Swarthmore Phoenix, October 24, 2019

Today in OPINIONS: Dvita Kapadia on Depression A9, Elena Lee on the nickname “Swattie” A10, James Sutton on Halloween A10

THE

PHOENIX

Artist of the Week Ariana Hoshino

VOL. 148, NO. 6

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October 24, 2019

Athlete of the Week

Meet Ben Lau of men’s soccer

The independent campus newspaper of Swarthmore College since 1881

Historic Election Opportunity for Delaware County Democrats Jacinta FernandesBrough News Writer

D

elaware County will be holding elections WWon Tuesday, November 5th for three open seats on County Council Members of the County Council are elected for fouryear terms at staggered two-year intervals. As a result, the two current Democratic members, Kevin Madden and Brian Zidek, are not up for reelection for another two years while the three remaining seats, previously held by Republicans whose terms have now expired, are open in the coming election. There are six candidates competing for the three seats: three Republicans and three Democrats.

The Republican candidates are Jim Raith, businessman and chairman of Thornbury Township Supervisors; Kelly Colvin, Associate Director of Temple University’s Center on Regional Politics and former staffer of several GOP elected officials and the U.S. Education Department; and Mike Morgan, chair of the Foundation of the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce.

The Democratic candidates for County Council are Christine Reuther, an attorney and former Nether Providence commissioner; Monica Taylor, a professor and program director of Ki-

nesiology at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia and director of the Upper Darby School Board; and Elaine Paul Schaefer, former president of Radnor Township’s board of commissioners and a founder of the Radnor Conservancy.

For the first time since the end of the Civil War, the Republicans of Delaware County are in danger of losing their majority control of the five-member county council. The county has voted Republican for the past 150 years, in large part due to the operation of a political machine that, for decades, efficiently en-

forced party loyalty through jobs and services. In recent years, however, the balance has shifted in favor of the Democrats, due to both a decline in the power of the Republican political machine and changing age and racial demographics within the county.

The Democrats won their first two competitive council seats in over a century in 2017, and are looking to flip the three remaining seats in the upcoming elections.

As the fifth most populous county in Pennsylvania, potential Democratic control of the Delaware County Council could play an im-

portant role in ensuring a fair and accurate count in the 2020 census, a key step in both curbing partisan redistricting efforts, and ensuring the equitable provision of public services.

Viable Democratic challenges to any form of local political office are only a very recent occurrence for Delaware County (widely considered the last Republican machine stronghold in the country). From 1875 to 1965, the McClure family ran a highly effective political machine that ensured Republican control over all

CONTENTS News A1-A5 Arts A6-A8 Opinions A9-A10 Sports A11-12 Read more at swarthmorephoenix.com Copyright © 2019 The Phoenix

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Acclaimed poet and essayist Nikki Giovanni standing with Black Cultural staff and interns after a talk on Monday, October 7 “Grit, Grace, and Glow: Celebrating Black Excellence” in the Lang Performing Arts Center.

The State of Zero Waste, Four Years In Students, faculty, and alumni joined Environmental Services and Office of Sustainability staff members in the fourth Annual Waste Characterization Study on the morning of Friday, October 11th.

Since the inception of the college’s Zero Waste initiative, there has been a

lack of regular data, even as waste disposal infrastructure has improved.

The annual waste characterization study has been the primary source of data about the contents of the college’s waste stream.

Administrators expect that new data about the college’s waste stream will allow them to precisely define the Zero Waste commitment by the end of

this academic year.

The Office of Sustainability’s Zero Waste goal is to divert 80% of Swarthmore’s waste from the Chester incinerator by 2022. The incinerator has been described as contributing to a “slow-motion public health disaster” in the community of Chester.

Since its founding in 2014, the Office of Sustainability has been focused on

Best Chantanapongvanij News Writer

improving waste management.

“One of the early things that we were really interested in getting a handle on was the state of our waste systems,” said Melissa Tier, Sustainability Program Manager.

The early stages of Zero Waste were student initiatives to begin separating

continued on page A5 Photo courtesy of Swarthmore College

Bastiaan Phair News Writer

Renowned Poet Nikki Giovanni Visits Campus for the Black Cultural Center’s 50th Anniversary

As part of the Black Cultural Center’s 50th Anniversary Celebration, Nikki Giovanni came to campus on October 7 to give her talk, “Grit, Grace, and Glow: Celebrating Black Excellence.” Along with recitations of her famous poems, “Ego-Tripping,” “A Bench,” and “Tennessean by Birth,” Giovanni weaved in political commentary and stories of her experiences as a Black woman from Appalachia.

Giovanni is an acclaimed poet who has won the NAACP Image Award three times, the Rosa Parks Woman of Courage Award, the Langston Hughes Medal for Outstanding Poetry, and has been nominated for an Emmy. She is known for her strong voice and work on race and gender. She visited Swarthmore before in 1980 for the BCC’s tenyear anniversary.

Kick starting the event, Provost Sarah Willie-LeBreton welcomed Giovanni by listing an extensive catalog of her achievements and describing her career as a “pilot, steering her craft … she jumps and we’re unsure where she will land with metaphor or rhyme …”

After the introduction, Giovanni immediately projected a sense of comfort and ease into the crowd. “Sometimes you sit there and you think ‘damn … I’m good,’” she said casually, sparking the first, but definitely not the last, wave of laughter in Pearson-Hall Theater.

Interlaced with readings of her poems, “Ego Tripping,” “Tennessean

by Birth,” and “A Bench,” Giovanni touched upon a myriad of topics, ranging from Donald Trump to cancer to Jesus to education. With this mix of per-

The week ahead Today Halloween Costume Sale 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

LPAC Lower Lobby Friday Women of Color ERG Breakfast Gathering 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.

Intercultural Center Saturday Pterodactyl Hunt 6:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Sci Quad Sunday The Plant Doctor 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Danawell Multi-Purpose Lounge Monday Boba Liberalism: Decoded 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

ICC Big Room Tuesday Summer Opportunities Fair 12:00pm to 1:30 p.m.

Scheuer Room Wednesday Dining Hall and Community Commons Project Town Hall 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Science Center Room 101

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THE PHOENIX NEWS

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Annual Waste Study, continued from A1 waste streams - compost, recycling, and trash. The college’s composting program grew out of a student-run program. Two of the first Presidential Sustainability Research Fellows, Vanessa Meng ’19 and Adina SpertusMelhus ’17, created an inventory all of the waste bins around campus, researched waste disposal at other institutions, and organized the first waste characterization study.

The goal of the annual waste characterization study is to collect data on the college’s waste stream.

Compost, recycling, and trash are pulled from various buildings across campus. All of these bags are weighed and emptied onto a large table. Participants then sort the waste in subdivisions of each stream — for example, recycling includes paper, plastic, and metal. Once the waste has been sorted it is weighed again. This provides more granular data about each waste stream as well as contamination, and actually diverted waste versus waste that could have been diverted.

Standardizing the disposal of waste around campus and working with EVS has been crucial to begin diverting waste from the incinerator.

“We can better control [the college’s waste stream] by doing more through EVS and more

through our in-house team instead of using the outside hauler,” said Chip Proctor, EVS Manager of Administration.

“We’ve gone to the three-bin system [compost, recycling, and trash] that we see now pretty standard across most of the buildings,” said Proctor, explaining how waste disposal has been standardized across campus.

Having standardized bins and the support of the EVS techs has been crucial in creating a robust system of waste disposal that minimizes what is sent to trash and makes it possible for EVS to efficiently collect all three waste streams individually.

“It really gives you the opportunity to make those choices about disposal,” said Proctor.

Administrators responsible for the Zero Waste initiative agree that the college now has the infrastructure necessary to properly separate its waste and can begin to work more on other aspects of the Zero Waste initiative.

Specifically, they want to reduce the purchase of items that are made of non-renewable material. “[We need] to become more consistent with purchasing materials that can be reused, recycled or ultimately composted so that we can kind of move towards a better system,” said Proctor.

Preventing products that will end up in the trash from arriving on campus in the first place is proving a challenge.

“Departments, student groups, anyone can purchase and bring [non-renewable material] to our campus without much standardization.

That makes tracking where things are coming from and then [limiting the potential trash] that comes to campus very challenging,” said Tier.

According to Proctor, the college has struggled with vendors providing products that will end up in the trash that the college has specifically requested not be provided.

This is due in part to the college not having a standardized approach for making purchases across the campus community.

“Centralized purchasing at Swarthmore is a very new concept ... There’s a lot of work happening with the Purchasing Office ... we’re having conversations about policies to not even bringing certain things to campus,” said Tier. Regardless of improvements made to purchasing administrators still feel that they need to know more about the state of the waste stream to determine if the Zero Waste commitment has been met.

While the college has created efficient systems

PJ Huang / The Phoenix

of disposal, there is still limited data on the overall waste stream.

“It’s next to impossible right now to measure our total waste production … We want regular information about how much we’re creating and then we can track our reduction efforts” said Tier. “The whole idea of the waste characterization study is to sample from a variety of types of buildings …

That way we can at least compare how we’re doing across the years.”

Tier expects that the college will soon have access to much more regular and detailed metrics about

the overall waste stream.

“In the contract [with the college’s new recycling processor], we’re going to be able to get actual numbers on our recycling. Up until now, our recycling has been combined with other people’s recycling …

Right now, waste is picked up by our haulers at multiple locations on campus.

Eventually, we want all of it to pass through one location on campus. EVS techs and Green Advisors will move waste to a centralized location where we would be able to do some weighing ourselves, giving us really precise data.”

With access to more

data, the college intends to more precisely define what successfully meeting the Zero Waste commitment by 2022 looks like.

“By the end of this year, we want to say, ‘how are we measuring 80%? Is it gross [of diverted waste]?

How are we comparing the present to where we’ve come from?’” said Tier.

shared her experiences interviewing the late author James Baldwin in the television program, SOUL!, her Prada shoes that a student complimented, and a final comment encouraging her listeners to stand up and lead. She called on students to say unapologetically to the world “This is what I want to say.”

Larrissa Tolentino ’23 said that she appreciated how the Q&A session gave students a chance to learn more about Giovanni. “[The Q&A session] was really enjoyable. It really showed how quirky of a person she is. Despite how accomplished she is, she was just down to earth and really humble. It was re-

freshing,” said Tolentino.

After the session, Giovanni stayed for a book signing before attending a reception at the Swarthmore Inn. The reception was open to all members of the Swarthmore community.

Nikki Giovanni, continued from A1 sonal stories, poetry, and political commentary, she constantly kept the crowd gasping and laughing. At one point, she shared her views on the current impeachment situation. She suggested that politicians these days care too much about political affiliations rather than the country and its constitution. “No one fights for the constitution anymore. Instead, they fight for their own power,” she said.

She also spoke about her life growing up in Tennessee. Through her poem, “Tennessean by Birth,” and various stories, she expressed her pride as a Black woman in Appalachia. “It’s a good idea to be Black,” she said with a smile.

Students appreciated that she not only shared her poems, but also her wisdom throughout the evening.

“I loved the talk, especially because it was just very unfiltered. I appreciate when people are unfiltered, and she was so comfortable to share who she.

She’s always been like this and she doesn’t change for anyone no matter the circumstances,” said TJ Thomas ’21.

Haron Kalii ’23 also loved the poetry reading and commentary, adding that Giovanni painted a clear picture of life in America.

“She relates her being Tennessean to a different bunch of aspects of her life. And being someone who is not from or familiar with America, you know, she makes me at least have a feel of what being Tennessean is. As with her comments on politics, it was quite intuitive and funny.” said Kalli.

Giovanni, who is a professor at Virginia Tech, also prompted the college students in the audience to remember why they are in school and what to focus on during their time in college.

“If you are in college don’t worry about grades.

You are here to communicate with us [professors],” she said.

She noted she thinks college students these days are too stressed on scores, grades, and debt.

Giovanni also gave her audience writing advice and urged them to write their own truth and their own messages, not what they thought other people wanted to hear.

“Write because you have truth to share. Stop trying to write the next bestseller. No one knows the current bestseller right now so it must not be important,” she noted.

After the talk, there was a brief Q&A session, in which she continued to drop her own jokes and a few words of wisdom. She Photo courtesy of Swarthmore College

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THE PHOENIX NEWS

Celebrating Black Excellence in the Many Forms It Takes In honor of the anniversaries on campus — the 50th anniversary of the BCC, 50th anniversary of the Black Studies Program, and 25th anniversary of the Chester Children’s Chorus — the college is Celebrating Black Excellence through programming for this year. The Phoenix, in addition to event coverage, will be publishing features of students on campus who embody Black Excellence in the many forms it takes.

JJ Balisanyuka-Smith ’21

Photo courtesy of JJ Balisanyuka-Smith

Tiara Tillis News Writer JJ Balisanyuka-Smith ’21 is a junior majoring in Cognitive Science, minoring in Computer Science and Psychology, and fulfilling the requirements for a Math major.

He is motivated to initiate change on this campus by acknowledging and correcting the difficulties that exist with being a Black student at Swarthmore College.

In his time at Swarth-

more, Balisanyuka-Smith has been involved with all Black affinity groups: he is a member of Swarthmore African-American Student Society and Swarthmore African Student Association, and he helped refound Students Of Caribbean Ancestry. He is also a Residential Assistant, serves as director of Swaudio, helps run the radio station, and is currently founding an Effective Altruism club.

B a l i s a n y u k a - S m i t h ’s varied involvement in the

arts community at Swarthmore has helped provide many sources of entertainment such as parties, Worthstock, and Acapella concerts to the campus which he is proud to be a major part of.

“I think legitimately a lot on this campus would not be happening without me and I am very proud of the people that work for and with me at Swaudio.

I think we train them very well,” said BalisanyukaSmith. “I feel like a lot of the things that happen in

the arts happen, partially because of my involvement. For instance, Worthstock, I’m on the committee and I’m trying to get more funding for that, hopefully, I’ll be successful.”

Aside from his involvement in the arts, Balisanyuka-Smith feels that he brings an interesting and new perspective to the campus because of what he looks like and where he comes from.

“I bring a very different perspective. In my time at

Swarthmore, I’m the only person that speaks like me and that looks like me. The fact that I am the way I am does bring an interesting difference in people’s lives,” said BalisanyukaSmith.

During his time at Swarthmore, BalisanyukaSmith has come across the words “Black excellence” in a multitude of environments and finds its definition reflects what the term suggests.

“For me, [Black excellence] is a Black person that’s being very extraordinary. I guess it’s just doing something that is at the top of your field while being Black. It means that there’s something distinctly excellent about the people in those kinds of fields,” said BalisanyukaSmith.

While he acknowledges the importance of vocabulary like “Black excellence”, Balisanyuka-Smith feels as though the term shines a negative light on the idea that Black people’s achievements are out of the ordinary.

“As a general context, I think it’s important in a lot of fields, especially outside of the traditional entertainment field, but I think a lot of Black people are afraid of that word [excellence],” said Balisanyuka-Smith. “One problem I do have with Black excellence is when it’s used in fields like maths because it suggests there’s something that’s out of the ordinary about you doing it.

And I think that while you are praising somebody for what they’re doing, you are also shining a light on the fact that what they are doing is out of the ordinary when it shouldn’t be.”

When reflecting on Swarthmore’s engagement with Black excellence and students, BalisanyukaSmith believes Swarthmore is not acknowledging the Black struggles associated with the excellence they choose to highlight.

“I don’t necessarily think Swarthmore does all that well with Black excellence. I think, like a lot of institutions in order to function, Swarthmore embodies a lot of hypocrisy,” said Balisanyuka-Smith. “I agree that there has been a push into Black excel-

lence, but without a genuine need to acknowledge that concurrent with Black excellence, there is a Black struggle. And they only seem eager to acknowledge Black struggle from the farthest end when there’s something very recent glaring them in the face.”

Balisanyuka-Smith has faced many struggles on and off Swarthmore’s campus that have made him question his safety. As a result, he wants to use his role as an RA to ensure other students do not experience the same fear he does.

“I very strongly care about my community as an RA and will do anything to keep the people safe.

On the other hand, I think that the fact that I don’t feel safe and I’m not the only one is a very strong telling,” said BalisanyukaSmith. “My body has always been hyper policed and, yeah, I can honestly say, for the most part, I’d never internally felt scared of a security force, but the moment that I thought I could have been arrested and deported was like the scariest moment of my life.”

In order to make strides towards correcting the mistreatment of Black struggles on Swarthmore’s campus, BalisanyukaSmith suggests that the administration should engage with the community in a restorative dialogue.

“I think there’s very good evidence that restorative justice does work.

And a very big part of restorative justice is buy-in.

I think that there needs to be an actual effort by the administration because then people who hold the purse strings can actually engage students in making a restorative dialogue with the buy-in of students,” said Balisanyuka-Smith.

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Black Excellence, continued from A3

Emma Morgan-Bennett ’20 Naomi Park Managing Editor Emma Morgan-Bennett ’20 is active in many different roles on campus. An accomplished member of the volleyball team, Morgan-Bennett was awarded Academic All-Centennial, AVCA Division III All-Region, and AVCA Division III All-America Honorable Mention in 2018. She is also involved in Athletics for Diversity and Inclusion. As an artist, she is active in theatre, lead singer of student band Funk the Patriarchy, and started The Revolution Must Go On or RevFest two years ago. Morgan-Bennett also engages in activism related to reproductive justice through academics and as co-head of Swat Doulas.

In these different areas where she divides her time, Morgan-Bennett has brought to the table a sense of social engagement and conscious attention to diversity. As a student-athlete, for instance, she is involved in the athletics department and ADI to promote diversity and inclusion for athletes at the college.

“Within the [athletics] department, I do a lot of work about diversity and inclusion and also work with Title IX office to make a little bit more space for identity,” said MorganBennett.

According to MorganBennett, it is important to help athletes to find a balance between being a part of a team and an individual with a different background than the other people involved with the team. “[Athletes] can be part of a community project of winning a sport, but then my lived experience is very different from my coaches, from my teammates, or from my athletic director,” Morgan-Bennett said.

Morgan-Bennett finds that the work of ADI helps to bring the topic of identity to the forefront to help athletes find that balance.

In this way, she integrates inclusion and activism into athletics. As an example, she mentioned an upcoming Cooper Series event co-sponsored by ADI, “Beyond the Field: Activism, Athletics, and Empowerment in the Modern Political Era”, that will bring the safety of Philadelphia Eagles, Malcolm Jenkins, to discuss his experience with activism within the NFL, to campus in February.

As an artist, MorganBennett is involved in music and theatre on campus and has incorporated her

commitment to inclusion by creating RevFest.

“RevFest is one of my favorite projects that I’ve been a part of. It created a space which just highlights the beautiful talent that we can find within the POC community at Swat,” said Morgan-Bennett. “[The event] really showcases original pieces and pieces that just celebrate identity.”

Additionally, MorganBennett’s activism and passion for reproductive justice has taken shape in her studies and practice as a doula.

“In terms of my more traditional activist side, I’m involved in Swat Doulas which is a really huge part of my reproductive justice life,” said MorganBennett. “I fundamentally subscribe to the fact that all women and people should be able to decide if and when and how they want to have children, and then also have the resources to provide for their family when they’re ready.”

Morgan-Bennett’s activism in this regard focuses on the intersection of race and reproduction.

“The reproductive rights movement is really focused around the issue of choice. Reproductive justice is predominantly led by women of color — mostly Black women actually — who recognize the pain and the trauma that’s involved in America’s history as a country that sterilized and stilted the reproduction of Black women for hundreds of years,” said MorganBennett.

According to MorganBennett, her time at Swarthmore has allowed her to pursue her interest in activism and inclusion in these various forms because of its collaborative environment and access to resources. “[At the college] there’s a lot of solidarity work which teaches the importance of collaboration and solidarity,” Morgan-Bennett said. “For instance, I don’t know the biology or chemistry that really goes behind the birthing process. But I am an expert in terms of birth and its intersections of race and reproduction from a theoretical standpoint and a sociological/anthropological perspective... I think that academic collaboration and not staying in our own lanes can change the conversation and create more inclusive communities.”

In her experience, the college has been able to not only support her work but also get her involved in using resources to help

Photo courtesy of Swarthmore College

neighboring communities and existing projects.

“The fact that Swat has so many resources is fundamental to the work that I’ve been able to do,” said Morgan-Bennet.

“There’s also been organizing, work, and community building that’s been happening for decades in Chester, Philly, and the local Swarthmore area. And so utilizing Swarthmore as a resource to get support to those communities and following their leadership is something that I’ve really been subscribing to.”

To Morgan-Bennett, Black excellence includes intentionality to help grow a community.

“I mean, for me, that’s Black excellence: having people who are invested in not only just participat-

ing in a conversation, but changing a conversation about how we think about community, love, care, and healing from trauma,” said Morgan-Bennett In the campus community, Morgan-Bennett observes the expression of Black excellence in the people who surround her.

“I am joyous every day for the Black excellence that I’m surrounded with on this campus and that’s something that gives me so much just happiness and fulfillment,” said Morgan-Bennet. “I am able to see my friends and people who I consider my family, really be people who are growing into leaders who I completely trust they’re going to be changing the world.”

According to Morgan-

Bennett, being at a small, predominantly white institution adds pressure to express Blackness in a certain way. In her time at the college, however, she feels as though she has been able to learn that Blackness can take many forms.

“I think that that’s something that I had to grow up into during my time at Swarthmore. I’ve seen this from a lot of my Black friends also, which is that we should take comfort and delight in the fact that there are so many ways of being Black and expressing one’s Blackness within Swarthmore and the world at large,” Morgan-Bennett said.

“That’s something that really does take a level of confidence and level of Black Love which is some-

thing that I think is so central and always needs to be built on,” said Morgan-Bennett. “You have to love yourself and you have to love your people in order to have the confidence to be able to say, ‘maybe I don’t fit this certain expectation of Blackness, but I’m never running away from that Blackness and in fact, I’m only running towards it’.”

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THE PHOENIX NEWS



Election, continued from A1 aspects of local elections.

While no longer as institutionalized as past years, Colleen Guiney, Chair of the Delaware County Democrats, was quick to state that the Republican machine “is not over yet, at all.” A Swarthmore resident and active participant in local politics, Guiney has spent the last two decades helping to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.

She served as the Chair of the Swarthmore Democratic Committee, and was a member of the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee, before being elected by acclamation as Chair of the Delaware County Democrats in June of 2018.

Through her work, Guiney has heard multiple accounts of examples of voter suppression by the Republican political machine.

“When newly elected Democratic officials took office in civil service positions, constituents entering for help with issues would first present their voter registration card [to prove they were registered Republicans], with the understanding that was simply what happened.”

Guiney also spoke of employers and organizations that pressured citizens to donate or register as Republicans.

“I know people who worked in law firms, where the law partners basically

expected every individual employee, as part of their normal operations, to make regular contributions to the Republican Party, and to go to Republican fundraisers … [and] I know someone who came to a Democratic meeting and said “I really want to help you guys because I really think you’re the right party and I vote all the time as a Democrat, but I can’t change my registration to Democrat … because I want to be a volunteer firefighter and I can’t be a firefighter unless I’m a registered Republican.”

She added that the local government also leveraged their power to continue this political machine with nobid contracts. Public bodies are required to advertise major projects and accept the lowest qualified bidder.

“The other thing that’s happened in this county is that there are a lot of nobid contracts. The county council decides on spending, and County Council votes, typically, have always been done without any real openness ... and they largely went to people who are heavily involved in the Republican Party.”

In gaining a County Council majority the Democrats hope to address these issues, along with challenging the county’s privatized prison, the only for-profit prison in the state of Pennsylvania, and

creating a county health department, as Delaware is the only county of its size in Pennsylvania without one, among other priorities. The county council also controls the election board, and Democrats want to work to dismantle a system of voter suppression.

In the recent past, many voters of color have been told by election officials to fill out provisional ballots on election day, as provisional ballots may be individually challenged and thrown out for minor mistakes.

“If this person wrote their name as Thomas Smith, but it should have been Thomas J. Smith, it can be thrown out. If this person’s writing was a little bit off, and they don’t know if that address was correct, that might be thrown out. You can challenge them one at a time and hire expensive lawyers, and make the other side pay for lawyers to fight it out. It’s just voter suppression,” Guiney said.

As the fifth most populous county in a key battleground state of the upcoming 2020 presidential race, voter suppression in Delaware County could have national repercussions.

In explaining the recent surge of Democratic support among voters, Guiney considers the Trump era to be largely responsible for the creation of a new generation of activists.

Past fundraising events reached maybe 40 people, she said, while now local Democrat fundraisers now often see hundreds.

Shifting demographics of Delaware County have also played a significant role in this change. The 2000 Census found that over 80% of the county identified as white, in 2010 that figure decreased to 71%. Additionally, the African American population grew from 14.5% in 2000 to 19.7% in 2010.

Nearby in Chester, a predominantly Black community with high levels of poverty and a long history of racist policies, there continues to be lower voter turnout than the rest of the county.

Sharyd, a Chester resident and sixteen-year U.S. Army veteran, is disillusioned with local and U.S. politics.

“I don’t really pay attention to any of that anymore.

Nothing ever changes, Republicans, Democrats, it doesn’t make any difference, they’re all the same.” When asked if he plans to vote in either the upcoming presidential or local Delaware County elections his reply was coy: “I think you knew the answer to that question before you asked it.”

Joan Lindsey, another Chester resident, votes herself, but described a similar situation. While she votes regularly, her adult children do not, nor do most eligible young people she knows.

“Most of our teenagers are not voting, my adult children won’t go out and vote. One son says, what’s the sense, what’s the use, I vote, the wrong guy gets in there ... My three children live in Chester, they didn’t even vote for Obama. I got no answer why, they just don’t vote ... The most thing I hear, they’re all corrupt, all in cahoots with each other, why should I even bother.”

Guiney recognized the struggles of many Chester residents.

“If you’re in a place where people are voting for the same people and your life is still not materially different, when you walk in the door at night, it’s hard to say that I’m going to vote for change and actually expect results.”

In addressing this issue the local Democratic Party, with some funding from the Democratic National Committee, has increased canvassing of the Chester area, listening to concerns, and trying to involve people in the political process of addressing some of the issues.

However, Guiney said, long term structural change will require fairer allocation of block grants of taxpayer money, for funding of services such as education and health care. Block grant distribution is controlled by the county council, and Democrats have long accused Republican councils of placing friendly acquain-

tances above citizen needs in the distribution process.

This election has huge importance for the local Delaware community.

Alongside the three County Council seats, four judgeships on the Delaware Court of Common Pleas and the District Attorney position are on the ballot for the upcoming election, neither of which have ever seen an elected Democrat.

There is also a contested race for the District Attorney, Judge of the Superior Court, and four open seats on the Court of Common Pleas. Additionally, five judges are up for retention elections. Swarthmore is also electing School Board and City Council members along with a new Mayor, however, those elections are unopposed.

Swarthmore students who live on the main part of campus vote at the Swarthmore Rutledge School.

Swarthmore students who live in Mary Lyon, PPR, or PPR apartments vote at CADES. With Civil War-era political machines, voter repression, and block funds as just a few of the issues on the ballot box in the upcoming Delaware County elections, regardless of political leanings hopefully Swarthmore students will be well represented at the ballot boxes come November 5.

ARTS

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Artist of the Week Ariana Hoshino on the Transformative Power of Film

Photo courtesy of Ariana Hoshino

Rubing Zhang / The Phoenix

Veronica Yabloko Arts Writer

I

s it possible to transform our world entirely?

Or to take an object and transform it into a living, breathing thing? According to Ariana Hoshino ’20 it is, and the way to do it is film.

“It’s all about worldbuilding and putting people in other places,” explained Hoshino. “You can emotionally affect people with something you create.”

Hoshino, a filmmaker here on campus and founder of the Cinema Club, has been intrigued by film ever since her first encounter with it— an encounter that came in the form of stop-motion animation.

“I made my first film in 7th grade — it was for an assignment.

Everybody else made posters, and I decided to make a stopmotion animation — I was so extra!” Hoshino laughed.

“I found it really fun that this thing that was so inanimate could turn into something animate through my own means. It would come out the other side living and breathing, and it had power over people.”

At that time the only

equipment Hoshino had was her mom’s DSLR camera. But that didn’t stop her — Hoshino continued making the only kinds of films she could, stop-motion films, until she got her first camcorder in 8th grade.

“I made a documentary about the Romanian revolution. That was the first film that I made,” Hoshino recalled. “My school was really supportive and they saw that I had an interest in film, so they would say ‘why don’t you make a video for the third graders,’ and that’s how I learned.”

Hoshino learned quickly, and at the age of sixteen, she began to get paid for her work. Noticing how well her work was being received, Hoshino started buying equipment and soon had a full kit. But what kept Hoshino coming back was the happiness it brought her.

“People responded really well to it — and all the dopamine and serotonin levels spiked and I was like, I wanna do that again!” Hoshino laughed.

“It was this specialized thing that nobody else was really doing, and I was able to separate myself from the crowd. It was something

special, something that was my precious thing.”

Growing up in Charlotte, North Carolina, Hoshino got to see film production first hand. At the time Charlotte was a huge hub for film production, and Hoshino even got to intern at a film production studio. However, soon after Hoshino discovered her interest for film production, studios all over Charlotte began to shut down due to changes in state taxes.

“It sucked because I didn’t get onto a lot of professional sets and I didn’t get to meet professional filmmakers. But, it motivated me to teach myself things. I’ve always been kind of a self-starting person,” Hoshino reflected. “I wasn’t around a lot of other film people, so I didn’t get exposure to the directors and the actors. I didn’t have this base-level knowledge of who the big film industry people are. But, I did have all this knowledge about production.”

In fact, Hoshino has partaken in nearly every aspect of production. Directing, casting, editing, audio design, visual effects — Hoshino has done

it all. Her real passion, though, is cinematography.

“My goal is to be a cinematographer,” said Hoshino, her face lighting up. “I just want to work with people. As a cinematographer, I wanna reach for people who are driven and creative and amazing. That’s how I’m gonna get the opportunities to world build and create really cool visuals.”

As a cinematographer, Hoshino gets to frame, both literally and figuratively, the narrative of the story with different visual techniques.

“I really like color, experimental editing, and using focus creatively,” Hoshino explained. “I see things really fast — when I listen to music, I can see it. So, I get the most excited about visuals.”

In fact, Hoshino’s creative process hinges on visuals.

When working on a project, the first thing Hoshino thinks about are the different images she wants to include. One recent project of hers was a music video that she created for “Monarchs in Riverbeds,” a song by Fouad Dakwar ’22.

“With Fouad, he showed me his song, and I just closed my eyes and thought, what do I see happening?

The first image that came to mind was Grace [Dumdaw ’21] walking down the street with shopping bags and screaming at her husband through her phone.

And we just built the idea from there. What if we have two characters who are art elites? And two characters who are tech business bros?”

From there, Hoshino played with different visual aspects to create the mood she wanted. Playing with these visuals, she explained, could entirely change the feel of the music video.

“As a cinematographer, I wanted it to be funny, satirical; I wanted it to convey a story,” Hoshino said. “What if we highly saturate the images? Make it cartoony? Everything is sped up like 120 percent because I wanted it to look manic and erratic.”

Hoshino’s favorite part of filmmaking, though?

Meeting new people.

“When you make something with a bunch of people and it’s a lot of work and at the end of the day you’re all exhausted — it bonds you. You’ve created something together, and that’s a bond, but you’ve also gotten exhausted together, and that’s an even stronger

bond. I have met the most people through filmmaking, and I’ve developed the closest relationships that I’ve had through filmmaking.”

Hoshino’s story points to the most wonderful thing about art — its unifying nature. In fact, that’s what Hoshino is most looking forward to: meeting creative people and helping them execute their visions.

You can find Hoshino’s work on Youtube, on instagram @arianacine, and on her website ariannasims98.wixsite.com /ariannasimsdop.

PAGE A7

THE PHOENIX ARTS

Not Many Jokes in Joker James Sutton Arts Writer The comic book picture has conquered American movies.

Nine of the top twenty box office hits this decade were superhero films; the rest are either remakes of or sequels to already existing titles.

Dozens more movies, made

by Marvel (owned by Disney), DC, and Fox are planned for the coming decade. No genre has ever dominated the box office so thoroughly.

Which is why Todd Phillips’s “Joker” is not quite a superhero, or rather supervillain, or really just villain, movie — the titular character has no superpowers beyond managing to wear a purple and yellow suit and still look menacing. There are no flashy special effects, no spandex costumes, not even a hero. Really, the only things that tie it to the genre are references to the Batman mythos and the fact that it is an origin story, which make up the majority of comic

book movies.

What Phillips has done is make the 21st-century version of Martin Scorcese’s 1976 classic “Taxi Driver.”

This isn’t to say “Joker” is as good a film — it’s not. It also isn’t to say that it updates Scorcese’s movie for our time. “Joker” is very self-consciously an homage to gritty 70s movies, set in an urban America that seemed to be spiraling out of control. It’s a far cry from the relatively safe and clean New York of today.

“Joker,” then, is emblematic of how comic books have taken over the movies; it superimposes DC’s intellectual property onto the kind of genre film that wouldn’t be made otherwise (in that vein, “Logan” was a classic western and “Ant-Man” was a Golden Age caper film). In this case, it’s a dark, character-driven story of urban decay.

Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck is a party clown, living with his elderly and infirm

mother, trying to make it as a stand-up comedian. The problem is, he isn’t funny at all. His life hasn’t provided him with many opportunities for laughter; he has a condition that induces uncontrollable laughter and intense revulsion of bystanders. He is friendless, lonely, and deeply depressed, confessing to his overburdened social worker, “I haven’t felt happy for a damn day of my life.”

Then one day, after Fleck is beaten on the street by a group of teenagers — no one comes to his aid — a sympathetic coworker hands him a gun. He starts carrying it around, even dancing with it in his apartment, in another 70’s movie reference, this time to “Apocalypse Now.” Fleck likes the feeling of power the gun gives him — even after he’s fired for carrying it into a gig at a children’s hospital. That same night, he uses the gun for the first time. I won’t give away spoilers, but the murder he commits tips a city that

was swaying from inequality, crime, and moral rot, over into outright rebellion.

Gangs of protestors angry at the uncaring rich protest, riot, and loot — an allusion to Antifa, but on a far larger scale, murderous instead of sometimes violent, and in clown makeup. Here, Phillips repeats, without adding anything particularly new or interesting, the Dark Knight trilogy’s preoccupation with the ways that breakdowns in governance and order lead to revolutionary chaos. Among this chaos and reeling from revelations about his childhood, Fleck snaps, and the “Clown Prince of Crime” is born.

The plot, however, takes a backseat to Phoenix’s virtuoso performance. His face, contorting and stretching into nightmarish expressions of rage and mirth, fills the screen for long chunks of the movie. He lost dozens of pounds for the role, and his bones seem to swell under his skin, pushing outward.

Something monstrous inside him is struggling to break out of his fragile shell.

The film also fails, thankfully, to be as controversial as the national media wanted it to be. There’s no kind of apology for the alt-right or alienated, radicalized young men. The “discourse” around the film before its release was exhausting and repetitive: we have had this debate over and over again, and there is simply no evidence to support the claim that movies cause violence. Tipper Gore is still wrong.

For all the scenery-chewing in “Joker,” there’s a kind of emptiness to the movie.

It’s certainly well-directed — Phillips’ Gotham is both realistic and evocative; you feel its decay and despair — and at least aspires to seriousness, with an orchestral soundtrack and the aforementioned references to 70s auteur cinema. At the end of the day, the Joker is shown committing violent crimes (boy, does this movie earn

the R rating) and spiraling in the same way his city does, which is an effective but not particularly deep metaphor.

Christophr Nolan recognized this problem in his far superior “Dark Knight” trilogy, pinning the moral arc of the second movie on the rise and fall of Harvey Dent, not Heath Ledger’s Joker.

Ledger’s and Phoenix’s character is really more a symbol than a person. There’s never really a chance that he’ll change his ways or come up with some complex justification for his actions. The Joker is empty, wild malevolence — he is more of an icon than a full personality with depth.

But icons can be compelling, and while by no means a pleasant watch, “Joker” is a perfectly good, if not great, film — Phoenix’s performance alone is worth the price of admission. It is, however, a reminder that references to other works and “grittiness” are not substitutes for real depth.

CROSSWORD have one 44. Weight loss medication also known as Orlistat 45. One part of an ellipsis 46. Italian rice dish 48. Bother 51. Last place on the All-American Podium 52. Physical strength 54. Comes with a side of garlic bread* 57. Good band name for AARP members 59. Tehran’s locale 60. Alternate/archaic way to spell a mythical flying creature 61. “____ boy!”

62. She learned to let it go 63. Rural property measurements 64. Aunts, sp.

65. Swat alum Bednar or soccer player Barkley 66. Fond of ordering people around 67. Handle in French or a geometric arc segment

Across 1. With 39-across, comes with a side of sweet potato fries and plantains* 5. With 41-across, with all the starred clues, maybe with should do this and Bamboo more 10. To eat an orange or banana 14. Flipped standard song form 15. Why seven was afraid of nine 16. 2012 Best Picture 17. Vice president under Jefferson 18. Philosopher Benjamin Rush 19. Ending to audi or abor 20. Comes with a side of sausage and syrup* 22. These in German, f.

23. B_____ Mussolini 24. Another way to pronounce/spell a popular soy product 26. Third person perspective fighting style game, init.

27. Pink, ger.

29. Large mouse 32. Matzah ____, Passover breakfast food 34. Lives in a sty 35. Argentinian tea 36. ½ 39. See 1-across* 41. See 5-across 42. Basketball hoop and a wine glass

Down 1. Lewis Carroll poem, with “wocky” 2. Get dissed online?

3. Motto of people who don’t like their steak medium or well 4. One of this is equivalent to 1/24 of pure gold 5. Feudal worker 6. Essential part to a drum kit, pl.

7. Cleanser that makes you older?

8. Persuasive speaking or writing 9. ____D, soldier’s mental health concern 10. Comes with a side of baked beans and watermelon 11. New York great lake 12. Lots or swatties have big ones 13. _____ ranger 21. North or South East Asian country 22. One part of an ellipsis

25. “Slow Ride” band 28. Fossil fuel drill 29. Economics majors will soon be doing this post-graduation 30. Consumed 31. 5+5 33. “Sharing the best in Gardening” a UK org.

35. Knee part that is often injured 36. Not young 37. Lithic or Liberal starter 38. Comes with a side of salsa and bean and corn salad 40. “_____ you” 43. Kids with lesbian parents have these 46. They help you on your history papers 47. Adverb + contraction, meaning that place 49. Largest arteries 50. Reason for dirty hair 51. Italian volcano, possessive 53. River in Chile 54. Platform on the shore 55. Security camera company 56. Impudence or rude 58. Mountain in Poland and Slovakia 60. Slang for something extraordinary

PAGE A8 8

THE PHOENIX ARTS

“Manet and Modern Beauty” Graces the Getty Museum in Los Angeles Emmeline Wolf Arts Writer The timing of Fall Break could not have been better! As soon as I arrived home in LA, I attended the newest show at the J. Paul Getty Museum: “Manet and Modern Beauty.” The show had recently been at SAIC in Chicago and moved to the Getty this fall, opening on October 8.

The show is a large and unique collection of the realist master’s work. The stunning exhibit spans the last years of his life, primarily the late 1870’s through the early 1880’s, just before his death in 1883. The show’s collection of Manet’s later work displays the culmination of his previously developed style, one that he cultivated throughout his career. Manet, who was called the “painter of modern life” by his friend and colleague Charles Baudelaire, is recognized as one of the founders of modern painting. While Manet was affiliated with the Impressionist group, his work was a precursor. Despite his friendship with Impressionist painters and a similar looser style and use of bright color, Manet often chose to submit work to the official Salon instead of the Impressionist Exhibitions, reaching a larger public audience.

The expansive show contains six sections of Manet’s work: modern life, portraiture, pastels, the Four Seasons Project, works at Bellevue, and “flowers, fruit, and gardens.” Manet’s detailed knowledge of how fashion related to modern life and society stands out as a pertinent theme throughout the show.

As a realist artist, Manet observed modern life, and his social scenes and portraits reflect the changes and modernization of Parisian social life. His painting “Boating” is full of light and color, reflecting Manet’s involvement with the Impressionists. It also shows the rise of leisure in the middle classes in Paris and the surrounding suburbs in the late 1870’s. Further, the depiction of the stylish young couple, dressed for a river outing, demonstrates Manet’s extensive knowledge of contemporary fashion.

The show also includes many café scenes. Life in caberts or cafés saturated all classes of Parisian society. Watching a show or having a drink out in public rooted as a large aspect of Parisian socializing.

The paintings, including “Woman Serving Beer” are wonderful depictions of

modern life. The woman serving beer looks directly out of the canvas, as if the viewer is a customer. The men are out at a café listening to a woman singing.

I loved a playful sketch of a pair of legs under a table at a café. The sketch, again, shows an attention to fashion and detail in the woman’s black accessorized hat, black ruffled coat, and white lace collar.

This attention to the role of contemporary clothing shows that Manet was observing the modern individual. The culmination of modern life is well-depicted in the show. There are also the inclusions of portraits of prominent social figures, including a popular opera singer, Émile Ambre and Proust, who ended up taking over the running of the Salon.

Many of the portraits are of Manet’s friends or family. Many became collectors and his supporters. Manet did not take money for his portraits of close friends, showing that they were for his own artistic development.

Manet’s portraits show an attention to modern life and a modernization of the traditional style of Portraiture. This is seen in his portrait of Proust, which is modern in its fashion, cropped viewpoint, and well-tailored suit. One of my personal favorite paintings is a sketchy portrait with loose strokes, depicting a woman reading the newspaper in an outside café. Knowing she is in public, the woman wears a fashionable hat and coat and has put on a smattering of makeup. I am intrigued by the stark rouge that defines the line of her lip, a bold line without any additional modeling and echoes the flowers behind her. The painting is also playful, as a beer teeters on the table, halfway in the frame on the left side. This also shows the independence of the modern woman, reading by herself at a café outside.

I was drawn to this painting because of its light floral colors and loose brushstrokes. I was also drawn by the seeming independence of the woman as she sits unescorted outside at a cafe, reading and drinking all by herself. By reading the newspaper, in particular, she is further demonstrating her independence. Many of these portraits, even the ones that were painted outside, however, were painted inside Manet’s studio. He used his own landscape paintings as background to give the illusion of outside. This separates Manet from impressionists who

most often painted outdoors.

Manet made clear that art mediums have no gender distinction.The show has a small collection of Manet’s pastels which he began using for convenience as he aged. The show explained that pastel was commonly seen as a more feminine medium, equating the powderypacked stubs of color to lady’s powdered makeup.

However, Manet and Modern Beauty contained fashionable portraits of males done by Manet in pastel.

Pastel is unique because it requires no water or oil medium to mix and can be applied directly to paper.

Among the most outstanding pastels are a bather and a nude. Both demonstrate Manet’s social and artistic connection to Degas, who was known for this subject matter. “Spring,” which is used as the main image and poster for the show, was originally conceived as part of a series by Manet. He had planned to paint depictions of all four seasons in new, creative ways. Unfortunately, he only completed “Spring” and “Autumn.” While depicting the seasons is traditional in subject matter, notably done by early Renaissance master Botticelli, this show noted that Manet’s depictions were different. Instead of noting the change in season with allegory, Manet did so with contemporary fashion and flowers. One of my favorite works was “Autumn.” This painting shows a woman’s portrait in profile. She wears a thick, fur-lined coat. She is placed in front of with a turquoise floral background with chrysanthemums which was based off of the fabric from a silk Japanese robe belonging to Manet’s friend Proust, whose portrait was noted earlier. The references to contemporary fashion as a statement of the seasons changing. It embraces the way society was moving towards modernity with the rise of department stores. I am particularly drawn to the contrast of the bright background and the use of fabric and pattern of Japanese silk as a motif for the background and the fashion of the season.

The show then wound around a corner to show watercolors and letters from Manet’s time in Bellevue, outside Paris. Manet went to Bellevue to rest and undergo a series of bathing spa treatments for stiffness and pain in his leg, which had been ailing him. The letters Manet wrote to his friends and family are decorated with

Emmeline Wolf / The Phoenix

water color or pen sketches of flowers and animals.

A friend and fellow artist even received his letter with a one lovely, perfectly painted brown watering can standing among delicate green grasses.

Manet claimed that creating these small but beautiful pictures lightened his spirits. These pictures represent Manet’s mastery with watercolor. Manet painted directly onto his small sheets of paper.

Upon entering this room a low glass case contains a small watercolor set that belonged to Manet. Even his dirty, delicate brushes lie nestled inside the metal paintbox. The letters and set of paints bring a softness and humanity to the genius, allowing the viewer to feel closer to the artist.

The extensive show has one last surprise. Just when I thought the exhibition was over, I turned a dark corner to find one large final room. Although his health was declining, Manet’s last works focus on the extraordinary mag-

nificence of living things.

This final room contains still lives of fruits and flowers as well as garden scenes from Manet’s final two years of life. While he rested at Versailles and Rueil outside Paris, he missed his friends and the swirl of Parisian life. Almost totally paralyzed in his left leg, Manet could no longer attend cafes and observe the modern life around him. Instead, he applied his modern painting principles to the gardens that surrounded him and the flowers brought to him by friends. Although still life painting had fallen out of favor, Manet ignored trends and fads in painting and raised still life painting to new levels.

For example, his brushwork with crystal vases and water demonstrate understanding of paint, light, and the connection between the two. This last room shows the final artistic genius of Manet as well as highlights his gentlemanly character (most of these paintings were never sold but rather given as

gifts to friends, collectors, and even in one instance, a stranger) and the importance he placed on relationships.

“Manet and Modern Beauty” brings a final culmination of Manet’s development of artistic style and as an observer of modern life. This show stands out for how it blends and connects Manet’s humanity and his confident, artistic genius as his life came to a close.

OPINIONS

PAGE A9

On Seeking Help for Depression Dvita Kapadia Op-Ed Contributor

D

epression can make a person feel sad, hopeless, unworthy, tired or guilty — overall, it’s a horrible feeling.

It originates from a combination of predisposed genetics for depression, stressful life experiences, and a lack of dopamine production or reception in brain cells. It is a medical condition that needs attention (just like a physical illness) and it’s definitely not someone’s fault that they have depression. We should feel empowered to reach out and find the resources we need to enrich our lives. Mental illness is just as serious as physical illness. Asking for help is not easy, especially when depression gets in the way, but individuals should take care of themselves.

When people get a sniffy nose, they blow it out or take some cold meds. If it gets worse, they go to the doctor. The same concept applies to depression.

Like recovering from a sickness or an injury, asking for help for depression ranges in a similar way.

Just like someone would take care of themselves if they were ill, they can take care of themselves if they are depressed. Say a person hurts their ankle, at first, they think it is a roll and do the appropriate aftercare necessary for it to get better. If it does not get better, they proceed to go to the doctor and get an x-ray. The doctor

then decides what is best for them to do — perhaps an ankle brace, perhaps a surgery. Asking for help when needed is accepted for physical illnesses, it should be the same for mental health issues.

Based on what a person’s mental health situation is, they can ask for different levels of care. Telling a friend about their mental state is the first step.

If that helps them feel like depression does not affect their day to day life, then great! If it doesn’t help them feel than their depression is more manageable, perhaps they need a more supportive level of care like a doctor or a parent.

It could seem like a student not asking for help when they need it is irresponsible, except for one reason, that the person is extremely depressed.

They are unable to ask for help because they didn’t ask for help earlier. Depression brings a lack of motivation and hopelessness which, over time, can result in a lack of motivation to ask for help. At this point, depression has affected a person in a way the person cannot take responsibility for it. The key to tackling this problem is frequent and early intervention. Ask for help early and frequently. No matter how trivial you might believe your feelings are, reach out.

Asking for help is hard. It takes a lot of courage and self-awareness to ask for help with mental health.

People must know a significant amount about mental health to be able to ask for help. For example, they must know what it means to be mentally healthy and the warning signs for when to ask for help. There must also be a surrounding culture that promotes selfcare and mental health awareness rather than one that hushes or diminishes mental illness. There must be an environment that accepts, understands and advocates for mental health awareness and care rather than shaming those who have mental disorders or ignoring the existence of mental health issues.

People also might need to have some financial means to be able to reach out for help. These are valid worries some have to deal with and asking for help can be easier from a privileged position. At Swarthmore, however, there are resources to make it easier, although they are not completely comprehensive.

By being at Swarthmore, we have access to an expansive education, which includes mental health resources. We get emails from faculty and classes that help us think about our mental health such as Study Breaks and Mental Health Forums. Swarthmore can be stressful with classes and extracurriculars, but I have been in many classes where the professor has acknowledged that folks should take care of their mental health first because that

w

THE

PHOENIX

is important too, although not all professors might do that. These resources, however, may not be expansive enough for everyone.

We also have access to social media, where mental health is more openly and honestly spoken about.

While there are negative stressors that come with social media, we can create a feed that is positive and search for mental health resources through social media (shoutout to “@themindgeek” on Instagram). Another positive aspect of social media is that it makes it easier to reach out to people. We live in a world where we are all connected to each other, we can use this connection to our benefit.

Further, there are also free apps that are focused on mental health check-ins and support. For example, 7cupsoftea is a confidential listener service where people can speak to trained listeners about their problems. Moodpath asks questions three times a day about mental health and after 14 days, recommends what to do about it.

It is our responsibility to consider and question our culture and internalized beliefs about mental health, educate ourselves and come to a decision about our mental health — do we need support right now and how much support do we need? It is also the responsibility of those who do not have depression to educate themselves so they can support their

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friends and also know how to take care of their mental health. We also have access to multiple resources posted in most dorms and public spaces. We have C.A.P.S., which is a free and confidential counseling service. However, C.A.P.S. too, has its own limitations including not enough supportive care, appointment availability and lack of diversity in its counselors. We have DPAs and RAs and RCCs and our professors and friends and deans. At Swarthmore, we have many resources that make it easier for us to take responsibility for our own mental health.

It’s hard to reach out, it is hard to keep reaching out. Do it anyway. It is ultimately your responsibility to take care of yourself. So many people believe that nothing can be done about

Health Services Should Be Expanded EDITORIAL

One of the most important features of an accessible campus is affordable, high-quality health care.

Swarthmore should prioritize accessibility, but it is simply not doing enough to make the campus accessible. The services offered

by Worth Health Center need improvements in order for Swarthmore to be the open, inclusive, and accessible campus that it strives to be.

Two problems that limit Worth’s accessibility are that it provides only limited services and has inadequate hours. Worth has to refer students with many health conditions

to outside care because it provides somewhat limited treatments and simple lab tests. This means that students may have to seek health care elsewhere, leading to expensive copays with disproportionate burdens on low-income students.

Compounding this problem, some of the services that Worth offers are not free, so even the health care that students obtain on campus may not be financially accessible.

Flu shots cost $25 for students not on the college’s health insurance plan, and students can receive reimbursement through their insurance only after fronting the cost or adding it to their

Swarthmore bill and providing a receipt to their insurance. Students who have health insurance could get a flu shot for free at a pharmacy. Worth should develop the capability to offer students with insurance a flu-shot without requiring them to handle the reimbursement themselves, or look into the possibility of providing free flu shots to all students, as many universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, already do.

While Swarthmore does increase student access to health insurance by requiring all enrolled students to be covered by a health insurance plan,

some students covered by health insurance plans not sponsored by the college may find that Worth’s services, such as STI testing or blood tests, are not in their health insurance provider network. Additionally, Worth’s pharmacy is limited, and out of a mere three pharmacies within walking distance, only one delivers to Worth.

Worth should work to increase accessibility to students by having multiple pharmacies delivering to the health center as well as expanding its hours so students can pick-up medications at a wider range of times and on weekends.

Worth is also only open on weekdays, at hours dur-

ing which many students are in class. It is only open after 5 p.m. on Wednesdays. In other words, students have no place to get health care on campus if they face injuries or other urgent health concerns on weekends or on most weekday evenings. Worth is also closed during breaks, despite the large number of students — low-income and international students in particular — who stay on campus at these times. If students avoid going to the emergency room when Worth is closed, they could be left with health problems that harm their bodies. To its credit, Worth does provide an emergency nurse on-

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depression or wonder why they should change their depression because “it’s not their fault” they feel this way. It is not their fault; however, the right resources can enrich them to help themselves feel better because they are humans who fight for survival. Depression and other mental illnesses are a medical condition and should be treated like one.

Asking for help for depression can give us agency over our recovery and reclaim the control that it feels like depression strips from us. Therefore, it is important to ask for help early and frequently. It is our responsibility to keep ourselves alive. Just like you would with a physical illness, take care of yourself.

call number for students to call after-hours but wait times can be nearly an hour.

We, at The Phoenix, believe that the college should continue to invest in improving Worth and expanding access to healthcare for students.

Swarthmore’s professed commitment to a “cashfree campus” must extend fully to student health services — access to health care should be available to everyone on this campus, regardless of income and socioeconomic status.

THE PHOENIX OPINIONS

PAGE A10

Swat’s in a Name? S’more Than You Think Elena Lee Op-Ed Contributor I am a first-year student, and I already love many aspects of Swarthmore College: the beautiful campus, the unique and compassionate students, the interesting classes, the dedicated professors, and numerous other miscellaneous quirks. I am decidedly not enamored, however, with one very important part of going to Swarthmore: being called a Swattie. Now, please banish the thought that I do not enjoy being a Swarthmore student; that is false. It is simply that the nicknames “Swat” and “Swattie” bring to mind a small, handheld plastic device one would use to demolish flies. I have absolutely nothing against flyswatters, but I would much prefer not to be one.

I am not sure exactly how this nickname for Swarthmore came about,

and I mean no offense to those who use it. Historically, however, Swarthmore students went by a name I feel would be vastly superior: “S’more.”

Wouldn’t it be much nicer to be a tasty dessert roasted over a campfire than a household implement smeared with fly guts?

Besides, a “s’more” brings to mind communal bonfires, goodwill, and peace, which is in keeping with Swarthmore’s Quaker values. Each ingredient in a s’more is equally important (at least, in my opinion), a fact which again suggests the equality of all individuals. In fact, the ingredients must work in concert with one another to form a delectable treat that oozes and crunches and melts satisfyingly in one’s mouth.

Indeed — admissions, are you paying attention?

There are a multitude of cheesy (or rather, marshmallowy) analogies ripe

for use in Swarthmore’s marketing. For example, a s’more has three parts: marshmallow, chocolate, and graham cracker. Liberal arts has three branches: humanities, social sciences, and S.T.E.M. You cannot be a true S’more without mastering all three components. And imagine what First Collection would be like if we all toasted a marshmallow when we passed around the candle flame! I think my inner light would be much more valuable (and tasty) if I could utilize it to caramelize some sugary goodness. Besides, we all know the real way to attract students to a school is with food. S’mores are even customizable to all kinds of diets; you can use vegan marshmallows, gluten-free graham crackers, fair-trade chocolate … the possibilities are endless.

Just think, admissions, you could even improve that classic e-mail persuading

high school seniors to apply by telling them, “Clicking an additional box is no more arduous and taxing than toasting another marshmallow.” As a person who would far rather have another marshmallow on my s’more than another pickle on my burger, I can guarantee that that minor alteration will generate more applicants.

The name “S’more” even goes along with our mascot, Phineas the Phoenix. I have always been perplexed about why our mascot is a phoenix, although I’m not complaining because phoenixes are fantastic creatures.

On the other hand, if we were S’mores, we could tell everyone that Phineas rises from the ashes of our burnt marshmallows. Also, it would be so much easier to come up with chants at sporting events if we were “S’mores”: “Let’s get s’more points!”, “Let’s score s’more!” and “Go

hard-core s’more” come easily to mind. I’m sure you, dear reader, are rolling your eyes in exasperation, but I came up with those in about five seconds whereas I have yet to think of a single cheer that rhymes with “Garnet” or “Swattie” (other than “potty”, which doesn’t really work for obvious reasons). I’m sure such rhymes exist, but it is fall break as I write this and I do not have the brainpower to think of them.

Thus, instead of saying, “I go to a small liberal arts college near Philadelphia,” we could say, “I go to the college with all the S’mores.” Students at other institutions would be begging to transfer. And honestly, for all we grumble about lacking “marketable skills” after college, there are many, many college graduates who can program in five different languages or write a research paper. There are

very few college graduates who can craft a perfect s’more. If we are true S’mores, we will be able to tell potential employers and grad schools, “Not only am I well-rounded … but I’m also well-toasted.

Evenly. Perfect and golden on all sides.” I’m sure everyone will be jumping at the chance to hire or admit a well-toasted S’more, as we will be the epitome of a thorough liberal arts education. So honestly, we should all swat away the idea that we should wait s’more to become S’mores.

Finally, for those in the class of ’23 group chat who were wondering: yes, I believe a s’more is a sandwich.

Defending Halloween: A Response to “Say Boo to Halloween” James Sutton Op-Ed Contributor

Reading “Say Boo to Halloween” in last week’s issue of The Phoenix, I kept thinking about the Puritans. Not really because of the H.L. Mencken quote that defined Puritanism as the “fear that someone, somewhere, is having fun” (although that, of course, crossed my mind), but because of their similar propensity for abolishing holidays that they found impure.

Long before Starbucks and people who say “Happy Holidays,” the Puritans fought America’s first war on Christmas. Thanksgiving, which “Say Boo” makes sure to direct some scorn towards, was their main weapon. Finding the festivities around Christmas and Easter too impious, they banned them, replacing them with “days of feasting,” and “days of thanksgiving.”

Piantanida continues this grand American tradition, although with Halloween in her sights this time.

Her objections about its consumerism and artifice are unpersuasive, however.

“Say Boo” seems to situate its main objection to Halloween in its association with “consumerism and capitalism.” I happen to like capitalism, as it happens, and if consumer-

ism means more fun-size M&Ms and Twix, sign me up. The only argument the author presents against these twin evils are the “massive amounts of harm to people and environments around the world.”

It’s hard to respond to such sweeping assertions, although I’m confused at the easy condemnation of a system that’s lifted more people out of backbreaking poverty than any other political system in history. As for the point about consumerism, the kind of mindless consumption she highlights has far more to do with normal days of the year, not a day specifically set aside for indulgence.

It’s fine to overindulge every once in a while, and holidays can help to set parameters on that indulgence.

Piantanida goes on to attack the artificiality of Halloween: it exists only “because there is a need for American people to escape and find a nationwide excuse to party.” Sounds great. Americans are sorely in need of those kinds of days; because of our immigrant roots, we don’t have the dense web of local traditions and holidays that other, older, countries have. We also enjoy a lot less time off than people in other developed countries. We deserve a break.

Halloween, to Piantan-

ida, is illegitimate because “There’s no longer a religious tie to it, it’s not about one of America’s ‘victories’, and it’s not the start of a new chapter.” I’m unclear what the holidays celebrating our “victories” are, and about the use of scare quotes — is she proposing we abolish Veteran’s Day and the Fourth?.

Her point about religious ties is interesting.

All Souls and All Saints, the Christian holidays most closely associated with Halloween, are still celebrated although they’ve lost connection to the holiday itself. But to contend that a holiday centered around dressPhoto courtesy of Atziri Marquez

ing up as something you are not, celebrating the macabre, and acknowledging the supernatural is not “religious” is a mistake. It may not be associated with what we typically think about when we hear the word “religion,” but Halloween is how we remind ourselves that, to paraphrase, there are more things in Heaven and Earth than explained in our philosophies; human life involves regular encounters with the utterly inexplicable, and it is good to remind ourselves of that.

Piantanida’s solution is to focus on holidays that “revolve around love for

each other and ourselves.”

Easter and Christmas are out, then, with their stubborn attachment to ancient religion. And no to the Fourth, New Year’s, St. Patrick’s Day, hell, even Earth Day; there’s a dearth of holidays built around a generalized celebration of “love for ourselves and others.” In fact, the only one that comes to mind is … Thanksgiving. Darn.

Piantanida wrote that she didn’t like that holiday either.

But Halloween’s lack of seriousness is perhaps its best attribute. There are no religious services to attend, no awkward family obligations: just candy

and costumes. Halloween is gloriously stress-free and self indulgent. And while Piantanida spends a lot of time worrying about offensive costumes, I don’t think it’s that difficult to expect people not to wear blackface or Native American headdresses. And while Piantanida objects to “dressing up as something you’re not”, costumes can be a wonderful outlet for creativity and playfulness, as well as liberating. It’s nice to have a night where permission’s granted to be a little weird.

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Stressed by Stress Injuries Bayliss Wagner Staff Writer

W

hen I asked Lucas Heinzerling ’20, a distance runner on the men’s varsity cross country and track teams, about the injuries he has sustained during his seven-year career, he rattled them off quickly: Achilles tendonitis in both legs, plantar fasciitis in both legs, tibial stress fractures in both legs, IT band syndrome in both legs and hip abductor injuries in—you guessed it—both legs.

Despite Heinzerling’s limitations during his junior year, he ran at conferences and made the regional team during the cross country season, but was too injured to compete at the regional meet.

During the next season, he continued to run and qualified for the conference meet. “But I really shouldn’t have raced,” he told me. “In the past, it’s usually been that I’ve definitely kept running even through injury. Sophomore year, I was limping pretty badly before I stopped running. And I think that’s just stupid on my part.”

This summer, Heinzerling got a tattoo of a broken shinbone to “commemorate” his injuries, on his right ankle. “I thought that would be the end of my injuries,” he said. It wasn’t.

When I interviewed him on Oct. 8, he had been injury-free for the first few weeks of cross country, but shin pain had forced him to scale down his training significantly that week. At the time of publication, he is awaiting the results of a bone scan, but he is still able to race.

Celia Parts ’22, a longdistance runner who runs all three seasons on the women’s teams and calls cross country her favorite season, has also sustained multiple injuries in her year and a half on the team.

Parts, too, continued to run while in pain, but attributes this more to a false diagnosis than to personal stubbornness.

For four months, doctors, trainers and physical therapists attributed her pain to hip misalignment rather than what it really was a—spinal stress fracture. It would put her out of commission for at least four more months following the diagnosis.

“It was really frustrating because I’d take some time off, like a week or so. And then I’d be like … ‘I’m feeling all right now, I’m going to try and go run this workout.’ And I’d be able

to run a rep or two, but it would be really painful,” she said. “So that was kind of indicative that it was something more. But it took a while to officially get an MRI done.”

She is now recovering from another injury, a tibial stress fracture that was at first diagnosed as shin splints.

Injuries like those sustained by Parts and Heinzerling are far from uncommon among runners. Studies estimate that anywhere from about 20 to 80% of runners sustain injuries each year. To make matters worse, injuries are not only common, they’re also chronic. Runners who have been injured in the past are much more likely to be injured again, according to the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Between 50 and 75% of all running injuries are repetitive stress injuries, according to a literature review published in “Sports Medicine.” Because of this, the longer a runner continues to aggravate the injured body part, the worse the injury will become until they correct the underlying issue.

The question of why runners ignore their pain and continue running on injuries is complicated.

Head Men’s & Women’s Cross Country/Track & Field Coach Peter Carroll explained why injuries can be so frustrating to runners as opposed to players of a team sport.

“In running, you kind of need to be 100 percent,” he said. “You’re your own person and you can’t get a sub at mile four.”

Injuries are also particularly difficult to come back from, Carroll says, because running is a sport that relies almost entirely on aerobic fitness, strength, and “very little on skill.”

Success depends on fitness that must be constantly maintained.

“If you’re a basketball player and you miss a couple days of practice, you’re not going to go back to practice three days later and forget how to shoot free throws, but if you miss five days of training ... now your fitness level might change a little bit,” he said.

Because running requires such constant maintenance of one’s fitness level, Carroll said, runners on his team sometimes continue to practice instead of listening to their pain. He feels that in many cases, running through injury tends to increase the chance that the injury will worsen later on.

“They have a great work ethic, and sometimes

they’ll make a bad decision for the short run [instead of ] looking at the long run and [saying] ‘You know what, I have 103 fever, I should go home,’ or, ‘I’ve got a sore calf, I should go on the bike for two days,’ he said. “They don’t want to fall behind, and then on the pecking order, they don’t want to feel like they’re missing a workout that’s going to put them behind somebody who they were ahead of.”

It can also be hard to tell whether such injuries are serious or less serious.

As in Parts’ case, the diagnosis of stress injuries in particular can often be finicky, frustrating, and complex; they often escape Xrays, if they are fractures, and even MRIs and other high-definition scans, as some can be soft-tissue injuries.

Parts’ X-rays came back negative for both of her injuries, which may have delayed diagnosis. Since stress injuries are also not visible on the surface, diagnosis partly relies on subjective reports from the patient.

“I think I might have a slightly higher pain tolerance [than other patients], so when they are trying to diagnose something maybe it’s not as painful as it should be to the normal patient,” she said “I think that it’s just a little frustrating that twice I’ve had injuries and felt a lot of pain, and that hasn’t been necessarily properly diagnosed or taken to the fullest extent.”

The college staffs a full athletic training department that is open to inseason athletes. Two days each week, they also bring in an orthopedic doctor— Dr. Charles Hummer III— who sees students whose issues have been deemed serious. But as a small DIII college, Swarthmore cannot maintain a program such as a large D-I school’s expansive running program that hires doctors and physical therapists who specialize in running injuries.

Another reason why runners might be a little too eager to get back on the pavement, track, or trail is obvious: they love running. Missing runs is not only bad for their team, but also for their mood and mental health, Parts and Heinzerling said.

“My junior year was overall really hard mental health-wise, and not running is really, really awful when you’re already not in a good place,” Heinzerling said. “Especially since you take away the thing that you love doing and the

thing that brings you happiness, and then on top of that, you have to deal with this injury and you’re actively doing things that cause unhappiness.”

Among the things that could cause unhappiness to athletes in recovery: biking in the Matchbox in order to keep up the cardiovascular fitness they’ll need to tap into during a race; repetitive hip, glute and core exercises prescribed by a physical therapist; doctor’s appointments.

Parts mentioned that her injury made it harder to find the stress relief she often found in running. Even more, she said, it made it harder to find social time with her teammates.

“It feels isolating because you’re sitting there alone in the Matchbox on your bike, or you’re at the pool doing laps by yourself,” she said.

There are ways in which the athletic program addresses issues that go beyond physical conditions.

For student-athletes who want support from someone who understands the unique challenges they face, for example, the program reserves several hour-long sessions per week from a Counseling and Psychological Services center counselor who specializes in seeing student athletes. There is also the built-in support system of the team members themselves. For Heinzerling, his friends on the team were the saving grace of his year of injury.

“I think that if you don’t have someone actively talking to you throughout the [recovery] process, it’s really hard to deal with [it]. And I’m really grateful that I have had those people. I think that the team is a really great place for creating those kinds of connections,” he said. “I just don’t know how I would have gotten through without all of those people.”

As a captain of the men’s cross country team this year, Heinzerling said he makes an effort to check in on younger runners who are injured as well as those who aren’t. “I mean, I’ve injured so many things that there is very little that I can’t give advice on,” he acknowledged with a laugh.

And though running injuries still continue to frustrate and perplex runners and coaches, Carroll and Assistant Coach John Michael Noon have also discovered some surprising patterns and effective treatments in their many years of combined experience, ranging from iron

supplements to regular chiropractic care to easing off of their runners on academically difficult weeks. They also typically encourage runners to take time off when they’re in pain in order to prevent injuries from worsening, both Parts and Carroll said.

In addition, according to Carroll, his team has been healthier overall since runners began doing twice-weekly lifts with Chris McPherson and his assistant strength and conditioning coach, whose positions were created by the Athletic Department in 2016. They’re not the only ones who have seen improved health and performance, either, as The Phoenix reported last April.

And of course, there’s the fact that not every runner is plagued by chronic injury. One cross country runner I spoke to, Brendan Penfold ’22, completes a substantial amount of mileage each week —“I hit 80 [per week] this summer,” he told me, and he completes eighteen- and twenty- milers during the team’s Sunday long runs at Wissahickon Valley Park — yet he has not suffered any serious injuries in his four years of distance running, both in high school and college. His injuries, he said, have mainly been small.

“I run in the Crum [Woods] fairly often. But I’d never sprain my ankle in the Crum… I’d be on a fairly wide road with really no obstacles. And [the obstacle would] always be something stupid like a curb or, I remember one time it was a chestnut that fell out of a tree that was in the road,” he said.

“My foot came down on the chestnut and then my ankle rolled.”

The chestnut story has a good ending.

“I limped down the road until a friendly motorist picked me up,” he said. His ankle healed, too.

Week in Review October 16th Women’s Volleyball: W 3-0 vs Bryn Mawr College October 17th Women’s Field Hockey: L 2-3 vs Bryn Mawr College October 19th Women’s Volleyball: L 0-3 at Johns Hopkins University Women’s Volleyball: L 1-3 vs Susquehanna University Women’s Soccer: L 2-3 at Johns Hopkins University Women’s Field Hockey: L 0-5 at Johns Hopkins University Women’s Cross-Country: 7th place at the Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle Men’s Cross-Country: 16th place at the Rowan Inter-Regional Border Battle Men’s Soccer: W 1-0 at McDaniel College October 22nd Women’s Soccer: W 5-2 vs Bryn Mawr College October 23rd Women’s Field Hockey: W 3-1 vs Muhlenberg College Women’s Volleyball: W 3-1 at Washington College

Week Ahead October 26th Men’s Swimming at McDaniel College Women’s Swimming at McDaniel College Women’s Volleyball vs Gettysburg College Women’s Field Hockey vs Gettysburg College Men’s Soccer vs Gettysburg College Women’s Soccer vs Gettysburg College October 29th Women’s Field Hockey vs Muhlenberg College October 30th Women’s Soccer vs Muhlenberg College Women’s Volleyball vs Muhlenberg College Men’s Soccer vs Washington College

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High-Powered World Series Matchup Underway Jacob Brady Sports Writer The David and Goliath story, of biblical origin, is a classic one in sports. The Goliath stands on one side, a team that has won 100+ games in three consecutive seasons, whose most recent world championship came just two seasons ago. On the other stands David, a team that let a $330 million dollar, former league MVP walk in free agency, a team that had never advanced past the National League Division Series, a team that didn’t even finish first in its division this season. Although games one and two have already been played, there’s a lot of baseball left, and Houston Astros and Washington Nationals are set for what looks to be one of the most exciting World Series in recent memory.

The Nationals are certainly not a team to be underestimated. In spite of letting the $330 million dollar man, Bryce Harper,

sign with the Phillies in free agency, they put together a fine season. They have been led by Anthony Rendon, who has quietly become one of the best players in baseball.

Howie Kendrick, a 35 year old seemingly in the waning days of his time in the MLB, put together a career year at the plate as he hit .344 with 62 RBIs and seventeen home runs. Trea Turner, the 2016 runner-up for National League Rookie of the Year, also put together an impressive year, hitting .298 and swiping 35 bases. And it would be impossible to talk about the Nationals without mentioning their twentyyear-old phenom Juan Soto.

He finished his sophomore campaign with 34 home runs and 110 RBIs. The Nationals also possess one of the best rotations in baseball. Their top three pitchers, Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and offseason signing Patrick Corbin, collectively were paid $78 million this season, the most expensive top

three pitchers for any team.

Scherzer is a three-time winner of the Cy Young Award, but he has yet to add a World Series championship to his resume. Strasburg has been dominant in his postseason career, with a 4-2 record, 57 strikeouts, and a 1.10 ERA in seven games of work. Corbin is perhaps the one question mark for the Nationals pitching staff. Although he had a 3.25 ERA during the regular season, this mark has ballooned to 7.43 during this year’s playoffs, the first playoffs of his career. The Nationals will need Corbin to rebound to have a chance against the potent Astros offense.

The Astros have been blessed with arguably both the best batting lineup and rotation in baseball thanks to some very team-friendly contracts. Alex Bregman has turned into perhaps the best third baseman in the major leagues, yet he only earned $640,000 this year because he is still on his rookie contract.

That mark will balloon to

$13 million next season. The diminutive Jose Altuve has been one of the best second basemen in the majors, and he finished this season with 31 home runs, a career high.

Yuli Gurriel, a 35 year old who was not able to play in the MLB until 2016 when he defected from Cuba, finished the year hitting just under .300 with 31 home runs and 104 RBIs. Carlos Correa, in spite of injuries limiting him to 75 games, still managed to club 21 home runs. Yordan Alvarez, the 22 year old Cuban, was the best hitter in baseball from when he was called up in June, finishing the year hitting .313 with 27 home runs in 87 games.

Not content with the best lineup in baseball, the Astros have also assembled this season’s most dominant pitching rotation. Justin Verlander has seen a renaissance in his career since he traded in cold Detroit for the Texas heat during the Astros run to a World Series championship in 2017. He has put together back to back seasons of sub-

2.60 ERA baseball, and this season, he reached the 300 strikeout mark as a 36 year old. Gerrit Cole was the most dominant pitcher in baseball this season with an ERA of 2.50 and 326 strikeouts.

Cole struckout 39.9% of the batters he faced this season, the highest mark ever for a starting pitcher. Zack Greinke, another midseason acquisition, has been one of the best pitchers in baseball for the past ten years, and he put together another stellar season with a sub-3.00 ERA. He is almost certainly a first ballot hall of famer, but a world championship certainly won’t hurt his case.

Both of these teams have marched practically unopposed to the Fall Classic. The Nationals bested the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League wild card game.

They then took down the Los Angeles Dodgers, a 106 win team and the runner-up in the two most recent World Series which came into the season with the philosophy of World Series or bust. They

then swept the St. Louis Cardinals to secure their spot in the World Series, and about a week of rest. The Astros were seemingly tested early on by the wild card winning Rays before easily taking down the Yankees, a fellow 100+ win team, in six games. The Nationals have a chance to secure Washington D.C. its first baseball title in nearly 100 years. The Astros will cement themselves as a true dynasty with their second world championship in three years. There’s a whole lot of baseball left to be played and it will surely be a classic.

Game one was played on Tuesday night in Houston, and for the first time since May, Gerrit Cole suffered a defeat as the Nationals got to him early and often.

Ultimately they prevailed 5-4. Game two was played Wednesday night, and the next three games will be in Washington beginning Friday night.

Athlete of the Week: Ben Lau ’22 Joe Barile Sports Editor Ben Lau is a sophomore from Los Altos, California considering a major in biochemistry or neuroscience. He is a center-back on the Swarthmore men’s soccer team, who had two solid results over the span of fall break. Lau helped keep #7 Johns Hopkins at bay in the Garnet’s 2-2 draw on Saturday, October 12. Lau then led a back line that stifled McDaniel in a 1-0 Swarthmore victory last Saturday in which he scored the winner.

Joe Barile: How did you get recruited to Swarthmore and end up choosing the school?

Ben Lau: My club coach grew up playing with the assistant coach here, so when I expressed an interest in the program, my coach helped set up the connection. I attended the Elite 300 ID camp during the summer before my senior year, came for an official visit in the fall, then committed a week after that. I was looking at academically rigorous liberal arts colleges where I could also continue my soccer career. On my visit, I was really impressed with the overall intimacy of the school. The classes I attended were small and professors knew the students well. The team was like a family, and I really wanted to be part of a really tightly-knit team.

JB: On Saturday, the team got its 3rd shutout of the year. What was the defense able to do well against McDaniel?

BL: Our backline has been very solid all season, but a few mistakes every game have cost us many shutouts. On Saturday, we were able to keep the number of mistakes and unnecessary fouls to a minimum, and through constant communication we kept McDaniel from having many good chances. I’m really proud of my defensive partners.

JB: Scoring goals on set pieces has become

a specialty of yours. What do you think makes you such an asset on set pieces?

BL: I’m really fortunate to be one of the taller players on the field, which puts the advantage in my favor when it comes to set pieces.

In the off-season, our team put a lot of work into sharpening up our set piece performance.

The service has been a lot better this season, and we’ve been able to generate scoring chances and a few goals every game from set pieces alone.

JB: How do you feel the men’s soccer team this year shapes up to the team last year?

BL: The team this season is very strong. We’ve been playing some great football and competing against and outplaying nationally ranked teams. Last year we ended our season with a 9-7-1 record, and with three games left, we are 9-2-2. I think we’re a much stronger team and am very proud of how much we’ve developed in the past year. I’m really excited to see what the future holds for this team.

JB:. What does the team need to do in order to make a playoff push?

BL: I try not to get caught up in the statistics, so the simplest answer is we need to win out the last three conference games. I think as long as we are able to impose our game against our opponents, avoid unnecessary errors and fouls, and compete, we will have a good chance at making playoffs.

JB: If you had to give yourself a player comparison with one professional player, who would it be?

BL: Though I despise Real Madrid, the closest comparison I can make for myself is to Raphael Varane. He plays next to Sergio Ramos, who is quite similar to my center back partner, Harry Nevins [’22]. We make a great duo.

Nara Enkhtaivan / The Phoenix