October 14, 2022

STUDENTS RALLY FOR ABORTION ACCESS ON YDSA’S DAY OF ACTION

Northeastern students led a rally for reproductive justice and trans gender rights last week in the wake of continued conversations about the overturning of Roe v. Wade. This event, led by Northeastern’s

The rally took place on Krentzman Quad and featured two speakers, in addition to tabling from YDSA, SARC and GENU. The tables held QR codes directing students to donate to the National Network of

By Rachel Erwin | Managing Editor

the event’s speakers. “It’s why I’m in this fight.”

Seitchik discussed how students have the power to start and maintain a movement if they are willing to organize. They encouraged those in

how marginalized communities, including people of color and genderqueer people, are often overlooked in the conversation about abortion access. Affluent, cisgender, white women, they said, have always

Seitchik said. “The abortion action that we are fighting for is free and without apology and without stigma and together we’re going to win it.”

Sky Baur-Rowe, a fifth-year psychology major and non-binary person, spoke to the crowd about the overturning of Roe v. Wade and led a series of chants.

The crowd participated in a calland-response type chant saying that “trans rights are human rights” and “reproductive rights are hu man rights.” Baur-Rowe also led a song in which participants sang the lyrics “the union makes us strong” all together.

“Further eroding of democracy has come into fruition,” Baur-Rowe said. “The three branches of govern ment have simultaneously failed the people [they] swore to protect.”

They added that though Gov. Charlie Baker has taken steps to protect abortion in Massachusetts, activists have an obligation to fight for the same protections in other states where trigger bans and other restrictions have taken effect. BaurRowe also spoke about the impor tance of inclusive advocacy when it SOLIDARITY on Page 3

Student organizations, including NEU Speakout, were present at the Oct. 6 rally for reproductive rights and transgender rights.

The rally on Northeastern’s campus was part of the national YDSA’s Day of Student Action for Reproductive Justice.

New curriculum requirement for nursing students costs hundreds, creates financial burden

By Jesica Bak News Correspondent

“It is time for the School of Nursing to take responsibility for its students,” Madeline Kim, a fourthyear nursing student, wrote in her organized petition to the Bouvé College of Health Sciences’ School of Nursing sent Sept. 21.

The petition — signed by hun dreds of nursing students as well as organizations including the NU Student Nurses Association and the Northeastern chapters of Kappa Kappa Gamma and Kappa Delta —

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was circulated in mid-September in response to the college’s recent im plementation of Kaplan NCLEX Prep in all of the undergraduate nursing programs. Students said this measure is an immense financial burden that was communicated to them in neither a timely nor transparent manner.

Akin to most online preparatory courses administered by commercial testing companies, Kaplan NCLEX Prep is meant to prepare enrolled students for the National Council Licensure Examination, otherwise known as the NCLEX, a nation wide examination for the licensure

of nursing school graduates in the United States and Canada.

In the email from Assistant Dean Kristen Mathieu Gonzalez announc-ing the instatement oSept. 1 — less than a week before the start of fall classes — students were also no-tified that 5% of their final grade in most Northeastern nursing courses would be derived from exams taken in the Kaplan course, making enrollment absolutely mandatory in order to continue being a part of the nursing program.

However, the email failed to mention a crucial detail: the cost.

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While noting that enrollment in the Kaplan course would cost $165 for Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing, or ABSN, students, the email did not include the fact that enrollment would be $660 for those pursuing a traditional four-year BSN degree, leaving the vast majority of nursing students to find out for them selves by the time payments were due.

In an interview with The News, Kim said the financial demands of the implementation are far and many, from giving students no time to prepare for the hefty cost, to adding another out-of-pocket expense to the

long list of supplemental purchases nursing students already make.

Kim said because nursing students at Northeastern are already being asked — during a time of rising tuition — to pay out-of-pocket for clinical uniforms, a multitude of diagnostic tests and lab packs, a mandatory NCLEX prep course by a private corporation feels like another way that students are being “lied to” about the expenses needed to allegedly benefit their education.

Lindsay Hurd, a fourth-year nursing student who also had not

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Northeastern scores major win in Nahant Superior Court, residents divided on outcome

By Grace Comer Campus Editor

Last month Northeastern won a major victory against the small Massachusetts town of Nahant in its case to expand the Marine Science Center that has been in the works for over five years. In a Sept. 20 ruling, Massachusetts Superior Court Justice Jeffrey Karp sided with the universi ty, allowing Northeastern to pursue construction on the land.

This case centered around wheth er or not the university had “made a dedication of its property to the town or the public.” According to the summary judgment written by Karp, Northeastern did not intend and never committed to use the land as “an ecological preserve and for passive recreation,” a ruling that struck a blow against the Nahant residents who oppose Northeastern’s expansion.

“The Town is disappointed by the Court’s ruling,” wrote Antonio Barletta, the town administrator, in a Sept. 22 email to The News on behalf of the Na hant Board of Selectmen. “The Town will consider all options moving for ward. We maintain that the continued preservation of the site by the Town as vital open space and a vibrant habitat is in the best interests of our community.”

The Marine Science Center, or MSC, has been at the center of litigation since February 2018, when the university first announced its plans to expand the building, and residents are divided on the issue. This case is one of two between Northeastern and the town of Nahant, the other of which is ongoing and concerns Nahant’s right to utilize eminent domain to reclaim the land from Northeastern.

Some residents, including those who oppose the eminent domain case, said they believe that Northeastern’s proposed construction would not damage the land as much as this case argued, especially considering the history of the peninsula.

“That property as late as the ‘50s was a barren wasteland. It had been

a military reservation, it was literally leveled in World War II,” said Ken Carangelo, a member of the citizen’s group that opposes eminent domain.

“The town declined to buy the property and Northeastern bought it … as soon as things started growing, it reverted to a more natural state. For a couple years of construction [like] what Northeastern wants to do, the stuff would grow back. That property hasn’t been in a natural state for probably 300 something years, so it seems a little bit artificial to be claiming that it’s a natural wonder of the world.”

The proposed 60,000 square foot expansion has raised many concerns over the years, which led to both court cases. According to Keep Nahant Wild, a volunteer group created in opposition to the MSC expansion, a major concern is that the seawater research will harm the lobsters and the lobster industry.

“I live near the wharf so I know a lot of the lobstermen who come in and out and some of the fishermen, and they are really concerned about their livelihood,” said Susan Haggerty, a resident of Nahant and a Northeast ern alum. “The amount of seawater

that they’re going to be intaking and pumping out is going to really disrupt particularly the lobster beds, and the rest of the shellfish out there.”

The MSC’s Frequently Asked Ques tions page addresses this concern, ex plaining that while the original plans included a system that would heat and cool incoming seawater, this element was removed following community opposition. The page also indicates that some research has shown no impact to the lobster population and that an updated intake system would actually decrease erosion and damage to the shore.

Beyond lobsters, Keep Nahant Wild states that the habitats of hundreds of rare and endangered birds and insects that call East Point home would be threatened by this expansion. Northeastern’s website states that the environmental impacts are currently impossible to predict or understand, as the project proposal is not fully developed.

Additionally, residents worry that the town, which is just 1.24 square miles of land, does not have the space for a large expansion.

“We’re the smallest town in the state of Massachusetts,” Haggerty said. “If you look at the plans for the expansion, the infrastructure of this town really can’t support it.”

Other residents said they be lieve the town’s concerns over the expansion are overblown, especially following Northeastern’s commitment to providing funding for Nahant infrastructure and schools, scholar ships for Nahant residents who want to attend Northeastern and paid internships at the MSC.

“There were financial concerns that the town had in terms of additional strain on town resources,” Carangelo said. “Northeastern offered accomoda tions for that, actual cash contributions to the town and scholarships, the total number was something like $6 million.”

Carangelo said the financial strain imposed on the town by pursuing the eminent domain case is more worry ing. A former member of the financial committee, he said he thinks that the $4.5 million gathered from the Community Preservation Committee and private donors to fund the case will not be enough.

Instead, he said he believes North eastern has “worked in very good faith” to accommodate the concerns, including implementing changes to the original plans to decrease the building’s footprint, which will only be expanded by approximately 15,000 square feet, and placing a conservation restriction to pre vent future development on around 90% of the land owned by the university.

When Northeastern purchased the approximately 21 acres of land of the former East Point Military Reservation in 1966, it was zoned as a Natural Resource District. The MSC was granted an exemption based on the Dover Amendment, a general law passed in 1950 that protected building rights of educational and religious organizations. Peter Capano, the state representative for the 11th Essex dis trict, which includes Nahant, is among the legislators that have been working to modify the amendment.

“At that time, it was done for a good purpose to make it easier for education al and religious facilities to expand,” he told The News. “But that was almost 70 years ago, and since that time, things have changed. The environment was not a consideration in the 1950s and ‘60s like it is today. To be able to build by right without the town being able to interject their concerns, especially regarding the environment and open space over there, I don’t think is right.”

A spokesperson for Northeastern pointed to News@Northeastern’s story on the case and the MSC’s FAQ page to address residents’ concerns. The battle over the MSC is not over yet, as the courts are still deciding whether or not Nahant should be allowed to seize part of the land on East Point through eminent domain and resi dents remain divided on the case.

“It just seems like Northeastern has just dug their heels in and kind of run rough shot over the town,” Haggerty said. “I think this was just the straw that broke the camel’s back for the town’s relationship with the Marine Science Center. It really put a sour taste in everybody’s mouth.”

Competitive lettuce-eating club returns to campus, crowns new president

By Erin Fine News Staff

Northeastern’s Lettuce Club met Sept. 30 for its second annual com petition — to eat an entire head of lettuce as fast as possible. The winner is named the new club president and given the honor of hosting the next year’s Lettuce Club.

Fourth-year chemical engineering major and 2022 club leader Shaked Lotem led over a dozen competitors and a crowd of fans outside the Cur ry Student Center on the cool Friday evening. He gave a list of simple rules — consume an entire head of iceberg lettuce, with salad dressing if desired — before the contestants began butting heads.

After a few short, tense minutes, second-year mechanical engineer ing major Oscar Wilmerding was victorious.

“I feel really good,” Wilmerding said after his win. “I didn’t expect it to go as well as it did. I’ve never eaten something that fast competitively. I didn’t even know I was winning until I looked down the line.”

Lotem, both the now-former head of Lettuce Club and a competitor in this year’s challenge, said he was proud of his performance despite losing his title.

“Honestly, I did well,” Lotem said. “We had a lot of competitors. I came hungry and ready to eat. I think I wanted it the most.”

Competitors used several strate gies to contend for the coveted title. Salad dressings, water and even chewing patterns came into play.

“I developed a strategy about half way through,” Wilmerding said. “I’d take three or four bites and swallow. It wasn’t comfortable.”

Before competitors vied for their

chance to lead the Lettuce Club, spir its were high as competitive energy swept the crowd.

“Ever since I first heard of the Lettuce Club, I dedicated every wak ing moment to training, and I can’t believe it’s finally happening,” said Parker Brandt, a fourth-year comput er science and business administra tion combined major.

Brandt said he wore green to pro mote club spirit, an ensemble echoed by several others.

Alvin Wong, a second-year com puter science and design combined major, competed in a black-tie suit. He was flanked by a similarly dressed “hype man.”

“Lettuce pray,” Wong said before the competition. “Lettuce have a good time. I’m shreddy to win.”

For those that missed this year’s event, romaine calm: as head of Lettuce Club, Wilmerding now holds

the responsibility of arranging next year’s competition. He says he’s ready to promote the anticipated event.

“Hopefully, I can keep the title,”

Wilmerding said. “I’m going to get as much enthusiasm [around the club] as possible. It’s a very young club, and hopefully it will be a very big club.”

Members of the lettuce club brought back the annual lettuce-eating competition to campus at the Sept. 30 meeting. A new club president, second-year Oscar Wilmerding, emerged victorious.

Photo by Jessica Xing

The Marine Science Center has been at the center of controversy in Nahant since February 2018, when the expansion was first announced. Protests began in early 2018, and some residents continue their strong opposition now, more than five years later.

File photo by Chris Butler

Activists organize reproductive rights protest

comes to reproductive justice.

“Reproductive rights [aren’t] a women’s issue,” Baur-Rowe said. “It is a trans man’s issue, an intersex issue, a nonbinary issue. We are seeing the eradication of trans healthcare before our very eyes.”

Amanda Bell, a fourth-year data science and behavioral neuroscience combined major, spoke with The News after the rally about the event’s creation. Much of the planning took place at YDSA meetings, she said, with the main focus being how lead ers could organize students quickly and effectively. The group decided to hold the event outside to maximize engagement, and reached out to potential speakers. Bell said YDSA would have liked to have more speak ers, but it was too short notice.

“I think the main idea of the event was a sort of day of solidarity,” Bell said. “The idea was a whole bunch of other groups, like schools across the country, would be doing something like this, maybe not a rally, but it could be tabling events, maybe some students took off a day of classes at other schools, maybe something like that to learn more about abortion rights and women’s rights and education.”

Students passing through the quad stopped by tables, donated and regis tered to vote. Representatives from the different student organizations shared information about reproductive care and sexual assault resources and how to get further involved in the cause.

Simultaneously, students in other parts of the country participated in their own rallies and walkouts. Accord ing to the national YDSA, “students and workers across over 50 campuses in 30 states” demonstrated Oct. 6 in support of the national cause. In Boston, Harvard Law School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology both held a demonstration that day, in solidarity with the movement.

Seitchik echoed Bell’s message about solidarity in their speech, calling upon the crowd to commit to taking action with the support of those around them.

“When I think about being a trans feminine person speaking at a rally for reproductive rights, for me, it’s all about solidarity,” Seitchik said. “It’s about being here in solidarity with my sisters, with my brothers, with my siblings, my fellow trans people, and we have to face this almost unprecedented assault in the history of our country.”

Hundreds sign petition against mandatory online test prep program

anticipated the extra financial bur den this year, echoed the sentiment of not seeing where the nursing students’ money is going towards.

“If I’m attending this school for nursing, I want my money to be used for my education,” Hurd said. “Northeastern prides itself on innovation and being technologi cally advanced — you think about ISEC and all of the money they’re putting into engineering and com

puter science, and well, I would [also] love to be able to practice my skills in a more innovative and real-life setting, but my school isn’t providing me with the resources to do that.”

Both Hurd and Kim said their ability to still pay for the Kaplan course, albeit unexpectedly, is a privilege that is not extended to students from low-income families, who, as Kim said, would be invest ing “a huge chunk of money …

towards Kaplan instead of putting it towards [their] own livelihood and saving for [their] future.”

On Sept. 27, Kim said Mathieu Gonzalez told her in an email that many of the supplemental costs nurs ing students are expected to make, including the $660 Kaplan course, are listed in the School of Nursing’s Undergraduate Student Handbook for the 2021-22 academic year.

But according to Hurd, the prices are embedded throughout the

handbook in a way that feels inten tionally difficult to find, where they are only accessible if users utilize the keyboard find shortcut to type in a dollar sign. For Kim, regardless of whether the handbook explicitly states costs or not, the goal of her petition is to break the college’s cycle of instating fiscally-burden some programs and policies despite student outcry.

Aside from frustrations rooted in financial reasons, Kim expressed to The News that Bouvé’s response is ultimately reflective of a continuous lack of emotional support and invest ment in students.

“I just feel like we’ve been through enough,” Kim said. “And they haven’t really been supportive of the nursing students at all: our mental health [and] acknowledg ing that it’s difficult to be in the hospital in the middle of a pan demic working jobs where we were making $16 an hour — and they allowed that to happen.”

Despite also feeling frustrated with professors not addressing the impli cations of the Kaplan implementa tion during classes, Kim expressed that students are more understand ing that the faculty members may be caught in the middle.

In an Oct. 6 text statement to The News, an anonymous group representing the School of Nursing Faculty and Staff clarified that they share the same concerns as students against the administration.

“While faculty are doing our very best to support the students in the classroom, we, too, share their concern regarding the lack of trans parency and clear communication from program administrators” the statement read. “Unfortunately, fac ulty input and discussion regarding

the current curricula change that is causing student angst, did not occur.”

The group also emphasized that they fully support students in taking a stand for their education.

“A Northeastern education is valuable; it is also very expensive. Students should be encouraged, and supported in providing input regarding their academic expe rience and financial burdens,” an Oct. 7 text statement read. “We need proper channels for students to provide such input, and we should support them in this pro cess. As developing nurses, these skills will be necessary for them to not only be strong patient advo cates but to feel confident in speak ing up to contribute to a healthy work environment. … They cannot be ignored or pushed aside.”

According to Kim’s petition, Bouvé’s reasoning for implement ing the mandatory Kaplan course is to increase NCLEX pass rates, which have been allegedly lower than usual.

But for students — who believe that increasing pass rates should be the college’s responsibility — the ulti mate grievance lies in being stripped of their own choice in how to prepare for the licensure exam.

While Kim would not label the students’ collective action as a “protest,” she said this call for at tention and action from the college is long overdue.

“I think I should be allowed to advocate for change and have a voice in what happens to me as a student, because in nursing — a lot of times lately — we have not had a voice, and we’ve just been asked to continually spend money, and that’s where it reached the breaking point,” Kim said.

SOLIDARITY, from front

KAPLAN, from front

Eve Seitchik, a socialist organizer from Somerville, speaks about trans and reproductive rights as students look on at the rally Oct. 6. Students from Northeastern’s YDSA, among other groups, organized the event to recognize a national abortion rights day of action, during which students across the country organized for reproductive freedoms.

Photo by Rachel Erwin

Photo by Quillan Anderson

JP Chess provides community at J.P. Licks

By Sanjana Sanghani News Staff

With a smile on his face, Jamie Wil liams welcomed members of Jamaica Plain Chess Club into the J.P. Licks on Centre Street — encapsulating the intimate and casual environment Wil liams said he hopes to capture at every meeting. Each week, dozens of chess players crowd the ice cream shop to play for a few hours.

Established in July 2021 by Wil liams, the Jamaica Plain Chess Club, or JP Chess, is composed of over 100 members. Williams said he’s finally able to come back to the game of chess after a 20-year break he took to focus on his career and family.

“I’m semi-retired from being an auditor now, so I had the time to set something up,” Williams said. “Before JP Chess, I was traveling all the way to the Medford Chess Club on the weekends. I even joined a little group in Brookline that was only about four to five people and sometimes no one would turn up. So, my wife actually

said to me, ‘Why don’t you set up something locally?’…I kind of filled that void in a way.”

In comparison to other Boston chess clubs, Williams said JP Chess emphasizes community. For instance, there are no dues or fees — the club is supported simply by donations from members and small businesses.

“From the beginning, I wanted to have somewhere where people can just turn up and play,” Williams said.

“In fact, our first donor was when I was sitting in my dentist’s chair and I asked my dentist whether he wanted to donate some money. He gave me $70. Gradually, I then approached other businesses.”

Williams approached J.P. Licks in July 2021. The location developed a partnership with JP Chess by provid ing a venue. Every Thursday evening, approximately 20 to 24 members gather on the outside tables to play. It’s a win-win situation, Williams said, as passersby become naturally curious when they see individuals playing chess in front of an ice cream shop.

“In my opinion, J.P. Licks has also gotten a bit of business,” he said. “The people walking by see us playing chess and get excited. A lot of times, they continue to watch and grab an ice cream as well.”

The club hosts a number of tournaments. While there are regular matches over the summer and winter, every three months, the organization also holds a quarterly blitz in which members can play fast chess in five minute rounds. It was at one blitz tournament that national master member Ryan Young was first intro duced to the club. A national master is designated by the United States Chess Federation to players with a rating higher than 2200.

“I just showed up for fun,” Young said. “I’ve always liked to play street chess. Especially since the pandemic, chess has only been online, and you kind of miss the tactile element of social playing.”

Similarly, member Mark Houston said that JP Chess offers a more multidimensional experience when

playing face-to-face compared to playing online.

“It’s very satisfying to see a nice sequence of moves, especially when you get to pull your traps that you’ve

“The beauty of it is, regardless of where they’re from, their profession or background, when they sit down at the chess table, it’s kind of like equal ground. All the differences become

League of Women celebrates Black history

By Isabella Ratto News Correspondent

At 558 Massachusetts Ave. sits a special building for Boston’s Black, fe male population: the headquarters for the League of Women for Community Service, or LWCS, which has been owned by LWCS since 1920.

The building was initially purchased on behalf of the League by a Black woman, notable as it preceded the mid-twentieth century Civil Rights Movement in the United States.

Maria Baldwin, who originally pur chased the building, was a co-founder and the first president of the LWCS. Beyond her contributions to the League, Baldwin had an extensive career as an educator in Cambridge.

“[Baldwin was] the first Black person to be named the head of an integrated school, which is now called the Maria Baldwin School,” said Kali mah Redd Knight, the current LWCS president. “She was a talented educator and speaker and a devoted member of the [Boston] community.”

Her commitment to this com munity is observable in much of the League’s early programs, which were far ranging in their focus.

“During the Great Migration, the Black population was leaving the South with very few resources, and the League provided support [for the large number of people who landed in Bos ton],” said Johnnie Hamilton-Mason, a professor at Simmons University and an inaugural visiting scholar with King Boston, a nonprofit currently conduct ing research using LWCS archives.

Education inequality was one area where the founders felt a particular ly strong desire to intervene. Redd Knight said Baldwin wanted to relieve Black, female students of the extra barriers they encountered as a result of their identity and was largely inspired by her encounters as both a student and teacher.

“African American women … were board[ed] at the League … because they were not able to stay on campuses in the Boston area,” Hamilton-Mason said.

One of these students included Coretta Scott, who attended the New England Conservatory of Music before she met her husband Martin Luther King Jr. and took on an important role in the Civil Rights Movement.

Equitable and accessible education for Boston’s Black, female population continues to be an area of focus for the League, said Redd Knight.

The organization’s Massachusetts Avenue headquarters, where it offers Black graduate students affordable housing under the Virginia Glennon Graduate Students Leadership Schol ars Program, is currently undergoing a large-scale restoration project that represents the effort to preserve the history of the nineteenth century building and pay homage to its past. Upon its completion, the League will resume the boarding program. Live updates about the status of this project are regularly posted on the LWCS Twitter, although its end date is currently undetermined.

“I draw a lot of inspiration from the founders. A lot of our goal is to hold

up their work and amazing legacy,” Redd Knight said.

Hamilton-Mason’s research presents another example of the desire of League members and other indi viduals who are closely affiliated to celebrate the accomplishments of the LWCS amid highly challenging times for Black people in the United States.

“They were … everyday leaders, women who viewed that it was their obligation to contribute to lifting the people of Boston while they lifted themselves,” Hamilton-Mason said.

“What I’m doing in my research is connecting the kind of organizing they did, which was decentralized leadership, to … the kind of leadership model that Black Lives Matter has.”

A group of Northeastern University students are contributing their own efforts to preserving and amplifying the League’s history. Régine Michelle Jean-Charles, the director of Africana studies and Dean’s professor of culture and social justice at Northeastern, introduced a Black feminist studies course this fall which provides this opportunity.

“The class is about African Ameri can history and Black women in Mas sachusetts,” Jean-Charles said. “What have Black women’s contributions to the city been and how do we trace them throughout history?”

It has a service learning compo nent and involves working with three local, Black women led organizations, including the LWCS.

“[Reed Knight] came up with the women she wants [the students] to research and develop biographies for which involves using LWCS archives but also going beyond to create almost a digital map of who these women are so you can see the ways in which all of these Black women throughout history are connected to the League,” Jean-Charles said.

Additionally, the LWCS grants the annual Maria L. Baldwin Scholarship to two or more female college-bound students from the Roxbury and Dorchester neighborhoods of African American descent, another example of their commitment to making higher education more accessible.

The goal is to provide an avenue to education to a community that did not always receive much assistance.

“It was possibly the only place that was acceptable for Black women to congregate and support each other outside of the church,” Hamilton-Ma son said.

The important historical role of Boston’s Black female intellectual population has been reinforced by the work done by the LWCS.

“[Black female academics] don’t ex ist in a vacuum, they’re coming out of a long history of Black women’s service to the community and commitment to education,” Jean-Charles said. “We stand on the shoulders of Black wom en educators who have done this work for generations.”

People involved with the LWCS are extremely proud of its history and will continue on its mission of spreading that history to a wider audience, both within and outside of Boston.

“Helping to educate people, … helping people to educate themselves and being part of an organization that works to do that is hugely inspiring,” Redd Knight said.

Two men play chess outside of J.P. Licks on Centre Street. Every week on Thursday nights, the JP Chess Club draws dozens of Boston residents to the ice cream shop.

Photo by Sanjana Sanghani

The League of Women for Community Service headquarters located at 558 Massachusetts Ave. The building is currently undergoing restoration.

Photo by Elizabeth Scholl

Review: Rina Sawayama’s Hold the Girl is unfocused in the best way

By Juliana George Deputy Lifestyle Editor

Rina Sawayama earned a political science degree from the University of Cambridge long before her debut al bum SAWAYAMA launched her into pop stardom, and in her sophomore record Hold the Girl, she doesn’t let anyone forget it.

Hold the Girl, released Sept. 16, tackles themes as wide-ranging as anti-Asian hate, homophobia and mental illness; yet somehow, Saway ama still manages to imbue the record with her signature glitzy ebullience.

The most substantial motif explored in SAWAYAMA is the generational trauma and depression the Japanese British singer-song writer inherited from her immigrant parents, particularly in the songs “Dynasty” and “Akasaka Sad.” She continues this thread in Hold the Girl, this time post-therapy. The “girl” in question is Sawayama’s inner child, who experienced growing pains from her multiple identities as a first-gen eration bisexual girl living with her recently divorced mother. However, Sawayama frequently departs from the title theme in order to indulge her penchant for commenting on social issues, with her signature bizarre com bination of tongue in cheek sarcasm and heartfelt sincerity.

Sawayama is no stranger to using political messaging in her music.

In SAWAYAMA, the singer ex pressed discomfort about East Asian fetishization in lead single “STFU!” and criticized modern capitalism

and hyperconsumerism in “XS,” the standout track.

Hold the Girl is notably more scat terbrained. For instance, Sawayama satirizes the puritanical anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments pervasive in evangeli cal Christianity and condemns the paparazzi responsible for the death of Princess Diana in the same breath in lead single “This Hell.”

The subject matter of the album isn’t the only aspect that changes with each song: Hold the Girl also strug gles to find its footing in a cohesive genre. Sawayama jumped from genre to genre in her first album — evoking the early 2000s angst of rock band Evanescence one minute in “Dynas ty” and the playful whine of Britney Spears the next in “Snakeskin” — but she takes her indecision to the next level in Hold the Girl. The album fea tures Taylor Swift-esque point-of-view ballads, plucky pop-folk hybrid tracks and earnest, soaring numbers clearly written to be tearfully belted.

Eclectic sound aside, Hold the Girl wears its nostalgia well. References to “stickers and scented gel pens” and “forts between the sofa and the windowsill” are set to the same cheesy pop beats Sawayama must have come of age listening to. Her sense that she was robbed of the happy childhood she wanted comes through in opening track “Minor Feelings,” named for Korean American author Cathy Park Hong’s book of the same name; both song and book dissect the fractured identities of the Asian diaspora. Title track “Hold the Girl” features the lines “Teach me the words I used to know/

Yeah, I forgot them long ago,” which could represent her first language of Japanese, an ability she lost slight command of after moving to the United Kingdom at age 5. For Saway ama, a child of the diaspora, nostalgia includes the childhood she didn’t get, the one she would have led had her parents never left Japan.

The religious imagery that pervades the album nods to her experiences at the all-girl Christian high school she attended, and the record amplifies the universal suppressed yearning of adolescence with an added spiritual tension. In “Holy (Til You Let Me Go),” Sawayama touches on the internalized shame likely understood by much of her dedicated queer fanbase, singing “I was innocent when you said I was evil/I took your stones and I built a cathedral.” She exam ines the loss of her faith further in “Hurricanes,” in which she implores, “So won’t you give me a sign if you’re really there?/’Cause I’ve been lost inside waiting on a prayer.” Saway ama incorporates abundant religious references even in the songs recalling unrelated past traumas, such as the mentions of “the eyes of God” and “savior” in “Your Age,” a song raging about the inappropriate nature of an age-gap romance that presumably occurred during her youth.

Sawayama talks a lot about feeling captive to her suffering. In “Catch Me in the Air,” a bittersweet comparison of her mother-daughter relationship with that of a bird pushing a chick out of the nest, she accuses her mother of making “a prison of [their]

home,” she calls her former lover “a jail personified” in “Your Age” and she laments her former self feeling like a “prisoner to [her] bedroom walls” in final track “To Be Alive.”

By the end of “To Be Alive,” though, Sawayama conveys a distinct sense of freedom with her rich, resonant voice and the joyous drumbeats in the backing track. Songs like “Forgive ness” and “Phantom” reflect on how far she’s come from the hurt little girl she now feels qualified to “reparent.”

Depending on the skepticism of the listener, Hold the Girl can manage to be either uplifting and triumphant or a tad cloying and preachy, but the album is undoubtedly a big step in the journey of Sawayama herself.

Despite the album’s lack of unity — and its heavy themes — Hold the Girl is undeniably fun. Glamorous, flippant “This Hell,” which paints eter nal damnation as a hedonistic party populated by Sawayama’s stylish queer friends, and “Frankenstein,” a song with a rapid, mechanical beat com paring her mental brokenness to that of the titular monster, are both the exact kind of song that audiences will want to shout along to this November on Sawayama’s North American tour.

Apparently, making feel-good mu sic with perplexingly serious subject matter was Sawayama’s goal all along.

“At the end of the day, my goal is to have my music be like a Trojan horse, where you can hide deep and sad meanings within a song, but the melody and production have to be good,” Sawayama told fashion brand Who What Wear in August.

Review: ‘Blonde’ lacks anything substantive beneath its gorgeous facade

By Jake Guldin News Correspondent

After 10 years of production stalls, casting switch-ups and distribution struggles, Andrew Dominik has finally completed his quest to bring “Blonde” — author Joyce Carol Oates’ fictionalized account of the doomed life of Hollywood’s favorite bomb shell, Marilyn Monroe — to the silver screen. The result of the Australian writer-director’s exhaustive efforts is a cumbersome film that, despite its superb craft and array of solid performances, is utterly incapable of overcoming its incredibly reductive view of the woman at its center.

The Netflix release, which re ceived a rare — and telling — NC-17 rating, primarily follows Norma Jeane Mortenson (better known by her stage name, Marilyn Monroe) from her traumatic childhood to her abuse-ridden adulthood, before finally concluding with her 1962 suicide. Even before the film’s Sept. 28 release, news of Dominik’s approach to Monroe’s life was the subject of controversy online, with many, understandably so, decrying its inclusion of graphic sexual assault and lack of historical accuracy, amongst other concerns.

One of the few aspects of the picture that even the most ardent of

detractors have celebrated is Ana de Armas’ portrayal of the titular icon, which is absolutely stellar. Save for the few instances in which her natural ac cent slips in, de Armas fully embodies the attributes and traits audiences asso ciate with Monroe — such as her light, breathy voice and relaxed, carefree disposition — while allowing herself to channel emotions like fear, grief and rage that Monroe seldom exhibited on screen. It is a shame, however, that de Armas is unable to display the more joyous side of her character’s life. This is not de Armas’ fault and is instead more so a casualty of Dominik’s frus tratingly incomprehensive screenplay and direction.

Luckily for Adrien Brody, who portrays Monroe’s second husband, the playwright Arthur Miller, Dominik’s creative choices are largely unable to curtail him in the way they do to de Armas. Miller is arguably the closest thing “Blonde” has to a layered male character, and Brody exhibits the com plexity of his character skillfully. This is most evident in a scene where Monroe and Miller discuss the character of Magda — invented by Miller for one of his plays — whom Monroe is set to portray on Broadway. In this scene, Brody quickly and believably fluctuates between dismissiveness and appreci ation, effectively communicating that

his character is eventually moved by Monroe’s reading of who Magda is. His character is no angel, however, which Brody displays in subsequent scenes where his admiration for Monroe appears to cool considerably.

The remainder of the film’s principal cast — consisting of Bobby Canna vale as Joe DiMaggio (Monroe’s first husband), Julianne Nicholson as Gladys (Monroe’s psychotic mother) and Xavier Samuel as Cass Chaplin (one of Monroe’s first lovers upon her ascent to stardom) — do what they can with what they are given, which is unfortunately very little. Dominik’s tunnel vision ultimately compromises the potential of everyone else involved.

Even the film’s remarkable craft is undermined by Dominik’s own lackluster attempts to derive meaning from the distorted depiction of Monroe he constructed. It does not matter that the film is visually stunning — even if its changes between varying aspect ratios, color and monochrome feel, at times, superfluous — if what the visuals depict is hollow and meandering. Similarly, the lavish recreations of famous locales in which Monroe spent her time, such as her shared home with Miller and the soundstages of 20th Century Studios, are unable to be fully appreciated in conjunction with Monroe’s distractingly deplorable characterization.

It is this frankly cruel assessment of Monroe that ultimately undoes the hard work of the film’s many collaborators. Dominik’s decision to make “Blonde” consist of the same few malicious plot beats — Monroe is taken advantage of, either sexually or emotionally; Monroe makes her “daddy issues” abundantly clear; Monroe emphasizes that “Marilyn” and “Norma Jeane” are not one and the same (noting every time that the latter suffers so that the former can succeed); Monroe has an explosive breakdown; rinse and repeat — for three hours straight culminates in a film that oscillates between banality and occasional, needless provocation.

Further worsening this cycle is Dominik’s lack of subtlety and belief that his audience can only understand his view of Monroe — that she was nothing more than a deeply depressed woman incapa ble of combatting the abhorrent actions of the men in her life — if he bludgeons it into them with the ferocity of a sledgehammer.

Had Dominik approached “Blonde” from a more holistic and compassionate angle, the film could have been an awe-inspiring and insightful portrait of an American pop culture icon; as is, the film is anything but.

Oct. 15 & 20

Summer Shack Pop-up

Attend an outdoor movie night showing of a Halloween classic before it gets too cold.

7 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., 1 Bennett St., Free.

Sunday, Oct. 16

Seaport Black Owned Boston Market

Support local more than 50 Blackowned businesses at the final open market of the season.

12 p.m. - 6 p.m., 85 Northern Ave, Free.

Oct. 20 - 23

Boston International Fine Art Show

Immerse yourself in a range of paintings. sculptures, prints, drawings and mixed media.

Times range per day from 11 a.m.8:30 p.m., 536 Tremont St., $15

Oct. 21 - 23

Head of the Charles Head out to the largest 3-day regatta in the world and cheer on thousands of competitors.

7:45 a.m. - 3:40 p.m., Charles River, Free.

Saturday, Oct. 22

Jamaica Pond Park Run

Enjoy the crisp fall weather with a 5K around Jamaica pond.

9 a.m. - 11 a.m., 385 Jamaicaway, Free.

Calendar compiled by Cathy Ching & Juliana George Graphics by Jessica Xing

WHAT TO KNOW MASSACHUSETTS

By Eli Curwin News Staff

With the Massachusetts guber natorial election in a little under a month, here is a rundown about when to vote, where to vote and who is running.

How and when to vote

In Massachusetts, the deadline to register to vote is Oct. 29. Registration can be completed in person, by mail or online. While it varies by polling place, early in-person voting starts Oct. 22 and ends Nov. 4. Voters in Massachusetts can also vote by mail with no explanation needed. The deadline to apply for mailin voting is Nov. 1. Elections will be held across the state Nov. 8.

Who are the candidates?

There are four candidates running for governor in Massachu setts; Maura Healey, the progressive attorney general of Massachusetts, Geoff Diehl, a Trump-backed former Massachusetts legislator; Kevin Reed, a libertarian businessman and Dianna Ploss, a far-right radio personality, are all on the ballot this November.

While Reed and Ploss face an in surmountable election, Healey and Diehl’s race is a battle of progres sivism and conservatism, as they stand on opposite sides of nearly every issue.

Healey was born in 1971 and raised in New Hampshire. After completing her degree in gov ernment at Harvard College, she graduated from Northeastern

University School of Law. She then practiced law at a private firm before working as a Special Assistant District Attorney in Middlesex County.

In 2007, then-Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley appointed Healey to head the office’s Civil Rights Division. She would lead the Public Protection and Advocacy Bureau in 2012 and the Labor Bureau in 2013 as well. In her 2014 bid for attorney general, Healey won over 60% of the vote, and was elected as the first openly-gay attorney general in the country.

Diehl was born in 1969 and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. After completing his degree at Lehigh University in government and urban studies, he worked in advertising, television production and then as an account executive. In 2010, Plymouth’s 7th District elected Diehl to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Serving in a blue state, Diehl was one of few Republicans and was often one of the most conservative members in the House. On key issues, Diehl almost always voted along party lines, even when mod erate Republicans would find com promise and vote with Democrats.

Where do they stand on key issues?

Healey has proven herself as a progressive litigator, but some have concerns that she has difficulty pros ecuting corruption.

Healey often made national head lines as a nuisance to Trump, filing hundreds of lawsuits and taking ac tions against the former president’s environmental rollbacks, southern border policies and attacks on the Affordable Care Act.

The Massachusetts gubernatorial race candidates: a history

Graphic by Jethro R. Lee and Jessica Xing

The Attorney General has also focused on tackling the statewide opioid crisis, suing manufacturers and distributors throughout her time in office. In 2018, Massachu setts was the first state to sue the Sackler family, known for deceiving people into opioid addictions. Three years later, her office resolved the lawsuit with $4.3 billion from the Sacklers, investing the money into treatment and prevention.

Healey also has fought for col lective bargaining rights, leading a multi-state coalition in 2016 to pro vide greater support and protections for union elections. She also filed suit against ride sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft, requiring them to consider drivers as employees under Massachusetts labor laws.

Her time in office also saw several lawsuits against states that banned abortion and gender affirming care, against student loan providers for deceiving students and against JUUL and Eonsmoke for advertising and selling to minors.

As attorney general, Healey took actions to reduce gun violence, en couraging the U.S. Supreme Court in 2021 to allow state and local governments to regulate guns. Addi tionally, she supported a federal rule to regulate Ghost Guns, untraceable firearms that lack serial numbers or identifying marks.

Healey receives the brunt of her criticism in her prosecution of corruption in her own government. While she does have some success attacking corrupt public officials, just as often as she wins, charges are dropped and lost cases are kept quiet.

An advocate of police reform, Healey created the Massachusetts In ternal Conviction Integrity Unit and

2014

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votes against

votes against labor

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KNOW ABOUT THE GUBERNATORIAL RACE

has put her support behind the feder al George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. However, her ability to convict police malpractice is inconsistent.

Healey has also faced criticism from the left, as she spent ample time in 2016 opposing marijua na legalization, which she now supports, and partially supporting facial recognition technology and no-knock warrants.

But for all the criticisms against her, Healey is a favorite among the Demo crats. She has received endorsements from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Mar key, abortion rights advocacy groups and several labor organizations.

After legislating for eight years, Diehl’s voting records portray him as a staunch conservative who fights for deregulation and the free market.

When it comes to labor policy, Diehl’s focus on protecting workers is inconsistent. In 2012, he voted against a bill that would permit child care workers to collectively bargain. In 2014, he voted against creating labor standards for do mestic workers. In 2017, he voted against comprehensive regulations for ride sharing apps, which would set criteria for drivers and make ride sharing more accessible.

In 2018, he sponsored a bill that would enforce transparency in construction worker benefits, along with a bill that called for increased benefits for Civil Air Patrol and Coast Guard Auxiliary members.

Both of these bills failed.

In that same year, Diehl voted against a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour and would create required time off for workers.

Diehl has also voted against bills that would prohibit gender discrimination, protect access to abortions and authorize the use and sale of marijuana.

Diehl is a strong advocate for firearms, voting against identity verification and background checks in 2014. In 2018, he voted against extreme risk protection orders. These orders allow families to force the surrendering of guns from someone deemed an “extreme risk” living in the household.

Consistently voting to defend child welfare, Diehl has made pro tecting minors a staple of his legis lative history. In 2014, Diehl voted yes on a bill that would require parole eligibility for juveniles serving a life sentence. In 2018, he voted to increase the required age to purchase tobacco products and increase access to child sex offender registries.

There were moments where Diehl worked alongside his Democratic counterparts, voting to prevent healthcare companies from arbi trarily raising prices on medicine in 2012, prohibit the sale of bump stocks in 2017 and prohibit gender conversion therapy in 2018.

Former President Donald Trump has endorsed Diehl, and various gun rights advocacy groups and police unions in Massachusetts have also shown support for him. While some moderates are alienated by Diehl’s far right policies, he has the majority of the Republican base behind him.

What does the election forecast look like?

In September, Healey won the Democratic primary 85.6% to 14.4% against fellow progressive

2016

• Healey leads a multistate coalition to provide greater support and protections for union elections

• Healey spends time opposing marijuana legalization and partially supports facial recognition technology and no-knock warrants

2017

Sonia Chang-Díaz. Diehl won the Republican primary, defeating Chris Doughty 55.5% to 44.5%.

While Healey is the 25.3-point favorite to win the election in a state that is overwhelmingly Democratic, it has been common for the governor of Massachusetts to lean right of center. Current Gov. Charlie Baker, known for his bridge building and compromises, is a noted member of the Republi can party.

For now, Healey holds a sub stantial lead over the Trumpendorsed Diehl, but like any race, the decision will be made on election day.

Illustrations by Avery Bleichfeld

Diehl illustration is a derivative of “Massachusetts_State_ Rep._Geoff_Diehl.jpg” by Geoffrey Diehl, used under CC BY-SA 3.0. This illustration is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

2018

• Diehl votes to prohibit gender conversion therapy

• Diehl sponsors bill that would enforce transparency in construction worker benefits

• Diehl votes against bill that would raise minimum wage to $15 an hour and create required time off

• Diehl votes against extreme risk protection orders

• Diehl votes to increase required age to purchase tobacco products and increases access to child sex offender registries

2021

• Diehl votes against regulations for ride sharing apps

• Diehl votes to prohibit sale of bump stocks

• Healey encourages U.S. Supreme Court to allow state and local governments to regulate guns

• Healey’s office resolves lawsuit against Sackler family with $4.3 billion from Sacklers

Inside the draft: How athletes go pro

By Amelia Ballingall News Staff

Each year, the major sports leagues in North America get their choice of the best eligible young players of their sport. Both the National Hockey League, NHL, and Major League Baseball, MLB, carried out their drafts July 2022, with multiple teams picking up Northeastern athletes.

Although the premise of the draft is consistent across professional sports, the process itself and what comes after is very different.

The NHL draft takes place in person, most recently in Montreal, Quebec, bringing together coaches, athletes and press in a two-day event. Nerves are high, as players don’t know for sure when, where or even if they’ll get drafted.

“It’s kind of just a waiting game to see where you get picked,” said Cam Lund, a freshman forward, drafted 34th overall in the second round by the San Jose Sharks, Northeastern’s earliest draft pick since 2011.

The NHL draft lasts seven rounds. Day one only consists of the first round, the most anticipated by teams and analysts, while day two features the re maining six. One by one, staff members from each NHL team gather onstage to announce the athlete they’ve selected.

“Hearing your name called and getting to walk up and go through that whole experience is definitely [unreal],” Lund said.

The draft represents a milestone for the young hockey players selected, many of whom have spent their entire lives working toward that moment.

“Since I [have been] playing hockey since [I was] three years old, it means all this hard work has paid off in a way,” said Hunter McDonald, a freshman defenseman drafted 165th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in the sixth round.

Five other Huskies also watched their childhood dreams come true this July, bringing Northeastern’s NHL draft total up to seven. These players included sophomore Jack Hughes (L.A. Kings), freshmen Jackson Dorrington (Vancouver Canucks) and James Fisher (Columbus Blue Jackets), and future players Michael Fisher (San Jose Sharks) and Cameron Whitehead (Vegas Golden Knights).

Getting chosen by a team doesn’t guarantee that a player will get signed to play professionally for them, however. The draft merely secures a player’s rights to a team so that they can’t be signed by another team.

“A lot of people might say that the hard work begins once you get drafted and I definitely have to agree with that,” said junior forward Sam Colangelo, drafted 36th overall in the second round of the 2020 draft by the Anaheim Ducks. “It doesn’t make you set in stone to play in the NHL or anything like that; you just gotta keep working.”

That work begins in development camps. From coast to coast each sum mer, drafted athletes gather with their potential future teammates and coaches to train and learn what goes into being a major or minor league player.

“You work out and skate in the morning and then they have some activities lined up for you in the after noon,” Colangelo said.

MLB training camps share the goals of team and skill development with the NHL, but the process to get there is very different.

While the NHL draft looks at young players, ages 18 to 20 for North Ameri cans and any age for those outside of the continent, over seven rounds, the Major League Baseball draft lasts 20 rounds and only drafts players who are citizens of the United States, Canada or a United States territory.

The MLB draft also has age restric tions; as a high school graduate, one must have been out of school for at least a year with no plans to continue into higher education, and for college ath letes, one must either be at least 21 years old or have completed at least three years of their four-year education.

After being drafted, MLB prospects must be signed by a team that year or they are able to reenter the draft the following year. This is a stark differ ence from the NHL, where players can remain under a team for years without a contract enabling them to play professionally.

“The reason you’re out here is because you already impressed them,” said Thomas Balboni, a redshirt sopho more pitcher, drafted to the San Diego Padres in the 15th round of the 2022 MLB draft.

This sentiment is true for both MLB and NHL players, but manifests itself a bit differently in the baseball world due to the nature of the process.

“They give players programs [of] what they want and what they expect from you, so if you do what they ask and you are competing every day on the mound and getting outs and everything, you’re in a good spot for your future to move up in the organization and make it to the big leagues,” Balboni said.

Balboni was one of three Huskies giv en this opportunity at this year’s MLB draft, accompanied by fellow redshirt sophomore pitchers Cam Schlittler and Sebastian Keane, who were both drafted by the New York Yankees.

Despite the high rate of contracts in the MLB draft, it’s a less ceremonial pro cess than the NHL. Rather than sitting in an arena, waiting for their name to be called by a panel of team executives, MLB drafts are done primarily through the players’ agents.

“I had a good feeling I was getting picked up on day three, but I was

in Boston and I was driving to my grandparents’ house, and my agent [was] calling me throughout the morning, [saying] ‘They’re going to take you,’” Balboni said.

For Balboni, MLB training started with bridge leagues, a camp between the regular season and instructionals, the winter league allowing prospects to develop their skills, that takes place while the minor leagues are still finishing up.

“Bridge league is where a lot of guys start throwing in games, getting innings,” he said.

This time highlights the devel opment of players both on the field and in the weight room. Pitchers like Balboni work on designing pitches; delivery, the pitcher’s ability to get the ball to the hitter; and command, the ability to make a pitch hit the exact target intended. However, it’s not until the instructionals that the athletes get the opportunity to meet and train with coaches and other team officials.

“Instructionals are a great time to show what you’ve been working on and hopefully impress the people in the organization,” Balboni said.

With bridge league continuing into October and instructionals soon to follow, players’ work has just begun.

“It’s about competing every day and doing what the organization wants you to do and following what they say,” Balboni said.

That’s how it is in both the MLB and NHL: although athletes have already proved their potential to pro spective coaches, the pressure doesn’t stop. They must continue making their mark on the field or ice in order to make it to the highest level.

“If anything, maybe [getting drafted] gives you a little confidence, … [but] it shouldn’t really affect any thing,” McDonald said. “[The way of playing] that got you there should be the way you play after too.”

Major league sports drafts keep competition between teams as skill level goes up and number of options to play goes down. However, it’s up to the individual athlete to determine what getting drafted means to them.

“It’s a cool accomplishment, but it doesn’t really change the way you are as a player, doesn’t make you better at [your sport],” Colangelo said. “It’s kind of just a start.”

Huskies sweep UVM Cats in 5-0 shutout

By Eli Curwin News Staff

The Northeastern men’s hockey team (3-0-0, 2-0-0 HE) defeated the Universi ty of Vermont Catamounts (0-4-0, 0-4-0 HE) 5-0 Oct. 8. Led by senior forward and captain Aidan McDonough’s four points, sophomore forward Justin Hryckowian’s two goals and a record-ty ing shutout performance from junior goalie Devon Levi, the Huskies swept the Catamounts, securing the top seed in Hockey East.

The night before, Northeastern routed the Catamounts 5-2 in a decisive win. On the second night of back-toback conference play against UVM, Northeastern’s offense and defense looked poised and intentional the entire game, a point of emphasis for head coach Jerry Keefe.

“I really liked how we came out. We want to establish a certain kind of play, and I felt we did that in the first period. And I liked how we closed the game out in the third,” Keefe said. “We wanted to make sure that we were playing the right way, and I felt we did that.”

While Northeastern struggled in the first period on Friday, the Huskies started the opening period on Saturday confidently, matching the Catamounts’ revenge-driven aggres sion. A boarding penalty on Vermont senior forward Jacques Bouquot gave

the Huskies an early advantage, but a swarming UVM defense prevented Northeastern from converting.

Following the power play, the period continued as a feisty back-and-forth, with both teams mustering opportu nities in transition but unable to score. However, after another Vermont penal ty, Northeastern would make up for its initial power play woes with a beautiful tip-in goal from Hryckowian, assisted by McDonough and junior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine.

Down one score, Vermont’s offense found much-needed life, attempting six shots in two minutes. Perfect play in net from Levi mitigated the high energy Catamounts, keeping the Huskies’ lead.

A Vermont power play following a Northeastern holding penalty put the Huskies at an apparent disadvantage, but Northeastern’s penalty kill, or PK, was impenetrable, dumping the puck across the ice, forcing UVM to scramble into its advantage.

Killing the advantage, Northeastern’s offense began firing on all cylinders, but could not seem to get past UVM grad uate student goaltender Oskar Autio. Deflecting an onslaught of shots, Autio kept Northeastern’s fast-paced transition offense from the back of the net.

However, as the roaring offense berated Autio with shots, Northeastern graduate student forward Liam Walsh nearly scored on a breakaway.

Corralling his rebound, freshman defenseman Jackson Dorrington whipped a pretty pass to freshman forward Cam Lund, who found McDonough for his second point of the night.

The period ended with a two-score lead for Northeastern, but also with more penalties for both teams, an omen of the heaps of whistles to come.

Momentum from the first period carried over for the Huskies, as the team found the net early in the second. After a Vermont 3-on-2 shot attempt soared over Northeastern’s net, a trio of Huskies, led by sophomore forward Jack Hughes, rushed across the ice. Hughes sent the puck across the ice to McDonough, who found Fontaine in the middle for the one-timer goal.

For the Huskies, everything seemed to be clicking. Aggressive defense led to fast and efficient offense, and UVM could not seem to handle the roaring Huskies. It would be the stripes that would hamper the Huskies’ energy.

Five minutes into the period, a hook ing penalty on Lund put the Huskies at a disadvantage. Thirty seconds later, a slashing penalty on Vermont sopho more forward Simon Jellúš put both teams down a skater.

With Lund freed from the box, Northeastern would have a 30 second advantage, though the team would not be able to capitalize. After another 30

seconds, Hryckowian was sent to the box for interference, putting the Huskies down a skater again.

Northeastern’s penalty kill remained strong, a theme for the night, and the Huskies’ ability to dump the puck and force errant passes allowed them to gain momentum, overcoming any frustra tion the referees may have caused.

“I thought [our PK] was excellent,” Keefe said. “If we are blocking shots and we got great sticks, we are going to be effective on the PK, and that gives our entire team a big boost.”

After one more penalty on sopho more defenseman Braden Doyle, the Huskies were finally able to get all six skaters on the ice for the first time in nearly seven minutes.

Here, Northeastern’s offense caught fire, attempting eight shots in three minutes. While Autio was able to stave off the Huskies fourth goal of the night temporarily, a second tip-in from Hyrckowian off a Doyle shot gave the Huskies a near insurmountable lead.

Heading into the third period, the Catamount coaches had seen enough of Autio, replacing him with junior goalie Gabe Carriere, who started the first three minutes of the period well.

However, much like Autio, Carriere simply could not handle the assailing Northeastern offense, giving Northeast ern its fifth goal of the night. Following a faceoff win, Dorrington looked to set

up the Husky offense, passing to senior defenseman Jeremie Bucheler. Bucheler cruised a bewildering pass across the ice to McDonough, who weaved around the goalie for the backhand goal. Dor rington and Bucheler both got assists on the game-winner, and McDonough’s second goal earned him his fourth point of the night.

The rest of the period continued with an impressive Northeastern of fensive showing, as quick passing and movement nearly gave them another score. While the team was unable to convert another goal, the Huskies ended the game with the same aggres sion and energy it started with. The victory marks the third win in a row for the undefeated Huskies.

While Levi had played well in his first two games, he hadn’t looked like the shot-snatching savant from last season. Tonight, however, Levi’s shifti ness in front of the net and quick glove and pad saves seemed like the Mike Richter award winner he was last sea son. In addition to finding his groove, Levi tied Northeastern’s shutout record, 11 shutout games, in only 35 outings. The record was previously set in 2012 by Chris Rawlings, who set the record in 123 games.

Northeastern will look to con tinue its hot streak against Provi dence College 7:30 p.m. Oct. 15 at Matthews Arena.

Sam Colangelo, drafted in 2020 by the Anaheim Ducks, on ice at the 2022 Beanpot Semifinals against Boston College. In 2022, 10 Northeastern athletes were drafted between the NHL and MLB.

Photo by Quillan Anderson

Leading libero Kayla Martin reaches 1,000 digs in her collegiate career

By Amelia Ballingall News Staff

Kayla Martin, a senior captain libero and defensive specialist on the North eastern University volleyball team, has been a force to be reckoned with since her freshman year. On Oct. 8, she reached a milestone, tallying her 1,000th career dig in a game against Elon University.

A dig is “anything that the opponent’s attacking [where] you’re keeping the ball from hitting the floor,” Martin said.

Digs are important to defense in volleyball, as they keep the ball off the ground and in your team’s possession after an attack. They often require diving or dropping low to the ground in order to get under the ball.

Martin has done this over 1,000 times in the last four years, saving her team from attack after attack and helping the Huskies get as far as the 2021 CAA Championship, where the team fell to Towson University in the final round.

“It’s cool to see hard work paying off in these things,” Martin said. “It really means a lot to me because it means that I’m helping the team in a way that I should be and I’m doing my job.”

Martin has been working hard in the sport since the age of 12, when she made the switch from gymnastics to volleyball. Although she was “late to the sport,” she knew volleyball was something she was going to be doing for a long time.

“Going into high school, I just really focused on it because I knew that this was something that I was passionate about, … [but I] didn’t really know what

the opportunities were that [lay] ahead of me,” Martin said.

The libero committed to Northeastern University at the end of her sophomore year of high school and began attending in fall 2019 after amassing a staggering 1,175 digs for her high school team.

Ever since her start at Northeastern, Martin has been making progress towards a collegiate 1,000.

“My freshman year, I [played defen sive specialist] a lot,” Martin said. “There was a senior libero ahead of me, [so] I was in and out of the libero jersey, but I think it really came sophomore year when I started playing libero a little bit more, racking up more digs.”

The majority of Martin’s 1,000 digs came during her junior and senior years, as her sophomore year was interrupted by COVID-19. During that season, Martin only tallied 179 digs, short of her fresh man 216 and her junior 400.

“I just think that [Martin] and all of them have been through so much in these last few years, … and to see her reach this milestone, I hope that she and the team are very proud that we have fought through all of the trauma that has happened the last few years and that we continue to see that anything is possible if you keep fighting through,” head coach Lenika Vazquez said.

The COVID-19 pandemic was not the only struggle of Martin’s collegiate career. Her coach said Martin has donned various medical wraps, needed heating pads and amassed “battle scars,” but did not get off the court until she was on crutches.

“There’s never a point where she won’t give all that she has,” Vazquez said.

Her coaches are not the only ones who see this in her; Martin’s teammates offer a similar sentiment.

“On and off the court, Kayla is really our captain and backbone of the team,” said Defne Arliel, a junior outside hitter.

Despite the grand statement from her teammate, the libero refuses to take all the credit for herself. Martin says she has learned a lot just from being in a team atmosphere.

“It definitely took my team relying on each other,” Martin said. “We definitely have built a really great culture of leaning on each other. We’re really close, so it helps to have really great teammates there to push me in practice so that I can perform in games.”

Martin, junior libero and defensive specialist Maddie Donaphon and graduate student outside hitter Laura Seeger were named as captains for the 2022-2023 season.

“[Martin] has just been a role model for everybody on the team and her milestone just shows her importance and how good of a player and a captain she’s been to this program,” Arliel said.

On the court, Martin is a leader in many different ways and has been since her start with the Huskies, her coach said.

“[She has] a high level of commitment and a high level of discipline when it comes to just coming in and working smart every day,” Vazquez said.

As libero, Martin has a vital job on defense. She’s in control of changing the team’s different defensive systems and

making sure she’s in the right place for the team to be successful.

“[Martin] works very hard in practice and she does really well reading. She does really well in our system and is definitely a leader to help the defense on our team,” Vazquez said.

Her leadership extends even beyond her current team. As the libero has now entered her senior season, recruitment is underway to find future Huskies to further Northeastern volleyball.

“She’s definitely an inspiration for other players that will come through the pro gram and an inspiration for high school players that look up to her,” Vazquez said.

Heading into the weekend against Elon, the libero knew she was only 15 digs away from reaching 1,000. Although the num ber wasn’t new to her, having surpassed it

in high school, it was still a big milestone to reach on the college level.

“I always hate having [a milestone] in my head because I feel like I’m focused on that when I should be focused on other things like just doing my job so we can win,” Martin said. “I definitely think that actually impacted my game a bit.”

Digs are difficult to keep track of in volleyball, as there are a variety of rules surrounding what actually counts as a dig. When Martin finally reached her milestone, she wasn’t even fully aware of it, thinking she was maybe one off, she said.

“That moment, I actually didn’t expect to get emotional just because I knew I was so close to it, but just hearing my teammates supporting me and hearing the crowd cheering, it was just kind of a surreal moment,” Martin said.

Men’s soccer team defeated in intense game against Monmouth

By Megan Canizares Castillo News Staff

The Northeastern University men’s soccer team (3-7-3, 2-3-1 CAA) was unable to place the ball in the back of the net and fell 0-1 Satur day in a tight home game against Monmouth University (6-5-0, 2-4-0 CAA). The loss came despite the Huskies holding possession through the majority of the match.

In Northeastern’s sixth CAA game of the season, the Huskies strove for a victory against the Hawks and continued the fight for one of the six

spots left in the conference’s tour nament. Monmouth was introduced to the conference at the start of the 2022 season, and winning this game placed them almost head-to-head with Northeastern who is surpassing them by one point. The Huskies would not let Monmouth move up in the ranks without a fight, though, as a win for Northeastern would have allowed the team to place third in the tournament’s rankings.

The match started off fast-paced. Two minutes in, during the Hawks’ first time on the team’s attacking side, Monmouth had a quick breakthrough as sophomore

midfielder Jonas Lyshoj crossed the ball into the box, giving his teammates the opportunity to change the game’s score early on. Northeastern graduate student defensemen Ole Kjørholt ruined these plans, heading the ball out of bounds, quickly ending the play.

About 10 minutes into the match, Northeastern began to dominate the game when sophomore midfielder Andres Torrealb made a pass to junior forward Federico Tellez, who missed a shot at the goal. About a minute later, graduate student midfielder Jacob Marin-Thompson received a ball from a cross pass and attempted to head it into the goal, but also ended up missing the shot.

Shortly after, Marin-Thomson, Tell ez, freshman midfielder Sami Baiche and senior forward Timothy Ennin executed a sequence of clean, solid passes, moving up the field. The final pass darted through Monmouth’s de fensive line but was too strong for any Northeastern player to catch, ending the opportunity to quickly steal a goal.

The first half of the match was mainly played on the Huskies’ attack ing side, with the ball traveling up and down that section of the field as both teams fought to gain possession.

During this time, Northeastern had many opportunities to place one in the back of the net but failed to do so.

With eight minutes left in the first half, Monmouth managed a quick

breakthrough and moved the ball up after a dynamic sequence of passes. However, the play was shut down by Northeastern junior defender Fabrizio Cubeddu, who blocked a pass, pre venting the play from continuing on.

The Huskies lost some momentum at the start of the second half, some thing the Hawks did not hesitate to take advantage of. Just seven minutes into the half, Monmouth had a brilliant break through where sophomore midfielder Chris Morandi passed to Lyshoj, who was positioned diagonal to him. After receiving the pass, Lyshoj sharply cut the ball, broke Northeastern’s defensive line and scored right outside of the 18-yard box, pushing his team into the lead.

After the goal, the game shifted completely; the Hawks were full of energy and eagerness while the Huskies showed a lack of drive to continue fighting.

The Huskies’ final on-target shot occurred 12 minutes into the half, when Tellez was given the opportunity to make a goal from a foul kick right outside the 18-yard box. However, freshman Eryk Dymora, Monmouth’s goalkeeper that was subbed in, shut the play down immediately with a quick save.

In a similar manner, about 18 minutes into the second half, Monmouth’s Mirandi struck a shot that rebounded off the goalkeeper, junior Colby Hegarty. After bouncing off Hegarty’s hands, Monmouth’s Christoffer Jensen came

barrelling in to try and save the opportu nity, to no avail.

29 minutes into the second half, Monmouth’s Lyshoj nailed the ball to the goal once more. Although his kick was powerful and on-target, the forward was blocked by Hegarty with a successful leap.

Similar to the weather that day, the tension between the two sides was heating up quickly, and with 14 minutes until the end of the game, an argument ensued between players over a play that was not counted as a foul. The match overall was an aggressive one, with two yellow cards handed out to the Huskies and dis putes occurring between both teams’ players and the referee, as well as among the players themselves.

With a little over 12 minutes left, the Huskies tried picking up the pace with a fast break to their attacking half. Though junior midfielder Zach Sauer volleyed the ball toward the goal, it flew too far to the right, failing to change the score.

The game ended on the Hawks’ at tacking half, the Huskies feeling a wave of urgency to score before the game’s end. Unable to do so, Northeastern fell to Monmouth with a final score of 1-0.

The Huskies will have another chance at securing a spot in the CAA tourna ment when the team plays the University of Charleston Oct. 15.

Northeastern will return to Parsons Field Oct. 18 at 6 p.m. and compete against Boston University.

Senior libero and defensive specialist Kayla Martin playing against the University of Rhode Island in 2021. Saturday, Martin tallied her 1,000th career dig in a game against Elon University.

Photo by Elizabeth Scholl

Forward redshirt senior Timothy Ennin under pressure against Hofstra University in 2021. The Huskies fell to Monmouth University

at Parsons Field.

File photo by Sadie Parker

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Op-ed: Students must respect Snell’s fourth floor silent policy

for quiet conversations and muted phones. Last, the fourth floor, has the most strict rules as the “Pre ferred Silent Zone,” with no conver sations or phone usage allowed.

These rules are posted around the library, near the elevators and in entryways to the floors, making them accessible and known to any students entering the building. Unfortunately, Northeastern students seem to have a difficult time evaluating themselves and choosing a respective zone that correlates with their volume levels.

environment, making the two floors designated as work spaces more like hangout spots for many students. The fourth floor also has two balcony-like cut outs in the floor plan that opens down into the third floor, allowing noise levels from the third floor to travel above, which thus creates more distractions and leads students to believe it’s acceptable to make noise.

Opinions

Snell Library, located in the center of Northeastern University’s campus, is the school’s only official undergraduate library space. Snell is a four-story building, which is con veniently divided into four learning sections based on the noise levels that are acceptable on the given floor. The first floor is the “Active Zone” for regular conversations and phone usage; the second floor is the “Collaborative Zone” designed for regular conversations, but limited phone use; and the third floor is a “Preferred Quiet Zone,” meant

As someone who needs complete silence to do my work, the fourth floor is advertised as the perfect place to be able to work on assignments with zero distractions. However, so far, every time this semester I have sat down to do work, there have been conversations and other distractions that disrupt the rules of this floor.

With some students gathering with friends to do homework and others taking full-fledged phone and Zoom calls, the fourth floor’s intended use as a quiet study space are disrespected. The third floor also struggles with the same issue, and tends to be more of a social

With Snell Library currently un dergoing renovations, Northeastern can make changes to this space to create a more productive atmosphere for those who benefit from dedicated quiet spaces. I believe the biggest is sue that should be addressed through the renovations is creating more private spaces to study that will take away the incentive for students to get together in groups on this floor. The seating arrangements on the floor are mostly larger tables that would hypo thetically be used for a group setting, so choosing a new layout for the floor with an emphasis on individual tables and seating is crucial to the success of creating a silent space.

I also think that instituting employees on the fourth floor to act as proctors would be extremely

beneficial to the space’s atmosphere. In high school, having a librarian in study spaces like this always held students accountable for their noise levels, and although we are now adults in college, some students still seem to be unable to be conscious of themselves in these environments. Hiring proctors may be an unpop ular or controversial opinion, but it would make it much more fair for the students who need the fourth floor to concentrate.

Overall, the use of the fourth floor for its intended purpose as a “Pre ferred Silent Zone” has been falling through, and it’s up to Northeastern to be able to provide spaces that students feel comfortable to work in. With everyone having such large course loads at a prestigious institu tion, the school should support us in our studies, beginning with the improvements of Snell Library, where the core of studying takes place for many students every day.

Sophia Schultz is a second-year business administration major. She can be reached at schultz.so@north eastern.edu.

Op-ed: MBTA construction has been a burden on Northeastern students

During the Orange Line construc tion, I experienced overcrowded Green Line trains where people were always pushed against the doors during peak times. Safety concerns and delays on the Green Line made me worry about getting hurt and being late for classes. Even after the implementation of the reconstruction, I am still experiencing constant delays in trains and slow corners on the Orange Line.

The Massachusetts Bay Transpor tation, or MBTA, Orange Line con necting Forest Hills and Oak Grove has been the second most traveled line since its construction in 1901. The entire line was shut down from Aug. 19 through Sept. 18 to do safety repair work.

The aging of the Orange Line re ceived attention after an incident in the summer where it caught on fire and the MBTA was questioned by state lawmakers on safety concerns. However, the inadequate project planning and implementation for the shutdown failed to match the MBTA’s intention and promise to citizens, and caused major inconve niences for some.

Besides the Orange Line fire inci dent in August, there have been major safety incidents, including a Green Line train derailing at Park Street and explosions that caused Green Line riders to flee MBTA station.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren interrogated the Transportation De partment authorities and concluded that, “Prioritizing safety and service should not be ‘either, or,’ it should be ‘both, and.’”

The shutdown of the D branch of the Green Line started Sept. 24, not long after the reopening of Orange Line. According to the details re leased by the MBTA, station crossings will be improved, and the Train Protection System will be installed for accident prevention.

become less feasible. According to a Boston Globe analysis, a bus shuttle from Forest Hills to Back Bay took double the time the bus would normally take on the first full weekday of the Orange Line shut down. The MBTA failed to consider the extensive ownership of cars in a major metropolitan city. MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said prioritization of public shuttles would decrease the capacity of roadways while bluntly admitting that significant congestion would be felt. The Boston Globe also found that the citizens of Boston suffered from late bus shuttles caused by traffic con gestion, which is extremely frustrating for those who need to be in their positions in the morning.

Unfortunately, Northeastern has failed to help students with financial support for transportation. The tick et price for a ride on MBTA is $2.40, and students can only receive an 11% discount on passes compared with a 50% subsidy on monthly MBTA passes for a Harvard student. Northeastern is located near the center of Boston city with two MBTA stations on campus.

entire line from end to end,” the com pany has been so understaffed that it had to cut its service in July. The lack of dispatchers not only caused incon veniences on the Orange Line, but also affected people that commute by other lines.

For those who rely on public transportation, Northeastern Uni versity has both the E Branch of the Green Line and the Ruggles Station of the Orange Line for students’ daily commutes. The reopening of the Orange Line and the unaffect ed Green Line E Branch provided students with more reliable rides. Some riders have observed drasti cally increased population volumes brought from Orange Line riders, which they feel have caused safety problems and substandard custom er service experience.

The

As a Northeastern student living off-campus, I found the traffic on my way to school on week days became significantly heavier during the Orange Line closure. The housing crisis at Northeastern has forced some students to move to off-campus apartments, and the lack of alternative commuting options became a burden for college students whose time can be better spent on schoolwork and career planning.

Over its years in service, major shutdowns of the trains in Boston have rarely taken place. In May 1987, MBTA spent several days moving a section of the railway underground. The purpose of the renovation was to make the system more reliable and clear through the semi-submerged structure. Facing the upcoming traffic situation, the MBTA brought in 100 buses and the mayor of Boston held a press conference to urge patience. The solution 35 years ago does not neces sarily apply to today’s Boston.

In 2022, simply urging drivers to avoid passing certain routes has

Furthermore, the rest of Boston’s subway lines deserve more atten tion from the MBTA to increase the economic efficiency and convenience. Customer feedback on the renovated Orange Line does not seem to match the image proposed by the MBTA.

Since the line reopened on Sept. 19, slow zones with speed restrictions have frustrated customers with high expectations after one month of excruciating ways of commuting. Even though the MBTA promised that trains on the Orange Line would be able to travel faster without the restriction areas that serve to bring a “broader impact on dispatching the

Since Northeastern is based in a city, students should always be prepared for future shutdowns and inconveniences due to the shortage of dispatchers. Alterna tive transportation methods like riding a bike and walking should be considered for those who want to explore the city of Boston, with limited train resources, in the next few months.

Northeastern students are still facing commuting inconveniences after the Orange Line construc tion. As a result, our university should take note of the amount of students, including myself, who rely on public transportation, and when these inconsistencies occur, Northeastern must step in to help its students.

Tim Zhao is a second-year polit ical science and international affairs combined major. He can be reached at zhao.shengh@northeastern.edu.

Photo courtesy Sophia Schultz

Photo by Harriet Rovniak

Hill

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Gummaraju

Op-ed: Don’t be ashamed of needing ‘me time’

time away from others allows me to recharge and restabilize my mental health. According to an article by Walden University, a private online for-profit institution based in Min neapolis, dedicating time to recharge alone helps clinical mental health counselors stay mentally nourished. Consequently, counselors who invest in themselves have personal experience in self-care that can aid their clients to also realize the significance of proper self-care. According to the National Institutes of Health, having time for oneself can offer better sleep quality.

unintended distaste toward those you spend time with. I think this quality of self-care is why I feel that my high school friendships are richer than my college ones: the time I’ve spent away from my high school peers gives me time to flush away any tension before greeting them again with a smile on my face.

One of students’ many initial quests at the beginning of a new school year, especially for first-years, is to find friends. Whether it be for ensuring you are acquainted with a math genius who can help you get through hours of Calculus 3 or someone to go with on a boba run to Gong Cha every Saturday, the college experience, or any experience in our emerging adult lives, is more interesting with people around you. I love hanging out with friends when I can, especially ones from high school to whom I have not said a word for a few months. However, as much as I love being with my companions from time to time, the thought of going out with people every weekend sounds daunting to me. I digress that I am nat urally a more introverted person but I truly believe there is value in spending time for oneself.

I find that, especially as I’m finding my second year of college a little more overwhelming than expected, taking

As college students, I feel like there is a compulsion to do so many things at once that we forget to take a step back and allow ourselves to breathe. Getting enough rest can help prepare us for overbearing tasks in the long haul, so rather than partying until 2 a.m., consider spending time alone to rest. According to Forbes, time alone enables a boost in creativity.

Our minds wander a lot when we are alone. For me, I find that running in solitude and showering allows me to mentally declutter the chaos in my mind, allowing more space in my brain for new and refreshing ideas. Time alone helps people focus on the process of how to best spend their time to achieve a fulfilling life. Spending time with others is wonderful, but it takes time away from one’s personal goals. And, surprisingly, engaging in self-care can actually help boost one’s relationships. Not setting personal social boundaries when you would benefit from them can build

According to an article by Psy chReel, a company with individu als who are experts in personality psychology, society favors extroverts. But there is nothing wrong with being an introvert. Jenn Granneman, the founder of her website Introvert, Dear, which is dedicated to nourishing the introvert community, says the creativity that comes with introverts spending time alone has led many introverts to become successful with amazing accomplishments: Rosa Parks, Frederic Chopin, Albert Einstein and even Mahatma Gandhi. While I don’t have many friends compared to some extroverts, I do have a good amount of deep relationships that help me tackle life’s challenges with more confidence. Introverts like me tend to engage in a conversation through listening rather than speaking. Yet, the extent to which we allow others to use their voice when they need to may be why some intro verts have deeper relationships.

There is nothing wrong with establishing connections and forming friendships. According to Psychology Today, friendships enable us to share splendid moments in our lives with others, making those moments more meaningful. Some of us are fortunate

to have friends who are always there to help when we require mental sup port. However, surrounding ourselves with people all the time can spark some insecurities, especially at North eastern. Hearing about one’s peers getting amazing co-ops, enriching experiences in a lab, marvelous sum mer internships and accomplishing other amazing feats can make some one feel proud of their friends and, justifyingly, insecure about oneself. But self-care can help alleviate that self-doubt. True self-care, according to Mental Health America, involves the ability to stop the comparison of oneself with others in order to accept one’s life as it is instead.

A lot of my friends ask why I don’t go out often with others. The truth is, I love my friends as much as I love spending time alone. I fear that people may mistake me as cold since I choose

not to devote much time to being around others. However, when I do see my friends, I savor every second I can with them as much as I savor time for myself to recharge. I have felt recharged walking down the streets of London alone for a month, spending three pleasing hours observing art at my own pace at the Museum of Fine Arts and hogging the shower a little longer than necessary at the end of a stressful week. The time I have allotted for myself has been an integral part of my college experience.

As Northeastern students, we should be accepting of those who yearn to establish boundaries for themselves. Don’t judge a person if they don’t feel like partying for a night; there may be a day when you find yourself in that person’s position. If you find yourself needing to spend time in solace, know that your truest friends would not mind it. It may be a little stress-inducing to think about the consequences that taking time alone could have on your relation ships. However, time alone is more likely to strengthen than harm your friendships. I think that even the most extroverted student should spend at least a few minutes in their daily lives removing themselves from others and re-evaluating their lives. Our relationships with ourselves are just as imperative as those with our friends.

Jethro R. Lee is a second-year data science and psychology combined major. He can be reached at lee.jet@ northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: Northeastern transfer students aren’t treated like other students

Northeastern’s biggest sell to incoming students, but many also choose the school for its unique city campus and world-class professors. However, only once I had accepted my offer did I find out that the university does not offer transfer students housing, something not widely advertised on admissions resource pages.

Transferring colleges is a stressful process as it is — students have to deal with transferring credits, mak ing new friends and being in a new environment — but it is an adjust ment that is only made harder with a lack of resources offered to newcom ers at Northeastern, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students that transfer to Northeastern do not receive the same experiences and opportunities as those who started as first-years do. Once the acceptance letter excitement wears off, transfers are hit with the harsh reality of find ing housing, independently navigat ing campus and meeting friends.

I transferred to Northeastern in September 2020 as a second-year, coming from Fordham University in New York. I had applied to various schools in Boston, but ultimately chose Northeastern for the opportunities it would offer me. The co-op program is usually

Acceptance letters in 2020 were sent out in mid-May, leaving approximately three months to find housing for the upcoming school year. Since the world was enduring a pandemic, touring properties was exceptionally difficult. Many transfers, like myself, found our selves signing a lease at LightView. The apartment complex exclusively leases to Northeastern and Boston University students. While some were lucky enough to secure a spot close to campus, leases move quick ly at LightView, leaving many to find alternative housing options.

With classes, meetings and events being held online, 2020 transfers faced a unique struggle trying to acclimate themselves to campus. A virtual campus tour was just one of the challenges I faced that posed future implications for transfer students. As a fourth-year student in my third year at Northeastern, I sometimes still find myself having difficulty finding where my classes are at the beginning of each semes ter. Additionally, the online format

made it more challenging to meet new transfer students or other stu dents in general. Any of the friends I made that shared the experience of being a transfer student were from reaching out on my own and striking up conversations in Light View’s laundry facilities. It was only once I virtually participated in so rority recruitment that my network of friends and peers expanded.

The mental health resources at Northeastern aren’t widely adver tised and could have potentially been useful to help ease the stress of the transition to a new school. My transfer process to Northeastern was a rather isolating experience and a transfer counselor or similar resource would have helped in having someone to address the challenges I faced. Additionally, if I had been introduced to other trans fer students through a more formal orientation process, I would have had others to speak to who shared a similar experience to mine.

Coming from another city school and having been raised in Massachusetts, I was fairly familiar with the city of Boston. However, I know many transfer students that had never visited Boston before and independently had to learn to navigate living in a city. At Suffolk University, there is a three-credit class for incoming transfers and first-years that helps students explore Boston by visiting historical

sights, taking the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority system and getting to know other transfer students. I think a program like this would be extremely beneficial to Northeastern’s transfer students because without having a connection on campus and familiarity with the city, the transition would be even harder.

Personally, without sorority recruitment, I feel that I would not have been able to make

connections and branch out on campus on a deeper level. While this process was virtual, it led me to having meaningful conversations with people I otherwise would not have met.

Lastly, I would like to touch on the emotional side of the transition to Northeastern. As previously noted, I transferred to the school during the pandemic. Classes were online, clubs met via Zoom and there was not much social interac tion overall for new and returning students. This made the initial weeks of being a transfer lonely and fairly isolating. Had there been more Welcome Week-style events dedicated to transfer students, then I would have had the opportunity to at least talk to others, even if it was on a screen from the comfort of my apartments.

I believe if more transfer students spoke to Northeastern’s administrative teams about their experiences, we may be able to create a change for future transfer students. Being vocal about our shared experience, especially those of us who transferred in the fall of 2020, could create new opportuni ties and resources that we did not have but others could.

Paige Keeler is a fourth-year communication studies major. She can be reached at keeler.p@north eastern.edu.

“Spending time with others is wonderful, but it takes time away from one’s personal goals.”

— Jethro R. Lee Northeastern student

Photo courtesy Paige Keeler

“I know many transfer students that had never visited Boston before and independently had to learn to navigate living in a city.”

— Paige Kelley Northeastern student

Photo by Colette Pollauf