Mount Holyoke News — Feb. 18, 2022

Mount Holyoke News AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1917 MOUNTHOLYOKENEWS.COM

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2022

Academic Priorities Committee proposes changes to Tuesday and Thursday class meeting times for fall 2022

BY DECLAN LANGTON ’22 & SOPHIE SOLOWAY ’23 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | GLOBAL EDITOR

In a recent faculty meeting, the Academic Priorities Committee announced new proposals to the class meeting time schedule for the 2022-2023 academic year. According to documents obtained by Mount Holyoke News, these schedule adjustments center on changes to the Tuesday and Thursday morning class meeting times.

Currently, during the 2021-2022 academic year, class meetings on Tuesday and Thursday mornings run from 8:30 - 9:45 a.m., 10 - 11:15 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.. The final two blocks are reserved for First Year Seminars, according to the Approved Class Meeting Times document from the Mount Holyoke College website.

According to the documents obtained by Mount Holyoke News, the proposed change to Tuesday and Thursday mornings would remove the 8:30 a.m. classes. Instead, the first block would run from 9 - 10:15 a.m.. Additionally, there is a single reserved block for First Year Seminars from 10:30 - 11:45 a.m. In this proposed schedule, there is a reserved faculty meeting time from 12 - 1:15 p.m. Faculty meetings are held about once every month, as an anonymous source with access to the schedule told Mount Holyoke News.

Dorothy Mosby, interim dean of faculty and vice president for Academic Affairs, said this shift is poised to be an answer to faculty concerns regarding current faculty meeting times.

“The change to the class schedule is the result of faculty requests both before and after the pandemic to set aside designated time during the workday to principally hold the monthly faculty meeting and faculty standing committee meetings,” Mosby explained. “This change is largely in response to a desire for a better work/life balance.”

Because faculty meetings currently occur between 4:30 - 6:30 p.m., according to Mosby, many faculty members — especially those who act as caretakers for families after work

Photo by Xinran Li ’23 The Academic Priorities Committee has proposed a new class meeting schedule for the 2022-23 academic year, including a new faculty meeting time.

— have expressed interest in earlier regular meeting times.

According to Assistant Professor of Economics Johannes Norling, class meeting schedules are set by the Academic Priorities Committee.

Norling is a member of this committee, along with several faculty, administration and a student representative.

“When the committee considers changes to the class meeting schedule, it considers a range of possible effects, such as on academics, dining and athletics,” Norling said.

Dining was a particular concern for the anonymous source with access to the 2022-2023 proposed schedule.

“With the new proposed schedule, there would be just one large group of students getting out of class at 11:45 a.m., making the lunch rush significantly worse,” the student said.

Norling described the new open block as a time that will allow for “longer gatherings that currently are postponed to the end of the day.”

Norling also believed that the new proposed schedule would have the opposite effect on the lunch rush, saying, “It also will allow students to spread out their use of the dining hall, which would then lessen the acuity of the lunch rush.”

According to another anonymous senior, Blanchard Dining Hall often becomes highly crowded around 12:15 p.m., when many students leave classes at the same time.

This rush impacts students’ abilities to access the Dining Hall and also poses a danger to those with weakened immune systems, especially during the pandemic.

For the anonymous senior, this is a motivator to stay away from Blanchard during this time.

“Part of the reason why I avoid the dining hall during the lunch rush is because I am immunocompromised,” the senior explained.

The senior also spoke about the lunch rush more broadly, saying that “the majority of the students I talk to avoid the dining hall during this time as well purely because it is very

crowded. I have also talked to a lot of students who are neurodivergent, and they try to avoid the dining hall because it can be overstimulating during the rush.”

The anonymous source with access to the document raised similar concerns, citing the current “inaccessibility” of the dining hall to students with mobility issues and those with “anxieties relating to large crowds and/or sensory overload.”

The student also explained that the “pileups at specific counters [prevent] students who need access to those counters for dietary restrictions/religious accommodations from being able to eat.”

This source also reflected back to fall 2021 when considering the lunch rush.

During that semester, “the approved class meeting times for Tuesdays and Thursdays meant that some students got out of class at 11:15 am, while another group of students got out of class at 12:45 pm.

Even with this staggering, the lunch rush on Tuesday and Thursday af-

ternoons made for very very long lines both to enter Blanchard and to get food at any of the counters,” the student said.

“While the availability of takeout options did help ease some of the issues with finding tables, the dining hall was still extremely crowded for at least the first half-hour following the time when the students got out of class,” they added.

Norling mentioned that the lunch rush was a consideration when creating the schedule. “The longer mid-day gathering period on Tuesdays and Thursdays next year is expected to help alleviate the lunch rush on those days,” Norling explained.

Mosby echoed this, stating, “The lunch rush was a consideration. It is hoped that the class-free Tuesday/ Thursday late-morning/early-afternoon blocks will provide some relief and hopefully some students will decide to enjoy lunch those days at a more relaxed pace.”

Despite the administration’s attention to the lunch rush, the source with access to the documents expressed concerns about next year’s lunch rush while reflecting back on their experience two years ago.

“In the Spring of 2020 … the lunch rush was so bad that students were eating outside on the freezing patio, sitting on the ledges between booths and even sitting on the floor,” they said. In fall 2020, Mount Holyoke’s population was 1,915 students, according to U.S. News. Per Mount Holyoke website, the population has recently increased to 2,200.

Should takeout dining no longer be an option in fall 2022, the lunch rush would include more people than the student experienced in spring 2020.

The senior continued to express concerns about dining access for immunocompromised students during the pandemic. “​​ If changing the schedule increases the lunch rush, I think a lot of students will stop going to lunch altogether,” they said. “If the lunch rush increases, I do not think this proposal will be well-received by the students due to the overwhelming crowds and the potential of getting [COVID-19].”

Senate discusses injured duck, upcoming College hosts a series of booster clinic and next week’s Town Hall talks educating students and

Photo by Tzav Harrel ’24 EJ Jankovic ’23 (left) and Sophia Jung ’22 (right) present the weekly E-Board updates at senate.

BY GILLIAN PETRARCA ’23 STAFF WRITER

After a land acknowledgment

by Chair of Halls EJ Jankovic ’23, the Feb. 15 senate meeting began.

The meeting agenda for the night included E-Board updates, open floor announcements and Town Hall etiquette.

The week’s one E-Board update came from Jankovic, who told senators of their recent meeting with Dr. Cheryl Flynn, the medical director of Health Services. The two discussed the COVID-19 booster shot clinic, which will take place at the Testing Center on Feb. 19 from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Jankovic also reminded students to upload their vaccine cards to the My.MountHolyoke website even if they have not received

u

3

their booster shot yet.

Jankovic concluded their updates by announcing that they are creating an unofficial student handbook for first-year students. Jankovic asked senators to send them any advice that students wish they would have known before coming to Mount Holyoke.

Senate then opened the floor for announcements from senators. The senator from the Animal Welfare Organization, Sonia Ramanathan ’25, informed the room that there is an injured duck on campus and asked that students not approach it.

The senator from the class of 2023, Emma Legacki ’23 announced that the annual Junior Show, or J-Show, a sketch production put on by the junior class, is still in need of directors.

The English Handbell ensemble will

FEATURES: APAU celebrates Black History Month

u

have their first meeting of the year on Feb. 20 from 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. in Pratt Music Hall.

Next, senators had the opportunity to voice concerns from their constituents. The Pearsons Annex senator, Piper Hattenbach ’23, said that one of their constituents raised the concern that the Golden Pear in the dorm is not wheelchair accessible and that the whole campus is generally inaccessible. The Ham Hall senator, Gus Karpatkin ’23, also raised an accessibility concern about the trash cans in Ham. They also suggested that the street lights on campus be turned off once a month in order for the College to be more energy efficient. Lastly, the North Creighton senator, Autumn Larsen ’24, brought up the small design [of street signs] and lack of speed limit signs around campus.

President of SGA Lasya Priya Rao Jarugumilli ’23 and Vice President of SGA Ananya Singh ’22 went over etiquette for the upcoming March 1 Town Hall meeting with AccessAbility Services. Jarugumilli told senators that mutual respect during these meetings is very important and stated that how senators carry themselves during Town Hall meetings can potentially impact how the visiting department interacts with senate in the future. Singh spoke about the importance of calling in, rather than calling out, if a conflict arises.

The meeting concluded with senators joining their commissions to submit questions for the upcoming town hall meeting.

5

community on antisemitism Dr. Laura Leibman gave a lecture on antisemitism titled “Once we were slaves: The Extraordinary Journey of a Multiracial Jewish On Feb. 10, Vice President for Family.” 2022 was the first year Equity and Inclusion and Chief that a teach-in on antisemitism Diversity Officer Kijua Sand- was added to the week. ers-McMurtry sent an email out Sanders-McMurtry wrote, to the Mount Holyoke community “Each year, during this week, we discussing the will continue College’s efto host a teach“We know that one day in forts to educate in on antisemthe community a semester is not enough to itism, but we on antisemiknow that one even begin to address what day in a setism. The lethas been a part of the expe- mester is not ter focused on the progress rience of so many who have enough to even made so far as begin to adsuffered ... violent attacks.” dress what has well as steps forward in prebeen a part of venting it on the experience - Kijua Sanders-McMurty campus. of so many who “This year, have suffered Mount Holyoke has been the site virulent and violent attacks.” of terrible incidents targeting JewDuring Black History Month, ish community members,” Sand- the Jewish Student Union and the ers-McMurtry wrote. “We believe Association of Pan African Unity it is imperative that our work ad- have collaborated to host events dresses these issues head-on by that create a dialogue between urging every member of our com- Black and Jewish students. Other munity to learn about the history lectures will be taking place on of Judeophobia and antisemitism.” Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. by Dr. Anthea ButThe College has launched a ler and on April 5 at 7 p.m. by Dr. new series of talks and invited Paola Tartakoff. guest speakers in order to achieve Additionally, the annual this goal. During the annual Mar- BOOM! Conference will also focus tin Luther King Jr. and Coretta on diversity, equity and inclusion Scott King Week of Racial Justice in order to “expand our underand Reconciliation at the College, standing and perspective,” as statheld on the third week of January, ed in the email.

BY KATIE GOSS ’23 BUSINESS MANAGER & NEWS EDITOR

A&E: Mitski triumphs in ‘Laurel Hell’

u

7

BOOKS: Read these emerging Black poets

2

.

GLOBAL Jeff Bezos asks Dutch officials to disassemble a 95-yearold bridge so that his new superyacht can leave shipyard

BY HANNAH RAYKHER ’23 & QINGYUN SHI ’23 STAFF WRITERS

Rotterdam, a city in the Netherlands, is mulling over a request to dismantle part of the historic Koningshaven Bridge to allow for a superyacht owned by Jeff Bezos to leave the shipyard, according to CNN. The superyacht, known as Y721 is currently being constructed by the Dutch builder Oceansco, according to Bezos’ 2021 book “Amazon Unbound.” The yacht is expected to be a 127-meter schooner with 3 large masts — too tall to fit under Koningshaven bridge. If the deconstruction takes place, the disassembly fee for the bridge will be paid by Oceanco.

Some Rotterdam locals are showing their opposition to the potential of taking the bridge apart. According to NPR, almost 4,000 people have signed up for a Facebook group that plans to throw eggs at the boat if the bridge is dismantled.

Corrine Liu ’23, a student interested in International Relations, discussed the role that billionaires should play in local communities like in Rotterdam.

February 18, 2022

“I don’t think any billionaires, let alone billionaires not living [in] or deeply connected to a specific place, should be allowed to influence the place’s local issues,” Lui said. “They neglect to consider long-term ramifications of their choices on the local infrastructure and community.”

This is not the first time that the Koningshaven Bridge, known locally as “De Hef,” has been threatened.

According to The New York Times, the bridge is 95 years old and was designed as a railway bridge. In 1994, the bridge was set to be destroyed but was saved by protests and named a historic national monument.

Although the bridge was not designed to be deconstructed, it contains certain architectural features that would make the project easier than other bridge deconstruction endeavors.

Architecture professor Naomi Darling discussed what the dismantling of the bridge might look like.

“Dismantling most bridges would be time-consuming and labor-intensive, the degrees of which would depend upon the type of bridge,” Darling said. “The Koningshaven Bridge in Rotterdam is a lift bridge, which means it was designed

Mount Holyoke News

Photo courtesy of WiiMedia Commons Jeff Bezos has put forward a proposal to dismantle the Koningshaven Bridge of Rotterdam, Netherlands in order to transport his new superyacht.

so that the central portion can be lifted to accommodate ships passing below. Since the mid-section can be raised and lowered on cables and is

already a separate unit, dismantling this type of bridge would be much simpler than most as long as the central truss is kept as one unit.”

Dismantling the Koningshaven Bridge would be a difficult but not impossible task. A final decision is yet to be made by the Dutch city.

Students recount their experiences during the Myanmar Coup

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons Aung San Suu Kyi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs in Burma and Nobel Peace Prize winner, was removed from power by a military coup in 2021.

BY CYNTHIA AKANAGA ’25 STAFF WRITER

Content warning: this article discusses graphic state and military violence.

Last year, the Myanmar military, officially known as the Tatmadaw, orchestrated a coup that removed Aung San Suu Kyi, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, from power after her political party, the National League for Democracy, won the election by a landslide. Because the title Myanmar was appointed by the military to replace the Burmese title of Burma, this article will refer to the country by the latter. This month marks the anniversary of the declaration of a state of emergency made by the military on Feb. 1, 2021. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing remains in power, and many people in Burma are still protesting.

Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner for her work towards establishing democracy in Burma and a figure responsible for the country’s democratic transition, came under controversy after defending Myanmar’s military in the Gambia case. In November 2019, Gambia filed a case with the International Court of Justice regarding Tatmadaw’s crimes of genocide against the Rohingya minority in Burma, as reported by the Human Rights Watch. Aung San Suu Kyi, who represented Burma during the ICJ lawsuit, defended the military’s actions.

One Mount Holyoke student from Burma with an intended major in biochemistry, who wished to remain anonymous, shared that nuances to the case complicated Aung San Suu Kyi’s choice.

“There are many Burmese people who believe that … [when] she defended the military for their war crimes against the Rohingya, she had no other choice at the time. She didn’t really have the power in the first place,” the student said. “It’s just hard to believe that somebody who went under house arrest for 15 years for the freedom of her people would just turn around and suddenly do something like [that]. That’s

probably why she still won in a landslide because we had no choice, and a lot of Burmese people still believed in her despite everything. ” Another anonymous student from the region, who is intending to major in computer science, also responded to this controversy, stating, “For me, Aung San Suu Kyi has done a lot so that we could be free. I feel like I owe her so much. I owe her my freedom.”

When describing the moments leading up to the coup, the sources held contrasting feelings of denial and resignation. The computer science major detailed that “there was rumor of a military coup, but none of us believed it. [We] didn’t think that they [would] actually do it,” “For the first two days, we didn’t do any protests,” the student continued. “We’re mostly hoarding, and then we’re staying inside our homes.

We thought that if we did nothing and stayed silent, then the military takeover [would] not be official. But then there was no difference whether we stayed silent or not, because the military was not going to step down either way. So protests started… I think around … the third day.”

The biochemistry student also reflected on the start of the coup.

“I remember being woken up by my mom at like four in the morning and she told me that the military had taken over the country again, and the first thing that I felt was fear. I was horrified. I think I had a panic attack. In general, I felt very hopeless about the future,” the student said.

“I felt worried for my family because … our house was used as a place for NLD officials to meet. So, there was a lot of military tension [for] us already from the get-go. And so, it was just sort of like oh my gosh, like are they going to storm our house?” the biochemistry student added. “Are we going to die?”

The military justified the coup with claims of voter fraud, though according to the Human Rights Watch 2022 report, “international and domestic election observers found that the election was ‘credible and reflected the will of the majority

of the voters.’” The election had led to a unanimous victory for the NLD which left the military-backed party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, powerless.

The sources gave similar opinions pertaining to the military coup.

According to the biochemistry student, “It can’t be voter fraud because the moment [the military] took over, the entire country protested. I think the reason they took over was that General Min Aung Hlaing was nearing his retirement age. In Myanmar, people usually retire at age 60, and he’s 65. So, he [has] to retire, and once he retired, he wouldn’t have immunity for the war crimes he had committed against the Rohingya. He’d have to answer for that in the international court or Myanmar’s own laws.”

The computer science student added that the military coup happened because “They want full power. [The] NLD won by a landslide, and we were moving towards a democratic government.”

People’s Defense Force fights back

According to the anonymous sources, there is still a sense of unity present in the country. As the computer science major stated, “In my opinion, we are united right now when we are fighting back against the military, and we have a very strong passion that we want to be free.”

In the same vein, the other anonymous source added that “We’ve been more united because it’s like the entire country versus a common enemy.”

This reported sense of national solidarity may be evidenced by the protests which have erupted in response to the situation.

“Tens of thousands of people, including health workers, bankers and teachers, joined what was originally a peaceful civil disobedience movement, refusing to go to work until the elected government returned to power,” the Council on Foreign Relations reported.

The computer science major stated that “Every 8 p.m. at night, a lot of households start banging

pots and pans because there’s a belief that if you bang pots and pans, it drives away evil spirits. The whole country is protesting in its own way, even if they’re not actually taking arms. Like, people are not paying taxes … we’re not paying electricity and water bills.”

Alongside ongoing protests, previous NLD members formed an opposing government called the National Unity Government. The NUG has laid claim as the legitimate government of Burma, though they have not received recognition from any Western governments. The military’s violent response to the peaceful protests led to the NUG’s creation of the armed group the People’s Defence Force.

“This whole situation has really changed the country a lot,” the computer science student stated. “The PDF consists of normal people like you and me, who just decided that they will sacrifice their whole future to fight for independence and freedom from the military. We don’t really have another choice rather than to fight back with weapons. Because if we only protest, [the military] are going to kill us anyway. ” During the 8888 Revolution of 1988, Burma’s late dictator Ne Win said, “The military never fires into the air. It just shoots straight to hit.”

As reported by The Irrawaddy, based on the body count of the protestors, Ne Win’s words still ring true. According to the Human Rights Watch, “Between February 1 and November 1, the police and military killed at least 1,200 protesters and bystanders, including approximately 75 children, and have detained over 8,700 government officials, activists, journalists and civil servants.”

In response to the military’s violence, the computer science major shared, “When I was back in Myanmar it was really terrible. We’re all so afraid of the military. It’s always terrifying to see a military bus pass by in front of your house. That’s scary, and when they capture people, they torture them. They are very ruthless. It’s like you can’t even imagine the level of ruthlessness they can go to.”

Many who were killed by Myanmar’s army throughout these protests were unarmed civilians, as reported by the Jurist. The computer science major’s experiences echo this fact.

“On February 19, they were protesting and then there was a police officer that actually aimed to kill a girl like me, and he actually killed her. It wasn’t to stop a protest. The girl was actually turning back, and the military just shot her. … A policeman just shot her,” the computer science major said. “That’s when reality hit. The reality of how harsh the military can be, how harsh a dictatorship can be … . At first I was living like a normal teenager, going out with my friends and stuff like that.

And that’s when I realized what it’s like to live under a dictatorship.”

“They actually used machine guns to shoot at people’s heads. It was very terrible. So many people

died. It makes you wonder how they can actually shoot someone who has nothing in their hands, who [is] just walking, and how they can just shoot them in the head,” the computer science major said. “When the machine gun hits you in that close range, it’s not a clean shot. The whole head will explode.”

Few countries and institutions have offered international intervention to aid the people of Burma. U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement in which he threatened more sanctions on the military and its supporters. The UN has deferred to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to resolve the conflict, since some members of the security council are unwilling to impose stronger actions towards the Myanmar military.

For the computer science major, imposing sanctions is “the least [the U.S.] could do, and they can do more than that, like arming the [Ethnic Armed Organizations] and PDFs and accepting NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar. I feel like other countries that are doing business with the military should also impose those sanctions.”

On the other hand, the other anonymous source majoring in biochemistry, believes that sanctions are not effective.

“It’s the same as always. I mean, this is not the first time the military has taken control of the country or done these horrific things,” the biochemistry major said. “If you research … further back before Myanmar was known to the world the way it is now, they’ve been committing these atrocities and war crimes against us for years and years.

They’ve not done anything in the past, they’re not doing anything now ... and I don’t think they’ll do anything in the future.”

“The military mostly does its business deals with China, so they already have an income flow from China and other Southeast Asian countries, so it doesn’t matter what the West does because there [weren’t] a lot of transactions happening between the West in the first place anyway. They’re not missing out on much,” the biochemistry major continued. “Also, the West has always imposed sanctions on military generals in the past, and the dictatorship still lasted for like 60 years.

So, I don’t think sanctions are very effective.”

Due to the protests from civilians and the PDF, the military has been unable to consolidate its power.

Yanghee Lee, the co-founder of the Special Advisory Group on Myanmar and former UN special rapporteur for human rights in the country, called it a “failed coup,” as reported

by CNN. Regarding the future of Burma, the computer science major stated, “There’s hope because of the people.

No matter how difficult it is, the people always find a way to fight back.

We really want to be free. For over 60 years, we were not free. So we have a very strong incentive that we want to be free.”

February 18, 2022

FEATURES

. Mount Holyoke News

3

APAU celebrates Blackness with Black History Month events

BY LENOX JOHNSON ’24 COPY CHIEF

The Mount Holyoke Association of Pan African Unity strives to foster an environment of cohesion and celebration throughout Mount Holyoke College’s Black and POC communities — this month and every month.

Preparations for Black History Month have been underway since mid-October. Co-coordinators, Geraldine Louis ’24 and Ziyadah Zeigler ’23, in conjunction with the APAU Board and Latrina L. Denson, Associate Dean of Students, Community and Belonging, were meticulous in curating the February 2022 schedule.

“Planning all of this has really been a roller coaster. … So far, a lot of people are really engaged in what’s going on and what [we] have planned with Latrina Denson and other departments on campus,” Ziegler said. “[It’s given] me a different perspective on … how impactful it is to be so involved in organizations like this and [in] community building.”

For Louis, Black History Month is an opportunity to bring together people of color on campus.

Graphic courtesy of Venesia Delancy ’22 “It’s a really great chance to get to know people and relax from class- films.

“It was nice to be able to see some es … We’re probably just gonna be sitting, having some snacks, chat- board and body members after being ting with other people [and] building away for so long,” Venesia Delancy ’22, Co-Chair for conversations,” the APAU, said.

Louis said. “Hon“I’m honestly estly, you never “We want to show Black very happy with know. You might luxury and that Black the work [Louis] have a lot of fun people can be bougie and has been doing because so far I have and I havluxurious, … look amazing on the movie en’t regretted go… and just celebrate being nights. She and her co-coordiing … once.”

Black. We don’t really get nator [Zeigler] Each week to do that.” have been able of Black History to [successfully] Month is adorned coordinate each with a unique – Geraldine Louis ’24 movie to the theme: Black & week’s theme.” supreme, Black One of the month’s kickoff events & beloved, Black & authentic and Black & jovial. Every theme is care- was “Tips for Navigating Both Skin fully coordinated alongside APAU’s And Hair For People of Color,” led weekly Black History Movie Nights, by Board Certified Dermatologist, including movies like “The Photo- Licensed Cosmetologist and Hair graph,” “Pariah” and other Black Loss Expert Dr. Yolanda Lenzy, M.D., and POC directed, led and produced M.P.H. The workshop touched on

prioritizing diverse representation in the medical community and the importance of highlighting the nuances of skin care, hair care and presentation of skin disease in POC. Louis credits events like these as a reminder of the community education and cohesion she values. They make the College feel like a home.

“The reason why Mount Holyoke was my top choice is because of that sense of community that I felt from Mosaic [Living Learning Community], APAU … and Shirley [Chisholm LLC]. I just felt at home there. I feel like that’s hard to feel in this environment,” Louis continued. “We might have [COVID-19] restrictions but we can still … foster a sense of community with each other. I want to rebuild that sense of community that I saw before I even came here.”

Blackness takes its form in a myriad of bodies. In this diverse collegiate community, celebrating these differences is of paramount

importance in ensuring narra- make everyone happy,” Louis comtives are not distorted by over- mented. She also hopes students simplification and intersectional leave these events thinking, “Yeah, erasure. The APAU has adopted I’m Black. Black people are amaza “no man left behind” mentality. ing.”

“Whether it comes from my The APAU’s month-long celebraskin color, ideologies, religion, tion will end on Feb. 27 with the Black sexuality [or] gender, really ev- History Month Gala. The event, led erything comes into play with by Ziegler and Louis, will be a shinwho we are ing display of as Black opulence, talent “Whether it comes from people in and persistence. the Black “We want to my skin color, ideologies, communishow Black luxureligion, sexuality [or] ty,” Louis ry and that Black gender, really everything commented. people can be “Figuring out bougie and luxcomes into play with who and hosting urious, … look we are as Black people in these events amazing … and the Black community. So, really, really just celebrate be[makes] sure ing Black,” Louis figuring out and hosting that Black said. “We don’t these events really, really H i s t o r y really get to do [makes] sure that Black Month is for that.” every single Above all, the History Month is for every person in the organization is single person in the Black Black comconcerned with community or in the African inclusivity, celemunity or in diaspora.” the African bration and comdiaspora. Evmunity building. eryone gets There is always a – Geraldine Louis ’24 highlighted.” seat at the table In their in the APAU. organization of February’s festivi“I really wanted the Black comties, Black History Month co-coordi- munity on campus to feel seen and nators Louis and Zeigler are aiming heard and have a safe space on camto foster a sense of interconnected- pus to bond with each other … This ness and fortification of the support is a [predominantly white institusystem within Mount Holyoke’s tion] [with] only a small population Black community. of Black people,” Ziegler explained.

“I hope there [will be] more of a “I want there to be opportunity for sense of connection, people putting us to just converse and enjoy each more effort into supporting one an- other’s company.” other, getting to know other people “I’m still open for other people [and] finding a group of people that outside of the Pan-African commuthey connect with,” Louis said. nity to also be allies or be happy for A central goal of the APAU’s the Black people celebrating their Black History Month celebration culture … the target audience is the is keeping it just that — a celebra- Black people on campus, but I’m just tion — no morbidity, no trauma. happy if everyone on campus can reThe APAU’s screening of the 2017 ally celebrate Black people,” Ziegler film “Girls Trip” is a testament to said. this objective. According to Ziegler, According to Louis, finding the organization aims to focus its Black joy in the face of persistent opconversations on the “jovial side of pressive forces is a radical act.

Black life.”

Louis said, “The best thing that “Our goal is to show joy, [cre- we can do is be happy as Black peoate] happiness and empower people. ple and celebrate Blackness – beI want it to be fun, lively [and] just cause, why not?”

Students reflect on study abroad experience during the pandemic

BY LAUREN CINCOTTA ’25 STAFF WRITER

As the COVID-19 pandemic stretches into another year, perpetual changes to the norm have become a regular part of life. Students looking to participate in a studyabroad program for the Spring 2022 semester had to be willing to adapt to an evolving COVID-19 situation in addition to adjusting to studying in another country. Some destinations and programs have not yet reopened and others are operating with restrictions.

According to the McCulloch Center for Global Initiatives’ study abroad website, “[the center] will continue to consider the health and safety conditions and any travel restrictions in locations for our approved study abroad locations.

We will support study abroad provided students are vaccinated for COVID-19 per CDC recommendations, the study abroad programs are running, and students are able to access visas, flights and consular services.” While study abroad initially returned in Fall 2021, the Spring 2022 semester has still brought challenges for those seeking to travel.

One of the first challenges that Olivia Wilson ’23 faced when she began applying for study abroad was that some countries had closed their borders, making travel impossible.

“I originally wanted to go to New Zealand. My plan was to attend the University of Otago on the South Island as an international student, but they closed their borders and stopped processing visas, so that didn’t work out,” she said. She was also accepted to a program in Costa Rica, but there was no guarantee that the program would include an in-person experience, so Wilson decided to look elsewhere.

Currently, Wilson is in Copenhagen, Denmark, with an American program, the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. She is studying sustainability programs in Europe and their impact on the environment.

Despite being in a different country than she expected, Wilson said that her experience so far has “exceeded [her] expectations.”

Photos courtesy of Helen Roane ’23 Helen Roane ’23, an East Asian studies major, is studying abroad in the Netherlands at Maastricht University. Since her arrival in Europe, she has traveled to Brussels, Bruges, Utrecht and Amsterdam.

While Wilson was worried about the virus, she explained that her program has worked hard to keep everyone safe.

“DIS is following Denmark’s protocols, so masks are no longer required, although they were at the beginning of the semester. It’s recommended to get tested twice a week,” she continued, noting that rapid tests are easily accessible and free. If a student tests positive for COVID-19, the program provides hotel accommodations and a food stipend, and after four days, the student can return to their regular housing. “Other than that, it’s normal life,” Wilson concluded.

Helen Roane ’23, currently in the Netherlands, also experienced challenges when it came time to apply to study abroad. As an East Asian studies major, Roane had hoped to spend her spring semester in China. “After

an advising meeting in September, they helped me find some alternative programs due to the fact that China was still not accepting student visas,” she explained. This caused Roane to reevaluate her plans. “Instead, I decided to go somewhere that I would be able to work on my other major [of international relations],” she said.

The program at Maastricht University suited this interest, and Roane was able to squeeze in an application before the deadline. Before she was set to begin her semester abroad, the Netherlands imposed a mandatory 5-10 day quarantine on all travelers coming in from highrisk countries, including the United States. This initial quarantine caused her program to cancel a planned trip to Berlin. Still, in the weeks since her arrival, Roane has been able to travel to Brussels, Brug-

es, Utrecht and Amsterdam.

While the path to their study abroad experiences might have been different than students in pre-pandemic years, both students are glad they took this opportunity to enrich their educational experiences. Wilson explained that she wasn’t sure if she was going to go at all.

“I was considering staying because I missed my entire second year on campus due to the pandemic. But I was told a lot that studying abroad is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said.

Roane agreed that the once-ina-lifetime opportunity is worth experiencing. She also expressed that this semester was the right time to pursue a study-abroad experience.

“I chose to go abroad now instead of next fall mostly because I wanted to have an entire senior year on campus, and I’m hoping it will be a

relatively “normal” senior year,” she continued.

Both students emphasized the importance of devoting time and effort to researching a program before applying.

“In general, I would suggest [starting] early. A little bit at a time goes a long way. Also, reach out to past students who did the same program,” Wilson stated. “Depending on how much independence you want, be more picky about your program. For example, if a program is usually more structured, expect it to be even more structured because of the pandemic. If the program is more independent, expect it to be slightly structured due to restrictions,” she said.

In final parting words, Roane offered that “If someone wants to study abroad, they should totally do it.”

4

OPINION

February 18, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

Selective celebration compromises the authenticity of history

BY ZORA LOTTON-BARKER ’25 STAFF WRITER & COPY EDITOR

America has a systemic issue of selective storytelling to make history more digestible. While simplicity has its place, loss of nuance can be incredibly damaging when attempting to reckon with our past. There often seems to be a collective forgetfulness when engaging in harsh truths about historical events or people.

This tendency to celebrate and recognize redeemable parts of history compromises its authenticity.

Take my hometown of Lawrence, Kansas as an example. Lawrence, and more broadly the state of Kansas, prides itself on being founded on Free State principles. Despite what some citizens of Lawrence may think, the Free State movement is not the same as the Abolitionist movement. The National Geographic encyclopedia defines abolition as the crusade led by New England states who “viewed slavery as a shameful legacy with no place in modern society.” The term Free State, as described by the Kansas City Public

Library’s website, refers to a Kansas coalition that “hoped to preserve an all-white society of yeoman farmers in the West, without slavery.”

The Civil War era is incredibly important in the history of my state, especially because Kansas chose to be a Free State, while Missouri, a neighboring state, was part of the confederacy. Lawrence, which sits only 45 minutes away from Kansas City, was raided several times by Missouri Ruffians, pro-slavery raiders who crossed the border to Kansas to incite violence. The Eldridge Hotel, a centerpiece of our downtown, was burned down three times when tensions rose and violent outbreaks increased across state lines between Missouri and Kansas.

You don’t have to enter too far into Lawrence, Kansas to understand how prevalent this idea of being a Free State is. Billboards along 23rd Street advertise Free State Dental, Free State Dermatology and the locally renowned Free State Brewery. If you go further into town, you’ll make it to Free State High School.

The term Free State may be proudly

plastered across Lawrence, but it is wrongly associated with actions of abolitionist leaders like John Brown.

Part of the reason Lawrencians ignore this history is because it isn’t widely known. Even though we are required to take a Kansas History course in 7th grade, I didn’t learn the true meaning of the term “Free State” until my AP United States History class. Even then, I can’t remember discussing it in relation to Lawrence.

This is not a phenomenon that is exclusive to my small college town in northern Kansas. It exists in all facets of U.S. history. Oftentimes when we as a society seek to highlight and share the accomplishments of certain influential people within our nation’s history, we are quick to excuse or downplay narratives that might put a blemish on the “hero” label.

Mount Holyoke College is not exempt from selective storytelling. The college actively perpetuates a narrative that Francis Perkins, the first female labor secretary and one of its most famous alumni, was a feminist icon who paved the way for women

Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Archives and Special Collections Frances Perkins, above, graduated in 1902.

in government. Non-traditional age students at Mount Holyoke are addressed as Frances Perkins scholars. Our library coffee shop is named after her, and she is mentioned several times during application season and orientation.

After rising to a position no woman had before her, Francis Perkins then went on to say that gender equality is not attainable. According to the book, “The Unfinished Journey: America Since World War II,”

by William Chafe, Perkins argued that “Legal equality … between the sexes is not possible because men and women are not identical in physical structure or social function, and therefore their needs cannot be identical.”

These cannot be the words of a feminist trailblazer. Just because she was the first woman to hold a seat in a presidential cabinet does not mean that she should be spared from criticism. By ignoring the problematic stances she held, the truth of the story is damaged.

This sort of excusatory mentality is not only pervasive, it’s also very dangerous. When we don’t recognize our historical leaders as whole people, with many strengths and many faults, we fail to do our job. We create perfect human beings that never actually existed, and portray a false reality.

Look further than the Academy for great Black-centered films

Graphic by Sunny Wei ’23

BY WOODLIEF MCCABE ’23 STAFF WRITER

At the first meeting of Mount Holyoke’s Film Society, we discussed our plan for the semester’s screenings. I created a screening schedule featuring Black-centered films in February to honor Black History Month. It was also important that the club continue to show films led by people of color throughout the semester.

The world of film criticism disproportionately recognizes white-centric cinema as the pinnacle of quality, even though filmmakers of color consistently produce remarkable work.

If you were only paying passive attention to the film world, you might be under the impression that there is a dearth of high-quality film made by and/or centering people of color.

“Drive My Car” and “King Richard” are both nominated for Best Picture

at the Oscars this year, but it is important to note that neither are original stories. “Drive My Car” is based on Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name, and “King Richard” is a nonfiction drama about Serena and Venus Williams’ journey to tennis stardom. Ryusuke Hamaguchi, the Japanese director of “Drive My Car” is the only non-white Best Director nominee. “Passing,” “Nine Days” and “The Disciple” were all led by casts and/or directors of color this season. Despite public praise, the films weren’t nominated. Previous years have seen similar trends.

In 2015, lawyer April Reign started #OscarsSoWhite when all best actor nominees were white.

The next year also saw a deficit of Black recognition at the Academy Awards, which was a shock considering the impressive slate of Blackled films that had hit the cinemas that year. “Moonlight,” “Hidden Figures,” “Loving” and “Race” had no

nominated lead actors. Moonlight memorably won best picture, but the film was carried by its lead actors. It follows the main character Chiron as he grows up and comes to terms with queerness and his place in community, guided by father figure Juan. The three actors who depicted Chiron throughout his life portrayed incomparable depth of emotion and tenderness. The ability to tell a story even in silence captivated me, as did the use of color and light. I remember thinking that this was the first movie that I had ever considered perfect.

White film criticism, when directed at Black films, also does not often consider diversity of genre and subject matter. Instead, it tends to frequently celebrate a specific type of Black-led film. Films like “Django Unchained” and “12 Years a Slave” cater to white audiences’ desire to watch Black suffering and manufacture sympathy for a curated version

of Black people. These films, both of which feature slavery as a central plot and character element, do not provide genuine insight to the lives of Black people today. They distill Blackness to pain and suffering for one-dimensional characters. Racism is presented as a challenge to a few sympathetic individuals rather than an integral construction of our society.

Critics of “12 Years a Slave,” such as Peter Malamud Smith, pointed out that the film overemphasizes the protagonist’s “exceptionalism” and special talents, failing to convey the magnitude of injustice that enslavement presented, as explained in Smith’s article for Vox. Films like “Moonlight” and “Us” have rich narratives and complex characters that challenge the image of people of color curated by white critique. Though characters struggle, the conflict is not exclusive to Black identity. Neither do these films pretend that their main characters exist in a colorblind and non-racialized world. Rather, these films are about the stories and the characters.

The actors embody their roles, and their race informs those roles.

These are films written by and about Black people, which is part of the reason they are so good. Choosing to show and distribute films where people of color are in creative control means showing better, more honest, and more well-rounded films.

Sci-fi, fantasy and nontraditional narrative films by people of color are also often looked down upon or outright ignored. Film Society’s poll last week was between “Us,” “Sorry to Bother You” and “An Oversimplification of Her Beauty.” All three are

reality-bending in different ways.

“An Oversimplification of her Beauty” is a movie made within another movie, interrupting and altering the audience’s perception of the story.

“Sorry to Bother You” is corporate fiction within an alternative reality.

“Us” is a kill-your-doubles horror by Jordan Peele, who also directed “Get Out.” Boots Reilly, director of “Sorry to Bother You,” said publicly that the film got no Oscar nominations because there was no real campaign for it. Various reasons could be cited for the others’ snubs. It has become increasingly clear that “good cinema” is not a title bestowed by the Academy.

The lack of racially diverse films in spaces of critique and academic film discussion are not the result of a lack of racially diverse films. When putting together the Film Society schedule, I found myself leaving out films from the screening polls more often than I was struggling to find them. My choices came down to whether they would fit in a thematic category. Every few days, I think of another incredible movie I wasn’t able to fit in. I dropped “The Farewell” and “Last Black Man in San Francisco” because the Film Society had screened them in recent years.

Neither of these films were even nominated for Oscars, but both are excellent movies I would be eager to watch again.

Thursday at 7:30, the Film Society will meet in Art 220 to watch a film made by and with Black people.

When Black History Month ends, we will continue to do so. It won’t be a revolutionary screening, and it won’t be a special occasion. It will be a group of students watching great films made by great filmmakers.

2021’s ‘Dune’ proves that the white savior trope is alive and well

BY TASNIA MOWLA ’23 OPINION EDITOR

Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel “Dune” is a science-fiction classic that influenced the subsequent development of the genre. Dune is back in headlines following the 2021 film reboot, which is the second most nominated film at the Oscars this year. Herbert has faced criticism for his protagonist Paul Atreides who is a white messiah figure to the Indigenous people of planet Arrakis.

At a roundtable conversation with a group of journalists, director Denis Villeneuve responded to the longstanding view that the source material glorified the white savior trope. “It’s a criticism of the idea of a savior, of someone that will come and tell another population how to be, what to believe,”’ he said.

Villeneuve’s take on the source material, as well as his recognition of the problem, made audiences curious about how his version of “Dune” would play out. Yet having watched the film, I don’t see any attempt by Villeneuve to criticize Paul Atreides in his role as the savior of Arrakis.

Instead, he carries on the age-old tradition of the white savior in film.

Studio executives have long operated under the idea that white audiences are unable to relate to stories on race unless they see themselves among the characters. Even stories based on real-life events can be altered to create a noble arc

Photo courtesy of WikiMedia Commons Denis Villeneuve directed the 2021 film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic novel “Dune.”

for a white character. Take “Freedom Writers” as an example, which shares the story of Erin Gruwell, an English teacher for at-risk students.

Set just two years after the 1992 Los Angeles Riots and while voluntary integration was being enforced, racial tensions ran high. The decision to cast a white woman as Gruwell not only appropriated the story and contributions of a person of color, but furthered the white savior nar-

rative.

“Freedom Writers” is not alone in rewriting history. “Hidden Figures” is a biographical film centered on three African American women who worked as mathematicians at NASA during the Space Race. Kevin Costner plays the role of Katherine Johnson’s (Taraji P. Henson) supervisor, Al Harrison. Upon hearing of the racial hostility Johnson faces, he tears down the “colored ladies room” sign and declares, “No more colored restrooms. No more white restrooms … Here at NASA, we all pee the same color.” Except, Harrison never existed. In an interview with Vice, Director Theodore Melfi justified this addition to history. “Someone does the right thing. And so who cares who does the right thing, as long as the right thing is achieved,” he said.

But it does matter. Melfi’s decision reinforces that minority women need to be saved and undermines Katherine’s courage and strength to succeed in a male-dominated STEM workplace during the Jim Crow era.

The white savior trope can relegate characters of color to the sidelines of a story in favor of centering white perspectives. As a result, characters of color can come off as two-dimensional, or worse, get painted as passive in their own history. In best picture winner “Green Book,” Dr. Don Shirley, an African American classical and jazz pianist, is introduced to rock & roll legend Little Richard by his white driver,

Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga. It is incomprehensible for a musician of Shirley’s caliber to not have known Little Richard. There are other instances where the film depicts Shirley as detached from his heritage with Tony, helping him reconnect with his roots and black identity.

Following the release of the film, in an Interview with Shadow and Act, Shirley’s family called out the filmmakers of “Green Book,” citing the work as a “symphony of lies.”

White savior narratives can also diminish the agency of characters of color as instigators of change. “The Last Samurai” is set during the 1870s, a time when Japanese tradition and modernity were clashing. As the Emperor and his foreign allies push for Westernization, the samurai mount their final defense. With the last samurai fallen in battle, it is left to Nathan Algren, played by Tom Cruise, to convey the values and traditions of the samurai. His actions convince the Emperor that Japan must not lose sight of its culture in its drive to modernize. In having a white man achieve the goals of the samurai, the film robs its characters of color the right to preserve their heritage.

“Dune” may be set in a future interstellar society where powerful families control planetary fiefs, but the film’s parallels to “The Last Samurai” are uncanny. Both feature reluctant heroes who, despite being part of imperialist forces, rise to defend local populations whose way of

life is threatened.

In “Dune,” Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) lands on the planet Arrakis as a foreigner with limited knowledge of the desert and local Fremen culture. What little he does know comes from “film books” shown through his projector-like device. However, when Paul is thrust into leadership after the sudden passing of his father, he quickly claims his identity as “the voice from the outer world that will lead them [Fremen] to paradise” once he is crowned Emperor.

White savior films suggest that the complexities of racism and discrimination can be solved by the bravery of a well-intentioned individual. They pull audiences into a false sense of comfort. However, racism is systemic, and broad messages of unity and goodwill ultimately do not achieve anything in the fight for equality. This individual level focus oversimplifies characters into categories of good or bad. It communicates to audiences that racism is a choice and fails to encourage self reflection into one’s own biases and prejudices.

Filmmakers of color regularly create content that challenges audiences to take a hard look at themselves and draw contemporary parallels to history to show the progress we need to make. It is unfortunate that white voices continue to dominate in a space where POC voices are essential.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT 10 A&E recommendations for Valentine’s Day February 18, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

BY ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT STAFF

balance between the hilarious and the sentimental.

Lucy Oster ’23: “You’ve Got Mail” (HBO Max)

Mallory Smith FP ’24: 10 Things I Hate About You (Disney+)

Journalist, writer and filmmaker Nora Ephron is a master of the romantic comedy. Ephron wrote “When Harry Met Sally,” a movie about two friends realizing they’re in love with one another. But, ew.

Friends should just stay friends.

“You’ve Got Mail” is a seemingly more compelling tale from Ephron that follows two business rivals falling in love with each other.

The movie revolves around the romantic relationship between Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan), who owns an independent bookstore in New York City, and Joe Fox (Tom Hanks), the owner of a bookstore chain. “You’ve Got Mail” has everything one could hope for in a classic rom-com: 1990s dial-up internet, a high-strung Parker Posey and a top notch soundtrack that includes songs like Harry Nilsson’s “The Puppy Song” and The Cranberries’ “Dreams.”

“Poog” Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be about romance. Arguably, the most important form of love is friendship. “Poog” is ostensibly a podcast about wellness, but, to me, the joy of it boils down to two friends making jokes about anything and everything. Comedians and self defined “untamable intellects” Kate Berlant and Jacqueline Novak are the hosts of a weekly hour of humor and banter. Personal stand out episodes include “Teeth and Taxes,” which really validates all of the tax anxiety I have, and “Jargon,” an unhinged ode to fun words.

Rose Cohen ’22: “Love, Rosie” (Hulu) There are many 2000s films that feature the friends to lovers trope. But German director Christian Ditter’s “Love, Rosie” contains all of the elements that make that kind of storyline cute instead of overwhelmingly cheesy. Relying on a slow burning pace and undeniable chemistry between the two main characters, longtime pals Rosie (Lily Collins) and Alex (Sam Claflin), “Love, Rosie” strikes a successful

In this 1999 teen comedy, writers Karen McCullah and Kirsten Smith give William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew a Y2K update. Katarina “Kat” (Julia Stiles) and Bianca Stratford’s (Larisa Oleynik) father announces that Bianca can’t date until her older sister Kat does.

So, new kid Cameron (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) convinces Joey (Andrew Keegan), the popular teen who also has a crush on Bianca, to pay Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) to ask Kat out. As bad boy Patrick wears down the rebellious Kat, we see the two characters slowly begin to fall for each other. This movie is the perfect snapshot of teen culture of the late ’90s. With a musical number from Heath Ledger, there are so many perfectly cheesy moments that every good romcom should have.

“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (Amazon Prime) Despite its heavy science fiction focused plotline and often cynical outlook on Valentine’s Day, “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” perhaps represents the realest of romance movies. Main characters Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) meet and are instantly attracted to one another. Unbeknownst to them, they are actually meeting for the second time — after a tumultuous past relationship that led to each erasing their memories of the other. When this complete erasure of any memories of their relationship is exposed, however, they must deal with the knowledge of their past, while simultaneously falling in love all over again.

The characters’ love, as we see, is something instinctual that cannot be changed. For some, the film may simply be worth watching for the opportunity to bask in Kate Winslet’s horrific, yet somehow awe inspiring dye job.

Rowan Bernstein ’22 “Pushing Daisies” (HBO Max) A charming comedy-drama-fantasy-procedural series from “Hannibal” creator Bryan Fuller, the short

lived “Pushing Daisies” follows Ned (Lee Pace), a socially awkward piemaker with the mysterious ability to revive the dead with just a touch.

But there are some caveats to Ned’s abilities;for example, if he touches someone a second time, they will permanently die. After reviving his childhood sweetheart Charlotte “Chuck” Charles (Anna Friel) in the series premiere, the two must spend the rest of the show’s two seasons navigating a relationship where they can never directly touch one another. Featuring iconic moments like a kiss through plastic wrap, their story is as sugary sweet as it is tragic. Produced by Barry Sonnenfeld, the tone and visuals of the series are like a brighter — yet still morbid — version of his work on projects like Netflix’s “A Series of Unfortunate Events.” Eccentric characters and costumes, quirky dialogue and an Emmy winning score by Jim Dooley all contribute to the fairytale atmosphere of “Pushing Daisies,” making it a delightfully heartwarming watch for this Valentine’s Day season.

Siona Ahuja ’24 “The Holiday” (Netflix) Directed by Nancy Meyers and filled with a star-studded cast, “The Holiday” is an indulgent romantic comedy that has a timeless, endearing quality to it. The film revolves around the lives of an English columnist, Iris (Kate Winslet), and Hollywood movie trailer producer Amanda (Cameron Diaz), who are two women who have been having trouble finding love. Hoping to change their romantic lives, the two decide to swap their homes (and lifestyles) for two weeks during the holiday season. What ensues is a heartwarming journey of self discovery, compassion and falling in love.

“The Holiday” is a reminder of the different types of love that exist –– between friends, strangers, children and lovers –– and does a great job celebrating them all.

“XO,” Elliott Smith If “The Holiday” helps me escape into my fantasy romantic land, musician Elliott Smith’s fourth album, “XO,” pulls me out of it. It has a way of elevating me with its acoustic sounds and heavy, brutally

5

honest lyrics. Despite its romantic title, “XO” is not a romance album.

I might even consider it to be an anti-Valentine’s album — not in an angry, vengeful pop punk way, but through a warm blanket of piano-backed, double-tracked, breathy vocals that remind me that it is okay to feel lost. On track 3, “Waltz #2 (XO),” Smith sings, “I’m never gonna know you now / but I’m gonna love you anyhow.” This lyric is reminiscent of a love that is distant and impenetrable. When Smith sings, “Cause you laugh and talk / And ’cause you / Make my world rock,” during “Amity,” it is equal parts romantic and carefree. Overall, “XO” is an intimate album that is best enjoyed on a solitary sunset walk.

Tears may or may not arise upon listening.

Jendayi Leben-Martin ’24 “Juno” (Hulu) The idea that love only exists between two romantically involved people is an outdated one. There can be love between a father and his daughter, there can be love between two people who are in love yet unaware of it and there can be the love that a person holds for someone they’ve never met. The coming of age film “Juno” explores these kinds of love.

Named after its protagonist, “Juno” is about a 16 year old girl who gets pregnant and has to make a series of decisions about her future.

Though the premise may sound serious, the film is hilarious and colorful, which is unsurprising considering that it includes performances from actors like Elliot Page, Micheal Cera and Jason Bates.

“Still Over It,” Summer Walker As much as Valentine’s Day is reminiscent of love, hearts and candy for some, it also serves as a bitter reminder of failed relationships for others. If you are someone who buys boxes of chocolate to eat while crying and screaming the lyrics of their favorite breakup songs, “Still Over It” by Summer Walker is for you.

“Still Over It” is the predecessor of Walker’s second album, appropriately named “Over It.” While “Over It” portrays a woman indulging in different crushes, “Still Over It” is about her relationship with one of the crushes and her ensuing doubts about the relationship.

Graphics by Anjali Rao-Herel ’22

Mitski’s ‘Laurel Hell’ triumphs in its ambiguous storytelling

BY LIZ LEWIS ’22 MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT

Mitski’s sixth studio album, “Laurel Hell,” begins with a proposition, followed by a promise — “Let’s step carefully into the dark / Once we’re in, I’ll remember my way around.” Considering the polished, vibrant album that follows, it’s safe to say that the Japanese American singer-songwriter does indeed remember the territory of music making, even after a two year hiatus. But just because this is a familiar world for the musician does not mean her re-entry comes with perfect clarity. As the narrator of this opening track, “Valentine, Texas,” beckons us into the muddy world of “Laurel Hell,” darkness is a fitting metaphor — not because of any particularly grim subject matter, but due to the lyrical ambiguity that permeates the album.

The lyrics of “Laurel Hell” can at times lack specificity. Rather than walking the listener cleanly through a narrative, Mitski asks us to sit in a singular emotional state over the course of a song — from the frustrated burnout of “Working for the Knife” to the unsettled grief of “I Guess.” In a shiny musical style informed by ’80s dance pop, this nebulous lyricism finds its groove.

“Laurel Hell” calls us to bask in its ambiguity and dance to jubilant synths as we do so.

Clocking in at just over 30 minutes, “Laurel Hell” is short and sweet. While Mitski’s previous work could generally be categorized as indie rock, “Laurel Hell” goes all in on a new wave electro pop sound.

The album owes much of its musical identity to the synths that back nearly every track. “Should’ve Been Me,” for example, is a jaunty dance number that — in another world —

Graphic by Gabby Gagnon ’24

could have appeared in the catalog of ’80s pop duo Hall & Oates. The song’s backtrack even features their trademark cowbell-esque synth pulses, appearing in pairs on beats three and four of each measure. Earworms like “Should’ve Been Me” also inject a liveliness into the album that helps slower, droning tracks like “I Guess” and “Everyone” shine in comparison.

Mitski’s 2018 album “Be the Cowboy” was her last LP before she announced her hiatus a year later.

The album features a series of presumably fictional vignettes, all from different character perspectives, such as lovers mourning their youth

in “Two Slow Dancers” and a lonely housewife attempting optimism in “Me and My Husband.” This fully realized narrative specificity is precisely what “Laurel Hell” lacks at times — but this may be a feature rather than a bug.

As a collective work, “Laurel Hell” seems to resist clarity, its lyrics generally presented without much narrative hand holding. As Los Angeles-based writer Jonathan Berstein pointed out in his Rolling Stone review of the album, Mitski frequently addresses songs to an ambiguous “you.” This “you” could be anyone — a lover, a family member, her audience, the music industry or

herself. In a similar vein, she also often leaves out details of conventional storytelling that could orient the listener. For example, “Everyone” is proudly vague in its lyricism. When Mitski sings, “Everyone, all of them / Everyone said, ‘Don’t go that way,’” the listener is not privy to several key details, including who “everyone” is and what “way” they ask the narrator to avoid. From the song’s abstraction, however, emerges the emotional throughline of a narrator who has given everything to some greater force and, as a result, is left with nothing. There are exceptions to this tendency towards the vague — “Heat Lightning,” for example, is very anchored in its place, setting the narrator in their bedroom during a storm at night. However, the nebulous space of “Everyone” is one that Mitski boldly claims, embraces and owns on this record.

This album also sees Mitski lean into her lyrical quirk of deliberate repetition. Though this tendency is nothing new for Mitski as a writer — in 2018’s “Pink in the Night,” she utters a total of nine consecutive “I love you’s” — the pop sound of the album spaces her words out along instrumental sections, which help set a transported tone. “The Only Heartbreaker,” the album’s second single, features sweeping synth riffs that punctuate lyrically sparse choruses, during which the phrase, “I’ll be the only heartbreaker” sprawls repeatedly across different melodic iterations. The repetition contributes to the track’s vague, fleeting lyricism. Though the narrator provides enough information for the listener to understand the situation the song explores — a plea from someone who desperately tries to make an unbalanced relationship work, but is somehow always the one causing rifts — they don’t provide much

more than that. Instead, the strength of this track lies in the emotional resonance of its premise.

“There’s Nothing Left for You” tells the story of someone who has fallen from an ecstatic prime. The speaker explores the feeling of absence in their everyday life, as Mitski sings, “There’s nothing left for you / Nothing in this room.” In the bridge, the speaker remembers what they’ve lost and the music swells, reflecting her words. Mitski’s voice climbs with each line — “You could touch fire / You could fly / It was your right / It was your life” — until an abrupt, heartbreaking crash back into empty mundanity with the lyric, “And then it passed.” This song simultaneously contains several possible stories — the narrator might be exploring the emotional whiplash of success in the music industry, the fallout of an intense relationship or any period of fulfillment that’s since passed. Mitski does not explain what high this character has fallen from, only that it has left a crushing absence. What’s left is a story which exists only on the bare bones of its emotional core — that of an Icarus who survived the fall and can’t see his life on the ground in the same way afterwards. Though lyrics like these may lack the specificity that made some of Mitski’s previous work shine, it makes up for it in its mythic, universally applicable arc.

Just because “Laurel Hell” is missing some common narrative checkpoints doesn’t mean that it isn’t good storytelling. If anything, Mitski has stripped storytelling down to its essentials, allowing emotions to drive the specifics. The record honors its own obscurity, centering the intensity of feeling in a wild, synth-driven dance. Maybe it is “dark” in the world of “Laurel Hell,” and maybe that’s the point.

6

SCIENCE & ENVIRONMENT

February 18, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

Climate Activist Hike the Holyoke Range with these trail suggestions Spotlight: Disha Ravi

Photo by Carmen Mickelson ’24 The Holyoke Range, which ends at Mount Holyoke mountain, is a 10 minute drive from campus and features hiking trails for all experience levels.

BY CAYLEY DELANCEY ’22 STAFF WRITER

Last week, Mount Holyoke News published an article highlighting eight activities to do in the Pioneer Valley during the winter. This list featured hikes in the Holyoke Range from the Notch Visitor Center. Here are some hikes that the Holyoke Range, just a 10 minute drive from campus, has to offer.

Many hikes in the Holyoke range start at the Notch Visitor Center, which is accessible from the PVTA 38 at the Notch bus stop. There is also a parking lot if you choose to drive. Parking fills up early on weekends, so make sure to plan ahead.

The Notch features a variety of trails ranging in difficulty that meet most levels of ability and preference.

In-depth information about all the trails can be found on AllTrails or the Mass.gov website.

Bare Mountain is a popular hike, beginning from across the street from the Visitor Center. This onemile round trip trail is short, albeit steep and rocky. At the top of Bare Mountain, rocky ledges afford beautiful views of neighboring Mount Norwottuck, as well as the Hampshire College and University of Massachusetts Amherst campuses.

Jocelyn Greer ’23 said, “Bare Mountain is my favorite hike because it’s the first one I did in the area and it has a great view of the sunset.” Bare Mountain is also popular for sunrise views, and the Mount Holyoke Outing Club regularly leads sunrise hikes there on weekends that you can register for on Embark.

If you’re looking for something

longer and more challenging, you can continue on from Bare Mountain’s peak and do the Seven Sisters hike. Zoe Alberici ’22 highly recommends it, saying, “it’s a great length if you’re looking to do some longer hikes, and you get to summit multiple peaks.” This hike is roughly 5.1 miles one way, starting from the Notch Visitor Center and crossing each of the Seven Sister peaks of the Holyoke Range to end at Mount Holyoke mountain. This trail includes steep and rocky sections with multiple ascents and descents. The hike can either end at the Summit House on Mount Holyoke, where you can arrange for pickup at the parking lot, or you can hike back the way you came, returning to the Notch Visitor Center for a total of about 10 miles round trip.

If you’re looking for something in between Bare Mountain and the Seven Sisters in difficulty and length, try Mount Norwottuck. The trail is about 3.5 miles round trip, and features views towards the town of Amherst and geological structures known as the “Horse Caves.”

The Horse Caves are Hope Rogers’ ’22 favorite part of the Holyoke Range “because it’s a fun destination to arrive at and there are multiple ways to end up there.” Mount Norwottuck features some steeper grades, but is overall a more gradual hike compared to Bare Mountain and the Seven Sisters. The trail can be a bit confusing to follow from the summit of Mount Norwottuck to the Horse Caves, so make sure to bring a map, which you can pick up at the Notch Visitor Center, and use your phone’s GPS.

If you have access to a car, any day can be Mountain Day. You can go to Skinner State Park and the summit of Mount Holyoke either by driving or walking the road, or by hopping on a steep but short trail. The Summit House is a popular location for bird watching throughout the year, and also a nice place to have a picnic in warmer weather. Cap it off with a trip to Barstow’s Ice Cream; a two minute drive from the trailhead, Flayvors of Cook Farm; a nine minute drive from the trailhead or Maple Valley Creamery; a 10 minute drive from the trailhead, for a sweet treat at the end of your hike.

You can also access the Holyoke range from Hampshire College.

These trails start from across Bay Street from Hampshire College and range from strolls along level and well-groomed trails to steeper trails that connect back up to the Notch Visitor Center. One highlight is the Hadley Reservoir, a short walk from Bay Street, which may require use of a GPS. While it’s technically a noswim zone, it’s a nice spot to sit by in warmer weather. Whether you’re a seasoned mountain biker or just getting started, you can hop onto the trail system here for trails ranging from easy to challenging. Just be sure to bike safely and make space for sharing the trail with hikers.

If you want to get outside but are lacking the equipment to do so, such as hiking boots or microspikes for ice, stop by the Mount Holyoke Outing Club office in Blanchard Hall during office hours to borrow gear.

Gear rental is free and always available to help you get outside.

Graphic by Sofía Savid ’24

BY HELEN GLOEGE ’23 STAFF WRITER

Disha Ravi is a 23-year-old climate activist from Bengaluru, India.

Ravi, who became involved in climate activism at age 19, is a co-founder of the Fridays for Future’s group in India. Prior to learning about the climate crisis, Ravi “believed that the hardships faced by the people in her village, Bandihalli in Karnataka, were normal,” as said in an interview with Forbes India. An article in The Guardian reported that her village, Bandihalli, “would flood every time it rained, getting worse every year.” The article quoted Ravi in an interview saying she had seen her “grandparents, who are farmers, struggle with the effects of the climate crisis,” but she wasn’t yet aware of the true source of these issues at the time.

Ravi’s climate activism takes many forms, from working to “clean up lakes, [planting] trees and campaign[ing] against plastic” to having “spoke[n] out against sexism and capital punishment,” according to the BBC. As defined by the Yale Climate Connection, climate justice encompasses the ways in which inequality and inequity lead to certain populations facing greater difficulties in the face of a changing environment. The climate justice framework therefore contains inter-

sections of racial and social justice issues, as stated by The Guardian.

This means various activists like Ravi have also participated in activism that expands beyond just environmental justice, as mentioned above. Ravi also has a job as a “culinary experience manager with GoodMylk,” a company that aims to make “plant-based food accessible and affordable” in accordance with her interest in vegan food, as mentioned in Indian Express.

In February 2021, Ravi was arrested for her role in creating a “toolkit” in support of the Indian farmers protest that was “shared widely online, including on Twitter

by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg,” as described by Vox. After 10 days, Ravi was released on bail. In the nine months since her arrest, little progress has been made on the investigation into her involvement, according to Forbes India. The same article reported that the arrest prevented her from attending COP26 as “her passport was withheld.”

When interviewed by Vogue in 2020, Ravi spoke on the issue of environmental racism, stating, “People of [color] are suffering from the climate crisis first-hand — a lot of people don’t give us the attention that we need.” Ravi further expressed the need to give space and attention to people of color when it comes to environmental issues.

New STEM independent research application hopes for ‘equal access’

BY IMAAN MOIN ’22 STAFF WRITER

Undergraduate students at Mount Holyoke College have long been able to pursue research in STEM departments. However, this year, the path to pursuing research is being restructured as part of the STEM departments’ inclusive education efforts and anti-racism plans, according to the MHC Chemistry and Biochemistry Anti-Racism Community meeting minutes from November 2021.

The College has received an Inclusive Excellence grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute “to substantially and sustainably build their capacity for student belonging, especially for those who have been historically excluded from the sciences,” according to the HHMI website. This grant challenge began in February 2021 and allows for participating U.S. colleges and universities to collaborate in their plans to implement inclusive education practices. The College’s program director for this grant is Dr. Gary Gillis, associate dean of faculty. Gillis has been meeting with program directors from other universities and has discerned two large themes arising from this collaborative work.

The first theme to implement inclusive education is embedded in the mindset and attitudes of faculty. “Good pedagogy is inclusive, anti-racist pedagogy,” Gillis said. But the difficulties lie in implementing this attitude. “So how do we work with staff, with faculty around mindset? How do we build it into our normal way of doing business, in terms of our teaching and learning and training teachers? And how do we reward people for that work?” Gillis added.

The second theme in implementing inclusive education delves into

Photo by Jenny Yu ’24 Above, equipment for a research project sits ready for use in a chemistry lab. Students may conduct research on an approved topic of their choosing.

STEM curriculum and its development. “What are different ways to grade? What are different kinds of assignments? What are the ways that you can test students differently?” Gillis explained. Ideas on how to change this approach to teaching vary widely, according to Gillis.

“Frankly, a lot of what I’ve learned in the last couple of years around this is how important getting to know the students themselves is,” Gillis said. “We were in a workshop with a guy named Bryan Dewsbury, who’s a real expert on this stuff, and he had this phrase that has stuck with us, which is ‘you know you’re teaching students, not content,’” Gillis added.

The College has begun to include these approaches in the departments of biological sciences and chemistry since 2017. According to Gillis, the chemistry department added a new introductory course and created more 200-level course options. “ “But what’s been lacking is any assess-

ment of how that’s going,” Gillis said.

“You can design something with the best intentions, but if it’s not doing what you designed it to do, then you know it’s an unfortunate failure …

“It’s been tough because COVID[-19] is now sort of a weird variable that adds a wrench into any analysis you want to do.”

Outside of classes, the College is focusing on developing faculty through the Teaching and Learning Initiative, specifically through the annual “Teaching Renewal Week” in May. Another process is the department of biological sciences’ new approach to student research.

“We’ve made the connection that historically speaking, faculty invite students into their labs based on the performance of those students in introductory courses, and introductory courses are … designed in this way that rewards previous privilege,” Gillis said. “And so we need to somehow remove the barriers …

We need to figure out different ways of getting students into labs because the lab experience itself is incredible development for students and, in turn, is the access point to the next level,” Gillis added.

The department of biological sciences implemented a new formal application process for students interested in pursuing independent research in a faculty member’s laboratory. The application requires students to fill out a Google Form available on the department’s website that was also emailed to biological sciences and biochemistry majors. This form asks questions about goals and previous biology and research experience alongside questions about students’ identities in an effort to track metrics to “make sure that everyone has equal access,” according to the form.

Alishba Ahmad ’24, a neuroscience and behavior major, joined the Camp Lab this semester and went

through the laboratory research application in the fall.

“I feel like the form was accessible and easy to use, but I do feel like [the department] didn’t advertise it,” Ahmad said. She was not aware of the form or the application process until Dr. Amy Hitchcock Camp, associate professor of biological sciences, informed her of the department of biological sciences’ new policy.

“I think maybe a lot of other people didn’t know as well,” Ahmad added.

Siyu Yin ’23, a biochemistry major, went through the same process to join the Camp Lab this semester.

“I plan to go to graduate school after I graduate from Mount Holyoke, so I think having a lab experience makes me more competitive,” Yin said. She agreed with Ahmad that information about getting into research labs is not well known amongst students.

She also did not know that she could apply to join a lab in her first two years at the College. “I think there’s kind of a lot of information gaps,” Yin said.

Students, however, have some ideas about how to improve the research application process even more. Yin suggested that the faculty members could put together a panel to introduce their research topics instead of having students talk to faculty members independently. “Some students might be shy,” Yin said. “I feel very lucky to get into a lab finally in my junior year because I think I really need this kind of experience.”

With these new approaches to making STEM education more inclusive at the College, the next steps seem to be analyzing if these changes are making a difference and sharing this information with other colleges participating in HHMI grant funding, according to Gillis. “I hope and expect that our STEM curriculum will be quite changed,” Gills said.

February 18, 2022

BOOKS & SPORTS

. Mount Holyoke News

Check out these new releases by Black poets

BY NGUYỄN ĐẶNG THIÊN AN ’23 STAFF WRITER

This week, Mount Holyoke News is highlighting several Black authors who have recent releases in honor of Black History Month. These emerging poets weave history, personal experiences, art and ancestry to craft thoughtful conversations about gender, sexuality and identity. Each of their poems, with unflinching words, opens a discussion about how Black history and experiences have shaped America.

1. “Palm Lined with Potience” by Basie Allen

“Palm Lined with Potience” is a poetry collection about space and art, according to Ugly Duckling Presse. As a New York-based visual artist, Allen’s vivid descriptions balance a space of honesty and humor with eeriness and darkness. While carving out this space, Allen interjects these poems with references to Black poets such as Yusef Komunyakaa and Richard Wright. An excerpt from Allen’s poetry collection is available on Ugly Duckling Presse’s website. The poetry collection can be preordered and will be ready to ship in March 2022.

Allen is a visual culture artist and poet who has published several poems such as “Psychic Cartography” and “dream knots and badge juice.” In 2020, Allen was nominated for a Pushcart Prize, an award that has honored literary projects in America since 1976.

2. “How to Identify Yourself with a

Wound” by KB Brookins

Reviews from KB’s website highlights “How to Identify Yourself with a Wound” as a text that critically refuses the gender binary and raises pressing issues about race. ire’ne laura silva, author of “CUICACALLI/House of Song,” commented

that in this work, KB asks, when society perceives certain identities as wounded, “What does it mean to define yourself outside of the pain of being marginalized?”

This debut poetry collection creates a tender space for sharing wounds and promoting healing for the readers and the author. The collection, published in January 2022, won the 2021 Saguaro Poetry Prize and resonates with the music genres of neo-soul and Afrofuturistic music, according to Sight Line Magazine.

According to the Chicago Review of Books, KB is a queer transmasculine poet, educator and culture worker living in Austin, Texas.

Brookin’s LinkedIn page references Interfaces, a community founded in 2019 that curates interdisciplinary arts programs to amplify marginalized artists. They were named a poetry fellow at PEN America’s Emerging Voices Fellowship in 2021.

3. “Already Knew You Were Coming”

by Sarah Nnenna Loveth Nwafor The local publishing house Game Over Books introduces the collection as a tender and compassionate trip. Nwafor takes readers to a magical realm of spiritual forces and nature, featuring characters such as the moon, banshees, Bitterlemon and kola nut. Through conversations among these magical forces and reassurance from ancestors, Nwafor portrays a personal evolution of queer identity and codependence, as reported by Christian Burno of WBUR. “Already Knew You Were Coming” is Nwafor’s debut poetry collection, published locally in January 2022 through the small press Game Over Books.

A Wellesley College graduate, Nwafor is a queer, non-binary Igbo poet. They are currently an educator and facilitator who firmly CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

u

7

Daniel Black and Major Jackson discuss Black’s latest novel at the Odyssey Bookshop

BY OLIVIA WILSON ’24 STAFF WRITER

“Daddy’s mind left like a dream at dawn, and now the encounter could only take place in my imagination, so that’s where I went,” the author’s note of Daniel Black’s latest novel, “Don’t Cry For Me,” reads.

Black, who won the Distinguished Writer Award from the Mid-Atlantic Writer’s Association in 2014, published his newest work, “Don’t Cry for Me” earlier this month.

On Wednesday, Feb. 9, the Odyssey Bookshop hosted a virtual conversation about Black’s recent novel with the poet Major Jackson as part of a series of author talks throughout February and March. Jackson is a renowned author of five poetry collections. After the introduction by the event’s host, Jesse Hassinger, only the two panelists were visible in the Zoom call to audience members.

Daniel Black and Major Jackson have known each other for many years, and their conversation showed it. Even over Zoom, the rapport between them was electric. It felt more like witnessing a spontaneous conversation between two old friends at the bookstore than a formal event. Jackson, dressed in a suit, joined the Zoom call from in front of a bookshelf, adding to the bookshop-conversation ambiance, while Black phoned in from in front of a blank wall, his shirt a colorful patterned purple.

Black’s book is written in an epistolary style, a narrative technique that takes the form of a letter.

It is told from the point of view of Jacob, a dying father who is trying to reconnect with his long-estranged son, Isaac. After Isaac came out as gay, his father treated him poorly due to biases against his sexuality and sexual expression, leading Isaac to cut ties with Jacob. Black drew inspiration from his relationship with his own father and the words

Photo by Naomi Jiang ’25 On Feb. 9, the Odyssey Bookshop hosted a Zoom conversation by Daniel Black and Major Jackson.

that they never got to share. Jacob acts as a stand-in for Black’s father as Black expresses words he didn’t otherwise know how to say.

A common thread throughout the discussion was the theme of entrapment, which crops up within all of the characters, but especially Jacob. Black described Jacob as trapped within his own masculinity, his sexuality, his place in society and his sense of what it means to love.

Jacob’s character is meant to highlight a prevalent issue in America: the role Black men are given, the stereotype of manhood with which they are saddled at a young age and the intergenerational trauma that bars older Black men from moving forward in the way younger Black men can. Jacob, in a sense, resents Isaac because of the freedom of self-expression that Isaac gets, opportunities Jacob and his wife were never afforded. This book, and the style it was written in, was Black’s way of giving a voice and an audience to someone who’d never been allowed one.

Jacob’s legacy and the story of Black’s father was a central theme of Black and Jackson’s conversation.

Like Jacob, Black’s father grew up in a world that hindered him and made him feel unwanted in his own coun-

try, in an era where Black children’s labor was valued over their education, notwithstanding the barriers to livelihood caused by segregation.

The trauma of his humanity being ripped away and being treated as a means of production in his own community never healed, leaving him stuck in a sort of limbo.

Jackson spoke to how every aspect of the characters resonated with him, and he considered the novel to be “one of the most important books written today.” His response to the book came from a “level of familiarity with the struggles of all the characters.”

Black finished the hour-long panel with one final reading from his book that talked about love, or the version of it that Jacob and his generation knew, and the version of the generation before them. The issue wasn’t with the elders’ ability to love, but that they were afraid to love. The final line provided an explanation — “ slavery had left them that way.”

An on-demand recording of the talk is available on the Odyssey Bookshop’s Facebook page. A currently unnamed sequel to “Don’t Cry For Me,” written from the perspective of Isaac, Jacob’s son, is currently in the works.

Beijing Winter Olympics bring shining stars and controversy

Photo courtesy of Flickr Chloe Kim won gold in Women’s Snowboard Slopestyle at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games.

BY GIGI PICARD ’22 SPORTS EDITOR

Content warning: this article mentions sexual assault and racism.

In a series of diplomatic boycotts, several nations, including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada sent athletes, but no official delegations, to Beijing for the Winter Olympic Games. According to

the BBC, this month’s boycotts were in opposition to the Chinese government’s human rights violations against Uyghur Muslim citizens.

The BBC reported that the Beijing Winter Olympics kicked off with preliminary events on Feb. 2. The opening ceremony did not occur until Feb. 4. The Games host over 3,000 athletes across 109 events. With the games located in Beijing, China became the first country to host both a summer and winter Olympic Games.

The Olympics website continues to track the medal count with Norway as the leading country with 28 medals, followed by the Russian Olympic Committee with 24 and the United States with 19. Despite a mix of scandals involving the U.S. and the ROC, Team USA has set several records so far, as of Feb. 14.

Standout athletes from the United States include Erin Jackson, Nathan Chen, Chloe Kim and Shaun White — the five-time Olympian snowboarder who has announced that these Games will be his last.

NBC’s Olympics coverage hailed Erin Jackson as the “first Black woman to win individual gold at Winter Olympics” after her performance in the 500-meter speed skating event. Chen won a gold medal in

the men’s single and a silver medal in the team event for figure skating.

Meanwhile, Kim took the gold in the women’s snowboarding halfpipe. On the men’s halfpipe, White placed fourth, leaving him without a medal, behind Japan’s Ayumu Hirano, Australia’s Scotty James and Jan Scherrer of Switzerland.

While these athletes’ achievements have made headlines, the Games have also been met with controversy. According to The Washington Post, ROC’s figure skater Kamila Valieva, who is 15 years old, tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance known as trimetazidine. The Washington Post reported that Valieva tested positive in late December 2021, though her results were not reported until Feb. 8, when they were revealed by a lab in Sweden. The New York Times added that the positive results were “not confirmed and relayed to Russian officials, and then to her, for more than six weeks.” The Russia Anti-Doping Agency, RUSADA, was unaware of the results until Feb 7., which coincided with the day Valieva won gold. CNN reported that trimetazidine is known to help poor blood flow to the heart, and in sports the drug is able to “increase blood

flow and improve endurance for athletes,” which is why the drug is considered performance-enhancing.

The Washington Post reported that, according to the International Testing Agency, Valieva was given a provisional suspension from the RUSADA. However, CNN reported, Valieva appealed the suspension on Feb. 9, and RUSADA lifted her suspension after a hearing on the same day. CNN confirmed after another hearing on Feb. 14 that the Court of Arbitration for Sport decided Valieva would be allowed to skate in the women’s single skating event.

However, NBC News stated that the International Olympic Committee would not have a medal ceremony if Valieva placed in the top three. The CAS was unsure if Valieva was truly doping, which the IOC called an “inconclusive situation.” The New York Times reported that this current controversy comes eight years after Russia was banned from competing in the Games, following a large-scale doping scandal.

Further controversy surfaced as former Team USA snowboarder Callan Chythlook-Sifsof made a series of allegations over Instagram beginning on Sunday Feb. 6, according to OutSports. Chythlook-Sisof accused

the team’s head coach, Peter Foley, of sexual misconduct, stating that he had been taking nude photos of female athletes for 10 years. According to Daily Mail, she further claimed that her former teammate Hagen Kearney made numerous racist and sexist remarks, such as using the n-word and making rape jokes about women.

Daily Mail also shared what Chythlook-Sifsof’s now-deleted Instagram post said.

“This is the truth. I will not carry this stuff around anymore, there was bizarre behavior across the board.

The people I’ve named have overtly behaved toxically but the truth is the culture on the team protected this behavior,” Chythlook-Sifsof wrote.

“Other athletes have in engaged in racist, misogynist behavior, actively participated in the strange dynamics that Peter Foley created and caused female athletes/ staff to be victims of sexual violence.”

According to Daily Mail, Foley denied the allegations, while Kearney stated that he is now a better person who has “learned from his mistakes.” Despite the accusations, Foley will continue coaching for Team USA during the winter games, which conclude on Feb. 20, 2022.

Game of the Week: Track and Field posts top program performances

BY EMILY TARINELLI ’25 SPORTS EDITOR

Mount Holyoke Track and Field swept the competition in the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Gordon Kelly Invitational this weekend. The unscored invitationals led to numerous personal bests and five Top 10 performances in Mount Holyoke’s program history.

On Feb. 11 and 12, five runners — Tessa Lancaster ’25, Lauren Selkin ’23, Simone Jacob ’22, Devan Ravino ’23 and Sydney Nash ’22 — represented the College at Boston University. Each athlete recorded a personal best in their respective events.

Lancaster opened the competition in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 18:10.84, the fourth fastest time in the Mount Holyoke indoor program’s history. The event was the third occasion in which Lancaster notched a Top 10 performance. Sel-

kin also competed in the run, clocking a time of 17:29.58.

Selkin said that while this was her fastest time yet, she hopes to continue to improve so she can compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Both Selkin and Jacob spoke about their experience at the meet.

“I really enjoy the competitive atmosphere, being amongst great competitors and cheering on my teammates as they compete in their events,” Selkin said.

“The atmosphere at BU is electric. [There are] so many amazingly talented runners at the meet [and] it’s definitely a privilege to run in such an exciting environment,” Jacob said. “The banked track is really fast and bouncy, and people always have great [personal records] there.

BU is where the magic happens.”

On Feb. 12, the Lyons continued their competition at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Photo courtesy of Mount Holyoke College Athletics Lauren Selkin ’23 achieved a personal best at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational this week.

On the field, Aria Mallare ’25 placed sixth in the high jump and secured a mark of 1.48 meters, tying the sixth-best mark in the program’s history. On the track, Amanda Kearney ’22 placed eighth in the 400-meter run and posted a personal record

of 1:10.97.

In the 60-meter dash, Mallare garnered another Mount Holyoke College Top 10 performance, finishing in 12th place at 8.33 seconds, the team’s fourth fastest time ever. Rocio Perez-Salas ’24 continued the streak

by winning the 800-meter run and finishing at 2:25.60, the ninth fastest time in the program’s history.

The foursome of Perez-Salas, Jacob, Ravino and Eliza Butler ’23 recorded the final Top 10 performance of the weekend in the 4x400-meter run. With a winning time of 4:19.38, the Lyons posted the seventh fastest performance in the team’s history.

Head Coach Chris Kibler said that he was proud of his athletes and spoke about his outlook on the season as it progresses.

“Every single student-athlete improved on their competitive mindset, a crucial and foundational component to the team’s long term goals,” Kibler said. “This is the earliest in the spring semester that I have seen 100 percent of the team cultivate this mindset, meaning we are headed toward achieving our big things in April and May.” Track and Field will continue its season at the Wheaton Invitational on Feb. 19.

8

COMMUNITY

February 18, 2022

. Mount Holyoke News

h HOROSCOPES h

BY MAGGIE DONOVAN ’23 HOROSCOPE WRITER & LAYOUT EDITOR

March 21 – April 19

Find a campus squirrel at midnight, and follow it. You won’t believe where it leads you. Think about the ways the squirrel is just like you, and you like it. Imagine the world from five inches off the ground. How do you really feel?

July 23 – Aug. 22

There’s a feather at your feet, so don’t step too quickly. It could be a crow’s, or an owl’s — but forget species, it doesn’t matter the fowl. There’s a fleeting symbol waiting to be seen, so keep your eyes peeled. Don’t allow this message to remain concealed.

April 20 – May 20

For awhile you’ve been pretending you’re living a “let the haters hate and the money pile up” lifestyle, but it’s more like “let the haters hate and the emails and sleep debt pile up.” This is a reality check — you need a reset. Sit down, answer all your emails, put your laundry away, and spend this weekend catching up on sleep.

Bad, evil things await you if you don’t.

May 21 – June 20

We’re all scrambling to plan recovery from this inexplicably exhausting week. What you need, gregarious Gemini, is a social media break. Delete Instagram and Twitter for a while and spend some quiet time with yourself.

June 21 – July 22

Rumor has it that whatever insane alignment your houses are in right now leaves a unique aptitude for a Cancer on Cancer romance — so couple up crabs. If the beau you’re after isn’t a fellow courting crustacean, don’t fret. Outlook is still generally positive for any romantic action at the moment.

Aug. 23 – Sept. 22

Starting today, there is vibrant light in your relationship house till March 20. Take a bite Virgo. You are poised to have historically unprecedented luck, so put your cookies in the oven and leave them there. If you give them some time, they might just turn out perfect and keep you satisfied for quite a while.

Nov. 22 – Dec. 21

This just in — Mercury in your third house this Valentine’s Day week might bring a friend confessing a long-sequestered attraction for you.

Best to keep your guard up this week, either with a response to let them down easy, or with blazing confidence to shoot a shot of your own.

Dec. 22 – Jan. 19

This week has been rough, and we know despite the irrationality of the idea, you’ve been yearning to let off some steam with a dip into Upper Lake. There is a way to satisfy your desire — give open swim hours at Kendall a try instead. Open 11am-1pm and 7pm on weekdays and 2-4pm on weekends.

Jan. 20 – Feb. 18

Sept. 23 – Oct. 22

Recently Libra slander has been heard around campus, and we are not having it. Not one bit. This is a direct invitation to block out the haters at all costs, even those closest to you masquerading as friends. Marie Kondo your relationships a little bit. If they don’t bring you joy, make them walk the plank.

Oct. 23 – Nov. 21

A piece of 8-by-11 white printer paper is the most alluring and versatile blank canvas, stretchedthin-Scorpio. Set aside some time to sit with a stack of five in front of you. Fold, cut, tear, color, write, brush, scribble, dip, print. Let yourself go.

It is with great sorrow that today marks the end of your season. You had an admirable run this year, axiomatic Aquarius, and you should be pleased with the connections you’ve made and the things you’ve accomplished. Curl up with your Spotify curated Aquarius playlist and some saltines. You’ve earned a long rest.

Feb. 19 – March 20

The stars have aligned in the most unusual way, with a sense of unprecedented urgency. You and only you, Pisces can settle this debate and you must do so immediately. Should Reese’s Pieces be pronounced Rees-ehs Pieces, or Ree-sees Peesees? Decide and spread the good word far and wide.

Event Highlights Friday, Feb. 18

Black History Month Movie Night: Pariah

Join the Association of Pan African Unity as we host a “Movie Night” every Friday night to celebrate Black History Month. This Friday, we’ll be screening Pariah.

Private Location. 7:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 19

Sightlines Tour: Disturbance

The aim of this tour is to develop a deeper appreciation for things we consider beautiful by discovering the hidden narratives behind them. Specifically, visitors will explore the sometimes disturbing, overlooked or invisible truths behind a wide range of objects from diverse places and periods. This event will be led by Kay Brown ’24.

Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. 1:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 22

Synthesis, Evolution, Translation, Appropriation

This event is part of a series of panel discussions at Mount Holyoke College exploring the performance practice issues regarding the performance of the world’s first opera fully sung in Chickasaw, Jerod Impichchaachaacha’ Tate’s “Shell Shaker.” Moderated by Tate and Tianhui Ng from the Music Department, each session explores an aspect of concern regarding the performance of work by Native American/American Indian/Indigenous creators of musical art. This event will feature Cherokee speaker Joshua Nelson, Executive Director of Native Crossroads Film Festival.

Virtual Event. 1:45 p.m. - 3 p.m.

New and upcoming poetry releases by Black authors, cont’d u

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 7

believes in storytelling and practices the Igbo traditional orature. Their works draw inspiration from Black sapphism, Igbo cosmology, emotional wellness and the power of healing, Electric Marronage cited. In 2018, they were the National Collegiate Poetry Slam Champion.

4. “Muscle Memory” by Kyle Carero Lopez

As featured in Verse’s poetry playlist on Sept. 13t, 2021, Lopez confronts Blackness and anti-Blackness, queerness and violence in this debut poetry collection.

Jody Chan, a judge of Pank’s “Little Book” contest, stated that the book demands greater actions “beyond the passive consumption of Black death.” According to Verse, throughout this sincere debut, Lopez’s words echo with Afro-Cuban drumming and disco, and a lot of discussions about displacement and the “Black and Latinx imaginary” are packed into this poetry collection.

Lopez was born to Cuban parents and was a Goldwater Writing Workshop Fellow and Provost’s Global Research Initiative Fellow at NYU Berlin. His poems, such as “Black Erasure” and “Rescuing Abuelo (1967),” have been published in The Atlantic, Cincinnati Review and Bear Review. His poem “After Abolition” was chosen for publication in Best New Poets 2021.

Graphic by Jieru Ye ’23