Mount Holyoke News – April 29, 2022

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FRIDAY, APRIL 29, 2022

Mount Holyoke Review celebrates Mount Holyoke reinstates publication of first in-print issue isolation in place policy

BY MARIAM KEITA ’24 MANAGING EDITOR OF WEB

Photos by Ali Meizels ’23 Left: Danyah Shaikh ’25 reads a poem about her senior skip day in high school, published in the Mount Holyoke Review’s latest edition. Right: Morgan Sammut ’22 performs their newly published writing, an interactive prose piece in the format of a personality quiz, with audience participation.

BY SAMMI CRAIG ’23 STAFF WRITER

On April 25, students gathered in the New York room of Mary Lyon Hall to celebrate the third publication of the Mount Holyoke Review, the College’s student-run literary magazine. Hard copies of the Review were distributed for personal ownership and for attendees to follow along with while contributors read poems, short stories and other written works aloud.

The Review is an organization whose “mission is to provide a platform for Mount Holyoke College’s diverse voices through creative writing in the form of an annually printed quality literary magazine that will be compiled by the org,” according to their website. The organization works on each publication throughout the year before hosting an end-of-year launch party celebration.

The event started with intro-

ductions from the Review’s edi- member, said. tors-in-chief, Kylie Gellatly FP ’23 The Review was founded at the and Ella White ’22, before the floor beginning of the spring of 2020, with opened for writers to perform their their first publication cycle interwork aloud. From 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., rupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. contributors to the publication were After publishing two online-only called up by name to present their editions throughout the 2020-2021 work, while atschool year, this tendees followed was the first “It was really special for along with their in-person puball the members of the org, lication launch hard copies of the Review. party.

Excited especially for the seniors Following the to finally conwho have been with it from readings, some vene in person the start.” guests socialized for an end-ofwhile members year event, sevof the Review eral presenters – Sage Sanderspree ’24 congratulated thanked the one another. founders of the “I loved it. I’ve been a reader of organization and the publication’s the Review for two years now, so see- contributors. ing it be published in a physical book A virtual copy of the first two was really satisfying. It was really issues of the Mount Holyoke Respecial for all the members of the view can be found on the organizaorg, especially for the seniors who tion’s website under the Issues sechave been with it from the start,” tion, with the new third publication Sage Sanderspree ’24, an audience scheduled to upload shortly.

On Friday, April 22, the Division of Student Life announced in an email to students that the College will once again ask residential students who test positive for COVID-19 to shelter in place within their residence halls starting on April 25.

The decision to reinstate the isolate in place policy comes from an upward trend in positive testing rates over the last few weeks.

According to the email, this policy will affect those students who live alone or are currently rooming with a student who has tested positive for COVID-19 within the past 90 days.

Students who reside within three hours of campus and have a private vehicle will be asked to isolate at home.

Alex Moreno ’22 was one of the first student at Mount Holyoke who was asked to isolate in place in their residential hall upon testing positive for COVID-19 when they arrived back on campus for ResLife training during winter break prior to the start of the Spring 2022 semester.

“I tested positive [for COVID-19] literally the day I got to campus,” Moreno said. “I had taken a PCR at home. Because of the delays … the PCR that was supposed to come back in 24 hours took four days.”

Moreno, who works as a residential fellow, was in a Zoom training session for ResLife when they got the alert that they had tested positive.

Upon receiving the alert, they immediately sent a text message to their area coordinator in ResLife asking what their next steps should be. “[My area coordinator was] like, ‘I’ll get back to you. You should call a health center.’” Moreno said.

Upon calling Health Services, Moreno’s phone call was sent to a

voicemail box which relayed the message that the center was closed for several days. The voicemail then directed Moreno towards a number to call in case of an emergency.

“I was like, ‘Okay, I feel like I really need to talk. COVID[-19] like, that feels kind of serious.’ So I call them and then … [the person on the emergency line was] like well this isn’t an emergency so call at a different time and then they hung up on me. Yeah, they were just so mean,” Moreno recalled.

Having had yet to hear back from anyone as to what their next steps could or should be, Moreno described feeling uncertain about what to do.

Eventually, Moreno received a call back from a Health Services employee during which they were presented with two options: opt into a quarantine and isolation housing space in one of the apartments on campus, or participate in the pilot launch of a new isolation program.

Since Moreno’s room as a residential fellow contains a private bathroom, they were offered the chance to remain in their room.

However, Moreno was given a caveat along with this option — they would be responsible for coordinating having all of their meals delivered to their door, because Dining Services employees were unable to enter residential buildings.

“I chose to stay in my room just because I had also just moved back from Hampshire. I needed to unpack.

I needed to be in my room. I couldn’t just leave all my stuff.” Moreno said.

Moreno further explained that they were only asked to isolate in place for about three days, as Health Services was following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines in counting the date that they received the first positive PCR test result as the beginning of their five-day contagion window.

Earth Week showcases climate activists and student organizations

BY ANOUSHKA KUSWAHA ’24, HELEN GLOEGE ’23, LILY BENN ’25 & ANH PHAM ’25 SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT EDITOR | SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT STAFF WRITERS

Content warning: This article discusses anti-Indigenous violence and gendered violence.

This week, Mount Holyoke celMount Holyoke’s Earth Week began with an event held by the Miller Worley Center for the Environment which previewed the upcoming programming and highlighted student organizations who engage with climate-related work on campus.

Attendees were given schedules de-

tailing the Earth Week 2022 events, as well as bingo cards filled with climate-related challenges that students could complete for the opportunity to win a prize.

Various student organizations were represented at the kickoff event.

The Zowie Banteah Cultural Center “promotes visibility and empowerment for Native American and communities of Indigenous people,” according to the Center’s page on the Mount Holyoke website. Their representatives presented information on the role of Indigenous people in fighting against climate change and information about the cultural center.

The Animal Welfare Associa-

tion, presented on the intersection between animal welfare and environmental rights, outlining their current Jorge information campaign, which aims to educate students on proper treatment of the campus goose. For example, they emphasized that Jorge should not be picked up or fed by students.

The event also detailed The Fridge Project — a new student project that aims to take electronic appliances from students at the end of the year and store them over the summer to give them to First-Generation and Low-Income Partnership students in the fall. This would prevent these items from going to a landfill by giving them to those who need them.

The Outing Club was also present, providing information on how to get involved with active nature engagement and appreciation.

Later during the first day of Earth Week, the Class of 1971 Climate Change Workgroup, co-sponsored by the Miller Worley Center for the Environment and Alumnae Association, held a climate film discussion. The event spotlit four climate change documentary films: “Kiss the Ground,” a documentary on regenerative soils; “2040,” a film about contemporary technologies that could reverse the effects of climate change; “Smart as Rock,” a “discussion on carbon sequestration strategies” and “Earth Emergency,” a “PBS documentary on climate tip-

ping points and feedback loops,” according to the discussion event page.

The discussion ended with a screening of the film “One Ocean,” which aims to capture the beauty of nature and the grief of the climate crisis.

Olivia Aguilar, Leslie and Director of the Miller Worley Center for the Environment and Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Sarah Miller spoke about how the solution to climate change “has to do with cultural identities” and systematic change through political actions, including “voting for the right administration” to push through large-scale policies that “pressure CONTINUED ON PAGE 5

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Senate holds Town Hall with Residential Life, discusses accessibility

BY GILLIAN PETRARCA ’23 STAFF WRITER

After a land acknowledgment from the Chair of Senate Shula Mathew ’22, the April 26 senate meeting began. The meeting agenda included a Town Hall with Residential Life, E-Board updates and a presentation from the all-campus elections committee.

E-Board updates included Chair of Halls EJ Jankovic ’23 sharing the results from last week’s in-senate elections. Next year’s chair of senate will be EJ Jankovic ’23, Chair of halls will be Serynn Nowlin ’25 and chair of special interests will be Oumoulakyre Mounkaila ’24. Vice President of SGA Ananya Singh ’22 announced that the student activities fee will increase by $25 next year to pay for free menstrual products in the restrooms on campus and allow the E-Board to be paid.

Director of Community Standards & Housing Operations Rachel Alldis and Associate Director of Residential Life Nashalie Vasquez joined senate for a Town Hall meeting. Senators submitted questions last week with their commissions.

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Photo by Artemis Chen ’25 At senate, students asked Residential Life representatives about selecting and switching rooms.

Question topics ranged from housing selection times to room changes to accessibility in the dorms.

When asked if students can be provided with basic cleaning supplies for their residence halls, such as vacuum cleaners and dustpans, Alldis replied that she knows facilities provide trash bags for students.

Alldis stated that in the past, the school provided each dorm with a vacuum cleaner; however, vacuum

FEATURES: Bagel Therapy performs

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cleaners were often either broken or stolen. Still, she expressed that she is happy to put in that request to facilities.

Next, the two were asked if ResLife and the registrar could coordinate next year so that the housing lottery and class registration are not in the same week. Alldis responded that it is hard to do both of these things before spring break because many students do not begin thinking

A&E: Drag Ball returns after two years

about their living situation until after this time. However, she will talk to the registrar moving forward.

Vasquez was asked how ResLife uses the roommate preferences survey to match students with a roommate. Vasquez replied that for incoming students, she reads all of their applications and tries to match students that have similar habits. However, some students change their habits as they come to college. Vasquez reminded students that they can update their roommate profile each year when finding a new roommate. When asked what circumstances can warrant a room change, Vasquez explained that switching rooms should never be a student’s first response to a conflict with their roommate. The student should first talk to their RA or RF to try and mediate the conflict.

Next, they should talk to their Area Coordinator. If going through these channels is unsuccessful, then the student can be moved.

Lastly, Vasquez and Alldis were asked about accessibility in the dorms. A concern was raised about accommodations for students who live in buildings without elevators

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but become temporarily disabled during the school year. Vasquez responded that ResLife would work with Health Services on an individual basis to get the student temporary housing accommodations. In a follow-up question, a senator asked why there are no empty rooms on the first floor of every building in case this happens. Alldis replied that there are first-floor housing accommodations that prohibit non-accessible buildings from having empty rooms on the first floor. Vasquez and Alldis thanked everyone for inviting them to the senate meeting.

The floor was then opened for a presentation by all-campus elections committee member Isabela Haskell ’23. Haskell stated that the all-campus SGA election did not reach a quorum. According to the SGA constitution, senate can approve the election or vote to allow the election to be open for one more week to reach a quorum. Senators had the opportunity to vote on this matter.

Senate concluded with a statement of gratitude from the senate team and a cording ceremony for senior members, where senators sang the alma mater.

COMMUNITY: Seniors reflect on time at MHN

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FEATURES

April 29, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

Bagel Therapy band showcases cover songs and collaboration

BY DECLAN LANGTON ’22 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

On Wednesday, April 13, 2022, Bagel Therapy graced the Gettell Amphitheater stage for the first time. Spotlit by a hot sun and fanned by a cool breeze, the band — comprised of Mira Zelkowitz ’22 on lead guitar, Mav Leslie ’23 on guitar and vocals, Jenny Yu ’24 on bass and Sofia Lopez Melgar ’24 on the drums — started their set around 5 p.m. With flaring drums and driving guitars, the group began their first song: a cover of “Percolator” by alternative group Charly Bliss.

According to Lopez Melgar, the band was Leslie’s creation.

“I was in Vocal Jazz last semester, and we had a rehearsal with the jazz ensembles, which is where I originally saw [Zelkowitz] and [Lopez Melgar],” Leslie explained.

After seeing them, Leslie recalled thinking, “They’re amazing. I need to play music with them.” Later, Leslie approached Lopez Melgar in the Dining Commons. They exchanged phone numbers and the trio started playing together soon after.

At the start of this semester, Leslie, Lopez Melgar and Zelkowitz realized they needed a bass player.

Yu came into the picture after seeing a post on the Instagram page @ mhc_crushes asking if there were musicians on campus. According to Leslie, Yu commented on the post explaining that she played bass. Leslie then reached out and proposed the idea of starting a band.

“From there, we just started meeting up and sharing music that we wanted to play together,” Leslie said.

Rehearsals at the start of Bagel Therapy were casual, Lopez Melgar described. “We didn’t even worry about if it was perfect, [we were] just having a good time,” she said.

“Zombie” by The Cranberries is one of Bagel Therapy’s strongest covers. The vocals fall comfortably in Leslie’s range, with just enough room for them to holler and croon in the repeating choruses.

Zelkowitz believes there is a collective excitement present when they play “Zombie.” There’s “a lot of the energy … there,” she said.

Something Bagel Therapy is still working out, though, is this song’s ending. “We don’t really know how [the song] ends, … like how many times the chorus repeats,” Lopez Melgar joked.

Yu explained that it comes down to glances and timed eye contact. “I remember looking at [Lopez Melgar], and I was like ‘now!’” she said, demonstrating the moment by bobbing her head forward.

The night before the performance, Leslie was thinking about their final vocal entrance, which comes at the start of the last chorus.

Before that moment is an extended

Photo by Ali Meizels ’23 Left to right: Mav Leslie ’23 on guitar and vocals, Jenny Yu ’24 on bass guitar and Mira Zelkowitz ’22 on lead guitar. Drummer Sofia Lopez Melgar ’24 (unpictured) is the fourth musician in the band.

instrumental section and short guitar solo by Zelkowitz. “I texted [Zelkowitz] before we played that show … [and] was like, ‘Can you please look at me when I’m supposed to come back in? Because otherwise I will not know when,’” Leslie explained. Looking toward Zelkowitz, they added, “We’re gonna look at each other so hard.”

Bagel Therapy prepares for first show The day of the show involved setting up the amphitheater following a day full of classes and other activities. Lopez Melgar and Leslie both came from a seminar class that ended less than an hour before the concert started.

As a college band, Bagel Therapy has a certain amount of homegrown charm. Leading up to the performance, Leslie practiced their singing entrances in their head. Instead of reserving the amphitheater for the band, they made the assumption that no one would be using it on a Wednesday afternoon. Some of their instruments and supplies came from the College — most notably, the drum kit.

Before the show, Lopez Melgar pushed a cart with the drums from Pratt down the lower campus road to the amphitheater. “When we had to go up[hill], it was great,” Lopez Melgar said sarcastically.

After the show, Leslie was tasked with returning the drums. “It was more downhill than I realized. I was trying to steer [the cart]. I was like, ‘I’m in Mario Kart,’” they explained, laughing. Turning serious, they added that the drums were returned in top-shape.

Musicians talk favorite cover songs Zelkowitz’s favorite song is a cover of BØRNS’ “Electric Love,” an upbeat dance pop song about sweet

infatuation. The song was proposed to the group by Yu. “When she suggested it, I immediately thought of one of my favorite guitarists, Kiki Wongo, who is just this amazing metal guitarist,” Zelkowitz explained. “She did this cover of ‘Electric Love,’ but [made] it metal.” Zelkowitz learned Longo’s riff and added it to the Bagel Therapy cover, giving the song an edge.

Playing those riffs, Zelkowitz’s guitar reached out of the amphitheater and around the Mount Holyoke campus, pulling in spectators. She heard after the performance that their concert could be heard from as far away as Kendall Sports & Dance Complex, where the Rugby team was practicing.

Bagel Therapy showcased two other songs during their first performance. “Tungs,” a catchy vocal-driven song by The Frights, was used as their soundcheck and was performed later in the back half of Bagel Therapy’s set. With the repeating lines “Do you like my style/Have you seen my shoes,” Leslie’s stage presence shone. Wearing bright green Converse high tops, they kicked their foot out at the audience, giving a wide grin.

Lopez Melgar’ current favorite Bagel Therapy cover is “A Certain Romance” by Arctic Monkeys. As they explained how much they liked the band, they took off their backwards hat. On the front side was the Arctic Monkeys’ signature logo in its all-caps wavy font.

The song was the closer at their amphitheater performance. Leslie enjoys the song because it gives all the instruments time to shine with small solos and stand-out moments.

“I really like getting to have moments where I get to watch each of you really wail on your instruments,” they said to their bandmates. “It’s

so fun.” The song starts with a fast, heavy drum solo and builds into dueling guitars and cymbal crashes.

Zelkowitz then takes it away, with a picking guitar solo backed by Yu’s steady chord progression. Finally, after nearly a minute, Leslie’s vocals begin.

In “A Certain Romance,” Bagel Therapy’s stage presence was dominating. Leslie’s vocals in particular exuded confidence. Throughout the song, they shrieked, yelled and sang in all parts of their range — all while dancing around in the sun.

Leslie’s vocal training background is in musical theater, but when taking guitar lessons at Mount Holyoke, they started working on their tone and honing a more indie rock sound. “I started focusing on the singer[s] that I like, like Eva Hendricks of Charly Bliss [and] Jake Luppen of Hippo Campus,” Leslie said. “I like singers who have very unique voices.”

Leslie explained that they are working to unlearn the choral group mindset that all voices have to blend together. In their performance, they seemed to succeed at this goal. Their voice had angles and sharpness, with a whimsical delivery that added a flair of fun to intense songs like “Zombie” and shines on groovy tracks such as “Tungs.”

The performance in the amphitheater was Bagel Therapy’s first official show, but throughout the weeks leading up, they had a handful of open rehearsals. One, in the Pratt Hall fishbowl room, turned into an impromptu concert for a group of prospective students, their parents and a Mount Holyoke Admissions tour guide. At around noon, according to Leslie, the tour group was greeted by the sound of their screaming voice as the band rehearsed “Percolator” in preparation

for their amphitheater performance.

“We had some windows open and there were some people walking by,” Leslie said. Lopez Melgar described a group of older women who passed by and flashed them all the “rock on” hand sign. “It was amazing,” Leslie said.

Band looks toward next semester At the end of this semester, Zelkowitz is graduating from Mount Holyoke, vacating the guitarist spot in Bagel Therapy. Despite her impending absence, the band hopes to continue playing and performing together.

In their future performances, Bagel Therapy hopes to expand their catalog to include some original music. “I really want to bring in songs that I’m writing myself and have us work out how to play it in a full band,” Leslie said. Turning to the group, they added, “Y’all know your instruments really well. And I want to bring these ideas to you and have us build them together.”

The collaborative work of Bagel Therapy continues as they prepare for their next performance. On Friday, April 29, the band is playing in the amphitheater alongside local acts Trash Rabbit and Bent Spoon as a part of WMHC’s annual Radio Week.

Right now, though, the group seems to still be basking in their first performance. With a smile, Leslie reflected on the few times while performing that they could make out faces in the crowd. “I wanted to make some kind of connection with everybody who’s here today because I love that feeling when I see other people playing live music,” Leslie said. “I love having that connection.”

Editor’s note: Jenny Yu ’24 is a member of Mount Holyoke News.

​​A Timothée Chalamet and Mary Lyon love story comes to campus

BY ARIANNA PEÑA ’25 STAFF WRITER

At 7 p.m. on Thursday, April 21, a crowd of roughly 50 students gathered around Mary Lyon’s grave to witness a brand-new, one-time-only show, “Going Places I Shouldn’t be Going.”

Performed by members of the Write Here, Write Now creative writing club, this satirical one-act followed ex-actor Timothée Chalamet as a new professor at Mount Holyoke College. After his career takes a drastic turn for the worse, Chalamet lectures at a college where he is mistreated and gawked at. There, he wonders why the school founder is buried on school grounds and why the Film, Media Theater department is led by the same woman who chairs the German studies major. Chalamet is then transported back in time by Jorge, who seeks to generally terrify and torture him, to the early days of Mount Holyoke, when Mary Lyon was still president. Now in the year 1847, Chalamet manages to show the young women of the seminary there is more to life than the Bible. Along the way, he falls in love with the College president. Eventually, Chalamet returns to the present day, heartbroken that he has been separated from his true love, but determined to carry on her legacy as a professor at the school.

“I think this was born out of Zoom insanity,” Olivia Wilson ’24, the writer and director of “Going

Places I Shouldn’t be Going,” said. “It was at the end of our second meeting on Zoom, I remember this very vividly, and we were talking about bad fan-fiction — as you do in a creative writing club — and we were playing this little game of ‘What is the worst thing we can come up with?’ And we landed on Timothée Chalamet and Mary Lyon.”

“We kind of got to talking about it more and said, ‘Oh my god, wouldn’t it be so funny if we put on a play?’ … I remember saying, ‘I have directing experience and playwriting experience, so if you guys work with me to put it on, I will write it,’” Wilson said.

And they did. Wilson, along with many other members of the club, helped create the production. Everything, from the costumes to the live violin player to the various promotional posters plastered around campus, was done by members of Write Here, Write Now. Lauren Leese ’23, co-president of Write Here, Write Now and the Narrator of “Going Places I Shouldn’t be Going,” is no stranger to building creative outlets for students. “[In] my freshman year, my friend Rebecca [Kilroy ’23] and I met each other at orientation and we went to the involvement fair to try and find writing-related clubs because we both loved creative writing. And there was Mount Holyoke News, I think at the time there was a poetry society, but there was no creative writing club. And so we said,

Graphic by Lauren Leese ’23

‘Well then, we’ll make one,’” Leese said.

While Leese and Kilroy — the other co-president and founder — tried to finalize the club’s official founding, their plans were derailed when the pandemic hit in 2020, and the club remained both small and unofficial for a year. However, in 2021 the current juniors were able to secure Student Government Association Ways and Means funding to make Write Here, Write Now an official club at the College. They aimed to give students who enjoy non-academic writing a space to write freely and creatively with no judgment and

full support.

“When you’re in college, it’s really hard to write creatively, especially if you’re working on a long-term project or if you’re just trying to be consistent about it. That can make you feel really guilty, that you’re putting other things above your creative expression. So, we thought that having a set meeting time every week where we set a timer for 30 minutes and everybody [gets] to work on the creative project they couldn’t get to earlier in the week, that’s the kind of thing we think creative writers on this campus really need, so that’s what we want to provide,” Leese

said. “[That’s] the core of what we are, a place where people can write when they don’t have time the rest of the week,” Leese added.

While Write Here, Write Now seeks to give students the space that they need to write whatever they desire. Wilson believes there is something almost cathartic that comes with putting effort into something “bad.”

“I find it really liberating … [writing] ‘bad’ fanfiction, and not caring about quality or the nitty-gritty and just being like ‘How can I tell this crazy story in 15 minutes? …

How can I make people laugh [and] how can I torture my fellow board members?’” Wilson said.

Samantha Pittman ’23, who played Jorge, agreed that there is relief that comes with being creative simply for the sake of being creative.

“It’s super easy [to be] dragged down by all the work you have to do [at the end of the semester,] but to have an hour or half an hour where you are just goofing off and doing this silly amazing fanfiction, … it was a great break mentally,” Pittman said.

While there are no promises that Write Here, Write Now will put on another Timothée Chalamet-themed production in the future, the leaders of the organization seek to support writers who have a passion to create.

Editor’s note: Olivia Wilson ’24 and Lauren Leese ’23 are members of Mount Holyoke News.

April 29, 2022

GLOBAL

. Mount Holyoke News

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Rokhaya Diallo speaks on Black French culture and identity

BY SARAH BELL ’25 STAFF WRITER

“Where do you come from?” is a question that Rokhaya Diallo has received all her life, despite being born and raised in France. According to Diallo, this complicated question normalized in French culture ignites a battle of proving one’s French identity while preserving one’s Black identity.

On Tuesday, March 29, Smith College welcomed Diallo, a French-Senegalese journalist, filmmaker and author, to speak on a panel entitled “On the French Elections and Beyond.”

According to Mehammed Mack, associate professor of French studies at Smith College, “Rokhaya Diallo is the only prominent woman of color to have become a fixture of the nightly news talk shows and radio programs in France. … She brought intersectionality into general public discourse, and has drawn the ire of the right as well as a section of the left that adheres to rigid secularism.”

“One of France’s most prominent

Photo courtesy of Jean-Marc Ferré for UN Photo via Flickr Rokhaya Diallo talked about her experience as a journalist and anti-racist activist in France.

anti-racism activists,” according to The New York Times, Diallo is a notable public figure in television and media. Born in Paris, Diallo graduated from Pantheon-Sorbonne with a degree in International Law, according to BlackPast. Her background in journalism stems from 15 years of coverage of the past three French

elections. Diallo is also a published author, with a newly released book with her colleague, Grace Ly, titled, “Kiffe ta Race.” She has also written “Afro!” a picture book about the appreciation of Black natural hair, according to Goodreads. A true triple-threat, she has her hand in filmmaking, too, directing “De Paris à Ferguson: Coupables D’être Noirs” (2016) translated to English as “Paris to Ferguson: Guilty of Being Black,” and “Où sont les Noirs” translated as “Where are the Black People,” according to TV5 Unis. She is currently a researcher in residence at Georgetown’s Gender Justice Initiative in Washington D.C. “Prepare to face adversity and lose opportunities,” Diallo said during the panel, speaking on the downsides of speaking out within the journalism world. Diallo has been fired from previous jobs due to her outspoken nature, but has also gained many opportunities from it.

“Language is a real tool of intimidation,” she said to the crowd. She advised young female journalists to be confident in what they are speaking about. Diallo doesn’t spend time

on people who don’t want to take the time to learn from her regarding racism in France, though she emphasized that she is explicit with people who do want to take the time to educate themselves.

Carolyn Shread, senior lecturer in French at Mount Holyoke and faculty exchange professor at Smith, an attendee of the panel, looks to Diallo as a trailblazer in disrupting that pattern of the male-dominated discourse. “Diallo’s voice helps correct the erasures and bring us to a more equitable space, in which we hear from more than the happy few.

We need — as soon as possible — for other people to join her so that she is not left to carry the burden of speaking alone.”

Diallo presented a clip she edited called “Qu’est ce que le Manterrupting,” meaning the interruption of female journalists and politicians by male voices. Diallo spoke on “preserving the art of speaking.” She felt like she wasn’t taken seriously in workspaces — however, speaking in a more assertive manner has helped her debate and assimilate in these spaces.

She also spoke on the candidates of the French presidential election, specifically on Marine Le Pen, the current president of the National Rally, and Eric Zemmour, who has made openly racist, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim remarks, according to The Economist. It is unprecedented in recent years for France to have two far-right candidates so high in popularity.

One question for the panel was about the importance of inclusivity, particularly regarding the underrepresentation of African and Caribbean female and nonbinary voices from Francophone and Lusophone countries. Diallo stated that the preservation of these works by diverse writers and the recentering of today’s notable Francophone African and Caribbean voices, such as Françoise Verges, Awa Thiam, and Paulette Nardal can bring attention to this.

Diallo and Mack recommended several Francophone contemporaries, activists and historical figures, including Louis Delgrès, Toumi Djaïdja and Albert Memmi.

Tanzania elects first female president Study-abroad diaries: Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23 shares a day in the life in Copenhagen, Denmark

BY CYNTHIA AKANAGA ’25 STAFF WRITER

Last year on March 19, Tanzania joined the cohort of African countries with female leaders with the swearing in of Samia Suluhu Hassan, a Muslim Tanzanian woman, as head of state. In Tanzania, Hassan is widely referred to as Mama Samia.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, “As the country’s former vice president, Hassan became the constitutionally mandated successor of late president John Magufuli after he allegedly died from COVID-19 in early March 2021.”

In her interview in Dodoma, the capital of Tanzania, Hassan talked about the challenges with assuming the role of president in the country.

“Most of the people couldn’t believe that we can have a woman president and she can deliver. The challenge was to create a trust in the people that yes, I can do it,” Hassan stated, as reported by The New York Times.

Hassan has taken measures to make leadership in Tanzania more accessible to other women. According to The Conversation, “Nine of her cabinet ministers are women, which represents 36 percent, a six percentage point rise from the previous cabinet.”

Sarah Chohan ’24, a student from Tanzania, echoed the idea of the challenges women face in authority positions. “I’m a Muslim Tanzanian woman, and it’s nice to see the representation, especially as a president. … Right now, things are getting better as people are getting educated. But there’s still a lot of backward mindset. Tanzania is still quite, I’d say, conservative. So, I’m not going to lie — we didn’t see this coming, getting a Muslim president woman especially.”

In the same vein, Vanessa Dickson ’25, a first-year from Tanzania

spoke about the double standards facing women. “As a woman, you have to do double the work than what the man does to show that you’re capable of delivering the tasks. I think for the longest time, the majority of the people didn’t believe that a woman could lead,” Dickson said.

“By Mama Samia now being the person who is leading us as a nation, it’s proving that women can actually lead, and they’re capable of doing it. There is hope for the rest of the women in Tanzania because they have someone that they can look up to,” Dickson added.

Chohan and Dickson both emphasized the improvements Hassan has made for the tourism industry in Tanzania.

“Mama Samia is definitely opening up Tanzania to the world, especially with her recent trips to the U.S. and meeting with Kamala Harris. She’s advertising tourism in Tanzania, which I think is great because we do have amazing things. She’s trying to put Tanzania on the international map, ” Chohan said.

Dickson also highlighted how much Hassan has done for the country’s tourism. She stated, “Personally, I really love [her]. I love what she’s doing for the nation, and one of the things that I really like that she’s doing is within the tourism industry.

One of the things she talked about … [was] that many people, when you meet them and you tell them where you’re from, … don’t know it. They’re like, ‘Where’s that?’ Now, she’s made this new film called [Tanzania: The Royal Tour]. It’s a way to promote tourism in the nation and people are able to see Tanzania for what it is.”

Hassan met with Harris on April 15 in Washington, during which she announced this “Royal Tour program … to showcase Tanzania’s touristic and investment potentials,” according to the White House.

Hassan’s meeting with Harris also

yielded “the investment of nearly $1 billion from American companies in Tanzania’s tourism and energy sectors,” as reported by VOA News.

“On April 18th, I attended the premiere of the Tanzania: [The] Royal Tour documentary in New York,” Hassan wrote in a Twitter post.

“The one-hour documentary shot in Tanzania will promote our country’s unique and unrivaled tourism attractions and investment opportunities to a global audience.”

In addition to her focus on tourism, Chohan also shed light on how Hassan responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, including how she publicly received her vaccine dose to encourage the citizens to also get vaccinated.

Chohan stated, “Mama Samia is accepting that vaccinations are out there, [that] we need to get them, [that] they’re necessary, and [that] she believes in the science of it. I believe in the science of vaccinations too, so I agree with her. Tanzanians, for the most part, were very hesitant, and they were resisting the vaccinations.”

Chohan continued, “I think her openly taking the vaccinations was more of showing support that, like, ‘I’m also with you guys.’ We’re all in this together,’ kind of thing. I think that was a really good initiative from her because [Some didn’t] believe in the science of it.”

According to CSIS, “As of March 2022, approximately 4.5 percent of Tanzanians are vaccinated against COVID-19. This is impressive given Tanzania’s late start to COVID-19 precautions as well as the pervasive public resistance toward the vaccine.”

Dickson stated, “We’re building relationships with various countries, which is a good thing because it helps both economies and the people of both nations.”

Elon Musk contemplates Twitter purchase

BY QINGYUN SHI ’23 STAFF WRITER

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, recently expressed uncertainty about whether his takeover bid for the social media service, Twitter, would be successful, according to an April 15 article from the BBC. Prior to the conference at which he communicated his doubts, Musk “offered to buy the company for $54.20 a share, valuing the firm at $43bn,” as reported by BBC. He also mentioned the existence of a “Plan B,” but did not disclose the content of the plan.

“I think it’s very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech,” Musk said on Twitter when discussing his motivations for the takeover bid.

Professor emeritus of politics, Chris Pyle, criticized Musk’s intentions regarding free speech.

“Elon Musk wants to buy one of the biggest printing presses in the country and allow it to function largely without supervision.

He claims to be a defender of free speech, but he’s not. He thinks of himself as a libertarian, but the ideas he wishes to liberate are those of rich people like himself. He real-

ly doesn’t understand that an unrestricted social media platform really doesn’t advance free speech. It will just advance the freedom of rich men like himself to distort the marketplace of political ideas, often with fake news,” Pyle said.

“Lots of mistakes are going to be made by well-meaning censors, before anything approaching a stable consensus on what should be allowable speech is going to be reached,” Pyle concluded.

Musk hasn’t been the only prominent figure to express interest in purchasing Twitter. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal — who claimed that he has a stake in Twitter through his investment firm Kingdom Holding Company — commented on Twitter about Musk’s offer. “I don’t believe that the proposed offer by Elon Musk comes close to the intrinsic value of Twitter given its growth prospects,” he said.

Musk replied immediately, asking how many Twitter shares Alwaleed bin Talal’s firm owns. Musk added, “What are the Kingdom’s views on journalist freedom of speech?”

Bryan Nakayama, a visiting lecturer in international relations and

politics, discussed his opinion about Musk’s stated aim to promote free speech on the platform.

“Based on what I’ve seen, most users in the U.S. are able to express a fairly wide range of views and opinions from the mainstream to extreme. Speech is more restricted on certain topics — [such as] health-sensitive topics or types of speech, such as death threats or imagery of child sexual exploitation,” Nakayama said. “One sticky area is the question of disinformation and algorithmic radicalization — for people on the political extremes, something that is considered ‘disinformation’ would be a normal belief or interpretation of reality,” Nakayama continued.

“Who gets to adjudicate that is a difficult question. Similarly, there are attempts to stem the activity of extremist groups like QAnon,” Nakayama said. “There is no evidence of political bias in the moderation system, but automated moderation systems like Twitter can be gamed by individuals using mass reporting to get accounts taken down. The main clear area of ‘bias’ is in the … promotion algorithm, which favors the right.”

Photo courtesy of Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23 This semester, Catelyn Fitzgerals ’23 studied food anthropology and Danish language in Denmark.

BY CATELYN FITZGERALD ’23 CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Studying abroad is a time of self-discovery. By the end, you may become a person that you would never expect. Maybe you pick up new hobbies or find a new dream career path. Maybe, like me, you will become a regular at 7-Eleven. This is where I started my Friday morning in Copenhagen. Nothing leaves you fiending for a cold bottle of orange juice like a night spent in a sweaty club. To start my day, I miraculously managed to roll out of bed and get ready in time for the bus. After collecting my much needed OJ and a blueberry muffin, I headed to Danish Language and Culture, my first class of the day. The day’s class looked different from our usual recitations of tongue-twisting Danish dialogues.

Instead, we workshopped ideas for our final papers on Danish culture.

While I opted to write about Danish author and cultural superstar Hans Cristian Andersen, several of my classmates opted instead to write about a topic that Americans might find puzzling: the Danish welfare system. Denmark serves as just one example of the thriving welfare systems that are prevalent throughout Scandinavia. It might be hard to imagine how they succeed when in America government welfare is often underfunded and subjected to the whims of political turnover.

Denmark’s welfare system relies on deep-seated societal trust to keep it going. This collectivism pays off, with Danes — and foreigners staying for an extended period — receiving free healthcare and other services.

After Danish, I headed to my next class, Anthropology of Food, where we mulled over the true meaning of “home-cooked,” which naturally made me very hungry. I met up with some of my roommates after class and we walked to one of Copenhagen’s buzzing centers, Nørreport, for one of the city’s only affordable meals: falafel pitas. Danish food is not known for its spice, nor, frankly, its flavor in general, but one thing Copenhagen does right is have a shawarma shop on every corner.

The prevalence of foods from the Middle East is one of the more obvi-

ous signs of increasing multiculturalism in Denmark. Immigration into the country is the source of much political and social controversy in Denmark, as it has been across Europe over the past decade. Food is one of the tools through which Denmark has resisted the influx of non-Western immigrants and their cultures. I remember learning in Anthropology of Food about one famous incident dubbed “Frikadeller-gate,” which involved an attempt to mandate serving pork in school cafeterias, despite strict rules against consumption of the meat in many religions, notably Islam. The ease with which Danish society integrates some parts of immigrant cultures while attacking others is almost as puzzling as it is expected.

We brought our tzatziki-laden pitas to a local park, where it seemed the entirety of Copenhagen had gathered to sunbathe, since the temperature had finally eclipsed 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The green surrounding the central lake was dotted with people sipping iced lattes and lying out on blankets.

My roommates and I spent a while enjoying the sun before taking the bus back to our apartment in a quiet residential neighborhood just outside the city. After rushing to get ready in time for the next bus — which I missed, in typical fashion — I headed off to meet with a friend who was visiting from Berlin. A 20-minute walk, metro ride and bus trip later, I arrived at Reffen, an outdoor food market placed along one of Copenhagen’s idyllic canals. The market, which is the place to go to try cuisines from around the world, had just opened as the weather started to become tolerable. After waiting in a couple impossibly slow lines — the pace in Copenhagen is anything but fast — I happily stuffed down my chana masala and veggie empanadas. Once the sun went down and we couldn’t stand to be outside any longer, my friends and I parted ways, and I embarked on the lengthy journey home. I arrived to my roommates eating dinner together and, before long, I fell asleep in front of our current favorite show, Love Island, which we’d been chipping away at all semester.

4

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

April 29, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

Drag Ball returns to Mount Holyoke after two years

BY SIONA AHUJA ’24 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

Drag Ball made a comeback on April 23 after two years of hiatus due to COVID-19. Hosted by FAMILIA, Mount Holyoke’s support network for LGBTQ+ people of color, Drag Ball 2022 and its theme, “Gods and Goddesses,” celebrated the rich tradition of drag as a means to cultivate a “safe space for queer youth of color,” as described by the blog All Gay Long. Drag queen Sophya Medina, a New York-based makeup artist who won Miss Mundo Latina USA 2021, opened and closed the performances. Other performers included University of Massachusetts Amherst’s fusion dance group Dhadak, along with Mount Holyoke’s Jhumka, Holy Street and Rainbow Jelly.

Photos by Tzav Harrel ’24 Left: Mickey Pope ’23 and Steph Maldonado ’23 speak at Drag Ball. Right: a group of dancers perform onstage. FAMILIA, a support network for LGBTQ+ students of color, held Drag Ball on April 23.

‘ua, ia + ed present: Juice Box Party The Gallery Show’ celebrates friendship

Photo by Ali Meizels ’23 From left: professor of art Lisa Iglesias, Olivia Brandwein ’22, Rua McGarry ’22, Fred Bird ’23 and assistant professor of art Amanda Maciuba pose at the “Juice Box Party” gallery opening.

BY LIZ LEWIS ’22 MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT

The drab white walls of the Blanchard Hall Gallery exploded with vibrant color on the evening of April 22. The opening reception of “ua, ia + ed Present: Juice Box Party The Gallery Show,” the collaborative senior showcase of art studio majors Olivia Brandwein ’22, Rua McGarry ’22 and Fred Bird ’23 began at 6 p.m.

The showcase’s title was fittingly unconventional — both in its play on the last two letters of each artist’s first name and in the phrase “Juice Box Party.” To the immediate left of the gallery’s entrance, a display block turned makeshift table was nestled in the corner, bearing juice boxes, stacks of colorful party hats, stickers and a bowl of crayons. Many of the couple dozen attendees donned the sparkly hats as they milled around the exhibits.

The unmistakable slurping noise of apple juice whizzing through a plastic straw punctuated conversation throughout the night.

The far corners of the room were each plastered with brightly colored patterns in full scale installations.

McGarry’s wallpapered dining room scene titled “Make yourself at home” stood in the back left corner. To the right was Bird’s “FREDSCAPE,” a neon maximalist splash of stenciled patterns on layered handmade paper. A dollhouse constructed by Brandwein out of cardboard and found materials stood on a platform against the left wall in front of McGarry’s installation. A short film of looping vignettes featuring Bird and Brandwein — dressed as a clown and a mime, respectively — was projected on the opposite wall. In between these pieces hung countless other works, including prints by all combi-

nations of the three artists and selections from drawings that Brandwein created as a child.

Bird, Brandwein and McGarry became friends and collaborators this year while working in the art studio department. Upon seeing common and complementary themes in their individual practices, they decided to work together on a final showcase.

According to the gallery statement, “The work of these artists explore ideas of domesticity, identity and play through prints, installations, video and mixed-media sculptures. The show is a celebration of collaboration and friendship.”

In “Juice Box Party The Gallery Show,” collaboration is everywhere, from a blind contour drawing etched into magic scratch paper by all three artists, to Bird and Brandwein’s short film, to a collaborative print layering a design of a shadow puppet rabbit by Brandwein and a living room scene by McGarry.

“It was really joyous,” Bird said of the collaborative process. “I feel like all of our works … [are] talking about difficult things like consumerism and bodies and identity, but there’s these exciting moments of enthusiasm and joy, so the space coming together and then the party just really topped it off.”

Brandwein sees the approachable, celebratory theme as a way into more serious topics, including embodied identity, commodification and domesticity.

“I think the three of us use things like humor, color and pattern as ways to invite the viewer in and act as entry points for exploring deeper concepts,” she said.

McGarry highlights repeating images McGarry’s “Make yourself at

home” follows this sentiment in the communication of its theme. The piece features a table, set for one, and a chair facing a mirror hanging on the wall. Viewers are invited to sit at the table themselves. During the gallery opening, several attendees took mirror selfies while seated in the chair.

“Make yourself at home” leaves no surface blank. Everything from the chair’s legs to the checkerboarded floor is covered in a pattern which layers relief stamps of grapefruit and nude bodies. This pattern is built from a combination of two of McGarry’s previous works.

One of them, titled “I have eight,” features stamps of a torso repeated in a pattern, taking after the pop art movement to comment on the commodification of bodies.

“I was like, what if, instead of soup cans, it was my body?” McGarry explained. In the other piece, “so happy you’re here (queer)” McGarry photographed her friends eating fruit as a meditation on queerness, which she described as a “play on being ‘fruity.’” These ideas manifest in the grapefruit and body stamps which cover every inch of “Make yourself at home.”

“I was thinking about … the commodification and hypersexualization and objectification of queer people — where does that come from?

When did I first think about that? It was at the dining room table,” McGarry said. “I think that those things often do come from your house and growing up. Your parents need to be pretty intentional to not be enforcing those ideas.”

“I wanted to create a scene where people are invited to sit at that table and be surrounded by this … encompassing, overwhelming feeling,” McGarry said. Due to the placement of the well-worn mirror on the other end of the table, McGarry’s piece also invites viewers to “[eat] with themself,” according to the artist statement, and potentially examine their own biases about queerness and commodification in the process.

Bird showcases maximalist art If McGarry’s piece implicitly invites the viewer into weighty themes through color and pattern, Bird’s “FREDSCAPE” does so as explicitly as possible. The words “COME ON IN,” written across the floor in neon yellow tape, point towards the artwork, all overlaid with a grid constructed out of the same tape and

neon pink paint.

“FREDSCAPE,” which is also Bird’s thesis project, is a site-specific installation crafted from handmade paper, acrylic paint and found objects such as yarn, toy cars and a toy cash register. The recurring motif throughout the work is a floral pattern made through repurposed stencils from “a 1970s do-it-at-home kit marketed toward housewives,” according to the gallery statement.

Bird “distorted [the stencils’] original usage and created a rich pattern filled with colors that nod to traditional stereotypes of gender in the United States,” his gallery statement elaborates.

“My whole thesis is talking a lot about maximalism, and using maximalist aesthetics and color and different things to portray my trans identity and my gender identity in a very visual, kind of chaotic culmination,” Bird said.

The taped grid is another key element of the piece’s commentary on gender. “[The grid is] a lot to do with the conceptual themes of like, containment and … ways in which that fails and succeeds or affects my trans identity,” Bird said. These themes extend beyond “FREDSCAPE,” also present in his hand-cut stencil piece “play the fool” and “Fool 4 U/Be Mime,” a screen-printed adaptation of a frame from the short film he created with Brandwein.

“This is really the culmination of my time in the art program,” Bird said. “It’s been really emotional, but also really great to see all the work kind of come to fruition and be my capstone and ending place in the art community at Mount Holyoke.”

Brandwein discusses collections Brandwein’s artwork on display included “Blueprint #1,” a cyan ink print made by manipulating bubble wrap and netting, and “The Jean Herald Collection,” a site-specific sculpture of archival boxes, the contents of which viewers could only view by appointment. According to the gallery statement, this requirement commented on “the multiple barriers to accessing art in an institutional setting.”

Her centerpiece project, however, is “Apartment 1B:” a dollhouse modeled as three floors of a New York apartment building. Brandwein spent the year researching the history of dollhouses, particularly as they pertain to concepts of girlhood, home ownership and the American dream.

Having grown up in Brooklyn apart-

ments rather than houses, she had a different experience playing with her own dollhouse as a child.

“My brother and I, we had this dollhouse where the attic space was accessible without opening up the [bottom floors],” Brandwein said.

“We had two characters, a Pee-wee Herman action figure and a Harry Potter action figure, whose name was Zed and was devoid of any Harry Potter associations. But those two, they were roommates, and they lived in the attic apartment of this house, and the Fisher Price family that came with this dollhouse were the landlords.” She continued, “A lot of the narrative was, like, them skateboarding around, and then the family downstairs being mad at them. And then Pee-wee Herman working for the Old MacDonald farmer next door to, like, make his rent. … I don’t think a kid in the suburbs would maybe imagine that kind of dynamic.”

Brandwein explained that each resident of “Apartment 1B” is a collector — the top floor houses an art collector, the middle floor an egg cup collector and the bottom floor a snow globe collector. Their collections are on full display on every floor.

Each floor also features found objects repurposed into furniture, wall hangings and other knick knacks. A metrocard, a stamp and a queen of hearts card hang from the walls of the art collector. A basket filled with the toothpick umbrellas usually reserved for beachy cocktails stands in the corner of the first floor apartment. The middle apartment’s floor is checkered with lettered tiles from the word game Bananagrams.

To Brandwein, the spirit of Juice Box Party — the juice, the hats, the crayons and the energy and color of the art itself — is connected to the playful freedom so many of us are pressured to grow out of as we age.

“I think all of our work thematically has to do with childhood,” she said. “The Blanchard Gallery is like this white cube, essentially. And like those spaces can feel really sterile and really static and kind of unwelcoming. And we were like, it doesn’t have to be like that. We’re gonna have a party, like we’re gonna make people wear party hats.”

“So often … to be a serious artist one thinks that you have to kind of take away that fun and humor, but that’s like really not the case,” Brandwein said. “Why can’t we keep having fun like that? Why can’t we keep on just playing?”

Netflix’s ‘Heartstopper’ centers LGBTQ+ representation with queer love story

BY ROSE COHEN ’22 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR

If you are looking for a heartfelt LGBTQ+ teen drama full of longing glances, moments of yearning and killer chemistry between its two leads, you might want to watch “Heartstopper,” a new Netflix original series about two students attending a British all-boys secondary school. While the romantic relationship that unfolds between the main characters may be unsurprising, viewers seeking shows that explore LGBTQ+ issues should not be bothered by this fact since there are only a number of shows on television featuring this type of queer relationship — one defined by innocence and love.

Based on the Webtoon by English author and artist Alice Oseman, “Heartstopper” focuses on the blossoming romance between the empathetic, anxious Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) and rugby king Nick

Nelson (Kit Connor). In the first episode, which premiered on April 22, the two meet in secondary school when a teacher assigns the unlikely pair to sit next to each other. From their first encounter, Charlie and Nick form a strong bond, attending parties together, sending comforting messages to one another and meeting each other’s families.

The type of love that unfolds between Charlie and Nick is predictable — early on in the series, Charlie, who is openly gay, develops a crush on Nick, who has never questioned his identity as a heterosexual man. When the pair begin spending more time together, Nick must grapple with his sexuality and come to terms with the nature of his

Graphic by Rose Cohen ’22

feelings for Charlie. Some of the show’s best moments arrive as Nick struggles to figure out what Charlie means to him. When the two communicate via Instagram messaging, for example, and Nick offers Charlie a chance to talk about a difficult relationship in his life, it’s obvious how significant Charlie is to Nick.

The amount of undeniable chemistry between Locke and Connor plays a major role in how realistic the relationship between Charlie and Nick seems. In one scene, an emotional Nick opens up his laptop and hesitatingly types “Am i gay?” into his Google search bar. In her review of the show for Cosmopolitan, Editorial Assistant and Junior Entertainment and Lifestyle Writer Emily Gulla focused on the importance of this sequence, writing,

“Reacting to the series online, fans have been busy discussing the moment, pointing out how relatable the Google search and subsequent ‘Am I gay?’ quizzes available online are for queer people, especially teens.”

While Charlie and Nick are the key players in “Heartstopper,” it would be remiss to not mention the secondary characters who are friends with the two main teenagers.

There’s Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell), a lesbian couple who attend an all-girls school and help the show provide a more inclusive portrayal of what LGBTQ+ relationships can look like. There’s also Elle (Yasmin Finney), who allows the show to explore what it means to be a transgender person of color during teenagehood.

Though the show contains few surprises in its first season, the relationship between Nick and Charlie and the story arcs of the supporting characters make “Heartstopper” one to watch.

April 29, 2022

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT

. Mount Holyoke News

5

Earth Week showcases diverse environmental movements, cont’d u

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

corporations doing the most damage.”

V.S. Raghavan, director of sustainability and associate director of the Miller Worley Center for the Environment, added that the climate crisis would not be solved by businesses coming up with profitable solutions.

Bowie Kung ’17 points to alternative economies The idea that corporations and capitalism are harmful to the environment remained consistent among other events of Earth Week 2022.

This included the discussion and presentation lead by Bowie Kung ’17 on creating alternative economies on the second day of the week.

In her presentation, Kung stated that the solution towards a sustainable future cannot be found through capitalistic means, as the measure of capitalism will always be profit.

She emphasized this point, stating that “capitalism and sustainability are like oil and water — they do not Graphic by Gabby Gagnon ’24 mix.” Kung further stated that investment in alternative economies Chicago, began. In their talk, “There is a means of anti-colonial action, a Are Other Ways: Less is Enough and mode of healing against the oppres- Other Approaches to Radical Reducsion of colonial, capitalist systems tion,” Delos Reyes shared their rewhich have exploited populations lationship with societal institutions around the world in the name of as well as their vision on instituprogress. She cited examples of al- tion building and enacting cultural ternative economies from around change. the world, including the Mexican Through their life experiences, Zapatista Movement and the Bronx Delos Reyes gained a tolerance for Cooperative Development Initiative working with institutions, recognizin the United States. ing that institutions can be tender Kung emphasized that there and vulnerable because they are are many ways those living in cap- built, upheld and maintained by peoitalist societies can still engage in ple. alternative economies, stating that Delos Reyes was a first-generadvocates of alternative economies ation low-income college student should aim to who faced finan“poke holes in cial and hous“Capitalism and sustainthe capitalist ing insecurity. ability are like oil and system, not to Their experience start living in an water — they do not mix.” of poverty and eco-village.” She having a single provided examimmigrant moth– Bowie Kung ’17 ples of everyday er were formaactions that peotive factors that ple can take towards this end, such made them “resourceful, adaptable as conscious consumption, repairing and persistent.” Through their life and fixing items rather than replac- experiences, they gained a tolering them and reducing waste wher- ance for working with institutions, ever one can. recognizing that institutions can be At the end of her presentation, tender and vulnerable because they Kung reminded those present to are built, upheld and maintained by remain persistent and hopeful in people. making change — if not for one’s Delos Reyes founded Open Enown sake, then to respect the work gagement, an organization created of those who came before in fighting to support the creation of “socialagainst systems of oppression. ly-engaged art,” as described on Delos Reyes’ website. Their work Jen Delos Reyes speaks on as the organization’s director aimed collaboration & creativity to provide funds to economically A presentation given earlier in disadvantaged artists. Delos Reyes the same day struck a similar chord emphasized the importance of to Kung’s, emphasizing community, neighborly and community bonding connection and collaboration with in the face of world crises including the systems around us, struck a sim- climate change. Open Engagement ilar chord. went on hiatus in 2019 after 12 years “We are the institution,” Jen De- of large-scale organizing, allowing los Reyes, a self-described creative Delos Reyes and their colleagues to farmer, educator, writer and radical gain some much needed rest from community arts organizer based in the burnout associated with that lev-

el of organization.

In 2021, after using gardening as a coping mechanism to grieve their partner’s death in March 2020, Delos Reyes founded Garbage Hill Farm, located in McKinley Park in the city of Chicago. For Delos Reyes, the opening of Garbage Hill Farm meant creating a space for the surrounding community to use and where artists could rest and recharge, while also helping people see the value in the things around them, particularly in garbage.

For creative lifelong learners seeking to incorporate art into their life, Delos Reyes affirmed that making changes within systems involves considering institutions as inherently human. They emphasized the importance of community, stating that “together is better.”

However, Delos Reyes also reflected on the importance of knowing one’s own identity in a way that was not defined by the institutions around them. They emphasized the importance of self-knowledge, stating that “[everyone has] what [they] need” to give themselves agency and a sense of identity.

Sustainable Skills Workshop teaches sewing basics Many of the sentiments invoked in both Delos Reyes and Kung’s presentations were exemplified through the Sustainable Skills Workshop, held on the third day of Earth Week.

Hosted by Jordan Lassonde ’16, assistant director of the Miller Worley Center for the Environment, the workshop focused on teaching basic sewing skills to make participants’ closets more sustainable. By fixing pre-loved clothes, creating new clothes entirely or adding embellishments to existing clothes, attendees learned how to reduce individual contribution to waste by reusing pre-existing materials and giving

them new life.

Taking place in the Fimbel Maker & Innovation Lab, the three-hour workshop allotted time for detailed step-by-step instruction of both hand-sewing, stitching and sewing machine basics. Participants practiced these skills to repair or embellish either their own clothing or the provided clothes sourced from the free bins in student residence halls around campus.

Small, sustainably-created sewing kits were provided to all who attended the workshop, giving all participants resources to continue using their skills for future clothing.

All kits were contained in reused glass jars and included instructions for making your own pincushion as well as starter needles, thread, pins, a tape measure, a thread clipper and starter buttons.

Melina Laboucan-Massimo gives keynote speech The last event of Mount Holyoke College’s Earth Week activities was a keynote presentation featuring Melina Laboucan-Massimo, a Lubicon Cree activist from Northern Alberta, Canada. As an Indigenous woman, she stated that she, her community and family are impacted by the effects of colonization and capitalism every day.

“Our way of life is being replaced by industrial landscapes,” she said. Laboucan-Massimo emphasized this point with a statistic: out of seven billion people on the planet today, about 390 million Indigenous people are protecting 80 percent of the world’s biodiversity. Her organization, Sacred Earth Solar, was founded based on her and her community’s personal experiences while living near Alberta, Canada, close to a current tar sands excavation site, a notoriously environmentally destructive practice.

According to an article by Melissa Denchak for the Natural Resources Defense Council, tar sands are large deposits of sand, water and black bitumen, which is used to make synthetic oil. Excavating these pits is energy and water intensive, involving the strip mining of forests.

Tar sand excavation was described

by Stephen Leahy in National Geographic as “the world’s most destructive oil operation,” and is impacting all aspects of the environment and Indigenous communities in Alberta, including Laboucan-Massimo’s community.

During the keynote speech, Laboucan-Massimo explained that she and many others are impacted by not only the tar sands, but by many other injustices actively harming Indigenous communities around the world. In referencing healing justice, a term that acknowledges the impact of violence on Indigenous communities and aims to create solutions that work to heal this trauma, Laboucan-Massimo stated that the future involves “reclaiming our sacred connection and responsibility to protect Mother Earth.” She emphasized how the protection and healing of Indigenous communities is directly associated with the healing of damaged land and the wider climate.

Laboucan-Massimo also presented an interview she did with CNN, wherein she stated that the disproportionate numbers of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, girls and two-spirited people, have had a staggering impact on her own life as well as thousands of Indigenous families. Laboucan-Massimo’s sister was found murdered only a few months after her college graduation, and has yet to receive justice. During the video she presented, her interviewer from CNN stated that in America in 2016, more than 5,700 cases of MMIW were reported, while only 14 cases were investigated.

Highlighting the legacy of residential schools on Indigenous communities, Laboucan-Massimo said that she was the first generation in her family not to attend one. Created by the Canadian government, residential schools were boarding schools where Indigenous children were forcibly sent to be stripped of their culture and heritage for the purposes of assimilation into Euro-Canadian and Christian societies, according to the First Nations & Indigenous Studies Program at the University of British Columbia’s website. Laboucan-Massimo’s closest kin to survive these schools was her father.

Concluding Earth Week 2022, Laboucan-Massimo provided attendees with resources to further their education and allyship to Indigenous communities, including books, podcasts and organizations fighting for Indigenous and climate justice.

“Decolonization is a personal, systemic and collective process,” she said. “The future looks like self-determination through healing the land and healing ourselves.”

Climate Activist Spotlight: Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner

BY HELEN GLOEGE ’23 STAFF WRITER

Kathy Jetn̄il-Kijiner is a self-described “Marshallese poet, writer, performance artist and journalist,” according to her website. Jetn̄il-Kijiner is from the Marshall Islands and is currently based in their capital city, Majuro. According to her website, Jetn̄il-Kijiner’s main focuses are nuclear testing and climate change.

The Marshall Islands has a history of nuclear because of the Cold War atomic bomb testing program that took place between 1946 and 1958. During this period, the United States “detonated 67 nuclear bombs on, in and above the Marshall Islands,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

Scientific American compared the amount of nuclear testing done on the Marshall Islands as “equal [to] the energy yield of 7,000 Hiroshima bombs.” This nuclear testing caused the “vaporizing [of] whole islands … and exiling [of] hundreds of people from their homes,” according to the LA Times.

The area of the Marshall Islands where Jetn̄il-Kijiner is based is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. A

Graphic by Sofía Savid ’24

report from the World Bank published in October 2021 stated that the Marshall Islands “could lose significant and crucial parts of its land and infrastructure” due to rising sea levels.

This loss would include “40 percent of buildings in the Marshall Islands’ capital of Majuro [being] permanently flooded,” and entire islands potentially disappearing, as reported in The Guardian. According to the same source, Jetn̄il-Kijiner “was shocked to learn that her island would be so badly affected,” she said, “It’s a really difficult report to get through.”

Jetn̄il-Kijiner is also known for her poetry. She “recited her poem ‘Dear Matafele Peinam’ … at the 2014 opening ceremony of the United Nations Secretary General’s Climate Summit,” Edge Effects reported. The poem was written for her daughter and aimed to encourage “countries to rethink their environmental policies.”

In 2017, Jetn̄il-Kijiner published a book of poetry called “Iep Jāltok: Poems from a Marshallese Daughter.” The book “highlights the traumas of colonialism, racism, forced migration, the legacy of American nuclear testing and the impending threats of climate change” and is the “first published book of poetry

written by a Marshallese author,” according to the University of Arizona Press. According to her website, Jetn̄il-Kijiner’s poetry focuses on climate change, forced migration, adaptation and racism in America. Her poetry can be found on her website along with her blog posts.

Poetry is not Jetn̄il-Kijiner’s only art form, as she has also “created art installations and performances” at places like The Smithsonian and the Queensland Art Gallery,” according to the University of California Los Angeles’s Institute of the Environment & Sustainability.

Jetn̄il-Kijiner uses the formats of poetry and performance to explore her “culture’s rich storytelling,” according to her personal website.

Jetn̄il-Kijiner is the co-founder and director for Majuro-based nonprofit Jo-Jikum, an organization focused on “empowering Marshallese youth to turn the tides, become change-makers and creators and contribute to the survival of their lush, thriving islands,” according to Jo-Jikum’s website.

As said by Atmos, Jetn̄il-Kijiner additionally works as a climate envoy for the Marshall Islands Ministry of Environment.

6

BOOKS & SPORTS

April 29, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

Sequoia Nagamatsu explores life and death Kick back this summer with these three new fiction reads in a plague-stricken future in debut novel

Graphic by Sofía Savid ’24

BY MAGGIE WILLS ’25 STAFF WRITER

“It seemed like everyone was walking either to or from a funeral. Death had become a way of life,” author Sequoia Nagamatsu writes in his new novel, “How High We Go in the Dark.” The book, published Jan. 18, 2022, drops readers into a futuristic reality eerily similar to our own.

In Nagamatsu’s world, it is 2030, and researchers in Antarctica are working tirelessly to find solutions to salvage the rapidly-warming planet. Despite their efforts, the melting permafrost has released a 30,000-year-old virus that begins infecting the research team and later spreads to the rest of the world. The deadly virus, known as the “Arctic Plague,” overwhelmingly infects children, causing their specialized tissue cells to assume the identity of other tissues. Patients’ hearts develop tiny brains and their lungs slowly develop into livers. Death rates increase, as does the demand for funeral services — lists of patients needing organ transplants are endless.

The world adapts to these changes by developing new technologies, such as human organs grown in pigs.

The individuals inhabiting this newly-widowed man, Dan, who atworld are forced to adapt. Their tempts to connect with his neighmorals and values change as they bors who have also lost loved ones. become desensitized to death. What He laments on his failure to be a does not change, however, is hu- bigger part of his daughter’s and manity’s desire for hope and rela- wife’s lives, seeking to change that tionships. by hosting a cookout for his neighIn each chapter, Nagamatsu intro- bors. Dan reasons that “[they] need duces readers to a new individual a party to break the silence, to bewho yearns for human connection gin to heal.” while simultaneously navigating According to Nagamatsu’s weba life affected by the plague. Many site, “How High We Go In The Dark” chapters take place in the Califor- is his debut novel. He has published nia Bay Area and Japan, but others many works in literary magazines transcend Earth and even the phys- and penned a 2016 collection of short ical world. The scope of the book is stories called “Where We Go When wide, with some chapters spanning All We Were Is Gone.” He is soon centuries. publishing another novel shortly Each individual’s story is intri- entitled “Girl Zero.” Nagamatsu cately linked to others in a way that lives in Minneapolis with his wife unifies the novel. These characters and teaches creative writing at St. grapple with their new reality and Olaf College. attempt to find hope and communiIn an interview with LitHub, Nagty in the darkest of times. A medi- amatsu said he began writing “How cal researcher mourns the loss of High We Go In The Dark” before his son by bethe start of the coming the actCOVID-19 panIn each chapter, Nagamatsu demic. He mening father to his test-subject pig introduces readers to a new tioned feeling that has learned apprehensive individual who yearns for to speak; an adoabout publishing human connection while lescent boy condue to the subnects with his simultaneously navigating a ject matter, but mother through life affected by the plague. ultimately deher prized robot cided that pubdog after she lishing the book dies from the virus; a close-knit served as a way to understand the cul-de-sac hosts funerals together, lockdown and cope with his father’s vowing to combine their ashes in a death. community urn.

According to Nagamatsu, the At points, the world Nagamatsu book has received mixed reviews. creates feels like the direction our Some readers have found his world humanity is currently heading in, comforting, while others have felt it which can make for a particularly hit too close to home. unsettling reading experience. In To echo Gabino Iglesias of Locus Nagamatsu’s world, death is slow- Magazine’s thoughts on the novel, ly being commodified — countless “reading [Nagamatsu’s] ‘How High companies advertise their funeral We Go in the Dark’ is not always a packages and death-centered social pleasurable experience.” media platforms. Constant natural Nevertheless, it is an introspecdisasters lead scientists to search tive and rewarding read. It invites for a new home planet with zero readers to reflect on grief, sadness plans to fix the one they’ve got. and hope.

Other stories are absolutely Despite the world seeming to heartbreaking, but impossible to grow more and more despondent, put down. The chapter “The Used- Nagamatsu reminds readers to find To-Be Party” is incredibly striking. comfort in connection, even in the It is told from the perspective of a darkest of times.

BY OLIVIA WILSON ’24 STAFF WRITER

In the spirit of summer’s approach, Mount Holyoke News has compiled a list of potential beach reads. These books — all authored by women — may help keep the Mount Holyoke vibes nearby no matter how far you are from campus.

“Book of Night” by Holly Black “Book of Night” is the adult fiction debut of popular young adult and middle-grade author Holly Black. It is a “modern dark fantasy,” according to Goodreads. The novel takes place in a fictionalized version of the Berkshires where shadows can be manipulated by magicians called “gloamists,” who utilize the shadows for fittingly dark purposes. According to the book’s description on Black’s website, the story follows Charlie Hall, a low-level con artist and bartender, as she tries to survive while her friends and enemies fight to steal a powerful secret. It is set to release on May 3.

Described as a “master at world-building” by The New York Times Book Review, Holly Black grew up in New Jersey and is the author of over 30 books for young adults and middle school-aged children. Her other notable works include the beloved children’s series “The Spiderwick Chronicles” and the 2018 New York Times bestseller “The Cruel Prince.”

According to the Odyssey Bookshop website, Black resides in New England with her husband, son and secret library. A launch party for “Book of Night” will be held at the First Congregational Church in South Hadley on May 3 at 7 p.m.

“We Measure the Earth with our Bodies” by Tsering Yangzom Lama “We Measure the Earth with our Bodies” takes place over the span of 50 years and recounts the story of an exiled Tibetan family affected by political violence and

colonization. Told through the perspective of four different characters, the book follows the lives of a Tibetan refugee family as they struggle to survive and keep hold of their culture amid what the BBC described as the longstanding Chinese “claim to sovereignty” over Tibet. A review by Booklist characterized the novel as “[an] achingly beautiful debut.”

According to the biography page on her website, Tsering Yangzom Lama is a Tibetan writer born and raised in Nepal who currently lives in Vancouver, Canada. Her work has appeared in numerous books, magazines and other publications. She is also the co-founder of “LhakarDiaries,” a blog for Tibetan youth living in exile. She currently works for Greenpeace International as a storytelling advisor, coaching branches of the organization around the world on how to craft narratives. “We Measure the Earth with our Bodies,” Lama’s debut novel, is set to release on May 17.

“Human Blues” by Elisa Albert Described as “virtuosic” and “brilliant” by The Washington Post and The New York Times, Elisa Albert’s “Human Blues” is told over the course of nine menstrual cycles. The story follows Aviva Rosner, a singer and songwriter who wants a child but is unable to get pregnant. She is wary of artificial insemination, and her decision to write her fears into her music leads to a surprising reaction from audiences. The book’s blurb on Goodreads describes it as a “bold, brainy, darkly funny” interrogation of society’s obsession with childbearing. The book is set to release on July 5.

Elisa Albert is also the author of the short story collection “How This Night Is Different” and the novel “The Book of Dahlia,” which follows a woman dying of brain cancer. According to The Odyssey Bookshop, Albert currently lives in upstate New York.

Game of the Week: Track and Field finishes regular season

BY GIGI PICARD ’22 SPORTS EDITOR

Mount Holyoke Track and Field finished their regular season at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Sean Collier Invitational on Saturday, April 23.

Emma Doyle ’23 placed 12th in the discus throw with a season best of 31.07 meters. Doyle’s throw was the eighth best in Mount Holyoke Track and Field history. In the shot put, Doyle set a personal best at a 10.75 meter mark, landing eighth place overall with a sixth-place ranking in the Mount Holyoke program’s history.

On the javelin front, Allyson Joseph ’24 finished 13th at 22.78 meters, while Abby Elliott ’25 placed 20th at 16.48 meters.

“I felt pretty good about my performance and did much better than I expected,” Elliott said. “I think the team’s attitude right now is very determined on giving it our all. I think a lot of us really are proud of ourselves and our performance in our last meet.”

On the track, Emily Hood ’24’s 3000-meter steeplechase landed her in third place with a time of 12:40.57 minutes. Hood’s finish was the seventh-fastest time for the event in the team’s history.

Tessa Lancaster ’25 finished fourth in the 1500-meter run, posting a time of 4:56.41 minutes, which

is the eighth-fastest time in Mount Holyoke’s history. Sydney Nash ’22 earned a season best, finishing seventh in 5:12.25 minutes.

In the 400-meter dash, Simone Jacob ’22 placed eighth, claiming a personal best and the sixth-fastest program time with 1:01.72 minutes.

“Coming off of a [personal record] this week is a great way to go into our championship meet feeling confident but also rested,” Jacob said. “We are super excited to go into the championship season and put all of our hard work over the last months towards showing the other schools in the [New England Women’s and Men’s Conference] what we can do as a team.”

Leah Pendl-Robinson ’22 earned a top-20 time in the 100-meter dash, running the event in 14.61 seconds after missing most of the track and field season due to an injury.

“I felt a bit bummed about the season since I was out of commission for most of it, but now that I have been back for a couple of meets and weeks of practice I feel like I have a spark again inside me ready to compete,” Pendl-Robinson said. “I’m extra excited for what’s to come.”

“It is also my senior year and now that it is coming to a close I realize how much I will miss competing with the team and having those early morning practices with all my friends,” Pendl-Robinson continued.

“I just want to thank everyone who

Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Athletics Abby Elliott ’25 focuses while doing the javelin throw at the Jerry Gravel Invitational on April 16.

has helped me along my recovery journey for my injury and … helped me to come back in the last few meets of my [undergraduate] athletic career.”

Lauren Selkin ’23 ran the 800-meter race and placed fourth with a time of 2:24.99 minutes. Despite it not being her usual event, her time is the ninth fastest in Mount Holyoke Track and Field history.

“I’m more of a distance runner,

but it was fun to run and [root] my teammates on. I’m looking forward to the upcoming championship season. … I’m super excited to be part of the intense competition,” Selkin said.

Addison Heintz ’25 finished 12th in the 200-meter dash with a season-best time of 27.93 seconds.

“I am feeling good about my performance so far this season. … The season has been rewarding, it has

been great to look back and see how much I improved and how much the team has improved as well,” Heintz said.

Track and Field finished the invite with the 4x400 meter relay run, where Kim Beaver ’25, Greta Trapp ’25, Jacob and Lancaster came in second place. With a time of 4:17.99 minutes, the relay team ran the eighth-fastest time in the program’s history.

“I am happy with the overall team performance from this past weekend. There were numerous [personal records] and season bests,” Track and Field’s Assistant Coach Alex Rachmaciej said.

On Saturday, April 30, the Lyons will travel to Smith College for the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference championship meet.

“Prep for championships looks like more rest for the athletes. This part of the season, we keep the intensity high and volume low so the athletes feel good going into the meets,” Rachmaciej stated.

The official season end for Track and Field will be the three-day NCAA Division III Championships in Geneva, Ohio from May 26-28.

Rachmaciej said that, “Takeaways we had for the season are that some of the areas that we lacked in the past are turning around and the team is becoming more well-rounded.”

Boston Marathon celebrates 50th anniversary of women’s official participation

BY EMILY TARINELLI ’25 SPORTS EDITOR

After two years of postponements, cancellations and virtual participation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 126th Boston Marathon returned to its regular Patriot’s Day schedule on April 18, 2022. The race — which, according to the Associated Press, consisted of over 28,000 runners — celebrated more than just a return to normalcy. The race also marked the 50th anniversary of women’s official participation in the event.

This year’s winner of the women’s division was 28-year-old Peres

Jepchirchir of Kenya, the Associated Press reported. The victory came down to the last 385 yards, where Jepchirchir pulled ahead of Ethiopia’s Ababel Yeshaneh, according to ESPN. The pair remained neck-andneck throughout the race, stealing the lead from each other eight times in the last mile, AP News said. Jepchirchir finished four seconds ahead of Yeshaneh with a time of 2:21:01 hours.

“I was feeling she was strong. I pushed it,” Jepchirchir told the Associated Press. “I fell behind. But I didn’t lose hope.”

According to the Daily Free

Press, Switzerland’s Manuela Schar won the women’s wheelchair race in 1:41:08 hours.

As reported by The Guardian, women were barred from competing in the Boston Marathon until 1972.

While this year’s race marked the 50th anniversary of Nina Kuscsik’s win in the first official women’s division, women began running in the marathon unofficially in 1966. This period — between 1966 and 1972 — was initially branded as the Boston Marathon’s “Unofficial Era,” but is now widely called the “Pioneer Era.” According to the Associated Press, Bobbi Gibb is recognized as the first woman to run in the Boston

Marathon. Gibb participated in 1966 as a “bandit,” a term given to unregistered runners.

In 1967, Kathrine Switzer officially registered for the race as “KV Switzer.” For some time, she was not given trouble because the sign-up form did not inquire about gender, according to The Guardian. However, when Jock Semple, the race director, saw her on the course, he attempted to physically push her off the road.

At long last, in 1972, eight women lined up beside the male competitors as the first official female runners in the marathon, WBUR reported.

This year, over 12,000 women en-

tered the race.

The lineup was particularly strong: Jepchirchir, who is an Olympic gold medalist, competed against Joyciline Jepkosgei and Degitu Azimeraw, who all brought “personal bests under [two] hours, 18 minutes — two minutes faster than the Boston course record,” according to WBUR. “Oh, my God. It’s so cool. I mean, like, that fires me up so much, just knowing the high level of competition we’re going to have here,” Molly Seidel, an Olympic bronze medalist, told WBUR. “It’s always fun to get to the race and just know that you’re up against the best in the world.”

April 29, 2022

COMMUNITY

. Mount Holyoke News

SENIOR REFLECTIONS

ROSE COHEN ’22 ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR According to my overfilled Gmail inbox, my Mount Holyoke News journey more or less began in the fall 2019 semester — when I applied to be a staff photographer. Here’s what I wrote: “I’ve always been interested in the newspaper production process, but never had the chance to join a newspaper. I would love to be part of the creative process, gain more experience as a photographer and meet like-minded people.”

Three years later, after meeting such great people and working on various parts of the paper, these words are both sweet and funny.

I became an Arts & Entertainment writer during my junior year, when I was living at home in New Jersey. This timeframe makes a lot of sense and astounds me. In high school, I liked writing essays for literature class from the confines of my room. I could spend hours reflecting on prose, have my trusted editors read my papers and then send my words off to my teachers, where the pages would be kept private. My writing primarily existed as a secret between my laptop and me because that was safe and cozy.

Let’s fast forward to the fall of my junior year. I thought “why not try” and then submitted my Arts & Entertainment staff writer application. Since becoming a part of the section, I have felt at home writing about media, all the while feeling like I belonged to a wonderful community. I no longer feel that my words need to be kept secret, and I am so proud of that fact.

There are so many people who have made

GIGI PICARD ’22 SPORTS EDITOR My three-year journey on Mount Holyoke News started at the beginning of my sophomore year when I was on the verge of declaring a journalism and media nexus with my politics and sociology majors. I was nervous since I hadn’t written for a school newspaper since the fourth grade. Fortunately, the MHN community welcomed me warmly. I’m so blessed for every minute I spent as part of the MHN staff!

I started as a Sports staff writer under the wing of Sports editor Meryl Phair ’21. My first major stories were “Game of the Week” varsity sport highlights. Halfway through the publishing year, my Swimming and Diving teammate Shloka Gidwani ’22 took over for Phair.

I cannot thank Phair and Gidwani enough for being so patient with me. When I became frustrated they were absolutely amazing.

Many changes occurred my junior year when the pandemic hit. Everyone else who was in the Sports section left. The lovely Lily Reavis ’21 allowed me to become Sports editor. Reavis was very patient with me as well.

Honestly, I couldn’t have managed the section without the copy editors and layout staff who I know put in a ton of hard work then and now.

Thank you former Copy Chief Kelsey Thomas ’21 for making sure everything was

Mount Holyoke News special.

To Mariam Keita ’24, thank you for throwing me head first into using InDesign. I don’t know if I know anyone else who would spend so much time creating the perfect flat. Thank you for teaching me about the editing process and allowing me to belt the lyrics to pop songs during our Zoom calls.

Thank you, Rose Sheehan ’22! You amaze me with your kindness and computer skills, and I’m so grateful that we met during that one Spanish class during the fall of our freshman year.

To Margaret Connor, thank you for being the copy editor of my dreams. You have such control of the English language. I’m so thankful for both our serious and silly Slack chats.

Dearest Emma Watkins ’23, cheers to our A&E bonding nights, holding pitch in Blanch and giggling over nonsense. You are one of the brightest, kindest people I know, and there’s no doubt in my mind that you won’t succeed as Managing Editor of Content next year.

Declan Langton ’22, where do I start? You astound me with your knowledge of literature and current events, you’re more empathetic than words can describe and you have this ability to make everyone around you laugh. I can’t wait to see more bylines from you in the future (even if the article’s over 1,000 words — and it will be — I will always read your writing).

Thanks for always being a part of my Mount Holyoke News journey and for encouraging me to become an editor when I questioned myself.

Liz Lewis ’22, you’re talented, brilliant, show stopping, totally unique, completely not ever been done before. Jokes aside, you’re one of the hardest working people I know. Your dedication to whatever you put your mind to amazes me, and I’m so ready to see you take the world by storm.

To Siona Ahuja ’24 and the A&E staff, the section would not be complete without you, and you all make late night pitches in Blanch so special. Leaving A&E will be hard, but I trust that your words and actions will continue to lead the section to greatness.

To my family and friends outside of the newsroom, thank you for letting me rant when I was unsure of myself and for letting me give TED Talks about MHN. You encourage me more than you will ever know. Here’s to all of our late night talks in Blanch, 2 a.m. nonsense in Brigham, time with my nieces and nephews (Z, M & O) and moments spent in comfortable silence.

Mount Holyoke feels like home for many reasons, and Mount Holyoke News definitely plays a part in that. I am not great at saying goodbye, so I’ll say this — Hello! Don’t give up the news!

okay and taking over when I needed help. My first two years on the paper taught me more about what it means to be determined and persistent.

The marvelous Editor-in-Chief Declan Langton ’22 and fantastic Managing Editor of Content Liz Lewis ’22 make me feel special and I adore them. They know my work habits and helped with my writing skills, and I have had the pleasure to entertain them with interestingly-funny group chat conversations. Our Managing Editor of Layout Rose Sheehan ’22 endured several discussions about InDesign being my enemy and my weird jokes to lighten the mood. If I could put together a dream team, they’d be in it. Thank you also to Publisher Ali Meizels ’23 and Copy Chiefs Emma Watkins ’23 and Lenox Johnson ’24 for being great editors and people overall.

But I do not want to forget other MHN staff who mean the world to me. I want to start with the copy editors who chose the Sports section for editing and fact checking. This includes my teammates: the fabulous Kamlyn Yosick ’25 and the ultimate (Taylor Swift) nerd Lauren Leese ’23. As she knows, Leese is who I probably relied on the most for editing. I want to thank my fellow editors past and present for guidance and the best conversations, especially those who lived in the same residence hall as me.

Last but not least, my Oxford Comma-loving teammate and co-Editor Emily Tarinelli ’25. She caught onto how MHN and the Sports section worked quickly as a writer and I chose and trained her to replace me. Thank you young Jedi for everything including what you have written and learned. A final thanks to all of the Sports writers who joined Tarinelli in the 2021-2022 publishing cycle.

Outside of the news staff, I want to thank my supportive family for being there during all of the ups and downs. A very big thank you to Associate Director of Athletics and Communications/Scheduling Coordinator Jon Santer for keeping me in the loop and providing photos when I needed them.

I do not want to forget all of the coaches, athletes and other athletics department staff who responded to the emails I spammed in their inboxes. Without any of their responses, Sports would probably be non-existent and I hope that all of the future and current athletes will continue to reply.

Good luck to all future MHN staff! I will miss MHN so much!

IMAAN MOIN ’22 SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT STAFF WRITER My time on the paper has been relatively short, but that doesn’t mean that it hasn’t been impactful. I have been a staff writer for Science & Environment since January 2022. Anoushka Singh Kuswaha ’24, the S&E editor, welcomed me to the team and let me jump straight into writing. First-year me would be pretty surprised to learn that I joined the MHN — I mean, how often do biochemistry majors join the school newspaper? Now that I have spent a few months writing, I think everyone should take the chance to write and share the stories they love the most. You never know where it will lead you. In my case, I spent six-and-a-half semesters thinking I would become a primary care physician. Then, I took Intro to Journal-

7

ism in Spring 2021, wrote a couple pieces about the community clinic where I volunteered, and realized that science and health journalism has a special kick to it. In a world where we are facing science and environmental crises one after the other, we need to bring the personal to the “objective” sciences. We need to tell the stories of those who are impacted the most, question the policies and motivations of the large science-based governing groups. In the following months, my career path took a huge swerve, and I decided I wanted to start telling the stories of the science and people around us. I joined MHN. In my time in S&E, I’ve written about microbiology symposiums, inclusive education initiatives and the overseas-discovery of cubeshaped bacteria. I’ve had the thrill of interviewing students and faculty at events and pushed through the chore of scrolling through over 40 minutes of transcript materials. And I could never forget Zoico — the bacteria from my science communication project on coral reefs who found his way into the April Fool’s edition.

I’ve developed the skills to write on a deadline and to be bold in finding people to interview and share their stories. My degree in biochemistry has given me the foundations to understand the jargon, processes and nuances of science, but writing for MHN has given me the practical writing and investigative tools to succeed in science journalism.

Now, I can take what I have learned and share the stories of and behind scientific discoveries and the everyday. Science is simply a matter of understanding and sharing the stories of how the world around us works, and science journalism is a way for everyone to stay informed about the world around us.

MHN let me jumpstart my journey, and now I will be going to graduate school for science journalism in the fall. I would not be where I am today without all that I have learned and tried at MHN.

Mount Holyoke News Mount Holyoke News is an independent student newspaper written by and for Mount Holyoke College students since 1917.

Executive Board Editor-in-Chief Declan Langton ’22

Publisher Ali Meizels ’23

Managing Editor of Web Mariam Keita ’24

Managing Editor of Content Liz Lewis ’22

Managing Editor of Layout Rose Sheehan ’22

Copy Chief Lenox Johnson ’24

Business Manager Katie Goss ’23

Human Resources Annabelle Mackson ’23

Editorial Board News

Sports

Katie Goss ’23 & Tara Monastesse ’25

Gigi Picard ’22 & Emily Tarinelli ’25

Arts & Entertainment

Jesse Hausknecht-Brown ’25

Rose Cohen ’22 & Siona Ahuja ’24

Opinion

Kaveri Pillai ’23

Books

Cat Barbour ’24 & Ella Jacob ’24

Global

Sophie Soloway ’23

Features

Science & Environment

Anoushka Kuswaha ’24

Photos

Rosemary Geib ’23 & Ali Meizels ’23

Graphics

Anjali Rao-Herel ’22

Layout Editors

Hannah Thukral ’23, Zoe Tang ’24, Orion Cheung ’25, Sophie Dalton ’25, Jesse Hausknecht-Brown ’25, Aditi Menon ’25, Robin Tran ’25 & Summer Sit ’25

Copy Editors

Audrey Shannon ’22, Gusty Westaway ’22, Georgia Fish ’23, Lauren Leese ’23, Jude Barrera ’24, Ella Jacob ’24, Hilary Vergera FP ’24, Mara Zwisler ’24, Max Endieveri ’25,

Gemma Golovner ’25, Zora Lotton-Barker ’25, Meghan MacBeath ’25, Kate Snyder ’25 & Kamlyn Yosick ’25

Web Editors

Abby Wester ’22, Lily Hoffman Strickler ’23, Michelle Brumley ’24, Anika Singh ’24, Zoe Tang ’24, Artemis Chen ’25, Maira Khan ’25, Thao Le ’25, Aditi Menon ’25, Ramisa Tahsin Rahman ’25, Sophie Simon ’25 & Chloe Wang ’25

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COMMUNITY

April 29, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

SENIOR REFLECTIONS Every year, graduating members of the Mount Holyoke News staff are given the opportunity to write a brief letter to our readers and the News at large. This tradition allows seniors to reflect on their time with MHN. This week’s issue is our last of the semester and includes senior letters written by Rose Cohen ’22, Declan Langton ’22, Liz Lewis ’22, Imaan Moin ’22, Gigi Picard ’22 and Rose Sheehan ’22.

LIZ LEWIS ’22 MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT I spent my first year at Mount Holyoke News playing reporter, running headfirst into conversations I only somewhat understood.

When I joined the News section as a staff writer, I was 18 years old — a child, even if people told me otherwise. I got such a rush interviewing members of the administration, walking briskly alongside campus protests, filling up notebook pages from the corner of a senate meeting. It made me feel important. I look back on that time fondly, but from this distance I can see that this community that I’ve had the honor of calling my own has been far more important to me than any fresh-faced adrenaline I felt as a new writer.

I became an assistant editor of the News section that spring, and a section editor the following fall. Had I known what would come in March 2020, maybe I would have savored more of my sophomore year on the paper, listened more intently to the newsroom mechanisms whirring around me every Wednesday night.

But none of us were ever ones to give up the news. Over the following year, I worked remotely as the publisher and a News editor, continuing to write in my free time. I cherished the points of connection MHN provided in that tumultuous year.

This summer, I began my time as managing editor of content, a job that has single-handedly taught me more about writing than any class I’ve taken. To every single person whose work I’ve edited this year: Thank you for trusting me with your words. They have blown me away more times than I can count.

I am indebted first to the editors who trained me, Anna Shortridge ’19 and Ally Huntoon ’19 — thank you both for seeing potential in me. Thank you to Anna Kane ’20

ROSE SHEEHAN ’22 MANAGING EDITOR OF LAYOUT When I think back on my time at MHN, I imagine what I’ll remember the most is the astounding amount of collaboration that goes into this paper, every single week. The number of people in this org is hard to pin down: There’s 110 on the staff roster, 165 on Embark and all the uncounted contributing writers, sources for articles and friends who drop off Baja Blasts at midnight on Thursday.

My story with the layout team at MHN started simply because I enjoyed the work.

Clicking around articles on the screen, resizing photos, lining up gray rectangles inside other rectangles: It was like making a PowerPoint and doing a puzzle at the same time. But

for wheezing over news flats with me, and to Maddy Ritter ’20, Emma Martin ’20 and Kelsey Thomas ’21 for making so many of the jokes that made me wheeze in the first place.

I extend endless gratitude to our current executive and editorial boards, especially the graduating seniors. Jahnavi Pradeep ’23, Siona Ahuja ’24 and Anoushka Singh Kuswaha ’24, it’s been a pleasure to watch you grow as writers and editors, and I can’t wait to see what you do next. Rose Cohen ’22, our midnight writing sessions have become some of my most treasured memories from my time here. To my forever section buddy Katie Goss ’23, our org (and money) couldn’t be in more capable hands.

Lenox Johnson ’24, your writing never fails to floor me, and I can’t think of anyone who’s made me laugh from behind a screen quite as much as you have. Ali Meizels ’23, you are an invaluable part of both this paper and my time at Mount Holyoke. Every room you enter is brighter and kinder for your presence. Rose Sheehan ’22, thank you for being a friendly face since our very first semester — I can’t imagine MHN without you.

Casey Roepke ’21, Lily Reavis ’21 and Kate Turner ’21, thank you for everything. I’m lucky enough to call you my friends, but know also that the wide-eyed admiration I had for you as an underclassman has not faded one bit.

To Emma Watkins ’23, my friend and successor, every second I’ve spent with you this year has been a joyous one. I couldn’t be more confident in your ability to carry on the position of Managing Editor of Content. I’ve had a great time with it, I hope you do too.

Finally, thank you to Declan Langton ’22, my dear companion and collaborator. Look at all we’ve been through together, and all we’ve made. I couldn’t be prouder.

If I recounted all the things I’ll miss about the news, I’d quadruple the allotted word count with ease. I’m already pushing it, so instead, I’ll leave you with the thing I will miss the most.

Around 11:30 p.m. each publishing night, something shifts in the air and suddenly, every typo is the funniest thing you’ve ever seen.

It comes without warning — you’ll be quietly spellchecking until, out of nowhere, you’re hurtling into that absurd ecstatic delirium usually reserved for sixth grade sleepovers. Call it joy, call it exhaustion — what matters is that it’s shared.

When something tiny sends me into hysterics, I always have the urge to write it down, but I never do. Now, I can’t remember what impossible caption launched me and Kate into desperate laughter, or what misspelled headline made me and Ali both cry on final check.

They’re small moments, and they pass quickly.

You can’t ask your brain to hold onto such tiny details. More persistent, though, is the way it all felt — the stomach stitches and ecstatic exhaustion are branded in my muscle memory for good. I’ll know the feeling of publishing night for the rest of my life, and for that I am forever grateful.

I never meant to join Mount Holyoke News.

I remember the 2018 Involvement Fair vividly: It was a hot day and I was wandering around trying to find a poetry-based org to sign up for. At the time, I had an internal dispute with journalism, believing it couldn’t exist alongside creative work. Something still drew me, though, toward the MHN sign-up sheet. I applied to be a staff photographer. And from there, my journey on the paper spiraled.

In September 2018, I worked as a Photos editor. It’s in that role I realized how fantastic and driven the Photos team — and all of MHN is. The more involved I got with MHN, the more I realized I wanted to write. “Maybe journalism isn’t so bad,” I recall thinking.

In Fall 2019, the Features section became my new home. I wrote weekly articles, finding special comfort in overly descriptive profiles and 2,000-word investigative stories. I interviewed local politicians, covered literary magazine publications and tried to define what being a gender-diverse women’s college meant to students. Just before COVID-19 set its foot on campus, I started editing for Features. My proudest accomplishment came right after we were sent home, when Lily Reavis ’21 and I embarked on a four-article quest to encapsulate the chaos of being sent home from campus.

In many ways, that series jump started my leadership in MHN. After much encouragement, I ran for Managing Editor of Content, and proudly served in the role 2020-2021. My final step at MHN was this year, when I served — with more pride than I knew it was possible to have — as editor-in-chief.

What you don’t expect from MHN is how much you are going to love the org and love the people. MHN reporters, editors, artists and layout, copy, web and social editors are some of the smartest, most driven people at this college. I’m always proud to say I work for MHN, and I hope I have done a good job leading it.

MHN is reliant on a staff of people who make it strong, independent and provocative.

Here is an incomplete list of those I can’t imagine the last four years without, and without whom I could never have lived/loved/cried/ written/edited/managed MHN. To Izzy Burgess ’19, Emma Martin ’20,

more and more, I stayed with the team because designing the page is a moment to meditate on the work those 110, 165 or more people are contributing. Layout is the moment when a paper comes together.

To those of you on MHN I have and haven’t met, thanks for working with me. It’s been so wonderful to read your work, hear your thoughts and admire your graphics and photos.

My first year layout team, Casey Linenberg ’19 and Yasmin Andrews ’22, thanks for welcoming me into the org with open arms. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed with two people quite as much as you.

Since the three of us in Spring 2019, the layout team has grown exponentially. Zoe Tang ’24, Angie Romero ’24, Aditi Menon ’25, Orion Cheung ’25, Sophie Dalton ’25, Robin Tran ’25, Summer Sit ’25, Hannah Thukral ’23, Jesse Hausknecht-Brown ’25 — Wow! It has been so wonderful to work with each of you. Most of you learned InDesign on the job, and I’ve been so impressed with your tenacity and skill.

Jesse, a special shoutout to another person who stayed up way too late formatting your high school paper. You have brought such passion, dedication and sauve to layout and the paper as a whole. I’m lucky to leave the team in your capable hands.

To last year’s publishing team, Lily Reavis ’21, Kelsey Thomas ’21 and Declan Langton ’22: There’s no one I’d rather be on a cameras-off Zoom for nine hours straight with. Lily, you have been the heart of the MHN and an inspiration for me and countless others. Kelsey, you are one of the funniest, smartest and best-atfinding-commas people I have ever had the honor of meeting.

Declan Langton ’22, you’ve handled the enormous task of returning the MHN to in person reporting with humor and grace. Two executive boards and two same-dorm-floors later, I can say with confidence that your lead-

ership has changed this org for good.

Liz Lewis ’22, there’s few things I enjoy more on publishing nights than checking the pages one last time with you. You constantly uplift the work of everyone on the team, and I’ve seen the way your encouragement has inspired new and old writers alike.

Emma Watkins ’23, you are so wise, humble and kind. I am so excited to see where you take this org next year (and to know that Sheehan’s Jigs will live on at publishing nights).

Lenox Johnson ’24, you have a stunning way with words. Thanks for letting me hang out with quite possibly the coolest person to grace this campus (you), and for writing events for me without complaint every week.

Mariam Keita ’24, thanks for sitting on Zoom with me for hours pouring over design ideas, and for creating some of the most exciting layout I’ve seen. You truly are an honorary member of the team. Katie Goss ’23, thanks for working so hard to get us a new computer — upgrading from 2007 to 2021 InDesign has drastically improved my quality of life.

To my fellow senior editors, I’m so excited to see what comes next for each of you. Rose Cohen ’22, you are witty and brilliant and have brought so much to this paper. I’ve loved working on “Sounds of Moho” with you every month (it’s really honed my Canva skills).

Gigi Picard ’22, you tell the best of stories and have put in the most effort to triumph against a crashing InDesign.

Anjali Rao-Herel ’22, you’ve created some of the most powerful visual imagery I’ve ever seen on this paper. Anoushka Singh Kuswaha ’24, though you’re not a senior, I want to say a special thank you for your unwavering dedication to learning InDesign and trying to take as much work off the plates of others as you can.

To my hockey and news crossover crew, Sammi Craig ’23, Maggie Donovan ’23, Sophie Soloway ’23, Artemis Chen ’25, Sofía Savid ’24, Jenny Yu ’24, what luck it has been to spend

DECLAN LANGTON ’22 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Maddy Ritter ’20, Mimi Huckins ’21, Anna Kane ’21, Thea Burke ’21, Kate Turner ’21 & Casey Roepke ’21: Thank you for folding me into the MHN community and for the endless laughter.

To the 2021-2022 Editorial & Executive Boards: Your weekly work on MHN lets this organization live, breathe and grow into new layers and ambitions.

To Elizabeth Taylor ’79: As Lily said last year, thank you for never giving up the news.

Your support professionally and personally has made it 100 times easier to head MHN. To Margaret Connor & Lenox Johnson ’24: I am so thankful for your confidence to lead the Copy team in times of major transition.

To Rebecca Gagnon ’23 & Jesse Hausknecht-Brown ’25: You both instill in me the confidence that the Features section will have a long, fruitful life. Rebecca, I am so endlessly proud of you and the work you accomplish every single day. Jesse, the Layout team is in such great hands.

To Mariam Keita ’24: You are one of the most ambitious individuals I have met at Mount Holyoke. Your drive to improve this paper and the whole world are admirable. In me, you will forever have a supporter and friend.

To Ali Meizels ’23: Your artistry, leadership and love of storytelling is going to take you so far. You’ve been a game-changing Publisher and an ultimate MHN co-leader. I’m forever indebted to your support and love of this paper.

To Rose Cohen ’22: Thank you for giving me the confidence to be editor-in-chief. Pitch meetings are defined by your kind, smiling face.

To my 2020-2021 publishing team — Lily Reavis ’21, Kelsey Thomas ’21 & Rose Sheehan ’22: Thank you for the late nights, the faceless Zoom calls, the storytelling and your endless drive to never give up the news, even in the toughest circumstances. Lily, thank you for instilling in me the belief that I can do anything I set my mind to. You’ve been a top-tier friend, editor and mentor. I will look up to you as long as I live. Kelsey, thank you for teaching me everything about AP style ever — and of course for your caring friendship. Rose, when I think of my time at MHN, I think of you. With two full years of publishing nights, you’ve made my time at MHN (and Mount Holyoke) so full of laughter, friendship and popsicles.

To Emma Watkins ’23: I have pushed you to try new things, and in turn you pull me in new directions. Emma, you are one of the best friends I have made through MHN. Thank you for your love of writing, endless wit and fruitful conversations. You will be an amazing Managing Editor of Content.

To Liz Lewis ’22: My partner in every sense; your ambition, careful editing and confidence are forever things I will admire in you.

Finally, to Sophie Soloway ’23: I feel at ease leaving MHN in your hands. You’ve been such a thoughtful and driven co-writer this year. I have seen the way you navigate interviews (with gears always turning) and pitch stories (leaving no voice behind). Next year, be confident, be bold and remember you have the support of 105 years of MHN journalists behind you.

Thank you, of course, to Mount Holyoke News, the organization. Because of you, I leave Mount Holyoke feeling full, confident and ready to tell more stories.

time with you in two activities. Sammi, your brilliance and kindness cements you in the heart of any group you join. Sophie, you were my first hockey friend, and I gravitated to you that September day because of your warmth, wisdom and calm. With those traits and many more, I know you will be an incredible editor-in-chief.

Artemis, you have the ability to capture the heart of anyone you photograph. Sofía, your artistic vision and skill elevates the work of this paper every week. Jenny, your photo spread of campus squirrels remains one of the best things I’ve had the honor of arranging on a page, and captures the warm, goofy and talented person you are.

Ali Meizels ’23, you have single-handedly redefined the Publisher position and forged yourself an essential role in the publishing night team. Though it’s above and beyond your job description, you jump in to write captions, check final flats and stay up with the rest of the team until the wee hours of the night. For so many reasons, I can’t imagine publishing night without you. Thanks for walking me home every Thursday.

Maggie Donovan ’23, yours is a once in a lifetime friendship. From offering design advice over FaceTime in my first days as Managing Editor of Layout to writing word searches to fill last minute empty space, you have always selflessly worked to make my life easier.

My hockey, news, radio, forever friend: thank you.

Thanks to my non-news friends (especially the hockey team) who have brought me tea before publishing night and sent encouraging texts on Friday mornings when I schlep out of bed.

Thanks to all the readers who have picked up a copy of the paper. More than a hundred people worked on this eight page spread you’re reading now. I’m grateful to be one of them.