11.25

HAMLINE UNIVERSITY | ST. PAUL, MN | 11.25.20 | VOL. 131 | NO. 10 | HAMLINEORACLE.COM

Hamline sits out on liberal arts alliance

PHOTO | ANTONIO RISSO, ORACLE Liberal arts colleges across the country are coming together to share resources and discuss topics of equity. With all factors considered, Hamline has decided not to join.

A new alliance to address equity in liberal arts institutions was founded this November.

Anika Besst Senior Reporter abesst01@hamline.edu Liberal Arts institutions, such as Hamline, occupy just shy of 15.5 percent of all colleges and universities in the United States. For them, a new alliance was born to form a community of sharing and collaboration towards issues of racial equity and inclusion on campuses. The Liberal Arts College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA) has begun, and it includes 51 institutions.

It was founded by six liberal arts institutions: Macalester University, DePauw University, Oberlin College, Occidental College, Pomona College and Skidmore College.

The LACRELA offers faculty and staff of membership institutions resources related to antiracism, diversity and equity. For $18,000 a year, institutions get access to research, surveys and virtual programming, all of which is provided by the University of Southern California’s Race and Equity Center.

As of now, Hamline is not a part of this alliance. President Fayneese Miller provided a few reasons as to why she did not join, which include overlap of resources and the financial factor.

“For $18,000 you get access to case studies, you get information about how you communicate issues around race and you get research findings. We have

an associate vice president for inclusive excellence who in essence provides us with case studies, identifies things we might need to read, does surveys, oversees our DISC committee for the university, is involved with racial transformation stuff on our campus,” Miller said. “In essence, we have an in-house person who is providing the services that this organization is providing for those institutions. So I saw it as a duplication and also not an acknowledgement of the good work that David Everett is doing and the fact that he has a national reputation in this area.”

Dr. David Everett began at Hamline in August of 2018 as Hamline’s first Associate Vice President of Inclusive Excellence. Everett works with the Hamline community of students, faculty and staff in furthering to encourage and cultivate a space of equity and inclusion.

“I think from a general standpoint, when it comes to those types of initiatives, each university while choosing to sign on and be a part of it, in some way, shape or form has to understand and be able to craft how that is going to be able to work in its institution, in its culture, its framework and larger body,” Everett said.

The formation of a racial equity leadership alliance for community colleges in California by USC in June gave rise to the idea for the LACRELA. This alliance’s forming was announced Nov. 11, 2020.

see ALLIANCE page 2

Students reflect and react to a semester of changes and challenges.

see page 5 PHOTO | ALI KIMBALL, ORACLE First-year Carlos Jimenez doing his homework in the Osborn Lobby, wanting to get a change of scenery to stay productive. Students this semester had the challenge of finding study spots on a socially distant campus.

2 News

EDITORIAL & PRODUCTION Editor-in-Chief Carmen Danz Managing Editor Sabrina Merritt News Editor Molly Landaeta Business Manager Elizabeth Lowe Ad Manager Julien Halabi Design Editor Melanie Hopkins Social Media Director Ella Smith Web Editor Drew Mares Opinion Editor Mien Le Sports Editor Levi Jones A&E Editor Olivia Koski Variety Editor Andrea Lindner Copy Editors Emily Fladung, Eliza Hagstrom, Lydia Meier, Calvin MacFarland Junior News Editor Audra Grigus Illustrator Leo Coughenour Senior Reporters Kelly Holm, Anika Besst, Robin Doyscher Reporters Nicole Ronchetti, SJ Welch, Maria Lewis, Sarah Sawyer, Ethan Hermann, Jilly Wortman, Leslie Perez, Jack Fischer, Cathryn Salis, Z Martinez, Leslie Perez, AJ Washinton, Lyla Lee Senior Columnist Emily Brown, Will Nelson Columnists Hafsa Ahmed, Andrew P Weston Senior Photographers Melanie Hopkins, Antonio Risso Photographers Lauren Thompson, Emily Lall, Cait Quinn, Aidan Stromdahl, Dasiyah Franklin-Carter, Ali Kimball Distributor Robin Doyscher Advisers David Hudson, Trevor Maine

POLICIES

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The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

ALLIANCE

(continued from front)

“I did not see the need to be a part of something when we are already in this space and have been in this space prior to the murder of George Floyd,” Miller said. “When you look at when this organization came up, it was after the murder of Geogre Floyd. We were doing this work prior to that.”

As for Hamline, both Miller and Everett touched on a focus of how Hamline has room for improvement when it comes to diversity and inclusion related to hiring. Everett also mentioned continued attention to the retention of students and staff and the classroom aspect of who is succeeding, engaged and how the content relates and reflects.

“I think it is absolutely necessary that all of our institutions, including Hamline, work to become more inclusive, more equitable, understand what the issues are, understand the systemic racism, the classism, the homophobia, all of those issues that exist that negatively impact our ability to educate

at the level that we need to,” Miller said. “So if we understand these issues and we understand how these issues are often in place to hold people back, then we understand why as an institution, why our students understand the issues and when they leave us they will continue to combat these issues. I think it is really you cannot talk about being a social justice institution without talking about being an inclusive institution.”

President Miller, who started at Hamline in July of 2015, also added from her own perspective offering more reasoning behind her decision not to join at this time.

“I don't want to be negative about the alliance, but I am more concerned about action rather than putting our name on a list. So if that organization will give us something very different than what David Everett and our DISC committee will do, then I am all in favor of it. But I have to know that that committee is going to give us something more before I invest $18,000 a year into that endeavor,” Miller said. “To me, $18,000 is tuition and scholarship money. I think like that first. And other institutions might not, but as a woman and a woman of color who herself was first generation, these are things that I think about within this space. So I want to see action. I want to see all of our campuses put things in place on our campus that help move the needle in the way which we need to move it.”

Another shift in plans Hamline responds to statewide changes regarding COVID-19.

Molly Landaeta News Editor mlandaeta01@hamline.edu Hamline increased the Shift Level Plan to a four, an email sent on Nov. 18 detailed. The following day, this plan was modified in response to Gov. Tim Walz’s Executive Order 20-99, which brought changes across the state. This level change from Hamline came out less than two weeks after the email announcement for the shift to a level three.

Minnesota is now in the “Red Zone” for COVID-19 cases, according to the metrics developed by the White House Coronavirus Task Force, which is the most critical level. The spread in Minnesota has been steadily increasing over the last four weeks, indicated by positive test results, and is exceeding the “Red Zone” threshold for the first time since early May, according to the executive order.

The shift to a four came with all academics going online on Nov. 23, while staff and faculty who need to report to campus for work are still able to. Initially,

individual and pod workouts for athletes were to continue, along with use of the new aerobic and weight room options for all students, but this was changed the next day after Walz’s order.

“Organized Adult Sports organizations and programs must stop all in-person activities — including practices, group workouts, games and tournaments,” Walz said.

Hamline closed Walker Fieldhouse, Hutton Arena and The Klas Center on Nov. 21 until further notice.

The academic and athletic changes were the main adjustments. The rest of the email detailed safety procedure reminders. This included requesting those who travel to quarantine for 14 days before returning to campus and that anyone remaining on campus to only leave for work, meals or purchasing groceries and other necessary supplies.

Along with that, the email asked for Hamline members to continue wearing masks, social distancing, avoiding hightrafficked areas and, if gathering, to gather in groups of no more than ten.

“We understand that holidays are for family — however, what we found at Halloween was that large parties dramatically contributed to virus

spread,” the email said.

Outside of the implications on Hamline, the executive order detailed other state requirements: social gatherings are prohibited, masks are required, celebrations and receptions are prohibited, outdoor activities must not include close proximity to those outside of one’s household, unnecessary travel is discouraged, people should work from home whenever possible, indoor dining is prohibited but takeout can continue, fitness centers in all capacities are closed and all venues are closed.

Further details about changes and procedures that citizens and businesses should know about can be found in the official Emergency Executive Order 20-99 document on mn.gov.

To-go dining on campus is still available, and students who typically eat in Anderson should continue to check their email for details on how to-go meals will work, especially during the holidays. Residential students should have received an email regarding housing registration for the coming break. Piper XPress will also remain open. As of Nov. 22, Starbucks and Leo’s Corner will also remain open.

GRAPHIC | LEO COUGHENOUR, ORACLE Source: hamline.edu/covid-19/dashboard/

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

News 3

Seeing smaller

Physics professor Jerry Artz twiddles a joystick on a keyboard that looks more like the control panel of a Star Trek ship than anything one would find in a regular computer lab.

“You see it move? It’s all remote controlled. Isn’t that amazing?” Artz said.

He is seated next to a white box the size of a refrigerator that purrs with a strangely human repletion.

Rumors have skittered around campus about the big mysterious machine that appeared one day in Robbins Science Center. Big as it may be, its function is anything but mysterious to the people who work with it.

Will Nelson The machine is an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM), like a standard Reporter lab microscope but much bigger. wnelson08@hamline.edu “[It is]state of the art,” Artz said.

While regular microscopes use lenses and light beams to magnify an image, scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) use a focused beam of electrons. The electrons are shot through a sample, and their trajectories are picked up by detectors inside the microscope. The result is a microscale image with a resolution of about three nanometers, explained first-year student and physics department employee Josh Sedarski.

A n a n o m e t e r (one billionth of a meter) is a difficult measurement to visualize. To reach it, the diameter of a human hair would have to be split 75,000 times. 85,000 nanometers can comfortably sit side by side on the thickness of this sheet of newspaper.

This microscope is so incredibly powerful that with it, a cluster of about three atoms can be seen — and it is on Hamline’s campus.

Additionally, ESEM has a pretty significant advantage over the more standard SEM. “A regular SEM is under very high vacuum. What happens when you’re up to this very high vacuum, is when you put in an object to magnify, the vacuum will rip off the surface of the thing you’re trying to see,” Artz said. “If you want to see the surface of something, and it’s not there – that’s a problem. An PHOTO | EMILY LALL, ORACLE ESEM will actually introduce Hamline physics students get to work with a new, high tech microscope that was purchased for the department this year. Its use, a small amount of humidity over the sample, and that will however, goes beyond just the physics department, applying to various field and projects. preserve the surface, and keep it from getting ripped off.”

SEMs require a layer of electrical coating, but, as Physics Professor Lifeng Dong explains, “With the ESEM, that means without electrical coating, and we can see the natural structure.”

The acquisition of this machine has profound implications for the physics department.

“We have a very active renewable energy department in physics because we just feel like that’s kind of the wave of the future, and we should be preparing our students to work with sustainable energy,” Artz said.

An ESEM will be incredibly helpful in the department’s work with solar cells and supercapacitors — a growing innovation in electric vehicle development.

However, the applications of a machine like this extend well beyond the domain of physics. It has expansive uses in the medical field, material sciences, virology, electronics, genetics, chemistry, forensics and even things like anthropology through soil and rock sampling.

“The ESEM is very good for the interdisciplinary, not just physics,” Dong said.

The funding for the ESEM came from $235,000 in donations from alumni. All requests for donations were under the coordination of Hamline University's Institutional Advancement and its director Mike Tompos. The physics department got a good deal on it, too, thanks in no small part to COVID-19.

“If you’re gonna buy, now’s the time to buy,”Artz said, “It’s supply demand, you know? Nobody had money to buy, and the price came down.”

The department is now working on setting up an endowment for maintenance and upkeep.

To properly care for the microscope, the Tungsten filaments that provide the electrons need to be replaced and vacuum pumps need to be cleaned.

“It takes quite a bit of work just to maintain it,” Artz said.

This addition to Robbins Science marks a milestone that the physics department believes will be greatly beneficial to students.

“Even though they just learn how to operate one device, that gives them the mental capacity to learn other kinds of machines,”Artz said, “Being able to say ‘I worked on the Hamline environmental scanning electron microscope,’ that’s a plus. That sets them ahead of other people… We want to provide the very best education we can for our students.”

The physics department has a new instrument… and it has really good eyesight.

See page 12 for more COVID-19 information and available resources.

4 Variety

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

A push for inclusive dining options Students with dietary restrictions are struggling with the limited options Hamline’s dining provides.

Leslie Perez Reporter lferreraperez01@hamline.edu This year, Hamline has more students with dietary restrictions than it ever has before. However, the institution has yet to take the necessary steps to meet their needs. Fednise Stark, a vegan firstyear student, is one of those students struggling to get dining services to accommodate her needs.

According to Stark, the quality and options of food declined after the first week of school. There was eventually no protein and only vegetables she could eat.

“My roommate and I were both practicing vegans,” Stark said. “If we didn’t have the option, we would go to the salad area or the sandwich area to get something. But the food was not really good. It wasn’t seasoned. If they had tofu, it wasn’t cooked tofu.

Nothing was prepared the way that it should, because it just seemed like you’re eating raw, raw dishes.”

Because of the limited options, Stark had lost about 16 pounds. “From the time that I came to school, on August 27, to like, I believe, September 20 or

PHOTO | LAUREN THOMPSON, ORACLE Students who have dietary restrictions have very few options for meals . Some students, like Stark, have even switched their meal plans. something, I had lost so much weight just from not eating properly,” Stark said. “And I was messaging my mom like, ‘Mom, I am not eating, I’m not getting enough food and I am losing weight.’”

Stark decided to take action and got in contact with dining services. She was continuously directed to talk to people who would then send her to talk to others. It seemed like she was getting nowhere. It took about a month before she actually got her meal plan changed.

Stark was frustrated after trying to get help. “Why was I going through all these, like strings? Just to have my meal plan changed?” Stark said.

A dining services employee who told Stark they would help her made a false promise: “She even said, when I talked to her it was on a Thursday, I remembered. And she’s like, ‘Oh, just so you know, so many people have come to me with this same problem because this is the greatest amount of vegans

that we have had in Hamline at all.’

And so I was like, okay, so now that they know that, they will change,” Stark said.

The person then told Stark to come the following Monday because they would talk to the chef and change the menu. They also told Stark that if a meal was not working or if she needed something else, she could contact her and she would make sure it was on the menu.

“And when Monday came, nothing changed. And I would message her like, ‘This food is not good. It doesn’t have seasoning, it doesn’t have anything in it that I actually want to eat’ and some days, I went back to my dorm and I didn’t end up eating anything because it made me sick to my stomach to actually eat,” Stark said.

Stark believes the limited food options are unjust: “I’ve just gotten so frustrated with the lack of not having any vegan options available.

Sometimes, like for a while, and still now

they only have zucchini and broccoli, and some kind of green vegetable for the vegan area. I’m frustrated, because I was promised, and so many other people were promised that they would be getting more vegan options and they’re getting stuff for rabbits. That’s not right.”

In addition to this, Stark says a friend of hers wanted to get her meal plan changed for religious reasons. Her application was denied.

“It’s hard to go outside your religion, just for the sake of you know, one community, you know what I mean?

And when she saw my thing, she got really mad and she fought harder because it wasn’t right for her to not be able to change her meal plan,” Stark said.

Stark hopes that people who are in charge of making changes can better meet students’ needs and fulfill their promises.

“Don’t say, ‘Oh, it’s gonna change Monday’ and then when Monday comes, it doesn’t change. Then people are disappointed by the results of everything,” Stark said. “Another thing would just be like, because it’s a huge vegan network this year, why is there not a broader vegan’s section? You shouldn’t have to wonder about where you’re going to get your next source of protein.”

Stay warm, stay distant and stay happy Oh the weather outside is frightful, but my dear... we are still in a pandemic.

Here are some socially distant and safe activities.

Hayden Hayes Reporter hhayes01@hamline.edu The weather is getting colder and COVID-19 continues to cause restrictions across the United States Here are some fun and safe activities for this upcoming break.

1. Friluftsliv Fril-uft-what?

Friluftsliv (pronounced free-loofts-liv) literally means “free air life,” a concept part of Norwegian culture (similar to hygge, to which google defines as a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being). You’ll find nearly a million Instagram posts tagged with #friluftsliv full of forests, gorgeous landscapes, people hiking, canoeing, camping and otherwise exploring the great outdoors.

The idea behind friluftsliv, or friluftsliving, is to be out in the fresh air to commune with nature, even when the

weather is not that great. It’s a helpful mindset for anyone and everyone to embrace right now. As the days grow bitter and short, our activity options stay unbearingly similar while we continuously lust for new adventures.

Friluftsliv enables us to satisfy our taste for new experience through giving our familiar view of the surrounding environment a new lense.

Plus, we all have heard that time outside is a benefit to not only our external selves but our internal beings as well.

Incorporating these hours of outdoor indulgence each week can improve stress levels, igniting better physical and mental health. And who doesn’t need to improve their stress levels and health during this time of ambiguity and undisclosed conclusions?

2. Bake, cook and crunch Use this time to experiment with soul warming recipes to keep the sick (and the munchies) away. Load up a cup of cocoa with whipped cream or marshmallows. Baking things such as pie, apples or hopping onto the sourdough trend are great options. Making pancakes is an easy and delicious option when craving something sweet. Not in the mood to indulge your sweet tooth? Try roasting root vegetables or making a homemade

soup. Recipes for almost anything can be found online, so get cooking!

3. Take care of yourself You worked your butt off this semester, you deserve some r&r! Invest in yourself and see the benefits appear through participating in these activities. Spend the whole day in comfort by wearing pajamas all day and cuddling up to read a book or watch a movie. Stay warm in the freezing weather by taking a hot bath or snuggling up to an indoor or outdoor fire. Looking to stimulate your mind while on break? Try a jigsaw puzzle, a challenging crossword or other word games. You have made it through the stress of the fall semester, now it is time to take care of yourself.

4. Love who you can

It has been a chaotic, crazy, and lonesome time recently. Many of us haven’t been able to see our loved ones in a hot minute, so it is important to thank those who have been there for us and show them we care. Bake cookies to share with your friends. Build a pillow fort, hang up some twinkling lights and call your friends.Enjoy a living room picnic – if you have roommates or live with your family, this is a great way to spice up a plain old lunch-time meal. Host a movie marathon with all your favorites through Netflix Party or Google Meet. Have a Zoom dinner by candlelight – with only the best takeout, of course. Plan a virtual game night. Write a love letter… and actually send it!

ILLUSTRATION | LEO COUGHERNOUR, ORACLE

Variety 5

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Semester reactions Not charity, symbiosis

This year has been very different due to COVID-19 and Hamline students have something to say about it.

Z Martinez Reporter aremmersmartinez01@hamline.edu

Everything has changed drastically since COVID-19 intruded upon student’s lives and Hamline began taking precautions for the fall semester.

Now, students share their thoughts over how well they believe this semester went and how they feel next semester could improve.

First-year Adan Moya felt good going into the semester as he expressed his need for a change of scenery. Moya talked about how strange it was at first to become accustomed to wearing a mask around campus all the time and how he didn’t expect classes to be as small as they were due to Hamline’s new safety regulations.

The campus’ restrictions kept him away from meeting new people and this felt like a blow to Moya’s mental health. He spoke of his love of talking and connecting with people and how that has been made nearly impossible due to COVID-19. Because of this, he felt as if he was placed in a bubble of isolation.

Even so, he felt as if he grew as a person this semester and this experience has caused him to value his interactions with others. With next semester quickly approaching, Moya felt that although Hamline took the right approach in making classrooms smaller and students being spaced apart when meeting in person, they should consider listening to students more and monitoring students who were supposed to be in quarantine as they could sometimes be found out and about instead of being isolated.

He said besides that, Hamline did great in making this a safe and welcoming environment.

“They made me feel at home,” Moya said, “and made this place like a second home to me.”

Junior Nicole-Marie Ferrer, who at the beginning of the semester felt that everything was going well and it almost felt the same as previous semesters since some of her classes were still in person. However, as the semester progressed, she had to change her routine as her classes switched to online.

This caused some issues as the Wi-Fi was not always reliable and she had to endure being kicked out of class repeatedly. Ferrer admitted that her biggest challenge when classes started going online was with her asynchronous ones. There was no constant reminder of when assignments were due and she would forget about the class.

She suggested it would be beneficial

for asynchronous classes to meet at least once a week for students to stay updated and have that time to interact.

Something that she expressed about this semester is that even though it was the shortest, it felt like the longest due to all the changes that occurred this year.

Ferrer liked how in-person classrooms were organized and agreed that these were planned well to keep students safe, yet she believes that students could have gone online sooner and this would have helped keep the spike

PHOTO | ALI KIMBALL, ORACLE The condensed semester and online classes have caused a lot of stress for many students. of COVID-19 cases from rising.

“Just as much as it is on the school on preventing cases,” Ferrer said. “I do think students could have done a better job also on protecting each other.”

Senior Benjamine Soto addressed feeling intimidated as this year’s fall semester began because of the uncertainty that followed how things ended last year when COVID-19 first began to affect everyone’s education.

Soto felt that Hamline’s attempts at trying out hybrid classes was a nice gesture and she was impressed at how it seemed to have been working up until the recent spikes of COVID-19 within the state caused classes to all move online.

While she admitted that this felt like a rushed semester, she also felt that there is always room for improvement. Soto admitted to feeling less overwhelmed than last year when everything just seemed to change in a snap. She believes that since next semester will be at least partially online, students will be able to give back enough to enhance their own learning experience. She has a lot of hope that the changes will be beneficial to professors, staff and students and that it will be a more balanced semester.

“Even though it’s overwhelming, I’m sure professors will be able to use the feedback they’ve gotten and they’ll make it better for students,” Soto said.

This semester has been full of new experiences for everybody involved and even though we are now moving completely online , students seem to be adapting well and finding ways to succeed despite the constant changes affecting their lives.

Discussing the hope of financial aid following mutual aid events on campus.

AJ Washington Reporter awashington02@hamline.edu

The coronavirus pandemic has created a global rut. Over two hundred thousand Americans have passed away after contracting the virus. The “Employment Situation Summary” released by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 1.8 million temporarily laid off workers as of October. An overwhelming amount of new applicants seeking unemployment benefits has overwhelmed the program and resulted in the freezing of funds.

A stimulus check was distributed five months ago and congress has not decided when the next one will come.

Socially marginalized people continue to face insecurity and injustice. Kyle Rittenhouse, a homicide suspect who shot and killed Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum during the Jacob Blake protests in Kenosha, WI, was released on Friday on bail of $2 million. Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer charged with the murder of George Floyd last May, was released on bail of $1 million last month. In the days following his release, dozens of people living in tents at PowderHorn Park were evacuated.

Many of their personal items were discarded and a safe alternative shelter was not provided to all of them.

While struggles and injustices continue to burden communities, hope persists. Over the summer, several demonstrations in remembrance of Floyd took place all over the Twin Cities. Communities organized and collaborated to uplift their neighbors, with intentional focus on the socially marginalized. It was during these difficult times a mutual aid movement began in St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The “Twin Cities Mutual Aid Project” created a website and interactive map listing four hundred sites where people could donate, volunteer and seek assistance. There are several Facebook Pages where people post their needs and the public responds.

Mutual aid has a diverse history in America. Black Americans navigated racial segregation in the United States through mutual aid. Immigrants also use mutual aid to maintain the wellbeing of their community.

Mutualism exists everywhere in the natural world. Take the symbiotic relationship of the oxpecker and rhinoceros for example. In this interaction, the oxpecker consumes the parasites on the rhino’s back, and the rhino provides the bird with a safe space to do so. Both participants benefit from the relationship and serve one another in their own way. Humans replicate this ecological interaction in a multitude of ways. Simple things like doing laundry at a friend or relative’s home and bringing extra detergent for their load is mutualism.

Aid is a voluntary act of assistance.

One can aid financially, materially, with time or compassion.

“That’s what is transformative about mutual aid. The core is caring about people and making connections,” said Emma Harrington, the Collaboration Programmer for the Hamline University Programming Board (HUPB). Harrington coordinated the November mutual aid month event that targeted first year students and anyone else looking for a way to help others through donations. The donation box is located at the Anderson Front Desk.

Harrington is open to coordinating more mutual aid events in the future.

In the meantime, take an interest in the community. Explore symbiotic relationships, whether it’s shoveling a senior’s driveway or helping a younger friend or relative with school work.

A community is only as good as its citizens.

PHOTO | ALI KIMBALL, ORACLE HUPB and HORC previously hosted a mutual aid event in late October. Junior Amanda Libby explains the importance of mutual aid to a fellow student.

6 A&E

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Crystal growth: a cinematic event The physics department held its 29th annual Kay Malmstrom lecture. This year’s guest was Frances M. Ross, a Cambridge alum and current MIT professor, who presented her research on crystal growth.

Sarah Sawyer Reporter ssawyer04@hamline.edu Bottle rockets and egg parachutes are some quintessential experiments done in high school physics classes. Mathematics is the skill associated with the field, so not many people think of cinematography and photography when it comes to physics research. This year’s Kay Malmstrom lecture on Microscopy in Motion was presented by MIT professor Frances M. Ross. Attendees were not just educated on the material science surrounding crystal growth but were also shown mini-movies of the processes as well.

First-year physics student Josh Sedarski was featured at the beginning of the lecture and was responsible for behind-the-scenes work for the event.

Additionally, he is working on bringing in students to use Hamline’s new electron microscope.

“As I had been preparing for this all semester, it was pretty satisfying to see it come together,” Sedarski said.

Microscopic images were used to explain the benefits of nanoscience, the process of self-assembly, catalysts, molecular bonding and more. In Situ electron microscopy is when researchers use real-time analysis of a process to investigate their

physical properties. Viewing the resulting footage can be much like watching a film.

“It’s great to take pictures, even better to make movies,” Ross said.

That night, audience members were able to watch footage of Ross’s scientific research about how crystal versions of various chemicals grow spontaneously on different materials. She explained the scientific tools she used as well as the “human element”–her term to describe human error–behind the research, emphasizing that the final report is never the whole story. “[It] definitely helps to visualize,” Sedarski said.

“Maybe you’re drawing a diagram so you can see how to work a problem. Get a full scope of the problem.”

Chair of the physics department, professor Lifeng Dong, reflected on the benefits of a liberal arts education and how art and physics intersect.

“A good sign of an engineer is how they can express results to the community,” Dong said.

In the hardship of 2020, it has been a challenge to cultivate hope, resilience and joy. Dong spoke about how the research process can help.

“Research is about challenges, difficulty and never giving up,” Dong said. “We cannot let the situation stop us.”

Dong hopes that students can be inspired by Ross’s research. He mentioned that the physics department is doing everything it can to maintain social distancing rules while trying it’s best to continue the research process.

The Microscopy in Motion event can be watched on YouTube at “Emma K. Malmstrom lecture 2020 program with Dr. Frances M. Ross.” Viewers can also investigate Hamline’s new electron microscope.

Dong encourages any interested students to reach out to him and get a tour.

SCREENSHOTS | LAUREN THOMPSON, ORACLE Presentation slides from this year’s Kay Malstrom lecture in physics. Guest lecturer Professor Frances M. Ross presented on the capabilities and experiments pertaining to crystal growth, made possible with an electron microscope. Electron microscopy allows for the real-time analysis of crystallization processes.

SCREENSHOT | LAUREN THOMPSON, ORACLE Chair of the physics department, professor Lifeng Dong, stands beside Hamline’s new electron microsope. Dong encourages students interested in using the new technology to reach out to him.

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

A&E 7

Trans artists rising

STAFF PICKS OF THE WEEK

In honor of Transgender Awareness Week (Nov. 13-19), here are some recommendations of transgender music artists.

TOPIC: Television Characters

Robin Doyscher Senior Reporter sdoyscher01@hamline.edu Transgender Awareness Week is a time for us to educate ourselves and celebrate the lives and contributions of transgender people, leading up to Nov. 20: Trans Remembrance Day. So, it would be best to celebrate the art from the T of the LGBTQ+ community by exploring some great musicians who identify themselves as transgender.

Imbi the girl (styled as imbi) is a queer and nonbinary artist from Sydney, Australia who broke out into the music scene with the single “acidic” in June of 2017. Becoming a somewhat prolific feature artist, imbi is a wonderfully impactful writer and performer of hip-hop and R&B. Imbi’s style is this great contrasting yet complimenting mix of smooth, low-key instrumentals alongside brash and bold lyrics that always cut to the heart of the subject matter of songs. Imbi is clearly destined to find a niche among those who enjoy the lyrical stylings of artists like Noname, SZA and Little Simz. (Recommended songs: “acidic,” “swell,” “V.I.P.”)

Lyla Lee

A&E Reporter

Uncle Iroh

(Avatar: The Last Airbender)

SOURCE | SPOTIFY The album cover of Alex Newell’s song “Mama Told Me” features a photo of Newell as a young child with their mother. entertainment company. Known for their flamboyant and immediately recognizable style, Electra has been a figurehead of the hyper pop movement alongside Charli XCX, 100 gecs and SOPHIE. Electra’s music videos are loaded with symbolism and psychedelic imagery that creates the feeling of watching an indie short-film with a crazy soundtrack. The amount of effort Electra puts into their costumes, production and outward appearance is so impressive it’s worth listening to them just for the spectacle of seeing a one-of-a-kind type of artist. In a sense, Electra is like the David Bowie of the transgender community. (Recommended songs: “Sorry Bro,” “I Love You,” “Gentleman,” “My Agenda.”)

“The entire Avatar: The Last Airbender series taught me a lot of lessons that I use in my everyday life, but Uncle Iroh’s character showed me how to use those lessons and not just help myself, but others as well.”

Nicole Ronchetti News Reporter

Elizabeth Harmon

(The Queen’s Gambit)

SOURCE | SPOTIFY The album “for me” features Australian artist imbi the girl alongside psychedelic artwork.

There was a show that was somewhat popular in the late 2000s to mid 2010s, you may have heard of it: “Glee,” a musical comedy-drama series on Fox. Introduced in the show’s third season, Alex Newell played Wade “Unique” Adams, a male-tofemale transgender performer who worked on accepting herself and growing confidence as a singer. Newell, who identifies as a gender nonconforming gay man, has also had quite the career after being on “Glee.” Newell makes very upbeat dance disco-pop music in the vein of Lady Gaga or Dua Lipa and is known for having a very powerful voice that can carry complex melodies. Newell has been creating and releasing music since 2010 and has quite an impressive catalog of singles and remix work. (Recommended songs: “Boy, You Can Keep It,” “Mama Told Me,” “Kill The Lights.”)

Heading into the realm of PC-music, Houston-born Dorian Electra first made a name for themself by releasing music videos that included intersectional feminist activism and queer histories with Refinery29, an American multimedia

“She’s a complex character that struggles with issues too often reserved only for male characters, and her story has her get through them based on her own strength and the support of those around her.

SOURCE | SPOTIFY Dorian Electra’s “My Agenda” is a concept album about toxic masculinity and incels as seen through a queer lens.

As someone who loves music and is transitioning, it is very reassuring to know that the art of a valuable community I have the honor of being a part of is reaching more ears than ever before, especially in a landmark year for music in general.

8 Opinion

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 , 2020

Willful ignorance must be stopped

Robin Doyscher Guest Columnist sdoyscher01@hamline.edu

The rise of anti-intellectualism is an emerging problem in our daily lives.

So the 2020 election has come to a close, and America has decided to go for a slow death by poison instead of simply driving the bus of democracy off the cliff. And, to no one’s surprise, the crazed bus driver who has driven many buses off cliffs—and yet still is trusted with even nicer and more expensive buses after each accident—is very upset that he cannot continue his bus driving.

I am of course talking about

Donald J. Trump, who is very much convinced that he has won the election despite all other sources besides him saying that he hasn’t. Sure enough, once Trump began tweeting about how the election was “stolen,” his sycophantic followers and fellow White House ghouls lapped it up and leapt to his defense. “Stop the count!” they say in protests. “Count all the votes!” they also say at similar protests without a hint of irony.

“On one hand, I appreciate the sentiment of questioning authority and searching for hidden truths in society, but this type of ideology can lead down dangerous avenues.”

See, there is a dangerous pandemic happening in America right now – no, not

Speakout

Delina Yihdego Sophomore “I was hoping that I would get through the last week of in-person classes, but I feel like it’s necessary to shift to level four for the safety of Hamline students and faculty.

Even after Thanksgiving break, students are required to self-quarantine for 14 days before returning to campus which makes it safer for everyone.”

that one. A pandemic that’s been brewing ever since the inception of the “Information Age,” and has slowly come to a head within these past couple decades with the advent of social media. The pandemic of accepted anti-intellectualism.

On one hand, I appreciate the sentiment of questioning authority and searching for hidden truths in society, but this type of ideology can lead down dangerous avenues.

Such as Q-Anon, the belief that — no joke — our government, Hollywood and our society is being r un by Satan worshipping p*dophiles who are trafficking children and colluding with the so-called “deep state.” The one man who can stop them? Donald Trump.

You know, the guy who was at Epstein’s island, said he walked in on underage girls changing in pageants and said he’d date his daughter. That guy!

“But you see! This is all a 4-D chess game where Donald plays the part to get to the true enemy,” Q-Anon believers say as they get retweeted on Twitter by prominent conservative politicians and even the president himself. Here’s the problem: politicians and established media people are fielding and platforming these

seriously dangerous ideas in the American concept of “the free marketplace of ideas.”

I think it’s easy to assume that most people have rational brains that will attempt to sort out truth from lies, but here’s the thing: as easy as it is for me to say this is all ridiculous, there are people out there who view these conspiracies as the rational point of view. Because rationality, much like morality, is culturally relative.

So, why does this matter?

Because, as college students, knowledge is sort of our lifeblood. We deal in learning, expanding and questioning and at a time when our brains are still forming, we have to be cognizant of the way information works. The battle is recognizing these theories’ baseless natures and pushing those who peddle them to provide concrete proof. Asking someone to defend their ideas is vital in this age and yet in the same breadth, we need not give platforms to those who seek to destabilize our society for the sake of misguided righteousness.

What do you think about Hamline’s COVID plan shifting to level four quickly?

Matt Liu First-year

Clare Foy Sophomore

“I feel a little bit nervous but in general, it is just the same. I absolutely don’t want the spring to be fully online. I feel quite safe on campus because everyone in the dorm will just go back home for Thanksgiving and must be under quarantine.”

“I think it’s good that [they] managed to shift up so quickly, but I also think they’ve made a lot of compromises on safety so the sports teams can keep functioning all semester long and it has cost all of us. Safety measures should have been more intense from the beginning.”

Opinion 9

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Burning out with burnout

Hafsa Ahmed Columnist hadmed10@hamline.edu

Tips for students on identifying burnout and how to deal with it.

W ith the constant strains of striving to perform throughout the semester with barely any breathers and the holidays drawing near, do you ever just feel complete emotional exhaustion? Do you feel a sense of doubt, helplessness or loss of motivation? Do you feel like just doing minimal things requires the largest efforts? Then you might be looking at a case of burnout.

I thought burnout was just feeling tired and having a few blowups here and there, but there seem to be more symptoms and harmful effects

than what is let on. I am going to discuss what burnout actually is, its symptoms and a few tips that may come in handy.

Burnout is a state of being physically, emotionally and mentally exhausted. This is often caused by prolonged stress and can cause harmful effects on your emotional health and motivation.

Burnout is not the stereotype of being only mentally tired from the stress of workload, it is often a feeling of emptiness and mental exhaustion with a lack of motivation and/or care.

Having burnout means that you often don’t see any hope of positive change in the situation you are in.

I can personally describe it as purposefully avoiding work, whether consciously or subconsciously, just to escape the never-ending pile of workload and responsibilities that seem to rival Mt. Everest.

It’s tiring and has you feeling like it never ends. It is very emotionally damaging and can lead to detachment and depression.

A misconception that I’d like to note is that burnout is not similar to stress. In fact, the symptoms of stress are the opposite of burnout and do not really fit when it comes to which health aspect is affected the

most. People with stress can still see the positive side and remain motivated throughout dealing with the stressor, unlike people with burnout.

Burnout can occur from many things that can bring on stress other than work/school, it depends on the personality traits and lifestyle of a person as well. Examples of lifestyle causes of burnout are working too much without enough time to interact or socialize with others, lack of close and supportive relationships and not getting enough sleep. Personality traits that often attribute to burnout are pessimistic views of yourself and the world, perfectionist tendencies and having Type A personalities.

Okay, so we talked about identifying burnout, but how exactly do we deal with it? You use the “Three R” approach.

First, you recognize that you are facing burnout. Secondly is the reverse, where we undo the damage by managing stress and seeking support. Lastly, you must start to build your resilience to stress by taking care of your physical and emotional health. It is important to know that there are resources such as the health and wellness center that have online access to anyone who needs it.

Here are three tips that can

help you with burnout as well.

First, turn to people we can go to. This tip is difficult due to the pandemic, but trying to reach out to friends and family and talking it out can actually help with calming us and relieving stress.

Second, try to reframe how we look at school or work. Try to ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” to bring some motivation and try to find value in your work or studies. It is important to find a balance with our responsibilities and try to find things we love outside of the things we may dislike. Take time off if you need to recharge your batteries and recover.

Third, reevaluate your priorities. It is necessary to ask yourself if certain things in your life need to be at the top of your list. Try to set boundaries so as not to strain yourself on things that are based on your own time.

Take a break from tech for some time each day. Use creativity to try something new, start small projects that you enjoy and don’t bring you any stress or allow you to put some of that stress somewhere else.

Remember that burnout is real and that it’s okay to face it, just make sure you try to deal with it in a healthy manner.

ILLUSTRATION | LEO COUGHENOUR, THE ORACLE

10 Opinion

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Wrapping up the semester… with a tourniquet

Will Nelson Senior Columnist wnelson08@hamline.edu

Looking for beauty in a bad time.

Congratulations, you’ve made it to the end of the first semester!

That statement seems to have a lot more gravity than it did last year. It’s been quite a ride, and the thrills keep coming right up to the bitter end.

The Hamline student body got hit with double whammy emails last Wednesday that felt a little like a gut punch from a sock full of coins. The emails, arriving within six hours of each other, announced Hamline’s shift to level four in their COVID-19 response and a 2.96 percent increase in tuition for the 20212022 academic year.

For a lot of people, it was a bad day.

The shift to level four, though disappointing, wasn’t surprising to me. Cases of COVID-19 are growing exponentially and we’re entering into the busiest month of travel of the year. Increasing safety precautions to reflect that was pretty obviously the right call.

But that doesn’t change the fact that watching professors try the old “I’ll wait” technique while an entire class collectively refuses to unmute themselves while I’m eating lukewarm food from a little green plastic box alone in my dorm is an extremely unpleasant experience.

I wish I could say more about the tuition increase. The truth is, I really don’t have a very good understanding of the motives behind it, and until I know the full story, I’m hesitant to place judgement on the decision. I do, however, understand that the Provost’s office has the best interests of the future of Hamline as an institution in mind, but whether or not that reflects the best interests of the students in said institution, I can confidently say that I do not know.

Regardless, the tuition is going to increase next year, and I don’t think even the people who made the decision are happy about that.

On top of all of that, we’re

being inexorably pulled towards finals week like chickens in a slaughterhouse tied to the conveyor belt of time from which the only escape is a variety of distractions in varying degrees of unhealthiness.

As if that weren’t enough, many of us are quarantined in anticipation of Thanksgiving break travel, further increasing social isolation and exacerbating mental health issues that some have been struggling with for months.

I know everyone has probably heard enough “In times like these…” spiels, but I thought since this is the last issue of the semester, I could maybe give one more.

This is going to be sappy, but I won’t apologize because I believe the negative connotation of the word “sappy” is an agent of toxic masculinity.

In times like these it’s important to appreciate the beauty in the world around us and the beauty that lives in each and every one of us.

The same Wednesday that we switched to level four and we heard about the tuition increase, there was a beautiful sunset.

Sunsets are usually beautiful, but this one was different.

Sl e n d e r w i s p s o f c l o u d illuminated by the molten

gold pooled at the edge of the horizon hung staggered in the sky like lines of poetry, punctuated by the silhouette of fat pigeons sitting on power lines. The world wallowed in a crackling, divine energy.

Traffic slowed. People stopped what they were doing, putting down pencils and closing laptops. Faces blossomed at every window, and on the sidewalk, a couple kissed.

For a moment, the world sat quietly with her legs crossed beneath her.

There’s a lot of darkness in life these days, and as someone who complains about it constantly, I wouldn’t feel right telling others not to.

But there’s also incredible beauty and peace.

I hope that over break you are all able to find a piece of this beauty and peace, whether it’s in the majesty of nature, in the laughter of a loved one or in the companionship of a very good dog —or maybe a cat.

I also hope that you are also able to take a moment to see the beauty in yourself, and appreciate what an amazing and spectacular person that you are.

We want to hear from you.

Letters must include submitter’s full name and graduation year (when applicable), be submitted electronically at least three days before publication and must not exceed 700 words.

The Oracle does not edit Letters to the Editor, but reserves the right to withhold publication of letters.

The content of the Opinion section does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff.

E-mail submissions to: oracle@hamline.edu With questions, contact: Drew Science 106

Sports 11

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Raising the bar while raising funds Piper Funding Week gives student athletes and their programs the opportunity to campaign for a variety of expenses while connecting with their communities and families in Hamline.

Cathryn Salis Sports Reporter csalis01@hamline.edu The drive to Central High School for Hamline athletes is about 15 minutes, including packing and unloading equipment.

Why would athletes at Hamline be commuting to a high school 15 minutes away? The men’s and women’s tennis teams have been driving to Central to practice on the high school’s tennis courts in lieu of using the old Hamline courts for three years.

“They’re pretty bad, just cracked up and stuff,” said Dom Warzecha, a first-year on the men’s tennis team.

“We’re gonna get them repaved so they’re nice and fresh and ready for us to practice and compete on.”

Piper FundingWeek gives the tennis teams the opportunity to do just that. Both tennis teams are using this week of promotion to reach out to community members, families and their alumni network to let them know what the teams are raising money for.

Piper Funding Week is a campaign that encourages donations for various Piper athletic programs, including the Piper Athletic Association (PAA). The PAA assists with virtual recruiting processes and many other COVID-related accommodations such as touchless water stations. Gifts towards the PAA also help support additional assistant coaches for teams to be socially distanced and offer academic support.

This week is not just for tennis either as many different teams at Hamline are participating in the event this year, and each team participating in this campaign has specific places their donations are being put towards. Women’s lacrosse is

raising funds for travel expenses, wellness speakers, dome practice time and healthy eating options. Men’s basketball is campaigning for travel gear, trips, uniforms and assistant coaches. The track team is fundraising for equipment and gear.

The men’s and women’s track teams at Hamline are unique for their size and therefore have an extensive alumni network and external community. Donors can specify on the track donation page to which event group their donation will support. One of their subcategories is strictly about shoes for their athletes.

Hamline track and field has a collaboration with a top rated running shoe store Mill City Running in Minneapolis to help athletes with the price of quality shoes. “The distance runners are always really appreciative, especially in the shoe area because they’re doing so much more running than anyone else on the team,” said Lindsey Bernardy, a junior on the track team.

Because of COVID-19 restrictions this year, fundraising must be done virtually, and personal touches on these outreach efforts became extremely important and useful.

Some teams made videos, some made individualized cards and one popular option was a unique website for each team.

Despite the pandemic year, Hamline athletic programs are being effective in participating in the fundraising opportunity.

“This year it’s been very communicated of what the plan is,” said Yee Thao, a junior on the women’s tennis team.

Fundraising is an important part of Hamline athletics and its ability to function and serve student athletes in the best way possible. It is necessary to the maintenance of quality equipment and facilities and giving student athletes the full Piper experience Hamline is so proud of.

Piper pride is at the heart of Piper Funding Week, allowing athletic programs to reach out to those who support Hamline athletics an opportunity to donate if they are able. “Having a home court to play on is really important to both teams,” Warzecha said. “We’re all really excited to get home courts so we can actually represent our school.”

Piper Funding Week: Men’s and Women’s Tennis-$2,120 Men’s and Women’s Track and Field$4,755 Women’s Lacrosse-$5,235 Women’s Basketball- $775 Men’s Basketball- $6,554 Piper Athletics Association- $1,475

Are you or your family interested in donating?

Gifts to the Piper Athletic Association help to ensure the best experience for Hamline scholar-athletes.

Go to givecampus.com/schools/ HamlineUniversity to donate.

Campaign ends on Jan. 1 at 12:00 a.m.

Stay fit from home

ILLUSTRATION | LEO COUGHENOUR, ORACLE

The Oracle | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2020

Resource 12

GRAPHIC | LEO COUGHENOUR, ORACLE