was nice to see. I had a lot of help with that too, with my parents and my physical therapist ... so that was a big part of it.”

Price’s success continued as the team shifted into their outdoor season with two home meets in March.

During the Thrills in the Hills Open, Price won first place in the 100meter and 200-meter dashes, as well as the 4x400-meter relay. His 100meter finish was historic for Emory’s track program — his time of 10.62 seconds in the preliminaries set a new program record, which Price broke again the next day after finishing with a time of 10.52 seconds in the finals.

Price ran with a tailwind during his record-breaking run, giving him a slight edge. Although Emory still counted his finish as a new record, his time doesn’t count towards national rankings because the wind was too strong. If it did, Price would be in first place.

With Emory’s record under his belt, Price hopes to beat his time without mother nature’s help next. His goal is to keep breaking his records.

But breaking the record individually was not the highlight of the day for Price, calling it a “nice add-on” to what he thinks track is really about — what he accomplished with his teammates.

Price ran as the anchor in the 4x400 meter relay, working again

with graduate student Liam Fost, sophomore Dawit Dean and Belz.

When Price took the baton for the final lap, Emory was in second place.

By the time Price crossed the finish line, it was too close to call. Price immediately walked off the track and sat down next to his bag, thinking the race had ended in a tie. But a minute later, his teammates surrounded him, telling him he had won. Price had pulled them ahead.

“It’s rewarding to be like, ‘I did this for you guys,’” Price said. “When you’re running for teammates, it’s a whole other thing.”

As he looks ahead to the rest of the outdoor season, Price hopes to keep breaking records and win the 100 and 200-meter dashes, as well as the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays, because every time he wins, he helps push his teammates one step closer to winning a conference championship.

“Having them push me to do the best I can, obviously it’s paying off for me and for them,” Price said. “The group effort of everyone going into it is probably the most rewarding.”

— Contact Madi Olivier at madi.olivier@emory.edu

Courtesy of Jackson Price

Price gets down into the starting blocks before he races the 100-meter dash at the Emory Thrills in the Hills meet on March 26.

The Emory Wheel

Sports

Wednesday, April 13, 2022 | Sports Editors: Jenna Daly (jenna.daly@emory.edu) & Claire Fenton (claire.fenton@emory.edu)

SWIM & DIVE

Lia Thomas started a conversation about transgender rights. It’s time we dive into it

By Sophia Ling Executive Editor

Courtesy of Jackson Price

Freshman sprinter Jackson Price races the 60-meter dash at the Birmingham Crossplex during this year’s indoor track and field season.

The Price of greatness: freshman sprinter continues to make history

By Madi Olivier News Editor

Adrenaline hits freshman sprinter Jackson Price as he steps on the track before a race. He relishes in the jittery feeling. Walking onto the track turns Price, a self-proclaimed “mellow” guy, into an adrenaline junkie more than anything.

“Take your marks.”

Price’s next moves are instinctual.

He touches his toes and squats down before getting in the starting block, telling himself the same thing he does every meet — ‘get out of the block quickly.’ Price is fast enough to win if he can get out soon enough, and he has the records to prove it. ‘Just. Get. Out.’ “Set.” Price’s thoughts are quiet with that one word. He takes in a breath and holds it, waiting for the familiar sound of the gunshot signaling the start of his race.

The shot rings out, and without a second to think, Price takes off.

Growing up, Price played everything, from soccer to lacrosse and baseball. But most of his time was spent on the basketball court, following in the footsteps of his father, who

MLB

played NCAA Division I basketball at Denver University (Colo.).

And just like his dad, Price hates losing. He ran as fast as he could to win elementary school field day races or beat his third grade classmates in a game of football. Price joked that his competitive edge “runs in the family” — his grandfather and little brother are the same way.

“I’m going to give it my best effort because I want to win,” Price said. “It just helps me push myself.”

Price, who is 6 feet tall, realized during the summer before his junior year of high school that he was too short to continue basketball. He decided to dedicate himself to track, which he had picked up two years prior to improve his basketball conditioning, instead.

Price hit the ground running. He started working with the club team Steadfast Track Academy, an athletic powerhouse that produces some of the country’s top collegiate runners.

His former teammate, University of Southern California freshman sprinter Gavin Schurr, competed in the Olympic Trials.

By the end of his first year dedicated to the sport, Price qualified for

the New Balance Nationals Outdoor Championships. The meet was canceled due to COVID-19, but Price was still motivated.

“Just qualifying and just training with those people helped me realize, ‘Oh, if I can keep up with these people, I can do this in college too,’” Price said.

The promise of a good education and athletic career drew Price to Emory University, and he committed shortly before his senior season.

“We knew, obviously, when we were recruiting Jackson that he was really talented, and he put up some very good times in high school,” head coach Linh Nguyen said. “[Assistant] coach [Derek] Nelson was very excited about getting him to campus.”

However, during his first meet of senior year, Price felt a shocking pain shoot up his calf — he had partially torn his Achilles tendon, taking him out for the rest of the season.

Although he was disappointed, Price said being on the sidelines taught him that track is not an individual sport; he should run for his teammates, and when he can’t, he should cheer them on.

See PUTTING, Page 11

Following the end of University of Pennsylvania swimmer and transgender woman athlete Lia Thomas’ collegiate career in March, the subsequent wave of nationwide anti-trans athlete legislation has jeopardized the future of inclusion in sports. But while the world becomes increasingly embroiled in legislative battles designed to maximize exclusion, the nuances of the controversiality of fairness and inclusion have been swept to the wayside.

Thomas broke barriers as the first trans female athlete to win a title at the NCAA Swimming and Diving championships. Despite following NCAA policy and undergoing over two years of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), she endured hate from not only her teammates, but also politicians and avid swim fans arguing about her eligibility. The uproar of concern about compromising the integrity and fairness of women’s sports could be labeled as transphobic – and for some, it certainly comes from a place of bigotry. But perhaps the arguments also stem from our curiosity surrounding the creation of the policy and how we reconcile existing laws with a future in which binary classifications no longer apply.

After consulting with athletes, sports organizations and medical experts in 2015, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) determined that while transgender men can take part in competitions without any restrictions, testosterone levels of transwomen must be below 10 nanomoles/liter for at least one year prior to competing. Later in 2021, however, the guidelines were adjusted to consider hyperandrogenism, a medical condition commonly affecting more women than men, which may result in higher testosterone levels irrespective of HRT. Instead of an overarching criteria for all athletes, IOC now shifts to an evidence-based, sport-specific framework where the data must strongly suggest “a consistent, unfair, disproportionate competitive advantage.”

While the change is a step forward in the right direction, defining a “dispro-

portionate advantage” remains vague and is not conducive to conversation.

Current political debates emphasize the most widely accepted definition of inclusion and equity: that all people, regardless of gender identity or expression, be afforded the same chances and opportunities. Transgender folks deserve the same basic respect as those who conform to now outdated gender binary classifications. At the same time, failing to consider the biological differences such as lean body mass, pelvic width and lung capacity neglects the full story.

Physicality is undeniably a more pertinent factor in sports than in other aspects of life. The innately different build of cisgender men offers them a significant and often insurmountable competitive advantage over women.

For instance, men have a longer and larger bone structure which supports more powerful muscles and a wider frame. Their high muscle mass to body-weight ratio also gives men a noticeable advantage in speed-based competitions. In sports such as swimming, where athletes race against the clock and one another, female records will always be slower than male ones.

Different body compositions are advantageous in different sports, and forcing the same sweeping ban on all athletes would not be equitable or fair.

Body composition can be measured by a number of factors, namely body fat and the ratio of strength-to-mass. For swimmers, the distinction is not so clear cut. Body fat may be more buoyant, but too much concentrated in one area will lead to drag. Too much lean body mass may also result in sinking.

Optimal body composition is not universal, so we shouldn’t treat everyone the same way either.

In Florida, Texas and other traditionally right-leaning states, legislators have recently passed laws forcing public school students to only compete on sports teams based on the sex they were assigned at birth. The policies continue, despite a persisting lack of research and evidence indicating that innate biological differences give trans athletes a significant advantage.

See TIME, Page 11

Braves look to win back-to-back championships in 2022

By Michael Mariam & Ted Wilson Managing Editor & Contributing Writer

On Nov. 2, 2021, the Atlanta Braves became World Series champions for the first time since 1995. Atlanta sports fans rejoiced knowing the Braves had just ended a difficult spell for Atlanta sports. After the heartbreak of the Falcons 28-3 Super Bowl choke, the Bulldogs’ multiple losses to Alabama and the Braves choking a 3-1 game lead in the 2020 NLCS, Atlanta is finally a city of Champions again. It only took a couple of months for the Georgia Bulldogs football team to follow suit and finally beat Alabama en route to their first National Championship since 1980.

Since the World Series, the MLB has been in flux. The end of the col-

lective bargaining agreement between the MLB Players Association and the MLB and the failure to agree on a new arrangement resulted in a 99 day lockout. However, a new deal has been signed and baseball returned on April 7.

The Braves geared up to defend their title; however, the team is decidedly different from the 2021 World Series squad. No change is more important than the offseason loss of first baseman Freddie Freeman.

Drafted by the Braves in the second round of the 2007 draft, Freeman was the longest tenured member of the 2021 championship team. As a five-time NL All-Star, 2020 NL MVP, and World Series champion, Freeman will go down in history as one of the greatest Braves players of all time.

However, Freeman signed a six-year contract with his hometown team the

Los Angeles Dodgers and it will be tough to keep the team’s culture strong without him.

Coming to Atlanta to fill Freeman’s spot at first base is the Braves biggest offseason addition: former Oakland Athletic, Matt Olson. In exchange for the Atlanta native, the Braves sent the Athletic four promising prospects: outfielder Christian Pache, catcher Shea Langeliers and right-handed pitchers Ryan Cusick and Joey Estes.

Olson made the American League AllStar team in 2021 and finished with a career-high 39 home runs. Although Olson has big shoes to fill left behind

by Freeman, Olson has the talent and provides a new spark as the team looks to repeat.

Atlanta’s magical postseason run last season was done without some of their best players. Outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., already one of the game’s

best and most promising players at 24 years old, tore his ACL in July and was unable to play the remainder of the season. Acuña was the 2018 NL Rookie of the Year and has already made two All-Star teams. Acuña’s return is scheduled for May which will make the team even more elite.

Acuña wasn’t the only key piece of the team missing from the 2021 World Series win. In 2020, starting pitcher Mike Soroka tore his Achilles and had to get surgery. As he was rehabbing to return from the injury, he tore his Achilles again. Soroka made the 2019 All-Star team and finished that season 13-4 with a 2.86 ERA. The Braves cannot expect a lot from Soroka right away as he has only pitched in 3 MLB games since 2019, but the 24-year-old still provides hope and potential for the future. If Soroka can return to similar form from before

his injury, the Braves will get back a top pitcher with loads of potential.

Although it seems crazy, the Braves have a better and healthier roster now than they did when they were crowned champions six months ago. Key losses during the offseason included fanfavorite outfielder Joc Pederson who signed with the San Francisco Giants, outfielder Jorge Soler who signed with the Miami Marlins, and Freeman.

Soler provided clutch home runs in games four and six of the World Series, which gave the Braves the lead and cushion to win those games and the series, securing him World Series MVP honors.

Despite these players switching teams, their replacements will provide additional strength and depth for the Braves. The Braves signed relief

See ACUÑA, Page 11