Mount Holyoke News - Friday, September 29th

Class of 2027 candidates vie for presidency in All Campus Elections

AC elections website prominently highlights the importance of promoting student well-being as a fundamental aspect of campus life.

influence beyond our campus. We can start by helping schools around [us] like Springfield and around our community.”

BY ANDREA KEKULA ’27

STAFF WRITER

Sparking fervent discussions and growing anticipation within the Mount Holyoke College community, this year’s All Campus Elections have returned. The 2023 All Campus Elections are especially significant because of the substantial size of the Class of 2027 — 545 students were projected to enroll in the first-year class as of April 2023. On April 27, 2023, the College published on its website, “For the third year in a row, Mount Holyoke College received a record number of applications. But this year’s record of 5,030 first-year applications, which represents a 2.7% increase from last year, also signals another milestone: attracting more than 5,000 applicants.”

This sizable first-year class may be the reason why so many candi-

will determine how the Class

dates are particularly invested in securing the class president position.

According to a recent email from the Division of Student Life, polls opened on Sept. 25 and are set to close this Sunday, Oct. 1. Results will be announced around Oct. 3. At Mount Holyoke, SGA represents the entire student body in student governance and advocacy. Annual elections provide students with a platform to exercise their right to elect representatives who will advocate for their interests and engage in the decision-making processes that impact the Mount Holyoke community.

In an interview with Mount Holyoke News, current Student Body President Maille Romulus’ 24 remarked on the anticipation of the forthcoming elections. “[The SGA] serves as the communicators to students and staff and administra-

2027 is

within SGA. tion. And so it’s very important to have advocates that live in and on campus,” Romulus said. “I’m really excited about the class of 2027 as they are so optimistic. I can see that they’re all participating in the elections [with] so many people running, which is so nice to see. I just hope that they continue that momentum as the years go on. I hope that, no matter what the results are, everyone remains involved in Class Board and SGA.”

As the five Class of 2027 presidential candidates campaign to lead their peers, their voices and visions for the future of Mount Holyoke are evident.

Presidential candidates such as Cindy Ntembe ’27 embrace their commitment to the holistic well-being of the student body, a principle that forms a cornerstone of the College’s values. The official SGA and

“Our mental health crisis that we couldn’t talk about during the COVID pandemic is still going on right now. And so, building a sense of community and belonging [is important] to me. My goal with that is talking about the issues that really scare people,” Ntembe stated in a recent interview. “Social anxiety disorder … used to be something I was very embarrassed about, or even having depression, but now I know that these aren’t things that you need to be embarrassed about. They’re part of the human experience. They’re part of the college experience.’’ Elle Rood ’27, another presidential candidate, has chosen the slogan “Experience Progressive Representation” for her campaign as she strives to promote trans-inclusivity in electoral processes.

In an interview, Rood expressed her commitment to promoting equity and inclusion.

“I think that it’s important that every demographic is represented in our student government, and so I want to be the first to bring [a transgender woman’s] perspective,” Rood said.

According to the SGA website, the organization has a longstanding history of advocating for equity and inclusion within the campus community.

Ivy Zhou ’27, another presidential candidate, emphasized the importance of community building and “good service.”

“The role of a class board is just to provide good service to our classmates,” Zhou said. “And then secondly, we can try to expand our

The SGA website provides concrete evidence of this commitment to service through various initiatives. They include supporting student clubs and organizations, encouraging community service, promoting inclusivity and diversity and hosting open forums for dialogue.

Anna Bobbitt ’27, who is also running in the race, said, “Ever since I got here, I have just fallen in love with the campus and the community,

“I want our class to be a mini community inside of the Mount Holyoke community, and I would love to foster inner development between groups and clubs and communities,” Bobbitt said. “I want everyone to feel at home and to feel like they have a sense of community here.”

The final presidential candidate, Kadiatou Barry ’27, spoke about the spirit of community and altruism. “I am inspired [to run] because I like leadership roles, and I like helping other people [and] I actually want to go into public service,” she stated.

Barry also spoke about initiatives she envisions for the Class of 2027. “[I want to] have events where we can all come together — the whole grade — and I also want to have our voices heard so that we can change some things because Mount Holyoke is a great place but we can make it better,” she said.

As the presidential candidates embark on their journey to serve their peers, their commitment to the principles of fairness and progress echoes the College’s mission to have students strive for excellence in their shared pursuit of knowledge and growth.

Community reflects on Danielle R. Holley’s inauguration ceremony

BY TARA MONASTESSE ’25 & NINA SYDORYK ’25 MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT | NEWS EDITOR

Though Danielle R. Holley had officially assumed her role as Mount Holyoke College’s 20th President nearly three months prior, excitement remained undiminished at her formal inauguration on Thursday, Sept. 21.

The inauguration was preceded by a pep rally outside Mary Woolley Hall, where students welcomed Holley and other attendees to the ceremony. Donning handmade signs, they cheered loudly to mark the start of the eventful day.

Lined with students, faculty, staff, alums and other members of the MHC and greater Pioneer Valley community, Chapin Auditorium was decorated in vibrant blue for the event. Students inside waved pompoms and cheered as Holley filed into the auditorium, accompanied by delegates from over 100 colleges and institutions from across the country and the world.

President Holley formerly served as dean of the Howard University School of Law. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and served as a law clerk to Judge Carl E. Steward on the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Her extensive legal and scholarly experience, as well as her work in social justice, were highlighted by Inauguration speakers.

Thus far in her career, Holley has received numerous awards, including the inaugural Impact Award from the Association of American Law Schools, the American Bar Foundation’s Montgomery Summer Research Diversity Fellowship Distinguished Alumni Award, the Lutie Lytle Conference Outstanding Scholar Award, the National Bar Association’s Heman Sweatt Award and the University of South Carolina Educational Foundation’s Outstanding Service Award, according

to the Mount Holyoke website. She was twice awarded the Outstanding Faculty Member award during her tenure at the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Student Government Association President Maille Romulus ’24 spoke at the inauguration, welcoming President Holley to the College community. In their speech, they commented on the significance of Holley’s inauguration as the College’s first permanently appointed Black president.

“As we stand here in celebration, it’s also important to acknowledge the significance of this milestone,” Romulus said.

of emotional,” Romulus said in an interview with the Mount Holyoke News. “Seeing everyone cheer and [Holley’s] face being so happy, I can understand how special this moment was for the community and for President Holley.” Lela Gallery ’24 reflected on how the event’s many speakers were the most remarkable part of the inauguration for her.

My favorite part was when President Holley told us that the yellow flowers covering the auditorium were there to honor her mother. Let’s just say that Inauguration had me tearing up multiple times.

– Allayla Atwater

“The courage, the tension and the resilience of those who paved the way. Today, we reflect on these moments, and I think on the legacy of Black women and people at Mount Holyoke — some of whom we can name, and some whose names are lost to us.”

“I was amazed by the turnout and everyone showing up, and walking out of Abbey to Chapin was kind

“I was not expecting Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren to give congratulatory speeches, which was really cool,” Gallery began. “It makes me proud to see powerful politicians praising Mount Holyoke!” Regarding the speeches themselves, Gallery noted an emotional reaction she had to President Holley’s discussion of her late mother, Dr. Joyce Holley. “I was moved when President Holley talked about her mom. I couldn’t help but get a little tearyeyed. It reminded me of my great aunt, a grandmotherly figure to me. Like Holley’s mom, she loved her

flowers and was proud I decided to go to Mount Holyoke.”

Allayla Atwater ’25 was captivated by Holley’s words at the inauguration. “Usually with events like this I space out like crazy, but I was enamored with the whole thing,” Atwater said. “My favorite part was when President Holley told us that the yellow flowers covering the auditorium were there to honor her mother. Let’s just say that Inauguration had me tearing up multiple times.”

When discussing other speakers whose words resonated with her, Atwater mentioned that of Rhynette Northcross Hurd ’71, who currently serves as vice chair of the Board of Trustees.

“[Hurd] shared her experience as a Mount Holyoke student in the late 60s and early 70s, and how difficult it was to live and contribute to an institution that provided no support for black students at the time. I won’t lie and [will] say that I straight up cried,” Atwater said. “It made me even more proud to be a Black woman at Mount Holyoke knowing that a lot of the opportunities that are provided for me here exist because of the Black women who came before me and fought for them.”

Several members of Holley’s family were in attendance at the event, including her father, Dannye

Holley, professor and dean emeritus of the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. In an address to the crowd, Dannye Holley described Mount Holyoke’s “fantastic historical mission and its movement towards inclusion,” stating that President Holley would play a key role in shaping the College’s future. Spirits after the inauguration were kept high the following day by the announcement that Mountain Day, the College’s beloved tradition of hiking Mount Holyoke, would be taking place. In an email on Sept. 22 notifying students of Mountain Day, Holley expressed her desire for this year’s annual tradition to continue the enthusiasm displayed at the inauguration ceremony.

“After the meaningful connections, thought-provoking conversations and joyous celebrations of the Inauguration, I wanted to take advantage of this special moment so we can build on the connections and engagement that came from our community coming together for this historic occasion,” she wrote.

“I truly have high hopes for her, and I bet everyone does, especially after hearing her speak at Inauguration,” Atwater said. “This is truly a time of transformation for Mount Holyoke and I believe that her presidency solidifies this.”

Photo by Emma Quirk ’26

Assembled students cheer and hold up handmade signs welcoming President Holley to the College.

Photo by Emma Quirk ’26 President Holley celebrates with the inaugural procession gathered outside of Mary Woolley Hall.

Photo by Ella Shelton ’26

An SGA senate meeting in progress from last November. The All Campus Elections

of

represented

I hope that... no matter what the results are, that everyone remains involved in Class Board and SGA.

– Maille Romulus

‘Collectivity, Community, Change,’ a new Archives exhibit highlights Black History at Mount Holyoke

BY EMMA QUIRK ’26 PHOTOS EDITOR & STAFF WRITER

A new installment in Mount Holyoke College’s Archives will honor the contributions of Black community members to the College and the world at large. “Collectivity, Community, Change: Black History at Mount Holyoke” is a new exhibit that opened to the public at the beginning of September. Curated by Sarah Lancaster ’22, the former post-baccalaureate archives assistant, the exhibit emphasizes how the “history and legacy of the Black community at Mount Holyoke is rich and multifaceted” and full of “leadership, community, activism and achievement.”

The creation of the exhibit began with President Danielle Holley, who approached the Archives with the idea to spotlight the history of Black students and faculty at the College. “President Holley reached out to the archives [with] the goal … to highlight the fact that there is a long and rich history of Black life and leadership at this college that began far before today,” Lancaster said.

The exhibit is split into seven sections: “Who Were the First Black Students at Mount Holyoke?”; “Experiences in 1930s-1950s”; “Creating Black Community”; “Activism on Campus”; “Academics”; “Expression of the Mount Holyoke Experience”; and “Building on the History and Legacy of Those Who Came Before.”

“First Black Students” underscores the College’s initial unwillingness to admit Black students. The first two were admitted without their racial identity being known, and by 1950, only 23 Black students had graduated.

This section of the exhibit not only focuses on the College’s discrimination but also features the experiences of 12 Black alums at Mount Holyoke between 1878 and 1958. They were interviewed in 1973 as part of the history course “Black and White Americans.”

The accomplishments and personal experiences of several Black alums are highlighted, including Hortense Parker ’33, who graduated in 1833 as valedictorian of her class; Laura Lee Spencer ’36, who co-founded the Social Problems Club and helped bring Black speakers to campus; and Katherine Butler Jones ’57, who founded the Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunities Program, which saw students of color from Boston enrolled in Newton public schools and continues its work to this day.

Lancaster was particularly excited about these interviews. “My favorite part [of the exhibit] is the profiles of early alums. I loved reading the interviews that students in the 1970s did with early Black alums,” she said. “I like including the experiences of people in their own words, and the interviews really make the history personal and relatable.”

“Creating Black Community” highlights the emphasis on creating connection and support between Black students and alumni that marked the 1960s and 1970s, along with efforts to encourage the admission of more Black students. During this time, six different student organizations were created, including the Afro-American Society. Today, it is known as the Association of Pan-African Unity.

Reflecting on her own time at the College, Lancaster noted the importance of community, leadership and

activism. “A large part of my Mount Holyoke experience was the sense of community and the active part students played in shaping campus life. Student leadership and activism has been important to Mount Holyoke’s culture for a long time,” Lancaster said. “In this exhibit, I wanted to focus especially on the student experience throughout the years. I think there is a lot to be said for the power of student engagement and activism in creating change.”

Lancaster’s desire to focus on the student experience and student action on campus is evident throughout the exhibit. In the “Academics” section, the creation of the African American and African Studies department — which now consists of the Africana studies minor and critical race and political economy Africana studies pathway — and the hiring of Black faculty members are examined. It states that the department was created due to student activism and protests during the 1970-71 school year.

This section features profiles of five faculty members, including Psychology and Education Professor Frances Kerr, the first Black professor hired at Mount Holyoke, and Shirley Chisolm, the first Black woman in Congress and a professor of sociology and anthropology at the College. Chisolm is the namesake of the Shirley Chisholm Living Learning Community for students who are of African descent or identify with the African diaspora.

The final sections of the exhibit, “Expression” and “Building on the History and Legacy of Those Who Came Before,” bring together sentiments from students in the 1960s and 1970s with more recent ones. It includes reflections on the expe-

riences of Black students and other students of color in the Mount Holyoke News and other student publications from the 1990s and 2000s.

“Building on Legacy” also examines the creation of cultural houses, Living Learning Communities and the annual Building On Our Momentum Conference.

Reflecting on legacy and history allows us to look to the present and future. “While a lot has changed

since Hortense Parker attended, I think a recurring theme in the exhibit is the desire of students for increased representation, broadened education and being heard,” Lancaster said. “That holds true both 100 years ago and today.”

Everyone is welcome to view the exhibit in person at the Archives or virtually through the Archives and Special Collections Digital Exhibits.

Ongoing poor condition of Faculty Lane brings safety concerns

BY MAAHI JAISWAL ’24 STAFF WRITER

Walking along Faculty Lane, it is hard not to notice the extremely bumpy and pothole-ridden pavement, making the road dangerous and unsafe for the community. These conditions make traversing the road dangerous from an accessibility standpoint.

Faculty Lane leads to Dickinson Hall, which houses 63 residents and has a student parking lot. It also is the primary pathway to the Jeannette Marks House, a cultural house dedicated to LGBTQ+ students, staff and faculty. Even though pedestrians on foot are relatively safe, students on bikes and electric scooters are at risk, as experienced by Lynn Sleiman ’24, the residential fellow of Dickinson Hall.

Sleiman recently started using an electric scooter on campus and has had difficulties traversing Faculty Lane.

“I’ve almost fallen so many times because there are so many bumps [and] so many potholes, and I did fall once, and I ended up in the middle of the main road,” Sleiman said. “The first time I noticed how bad it was was move-in [day]. I was about to break that blue [move-in] cart because it could not handle the road.”

In terms of Dickinson Hall residents’ concerns, Sleiman stated, “No one has brought it up.”

Sleiman observed that many residents of Dickinson Hall who own bikes must be especially careful to navigate the road. “There is one tiny area of the road that is not the worst,

so people just use that,” they said.

Sleiman has not yet reached out to any administrators about this issue. Instead, she connected with her supervisor, an Area Coordinator and staff member for Student Involvement Ailsa Schmidt, who also noticed the road’s poor condition.

“She noticed how bad it was when she went there and just told me that it would be best to wear a helmet,” Sleiman said.

Anne-Marie Mahnken ’92 is a South Hadley resident who currently lives on Ashfield Lane, a street connected to Faculty Lane. As a community member, she expressed discontent regarding the school’s response to the road’s maintenance.

“It’s really been decades that it has been in poor condition. Mount Holyoke does every once in a while patch the major potholes, but it kind of disintegrates every year and gets bad again because it just hasn’t been properly taken care of,” Mahnken said. “Mount Holyoke owns not only Faculty Lane but also Jewett Lane and Ashfield Lane, and so it is their responsibility to take care of those roads. Lots of walkers with dogs use the area, and at night, you can’t even really see the unevenness of the pavement,” Mahnken said.

In a written exchange with Mount Holyoke News, Mahnken claimed that she had reached out to the department that oversees Mount Holyoke’s “buildings and grounds.”

“They were responsive and they understood the situation,” Mahnken said.

“Facilities Management is well aware of the condition of Faculty

Lane,” Karla Youngblood, associate vice president for Facilities Management, said. “This is why Faculty Lane is included in our multi-year paving plan. Although the timeline is dependent on any emerging needs, a full re-paving of Faculty Lane is currently scheduled for summer of 2025.”

According to Mahnken, “The Board of Trustees needs to approve that money to fix up Faculty Lane and/or the other roads, several of which are in poor condition. It’s an expensive project at this point because they have been neglecting it for so long. My understanding is that it was brought before the Board [of] Trustees, and they voted not to fund it [for now].”

When Mount Holyoke News reached out to the Board of Trustees via email to corroborate Mahnken’s claim about voting on funding repairs for Faculty Lane, the College’s Director of News and Media Relations, Christian Feuerstein responded.

“The Board of Trustees did not vote on this item. There has been no vote,” Feuerstein wrote in her emailed response.

The project to completely pave Faculty and Jewett Lanes is anticipated to cost approximately $550,000, according to Youngblood. Mahnken regularly takes walks around campus and stated that other roads have been maintained better.

“Mount Holyoke consistently gets one of the top awards from the Princeton Review for being one of the most beautiful campuses in the country. I would think that the col-

lege would want that part of campus to be safe for pedestrians, not damaging to vehicles and also kind of aesthetically look nicer,” Mahnken said. Mahnken has several ideas about how to bring more attention to this issue.“I have thought about circulating a petition in the neighborhood, maybe submitting that to the new president,” she told Mount

Holyoke News. Mahnken noted that the condition of the road has gotten worse over time. “It’s been a long time that it’s been like this, but it is probably the worst it’s ever been right now,” Mahnken said.

In the short term, Youngblood confirmed that Facilities Management plans to make pothole repairs this fall.

Photo by Emma Quirk ’26

A photo of a photo from the Archives exhibit, circa the 1990s, shows members of ALANA.

Photo by Emma Quirk ’26 Faculty Lane, whose street sign is pictured above, leads to Dickinson Hall, a parking lot, the Jeannette Marks House and more residential properties.

Photos by Emma Quirk ’26

Community members are concerned with the poor road conditions, pictured above, of Faculty Lane.

Paul McCartney reveals that artificial intelligence helped formulate one final song from The Beatles

BY LYDIA ENO ’26 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR, PHOTO EDITOR & COPY EDITOR

81-year-old former Beatles singer and bass player Paul McCartney recently announced plans for a “final” Beatles song created with the help of artificial intelligence. The song is scheduled for release later this year, according to The New York Times. While the details of the AI methods used to make the song have not been fully disclosed, it is clear that technology played a crucial role in bringing the song to life. In an interview with BBC Radio 4, McCartney explained that AI was used to “extricate” the voice of John Lennon, the Beatles lead singer, who died in 1980.

“We were able to take John’s voice and get it pure through this AI, then we could mix the record, as you would normally do,””McCartney said to BBC 4.

He later explained in a Tweet that “nothing has been artificially or synthetically created. It’s all real and we all play on it. We cleaned up some existing recordings.” Beatles fans have long awaited a new song from the iconic band, and the announcement of its final release generated worldwide excitement.

McCartney says he felt inspired to work with AI technology after seeing Peter Jackson’s work on archival materials for “Get Back,” the documentary that detailed the making of the “Let It Be” album, according to NPR.

“[Peter] was able to extricate John’s voice from a ropey little bit of cassette which had John’s voice and a piano,” McCartney said. “He could separate them with AI. They could, they’d tell the machine, ‘That’s a voice. This is a guitar. Lose the guitar.’ And he did that.” The use of AI technology in music production has sparked concerns over replacing human creativity within the industry. Some have raised questions about its impact on the creative process and the role of human musicians.

Justice Baiden, co-founder of music label LVRN, voiced his concerns about AI use in the music in-

terview during an interview with Complex.

“I’m even seeing things where people are getting AI to write them songs, but there’s still a percentage of human touch that’s needed. And that usually shows through an error,” Baiden said. “Computers try to be as accurate as possible. But as humans, we still have a percentage of error. And that’s a certain feeling we’ll lose if we lean too far. I feel like we’ll lose things that keep creativity sacred if we use AI as a crutch.”

In the case of the Beatles’ final song, the issue lies within the idea of “resurrecting” the voice of a deceased musician using AI technology. This concept is a controversial one, as it raises important ethical questions about the authenticity and ownership of an artist’s voice.

“[The AI] doesn’t have the same lived experiences as a human,” Nick Bryan-Kinns, professor of interaction design at Queen Mary University of London, explains. “It hasn’t fallen in love or watched a sunset. It hasn’t gotten drunk and had a hangover. So it’s probably going to be a

little bit boring.” AI also raises the question of how much control the artist or their estate would have over the use of their voice in this way and whether they would have the right to veto certain uses or projects. Musicians, artists and actors alike have begun including clauses in their wills to prevent their likenesses from being posthumously exploited. Robin Williams, who died in 2014, included a clause that restricts his likeness from being used until 25 years after his death, as well as blocking people from digitally including him in

Historic 148 day Hollywood writer’s strike reaches a deal with AMPTP

declined 4 percent,” and when adjusted for inflation, that “decline is 23 percent,” according to a WGA report. Residuals, defined by Fortune as “long-term payments to those who worked on films and television shows, negotiated by unions, for reruns and other airings after the initial release,” have also been a point of concern, as streaming platforms pay fewer residuals than traditional broadcast television and cinema programming, according to the same WGA report.

The rise of artificial intelligence within the past decade has posed a threat to writers and their work, as AI can write scripts, jokes and other types of prose for no price.

a film, according to an article from CBS.

The release of the Beatles’ final song has sparked speculation among fans about its impact on the band’s legacy and the music industry as a whole. Some fans, like user @SmoothCat, expressed concern about the use of the technology in the song on X, formerly known as Twitter: “Why is Paul McCartney turning John Lennon into an AI model for an ‘unreleased’ song based on demo tapes?? Are you OK with this? Did you reach out??” he asked Lennon’s son Sean.

Lifelong Beatles fan Melanie Cosdon ’26 explained, “The use of AI to clean and analyze audio tracks rather than ‘create’ new music seems like a practical use of the technology’s capabilities. While I don’t mind the use of AI technology, I’m a little skeptical of [Ringo] Starr and McCartney releasing new music as The Beatles.” Regardless of its impact, the song is a testament to the band’s enduring popularity. With the continued advancement of AI technology, one can expect many more exciting developments in music production.

Sign up for

Project Connect

BY ELIŠKA JACOB ’24 COPY CHIEF & ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR EDITOR

On Tuesday, Sept. 26, the Writers Guild of America reached a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, marking the conclusion of a 148-day strike that halted Hollywood media production, according to Forbes. This is not the first time the WGA has been on strike for an extended period. In 1988, the WGA went on strike for 154 days – its longest strike to date – citing anger with producers after they demanded that writers “accept a sliding scale on residuals,” according to History.com. History. com defined residuals as “payment received when work is re-broadcast after its original airing.”

Writers, alongside the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation and Radio Artists and other individuals within Hollywood, have been on strike since May 2, 2023, effectively shutting down the production of major movies and shows set for premiere in theaters, on television and streaming platforms. The strike was borne out of frustration with the disappointing results of meetings with the AMPTP — meetings that occur every three years to negotiate a new contract with the WGA. Strikers then took to the picket lines to demand “higher pay and a stable pay structure, as well as fairer deals and contracts and provisions about artificial intelligence,” according to Today.

In the past decade, “median weekly writer-producer pay has

Throughout the strike, the 11,500 writers within the WGA fought against these injustices, and on Tuesday, this fight proved victorious. The WGA and the AMPTP settled on a contract that “includes pay increases, better benefits, protections against the studios’ use of artificial intelligence, guarantees for streaming compensation, longer-duration employment terms and other perks.” Minimum pay for writers is set for an immediate increase of 5%, again by 4% in May 2024, and then by an additional 3.5% in May 2025 according to CNN.

In an interview with Deadline, WGA West President Meredith Stiehm emphasized, “This strike was way too long, because the companies took so long to get serious. … I feel sad and pained that it took this long because when we got serious, we got it done in a reasonable amount of time. So much was wasted and lost by just not acting earlier.”

The strike’s conclusion emphasizes a hopeful future for old and new writers stepping foot into Hollywood. “[The writers] were as strong as they were on Day 1 [as] they were on Day 148, and that’s why we got it all,” Stiehm concluded.

ProjectConnect is a peer-facilitated program to help build social connection and community on campus. Students get to know a small group of 4-6 students outside of their social groups over the course of six 1-hour sessions. Groups respond to a series of fun and thought-provoking questions, engage in a small connection project, and share a meal at a local restaurant.

Students love this program -- 98% of previous participants said they would recommend ProjectConnect to a friend and 95% said they would like to participate again themselves! Space is limited.

Contact Ju Young Hong at jkielb@mtholyoke.edu for more information

Photo courtesy of Eric Koch via Wikimedia Commons

Concerns have been raised across the music industry regarding the ethics of employing AI to represent vocal sounds replicating deceased musicians.

Photo courtesy of Fabebk via Wikimedia Commons

The WGA has been on a 148-day strike, making it one of the longest strikes in the union’s history.

Photo courtesy of Mary McCartney Paul McCartney will employ AI on new song.

Relations between Canada and India become tense after murder of prominent Sikh-Canadian activist

BY KIERA MCLAUGHLIN ’26

STAFF WRITER

Content Warning: This article discusses murder and state-sanctioned violence.

The murder of a prominent Sikh-Canadian activist has sparked worldwide protest, as many believe the Indian government may be responsible for the attack. On June 18, 2023, Sikh-Canadian activist Hardeep Singh Nijar was murdered while outside a Sikh temple in a city in British Columbia, Canada, according to Al Jazeera. BBC News reported that Nijar was fatally shot by two masked gunmen while in his truck. The following month, protests began in Toronto and around the world in opposition to what is believed to be the Indian government’s involvement in Nijar’s murder.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has declared that Canadian security has found “credible allegations of a potential link” to Indian government agents killing Mr. Najar, Al Jazeera reported. Trudeau stated on Sept. 18 that “any involvement of a foreign government in the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil is an unacceptable violation of our sovereignty. In the strongest possible terms, I continue to urge the government of India to cooperate with Canada to get to the bottom of this matter.”

Maahi Jaiswal ’24, born and raised in India, highlighted the fact that in March 2022, Canada’s New Democratic Party agreed to support Prime Minister Trudeau. According to BBC News, in exchange for the support of the NDP, Trudeau’s party would support the NDP’s priorities in parliament.

The NDP is a known supporter of the Khalistan movement. As explained by BBC News, the Khalistan movement is the fight for an independent Sikh state in India, often strongly supported by the Sikh diaspora in Canada and other Western countries. Hardeep Singh Nijar was a well-known Khalistani activist who

advocated for a separate state.

In response to the prime minister’s accusation, the Indian ministry released a statement asserting that “allegations of Government of India’s involvement in any act of violence in Canada are absurd and motivated. We are a democratic polity with a strong commitment to rule of law,” Al Jazeera reported.

To further complicate these tensions, there is a deep-rooted, historical conflict between the Indian government, the Sikh community and the Khalistan movement. According to CNN, the Sikh community makes up 2% of the Indian population as a religious minority and has a vast diaspora around the world, including in Canada, where more than 770,000 Sikh members live.

According to Minority Rights’ World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, the Khalistan movement has slowed down in India since the late 1990s. The Directory explained that the 1984 anti-Sikh riots have left high tensions between the Indian government and the Sikh community.

According to BBC News, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the military to storm the Golden Temple, one of the holiest sites for Sikhs, in June 1984 targeting separatists and leading to many deaths and damaging the temple. A few months later, Gandhi was murdered by two Sikh guards, leading to four more days of rioting and violence.

While the Khalistan movement has lost momentum in India, some in the diaspora still advocate for a separate state independent from India.

“There are a few pockets of Khalistan sentiment in some communities outside of India,” Jaiswal said. “For the most part, a lot of the Sikh people I know don’t share this sentiment … the Indian government wants to protect its national interest by striking down separatist sentiment, “The Khalistan movement doesn’t really exist in India to the same extent as in Canada. Canada does have a lot of Indian students

attending university there, so these political moves could endanger Indian students’ safety in Canada.”

According to BBC NewsHardeep Singh Nijar was a prominent activist for the Khalistani state and was labeled by the Indian government as a terrorist and militant leader. . His supporters claim that he was often a target for threats because of his activism and that accusations by the Indian government are “unfounded,” BBC News further reported.

Along with Nijar, two other prominent Sikh activists have recently died. Avtar Singh Khanda, head of the Khalistan Liberation Force in the United Kingdom, died under “mysterious circumstances’’ in June. In Lahore, the capital of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Paramjit Singh Panjwar, a labeled terrorist by the Indian ministry, was fatally shot

in May. In the wake of the tensions between India and Canada, on Sept. 19, the Indian foreign ministry asked the Canadian diplomat to leave the country within five days, according to Al Jazeera. This was after the Indian diplomat was ordered to leave because of the murder of Najar.

Then, on Sept. 21, 2023, India suspended visas for Canadian citizens over “security threats” against diplomats in Canada, reported CNN. India’s foreign ministry sent out an advisory that urged citizens to be cautious in Canada, warning about “politically condoned hate crimes.”

This has led to political tension around the globe, especially between Canada’s allies: the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, according to Al Jazeera. In a comment made to

Al Jazeera, Stephanie Carvin, a professor of international relations at Carleton University, explained that “India is important in Western calculations for balancing China, and Canada is not.”

White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said, “[The White House is] deeply concerned by these allegations Prime Minister Trudeau laid forward and remain in regular contact with our Canadian partners,” but continued by adding that the United States’ contact with India also “remains vitally important, not only for the South Asia region but of course the Indo-Pacific,” according to Al Jazeera.

Many of these tensions escalated in the days after the G20 Summit, hosted in India’s capital, New Delhi, where 20 countries met to discuss global and political problems, reported BBC News. During the summit, the United States and India, alongside Saudi Arabia and the EU, partnered to announce a new system of railways and trade routes, created to offset China’s project to develop new global trading with the similar Belt and Road Initiative.

According to BBC News, Najar had been working on the plan for a non-binding referendum in Sept. 2023, which would survey the amount of the Sikh diaspora in Canada that would vote for an independent state as part of a global consensus. The vote was scheduled for Sept. 10, the second day of the G20 summit, to help the Sikh community to call attention to their movement CBC reported.

In an interview with CBC, Indira Prahst, a sociology and anthropology professor at Langara College, said that while it is unlikely that the vote will result in the formation of a new state, “it’s powerfully symbolic because of what it’s showing … it’s rekindling the spirit of Khalistan that has not been quashed.”

Editor’s note: Maahi Jaiswal ‘24 is a member of the Mount Holyoke News.

The United Nations begins its 78th General Assembly Session

the U.N., Mitchell said, “[the U.N.] has gotten countries to commit to carbon reduction targets, but absent an enforcement mechanism … [the U.N.] really isn’t in a position to do much more other than rhetorically draw attention to the issue, which it’s already doing.”

The summit meeting on climate change was attended by 32 countries, all of whom create 11% of the world’s carbon dioxide pollution, according to the Associated Press.

President Ebrahim Raisi of Iran spoke to the Assembly. According to The Guardian, Raisi claimed in his speech that Iranian drones used on Ukrainian cities were sold before the war and accused the United States of encouraging violence in Ukraine.

[The UN] really isn’t in a position to do much more other than rhetorically draw attention to the [climate] issue, which it’s already doing.

Other big issues at this year’s summit were food insecurity, the refugee crisis and a sense of division amongst the delegates. According to CBS, a recorded 700 million people are facing food insecurity and a record-breaking 110 million have been forcefully displaced.

– Christopher Mitchell

The latter claim prompted the Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, to walk out in protest while holding a photo of Masa Amini, a Kurdish woman who died in the custody of Iranian police in 2022 after her arrest for wearing the hijab. This occurred after an Iran-United States prisoner exchange, which had inspired hope of softening tensions between the two countries.

BY ELIZABETH MURRAY ’26 STAFF WRITER

Tensions ran high at a recent United Nations meeting in New York City, where discussions about climate disasters, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the absence of several prominent world leaders divided delegates.

During the week of Sept. 18, world leaders gathered for the U.N.’s 78th General Assembly Session. According to The New York Times, only one of the world leaders of the five permanent members of the Security Council, President Joe Biden of the United States, attended.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping skipped the summit for the second year in a row, while French President Emmanuel Macron did not attend due to King Charles III’s scheduled visit to France. U.K. Prime

Minister Rishi Sunak was absent for the same reason, missing his first General Assembly as prime minister. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also did not attend, according to CBS News.

Dr. Christopher Mitchell, assistant professor of international relations and politics at Mount Holyoke College, noted that “unlike, for instance, Vladimir Putin, all of these leaders were expected to attend at some point, and while they each had their own reasons for not going, it’s a worrying sign for the continued prominence of the U.N. as a forum that such high profile leaders decided to give it a miss,”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended the summit in person for the first time since Russia began its invasion and was one of this year’s most anticipated speakers. Mitchell noted that Zelenskyy’s appearance was noteworthy “given

the degree to which Russian invasion of Ukraine continues to dominate not just the U.S. and EU relationship with Russia, but also their relationships with India, China and much of the rest of the world.”

According to the BBC, the ongoing war and support for Ukraine was a primary focus of this year’s summit meetings, but not without pushback, as many countries in the Global South have refused to condemn Russia and want to see an end to the war.

Instead of the Russo-Ukrainian War, many world leaders would rather focus on climate-related economic crises. For example, in 2015, 17 sustainable development goals were put in place to be reached by 2030, all of which have gone off track due to the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, rising debt and delayed action. When asked about how much of a priority climate change was for

“It is time for a global compromise. Politics is compromise. Diplomacy is compromise. Effective leadership is compromise,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in his opening speech, according to the Associated Press.

“Leaders have a special responsibility to achieve compromise in building a common future of peace and prosperity for our common good.”

The war in Ukraine has been an obvious sore spot for delegates, especially among the pro-Ukraine factions, pro-Russia factions and those who fall in between. There has been a push for each faction’s members to maintain their stance and convince neutral countries to join them.

“Much like in the Cold War, there’s a lot of efforts by both sides to sway the non-aligned countries, especially India, but also countries like Brazil and many sub-Saharan African countries,” Mitchell said.

“Neither side is going to force these countries to take sides, for fear of pushing them to the opposing camp, but both are going to do their best to cajole the non-aligned to join their side.”

A tense moment occurred when

“There’s a long history of Iranian presidents using harsh rhetoric at the United Nations and something of an understanding that it’s them speaking to a domestic audience. In essence, something like the prisoner exchange could prompt accusations of being ‘soft on the Americans,’ so some strident rhetoric can help appease domestic hardliners and actually make further practical cooperation easier,” Mitchell said.

The lack of women in attendance was also striking at this year’s Assembly. According to the Associated Press, 14 men spoke to the Assembly before a woman approached the podium. This was noted by President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa, whose speech stressed the importance of empowering women in leadership.

Women comprise half of South Africa’s cabinet, and its delegation was made up mostly of women. Only three women in total were scheduled to speak on the first day of the Assembly: Katalin Novak, president of Hungary; Natasa Pirc Musar, president of Slovenia; and Dina Boularte, president of Peru. A total of 189 nations spoke at the General Assembly, but only 21 of the speakers were women.

Photo courtesy of Sukhmani Sandhu via Flickr Protests have sparked amidst beliefs that the murder of a Khalistan activist was state sanctioned.

Photo courtesy of U.S. Government via Rawpixel

Meetings during the 2023 United Nations Summit were tense amid conversations about concerns over climate change Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

New York City protestors call for an end to fossil fuels

BY SARAH GRINNELL ’26 SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT EDITOR

According to The Washington Post, the hordes of climate protestors that flooded New York City this past Sunday sent an incendiary message to U.S. politicians: the heat is turning up on the planet and in the streets.

From Sunday, Sept. 18 into, Monday, Sept. 19, thousands of demonstrators overwhelmed Midtown Manhattan with a raucous call on the U.S. government to terminate the use of all fossil fuels, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Burning fossil fuels, such as coal, oil and natural gas, remains the primary driver of global warming, National Public Radio reported. According to scientific studies by the International Energy Agency cited in a New York Times article, all fossil fuel projects must cease “if the world is to stay within relatively safe levels of atmospheric warming.”

Molly Malloy ’26, who attended the march, described the atmosphere of the event as “invigorating.”

“[It was] like 75,000 people shared a single thought, a single forward-thinking goal. It was an angry crowd, a crowd of people who had been disappointed and had their trust broken time and time again,” they said.

Prior to the march, protestors sent an open letter to President Joe Biden, demanding an end to federal approval of oil and gas developments, The Washington Post reported. Although the Biden administration has been progressive on many fronts of climate policy, such as the initiation of the ambitious Inflation Reduction Act, which sets aside billions of dollars in “incentives for renewable energy and other low-carbon technologies,” it has also controversially continued to issue licenses for new oil and gas projects due to legal obligations, NPR reported. NPR named the Willow Project, a large-scale oil extraction in Alaska, as well as the Mountain Valley Pipeline in West Virginia as among the most notable.

The New York Times reported that representatives from the White House insist “President Biden has treated climate change as an emergency — the existential threat of our time — since day one,” citing the millions of acres of land made off-limits to oil and gas extraction, as well as the recently canceled

permits in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. However, activists are demanding more action, and they want it now. Alice Hu, a senior climate campaigner at New York Communities for Change, emphasizes in The New York Times article that “the U.S. remains one of the world’s largest oil and gas producers,” and thus the Biden administration needs to “do more” if he does not wish to alienate younger voters in the 2024 election.

The consensus of the protest was clear, with many of the demonstrators using their presence as an ultimatum: if Biden does not rise to the demands of the climate crisis, he will not have their vote for the next presidential election, The New York Times explained. According to the same article, the cries of the activists show that U.S. citizens are pressuring Biden to follow through as the “climate president” he painted himself to be in his initial campaign pledges.

Malloy expressed a similar view, saying, “Biden has neglected his promises as a politician, like putting forward a pipeline when he touted himself as the candidate that would address the climate crisis.” Thus, they believe it will be necessary for voters to be “extremely conscious

of politician’s stances on climate change before they vote,” as well as continue to hold politicians and corporations accountable.

“Industries and polluters do everything in their power to deflect responsibility to consumers, telling us that as long as we shop sustainably, recycle, [we can] reduce our carbon footprint” when, in reality, the corporations and governing bodies are really the ones to blame, Malloy said. “As long as we have politicians in power that refuse to instate and encourage the change necessary, nothing will get better, and humanity will suffer the consequences.”

Malloy conveyed that the protest was empowering, as “it’s so hard to be part of a crowd so large and passionate without feeling hopeful for change.” However, they also noted that “the anger and frustration being expressed definitely affected the mood of the march.”

Echoing the comments of Hu, Malloy expressed that “every day we plead our elected officials to do better, to save our lives, but they continue to fall short [time and time again] in taking effective measures to address the climate crisis.”

Hence, the motivation of the protest. The consequences of climate change become more catastrophic

as the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold draws nearer, NPR reported. This number was established at the United Nations Paris Agreement to denote the point-of-no-return for global temperatures in order to stave off the worst effects of climate change, according to NPR.

Calls for climate action have grown louder, angrier and more desperate than ever, NPR explained. At the Sunday protest, 114 demonstrators were arrested after blocking the entrance to a Federal Reserve building, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to Malloy, this shift in climate protest was only going to be inevitable as the effects of inaction reap greater consequences. “When nonviolence becomes ineffective, there’s only one place to turn,” they said. “Protests and demonstrations have become more agitated because the people are angry!”

“We’re watching our planet die while the people on top just sit and laugh as we scream and beg for a sustainable future, a future that our children and grandchildren and everyone we love can live in without melting, suffocating or being washed away,” Malloy said. “Civil disobedience is the only way to grab and hold a politician’s attention, and only

when ‘normalcy’ is interrupted will movements progress. We have been failed repeatedly by the world’s nations breaking their promises, and grassroots climate action is the key to instigate change.”

According to a Common Dreams article, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez offered a similar sentiment in her address to protestors at the event, naming climate change as “the biggest issue of our time” and thus stressing that U.S. citizens must therefore “be too big and too radical to ignore,” their tactics intensifying with the urgency of the situation.

As such, while Malloy stressed the undercurrent of anger and frustration present in the protestors’ pleas, they also drew attention to their hopes that the protest would serve as a boost to the climate movement.

“We cannot underestimate the power of the people when united towards a common, and drastic, goal,” Malloy said.

By continuing to pressure politicians and corporations for lasting, structural change, Malloy says that “if the goals of the climate justice movement are lasting change, then I believe lasting change will be achieved.”

TikTok controversy raises discussions of ‘review-bombing’ on Goodreads

BY SOPHIE FRANK ’26 BOOKS EDITOR

In late May, Sarah Stusek, an author by the handle @sarahshoooots, posted a TikTok that would motivate discussions about the increasing power of online reading communities.

According to TikTok user Cami Twomey, Stusek’s video featured a greenscreen filter behind her head showing a four-star review of her book, “Three Rivers,” written on the reviewing platform Goodreads. Stusek read a portion of the review aloud; while it was mostly positive, the reviewer said they found the ending to be a bit predictable.

When Stusek demanded an explanation for the review, the side of TikTok known as BookTok — a community of readers who frequently utilize platforms like Goodreads — was quick to respond and criticize her for mistreating her readers. Stusek responded with a series of TikToks that further alienated reviewers.

Prior to the video, the book had only been read by a handful of people who received an advanced reader copy. However, as Stusek continued posting, Goodreads users spammed her page with negative reviews. Many of the reviews came from users who had not yet read the book but had instead been soured by her social media presence. “Three Rivers” currently sits at around a one-star rating. Stusek’s social media comments and the ensuing backlash resulted in her publisher, SparkPress, parting ways with her, which they announced in a tweet on May 31, 2023. Stusek’s controversy does not mark the first time an author has experienced mass backlash from online reading communities. Cecilia Rabess’ debut novel, “Everything’s Fine,” about a young Black wom-

an who falls in love with her white conservative coworker, drew harsh critique from fans as well, according to The New York Times. Rabess went viral after a Twitter user, who had received an ARC of the book, posted the summary online. Readers who had not read the book quickly assumed that it was problematic or that Rabess — a woman of color — was racist for writing it.

It is unclear how much the online reaction contributed to the book’s slow early sales. Regardless, in an interview with The New York Times, Rabess described the reviews as a targeted campaign of harassment that left her feeling vulnerable as a woman of color and concerned that her career would be harmed.

In recent years, there have been many stories of authors facing social media harassment, most frequently on Goodreads and TikTok, as retribution for perceived problematic behavior. Many of these stories were documented by The New York Times in June 2022, where they analyzed how the online campaigns against authors were marked by misinformation and assumptions, namely those where people review a book before it has been published, thus lacking the nuance that reading it would provide. These platforms are powerful tools to discuss art in a manner unprecedented before the advent of social media, and they are proving to have both positive and negative repercussions for the publishing industry.

It is easy to see the positives of these online spaces. Goodreads, a site that allows people to review and catalog books as well as interact with other reviewers, creates a community centered around books and can be genuinely educational, allowing readers to consider diverse perspectives and discover new books. Goodreads and BookTok, by virtue of being online-only spaces,

are widely accessible. Books that are heavily discussed on BookTok often experience a significant uptick in sales, and BookTok might be encouraging people to read more overall — the Publishers Association credited a 5% rise in book sales in the U.K. in 2021 due to BookTok.

Siggy Ehrlich ʼ26 is a student at Mount Holyoke College who uses Storygraph, a book reviewing and tracking platform similar to Goodreads. Both sites provide users with personalized statistics and insights into their reading habits.

“I like the sites mainly for tracking what I read,” Ehrlich said.

However, since the mainstream explosion of BookTok and Bookstagram, an online community of readers based on Instagram, readers have been given unprecedented power that has, in several instances, harmed authors. One Time Magazine article discussed a pattern called “review bombing”: what happens when a group en masse spams an author’s Goodreads page with negative reviews, overwhelming the positive reviews and dragging down their star rating. Often, the targets of review bombing campaigns are authors of color who speak out about politics or what they consider problematic behavior on social media. People who disagree with an author’s opinions may express their feelings by review-bombing, even if the author’s comments may have been entirely unrelated to their books.

Queer authors often find themselves the target of review bombing campaigns or social media backlash when their identities become the subject of public debate. Take, for example, the case of Becky Albertalli, the author of “Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,” a queer comingof-age novel adapted into a movie in 2018. The media outlet Them reported that as the book became more

widely known, fans began to criticize Albertalli for writing it. A common stance was that it was harmful for Albertalli, a supposedly straight author, to profit from a queer story.

In 2020, Albertalli posted an essay on Medium where she addressed the discourse and came out as bisexual. The essay explores Albertellie’s struggles with discovering her queer identity in her 30s under a social media spotlight and how she felt pressured into coming out due to the discourse surrounding her identity.

“Let me be perfectly clear: this isn’t how I wanted to come out. I’m doing this because I’ve been scrutinized, subtweeted, mocked, lectured and invalidated just about every single day for years, and I’m exhausted,” Albertalli wrote.

Ehrlich finds Albertalli’s story to be indicative of an ongoing problem within online reading communities.

“I read a lot of LGBTQ+ books and [have] a major problem when people complain that the author isn’t LGBTQ+ because they may just not be out,” Ehrlich said.

Albertalli’s story shows the dilemmas some authors face as they navigate new relationships with online reading communities: do they come out before they are ready, or fear that their career and reputation will suffer as people make assumptions about their identities?

Authors have always had a relationship with their readers and have never been exempt from criticisms of their work based on their personal lives and identities, and vice versa. But in recent years, especially as online reading communities reached new levels of popularity during the pandemic, as Vox reported, it has become clear that these communities have more cultural power than ever. These spaces join a wide-ranging cultural conversation about the increasingly intertwined relationship between consumers and creators and how technology has aided this relationship, in this case, TikTok, Twitter and Goodreads. It is a conversation the book world will continue to reckon with as it figures out how to step into a new digital age.

Photo courtesy of Rainforest Action Network via Flickr Climate activtsts have begun demostrating against the U.S. government’s use of fossil fuels which, according to studies from the International Energy Agency, are the primary driver of climate change.

Photo courtesy of Bethanne Patrick via Literary Hub

The landscape of publishing has changed as a result of the increased literary discourse on Tik Tok.

Understanding bioelectricity is crucial for the future of medicine

BY SILAS GEMMA ’26 OPINION EDITOR

Contemporary medical advancements have often focused on genetics and their role in development, disease and health. However, genetics alone may not be able to explain biological processes comprehensively.

Recently, the field of bioelectricity, which focuses on how the body produces and harnesses electricity for daily functions, has garnered more attention and research. Intriguing studies pertaining to biological events such as embryonic development, wound healing and tissue regeneration have resuscitated the once frowned-upon field.

Bioelectricity is rightfully becoming an area of increased research and attention, as there are innumerable prospective treatments and technologies to which it could lead.

Considering bioelectricity alongside other biological studies, such as genetics, is essential for the future of medicine. It will allow the electrical foundations of all cells within the body to be considered, not just nerve cells. This creates a path towards treatments for disorders previously thought to be incurable.

Bioelectricity as a concept is not a novel one. Recently published literature, including “We Are Electric” by Sally Adee has discussed the development of bioelectricity. According to Meghan Rosen from ScienceNews, bioelectricity originated in the 18th century when a scientist named Luigi Galvani conducted experiments on frogs to prove the endogenous production of electricity.

Galvani created a circuit using two separate types of metal and frog muscle tissue. The subsequent jerking motions of the frogs’ legs led him to believe that some internal mechanism produced electricity in the body of the frog. Although gruesome and ethically questionable, Galvani’s experiments led to viable claims that electricity was produced internally in living organisms.

As a Whipple Museum article suggests, Galvani was likely one of the first scientists to propose that a separation of charge is essential for generating and propagating electrical signals in mammals, or what is now called the transmembrane potential.

As Rosen explained in her ScienceNews piece, Adee suggests that bioelectricity is not restricted to the nervous system. Although electrical potentials and transmembrane ionic movements are associated with neurons and peripheral nerves, Adee refutes this by claiming that every cell has bioelectric properties essential for its function and communication. Adee’s discourse reconciles bioelectricity with genetics as well as mechanical electricity. It proposes dialectic theories that acknowledge the simultaneous existence of bioelectricity and other previously-discovered biological mechanisms.

According to an article by NOVA, Biology Professor Michael Levin and colleagues at Tufts University have manipulated the electrical potential of tail cells in a frog to generate a functioning eye protruding from the tail. As Matthew Hutson from The New Yorker reports, Levin has also successfully hijacked the bioelectric code of the cells of planarians, a type of worm, in order to create two-headed versions of them. Hutson claims that Levin’s experiments indicate cell morphology is determined by both genetics and bioelectric codes.

While some of these experiments may not seem practical for modern medicine, the knowledge underpinning them is essential for developing cellular therapies and novel treatments for previously incurable or intractable disorders. For instance, harnessing the ability to manipulate electrical potential could allow for faster wound healing or even tissue regeneration, the NOVA article noted.

According to Adee, when oppositely-charged electrodes are applied to neurons in a petri dish, the neurites — axons and dendrites — tend to migrate toward the cathode, a positive electrode. These mechanisms are important for understanding how magnetic and electric fields interact to aid tissue regeneration.

Adee further explains the work of regenerative medicine researcher Richard Borgens and colleagues, who used this knowledge to devise a technology that involves placing a cathode above the location of an injury and below it, therefore allowing

the regrowth of both sensory and motor axons. This idea, termed the extraspinal oscillating field stimulator by Borgens, was applied in order to study the regrowth of human spinal nerves.

After promising results with dogs, this device was eventually implanted for 15 weeks in 10 people who had been recently paralyzed.

After one year, the devices were extracted, and nearly all the participants reported that they had gained sensation, with a couple reporting that they recovered partial function in their lower half. While no one regained the ability to walk, these results represent a monumental breakthrough in treating paralysis. Discoveries such as these show the undeniable relevance of bioelectricity in medicine today.

Additionally, efforts have gone into studying the use of bioelectricity in the regeneration of neural tissue after brain injuries like strokes.

According to reporter Iris Kulbatski from The Scientist, there have been promising preliminary studies in rats with stroke-induced brain damage when neural stem cells from humans are transplanted into the tissue peripheral to the damage.

The application of electricity to these stem cells was shown to expedite the healing process. Treatments such as these have proven the impor-

tance of bioelectricity for the future of medicine.

The study of electrical conduction between cells should not be isolated to neuroscience or the nervous system more generally. Rather, students from all areas of science should understand the importance of bioelectricity.

Biology classrooms should become spaces to explore bioelectricity in conjunction with genetics, and physics classrooms should become a space to apply electrical conduction to living beings. Bioelectricity is no longer seen as pseudoscience but rather as a budding field that shows great promise for the future of medicine.

With all of the attention that bioelectricity has received, it is essential not to overlook the continued relevance of past scientific accomplishments, such as research into genetics and its role in health. Rather than supplanting genetics, bioelectricity should complement it by providing a broader perspective of cellular and holistic health.

Hutson dissects the concept of genetic-bioelectric interplay in his article, pointing out that genes are essential for initially determining the identity of the cell during development — although, as previously described, the identity can be altered by modulating the electrical

potential. He states that while genetics are essential for development, the electrical potentials and interactions between cells are needed for the cells to properly migrate to their respective locations and take on their characteristic three-dimensional shape. Kelly McLaughlin, a molecular biologist, discusses the role of bioelectrics in development with Hutson, stating that heart cells differentiated by genetic coding would be two-dimensional if not for the role of bioelectric interactions between similar cells.

Additionally, the authors state that “bioelectric signals can override slightly different genetic pre-patterns.” This means that genetics are not completely deterministic as they are sometimes portrayed. Genes, which code for innumerable traits and health markers, may actually be overruled in some cases by bioelectric patterns, indicating the need for further research into how bioelectricity contributes to health and disease.

Genetics and bioelectricity mutually facilitate the healthy development of an organism. Scientists and health professionals must be aware of this interplay to avoid eliding one or the other when considering disease. Future scientists and doctors must receive instruction on the importance of electricity in all cells,

not just nerve cells, to look at dysfunction from a more nuanced perspective.

Over the past two centuries, bioelectricity has gone from a field with little respect to one that has garnered much interest from various scientific and health fields. Today, scientists and health professionals have various tools at their disposal to study cellular health. The groundbreaking innovations in genetics in the 20th century have led to innumerable drugs, treatment models and preventative medicine techniques that have permanently altered how we approach the treatment of disease.

With reputable studies being conducted on bioelectricity, we can understand how electrical potentials — or the separation of charge between the intracellular and extracellular space — inform and determine cellular function, communication and geography.

It is essential to consider prior scientific advancements, such as genetics, in conjunction with the incipient field of bioelectronics. Doing so will allow medical professionals to not only analyze dysfunction through gene patterns but also develop bioelectric therapies based on these patterns to treat disorders. Bioelectrics will revolutionize the future of medicine.

Graphic courtesy of Mohamed Hassan from pxhere

Athletics Hall of Fame induction: Langhan Dee ’04 was ‘born to run’

BY EMILY TARINELLI ’25 SPORTS EDITOR

As 8-year-old Langhan ran around the soccer field, her mother overheard another parent comment in amazement about one of the kids from the sidelines.

“Some people learn to run, and some people are born to it,” the parent said. “That kid is born to run.”

Piping in, Langhan’s mother asked which child they were talking about. The other parent pointed to Langhan. Her mother was surprised — “Really?” she asked — and the parent nodded, adding that her husband was a collegiate track and field coach. “Evidently, she knew what she was talking about,” Langhan Dee ’04 reflected in an interview with Mount Holyoke News.

Dee was inducted into the Mount Holyoke Athletics Hall of Fame for her star performances on the Mount Holyoke Track and Field team. According to a press release on the Lyons Athletics website, Dee is “one of the most decorated student-athletes in Mount Holyoke’s history.”

A multi-sport athlete on the indoor track, outdoor track and soccer teams, Dee qualified for nine events in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III Track and Field Championships, is a two-time All-American, was the 2004 Female Athlete of the Year for her indoor track region and shattered 13 team

records during her time as a Lyon. Ten of those records remain unbroken to this day.

But rather than all of Dee’s athletic accomplishments, it was her enthusiasm for sport and the resulting “joy of competition” that made her stand out as an athlete. A prime example is her experience at the national championships, where she competed in events ranging from distances as short as the 55-meter run to races as long as the 800-meter run.

“My sophomore and junior year, it was just me who qualified [for nationals],” Dee said. With no one but her coach to join her, she was in it alone, but that did not stop her from making friends with one of her closest competitors from a different school. “We were always neck and neck throughout all our seasons,” she said.

During her senior year, another teammate qualified for nationals, and they got to compete together. “That was, I think, the best experience of all of them. It’s because I got to share it with someone else,” Dee said. “We weren’t there to beat each other. We were there to do our best and be there for the joy of track and field.”

A double major in mathematics and studio art, Dee’s achievements were not confined to the field. Lyons Athletics reported that during her first year at Mount Holyoke, Dee

received the 2001 Mildred S. Sanderson Award for distinction in mathematics. In 2004, Dee was honored by the College Sports Communicators, formerly College Sports Information Directors of America, with selection to its Academic All-America Second Team.

Athletics Hall of Fame induction: Penny Schneider Calf ’68, from field to fame

girls should get the $4,000 dollars, and should have access to the big gym for practice, and should have access to the football field for practice … and certainly we got the uniforms and all that.”

At Mount Holyoke, Calf played basketball during her first year before leaving the team to focus more on her studies. She majored in English, but her heart was truly set on her minor: Latin.

“The first day of Latin — it was three times a week at 8:00 in the morning — [Professor Betty Nye Quinn] would come to class with her cocker spaniel named Poppaea Sabina, which was the name of Nero’s wife,” Calf said. “It just made it kind of cozy and homey.” The class, she added, was about more than translating Latin. “It was about what the words mean,” she said. “You know, what Cicero is really saying here and is that relatable today.”

Athletic and academic excellence aside, Dee said that her fondest memories from college are from spending time with those around her, whether it was teammates or friends outside of athletics. Mount Holyoke Athletics, she said, provided the “perfect balance of serious

and silly.”

“If you’re at Mount Holyoke, you know how to strive for your goals. The team worked so hard, but there was always levity. We encouraged each other both when we were successful and when we weren’t,” Dee said. “Beyond that intense experience of wins and losses that you have together … all of my teams bonded off the soccer field and the track.” She added, “I have such sweet memories of visits to the ocean during breaks and making ridiculous videos together.”

After graduating from Mount Holyoke, Dee took a winding career path, moving between the analytical world and the art world. Now, she works for a tech company where she manages the customer support team.

“I think it’s just like in track, how my senior year, my coach said, ‘Okay, you’re going to run pretty much all of the races from the shortest up to the 800. And I said, ‘Okay, let’s try it, see what we like.’ I think careers can be like that as well,” Dee said.

Through it all, Dee is most proud of her perseverance.

“Whether I succeeded in something or it didn’t go as I planned, I am most proud of the spirit I’ve carried with me — of being willing to step up and try something new,” Dee said. “Above all else, [I’m proud to] continue to encourage people and bring more kindness to the world.”

Game of the Week: Volleyball wins double header games

BY EMILY TARINELLI ’25 SPORTS EDITOR

Penny Schneider Calf ’68 did not expect to be inducted into the Athletics Hall of Fame.

“I was totally surprised,” Calf said. “I didn’t even know Mount Holyoke had such a thing.”

Calf was inducted as an advocate for women’s sports alongside Elizabeth Kennan ’60, as opposed to being inducted as a player like Catherine Herrold ’00, Langhan Dee ’04 and Mary Mazzio ’83. According to a press release on the Lyons Athletics website, Calf’s 13-year tenure as a distinguished field hockey coach at Walpole High School saw the team win seven Division I state championships and 274 games.

The pinnacle of her leadership at Walpole came between 1994 and 1997, during which the team remained undefeated for 94 games and claimed a three-year streak of state titles. She also coached athletes who went on to achieve greater heights as collegiate players, coaches and even Olympians, such as 2008 national team member Dina Rizzo.

Calf was an accomplished athlete in her own right, too. Growing up in Newton, Massachusetts, her high school only offered four sports

for girls: field hockey, basketball, softball and tennis. Calf played all of them, save for tennis, and only because it was the same season as field hockey. According to Cald, during her senior year, the team attended the first state tournament for girls’ basketball in Massachusetts, where she achieved All-Star honors.

“I loved it,” Calf said. “[I thought,] ‘Give me a ball, give me anything, and I’ll play it.”

Having been so involved with sports even before the inception of Title IX, the landmark legislation that significantly expanded athletic opportunities for women, Calf said her induction as an advocate is all the more meaningful.

“You know, we were in the little gym. The boys had the big gym. The boys practiced on the football field, and there was another 60-yard field that was for access parking where the field hockey field was,” Calf said.

“I mean, the first year we played basketball, the kids didn’t even have uniforms. They wore the same things they wore for gym class.”

She continued, “I wasn’t the most vocal voice, but that whole time during the 70s, even once Title IX passed, you had to convince the school committee that if the guys get $4,000 for coaching, the comparable

Calf knew she wanted to pursue a career in education. “I always wanted to be a teacher, from the day in second grade when the teacher asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’” she said.

After graduating from Mount Holyoke, Calf received her master of arts in teaching from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. From there, she became a teacher at Walpole, where she taught classes in the fields of English, Spanish and — her favorite — Latin.

“When I came to Walpole High School in the fall of 1969, there was one Latin II class of eight girls,” Calf said. “When I left Walpole High School, there were two full-time Latin teachers and a part-time Latin teacher who taught three classes a day. And we were all on the same curriculum, which I wrote.”

“It wasn’t just about translating Latin. My quote was, ‘Latin is all around us.’ That’s how I opened every Latin I class in the fall of every year,” Calf said, adding that one of her proudest achievements is “building the Latin program from not even existing to being substantial.”

She continued, “So many people over the years have said, ‘Is Walpole a Catholic high school?’ It was like, no, it’s a public high school. ‘And you have four years of Latin?’ Yes, and we have three Latin teachers. And I want to say, ‘Because I was a damn good Latin teacher!’”

After a three-year delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mount Holyoke College Athletics admitted its fourth class of inductees to the Athletics Hall of Fame, according to a press release on the Lyons Athletics website. Catherine Herrold ’00, Langhan Dee ’04, Mary Mazzio ’83, Elizabeth Kennan ’60 and Penny Schneider Calf ’68 were all honored in a reception and dinner at the Willits-Hallowell Conference Center on Thursday, May 25.

BY GENEVIEVE ZAHNER

STAFF WRITER

Mount Holyoke College Volleyball defeated both Anna Maria College and Salve Regina University in a tri-team match at home on Sunday, Sept. 23. The Lyons won their first game of the match 3-0 against Anna Maria and their second 3-1 against Salve Regina. Elle Rimando ’26 led the team against Anna Maria with 11 kills, while Maddie Barton ’26 led against Salve Regina with 17 kills.

The team’s first set in their game against Anna Maria was fierce, with Anna Maria leading 10-8. But with a combined eight kills by both Rimando and Barton, Mount Holyoke took back the lead and ultimately won the set for the Lyons, ending with 21 kills between the two players. The back row players led the defensive end of the game with 70 digs, in comparison to Anna Maria’s 59. Amelia Ringor ’26 had a match high of 20 digs, and Dinanyelin Martinez ’25 added six. Martinez also contributed four of the team’s 12 ace serves.

The third set of the match was another competitive one for the teams, going back and forth between ties until a kill by Rimando pulled Mount Holyoke ahead to a 9-8 lead. Another ace by Rimando boosted the Lyons to a 17-11 lead, and a later kill by Katie Frank ’27 put the Lyons in a match point at 24-13. Frank ended the game with six kills, and an error by Anna Maria resulted in the Lyons concluding the game with a win.

The second match of the day resulted in a 3-1 win against Salve Re-

gina, with Mount Holyoke winning the first set by ten points. The Lyons got a quick 7-1 lead and were able to hold Salve Regina and take the match lead 1-0. In the first set, Lucie Berclaz ’25 contributed four kills to the team’s total points, as well as seven digs on the defensive end. The second set was more tense, with a 20-20 tie between the teams. A fivepoint run by Barton’s kills brought the team over the hump and in the lead by two sets.

The third set was taken by Salve Regina, with scores of 7-0 and 20-6 throughout the set. Mount Holyoke was able to bring the score up to 23-19 but ultimately lost the set and brought the match score to 2-1. The fourth and final set of the day was close throughout, and a gap of 24-20 was stunted by Salve Regina to bring it to 24-22. With a match-point kill by Rimando, the Lyons won the match 3-1 and finished the day winning six out of seven sets.

This match is the first time Mount Holyoke has beaten Salve Regina in the past four games they have played, giving Mount Holyoke their first New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference win of the season.

“It’s great to start a new NEWMAC rivalry with a win,” Volleyball Head Coach Iris Carpio said. “We have some great ingredients to create something wonderful for ourselves this season.”

The Lyons next compete on Tuesday, Sept. 26, against Emerson College in another home competition.

Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke Athletics Langhan Dee ’04 accepts a trophy at the 2023 Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony in May.

Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke Athletics Penny Schneider Calf ’68 accepts a trophy at the 2023 Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony.

Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke Athletics Maddie Barton ’26 led the Lyons against Salve Regina University with 17 kills on Sept. 23, 2023.

’26

BY JENDAYI LEBEN-MARTIN ’24 & BY ELIŠKA JACOB ’24

i HOROSCOPES i

MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT & GLOBAL EDITOR | COPY CHIEF & ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

It’s your season, Libra. You may start thinking about making some life changes. Proceed with caution to make sure you are acting in your best interest and not in the interest of others.

Do: Prizes | Don’t: Knock

Oct. 23 – Nov. 21

Confusion plagues your life. Trust in the universe to carry you in the right direction.

Do: Advocate | Don’t: Hike

Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

You’re looking for a new romantic partner. Don;t change yourself to fit into someone else’s mold. Stay true to your beliefs to maintain what you want and who you want.

Do: Tiptoe | Don’t: Artificial

Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

Instead of stressing about what the future holds, trust in your ability to achieve what you want.

Do: Jokes | Don’t: Facials

Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

You are perfect and gorgeous. Don’t change anything about yourself.

Do: Butchers | Don’t: Periods

Feb. 19 – March 20

Stop crying and stand up for yourself. Some people need to be called out.

Do: Object | Don’t: Exotic

March 21 – April 19

Reach out to someone introverted today. Turn the charm on and show them what life is really all about: you.

Do: Chill out | Don’t: Smoke

April 20 – May 20

That friendly competition is turning notso-friendly. Shake hands and walk away before things get too messy. Do: Buy | Don’t: Ask

May 21 – June 20

You’re finally getting the break you’ve been waiting for. It’s the perfect time to develop a new hobby.

Do: Flowers | Don’t: Socks

June 21 – July 22

It’s time to party right now, not study. Focus on having fun and get serious later.

Do: Headphones | Don’t: Cry

July 23 – Aug. 22

Not every connection has to be romantic. Try to spend some time on personal growth. Be open minded and put yourself into some new situations.

Do: Slide | Don’t: Plan

Aug. 23 – Sept. 22

Prioritize the group’s goals instead of your own. People are eager to take direction from you, so use that for the greater good.

Do: Tension | Don’t: Dress

Event Highlights

Saturday, Sept. 30

Advancing LGBTQIA+ Equity: A Weissman Transformational Leaders Conversation With Naomi Goldberg ’04

Join the Weissman Center for a conversation about equity and inclusion with Naomi Goldberg ’24. Naomi Goldberg is the deputy director of the Movement Advancement Project (MAP). She also serves as MAP’s LGBTQ Program Director. MAP’s goal is to speed equality for all, including LGBTQ people, through research, insight, and communications. This work includes messaging research, policy work, and movement capacity research. Naomi’s work includes LGBTQI data inclusion.

Virtual Event (register on Embark for the link). 9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Monday, Oct. 2

Fighting for Native Women and Indigenous Women: a conversation with Activist, Attorney and Playwright Mary Kathryn Nagle

Editor-in-Chief Mariam Keita ’24

Executive Board

Managing Editors of Content Jendayi Leben-Martin ’24 & Tara Monastesse ’25

Managing Editor of Layout Jesse Hausknecht-Brown ’25

Copy Chief Eliška Jacob ’24

News Nina Sydoryk ’25

Arts & Entertainment Eliška Jacob ’24 & Lydia Eno ’26

Opinion Silas Gemma ’26

Books Liv Wilson ’24 & Sophie Frank ’26

Global Jendayi Leben-Martin ’24 & Shira Sadeh ’25

Sports Emily Tarinelli ’25

Publisher Liv Wilson ’24

Managing Editors of Web Michelle Brumley ’24 and Artemis Chen ’25

Business Manager Diksha Batra

Editorial Board

Features Jesse Hausknecht-Brown ’25 & Melanie Duronio ’26

Science & Environmental Sarah Grinell ’26

Photos Lydia Eno ’26 & Emma Quirk ’26

Graphics Gabby Gagnon ’24

Layout Editors Sophie Dalton ’25, Rachel Adler ’26 & Leah Royes ’27

Mary Kathryn Nagle is a longstanding activist, attorney and playwright who has sought to raise awareness of the rights of Native and Indigenous women. As a lawyer for the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center, she has been outspoken about the fight for increasing visibility around violence towards Native women. She’s authored numerous plays including one that will be screened at Mount Holyoke during the Indigenous Peoples’ Day Teach-In, “Sliver of A Full Moon.” During this conversation about Mount Holyoke, Attorney Nagle will talk about her activism and playwriting to raise awareness of these important issues.

Virtual Event (register on Embark for the link). 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 3

Women’s College & Universities Virtual Diversity Career Expo 2023

Copy Editors Jude Barrera ’24, Max Endieveri ’25, Gemma Golovner ’25, Carson “Mae” Law ’25, Meghan MacBeath ’25, Indie Murphy ’25, Eva Ridenhour ’25, Kamlyn Yosick ’25, Liv Churchill ’26, Nyx Cieprisz ’26, Erin Deffely ’26, Lydia Eno ’26, Caroline Huber ’26, Kate Koenig ’26, Abigail McKeon ’26, Hema Motiani ’26 & Emma Quirk ’26

Web Editors Linlin Liu ’24, Yuke Jiang ’25, Elizaveta Kozlova ’25, Elle Zhao ’25, Melanie Duronio ’26 & Adwoa Owusu ’26

Subscriptions

Letters Policy

with the approval of the Editor-in-Chief. MHN reserves the right to decide which materials will be printed. Email submissions to mhnews@mtholyoke.edu by Sundays at 5 p.m. for publication the following week.

Join the CDC for the 2ND ANNUAL Women’s Colleges and Universities Diversity Career Expo. 10+ women’s institutions from across the U.S are collaborating to help you find and land internships, jobs, and post-grad opportunities. All majors and class years are encouraged to attend. Check out the employers and organizations, register, and signup for their virtual sessions!

Connect with employers and organizations for career opportunities!

Virtual Event (register on Embark for the link). 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 4

Tragedies of History and the Triumphs of Art: Dr. Henry J. Drewal in conversation with Kimberly S. Newberry

Join us for a conversation between Visiting Lecturer in Art History Kymberly S. Newberry FP ’16 and renowned art historian Dr. Henry J. Drewal, Emeritus Professor in African Art at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This event celebrates the opening of the exhibition “I will spatter the sky utterly: Romuald Hazoumè” curated by Kymberly S. Newberry.

Followed by a reception in the Hinchcliff Reception Hall.

This program is made possible by the Louise R. Weiser Memorial Lecture Fund, and is co-sponsored by the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum and the Art History Department.

Art Building Gamble Auditorium. 5 p.m. - 6 p.m.