The Oakland Post 3.27.2024

EDITORIAL BOARD

Autumn Okuszka Editor-in-Chief aokuszka@oakland.edu

Payton Bucki Content Editor paytonbucki@oakland.edu

Megan Judy Managing Editor meganjudy@oakland.edu

EDITORS

Courtney Blackett Photo Editor courtneyblacket@oakland.edu

Brock Heilig Sports Editor brockheilig@oakland.edu

Chloe Kukuk Campus Editor chloekukuk@oakland.edu

Olivia Chiappelli Arts Editor oechiappelli@oakland.edu

MARKETING

Evelyn Gandarilla Marketing Director evelyngandarill@oakland.edu

DISTRIBUTION

Rory Strachan Distribution Director

Zachary Oberdier Distribution

COPY & VISUAL

Katie Reid Photographer

Charles Conant Photographer

Barret Schettler Graphic Designer

Christopher Udeozor-Nweke Graphic Designer

Alyssa Putnam Graphic Designer

Zachary Oberdier Graphic Designer

CORRECTIONS CORNER:

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REPORTERS

Gracie Murray Reporter

Dayshawn Fields Reporter

Noah Francis Reporter

Chelsea Bossert Reporter

Moe Del Rosario Reporter

Summer Weathers Reporter

Kurt Szymanski Reporter

Mallory Waligora Reporter

Adrian Jimenez Morales Reporter

Evan Blanchard Reporter

Nicholas Kablak Reporter

The Oakland Post corrects all known errors of fact. If you know of an error, please email editor@oaklandpostonline.com.

ADVISING

Garry Gilbert Editorial Adviser gjgilber@oakland.edu 248.370.2105

Don Ritenburgh Business Adviser ritenbur@oakland.edu 248.370.2533

MARCH MADNESS OU Dance Team member Kayleigh Messina reacts to the Golden Grizzlies’ big win against Kentucky on March 21, 2024.

PHOTO BY KATIE REID

Letter from the Editor: Thank You, Golden Grizzlies

AUTUMN OKUSZKA

Editor-in-Chief

I still remember the day in early February when The Oakland Post’s Sports Editor, Brock Heilig, told me the 2023-24 Oakland University men’s basketball team had a good chance of going far in their season.

However, I don’t think either knew how far they would go looking back on their season today.

I got to know the men’s basketball team in an unconventional way. While others watched the Golden Grizzlies blossom at their games in the OU Credit Union O’rena, on the road, on TV, or by listening on the radio, I learned and grew to love the team through the articles The Oakland Post sports staff wrote.

I saw the Golden Grizzles win their home opener against Bowling Green State University by reading Sports Reporter Kurt Szymanski’s article. I witnessed the team beat the Milwaukee Panthers on Jan. 27, 2024, through Summer Weathers piece, and notably, I read the Golden Grizzlies secured a home game in the Horizon League Tournament after beating IUPUI in February with Heilig’s article.

After reading many Oakland Post articles about the OU men’s basketball team throughout the school year, I finally decided to attach faces to names by attending the Golden Grizzlies’ last regular season game on March 2.

There I watched the team beat Detroit Mercy, become the 2023-24 Horizon League Regular Season Champions, and helped celebrate the

team’s four graduating seniors: Trey Townsend, Jack Gohlke, Blake Lampman and Rocket Watts.

I was on board watching the Golden Grizzlies games live shortly after.

The day the team debuted in the Horizon League Tournament on March 7, I did something I had never considered doing before: I purchased an ESPN+ subscription. I then watched the Golden Grizzlies’ bout in the Horizon League quarterfinals and semifinals, celebrating with them when they won the Horizon League Championship and earned a bye into the NCAA Tournament on March 12.

I got my family into the games and as the Golden Grizzlies found their seed and opponent in The Big Dance at the Selection Sunday Watch Party on March 17, my excitement to watch the team primetime only grew.

Though the OU community had confidence in the Golden Grizzlies, many favored the Kentucky Wildcats over Oakland. However, after the team’s performance on March 21, the Golden Grizzlies proved they should not be overlooked.

Something magical happened the night the Golden Grizzlies had the world’s eyes on them.

Rather than buckling under the pressure of competing against a No. 3 seed as a No. 14 seed, OU did something many thought was impossible. They upset Kentucky and advanced to the Round of 32 for the first time.

In an instant, everyone suddenly knew who Oakland University was. It was incredible going on social media and seeing people discover OU is located in Rochester, Michigan, and not Oakland, California, and even better seeing

people bear witness to Jack Gohlke always going for 3-pointers for the first time. It is something I will never forget.

I watched the Golden Grizzlies fight hard against the NC State Wolfpack on March 23, and even though OU lost in overtime 73-79, this season will go down in history in more ways than one.

The Golden Grizzlies revitalized school pride within the OU community. They gave people something to look forward to and cheer for, and most importantly; at least to me, they gave The Oakland Post staff the experience of a lifetime.

When the Golden Grizzlies traveled to Indianapolis for the Horizon League Tournament, our sports staff was right there to witness all of the action. When the team faced off against Kentucky and NC State in Pittsburgh, our sports section saw what will one day be known as some of the biggest moments in Golden Grizzly history.

So while I want to thank the Golden Grizzlies for what they have given us, I also want to thank our sports staff, Brock Heilig, Kurt Szymanski, Evan Blanchard, Summer Weathers and photographer Katie Reid, for all of their hard work covering the Golden Grizzlies historic run.

Following the men’s basketball team has been one of the highlights of my time as editor-inchief of The Oakland Post. Though their 2023-24 season has officially ended and the sun is setting on my time at Oakland University, I cannot wait to see what other surprises and upsets the Golden Grizzlies have in store for years to come.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTEN ELIZABETH PHOTOGRAPHY

19th Annual Drag Show — Celebrating queer art

ADRIAN JIMENEZ MORALES Campus Reporter

The 19th Annual Drag Show was held in the Oakland Center Banquet Rooms on March 19. 10 drag queens captivated the audience during the three-hour event hosted by the drag queen Sabin.

Various tables with infographics, stickers and free paraphernalia to adorn the event were found in the banquet room lobby. Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC) staff and Gender and Sexuality Alliance staff welcomed approximately 400 attendees.

Pride flags, glow sticks and ovations opened the stage for the host, Sabin. Sabin, who has performed at Oakland University eleven times previously, introduced the cast of OU students and out-of-state queens who each performed twice on stage.

“This is kind of like a questions-and-answer format,” Sabin said. “Between acts, I’m going to be out on the bottom and talk to people in the audience and ask you various questions. You also can ask me questions.”

After Sabin kicked off the show with the ‘90s classic, “Man! I Feel Like A Woman,” Prince Marsalis danced to The Weeknd and heavy metal songs reminiscent of the past decade’s slasher films, which also reflected in his costumes.

On rockstar outfits and glittering makeup, Burnout presented synthpop acts and rock tracks synergizing with Sir Guy’s “Bye Bye Bye” performance. Both aesthetics recalled mid-2000s high school dances.

With humorous breaks after each act, Sabin engaged with the audience to answer questions about makeup expenditures, costume design and their first time doing drag.

Spine continued the show with contemporary hits like “Future Nostalgia” and acrobatic splits on stage, followed by Latifa Renee Hunter’s theatrical lipsinging of Whitney Houstion’s “I’m Every Woman.”

Dynamic tearaway costumes and pop atmospheres characterized Amanduh’s performance followed by the emblematic country anthem “Save a Horse (Ride a Cowboy)” accompanying Bartholomew Frost’s performance.

Although not a comedy show, Sabin’s interventions maintained sustained laughter as gender identity, trans-rights and difficult experiences during past performances were discussed.

Lady Angelica performed fluid choreographies to dreamlike tracks while Desmond Desire encapsulated the playful attitudes of songs like Bruno Mars’ “Chunky.”

GSC Graduate Assistant Joey Colby explained that

he exchanged over $900 worth of single dollar bills for the audience to tip the drag queens as they performed.

Sabin closed the event narrating a few stories of their first time doing drag, bad experiences with other queens and dating advice. “Firework” by Katy Perry and “Chandelier” by Sia were testaments to the cathartic nature of Sabin’s performance and drag as an art form.

“My favorite thing about drag is the complete self-expression and complete customization,” Lady Angelica said. “I had my customized music, dancing and I had an amazing makeup artist.”

Like Lady Angelica, Bartholomew Frost is an OU student who has only performed twice on campus. Both highlighted the excitement and appreciation for the campus community supporting queer art.

“I am such a big proponent of queer arts,” Bartholomew Frost said. “I actually run a club celebrating queer creatives [RAINBOW]. It’s really important to get our voices out there and for students to just see the art form and see themselves and other perspectives.”

With an anecdote about a performance at Central Michigan University, Sabin highlighted the support of college students for the drag community and championed it as a turning point in their career and life.

“An auditorium of complete strangers at the university had given me a standing ovation,” Sabin said. “Not for anything that I had ever accomplished, but just for what I had done on the stage. It was at that moment that I realized this is why we do what we do. Instead of counting dollars and doing all that stuff, the reason I show up is for you guys.”

OU’s Pride Month continues through April 11. For more information, visit the GSC’s Instagram at @ ou_gsc.

American Studies Club holds conference on empathy

CHLOE KUKUK Campus Editor

The American Studies Club hosted its 9th annual American Studies Undergraduate Conference on March 20 in the Oakland Center Gold Rooms B and C.

It is the second year the conference has been held since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The conference is hosted as an opportunity for student scholars to gain experience presenting their work.

“It’s just an opportunity for undergrads to get experience sharing their work at a conference and sort of bringing what they’ve learned in class into a different setting and being able to connect it to current events that they doing outside of class, and making that bridge between,” ASC President Emma Ross said.

“Having this interdisciplinary aspect of it, where it’s not just a certain major... it’s pretty wide open,” ASC Vice President Anna Bronkhorst added. “It’s really open to anyone to share how their research and the work that they’ve done connects to whatever theme for the year.”

This year’s conference theme was “Empathy: What Does it Mean to Walk in Someone Else’s Shoes in America?” The day-long event featured discussions of empathy in various forms, such as an academic paper panel, creative fiction reading and a roundtable about the importance of empathy in education.

“We felt that empathy was a particularly timely theme. It’s an election year. We as a country are in a very polarized spot,” Ross said. “[Empathy] is a lot more complicated than it’s often portrayed as… but it kind of comes with a lot of baggage that doesn’t get talked about as much. So this is also a space to talk about that.”

“Empathy — everyone’s heard it, and it’s kind of like a ‘buzzword’ right now,” Bronkhorst added. “It’s really interesting to see the different perspectives on what empathy actually is and how people interact with that word and its actual meaning.”

Shannon Waite presented two stories — her story, “Good Milk,” and fellow creative writing major Hope Greve’s story, “We Make Milk,” in a presentation called, “Got Milk? Two Creative Works in which Milky Worlds Collide.” The stories explore themes of motherhood and a black market for breast milk.

The two stories were written alongside each other specifically for the conference.

“We wanted these thoughts that we had with other people and to be able to use our writing to try and create empathy for our characters with the conference being about empathy,” Waite said. “We wanted to be able to add our voices to that conversation.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF USEREADY

“Writing these absurd stories about these dark things draws attention to problems that people live through,” she added.

Ross, Bronkhorst, Lizzi Matti, Brad Ciaramitaro and Skye Traugott participated in a roundtable discussion called “Empathy in Education: Student Teachers’ Perspectives.”

The future educators talked about the importance of incorporating empathy in the classroom in the subject matter.

Ciaramitaro, who student teaches biology at a high school level, said he connects social issues to the scientific concepts the class is exploring.

“From the science perspective, it’s a lot of finding those social issues and finding the science… then getting the kids to realize the emotion they can invest in healing these social issues that they don’t normally think about when it comes to sciences,” he said.

The panel also discussed approaching students with empathy and understanding while maintaining educational standards.

“Listen to [students], even if you don’t have all the answers,” Traugott said. “It goes a long way.”

Overall, presenters said the opportunity to share ideas was beneficial.

“The conference gives a great opportunity for people to share the academic and creative work that they’re doing at Oakland, and I’m excited to be a part of it,” Waite said.

For more information about the American Studies Club, visit their Grizzorgs page. The club will be looking for new executive board members for the next year. If interested, contact Professor Timothy Donahue at tdonahue@oakland.edu.

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE GSC ON INSTAGRAM

Changing life plans at the Criminal Justice Club

ADRIAN JIMENEZ MORALES Campus Reporter

On March 20 in the Lake Michigan Room, the Criminal Justice Club (CJC) invited postgraduate Michigan State University (MSU) students and faculty as well as a Michigan state police trooper to offer insight into the diversity of routes to take after graduation.

The CJC’s information night on postgraduate criminal justice degrees and law enforcement careers encapsulated a larger conversation on the unexpected paths of life.

Kaelyn Sanders, a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in MSU’s School of Criminal Justice, explained the five major criminal justice programs MSU offers.

After discussing the in-person and online programs and the practical specializations such as cybercrime or intelligence analysis, Sanders offered tips for applying to graduate school.

“Select strong people to write your letters of recommendation,” Sanders said. “You particularly want to select faculty who have had you in class — multiple classes are even better. People who can speak to your ability to do what you’re going to be asked to do in these graduate programs.”

Sanders also recommended doing research on the postgraduate program of interest, networking with professors, shadowing a student, or doing online research to know the faculty and recent projects.

“That shows that you’ve done your research on the program and you also are knowledgeable about

who you want to work with and why,” Sanders said. “Explaining why — that makes you a good fit for the program.”

After Sanders finished her online discussion, the conversation shifted towards recalling singularities in life that led to unexpected outcomes.

Christina DeJong, former MSU faculty in the criminal justice postgraduate programs, explained how she went from being a junior studying astrology to spending 15 years doing criminal justice research.

“I was short a social science class and so I had to add one at the last minute, and I randomly added sociology,” DeJong said. “I got my degree in sociology, so I went for my masters in criminal justice to the University of Maryland, and I kind of unexpectedly fell in love with research.”

Similarly, trooper Melissa Beafore said her social studies degree was incorporated into her unexpected career as a cop.

“I studied HDFS, human development and family studies. I worked at a nonprofit under the criminal justice department,” Beafore said. “My job was to help families but a lot of it was helping and documenting and trying to get the ball moving but I couldn’t actually effectuate anything.”

Both guest speakers moved on to talk about the duality and balance of theory and practice, academic and fieldwork.

“You can have education and you can have experience and they have to match,” Beafore said.

“It’s important to look for opportunities to do research or to engage, to figure out what we want to do because most of of us don’t know when we’re

20 years old, what we want to do for the rest of our lives,” DeJong said.

The informational meeting ended with encouragement for student attendees to continue exploring their field of study, but also any other opportunities that they may encounter.

“I am a full believer that you really won’t know if it’s something that you’re interested in until you actually take that risk and go outside of what you ever would’ve thought you would be doing,” Before said.

“We both kind of fell into something we weren’t expecting,” DeJong said. “Keeping your options open and not brushing anything off [is important] because you just don’t know yet where your path is going to go.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF WALDEN UNIVERSITY

Social work students travel to Lansing for the NASW-Michigan Capitol Action Day

PAYTON BUCKI Content Editor

Oakland University’s Social Work Department sent six students to Lansing on March 19 to participate in Capitol Action Day, an annual advocacy event hosted by Michigan’s National Association of Social Workers (NASW) chapter.

James Nickel, Aaeshah Siddiqui, Chelsea Campbell, Riley Boomgaard, Isabella Levitt and Kayleigh Sheehan were selected as the OU student representatives for Capitol Action Day.

The event began with an overview of the Social Work Licensure Modernization Act. This act, outlined in House Bills 5184 and 5185, was initiated by social workers across the state in collaboration

with NASW-MI. The act calls for the removal of the examination requirement for aspiring social workers and the restructuring of the Michigan social work licensure tiers.

The Social Work Licensure Modernization Act was designed to eliminate the racial, age and socioeconomic disparities allowed by the exam. NASW-MI believes that, without the exam requirements, more competent social workers will enter the workforce. This would mitigate the mental health professional shortage in Michigan.

Capitol Action Day attendees were taught how to lobby following the legislation information session. Lobbyists who work in Lansing on behalf of NASW-MI discussed the ‘dos and don’ts’ of lobbying state legislators.

Aaeshah Siddiqui, an OU student studying both political science and social work, was excited to find that Capitol Action Day combined her love for social issues and policy.

“It was an immersive experience for me, as a student who is passionate about social work and politics,” Siddiqui said.

After the attendees were taught how to lobby, it was time to put their knowledge into practice. Each school was assigned a different state legislator to discuss the Social Work Licensure Modernization Act with.

Riley Boomgaard, an OU student in the MSW program, was able to speak to State Representative Sharon MacDonnell about the act.

“My favorite part about today was learning advocacy

skills and lobbying skills and being able to utilize those skills by talking to actual legislators about an issue about social work,” Boomgaard said.

Throughout the day, the Capitol Action Day attendees had time to network with social work students from across the state of Michigan.

“I enjoyed coming together with my fellow social workers from different schools and advocating for legislation that may mitigate issues within our profession,” Campbell said.

For some social work students, Capitol Action Day was the first time they had been able to bring key social work issues into the realm of politics.

“It was my first time in Lansing, I had a great time,” Nickel said. “I got to network with social work students and social workers.”

Capitol Action Day ended in Senator Stephanie Chang’s office. Senator Chang invited a group of social work students to meet with her to discuss the Social Work Licensure Modernization Act. Chang was supportive of the legislation and encouraged the students to speak with her about other problems they saw in the field of social work.

“I enjoyed being able to speak to Senator Chang. She was very kind and she seems like a very knowledgeable individual who does a lot of great work in the Senate,” Siddiqui said.

To learn more about the aims and advocacy initiatives of Michigan’s NASW chapter, visit the organization’s website or Instagram page, @naswmi.

Career and Life Design Center: A resource to jumpstart your resume

NOAH FRANCIS Features Reporter

The college life is all about planning one’s future. Whether it is searching for what you want to do, finding your lifelong friends or exploring job opportunities in your field, this is the time to figure out your life before graduation. While taking the first plunge into your major outside of school can be nerve-racking, Oakland University has the service for you.

The Career and Life Design Center (CLDC) is a resource students can use to strengthen their resumes and cover letters. Students can schedule online or inperson appointments with a career coach and learn how to make their job applications shine.

Jordan Smith, a graphic design student working at the CLDC, explains some of the tools that they use to help students with their resumes.

“The main tool that we use is Handshake because it has an entire like section for resources on different things,” Smith said. “More often than not, I’m pulling up the resume writing guide because that’s super helpful, but on top of that, we also have Big Interview, which is a service primarily for interview prep.”

Smith explains one of the new functions of Big Interview.

“There’s a function now [in Big Interview] for resumes where you can scan your resume and analyze and compare it to resumes within the field,” Smith said. “You can get feedback based on that and how you stack up to the resumes out there that other people may bring to the table.”

While those at Career Services work to help other students strengthen their job applications, Smith explains that the workers also learn a great deal while on the job.

“A lot of people who apply to this job may not necessarily have a bad resume, but their level of professionalism increases a lot when they work here,”

Smith said. “It’s not only a way to help other people, but it’s also a way to help yourself because while you’re teaching it to other people, you’re also learning it too. You can come out of this job with a resume, way better than when you started and better skills on how to navigate the professional world.”

Although helping other students is rewarding in its own right, Smith explains that his favorite part of working at the CLDC is being surrounded by his coworkers.

“At the end of the semester, we had an office party, and we shared a lot of sentimental moments together,” Smith said. “On top of being able to help people every day, it’s what I look forward to with this job.”

While it can be intimidating to ask for help, staff at the CLDC are continuously working to make sure they have a warm and comforting environment for all students.

“It may seem intimidating, but we’re accepting of anyone and everyone and we will help you no matter what your resume looks like,” Smith said. “No matter what you’re bringing to the table, we can do something for you.”

Students looking to schedule an appointment with the CLDC, can find their office in North Foundation Hall in room 103, or visit their OU webpage.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN MCTAGGART

PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES NICKEL

Educating future educators: OU’s School of Education and Human Services

DAYSHAWN FIELDS Features Reporter

During Michigan’s February presidential primary election, Grand Rapids Public Schools kept its schools open as polling took place within the buildings. Many parents of schoolchildren find that keeping class in session during polling presents safety risks. Safety concerns aside, parents took note of one other thing— a lack of teachers.

“[My son] goes there, and I don’t know how safe it was to have people outside of us [students’ parents] polling there,” Marisha Johnson, a Sibley Elementary parent, said. “I really was appalled when I saw a conjoined class being led to recess by one teacher, though.”

With the university’s highest six-year graduation rate, Oakland University’s School of Education and Human Services (SEHS) has had great success in developing quality educators. By introducing more teachers to the workforce, SEHS can help curb the teacher shortage issue.

James Silvestri, the SEHS director of communications and marketing, sat down to talk about the benefits of enrolling in the college, and what being a part of it looks like.

“We have a couple of new programs coming up in counseling, and have a good mix of undergraduate and graduate programs,” Silvestri said.

According to Silvestri, SESH offers plenty of opportunities for aspiring educators.

The differentiator for the SEHS and what other

institutions provide is field experience. Oakland has partnered with numerous school districts in the community to give SEHS students real, hands-on learning opportunities.

“[On-the-ground learning] is one of the big selling features of our teaching programs,” Silvestri said. “There’s a lot of hands-on work actually within the schools. It’s not like you get your degree and then go shadow someone, you’re actually working in the schools.”

Silvestri says the university has partnerships with Pontiac, Avondale and the surrounding school districts and that such partnerships have been beneficial to OU student teachers and the the greater Southeast Michigan community.

However, educators are not all that the school produces. Silvestri makes sure to emphasize the inclusion of “human services” in reference to the school’s name. After all, SEHS encompasses 29

programs in total.

“We try to make sure people realize since a lot of people call us ‘the School of Education’ and leave out the ‘Human Services’ portion, that we are also a school of human services,” Silvestri said. “That means we have a lot of programs in counseling, human resources and organizational leadership.”

The SEHS even has its own counseling center, separate from the OU Counseling Center. The Center is a free resource available to all OU students.

“Down on our first floor [of Pawley Hall] we have our Adult Career Counseling and SEHS Counseling Centers, which are separate from the OU Counseling Center,” Silvestri said. “Those are both no-cost. That is available to the OU community and the outside community.”

The hands-on principle of the teaching programs applies to the school’s counseling programs as well. SEHS counseling centers are run to teach students.

“One of the big things that sets us apart is that everything we do is actual life experiential learning,” Silvestri said. “We’re not just theory, we’re actually ‘doing’. With the counseling programs, we actually have a counseling program, and the counseling students work under licensed counselors.”

For undecided underclassmen, an education in SEHS may be the path for them. Prospective students can learn more at the SEHS website.

CETL: Bridging the gap between student and professor

NOAH FRANCIS Features Reporter

On March 21, Oakland University’s Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) held a student panel, discussing how to create a more active and collaborative classroom relationship. Lance Markowitz, Andrew Cadotte, Mena Hannakachl and Clarence Sanders led the panel. The four students discussed the distance between professors and their students, and how to close the gap in a healthy way.

Every gap comes from somewhere. Markowitz believes the gap between students and teachers emerged once students stopped going to classes to learn, and started to attend for the grades alone.

“I felt like there wasn’t actually a desire to learn anymore from my classmates,” Markowitz said. “There was a desire to get a piece of paper when you’re done with your college experience, but there wasn’t a desire to learn. That desire to learn, I think, was replaced by this extrinsic motivation to get good grades so you can get that piece of paper.”

One suggestion Markowitz recommends is to create student surveys.

“I’m a big fan of student surveys and getting to know your classes,” Markowitz said. “Because I think it also makes me feel heard as a student when my teacher asks questions like, ‘Is there anything going on outside of class that you think would be important for me to keep in mind?’ I think that it

goes a long way in developing rapport early.”

To understand a positive relationship between professors and students, knowing what type of professor students are looking for is important. Cadotte explains what he looks for most in a professor.

“A lot of times I was looking for mentorship more than anything,” Cadotte said. “I was looking for someone that I could look up to. Someone that I could learn from, either both in life and in my career.”

Hannakackl explains how supporting students

inside and outside the classroom can go a long way for them.

“I am a huge advocate of being involved and making sure that I am showing up for my professors and they also show up for me,” Hannakackl said. “Whether that’s a meeting, whether it’s for an opportunity for me to participate in or be involved in, I think that shows that they are like being an advocate for me.”

While it can be intimidating for some students to reach out to their professors, Sanders observed that supplemental instructors (SI) are more connected with their students. Sanders explains how professors can utilize their supplemental instructors to bridge the gap between them and the classroom.

“What I’ve noticed is students have more engagement in their SI than in their actual classroom,” Sanders said. “That’s what an SI does. It’s a student teaching their fellow peers, so they have more of a connection to their students, not that superiority over them. I think it would help if professors asked their supplemental instructors to help them see, what are they talking to you about, or what their issues are in the classroom.”

For more information on CETL and their upcoming workshops and events, please visit their OU webpage.

PHOTO BY SEHS

PHOTO BY RYAN PINI

The Gender and Sexuality Center hosts Oakland University’s Pride Month

DAYSHAWN FIELDS Features Reporter

Oakland University’s Gender and Sexuality Center hosts Pride Month each March to ensure that the LGBTQ+ community feels welcomed on campus and celebrated.

This year, OU’s Pride Month began on March 11. The center has already put on an array of events to celebrate. Following a 90s theme, the GSC had its annual B-B-Queer and Drag Show on March 19.

“Coming up is Pride Prom, which is designed for those of us who didn’t have good experiences at our high school proms,” Lyle Chalker, a peer mentor at the GSC, said. “There’s Lavender Graduation [which requires registration], and there’s going to be a book club event.”

Chalker serves not only as a peer mentor but also works at the GSC’s front desk as an intern. They are majoring in social work during their time at OU.

When one enters the GSC, they are met by boundless posters and graphics letting them know that they belong and informing them of services they can receive via the GSC.

During Pride Month and beyond, the GSC focuses on the retention and comfort of LGBTQ+ students. Honoring that goal comes with objectivity and honesty.

“Although retention is the goal, ultimately the goal is for students to get their needs met,” Chalker said. “There are times when we have to let them know if OU is not the right setting for them.”

When OU is the right setting for students, which it is more often than not, the GSC checks in with students on the other facets of college life.

“Some of the things we do is check in on their needs on food, how they’re doing with their activities of daily living, and especially with how they’re doing in their classes,” Chalker said. “ A lot of the struggle is with classes and grades. We try to come up with solutions for this.”

The GSC has made copious improvements to deliver on providing these services to students. The center has recently made the move to 104J North Foundation Hall, having previously been housed in the Oakland Center.

The GSC serves as a “hangout” spot for students and feedback has shaped how that space looks as well. Previously using overhead fluorescent lights, the GSC made the switch to lamps because, according to Chalker, a lot of people had trouble dealing with the fluorescent lights.

The GSC has also improved its lending library. While Kresge Library provides the OU community with a wide range of materials, the GSC has a collection tailored to LGBTQ+ topics and concerns.

“Our lending library has expanded dramatically,” Chalker said. “We have a huge lending library and it’s organized by disabilities, lesbian stories, trans, different categories and different sections.”

Still, further improvements and expansion, largely done in the name of inclusivity, remain a topic of focus for the GSC.

“[We strive on] continuing to make it more accessible, continuing to make a more inclusive space, and continuing to hold more social and educational events for and with our students,” Chalker said.

Students can learn more about the GSC’s Pride Month on its Linktree.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLAKE BONKOWSKI

Behind Jack Gohlke’s big night against Kentucky

Last year at this time, Jack Gohlke was playing D2 college hoops for the Hillsdale Chargers.

On Thursday, March 21, Gohlke had a performance for the Golden Grizzlies that will have OU basketball fans asking, ‘Where were you when Gohlke completely took over?’ for years.

Gohlke’s performance makes him the only player in PPG Paints Arena history to score 10 3-pointers. The original record was six made threes in the arena, which Gohlke broke in the first half.

Additionally, Gohlke became the fifth player in the history of the NCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament to make 10 3s.

Suppose you want another fun fact. No other player with the last name Gohlke has ever cashed in on 10 triples against the University of Kentucky (UK) Wildcats in March Madness.

No matter how much room the Wildcats gave him, Gohlke found a way to convert from deep almost every single time, ultimately lifting the Grizzlies past the Wildcats.

“I’m always pretty much just locked into the game,” Gohlke said. “Obviously, I’m feeling the emotion of it for sure. But just focused on trying to make the next shot, trying to win for my teammates.”

With every three Gohlke attempted, he slowly won over a crowd inside the PPG Paints Arena. Although it was a sea of blue with an uncountable amount of UK fans in attendance, the loudest points of the game came when Gohlke fired off a three.

As soon as Gohlke came to check in at the 15:55 minute mark, he wasted no time getting up some attempts from deep.

Interestingly, after checking in, Gohlke never left the floor for the Grizzlies until the final buzzer sounded.

Just 25 seconds after checking in, Gohlke attempted his first three of the night — a miss. After Tuburu Naivalurua snagged the miss, Gohlke attempted another shot from deep — it was another miss.

However, the third time was the charm for Gohlke, as his third attempt went through without an issue. From that point on, it was Gohlke’s night.

At one point in the first half, just a few minutes after Gohlke’s first make from deep, Gohlke singlehandedly lifted the Grizzlies to a five-point lead — breaking the stalemate between OU and the Wildcats after Gohlke made three consecutive threes in the span of 1:39.

By the end of the first half, Gohlke attempted 13 threes. Seven of those 13 attempts went in, giving Gohlke 21 points before the start of the second half. Through just 16 minutes of play, Gohlke was just six points away from his D1 career-high of 27 points.

Notably, the Grizzlies led the Wildcats heading into the half 3835. More than half of those 38 points came off the back of Gohlke.

Additionally, as the Grizzlies went into the break, both Gohlke and Oakland University started to trend on the social media platform X. The world could not help but tune into one of the most intriguing stories in the world of college basketball.

At the start of the second half, Gohlke was more patient on offense, but that didn’t stop him, nor make the crowd forget how critical he was to the Grizzlies’ success in the first half.

“Obviously, if I make that many shots in the first two-thirds of the game or whatever it is, they’re going to start guarding me differently, and I probably forced one or two that I shouldn’t have taken,” Gohlke said. “But I was trying to calm down a little bit and let my teammates carry me from that point.”

However, around the 14-minute mark, Gohlke made his eighth three of the game. As soon as his three found nylon, thousands of fans, regardless of the team they supported, were up on their feet once again—except Wildcats fans, of course.

Just a minute later, Gohlke packaged up another three and delivered it straight through the net once again. By this point, Gohlke tied his career-high of 27 points with over ten minutes left in a game against one of college basketball’s most dominant universities.

Despite being held scoreless for nearly the next ten minutes, Gohlke scored his 30th point at a critical crossroad for OU. With the Grizzlies up by just two points with under five minutes left in the game, Gohlke’s 3-pointer lifted the Grizzlies to a five-point lead.

Minutes later, Gohlke converted two free throws at the line after Wildcat guard Reed Sheppard fouled him on a 3-point attempt.

So, it was safe to say Gohlke gave OU fans, UK fans, and all who attended and watched the game at the PPG Paints Arena a night they will never forget.

“I don’t care too much about that,” Gohlke said about becoming a celebrity overnight. “I don’t know. I want to be a bigger celebrity after our team wins the next game. That’s really all I’m thinking about is tomorrow, our prep for either NC State or Texas Tech, and we’re going to go out there, and we’re going to win again.”

STORY BY KURT SZYMANSKI DESIGN BY MEGAN JUDY, BARRET SCHETTLER & ZACHARY OBERDIER PHOTO COURTESY OF OU MEN’S BASKETBALL

This week in music: Girl in Red, Hozier & Olivia Rodrigo

MOE DEL ROSARIO Arts Reporter

This week welcomed a lot of new releases in music. Let’s take a deep dive into the releases from features to EPs.

Girl in Red released a new single for her sophomore album “I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY!” which comes out on Friday, April 12.

So far, Girl in Red has released two other singles from the album: “I’M DOING IT AGAIN BABY” and “Too Much.”

I loved “Too Much” when it was released, and was a personal fan of the sad-song-upbeat-tone aspect that “You Need Me Now?” brings to the table as well.

Sabrina Carpenter makes an appearance in “You Need Me Now?” with the perfect amount of sass to drive the point of the song. Personally, this just drives me to be more excited about the album.

If you’ve been on TikTok or any social media site recently, chances are you’ve heard Hozier’s song “Too Sweet.” The song was released as a teaser for his EP “Unheard,” which came out on Friday, March 22.

“Unheard” consists of four songs that were cut out from “Unreal Unearth,” his third studio album that was released on August 18, 2023. The album’s songs refer to different circles of hell that stem from “Dante’s Inferno.”

I was excited about “Too Sweet” since the original clip was released, and the actual song lives up to

the clip. The song details two people who differ in personality and routine and was supposed to be released as “gluttony” on the original album.

“Wildflower and Barley” features Allison Russell and is a beautiful tale of longing. The two voices mix perfectly and the song is supposed to detail the first circle of hell: limbo.

“Referencing the stillness and the sort of eerie unhappy quiet of living in the countryside or living in the city, seeing empty streets, seeing empty roads. But I kind of wrote a playful song around that,‘’ Hozier said in an interview with El Camino.

“Empire Now” is more of a political statement from Hozier and references multiple current events. The song is more gritty than the previous two.

The last song on the EP is “Fare Well.” It is more of an upbeat tune, but a sense of uneasiness lingers in the background with the song pondering the idea that what feels good to Hozier will not fare well.

Olivia Rodrigo also released five new songs from her 2023 album “GUTS” to make up “GUTS (Spilled).” The first four songs were released as exclusives for different vinyls.

The extended album was announced by Rodrigo mid-concert, and after on her Instagram account.

“5 new tunes for ya!!!! GUTS (spilled) out friday!!!!!!” Rodrigo wrote.

The first of the new songs is “obsessed,” which was accompanied by a music video. The song is a pop-rock banger detailing someone feeling jealous of their current partner’s ex.

The second song was “girl i’ve always been,” which has a folk feel and is one of my personal favorites.

The songs take a melancholy turn with “scared of my guitar,” which tackles love and the lack thereof in a relationship, along with self-doubt.

“Stranger” handles the emotions after a relationship has ended, while also looking at the past and the decisions that led her there.

Ending on a high note, “so american” is an upbeat pop song allegedly about Rodrigo’s boyfriend Louis Partridge.

April will also be an exciting time for music lovers as Taylor Swift, Conan Gray and Lizzy McAlpine are also releasing new music.

‘WE DON’T TRUST YOU:’ Future and Metro Boomin’s collaborative trap master class

CHELSEA BOSSERT Arts Reporter

Future’s style and lyricism have not changed in the past decade. Despite this, he still makes hit after hit and is as infectious as ever. Why is this? Thank Metro Boomin.

The 30-year-old three-time Grammy nominee has been producing with Future for over 12 years. Mostly a behind-the-scenes presence, Metro has recently gained more popularity due to his 2023 “Heroes & Villains” record, which was nominated for Best Rap Album at the Grammys.

Metro’s style and position as a forward-thinking hip-hop producer have been in constant evolution — his hits are hits — with classic tracks such as “Jumpman,” “Father Stretch My Hands Pt. 1” and “Mask Off” cementing his status in the 2010s as a legendary figure in hip-hop canon.

Everyone wants to work with Metro, but only a select few — including the 40-year-old Atlanta icon — can work with him.

“WE DON’T TRUST YOU” is the latest collaborative effort from Future and Metro Boomin. After years of patiently waiting, we finally have a joint project from them. So how good is it?

Let’s say that both of them might have the Grammys on lock next year.

Starting off with the title track, Future and Metro put forward not only how the production will go on the record, but how the lyricism will too. Metro’s production has always been innovative with

evocative chord progressions, a dreary atmosphere and classic trap bass hits.

Synths, strings and programmed drums galore.

Future also puts out two killer verses on the first track — rapping about the current volatility in the rap game.

“You a n**** number one fan, dog/Sneak dissin’, I don’t understand, dog/Pillowtalkin’, actin’ like a fed, dog/I don’t need another fake friend, dog,” Future raps on “WE DON’T TRUST YOU.”

Three standout tracks on the record include “Type S***,” “Like That” and “Cinderella” — all of which feature collaborations with Future and Metro, but also Playboi Carti, Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott respectively.

“Type S***” features killer verses both by Future and Carti — the latter of which has been on a creative hot streak as of late. The track’s sonic profile consists of various pitched bells, a psychedelic bridge section and burgeoning synths. It is a dark-trap Atlanta banger and is likely going to be on people’s playlists for a while.

The most lyrical song on the record is “Like That” with Kendrick Lamar.

Kendrick has nothing to lose on this track, and with arguably the most progressive and weirdest beat on the record, the scene was set for Kendrick to spit something legendary.

He does just that — dissing Drake and J. Cole’s recent collaborative hit “First Person Shooter.”

“Lost too many soldiers not to play it safe/If he walk around with that stick, it ain’t Andre 3K/ Think I won’t drop the location? I still got PTSD/

Motherf*** the big three, n****, it’s just big me,” Lamar raps on “Like That.”

While Future does not outshine Lamar on his own track, he keeps up and adds enough foreboding atmosphere to keep it interesting.

Finally, “Cinderella” — featuring Travis Scott — is a more low-key track with Metro’s production creating a nocturnal atmosphere. Future and Scott complement each other nicely on this track, with both artists holding their own against each other and not taking away from the ambiance.

I do not have a lot of complaints with the record, besides that some of the tracks are not standouts and kind of just slog on as run-of-the-mill Future-Metro tracks. However, this does not take away from the tremendous atmosphere of the album — as well as the killer verses by Future and his hip-hop entourage.

For those thirsty for more, Future and Metro Boomin will be releasing another collaborative record on Friday, April 12 titled: “WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU” — so look forward to that.

I know I am.

Rating: 4/5 stars

PHOTO COURTESY OF REDBRICK

‘Underdressed at the Symphony:’ Faye Webster’s welcome of silence

MOE DEL ROSARIO Arts Reporter

Faye Webster has grown popular recently with some of her songs like “I Know You” and “Kingston” resurfacing on social media sites like TikTok. Most recently, the 26-year-old singer released her fifth studio album “Underdressed at the Symphony.”

The album is mainly a post-breakup album with a softer feel to it. That being said, the entire 36 minutes of it feel like a love letter to Webster’s band.

“Thinking About You” is the longest song on the album and welcomes the listeners to it. The song is quite gentle and while repetitive, highlights the music behind the words. A beautiful way to detail the rest of the album.

After the wonderful intro follows “But Not Kiss.” The music truly kicks in after the initial line of lyrics and emphasizes the emotional change. The instrumental behind the lyrics feels devastating and listeners go on the same journey shoulder to shoulder with Webster.

“I was kind of looking for other songs that were portraying this really anti-romantic-but-still-in-love feeling, and I couldn’t really find them. So that’s why I wrote that one,” Webster said in an interview with Spin.

The song presents a common feeling of wanting to reach out to someone, but not knowing if you’re disturbing them and not wanting to change anything.

Following is “Wanna Quit All the Time,” which tackles self-doubt, personal growth and the anxiety that comes from being known. Parts of the song feel hopeful with the idea that Webster can figure it all out in the

end, a comforting thought.

“Lego Ring” is an interesting track as it includes Webster’s childhood friend Lil Yachty. The song itself is dream-like. The song changes tempo a few times which emphasizes its quirky nature.

“[Lil Yachty and I], we make songs all the time together. I feel it was just like another thing of sharing together and it just felt really fitting,” Webster said in an interview with Rolling Stone Australia.

The next song is “Feeling Good Today.” The song contrasts Webster’s autotuned voice singing about her day-to-day life with a soft melodic acoustic guitar. The song is simple in nature, but is a hopeful tune compared to the others.

“Lifetime” is the second-longest song on the album

and one of the few romantic songs that describes a yearning for a loved one. The initial lyrics question how Webster could have lived a life without the partner at first. The song is repetitive towards the end to truly convey the love she has for her partner.

Similar to the previous song, “He Loves Me Yeah!” discusses a sweet romantic relationship where the flaws of the relationship are easily dismissed between the pair. The song is more upbeat and assures the listener that she is happy.

The album reverts back to a slower melody with “eBay Purchase History,” which discusses topics such as a longing for the past, satisfaction in life and Webster’s private life. That being said, the lyrics aren’t the focus of the song, but rather the instrumental.

“Underdressed at the Symphony” is the titular track for the album and touches on Webster’s emotions reeling after a breakup. Instead of just focusing on herself, she also wonders how the ex is doing and wonders why they haven’t told their mother. It’s slow but meaningful, and the piano at the end ties it all together.

The final song on the album is ”Tttttime,” which ponders how Webster spends her days and how much uncertainty she has in her life and her routine.

The album is a wonderful mix of heartbreak, uncertainty and hope. It felt truly human to experience partially because of the out-of-order lineup of songs. This is another Faye Webster classic.

Rating: 4/5 stars

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The presidential election heats up

MALLORY WALIGORA Political Reporter

With 1,639 delegates secured, Donald Trump is now the official nominee of the Republican party for the 2024 United States presidential election. 1,215 delegates were needed to secure the nomination, thus kicking out Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis among others as possible nominees for the Republican party. Although challenging at times, winning the nomination was relatively easy and effortless for Trump.

The race for president is in full swing now, with the election set to take place in under eight months, on Tuesday, Nov. 5. The race is between current President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump — a matchup identical to 2020. As both nominees continue their campaign efforts, the race will continue to develop and unfold, especially in the fall.

With many Americans feeling angered and trapped in the two choices, Robert Kennedy Jr. has been campaigning hard to gain public attention. With policies focused on changing the increased cost of living for Americans and supporting the middle class, RFK has gained traction in recent weeks. His campaign is rooted in unifying the divisions between the right and the left, a polarizing divide that has caused instability in the government.

“I declared my independence from both political parties, and from the tribalistic, us-versus-them thinking that has polarized our country,” RFK writes.

Running as an independent, unattached to either party, RFK may gain votes from Americans who feel disconnected from both sides of politics. Although unlikely, he may gain substantial support from Americans and beat out both nominees.

Trump searches for a vice president

In recent weeks, Trump has begun his search for a vice president for his presidential campaign. Although not confirmed, several lots remain open for Trump. Both Senator Tim Scott and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem remain possibilities. However, the list is constantly changing, with

Why Elon Musk is suing OpenAI

NICHOLAS KABLAK Political Reporter

Elon Musk has recently levied a lawsuit against the artificial intelligence (AI) tech company OpenAI. The lawsuit arises from an alleged breach of ethics by OpenAI, a breach in the company’s founding agreement and AI’s threat to humanity.

When OpenAI first began its operations, Musk was a top financial contributor. Musk felt that the company shared his vision of safely developing AI for humanity’s benefit. In 2016 alone, Musk contributed over $15 million dollars to OpenAI, Inc.

Musk feels strongly that AI, more specifically artificial general intelligence (AGI), could pose a danger to humanity if it fell into the hands of the wrong people.

“We have to make sure humanity is okay here,” Musk said in an interview on Fox News.

The founding agreement of OpenAI hinges on the logic that AGI poses a unique threat to mankind because, unlike normal AI, it is capable of performing a wide range of complex tasks much like a human would. OpenAI was founded to provide its AGI technology to the public so that no one corporation would own that power.

When OpenAI was established in 2015, no AGI had yet been created. OpenAI was made partially to beat other corporations, like Google, to the creation of AGI and to release it to the public so that competition could continue unimpeded.

This founding agreement would bind OpenAI to

be a non-profit developing AGI for the benefit of humanity and the AGI would be open-source.

In the 35-page lawsuit, Musk’s legal team lays out their grievances against the company, for breaching this agreement.

The breach is attributed to the companies dealing with the tech giant Microsoft, in which OpenAI licensed Microsoft one of its more advanced technologies. This technology, referred to as GPT3, was already released to the public before the deal, and the deal specified that Microsoft only got licensing to OpenAI’s pre-AGI technology.

So no problem, right? Wrong.

It was up to OpenAI’s board to specify when it had created AGI, and not just another AI model. Musk and his legal team allege the board members were handpicked by Altman and Microsoft who are ill-equipped by design to make an independent determination of whether and when it has developed an algorithm that is outside the scope of Microsoft’s license.

When OpenAI created the more advanced GPT4, which many considered to be a form of AGI, Microsoft got full rights to the technology. This, in turn, barred the public from accessing it and allowed a corporation to retain the technology for profit.

This shift caused Musk to claim the company turned from its non-profit and open-source beginnings.

“Suddenly it’s like a 19 billion dollar for-profit corporation with close source… I don’t know how you go from here to there,” Musk said.

OpenAI has not been silent during these allegations. In a post made to the company’s blog, they said “We and Elon recognized a for-profit entity

Trump’s opinion varying in recent conversations and news.

“One day he is trashing someone, and the next day he is asking allies about that person as vice president. Sometimes he’s just curious what people think of them,” one Trump adviser said.

Vivek Ramaswamy is reportedly out of contention for the vice president spot. Trump personally told Ramaswamny that he would not be offered the position as running mate. However, a cabinet role is a possibility for Vivek, particularly the role of homeland security secretary. Being the son of Indian immigrants, Vivek may help deflect criticisms of Trump’s immigration measures.

Mike Pence, Trump’s former vice president, is no longer a possibility for this role. He shared that he will not be endorsing Trump this election, mentioning Jan. 6 as a major influence in this decision. In fact, he’s not even sure he would vote for him.

However, the formal announcement of a running mate will continue for a long time. Trump is not close to making a formal decision on the matter. Trump has indicated that the pick will likely be announced in the early summer, right before the Republican Convention set to take place July 15 through July 18.

would be necessary to acquire those resources.”

OpenAI has claimed that more funding and resources would be necessary for the development of AGI and that only a for-profit company could provide this. The company also stated that Musk had privately acknowledged this and even had negotiations concerning it.

The blog post includes a series of emails between OpenAI founder Greg Brockman, Altman and Musk. In the emails, Musk agrees with the company shifting to a for-profit model.

The direction of the lawsuit is still uncertain, with the implication of AI’s place in society and industry in the balance.

“It can’t just be, you know, barreling forward and hoping for the best,” Musk said about the creation of AGI.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NBC NEWS

Leaked French military reports reveal the truth of Ukraine war

NICHOLAS KABLAK Political Reporter

Multiple French military reports have been leaked to the French investigative magazine Marianne. The documents describe an intensely negative situation for Ukrainian forces in their war with the Russians, adding important context to the political choices of Western nations, Putin’s posturing and the state of the war in Ukraine.

In their article about the documents, Marianne disclosed that three reports had been leaked. Each leaked document portrayed a dismal image for the Ukrainians and Western allies.

According to Marianne, the first of the three reports, which was written in the fall of 2023 in the wake of the Ukrainian counter-offensive, provided a sorrowful conclusion.

“A Ukrainian military victory now seems impossible,” the 2023 report said.

The report stated that the Western planners of the Ukrainian counter-offensive underestimated their Russian rivals.

“Planners thought that once the Russian defense lines were breached, the entire front would collapse,” the fall 2023 report said.

However, according to Marianne, the planners supposedly failed to account for the will of the Russian soldiers to hold onto the terrain.

Marianne also claimed the reports spoke of a lack of Ukrainian training, and how this contributed to an ineffective offensive. The report found that soldiers who had only received three weeks of training were launched

into a Russian fortification line that proved impregnable.

Importantly, the report also claims the Ukrainians cannot compete with the Russians in terms of manpower.

“The Ukrainian general staff does not have a critical mass of land forces… capable of challenging their Russian counterparts,” the 2023 report said.

In a similar tone to the first report, the second report describes the war’s outlook for 2024.

Marianne reports that the manpower and equipment situation is favorable for the Russians.

“Zelensky would need 35,000 men per month, he’s not recruiting half that,” the 2024 report said.

The report adds that Ukraine had lost much of its equipment in the prior offensive, concluding that no new Ukrainian offensive could be conducted in 2024.

The third report states that the risk of Russian breakthroughs is real. The report notes that the Russians have been surprisingly effective in conducting offensive operations and that Ukraine is not capable of locally restoring a sector of the front that collapses.

These leaked French military intelligence reports bring context to the discussion concerning Ukraine. French President Macron had previously refused to rule out the possibility of French troops in Ukraine.

“To have peace in Ukraine, you must not be weak,” Macron said in a recent interview with Le Parisien.

Before this, Macron and other leaders in NATO considered the idea of sending NATO troops to Ukraine. These remarks led to a response from Russian President Vladamir Putin, who threatened NATO if the leaders sent troops to Ukraine.

“They should understand that what they are doing now… it does risk a conflict with nuclear weapons,”

Putin said in response to Macron’s remarks.

This exchange can be explained by the state of the Ukraine war as outlined by the reports. The combination of a possible sense of security on the Russian side and the need for manpower for the Ukrainians may have motivated Macron to speak about sending troops.

Despite these heavy-handed remarks, Putin recently said in an interview with journalist Dmitry Kiselev that he was open to negotiations based on realities that have developed.

It is clear following the French reports that the “realities” mentioned by Putin are about the positive position of Russian military forces in Ukraine.

As President Biden continues to supply the Ukranians with military and economic assistance, it is unclear how these reports will influence American foreign policies.

“We will not walk away,” Biden said during the State of the Union address, when discussing the Ukraine war.

Assuming these reports are accurate, one thing seems clear: Ukraine is losing the war. The question we are left with is simple: what will the global West do in response?

Putin wins Russian presidential election

MALLORY WALIGORA Political Reporter

Vladimir Putin has won his fifth presidential election in a landslide victory.

Russian elections were held from March 15 through March 17, with Russian citizens heading to the polls to cast their votes. The incumbent president, Putin, swept the polls by winning 87% of the vote. He is now the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin, serving as president since 2000.

The Kremlin has ensured his landslide victory with inside workings being at play. Putin had no legitimate or serious competition to this presidency. All of Putin’s enemies are either in jail or dead — a haunting fact of his power.

In fact, a Russian media outlet Meduza, a Russianbased media outlet in Latvia, conducted a voter turnout study for the 2024 presidential election. Meduza reported that it was the most rigged election in the country’s history. The study found that voter turnout at polling stages consistently changes over time, suggesting that regional commissions faked the voter turnout data.

Notably, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny died in prison about a month before the election on Feb. 16. With Russia’s history of clandestine action and sabotage, Navalny’s death has sparked theories and caused many to speculate about Kremlin interference.

Despite speculations over election legitimacy, Russia’s global power is undeniable. With the threat of nuclear weapons and military power, Russia continues

to solidify its place on the global political field, despite outside opposition. The Global Firepower Index (GFP) denotes Russia as a top 5 global military power.

Russia’s economy has been dropping after the invasion of Ukraine, with its GDP consistently dropping by 2% since 2022. Economic sanctions from proUkrainian countries, such as the U.S., have particularly caused economic stress to Russia.

Recently, Russia has announced its readiness for nuclear war. On March 13, Putin told the West that Russia was technically ready for nuclear war. If the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine to help assist in the war, U.S. land involvement would significantly escalate the conflict. From Russia’s end, U.S. troops in the warzone would be seen as intervention.

“From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Putin told Rossiya-1 television agency.

However, Putin displays no rush for a nuclear war scenario. In fact, he sees no need for nuclear weapons to be used in Ukraine. Ukrainian official,Mykhailo Podolyak explains that this threat is simply propaganda meant for intimidation.

“Realizing that things are going the wrong way, Putin continues to use classic nuclear rhetoric. With the old Soviet hope — ‘be scared and retreat!” Podolyak said.

However, as the war continues and as outside countries consider physical military intervention, the RussianUkrainian conflict is likely to escalate, thus causing the possible usage of nuclear weapons to loom large.

Putin will stay in power until at least 2030. However, with the current political state in Russia, he can stay in power as long as he wants. It seems as if 2036 is no longer so outrageous to see Putin still in power.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NATALIA KOLESNIKOVA

Golden Grizzlies fall short in nail-biting overtime to NC State Wolfpack in Round of 32

KURT SZYMANSKI Sports Reporter

The Oakland University Golden Grizzlies lost in a heartbreaker to the North Carolina State (NCSU) Wolfpack in the Round of 32 with a final score of 79-73 on Saturday, March 23, at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The loss comes as OU’s first since Sunday, Feb. 25. The Golden Grizzlies went nearly a whole month without losing a single game.

Trey Townsend led the team in scoring with 30 points. However, Townsend wasn’t just scoring for the Golden Grizzlies — the senior also recorded 13 rebounds for a double-double.

In addition to Townsend, Jack Gohlke came up big for OU off the bench. The sharpshooter once again attempted all three-pointers, making six of his 17 attempts for 22 points. Gohlke was also a force on the glass, coming down with eight rebounds.

On the other side of the court, DJ Burns Jr. made his presence known for the Wolfpack. Burns Jr. converted on 9 of his 12 shots for 24 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists.

First Half

The Wolfpack got on the scoreboard first following an uber-athletic layin from guard DJ Horne. However, it would take a handful of possessions before OU scored their first basket, but Chris Conway found the basket first for the Grizzlies, showing off his post-moves in the paint.

Gohlke checked in three minutes into the game after some more empty-handed possessions on offense

for the Golden Grizzlies. It didn’t take that long for Gohlke to make his first three of the game, either.

Nearly two minutes after checking in, Gohlke took and made his first 3-point attempt of the game. Gohlke’s three brought OU within two points of the Wolfpack, while a minute earlier, NCSU held a seven-point lead.

Midway through the first half, the Wolfpack still remained ahead of the Grizzlies. NCSU was a pest on defense, slowing down the pace of OU’s offense. Along with a decelerated offense, NCSU’s center, Burns Jr., was a force to be reckoned with when the Wolfpack had the ball on offense.

With Burns Jr.’s large frame, it was difficult for the Golden Grizzlies to stop him inside the paint. Additionally, Burns Jr. remained patient on offense, making the extra passes when doubled in the paint and attempting to thwart OU’s zone defense with screens in the high post.

By the end of the first half, the Golden Grizzlies tightened some loose bolts up on defense, holding NCSU to just two baskets in the final five minutes of the first.

However, OU’s offense remained stagnant in the half’s final minutes. Notably, the Golden Grizzlies shot 2-9 to end the first. After a buzzerbeating midrange make from Rockett Watts, the shot signaled the end of the first half, with NCSU leading the Golden Grizzlies 32-29.

Second Half

The start of the second half mirrored much of what happened in the first half.

OU had some issues getting the ball rolling on

offense, but the Golden Grizzlies put enough effort into defense to stay neck and neck with the Wolfpack. By the first media timeout, NCSU still led OU 41-36.

Near the halfway point, Gohlke cashed in on a wide-open three to bring the Golden Grizzlies within two points of NCSU. Although it didn’t give OU the lead, the PPG Paints Arena crowd got deafening in support of the Golden Grizzlies, giving the team momentum.

Following Gohlke’s make, Townsend converted inches away at the rim to tie up the game for the first time since tipoff with 12:49 remaining in the second half.

Despite a shift in energy in the arena, the Wolfpack remained ahead of the Golden Grizzlies. With six minutes left in the game, NCSU jumped to a six-point lead, giving NCSU the most breathing room it had seen since the latter half of the first.

With the Wolfpack fighting ferociously, the Golden Grizzlies were not out for the count. Gohlke once again won over the crowd and swished the basket on a huge and-one-three to bring the Golden Grizzlies within two points right after NCSU built their lead back up to six points.

In the closing minutes of the match, OU took its first lead of the game on the back of Townsend. After converting at the charity stripe following an and-one, the Golden Grizzlies led NCSU 63-61 with 2:49 remaining in the second half.

(Continue reading on our website.)

Jack Gohlke strikes multiple NIL deals following upset of Kentucky

BROCK HEILIG Sports Editor

March Madness is where legends are born.

Ali Farokhmanesh, Jimmer Fredette and Doug Edert are just a few of the long list of players that made names for themselves during the NCAA Tournament.

Now, Jack Gohlke can be added to that list.

Following his 32-point performance during Thursday night’s 80-76 upset win over Kentucky, Gohlke has now signed multiple NIL deals with companies, in hopes of benefiting off his name, image and likeness.

Gohlke has partnered with Campus Ink, The NIL Store and Barstool Sports to create his own line of merchandise.

Gohlke released four clothing items with The NIL Store:

• Jack Gohlke Graphic Tee ($39.99)

• Jack ‘Goatke’ From Three Tee ($39.99)

• Jack ‘Goatke’ From Three Hoodie ($64.99)

• Jack Gohlke Graphic Crew ($54.99)

• Jack Gohlke Graphic Tee released alongside The NIL Store.

All four items on the website are labeled as an ‘Exclusive Release.’ Every purchase of the apparel will put money directly in Gohlke’s pocket.

Meanwhile, Gohlke also inked a deal with one of the biggest sports media companies in the world — Barstool Sports. Gohlke released three clothing items with Barstool:

• Jack Gohlke Hoodie ($50)

• Jack Gohlke Crewneck ($48)

• Jack Gohlke Tee ($32)

• Jack Gohlke Crewneck released alongside Barstool Sports.

Earlier on Friday afternoon, Gohlke was asked about any potential NIL deals, but he was noncommittal on the matter. A few hours later, Gohlke had multiple clothing lines released.

Despite the increased fame and national attention, Gohlke remains focused on Saturday night’s game against NC State.

“Yeah, I want to make money. I want to go through [the NIL offers]. But I care more about winning the next game.”

Walk-on Evan Solomon fulfills his dreams during OU’s historic basketball season

JAMES ELLING Contributor

Evan Solomon has always been motivated by his dreams, and now, they are starting to come true as Oakland makes school history in the NCAA March Madness men’s basketball tournament.

Evan Solomon, a 20-year-old sophomore at Oakland University, grew up in the small, northern Michigan town of Charlevoix. After finding success in high school as a basketball player, Solomon left his hometown to walk on to Oakland’s basketball team as a redshirt for the 2022-23 season.

It was in the quiet atmosphere of Charlevoix where Solomon found his love for basketball.

“I’ve always played basketball. My dad is how I really got into it,” Solomon said. “He coached basketball, so I always had keys to the gym growing up.”

Solomon took advantage of this opportunity, putting in hours of hard work on the court whenever he could.

Oakland student Caleb Ziebarth, who regularly competed against Solomon in multiple high school sports was impressed with Solomon’s athletic finesse.

“Evan had the work ethic of a stallion. That turned into excellence which was proven in performance,” Ziebarth said.

Solomon’s hard work indeed showed off in many ways as he dominated his high school competition, producing nearly 20 points per game and earning three consecutive All-State selections.

After his storied high school career, Solomon chose to take on the challenge of playing Division-I college

basketball at Oakland, where the competition would become significantly more difficult than the class-C high school competition he was used to.

“I’m really blessed that coach Kampe gave me an opportunity,” Solomon said in regard to choosing Oakland. “I knew it was going to be hard and that the competition would be much better than what I was used to, but I knew it would make me better.”

The transition was even more difficult than Solomon expected.

“The first summer I was here, I was getting my pocket picked by Jalen Moore every single day in practice,” Solomon said.

However, Solomon did not let the early struggles keep him down. Solomon acknowledged his dreams as what keeps him fighting to be better.

“Growing up you always think about what you wanna accomplish – dreams, you have that thing and you obsess over it and push to get to where you wanna be,” Solomon said.

Now in his second year, Solomon feels a lot more comfortable playing with the high level of skill and athleticism that he never experienced with his competition in Charlevoix.

Solomon also attributes a lot of this gained comfortability to his teammates, who have served as mentors over the last two years.

“Jalen was great, getting to go against him every day helped me grow a bunch,” Solomon said of last year’s point guard, Jalen Moore. “This year, working out with Jack Gohlke a lot has really helped me. He’s been a bit of a mentor to me, showing me how hard you’ve got to work and what it takes to get better.”

Gohlke is one of seven players who transferred to Oakland this year. Solomon credits these transfers for a huge amount of the team’s spike in success this year, not only for their basketball skills but also for their contribution to the team’s cohesiveness.

“The biggest change from last year to this year is the family atmosphere we have. All 15 dudes hang out and have fun together, and it really feels like a family,” Solomon said. “Everyone wants to see everyone else succeed, and I think that shows on the court.”

Few would argue over the team’s improvements this year, as they dominated the Horizon League in the regular season and proceeded to win the Horizon League tournament. This win crowned the Golden Grizzlies as league champions for the first time since joining the Horizon League in 2014.

“My favorite moment this year was cutting down the nets – winning the conference tournament,” Solomon said. “Our goal was to win a championship, but Coach [Kampe] has had us take it one step at a time, one game at a time, so we don’t lose sight of what’s in front of us.”

What’s in front of them now is the NCAA Tournament, where the team, a 14-seed, caused a tournament upset, defeating three-seeded Kentucky 80-76 in the first round.

“We’re focused and we know we gotta work hard, but we also know that we can win any close game,” Solomon said. “Knowing you’re going to March Madness, it’s a feeling like no other. Growing up, everyone watches it. Now knowing that we get to go is amazing.”

(Continue reading on our website.)

PHOTO BY KATIE REID

Not

snoozing and not losing:

KURT SZYMANSKI Sports Reporter

The day after Oakland University’s 80-76 win over the University of Kentucky (UK) Wildcats on Thursday, Oakland head coach Greg Kampe was made available to the media.

Although talking to the media is nothing new for Kampe, this time was different, as he had not slept a wink the previous night.

“I have not been asleep yet. I have not been to bed, and I have not been — I’ve not stopped talking. I like to talk, I talk a lot, but it’s getting ridiculous,” Kampe said.

Despite a night of no rest, Kampe recognizes how important this moment was for OU and how fortunate he is to still coach his team late into March.

Notably, the previous night, Kampe noted that the win against the Wildcats was the greatest win he’d been a part of.

“I mean, yeah, I haven’t been to bed. I haven’t slept. I got a job,” Kampe said. “This is — I mean, this is the most important time of the year in this job, and I’m lucky that — what are there 32 teams left in the country doing it? And there’s 360 coaches. So 300 coaches aren’t doing it. So I better do it, and I better do it well. I owe my players that.”

A significant factor contributing to Kampe’s sleepless night includes the uncountable number of interviews he has given.

Greg Kampe sleepless after win over Kentucky

“Every 15 minutes, I’ve got a Zoom or something. But it’s really cool, and it’s great for Oakland,” Kampe said. “This is unbelievable for our university, the amount of publicity, and because our kids are such great kids, it’s positive publicity.”

However, this isn’t the first time Kampe has received a sizable amount of media attention.

Kampe recalls returning to Detroit following the Golden Grizzlies’ first appearance in March Madness in 2005 and comparing it to the attention the team received following their win against UK.

“The rush of media kind of like this. I mean, this is different because it’s Kentucky on the biggest stage. But our first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 2005, we went into the league tournament as the seven seed… and when the airplane landed to get back to Detroit, in those days, you could get by — the media could go anywhere.

“There was no TSA. And we get off the plane, and we’re walking, and there’s this barricade and all these cameras and all these people, and I said to my assistant, ‘Oh my God, what happened at the airport?’ And it was all for us. And I was like, we were dumbfounded by it. I’ve never been in anything like that.”

In addition to the increase in media inquiries, Kampe has also dealt with an influx of text messages since the win.

Thankfully for Kampe, he has a secret tactic to ensure it doesn’t take too much time away from coaching.

“I will say this, though. Between 2 and 4 in the morning, I spent those two hours returning text messages because they can’t return them at that time,” Kampe said. “You have 1,300 text messages, and you do it in the middle of the afternoon, then they answer, then you’ve gotta put a thumbs up or a heart on it. And now it becomes 2,600 text messages.

“So I did that at 3 in the morning so that those people wouldn’t — I didn’t want to keep answering text messages. And I got it down from 1,300, I got it down to about 195. Now it’s back up to 495. So I gotta — tonight I’ll be up at 2 in the morning doing the rest of them.”

Jack Gohlke recalls life-changing 24 hours

BROCK HEILIG Sports Editor

Ten-for-20.

In school, it’s not very good — failing, actually.

But in the NCAA Tournament, 10-for-20 makes you a legend.

Ten-for-20 earns you more than 25,000 followers on Instagram.

Ten-for-20 earns you a spot on ESPN with hosts Scott Van Pelt and Pat McAfee.

Ten-for-20 earns you your own clothing line.

And most importantly, 10-for-20 earns you a spot in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

In Thursday night’s win over third-seeded Kentucky, Oakland’s Jack Gohlke shot, you guessed it, 10-for-20 from beyond the arc. Head coach Greg Kampe said on Wednesday before the game that a win over the talented Wildcats would “change [his] players’ lives,” and no man in America’s life has changed more in the last day than Gohlke’s.

He nearly single-handedly carried Oakland to its second-ever NCAA Tournament victory and its first-ever Round of 32 appearance. He finished the game with 32 points, and he won over the hearts of America in the process.

“Yeah, it’s definitely been crazy,” Gohlke said after the game. “When I finally did open my phone, it was overwhelming, to say the least, which I definitely appreciate all the support of all the people sending me messages and things like that. It means a lot.”

Making 10 3-pointers in an NCAA Tournament game

is a feat of its own — one only four other players have ever accomplished — but firing off 20 shots from distance is no small task, either. Box score watchers who don’t know Gohlke and his game would argue he forced a few, but Kampe vehemently disagrees.

“I want him shooting it every time,” Kampe said on Friday. “He can’t take a bad shot. Now, have I said to him, ‘Did we really need that one?’ Yeah. But he knows, if he doesn’t take one, I’m going to scream at him.”

With each 3-pointer that Gohlke made, his legend grew, and so did his “brand.”

A week before the NCAA Tournament, Gohlke likely would have asked, “What brand?”

But when you sink 3-pointers in the biggest game of the season against the best opponent on the biggest

stage, you develop a brand. And that came to fruition on Friday when Gohlke announced a few different NIL partnerships.

Gohlke released two different clothing lines in partnership with Barstool Sports and The NIL Store. He also signed an NIL deal with TurboTax, and he made a post on the social media platform X.

“Me and my team got to the next round by making all our moves count,” Gohlke said in the video posted on X. “Just like TurboTax, who makes all your moves count this tax season.”

Gohlke read the line while shooting a 3-pointer in the ballroom of a hotel while doing his iconic ‘shrug’ that went viral on Thursday.

While Gohlke drained 3-pointer after 3-pointer, he said he witnessed something he’s never experienced in his six seasons playing college basketball.

“It’s kind of one of those things like once you’re out there on the court, you don’t -- me personally, I don’t really notice what’s going on around me, and I think that’s important as players. I don’t think any of us really notice too much about what’s going on, but I will say that yesterday was the first time ever in my career that, especially in the first half towards the end, I noticed like if I caught the ball, like I could just hear the crowd like kind of collect their breath. And that -- I had never noticed that on the court, anything like that. Just hearing that big of a crowd, that type of thing go on, that was kind of cool, but also just a surreal experience of everyone’s kind of on the edge of their seat whenever I touched the ball.”

(Continue reading on our website.)

PHOTO COURTESY OF KATIE REID

‘We’re not a Cinderella:’ The slipper fits, but Oakland refuses to wear it

BROCK HEILIG Sports Editor

In his postgame interview with CBS’ Evan Washburn, Jack Gohlke, fresh off a captivating 32-point performance and a ginormous upset victory over Kentucky, said Oakland, although it’s a 14-seed, is “not a Cinderella.”

At first, it was an odd comment.

What double-digit seed that just pulled off the biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament doesn’t want to be the Cinderella? That’s what every mid-major program and player dreams of.

Oakland was the lowest seed to secure a victory on the first day of the NCAA Tournament, and it knocked off one of college basketball’s blue-bloods,

but Gohlke insisted that the Golden Grizzlies aren’t a Cinderella and that they belong in the Round of 32 and maybe even further.

After the game, Gohlke was asked to clarify his comments given in the postgame interview.

“I’ve always had an interesting mindset about that,” Gohlke said. “Obviously, we come in, we’re the underdog by all measures, but you just gotta -- as a player, you can’t think that way. You gotta go out there and think you have the same talent level as them. I know they have draft picks and I know I’m not going to the NBA, but I know on any given night I can compete with those guys and our team can. That’s why I say we’re not a Cinderella because when we play our A game, we can be the best team on the floor.”

Oakland’s upset over Kentucky was eerily similar to Saint Peter’s’ upset of the Wildcats two seasons ago. In 2022, 15-seed Saint Peter’s knocked off the second-seeded Wildcats, 85-79, thanks to a stellar, attention-grabbing performance from Doug Edert. On Thursday night, 14-seed Oakland defeated third-seeded Kentucky, 80-76, in large part due to Jack Gohlke’s 32-point showing.

Only time will tell if Gohlke will reach the fame that Edert had back in 2022 — another victory or two would help — but even if that happens, Oakland still doesn’t want to be called a Cinderella, as many double-digit seeds that win a game or two are.

Head coach Greg Kampe gave his thoughts on the matter as well.

“If we were pretenders, we would have folded, and that’s what Jack meant by that Cinderella thing,” Kampe said. “We don’t look at ourselves that way. We’re not pretenders. We believe that we belong here. Trey Townsend physically in the second half went to work. Right?”

“And I mean, we shot five free throws in the first half and they had 14. Yet when the game was over we made more free throws than they do because that’s how we play, physical. And we belong. I agree with Jack. We don’t want that Cinderella slipper. We want to be known as when we’re playing on Saturday, whoever we’re playing, we want the respect that this is a good basketball team.”

Any team that doesn’t respect Oakland at this point would be foolish. NC State is next up, and the Wolfpack will have Gohlke at the forefront of their scouting report.

It will be the seventh time in NCAA Tournament history that a No. 11 seed will face a No. 14 seed in the second round of the Big Dance, with the 11-seed winning all six of the previous matchups.

An 11-seed has reached the Sweet 16 26 times in the history of the NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, just two No. 14 seeds have ever made it as far as the regional semifinal.

Either way, there won’t be a Cinderella coming out of the matchup between the NC State Wolfpack and the Oakland Golden Grizzlies. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

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