Vol. CXXXIII No. 1

VOL. CXXXIII NO. 1

FRIDAY, SeptembeR 17, 2021

CLAREMONT, CA

Following legal battle, Claremont School of Theology will stay local KHIMMOY HUDSON After five years of litigation and an unsuccessful appeal via the California Supreme Court, the Claremont School of Theology is staying put.

The decision came after CST was found to be financially bound, under a land agreement dating back to 1957, to the Claremont Colleges.

Since 2015, CST — a graduate school of religion and philosophy and one of the United Methodist Church’s thirteen official theological schools — sought a relocation to Salem, Oregon, to partner with Willamette University amid growing financial concerns. However, after a series of lawsuits with the Claremont Colleges, CST will stay in town a while longer.

After CST showed initial interest in a move in 2015, the Claremont Colleges offered to buy the land for $14 million and pay for needed renovations to housing facilities, as the original land agreement gives the colleges business transaction priority before a third party can be involved.

In 2016, CST sued the Claremont Colleges over the price dispute in an attempt to renounce the land agreement from 1957.

Interim Vice President of Communications Steve Horswill-Johnston CST ’89 told TSL the land agreement allows the Claremont Colleges to repurchase the property at approximately 10 percent of its current market value. TSL reported in 2017 that the Claremont Colleges have disputed claims that its offer for a portion of the land is under the market price, saying that based on the original agreement the land is worth $4 million.

“CST is still struggling financially,” Horswill-Johnston said via email.

“Like many progressive institutions, you might say CST’s current financial and legal woes are in its DNA.” The monetization of CST’s property, in partnership with Willamette University, was a “difficult decision, based on research and the example of many free-standing schools,”

Horswill-Johnston said.

But “the mission of the School and the progressive, life-affirming theological education provided at CST,” he added, was much more important than the school’s location.

After challenging the land agreement, CST was handed a short-lived victory that was overturned in the appellate court in both January and June. CST argued that the court’s decision was settled on a minor technicality and sought to make an appeal to the California Supreme Court, but the case was declined.

“From the state’s perspective, the ruling may have been small, but for our little seminary it was everything,” CST professor Frank Rogers said in a letter published in the Claremont Courier.

In a response to Rogers, the colleges argued that keeping the property within the consortium is an important aspect of protecting the legacy of the Scripps family, which donated the land in 1925.

“Throughout the five years of litigation TCC has repeatedly attempted to negotiate a settlement agreement that would help to address CST’s financial difficulties and avoid litigation,” TCCS’ statement said. “Unfortunately, CST has repeatedly rebuffed those attempts.”

Despite the decision, CST has found one means of thriving: establishing a two-campus model.

CST will maintain its presence in Southern California with its main campus located in Claremont, while also retaining a partnership in Salem with Willamette.

“If the School can cut expenses, continue to experience strong enrollment and grow its donor database, a two-campus model, with Claremont being its base, might help CST live into its vision of becoming the foremost progressive theological school in the Western United States,” Rogers said.

CeCILIA RANSbURG • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

New safety measures are challenging the colleges’ commitment to reducing their environmental impact.

5C sustainability efforts challenged by evolving COVID-19 protocols ABBY PORTER As bins pile high with single-use takeout containers and disposable masks are littered across campus quads, new sustainability efforts at the Claremont Colleges are attempting to combat challenges brought on by COVID-19 protocols and modifications.

In an attempt to encourage outdoor dining and social distancing, the 5Cs are adjusting in student spaces like dining halls, with new takeout container options available at mealtimes.

Pitzer College dining hall manager Tonian Morbitt said in an email they initially planned to charge st udents for si ngle-use to-go boxes to encourage them to choose reusable boxes instead.

“Some students did not feel safe utilizing reusable containers, and we have now ceased to charge for disposables,” he said.

Pitzer also purchased extra outdoor tables and chairs to encourage students to eat outside.

It’s also continuing its recycling and compost programs.

“We also donate any excess leftovers to Chefs to End Hunger, though we have not needed to do that so far this semester,” Morbitt said.

According to Morbitt, students will be allowed to start using chinaware plates and utensils outside of the dining hall in the coming weeks, which will cut down on the waste produced from takeout containers.

“Environmental sustainability is one of Pitzer’s five core

OLIVIA SHRAGeR • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

the Claremont School of theology’s efforts to shed its Southern California campus in favor of a move to Oregon have, for now, come to an end.

values, and our students make considerable efforts to reduce single-use waste,” Morbitt said.

Harvey Mudd College has allowed chinaware plates and utensils for indoor dining since the beginning of the semester.

When taking food to go, students can request either a reusable GreenBox or a disposable takeout box. Only Harvey Mudd students and DSA staff who live on campus are allowed into the dining hall for the fall semester, according to the college’s website. All others have some meal options available at the cafe but seating is not available.

Scripps College, however, is not using chinaware plates and reusable utensils in Malott Commons at this time. According to the dining hall website, students are only allowed to use compostable BioWare cutlery and dishes. The fee for disposables has been waived at this time.

Similarly, outdoor dining is strongly encouraged and compostable containers are available at Claremont McKenna’s Collins Dining Hall, CMC Food Recovery Network President Marcus Lindsay CM ’23 said via email.

According to Lindsay, reusable boxes are not yet available but occasionally non-reusable plastic takeout containers are used when compostable ones run out “as a last resort.”

Despite changes to dining hall procedures this semester, CMC’s FRN is still planning to start donating leftover food from Collins to food shelters around Pomona Valley as usual.

“The last year that FRN was

on campus, we were able to recover 2.5k pounds of would-be wasted food (roughly 3k meals). This was already impressive, but now that our club membership has tripled, we hope to more than double this number,” Lindsay said. “Collins has been more than accommodating in helping us pull this new milestone off.”

According to Lindsay, the club worked with students to coordinate a Move Out For Hunger event planned for the weeks leading up to winter break in order to save leftover non-perishable snacks and drinks from the residence halls.

“Each semester, much of these unconsumed goods go to waste, but FRN hopes to recover these much in the same way that we distribute the leftover dining hall food,” they said.

CMC is hosting an “Eat Local Challenge 2021” meal on Sept.

21 with food made entirely from sources within 150 miles.

Pomona College has also recent ly resu med its GreenBox program, in which students can check out a reusable box to fill with food and take to-go. Students can then return boxes to either Frank or Frary Dining Hall.

According to Alexis Reyes, assistant director of sustainability at Pomona’s Sustainability Integration Office, the GreenBox program has been revitalized with new branding and messaging this semester in an attempt to get more students to return and reuse their boxes, cutting down on waste. In the past, many boxes didn’t get returned and were thrown away,

See GREEN on page 2

Class in a tent? Not much discontent KATE JONES

JUStIN SLeppY • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

Outdoor classrooms at Commencement plaza on pitzer College. Despite their challenges, many students and faculty are enjoying the new learning spaces.

Seen in the speckled shade behind Pomona College’s Carnegie Hall, beneath neat white tents on the Scripps College Alumnae Field or in the middle of Claremont McKenna College’s tennis courts, classrooms across the Claremont Colleges have migrated outside for the semester.

The Southern California climate is already a large part of the appeal of the 5Cs. This year, consistently pleasant temperatures and lack of rain have become less of a perk and more of a necessity. Weather that once was only a catalyst for casual summer clothes and sunnier moods now allows classes to easily be shifted outdoors, which can greatly impact the physical safety and mental well-being of both professors and their students.

Sumita Pahwa, Scripps professor of politics and chair of the Department of Middle East and North Africa Studies, expressed the security she feels teaching outside.

“Teaching in that space, even with a mask, is far more comfortable, and feels far safer, than teaching indoors, for me … particularly given that I have young children at home who cannot be vaccinated and who I may be exposing to infection if I can’t teach with the maximum level of safety,” Pahwa said via email.

However, as students and professors have discovered over these first three weeks of classes, the benefits of learning in an outdoor environment don’t begin and end with COVID-19 safety. Even before the pandemic, CMC literature professor Leland de la Durantaye occasionally held class meetings

5C COVID-19 Cases • Week ending Sept. 12

new cases

2

Claremont McKenna

Pitzer

Harvey Mudd

Pomona

+1 case/1,365 tests +1 case/987 tests

+0 cases/749 tests +0 cases/1,938 tests

ARTS & CULTURE The Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Club is on a mission to reshape the world of ballroom dance into a more inclusive place by placing an emphasis on gender-neutral language and size-inclusivity.

Read more on page 4.

The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889

OPINIONS

outdoors.

“I’ve often gone outside when it seemed like that was the right thing for the class … if there had been a little bit of need for variety or the weather was particularly nice, or we were talking about something where it would be appropriate,” de la Durantaye said.

A change in the learning environment, especially one with increased space and open air, can provide unexpected benefits. Pomona biology professor Jon Moore began to consider the holistic advantages of outdoor education when it came to moving his 31-student Introductory Genetics course outside.

“People can spread out a little more because there’s just more space, and also being outdoors, you don’t get the echoes off the walls,” Moore

See OUTDOOR on page 3

0.04% 4C positivity rate

Data from 5C testing dashboards.

Scripps College's data was not updated at press time.

SPORTS

Pomona College needs to acknowledge the treatment of international students during the pandemic and increase institutional support for them, says Yutong Niu PO ’23. Read more on page 7.

Within the past ten years, the CMS women’s cross-country team has swept the previous ten SCIAC championships, blowing away their runner-up competitors by double-digit scores in each year.

Read more on page 10.

INDEX: News 1 | Arts & Culture 3 | Opinions 5 | Sports 8

News

pAGe 2

SeptembeR 17, 2021

Clinics wrapping up as 5C flu GREEN: Scripps shot requirement looms sept. 30 Scrapps scrapped JASPER DAVIDOFF Whether you’re part of the Pfizer gang, team Moderna or the Johnson & Johnson crew, there’s another shot that needs your attention: Based on guidelines from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the Claremont Colleges are requiring students to be vaccinated against the flu by the end of the month.

Student Health Services has been offering flu clinics to students, faculty and staff in the parking lot east of Honnold Mudd Library this week, including at Tuesday afternoon’s “Back to Your Future” student services open house.

Those who haven’t already gotten the jab still have one more day to do so through the consortium — the clinic is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, with no appointments needed.

According to TCCS, the immunization is fully covered by the Student Health Insurance Plan, as well as Kaiser and most insurers. Otherwise, the cash price is $21, although the cost may be partially or fully subsidized. Students are asked to bring their insurance card and ID. Public health experts say flu shots are especially important this year because the fall could bring a so-called “twindemic” — the rise of a rough flu season at the same time as the delta variant has boosted COVID-19 case counts nationwide.

“The truth is, we’re due for a flu pandemic. We have flu pandemics, on average, about every 10 years,

Continued from page 1

NAtALIe bAUeR • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

so we are overdue,” UCHealth official Dr. Michelle Barron said in an August article from the health care system.

Owing largely to preventative measures like masking and physical distancing that slowed the spread of COVID-19, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a record low in flu cases for the 2019-20 season. Although experts say a lack of exposure doesn’t necessarily make you more susceptible to the flu in later seasons, the public health implications of two hazardous viruses are worrying.

While the flu shot isn’t perfect,

Barron said, it can still be very effective in cutting down on infections. And like the COVID-19 vaccines, it helps decrease the severity of infections and to keep those infected out of the hospital.

Anyone who’s held off on getting a COVID-19 vaccine can get it at the same time as their flu shot, according to UCHealth.

Most people who get the flu shot can expect no side effects, according to LACDPH, “but it’s normal to have a sore arm, a low-grade fever, or body aches that last a day or two.” And no, the shot can’t give you the flu.

Claremont Colleges settle wrongful termination lawsuit ANUSHE ENGINEER CW: Contains mentions of sexual harassment The Claremont Colleges reached a settlement last month with former employee Brittany Hiroto after she sued them for firing her in 2019 following her complaints of sexual harassment by a coworker.

Hiroto was hired in 2009 as a telephone operator in The Claremont Colleges Services’ IT department, according to legal filings, and promoted to the position of administrative support specialist in March 2017.

According to Hiroto, she reported in 2018 to her supervisor Monty Veerachaylukana that she was being sexually harassed by Mike Freese, who was then the telecommunications supervisor for TCCS. Hiroto was in her late 20s at the time while Freese was nearly 60.

According to Hiroto’s lawsuit, Freese passed sexual comments to Hiroto that made her uncomfortable. Around 2016, he began asking her out for drinks, she said, and in 2017 he reportedly grabbed her inappropriately. Freese would also approach Hiroto while she was working and massage her shoulders, she said, something he had allegedly done with other female employees as well.

Freese had a reputation for being vulgar and outspoken in the workplace, according to Hiroto’s lawsuit. Other TCCS employees’ response to Freese’s behavior was that “Mike [was] just being Mike.”

In 2018, another female TCCS employee complained about Freese’s vulgarities but no action was taken against him, filings said.

Hiroto alleged that after reporting the harassment to Veerachaylukana, relations soured between the

two. Veerachaylukana told Hiroto that she was “forbidden from speaking with any of her team members,” the complaint alleges.

Hiroto also reported that she felt as though Veerachaylukana was “intentionally bullying her… and setting her up for failure.”

Three years later, she was fired for lying to her supervisor about her whereabouts, according to the Claremont Colleges’ court filings.

Hiroto then filed a case in 2019 against TCCS for wrongful termination. Lawyers for the Claremont Colleges denied any wrongdoing.

Hiroto’s attorney Eduardo Olivo filed court papers with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gregory Alarcon, stating a settlement had been reached, local news outlet Patch reported. No terms were disclosed.

TCCS declined to comment.

she said via email.

“We identified that waste was going to be our major obstacle with reopening the campus sustainably because of the increase in single-use items,” Reyes said.

Reyes said that all single-use items are compostable a nd that the dining halls worked with the City of Claremont to approve the items getting composted through Athens Waste Management, their vendor.

“We also used this strategy to make our first major event of the year, convocation, zero waste where all of the boxed lunches were compostable for the 1,000 attendees,” Reyes said.

Accordi ng to Reyes, t he other big sustainability challenge during COVID has been the abandonment of single-use masks.

“Masks are small and can easily be dropped and forgotten. This is disproportionately affecting the grounds and housekeeping staff who keep our campus clean,” Reyes said.I’m working with the Staff Council to create messaging about being mindful of your mask and if you’re ready to dispose of it, reminding people to cut the straps so that it doesn’t entangle wildlife or landfill mechanical equipment.”

Students are workshopping new sustainability initiatives as well. Sara Anderson PO ’23, the Pomona sustainability office’s outreach and sustainability coordinator, said she’s planning on implementing a program called Mindful Monday in the Pomona dining halls starting Sept. 20. “[Mi ndf ul Monday is] a sustainable dining initiative that celebrates the cult ural authenticity and sustainability of plant-based meals every Monday,” she said in an email.

However, Anderson said that getting the programs running in the dining halls has been hampered by staffing issues.

“Dining has started off this semester severely understaffed which has placed them in survival mode. Therefore, the implementation is a little bumpy because the managers of the dining halls have been quite busy,” she said.

In addition to sustainable dining hall reforms, Pomona is also bringing back its yard sale.

Pomona’s ReCoop event, which usually occurs during New Student Orientation, has been

rescheduled for Sept. 18. ReCoop will take place in the parking lot behind Mudd-Blaisdell and Gibson Halls. Along with donated items, unwanted dorm items left behind in spring 2020 will be sold at a discounted price, according to Anderson.

Anderson said that Pomona’s administration has been supportive in the sustainability initiatives she has been working on for this semester.

“Making Pomona a safe space for college students to garner their interests in sustainability is a big goal for me,” she said. “Pomona’s admin, specifically those involved in PACS, and those in Dining Services, have been very supportive of my research and my work at the Sustainability Office over the pandemic.”

Founded after the model of ReCoop, Scripps sponsors Scripps Scrapps, a program that collects unwanted items in the spring and sells them in the fall. However, the usual fall sale has not been approved by the administration, Scripps Scrapps founders Amalia Barrett SC ’21 and Caroline Wofford SC ’21 said.

Following the pandemic-enforced move-out in spring 2020, Barrett and Wofford collected used items from students and kept them in a storage facility which they paid for with their ow n f u nds. Barret t said t hey were not allowed access to the administration-operated Scripps Scrapps budget.

When they moved back into an apartment near campus in fall 2020, they transferred the items to the garage of their apartment.

Eventually, when Barrett and Wofford graduated, the items went back into a storage unit, this time paid for by the Scripps Scrapps budget, which they bolstered with a mutual aid fundraiser within the Scripps community.

Barrett and Wofford expressed disappointment at the lack of assistance and communication from administrators during the pandemic. They said that Scripps is not running the Scripps Scrapps this year despite having lots of items available and students who are willing to work the sale. “[Allowing Scripps Scrapps] is something that would help everyone, it’s a universal good, as we’ve been able to see,” Barrett said. “It makes [the] admin look good, it makes staff not have to deal with all of our [stuff], it makes students accountable and it makes items accessible to students who might not have them otherwise.”

Scripps did not respond to a request for comment before press time.

‘Drought is the norm’: California’s water crisis here to stay KUMAIL AHMAD AFSHAR California residents are used to drought conditions, with shorter showers encouraged by teachers and conservationists, ads paid for by the state supporting abstaining from watering lawns and rainy days few and far between.

But 5C students returning to the Golden State this year are finding the situation has only worsened.

Droughts are long periods of time without significant rainfall, often accompanied by drying up rivers, toughening soil and early snowmelts.

The U.S. Drought Monitor now finds nearly half of California meets the highest level of severity, “exceptional drought,” with more than 85 percent of the state in “extreme” conditions. At this level a state can expect low agricultural yields, costly fires, poor air quality and higher water prices.

Fifty of California’s 58 counties are under a state of emergency due to these conditions. The federal government recently declared the first-ever water shortage on the Colorado River, a vital water source which serves nearly 75 percent of nearby Ventura County.

For Char Miller, a Pomona College professor of environmental analysis and history, this is nothing new.

“California is a state of drought; it is not in a drought. Drought is the norm,” Miller said via email. “Our water policies across California do not reflect this reality, but they must — and should already.”

The entire southwestern region, from El Paso to Los Angeles and northward, has been drying out since the 1980s. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s most recent report contains some of the “most blunt statements about our perilous future” and notes that droughts will deepen for the rest of the 21st century, he said.

All across California, rainfall has been decreasing each year, with Los Angeles County seeing its ninth-driest year to date in 127 years, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Globally, 2020 was the hottest year on record.

In Claremont, dry conditions

COURteSY: SHUtteR tHeORY

Drought symptoms of climate change are hitting home in Claremont and across the West. “to say that this region is in trouble is an understatement,” pomona College professor of environmental analysis Char miller said.

have manifested through threats to the city’s iconic trees. A large pine unexpectedly toppled at the Pitzer College Mounds over the summer, although the cause wasn’t clear at the time. And wildfire conditions exacerbated by the drought hit home last month when the Antonio Fire quickly spread west of Mt. Baldy Village.

California generally has the infrastructure needed to transport and import water, according to Miller. However, climate change has brought the precursors of drought to nearby states.

At a local level, most water in Claremont is sourced from Mt. Baldy, the San Antonio Canyon and the State Water Project, which supplies water from the snowmelt of the Sierra Nevada. However, each source depends on precipitation, which has been diminishing for the past 40 years and is expected to continue to decrease over the next 80 or more, Miller explained.

Claremont itself received 2.68 fewer inches of rain in 2020 than average.

“To say that this region is in trouble is an understatement,” he said.

At an international level, drought is hitting underdeveloped nations harder and they deserve our attention, Pomona politics professor Heather Williams said via email.

Williams believes that a major concern is the building of hydroelectric dams, which displace rural communities, often indigenous ones, who cannot effectively resist the state or the military. These dams exacerbate the tension between rival countries and some have shown signs of possible collapse.

In California, she believes the drought will be settled — but not solved — by markets.

“Right now, the main question for water use during the drought is how much conservation will be achieved by the state’s new groundwater law, called the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act,” she said.

Williams is doubtful that the law will stop over-pumping, mainly because it never challenges the idea of water-as-property. The conservation plans by district also don’t have to be fully implemented until 2040, she said.

On the other hand, Williams believes Southern California will likely do alright with planning for extended drought and reducing pumping due to long-standing limitations. Most of California’s water use will come down to who has the money to pay for water and how much federal and state judges mandate water limits for species conservation, she predicted.

In her opinion, the real concern will likely be water quality rather than water access. There are municipalities in California facing the same risks as Flint, Michigan, because of the exit of major industries, de-population and/or falling property values, she said.

“Many aging [water] distribution systems are in lower-income towns and cities that don’t have good financing or are maxed out on what they can borrow,” she said, which poses the danger of excessive levels of impurities that could lead to bacterial disease outbreaks.

“If we are lucky, and people fight very hard for it, California’s commitment under the law to the Human Right to Water will en-

able rural communities facing water emergencies to effectively pressure the California legislature,” she said.

“If California can manage to defend the [law] amid this drought, and show that common-sense protections can provide a reasonable access of the whole population to basic water provision (and I think that’s eminently possible), we can allay the sense that climate change means a fight of all against all.”

Miller said Pomona has worked hard over the past decade to successfully deal with the consequences of drought. Deeper-rooted grasses have been planted on Marston Quad and some former grassy areas have been replaced with mulch. Pomona has planted native drought-resistant greenery and built bioswales — depressions in land that capture precipitation to be used later.

“Invisible is my favorite recapturing system: all precipitation that falls on or around Sontag and Dialynas is channeled under Sixth Street to the Greek Theater — itself a historic low spot, or ‘sink’ — and then allowed to percolate into the alluvial soils,” Miller said.

In response to the 2015 drought, Pitzer removed turf in numerous spots on campus, reduced their watering schedule, installed waterless urinals and replaced the McConnell Dining Hall dishwasher to reduce water consumption.

Similarly, Pomona has added aerators to sink faucets around campus, low-flow showerheads, dual-flush toilets, and water efficient washing machines. Pomona’s EcoReps also host an annual WaterWise week with events and awareness campaigns about water conservation.

Scripps has removed over 15,000 square feet of turf, planted low-water grasses and ground cover, built a green roof and installed low-flow plumbing in new buildings in response to “chronic drought-like conditions in Southern California,” according to its website.

Miller makes it clear that the drought in California is not getting better and some factors are out of individual control — but others aren’t.

“There is only so much that [students] can do living in the dorms.

Of course you should hydrate and wash your hands — but ten minute showers? Not a chance,” he said.

“Be water smart.”

September 17, 2021

Arts & Culture

pAGe 3

Moments to savor: The masked singers: Music programs A ramen camaraderie implement COVID-19 safety guidelines EMILY KIM At the height of the food shortage in Japan following World War II, noodle companies struggled to satisfy crowds of people waiting for a hot meal. People craved comfort food and longed for noodles instead of bread, the latter of which was more readily available given the United States’ supply of wheat flour to Japan.

Businessman Momofuku Ando thus sought a way to incorporate American flour into traditional Japanese cuisine, and after much experimenting, he eventually released his Chikin Ramen to the public in 1958.

Little did he know that this “just add water” delicacy would evolve into a product consumed and cherished by people across the globe.

Today, people from all walks of life enjoy instant ramen, but for time-pressed college students, this appreciation goes deeper. The noodles are a staple food of the college diet, deliciously combining comfort and convenience into a perfect meal.

As a college student myself, I, too, appreciate the convenience of being able to make a hot meal in my dorm in roughly three minutes.

However, even before becoming an essential college food, instant ramen played another special role in cultivating community in my life.

When I was in middle school, my parents would invite large groups of college students from our church over for dinner on Sunday nights.

They would cook profuse amounts of food and we would all sit around the family room, eating and talking about life.

As a middle schooler and only child, I loved getting to know these college-aged friends whom I called the “older siblings I never had.” I loved listening to their stories about crazy roommates and late night study sessions. I was also fascinated that they wanted to hear about our lives too. College is so much cooler than sixth grade, and yet they want to hear about me? I kept thinking.

But, indeed, they wanted to hear about me. I would update them on the latest sixth grade drama, which would then prompt them to share about their own middle school experiences. We would talk and talk until we ran out of food, but soon the instant ramen would come into play.

After all the food was gone, my mom would offer to make a bunch of Korean Shin Ramen cups. “I’m sorry!” she’d say, smiling sheepishly.

“I know you guys probably eat a lot of this already.”

I remember thinking the first time this happened that no one would take my mom up on the offer. All the good food is gone, and it’s getting

late, I thought. Why would they stay to eat instant ramen?

But I was wrong. My mom’s offer was met with a resounding “yes!” complete with cheers from a couple guys on the sofa. A few students assisted my parents in the ramen-making effort, and soon, everyone had a steaming cup of noodles in their hands.

You wouldn’t expect a group of college students to be hanging out with a 12-year-old and her parents on a Sunday night, but it was a delightful sight — people from all walks of life slurping instant ramen noodles together.

The chatter resumed and when it was finally time to bid farewell, people left with full stomachs and full hearts.

From that Sunday onward we always kept extra instant ramen in our pantry with the college students in mind. It wasn’t needed every time, but it was always there — a reminder of how sweet it is to gather in community.

Whenever I opened the pantry, I would think back to the spectacle of eating ramen with my college friends, and how the humble instant noodles brought us together when we were about to part.

Middle-school me wondered why the college students would stay to eat ramen with us. Now, years later, I know the answer — they didn’t want to leave. They wanted to continue the conversations we were having, continue getting to know my parents and I, continue living life together — and the ramen offered a way to do that. The ramen fostered a sense of community as we chose to push the limits of our stomachs just to prolong the time we had together.

Reflecting on those dinners now that I’m a college student myself is a reminder of how time moves quickly. But as I write this in my dorm room, seeing the ramen that I brought with me out of the corner of my eye, I chuckle to myself. Not only will it come in handy when I need a quick meal or study snack, but it also makes me hopeful for the community that I’ll find during my time here.

Maybe sometime soon, just like my middle school self did with my unexpected college friends, my 5C community will be huddled together, happily slurping noodles in each other’s company, too.

Food columnist Emily Kim PO ’25 is from Irvine, California. She loves baggy sweaters, YouTube karaoke and banana bread.

CLAre mArtIN • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

MICHELE TANG For students like Mairead Brownell SC ’21, a member of the Claremont Concert Choir, it meant being able to reunite with previous friends from the music community.

“I actually didn’t do choir last year because I was just like, ‘Well this is going to be really sad to do all this stuff online and not get to sing with other people,’” Brownell said. “I was really excited to be back singing with other people and hearing other people’s voices and sounds.”

However, to maintain a safe environment for the students, professors and accompanists, the experience couldn’t be the same.

In orchestra, students who play wind instruments needed to use their mouths to play their instruments, and in choir and voice lessons, students needed extra mobility of their mouths, which posed a unique challenge for mask-wearing. With this in mind, music professors researched safety protocols and devised different plans for their classes.

“We have some very thoughtfully constructed spacing guidelines and other kinds of guidelines on the stage that allow us to feel comfortable that we’re doing things with a high degree of safety,” said Eric Lindholm, the conductor of the Pomona College Orchestra.

For the orchestra, extra space was added to the rehearsal stage so students can socially distance

themselves. Additionally, wind instrument players now wear masks that cover their noses but have a hole for their mouth, along with covers over the bells of their instruments. This setup has proven to be difficult for some students.

“The masks are very difficult — it’s almost like I’m learning the instrument again,” bassoon player Victor Chai PO ’23 said. “There are a couple of factors that I have to adjust to … it’s a lot harder to blow through my instrument … because [the mask] is double-layered, I can’t really see where the hole is on my mouth … it also changes the sound quality of instruments.”

In the Claremont Concert Choir, students wear special singers’ masks that look almost beaklike because they are longer and provide more space between the mouth and the mask. They social distance in their Balch Auditorium and sing indoors for only 30 minutes. Afterward, they walk to an outdoor classroom and sing a capella. “[The masks] made it a lot easier for me to hear myself and a lot harder for me to hear other people,” Brownell said. “Which is fine, it’s just, I’m a soprano one, so sometimes when I’m singing really high notes, I’m a little self-conscious that I’m the only soprano one singing, even though I know that’s not true. Other than that, I don’t think it’s really changed my singing all that much.”

In private voice lessons, different professors take different approaches. At Scripps College,

Associate Professor of Music Anne Harley created a special setup outside Garrison Theater where the student is unmasked and spaced about six meters from the professor and the accompanist, as Harley believes wearing masks and vocal lessons were incompatible.

“If they were wearing masks, I don’t think the pedagogy would survive. If they are doing it online, there are other things that don’t survive,” Harley said.

However, outdoor classrooms pose other challenges; namely, they require students to step out of their comfort zones and sing in public.

The burning Southern California sun has also caused problems for the instructors.

“I feel safe from COVID — I don’t feel safe from heat exhaustion,” Harley said. “I think I was dehydrated. It really caught up to me last Tuesday because each of the applied voice teachers teaches full days.”

At Pomona, private lesson students and professors wear masks indoors and stand 10 feet apart. If necessary, instructors may move some class sessions online if they need to see the student’s face in further detail.

But even with the various difficulties that the students and professors are experiencing, there is an undeniable sense of joy for simply being back in person.

“The greatest benefit in this environment is just that I’m able to be with my friends again, just forming pieces and new repertoire that I’ve been dying to play as a musician throughout my whole life,” Chai said.

OUTDOOR: Classrooms provide flexibility Continued from page 1 said, referencing occasional difficulty communicating with a small group in a crowded classroom setting.

Teaching outside provides a new flexibility to the classroom itself, one which Moore enjoys.

“In the context of group work, when people are done they can leave, even when it’s not the exact end of class,” he said. “I liked the idea of people being able to walk out in roughly 360 degrees of direction … it sort of made it less of an event when someone walked out the door. I liked that from a pedagogical point of view.”

This fluidity doesn’t go unnoticed by students. Reia Li PO ’24 felt similarly about her experience in Methods and Modern Modeling. In this Scripps course, each student is provided with a lightweight table and chair, which they are free to shift and reconfigure as they form groups to engage in discussion.

“It feels a lot less like, ‘Sit in one place’ … you get to move, you get to be a part of it. I’m definitely more engaged,” Li said.

And in Taliana Abadi SC ’24’s dance class, the outdoor environment almost intensifies the learning experience. The course heavily involves experimental movement and exercises designed to get students out of their comfort zones. Mimicking animals or staring intensely into a classmate’s eyes is difficult enough indoors, but outside, the feeling of exposure is sharpened.

However, Abadi remarked, this isn’t entirely a bad thing.

“It does make it less of a private thing, but honestly, that’s kind of part of class — to not be embarrassed of that kind of thing … [the outdoor classroom] serves its own purpose,” she said.

The beauty of the campus is a bonus, as well.

“It’s really beautiful out here.

Especially in this kind of class where you’re trying to get in tune with your body, just being outdoors, having the wind blow and the birds and everything kind of makes it a little easier,” Abadi said.

Not all classroom setups are created equal. While the Scripps outdoor classrooms boast artificial floors, fans, computer screens and tented ceilings, the Pitzer tents contain no audio or visual equipment. And in Camile Bernard PO ’24’s psychology class, taught outside Pomona’s Carnegie Hall, the classroom is a cluster of tables on woodchip-strewn ground, shaded only by the trees above them.

In Southern California summer, these disparities can become glaringly obvious as the day wears on.

“It gets really hot and especially when the sun’s beating down on us — the class is at 2:35 in the afternoon — a lot of time you’re really focusing on yourself overheating rather than the material being taught,” Bernard said.

The heat requires a new level of adaptability, one which involves attention to both the weather and the needs of students. De la Durantaye has been moving his class-

room location between the different tents on the CMC tennis courts, selecting the ones that provide the best learning conditions.

In the right place, the experience becomes wholly positive.

“Shadier, quieter, cooler, it’s really aesthetically the most pleasing and also the climate is the most pleasant … it’s really quite a nice place to teach,” de la Durantaye said of his favorite tent.

For Pitzer College history professor Andre Wakefield, whose late-afternoon class meets in the peak heat of the day, location changes have to be more extreme.

“We keep making collective classroom decisions, which I think is how you have to do it — just keep checking in with everybody,” he said. Ultimately, with the feedback of his students in mind, Wakefield decided to move the class inside when the temperature reaches 90 degrees.

Temperature troubles, equipment disparities, airplane interference and the occasional bug attack all mean that even in California, the outdoor learning environment isn’t as Edenic as one might think. However, the safety benefits, combined with the undeniable pros of the outdoor atmosphere, make this tradeoff bearable — even worthwhile.

Bernard believes the environment will grow more and more comfortable as summer transitions into fall.

“The first few weeks are going to be rough, but I would encourage other teachers, as the weather gets nicer, to go outside,” Bernard said.

Only in SoCal does “nicer” mean colder.

StrIKe A CHOrD

Extravagant ‘Donda’ release exhibits a rebirth of artistry AVA HINZ No other artist has a history quite like Kanye West. He has run for president, tweeted that he no longer has a manager because he is unmanageable and arrived late to his own tour date only to perform a few songs before going on a rant and canceling the rest of the tour. Now, his recent album releases have been the newest mode through which he showcases this eccentricity.

In July and August 2021, West had three listening parties to release his highly anticipated 10th album, “Donda,” with three days in between the announcement and the day of each event. However, these events were more than just listening parties, with each growing to include more and more spectacle.

For the first party, West started with just playing the album in Atlanta at Mercedes Benz Stadium. By the third party, he had progressed to lighting himself on fire in front of a life size replica of his childhood home in Chicago. Kim Kardashian, DaBaby and Marilyn Manson also made appearances on stage, making it look much more like a high production concert than a traditional listening party. For example, Taylor Swift invited a small group of dedicated fans to her home in Nashville to listen to the then unreleased album “Lover” and asked them to not share any song titles, lyrics, or collaborators. Normally, artists choose a few singles and possibly a music video to release in anticipation of their album.

As someone who would not consider themselves a Kanye fan, the “Donda” listening parties looked incredibly overwhelming.

I had never seen an album release coupled with sold out stadiums and thousands of backup dancers.

Releasing it this way created the appearance that one was only going to be able to listen to the album through these listening parties, leaving it to the hardcore fans to be able to experience this new music.

Something else that contributed to the unique nature of these listening parties was the fact that each time West played the album, it was different. No matter whether the difference was in the features or the production, the continuous changes allowed the listener

to get a distinct perspective in the creation of an album and to see it as a living, breathing piece of art.

Through his listening parties, West created something much bigger than songs being grouped together and sealed with a title and album artwork, which artists often do rather than ensuring that songs on an album are strongly connected. It was a theatrical performance.

One had no choice but to be drawn into the world of “Donda,” which is what an album should consistently do.

Now more than ever there is pressure for artists to focus on creating radio hits, but West has become so popular that he is able to operate by his own set of rules.

Rather than pushing back against

this pressure, West has thrust it away; he did not release any singles and put an immense amount of energy into creating a cohesive show, allowing the interconnected nature of the album to shine through.

This begs the question of what album releases will look like in the future. West is an inspiration to so many artists that it seems likely that the unique rollout of “Donda” will affect other artists’ work — the question is how.

More and more artists have been releasing surprise albums, with some of the biggest being Taylor Swift’s two most recent albums. “Folklore,” Swift’s first quarantine album that she announced the day before releasing

SeLeNA LOpeZ • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

it, amassed 72 million streams on the first day, whereas her previous album, “Lover,” only garnered 44 million streams. “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?” by Billie Eilish had only 34.5 million first day streams, and it was 2019’s biggest streaming and selling record.

The streaming success of “Folklore” may be due to a variety of factors, but it should still be acknowledged that the excitement and buzz it evoked upon its announcement could not be reproduced by the release of a single.

These surprise albums are special in the sense that they do not allow for the listener to develop any preconceived notions prior to listening to the album that they may have if an artist went through a typical album rollout. Like what West did with “Donda,” it forces the listener to experience the album in whole, rather than possibly skipping the singles that had already been released.

While no other artist may create a listening party as dramatic as West, it signals a possible pivot towards prioritizing the artistry of an album rather than profit. But at the end of the day, this may also just be Kanye being his unapologetic and fearless self.

Ava Hinz SC ’25 is TSL’s music columnist, and she’s from Los Altos, California. When she is not nerding out about music podcasts, she is most likely finding a coffee shop to try their iced chai or talking about the time she met Jojo Siwa.

pAGe 4

Arts & Culture

September 17, 2021

Nobody puts ballroom in a corner: The changing face of the CCBDC DIYA MEHTA From movies like “Strictly Ballroom” and “Dirty Dancing” to the routines played out on countless talent and TV shows, the world of ballroom dancing has captured hearts for decades.

At the 5Cs, the Claremont Colleges Ballroom Dance Company is offering students the chance to experience the magic of ballroom in real life.

As the third largest collegiate ballroom dance program in the country — and the largest outside of Utah — the CCBDC is a national force to be reckoned with. They also have some bold ideas about the future of ballroom.

To some, the world of ballroom dancing may seem static — historically, it’s been unwelcoming to those who don’t conform to strictly heteronormative roles or have a certain body type.

At the CCBDC, however, they’re throwing out the old playbook and forging their own path.

“Ballroom dance, traditionally, is where a man leads a woman, and many of the competitions are still pretty gendered,” said faculty advisor and Director of the CCBDC Denise Machin. “A lot of places still teach the parts as a man’s part, and as a lady’s part.

And we [the CCBDC] just don’t do that.”

The CCBDC is looking to foster an environment where everyone who loves to dance is able to do so in a safe and inclusive space. This is as simple as “changing the language of ballroom,” Machin said. “Don’t say ‘a man’s part,’ or ‘a lady’s part,’ because you don’t need to be a specific gender to do one of the parts, and there are people who might not identify as a man or a lady, and we want to make sure there’s space for them.”

Instead, the club uses the neutral language of ‘leads’ and ‘follows’ to describe each partner’s individual choreography, where

COUrteSY: tHe CLAremONt COLLeGeS bALLrOOm DANCe COmpANY

the Claremont Colleges ballroom Dance Company, pictured at the 2021opening night for the club.

the terms have no gendered associations. Moreover, all dancers are encouraged to learn both parts. This is just one example of the club’s ethos of inclusivity, where dance is allowed to exist outside of the confines of any kind of gendered binary.

The club has also taken steps to ensure that all body sizes are welcome at the CCBDC. “Dance, in general, is not super size-inclusive,” Machin said. “Instead of not allowing people on the team because we didn’t have costumes that would fit them, which I think was unintentionally the practice in the past, we have instead committed to buying costumes that come in a range of sizes.”

The idea that, as Machin said, “Any costume should be able to be worn by any person,” is one that sets the club apart from other collegiate ballroom dancing programs, where costumes

are usually bought in standard, non-inclusive sizes.

This outlook is echoed by Rachel Howard PO ’22, who has been involved with the CCBDC since she was a first-year. Howard said the CCBDC was “really trying to make the club a space that’s comfortable for anyone who wants to get involved.”

However, this journey hasn’t been without ups and downs.

It is club policy that the CCBDC only participates in “competitions that all members are welcome in,” Howard said. This bars the club from participating in certain competitions, where participants are required to adhere to the standard of strictly heterosexual dance pairs where the man dances the ‘lead’ part and the women dances the ‘follow’ part. This is a clear reminder that in some places, the world of ballroom dancing is still lagging behind.

Nevertheless, the CCBDC is leveraging their power and size to positively influence the institution of ballroom dance.

“I honestly think that some clubs at other schools are not more inclusive simply because they’ve never been given a roadmap on how to do that,” Machin said. “I think it’s important for us to go to these events to see that there’s an alternative to the way it’s been done in the past.”

Howard echoed a similar sentiment.

“We try to advocate and show people that ballroom is possible the way that we do it, that it’s not weird or difficult,” she said. “Since we are quite a large company, we do have some more of that influence.”

This reach extends beyond the world of ballroom to club culture at the 5Cs. “The sheer size of the company makes it so that in the

ecosystem of clubs at the 5Cs, ballroom has a pretty significant impact,” said Rachel Lau PO ’22, another longtime member of the CCBDC. “This goal of inclusivity has really bled into other aspects of club life. For example, I run a climbing team and that’s something we’ve been thinking about a lot more.”

With the CCBDC at the forefront of progressive, inclusive discourse, ballroom dancing appears to be in good hands. Lau spoke to the club’s mission to open the doors of ballroom to all.

“We try to be super supportive and stay super engaged in making ballroom an inclusive space,” Lau said. “We want to be able to create community, and give people a sense of belonging, so that they can dance and perform as their most authentic selves.”

To learn more, follow @claremontballroom on Instagram or Facebook.

Scene it: Darkly comedic film ‘Zola’ Front of house: strips stigma from dancing Revisiting the brilliance of ‘The Hunger Games’ RORYE JONES

The concept: a road trip to Miami to make thousands from what you think will be a spontaneous stripping adventure with a friend that you just met last week, her insecure boyfriend and her secretly scheming pimp, only to have your “friend” post you on a Backpage ad for sex work and ultimately end up in a hotel room at gunpoint. Chances are, you haven’t experienced something remotely like this, I hope. Miraculously, Aziah “Zola” King actually lived through it and wrote the viral Twitter thread that inspired the 2021 film “Zola.”

Despite the unthinkable circumstances, “Zola” is surprisingly relatable and groundbreaking in its portrayal of stripping as an empowering art form rather than something shameful.

“Zola” was first shown at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020, and it definitely gives Sundance vibes.

It’s shot in a documentary style and interspersed with dream-like sequences — the perfect mix of realism infused with magic. An early collection of scenes shows Zola quickly becoming engrossed with her new friend, Stefani: Zola lies prone on the couch, thumbs working as she and Stefani narrate their texts, the bubbles superimposed on the screen as the continuous whooshing of text messages serenades our ears, their new friendship growing into a mutual obsession.

To show when time has passed, there is an accompanying shot of the building Zola finds herself in, with the date and time displayed in the same font as an iPhone lockscreen.

These modern, tasteful embellishments make it aesthetically pleasing to watch.

Furthermore, “Zola” contains enough touches of artsy symbolism

to make me take it seriously. In one aerial shot, as Zola and Stefani pee in two stalls side-by-side, the movie memorably shows their respective urine. Zola’s is clear, while Stefani’s is a disturbingly dehydrated shade just shy of the color brown — unhealthy, just like Stefani’s personal boundaries, as viewers soon find out.

In another scene, when Stefani’s pimp yells at her boyfriend and reasserts his dominance over the whole group, the camera pans over to the hotel room’s TV screen for an instant. There’s a low-quality porno playing, featuring a woman “struggling” to drive her car out of a ditch, saying “I’m stuck!” before the camera cuts from the TV back to Zola. This is a sardonic echo of the tense mood permeating Zola’s hotel room.

The character Zola feels so genuine; her cutting logic and matterof-fact attitude naturally demands viewers’ support. The rest of the characters are presented in an authentically flawed way, their actions repulsing us — I know I’ve had interactions with those same unsavory characters in public.

“Zola” convinced me, for an hour and a half, that I was in the backseat of a pimp’s G-Wagen, rooting for Zola all along her exhausting journey.

Lastly, we have one of my favorite aspects of the film: its appreciative portrayal of stripping. Time and time again, we’ve seen movies use strippers as a cheap trick to arouse the viewer, reducing the dancers themselves to often nameless, writhing bodies onstage while simultaneously attaching a sense of immorality to the act.

Stripping is obviously inherently sexual, and harnessing that sexuality can be powerful. That said, films should not be able to get

away with exploiting the sensual nature of stripping while at the same time depicting strippers as “dirty.”

The repeated objectification of strippers, combined with decrying their actions, creates a nasty sense of superiority that can bleed into society’s attitudes and fuel additional, unneeded violence targeting strippers.

“Zola” references these hostile societal viewpoints in breaking the enchantment of a dancing scene with a man hurling a racist remark at Zola onstage. We feel for Zola’s jaded, disappointed-but-not-surprised facial expression.

“Zola” encourages the audience to view stripping as an art form and admire its aesthetic value without judgement. When Zola dances, the scene is awash in dreamy lights, multicolored tinsel swaying gently in the background and slow, sensual music. Through these effects, the viewer is clearly not meant to get their pulse racing from the dance number, but is instead invited to view Zola’s beauty and athleticism.

The world isn’t all glittering dance sequences, but at the same time, one can depict harsh realities without sacrificing a dancer’s humanity; “Zola” does an excellent job at striking a balance between the two extremes. In short, please watch “Zola” — it is well worth the wild ride.

Rorye Jones PO ’23 is TSL’s TV and film columnist. She spends her days waiting for the second season of “Euphoria” to drop so she can breathe in Alexa Demie’s dust once more. If you see her on campus, please feel free to assail her with unsolicited TV and film recommendations (actually).

NANAKO NODA • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

Rorye Jones PO ‘23 argues that “Zola,” a film based off of a Twitter thread, is an example of cinematography empowering women’s bodies.

CAELAN REEVES “The Hunger Games” occupies a unique spot in our collective cultural memory, and with the announcement of a film adaptation of the prequel novel “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” it’s unlikely to move from that spot anytime soon. But, given that much of the franchise’s audience was relatively young at the time of the book’s release, we may not remember it for all the right reasons.

Suzanne Collins’ novels and the subsequent film adaptations pioneered the young adult genre as it exists today, but public reception to the novels hasn’t always honored the books for what they are: stunning works of sophisticated political commentary. With the book’s target demographic now reaching the age of active civic participation, it’s worth revisiting the novels for the striking political commentary they offer.

The books are artfully woven through with critiques of everything from industrial society to the media’s exploitation of violence. Collins draws parallels between the panoptic technological cruelty of Panem and the archaic gladiator games of the Romans, in between which lie striking truths about our present. Each seems a far cry from our current reality, but the connections Collins draws between the two echo the present in chilling, prophetic ways.

Every corner of the Hunger Games universe is imbued with biting political commentary, even aspects that aren’t explicitly addressed. The name of the book’s setting, Panem, is an allusion to the Latin phrase panem et circenses, or “bread and circuses.” According to the Roman poet Juvenal, if a government provides its people with bread and circuses — if it appeases its people with food and entertainment — the people will not revolt.

Collins’ distorted interpretation of that entertainment takes the form of the Hunger Games.

The Games serve as a metaphor for state violence, but its significance goes even deeper than that.

Many of the Games’ victors win because of skills they learned by practicing their district’s trade, a fact that reduces people in Panem to the labor they perform.

The flashy opulence of the Capitol’s news outlets bears striking resemblance to the United States’ sensationalization of politics, and Collins warns of the potential consequences. The depiction of the District 13 rebels provides a deeply nuanced commentary on militarism and opportunism in activist circles as well.

Despite the series’ uniquely

YASmIN eLQUtAmI • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

potent political themes, the presence of tropes like a love triangle and the obligatory child-sorting algorithm get it grouped in with its low-brow counterparts in young adult fiction — they’re dismissed as “kid’s books.” In reality, “The Hunger Games” invented and popularized many of the tropes of the young adult genre that it’s criticized for falling into.

“The Hunger Games” is also one of the more tragic victims of the misogyny-driven tendency of popular culture to turn on anything enjoyed by young female readers.

The attitude of critics and academics towards the genre is generally one of disdain. As a result, the nuance of books like “The Hunger Games” and John Green’s “Paper Towns” has gone largely unrecognized by mainstream literary criticism.

Beyond simply being unfair, public reception to the franchise serves as yet another layer of the commentary offered up by the series. In the first novel, the horrors of the Games are written over by Capitol media in favor of flaunting Katniss and Peeta’s tumultuous love story. And, as if to prove Collins’ point, popular media did the exact same thing. The revolutionary messaging of the books was diluted and written over in favor of a fixation on the story’s love triangle.

“The Hunger Games” is one of the most effectual and accessible works of political fiction released in the 21st century, and it’s not difficult to see the books beinwwg regarded as classics in the future. The franchise is not underrated by any stretch of the imagination, but as issues like the sensationalization of violence and state propaganda remain ever-prevalent, it’s worth giving a work so prophetic its laurels.

As musician Paul Simon sings, the words of the prophets aren’t in libraries or temples, but “written on the subway walls.” Their visions will be somewhere accessible — like in the world-building of a high school-level chapter book.

Caelan Reeves CM ’24 is one of TSL’s pop culture columnists. They are a history and literature dual major from Chicago, Illinois, and love everything to do with movies, music and books.

OpiniOns

September 17, 2021

The humanities are just as important as STEM MISHAAL IJAZ When I was in high school, I tried forcing myself to love biology and chemistry. I knew that if I pursued a major in those kinds of subjects in the future, my peers would deem me more intelligent.

It was only when I got older that I stopped feeling the need to pretend to like science and math, and instead felt confident to pursue my interest in the humanities.

Feeling pressure to pursue a career in the STEM field is not unique to me, as there has long been the notion that obtaining a degree in the humanities is pointless. However, the value of the humanities beyond just professional achievement is often overlooked. It is essential to recognize the importance of the humanities in times of crisis when people are in need of comfort.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people found themselves with an immense amount of free time coupled with feelings of uncertainty and weariness. In order to get through difficult times, people found solace through reading books about characters also facing hardships. Literature showed itself to be powerful because it allowed people to relate to characters and to escape from troubling situations at home.

Visual art is also a valuable sector of the humanities because it facilitates collective healing. After the tragic death of basketball star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, beautiful murals were created throughout Los Angeles to commemorate both of their legacies. Since Bryant was a role model for many, the murals allowed for people to mourn together over the loss of an important figure.

Simply looking at sites such as Chicano Park in San Diego — a historic landmark created in 1971 after the creation of the I-5 freeway destroyed a middle-class neighborhood — shows how visual art can capture the past, present and future for all of us to marvel at. Being able to examine history through an artistic lens in a communal space is a truly unique experience that should not be undermined. Visual art can start conversations between members of a community and can lead to a greater understanding of

differing perspectives.

Some people may try to downplay the significance of the humanities because STEM fields help society progress technologically; however, both areas are equally important for a well-rounded society. By uplifting the humanities, I am not downplaying the importance of STEM, but rather reminding people that the humanities are worth caring about, too.

It is worthwhile to note that since 2013, STEM has been renamed STEAM in some places — now adding an A for arts.

While it is promising that the arts are being recognized, this revised acronym is not nearly as commonly used or as popular as STEM. Moreover, changing the acronym from STEM to STEAM is not enough to automatically ensure the arts will be properly acknowledged and respected.

We must remember that STEM and the humanities coexist. For example, the climate crisis that has been examined by scientific sources is regularly discussed through visual art or even creative books for kids.

Examining the climate crisis outside of a strictly scientific lens can help people come to terms with the scale of the problem. If people can visualize the climate crisis through art, they can better understand what can be done to help. Instead of polarizing STEM and the humanities, it would be much more productive to see what they can accomplish together.

For those students who fear that focusing on the humanities is something to be embarrassed about, remember the positive impact that visual art and literature have had only in the last few years and imagine how much more can still be done.

The humanities need more creative thinkers that can bring people much-needed peace and reassurance. In order for society to function and thrive, we need people from all fields who are proud of the work they do.

Mishaal Ijaz SC ’24 is from San Diego, California. She enjoys reading and writing.

LAUrA JArAmILLO • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

pAGe 5

Twenty years after 9/11, it’s time to look inwards

COUrteSY: JULIette KOber

American fixation on threats abroad overlooks the challenges we face at home, Sae Furukawa PO ’25 says.

SAE FURUKAWA During the 20-year anniversary commemoration of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, former president George W. Bush made a stunning comparison between al-Qaeda and domestic terrorism in his speech — which was widely interpreted as a reference to the insurrectionists who attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Bush claimed that there is “growing evidence that the dangers to our country can come not only across borders but also from violence that gathers within.”

Bush is among the most unpopular former presidents of the United States, who dragged the country into two endless, maddening wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Yet he was right to claim that, as much as we are concerned about foreign terrorists attacking American soil, there is a new and growing threat from homegrown violence rooted in racism and white supremacy.

Ever since hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center on 9/11, counterterrorism has been at the center of Washington, D.C.’s political decision-making. While some politicians have exploited the event as an excuse to invade foreign states and massacre countless innocent civilians, there has been real progress following 9/11, namely a significant reduction in the number of foreign-born terrorist attacks on American soil. Still, according to polling from Gallup, Americans today are as concerned about terrorism as they were right after 9/11.

The lasting socio-psychological impact of 9/11 can be better explained in a larger context. The event was the first foreign attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor and thus it disrupted the established sense of security among Americans. 9/11 became emblematic of the downfall of U.S. hegemony, or the so-called American exceptionalism that fostered a sense of immunity to external threats.

But let’s make one thing clear: Fforeign terrorism has never been the most pressing threat facing America. Since 9/11, more

people have died from violence by racially motivated far-right extremists; as suggested in a recent report from the Director of National Intelligence, they pose a far more imminent threat to Americans than foreign extremists. According to the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, 71 percent of extremist-related casualties in the United States between 2008 and 2017 were perpetrated by white supremacists, compared to only 26 percent by Islamic extremists.

Nevertheless, attention to domestic-born far-right extremism has been undermined and overshadowed by a wealth of resources channeled into combating al-Qaeda and other foreign extremist groups. “It’s undeniable that federal law enforcement has underplayed and misunderstood the level of white supremacist violence,” Hina Shamsi, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s national security project, told The Guardian.

While it’s true that Washington has made substantial progress in some areas of counterterrorism since 9/11, the past 20 years of U.S. foreign policy have also had far more problematic consequences.

Following the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, Washington found itself stuck in a two-decade war that cost more than $1 trillion and the lives of 2,300 U.S. soldiers — at first it was about eliminating al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and crippling his organization, before the mission morphed into a nation-building agenda.

Ultimately, 111,000 Afghan civilians who had nothing to do with the U.S. mission were killed, and many others were forced to flee their homes. Considering this context, President Joe Biden’s agenda of complete withdrawal from Afghanistan seemed inevitable, and indeed some may wonder why Washington did not accept this reality sooner, long before the withdrawal agreement negotiated under the Trump administration.

The answer may perhaps be simple: many in Congress were eager to end this vicious cycle of “War on Terror” military intervention, but they were also conscious of potential repercussions from the general public that may put their political

futures in jeopardy. Ultimately, it proved much easier to maintain the status quo.

Even today, when the public consensus is generally in favor of a policy of reduced military commitments abroad, many Americans still seem to be paranoid of the idea of “foreign terrorism” well beyond what reality would imply. More than a decade after 9/11, anti-Muslim assaults were five times more common than before 2002 — a stunning reminder of how Americans’ elevated fear toward “Islamic fundamentalist” terrorism translated into broad-based Islamophobia. The Trump administration’s “travel ban” disproportionately affecting Muslim-majority countries is among the more recent examples of policies driven by racial and religious prejudice.

Reflecting on what the most pressing issues facing the country really are provides an opportunity to reassess what is in the collective interest of America. Rather than relying on mythical narratives of “foreign terrorism” imposed by our culture and media, individuals must bring further attention to violence that comes from within — whether its origin is considered to be white supremacy, lack of gun control or a combination of factors.

Counterterrorism is not necessarily a wasteful project, and the United States, just like any other country, has to invest in it to ensure the security and safety of American citizens.

At the same time, however, the past 20 years of madness in Washington’s policy-making have proved that over-channeling resources into tackling “foreign extremism” often leads to ill-visioned foreign policies that produce more harm than benefit, and divert attention from other pressing threats.

More importantly, this is not just a problem among politicians: politicians are largely influenced by public opinion, and each voter plays a role in influencing their policy agendas. This is the very reason why young voters must be able to critically assess the country’s needs and priorities — so that they can elect policymakers who understand and strive toward holistic benefits to the public.

Sae Furukawa PO ’25 is from Tokyo, Japan. She loves nonfiction, documentaries and Coppola’s films.

Flipped classrooms should have no place at the 5Cs SERENA MAO Students often diss teachers who don’t teach in class. Yet, in several courses at the 5Cs, this concept is standard practice. To learn new material, students must first struggle by themselves, parsing dense textbooks and scouring the internet for hours just to get a basic understanding of the next lesson’s content.

Then, upon arriving to class, they’re expected to immediately apply this knowledge with only a barebones understanding of the self-learned topic.

Perhaps surprisingly, these classes aren’t anomalies. Called the flipped classroom model, this supposedly revolutionary teaching method has recently risen in popu-

larity nationwide, a trend that endangers student engagement and learning. The philosophy generally revolves around one main idea: If students struggle more with applying the concept than learning it, that’s what they should be doing in class — not the other way around.

However, any student can easily point to the disadvantages of flipped learning. One must fully understand new material before they can apply it to assignments, and when this understanding is self-taught, any gaps in knowledge only become more pronounced.

On the other hand, when interacting with a teacher in the classroom, learning new content is far

more efficient. Especially when the alternative is reading a textbook, classroom teaching better optimizes lesson plans, ensuring that the basics are lightly reviewed while difficult concepts are discussed in-depth. Furthermore, classroom teachers can emphasize, re-explain or reiterate critical concepts, while readings often give one-sentence explanations that require extensive analysis to decipher.

Of course, there’s also the unique component of teacher-student interaction that self-learning leaves in the dust. Sure, students can ask lingering questions from the readings once they are in class, but the process of receiving instant support and feedback during an in-person lesson is far more effec-

ANNA CHOI • tHe StUDeNt LIFe Flipped classrooms hurt students more than they help them, Serena Mao HM ’25 argues.

tive. In a classroom, questions on relatively rudimentary material are answered before moving on to more advanced content, meaning gaps in students’ comprehension don’t build on each other like they would if the material was first absorbed at home.

And even if resources exist to answer questions outside of class, they require more effort to access and interpret in the context of a student’s confusion. Finally, and most obviously, staring at a laptop or textbook at home is far less engaging than learning collectively in a classroom, meaning flipped learning causes students to quickly lose interest in the material.

More tangibly, I’ve heard more than a handful of complaints about flipped classes. Though professors I’ve talked to are often reluctant to classify their classes as flipped, students are expected to learn new material themselves, then complete assignments in class — a process that closely mirrors flipped learning.

As a result, I’ve watched more than a few Harvey Mudd students staring at guided readings they can’t complete without soliciting the help of more experienced classmates, or spending unreasonable amounts of effort flipping through and annotating textbooks.

Class isn’t any easier: Based on the questions students ask, it’s clear not everyone is on the same page — which is, unfortunately, what the classwork presumes. To be clear, the professors are brilliant teachers, but the structure that their class conforms to forcibly constrains the effectiveness of the course.

To many, the disadvantages aren’t enough to discount the meth-

od. Proponents of flipped learning argue that completing assignments in class fosters a collaborative environment where students tackle problems together and can learn from each other. They further claim that the flipped classroom encourages active learning: the idea that students learn best when directly engaging with applications of the material in class.

These arguments may be valid, but in college, collaboration and active learning take place outside of class time. Since students are already living with each other, they often do homework and study with their peers; academic support programs that involve one-on-one homework help also give students further opportunities to engage in active learning.

This is especially true for HMC, where the school deliberately advocates for a collaborative academic environment while also offering resources like computer science group tutoring or Academic Excellence tutoring. Consequently, the in-class benefits of the flipped classroom already exist outside the classroom, diminishing its positive effects.

Put simply, to increase student engagement and proficiency, 5C professors should do away with the flipped learning model. Teachers should listen to their students’ concerns, recognizing that what appears to be the new education fad is exactly that — a passing trend that only hurts students’ well-being. Regardless of what advocates argue, the reason is simple: It’s easier to be taught than to teach yourself.

Serena Mao HM ’25 is from Fremont, California. She’s enjoying Harvey Mudd so far, but chemistry has been especially hard.

OpiniOns

pAGe 6

Don’t scapegoat social media alone for poor mental health KENNY LE In May 2020, the tiny forms of social contact I retained during schooling in the coronavirus pandemic slowly disappeared as classes, clubs and jobs ended. Like most, I turned to social media to cope.

Contrary to the common belief that social media use inevitably harms mental well-being, my increase in social media use didn’t come with ill effects. Instagram, Discord and Facebook Messenger were my only avenues to connect with friends I hadn’t seen for months.

The scaremongering of social media as the leading catalyst to poor mental health comes from misunderstandings that ultimately harm rather than help. Conversations surrounding social media should center around responsible usage, not deletion.

Social media’s impact on mental health is not as conclusive as some may believe. Studies that examine correlations between mental health and social media have produced weak or inconclusive data. For example, one national survey found a correlation between depressive symptoms and social media usage with an R-squared value of 0.06, when controlling for variation in in-person social interactions. That number means 94 percent of the observed variation in depressive symptoms could not be explained by social media exposure.

Furthermore, Brigham Young University researchers found that over an eight-year period there was no relationship between time spent using social media and depression or anxiety. A study of 430,000 10- to -15-year-olds by Oxford University researchers similarly found an insignificant relationship between technology use and mental health.

Social media’s relationship to mental health has to be viewed with nuance. While cyberbullying obviously harms people’s mental well-being, social media use among older students was found to help maintain relationships.

Another study concluded that shy and depressed individuals’ well-being benefited from online relationships. Harvard University researchers found that routine

usage of social media led to social well-being, positive mental health and better self-rated health. General condemnations of social media ignore its potential for good.

On an individual level there are right and wrong ways to use social media. FOMO, or fear of missing out, is a real phenomenon that can be experienced from Instagram or Snapchat scrolling sessions, and sole emotional reliance on social media is not healthy. But there are better ways to deal with unhealthy social media mindsets than complete deactivation.

One proven method to fight social media FOMO is simple and effective: gratitude. The science backs it up. Research on simple gratitude exercises found that giving thanks daily makes people more optimistic long-term. Keep a gratitude journal, or send affirmations to friends and family (for example, through social media). Writing thank you notes, practicing meditation or even silently thanking people are also all ways to practice gratitude.

Sleep should also be heavily prioritized because of its strong association with mental health.

Counterintuitively, planned social media time throughout the day can prevent what some call revenge bedtime procrastination, or sacrificing sleep for leisure at night because of a lack of free time during the day. Technology can help: Both iOS and Android have apps, modes or controls that people can use to restrict their social media usage at night.

Across the board, mental health must always be prioritized. Hundreds of factors, like a lack of healthcare access, discrimination, toxic masculinity and parental trauma, can harm a person’s mental health. Social media shouldn’t automatically be included on that list of stressors.

Kenny Le PZ ’25 is from Anaheim, California. He’s a stressed freshman who wants to work in public policy.

CLAre mArtIN • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

September 17, 2021

Jasper’s Crossword: switching around

JASper DAVIDOFF • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

ACROSS 1. Looked at 5. March Madness league 9. “Just do it, dude!”

14. Only 15. Danger for a keto dieter 16. Still kicking, say 17. *Arrest archers?

19. Chopin’s “Black key étude” setting 20. Anti-communist int’l org.

21. Company that helped fund Yes on Prop 22 23. Looks at 26. How many millennials watched H.P. movies 28. Nile slitherers 32. Time zone for 44 and 51-across, for short 33. *Less tamed young’un?

35. Put on (a card) 38. Looks at and approves 39. *Plumber puppets?

42. Pomona’s president 44. Its northern border is 51-across 47. *Overpowered hedgehog?

50. Agcy. that looks at you 51. Its southern border is 44-across (abbr.)

52. Some truffle hunters 53. Forceful 55. Like some histories 57. Jeopardy fill-in Jennings 58. Watch and keyboard maker 61. *Removes a princess?

67. YouTuber Rivera 68. A piece of cake 69. “O-O’Reilly.... ____ Parts” 70. *Casually, the franchise whose characters are part of

17, 33, 39, 47 and 61-across 71. Some baseball stats 72. Vegetables in samosas DOWN 1. The key to get out 2. Who is doing this crossword 3. Movie where Will Ferrell finds the “world’s best cup of coffee” 4. Robinson Crusoe author 5. Show with variants in LA and NOLA 6. Warhol subject, famously 7. Craft for couples, once upon a time 8. Ridiculous 9. World of Warcraft class 10. Senator who resigned in 2018 over #MeToo 11. Zip 12. Sch. of Ted Kennedy and Tina Fey 13. A goldfish, e.g.

18. ___ Vegas 22. Tech degree, sometimes 23. Agcy. some want to regulate social media 24. Pokémon protagonist 25. They’ll help you get in the Loop 26. De Niro character in The Godfather 27. Making copies of 29. Four ______ Total Landscaping 30. Artist of Gangnam Style 31. What the snake said 33. Early Chinese dynasty 34. Some Indian bread 36. Pennies you don’t see every

day, say 37. What the dog said 40. Manning and Gold at the stadium 41. Special support, for short 42. Idaho-to-Nevada dir.

43. Bird of New Zealand 45. It happens after child or boy 46. Mention 48. Cucumbers-over-eyes location 49. Harder to grasp, perhaps 53. Fictional sub-mattress sabotage 54. Prepare to use, for some pens 56. Divergent author Veronica 57. Giant Steps has several 58. Broadcaster of 5-down 59. Equip 60. Anglerfish’s abode 62. Fairy queen of Romeo and Juliet 63. Tire’s infl. unit 64. Green, for example 65. Waze stat 66. ...---...

LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

Socializing can wait, your mental health can’t SHAY SURESH The idiom “one step forward, two steps back” never felt so real as when I first stepped on campus.

I took mental snapshots of the hundreds of students milling about in established clusters. My anxiety-ridden thoughts raced ahead of all reasoning as I observed my peers who seemed familiar with the social life I hadn’t yet acclimated to.

It was distressing to think I was already backsliding with my start to college. I wish someone had told me that it was okay to take a time out and put myself first. Social burnout is real, and students should be allowed the time to recover from its side effects.

After one year — for others even longer — spent in places other than campus, many were buoyant with excitement about the return to in-person learning. But enthusiasm for some conflicted with feelings of anxiety for others. I was on campus for the first time as a sophomore, whereas many sophomores had lived in Claremont the year prior.

Understandably so, myself and

others felt overdue for friends, invitations and plans. Speaking with other first-timers on campus allowed me to see through the veil of social burnout, a deceivingly invisible struggle that poses a rather harsh reality.

With our return to campus, there has been an unspoken pressure to force yourself into interactions that unavoidably deplete your energy. Many are forced to choose between alone time or situations that send their anxiety soaring. More often than not, the pressure to catch up to already-formed relationships wins out over self-supporting efforts.

Social media is another trap.

Watching your finger compulsively tap through lively Instagram stories leads to an inevitable bout of social anxiety and fear of missing out. Observing your fellow peers engage in what is considered to be typical college life makes you question whether you’ve been led astray. It’s hard to tell whether you should follow someone’s lead or stay true to your own.

Be that as it may, what works

for others does not always have to work for you. We should not carry the burden of conforming to social norms that feel unnatural or uncomfortable to us. Sacrificing the time you would spend to recharge to instead push for relationships isn’t worth potentially compromising your mental health.

Don’t get me wrong — I don’t advise anyone to perpetually isolate themselves. The emphasis here is on balance. Do away with the ideas that being social surmounts your mental health and that prioritizing your mental well-being makes you self-indulgent.There should be no shame in carving out time for yourself.

Everyone deserves a space to breathe, separate from the restless panic of socializing. You are not responsible for single-handedly keeping relationships afloat, but you are responsible for the way you spend your energy.

Check-in with yourself when you’re feeling socially or emotionally overwhelmed. After all, making space for yourself permits you

THE STUDENT LIFE

to make space for others. Your selfcare can be an individual endeavor or involve an outside source. There are numerous 7C options if you’re seeking therapy, as well as media resources that offer problem-solving solutions.

For some, self-care is engaging in deep breathing exercises. It’s picking up that book that’s been gathering dust in the corner of your room.

Maybe it’s hitting play on that endorphin-releasing Spotify playlist, or putting on those running shoes and abandoning your ceaseless thoughts for a bit. Self-care has no face, no right or wrong answers. You define what relieves your stress and what replenishes your empty social battery.

Also, it’s important to remember that you’re not alone. You are not the only person who feels disoriented by the reality of social life post-online learning. There are going to be speed bumps, but you have the tools and the resources to sail over them smoothly.

The bottom line is that socializing is great, and finding people who understand you and cherish your

company is a feeling like no other — but that experience is made better by strong mental, physical and emotional well-being. I can guarantee you that the people you’re meant to find will still be out there, even if you take some time to hit pause.

Shay Suresh CM ’24 is from San Jose, California. She loves literary fiction, folk-rock music and making Pinterest boards.

ANNA CHOI • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

Students chat and enjoy dinner in small groups under a beautiful lofty tree.

OFF THE RECORD

Editorial Board KAYLA ALCORCHA, Editor-in-Chief JASPER DAVIDOFF, Managing Editor CLAIRE DUMONT, Managing Editor

Senior Staff JAMES KARSTEN, Production Editor SELENA LOPEZ, Production Editor GRACE SAUERS, News Designer STELLA CHENG, Opinions Designer CHARIS KIM, Sports Designer ANNA CHOI, Photo Editor NANAKO NODA, Photo Editor MARIANA DURAN, Graphics Editor ANNA HARTMAN, Copy Chief SIMONE NIKITNA, Copy Chief

ANURADHA KRISHNAN, News Editor JENNA MCMURTRY, News Editor SIENA SWIFT, News Associate LARKIN BARNARD-BAHN, Arts & Culture Editor MENA BOVA, Arts & Culture Editor HANNAH WEAVER, Arts & Culture Associate AVIKA JINDEL, Opinions Editor BEN REICHER, Opinions Editor ALEX CHUN, Sports Editor

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.

Nicki Minaj speaks her truth!

Even if the truth is a lie...

Does being a Barb count as a religious exemption?

Maybe it should.

The library has more hours!

Now I can get smarterer!

Sad boi hours are extended.

More places to cry at night :(

OpiniOns

September 17, 2021

pAGe 7

Voters must increase pressure on Biden to fulfill promises on healthcare NICHOLAS BLACK Seventy-six years after an American president first proposed guaranteeing health insurance to all, the United States still has not achieved that vision — and President Joe Biden is extending the wait.

While running for president, Biden maintained that he believed healthcare to be a human right and strongly endorsed a public option, a proposal to achieve universal healthcare in the United States. Given that vast majorities of Americans support the goal of universal healthcare, this was a promising piece of the Biden agenda. Yet, the president has done very little to make the public option a reality once in office, leaving it out of his first budget proposal.

This development is extremely disappointing and provides warning of politicians who pander to voters during their campaigns but opt against delivering on their promises once in office.

Going forward, we must continue to pressure our leaders to overhaul the national embarrassment that is our healthcare system and finally guarantee health insurance to all.

President Biden has been in office for seven months. He’s created budgetary proposals, issued numerous executive orders and announced major detailed plans as part of his “Build Back Better” initiative. Notably missing is a significant slice of Biden’s campaign platform: the public option.

A public option refers to a government-provided health care plan that would provide comprehensive health coverage to any American who chooses to opt into the program. The government-run plan would compete alongside private insurance companies, differing from a single-payer system in which private insurance plans would largely be abolished.

The debate between proponents of a single-payer healthcare system and a public option dominated much of the 2020 Dem-

mArIANA DUrAN • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

ocratic presidential primary, but candidates largely agreed on the premise that healthcare coverage should be universal, regardless of how that goal is achieved. This was a comforting consensus given that the United States is currently the only industrialized nation to not guarantee healthcare for all of its citizens.

As it stands, our healthcare system allows Americans to get sick and die of preventable diseases simply because they cannot afford private insurance. When they are forced to pay the insanely bloated prices of drugs and treatments in the United States, medical bankruptcy or other financial hardships commonly result. These costs are so high that they often discourage Americans from getting preventative treatment right away, delaying until their condition becomes a significant threat to their health and wellbeing. Biden and other Democrats rightly sought to end this dynamic, leading them to co-

alesce around the public option, a compromise position that would expand access to healthcare while also allowing private insurers to remain intact.

Instead of working to achieve what was then the compromise position, Biden has focused on expanding Medicare and protecting the Affordable Care Act. While these actions help low-income and elderly individuals access healthcare, they don’t ensure that all Americans will be insured regardless of if they can afford private insurance. These programs are not meant to be universal and have left tens of millions uninsured, whether that be because they aren’t eligible for aid, don’t believe any plan would be affordable for them or a multitude of other reasons.

Not only has the public option yet to become a reality under the Biden presidency, no comprehensive plan has been released for how it can even be achieved. The legislation was notably left out of Biden’s

$6 trillion budget proposal focused on infrastructure, education and other aspects of the healthcare industry.

Biden’s deprioritization of the public option perhaps should come as no surprise, given that in his time as vice president, Biden wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about pursuing any comprehensive healthcare reform at all. While other 2020 Democratic candidates long supported a single-payer healthcare system, Biden opposed universal coverage in his previous runs for president.

In comparison to other leading Democrats, it’s clear that Biden hasn’t always been the most dedicated proponent of universal healthcare, which has led us to our current situation.

People voted for Biden based on the belief that he would pursue his campaign promises, especially in an arena as important as healthcare, and yet he does not seem especially interested in delivering on his promise.

This should teach us to favor candidates who display longstanding commitments to their principles as opposed to those who simply jump onto the party consensus; these principled figures are more likely to have the integrity to follow through with their promises when in office.

While the future of the public option seems dim at the present moment, we as voters can still apply pressure on Biden to recenter the push for universal healthcare.

If released as actual legislation, the public option would face a tough battle, requiring the votes of all 50 Senate Democrats, including moderate figures like Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., in order to pass as a reconciliation bill. For Biden to garner support for a public option, he must take on these moderates, many of whom are funded by the politically powerful healthcare lobby.

Healthcare companies are often hostile to universal healthcare, as their bottom lines would be threatened by a public plan that costs less to citizens and pays less to providers.

Yet, there is no doubt that Biden is the most influential figure in his party, meaning he has the capacity to reinvigorate the momentum toward the public option at the federal level, as other elected Democrats have endeavored to do, and to apply pressure on Congressional Democrats to support his version of universal healthcare, especially given its popularity among Americans.

As voters, we ought to encourage Biden to, at the very least, display his full support and attention to this extremely vital issue and further, to release a detailed budget plan that would outline how we can fund and enact a public option. Regardless of the fears that our Congress is simply too moderate for progress, it’s past time we join the rest of the industrialized world in guaranteeing healthcare to all.

Nicholas Black PO ’24 is from Rochester, New York. The United States healthcare system is one of the many things that embarrass him.

Pomona must address international students’ stresses during distance learning YUTONG NIU For international students returning to Claremont, exchanging horror stories from the COVID-19 semesters has become a new bonding activity. One and a half years of remote learning did not normalize taking midnight classes and calculating time differences for exams and assignments. Besides the struggles with time zones, international students constantly worried about travel restrictions and maintaining a valid F-1 student status, all while struggling to justify the overwhelming tuition fees for asynchronous classes that are usually unsubsidized for international students.

Ziang Xue PO ’23 maintained a schedule of waking up at midnight for two whole semesters to attend the classes required to graduate on time. The nocturnal semesters left him with loneliness and physical discomfort, which he took a whole summer to recover from.

Anna Choi PO ’23 lost much of the quality time she could have spent with family and friends be-

cause she had to go to bed very early for 5 a.m. classes. She also dropped her sociology class because of the synchronous discussions that happened at midnight in her time zone.

Riki Imai PO ’24 took a gap semester after a remote one in fall 2020, where he struggled with attending classes and submitting assignments on time, saying that his mental health was severely impacted during that period.

When Charlotte Cheah PO ’23 had a chance to spend a semester at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, she had to make a petition and gain support from the Pomona faculty after being rejected multiple times by email from Dean of the College Robert Gaines. Ultimately, she was told she would be allowed to transfer academic credits back to Pomona 30 hours before the deadline to enroll. The lack of transparency about the policy led to much panic and confusion for other international students who were also planning to switch to local education.

Even though some of these examples represent structural challenges that international students in schools across the world faced during the coronavirus pandemic, Pomona College’s lack of consideration for international students was apparent. The college invested minimal effort in engaging international students in the relevant decision-making processes, and in making education accessible to this community that faced the most complicated circumstances during distance learning.

During the remote semesters, Pomona suspended all study abroad programs. International students who wished to participate in a local university program in their home country had to take a leave of absence from Pomona and enroll in the program on their own. Students choosing to do so risked terminating the SEVIS record and repaying the $350 reactivation fees to legally reenter the United States. Meanwhile, Claremont McKenna College kept its study

abroad option open throughout the pandemic, so that international students could enroll in an approved local institution and maintain their status as full-time students at CMC. Even during move-in last month, Pomona gave strict movein time slots for both international and domestic students. However, due to the reduced number of flights and greatly inflated airfares, many international students had to arrive early and stay in hotels before being allowed on campus.

Many of the faculty have certainly been understanding and flexible for international students: Some professors were considerate enough to move class times to accommodate international time zones. For example, Manisha Goel, Associate Professor of Economics at Pomona, began her International Economics course at 7:45 p.m. PST in the spring 2021 semester and attracted around 10 students living outside the United States. However, it is a tragedy for the College if

students can only count on the leniency of individual professors instead of institutional support for a smooth continuation of their higher education in a time of crisis.

Returning to campus has not been the end of international students’ struggles. As the nation continues to wrestle with the virus through aggressive vaccination, the prolonged pandemic is still likely to impact the international student community through complications related to international travel, financial support and visa status.

It is not yet time to celebrate the students’ return and reunion. The Pomona administration should take time to listen to feedback from international students and acknowledge the lack of support it demonstrated in its COVID-19 policy over the past few semesters.

To better recognize and address the needs of international students, Pomona has to institutionally increase the representation of international students in the school’s decision-making process, possibly by inviting more input from entities like the International Student Office and International Student Mentor Program.

Besides the International Student Advisor, there should be more platforms for international students to communicate and give feedback to Dean Anne Dwyer at the Office for International Initiatives during any major policy-making process that involves international students. The school should also devote more resources to the Office for International Initiatives after the dissolution of I-Place, the only international student office of The Claremont Colleges.

During a time when international students are increasingly anxious to return to their home countries amid huge upheaval, we chose to continue our education at Pomona. Now, with many international students from the classes of 2024 and 2025 arriving on campus or even in this country for the first time, we ask the Pomona administration to increase institutional support for international students so that the college may live up to the accessibility and inclusivity it has long promised.

Yutong Niu PO ’23 is from Shenyang, China. She is a mentor at Pomona’s International Student Mentor Program. She has extensive experience with all types of COVID-19 tests, last minute flight booking and quarantine policy interpretation as she travelled back and forth between three countries during the pandemic.

JADYN Lee • tHe StUDeNt LIFe

Anna Choi is a Photo Editor for TSL.

SportS

PAGE 8

After competitive jump rope, Paige Wilson PO ’24 turns to P-P volleyball JUSTIN GUO Before ascending above the nets as an outside hitter and defensive specialist for the Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team, Paige Wilson PO ’24 excelled at a different kind of jumping — one you might find on a grade school playground.

Hailing from Mill Creek, Washington, Wilson began jump roping for Jump Rope for Heart, a program organized by the American Heart Association, when she was seven. The annual event promoted the importance of healthy eating and physical exercise.

“We would go to different schools around where I lived and do our [jump rope] routine to music,” Wilson said. “[Performing] it was always a lot of fun and got other people involved; at the end, we would try to raise money for the American Heart Association.”

Their hour-long performances consisted of individual and group routines which incorporated various techniques such as wheel and double Dutch variations. A wheel requires two adjacent jumpers to hop through two different jump ropes and the double Dutch involves jumping through two ropes rotating in different directions.

“During [the performances], we had individual routines for around 30 seconds that we choreographed on our own with our favorite tricks,” Wilson said.

Of those skills, her favorite maneuver is the “triple side swing,” which involves twirling the rope to the left and right side before jumping over it.

These experiences allowed her to leap within higher levels of the activity. At age 10, Wilson joined a competitive jump rope team called Hot Dog USA, which garnered attention around her hometown.

“We were a Worlds team, which only allowed our seniors to go international and earn prizes for winning big competition events,” Wilson said. “We also did a halftime show for the Seattle Storm, the women’s professional basketball team.”

Compared to the performance-based jump roping Wilson had done, competitive jump roping involved mastering a specific skill. Wilson’s two specialties were speed and double unders — a technique where the rope passes twice in one jump instead of once.

“For speed, you just go as fast as you can, and you have a minute to get as many steps in as you can,” Wilson said. “For double unders, you just did as many in a row as you possibly could.”

Wilson ultimately switched to volleyball after finding the sport to be more dynamic and exciting

SEPtEmbEr 17, 2021

Weekly Calendar P-P

CMS

Friday, Sept. 17 Women’s tennis Hen/Athena Invitational Duels

Friday, Sept. 17 Women’s tennis Fall Hidden Duals (Pomona-Pitzer, Azusa Pacific, biola, Westmont, Concordia and CSU Northridge)

Saturday, Sept. 18 men’s Cross Country UC riverside Invite Women’s Cross Country UC riverside Invite Women’s Golf redlands Fall Shootout Women’s tennis Hen/Athena Invitational Duels Women’s Volleyball vs. UC Santa Cruz @ redlands men’s Water Polo @ Chapman @ Claremont-mudd-Scripps Women’s Soccer vs. Occidental men’s Soccer vs. Occidental Football vs. Pacific Sunday, Sept. 19 Women’s Golf redlands Shootout Women’s tennis Hen/Athena Invitational Duels

Saturday, Sept. 18 Women’s Cross Country UC riverside Invitational men’s Cross Country UC riverside Invitational Women’s Golf redlands Fall Shootout Women’s tennis Fall Hidden Duals (Pomona-Pitzer, Azusa Pacific, biola, Westmont, Concordia and CSU Northridge) men’s Water Polo vs. Caltech Football vs. Whitworth men’s Soccer @ La Verne men’s Water Polo vs. Pomona-Pitzer Women’s Soccer vs. La Verne Sunday, Sept. 19 Women’s Golf redlands Fall Shootout

ANNA CHOI • tHE StUDENt LIFE

Wilson says competitive jump roping conditioned her for volleyball and introduced her to a close athletic community.

than jump roping.

“I really liked jump rope, but once you get into the specialties, you’re kind of doing the same thing over and over again,” Wilson said. “I eventually went with volleyball just because it was more fun.”

Honestly, I tell everyone that jump roping is the only reason I’m good at volleyball.

Paige Wilson PO ’24

The transition was smoother due to the benefits she earned from jump rope. One critical athletic feature she built through her old sport was her standing vertical jump, cur-

rently at 27 inches.

“Honestly, I tell everyone that jump roping is the only reason I’m good at volleyball,” Wilson said. “It has helped so much and I still use it to warm up before lifts with our team.”

Wilson feels that her background in competitive jump roping has influenced her life in more ways than just her athletic ability. “[Jump roping] is a lot of my personality; it’s always my fun fact and always a conversation starter,” Wilson said.

Through her experiences, Wilson has also built a strong community around her.

“Because of [those] interactions, I made a lot of friends and memories with our bright red track seats and red duffel bags,” Wilson said. “We’re all really into athleticism — almost all of [them] are soccer players and dancers in college with backgrounds in jump rope.”

TSL is hiring sports writers!

Want to cover the latest games and your favorite athletes? See yourself working for ESpN or covering the olympics?

tsl.news/apply

Athenas spike their way through two national upsets, boost ranking to No. 2 ALEX CHUN Heading into Saturday, the No. 6 ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team faced the daunting task of squaring off against the top two ranked Division III teams in Trinity (Texas) and Emory, listed at No. 1 and No. 2, respectively.

But the Athenas completely flipped the script, pulling off two upset victories on the same day to hand the Trinity Tigers their first loss of the season. Emory, meanwhile, lost two of their last three games and fell to a record of 6-2.

CMS primarily rallied behind the efforts of star outside hitter Jackie Jones CM ’22, who averaged a standout .461 hitting percentage. Right-side hitter Melanie Williams CM ’22 was also a major contributing factor, racking up 28 kills and 30.5 points for the Athenas within the two matches.

Against the Tigers, the women found themselves fighting an uphill battle from the beginning.

After finding themselves down 8-2 within the opening moments of the match, CMS never quite recovered from their early deficit, folding the first set to their opponent 25-17.

However, after the break, the Athenas came onto the floor with a fresh mentality and staged a 7-0 scoring run to kick off the second period, shifting momentum to their side. Behind Williams, CMS pushed through their early woes and won the second set 25-19.

The third set featured another rocky obstacle, with Trinity taking an 11-4 lead early in the phase. CMS climbed back into the picture and bounced back behind the key blocks and kills of middle blocker Kelsey Polhemus CM ’25

and right-side hitter Summer Ellis CM ’23.

The final period consisted of a back-and-forth affair, with both teams neck-and-neck throughout the entire set. Both teams knotted at 22 apiece, the Athenas pushed themselves over the hump with a key kill by Jones and a game-clinching block by Williams and Dani Beder CM ’24, sealing the deal by a final score of 3-1.

Immediately following their impressive victory, the Athenas took on the Emory Eagles. The opening set featured the exchanges of mini-runs between the two teams until CMS broke away with a 9-2 run to close out the period, winning 25-18.

After the Eagles stormed back with a 10-3 run within the second period to even up the sets at one apiece, the Athenas countered with an even more dominant third set. Mostly behind the kills of Jones and Ellis, CMS blew out Emory 25-13, instantly diminishing the chances of any Eagles comeback.

With all the momentum on Athenas’ side, the women quickly built a nine-point lead in the final quarter. Despite some resistance from the Eagles in the form of a 6-0 run, Jones capped off her stellar afternoon by producing three of the final four kills in the game, allowing CMS to defeat Emory 3-1.

With these wins under their belt, the Athenas remain undefeated in their campaign this year and have bolstered their national rank to No. 2.

The women’s next game is against an inter-conference rival in Whittier on Tuesday, Sept. 21.

COUrtESY: CmS AtHLEtICS

the CmS women’s volleyball team won against Emory and trinity Sept. 11.

SportS

SEPtEmbEr 17, 2021

PAGE 9

The trophy won’t cross the street: CMS football commands season opener with a 25-3 victory

1

2

4

3

5

6

7 1. The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps defensive line charges. The Stags held their rivals to a single field goal in the first quarter. (James Karsten • The Student Life) 2. Cole Barry PZ ‘23 holds off an attack from CMS defenders at the 20-yard line. (James Karsten • The Student Life) 3. The Sagehens’ defensive line faces off with the Stags. Pomona-Pitzer opened with a strong eight-play drive but couldn’t sustain the momentum. (Justin Sleppy • The Student Life) 4. Kicker Camerson Shirangi PZ ‘24 returns the ball during a turnover — one of three earned by CMS to P-P’s two. (James Karsten • The Student Life) 5. P-P fans cheer from the stands. Virus fears aside, the stands were packed on both sides as students celebrated a long-coming return to Merritt Field. (Justin Sleppy • The Student Life) 6. Garrett Pittman PZ ‘25 goes in for a tackle. (Justin Sleppy • The Student Life) 7. The Stags took home the trophy after a blistering 13-point run in the fourth quarter. (James Karsten • The Student Life)

SportS

PAGE 10

SEPtEmbEr 17, 2021

‘run for the team and run for each other’: How the CMS women’s XC team became unstoppable in the 2010s ALEX CHUN Featuring the most championships for any women’s cross-country program in the SCIAC, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women’s cross-country team remained atop the conference’s peak for the last decade, flashing 10 consecutive SCIAC titles.

Throughout their commanding run, the Athenas had immaculate records in all of their championship seasons. They also achieved numerous individual successes under head coach John Goldhammer, featuring 50 All-American and two national champion Athenas during his tenure.

CMS’ dominance began with the discovery of Jennifer Tavé SC ’12, who served the role of a stellar leadpack runner for the Athenas. With multiple All-American and FirstTeam SCAIC honors during her tenure, Tavé broke a 27-year-old school record for the 10-kilometer race and a SCIAC record in the 6-kilometer event, consistently ranking as a top runner in every conference championship to place CMS on top.

But Tavé did not go the distance alone to carry the Athenas to these victories. Along with UCLA transfer Laura Sauvage CM ’12 coming after the fall semester of 2011, CMS had excellent roster depth through the first three years of the decade.

Less than 40 seconds separated their second and eighth-ranked athletes when analyzing their postseason lineups.

Courtesy of these reinforcements, the Athenas blew out their SCIAC competition every year from 2010 to 2013 in late October. While crushing their runner-up opponents by margins of 28, 44 and 36 points respectively, CMS also featured a multitude of women achieving All-SCIAC honors every year.

The following 2013-14 season was headlined by the departure of Tavé, who joined the CMS coaching staff post-graduation.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to the CMS cross-country program that has influenced me in so many ways,” Tavé said at the time. “I can’t wait to work alongside Coach Goldhammer in leading and inspiring the CMS cross country runners to keep chasing who they can become as people, as runners, and most importantly, as a team.”

Behind this revamped coaching staff, the Athenas returned to their winning ways despite losing one of their core athletes. Their championship win that season was highlighted by Adele Elsinger CM ’14

JUSTIN SLEPPY • THE STUDENT LIFE

In 2019, the Claremont-mudd-Scripps women’s cross-country team earned their tenth straight championship in dominating fashion, comfortably beating out the runner-up competition by double-digits every year.

and Alison Barnwell CM ’14, who finished second and third respectively in the meet to comfortably defeat second-place Occidental by 23 points.

“It was exhilarating [to finish as the top Athena]; I was not expecting it at the start of the race,” Elsinger said at the time. It was great to be able to run with the friends that I’ve made over the past four years, feel that [camaraderie], and be able to push each other to contribute overall to the team’s achievements.”

From Elsinger, the torch passed to Sara Mostatabi CM ’15. During the 2014-15 season, Mostatabi became the 12th woman in SCIAC history to become selected to FirstTeam honors all four years in a collegiate career.

CMS blew out their next-closest competition by 27 points during the championship match, where their top four runners placed within the fastest nine spots. The meet also featured nine new Athenas receiving All-SCIAC honors for the first time.

The succeeding two years saw the emergence of Bridget Blum CM ’16, Caroline Willian CM ’17 and Bryn McKillop SC ’18. All Americans Blum and McKillop were the frontrunners for the

Athenas in 2015-16 and 2016-17, respectively, while Willian consistently returned top 10 finishes within those years.

In 2015, Blum and Willian led the way for the Athenas by placing in two of the top five fastest times in the title meet. Along with 12 women setting course records during the match, CMS again separated themselves from the second-place program by 33 points, ending with a final score of 27. This was the lowest score posted in the SCIAC championships since 2000.

The following year repeated the course of its direct antecedent.

McKillop finished third while Willian ended up eighth, who demonstrated top 10 consistency across three consecutive championship meets. Along with four Athenas placing within the top 10 finishers, CMS ended the competition 42 points away from runner-up Pomona-Pitzer.

McKillop continued to assert her dominance for the Athenas throughout the next season. In combination with her first-place finish during the championship match, eleven of her teammates placed within the top 24 finishers in the competition, crushing second-place Occidental by 50 points.

Even further beyond the SCIAC

postseason, McKillop continued her excellence in the NCAA West Regional title match by reaching the finish line 20 seconds before any of her opposition. McKillop was named West Region Athlete of the Year after her performance, encapsulating her achievement of earning first-place finishes in all but one of her races.

“Bryn’s shown a veteran’s ability to dictate the race no matter the situation,” CMS assistant coach Collin Christensen said at the time.

“It’s evidence of her willingness to work on her weaknesses without compromising her strengths that got her there. She’s a mental monster.”

After earning their first West Regional championship since 2013, the Athenas continued to drive their success in 2018-19 with Malea Martin CM ’19 and Abigail Johnson SC ’21. In 2018, Johnson and Martin filled out the fourth and fifth place spots, respectively, leading to their ninth consecutive title.

“It was a great feeling to be on a team that saw so much success the last four years,” Martin said at the time. “All of our hard work paid off, and that’s always the most rewarding thing about running.”

The 10th straight champion-

ship came similarly, with the top five Athena runners filling out spots within the first 10 finishers. Behind Riley Harmon SC ’22 and Olivia Gleason SC ’21, CMS achieved the impressive feat through a collaborative team effort, using the depth of their roster.

“It was really important that that group behind me all hung together and worked together because that’s how we can continue to move forward and keep everybody up where they should be,” Harmon said. “We went in with the idea that we were going to run for the team and run for each other.”

Currently, the Athenas are off to a smooth start behind Emily Clarke SC ’22, who earned SCIAC Cross Country Athlete of the Week last Tuesday. With a new head coach in Marina Muncan after Goldhammer’s 2020 retirement, the Athenas are looking to continue their dominant legacy moving forward.

“It’s a long legacy and tradition of excellence that Coach Goldhammer leaves behind, I’m extremely cognizant of that,” Muncan said in a previous TSL interview. “I’m hoping that my experience and perspective can continue and enhance both the results we expect and the team dynamic that is so crucial to that continued success.”

Athletes of the Week Pomona-Pitzer Dylan Elliott PO ’21 Santa Barbara, CA Men’s Water Polo

Recently featured as SCIAC Athlete of the Week, Elliott has been a major contribution to the Sagehen offense. In addition to being a leader and the defensive backbone for Pomona-Pitzer, Elliott turned in impressive performances on the offensive side of the ball, netting eight total goals against top teams in the nation. Against No. 6 Long Beach State, Elliot was the joint-top goal scorer for the Sagehens by scoring three goals in six shot attempts. In P-P’s most recent match, Elliot scored five goals and recorded a steal against top-ranked UCLA. The Sagehens are currently sitting at an even .500 with six games in the books this season and will travel away to face Chapman and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, Sept. 18.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Jackie Jones CM ’22 Carlsbad, CA Volleyball The Athenas shined brightest through their star outside hitter Jones, impressively knocking off the top-two ranked teams in the nation over this weekend.

She turned in two stellar performances back-to-back against No. 1 Trinity and No. 2 Emory, putting her fingerprints all over CMS’s two four-set wins against them. Jones racked up 10 kills in 19 attempts against Trinity, posting an efficient .421 hitting clip without committing any errors.

Just hours later, Jones spiked 20 kills in 36 attempts against Emory while producing clutch points in late-set situations. The Athenas, now ranked No. 2 in the nation, remain undefeated as they prepare to play against Whittier on Tuesday, Sept. 21.