Mount Holyoke News — April 15, 2021

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Mount Holyoke campus opens to admitted students for tours BY KATIE GOSS ’23 STAFF WRITER

Starting at the beginning of April, newly admitted students have been allowed to come onto campus for a self-guided tour with two guests at most. Upon arriving for their tour, admitted students must provide either a negative COVID-19 test result from within the last 72 hours or a vaccination card showing they have been fully vaccinated at least two weeks before their visit. Additionally, their temperature must be under 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, and they and their family must wear a green lanyard that has their name on it as well as the date and time of their tour. Every incoming student and member of their group must be wearing a mask at all times. According to the Dean of Admission Leykia Nulan, the Office of Admission had received a dozen or more emails a day from newly admitted students asking if there was a way they could see the campus. With the campus still closed to the public due to the pandemic, they wanted to create an opportunity for students to see the campus before officially enrolling in May. “We had already seen people visiting campus on their own, and we knew that was happening, and we had no authority to stop it. … We thought this would be a really good way for us to actually help mitigate some of that and manage at least a few of the folks that you see,” Nulan said. “Another piece of it was also just knowing that we wanted to provide a safe way — a safer way — for guests to come to campus.” In an April 14 email to the community, the College reiterated that “the Mount Holyoke College campus is still closed for health and safety reasons.” All on-campus community members, “including residential students, approved commuters, faculty and staff” are required to wear their OneCards on lanyards which are non-transferable to guests or other individuals. As admitted students are welcomed to campus for short tours, they are also required to wear lanyards and masks as health

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and safety measures. “The campus closure is a necessary and reasonable action in support of the health and safety of students and employees who live and work on campus,” the email stated. “Since students aren’t able to have visitors to campus, it follows that other visitors not be allowed as well. While we all look forward to the day when our beautiful campus can be reopened, it is extremely important that we commit as a community to these restrictions for the foreseeable future.” Still, the exception for admitted student tours has meant that new safety measures were implemented in the campus visit process. Once students and their families get to the Office of Admission, they must call before coming into the building. After they go through their health screening and provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test or vaccination records, they are given a bag and a green lanyard with a badge before being let onto campus. In total, Nulan said that students and staff working in the Office of Admission come into close contact with the visitors for no more than three minutes. Although this is a way for new students to see the campus, the green lanyards are also meant to help determine who is really allowed on campus. Even though the campus is not open to the public, people have still been entering the property. “Campus is not open to the public, period. So if you see people wandering around without a mask, or people wandering around who aren’t current students, staff or faculty, and they don’t have a green lanyard on, then they are likely not supposed to be there unless they are a vendor or contractor working on campus,” Nulan said. “None of us can control strangers [and] community members feeling like they have the right to walk around.” Additionally, another reason for allowing students to take tours of campus is to keep a record of outsiders who are coming into the community. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

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Photo by Trinity Kendrick ’21 Mount Holyoke has chosen to allow newly admitted students to tour campus this semester despite its closure.

Italian lecturer’s contract renewed after community outcry Italian program would no longer be able to sustain itself, as a department requires three full-time faculty members. From that point, the program would phase out, On April 11, the College announced it as the College had not filled the position. would renew Visiting Lecturer in Classics Following the announcement, the three and Italian Martino Lovato’s contract. Lo- faculty members in the department advovato will remain at Mount Holyoke in his cated that Lovato’s contract be renewed current faculty position. to the dean of faculty. “[This] means that his position is as Frau expressed how happy the decivulnerable as it was sion has made the before,” Ombretta department. “We Frau, chair of Rocan use the time to “[The terms of Professor Lomance languages start working to crevato’s contract renewal] means ate a path forward and cultures and a professor of Italian, and to engage with his position is as vulnerable as said. new conversations it was before. ” This decision with the dean of facalso means that the ulty’s office,” Frau Italian department said. - Ombretta Frau will not have to shut Frau also notdown its major and ed that the support minor programs, a possibility that the de- from the Mount Holyoke community partment was worried about when they played a huge role in the decision. were originally told a few weeks ago that “This is the most amazing part for Lovato’s contract would not be renewed. us,” Frau said. “I am sure that without Three faculty members — Lovato, the students and without many faculty Frau and Lecturer in Italian Morena Sval- members’ support, this would not have di — make up the Italian department. happened. We asked for help and the Lovato’s dismissal would mean that the community responded.” BY KATIE GOSS ’23 STAFF WRITER

4 FEATURES: Marriage Pact comes to MHC u 8 A&E: ‘Sightlines Tours’ explore nostalgia

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SPORTS: Mazzio ’83 directs rowing film

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EVENTS

April 15, 2021

Mount Holyoke News Mount Holyoke News is an independent student newspaper written by and for Mount Holyoke College students since 1917. VISIT US: www.mountholyokenews.com www.facebook.com/themhnews www.twitter.com/mtholyokenews_

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Executive Board Copy Chief Kelsey Thomas ’21

Editor-in-Chief Lily Reavis ’21 Managing Editor of Content Flannery Langton ’22 Managing Editor of Layout Rose Sheehan ’22

Publisher Liz Lewis ’22 Managing Editor of Web Zoe Farr ’21

Arts & Entertainment Rose Cohen ’23 & Mariam Keita ’24 Opinion/Editorial Nina Larbi ’22 & Tasnia Mowla ’23 Books Sidney Boker ’21 & Cat Babour ’24 Global Sophie Soloway ’23 & Amelia Luo ’23 Health & Science Kessh Bhasiin ’22 & Zoe Greenberg ’23 Features Mimi Huckins ’21 Sports Gigi Picard ’22

Event Highlights Thursday, April 15

Designing a Student-Centered Vision for Mount Holyoke’s Services and Processes

Join LITS and the College’s partners at CampusWorks to develop the principles that will inform MHC’s future technology environment that will improve service and support a more seamless experience for students. 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. EDT Meeting ID: 952 1473 1664 Passcode: 057325

Self-Evident Education: Antiracist History Curriculum

Photos Ali Meizels ’23 & Rosemary Geib ’23

Join Michael Lawrence-Riddell, Makeda Mays-Green, Jemelleh Coes, and Bayeté Ross Smith as they talk about the power of Self-Evident Education. Self-Evident is producing powerful resources for educators to use in their quest to help their students understand the histories and legacies of systemic racism in the United States of America. 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. EDT Registration is required through Embark.

Graphics Anjali Rao-Herel ’22

Friday, April 16

Business Manager Sarah Nam ’23

Editorial Board News Casey Roepke ’21, Kate Turner ’21 & Liz Lewis ’22

. Mount Holyoke News

Environmental Meryl Phair ’21

Copy Editors Hunar Anand ’21, Audrey Hogan ’21, Audrey Shannon ’22, Margaret Connor ’23, Lauren Leese ’23, Emma Watkins ’23, Raina Brown ’24 & Ella Jacob ’24 Layout Editors Angie Romero ’24 & Zoe Tang ’24 Web Editors Audrey Hogan ’21, Shloka Gidwani ’22, Georgia Fish ’23 & Aarushi Sharma ’23

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Senior Symposium 2021

An annual event where seniors share the projects, scholarly research, and intellectual passions that they have brought to their year of independent research, 395-course work or other course work that demonstrates depth of research and analysis during their senior year. 10:30 a.m. - 4:45 p.m. EDT Registration is required through Embark via the Weissman Center for Leadership.

Saturday, April 17

Mount Holyoke Latinx Alum Conference

The Mount Holyoke College Latinx Alum Conference is a space for MHC Latinx alums, current students and allies to collaborate, network and support one another. The conference’s mission is to inspire every attendee to be a leading presence in the space(s) they occupy, including on campus, throughout their careers, and within their communities. 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. EDT Registration is required through Embark via the Alumnae Association.

Sightlines Tour: Keep, Scrap, Transform: The Art of Reimagining Tradition

n this Museum tour, we will engage with works of art ranging from prints to pottery. We will dive into their subjects, methods of creation, and artists’ experiences to explore the theme of tradition. 1:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. EDT Registration is required through Embark via the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum.

April 15, 2021

NEWS

. Mount Holyoke News

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Waves could be the next renewable energy source BY CATELYN FITZGERALD ’23 STAFF WRITER

Wave energy recently reached a new milestone in the United States: The first testing site for large-scale electricity production has been approved in the country. The site, called PacWave South, is located off the Oregon coast and will be used by various companies to determine the viability of their wave energy converters (WEC). The goal of the site is to determine which wave energy technologies can be adapted for full-scale commercial use. As with other renewable energy sources like the sun and wind, waves contain an incredible amount of energy. This energy can be harnessed and used to generate electricity to power homes and businesses. Waves off U.S. coasts have enough energy to hypothetically provide around 2.64 trillion kilowatt

hours of electricity per year. This is an impressive amount of power considering the U.S. generated 4.01 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity last year. About 60% was generated from fossil fuels, 20% from nuclear energy, and 20% from renewable energy sources, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While WECs take many different forms, they all work in a similar fashion — the kinetic energy stored in the motion of waves drives a turbine, which powers a generator located either in the water or onshore. This process of using the motion of water to generate electricity is also referred to as “hydropower.” The idea behind wave energy is not new. The first patent for wave energy was issued in 1799. Many scientists have previously attempted to develop WECs, but there has not yet been enough success for renewable energy to be used in

most countries. Scotland stands out for having made significant progress with the technology. For the past five years, the Scottish company Nova Innovation has powered vehicles and homes on the Shetland Islands using wave energy. They pioneered the first active electric vehicle charger using wave energy. Despite the success demonstrated in Scotland and a few other countries, wave energy remains practically unheard of in the U.S. and is far from being ready for the grid. Associate Professor and Chair of Physics at Mount Holyoke College Alexi Arango weighed in on the topic, explaining that wave energy could be a valuable part of the United States’ renewable energy profile, but that it would only be worthwhile for small-scale uses. “If we’re asking the question, ‘Can we supply all of the United States with wave energy,’ the answer is no. It’s just

not even in the same ballpark,” Arango began. “If you’re asking, though, if you can supply a couple of cities along the West Coast, or at least, [if it is] possible to contribute to the energy mix of cities along the West Coast, the answer, I would say, is yes. By his calculations, if WECs were installed along 50 percent of the West Coast, wave energy could supply five kilowatt hours of electricity per day per person in the U.S., compared to the average usage of almost 300 kilowatt hours per day by Americans. One of the greatest benefits of wave energy is that, compared to other renewable energy sources, it is consistently available for capture. Wave energy could play an important role in filling in the gaps when there is no wind or sun CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

Elaine Chao ’75 used her public office Campus now to aid family, inspector general reports open to seBY LIZ LEWIS ’22 PUBLISHER & NEWS EDITOR

Elaine Chao ’75, a Mount Holyoke alumna and longtime prominent figure in American conservative politics, recently came under fire for having used her political position as transportation secretary to assist her family’s business during the Trump administration. Chao graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. After earning her MBA at Harvard Business School, she went on to be named secretary of labor under President George W. Bush in 2001. Chao was the first Asian American woman to be appointed to a presidential Cabinet position. Since then, she has held various public offices, most recently as transportation secretary from 2017 until 2021. On March 3, 2021, The New York Times reported that Chao “repeatedly used her office staff to help family members who run a shipping business with extensive ties to China” during the Trump administration. This conclusion is based on a report released by the Department of Transportation’s general inspector on Wednesday, March 3. The investigation began in 2019 with a New York Times report on Chao’s interactions with her family during her time as transportation secretary. In December 2020, the Trump administration

nearing its end, the inspector general passed along the investigation results to the Department of Justice, which refused to open a criminal investigation into the allegations. Most of these concerns were related to the shipping business started by her father, James Chao, in New York after immigrating from Taiwan in the 1950s. According to The New York Times, the business “centered around transporting commodities like coal and iron ore to the Chinese market.” The company is now run by her sister. As transportation secretary, Chao’s work concerned all matters related to domestic and international transportation, including the world of international shipping her family members’ businesses occupied. The investigation exonerated Chao, but concerns are still circulating about her use of public resources to aid her family. Though investigators did not find evidence that Chao explicitly violated any ethical codes, she was found to have used her office to handle affairs related to the shipping business on numerous occasions. One notable series of violations took place in November 2017 during her official trip to China, during which Chao planned several events at establishments that her family’s business had supported in the past. Chao also repeatedly asked staff members to perform errands for the shipping business as well as her father’s wider profes-

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Photo courtesy of the Mount Holyoke College Archives Chao, above, was a member of the class of ’75.

sional life, including advertising his biography and editing his Wikipedia page. Chao resigned from her position as transportation secretary on Jan. 7, 2021, the day after the insurrection at the Capitol and a matter of weeks before her term was set to expire at the inauguration of President Joe Biden. According to The New York Times, an aide to Chao commented at the time that her departure had nothing to do with the investigation. In response to the inspector general’s findings, Chao released a memo explaining the importance of familial relationships in Chinese culture. The memo cited “filial piety” as a defense, stating that her actions came from a place of love and respect for her parents rather than “self-promotion and self-aggrandizement.”

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Nulan added, “In terms of newly admitted students, … we have provided this opportunity for them to let us know that they’re coming and to do it in a safe way. So we have pushed out a lot of communication to say, ‘We want you to register because it helps maintain the safety of our community and to help us keep a record of who all is coming and to show to our community that you are a temporary registered guest allowed to be on campus.’” Newly admitted students have until May 1 to officially enroll and pay their deposits. Nulan also said these tours are to help them decide if Mount Holyoke is where they will want to stay starting in the fall. “We definitely hope that a sense of belonging is something that they get out of it and that they feel like Mount Holyoke can be their academic home for the next four plus years … [and] somewhere they want to be this fall,” Nulan said.

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FEATURES

April 15, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

Stanford’s Marriage Pact comes to Mount Holyoke BY REBECCA GAGNON ’23 STAFF WRITER

The newest buzz on and off the Mount Holyoke campus has been the MoHo Marriage Pact. The @mohomarriagepact Instagram page and an email sent out to the Mount Holyoke community let Mount Holyoke students know about the latest opportunity to find a new friend or romantic partner. “The MoHo Marriage Pact was a team of Mount Holyoke students and a couple of our friends from Stanford,” Madelynn Hardtke ’24, one of the creators of the MoHo Marriage Pact, said. “The Stanford team has launched Marriage Pact at a bunch of schools, and they are the ones with the algorithm, along with all of the marketing knowledge. The Mount Holyoke team were the people who had all the knowledge on Mount Holyoke, so we adapted the questions to fit the College’s population.” Hardtke also said this was an activity that the team hoped would bring together the Mount Holyoke community in a time of uncertainty and help everyone find their perfect match — whether that be romantic or platonic. “I feel like sometimes [while dating] you just want there to be more of a prompt that is specific to your own community,” Phoebe Murtagh ’21 said. “I have thought multiple times that there should be a Seven Sister-specific dating app or something. Like, I don’t need the entire world, I just need more reasons to talk to people in a community that I already have.” According to The Stanford Daily, the Marriage Pact began in 2017, when Stanford students Sophia Sterling-Angus and Liam McGregor sent out a survey they called the “Stanford Marriage Pact.” This idea came from the joke that if two friends haven’t found someone by a certain age, then they would marry each other. Sterling-Angus and McGregor sent out the survey and used an algorithm to find participants’ perfect matches. The Marriage Pact has since expanded to other colleges, including Mount Holyoke. “Technically, we are not allowed to reveal a lot about the survey because it is classified information,” Hardtke explained. “But it leans on research from psychology, economics and computer science [and is] basically designed to make the best match in the community. It was heavily adapted for Mount Holyoke because we were the first [gender-diverse women’s college] that they ran the pact at, so previously, there wasn’t an option for just platonic matches. We changed a lot of gender[ed] language. A lot of the questions were adapted because Mount Holyoke is such a different campus from other colleges, so I think we created a pretty awesome and different experience for Mount Holyoke students than any other school that has experienced the Marriage Pact before.” The survey was written to take about 10 minutes to complete and was sent out to the whole Mount Holyoke community. Once a person completed the survey, they had the opportunity to send it to others to pass on the message. “When I took it, I honestly didn’t know what it was going to ask me or expect of me,” Lauren Gruen ’23 said. “I was surprised to find while it does ask you very

Photos courtesy of the MoHo Marriage Pact All current Mount Holyoke students were invited to participate in the Marriage Pact, which statistically matched students based on compatibility.

early on if you are interested in a romantic or platonic match, it was all the same questions. It had a point where it was like, ‘How many kids do you want?,’ and I was like, ‘I don’t think my friends need to care,’” Gruen added. Gruen explained that, although she didn’t know what the survey was going to ask, she was surprised to find that there were no questions about general interests. She talked about how things such as hobbies, favorite movies or preferred music types were excluded and expressed how she thought those were important pieces of general information that a romantic or platonic match should know. “I thought it would be fun, and I might meet someone cool,” Murtagh said, discussing their reason for participating in the survey. “I thought the [survey] was fine, but I did [hear] some good points from friends. One of my closest friends knows that she doesn’t want children, and … two … questions were based on theoretical children, which isn’t helpful for her purposes.” “I do think, if I created it, I would add a question or two about basic interests,” Gruen said. “Just so people have a starting point. Just a couple of questions that it said at the beginning like, ‘By the way, here are some basic interest questions and we will supply the answers of these to your match’ would have been helpful.” Gruen expressed how this basic information about her match would have been useful while she was reaching out to them. Since she didn’t know their pronouns, major or class year, Gruen felt a bit weird contacting them and thought that the basic information would have helped her. “I was matched with someone I have known for a year and have worked with on [SGA] E-Board,” Murtagh laughed. “So [they’re a] cool person, but I already knew them. So [it was] unsuccessful?” However, there have been some success stories that Hardtke has heard. “Obviously, we haven’t had a lot of time to see how the matches turned out,” Hardtke said. “But from what I have heard from a couple of people already, I

know someone has made a super good friend through it [and] there have been a couple of dates that went pretty well, so I am pretty confident in that.” Gruen stated that she would complete the survey if it came back, and Hardtke hinted that there might be a redux of the survey next year. “If people have any success stories they want to share [about] how their matches turned out, they can always get in contact with me,” Hardtke said. “I would love to hear about it so we can further help strengthen or change the activity for future years. I am also really excited to hear how the hard work turned out.”

MHN ELECTIONS Interested in joining the news team or moving into a new position? The Mount Holyoke News is looking for students to fill executive board positions for the 2021-2022 academic year. All board members will receive training and no previous MHN experience is required! Roles include: » Publisher » Managing Editor of Web » Business Manager » Human Resources Coordinator For more information, please contact mhnews@mtholyoke.edu

April 15, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

OPINION/EDITORIAL

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Armie Hammer allegations show need for accountability in film

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons Armie Hammer speaks at a Comic-Con panel in San Diego in 2015.

BY KAVERI PILLAI ’23 STAFF WRITER

Content warning: This article discusses physical, sexual and emotional abuse. As an outsider, the film industry represents the most glamorous and optimistic parts of reality. We go to cinema halls to escape from our ordinary lives — we obsess over celebrities and we dream of living a life with such opulence. Movies have proven to be the only permanence in this world of constant change or turmoil. But with the immense power to influence an audience comes the burden of social responsibility. The Time’s Up movement gained momentum in 2018 after several sexual abuse allegations against the Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein came to light. What started as a handful of women, dubbed “Silence Breakers” by Time magazine, coming forward has become a ripple effect in the sea of intolerable be-

havior in the film industry. The latest figure to receive such attention is actor Armie Hammer, who made headlines at the start of the year for having been accused by multiple of women of intense physical violence, emotional manipulation and sexual abuse. While legal action against the accused is a matter of law, what the film industry may say about one of its members is what encourages us to ask: What is the film industry’s social responsibility when it comes to employing the accused? The industry is infamous for its complicity when it comes to stars like Woody Allen, but its reaction to the claims made against Armie Hammer are telling. If anything, it highlights a newfound urgency and pressure for the industry to react to these issues and fulfill its social responsibility. The idea of social responsibility comes from the identification of movies as instruments of social change. Cuban film director Julio García Espinosa, who wrote a manifesto for New Latin American Cinema in 1969, was one of the few of his era to push for film as a medium for sociopolitical change and for having the power to move and educate audiences. Ever since the 1960s, with political instability and topics of neocolonialism and diaspora gaining popularity, directors from these once colonized countries in Europe, Central America and Africa have aimed to use film as the bridge between the common man and knowledge. The film industry pushed the general public to engage with these real topics of class struggle and liberation on a bigger scale, a shift from the isolation they were far too familiar with. While this awareness of social matters hasn’t diminished, the directors’ articulation of these matters beyond the screen has. Espinosa echoed this in his manifesto when he encouraged directors to move away from film aesthetic value and to pour their personal stories into film as an act of social justice. Such an accessible platform, according to Espinosa, is a gift that cannot be misused. Because film was essentially pushed to be an anchor of revolution, filmmakers shouldn’t stop at showing the importance of change on the screen. They should go beyond and

practice it too. The importance of maintaining this social responsibility in the 21st century cannot be diminished. For too long, the film industry has housed, protected and praised sexual offenders and predators on the pretense of their artistry. Allen, who was accused of sexually abusing and grooming his then-adopted 7-year-old daughter Dylan Farrow, is one such example. While Allen could not have dismissed the claims any faster, it is the celebration of a publicly accused director by a notoriously sexist and racist industry that compromises the promise to fulfill a social duty. Since the allegations, Allen has gone on to win an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and an honorary Palme d’Or at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. This revelation did anything but ruin his career in the film industry, which makes one ponder what privileges are at play here for a straight white man. While this might have changed only a decade later with the Harvey Weinsteins and the Kevin Spaceys of the world, it is commendable to see what the film industry has done with Hammer’s case. Ever since the accusations of abuse became public, Hammer has been forced to exit two upcoming projects: the romantic comedy “Shotgun Wedding” and “The Offer,” a Paramount Plus series about the making of “The Godfather.” Still, removing a cast member on the phone while being overtly silent on the trauma he has inflicted is nothing short of being silent to a crime. While the future of his projects like Amma Assante’s thriller “Billion Dollar Spy” and Disney’s “Death on the Nile,” based on Agatha Christie’s book of the same name, are under consideration, the film industry has to vocalize the reason why such actors are being excused from film projects and should show that it will not tolerate such immoral behavior regardless of who partakes in it. It is about time that the industry goes back to spearheading conversations not just on the screen but in real life to global audiences about crucial social matters.

ENVIRONMENTAL: Climate change creates psychological trauma BY MERYL PHAIR ’21 ENVIRONMENTAL EDITOR

Climate change reverberates throughout ecosystems as well as the human body. The direct outcomes of climate change produce physical harm to individuals through natural disasters and the creation of inhospitable environments while also impacting individuals and communities’ well-being through a wide range of mental health effects. As the planet continues to warm, we become increasingly exposed to psychological trauma connected to the destruction of the natural world. Disasters are defined by their causes and outcomes. In “Climate Change and Public Health” edited by Barry Levy and Jonathan Patz, natural disasters are described as following a linear progression

of warning, impact and recovery. Determinants of psychological effects relating to climate events can happen in any of these three phases. For example, human error or unpreparedness for a natural disaster, such as not having adequate evacuation protocols, can significantly increase disasters’ harm. During the event, the disaster’s frequency, severity and duration all contribute to psychological impacts. Recovery responders need to address basic needs such as food, water, sanitation, shelter and health care. They often treat disaster-related injuries or respond to immediate environmental risks produced by the event. These recovery areas can all influence the short- and long-term well-being of affected people and communities. Jennifer Albertine, visiting lecturer in environmental studies at Mount Holyoke College, said that

climate change impacts mental health in three major ways. Albertine cites Levy and Patz in defining these three key areas: the direct impacts of disasters, extreme weather events and physical changes rendered to the environment; indirect impacts based on individual observation of global events; and concern for the future and indirect psychosocial consequences at community and regional levels. These groupings of mental health impacts vary by geographic location. They have also affected minority groups and those with lower socioeconomic statuses with greater severity. The direct impacts of climate-related events include extreme weather, heat, drought, floods and CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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GLOBAL

April 15, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

North Korea withdraws from 2021 Tokyo Olympics BY MADHAVI RAO ’24 STAFF WRITER

Of the 206 countries planning to participate in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, North Korea is the first to announce that it will not attend the event due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to The Associated Press, the country’s decision, which was released on a government-run website, was made to protect its athletes from COVID-19. The 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed due to COVID-19, have been scheduled from July 23 to Aug. 8, 2021. In a statement to the public, the International Olympic Committee stated that the Olympics are open to the Japanese public but will not allow overseas viewership. On March 25, North Korea decided not to attend the events. This is the second time the country has missed the Olympics, the first being during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, as reported by BBC News. While the boycott of the Seoul Olympics in 1988 was motivated by political reasons, this recent decision was made with public health concerns in mind. The country has reported zero COVID-19 cases, though many are skeptical of the truth in this statement. According to The New York Times, the country’s isolation has made its public health care system vulnerable and unable to handle a pandemic of this scale. On April 9, the country’s leader Kim Jong Un made

Photo courtesy of Flickr The 2020 Tokyo Olympics were postponed for one year due to COVID-19, which has increased excitement over the upcoming event this summer.

a speech to party members addressing the devastation that the pandemic caused in the country. The Guardian reported that Kim compared the current pandemic to the 1990 famine, using the euphemism “arduous march” in both situations. The famine in 1990 was widely attributed to the withdrawal of aid from the Soviet Union and resulted in the deaths of up to 3 million people, according to NPR. Kim accredited the failing economy to a heavy reliance on imports and a lack of self-reliance in the country’s production, according to The Associated Press. However, the agency went on to state that the country’s crisis is caused by its increased isolation during the pandemic, poor management and economic sanctions to improve its nuclear arsenal. Since the beginning of the pandemic, North Ko-

rea has kept its borders closed and cut off trade with China. In past weeks, the country test-launched two guided missiles in what The New York Times called “a challenge to President Biden.” According to BBC News, the U.S., Japan and South Korea have condemned the tests. Helen Roane ’23, an international relations major, noted that this decision might have some political intentions. “What makes me think that it is more of a political move than simply COVID [related] is because there are other countries [that] are experiencing COVID hardships that haven’t said that they would be avoiding the Olympics,” Roane said. “North Korea must have been aware of the political repercussions of its decision. I’d like to see how this affects the rest of the countries that are participating.” Al-Jazeera reported that South Korea’s Unification Ministry hoped that the Tokyo Olympics would be a chance to “foster peace and reconciliation between the two Koreas.” The event would also have been an opportunity for other countries, such as the U.S., to hold talks with the highly isolated state. International relations major Bria Carlson ’23 noted that, “The issue really comes down to what North Korea’s intentions [are].” “Are they truly dropping out because of the potential health risks or are they wanting to send a political message?” Carlson questioned. “North Korea has been hit hard during this past year so dropping out to send a political message doesn’t seem all that far off.”

A divided kingdom: Royal feud causes split in Jordan BY AMELIA LUO ’23 GLOBAL EDITOR & PHOTOGRAPHER

On April 4, Jordan’s former Crown Prince Hamzah bin Hussein released a video through his lawyer to the BBC, which stated that he was under house arrest due to criticism he voiced toward the government. Hamzah is the half-brother of King of Jordan Abdullah II, who has been reigning since 1999. In the video, Hamzah accused the Jordanian government of “corruption, incompetence and harassment.” According to Hamzah, the government was not accusing him of making the criticism himself. In the video, Hamzah said, “I am not the person responsible for the breakdown in governance, for the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worse. … I am not responsible for the lack of faith people have in their institutions. … It has reached the point where no one is able to speak or express an opinion on anything without being bullied, arrested, harassed and threatened.” According to The New York Times, quarrel in the palace has always been a Jordanian motif. However, this is the first time that their discord has been made public at this level. Hamzah is the oldest son of the late King Hussein and his fourth wife Queen Noor. He was named crown prince in 1999 and Hussein’s favorite son. But at the time of Hussein’s death, he was seen as too inexperienced to succeed the crown. Abdullah, his older half-brother, succeeded instead and took away Hamzah’s title of crown prince in 2004. He then gave

that title to his son, Hussein. Xinran Wang ’24 commented on the issue, stating, “It almost seems to me that King Abdullah II is blaming others for his insecurity if those criticisms are not even made by Prince Hamzah himself, only by people who he interacted with. “Regardless of the initial charges,” Wang continued, “I think Prince Hamzah made some subtle attack on the government in his video, calling Jordan a place lacking free speech. Hence, the disagreement between the two of them might be deeper than it looks, … and now they are just going back to the old way of concealing it.” Yuyang Zhang ’23 added, “The Jordanian royal family has always kept their disruption concealed to create an [image] of stability. However, this recent conflict would have a huge impact on regional politics, especially in a tense region such as the Middle East.” Abdullah and Hamzah released a statement on April 5 suggesting that the prince is pledging loyalty to the king. According to The New York Times, Hamzah claimed that “the interest of the nation comes above all else and we all should stand behind His Majesty in his efforts to protect Jordan and its interests.” This statement is very different in tone from the audio recording released by the prince’s supporters earlier, which stated that he would not readily accept being silenced. On April 6, the Jordanian government also issued a gag order, which banned national news outlets and social media users from posting about the case. According to a leaked recording attained by The

Photo courtesy of Flickr King Abdullah II, above, king of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is in a feud with his estranged half-brother, Prince Hazma bin Hussein.

New York Times, General Yousef Huneiti, the head of the Jordanian Armed Forces, agrees that the prince has not personally gone against the king but attended social events where the criticism was made. Those gatherings included talks about “government performance” and about the current Crown Prince Hussein. Even though that criticism only comes from the people whom Hamzah was meeting with, the Jordanian government still considers his action as “crossing the red lines.” On April 10, 2021, Huneiti stated, “Starting from today, there will be a commitment from His Highness, the prince, not to go to these special occasions, not to mix with these people who have foreign and domestic agendas, and to restrict visits to family visits.”

April 15, 2021

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HEALTH & SCIENCE

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UMass Amherst gambling study has impact for MA casinos BY NANCY JIANG ’23 STAFF WRITER

Recently, a University of Massachusetts Amherst research team presented groundbreaking research on the social and economic impacts of gambling in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Gambling Impact Cohort study is the first major gambling study to spend over six years on the same individuals in order to analyze the development of their gambling behavior. Considering the frequency of gambling and the impact it has on individuals, this study breaks down gambling behavior into four categories depending on psychological, social and biological factors: non-gamblers, recreational gamblers, at-risk gamblers and problem gamblers, in order of those with the least dangerous behavior to the most. People who are problem gamblers should seek professional help from psychotherapists. When people think of gambling, they often think of gamblers struggling with addiction. However, the researchers wanted to know if it is possible to gamble without forming a gambling addiction. Researchers were also interested in the factors that predict future gambling and problem gambling and the differences between problem gamblers who seek help and those who do not. One of the questions researchers investigated was

the impact of introducing casinos in Massachusetts on the number of problem gamblers. Before Massachusetts began allowing casinos to operate, the money that the state could have generated from casinos flowed into nearby states with legal casino-style gambling, and policymakers wanted to know if the potential profits from casinos offset the risk to gamblers. One of the study’s lead investigators, Dr. Robert Williams, called the state’s success in bringing back dollars previously spent in out-of-state casinos to in-state casinos “good news.” Additionally, the increase in casinos has “had no negative impact” on the amount of people that enter the lottery. Still, addiction to gambling greatly impacts the lives of gamblers. One of the biggest reasons gambling continues to be studied is to look for the reasons addiction is caused and develop a way to prevent it. Although there is no golden rule of spotting the exact reason for one’s problem-gambling behavior, the study summarizes several possible risk factors. The first factor is the environment. From 2013-14 to 2019, the percentage of problem gamblers in MA has increased from 2.3 percent to 3.7 percent, with a positive correlation of emerging social media advertisements and the opening of MGM Springfield and Encore Boston Harbor. Previous related experiences of individuals also play a large role. According to the study, nearly 20 percent of the at-risk gamblers become problem gamblers

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons Researchers studied the impacts of establishing casinos like MGM Springfield, which generated about $2.4 million in its first week.

within this study’s six-year window. Other factors include being low-income, being male, having experience with substance abuse and facing mental health challenges. Experts believe that the state government should suppress the increasing number of problem gamblers by addressing the factors listed above. Some examples include screening potential problem gamblers with specific demographics, limiting related advertisements and encouraging those at risk to seek help. According to the study, 9.3 percent of those surveyed denied their gambling problems despite having a score that puts them in the problem gambler category.

CDC and FDA recommend pausing use of Johnson & Johnson vaccine

Photo courtesy of Getty Images Johnson & Johnson vaccine use was paused after six cases of blood clotting, a small fractions of the 6.8 million doses already distributed.

BY KESSH BHASIIN ’22 AND ZOE GREENBERG ’23 HEALTH & SCIENCE EDITORS

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration recommended pausing the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Tuesday as they review six reported cases of blood clots forming in individuals days after they received the vaccine. The six cases of blood clotting are among more than 6.8 million doses of the J&J vaccine that have been administered in the U.S. In a joint statement released on Tuesday, the CDC and the FDA called the blood clotting “extremely rare” and said the decision

to pause the use of the vaccine was made “out of an the one taken by some European countries in limiting abundance of caution.” The organizations also de- AstraZeneca use to people over the age of 55. cided to alert medical practitioners that if a patient “This pause will allow scientists to look more comes in with symptoms of blood clotting, they should closely at the new data and consider making changes look into whether the patient has a recent history of to the vaccine recommendations. For example, since vaccination. no blood clots have been reThe CDC and the FDA deported in older vaccinated peoscribed the six people in the “This pause is an example of sci- ple, the FDA may recommend blood clotting cases as womthe J&J vaccine be used entists’ incredible care for patient that en between 18 and 48 who deonly in people aged 55 [plus],” safety, and it shows me that the Lijek said. veloped symptoms six to 13 days after getting vaccinated. oversight of COVID vaccine devel“It is entirely conceivable The women suffered cerebral — making no predictions — opment and distribution is work- that there may be some restricvenous sinus thrombosis, a ing! If anything, I hope that the tion in an age group or not. We blood clot in the brain believed to have concurred with low public sees this as evidence to trust don’t know that now. That’s the counts of tiny blood clot-formwhy [the CDC and the in the scientific process and the reason ing cells called platelets. FDA] are working very hard vaccines on the market.” “These blood clots are exto answer the question,” Dr. tremely rare — literally 1 in Anthony Fauci, director of the a million — and it is still unNational Institute of Allergy - Rebeccah Lijek clear if the vaccine is causing and Infectious Diseases, said them or is just correlated with in a White House briefing on them,” Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences Re- Tuesday. beccah Lijek said. “This pause is an example of scienUrging people who have received or are scheduled tists’ incredible care for patient safety, and it shows to receive the J&J vaccine not to panic, Fauci appeared me that the oversight of COVID vaccine development in a video for the White House during which he reand distribution is working! If anything, I hope that ferred to the new complication as a “very rare” scethe public sees this as evidence to trust in the scientif- nario. He further mentioned that out of the 121 million ic process and the vaccines on the market.” doses administered, only 6.85 million doses were of the It is too early to say if health officials will advise J&J vaccine. According to Fauci, those scheduled to against administering the J&J vaccine to women un- receive the J&J vaccine will now receive the Pfizer or der 50 based on the six reports, an action similar to the Moderna vaccine instead.

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

April 15, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

Russian Club holds ‘The Art of Remembering’: Art museum tour explores nostalgia during COVID-19 annual arts event BY MARIAM KEITA ’24 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Chances are that if you’ve spent any amount of time on the Mount Holyoke campus, you have probably encountered at least one of the many flyers that can be found urging students to “TAKE RUSSIAN: NOW IS THE TIME.” This past week, the department welcomed the Mount Holyoke community to the annual arts event “Wild Honey: An Evening of Russian Poetry.” The event is named after the play by Anton Chekhov and hosted by the Mount Holyoke Russian Club. On Thursday, April 8, 21 students, faculty members and alums of Mount Holyoke’s Russian department congregated via Zoom. Robin Kerr ’21 sang the song “Весна” by Viktor Tsoi, a founding member of the popular Russian band Kino, while strumming along on a ukulele. Others recited poetry or prose or sang other songs as they shared in an evening of appreciation for the language. Laura Adeniyi ’21, who was in attendance on Thursday, is a native Russian speaker and a language assistant for the Russian department at Mount Holyoke. “I was just there to support the students that I work with,” Adeniyi said. “[‘Wild Honey’] is just there for them to get into Russian culture, express themselves, find some poetry that they like. [It’s] just like a bonding activity I guess, but with a Russian twist.” Adeniyi was born in Vladimir, Russia, a small city east of Moscow, and lived in the country for 10 years before moving to the United States. “The [Russian] students are awesome. They’re so amazing. They’re super talented and I love working with all of them,”Adeniyi said. “At Mount Holyoke, there’s a lot of support and a lot of activities for students [who want] to get involved.” Students interested in learning more about Russian at Mount Holyoke should reach out to Academic Department Coordinator for Russian and Eurasian Studies Dominique Rampton or visit the Russian Club page on Embark.

Graphic by Trinity Kendrick ’21

Photo by Lily Reavis ’21 The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum has been holding its annual “Sightlines Tours” remotely via Zoom and a 3D rendition of the galleries.

named the galleries that each art piece was in, as though the tour was actually traveling through the galleries. She would introduce a work of art and invite The Mount Holyoke College Art Museum has not the group to share their thoughts about it, even in the let the COVID-19 pandemic stop it from engaging with form of a single word, before explaining its context. students. “Sightlines Tours,” which are live and interDespite missing Mount Holyoke, Corasanti found active student-led thematic tours of the 3D museum, positives in hosting the tour via Zoom. are available until May 1. “A major plus of having virtual tours is that peoStudent guide Katie Corasanti ’21 introduced stu- ple from all around the world [can] tune in,” Corasanti dents, faculty and alums to the art of Keiko Minami, explained. “I also [get] to show some really tiny pieces Etienne Aubry, Joseph Chandler and Joseph Goldyne that I wouldn’t have been able to show on a tour if we during her tour “The Art of Remembering: Nostalgia were in person and some extreme close-ups of differas Feeling and Experience in Art,” which took place ent pieces, which help to make the viewing experience last Saturday, April 10. a lot easier.” As the title indicates, Corasanti’s tour focused on Cortnei Edwards ’22, another student guide who nostalgia. “Nostalgia can be defined as a sentimental will be leading her own Sightline Tour on Tuesday, longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a April 22, especially appreciated the way Corasanti period or place with happy percrafted her tour. sonal associations,” Corasanti “[Corasanti] constructs “I went to the virtual museum tour their questions in a way that said. “Nostalgia can be a personal experience, so pay attentruly gets their audience to reto better understand this feeling tion to your own experiences.” on each piece,” Edwards and to see how artists depict nostal- flect For Claire Williamson ’23, said. “Museums can be very gia through art. I wanted to see if I intimidating spaces where you the theme of nostalgia was what inspired her to attend “The Art feel like any answer you procould recognize some of the emoof Remembering.” Williamson vide is potentially ‘wrong’ — tions I’m having in works of art.” had been feeling a new pandembut I think that Katie was great ic-induced version of nostalgia, at getting their audience to feel and she sought out art for some comfortable enough to share - Claire Williamson ’23 answers. their thoughts.” “I went to the virtual museFor Corasanti, Chandler’s um tour to better understand this feeling and to see painting “Landscape of Early South Hadley” depicts how artists depict nostalgia through art. I wanted to nostalgia for a place, but it also demonstrates the dansee if I could recognize some of the emotions I’m hav- gers of cultural nostalgia. It “taps into common themes ing in works of art,” Williamson said. of cultural nostalgia for an American past, before mayCorasanti appreciated leading “The Art of Re- be they lost this kind of idyllic countryside to the Inmembering” during 2021, which she recognized as a dustrial Revolution,” Corasanti explained. “American difficult year. “Th[is] experience has been the high- landscape painting usually touches on … yearning for light of a really tough year, and I’ve learned so much,” this … ideal simple life in [the] quiet, pristine countryshe said. side, and it’s this kind of nostalgic yearning for [the] The MHCAM tours are “3D” in that the presenta- past.” tions show images of the room the art resides in before All the pieces displayed in Saturday’s show are zooming in closer to each piece so that viewers can currently available for virtual viewing through the properly look at them. Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. If you are interTo add to the immersive experience, Corasanti ested in seeing them, visit artmuseum.mtholyoke.edu. BY LUCY OSTER ’23 STAFF WRITER

April 15, 2021

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ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

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‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ is a nostalgic trip to 2008 with a twist of self-acceptance and artistic maturity BY LILY REAVIS ’21 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Personally, if you told me to recite the poetry I wrote at 17 years old, I would run screaming into the woods. Apparently Taylor Swift, though, isn’t afraid of her adolescent self, as proven by the rerecording of her 2008 album “Fearless.” In the rerecorded album, which was released this week, the now 31-year-old singer powerfully and genuinely returns to her early country-pop roots. Her decade-old lyrics, now sung in her matured voice, skillfully craft a message about personal value and the art of growing up. There are also subtle differences in the new version of the album, like the fraction-of-a-second-longer pause before the chorus in “The Best Day” and a new perspective in “Change,” which emphasizes the time between the two recordings. “My expectations were beyond exceeded,” Naomi Brown ’21, a self-identified Taylor Swift fan, said. “I felt like she stayed true to the character of the songs, while also digging deeper.” The release of “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” is a welcome and sentimental return to childhood. Even more so, it’s a heart-twisting ode to growing up over the past 20 years and the trials of the early Graphic by Gabby Gagnon ‘24 2000s. For myself and a number of other 20-somethings, the new album feels like a remind- who is listed as the songwriter on each, could effecer that personal narratives are more important than tively eliminate all media usage of her early work. public personas. In the rerecorded album, Swift once That would remove all financial value of her first 80 again proves to the world that she is unconcerned with songs from her old record label, as they wouldn’t be able to play those songs on the radio, in movies, on its perception of her. “One of the coolest things, in my opinion, about television or in ads. Brilliantly, Swift could book all of being a Taylor fan is seeing her evolution as an artist,” those slots with her new recordings instead, giving Vincent Finch-Brand ’21 said. “As much as I love her her a financial monarchy over the work she created new songs, it was also really cool to hear some new and rightfully owns. songs written very much in the style of her old songs.” Wait, it’s just the old album again? You don’t need to be a die-hard Swiftie to under Okay, I’ll admit it — the idea of a rerecorded stand the importance of this new version of “Fearless,” though. For the first time since her career began album is kind of weird. We already spent a whole deat 13, Swift is now the sole owner of a piece of her early cade memorizing the lyrics and learning the backstodiscography. Her dignified composure in the face of a ries of the songs. I’ll be the first to say that I was not as shady record deal is something to be admired wheth- excited for “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” as I had been er or not you enjoy the singer’s early country-twinged for “folklore” and “evermore” earlier this year, just because of the added thrill of new music. songs. But Swift didn’t just rerelease old tracks; she In the same vein, the release is also a massive diss to music executives Scooter Braun and Scott Bor- also dropped six never-before-heard songs “From The chetta, as well as record label Big Machine Records, Vault” that she wrote early on, but never included on all of whom collectively own the rights to her first six any albums. “One thing I’ve been loving about these ‘From The Vault’ songs is that they’ve never been albums. “I think that a lot of people might be confused as heard, so I can experiment, play and even include to why she would release nearly identical versions of some of my favorite artists,” Swift wrote in an Instaher old albums, but … even if I didn’t love the new ver- gram post on March 24, announcing the release of the sions, which I do, I would still support her choice to first vault song, “You All Over Me,” which features rerecord her music with full creative control and own- Maren Morris. Another “From The Vault” track, “Mr. Perership,” Finch-Brand said. Additionally, by rerecording those albums, Swift, fectly Fine,” is the emotional 2008 breakup bop we

never got — aside from the other three that were released back then. The singer’s maturity shines through the obviously-teenager-written lyrics for the perfect return to middle school without all the awkward memories. I’m torn between feeling betrayal toward Swift for not giving me this masterpiece of a song earlier and feeling relieved that it doesn’t remind me of the trumpet player I dated in tenth grade. I think Swift knew what she was doing when she decided to give this to us in 2021. The rerecorded tracks are also notable. “The thing I love so much about Taylor Swift is her storytelling ability,” Brown explained. “I think that even though these songs were written by a teenage Taylor, she has the ability to still bring a lot of truth and honesty to them.” The song “Change” was originally written about Borchetta, Swift’s first music producer, and the “walls” he helped her break down on the way to stardom. Even though the rerecorded version features the exact same lyrics, the meaning is now drastically altered due to the huge public fallout between Swift and Borchetta over her previous record label deal. When the adult Swift sings, “These walls that they put up to hold us back will fall down / It’s a revolution,” on the rerecorded album, it seems to be pointed at Borchetta for attempting to maintain ownership over her work. It’s hard not to feel a twinge of childhood nostalgia hearing the fully grown Swift the rerecorded album. Frankly, I shouldn’t have to explain why the rerecorded version of “Fifteen” made me cry, but if listening to the 31-year-old Swift sing, “Wish you could go back and tell yourself what you know now,” doesn’t make you emotional, I’m embarrassed for you. “Fearless” is only the first of Swift’s six original albums that she has said she will rerecord and rerelease. Although the singer hasn’t officially announced which album will be next, fans have speculated that it is likely either “1989” or “Speak Now” based on the singer’s recent focus on her earlier work. “I’ve heard rumors that ‘1989’ is next,” FinchBrand explained. “Looking back, it makes sense that she started with her first AOTY [Album of the Year] win and one of her career-defining albums,” Brown said. “I am super excited to hear ‘Speak Now’ rerecorded, because it was a childhood-defining album for me and I’m excited to hear it as a 21-year-old. I also love her debut album and think that a lot of the songs on it will benefit from it being rerecorded with her more mature voice.” Knowing all that we do about Swift from the past 18 years of growing up with her music career, the release of “Fearless (Taylor’s Version)” comes as an emotional return to adolescence. And honestly, if that’s not for you, that’s fine — I’m buying the album as a CD and breaking out my portable disc player for this one.

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ENVIRONMENTAL

Weekly Climate News Non-fungible tokens, a new blockchain technology, have been found to have a large environmental impact.

The Muldrow Glacier in Alaska is moving up to 90 feet a day, 100 times faster than its normal pace.

. Mount Holyoke News

Wave energy has viability concerns, cont’d

April 15, 2021

Many cyclists are unhappy about a new rule change that ends the tradition of tossing water bottles to fans during races.

April 15, 2021

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons While waves are a viable source of renewable energy, there is still discussion over how to best capture that energy in an effective way.

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at sea adds to the cost of production, so finding the minimum amount of added material necessary for long-term performance will be a crucial part of making the technology economically viable. Another issue that wave energy has is limitations due to land use policies, such as the existence of protected areas along the coasts and resistance from local communities, who may see WECs as an eyesore if placed too close to the shore. Arango was most concerned about the viability of wave energy in the context of a quickly shrinking timeline to avert the worst effects of climate change. “It’s a question of how much time do we have and how much money do we have in order to come up with ideas to fund experimental projects, to fund all of the [research and development] that needs to be done in order to get the technology to a point where it’s economical,” he raised. While it may be possible to integrate wave energy into U.S. electricity production on a commercial scale, it will take years and a significant amount of funding, making it potentially more worthwhile to focus on renewable energy sources that are already operating on a commercial scale. When asked what Mount Holyoke students should take away from the possibility of wave energy, Arango emphasized the importance of local power generation. “I might prefer to first exploit solar and wind sources with small-scale solar and small-scale wind,” Arango said. “I can foresee problems — perhaps problems with wave energy where there is an environmental harm or a social harm that is hidden from view out at sea.”

A cyclone hit Indonesia, leaving over 160 people dead from flash floods and landslides. Many are claiming the Indonesian government’s recent rollback of environmental protections worsened the crisis.

available. “I think there’s an advantage to having a diversity of sources of energy,” Arango said. While wave energy may not make much of an impact on its own, its value is highest when it is part of a larger renewable strategy. “Some of the challenges of wave energy relate to survival in a very harsh environment,” Arango said. WECs need to be able to resist corrosion from the saltwater and survive being battered by storms, especially as climate change increases the frequency and severity of weather events. Building WECs that can withstand conditions out

Japan’s recent approval of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean has been met with fierce opposition.

Artificial light pollution disrupts navigation behavior in animals and insects

Despite a slow economy resulting from COVID-19, greenhouse gases are currently on the rise.

BY HELEN GLOEGE ’23 STAFF WRITER

The proposal for the construction of a controversial biomass power plant in Springfield, Massachusetts, was revoked by the state’s Department of Environmental Protection. CACTO claims to be the first “carbon negative fashion company in the Americas” because it removes more atmospheric carbon than it produces through the manufacturing of its cactus leather products.

The current decline of insect populations around the world could put ecosystems at risk of collapsing. Insects are responsible for the biological foundation of all terrestrial ecosystems, pollinating plants, dispersing seeds, maintaining soil structure and fertility, controlling the populations of other organisms and providing a food source for other animals. For example, fireflies are important to ecosystems, as their larvae feed on pests that can destroy the habitat of other organisms, while grasshoppers benefit ecosystems by facilitating cycles of decomposition and regrowth. A recent study titled “Narrow-spectrum artificial light silences female fireflies” by Avalon Owens and Sara Lewis discusses how using artificial light at night creates problems for nocturnal biodiversity. Fireflies use their flashes to find mates, and when these flashes can’t be seen at night due to artificial light, it hinders their ability to mate and survive. The study tested different artificial light colors at different intensities and found that all artificial light treatments significantly suppress courtship activity.

Graphic by Anjali Rao-Herel ’22

The study recommended minimizing the duration and strength of lights or having outside lights fitted with motion sensors that can’t be triggered by bugs. It is possible that energy-efficient LED lights could be CONTINUED ON PAGE 11

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ENVIRONMENTAL

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Climate change impacts well-being through trauma, cont’d u

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landscape changes. Loss of human life, injury and infrastructure damage, as well as trauma- and stress-related disorders, can be produced. Psychological trauma can include anything from short-term acute stress disorders to post-traumatic stress disorder. The mental impairments experienced can include intrusive memories, negative mood, dissociation, avoidance, sleep disturbances, irritable behavior and hypervigilance. Adjustment disorders and impaired place attachment, particularly when landscape damage occurs, can lead to emotional and behavioral symptoms, which can affect entire communities. Anxiety and worry can be directly produced through climate change-related events, which can lead to panic attacks, loss of appetite, weakness, insomnia and depression. Indirect impacts are more difficult to define, as they are “often gradual or cumulative in nature,” Albertine said. These emotional disturbances occur through the observation of unprecedented environmental and social changes. This could be from directly witnessing climate-related events or through processing the changing environment through social media or news sources. Indirect impacts explain why people can experience mental health effects from climate change even when they aren’t in a community impacted by a climate disaster. A 2020 poll from the American Psychiatric Association found that 67 percent of Americans are somewhat or extremely anxious about climate change’s effect on the Earth, while 55 percent are somewhat or extremely anxious about climate change’s effect on their mental health. Indirect impacts are also influenced through social narratives and views on climate change. Those

Graphic by Jieru Ye ’23

who are cautious, disengaged and doubtful of climate change trend toward having a decreased emotional response, while those who witness the direct impacts of climate change are more likely to grapple with a range of emotional reactions. For example, a community-driven multi-year project published in 2013 regarding Indigenous communities in Canada’s Inuit territories found that climate change directly alters emotional well-being. These communities experienced the melting of ice caps, landscape changes and altered

weather patterns and reported that these occurrences had produced heightened anxiety, depression, fear, anger, lowered self-worth and declined overall health. Climate change also produces the emotional responses of denial and apathy. Denial is produced through conscious social practices, such as a lack of open discussion about climate action, and subconsciously as a physiological defense. Many social scientists believe that a significant factor in apathy toward the climate crisis is rooted in the massive scale that climate change encompasses. The last grouping of mental health impacts is psychosocial, which explains the environmental disturbances that affect communities over the long term. Climate change exacerbates heat-related violence, increasing instances of domestic violence, child abuse and crime, as well as intergroup conflict as natural resources become scarce and borders are infringed upon. It also increases displacement and migration, which complicates relationships to place and disrupts preexisting social networks, decreasing access to thriving ecosystems. This places stress on economic security and overall health. In the face of climate change’s existential threats, individual resiliency can be built through several means. Albertine pointed out the need to ensure everyone can adapt to coming climate change, particularly those who are most vulnerable. This includes providing the means to face climate events as well as rebuilding in the aftermath. Green technology, sustainable goods and eco-friendly lifestyles must be made available and affordable to everyone. Albertine also identified the need for holding governments, industries and corporations accountable, as they are the root causes of our warming world. Albertine added, “It doesn’t matter how much we do on an individual basis if the biggest contributors aren’t acting to mitigate our greenhouse gas emissions.”

Light pollution harms animal instincts, cont’d Google Maps specifies energy efficient routes u

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making things worse, as the short wavelengths of LED lights are more attractive to insects. Levels of artificial light at night are rapidly increasing by 20 percent each year, causing disruptions in animal behavior. Another study, titled “Nocturnal city lighting elicits a macroscale response from an insect outbreak population,” describes the reasons behind an insect outbreak in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2019, where over 45 million grasshoppers concentrated over high-intensity city lighting. Las Vegas is the brightest city in the United States. The grasshoppers stayed in the outskirts of the Las Vegas Valley during the day near vegetated habitats and would descend on the city when the lights came on at dusk. This phenomenon is not exclusive to grasshoppers and fireflies. Moths are known to move toward human-made light sources instead of orienting toward the moon. Baby sea turtles often head toward bright

street or city lights away from the natural light of the ocean. They will turn inland and often never make it to the ocean. Bird and butterfly species depend on starlight-based navigation for seasonal migration. Artificial light can disrupt their migration, moving them off their normal routes and ending in fatalities. Light pollution can interfere with bioluminescent creatures’ mating calls, subsequently decreasing the frequency of mating. European glowworms refrain from shining until it gets dark so they can be seen by males. With artificial light, females will delay their glowing or stop glowing entirely. It is suspected the West Nile virus may have been amplified partly due to artificial light. In this case, sparrows were exposed to light at night and their immune responses were disrupted, causing them to carry the virus for longer. Despite little study on the impact of artificial lights on insects or other animals, it is important to further understand the trade-offs and effects of artificial light on the world around us. Various solutions exist to decrease light pollution and create darker skies at night.

BY SIONA AHUJA ’24 STAFF WRITER

Google announced on March 30 that starting later this year, the Google Maps app will direct drivers on routes estimated to generate the lowest carbon emissions. Google said it would factor in emissions data based on different types of slopes and inclines using its own Street View feature combined with aerial and satellite imagery. “What we are seeing is for around half of routes, we are able to find an option more eco-friendly with minimal or no time-cost tradeoff,” Russell Dicker, a director of product at Google, said in an article for Reuters. Unless the user opts out of this feature, they will automatically be offered the most eco-friendly route. In cases when alternative high-emission routes are CONTINUED ON PAGE 14

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SPORTS

April 15, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

Mary Mazzio ’83 discusses documentary ‘A Most Beautiful Thing’

BY GIGI PICARD ’22 SPORTS EDITOR

On April 6, 2021, filmmaker and former Mount Holyoke rower Mary Mazzio ’83 spoke at a panel to discuss her 2020 documentary “A Most Beautiful Thing” alongside Arshay Cooper, who wrote the memoir that inspired the film. The documentary is about the first African American high school rowing team from the west side of Chicago, which Cooper joined and eventually led. Facilitators of the panel included current Mount Holyoke rowers Jaya Nagarajan-Swenson ’22, Claire Gabel ’22 and Casey Roepke ’21. Former Mount Holyoke rower, Cynthia Thornton ’83, was another panelist. The documentary is based on Cooper’s memoir of the same name about the team and what it was like growing up on the west side of Chicago. When asked what inspired him to write the memoir, Cooper responded that he wanted to counter the news people get, which can be misleading. “I wanted to write and give people an opportunity to unlearn some of the things they have learned, how the structural limitations have destroyed unity and communities like the west side of Chicago many years ago,” Cooper said. Mazzio initially didn’t believe Cooper’s story — until she read his memoir. After reading it, she reached out to Cooper on Twitter which is how their relationship began. Cooper had actually been tweeting to Will Smith and Steven Spielberg to get his story noticed, but no one got back to him except Mazzio. Thornton wasn’t surprised that Mazzio reached out to Cooper based on her experiences with Mazzio at Mount Holyoke. “Not everybody wanted to be seen with me. That never bothered [Mazzio],” Thornton said. “Not everybody wanted to be my friend because I was Black except [Mazzio].” When Mazzio and Cooper went to Chicago to visit the neighborhood Cooper grew up in, she asked, “How do you get to school safely?” There was no secure way of getting to school, ac-

cording to Cooper. Children from ages 9-12 had to decide how to get to school safely. That’s when it “dawned on [Mazzio]: When you can visit the typography of a place like the west side, you understand immediately the systematic obstacles that [Cooper]’s talking about, [such as] the profound inequality of safety — inequality of safety with respect to police conduct [and] inequality of safety with respect to gang affiliation.” Describing his experiences, Cooper said he would “step out of the door to walk to school [and] at times, you were skipping over pools of blood, you [were] hearing gunshots the night before when you sleep. You run for your life at times. … You experience what most soldiers have experienced at war before you were 15 years old. So you can’t think about the future. You can only think about survival.” But when rowing came into his life, it became the “first place [Cooper] was able to find hope” after the YMCA was torn down. Cooper found rowing “therapeutic” and a place where he could meditate while on the water and stay out of the neighborhood for a bit. Later in the discussion, Cooper talked about how the rowing team invited the Chicago police to join them. He mentioned that it was important for the police to “know their names” because their slogan is “to serve and to protect.” Cooper wanted to give the police the “opportunity to learn and unlearn who we were.” While it was awkward at first, they learned a lot about one another and made connections despite their differences. Thornton talked about her own story when she faced racial profiling in New Jersey. She had left an event, and a cop pulled a gun on her while she was wearing an evening gown with sequins. At the time, Thornton thought that if she got killed, the bullet would go down her neck and exit her body, but at least she was wearing something pretty for her casket. “You are most generally safer when they see someone white with you,” she concluded. In her final remarks, Mazzio said she started seeing “extraordinary philanthropy behind this movie” to combat racial bias.

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons “A Most Beautiful Thing” is based on the memoir of Arshay Cooper.

The website for “A Most Beautiful Thing” states that 50 percent of the box office, merchandise, license fees and film screening profits from the film will go toward the work of Cooper and rowing inclusion efforts, trauma research and the NAACP. The film was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award, an NAACP Image Award and the title of Best Documentary by the International Press Academy. The film is narrated by Academy Award- and Grammy-winning artist Common; executive produced by NBA stars Grant Hill and Dwyane Wade along with Grammy-winning producer 9th Wonder and directed by award-winning filmmaker and Olympic rower Mazzio. Amazon Studios is working on adapting the story into a scripted series. Editor’s note: Casey Roepke ’21 is a current member of the Mount Holyoke News.

Mount Holyoke athletic department celebrates Division III Week

Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Athletics Ireland Clare Kennedy ’21 and Bridget Hall ’24 at the Mount Holyoke indoor track participate in Flag Friday at the end of spirit week.

BY GIGI PICARD ’22 SPORTS EDITOR

Last week, the Mount Holyoke athletics department participated in the NCAA’s Division III Week with its own spirit week. According to the NCAA, the purpose of Division III Week is to “celebrate the im-

pact of athletics and of student-athletes on the campus and surrounding community.” National Student-Athlete Day took place during Division III Week on April 6. Additionally, in a fitting turn of events, the swimming and diving team has been able to put together competitions with local colleges, the first of which took place during DIII Week at home against Elms College. Mount Holyoke Volleyball also has a competition coming up soon. From April 5 to April 11, Mount Holyoke Athletics geared up for Movie Monday, when athletes could dress up as their favorite movie character; Twin Tuesday, when people could twin for the day; Western Wednesday to get their cowboy hats and horses; Tye Dye Thursday, when tie-dye was the dress code; and Flag Friday, when people could dress like any flag that meant something to them. Over the weekend, athletes could dress in MHC class colors on Saturday and wear a school spirit outfit on Sunday.

The Mount Holyoke Athletics Instagram page posted activities for athletes to participate in and share on their Instagram stories, such as a This or That-style game in which athletes had to pick between a water sport or a land sport and tag their athletic friends. Another activity was a shared MHC Bingo graphic on which students could check off things they did while being a student-athlete at MHC, like taking a walk around Lower Lake, almost being attacked by Jorge or forgetting to shower after practice. To conclude Mount Holyoke Athletics’ spirit week, the Student-Athlete Advisory Council hosted a carnival featuring outdoor lawn games and temporary tattoos on Skinner Green. “It felt like we had a little bit of our old athletic traditions back again since we were able to rally together and just celebrate being a DIII college. It was especially nice since we didn’t get to do so last year, so I could feel our athletic department itching to do something fun,” said Mount Holyoke Track and Field athlete Leah Pendl-Robinson ’22.

April 15, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

SENIOR REFLECTIONS

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As our reporting begins to come to a close for this academic year, the Mount Holyoke News is preparing to say goodbye to several senior staff members. We’ve reserved space in each of our final editions for these graduating seniors to bid farewell to our readers and other staff members. Please enjoy our first senior reflections here:

SIDNEY BOKER

ZOË FARR MANAGING EDITOR OF WEB

BOOKS EDITOR I joined the Mount Holyoke News in the spring of my first year at the College after I saw a Facebook post advertising open positions for the Books section, asking, “Do you like books?” I thought to myself, “I do like books.” Then I thought, “It’s probably time I joined a student org.” So I did! I was a little baby with no news experience but Kate Flaherty ’19 welcomed me to the section and made our meetings in Blanch events that I looked forward to attending. Thank you, Kate, for making the newspaper feel like a place for me. Thank you also Beata Garrett ’20 for picking me to chat with before a section meeting started one time — it was the beginning of a friendship that saw us often scuttle into the Art Building late at night laden with snacks to watch movies on a big projector screen (too bad you graduated and the pandemic happened, but at least we have Zoom). My signature as a writer was putting together lists of upcoming books, but I would branch out and cover other topics, too. You can read them on the Mount Holyoke News website. Thank you to Rebekah McBane ’21 for always providing me with a Mount Holyoke voice for my articles. As a junior, I became co-editor of the section and I stepped foot into the newsroom for the first time. Seeing all the posters and past editions in there was a little overwhelming, and knowing who to contact for what flat and using InDesign were struggles at times, but

I was figuring things out thanks to my co-editor Deanna Kalian ’20. Working with you made editing flats and even printer troubles fun. Not everything was rosy, though. As alluded to, a global health crisis hit and Deanna and Beata graduated, leaving me as sole editor of a section with no writers. My senior year came around, part of which I spent in an apartment in Michigan (many thanks again to Rebekah for making that happen). I had to learn how to run the section on my own and virtually at the same time as I had to learn the new remote editorial system. Thank you to Cat Barbour ’24 and Amelia Scarponi ’23 for being the first new writers to join me. Along with our newer members, Ella Jacob ’24 and Ana Branas ’24, I’m so proud of all the work we have done. It was as the solo pandemic editor of Books that I found myself really falling in love with the behind-the-scenes aspects of the newspaper — the parts of the process you don’t see as a staff writer or when reading the published issue. I enjoyed doing the editorial work way more than writing articles, cementing my intention to pursue a career in publishing. Thank you to Professor Nigel Alderman, Professor Katherine Walker and my internship supervisor, Morgan Hufstader, for helping me get into the Columbia Publishing Course. I’m looking forward to being able to say, “I do like books, and I like making them, too.”

I’d spent the majority of my time at Mount Holyoke College across the hallway from the newsroom, going to the radio station every free chance I got. I’d cast a few glances at the newsroom and looked at the blank applications left outside the door but never ventured any further than that. I didn’t have the confidence to publish my writing like that. When I finally visited the MHN team, it was as a favor to a friend who wanted a few extra students to show up to the MHN open house my junior year at Mount Holyoke. I joined the Mount Holyoke News the way I do most things: by stumbling in and basically refusing to leave. Once I was in, I was sold on the whole experience. I liked the people I met and how dedicated they were to the pursuit of quality news reporting. I liked the lists that covered the walls, encouraging all MHN members to write on the expansive pieces of white paper and share little facts about themselves. I especially liked the tiny child-sized pink castle tent in the corner of the room, open 24/7 for a news member to crawl inside and do work privately. I admit my process of joining the MHN has been a little backwards; I joined the Mount Holyoke News as a copy editor, moved into the Managing Editor of Web position, and then started writing my own articles this last semester. However, I am eternally grateful for the Mount Holyoke News because I was feeling a little lost prior to joining.

I didn’t know what I wanted to do with the rest of my life and I was feeling a little nervous about being an upperclassman with no plan. MHN helped me figure out what my next steps were, planning a route for where I wanted to go next and what I wanted to do after my four years at Mount Holyoke. I’d like to thank our Editor-in-Chief Lily Reavis for valiantly facing the global pandemic and deciding to forge on, pioneering our first-ever summer publication cycle. She’s the most fearless person I know and an inspiration to goofs like me. I’d like to thank Liz Lewis and Flannery Langton for always hearing out my terrible ideas for the news and patiently taking them into consideration. You two amaze me with your humor, your tenacity and your dedication to the news. Last but certainly not least, I’d like to thank Mimi Huckins for being my Features editor, for being my partner in crime and for making me laugh out loud with her April Fools’ article about Adam Hilton and his extravagant horse-themed ranch. Of my many experiences at Mount Holyoke College, MHN has been one of the best and I’ll never forget the all-nighters I pulled while writing my finals in the newsroom. It’s been an honor to serve as your Managing Editor of Web and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for the Mount Holyoke News. Go news!

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COMMUNITY PHOTO(S) OF THE WEEK

April 15, 2021

. Mount Holyoke News

THIS WEEK’S PHOTOS BY OLIVIA BRANDWEIN ’22

Send submissions for Photo of the Week to mhnews@mtholyoke.edu by 4 p.m. EDT on Wednesdays for a chance to be included in that week’s edition.

Google Maps launches energy efficient routes, cont’d u

Correction

Correction

In April an article inedition the April 8, 2021Holyoke editionNews, of Mount In he 8, 2021 of Mount we Holyoke News titled “College announces a virtual Commencement for class of 2021,” we falsely named a source as Clarissa Soma. The correct name of our source is Clarissa Somah Goncalves Cordeiro. The correction has been implemented in the print and online version of the edition.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 11

substantially faster, Google Maps will provide all available options and let the user compare estimated emissions. “It will also push those on the fence to make a deliberate choice of speed over sustainability and often cost,” Siddharth Pathak, a partner at the consultancy firm Kearney, said in an article for the BBC. In a blog post, Google also said that beginning in June, it will start cautioning drivers from traveling through low-emission zones — areas that restrict polluting vehicles like diesel cars or cars with specific emissions stickers — in order to help purify the air. Such spaces are common in countries like the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. This policy comes months after Google made its biggest green pledge in September 2020. In the midst of the 2020 wildfires that swept through California, home to Google’s headquarters, CEO of Alphabet Inc. and Google, its subsidiary, Sundar Pichai announced via video that the company aims to run its operations carbon-free by 2030. The company also announced that it purchased enough carbon offsets to cancel out all the planet-warming carbon emissions it released since its founding in 1998.