Vol. CXXX, No. 9

THE STUDENT LIFE FRIDAY, NovembeR 22, 2019 | CLAREMONT, CA | VOL. CXXX NO. 9

Violent protests force 5C students studying abroad in Hong Kong to evacuate JULIA FRANKeL As the epicenter of violent clashes between police and protesters in Hong Kong shifted from city streets to college campuses last week and forced universities to cut their programs short, most 5C students studying abroad in the semi-autonomous territory were quickly evacuated.

Katherine Adelman CM ’21 and Josh Rodriguez CM ’21 were studying at the Chinese University of Hong Kong when the school announced Nov. 13 that it would end its semester early due to police-pro-

tester clashes on campus, according to the Hong Kong Free Press.

They said they had to shelter in place for three days at CUHK as protesters barricaded entrances to campus Nov. 10 and clashed violently with police on a bridge close to their dorm the following day. As riot officers stormed campus, firing tear gas, protesters responded with Molotov cocktails and bricks, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

“We had to turn off our air conditioning and lock our windows so the tear gas and smoke wouldn’t seep through the AC and get into

all our rooms and hallways,” Adelman said.

During this time, most CUHK dining halls were closed, and food was limited, Rodriguez said.

Adelman said a feeling of cabin fever enveloped the international students at CUHK and there was “growing resentment” for the protests that had disrupted their daily lives.

“By Tuesday morning, administrators had completely lost control of campus,” Rodriguez said, adding that protesters had hot-wired much of the campus transportation system. “We knew

we couldn’t rely on the school for safety at that point.”

On Nov. 13, CUHK’s public relations office announced in an email that the school was ending its first term prematurely and canceling all remaining classes due to the escalating protests, public transit disruption and “severe damage” to campus facilities.

Adelman and Rodriguez departed CUHK the same day, packing their essentials in a backpack and, with assistance from protesters, climbing over the barricades to catch a taxi to the house of a family friend, who works at the American

consulate in Hong Kong.

Reluctant to return to the U.S. prematurely, the pair flew to Singapore and then to Taiwan, where they’re currently staying with Adelman’s family.

The CMC administration is monitoring the situation, spokesperson Peter Hong said via email, and will continue to allow students to study in Hong Kong in the spring.

In recent days, universities in Hong Kong have become a battleground for protests which started six months ago over an extradition bill

See evACUATe on page 2

P-P suspends overnight recruit visits after ‘incident’ KeLLeN bRoWNING

FALL’S IN THe AIR 7Cs conduct external review of Monsour as wait times grow JASPeR DAvIDoFF It’s been yet another semester of month-long waits and patient complaints, and now a panel of outside specialists is on campus to evaluate Monsour Counseling and Psychological Services.

Nearly 20 students gathered at the Honnold-Mudd Library on Monday afternoon to provide input for an external review of Monsour commissioned by The Claremont Colleges Services. The review board is comprised of student wellness administrators from Lewis and Clark College, Princeton University and the California Institute of Technology.

Students raised issues ranging from inconsistent availability and session limits to inhumane treatment when hospitalized at outside institutions to gaps in specialists’ coverage.

“What I am hearing that I have never heard before is the reputational issues of the counseling center,” Robin Holmes-Sullivan, dean of students at Lewis and Clark, said.

“Truly, I’ve been in this for 27 years.

I have never heard anything like I’m hearing today.”

Tensions over mental health came to a head at the Claremont Colleges last year as a student coalition, Students for an Accountable Pomona, demanded that Pomona College cover off-campus therapy and hire staff to address specific affinity groups’ needs, according to previous TSL

reporting.

Students also said the deaths of two CMC students last year, and administrations’ difficulties providing support in response, showed gaps in how urgent needs are addressed.

Monsour has struggled with staff vacancies and fluctuating wait times for several years.

It managed to decrease the waiting period for regular appointments to two and a half weeks last March, TSL reported at the time. But despite new hires, wait times have now lengthened back to four weeks, TCCS spokesperson Laura Muna-Landa said via email.

“Our goal is to see every student requesting an intake appointment prior to the end of the current semester,” she said.

Such a backlog is unusually large, Holmes-Sullivan said.

“I do think that it’s reasonable to expect to utilize services within about seven or 10 days,” she said.

A 2018 survey by the Association for University and College Counseling Center Directors of 571 college counseling centers found the average wait for a first appointment was just under a week. Among clients who spent any time on a waitlist, the average wait grew to 17.7 days.

See moNSoUR on page 2

TALIA BERNSTEIN • THE STUDENT LIFE

The Pomona-Pitzer athletic department has suspended overnight recruiting visits with prospective student-athletes after an unspecified incident that took place at Pitzer College on the weekend of Nov. 9, the department said.

Interim athletic director Jennifer Scanlon said an investigation is taking place, and the suspension of overnight visits is “pending the results” of that investigation.

“We take this matter very seriously, and interim measures have been taken by [Pitzer College and Pomona College] as the investigative process for each unfolds,” Scanlon said in an email to TSL. “In addition, we are reviewing our procedures for overnight recruit visits.”

Scanlon said other recruits were hosted “without incident.” She did not specify which sports team was involved.

The incident included “a small group of athletes, and did not present a systemic or team-wide issue,” she said.

Activist Angela Davis to visit Pomona next spring CHLoe mANDeL Angela Davis, a well-known political activist, will visit Pomona College in April “for a week of interaction” with the community, including two public talks, according to a news release.

Davis is the author of nine books and a prominent activist for gender equality, prison reform and racial justice, according to Biography.com, and will be Pomona history department’s 2020 Ena H. Thompson Distinguished Lecturer, according to the release.

While on campus, Davis will participate in two public events, “An Evening with Angela Davis” April 7, 2020, and “Radical Agendas and Possible Futures” April 9, 2020. Details about the events and tickets will be added to Pomona’s website and the history department’s Facebook page in February.

Tomás Summers Sandoval, a Pomona history professor and this year’s Thompson lectureship coordinator, said in an email that he chose Davis because she’s “an important scholar and amazing public speaker.”

Davis has “a life story and work history that speaks to the past as much as the future,” Sandoval added.

LIFE & STYLE

Studio 47 hosted its 47 Hour Film Challenge last weekend, giving teams just under two days to write, shoot and edit a short film.

The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889

Davis formerly taught at the Claremont Colleges, but was fired after just two semesters, according to the release. Her return to Claremont follows a history of controversy with the colleges over her ideologies and teaching contract.

And while she was on campus, administrators took significant steps to keep her visibility low,

according to The New York Times.

“Arrangements have been made to minimize Miss Davis’s appearance on campus,” then-chairman of Scripps College’s board of trustees Kenneth Rhodes said in a letter, the NYT previously reported.

Students who attended her sem-

See DAvIS on page 3

COURTESY OF THE COLUMBIA GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING AND PRESERVATIONS

Political activist Angela Davis will return to the Claremont Colleges in April.

OPINIONS

SPORTS

“Being cognizant of the power and impact of one’s reporting is not akin to censorship,” claims Schuyler Mitchell PO ‘20. Read more on page 8.

Goalkeeper Isa Berardo PZ ‘20 reflects on their Sagehen career ahead of P-P’s Sweet Sixteen appearance Saturday. Read more on page 10.

INDEX: News 1 | Life & Style 4 | Opinions 7 | Sports 10

News

PAGE 2

NOVEMBER 22, 2019

Laemmle movie EVACUATE: Admin support students from afar theaters no longer for sale Continued from page 1

mARC RoD California’s historic Laemmle movie theater chain, which operates the Laemmle Claremont 5 theater in Claremont Village, is no longer for sale, an official told TSL. At least part of the chain went up for sale this summer, according to Deadline, but negotiations with a potential buyer ended Thursday and the company is no longer for sale, according to Laemmle vice president of operations Kevin Gallagher.

“We will continue operations under the Laemmle name for the foreseeable future,” Gallagher said in an email to TSL. Laemmle was in negotiations for a potential sale as recently as Wednesday, according to an email Gallagher sent to Smith Campus Center administrative coordinator Susan Sellons.

The chain has been plagued by low business, Guy Valdez, the general manager of the Claremont theater, told TSL in September, and the Claremont theater does not see much of an audience from young people.

Valdez added that the theater is implementing renovations to try to boost business, including obtaining an alcohol license, revamping food offerings and adding reclining seats.

In anticipation of the sale, the chain had stopped selling discounted tickets to the 5Cs. Four of the 5Cs, as well as the Honnold-Mudd Library’s Connection store offered such tickets.

Currently, ASPC and the Connection store still have tickets available for sale, but Scripps College, Pitzer College and Claremont McKenna College ran out, according to administrators.

It’s unclear what the cancellation of the sale means for Claremont’s theater, or if the chain will start selling discounted tickets again.

allowing Hong Kong residents to be tried in Chinese courts.

Though the bill has since been withdrawn, the protests have morphed into a struggle to preserve the territory’s semi-autonomy from the Chinese Communist Party in Beijing.

The protests at CUHK subsided by Nov. 15, though police have since accused CUHK of being a “manufacturing base for petrol bombs and a refuge for rioters and criminals,” according to The Guardian.

Five Pomona College students studying at Syracuse University in Hong Kong also saw their program end prematurely.

Nick Timms PO ’21 and Kelly Ho PO ’21 said Syracuse administrators told them via email Nov. 14 that their program would be ending a month early.

Timms and Ho, along with other Pomona students in Hong Kong, lived in an apartment complex district roughly half an hour from the city center, where the majority of protests occurred.

Both said they rarely worried for their safety, only encountering the unrest in Hong Kong via public transit slowdowns and closures.

“More than me getting tear gassed, or me getting kidnapped and hit by a protester or police, I was more afraid I’d be stranded somewhere with no way to get home,” Ho said.

Things changed this past Sunday night, when protesters on their way to Hong Kong Polytechnic University — the site of a violent encounter between students and police that resulted in a police siege — stormed the central street by their apartment, according to Ho. Protesters barricaded the street and launched bricks and Molotov cocktails at police, who responded with tear gas as the students watched from a window above, Timms said. The protests lasted until the morning, according to Ho, who was up all night

watching the action unfold.

The next morning, Syracuse administrators informed them that they needed to evacuate their apartment building by 5:30 p.m. that day, they said.

“The whole thing was really surreal because beforehand I would just see those things on different media sites, but now it was right outside my doorstep,” Timms said. “Before last week, I thought calling Hong Kong a warzone was a bit too much, but seeing the state that it’s in now, ‘warzone’ is not too crazy of an adjective to use.”

Ho agreed.

“I was just petrified by the situation,” Ho said, adding that she could smell the tear gas used by police through her apartment window. “I’m not sure I really understood the gravity of the situation to the extent I did that night.

It just didn’t feel real.”

The students were evacuated to the Hong Kong Disneyland hotel Monday and taken to the airport the next day, according to Ho. Timms quickly returned home to Chicago, and Ho flew to Vietnam to stay with her extended family.

One Harvey Mudd College student is also currently studying in Hong Kong, according to Mudd spokesperson Judy Augsburger.

“We are in contact with the student and are monitoring the situation, and will provide for travel home if the student desires to return early,” Augsburger said via email.

Though Augsburger did not confirm the institution at which the student is studying, the only Hong Kong study abroad program approved by the HMC office of study abroad is affiliated with CUHK, according to the school’s website.

The structure of Timms’ and Ho’s program allowed them to complete all of their course credits before departing Hong Kong, they said.

Adelman and Rodriguez said they will likely receive full credit for the semester from CUHK, either through online classes or based off their performances prior

5Cs to debut new criminal justice education program next spring

NATALIE BOWER • THE STUDENT LIFE

ALLISoN FITZ With help from a million-dollar grant, the 5Cs are introducing a new criminal justice education program next semester, which hopes to bring together students from across classes, schools and disciplines.

One faculty member from each of the 5Cs will teach a course addressing the U.S. criminal justice system as part of a “learning community,” according to Darryl Yong, faculty liaison for the program and Harvey Mudd College mathematics professor.

Derik Smith, a Claremont McKenna College professor of literature who will be teaching a class in the program, described it as “an opportunity to unveil the truths which are so often hidden from our eyes.”

Priority will be given to firstand second-year students “because the whole point is to create a cohort of students who will take courses together, be interested in working on issues together, and receive advising from the five faculty who are teaching these courses,” Yong said.

The learning community is the first program in a new Justice Education Initiative at the Claremont Colleges supported by a $1.1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation, according to Yong.

The initiative aims to “confront mass incarceration as a defining social problem of the contemporary era,” and will coordinate programming across the 5Cs, at regional prisons and detention centers and with local community partners, according to a flyer on the subject.

The five classes in the program are “American Prison Texts” at CMC, “Race, Gender and Mass Incarceration” at HMC, “Gender, Crime and Punishment” at Pomo-

na College, “Criminalization of Latinos and Resistance” at Pitzer College and “Ending Mass Incarceration” at Scripps College.

All courses require instructor permission to enroll, according to the course registration portal.

They have a total of 78 seats available. Each class comes from a different department — literature; humanities, social sciences and the arts; philosophy; and political studies and politics, respectively.

Four of the five courses meet at the same time and day, providing the opportunity for cross-course collaboration, Yong said.

The grant, which will also fund speakers and events, expires in June 2023, Yong said.

In “Gender, Crime and Punishment,” students will examine the prison experience for women specifically and visit and work on writing activities with inmates at a local women’s prison six times during the semester, professor Susan Castagnetto said.

She said five of her course’s students will come from Pilgrim Place — a senior retirement community in Claremont committed to peace and social justice, according to its website.

Smith’s course will focus on the cultural representation of prisons, including analyzing Hollywood films, independent documentaries, poetry and music.

Two of the other professors in the learning community declined to comment, and the final one was not available for comment.

Yong said the grant streamlines and consolidates previous efforts to connect the Claremont Colleges with local detention facilities. He also specified that the learning community is not

necessarily a prison abolitionist group.

While Yong hopes to see collaboration between the cohort and the 5C Prison Abolition Collective, “we have avoided going down one specific ideological path,” Yong said. Regardless, he thinks the learning community will offer a space where its participants can respectfully discuss difficult conversations and ideas together.

Smith echoed this intent.

“The challenge is always how to present this kind of material in a way that is respectful and honors people who are enduring the justice system … and doing that in a way that calls people into the discourse rather than creates antagonism,” he said.

The 5C Prison Abolition Collective did not respond to requests for comment.

The 5Cs currently offer Inside Out courses, in which students learn alongside inmates at two California prisons.

This justice education initiative plans to expand the Inside Out programming and offer more courses at other detention facilities, according to the flyer.

On a personal level, Yong hopes more students at the 5Cs “become more aware of the ways in which we benefit from and are complicit in the criminal justice system.”

“These are huge issues that touch a lot of people, and affect disproportionately poor people and people of color,” he said.

“We definitely need to think about how the criminal justice system is keeping us from creating a more just world.”

to their departure. They also said CMC has offered to work with them to secure adequate credit if they are unable to do so with CUHK. “Detailed arrangements about assessment and learning support for all first term courses will be worked out by a University Task Force,” CUHK’s email announcement said.

Both the Pomona and CMC students said they felt supported by their respective colleges throughout their tumultuous experiences.

Ho said she was grateful for ongoing communications with Pomona’s study abroad office and

the counseling services she was provided after leaving Hong Kong by Tracy Arwari, senior associate dean of academic and personal success.

“Whenever I felt anxious or scared or panicked, knowing that Pomona was behind me made me feel a lot better, and I feel really thankful to Pomona for that,” Ho said.

No students from Scripps College are currently studying abroad in Hong Kong, according to Neva Barker, director of Study Abroad and Global Education at Scripps.

The study abroad offices at Pomona and Pitzer College did not respond to requests for comment.

COURTESY OF NICK TIMMS PO ’21

Violent clashes between protesters and police occupied the street on which five Pomona College students studying abroad were staying Nov. 17, forcing the students to evacuate quickly.

MONSOUR: All vacancies staffed Continued from page 1 Following a $20,000 “correction” to therapists’ pay last semester, Monsour has filled all counseling vacancies, Muna-Landa said.

It recently hired a senior staff psychologist specializing in outreach to Asian American, Asian Pacific Islander and Asian students, she said, as well as two senior staff therapists, a staff therapist and a crisis therapist.

The center aims to further improve service by hiring temporary staff, having already brought on an additional temporary part-time therapist.

“With these new hires, we are expecting the wait time to

decrease,” Muna-Landa said.

Monsour’s website now lists 17 counseling staff members, including three post-doctoral therapists.

The reviewers said their findings would culminate in both a verbal report and a written report to 5C and TCCS administrators. Students at the forum asked if reviewers could recommend the report be released to students.

“Especially given the trust issue that you’re all talking about, it seems like that would be very prudent to do,” Holmes-Sullivan answered.

Janet Smith-Dickerson, a TCCS administrator who oversees Monsour, did not respond to questions regarding the review and resulting reports.

Frary pushes lunch back half an hour Pomona College’s Frary Dining Hall will open for lunch half an hour later next semester, a school official announced Thursday.

Frary is currently open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Monday through Friday. In spring 2020, it will open at 11:30 a.m. and remain open until 2 p.m, according to Pomona assistant vice president of facilities Robert Robinson.

The school found that the short amount of time between the end of breakfast service at 10 a.m. and the beginning of lunch at 11 a.m. “has placed significant strain on staff,” he said via email.

Additionally, on average, only “8 to 12 students” per day had been taking advantage of the early lunch opening, he said.

The change alters a pilot project that lengthened Frary’s lunch hours to its current iteration. The expansion was meant to alleviate congestion during the busiest periods of the lunch rush.

Collins Dining Hall at Claremont McKenna College will become the only dining hall open for lunch at 11 a.m.

— Jasper Davidoff

THE STUDENT LIFE Editorial Board meGHAN bobRoWSKY, Editor-in-Chief mAbeL LUI, Managing Editor mARC RoD, Managing Editor

Senior Staff JAmeS KARSTeN, Production Editor HeLeNA oNG, Senior Design Editor SAm bovARD, News Designer GRACe SAUeRS, Life & Style Designer mARGoT mAFRA SPeNCeR, Opinions Designer CAmeRoN TIPToN, Sports Designer TALIA beRNSTeIN, Photo Editor JUSTIN SLePPY, Photo Editor ANAGA SRINIvAS, Graphics Editor

KeLLeN bRoWNING, Editor-at-Large JAImIe DING, News Editor JULIA FRANKeL, News Editor JASPeR DAvIDoFF, News Associate AmbeR CHoNG, Life & Style Editor YASmIN eLQUTAmI, Life & Style Editor DoNNIe DeNome, Opinions Editor eAmoN moRRIS, Opinions Editor LANeY PoPe, Sports Editor mADY CoLANTeS, Copy Chief

TSL’s Editorial Board consists of the editor-in-chief and two managing editors. Aside from the editorial, the views expressed in the opinions section do not necessarily reflect the views of The Student Life.

Singles copies of TSL are free and may be obtained at news stands around campus. Multiple copies may be purchased for $0.47 per copy with prior approval by contacting editor@tsl.news.

Newspaper theft is a crime; perpetrators may be subject to disciplinary action as well as civil and/ or criminal prosecution.

News

NOVEMBER 22, 2019

DAVIs: A long career in activism and academia

PAGE 3

Students rally to urge Scripps to sign carbon commitment

Continued from page 1

mARIA HeeTeR

inars, which administrators purposely scheduled to take place during weekends and times of low campus activity, were “sworn to secrecy” about her lectures, according to the NYT. Only 26 students were allowed to enroll in the seminar, and the school did not disclose which weekends she would be on campus ahead of time, the NYT previously reported.

She’s returned to Claremont since her firing, however, including for a speech at Scripps College in 2016, according to previous TSL reporting.

Before her time in Claremont, Davis’ activism as a prison abolitionist led to the termination of her contract at UCLA, where she was hired to teach philosophy in 1969, the release said.

In 1970, she was placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted” list after being accused of supplying weapons used in a San Raphael, California, courtroom shootout, in which four people died. The shootout was an attempt to free radical activist George Jackson from prison, according to the History Channel.

Davis was incarcerated for 18 months but was acquitted, the news release said.

Since leaving prison, Davis has taught both in the U.S. and internationally, according to the release. She’s worked at the University of California Santa Cruz as a Distinguished Professor Emerita of History of Consciousness and Feminist Studies for the past 17 years.

Before Davis visits campus, students will have the opportunity to attend reading groups and film screenings of Davis’ work sponsored by Pomona’s history department, the release said.

“What do we want? Climate justice! When do we want it?

Now!” students chanted Nov. 15 as they walked through Balch Hall, demanding that Scripps College sign a carbon commitment — a climate pledge signed by the other four Claremont Colleges and 329 other colleges and universities nationwide.

Over 100 students demonstrated on the Scripps Bowling Green Lawn for two hours and created a fake wildfire and other natural disasters to show their increasing impact on the environment.

Julia McCartan SC ’21 and Claire Payne SC ’21, the two lead organizers, opened the protest with a speech outlining their demands — first, that President Lara Tiedens attend a meeting with McCartan and Payne, and second, that the college sign a carbon commitment requiring them to become carbon neutral by 2036.

“As students who have been organizing around this for over a year, our president should be meeting with us about this important issue and respecting our voices,” McCartan said.

A Scripps spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

Signing the Second Nature Carbon Commitment would signify the college’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve carbon neutrality as soon as possible, according to Second Nature’s website.

This would “demonstrate Scripps College’s commitment to sustainability, and hold Scripps accountable for creating and following a personalized, concrete, step-by-step plan to achieve car-

bon neutrality,” the Scripps Carbon Commitment’s petition said.

The petition, which demands that Scripps sign the commitment to “establish sustainability a value and priority of the College for years to come,” had been signed by 1,067 people as of Tuesday afternoon.

“We feel it’s important for Scripps and Claremont to feel a part of the larger global climate crisis and not feel separate in this city of trees and PhDs,” McCartan said in an interview with TSL. Students at last Friday’s rally marched through Balch Hall, walking past large banners painted with “Climate justice now” and “Carbon Commitment” and carried posters with phrases like “Confident, Courageous, Carbon Committed” and “Transparency and Accountability Now.” The protest also had several opportunities for students to make art, including a blank white banner for future visions of sustainability, a banner for paintings of climate destruction and a banner where students place thumb prints that was delivered to Tiedens’ office following the demonstration.

Attendees also wrote and hung notecards on a small ‘wish tree’ that student activists delivered to the center of Balch courtyard following the protest.

“I think having art like this is a really good way to try and make it accessible to people who are not wanting to stand and march and yell,” Carly Dennis PZ ’22, a member of Divest Claremont Colleges and Sunrise Claremont Colleges, said in an interview with TSL. Students filled the Balch Hall courtyard with red streamers meant to depict wildfires and lined the walls with paintings of flames and a sign that said “WARNING: Entering WILDFIRE

TALIA BERNSTEIN • THE STUDENT LIFE

Emily Kuhn PZ ’22 leads a chant Nov. 15 as students march through Balch Hall, demanding that Scripps College sign a carbon commitment.

zone!”

Students also surrounded the Balch Hall fountain with blue clothing, signs depicting floods and water levels rising and signs that said “FLOOD ZONE.” Olivia Klein SC ’22, a Scripps Carbon Commitment organizer, explained why the protest focused on Balch Hall. “[We wanted to] make our voices heard and make it so every time they look out their windows or have to even go to the bathroom they’re seeing our demands and seeing this protest happening,” she said in an interview with TSL. In addition to the protest, McCartan and Maggie Thompson SC ’20 wrote and submitted a budget proposal — which called for the college to sign a carbon commitment — as part of the Scripps

Sustainability Committee, which is made up of students, faculty and staff members, according to McCartan.

She said they were told to do so by the school after they spent months searching for the correct avenue to propose that the college sign a carbon commitment, which costs $2,200 a year in dues to Second Nature, McCartan said.

“We don’t feel that that is the right mechanism for expanding the priorities of the college,” McCartan said. “That is purely a budgetary and economic consideration.”

The budget proposal will first go through to the Presidential Budget Advisory Committee, according to McCartan. If the committee approves the budget, it then moves to Tiedens who will make a final review in March.

Student Health issues health Harvey Mudd accidentally kills advisory on stomach illnesses all koi in pond JAImIe DING

As flu season picks up, Student Health Services is warning students to take precautions to avoid the bout of stomach illnesses hitting the Claremont Colleges.

SHS has recently treated several students with symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, which resembles the “stomach flu,” according to a health advisory email SHS sent to students Friday. Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and stomach cramps, and can begin one or two days after exposure or as early as 12 hours after exposure.

The email advised students to thoroughly wash their hands with warm water, avoid sharing utensils or cups with others, disinfect communal areas and use alcohol-based hand sanitizer to avoid getting sick.

It further instructed students in contact with someone who is sick to avoid contact with bodily fluids, to avoid touching their eyes, nose and mouth, to clean and disinfect all surfaces immediately with a bleach-based cleaner, to flush bodily fluids down the toilet, to dispose of food contaminated by a sick person and to remove and wash all clothing or sheets that have been contaminated.

Pomona College also said it’s taking further steps to mitigate health risks.

Frank Dining Hall and Oldenborg Dining Hall underwent a specialized deep cleaning for norovirus, rhinovirus and HIV1, according to an email from Dining Services General Manager Jose Martinez to students Monday.

The cleaning was part of “preventative precautions,” Martinez

said in an email to TSL. He said he did not have knowledge of any confirmed cases of norovirus — a severe stomach illness — or any other virus.

All Pomona dining halls also added a stronger hand sanitizer effective against norovirus, HIV-1 and other bacteria and viruses, added additional hand sanitizer containers, trained staff in handwashing and added staff to allow more frequent cleaning, Martinez said.

Frank and Oldenborg were specifically cleaned and sanitized because — unlike Frary — they have carpets, which could hold viruses and bacteria that spread contagious diseases, Martinez said. Frary Dining Hall was also cleaned but was easier and faster because it does not have carpeting.

Any student who feels sick can stop by SHS or call to schedule an appointment at 909-621-8222.

TALIA BERNSTEIN • THE STUDENT LIFE

The koi in Harvey Mudd College’s Hixon Court fell victim to a piping issue earlier this month.

CHLoe mANDeL Tragedy struck at the Harvey Mudd College koi pond earlier this month when excessive amounts of chlorine killed all seven fish.

A failed valve, which facilities and maintenance staff noticed Nov. 2, “introduced an excessive amount of fresh water to the pond, which contain[ed] more chlorine than the fish can handle,” according to an email to the HMC community from Theresa Lauer, senior director for facilities, emergency preparedness and safety.

HMC officials did not say when exactly they died.

“Seven koi were impacted and seven koi have been replaced,” Lauer said in an email to TSL. No fish can survive at chlorine levels above 0.35 mg/L according to Pond Place of Michigan. Unfiltered Claremont water contains nearly five times that level, with an average level of 1.8 mg/L of chlorine, according to the Golden State Water Company 2019 Consumer Confidence Report.

To prevent future koi deaths, facilities and maintenance staff have added a safety measure to the replacement valve that will “help mitigate the valve from being in an

open position for an extended period of time,” Lauer said.

In addition, she said, all the valves in the pond have been placed on a “preventative maintenance program” that will identify ahead of time when a valve requires replacement.

“We really enjoy the koi and were devastated by this turn of events,” Lauer added.

At least one of HMC’s koi has been killed by chlorine before, between 1980 and 1988, former President D. Kenneth Baker wrote in a history of the college.

“It was removed from the fountain and placed in the college swimming pool,” he said.

Mudders have long been fond of the fish, which reside in Hixon Court outside the entrance to Galileo Hall.

“When I was a [first-year], I would come out of the dark, drab lecture hall after CS5 … lecture to spend a little time in the sunlight and say hi to the koi,” Briana Liu HM ’19 wrote in a blog post last year. “The fish aren’t exactly affectionate, but they do swim to the side of the fountain when you walk up.”

CAMILA MEIJA • THE STUDENT LIFE

Student Health Services is warning students to take precautions to avoid stomach illnesses.

Correction An article about fossil fuel divestment in Issue 8 incorrectly stated that Cambridge Associates has its own funds. The article has been updated to reflect that it does not. It helps manage clients’ funds.

TSL regrets this error.

Life & StyLe

PAGE 4

The Balcony’s ‘Pattern’ art show examines creativity in repetition

Under the lights, CMC student theater dazzles at second annual One Act Plays Festival SOFIA SFYZER

LUbA mASLIY • THE STUDENT LIFE

The Balcony, an organization that features 5C student artwork, hosted its first show of the year, “Pattern,” on Nov. 15.

CORINNE BOBB-SEMPLE To the organizers behind The Balcony’s first art show of the academic year, a pattern is the “sense that what has come before will predict what is to come … our spiritual defense against entropy.”

The Balcony’s show, “Pattern,” challenged attendees to reckon with the importance of pattern in our daily life and was held Nov. 15 at the Pomona College Studio Art Hall, according to the event’s Facebook page. It proposed that screens monitor patterns, our DNA holds them and that nature reflects them.

The fact that people are inherently “pattern-recognizing machines” and that “all patterns make us feel,” serves as the show’s mission statement.

Chloe Wanaselja PO ’21, one of the event’s organizers, described The Balcony as a very collaborative space.

“It’s really whatever we decide we want it to be,” she said.

“We have sort of a basic structure but it’s really open for creativity.”

The Balcony’s interest in all forms of creativity is evidenced in the diversity of pieces that made up the show. Works ranged from paintings and poetry to tapestry work, collage and sculpture — all in conversation with ideas of repetition.

“We always come up with shows that you’re able to interpret in lots of different ways,” Wanaselja said. “We were thinking a lot about the obvious sort of definition of pattern and [everything] associated with it like emotional patterns, patterns of speech and patterns of behavior.

We thought there was a lot that could be done with the topic.”

Many of the pieces at “Pattern” had multiple interpretations. A sculpture of hanging vertebrae by Ise Sharp PO ’21, for example, was an intriguing topic of discussion for attendees.

“I’m interested in ... the ways that we can use [our] forms to create abstraction,” she said. “What I really like about working with small individual pieces like this is that they can be manipulated

to create different shapes the more that I add on.”

Attendees were surprised by the range of pieces and mediums represented.

“I wasn’t expecting to see a poem,” said Celia Parry PO ’23, noting how she was accustomed to perceiving art as paintings and sculptures, but was pleasantly surprised by the literary work.

Beliz Aluc PO ’23 seconded Parry’s interest in “Synapses”

by Sienna Ross PZ ’22 and was moved by the intricacy of pattern displayed in our speech and sounds.

“My favorite is the poem [because] it’s different, it stands out from the other pieces,” she said. “I liked the pattern that the artist tried to employ with different words and the placement of the words.”

Some students were inspired to be more involved in the 5Cs’ art scene, like Marcus Liu PO ’20, who had previously never set foot in the art hall.

Liu elaborated on his favorite piece from the show, enamored by how pattern in art can evoke emotions that are immediately familiar.

“I’m always interested in poetry, and [“Synapses”] is very great written work,” he said. “It really captures the feeling of anxiety [in college].”

The “Pattern” art show was also an opportunity for artists to mix and match their work to create something entirely new.

Oliver Spivey PO ’22 said his piece came together in the last few days before the show.

“My co-producer had built this [mirrored] structure, and she thought it would be cool to project my recording on it,” he said, pleased with the opportunity for collaboration.

Wanaselja summed up the beauty of decoding patterns in art.

“I like the … repetition of line and how every single stroke is very simple,” she said. “But together they create something complex.”

NovEmbEr 22, 2019

Beneath the stage lights at Claremont McKenna College’s Pickford Auditorium, a marriage, a first date, a murder mystery and an overstayed vacation came to life, one after the other.

Under the Lights Theatre Club — CMC’s oldest club and only performing arts and theater group — hosted its second annual One Act Plays Festival on Nov. 15.

At this year’s festival, Hannah Thalberg SC ’22, Nandini Mittal CM ’22, Abelino Fernandez Leger CM ’22, Shania Sharma CM ’22 and Sadie Fisher CM ’20 directed five different one-act plays that they’ve been working on since auditions were held in September.

The directors reviewed a multitude of plays over the summer, narrowing the potential plays down to five over the course of several weeks, and promptly held auditions once the fall semester began.

“You would audition with the script of these plays, and that was the test for your acting ability,” said Mittal, director of “Post-Its (Notes on a Marriage)” and one of the presidents of UTL. “Then, all of the directors collectively battled out who they wanted for each play.”

Once students were cast in their roles, each director held rehearsals twice a week until “tech week,” when the directors reunited and ran all of their plays consecutively.

The five plays, when performed one after the other, made for a truly eclectic show.

“This year, we wanted to

spice up the genres that we put on stage, because UTL is historically known for putting on comedies,” Mittal said. “We wanted to turn our audience’s focus towards a wider variety of plays.

Branching out was difficult, but it was just a matter of having the directors direct plays that they were interested in.”

Performances at the One Act Plays Festival ranged from horror pieces to a comedy-mystery adaptation of the family-fun board game Clue.

Thalberg directed “Jubilation, Mississippi,” a “The Twilight Zone”-inspired horror piece that came naturally for her and helped diversify the festival’s genres.

“I decided on ‘Jubilation, Mississippi’ because I’m a really big fan of ‘The Twilight Zone,’ and I’m also a big spooky fan,” Thalberg said. “I feel as though directing comedy is hard to do, so I tended to steer towards a drama which is a vessel that people don’t normally do.”

Diya Courty-Stephens CM ’23 played Stella, a waitress who puts the town under an alluring spell in “Jubilation, Mississippi.” She was excited to be a part of the One Act Plays Festival because it was her first dive into acting at the 5Cs. “I heard about auditions from [a friend]. He told me to come to rehearsals the first day, and I just immediately loved the energy,” she said.

Alessia Zanobini CM ’23, an actor in the play “Murder at Merryweather Mansion,” also had a positive experience during the festival process that kept her coming back for more.

“UTL was a good fit because it was mostly CMC students

who [are] also into theater,” Zanobini said. “UTL also had a manageable rehearsal schedule while still being a legitimate club. It’s super nice to have friends [and] mentors who appreciate theater, especially at CMC.” For Thalberg, collaboration with her actors was key to her mentorship.

“The process was very collaborative,” Thalberg said. “I let the actors do what they wanted and if there was something that I wanted to tweak, I would. I let their words and their minds create this image, and it worked really well.”

Like Zanobini, Courty-Stephens appreciated the mentorship she was given from her director, who helped her better understand her role and get into character.

“I was able to get in touch with my character by … [receiving] notes from [Thalberg] about letting our personal experiences outside of the stage come on stage and help shape our character,” she said.

Audience members from across the 5Cs came for intrigue, friendship and amusement.

“I wanted to come and see what theater at the 5Cs looks like and support my friends [at the same time],” Aditi Madhok PZ ’23 said.

Ishta Nabakka SC ’23 attended the festival because they wanted to see something different than they’d seen in the past.

“I’ve been to a lot of improv shows at Scripps, but I’ve never been to any of the other student-run theater groups,” they said. “This is a nice way to spend a Friday night.”

Indeed, it was. In just one hour, audience members were cracking up, tearing up and solving mysteries.

mAX WEIrAUCH • THE STUDENT LIFE

Claremont mcKenna College’s Under the Lights Theatre Club hosted its second annual one Act Plays Festival at Pickford Auditorium on Nov. 15.

Mauna Kea music festival raises funds for Hawaiian protesters SHREYA KAMRA Soft Hawaiian music filled Scripps College’s Motley Coffeehouse last Friday as passionate indigenous peer mentors performed some of their favorite songs to fundraise for the Mauna Kea movement.

Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in Hawaii and a cherished spot native Hawaiians are fighting for.

Since July, protesters have settled atop Mauna Kea to block telescope construction crews.

“People are trying to build a telescope on Mauna Kea, which is a sacred site for native Hawaiian people,” Indigenous Peer Mentor Program head mentor and event organizer Carolann Duro SC ’20 said. The Asian American Resource Center co-hosted the event with IPMP. To show their solidarity with the protest, four IPMP members, three of whom are native Hawaiians — Kahale Naehu-Ramos PO ’21, Hope Matsumoto PZ ’21 and Dominique Aiu Taber HM ’21 — gave performances of Hawaiian songs.

Students raised more than $300 for the cause by selling handmade Spam musubi and stickers designed and produced by IPMP members, according to the event’s Facebook page. Three stickers were available for purchase: one of the mountain Mauna Kea, one to draw attention to missing or murdered indigenous women and one of salmon to represent the Alaskan Natives.

ANNA HorNE • THE STUDENT LIFE

Students took the stage at the motley Coffeehouse on Nov. 15 to sing and raise money for the protests at mauna Kea in Hawaii.

Many of the student organizers felt personally connected to the cause, having been to Mauna Kea before and also understanding its significance to the Hawaiian people.

“I am Kanaka Maoli [Native Hawaiian] from Molokai, Hawaii.

This Mauna stuff started happening this summer,” Naehu-Ramos said. “I got the chance to go there late summer with my family. I guess as a Kanaka away from

home, this is a way to stand with my Lahui nation until I can come back.”

Duro elaborated on how native representation incentivized them to put on the festival.

“A huge population of our student group is made up of native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, so a lot of them from back home have been raising awareness about Mauna Kea,” Duro said.

Beyond funding, Duro spoke

to the essence of the protesting spirit on the Mauna that these student performers and IPMP members are strengthening.

“Native Hawaiians should be able to say what happens on their land,” Duro said. “[But] they don’t have sovereignty or recognition.”

For Taber, a Kanaka Maoli from the island of Kauai, the festival enabled him to indirectly address the injustice happening on the Mauna.

“Any time I do get to support a cause I believe in, I will give it my all,” he said, acknowledging that activism has not always been a continual part of his life until now.

“This event took precedence for me over my school work, because I believe it is a worthwhile cause to [raise awareness of and] to fundraise for those on the Mauna.”

Taber considered the people on Mauna Kea, withstanding harsh weather conditions and protesting for their history, culture and spirituality despite their physical limits.

“There are a lot of folks who, in an ideal world, should not be up there [on Mauna Kea, protesting],” he said. “But they are fighting the good fight … This is my way of giving back and participating and being mindful of the things that are happening.”

Matsumoto, a performer and IPMP head mentor, described how the event was healing for her and allowed for cultural expression and bonding. “[This event is] medicine, for me personally, [a space] to be able to just spend time with my friends and be able to make music and enjoy each other’s company,” she said.

Smiling, Matsumoto remarked how IPMP, indeed, accomplished their goal of creating a meaningful space.

“That is what we did tonight. I hope the audience was able to feel [the energy],” she said. “It was really a special night for us to be able to share a little bit of our culture.”

NovEmbEr 22, 2019

Life & StyLe

PAGE 5

CoUCH PoTATo

Billy Eichner and Tig Notaro reckon with the cult of celebrity GABRIELLA DEL GRECO I would be hard-pressed to identify my favorite bit from “Billy on the Street,” the television show featuring actor and comedian Billy Eichner yelling at people on the streets of New York.

Is it “Do Gay People Care about John Oliver?,” in which Eichner asks gay men walking around New York City if they care about John Oliver (spoiler alert: they don’t) as the real John Oliver stands awkwardly in the background?

Or maybe it’s “Can You Separate the Art from the Artist,” a giant obstacle course in which Eichner asks a guest actor to do bizarre tasks, like rescue a copy of the movie “What Women Want” from a life-size statue of actor Mel Gibson being crucified.

In “Billy on the Street,” Eichner plays a larger-than-life version of himself, shouting the names of B-list celebrities at startled passersby and cornering them into gameshow-style trivia matches where the correct answer is based on Eichner’s own opinion. The show also incorporates more involved bits, such as pop culture-themed obstacle courses and celebrity cameos.

Eichner may display a borderline encyclopedic knowledge of A-D list celebrities, but he remains critical of pop culture. In one bit, he mournfully asks random New Yorkers how they feel about the show “Bones”’ ending. The bit isn’t in earnest, rather, it makes fun of the fact that even a cookie-cutter show like “Bones” could last for 12 seasons.

While “Billy on the Street” has existed in one form or another since 2005, it wasn’t until clips of the show were put on YouTube that it really took off. In hindsight, the breakneck pop culture references, sly political commentary and equal-opportunity irreverence made the show perfect

ELAINE YANG • THE STUDENT LIFE

for the internet era.

After all, where is the spirit of internet humor better embodied than a video of Michelle Obama slow dancing with Big Bird as Eichner serenades them with a rendition of Aerosmith’s “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”?

“Under a Rock with Tig Notaro” is another show on YouTube that, like “Billy on the Street,” plays cat-and-mouse with pop culture. In stark contrast to Eichner, comedian Tig Notaro is pop-culture illiterate.

The premise of the show is that she interviews famous actors and tries to figure out who they are — the fact that she can never identify them is kind of the point.

In “Under a Rock,” celebrities tend to react with suspicion, then childlike glee, when Notaro doesn’t recognize who they are. In one episode, James Van Der Beek, star

of the hit 90s TV show “Dawson’s Creek”, shows Notaro a picture of a creek as a clue.

“A stream?” Tig Notaro guesses.

“Or...?” he guides her.

“A river.”

“Less rapid than a river.”

“A creek.” Van Der Beek then nods in smug agreement, satisfied that the riddle has finally been cracked.

“Alright...” Notaro responds, confused as ever.

In “Billy on the Street,” a similar thing happens when celebrities interact with the public. In one episode, Eichner drags Chris Pratt, star of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise — and fellow “Parks and Recreation” co-star — around New York.

“This is one of the biggest stars in the world right now. Who is it?” he asks a couple as a smiling

CArEEr CorNEr

Didn’t get an offer for your top choice? That’s not a bad thing

Pratt stands next to him. “I have no idea,” the woman responds.

A similar dynamic is at play in “Under a Rock.” While Notaro doesn’t jostle her celebrity guests as much as Eichner does, she doesn’t treat them with kiddie gloves either. In one episode, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” actor Glenn Howerton remarks proudly that he’s weird.

“I don’t think you’re weird,” Notaro flatly responds.

I say this from the perspective of someone obsessed with pop culture: Both “Billy on the Street” and “Under a Rock” reckon with the cult of celebrity. Watching famous actors like Pratt and Van Der Beek go unrecognized is a balm to the soul.

Stars — they’re just like us!

It would be overly simplistic to say that people are obsessed with

OLIVIA TRUESDALE The job hunt is tough, and sometimes, life doesn’t always go exactly according to plan. You might get your dream internship or job, but you might also not get an offer for your first choice.

So, it’s important to keep in mind that even if you end up somewhere you’re not 100 percent excited about, you’ll still learn lots and make connections wherever you are.

Regardless of what position you have, your role is to learn and do your best at whatever you’re supposed to be doing. It’s okay to have a bit of a pity party if you’re bummed, but try to snap out of it before your first day.

After all, it’s rare to find two companies on the same application timeline, and it can be difficult to articulate all your skills in application materials. Sometimes the stars just don’t align, and that’s okay.

Think about it this way: An employer must have thought you had impressive skills and that you would be a benefit to the team if they extended an offer — meaning, you are valued! Try not to let your experience be clouded by regret that you didn’t get something else.

Whether you’re in an industry or position you know something about or not, you will learn so much about the real world of work and about yourself. Basic office technology skills and learning how to interact with professionals will be important in any job you hold, whether you are coding or canvassing.

After spending time in any particular work environment, you’ll also get a feel for what type of things you want in a future job.

On the flip side, there might be things that you dislike, and those are important to know, too. If you can’t stand sitting in the same cubicle for eight hours a day, it’s proba-

bly good to know that.

Your job experience can also give you ideas of what to ask employers about in an interview — is there anything you need to know about your future work environments based on your experience at your current position?

The summer after my first year, I did a human resources internship at a private global corporation, having had no HR experience or intention to pursue an HR career before the fact.

I’m still not planning to be a human resources professional, but I developed skills that relate well to my other interests and greatly enjoyed the connections I made there. In fact, having my HR internship likely helped me get my second internship this past summer because it showed that I had experience in an office setting and have references that attest to my work capabilities.

In addition to learning from your work and your environment, make sure to communicate with your coworkers and supervisors.

Careers come in many different paths, and you’ll likely find some interesting and helpful stories to guide you on your journey.

A handful of my government coworkers this past summer had a film studies background — not exactly what you’d think of as a traditional field of study for diplomats! Even so, all of them are as capable as their colleagues who had studied political science.

Making professional connections, otherwise known as networking, is also an important part of any job or internship experience. As each person comes with a unique background, it could be helpful to hear about their career experiences. Even if they aren’t knowledgeable in your field, they may be able to connect you to someone who can help you learn

more about your intended path.

Networking in a professional setting isn’t too far off from anything you likely do already on campus: making connections with people, learning from each other and staying in touch.

Any job or internship experience will also help you practice taking care of living as an adult.

Working is quite different from being a student, and you may feel a different sort of exhaustion at the end of the day.

You might be living alone; you might be in a new city, state or country. You will most likely need to cook at least a little bit and learn how to get from place to place. Being able to adjust to new surroundings outside of work is also important when cultivating work experiences. It may not be something you can put on your resume, but taking care of yourself is essential no matter where you are in your life or career.

When it comes down to it, all experience is experience even if it isn’t quite what you had anticipated doing. Internships and jobs are meant to help you learn, whether it’s technical skills, professional skills or more about yourself. Be proud of where you’ve landed, and make use of the opportunity to develop as a professional, and as a person.

Gabriella Del Greco SC ’21 is an economics major. In her free time, she can be found studying at the Motley Coffeehouse, roaming the aisles of Trader Joe’s and probably watching more TV than is medically recommended. AND WHO COULD BLAME HER!

Student filmmakers put to the test in 47 Hour Film Challenge ANNIE SALVATI

GrETA LoNG • THE STUDENT LIFE

watching celebrities being taken down a notch. Both “Billy on the Street” and “Under a Rock,” for all the publicity they’ve garnered, still have largely cult followings. They haven’t quite broken into the mainstream in the way that other celebrity-centric shows like “Lip Sync Battle” and “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee” have.

Perhaps that’s because those two shows fit more neatly into the celebrity worship model of entertainment.

In “Lip Sync Battle,” celebrities may make fools of themselves to prove their relatability, but there’s no risk involved. When Tom Holland dons a burlesque costume to sing Rihanna’s “Umbrella,” he’s the one in control.

On “Billy on the Street” and “Under a Rock,” anything could happen.

Watching Julie Bowen or Kaley Cuoco squirm in their seat, you get the sense that they came on the show believing that they’re the exception to Notaro’s celebrity blindness.

Surely she’ll recognize them. Ditto for celebrity guests on “Billy on the Street.”

To put a point on it, both shows lack the kind of hyper-positivity that appeals to wide audiences. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with that genre of television to those who enjoy it, but “Billy on the Street” and “Under a Rock” provide a refreshing break.

Both are definitely worth watching — find “Billy on the Street” on Netflix (short clips available on YouTube), and “Under a Rock with Tig Notaro” can be found for free on YouTube.

The Honnold Mudd Library, the appearance of a “Vine star” and the line “Houston, we have a problem” — all were part of this year’s 47 Hour Film Challenge.

The competition, run by the 5C film and television production club Studio 47, gave teams just under two days to write, shoot and edit a short film, which were all shown in a finale screening in Rose Hills Theatre last weekend.

The prompt for the film is always vague but requires the inclusion of a specific character, a line and a location. This year’s requirements were the “Vine star,” “Houston, we have a problem” line and library.

Studio 47 staff member Niki Chinamanthur SC ’22 explained how one of the best parts about the guidelines is their ambiguity — the interpretation of the prompt is solely up to the teams.

For instance, one of this year’s team’s character requirement was seen hanging from a tree in the first shot of the film –– their “Vine star” was a literal vine.

Studio 47 staff member Nejra Kravić SC ’21 also emphasized the uniqueness of the challenge depends on its very specific time restraints.

“We want to make sure that [the challenge] is genuine … and it’s really being made in those 47 hours,” she said.

Although the event did not attract as many participants as it has in previous years, the two participating teams filled the theater with creative, personal stories.

This year’s presentations included “The Library,” produced by Lucas Cunningham PO ’23, and “Houston We Have a Problem,” produced

by Shoop Rozario SC ’21. With existential themes of self-discovery, community, origin and place, the films produced content that aimed to be relatable to 5C students.

Chinamanthur said that no matter how outlandish the films can get, they indeed end up resonating well with 5C students. “[The significance of the films] are the fact that they are so Claremont specific,” Chinamanthur said. “The prompt plays a lot into the location you use. You get to see those places and the people you are familiar with when you attend college.”

In their film, “Houston We Have a Problem,” Rozario’s team engaged with the different ways we go about finding and reconnecting with ourselves. The team noted that while the process of creating a film was fun and creative, it was also very therapeutic and grounding.

One line that stood out from their film was, “I didn’t know I needed to catch my breath.”

Stepping outside of day to day college chaos to indulge in creative tinkering was rejuvenating for Rozario and her team –– they found a moment to do just that.

“I thought it was just nice to take a break from school,” Rozario said. “Everyone [involved] is dedicating their weekend to this.”

“Houston We Have a Problem” participant Xiao Jiang PO ’22 was struck by how much the film resonated with her own experience of the spring 2019 semester. She also acknowledged the scope and translatability of her work.

“This [topic] was my life last semester, and I can’t even start to imagine how many other people went through that this past semester,” Jiang said.

Kravić reflected on the event.

“We just want to, essentially, give people the opportunity to tell their stories, and also have the resources to do that,” she said.

Got career-related questions? Submit them to olivia.truesdale@tsl. news or anonymously at bit.ly/CareerCornerTSL. Olivia Truesdale SC ’21 is TSL’s career columnist. She’s a career consultant at Scripps Career Planning & Resources and currently studying abroad in Seoul, South Korea.

She encourages you to check out the resources available at your campus career center.

LILLY HAAvE • THE STUDENT LIFE

Shoop rozario SC ’21, mackenzie Priest-Heck SC ’21 and Emilie Hu SC ’21 work on their piece “Houston We Have a Problem” during the 47 Hour Filmmaking Challenge.

Life & StyLe

PAGE 6

NovEmbEr 22, 2019

THE DoWNbEAT

Wilco released ‘Ode to Joy,’ so here’s an ode to Wilco ELLA BOYD On Oct. 4, Wilco released yet another beautifully composed album, titled “Ode to Joy.” Filled with their signature stripped down songs, soft vocals and haunting lyrics, Wilco continues to create meaningful music that’s sure to stand the test of time.

I first heard Wilco riding in the car with my dad. I was probably 13 at the time, so I listened to (and, unfortunately, related to) the music of Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and One Direction — songs about school dances, football games and first kisses.

But when Wilco sang about “Alcohol and cotton balls / And some drugs / We can’t afford on the way,” feeling “something true / Now I’m red-eyed and blue,” I knew there was something about them I connected with.

I had never drank. I had probably never been really sad before. But the band sounded like they might have been through some pretty serious things in life, and their writing clued me into the idea that there might be some things more important than, say, getting a call from your crush.

Wilco sounded beaten down by life, like they were tired of fighting an uphill battle. Their music sounded like the inner debate, and ultimately, the decision to continue the fight at all. Most of all, their sound had a certain force, filled with honesty and conviction. Without a personal connection to the lyrics, I connected to the music.

Six years later, I’ve listened to a lot of different music. But something about Wilco has lived with me through all my musical explorations. I’ve come to realize what struck me so vividly as a 13-year-old. Wilco’s music is meaningful. While many musicians act as advertisements for the lifestyle they live, Wilco acts as a mirror, urging listeners to look into themselves and reflect on their own lives.

The vast majority of music fails to remain relevant for more than a decade after its release, but Wilco’s work continues to write musical history.

YASmIN ELQUTAmI • THE STUDENT LIFE

Wilco is an anomaly of a band. As of this year, Wilco has been actively together for 25 years, an accomplishment on its own considering that Wilco has stayed in the public eye for most of that time. Furthermore, Wilco doesn’t demand attention. They let their music stand as their public image.

The band’s sound is seemingly easy to categorize — technically, Wilco is an American alternative rock band. Yet, the more you listen to their music, it becomes almost impossible to see them fitting into this genre.

Grouping them with “similar” bands, like The All-American Rejects or even Cage the Elephant, just doesn’t feel right.

This might be due to Wilco’s signature artistic style, described as “direct” by Pitchfork’s “Ode to Joy” album review. While many musicians spend time constructing intricate rhythms and complicated metaphors to convey their

message, Wilco just … conveys it. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of overthinking involved.

For such a simple sound, it’s surprisingly and satisfyingly complex. Often music is initially difficult to interpret, but becomes shallow upon interpreting the lyrics. Songs masquerade themselves behind complex lyrics, only to be about money or sex. Often they lack a clear meaning at all.

Wilco’s poetic lyrics unfurl themselves more with each listen, like the quiet student in the back of the class who slowly reveals themself once you earn their trust. The more you listen, the more you understand, and the more you understand, the more you want to know. With Wilco’s music, the reward is in the work.

For example, in “Quiet Amplifier” off “Ode to Joy,” Jeff Tweedy sings “I wish your world was mine / I have a quiet

WUSS PoPPIN’

Subtle Asian Traits and its unsubtle controversy NADYA SIRINGO RINGO Subtle Asian Traits is anything but subtle.

Famous for memes and posts mostly based on the experiences of Asians from Western diasporas, the Facebook group was initially created by several Asian-Australian friends for their social circle in Melbourne, Australia. Now, it boasts over 1,600,000 members worldwide.

Despite this staggering number, I’ve derived a key persona after scrolling through Subtle Asian Traits — posts tend to echo the same distinct cultural backgrounds, beliefs and behaviors.

The Subtle Asian is typically of East Asian descent, coming from a middle or upper-middle class household. Supposed personality traits include a love of boba, academic excellence, having tiger parents and an interest in anime, K-pop and raves.

Does this person sound familiar? Obviously, every post doesn’t reflect the heap of stereotypes I listed. They almost certainly do not reflect all the members of Subtle Asian Traits, who can come from any of 99 countries. But this portrayal of the “quintessential” Asian is bolstered by tons of Facebook reactions that move this particular Asian narrative to the forefront of discussion.

I was born and raised in Indonesia. I do not come from a Western diaspora. As relatable and funny as these memes could be, I got sick of them pretty quickly.

I didn’t know why people would embrace these stereotypes and the unhealthy behaviors that came with them — posts that stuck to the model minority myth, that made light of abusive parenting. Any meme or video that went viral told the same narrative over and over again, a loud voice that can make those who don’t fit into the persona feel out of place.

But to Asians from Western diasporas, these memes and stereotypes can represent a place of comfort. Outside of Facebook, where they’re made to feel different in their larger communities, they won’t be singled out in Subtle Asian Traits.

They can resonate with over a million people who go through the same experiences, no matter

ELAINE YANG • THE STUDENT LIFE

how big or small. The group serves as an invaluable hub to reconnect with one’s culture and be accepted, allowing many to “become much less apprehensive in opening conversations about [their] own Asian upbringing[s].” This, however, mostly applies to the types of Subtle Asians that were mentioned above.

It’s hard to deny the overall positive impact that Subtle Asian Traits has brought to a great number of young Asians.

The most powerful posts even work to subvert stereotypes with anecdotes of supportive parents or success stories in fields Asian cultures may find unconventional.

But the group’s tendency to ignore un-Subtle Asian dialogue can’t be discounted either. It’s why the group has so many offshoots — prime examples being Subtle Curry Traits and Subtle Asian Mental Health.

Dialogue can also be si-

lenced. Moderators often resort to turning off comments for posts that promote anti-black, homophobic or other problematic behaviors rampant in Asian communities.

As such, topics that diverge and threaten the collectivism of the shared experience in Subtle Asian Traits don’t last very long.

Despite the controversy, Subtle Asian Traits continues to thrive, even in its status as a locked, private group on Facebook. But when someone finally gets an invite from a friend to join, they should brace themselves — they could either face open or closed arms, depending on their background.

Nadya Siringo Ringo SC ’21 is one of TSL’s pop culture columnists. She’s a dual cognitive science and media studies major from Jakarta, Indonesia. She’s very passionate about pop music, video games and the Enneagram.

amplifier / Silence seems more true,” and later on confesses “I’ve tried, in my way, to love you.”

These words pack so much potential for interpretation into just a few bars of music. Is Tweedy referring to his desire to be with someone, to combine their worlds? Or does he simply regret not doing more to maintain a connection with someone? Is he ruminating on how his way of loving wasn’t enough? Or is he just giving up, resigning himself to the possibility that everyone loves differently and he just isn’t meant to be with someone he loved?

This concise pairing of intensity and vagueness grants Wilco the ability to portray raw emotion on each track without the pretentious feeling usually associated with “emotional music.” Each song provokes simultaneous feelings of uncontained sadness, yet also intense hopefulness, without relying

too heavily on over-emotional lyrics or extreme vocal inflections.

Everything about Wilco screams real. Their music videos go light on the special effects and excessive editing. Their album covers are often monochromatic, if they have colors at all. Even their website is sparse. They’re all about the music, and without the distractions of excessive media tricks, their music shines through.

Wilco is the rock band that doesn’t need to use sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll to captivate an audience. They’ve done it for 25 years, and hopefully they’ll continue to do it for a long time.

We’ll be right here, listening to Tweedy sing his eerie melodies, peering closer into ourselves.

Ella Boyd SC ’21 is one of TSL’s music columnists. Besides writing, she enjoys listening to (and mixing) music, writing poetry and making art.

Mudd Amateur Rocketry Club explores rocket science SIMRAN SACHDEVA College is difficult, but it’s not rocket science — unless you’re a member of the Mudd Amateur Rocketry Club.

Comprised of 40 members and open to all 5C students, MARC meets weekly in the Mudd Makerspace, where club members collaborate and toil to build their own rocket in time for the next rocket launch. Each month, the club travels out to Lucerne Dry Lake in Lucerne Valley, California, and they launch the rockets they’ve built with prior approval from the Rocketry Organization of California.

MARC vice president Edward Jacobs HM ’22 said a big part of the club was letting students know what they’re capable of.

“Our number one goal is to get people excited about rocket science,” he said. “Our club shows that it is possible with not that much time to actually put together your own model rocket and launch it.”

Club member Jason Misleh HM ’22 acknowledged that the challenge of crafting a rocket allows for a healthy collaborative dynamic despite the individuality of the projects.

“Although everybody needs to build their own rockets ... it’s a pretty good family dynamic,” he said.

Benjamin Khoury HM ’22 joined with a previous interest in rocket science and benefited from the tight-knit nature of the club.

“I like rocketry, [so] when I saw this opportunity, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s really cool,’ but I didn’t really want to do it alone,” he said. “That would be a lot [alone], since you have to drive … out to

the desert, and you might not know what you are doing. But the expertise of everyone [assured me] I could do this realistically, and I’ve had a lot of fun.”

Misleh said the club unfortunately often encounters rocket pitfalls due to the high stakes, “one-shot” nature of rocket launching.

“When you’re launching these kinds of rockets with very powerful motors, there are a lot of little details that, if you mess up during the construction, you can’t go back and fix,” Misleh said. “[You want to] make sure there is not horrible damage to it.”

Khoury agreed, recounting a time in which his rockets did in fact sustain horrible damage. “[My first launch], two or three rockets were a success out of six,” he said. “It was funny, because we got [to the launch location] and were thinking, ‘We are confident. We know what we are doing,’ and then we got up there and made a lot of mistakes [and] half of them failed …

We just didn’t know what to expect.”

Jacobs said mistakes are part of the process and urges those who are interested not to be intimidated.

“I am very excited that there is a club and a space dedicated to aerospace and rocketry,” he said. “I know a lot of people may be intimidated by it, but it’s actually not that scary — and I invite them to stop by and and basically see what they think of it.”

MARC’s next launch is Dec. 14, and the group is already hard at work preparing for it.

“This should be one of our largest, if not the largest launch of the year,” Jacobs said.

MARC launches monthly and is always accepting new members. Meetings are held in the Mudd Makerspace weekly on Sundays at 1 p.m.

CoUrTESY oF NATALIE KrIEGEr

Nathan Sunbury Hm ’21, a member of the mudd Amateur rocketry Club, holds the remnants of his rocket.

OpiniOns

November 22, 2019

PAGe 7

We owe it to ourselves to Thanks, Michael Bloomberg, for disengage from Barstool Sports reminding me why I’m a Democrat GEORGIA TUCKERMAN Whether it be wrong or not, I have definitely engaged with Barstool Sports’ content. As a Midwest sports fan, particularly an Ohio State football fan, I have had good laughs with friends, sharing videos of the shenanigans on Ohio State University’s campus every gameday.

At first glance, the Barstool Sports Instagram page is relatively innocent. A lot of it reminds me of classic America’s Funniest Home Videos.

There are videos of people being devastatingly clumsy and little kids being funny. There is a lot of content of drunk people, namely American college students, doing very stupid things.

But Barstool is a hell of a lot more than entertaining clickbait. It is a sensationalized sports news publication that relies on hypermasculinity.

I think the increasing emphasis on inclusivity and gender equality in mainstream sports journalism is partly responsible for allowing Barstool’s corner of the internet to thrive. For instance, while ESPN regularly champions espnW, its platform highlighting women’s athletics, Barstool has capitalized on a latent will for traditional norms.

“What Barstool Sports does in being such an extreme website, and trying to frame that extremism in the form of entertainment, is desensitize people to what’s wrong in society,” Meghan Mahoney, director of programs at the Northeastern University Sport and Society Center, told the Boston Globe. “It’s billed as a website ‘for the common man, by the common man,’ but I would argue that most men in their daily lives would not find the sort of things promoted by Barstool Sports to be acceptable.’’

Dave Portnoy, founder of Barstool, doesn’t pretend to be harmless: “There’s so much PC police. There’s so much, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that.’ We’re the exact opposite. ...

It’s TMZ almost for guys.” The fact that Portnoy and his dedicated fan army, known as the “Stoolies,” own their recklessness certainly doesn’t forgive their behavior.

Many female sports reporters are scared to speak up out of fear of bullying from the Stoolies or Portnoy himself. However, sports writer Lindsay Gibbs bravely said, “Portnoy and his Stoolies treat sexual harassment and cyberbullying as a game.”

I need to do little to prove this assertion, one that Gibbs and I both back. Portnoy’s actions speak for themselves. The Daily Beast’s Robert Silverman has accumulated a tireless list, including Portnoy filming “a Barstool blogger in the shower without his consent,” asking if Harvey Weinstein should be able to trade movie roles for sex, ridiculing the appearance of multiple women in the media and using racial slurs in videos published to the Barstool Twitter account.

Women applying to work at Barstool report being offered a contract stating that they could not object to “nudity, sexual scenarios, racial epithets, suggestive gestures, profanity and stereotyping” at Barstool, ac-

cording to the Boston Globe. And when a Barstool intern who wore a “Cervix Killer” T-shirt to his interview sent sexually harassing texts to another intern, Portnoy’s response on the Barstool Sports website left much to be desired.

And somehow, this list is severely abridged. But as Barstool is repeatedly condemned for its repulsive behavior, it simultaneously enjoys booming success.

Barstool’s Instagram has 7.3 million followers. Portnoy has 1.7 million. He is a frequent contributor on Fox News and Fox Business and has been a mainstream news story himself, including one involving a dispute with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Maybe most disappointing is Barstool’s growing success with women. According to Barstool’s CEO Erika Nardini, women are “our fastest-growing category across podcasts, and video, and social.”

According to Yahoo Finance, Barstool’s content was divided into two groups: Barstool Sports and Barstool Chicks, and “since then, monthly page views to the Chicks section are up 90 [percent] and are nearing 2 million, or 25 [percent] of the site’s 8 million monthly views.”

But Barstool is a hell of a lot more than entertaining clickbait. It is a sensationalized sports news publication that relies on hypermasculinity.

Georgia Tuckerman CM ’22

Podcasts like “Chicks in the Office” and “Call Her Daddy” boast female hosts and large female audiences.

By creating demand, women enable Portnoy and his internet army’s demeaning misbehavior.

Whether it be through Portnoy’s direct harassment or the underlying ideas that his platform instills in young boys, women are always collateral.

No matter how magnetic Barstool’s internet content may be, women should not engage.

We owe it to each other, and we owe it to ourselves, to disengage.

And as a matter of fact, any true supporter of women’s rights and equality, regardless of gender, should do the same.

Georgia Tuckerman CM ’22 is from Columbus, Ohio. She’s a massive fan of Ohio State football and Cincinnati Reds baseball and loves to talk about the perception of women in sports journalism with anyone who will listen.

NATALIe bAUer • THe STUDeNT LIFe

BEN REICHER And that’s a wrap … maybe. With (probably) two new entrants, the rush for the Democratic presidential nomination may finally be over.

Excuse me if I’m not particularly enthusiastic. Because, while Michael Bloomberg and Deval Patrick are experienced and intelligent leaders, much of the conversation about them, and indeed the impetus for their campaigns, seems based on a highly problematic idea about the Democratic primary.

Much of the commentary isn’t about them as individuals, but about them as an alternative to the current frontrunners (Bloomberg has not officially entered the race as of writing, but it seems clear he will). And this indicates a fundamental problem on the Democratic side — a misguided discomfort with ideological diversity.

Bloomberg in particular has sought to cultivate this idea and make it essential to his campaign. This is how he justifies his entering the race so late: He only decided to run because he felt the current field was weak.

Namely, he feels that the moderate Joe Biden isn’t strong enough, while Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., are too progressive to win a general election. And Bloomberg thinks he is the one to pick up the Democratic banner.

The problem is the underlying idea, among both progressive and moderate commentators, that ideological diversity is a weakness. Both ultimately want the entire field to embrace their views. Moderates worry progressives make the entire field look radical or out of touch; progressives worry that the influence of moderates will cause Democrats to be too timid and uninspiring to take on President Donald Trump.

I’m not arguing the Democratic Party should be more moderate or progressive. Instead, I want to question the idea

that there is only one way to be a Democrat that every candidate must conform to.

If the party tries to suppress views that don’t conform to its viewpoints (or even appears to be doing so), or if the nomination becomes a coronation, any dissenting voters will feel excluded and therefore less enthusiastic about voting — as Hillary Clinton learned in 2016.

Nominations are supposed to be contentious because hearing diverse viewpoints allows voters to make the most informed decision. This is how democracy should work. Voters being better informed about and feeling more invested in the nomination can only be a strength.

To see the problems of forced conformity, just look at the authoritarian cult the Republicans have become. Advancement in the Trump administration and the GOP (not that there is much difference nowadays) isn’t based on political popularity, expertise or even ideology. Instead, it’s based on connections to Trump and his family and willingness to subordinate one’s personal integrity and values to Trump’s cult of personality.

And the few dissenters have not fared well. Jeff Sessions is trying to remain electorally relevant with a pathetic campaign ad for his old Alabama Senate seat about how he was always loyal to the president, a sycophantic display of fealty to his audience of one.

Others who once mildly criticized the president have declined to stay in office, like former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake or, more recently, Rep. Martha Roby and Rep. Will Hurd, contributing to the record number of congressional GOP retirements in the Trump era.

The results are predictable: White college-educated women, people of color and young voters are leaving the GOP in droves.

Mobilizing these groups allowed Democrats to win the 2018 midterms by the highest margin since Watergate. Recent GOP losses of the Virginia legislature, and the Kentucky and Louisiana gover-

norships, show that Republicans’ problems are only getting worse.

If a voter doesn’t agree with a primary candidate’s positions, they can vote for another candidate they like more — that’s what a primary is for. As for whether controversial positions taken by other candidates will lead the nominee to be tarred by association, I find myself doubtful.

For one thing, dynamics change in the general election — the healthcare debate won’t be Medicare-forall versus public option; it will be expanding healthcare access versus ending protections for pre-existing conditions. Moreover, relentlessly screaming that Democrats are socialists didn’t help Republicans in recent races, even in deep-red Kentucky and Louisiana.

But in case it does happen, Democrats should be grateful for their primary’s ideological diversity, because it gives candidates opportunities to distinguish themselves and build a reputation beyond that of a generic Democrat.

Moreover, this diversity creates the opportunity for primary voters to make a genuine and informed choice about candidates’ policy positions, so the person who wins the nomination will be the most popular in the field and, therefore, inherently the best choice to take on Trump.

Most importantly, voters don’t necessarily rank all the candidates on a spectrum of moderate to progressive. Despite the GOP’s best efforts, the election will not be won with labels but by articulating a compelling vision for the country that can compete with Trump’s.

Either a progressive or a moderate could do that. But it is undoubtedly the voters themselves who are the best judge of whose vision is the most compelling, so why not let them make as informed a choice as possible? And for a choice to be truly informed, there must be genuine options to choose from.

Ben Reicher PO ’22 is from Agoura Hills, California. He joined his high school newspaper in ninth grade because he loved to argue and hasn’t stopped since.

How to make protests more efficient MARGOT ROSENBLATT I popped out of the 86th Street station in New York City on a warm, bright, sunny day. The sky was blue, the trees were green, the clouds were fluffy … and that’s when I hit the wall.

I couldn’t move. Forced up against the green subway lamppost, I stared at the throngs of people passing.

There was a surging river of sweaty, hot pink shouting. Babies crying. A deafening helicopter above. Metallic fences all around. I had found it: the great and awe-inspiring Women’s March.

Wiping the perspiration from my brow, I set out to join the marching masses; but after a few hours of slogan-repeating and sign-reading, I began to question why I had come.

To be clear, I completely support protests. They have the power to be extremely effective in making crucial change, and they give a voice to the voiceless who’ve had enough.

That said, “mass protests,” as I like to call them, have lost much of their efficiency and with it, much of their power.

The problem with mass protests like the Women’s March is that they don’t speak a useful message to an audience that can apply it. As I continued marching I saw signs for every issue imaginable: the wage gap, the climate crisis, LGBTQIA+ rights, abortion, immigration, impeachment … and thus the march had no singular message — each cause was lost in a torrent of righteous anger.

While I completely agreed with most of the bobbing signs and spirited shouts at the Women’s March, I didn’t feel that letting my friends and neighbors know that I’m pro-choice,

mAbeL LUI • THe STUDeNT LIFe Attendees hold up signs at the Women’s march in Los Angeles on Jan. 20, 2018.

for example, really did anything to advance the goal of expanding or preserving access to abortion. I thought about how shouting that message outside (or even better, inside) the Supreme Court would be much more effective.

The biggest women’s marches generally take place in cities like Washington D.C., Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Boston. These are all places whose states boast some of the higher percentages of pro-choice people in their populations.

Mass protests like the Women’s March are meant for the media, but conservative-leaning media don’t cover these protests enough. And when they do, they tend to do it through a negative lens.

According to PolitiFact, Fox News, the nation’s No. 1 most watched news network, horribly undercovered the women’s march.

The network also tends to promote

anti-choice views so it’s hard to imagine they would be unbiased in their reporting on the issue.

So when people at the Women’s March express their opinions on a woman’s right to choose, they’re effectively preaching only to the choir, not reaching the pews.

That said, movements like the Women’s March tend to empower the choir to take action. However, a more efficient way to mobilize a larger audience is through a realistic call to action. There’s a lot of value in saying “guns make America more dangerous” to a street full of people who concur, but the message is even more effective if it’s followed by “so write your congressperson about (specific gun legislation) at (congressperson’s email address).”

Again, the key here is to speak to an audience who can effect change. Any audience has the potential to effect change if given the

right job, but mass protests don’t tend to be that specific.

This leads me to my most important justification in sitting out mass protests: slacktivism. Slacktivism is defined as a fake form of activism that takes very little effort, requires very little commitment and makes almost no impact at all.

It’s a “feel-good” measure. Putting an “I stand with ___” filter on a picture and posting it on Instagram is a great example of slacktivism.

As president of my environmental club in high school, I saw slacktivism in action in plenty of students who chose to sit out park clean-ups or phone banking sessions because they felt like they had already done their part for the Earth by attending a mass climate protest.

A danger of organizing mass protests as a means of change-making is that you end up channeling the finite supply of energy in a movement toward a dead end. In

this way, “feel-good protests” can actually inhibit change that could have happened faster if the protesters had been more efficient in their messaging.

This is not to say that organizing protests is a form of slacktivism. Organizing protests is extremely difficult, complex work that can sometimes yield very valuable results.

Attending protests like the Women’s March without taking further action is slacktivism.

Of course, there are people for whom the system has failed. They may believe that voting is useless because one party is too ingrained in their area or that a dialogue with their representative would go nowhere. Those people absolutely should protest — just by having a specific message tailored for the world — since exposure to an audience can help support their cause and bring attention to it.

To all the activists out there, next time you’re thinking of organizing a protest, make absolutely sure that you’re speaking to an audience that can help your cause, you have a clear call to action and that you have an immediate step two for your audience to take when they hear your cries.

These second steps can be letter writing campaigns, phone banking, bake sales, raffles, voter registration and more. Activism is democracy, and protests can be valuable. To be successful in preserving our rights and making important change, we must be active, efficient and effective.

Margot Rosenblatt SC ’23 is from New York, New York. She’s a big fan of the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

OpiniOns

PAGe 8

November 22, 2019

I’m not late, you’re just culturally insensitive

ANNIe WU • THe STUDeNT LIFe

CAMERON TIPTON To all of my West Coast friends who complain about my tardiness: I’m not rude. I’m on PST. No, not the same one as you.

Not Pacific Standard Time. Allow me to introduce you to Persian Standard Time.

I define Persian Standard Time as a time system wherein one leaves for an event at the exact time it is set to begin, regardless of how near or far they are from said event.

The practice has cultural origins I’ll touch on later, but beyond that, it has been perpetuated by mainstream portrayals of Iranian American culture, specifically reality shows like “Shahs of Sunset.” Consequently, most Iranians living in the U.S. know “I’m five minutes away” really means you’re 20-plus minutes away (on a good day).

Now, you may be thinking this

is just laziness. You are wrong.

In fact, a failure to understand a foreign culture’s conception of time is culturally insensitive and borders on racism.

You see, there are differences in practices across countries, across cultures, and the concept of time is no exception. This leads us into a discussion of monochronic versus polychronic cultures.

The United States is monochronic, meaning tasks are often completed one at a time, orderliness is valued and plans are adhered to almost religiously.

This, however, is mainly reflected through the ideals of white America, and there are clear exceptions (e.g., immigrants and various communities of color).

Other countries, usually non-Western countries (for example, Iran), are polychronic, meaning that many tasks are completed at a time, and less

rigidity surrounds plans and punctuality.

Here’s an example: I went to my aunt’s house so we could carpool to a mehmooni (Persian party). She urged me to arrive by 6:30 p.m.

When I arrived at 7:00 p.m., I felt a tinge of panic, thinking maybe I had come too late. She then insisted that, aware as she was of our culture’s practices, she actually wanted me to arrive at 7:00 p.m. I felt seen, and feeling seen is a nice feeling.

In contrast, I’ve had white friends get irritated with me for showing up to an event five minutes late. Five minutes! I’m sorry, but unless it’s a Frank Ocean concert or frontrow seats to President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearing, five minutes really isn’t that bad.

I am not to blame for my culture, and there is no reason for

me to feel guilty because those around me see it as incompatible with their Eurocentric model. This extends to all my friends on “people of color time.”

If nothing else, Pomona College has taught me that we should embrace our differences, rather than be demonized because of them.

Besides, who the hell are 5C students to judge, anyway?

The damn clock tower at Pomona goes off every hour on the 47th minute (haha, so funny…), which throws off many people’s schedules, and let’s face it: “Pitzer time” is essentially synonymous with “Sorry, I got too baked.”

I’m not suggesting that college student tardiness is the same as different cultural conceptions of time; what I’m suggesting is some empathy is in order.

The U.S. is notorious for col-

onizing and whitewashing (or altogether erasing) non-European cultures. The fact that Iranian Americans are able to cling to their lateness, despite being immersed in a sea of colorless complaints, is nothing short of miraculous.

If an entire community is able to maintain a given practice, one true to its country of origin and unadulterated by the microaggressive judgments of a Euro-normative society, then its culture cannot be written off as “carelessness.” This is the ultimate offense.

So the next time a POC friend of yours is a few minutes late to an event, ask yourself if they’re careless or if you’re just culturally insensitive.

Cameron Tipton PO ’20 is a habitually tardy Persian. Always tell them to come 30 minutes earlier than you want them to arrive.

College journalists need to prioritize students’ well-being SCHUYLER MITCHELL In recent months, two “scandals” have shaken the student journalism world.

In September, The Harvard Crimson reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for comment on a story about a student-led Abolish ICE protest.

Earlier this month, The Daily Northwestern reporters published photos of students protesting outside of a speech by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions on their Twitter accounts before taking them down.

Both newspapers received criticism from their respective student bodies for their coverage of the events — more than 1,000 people have signed an online petition condemning The Crimson for endangering undocumented students, and student activists voiced concern that the photos published by The Daily were traumatizing and invasive.

While The Crimson stood by its reporting, The Daily apologized and deleted the Twitter photos taken outside Sessions’ talk. The backlash was swift, as established journalists rushed to criticize the college students.

They argued that The Daily was right in their initial reporting, students at a public protest should not expect privacy and the apology was essentially an act of censorship and a harbinger of the death of democracy, or something.

The New York Times covered the story with the tonguein-cheek headline: “The Daily Northwestern Apologizes to Student Protesters for Reporting.”

Then, backlash to the backlash followed, albeit less widespread and less emphatic. Other journalists, like Sharif Durhams at CNN, pointed out that, while The Daily journalists should not have apologized, the self-righteous reactions from full-grown adults was a little bit, well, over-the-top.

Honestly, I don’t really care about the specifics of what goes on at Harvard University or Northwestern University. Two student newspapers are not emblematic of the free press at large.

However, the controversies have highlighted the murky ethical waters in which student newspapers swim.

The fact is, student journalists are students; they don’t exist on a separate plane of pure objectiv-

ity.

College newspapers are not the same as national publications, and they should not be treated as such. Student journalists are different from professional journalists because they are members of the community on which they are reporting. As a result, they have a unique moral responsibility to that community.

While I understand the critiques of The Daily’s apology, it’s not alarmist or unreasonable to say that photographing the faces of student protesters has the potential to open up those students to harm.

Additionally, it’s critical that student journalists build trust by engaging in an open dialogue with student activists — many students simply do not know that they are legally allowed to be photographed in public spaces without their knowledge or permission. Student journalists also need to think critically about what is necessary to tell a story and why that story is being told, rather than just report for the love of reporting, or worse, for a resume bullet.

The internet has ushered in an age of hypervisibility, in which articles that were for-

merly contained to on-campus print newspapers now have the potential to be circulated far and wide. Take the Scripps pool party incident in 2018, in which the publication of a Claremont Independent article resulted in students, staff and faculty receiving “hostile and threatening” phone calls from strangers.

This shift in potential impact requires a shift in method. For example, WITNESS, an international nonprofit that has partnered with 570 organizations and trained over 11,350 people on how to ethically and strategically use video to document human rights violations, recommends the following: “Get a variety of shots to show protest activity and the size of the crowd. Anonymize protesters by filming feet, backs or with blurred focus … PAUSE and think strategically before sharing your video online. Always consider your own and others’ safety before sharing the video publicly.”

Let’s be clear: Being cognizant of the power and impact of one’s reporting is not akin to censorship.

Every piece of reporting is embedded with bias and context; there will always be editorial decisions on what is in-

cluded, what is highlighted and what is left out.

The myth of journalistic objectivity tells us that isn’t so. It’s a beautifully enticing myth, this idea that there exists a body of purely neutral investigators, and that if we simply report both sides to every story, we can uphold truth and justice and democracy for all. But come on — that would be too easy.

Let’s be clear: Being cognizant of the power and impact of one’s reporting is not akin to censorship.

Schuyler Mitchell PO ’20

As Ebenezer Mensah PO ’23 wrote in a TSL column last week, “While the idea of listening to every view and allowing every voice to be heard may sound appealing, the obsession with finding a balance in

ANAGA SRINIVAS • THE STUDENT LIFE

reportage and being objective is perhaps making journalists forgetful of their core mandate: the pursuit of basic truth.”

While requesting a comment from ICE might be considered “objective,” it doesn’t exactly make any progress in the pursuit of basic truth. In a message to The Crimson, Marion Davis, director of communications for the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, wrote, “I know the Crimson acted on a desire for fairness, but I have learned [through] experience that getting both sides isn’t always what is fair, especially when one side has already made its views well known through the megaphones of government.”

Or consider last semester’s TSL piece, in which the spring 2019 editorial board proclaimed, “Today, we stand with The Claremont Independent” after Pitzer barred The Claremont Independent from attending the Pitzer College Council’s vote on suspending the University of Haifa program. While, sure, a free press is important, the editorial board’s argument failed to account for the ways in which The Claremont Independent has opened up students to harassment, such as the coverage of the previously mentioned Scripps pool party incident.

In this instance, the TSL editorial board chose to “stand with” their convoluted and abstract notion of objectivity rather than stand with the well-being of the students involved. (Later on, “and other news outlets” was added to the headline after learning others had been denied as well.)

Look, I get it. The president is demonizing the press, publications are folding left and right and student newspapers are chronically underfunded. In this climate, admitting nuance can feel like weakness.

But I don’t think that student journalists being sensitive to the needs of the student body devalues on-campus journalism; in fact, it would bolster it by building trust between the press and the community.

And let’s face it — right now, TSL could benefit from building some trust.

Schuyler Mitchell PO ’20 is from Raleigh, North Carolina. She is a Media Studies major and English minor.

OpiniOns

November 22, 2019

PAGe 9

Jasper’s Crossword: Seeing double Hong Kong police aren’t just

JASPer DAvIDoFF • THe STUDeNT LIFe

ACROSS 1. Batman, really 6. “So what?” sardonically (abbr.)

9. Beats founder 12. Tool to climb Everest 13. Wide shoe spec 14. Place to give a ring 15. One step 16. With 28- and 44-across, what the subject of one viral video would say when observing this puzzle * 18. Monte _____ 19. Peak successes 20. First class handouts?

22. “For fear of which, hear this, _______ unbred” —Shakespeare 25. Village Thai spot 28. See 16-across * 29. Tie again 32. Low-___ (blurry)

33. Boris ______ (opera) 34. Eventually 37. In proportion 40. “You got it!”

44. See 16-across * 45. No clue 46. Divinity topic (abbr.)

47. Feathery neckwear 48. Eleni Kounalakis, in Calif.

49. Podcast feed 50. Ctrl-___-Del 51. Like a chimney sweep

7. Pal 8. Withdraw, for short 9. Indian 10. Companion of subscribe and review 11. Paleozoic and Mesozoic 17. No clue 21. Above sm. and med.

22. What attraction and buttresses have in common 23. Spot of Charlemagne’s reign (abbr.)

24. “___ for owl” 25. Trash can 26. Card game with Draw 4 27. An -ly word, likely (abbr.)

29. Fishing tool 30. Former UK legislator of Twitter mistake fame 31. Accept (an idea) 33. Persistently concern (someone) 34. UPS truck color (abbr.)

35. “_____ dabba doo!”

36. “You’re such _____!”

37. [Contended cat noise] 38. Actress Issa and others 39. Scripps olive tree products 41. “Let ____” (Frozen hit) 42. Horse’s gait 43. Resentment LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

DOWN 1. Minn. and Mich. neighbor 2. “____ Fool” (Ludacris song) 3. 2019, currently 4. Affixes with a hammer 5. Former monarch 6. E.g. Snoopy

Cancer sucks: What you can do when it affects someone you love MICHELLE LUM Yesterday, Nov. 21, was World Pancreatic Cancer Day. In time for this year’s World Pancreatic Cancer Day, and in collaboration with the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition, “Jeopardy!” game show host Alex Trebek created a video to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer. He revealed in March that he had Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Since he began hosting “Jeopardy!” in 1984, Trebek has been a constant presence on the TV sets of millions of Americans every night. For “Jeopardy!” contestants and viewers alike, the announcement of his cancer diagnosis was upsetting.

When Trebek made the announcement, he quipped, “I plan to beat the low survival-rate statistics for this disease. Truth told, I have to.

Because under the terms of my contract, I have to host ‘Jeopardy!’ for three more years.”

And he has kept true to his word: Though Trebek will be entering chemotherapy for the second time, he is still continuing to do his job.

During the Nov. 11 episode of “Jeopardy!”, a contestant wrote “We love you, Alex!” for his “Final Jeopardy” answer, after hearing that Trebek would be re-entering treatment for pancreatic cancer. Upon reading the contestant’s message, Trebek became uncharacteristically emotional, and choked up as he said, “That’s very kind of you. Thank you.”

Cancer is terrifying. It represents the unknown, and often seems like a death sentence. It’s scary.

And it can happen to anyone.

Yesterday wasn’t only World Pancreatic Cancer Day. It also marked two months since my friend passed away from cancer this September.

She was 17 years old, and had been battling leukemia for the past year and a half.

When my friend was first diagnosed with cancer, she was a member of my section in my high school’s newspaper. When she told me that

she had cancer in January 2018, I didn’t know what to do. I said things like “I hope you feel better,” and “Get well soon,” but those felt like empty statements.

I told her that I was there for her if she needed anything, but in the face of her cancer diagnosis, I didn’t know what else I could do.

For the first year, she kept the knowledge of her cancer confined to only a few people. She didn’t want to be known as the girl with cancer, and she wouldn’t allow the disease to define her.

At the end of that school year, she succeeded me as opinion section editor. But earlier this year, in January, she had to leave for the hospital for a bone marrow transplant, and was unable to return because of her weakened immune system.

Even when she was in the hospital, she continued to contribute to our newspaper, writing stories like a review of the movie “Paddleton,” which highlights the friendship of two neighbors, one of whom is diagnosed with cancer. While fighting her own battle with cancer, she wrote a moving story about a classmate who had survived cancer.

Inspired by the care given to her by her nurses, she realized that she wanted to become a nurse and began applying to nursing schools so she could help others in a similar way.

Like Trebek, my friend continued to do what she loved, despite her struggles with cancer.

We hoped that she would come back to school in spring this year.

But she never did.

It still feels unreal that she’s gone.

I wish I had been there more for her when she was still here. I wish I could have shown her that I was by her side. I wish I could have known what to do when she was alive.

Billions of results turn up when I Google, “what to do when someone has cancer,” but I guess, in

OFF THE RECORD The koi are “impacted” Just a poor koi from a koi family

Aka they are dead Such a small mistake, such tragic consequences

I recovered from the stomach flu I lost five pounds in two days

I gave it to everyone I know Gross lol

Lizzo was nominated for a Grammy She’s got the juice

So was Post Malone I hope they have showers backstage

hindsight, my answer to that question is pretty simple.

Supporting someone who has cancer doesn’t require a large, selfless act. Sometimes, the little things are what matter the most.

Just being there with that person, and for that person, can mean a lot. Cancer is rough, but even more difficult when someone has to go through it alone.

If you know someone with cancer, show them that you care.

Visit them if they are in the hospital or confined to their homes.

Bring them their favorite books, albums or movies. Remind them that they haven’t been forgotten. Remind them that they are still very much part of the communities they’re in.

Remind them that they aren’t alone, and that there are people rooting for them. Even something as simple as saying, “I love you,” or “I am here for you,” can help.

And like how my friend didn’t want to be known as the girl with cancer, sometimes, all someone who has cancer may want is to be treated normally.

I’m thankful to have known someone as incredible as that friend, who filled up every corner of each room that she entered with so much light. I’m grateful to have grown up watching Trebek brighten households with “Jeopardy!” every night.

I admire both of them so much for their resilience, strength and grace in their battles with cancer.

We love you, Alex. We love you, Belinda.

Michelle Lum HM ’23 is from San Jose, California. Every day, she misses her friend Belinda, who lost her battle with leukemia in September.

She hopes that Belinda is at peace, and knows that her memory lives on in the pages of the Epic, the Lynbrook High School student newspaper, as well as the people who were touched

by Belinda in her lifetime.

using force. They’re using unnecessary violence ANNA CHOI Guest Writer

CW: violence, police brutality Miles away in a university not unlike ours, police are laying siege to students fighting for democracy and justice. Miles away in a city not unlike ours, civilians on the street lambaste the policemen they once trusted. Miles away, people not unlike us are struggling for the basic right to vote and freedom from arbitrary arrest.

These are the Hong Kongers who have staged major demonstrations since June 2019, who were galvanized by the proposition of a bill that would allow extradition of detained Hong Kong residents to China, according to The New York Times. Protesters, the majority of them peaceful, have united under their five major demands, according to CNN. Currently, the most prominent demand is for an independent investigation into police brutality, as their anti-riot and arrest methods grow more and more violent each day. At the time of writing, police have laid siege to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for five days, after protesters used the institute as a base from which to occupy a major tunnel of the city, according to Vice.

The Hong Kong police’s water cannons spray, with great force, unknown blue liquid that causes “severe skin irritation”; Greenpeace has questioned police claims that the liquid is “harmless,” according to Hong Kong Free Press. While police demand protesters leave PolyU, those attempting to escape the “war zone” are either beaten back by tear gas or immediately arrested, according to The Guardian.

When protesters become violent, police action should be proportional to that of protesters.

Anna Choi PO ’23

More than 10,000 rounds of tear gas have been deployed by the police since protests began in June, according to the South China Morning Post. Meanwhile, local medical groups have raised concerns of dioxins released by tear gas canisters, especially after a front-line reporter was diagnosed with chloracne, according to HKFP. The protestors haven’t been entirely peaceful either. Despite police threats of using live ammunition if protesters continued to wield “lethal weapons” against them, some protesters continue to hurtle Molotov cocktails and shoot arrows, according to NPR. But that’s not to say that both sides deserve equal blame. We need to be careful not to claim “neutrality” and dismiss and oversimplify this situation as “violence on both sides.” Civilians and police have different roles.

When civilians commit a crime, they are arrested and disciplined under the law. By contrast, when Hong Kong po-

AERIAL CLASSES POLE CLASSES SILKS HOOP STATIC TRAPEZE AERIAL YOGA CIRCUS BOOTCAMP PARTIES & SHOWS

licemen commit a crime, they don’t face consequences for their actions; experts say the Independent Police Complaints Council is unable to carry out its sole duty — investigate the police — despite Chief Executive of Hong Kong Carrie Lam’s insistence to the contrary, according to TIME. Further, protesters do not have the weapons police have. Protesters do not have the protective gear police have.

Protesters do not have the power to arrest. Protesters do not get paid to put their lives on the line. Protesters did not receive the professional training police received (paid for by civilians) to specifically not get emotional and not abuse their power.

Those suspected of unlawful assembly do not deserve to be beaten until they have brain hemorrhages, as The Telegraph reported happened to one student. This is not “use of force.” This is violence.

Regrettably, Hong Kong police do not believe in the presumption of innocence, let alone the freedom from violence and torture; this much is blatant in the damning investigation reports by Amnesty International.

While the police have the right and duty to use force, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, “all police action shall respect the principles of legality, necessity, non-discrimination, proportionality and humanity.”

In no circumstance is kneeling on the neck of an already-subdued person an act of “necessity”; and pepper spraying a detainee’s gaping facial wounds is outright torture, as seen in a NYT video of the protests.

These acts, among many others, are an atrocious violation of human rights.

When protesters become violent, police action should be proportional to that of protesters. Yet, in response to an 18-year-old swinging a metal rod, a Hong Kong policeman shot him in the chest at pointblank range, despite the availability of non-lethal weapons like pepper spray and rubber bullets available, according to an analysis by the NYT. The policeman was wearing a bulletproof vest; the protester had a plastic board as a “shield.”

Depressing as these events are, and uncertain as the future is, we each have the moral responsibility as global citizens to stand on the side of justice.

We need to be careful not to mislabel police brutality as “use of force,” for this creates a facade of legality to disguise their violence.

Often, outsiders viewing an unfamiliar event subconsciously defer to those in power, and such wording dangerously strengthens the police’s legitimacy, in spite of their unlawful actions.

Apart from reading articles to stay updated, I encourage you to watch live videos of the protests (search: “Apple Daily live” on YouTube), and to discuss Hong Kong’s situation with your peers, colleagues, friends or with your family during Thanksgiving.

Hong Kong’s protests are joining with movements around the world, from Chile, to Lebanon, to Catalonia, where activists drew inspiration from Hong Kong’s protest tactics.

What links can you draw between Hong Kong’s story and yours?

Miles away, weary Hong Kongers raise signs reading “SAVE US.” The least we can do is to help spread their message.

Anna Choi PO ’23 was born and raised in Hong Kong. She’s the president of the Hong Kong Political Society, a recently founded activism group, and hopes to give back to the Hong Kong community from which she’s greatly benefitted.

THE CIRCUS STUDIO

TAKE OUR CLASSES FOR PE CREDIT or SIGN UP FOR A CLASS ANYTIME, OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK INSIDE THE CLAREMONT PACKING HOUSE 548 W. 1ST ST WWW.THECIRCUSSTUDIO.COM

$10 OFF - FIRST AERIAL OR POLE CLASS code: studentsrock

SportS

PAGE 10

NovEmbEr 22, 2019

P-P, CMS swim and dive plunge into season

ANNA HorNE • THE STUDENT LIFE

Walter Lee PZ ‘23 breaks the surface of the water for a quick breath during the 200-yard medley relay at a swim meet hosted by P-P on Nov. 8.

HUGO WARD P-P men’s swim and dive The Pomona-Pitzer men’s swim and dive team is looking to secure its third straight SCIAC championship this year, as they enter the winter season ranked No. 1 in a preseason poll of the conference’s head coaches.

Beyond the team’s success in the SCIAC last season — they were 8-0 in dual meets — nine Sagehens continued on to compete at the NCAA championships. As a team, the men finished 11th overall with several All-Americans.

The team returns Lukas Menkhoff PO ’21, who was the national runner-up in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke, as well as two other members of his 4x100-yard freestyle relay team — Will Abele PO ’20 and Archie Spindler PO ’22 — who finished eighth. Paddy Baylis PO ’22 is back for year two after placing fourth in the country in the 1,650yard freestyle.

Menkhoff already holds a number of P-P school records, including the 50-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle, 50-yard breaststroke, 100-yard breaststroke and 100-yard individual medley.

Abele said the Sagehens have big goals once again.

“We hope to send our largest group yet to NCAAs to hopefully place in the finals for All-American status,” Abele said via email.

Nick Borowsky PO ’20 anticipates a strong year from the firstyear class of swimmers.

“Honestly, all the freshmen are studs,” Borowsky said. They’ve been “swimming really well the first

couple meets this year.”

In their most recent meet this season Nov. 9, the Sagehens defeated both Cal Lutheran and La Verne.

“Two of our divers, Ben Willett [PZ ’22] and Jem Stern [PO ’22], qualified for NCAA regionals this weekend, which is super impressive for this early in the season,” Abele said. To qualify, Willett and Stern had to score above 275 on the 3-yard dive, and they scored 285.10 and 300, respectively.

The reigning SCIAC champs only lost two team members of their national traveling team to graduation, swimmers Ryan Drover PZ ’19 and Jack Swanson PO ’19. The team also added nine firstyears.

A recent poll by the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America ranks the P-P men’s team No. 10 in Division III. P-P women’s swim and dive The P-P women’s swim and dive team is also vying to defend its SCIAC title this year. This year’s team was voted No. 1 in the SCIAC preseason poll after its impressive season last year, when the Hens won the conference for the second year in a row and for a third time in the last four years.

Last year, its dual-meet record was 7-1.

Katherine Lauerman PO ’20 said she wants the team “performing at our best at all of our meets, including our competitive dual meet against CMS in December, SCIACs and NCAAs.” At the NCAA Championship

last season, the team finished in seventh place with several All-American performances, including Alex Werner PO ’22, who placed eighth in the 200-yard breaststroke.

But the hard work doesn’t stop there.

This season, “we’ve been putting in a lot of hard work in the pool, both swimming and diving,” Lauerman said. “We have also been working to strengthen the team as a whole.”

The Sagehens graduated four swimmers last year — Angela Ling PO ’19, Maddie Kauahi PO ’19, Sarah Jin PO ’19 and Mackenzie Cummings PO ’19 — but gained nine first-years.

Lauerman is looking forward to seeing the new first-years compete.

“I’m also really excited to watch our newer divers, Winnie Xu [PO ’23], [Alexandria Long PO ’22] and Eleanor [Mackey PO ’22], perform well,” she said. “I think that everyone on the team has really awesome potential this year.”

The Sagehens are ranked No. 13 in the CSCAA poll.

CMS men’s swim and dive The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men’s swim and dive team is looking to break P-P’s SCIAC winning streak, after finishing second at last year’s championship. The team was voted second in this year’s preseason poll, after finishing last year with a dual-meet record of 7-1.

At last season’s NCAA Championship, diver Kendall Hollimon CM ’20 and swimmer Marco Conati HM ’21 represented the Stags.

Hollimon finished in third place for the 3-yard dive, earning first-team All-American honors for the third year in a row. He also received an honorable mention All-American honor in the 1-yard dive. Conati placed fourth in the 100-yard butterfly, and their combined efforts saw the Stags finish in 22nd place.

Hollimon is looking for more hardware and wins for the team this year.

“The team is hoping to inspire peak athletic performance in its athletes,” he said. “The theme this year is ‘earn it,’ and with every win, that’s exactly what we hope to do.”

He’s also excited about both the new talent and the coaching staff this year — Ivan Bondarenko is the new head dive coach.

Bondarenko “has helped foster team environment that is equal parts fun and focused, and the team is as close as ever,” Hollimon said. “If we keep working this hard, we’ll be in good shape for SCIACs.” The Stags are ranked slightly behind the P-P men at No. 13.

CMS women’s swim and dive The Athenas finished second in last year’s SCIAC championship, right behind the P-P women’s team, with a dual-meet record of 8-0. The team was voted second in this season’s SCIAC preseason poll.

At last season’s NCAA Championship, the Athenas finished 22nd out of 50 teams. CMS was led

by Mia Syme CM ’21, who placed 13th in the 1,650-yard freestyle,

and Augusta Lewis CM ’22, who was 18th in the 200-yard breaststroke after earning honorable mention All-American in the 200-yard individual medley and 400-yard individual medley.

Sophomore star Lewis earned both the SCIAC Swimmer of the Year and the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year awards last year after setting a number of conference and program records throughout the season. In the 200-yard individual medley, she shattered a mark that hadn’t been challenged since 2012.

Anne Jang CM ’21 hopes the Athenas will build off last year’s success and win the SCIAC title.

“We [will] continue to observe the importance of hard work and dedication in seeing results at the end of the season,” she said. “More than ever, we aim to be the best and continue to foster and encourage the development of a well-rounded community of student athletes.”

The Athenas will head into this season returning eight of the 11 swimmers who competed at last season’s national championship, including three — Lewis, Syme and Ava Sealander SC ’22 — who qualified in individual events.

“We’re excited to see things from first years Ella Blake [HM ’23] and Anderson Breazeale [CM ’23], as well as sophomore Augusta Lewis [CM ’22], junior Marco Conati [HM ’21], as well as senior diver Kendall Hollimon [CM ’20],” Jang said.

“Overall, we have recruited a class with amazing potential and are bringing back a team that is ready and willing to work.”

In the CSCAA poll, the Athenas are ranked No. 11.

‘Play with joy’: Isa Berardo PZ ’20 talks NCAA goals, career as a Hen ALLIE GOULD As Isa Berardo PZ ’20 approaches the final stretch of their Sagehen soccer career, they’re reminded by the tattoo on their left forearm — which reads “Play With Joy” in their dad’s handwriting — to enjoy these last games, regardless of the result.

“Ever since I was a scrappy little 5-year-old first kicking a soccer ball around, before every game he would always just tell me ‘play with joy,’” Berardo said. “Being in big games like this can be stressful and nerve-racking, and so I think it’s so important to just remind yourself to go out there and play with joy, because if you do that, you make it all worth it no matter what.”

The lockdown defender has come a long way since then. Name any Pomona-Pitzer women’s soccer career record for goalkeepers, and you’ll find their name next to the statistic.

Berardo has saved 86 percent of shots that have come their way across four years, amounting to exactly 200 saves so far. They boast a career goals-against-average mark of 0.56, meaning they allow just over half a goal per 60 minutes of playing time.

Last year, they were the stingiest goalkeeper in Division III — with the best save percentage (94.4) and GAA (0.18) in the nation — and allowed just three goals in 19 games.

But the most important statistic is the 59 wins P-P has accumulated in Berardo’s four years, as the Sagehens (19-1-1, 12-1 SCIAC) dominated regular season conference play, won a SCIAC championship and made one deep NCAA tournament run in 2016.

This Saturday against UChicago in the NCAA tournament’s round of 16, Berardo is hoping for their 60th win, plus revenge against the Maroons, who knocked P-P out of the tournament in the Elite Eight

CoUrTESY oF JUSTIN SLEPPY vIA PITZEr oFFICE oF CommUNICATIoNS

Isa Berardo PZ ‘20 launches a ball down the field. The lockdown defender was awarded Most Valuable Player for the 2019 SCIAC Tournament on Nov. 9.

during Berardo’s first year on the team.

“There’s a lot of history between these two teams,” Berardo said. “We played them during our pre-season this year and beat them 1-0 in an incredibly well-fought match, so I think this game is just going to be an excellent show of fantastic soccer and grit.”

This weekend may be Berardo’s last opportunity to compete as a Sagehen, which further raises the stakes for them and the rest of the seniors.

“I’m not ready for it to end, and I know the team isn’t either,” Berardo said. “We have so much left to give, and so this weekend, we are just going to go out there and give it everything we have.”

Counting their impressive start to the NCAA tournament, in which P-P has won its first two games by a combined 7-0, the No. 8 Sagehens boast the highest shutout percentage in DIII at 85.7 percent — or 18 of their 21 games — largely due to Berardo’s dominance in goal.

“There’s a lot of games where Isa doesn’t have a lot to do — on paper — but they have come up with huge saves, you know, even if it’s just one,” head coach Jennifer Scanlon said. “In all of our big wins, they’ve had to make a big save, and they’ve been ready for it and done their job.”

Both Berardo and Scanlon are quick to note that despite the defensive star’s individual accolades

— which include three straight years of All-SCIAC honors and MVP of this year’s SCIAC tournament — Berardo’s success is the result of a team effort.

“We just have a phenomenal defense,” Berardo said. “There’s this mindset when we are defending that if our opponent has the ball, my teammates won’t even let them get a shot off, which of course makes my job really easy.”

Even beyond Berardo’s impressive defensive stats, their real weapon is their attacking abilities, Scanlon said.

“They can hit a ball ... 30 yards on a rope to the winger up by the midfield,” she said. “You don’t have many goalkeepers — at any level — who can hit the ball like

that consistently and jump-start your attack like that.”

Berardo’s play has continued to develop over the course of their career as a Sagehen. A former center midfielder, Berardo began playing goalkeeper only as a high school sophomore when their team’s previous goalie graduated and they volunteered to hop in the goal.

“Going into my freshman year [of college], I kind of just had raw energy and a hunger to keep the ball out of the net, but over my four years here, I’ve had the opportunity of actually learning technique and fine-tuning skill to improve my game tenfold,” Berardo said.

Berardo’s vital role on the field comes from their leadership in addition to their technical ability.

“My voice is often hoarse after games because I’m constantly yelling, constantly directing my teammates,” Berardo said. “Because I have a view of the whole field, I can see when someone’s open or if they have a man-on, and it’s so important to be communicating that to my team.”

Scanlon said Berardo’s off-thefield leadership is also “outstanding.”

“Sets the bar, sets the example. ... Just really committed to development, but also committed to their teammates becoming the best people and best players they can be,” Scanlon said. “[Isa] find[s] real joy and happiness in other people’s successes as well.”

The Hens will need a tremendous game from Berardo on Saturday in St. Louis, Missouri, if they hope to keep No. 16 Chicago at bay and continue their pursuit of an NCAA title.

“Of course my hope for the season is that we play four more games and earn ourselves the national championship,” Berardo said. “This team is so capable of making it happen.”

SportS

NovEmbEr 22, 2019

‘A huge rivalry’: P-P, CMS water polo prep for high-stakes semifinal ADITYA BHALLA Although the Claremont-MuddScripps and Pomona-Pitzer men’s water polo teams are both vying to punch their ticket to the national tournament in the SCIAC semifinal match this Friday, the rivalry between the two conference powers is one that commands respect from both sides of Sixth Street.

After losing their first matchup of the season, the Sagehens (21-10, 11-3 SCIAC) rebounded to beat the Stags (16-10, 11-3 SCIAC) in a dramatic triple-overtime game last week, 10-9 at Axelrood Pool. Now, the teams will face off once more in the SCIAC semifinal at CMS on Friday.

Friday’s game will not only decide which team proceeds to the SCIAC Championship game but also who earns a bid to the inaugural USA Water Polo Division III National Championship, as only the top two finishers in the conference qualify.

Joe Schafer PO ’20 said seeing

opposing water polo players in classes and around the 5Cs has led to a feeling of respect between the two teams.

“There are three or four guys on the team who actually take classes with guys on the CMS team,” Schafer said. “So it’s a crazy dynamic, and I think there used to be some past animosity, but now it’s gotten to the point that we have a lot of respect for them and what they do and I think they have that same respect for us.”

Ethan Lewis CM ’20 also cited the respect the Stags have for the Sagehens as he looks forward to Friday.

“They’re a great team and I think we know that and we’ve kind of always known that. …

We think really highly of them,” Lewis said. “It’s definitely a huge rivalry. It does make the game a little more intense.”

Despite their acknowledgement of the Stags’ talent, the Sagehens believe their versatility and coaching will lead them to victory Friday.

“At the end of the day, I think we have depth to our team, too,” Dylan Elliott PO ’21 said. “We can pull guys out and put other people in that we really trust.”

Elliott scored four goals — including the game-winner — during the most recent Sixth Street matchup.

“Alex Rodriguez is the best coach I’ve ever played for and I’m certain that he’s going to have us ready for Friday,” he added, citing the P-P head coach.

While the Stags don’t have the same recent playoff experience as the Sagehens, their confidence isn’t wavering as they head into Friday’s highstakes showdown.

“We might just be a little hungrier to take it from them,” Lewis said. “I think they’ve had a lot of success with us in the past and I think there’s something special about this year. There’s a chip on our shoulder and something we definitely we want to prove.”

JUSTIN SLEPPY • THE STUDENT LIFE

Above: From left: Kellan Grant Po ’21, maxwell bethel Po ’21, Adam Gross PZ ’21 and Jacob Niskey Po ’20 erupt in cheers as Pomona-Pitzer blocks a Claremont-mudd-Scripps shot during a rivalry game Nov. 13. P-P won 10-9. below: Sam Harrison Cm ’22 rises from the water to block Joseph Schafer Po ’20. blocks C-m-S’ shot during a Nov. 13 Sixth Street rivalry game.

PAGE 11

Infamous ‘Stag Survival Guide’ with ‘sexist’ descriptions now public MEGHAN BOBROWSKY A Claremont-Mudd-Scripps swim team document meant to be viewed only by male swimmers and divers is now very much public knowledge at the 5Cs, thanks to the backlash generated by descriptions of team members that have been labeled sexist.

The 2019 edition of the “Stag Survival Guide,” published in full by The Scripps Voice last week, prompted several senior members of the swim team to quit in September, citing a team culture they characterized as “pervaded by toxic masculinity,” according to a source familiar with the team.

“Really [it was] the culmination of everything,” the source said. “The [Stag Survival Guide] was the epitome, the last straw.”

Some men on the team were suspended for a week, as TSL previously reported, and the incident prompted a monthlong investigation by the athletic department and associated colleges that found team members’ behavior “justified” mandatory educational programming.

The guide — which included a description for every swimmer on the men’s team that was intended to be humorous — made references that were called “racist, sexist and homophobic” by the source familiar with the team.

One of the guide descriptions says: “Everyone be nice to [...], we need him to make sure we meet the minimum diversity requirement on the team.”

Another reads: “[...] says he’s here to learn, but after three years it’s clear that this whole ‘school’ thing is just a way to get to know blondes with nice butts.”

A third asks: “Is [...] a Stag or Athena? We’re not quite sure but you can count on him to have more glitter and sparkles on at a party than Elton John in the 70s.”

Joaquin Riojas CM ’22, a member of the swim team, said he read the document over the summer when it was emailed to him and didn’t think much of it at the time.

Now, though, he said he can see how some of the jokes are “flat out hurtful, and the fact that a teammate is writing

that about another teammate, it’s wrong.”

“The writers used sex and, well, yeah mostly sex, as the crutch of trying to get a laugh out of people, sometimes at the expense of people,” he said. Previously, the guides were more wholesome, witty and “came from a place of more generous intent,” he said.

The source familiar with the team, however, said that they’ve heard the guide is “this bad” every year.

Everyone be nice to [...], we need him to make sure we meet the minimum diversity requirement on the team.

Stag Survival Guide

Riojas said he understood the Athenas’ feelings about this year’s guide, but said he feels it isn’t indicative of the broader team culture they cited. The two topics are being conflated, he said.

“There’s something about being nice and respectful of your teammates, which I don’t think this version of the Stag Survival Guide is at all,” Riojas said. “But then on top of that, we also see this conversation about the team culture more broadly and frankly male-female relations on the team and issues of sexism, which again, I never experienced during my time on the team, which is again qualified by me being a sophomore so being there for less time and also being a male.”

“I’m not saying that issue doesn’t exist,” he added. “I’m just saying that it’s being wrapped up into one conversation that is very confusing for a lot of the younger members on the team, especially because it’s not clear what we’re trying to address.”

The Athena swimmers who quit the team earlier this semester did not respond to requests for comment for this article. Head coach Charlie Griffiths also declined to comment.

Going forward, Riojas said the team is working on basic communication.

“I don’t think anyone would continue to do things that made other people uncomfortable if they knew that someone was uncomfortable,” he said.

Stag defense smothers Sagehens, snapping CMS football’s rivalry game losing streak KELLEN BROWNING Down three points in the final two minutes of Saturday’s Sixth Street rivalry football game, backed up on his own 13-yard line, Pomona-Pitzer’s swiss-army-knife quarterback Karter Odermann PO ’20 tried to conjure up magic once again, like he’s done all season.

But on first down, Emmett King III CM ’23 hit him hard as he threw, and the pass was incomplete. Under pressure again on second down, Odermann rolled right and threw to his favorite target, Win Hunter PZ ’21, but a Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defender tipped the pass. On third down, the ball slipped through Hunter’s fingers. Fourth down.

Odermann threw up a desperate deep ball, but it sailed just past Cole Barry’s PZ ’23 fingertips, and the CMS sideline erupted as players sprayed each other with water in celebration.

The Stags (5-5, 3-4 SCIAC) ran out the clock and held on for the 20-17 home victory, snapping a two-game losing streak to P-P (64, 4-3 SCIAC) and giving CMS a happy ending to a mediocre season.

The Sagehens end the year fourth in the SCIAC standings, while CMS, last year’s co-champions, finish fifth.

“The defense played great, they hit [Odermann] repeatedly and rushed him all day, kept him off-track, so I was happy with that,” CMS head coach Kyle Sweeney said. “A lot more pressure, a lot more up-tempo stuff than we’ve done in the past.”

Indeed, the swarming CMS defense kept Odermann on his toes all game — recording two sacks and one interception — and the star Sagehen finished with just 121 passing yards, a far cry from his season average of 250.

ANNA HorNE • THE STUDENT LIFE

CmS players block for running back Garrett Cheadle Hm ’20 as he rushes forward with the ball.

Odermann recorded multiple six-touchdown outings in 2019 and led the conference with 16 rushing touchdowns, but was largely bottled up on the ground Saturday and finished with no passing or rushing touchdowns for the first time this season.

It didn’t help that the P-P offense had a litany of unforced errors, from botched snaps — which led to two fumbles — to dropped passes and false starts.

“One play at a time, you know? Great play, bad play, short memory,” P-P head coach John Walsh said of his team’s mistakes. “You learn from history and you can’t let it affect the next play.”

The CMS offense wasn’t

perfect either, but quarterback Zach Fogel CM ’22 was a great game manager, finishing with 102 yards passing and one unfortunate interception in the P-P end zone. Fogel looked like the more explosive quarterback Saturday, rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown.

“Do what you’ve got to get done, right?” Sweeney said. “So whether that means complete a long pass or just scramble to get a first down. [Fogel] did a good job all the way through.”

The Stags stuck to the script, handing the ball off repeatedly to star running back Garrett Cheadle HM ’20, who churned out yardage and took minutes off the clock on every CMS drive. CMS controlled the ball

for a staggering 40 minutes Saturday afternoon, while P-P had possession for just 19 minutes.

Cheadle had 32 rushes for 121 yards and a one-yard touchdown run in the first quarter that gave CMS the lead.

“He’s the engine of that offense, and we’ve got some other really good players, but he’s kind of carried us a bit, been the catalyst the last couple years,” Sweeney said. “So now we’ve got some new guys that’ll have to go in next year.”

Cheadle finished his collegiate career with 2,987 rushing yards, third on the program’s all-time list. But he was most satisfied with the big rivalry win.

“Obviously they had a game

plan for us, and what it came down to was who wanted it more,” Cheadle said. “Could we win the line of scrimmage, were we more physical when it mattered?”

With CMS running out the clock on every drive, the Sagehens had to take risks, and gambled successfully on five different fourth downs, including a key conversion on fourth and 12 that led to a P-P touchdown and a 1410 lead midway through the second quarter.

“Their offense is doing a really good job, they’re holding onto the ball. So against a team like that, you’ve got to make sure you keep your possessions,” Walsh explained. “That’s probably why we were a little bit more aggressive.”

Nearly all the scoring came before the break, with a field goal apiece serving as the only points in the second half.

Midway through the third quarter, Hunter had a 41-yard catch on third and 22, setting up a 25-yard Winston Li PZ ’20 field goal that tied the game at 17.

On the following possession, Fogel threw a 50-yard bomb to Jack Grasberger CM ’22, but the P-P defense stuffed Cheadle in the red zone, so CMS settled for what ended up being the game-winning 22-yard field goal

by Alessandro Maiuolo HM ’22.

On their first fourth-quarter drive, Odermann was leading the Sagehens up the field and had a chance to take the lead, but Jack Holden CM ’23 came up with a clutch interception to stall the momentum.

“When you get a season like we had this year, you can make or break the whole season on the last game, in your rivalry game,” Cheadle said, summing up the win. “That’s the attitude we took coming into this game.”

SportS

PAGE 12

NovEmbEr 22, 2019

NCAA ROUNDUP 5C soccer and XC teams advance, CMS volleyball eliminated

TALIA bErNSTEIN • THE STUDENT LIFE

Left: Stevie Steinberg Hm ’21 (399) leads the Claremont pack during the West regional championship race Nov. 16. Ethan Widlansky Po ’22 (275) won the 8,000-meter race in 25:00.

Right: Lila Cardillo PO ’22 (260) led all P-P and CMS runners and finished second overall, followed by Helen Guo PO ’20 (261) on Nov. 16.

MATTHEW KIM Sagehens top Stags for West Regional title as both cross-country squads advance to national meet The West Regional cross-country meet at Pomona College on Nov. 16 was essentially a rematch of the SCIAC Championship earlier this month, with the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer men’s squads far outpacing the competition.

It was the Sagehens who came out on top this time, though, 33-43, as CMS was missing SCIAC individual champion Thomas D’Anieri CM ’20 and came in second.

Ethan Widlansky PO ’22 finished as the West Regional individual champion with a time of 25:00 in the 8,000-meter race, followed closely by the Stag pack of Stevie Steinberg HM ’21, Kyril van Schendel CM ’22 and Miles Christensen HM ’22, who finished 3-4-5, and Sagehen Owen Keiser PZ ’22 in sixth.

“Our team has been putting in a lot of great work through the whole season, and as we get into our taper, all that hard work is really gonna pay off,” said Ethan Ashby PO ’21, who finished 10th.

CMS’ Steinberg is also feeling confident about his team’s prospects at nationals.

“This feels like the first time in my career at CMS that we’ll be heading to nationals with the chance to make some real noise,” Steinberg said.

Both teams will compete at the NCAA Championship on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky; the No. 3 Sagehens and No. 5 Stags are both vying for podium finishes.

Sagehen harriers go 2-3 at West Regional meet, Athenas’ depth carries the day as teams prep for national race The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s cross-country team put its top five runners in front of Pomona-Pitzer’s third to secure a 52-67

victory over P-P in the West Regional meet at Pomona College on Nov. 16.

Lila Cardillo PO ’22 led all P-P and CMS runners, and her time of 21:29 was good for second overall, followed by Helen Guo PO ’20 and Riley Harmon SC ’22.

It was a relatively close finish between the two programs, especially given CMS’ easy victory in the SCIAC Championship earlier this month.

“I think our performance [at regionals] was motivated forward

by SCIACs. We were proud of our performance there, but we were hungry for more,” Cardillo said.

“We had lots of conversation[s] about racing for our team, for each other and keeping in mind that everyone hurts during a race — just knowing that we can get through that pain if we remember it’s for each other.”

Despite the smaller gap between the two teams, Dulcie Jones SC ’21 thinks CMS performed well.

“I think we ran well at regionals because we knew exactly what we needed to accomplish and because we felt confident,” she said. “For some reason people get nervous heading into the SCIAC Championship race, but at regionals, there is more of an excited energy.”

The No. 10 Athenas and No. 14 Hens will conclude their season at the NCAA Championship on Saturday in Louisville, Kentucky.

Stag soccer holds opponents scoreless, advances to Sweet 16 The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men’s soccer team (16-3-2, 9-1-2 SCIAC) took down Texas Lutheran and Trinity University last weekend to advance to the round of 16 in the NCAA tournament.

In the first round, the Stags dominated Texas Lutheran 2-0, getting off 18 shots — nine on target — while holding Texas Luther-

an to six, with only one on target.

William Birchard CM ’21 scored both goals in that game.

In the round of 32, the second match CMS played in San Antonio, the Stags continued their lockdown defensive effort, holding Trinity to four shots — one on target — while getting off 12 of their own, six of which were on target. Samay Rahim CM ’22 and Ethan Tyng CM ’22 each found the back of the net, securing another 2-0 victory.

“Going to the Sweet 16 is a surreal moment that I don’t think anyone on the team would have ever dreamt of when they first joined the program,” Adam Singer CM ’20 said. “It’s going to take a huge collective effort to make it out of this weekend in Ohio, but I don’t think there’s any group of guys more willing to prove themselves.”

The No. 13 Stags will take on Centre College on Saturday in Gambier, Ohio.

Athena soccer defeats SCIAC foe in penalties, moves on to Sweet 16 after surprise at-large bid After finishing fifth in the SCIAC and receiving an unexpected at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, the CMS women’s soccer team (11-4-4, 6-4-2 SCIAC) prolonged its postseason run by beating Emory and Cal Lutheran in the first two rounds last weekend.

The Athenas scored early in their first-round matchup against Emory, with Sarah Tocher CM ’20 beating the Eagles’ keeper in the third minute. Three minutes later, Emory came back with a goal of its own to tie the game.

In the 64th minute, Nicole Oberlag HM ’22 scored the game-winning goal off a rebound from an Athena penalty. On the other end of the pitch, Cam Hamson CM ’21 had several key second half saves to prevent Emory from equalizing.

Athletes of the Week Pomona-Pitzer Ethan Widlansky po ’20 Seattle, WA Men’s Cross-Country The Sagehens dominated the NCAA West Regional Championship on their home course Nov. 16, with Widlansky claiming the individual title. He ran 25:00 for the 8,000-meter race, followed by other Sagehens in sixth, eighth, 10th and 11th. The victory over second-place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps was Pomona-Pitzer’s third consecutive West Region title, and Widlansky’s first individual collegiate victory, after which he was named the All-West Region Athlete of the Year. In his first year, Widlansky earned SCIAC Newcomer of the Year.

Against Cal Lutheran, the game remained scoreless through regulation and two overtime periods, as neither team could find the upper-edge. The Athenas outscored the Regals in the penalty shootout 4-2, allowing them to advance to the Sweet 16 and get revenge against a team that finished ahead of them in the conference, despite falling to CMS in the regular season.

“After being given another chance to play in the NCAA tournament with an at-large bid, we were excited to be able to show teams what we’re made of,” Sam Ree CM ’22 said.

The Athenas play No. 3 WashU on Saturday in St. Louis, Missouri.

Sagehen soccer cruises to Sweet 16 following first-round goal fest The Pomona-Pitzer women’s soccer team (19-1-1, 12-1-0 SCIAC) swept the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament with wins over their opponents in Iowa last weekend, advancing to the Sweet 16.

The Sagehens were firing on all cylinders in their 6-0 thrashing of St. Scholastica in the first round, ending the game with 23 shots — 11 on target — while limiting St. Scholastica to only six shots, one of which was on target.

Bria VarnBuhler PO ’20 led the Sagehens’ attack, finishing with a hat trick that put her in the Sagehen record book for most goals scored in a single season with 21. Sophie Staeger PZ ’23 scored twice, and Emily Tomz PO ’22 also found the back of the net.

P-P’s second round matchup against Wartburg was much tighter, as Anna Ponzio PZ ’22 scored the only goal in the Sagehens’ 1-0 victory.

“Coming and playing two games in tough conditions, unfamiliar conditions, one of the things I said to the group tonight before the game is that ‘we have an op-

Sarah tocher CM ’20 Seattle, WA Women’s Soccer In the first round of the NCAA tournament Nov. 16, Tocher jump-started the Athenas’ offense against Emory by netting the first goal of the game just 2:12 into play. Later in the game, with just under 27 minutes remaining and the Athenas and Eagles tied 1-1, Tocher took an aggressive penalty kick that forced Emory’s keeper to make a diving save, opening the door for a teammate to score the game-winner for CMS. In the Athenas’ Nov. 17 game against Cal Lutheran in the second round, the teams went into double overtime tied at 0-0, and Tocher led the Athenas with the first penalty kick of the final shootout, slotting the ball into the upper corner to contribute to the 4-2 victory.

Athena volleyball’s playoff aspirations cut short by No. 4 opponent The No. 5 Athena volleyball team (27-4, 15-1 SCIAC) saw their season come to a close in a nail-biting, five-set loss to No. 4 Carthage in the NCAA tournament’s round of 32.

CMS took the first set with a score of 25-21, then narrowly dropped the next two sets, losing 25-22 and 28-26. However in the fourth set, the Athenas came back with a convincing 25-14 win.

In the final set, with the Athenas down 8-6, Carthage ripped off six straight points, going on to win 15-7.

Amanda Walker SC ’20 finished the game with 24 kills and 25.5 total points, while Melanie Moore CM ’21 bolstered the Athenas’ attack with 12 kills and 17 points.

The loss marks the end of an otherwise successful season for the Athenas, which finished with an overall record of 27-4 and a SCIAC title. The seniors, including standouts Walker and Phoebe Madsen CM ’20, end their collegiate careers with a national championship, won in 2017.

In the first round, the Athenas took down WashU 3-1 in four closely contested sets that each had a score differential of five or less.

The Athenas’ last game was “definitely bittersweet — we all felt like we were just getting started,” Walker said. “We all thought that we had our best games at the end of the season and we just came up short.”

Weekly Calendar P-P

CMS

Friday, Nov. 22 men’s Water Polo @ Claremont-mudd-Scripps

Friday, Nov. 22 men’s Water Polo vs. Pomona-Pitzer

Saturday, Nov. 23 Women’s Cross-Country vs. NCAA National Championships @ Louisville, KY

Women’s basketball vs. Emory

men’s Cross-Country vs. NCAA National Championships @ Louisville, KY Women’s Soccer vs. UChicago @ WashU Women’s basketball vs. Emory

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

portunity tonight to learn how good we are. We don’t quite yet know how good we can be.’ … Tonight we learned that we can go out and win a game in a place that’s not in our comfort zone,” head coach Jen Scanlon said in a NCAA postgame interview.

The No. 8 Sagehens will face No. 16 UChicago on Saturday in St. Louis, Missouri.

men’s basketball vs. Cal miramar Sunday, Nov. 24 men’s Water Polo @ SCIAC Finals Women’s basketball vs. Stevens Women’s Soccer @ NCAA Quarterfinals Friday, Nov. 29 Women’s basketball vs. Gustavus Adolphus @ CmS men’s basketball vs. Pacific

Saturday, Nov. 23 Women’s Cross-Country @ NCAA Nationals men’s Cross-Country @ NCAA Nationals Women’s Soccer @ WashU men’s Soccer vs. Centre @ Kenyon Sunday, Nov. 24 Women’s Soccer vs. NCAA Quarterfinals men’s Soccer vs. NCAA Quarterfinals men’s Water Polo @ SCIAC Finals Tuesday, Nov. 26 Women’s basketball vs. Willamette Friday, Nov. 29 Women’s basketball vs. Nebraska Wesleyan men’s basketball vs. Lewis & Clark @ Pomona-Pitzer