March 24, 2023

Volume 91 • Issue 19

March 24, 2023

FSUgatepost.com

Springing into action!

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST

Facilties’ grounds crew members planting flowers around campus March 21.

FSU total undergraduate enrollment down 8% since last year

By Leighah Beausoleil Editor-in-Chief Total full-time undergraduate enrollment for the Fall 2022 Semester was 2,970, down approximately 8% since fall 2021, when 3,213 students were enrolled, according to the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (MDHE).

Total graduate enrollment has seen an approximate 11% decline since fall 2021, with 1,141 graduates enrolled in fall 2022, down from 1,282, according to MDHE. The decline in enrollment has been a consistent trend since the Fall 2015 Semester. FSU’s total undergraduate enrollment was at its highest in the last 10 years during the Fall 2014 Se-

mester, with 4,609 students enrolled, according to MDHE. Framingham State’s total undergraduate enrollment is down approximately 36% since fall 2014, according to MDHE. According to Jessica Mireles, president of JM Partner Solutions and interim chief of enrollment management, 4,526 first-year students applied to Framingham State for the Fall 2022 Semester. Of those students, 3,960 were admitted and 490, or 12.4%, enrolled.

In addition, 583 transfer students applied to Framingham State for fall 2022. Of those students, 380 were admitted and 199, or 52.4%, enrolled, according to Mireles.

In spring 2019, Framingham State enrolled 72 international students, according to Mireles. This past fall, that

News

number was 42, down 58.3%.

“The decline in international stu- SGA pg. 3 dents began with COVID shutdowns, when many students left the U.S. to EARTHQUAKE FUNDRAISER pg. 7 study from their home country and then didn’t return to campus,” Mireles said. “Additionally, newly admitted international students have been challenged to get the necessary student visas due to Consulate and Embassy 95TH OSCARS pg. 8 backlogs.”

BENCH COMICS pg. 9 She said when it comes to the admissions process, students whose high school GPAs fall below a 2.0 are “disqualified” from acceptance to state universities.

In addition to this criteria, FSU follows the “Undergraduate Admissions Standards for the Massachusetts State

Opinions

Sports

See ENROLLMENT page 4

Arts & Ideas discuss sustainability and healing through art

By Ryan O’Connell Arts & Features Editor Zahra Tohidinia and Jennifer Dowling gave two presentations - one on sustainability and green marketing, one on using art to cope with trauma - as part of the Arts & Ideas Linda VadenGoad Authors and Artists series event March 21.

Tohidinia, a professor of marketing, presented data recently collected by her and her sister regarding sustainability, corporate trends some marketers call “greenwashing,” and the frustration this has caused consumers.

She said the research was initially inspired due to a conversation she had

with her sister which ended in her sister being discouraged from going to a thrift store by her friends.

She said, “She was telling me she was wanting to go to a thrift store and her friends told her ‘Aren’t you afraid of germs?’

“So these kinds of notions we have in our society, despite sustainability efforts, still [make] it feel like we have a long road to go,” she said.

Tohidinia said the green movement has always been a form of consumer activism, beginning in 19th century England with the creation of cooperative stores, which combatted local monopolies by involving the community who paid in and bought from it.

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST She said the green movement even- SOFTBALL pg. 11 tually began discussing alternative - sometimes called ethical - consump- STEINBERG pg. 13 tion, which involves different “shades” about how ethical it is to consume products in a capitalist society.

Tohidinia added that to some ethical consumption is impossible, while to others it might mean avoiding purchasing products from a company with illegal or poor working conditions, like sweatshops.

She said that green consumers are often considered strong consumers.

She said they are “depicted as people who are risk takers. They’re dedicated, they have strong moral values, and they COCAINE BEAR REVIEW pg. 16

Arts & Features

See LINDA VADEN-GOAD page 15 SHAZAM REVIEW pg. 17

INSIDE: OP/ED 8 • SPORTS 11 • ARTS & FEATURES 14

NEWS

2 | MARCH 24, 2023

Gatepost Interview

Editorial Board

Ken Grunes

Editor-in-Chief Leighah Beausoleil

Professor of Management and Business & IT Faculty

Associate Editor Emily Rosenberg News Editors Sophia Harris Branden LaCroix Asst. News Editor Naidelly Coelho Opinions Editor McKenzie Ward Sports Editor Adam Levine Arts & Features Editor Ryan O’Connell Asst. Arts & Features Editor Raena Doty Design & Photo Editor Maddison Behringer Asst. Photos Editor Zachary Sorel Adrien Gobin Staff Writers Jesse Burchill Riley Crowell Owen Glancy Mark Haskell Ben Hurney Jack McLaughlin Izayah Morgan Kate Norrish Bella Omar Carly Paul Wenchell Pierre Ryan Schreiber Lainey Morrison Kyle Walker Advisor Desmond McCarthy Asst. Advisor Elizabeth Banks

By Ranea Doty Editoral staff What is your professional and educational background?

I went to a state school myself as a student - I went to UMass Amherst. I majored in both marketing as well as management, and then I went on to get an MBA graduate degree at Boston College. … It’s interesting. This semester, I’m teaching the exact same courses that I took as a student some - what was it, now - 45 years ago? A long time ago. So, professionally, I had a 35-year career in sales and marketing - mostly international high-tech companies, some of the largest companies in the world like IBM and Hewlett Packard.

And believe it or not, my first teaching experience was 40 years ago at Bentley College where I taught business courses, and I’ve noticed, as I’m teaching this semester, not a whole lot has changed in 40 years, which is strange. You would think, anything after 40 years, it would be radically different - but at the end of the day, students still want an engaging, enriching learning experience.

So when I say nothing’s changed, that seems to remain the constant over all those years.

What interested you the most in the field of business and marketing?

I think what I found in my personal career growth was being close to the customers - customer interaction, being able to understand what their hopes and dreams and desires and needs were.

Very similar to my students, right? Every student is an individual and to be able to understand their own personal motivation I think is the key to engagement.

What do you think students can get out of learning about business and marketing?

I think it’s partly the collaboration of working together as classmates - and soon, it’ll be colleagues within the workplace. I like to workshop a lot of new ideas within the class session. So most of my business students come back at the end of the semester saying, “It was great learning X, Y, and Z, but the most valuable skill I took away is my ability to work effectively in teams - is to trust my teammates and achieve a high level of team cohesion so that we’re both productive and we’re producing quality output.” It is post-pandemic - I think one of the most important things we can do is provide a laboratory environment, where students can practice working together in groups.

Courtesy of Ken Grunes Do you have any advice for students?

No. I never give advice. I find unsolicited advice comes off as being judgmental and nagging. At least, that’s what my grandkids and my own kids tell me. But where I am for my students, because I have about 50 advisees, and certainly on a good semester, over 100 students in my classes, rather than give them advice, I listen and I’m there for them. I’m present and I’m attentive to what their needs are. So they’ll come to me with specific problems, challenges, and questions, and to the extent that I can I give them the benefit of my experience once they’ve asked for it, then I think it works a lot better.

What do you enjoy the most about FSU? I find it’s a very progressive learning environment where we professors are free … to really structure our classes any way we want, teach in whatever learning style is best for the student. You know,

there’s nobody looking over our shoulders, making sure that we give so many writing assignments or tests or exams.

So the thing I like most about FSU is we’re free to experiment with our classes and our students - to really provide the most engaging experience with them.

What is something students would be surprised to know about you?

In the nice weather, I bike to school - to campus. I know, it doesn’t seem possible. It’s uphill both ways with my laptop bag and whatever books I have.

I’m fortunate where I’m close enough to campus that I can just hop on the bicycle and pedal.

CONNECT WITH RAENA DOTY rdoty@student.framingham.edu

Police Logs 100 State Street McCarthy Center Room 410 Framingham, MA 01701-9101 Phone: (508) 626-4605 Fax: (508) 626-4097 gatepost@framingham.edu @TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

Thursday, March 16 22:06 Alarm (Fire/Smoke) Larned Hall False Alarm

Friday, March 17 05:57 Sick Call FSU Police Call Assignment Complete

Saturday, March 18 00:47 Suspicious Activity Miles Bibb Hall Unfounded

Tuesday, March 21 02:44 Trespass Tow Towers Hall Towed to Henry’s

NEWS

MARCH 24, 2023 | 3

SGA discusses potential new class schedules

By Naidelly Coelho Asst. News Editor

Students discussed potential new school schedules, budget planning, and Ram Tram dispatch hours at its March 7 meeting.

At the meeting, Dale Hamel, executive vice president, presented capital projects and explained to SGA how to fill out their ballots to rank the projects and asked if they had any specific questions.

He asked senators to rank them from highest to lowest priority.

“At present, we probably have funding to do about a third of them again.

But again, we’re hopeful that some Fair Share funding comes and is directed to capital,” Hamel said.

The chosen projects will be implemented in the next fiscal year, he said.

Shelli Waetzig, professor of chemistry and food science, attended the meeting to discuss the possibility of a new course schedule that could go into effect fall 2024.

The proposal is to allow for more common free blocks for students and faculty, she said.

With the current schedule, there is a common free block on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on Wednesdays, there are labs in the afternoon. “There has been a demand to have more,” Waetzig said.

In the proposed model, lectures that were 50 minutes long would be 70 minutes. For this to happen, morning classes would need to start at 8 a.m., she said.

This schedule would require all students to have classes between Monday

the 8 a.m. start could also impact enrollment.

“This schedule makes me a little nervous, too, because even students in my two-hour class periods, I can see that students are already losing attention. And typically, most people’s at-

“This schedule makes me a little nervous, too, because even students in my two-hour class periods, I can see that students are already losing attention. And typically, most people’s attention span after 100 minutes is like zilch.”

- McKenzie Ward, Student Trustee through Friday, Waetzig said.

She said that faculty are also looking at behavioral health, and how these changes can impact students’ lives.

Student Trustee McKenzie Ward said she has talked to professors who offer 8:30 a.m. classes. They typically have a low enrollment, so she thinks

tention span after 100 minutes is like zilch,” she said.

President Dara Barros said this schedule is not helpful to students who rely on working to pay for school because the current schedule with 50-minute classes gives time for students who want to work after school or

take a Friday off.

During the open forum, Barros said she has been dealing with problems with the Ram Tram. She said their dispatch phone is usually down, so she has to go to their desk to get them to drive her to her destination.

“These have been mostly like when it’s snowing out and I have to go to work and also late at night like when they’re supposed to be on dispatch,” she said.

SATF Treasurer Sam Houle presented a pitch on behalf of the Fashion Club to allocate $249.95 for their activities. All three proposals for supplies were passed.

Ward thanked everyone who participated in the Board of Trustees open forum, and encouraged students to participate in the Administrators’ Forum March 28.

“This is where you can address any concerns or ask any questions to the administrators,” she said.

Houle said he needs people to join his finance committee because the only way to approve certain funding requests is if there are enough people to approve it.

“If they [requests] don’t get approved at the financial committee, then they are sent to the senate and these meetings get longer and it kind of defeats the purpose of having a committee,” he said.

Campbell said regarding women’s safety on campus, the Title IX coordinator is reaching out to students.

She said in terms of events happening on campus, there will be a women’s brunch on March 25 from 12-5 p.m.

“You should join us in honor of Women’s History Month. There’s going to be food, networking, and dancing. There’ll be tons of fun,” Campbell said.

Vice President Raffi Elkhoury presented the “U-Rock” to Secretary Mark Haskell because of all his efforts on behalf of SGA from the past four years.

[Editor’s Note: McKenzie Ward is Opinions Editor for The Gatepost]

(Left) SATF Treasurer Sam Houle and Outreach and Events Coordinator Evelyn Campbell.

Weather

Gatepost Archives

CONNECT WITH NAIDELLY COELHO ncoelho3@student.framingham.edu

Forecast provided by the National Weather Service www.weather.gov

Sunday night March 26 Mostly clear, with a low around 35. W about 15 mph.

Monday night March 27 Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. N wind about 10 mph.

Tuesday night Mar. 28 Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. N wind about 15 mph.

Wednesday night Mar. 29 Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. NW wind about 15 mph.

Monday March 27 Sunny, with a high near 52. NW wind about 15 mph.

Tuesday March 28 Mostly sunny, with a high near 50. N wind about 10 mph.

Wednesday March 29 Partly sunny, with a high near 46. N wind about 15 mph.

Thursday March 30 Partly sunny, with a high near 49. W wind about 15 mph.

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

4 | MARCH 24, 2023

Enrollment

Continued from page 1 University System and the University of Massachusetts” reference guide.

The differences between fall 2021 and fall 2022 total undergraduate enrollment for FSU’s sister institutions include a 3% decline at Bridgewater State University, a 5% decline at Fitchburg State University, a 3% increase at Massachusetts College of Art and De-

NEWS

However, Mireles said, “It has caused ‘noise’ in our system with students applying who really don’t intend to enroll at FSU. “When a student applies, the admissions team doesn’t know their intent, so [they] can spend a lot of time trying to contact the student to request documents to complete files for review rather than having more time to nur-

should go for the upcoming academic year.

She said it is important for the department to have an understanding of how best to reach its target audience.

For example, when she first became director, Facebook was popular among prospective students, and now this focus has shifted to other social media platforms such as Snapchat and Tik-

lished, Capers said her department will have a new brand and style guideline that will inform the way promotional materials are created.

“It’s very exciting,” she said. “I just can’t wait, and we’re getting there.”

Capers said this work all truly started last year when the department initiated the Request for Proposal (RFP) process - this is what led the University

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST sign, and a 4% decrease at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, according to the MDHE. For Massachusetts Maritime Academy, total undergraduate enrollment declined 7%. Salem State University is down 9% and Worcester State University is down 3%, according to MDHE. No fall 2022 enrollment data is currently available from Westfield State University.

In summary, excluding Westfield State University, this is a 5% decline in total undergraduate enrollment at Massachusetts state universities, according to MDHE. Mireles said, “This is an extremely challenging time for most colleges and universities across the country.”

She added, “The public four-year sector decreased across the board by 1.6% for fall 2022.”

Mireles named the COVID-19 pandemic and fewer high school graduates as reasons why enrollment continues to decline.

“The Northeast, in particular, has a declining population of high school graduates and layered on top of that, the college-going rate has been declining,” she said.

When it comes to the Common App, which is an application that allows prospective undergraduate students to apply to multiple schools at once, Mireles said it has not had a “significant” effect in FSU enrollment decline.

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

ture those who are truly interested in FSU,” she added. “While the Common Application does create some distraction, we need it to be competitive with our peer institutions.”

Mireles said the Board of Trustees and President Nancy Niemi are developing “a new strategic enrollment plan” throughout the spring semester that will allow for “growth” as the University rebrands and reasserts its “founding purpose as a public institution meeting public need and servicing the public good. We see this as a very exciting time for FSU!” Averil Capers, director of the Marketing Department, said although the University’s marketing changes every year, given the undergraduate enrollment challenges, her department is working more “closely” with the enrollment and admissions departments.

“It’s just so important that we’re all on the same page working together,” she said. “We want to increase recognition of Framingham State. We want campus visits, applications, and that’s where we come in.”

Capers said every spring, the Marketing Department will meet with stakeholders, communications, enrollment, and the agency that places the University’s advertising. During these meetings, the group will reflect on how effective advertisements were that year, look into new trends, examine data, and discuss which direction they

Tok. With the University’s rebranding, the Marketing Department is taking “the day-to-day lead on the project,” she said.

Capers said this year, the department is able to receive “oversight” and “support” from the two consultants, Mireles and Mike Marston, executive consultant for JM Partner Solutions.

She added the department and enrollment consultants meet weekly with Primacy, an independent marketing agency, as well as hold standard meetings with the rebranding team itself.

“From the study, we’re going to develop a new brand messaging platform, basically to capture who we are and articulate that in a way so it will resonate with all of our core audiences,” she said.

Capers said this includes not only undergraduates, but also graduate students and alumni.

“We envision that this branding initiative will bring life to our unique strength,” she said, adding Primacy will assist in developing the University’s “new vision and mission statement that defines who we are.”

In addition, Capers said the University will be obtaining a new “visual identity,” which will include a new logo, colors, typography - all of which will be tied together with a new tagline.

When these changes are estab-

into its partnership with Primacy.

Members of Primacy came to campus, took a tour and interviewed different groups, including faculty, staff, and students, in order to “find out more about us, our priorities, or challenges really get that good background.

“Primacy took that information and also went through a comprehensive discovery process, which included secondary research, qualitative/quantitative research, and the brand creative concepts were developed from that,” she said.

These “brand creative concepts” included two different proposed marketing campaigns. The concepts were shared in a survey to the campus community and prospective students as well as to focus groups in order to collect feedback.

The two concepts presented were “Proudly Public, Personally Transformative,” and “We, the Future.”

“Right now, we’re very excited to find out the results from that,” she said.

“I think both concepts were very interesting. I liked elements in both, but with a caveat,” she added.

Capers said the “most important” opinion will be that of the individuals who filled out the survey and participated in the focus groups. “We really need to see how it resonates with everyone.”

See ENROLLMENT page 5

Enrollment Continued from page 4 She clarified that neither of the proposed concepts are exactly what the marketing campaign will look like and these are serving as a “foundation” to learn from. However, she said some elements from one or both may be incorporated - or none of them.

“I really feel that this rebranding project with the website redesign - that’s going to be fantastic - really looking forward to it,” she said. “I really feel it can be transformational. I mean, as far as getting out there and having it in our marketing efforts, I really think it can make a difference.”

“With President Niemi’s leadership and the changes that are going on on campus, I just think this is going to be a home run,” Capers said.

She said the last rebranding took place in 2016, and the website was redesigned in 2014 and launched in 2015.

Two of the students who participated in one of the focus groups said they had mixed responses to the branding concepts.

Sam Houle, a senior history major and SATF Treasurer for SGA, said he liked the message of the second campaign, “We, the Future,” more than the first, “Proudly Public, Personally Transformative,” but believes the first campaign was better executed.

“I think a lot of what our generation struggles with is maintaining our individuality while being part of a community,” Houle said. “The first campaign came off as very ‘boot strappy.’”

He said he finds there is a significant difference between individualism and individuality, with the first meaning aspects of people’s identity and the latter being the attitude of doing something alone.

“The University is proud of being public and seems to be trying to identify with the working class, which is great, but it seems to be promoting a level of individualism that we simply do not have or really even want on campus,” he added.

“The second campaign focuses on ‘we’ and forming a community where

NEWS

people’s individuality can flourish, rather than everyone just doing their own thing,” Houle said. “I think using this messaging, but still using pictures of individuals, will help show the balance between the two extremes that our school offers.”

Houle concluded, “I don’t think either does a bad job of showing an aspect of FSU, but I do not think either paints a complete picture of our school

short time frames. “I do not think the future of advertising in general looks promising for university recruiting in general. These campaigns seem like they are pretty consistent with industry trends - speaking as a consumer.”

Hannah Devlin, a senior child and family studies major, said she preferred the first campaign, as it was different from the marketing other universities had when she was looking at higher

MARCH 24, 2023 | 5

Devlin said the second campaign looked similar to other advertisements she has seen, adding the campaign focused on community and “provided a sense of togetherness.”

She said, “These campaigns do represent FSU well. They accurately represent the community during campaign two and the effects on students personally during campaign one.

“I think they are well designed and

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST or even just our academics.”

In terms of the marketing itself, Houle said he finds that FSU is more focused on “traditional” forms of advertisement, when the world seems to be moving in a different direction, with most people getting exposure to brands and marketing through social media, with fast-paced content that caters to short attention spans.

He said it would be “impossible” to address all of the University’s academics, extracurriculars, and values in such

education options in high school.

“Campaign one was inspirational and I felt it was targeting me specifically,” Devlin said. “The black and white photos feel bold and stand out and I love the slogan, ‘Proudly Public, Personally Transformative’ as it assures that FSU isn’t just another public school.

“Campaign one felt empowering and I love the cover title, ‘We’ve been waiting for you almost 200 years,’” she added.

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST

that regardless of which campaign they choose, it will benefit enrollment and attract more students to FSU,” Devlin added. “They’re relevant and visually appealing, which will help FSU greatly.”

President Niemi said the administration has been working on these concepts for a “long time,” adding, “We were not willing to put something back out to our public to ask for your opinion until we were satisfied that we had something that we were ready to let out and have people really take a look at.

“I’m happy that those two represent choices that we could really take out and be proud of,” she said.

Niemi said the “Proudly Public, Personally Transformative” campaign stood out to her.

“I want to make sure that everybody knows that we are second to no one that we were born a public institution, that we serve our region, our community, our New England, and that is what our mission is and it is in contrast to many people’s belief that a private institution is better, and that somehow Framingham or any other public institution, but specifically Framingham, is somehow somebody’s second choice,” she said. “That’s not who we are. We are proudly public.”

Niemi said although Framingham State’s sister institutions are also public, to her knowledge, none is as proudly public as she would like FSU to be - “to the full extent as I would like us to be.”

Niemi said the first set of new marketing campaign materials is projected to be ready to be sent out to prospective students by the end of the sum-

See ENROLLMENT page 6

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

NEWS

6 | MARCH 24, 2023

Enrollment Continued from page 5 mer, which is when recruitment begins to ramp up.

Therefore, a decision on what the new marketing campaign will be should be made sometime early-to-mid summer, she said. Changes will begin to be made on campus, such as the signage, and will continue throughout the next academic year.

Last semester, Niemi said the University would be looking into hiring an interim chief enrollment officer from the Registry, which is an organization that serves to provide temporary higher education administrators to univer-

the work of enrollment management,” she said. “It’s a different business than it was even a decade ago, 15 years ago, and so having people who are experts - and Jess [Mireles] in particular was a chief enrollment officer in higher education and now is being a consultant for it - they know the processes and the procedures that are now very much more business oriented and much more digitally based.”

Niemi said, “We have lots of people who work on this campus on admissions, and it’s a really hard job. When everything’s going well, people say, ‘Great, thanks.’ When it’s not going

Hamel said the decline in enrollment has affected the University’s overall budget. However, funding has been redistributed in various departments in order to assist enrollment efforts.

The Board of Trustees has also designated $1.5 million in additional funding toward enrollment efforts, he said. This funding consists of money from the enrollment management investment reserve, a Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund (HEERF3) allocation, as well as an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) 1.0 allocation.

Hamel said the HEERF and ARPA

for Career Services.

Also listed on the breakdown that is not funded by the $1.5 million are initiatives for departments, including Financial Aid, Facilities, Athletics, Student Activities/Residence Life, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement (DICE).

Hamel said there is “significant new additive funding in financial aid being provided by the state, actually the federal government as well, as the government has increased or will be increasing Pell Grant applicant awards. But in terms of the state, they’ve significantly increased financial aid funding.”

Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST sities. However, a “good candidate for us” was not found, and so Mireles is currently filling the position.

While Mireles fills this role looking at the “overall operations,” Marston is working with the Admissions Department on a day-to-day basis to “help redefine, improve, and make decisions about how our admissions processes and procedures can work better and all the ways in which our enrollment work can be improved.”

Niemi said given that Marston and Mireles are from out of state, she was initially “worried” it would pose a problem. However, she said even if someone were successfully found from the Registry, that would not guarantee they would be at Framingham “all day every day.”

She said the cost of having Marston and Mireles is less than what was originally projected for the consultants and interim chief of enrollment management positions.

Dale Hamel, executive vice president, said the University is paying $59,000 for the interim enrollment management support.

Niemi said she is “thrilled” with the work they have done so far.

“We have some incredible people who have been working hard, and there are new and refined ways to do

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

well, they get all the blame - and that is not right.”

Last semester, John Chenier, assistant dean of admissions, left the University. Niemi said the University will not be refilling that position as it existed and the administration will be redistributing the work among other members of the department and has reorganized it.

She said the administration will be “having them do the work in ways that are even more effective than they were doing before.”

Regarding enrollment, she said it is “important” for everyone to understand that public institutions in the region are being affected in the same way Framingham State is.

“It was a long time coming,” she said. “The declines in our enrollment didn’t happen overnight, and so the changes that we’re making now are not instantaneous as much as any of us would like them to be. If I had the magic wand, I would have given it gladly to Framingham.”

Niemi added seeing a change in enrollment is going to take time, “but what I’m most excited about is that we are being strategic and thoughtful about what we want and how we want it and of the community that we serve.”

funding have to be spent this fiscal year, but the University has more “flexibility” with the investment reserve.

He provided a breakdown of what this money is being put toward as well as what initiatives are also on the administration’s radar with funding from outside sources that are not included in the $1.5 million.

For the Enrollment Management Department, $352,000 of the funding will be applied in addition to the $59,000 going toward the consultants.

For the Marketing Department, $782,500 is going toward branding and website development. In addition, $106,000 will be applied toward the website/sharepoint transfer initiative.

Beyond the rebranding, $68,000 will be applied to the Marketing Department for a customer relationship manager and writer until a full-time/ part-time position is filled.

Under Academic Affairs and CASA, $50,000 will be applied toward Starfish Analytics and use training. In addition, $100,000 is going toward the Civic Engagement and Service Learning Program partnership consultant - MetroWest Nonprofit Network - and annual support.

The remaining funding of $15,000 will be applied to a contracted study

Through the Mass Pell Grant Plus Program, the state has provided additional aid for students in need, he said, adding the “neediest students” are at a point where their entire tuition and fees direct costs can be covered through funding from the Fair Share Act. For Facilities, Hamel said SGA will be ranking the capital projects they feel are most important to address for this fiscal year and the same exercise will be applied for future years.

In the Athletics Department, efforts are being put toward reviving intramural sports that were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. In addition, the University is considering starting a women’s ice hockey team, but have been having difficulty finding a coach.

For Student Activities/Residence Life, the University would like to start using the Warren Conference Center more for the Hospitality Program and need to have faculty work more closely with the Student Transportation Center in order to make that happen, Hamel said.

Additionally, Hamel said the administration does not believe Linsley Hall

See ENROLLMENT page 7

NEWS

MARCH 24, 2023 | 7

Turkish-born faculty help raise over $13,000 for earthquake relief

By Emily Rosenberg Associate Editor John Umit Palabiyik remembered his wife was pregnant with their now 23-year-old daughter when buildings around him began to forcibly shake, leaving him scared, shocked, and praying for his unborn child.

It was 3 a.m. on August 17, 1999 in Istanbul, Türkiye. The region had just experienced a catastrophic magnitude 7.6 earthquake. Palabiyik said his instinct at the moment was to run, but he did not want to leave his pregnant wife.

Later, while checking in on family and witnessing collapsed buildings, he estimated 1,000 people died, only to soon find out the number was closer to 30,000.

On Feb. 6, 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake devastated southern and central Türkiye and northern and western Syria, causing more than 56,000 people to die and 2.5 million to be displaced, according to Reuters.

Upon learning this news, Palabiyik immediately called friends in Türkiye and California to see how he could help. To start, he asked for donations on social media and by calling groups and individuals.

Now, Palaybiyik, chair of the Management, Business & Information Technology Department and four other Turkish-born faculty have raised over $13,000 for Turkish Philanthropy Funds.

His four colleagues are faculty; Marketing Professor Ella Karat, Management and Business & IT Professor Borga Deniz, and Sociology Professors Kaan Agartan, and Zeynep Gönen.

The faculty were connected after Palabiyik reached out to Dean of the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences and Education, Susan Dargan who suggested he outreach to other Turkish faculty members, he said. They were able to set up a donation link on the crowdfunding page on the website of Alumni Relations and Development.

Turkish Philanthropy Funds (TPF) is a nonprofit dedicated to serving Turkish and Turkish-American communities by connecting philanthropists to

a variety of investments, including disaster relief.

Palabiyik said he trusts TPF because the organization has a history of opening schools in and outside of Türkiye and supporting children’s activities, including Olympic sports.

“They do a lot of really good things,” he said.

Anyone is encouraged to donate to the fundraiser and can do so by searching “crowdfunding” on alumni.framingham.edu. The fundraiser is currently scheduled to close March 25, but the group may continue to keep the campaign open in the following weeks to support ongoing relief, according to Palabiyik.

Palabiyik added, having heard anecdotes from Turkish-born professors across the country who work at other institutions, he found FSU’s administration was far more open-minded about partnering with faculty and helping to spread awareness of the fundraising campaign.

He is part of a network of Turkish-born and dual-citizen professors, and he heard stories of groups trying to perform similar efforts, but they received minimal support from their administrations.

Palabiyik said he shared his story with the network, hoping to provide an example of what could be done at their institutions.

“That is something we can maybe be proud of as Framingham State,” he said.

In early February, supplies such as tents, sleeping bags, and baby food were being collected for donation in the McCarthy lobby. However, Palabiyik said due to cost of living differences and the funds required to transport supplies by plane, the campaign redirected its efforts toward collecting only monetary donations so the beneficiary could choose how best to use the money based on need.

For example, Palabiyik said the $13,000 could hypothetically be used toward rebuilding a school.

Zeynep Gönen, a sociology professor, said she joined the campaign because being from Türkiye, she knows friends who are from the region who

were impacted. She said this fundraiser was important for her because she saw her campus community supporting her.

She said, “That community got together in such a supportive way. You want to be known and seen and to be supported by your community here. So I was really happy that the Framingham community actually showed up.”

Gönen said the destruction is widespread and the rebuilding of the cities is going to take a long time, so she encourages people to donate any small amount of money they can.

She also thanked Dargan, who helped spread awareness of the fundraiser, and connect faculty and the group with alumni relations.

In relation to the recent earthquakes, the department of Sociology & Criminology will host an event titled “Natural Disasters are not Natural,” featuring speakers Environment, Society and Sustainability Professor Vandana Singh, Sociology & Criminology Professor Xavier Guadalupe-Diaz, Accounting, Economics, and Finance Professor Luis Rosero, as well as Gönen.

She said it will focus on the effects of political and economic decisions that cause and exacerbate natural disasters.

“Especially in the contemporary global era, earthquakes, wildfires, hurricanes, floods aren’t necessarily all the result of nature,” Gönen said.

Palabiyik said the five faculty members knew of each other prior to the fundraiser, but only ran into each other on campus occasionally, adding the campaign was a way to bring them closer together because of something they all had in common.

Ella Karat, a marketing professor, said she joined the campaign because “as a Turk and a human of the world,” the thought of people losing their families was heart-wrenching to her.

“During the first week of the quake, every time I took a hot shower or sat down to eat a meal, my mind couldn’t help but wander to those still trapped under the rubble, waiting to be rescued. You know, Turkish rescuers managed to pull three people alive from

the rubble, 12 days later? It felt almost sinful to indulge in such simple pleasures when others were suffering so immensely,” Karat said.

She said she was grateful to be surrounded by like-minded people who shared her desire to help.

“From the very beginning, we understood that even the smallest contributions could have a significant impact,” Karat said.

She added, “We must remember that we are all part of the same global community, and it’s our responsibility to stand together and support one another during times of crisis. We owe it to each other to do everything we can to alleviate the suffering of those affected by disaster.”

Karat said there is a saying in Turkish, “Azdan az, coktan cok vermek,” which translates to English as, “To give little from little, to give much from much,” which means to give from your means rather than holding back, because a lot or a little can make a difference.

She said, “We must also help these families and children deal with the trauma and reconstruct their lives in the long term. Although it may appear challenging, they haven’t given up, and neither should we. … azdan az, coktan cok.”

Palabiyik said people have been asking if he was expecting this amount of support from the community and he said that he did because it is in the culture of Framingham State to be supportive.

“Framingham State University showed that we care for the people,” he said.

President Nancy Niemi said she was proud of the “Framingham State community for their generous efforts on behalf of the earthquake victims in Türkiye and Syria. This is the type of support, attention, and care that we must offer, wherever we see a need. It is so important to see that Framingham faculty, staff and students act with purpose and meaning.”

CONNECT WITH EMILY ROSENBERG erosenberg@student.framingham.edu

Enrollment Continued from page 6 will be open for the fall semester. Due to this residence hall serving as the building for year-round housing, this housing will have to be repositioned in Larned Hall. Therefore, the University is conducting a study to see if it is possible to install air conditioning in the top two floors of the building for summer housing.

Another idea the University has been considering is hosting 21+ events at which alcohol is served at Sandella’s, Hamel said. The administration was hoping to run some “test cases” this semester, but were unable to due to licensing difficulties.

“I think we’re still going to consider it for next year on a pilot basis and decide whether it’s worth doing or not,” he said.

Under the Student Activities category, the University is also working toward enhancing weekend programming for students, Hamel added.

The final category listed is for the DICE Department, which includes efforts toward making FSU a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) and a Minority Serving Institution, which requires a designated percentage of students who are Hispanic and/or from an unrepresented group.

Hamel said what they “want to do

“And so I’m excited about that beis not just meet the percentages that trigger that designation. We want to be cause I think that in general, not just Framingham, but all of us - we have an HSI-ready institution.”

Niemi said a portion of the popula- been looking at our enrollment in a tion of students whom the University way that hasn’t really lifted up all the normally depends on enrolling has people who could and should be our declined, but “there are many kids - target when we say, ‘We want you to first-generation kids, racial and ethnic come to Framingham,’” she added.

“So that’s why I’m excited about minorities, underrepresented minorities - who perhaps didn’t see that they that because it’s deeply thoughtful and hopeful for public education and were welcomed in college.”

She said there are many students, for our community,” Niemi said. including within the Framingham community, who are potential students that FSU wants to show “that they’re, in fact, absolutely college ma- CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL terial. lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

8 | MARCH 24, 2023

OP/ED THE GATEPOST EDITORIAL

The Oscars make an illustrious comeback

By Owen Glancy Staff Writer

On Sunday, March 12 the Oscars held their 95th anniversary ceremony, celebrating the best films that came out the previous year. Some of the major awards included Best Director and Best Picture, to more niche awards like Best Live Action Short and Best Original Song.

After a long winter with freezing temperaAt a time during the semester when people Typically, the Oscars are very wrong in who they award the tures and heavy snowstorms, spring is here at can be especially busy, it is refreshing to see many illustrious trophies to. While there are certain years in last. so many FSU community members gather to which the Academy does select the winners correctly, these are Thanks to facility workers, the flowers are express their black and gold pride. rare occurrences. Often the ceremony is more an excuse for the planted, the windows are washed and decoratRams Rising is a time to emphasize our film industry’s elites to celebrate themselves, not to recognize ed with festive drawings, and the green lawns sense of pride and community that exists on the hard-working people that made truly impactful films that are coming back to life. our hardworking campus year round. year.

Our campus is looking more beautiful than As students, faculty, and staff work to make In contrast to previous ceremonies, the 95th Oscars was full ever for the admitted students days, known as this big day successful, we should not forget of excellent moments.

Rams Rising. that this is what we do every day when we It didn’t get off to a good start. Jimmy Kimmel hosted the Rams Rising are two wonderful weekends teach and learn in classes, attend and put on ceremony and his jokes felt AI generated. Many of his one-linfor FSU to demonstrate exactly what is import- campus events, and do all our normal tasks ers were either predictable or unfunny, leading to plenty of ant to us - community. that make the University run smoothly. awkward moments of silence. Thankfully, Kimmel wasn’t the As students travel from near and far to visit The facility workers who planted the flow- focus for too long - a clear improvement from the ceremony’s our beloved campus, we have a chance to dis- ers to decorate the campus for the incoming past. play what we are the best at - coming together visitors work several hours every day to ensure The awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Animated to make an impact. our campus is clean and safe.

Short have a long and tragic history of being looked down upon Over the next two weekends, students, facThe admissions staff who planned Rams by the Academy. Last year’s ceremony made a mockery of the ulty, and staff will dedicate their time to show- Rising work every day throughout the year to art form, claiming it wasn’t cinema, and that it is exclusively ing prospective students exactly why we love recruit new students and plan more exciting for children.

Framingham State so much. events.

After that travesty of an award presentation, this year Faculty and students from a variety of deOur love for and dedication to Framingham made massive improvements. The award went to “Guillermo partments will host informative presentations State is ever present. del Toro’s Pinocchio,” which more than deserved it. Presenter and greet future majors.

An event that welcomes our future fRAMily Dwayne Johnson started by making the statement that “animaStudent organizations will bring out bro- members is the perfect time for this love and tion is art,” a massive turnaround from the ceremony’s attitude chures and merchandise to promote their ac- dedication to be renewed as we show them that last year. Winner Guillermo del Toro’s speech praising animativities and show pride for their group.

FSU truly is a family. tion as cinema showed a clear improvement over the past and Admissions tour guides will lead groups of As prospective students tour various inmade for one of the best moments of the night. prospective students around campus buildings stitutions, what will stand out to them about When it was time to present the awards for Best Supporting to explore their future educational spaces and Framingham State is our commitment to stuActor and Actress, Ariana DeBose and Troy Kotsur came to the places of residency. dents and our friendly, supportive community.

Dining Services will prepare delicious food What is evident about Framingham State stage as presenters. Kotsur’s speech about deaf representation for visitors. is that we strive to create a warm, welcoming, in Hollywood and his experiences with the 2021 film “CODA” Admissions will share invaluable informa- inclusive culture for all students, faculty, and was moving and perfectly prepared me for the two awards to come. tional sessions and prepare for admitted stu- staff.

First up was Best Supporting Actor. This award went to Ke dent deposits.

Over the next two weekends, we hope this Huy Quan, for his performance in “Everything Everywhere All The Gatepost will also be in attendance on event shows prospective students how hardat Once.”

This was an incredible moment. Seeing Quan burst both Rams Rising days to share with prospec- working, passionate, and dedicated members into tears as he thanked everyone from his mother to Harritive students our little piece of FSU’s legacy. of the Framingham State community can be. son Ford, was moving. His speech will undoubtedly go down in Nearly every department at FSU will take This is why we love FSU. history as one of the best moments from an Oscars ceremony. part in ensuring our future fRAMily members Many of the following awards went to equally deserving reare welcomed. cipients. “Avatar: The Way of Water” won the award for Best Visual Effects. “Top Gun: Maverick” won the award for Best Sound Design. “The Whale” won the award for Best Make-up and Hairstyling. “RRR” won the award for Best Original Song.

“The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse” won the award for Best Animated Short.

But of all the films that won awards, one easily swept the competition.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” took home seven awards: Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Directing, Best Actress in a Leading Role, and Best Picture. It deserved nearly all these awards, and I am elated that it got the attention it deserved.

The last major thing of note is the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. This was possibly the most stacked award of the night, with heavy hitters like Colin Farrell, Austin Butler, and Leighah Beausoleil / THE GATEPOST Paul Mescal. Of all the promising nominees, it went to the best possible candidate, Brendan Fraser.

Fraser’s performance in “The Whale” was powerful and moving. Fraser’s acceptance speech was phenomenal, leading me to get a bit teary-eyed at seeing a childhood hero finally get the recognition he deserved.

Previous Oscar ceremonies were littered with annoying hosts, poor choices in both nominees and winners, and a lack of powerful speeches that focused more on politics than the films that won. Seeing nearly all of these issues get resolved in one swoop is incredibly promising.

The 95th Oscars ceremony is proof that when the Academy wants, it can improve. I am more excited than ever to be a film lover, and I can’t wait to see how well this ceremony holds up in the future.

Not just a community, but a family

Have an opinion?

Feel free to email it to: gatepost@framingham.edu Opinions should be about 500 words.

Anyone can submit.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The Gatepost Editorial reflects the opinions of the newspaper’s Editorial Board. Signed Op/Eds reflect the opinions of individual writers.

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

OP/ED

MARCH 24, 2023 | 9

Lainey’s Comics: Spring Fever

Lainey Morrison / THE GATEPOST

: Lady RAMpage Celebrates a Win!

Ben Hurney / THE GATEPOST FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

OP/ED

10 | MARCH 24, 2023

Campus Conversations What are some ways FSU can build a stronger community?

By Ben Hurney and Kyle Walker, Staff Writers

“More community events.”

-Nathan Robillard, junior

“Campus-wide events to get students more involved.”

-Gwendolyn Schutt, junior

“Now that spring is coming, more activities.”

-Kelsey Fredericksen, freshman

“More events that involve everybody.

This is only my second year, but I feel like my freshman year, there were more events.”

“Make more teams. … But not everyone’s into sports - just more activities.”

-Ian Spuria, sophomore

“Holding activities outside of the time when people have labs.”

- Zaria Turner, junior

-Jordayn Padilla, sophomore

Opinions

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

Share your praise!

Share your opinions!

Share your concerns!

SPORTS

MARCH 24, 2023 | 11

Baseball breaks through in Myrtle Beach

By Riley Crowell Staff Writer The Framingham State Rams returned from their eight-game trip to sunny South Carolina with a record of 5-3, facing off against teams from New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut.

The Rams started the trip with a bang, winning 5-4 over the Keene State Owls March 12.

Framingham’s shortstop Steven Burbank propelled the Rams with a game-tying two-RBI single in the seventh inning. Framingham’s Robert

Johnston hit a go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning to clinch the Rams’ victory.

Framingham allowed only one hit as they cruised to a 2-0 victory to complete the sweep of Keene State March 12.

Framingham’s pitcher Vincent LoGuidice excelled on the mound, striking out four batters and conceding zero runs in seven innings pitched.

The St. Joseph’s University (Brooklyn) Bears handed the Rams their first loss of the trip, 5-4, despite a late rally

by Framingham March 13.

The Bears struck out 12 batters and

Gatepost Archives

capitalized on five errors by Framingham’s fielders to secure the win.

The Susquehanna University River Hawks used seven different pitchers and racked up ten hits on their way to an 8-4 victory over the Rams March 15.

Framingham bounced back in a massive way, with an offensive explosion against the Albertus Magnus College Falcons March 16.

Framingham recorded an impressive 34 runs on 18 hits in a brutal 34-6 beatdown of the Falcons.

Johnston collected a game-high three hits and seven RBI to lead the Rams, with six other Framingham batters having two or more hits on the day.

Framingham’s bats fell quiet in the second game of their doubleheader against Albertus Magnus, losing the game 9-1.

On the last day of the trip, the Rams got back on track with an 8-4 win over the New England College Pilgrims March 17.

Framingham pieced together a sixrun first inning, which included a twoRBI single from third baseman Matthew Shaver.

Framingham’s starting pitcher, Scott Nosky, posted a season-high eight strikeouts and only surrendered three hits to the 22 Pilgrim batters he faced.

Nosky said, “I only plan to throw strikes and trust the guys behind me.

Our defense makes the plays they need to make and put us in a position to win.

Softball finishes 5-5 down in Florida

By Adam Levine Sports Editor

The Framingham State Rams returned from their 10-game Florida trip with a record of 5-5, playing five double-headers against teams from Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Minnesota, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Indiana.

Framingham’s pitcher, Ally Moran, helped secure a 7-1 victory over the Nichols College Bison March 12.

Moran allowed one run and struck out five of the 24 batters she faced in her six innings pitched.

“I like to force bad contact and have confidence in the defense behind me to make plays and get outs,” Moran said.

The Rams lost to the Clarkson University Golden Knights 8-2 after giving up six runs in the opening two innings and a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning March 12.

Despite Framingham’s first baseman, Kelsey McGuill, hitting an RBI single to give the Rams a 1-0 lead, the Endicott College Gulls scored two runs in the bottom of the 5th inning to win 2-1 March 13.

The Ramapo College Roadrunners recorded nine hits and only struck out

Gatepost Archives

four times, which secured their 5-0 victory over the Rams March 13.

Framingham’s dominant batting propelled them to a 6-1 victory over the University of Minnesota Morris Cougars March 14.

The Rams combined for 14 total hits from eight of the 10 different players who had an at-bat. Framingham’s outfielder, Gwen Carpenter, recorded a hit during each of her four at-bats.

“I’m glad that I was able to contribute in some of those moments on the field to help us win games,” Carpenter said.

Framingham’s batting and pitching commanded a 14-4 victory over the Smith College Pioneers March 14.

Framingham’s Moran pitched for all seven innings, striking out seven batters and only letting up eight hits.

Framingham’s right fielder, Keely Scotia, hit a home run, followed by a three-run home run from McGuill later in the game.

The Rams and the Wesleyan University Cardinals each only recorded three hits in the Cardinals’ 1-0 win March 16.

Framingham passed the Roger Williams University Hawks with five walks in a 2-1 victory March 16.

Framingham’s pitcher, Rylynn Witek, pitched for all seven innings, recording three strikeouts and not walking any batters.

The Saint Mary’s College Belles recorded three home runs and seven other hits to catapult them to a 9-2

“I feel when I’m on the mound, I have an easy job because they make the plays behind me,” he added.

The Rams concluded their Myrtle Beach trip with a 10-0 victory over New England College in the second game of their doubleheader March 17.

Framingham’s batters scored 10 runs on 11 hits, including contributions of three hits each from center fielder Shane Costello and first baseman Jimmy Gilleran.

LoGuidice led the way on the mound, allowing zero runs and striking out seven of the 20 batters he faced.

As of presstime, the Rams split games with the Lesley College Lynx March 21 and 22.

The Rams hold a record of 6-6 after their opening games, an improvement from their 3-9 record through 12 games last season.

Nosky said, “The community and culture of guys we have this year is truly different from years past, and it’s showing.

“FSU should be prepared for a new banner this year in the gym. … We are getting hot, and we aren’t close to stopping,” he added.

The Rams will be back in action hosting Western New England in a non-conference matchup March 28.

Stats sourced from fsurams.com

CONNECT WITH RILEY CROWELL rcrowell@student.framingham.edu

victory over the Rams March 17.

Framingham’s McGuill hit a home run in the top of the second inning, but Saint Mary’s consistent hitting secured their victory.

The Rams concluded their trip with a commanding 14-6 victory over the Carleton College Knights.

Framingham pieced together a 10run third inning to help capture a victory over the Knights.

Carpenter said, “The conference will be tough again this year.

“Our team is eager to prove we belong and are looking forward to what this year will bring,” she added.

The Rams finished the 2021-22 season with an overall record of 23-19 and were the 2022 MASCAC Softball Tournament Champions.

Moran said, “The FSU community can look forward to another competitive, successful season.

“We’re hoping to bring home another championship for the Rams!” Moran added.

The Rams resume play when they travel to the Wentworth Institute of Technology for a double-header March 24.

Stats sourced from fsurams.com

CONNECT WITH ADAM LEVINE alevine5@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

SPORTS

12 | MARCH 24, 2023

Women’s lacrosse starts season with 3-4 record

By Adam Levine Sports Editor The Framingham State Rams hold a record of 3-4 after the opening seven games of the season.

The Rams opened their season with an assertive 17-2 away win over the Wellesley College Blue Feb. 22.

Framingham’s attacker, Hannah Guerin, and midfielder, Rachel Erickson, combined for 11 goals in the match.

Framingham dropped their away matchup against the Springfield College Pride 21-14 March 1.

Springfield took 42 shots, 32 of which were shots on goal, during the match. Framingham only recorded 27 shots, 25 of which were shots on goal.

Despite their loss, Guerin found the back of the net five times for the second game in a row.

Guerin said, “Scoring opportunities start from great draw control wins and great defensive stops, so it’s definitely important to note how awesome our midfielders, defenders, and goalies are at doing those things that ultimately help us produce on the attacking end.”

The Rams suffered a second loss in a row during their away matchup to the Endicott College Gulls 14-10 March 3.

Endicott took an early 3-0 lead to end the first quarter and later extended their lead to 6 points at the end of the third quarter.

The Rams bounced back with a win during their close home matchup against the Wheaton College Lyons 1716 March 8.

Wheaton led most of the game, but Framingham’s Guerin and Erickson pieced together back-to-back goals in

the final minute of the third quarter to tie the game and take a lead.

With 4:46 left in the game, the Lyons regained the lead with a 4-0 scoring run.

Framingham’s Guerin and Erickson once again scored back-to-back goals to secure the Rams’ 17-16 victory.

Framingham traveled to Panama City, Florida for two games March 14 and March 16.

The Rams dominated their first game in Panama City 25-7 against the Ohio Northern University Polar Bears March 14.

The Rams doubled the Polar Bears in shots taken, shooting 38 compared to the Polar Bears’ 19.

Framingham’s midfielder, Regan Fein, broke out with a season-high four goals off four shots during the match.

Fein said, “I help in facilitating plays and opening up opportunities for other teammates.

“I continue to work hard in putting the ball in the back of the net,” Fein added.

Framingham fell short in their second Panama City matchup 17-12 to the United States Merchant Marine Academy Mariners March 16.

Framingham led for most of the game, but the Mariners tied up the game at 11-11 to end the third quarter.

The Mariners and Rams traded goals to start the fourth quarter, but Merchant Marine scored five unanswered goals to capture their 17-12 win.

As of presstime, the Rams lost to Plymouth State March 16 and now hold a record of 3-4.

The Rams finished the 2021-22 season with an overall record of 11-8 and were the 2022 MASCAC Women’s La-

Gatepost Archives crosse Tournament Champions.

Fein said, “I am quite confident in our team’s capacity to go all the way again this year. We have our work cut out for us for sure, but are ready to defend our title and get another championship win.”

Guerin said it will be an exciting season within the MASCAC conference. “We play our best when we focus on ourselves and we’re all super excited for what the rest of the season

holds, and to hopefully win our second straight tournament championship.”

Framingham will host Montclair State for a non-conference matchup March 25.

Stats sourced from fsurams.com

CONNECT WITH ADAM LEVINE alevine5@student.framingham.edu

Winter Sports Recap Women’s Basketball Overall Record: 17-6 Conference Record: 9-3

NEWBA All-Region 2nd Team: Flannery O’Connor MASCAC 1st Team: Katty Haidul Flannery O’Connor 2nd Team: Gwendolyn Carpenter

Men’s Basketball

Overall Record: 5-20 Conference Record: 2-10 MASCAC 2nd Team: Juran Ligonde

Ice Hockey

Overall Record: 5-18-2 Conference Record: 3-13-2 MASCAC 2nd Team: Blake Carlson Designed by Adam Levine, Sports Editor

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

SPORTS

MARCH 24, 2023 | 13

FSU alumni association hosts Charles Steinberg

By Adam Levine Sports Editor The Framingham State University Alumni Association hosted Charles Steinberg, president of the Worcester Red Sox, at the McCarthy Center Forum as a part of their Leaders & Luminaries series March 7.

The attendees listened to Steinberg’s story, which he described as “the most improbable career,” followed by a question and answer session.

President Nancy Niemi began the event with opening remarks and an introduction to Steinberg and his career.

Niemi said, “One of the distinctive elements of [his] career, Dr. Steinberg is really looking at the Civic Engagement community outreach [he’s] done.”

Steinberg said, “Education because that, in general and writing specifically, have been the reasons that I’ve had this cascade of dreams come true that I never actually dared to dream.”

Steinberg emphasized the importance of reading, writing, and language skills, and the intersection they have with his role as a baseball executive.

He said, “Writing is the elevator. Writing is the way up.”

Steinberg said he grew up in Baltimore, Maryland and began his career in baseball with the Rochester Red Wings, the minor league team of the Baltimore Orioles.

“I fell in love with baseball, and that meant the Orioles. You just wanted to know who’s the next guy coming from Rochester,” Steinberg said.

He said he went to the Gilman School, a prep school in Baltimore.

“The concept of the dramatic difference in education was presented to me and my writing got better,” Steinberg said.

Steinberg said in the final month of senior year at Gilman, they introduced a program to get students volunteer jobs in the community for a month.

Steinberg said his dad was an orthodontist and he worked in his dad’s office. “I thought, ‘dentistry looked pret-

ty good,’” he said.

Steinberg said Gilman offered jobs working for the Orioles. “I never dreamed that dream,” he said.

On April 12, 1976, Steinberg said he interviewed for the program’s position with the Orioles.

“I was sure that I didn’t matter because I’m the lowest of the low. I am a high school student here for a month,” Steinberg said.

“What I wouldn’t know ’til years later is, we’re checking out those high school students, we’re checking out those college students.

“There is the incessant search for quality people,” he added.

Steinberg said he accepted a summer internship with the Orioles after his school internship. “I’m looking at the bottom of a shoe,” he said.

During the internship, Steinberg told a story of delivering a message on a pizza plate from a fan to the visiting team’s broadcast booth. After thinking it would not be possible, he completed the task and received a positive response from the broadcaster.

“It was a lesson that ‘yes’ might be an option in a world of ‘no’s,’” Steinberg said.

Steinberg began school at the University of Maryland, where he received his bachelor’s degree and doctor of dental surgery degree.

Steinberg said he introduced himself in a class at UMD the semester fol-

Adam Levine /THE GATEPOST (Left) Charles Steinberg presenting Worcester Red Sox gifts to Nancy Niemi at at the Alumni Association Leaders & Luminaries event March 7. utive, Steinberg said he changed the social and cultural history of the teams he worked for.

He said he hoped to “use the power of baseball to change and transform

“From pizza plate to president.”

- Charles Steinberg, President of the Worcester Red Sox lowing his internship, where his professor was the fan with the message on a pizza plate.

“Thirty-nine years later, I’m named the president of the Pawtucket Red Sox. “I get an email - ‘from pizza plate to president,’” Steinberg said.

During his time as a baseball exec-

communities.”

Steinberg expanded this idea. He said, “I would love to see us do that which has never been done before, and that is to use the power of baseball’s goodness on a global level.”

Steinberg said, “It’s fascinating to see the divine orchestration of it all.

“Along the way, I still thought I was

(Left) Professor John Palabiyik, Charles Steinberg, and Nancy Niemi at the Alumni Association Leaders & Luminaries event March 7.

gonna be a dentist,” he said.

Steinberg said he committed to his career path as a baseball executive by choosing to pursue his passion. He said, “If you’re so blessed to find the intersection of your talent and your passion, I offer to you that that is your genius.”

When Steinberg was asked about the best aspect of his life he said, “To realize that dreams come true that you would never dare to dream.

“I think my greatest accomplishment of my career is never having grown up beyond 10 years old,” Steinberg added.

CONNECT WITH ADAM LEVINE alevine5@student.framingham.edu

Adam Levine /THE GATEPOST

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

14 | MARCH 24, 2023

ARTS & FEATURES

Barbara Amaya speaks about vulnerability, victimhood, and advocacy

By Raena Doty Asst. Arts & Features Editor Barbara Amaya, an author and survivor of sex trafficking, visited Framingham State University on March 8 to discuss and spread awareness about her experiences.

Amaya wrote “Nobody’s Girl,” a memoir about living in New York City when she was a girl. She is also writing an upcoming book called “Life Lessons from the Street: A Girls Guide to Survival.”

“One of the reasons why I think it’s important for me to share my experiences with the world today is because, first of all, people don’t think that this happens here. Or they don’t think it happens at all. Or they think, ‘Human trafficking? What’s that?’” she said.

Amaya started the discussion by talking about her childhood and how she ended up with her trafficker. She said she was born into a dysfunctional family in Fairfax, Virginia, and experienced a lot of abuse, including sexual abuse, from when she was very young.

She said she wasn’t even in school when she was taken away from her birth family and put into foster care.

By the time she was 12 years old, Amaya ran away from every household where she’d been placed.

“What I didn’t know at the time was that I was running to find what every child needs. Love. Attention.

Food. Shelter. Mentors - you know, good people in your life. I didn’t know all that,” she said.

She said when she was 12 years old, she found herself in a park when a young woman approached her who seemed “kind and sweet.” The woman started asking her concerned questions before asking if she needed a place to stay. Amaya went with the woman to her apartment, where she met the woman’s boyfriend.

“I came to find out later that he was actually her trafficker, and she’d been sent out to find young victims, children - vulnerable people, like I was,” she added.

“I have to remember right now to use that word - ‘vulnerable.’ I know when I speak all over the world today, people think, ‘That isn’t even happening and it’s sure not going to happen to me or anybody that I know.’

But unfortunately, we’re all vulnerable in our lives,” she said.

Amaya said it was this woman and her trafficker who introduced her to Moses, who took her from Washington, D.C. to New York City, and became her trafficker.

She said she believes the main

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

method of control of victims is the trafficker creating a trauma bond with the victim.

“One of the things he did was make sure that I saw that he had a large gun on his body,” she said. “He began to place himself as my protector - my good person.

“He began saying things in the car like, ‘I know exactly what happened to you in your home.’ He had no idea what happened to me, but I’m sure he said that to everyone,” she said.

“The only time I ever even knew or saw his other victims was when I was in jail,” she said. “When I, the victim, was in New York City, out on the street, immersed in a criminal underworld, I was arrested.”

remembered an act of kindness that led to her being able to rebuild her life.

Amaya said she went to a methadone clinic one day in an attempt to get help for her heroin addiction, when the receptionist reached out and got her a job interview.

She said she had felt dehumanized by most of the people in her life up to that point, but the receptionist, a woman named Anita - not a doctor, therapist, or counselor at the clinic, but the receptionist - made eye contact with her and treated her as a human.

“I felt it wash over me that she recognized me as a fellow human being.

I didn’t feel shame. I felt she cared,”

“What I didn’t know at the time was that I was running to find what every child needs. Love.”

- Barbara Amaya, Author, Advocate, and Human Trafficking Survivor Amaya said people frequently ask her if the buyers and traffickers she dealt with were arrested for what they did, and the answer is no - she never once saw a buyer arrested while she lived in New York City.

On the other hand, Amaya said that she and other sex workers who had been trafficked were frequently arrested. The police would come in white vans, handcuff the sex workers together, place them in jail for the night, then take them to the courthouse the next day to be prosecuted.

“It never entered my mind to say ‘I am not guilty’ or ‘I need a lawyer.’

That never entered my mind,” she said.

She also emphasized, many of the people who were arrested for sex work were also boys and men, not just women and girls.

She talked about several other experiences she had before getting out of New York City, but she specifically

Amaya said.

Once she got away from New York City and Moses coincidentally was sent to prison, she had a hard path to recovery and recognizing her victimhood.

“Victims do not self-identify as victims,” Amaya said.

After getting out of New York City, she spent years doing odd jobs in bad situations, including processing fish in Biloxi, Mississippi. Her lack of formal education and life experience outside of her sex work meant she lacked a lot of basic life skills, like how to compose herself in a job interview.

She said her wake-up call was a moment when she had a news station on in the background and they began describing victims of trafficking by a gang. The news anchor used the term “human trafficking,” and she immediately turned up the volume and began listening.

“I stood up in my living room, and

for the first time in my entire life, I self-identified as a victim of human trafficking. I stood up, I turned up the volume, and I felt a deep anger - that I still feel today - that it was still happening,” Amaya said.

The fact that victims rarely self-identify as victims makes it especially hard to help them, Amaya said.

“How do you provide services for people that don’t know they need services?” she asked.

She said she supports sex workers, but she doesn’t believe in the legalization of sex work, as she believes it would only make trafficking easier.

Amaya also added there is considerable overlap between people who are victims of sex trafficking and people who perpetuate sex trafficking.

She said she believes people must start considering why sex traffickers enter the business of sex trafficking so reform can be done and the number of people who resort to sex trafficking can be lowered.

Amaya said she is currently working with a former sex trafficker to write an article about the systemic pressures that cause people to go into sex trafficking, and she can’t find any other research on the subject despite how much she has looked into it.

She singled out how important it is for people to be able to find mentors when they’re in bad situations like her own. She said it’s more likely that someone will take advantage of a young person who doesn’t have any good role models in their life.

Amaya said meeting Anita at the methadone clinic single handedly made her life better, to the point where Amaya remembers Anita’s name many years later and after much trauma. She lived in many foster homes, and her foster parents never made a positive impression on her.

She added she didn’t have good solutions for this problem - she only knows from experience that the systems in place don’t work.

Amaya cautioned attendees against viewing themselves as materially different from any victim of trafficking, because she said anyone can become a victim given the right circumstances.

“It’s about being vulnerable. That is what traffickers seek out. Vulnerability. And unfortunately - sorry we’re all vulnerable at some point in our lives,” she said.

CONNECT WITH RAENA DOTY

rdoty@student.framingham.edu

ARTS & FEATURES

MARCH 24, 2023 | 15

Linda Vaden-Goad Continued from page 1 show resistance to power.”

She added this was supported by her and her sister’s research, and shared some recent photographs of green consumers protesting taken

by NPR and The Guardian - one depicting a man blocking a tanker truck from entering a refinery by using his body as a blockade.

Tohidinia said this might be expecting too much, however, and surveys support the idea not everyone is willing to protest in the streets. She said most people are engaging with green activism in their private lives, or through their purchasing power.

She added these consumers are in the minority, however, as most corporations disregard the environment and most consumers prioritize luxury and variety over environmental protection.

She said this demoralizing reality is the focus of her and her sister’s recent research.

Tohidinia and her sister called the demoralization and irritation “relational frustrations,” which are frustrations stemming from relationships or environments unsupportive of green activism.

She said they scraped data from Reddit’s “r/zerowaste” community to find posts made by frustrated consumers, and found four common themes that discouraged green activists: admonishment, lack of agency, futility, and alienation.

Tohidinia said these manifest when people are openly critical of green activism, discouraged by the small impact individuals have in comparison to corporations, convinced the environment is doomed regardless of their efforts, or when people are excluded due to their environmentally-conscious efforts.

She added many of the negative feelings created by these four themes can be resolved by venting, and by taking different approaches to coping in the case of futility or lack of agency-related feelings.

Tohidinia added two effective methods are the ontological approach, where one could say “you’re doing the right thing, just stick to that,” and the consequential approach, where someone might find encouragement by convincing themselves if they help 10 people reduce waste, and those 10 convince 10 more, change can occur.

She closed by saying the research is ongoing, but that a clear path has formed to her, in the form of disappointment turning into validation, and validation turning into strategies to cope and continue performing green activism.

Jennifer Dowling, a professor of art, then gave a presentation involving her artwork and struggles, and how being creative is one of the most effective ways she has been able to cope with tough news.

Dowling said her primary premise was that “art is therapeutic and provides resilience when facing difficult challenges.”

She added her presentation was not a lecture on therapy or scientific research, and was only a glimpse into her work and how it helped her.

Dowling said she’s used her artwork to cope with a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, her mother’s memory degrading due to dementia, and several miscarriages when she was attempting to conceive her children.

She said people can heal by creating or even reflecting on art, and it

Adam Levine / THE GATEPOST Zahra Tohidinia during her presentation at the Linda Vaden-Goad Authors and Artists event March 21.

Adam Levine / THE GATEPOST Jennifer Dowling during her presentation at the Linda Vaden-Goad Authors and Artists event March 21.

isn’t limited to visual mediums.

“One can benefit from creating art as a therapeutic process, but also from looking at art and immersing oneself within it,” she said. “This can be the visual arts, or other forms such as music and singing, performance, dance and acting, or writing and journaling.”

Dowling said finding the flow of creation is especially helpful in tying emotion to artwork. She said her prepared work mostly reflected “the plight of women.”

She then displayed her first collection, called her breast cancer journal, which she said was a collection of 30 daily drawings. She added these were quickly done, and expressed a “release of feeling without restrictions.”

Dowling said the journal was “an emotional dump” for her, and the uncertainty of her diagnosis led to dark times. To combat this, she said she began writing and journaling, improving her diet and sleep, and participating in mindfulness and self-kindness courses.

She added this reflected in her journal as darker pieces, in opposition to the brighter drawings she had done earlier in the month.

She said it might feel like creating art is superfluous, especially in difficult times like she faced with her cancer diagnosis, but that any release of tension through art makes creation worth it.

Dowling then introduced the next set, titled “Broken Women Collages,” which involved taking a range of public domain images of women and tearing or bending them.

She added she wanted the women to look different and have different clothes, facial features, expressions and poses.

“The overall demeanor is sadness and showing a rawness and pain,” she said.

Dowling then shared her “Doors & Windows” set, which involved her late mother’s struggle with dementia.

She said it was a slow death and difficult for the family to endure, and took away her mother’s “lucid memories and lively conversations” which made her herself.

She then shared a series related to the struggles she had with miscarriages in her 30s, and a set consisting of mosaic work she made for the New England Mosaic Society’s “Art in the Orchard” event series.

Dowling said her lifelong passion for mosaics even led her to creating wall art displayed in the Department of Children & Families lobby, where difficult decisions and circumstances are handled.

“So, by helping others we can help ourselves, and that’s part of the healing process,” she said.

CONNECT WITH RYAN O’CONNELL

roconnell1@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

16 | MARCH 24, 2023

ARTS & FEATURES

‘Cocaine Bear’ - an unbearable waste of time

By Jack McLaughlin Staff Writer

By Owen Glancy Staff Writer Ever since its announcement last year, “Cocaine Bear” was one of the most highly anticipated films to release in 2023. Come Feb. 24, the movie would finally be released. The verdict? It was massively disappointing.

Much of the film’s initial hype centered around the fact that it was loosely based on a true story. The expert marketing led to a frankly absurd level of hype going into the film - not something usually seen for this type of film.

“Cocaine Bear” is the directorial debut of Elizabeth Banks, who unfortunately does not take the outlandish concept of a coked-out bear to its full potential. This film suffers from an eye-catching concept that is bogged down by a boring script and weak performances all across the board.

This isn’t apparent from the start, as the opening scene is hysterical.

Seeing a man clearly high on his own supply chucking bags of cocaine from an airplane is an appropriately absurd way to start the film. Sadly, many scenes do not ever again meet this high bar of insane fun.

The film blends the stories of two groups together who come in contact with the bear - one group consists of a young girl’s mother and friend who are searching the woods for the girl who was attacked by the bear early on. The second group consists of the drug dealers who are responsible for the cocaine getting into the forest, and are trying to retrieve the missing drugs.

Neither of these groups is particularly interesting. The mother-daughter relationship they try throwing into this story falls flat as there are few moments that establish and build the relationship to the point where there is not a proper payoff to it. It doesn’t help that the mother is an alarmingly horrible parent whose concern for her child feels strangely forced.

The drug dealers are a bit more interesting. The conflict between a gruff father and reluctant son is generic, but its simplicity makes sense in a story like this.

Of the drug dealers, the two we follow for most of the film are Daveed and Eddie, played by O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Alden Ehrenreich respectively. Their characters are introduced in some interesting ways and they initially seem like they might be fun characters to follow around.

Sadly, this promise of a fun central duo is dashed when the two get their first real scene to themselves. While on a car ride to the woods where the cocaine is, they get into a conversation. This conversation is filled to the brim with generic lines, spotty delivery, poor comedic timing, and a

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

generally awkward flow of dialogue.

It immediately makes the audience dread any future interactions between these two.

The already large pool of characters gets even more saturated with the introduction of a crazy park ranger, deranged teens, and a police officer with a heart of gold. This dilutes what should be an insane movie by introducing too many zany characters to care about or remember.

With a title like “Cocaine Bear,” you would think the titular character would be in the film quite a bit. Unfortunately, the bear’s screen time is extremely limited. What we do get are the best parts of the film. The scenes of pure carnage and unpredictability from the bear are a joy to watch.

The middle of the story offers one of, if not, the best moment from the bear. At this point, a group of EMTs operating an ambulance are investigating one of the bear’s massacres inside of a cabin. Once they realize the bear is still in the cabin and they choose to escape, what ensues is a hilarious chase around the park where the bear is trying to catch up to the ambulance.

The build-up to the chase is excellent, slowly revealing the bear’s location with a stressful escape from the cabin creates the most tension in the film.

The direction of this chase is what makes it so much fun. There is a constant threat that is unstoppable against its victims, and the thrill of them trying to escape makes it all the more satisfying once the bear catch-

es up to them. The scene is paced excellently, with the only downside of it realizing that nothing after this moment comes even close to being as fun.

The bear is often one of two things, a plot device or a threat. In the limited time where the bear is a threat, the film is very fun. However, when it acts as an arbitrary off-screen obstacle, it’s super lame.

T h e film’s more commonly used antagonist is Syd played

by Ray Liotta. Syd is the leader of a drug smuggling organization who enters the woods to find the lost cocaine. His character, while excellently acted, suffers from truly bland dialogue.

While this dialogue can occasionally be funny, such as his introduction scene where he is babysitting his grandson, it’s mostly generic villain speech.

The lighting used in particular scenes can act as a detriment to the film. In one of the scenes with the bear, there is a constant struggle to figure out what is happening onscreen as it is nearly impossible to see what is going on. This hurts what could have been a great scene by making it nearly impossible to enjoy it visually.

A film’s score can often elevate it to greater heights, or even redeem films that fall short in other aspects.

The score of “Cocaine Bear” does the exact opposite.

While not horrible, it’s so bland and forgettable that it makes any potentially d r a matic or unique scenes fall flat.

Speaking of forgettable, the film lacks a strong visual style that coincides with the bizarre story it is telling.

The cinematography and editing are surface level, with many shots and sequences leaving much to be desired.

There aren’t many points where “Cocaine Bear” will wow any viewers. The far and few moments in the 90-minute feature that will resonate with you are outweighed by a story that will leave your brain the next day.

The film’s biggest weakness is a lack of clear focus and vision. The title, marketing, and certain scenes suggest that this is a film about a bear getting high on cocaine and going on a rampage. Sadly, it’s far too afraid to do anything truly zany or creative as it falls back on the safe and predictable human drama elements.

“Cocaine Bear” is a blatant example of a new director being far too ambitious. The promise of a fun and crazy monster film is lost in a sea of mediocrity and inexperience. While not entirely worthless, most scenes with the bear are genuinely entertaining, the vast majority of the film is spineless and devoid of an artistic soul.

Rating: D+ Too much cocaine, not enough bear

CONNECT WITH JACK MCLAUGHLIN

Ferrett333 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cocaine_Bear,_Kentucky_for_Kentucky_Fun_Mall.jpg), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode

jmclaughlin7@student.framingham.edu

The real life cocaine bear taxidermied and on display at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington, Kentucky.

oglancy@student.framingham.edu

CONNECT WITH OWEN GLANCY

ARTS & FEATURES

MARCH 24, 2023 | 17

‘Fury of the Gods’ - lightning almost strikes twice

By Jesse Burchill Staff Writer “Shazam: Fury of the Gods” was released in the U.S. on March 17. It features Billy Batson and his foster family as they must come together to fight the gods Hespera and Kalypso, who seek the destruction of the human world, the rebirth of their own, and vengeance for their father Atlas.

The film’s first scene is set at the Acropolis Museum in Greece, and serves as an introduction to Hespera and Kalypso. They steal back the broken staff of Shazam, which had been interred at the museum, and turn everyone present to stone.

This serves as a fantastic introduction for the two villains, and suggests a darker tone for this installment.

However, “Fury of the Gods” keeps the lighthearted tone of its predecessor much of the time. Despite this, scenes like this and the first appearance of the unicorn stand out by far for how creepy they are in comparison.

At one point, Billy has a dream where he has a date with Wonder Woman, but it’s interrupted by a warning from the wizard Shazam. You can be forgiven if you thought that Superman’s faceless cameo from the first film would be repeated, but this expectation is subverted at the end of the film.

Wonder Woman’s appearance feels a bit shoehorned, but is ultimately superior to Superman’s faceless cameo at the end of the previous movie. She actually has dialogue this time, performs some plot-significant actions, and even gets a bit of a rapport with Billy, who has been crushing on her the whole movie.

This film heavily features Freddy Freeman, the foster sibling of Billy Batson - Freddy is the first person to meet Anthea, the third benevolent daughter of Atlas, and even develops a platonic/romantic rapport with her.

Freddy’s emphasis in this film does make him stick out and connect better with the audience. It also suggests that he may become the next “main” host of Shazam’s powers after Billy, but this genuinely intriguing plot thread ultimately goes unresolved.

“Fury of the Gods” continues to carry its predecessor’s theme of familial love and connection. This time, Billy wants to keep his family together, even as they begin heading down their own paths, out of a worry of losing everyone he loves.

This is a compelling plot point, as it reflects the “family coming together” theme of the first film. However, the film’s exploration of family this time comes off as more surface-scraping than its predecessor. It feels like the movie didn’t quite delve into Billy’s

struggle as deep as it could have in order to make a stronger bond with the audience.

On the antagonistic side, Lucy Liu enters her most villainous role since O-Ren Ishii in the “Kill Bill” duology.

In “Fury of the Gods,” she portrays Kalypso, the goddess of chaos.

Appropriately, Liu comes off as the obnoxious, spontaneous sister who frequently clashes with her more “mature” siblings.

Later on in the movie, Kalypso decides to lay waste to the human world herself. This makes her much better as an antagonist - she even horrifies her own sisters with her mission, and sends the city into chaos under the monsters she commands.

While not as intimidating as O-Ren Ishii, Kalypso proves to be a ruthless and apathetic villain, and serves as a dark reflection of the film’s themes of family and unity. In the end, she comes off as a better villain, at least conceptually, than Hespera, who is more verbally intimidating than physically aggressive.

“Shazam: Fury of the Gods” does not quite escape the shadow of its predecessor. It seems a bit too safe, and its core themes are not explored as deeply as they deserved to be. Despite these flaws, the film is still enjoyable as a superhero film, and the bonds among the Shazam family

make you want to see them again in the upcoming reboot of the DC movie franchise.

Rating: BFamiliar, yet fresh

CONNECT WITH JESSE BURCHILL

jcelardo@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

18 | MARCH 24, 2023

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

ARTS & FEATURES

Puzzles

ARTS & FEATURES

ACROSS 1. “I’m open to all questions,” online 4. Prioritized at a hospital 11. Do a background check on 14. See 17-Across 15. Character in debt to Jabba the Hutt 16. Go wrong 17. *Ride with a soft fabric roof 19. Beam of light 20. Cookie created as an imitation of Hydrox 21. Fed. tax agency 22. Sounds from an off-leash dog park 24. Really likes 26. See 29-Across 28. Slyly shy 29. *Workstation in a coffee shop, maybe 34. Loser to scissors 37. Word before “pants” or “Sun” 38. Water cooler?

39. “About a week ___ ...”

40. “Gimme a piece of that action!”

42. Boyo 43. See 47-Across 44. Sensitive spots 45. Secluded valleys 47. *They don’t cover ankles 49. “Did we have to hear that?!”

50. Decade divs.

51. “The Social Network” actress Song 54. Women’s grp. that tries to avoid hazards 57. Drag show wrap 58. See 62-Across 60. Weeding tool 62. *Software program that doesn’t run on phones or the web 65. Podcaster’s income sources 66. Set sail 67. Wintry commercial prefix 68. “For sure!”

69. Devices for making uniform gaps 70. Ran into

DOWN 1. Gas brand hidden in “solar collector” 2. Indigenous New Zealander 3. Director Varda 4. Not just a 5. Factor in a trading card’s price 6. First track on an album, maybe 7. Without changes 8. Goopy clump 9. “Trip” singer Mai 10. Take-charge type 11. Like someone with many talents 12. Stat calculated over nine innings 13. Take a chance 18. ___ actor (cartoon line reader) 23. Seasonal illness 25. Like the safest investment 27. Praline nut 29. Peppermint candy shapes 30. Decides (to) 31. Med. diagnostic scan 32. “Send a text” 33. Cincinnati team 34. Buds 35. Excruciating torment 36. Unable to prevent something 37. Quarterback Derek 41. “___ is me!”

46. Swiss chocolatier 48. Egyptian cobra 49. Lost package inquiry 51. Capital of Idaho 52. Rationalist’s belief 53. In unison 55. Comedian’s bits 56. Each, colloquially 57. Voting coalition 59. Massage target 60. Pasture-ized food?

61. Poetic praise 63. K-12 fund- raising grp.

64. Two-year degs.

MARCH 24, 2023 | 19

Puzzle solutions are now exclusively online.

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

20 | MARCH 24, 2023

PHOTOS Spread by Design & Photos Editor Maddison Behringer

Bella Omar/ THE GATEPOST Students waiting in line at Drag Bingo March 23.

Maddison Behringer/ THE GATEPOST (Left) Cassidy Shaw, Madison Burek, and Erin Marks posing for a photo while waiting in line for Drag Bingo March 23.

Maddison Behringer/ THE GATEPOST (Left) Jay Reed and Faith Wangui sitting in the audience at Drag Bingo March 23.

Adrien Gobin/ THE GATEPOST (Middle) Silky Nutmeg Ganache explaining a Dance Party challenge to two students at Drag Bingo March 23.

Wenchell Pierre/ THE GATEPOST Silky Nutmeg Ganache explaining the rules of bingo at Drag Bingo March 23.

Bella Omar/ THE GATEPOST (Left) Sage Sampson, Emily Crossin, Aili Schiavoni, and Marina Botte at Drag Bingo March 23.

@The Gatepost | FSUgatepost.com