Vol. CXXXV No. 10

VOL. CXXXV NO. 10

FRIDAY, December 1, 2023

CLAREMONT, CA

Claremont Police Students hold die-in in solidarity with Palestine Department arrests

Pomona faculty member on campus

JENNA MCMURTRY, MARIANA DURAN & REIA LI This is a developing story and may be updated as information becomes available.

PHILY OEY • THE STUDENT LIFE 5C students created a vigil at Big Bridges and held a demonstration calling for a ceasefire and divestment.

REIA LI, RENEE TIAN & SARA CAWLEY On Wednesday, over 150 7C students gathered on Marston Quad at Pomona College for a vigil, teach-in and die-in as part of an international Shut it Down for Palestine action.

These efforts come in the wake of weeks of student organizing at the Claremont Colleges advocating for the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and demanding investment disclosure from Pomona’s administration.

Students started gathering at 10:00 a.m. for a vigil, decorating a memorial for Palestinian lives lost on the front stairs of Pomona’s Big Bridges Auditorium with teddy bears, flowers and Palestinian flags.

The vigil was followed by a teach-in where unidentifiable student organizers read from a presentation, which they shared with protesters via QR code. They reiterated demands that Pomona divest

from “all weapons manufacturers and all institutions that aid in the ongoing occupation of Palestine.”

At the die-in, which started around 1 p.m., students wearing all black laid on the ground in the walkway between Bridges and Marston Quad. A poster with the names of thousands of children killed in Palestine since Oct. 7 was placed amongst the demonstrators. Organizers read the names aloud using a microphone.

Large banners were attached to the front of Bridges reading “Divest from apartheid” and “Ceasefire now!”

In response to TSL’s inquiry regarding demands from the community to divest from Israel, Pomona Chief Communications Officer Mark Kendall said that Pomona has no intentions of divesting.

“Beyond the requirements of U.S. law, Pomona’s investment policies do not single out any

nation, nationality or region of the world for investment exclusion,” Kendall said via email Wednesday evening. “There are no plans to alter this approach to single out any individual nation, nationality or region for exclusion.”

Although Pomona has yet to respond directly to protestors, this week the college also hosted the first in a series of talks about contextualizing the conflict in Gaza. This is the first event the college has endorsed since President Starr promoted a vigil for the Jewish community to mourn lives lost on Oct. 7 in an Oct. 11 message to the Pomona community.

On Tuesday, almost 100 students, faculty and community members gathered to listen to Pomona professors Joanne Nucho and Mietek Boduszyński

On Wednesday afternoon, the Claremont Police Department (CPD) arrested a Pomona College faculty member on trespassing charges. At the time of their arrest, the faculty member was demonstrating in solidarity with Palestinians in front of Smiley Hall, playing music from a speaker. They were located 500 feet away from Big Bridges Auditorium, where a die-in staged by students was taking place.

Hours after the incident, the faculty member, who requested anonymity over concerns for job security, was released. They told TSL that CPD arrested them over trespassing charges, which were stated in their notice to appear in court. The Claremont Colleges’ Campus Safety (TCCS) logged an initial separate incident before the arrest as disturbing the peace, a claim that can be filed over loud noise disturbances.

TSL obtained multiple videos that show three CPD officers handcuffing the faculty member while the faculty member identified themselves as a campus professor. As the police patted them down, the faculty member also instructed the police to search their wallet for their school ID. The police then moved the faculty member into a police car before booking the faculty

member in the local station, several sources told TSL. Neither CPD nor Campus Safety immediately responded to TSL’s inquiries regarding who called Claremont police to campus or why the faculty member was cited with trespassing and ultimately arrested.

In response to TSL’s request for an interview with Campus Safety leadership, Laura Muna-Landa, a spokesperson for TCCS, said she could not immediately coordinate a statement with her colleagues about what prompted CPD involvement.

The faculty member, who wore a shirt with anti-apartheid messaging, said they brought their class to observe the protest for what was intended to be a learning experience.

Leaving the protest, the faculty member said they relocated to the corner of Sixth Street and North College Way to watch and protest from afar, proceeding to play music with pro-Palestinian messages while sitting down to read a book, periodically checking in with their students in the minutes leading up to the arrest.

In an interview with TSL on Thursday, the professor said they thought they were arrested without cause. They also said the incident poses a threat to academic freedom on campus.

“I don’t think it was fair to be censored, arrested and taken off the campus as I was using the moment as a teaching moment for my students,” they said.

Several students and faculty told TSL that in the half hour before the arrest, they saw the faculty member

See ARREST on page 2

COURTESY: GOOGLE MAPS A Pomona College faculty member was arrested on Sixth Street near Smiley Hall on Wednesday.

See PALESTINE on page 3

CMC professor Evrigenis hosts talk ‘Should Colleges Issue Political Statements?’

AMBIKA GUPTA On Nov. 17, Claremont McKenna College’s Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World hosted a lecture by new CMC government professor Ioannis Evrigenis titled “Should Colleges Issue Political Statements?”

The discussion was centered around recent statements by 7C faculty and student governments regarding Israel and Palestine.

Evrigenis began the lecture by responding to the question posed in the title, saying “the short answer is no.” He argued that colleges and universities should not issue political statements, even when those statements are about other collegiate institutions.

Evrigenis described “the issuing of a statement [as] an authoritarian move” because a statement could “chill or silence opposition” from students and untenured professors.

He said political statements directly contradict the ethos of a university, which he defined as a “place of inquiry and research and dissemination of knowledge.” Evrigenis stated that when a college issues a statement on a controversial issue,

it diminishes debate and silences opposing voices.

Furthermore, he asked, “How do you choose which [political issues] to speak about?”

He cited the University of Chicago’s Kalven report — which states that the university strives to

be politically neutral on essentially all issues — as the “epitome of good sense and reason.”

Moving on to the topic of individual professors releasing statements, Evrigenis said that he didn’t think their opinion warranted an audience.

“I think the individual professor should shut the hell up because nobody cares what they think,” he said.

In response to Evrigenis’ talk, Jennifer Taw, professor of international relations at CMC, said that she agreed that making statements

COURTESY: THE SALVATORI CENTER On Nov. 17, CMC government professor Ioannis Evrigenis lead a lecture on whether or not colleges should issue political statements.

ARTS & CULTURE “Anon(ymous),” a play directed by Sylvia Cervantes Blush, tells the story of a refugee finding his way back to his mom after they were separated by a storm during the journey to the United States.

The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889

OPINIONS

is problematic.

Taw commented directly on a statement regarding militant group Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel sent to the CMC community by faculty members.

“I think making a statement is problematic in so many ways — maybe the most important way, more than anything, is that even the decision to make a statement indicates a set of priorities,” Taw said.

“So when professors here decided to make a statement on the situation in Israel and Gaza, it was indicative that they did not make statements on other situations going on.”

The talk concluded with a Q&A section where students brought up the potential of the ASCMC, which is technically separate from the college, releasing a statement on Israel and Palestine.

Henry Long CM ’25, a student manager at the Salvatori Center, said he was especially pleased by the Q&A section of the event.

“We got a lot of students who ask very pointed, very strong, thoughtful questions about the professor’s position, and that was something we’re excited about at Salvatori Center,” Long said.

SPORTS The 5Cs are in dire need of a new professor review system, writes Rowan Gray CM ’26.

CMS served up a smashing tournament as hosts, but alas, even goddesses face tough opponents.

After their impressive upset on Nov. 29, where they defeated the No. 1 seed University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Titans, the Athenas fell to the Hope College Flying Dutchmen in a dramatic five set showdown.

INDEX: News 1 | Arts & Culture 4 | Opinions 7 | Sports 9

News

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December 1, 2023

‘Laboratory for policing’: IDAAS talk discusses racialized surveillance

QUINN NACHTRIEB • THE STUDENT LIFE

NITYA GUPTA On Wednesday, Nov. 15, the Claremont Colleges Intercollegiate Department of Asian American Studies (IDAAS) held a teach-in hosted by the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition.

The event, titled “From Los Angeles to Gaza: Charting the Global Struggle Against Racialized Surveillance,” featured guest speakers Matyos Kidane, Shakeer Rahman and Hamid Khan. It centered around racist policing techniques and the role of higher education institutions in racist surveillance in the United States.

Located in the Skid Row area of LA, the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition was founded in 2011. The organization, based out of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, works to build community power to abolish police surveillance.

Scripps College professor Jih-Fei Cheng, a core faculty member of IDAAS, said IDAAS brought the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition to campus to discuss the local struggle to oppose surveillance and abolish

policing.

“Campuses have been the site of radical student activism and thus a critical target of law enforcement intervention,” Cheng told TSL via email. “Throughout the late 1950s and early 1970s, radical social movements like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Black Panther Party were monitored and infiltrated by the FBI’s COINTELPRO, leading to assassinations and imprisonment.

At the same time, U.S. higher education has been a source for producing knowledge and technologies used by law enforcement, including the LAPD, and for global militarization.”

At the talk, the speakers highlighted tropes they said the police use to perpetuate harm against communities that are most vulnerable to police violence.

“The criminal Black, the illegal Latino, the manipulative Asian, the terrorist Muslim, the deviant trans, all these cultural constructs are very much what we see right now,” Khan said. “These are tropes

that are still employed to this day within the predominantly Black, largely unhoused, Skid Row communities.”

The speakers then discussed how surveillance technologies and methods are tested in vulnerable communities like Skid Row. “Skid Row is the place with the most concentrated form of policing, but also a place of extreme kind of experimentation by police,” Rahman said. “It’s where police have always deployed the latest technologies, like automated license plate readers, body cameras and predictive policing techniques, testing them on the community before deploying them elsewhere. It’s a laboratory for policing.”

These testing policies have influenced resistance to policing for decades. Rahman described Skid Row as a site “leading the abolitionist resistance to policing in Los Angeles” and as the reason why the Coalition chose to base itself out of Skid Row. The speakers elaborated on specific surveillance programs and

initiatives that disproportionately targeted Black and brown communities.

One of the programs cited was Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR), developed by the Department of Homeland Security in close collaboration with local police forces. SAR was launched in the 2010-2011 period as a reform to the era of national security policing that followed 9/11.

“The idea was that [SAR] was going to make national security policing less discriminatory and more fair because of the guidelines,” Khan said. “But when you try to create the sort of objective, generic standard for policing and put those resources in the hands of police, they’re going to use that to target the same populations they’ve always targeted … Black communities, migrant communities, queer and trans people, and sex workers.”

Another initiative the speakers discussed was the iWATCH “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign, which encouraged people to report on fellow community

members.

“The LAPD did eventually audit this program in 2014 and found that 81 percent of the reports were initiated by community informants,” Khan said. “It disproportionately targeted Black people as a majority of the reports came from rich, white neighborhoods reporting people of color.”

Furthermore, the speakers addressed the ties between campus police and local law enforcement, as well as the surveillance infrastructure present on university campuses across the United States.

This surveillance infrastructure includes cameras, tracking social media activity and facial recognition systems for building entry. The purpose of this infrastructure is to monitor the activities of students, Kidane, Rahman and Khan said.

But the speakers suggested that campus police often have special agreements with local prosecutors and police departments, which use evidence from these technologies to criminalize certain communities on campus.

Professor Cheng agreed with the speakers, telling TSL, “The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition reminded us that campus security agencies oftentimes have a direct line to local law enforcement and even facilitate the surveillance of students involved in activism through social media and other means, as has been the case with students engaged in Black Lives Matter.”

Audience member Bastion Collins PZ ’27 said the teach-in was a powerful introduction to the Stop LAPD Spying Coalition’s work.

“I think that how [the Coalition] has their own unique place in the abolition of police and reformative justice, how they’re holding back police states and empowering the most marginalized members of a community and analyzing what the police are doing, and where their actions stem from — I think all of this is fascinating,” Collins said.

Professor Cheng also mentioned how the talk highlighted the role of student organizations in restorative justice and abolitionist work.

“The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition urges student organizations and campuses to disentangle what they call the science-military-prison-industrial complex,” Cheng said. “They argue that we must end policing on campuses, including campus security, to protect student activism and preserve communities of learning.”

ARREST: Students, Tattoos, tooth gems and tarot faculty unsettled by police readings: ASPC hosts first involvement Continued from page 1 sitting on a rock playing a range of loud music, with some songs featuring pro-Palestinian lyrics.

Why the faculty member was cited for trespassing is still unclear.

The Claremont Colleges are an open campus where community members are allowed to pass through, although individual campus policies still apply to visitors.

The day after the arrest, the Intercollegiate Department of Chicanx-Latinx Studies (IDCLS) published a statement via Instagram addressing their colleague’s arrest, echoing a previous, shorter message the department had sent out in the faculty listserv earlier in the day.

In their Thursday statement, IDCLS demanded Pomona take action to dismiss the charges against the faculty member and conduct a thorough investigation of the incident, including the decision to involve law enforcement.

“The charge of ‘trespassing’ even after our colleague was identified as faculty is not only baseless, it is a threatening blow to academic freedom and dialogue,” the statement read. “It is disappointing to see an incident of racial profiling happen in our campus, and against members of our department. It is also unsettling that our rights as an academic community to protest were infringed upon by the police.”

Pomona did not respond to TSL’s inquiries on what the school is doing to address the arrest or whether the school is going to respond to faculty concerns that the arrest might have been racially motivated.

Pomona Chief Communications Officer Mark Kendall told TSL that the school is “not seeking charges” and is looking into additional information.

“Pomona learned of the incident, including the presence of police, after it occurred,” Kendall said via email.

As of Thursday, the faculty member who was arrested said they had not heard from any members of the administration other than one dean offering to check in.

“This is a case of racial discrimination in the workplace, and a formal apology is not enough,” the faculty member said.

“I think there needs to be a

change in policy on how people are treated, especially people of color on the campus. We’re under the veil of being criminals, even if we are professors.”

Pomona professor Tomás Summers Sandoval, who is jointly appointed in the IDCLS and History departments, questioned the need for external police.

“It’s a troubling message that’s sent when police are called to a peaceful protest and then arrest any member of the community — faculty, staff or student — who is being equally peaceful in line with that protest,” Summers Sandoval said.

In his 17 years as a Pomona professor and time as a student at Claremont McKenna College, Summers Sandoval said he has never seen the arrest of a professor before.

Some students and faculty who witnessed the arrest and the events leading up to it told TSL they felt unsettled by the involvement of CPD in the incident, as well as the fact that the professor was arrested.

Carolyn Coyne PO ’25 recorded the arrest on her phone. She said she was biking when she noticed the commotion and the police officers. Coyne said witnessing the arrest also made her worry about the safety of other professors she knows who have similarly expressed their stance on Palestine or other political events.

“I was more worried about what would happen to people who don’t look like me and are in different positions than me,” she said. “I’m a white, short, non-threatening female student — I’m not going to get arrested.”

The Pomona faculty member also said they were concerned their appearance had contributed to how the situation was handled.

“It doesn’t really matter if I have a Ph.D.; I’m still a brown man in America, and I still have a target on my back, so it doesn’t matter how I present myself,” the faculty member said.

Maxine Davey contributed reporting.

Market Friday

EMMA JENSEN • THE STUDENT LIFE On Friday, Nov. 17, ASPC hosted its first Market Friday featuring a variety vendors, many of them offering free goods and services to students.

FIONA HERBOLD On Friday, Nov. 17, ASPC packed Pomona College’s Stover Walk with vendors, ranging from DJs to food trucks to a pop-up tattoo shop. The event, dubbed Market Friday, was the first of its kind hosted by ASPC. ASPC Commissioner of Campus Events Amarachi Aguwa PO ’24 and Vice President of Student Affairs Precious Omomofe PO ’24 created Market Friday and introduced it to Pomona students in an email the week before, advertising “enticing amenities” and calling for student vendors.

According to Omomofe and Aguwa, Market Friday was inspired by a similar event at Spelman College, which Aguwa learned about during a domestic exchange program last spring. The event at Spelman, which occurs nearly every Friday, highlights student vendors and small businesses on campus, as well as community vendors who pay Spelman to come and sell there.

Aguwa noted that a major difference between the events at the two colleges was that Pomona paid vendors to come. The money to pay vendors came out of the

Pomona Events Committee (PEC) budget and cost $20,000, according to Omomofe.

Omomofe explained that because of this budget as well as the generosity of the vendors, many of the services — including tattoos, massages and tarot readings — were offered for free. Some vendors, like those providing tooth gems and permanent jewelry, offered $15 off for the first 50 students that showed up.

“That came from us negotiating with the vendors,” Omomofe said.

“They were really nice. They were willing to work with us and make sure we could give as many discounted prices or free opportunities to as many students as possible.”

Some of the vendors went above and beyond what Aguwa and Omomofe hired them for. The tattoo vendor, Alpha 7 Ink & Arts studio, opened their doors to Pomona students even after the event ended and continued to offer free tattoos.

“They couldn’t get everyone during the duration of the event, and the guy felt bad that people were waiting in line for two hours and didn’t get anything,” Omomofe said. “When I went over, there was a line out the door of just Pomona students.”

Ultimately, Omomofe said, the vendor made sure that people were able to get the tattoos that they wanted, and the last person was tattooed at 11:00 p.m.

As for the future of Market Fridays, Aguwa and Omomofe are hopeful that the event might happen again. They encouraged students to join PEC so that events like these can continue to be held.

“I think a lot of people really enjoyed it,” Omomofe said. “We can have this as often as people are there to help.”

Aguwa highlighted the importance of hosting events like Market Fridays for students to help them unwind and be social.

“It’s a way to destress and get away from academics for a second,” Aguwa said. “Pomona students are very academic focused and that’s great, but we need to have that social aspect.”

Omomofe added that she hoped this event would help build back the Pomona community post-pandemic.

“Getting the community to come out has been a challenge, but I think with Market Friday, everyone with different backgrounds, different races, came out, which was really really nice, and [we saw] that vibrant community that Pomona was two years ago,” Omomofe said.

News

December 1, 2023

PAGE 3

Workers raise concerns about staffing shortages at Pomona dining halls REIA LI This month, staffing shortages at Pomona College dining halls led to the temporary closure of the Coop Fountain. Dining management claims these shortages are the result of excessive staff call-outs, but workers allege that the effects of these shortages have been exacerbated by mismanagement.

Pomona students were first made aware of the effect of these staffing shortages on Nov. 11, when they received an email that Frary Dining Hall would be closed the next day for Sunday breakfast and brunch due to a lack of sufficient staff.

In the email, Jose Martinez, general manager of dining services, told students that the Coop Fountain would also be closed during the following week “to ensure the dining halls [were] sufficiently staffed.”

Last Thursday, Martinez sent another email to Pomona students confirming that the Coop would be closed for the rest of the semester.

Vincent Gamalinda, a cook at Frank Dining Hall who has worked at Pomona for thirteen years, commented on the impact of staffing shortages on campus.

“We don’t even have a dishwasher to wash dishes at Frank in the evening,” he said. “So we use paper plates.”

Edward Mac, who normally works at Café 47, also expressed frustration with these staffing shortages. Mac has previously been denied vacation time because of them.

The contract between Pomona and UNITE HERE! Local 11, the union that represents Pomona’s dining workers, states that workers accrue paid vacation time for their amount of hours worked.

This vacation time can range from around seven to 14 hours a month, depending on how long workers have been at the college.

Mac explained that he has reached the maximum amount of accrued vacation time, meaning that if he doesn’t take time off of work, he won’t accrue any more hours.

“I’ll be losing money at that point,” he said.

In response to concerns about vacation time, Martinez explained that vacation requests are sometimes denied when staffing levels do not meet the needs of the college community, as has been the case this past month. However, he suggested that this denial was rare, saying the college approves an average of 92 percent of requests for vacation time.

Still, some workers like Mac

have continued to express frustration with how management has handled recent staffing shortages.

On Nov. 13, the day after Martinez announced closures at Frary and the Coop, Mac was moved from his normal position at Café 47 to Frank to help cover its vacant positions. He felt that management was unwilling to post vacant positions that might be filled by workers incurring overtime, resulting in this staffing shortage and his move.

According to the union’s contract with the college, if management knows at least eight hours in advance that a position will be vacant, they must post the position on the college’s scheduling system. Employees can then bid on taking the shift, which could potentially result in going into overtime for the week.

Mac alleges that, following recent vacancies, management has failed to follow this procedure, thereby violating this contract.

“Basically, Pomona has said, ‘Instead of posting these posi-

tions and following the contract, we’re just going to close the units,’” Mac said. “They know every single time they post the position, somebody is most likely going to incur overtime, and that’s a problem for Pomona’s budget.”

When asked whether management notified workers about the vacancies at Frank on Nov. 13, Martinez stated that management had not violated the contract between Pomona and the union.

“We follow the guidelines outlined in the collective bargaining agreement,” he said in an email to TSL. However, some workers felt otherwise, echoing Mac’s frustrations with how management handles overtime.

“We have a serious problem with the overtime,” said Shireen Aslan, a Frary worker. “They don’t want to give us overtime.”

Martinez said he was not aware of claims that closing the Coop and re-assigning workers in response to staffing shortages was an attempt to prevent work-

ers from incurring overtime.

Rather, he said that the staffing shortages were the result of a higher-than-normal rate of staff calling out of work.

“The absences we are experiencing revolve around family emergencies, illness…and various types of leave of absence,” Martinez said.

Martinez cited Nov. 12, the day that Frary was closed, as an example. According to Martinez, there were 14 vacant positions at both Frank and Frary, including cooks, cashiers, bakers and custodial workers.

“We experienced an extremely high rate of call-outs on Nov. 12, to the point where we could not safely open both dining halls,” he said.

Pomona dining hall employees are not the only ones who have expressed concern regarding recent staffing shortages; students have begun to take note as well.

This Thursday, the Claremont Student & Worker Alliance (CSWA) released an Instagram post asking students to contact

college administration and urge them to re-open the Coop. CSWA created an email template addressed to Martinez and Robert Robinson, assistant vice president of facilities and campus services, among others.

Brianna Huynh PO ’24, a member of CSWA’s core committee, said the email template is an attempt to stand in solidarity with workers. Huynh said that she is frustrated about what she feels is a lack of communication between administration and students about the closures.

“We were initially as students only told that the Coop would be closed for a week, and now it seems like it’s going to be closed for the rest of the semester,” Huynh said. “We’re hoping that this email template, in a larger campaign of communication with administration, will change the ways in which admin treats student opinion.”

Enoch Kim contributed reporting.

Para leer este artículo en español, visita: tsl.news/escasez-personal

ANDREW YUAN • THE STUDENT LIFE Staffing shortages at Pomona’s dining halls have resulted in the temporary closure of the Coop Fountain, raising concern among employees regarding overtime.

PALESTINE: Pomona organizes ‘Contextualizing the Conflict’ faculty panel Continued from page 1 contextualize the ongoing conflict in Gaza involving Hamas and the Israeli Defense Forces. The office of the dean of Pomona organized the talk, which was held during lunchtime in Frank Dining Hall.

Nucho, Pomona’s anthropology department chair and coordinator of the Middle Eastern Studies major, spoke first, providing an analysis of Palestinian lived experiences since 1948. Boduszyński, an associate professor of politics at Pomona and a former diplomat with the U.S. Department of State, followed. His section of the talk focused on the United States’ role in the conflict.

Nucho began her talk by show-

ing images of mundane moments of Palestinian life in Gaza, such as a young Palestinian girl surfing or boys backflipping off a concrete barrier, taken by documentary photographer Tanya Habjouqa.

Nucho said that she sought to center Palestinian lived experiences through the images in order to better understand the historical roots of the current violence and its impact on Palestinians.

Nucho then jumped back in time to the founding of Israel in 1948, which she said displaced 750,000 Palestinians. She said that this displacement was a colonial project, quoting a 1902 letter in which Zionist founder Theodor Herzl asked former Prime Minis-

ter of the Cape Colony Cecil Rohes to support Israel, which he described as “something colonial.”

Nucho said that in Israel, Palestinians live as second-class citizens, referencing a variety of laws that deny them equal access to housing, water and electricity.

Moving to the current violence, Nucho quoted from several scholars of genocide who have labeled Israel’s assault on Gaza a genocide, including Israeli scholar Raz Segal, who declared the conflict a “textbook case of genocide” in the leftist magazine “Jewish Currents.”

Nucho said that, contrary to media narratives, this framing is not controversial within academic

disciplines she works in, such as Middle Eastern Studies.

Nucho concluded by calling for a permanent ceasefire, seeing it as the most important step toward resolving the conflict. But for people in the audience, she said, the mission of the liberal arts college is to encourage a deeper understanding of the context surrounding the violence.

Boduszyński then began his portion of the talk, opening with a question: Why should the United States care about the state of Israel?

He said that Israel became a close ally of the United States during the Cold War. He also noted American economic inter-

RENEE TIAN • THE STUDENT LIFE

Students have held a series of protests over the past few weeks to push Pomona to divest its endowment from Israeli-supporting companies and weapons manufactures.

ests in Israel — the annual trade between the United States and Israel amounts to nearly $50 billion.

In terms of values, Boduszyński said that although there has been debate over Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, many American presidents have argued that Israel is a democracy and therefore a valuable ally.

Boduszyński then gave a brief overview of the history of different presidents’ support for Israel, beginning with President Harry Truman in the 1940s and ending with President Joe Biden. He noted that Biden has always been firm in his support of the state, although Biden did rebuke Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over recent efforts to undermine the power of Israel’s Supreme Court.

Boduszyński concluded by discussing U.S. aid to Israel. Since World War II, the United States has provided the most aid to Israel of any foreign country. It has also used its veto power in the UN Security Council to block resolutions critical of Israel 34 times.

Boduszyński suggested this aid gives the United States leverage to restrain Israel’s response in the current conflict, although he noted that there is a debate within the U.S. government about whether or not unconditional aid is actually in the best interests of the United States.

In an interview with TSL via email, Boduszyński said that he wanted to communicate that although the United States supports Israel, “it is also a highly complicated relationship in which the [United States] and Israel have differed sharply at times.”

He also pushed back against the idea that an event like the talk must be inherently “pro-Israel” or “pro-Palestinian.”

“One can be for the existence of Israel and for its security and also for the dignity and security of the Palestinian people,” he said.

Renee Tian contributed reporting.

Arts & Culture

PAGE 4 FASHION BIBLE

December 1, 2023

HIDDEN GEMS

Dressing for comfort?

More like dressing for failure ELIZAVETA GORELIK Every morning, I get up two hours before my first class to prepare for the day. I take my time lathering my face in lotions and potions. I browse my wardrobe for the perfect combination of apparel, footwear and accessories.

I pick out complimentary jewelry, grab a matching bag, a spritz of perfume — and I’m out the door.

Here I am, making my way through the sleepy morning campus.

I’m looking and feeling great. But what am I met with when I enter my 10 a.m. French class? Downcast faces covered by the hoods of dirty track team hoodies pulled over unruly hair, pajama trousers, mismatched socks and slides, or even worse — Crocs.

Why do students and professors alike accept that their classmates can show up in whatever they rolled out of bed in five minutes ago? And more importantly, why is no one calling them out?

Let me provide a disclaimer: I completely understand that college is hard, especially with many students struggling with mental health challenges that affect one’s ability to put in effort into their appearance.

This is not the student that I aim to target here. I am speaking to those who simply don’t care about their appearance, who believe that it doesn’t influence anything and that thinking about it is pointless. Nor am I arguing that everyone should wake up hours before their class to doll up like me.

First of all, let’s dissect why an average student may decide to turn up to class looking like they haven’t seen a ray of sunshine. You probably went to bed late after grinding on that one assignment before, of course, browsing Tik Tok for at least half an hour. In the morning, you really want to maximize your time in your warm, toasty bed, so you wait until the last possible moment to get up and get going. You finally unveil the swarm of blankets to reveal your outfit of the day. You guessed it — pajamas and Birkenstocks! And there you go, waddling your way to your 8 a.m., with swarms of others just like you, fitted up in your cocoons of laziness.

Now let’s dig into how a start to the day like this affects not just your day but your entire life.

First of all, what tone does this kind of outfit set in a learning environment? Your teachers have put in time and effort to curate a lecture that will hopefully teach you something.

You and your classmates have hypothetically put in a lot of work for the class, and you’re ready to learn more. Do you really think that by wearing your pajamas you are paying respect to your professors and your classmates?

Not only are you disrespecting and harming those around you with your monstrosity of an outfit, but most of all, you are hurting yourself. Is your best learning really going to take place five minutes after you have opened your eyes, in the clothes that you slept in for seven-plus hours? I say no.

One of the main reasons why I like taking so long to get ready in the morning is because of the time spent to mentally prepare myself for the day — to lay in bed for a while and stretch, to wash my face, to sit at my table and do my makeup, reflecting on the previous day and listening to music. By the time that I set foot in the classroom, I am already wide awake and ready to go.

Now think about how a habit like this will affect your life after college. You will most likely get a job, which will probably have some sort of dress code, no matter how loose it is. Surely it’s best to practice these habits in college, before you are in a professional setting where an unprofessional appearance can cost you your job?

I truly believe that the amount of effort that you put into your appearance affects your life in significant ways. And the most confusing part of this whole thing is that it really doesn’t take much time or effort to get into the habit of dressing up. Just wake up ten minutes earlier. Force yourself to get out of bed and throw on some jeans and a shirt. I’m not asking you to catwalk down a runway here, just to ditch the pajamas.

At the end of the day, do I really care what you look like in class? Not really (mainly because I’m paying attention to the lecture on account of my put-togetherness). However, I think that implementing this habit into your daily life could help you in ways you couldn’t even imagine, and I want to inspire you to try it out, even if it’s just for one day.

Elizaveta (Lisa) Gorelik CM’25 is from Moscow, Russia. If you ever see her in her pajamas at Collins late night snack, it doesn’t count…

QUINN NACHTRIEB • THE STUDENT LIFE

‘My Government Means to Kill Me’ charts political and sexual awakening amidst the AIDS crisis

SASHA MATTHEWS • THE STUDENT LIFE

NATALIE ORTIZ From 1981 to 1990, over 100,000 people — most of them gay men — died from AIDS in the United States. Rasheed Newson’s “My Government Means to Kill Me” is a work of historical fiction set during this epidemic.

Eighteen-year-old Trey is the child of two wealthy, image-conscious former Black Panthers who disapprove of his effeminate behavior. He leaves his privileged life behind to move to New York, where he learns to fend for himself, gets involved in the local gay community and becomes an activist. He organizes a rent strike against his slum landlord and later joins ACT UP, a grassroots organization formed in response to the government’s indifference to the AIDS crisis.

“My Government Means to Kill Me” is an engaging, fast-paced read that I finished in two sittings. I most enjoyed its description of Trey’s adventures in the gay underground as he embraces his sexuality.

Newson is excellent at characterization; everyone is memorable with a clearly defined personality. My favorite character was Angie, a short-tempered butch lesbian who runs a hospice for gay men dying of AIDS and whose gruff exterior belies her compassionate nature. She and Trey become good friends: “Angie and I would bicker with growing affection for one another as we bathed infirm men, removed soiled bedsheets or pressed cool, damp washcloths to burning foreheads.”

I should note that Trey is recounting his life as an activist

decades later. I’m not a huge fan of this decision, since it gives him a moral clarity that I found dull.

Take, for example, this excerpt, after Trey mentions the government shutting down bathhouses: “Sex is a desire as natural and strong as hunger. The government should have been pouring resources into efforts to develop drugs that helped those infected survive and that prevented the spread of HIV to those who were not infected.”

I do wish the events were narrated as they happened, since people living during times of crises and political turmoil often may not see a clear way out.

Some activists believed gay men were partially responsible for the epidemic due to their promiscuity. This is not an opinion I agree with, but I think it would have been more interesting to engage with these different viewpoints, to have Trey struggle with what he thinks should be done, instead of having him tell us what the correct takeaway and solution were.

I also took issue with the footnotes used to explain references — there were a lot of them, and they were distracting. Do we really need footnotes explaining who Prince and Ronald Reagan were?

These explanations weren’t limited to footnotes. Trey meets Bayard Rustin in a bathhouse and describes him: “He’d sat alongside Martin Luther King Jr. at countless strategy meetings for the Civil Rights Movement, and Rustin would be a household name but for his open homosexuality, which included an arrest record for ‘engaging in public sex,’ and his ties to communist and socialist ideologies. He was scrubbed from

mainstream African American history and consigned to be a minor notable of the Gay Rights Movement.” The prose here read like a school report and clashed with the rest of the book.

This brings me to my next criticism: the usage of historical figures as fictional characters. I’m not opposed to it in theory, but the way it’s done here rubs me the wrong way.

Rustin is portrayed as a chipper mentor who introduces Trey to gay culture and leftist organizing.

There is no mention of his later turn towards conservative politics and no real interest in him as the complicated person he was, just in his significance as a gay civil rights leader.

Larry Kramer, the notoriously sharp-tongued founder of ACT UP, also appears in the novel. He chooses Trey to represent ACT UP at a rally and defends this decision to the other members: “He’s wilier than you think, and he’s got something you and I lack, Dylan. Trey is naturally likable.” I felt weird about the choice to include a real activist in a book and then make him praise the fictional protagonist for being more likable. It felt self-congratulatory.

I had mixed feelings about “My Government Means to Kill Me.” I enjoyed some parts while others frustrated and irritated me. I think it would most appeal to those interested in gay history, but if you are interested in gay history, you likely already know and agree with much of what the book says, which makes the footnotes and didacticism redundant.

I respect that Newson centered black gay men in a narrative about AIDS, and he’s good at holding a reader’s attention, but his desire to write fiction and his desire to educate don’t always mesh.

We are all ‘Anon(ymous)’: The power of representation in Pomona’s final show of the semester DYLAN ZULUETA Blue light rippled across a pile of clothes, creating ocean waves on the stage of Pomona College’s Seaver Theater. An unnamed teenager broke the silence, opening the play.

“Where I come from is far away from here.”

“Anon(ymous),” a play directed by Sylvia Cervantes Blush, ran for six shows from November 16 to 18 on the mainstage at Seaver Theater. Naomi Iizuka, the playwright, adapted Homer ’s “The Odyssey” to tell the story of a refugee finding his way back to his mom after they were separated by a storm during the journey to the United States.

The main character, who goes

by Koo Ri, Nobody and Lan at different points throughout the play, is lost and confused about his past and identity.

Meanwhile, his mother Nemasani has found work in a sweatshop. The manager of the sweatshop, Mr. Mackus, wants to force her to marry him.

At the end of the play, the main character rediscovers his name, revealing the meaning of the play’s title. His name is Anonymous (Anon). With the help of a family who takes him in and vanquishes Mr. Mackus, he remembers his past and finds his mom.

Dark, contrasting patches on his outfit visually represented

Anon’s journey to his mom and his efforts to claim his identity. Costume designer Monica French described the process that went into the play’s visual language and storytelling.

“Conceptually, I wanted to illustrate the mother/son relationship through the use of negative space, which was apparent on Anon the whole show and revealed on Nemasani’s costume at the end,” French said.

“When Anon and Nemasani are reunited, the ‘void’ in both costumes would complete each other – they would find their missing part.”

By the end of the play, Anon has returned home, reunited with his mom and remembered his past. According to attendee Charles Brainin PO ’27, the play’s catharsis came not only from Anon coming home but from him finding his voice.

“I thought the piece about how they were all anonymous and he is [Anon(ymous)] was a very powerful part of the play,” Brainin said.

In telling a story of a refugee, the play identifies with those who are nameless and oppressed in American society. Jadyn Iinuma HM ’26, who played Nemasani, expanded on this key theme of the show.

“The play is … about giving humanity and voice to a group that American society oppress-

SARAH ZIFF • THE STUDENT LIFE Perrin Hinds PZ ’26 (left) and Aydin Mallery PZ ’24 (right) perform in “Anony(mous),” a play depicting the refugee experience in America.

es,” Iinuma said. ”For audiences to walk away with this idea that there’s humanity in each person … It’s a powerful message to look at people who are in completely different walks of life.”

For the cast and crew, it was critical to acknowledge the play’s potential for appropriating a refugee’s experience, while also attempting to do it justice. Aydin Mallery PZ ’24, who played Anon, discussed how the pro-

duction wanted to represent its characters’ stories respectfully.

“The world is in a crisis,” Mallery said. “There are multiple wars going on and that was something we had a lot of conversations about … because we never wanted to ignore that, and I think I really wished to give voices to those people, while also being respectful … The work that we did in preparation for that was based on empathy.”

To have these tough conversations, Blush explained she wanted to prioritize creating a welcoming environment for experimentation and growth.

“I learned to give space for actors to talk to me … It’s ok to say you’re sorry and even as a leader you’re going to make mistakes …

I felt room to do that,” Blush said.

Part of this safe space stemmed from the diversity of the cast.

Malena Rivera PO ’24 felt a sense of solidarity and comfort working with fellow international students and people of color. Rivera plays Naja, the goddess who guides Anon on his journey.

“I’m not used to working with people [for whom] English is their second language as well,” Rivera said. “Being in that community felt very rewarding and just like at home. We were all open to making mistakes … It just felt like a very safe space to play around with the characters that we had and learn from each other.”

For Mallery, “Anon(ymous)” not only gave voice to its characters but also created a space for the cast and the audience to feel seen and heard.

“There’s so much meaning in representation,” Mallery said.

“I hope for those who have seen the show, I hope that they come away… knowing that there’s space in this theater department and there’s space in theater, in the world, for our stories to be told.”

December 1, 2023

Arts & Culture

PAGE 5

Algorithms and organisms: Ken Rinaldo’s artistic exploration of technology and living systems ANANYA VINAY For Ken Rinaldo, art that utilizes and explores the broader impacts of technology can offer insights about the living world surrounding us.

On Nov. 17, the Benton Museum of Art invited Rinaldo to speak on his work, which integrates technology and art to illuminate the connectedness of natural living systems.

Rinaldo is an internationally recognized artist who creates interactive installations combining living organisms with algorithms and robotics. His work fuses technological systems with living systems to realize visions of sustained interaction between the digital and natural realms.

At the Benton, Rinaldo presented a talk titled, “From Visible Lenses to Algorithmic Lenses: Biotechnology Meets Contemporary Art.” He discussed a series of his works over the last several years and described his creative process. The talk concluded with a workshop where participants created microbial self-portraits.

During the talk, Rinaldo described his unconventional pathway to becoming an artist.

“I studied ballet in New York for many years,” Rinaldo said.

“My mom convinced me to come to California to get an education … I went to work in galleries … and was making my own [artwork] at home.”

Eventually, he chose to focus

on interactive art related to natural systems. One of his early works, “The Flock,” was a group of musical interactive sound sculptures that exhibit similar behavior to animals that live in flocks. His later work interrogated the role of technologies such as AI in analyzing animal behavior.

Another of his works, “Augmented Fish Reality,” explored interspecies and trans-species communication. Betta fish swam in robotic fish bowls, activating robots when reacting to the human viewer’s gaze. Rinaldo noted the surprising intelligence of betta fish.

“Human participants get a sense … of being immersed in the fish … They’re bred for fighting, but I didn’t want them to fight.”

Rinaldo’s use of four infrared sensors ensured that the fish controlled the robots.

“It has to do with system contribution, emergence and evolution … [Sensors] allow the sculpture to display both attraction and repulsive behaviors,” Rinaldo said. “The overall speed of reaction is rapid as in daily life.”

Many attendees were students from the “Viral Cultures” course at Harvey Mudd College, taught by the event organizer Claire Nettleton. Attendee James Nicholson HM ’24, a student in this course, found this work particularly fascinating.

ROM-COM IN REVIEW

‘Palm Springs’ and cosmic emptiness

“I think that the case where the fish were controlling [the robots] was really cool,” Nicholson said. “It was surprising that someone would think of this but also intuitive.”

Next, he discussed his piece “Opera for Dying Insects,” which touched on the impact of the current insect extinction.

He used an AI system to turn the sounds of pill bugs into tragic opera songs.

A t t e n d e e C a e t a n d o Perez-Merchant HM ’24 reflected on the issue Rinaldo illuminated.

“I was surprised by how

KIMBERLY MURILLO • THE STUDENT LIFE Ken Rinaldo spoke about his recent work on Nov. 17 at the Benton Museum of Art.

NADIA HSU “Palm Springs” (2020) takes place at a wedding in — according to the film’s writer, Andy Siara — “the cosmic emptiness of the desert.” The setting is more apt for a “Twilight Zone” episode or post-apocalyptic road trip than a rom-com: Joshua trees cut into a big sky, yellow sand feeds into yellow cliffs and the ground is cracked open by an earthquake within the first minute. It’s a fantasy land that fractures more and more as the movie progresses.

The two leads exemplify wedding guest apathy. Sarah (Cristin Milloti) is the sister of the bride, plagued by a mysterious guilt and not very happy to be stuck with her family on this day of joy. Her cynicism is matched only by Nyles (Andy Samberg), insignificant boyfriend of a bridesmaid, who is the kind of person to wear Hawaiian shirts and be played

by Andy Samberg.

The twist, which isn’t really a twist because it’s in the trailer, is that Nyles is trapped, in his words, in “one of those time loop situations you might’ve heard about.” His comedic apathy comes from his belief that to not go insane he must “embrace the fact that nothing matters” — to buy into the meaningless so firmly that it becomes a comfort.

And, after she follows Nyles into an unexplained spooky glowing cave in the desert, Sarah is stuck in the loop too.

Nyles and Sarah wake up in this paradise — the oasis of Palm Springs, on the happy wedding day — over and over again. It’s an exhausting cycle and, even dressed up with fun montages, a surprisingly heavy one for a rom-com. What do you do when nothing you do matters?

In “Groundhog Day” (1993), the original time loop movie and an obvious inspiration for “Palm Springs,” the endless days served as a comedic device to teach Bill Murray’s asshole character that it’s worthwhile to be a good person. Some of that moral remains in “Palm Springs” — obligations to other people as an antithesis to mind-numbing nihilism — but Nyles and Sarah are just too staunchly cynical for a simple lesson-learned hero’s arc.

Here, the time-bending setup brushes up against an apocalyptic spirit, an end-of-everything wildness. It’s a weird situation but “Palm Springs” is a weird movie, one that doesn’t shy away from the absurdity of its world but instead plays it for laughs: hallucinated dinosaurs, flimsy quantum physics, earthquakes and magic caves. Even visually, the sprawling desert setting belies

an otherworldliness. Nyles and Sarah, in the middle stretch of the film, live with a devil-may-care attitude as if the world is burning.

In the beginning minutes of the movie, before Sarah has been roped into the time loop, Nyles gives a toast to the bride and groom. “We may be born lost. But now you are found,” he serenades with theatrical sentimentality, mocking the whole day in a way that only Sarah picks up on.

“Palm Springs” isn’t proselytizing in the least, but this line is nearly identical to one in the hymn “Amazing Grace;” Nyles’ speech has all the makings of a sermon. The feeling of some larger all-encompassing, powerful and uncontrollable thing — “Here you are standing on the precipice of something so much bigger than anyone here,” he says to the happy couple.

After “Groundhog Day” came out, viewers of faiths from Buddhism to Christianity interpreted the plot as a demonstration of spirituality. The endless regenerations of samsara; the chance to improve yourself unto ultimate perfection; life after death; endless repeated apocalypse. Neither “Groundhog Day” or “Palm Springs” were intended as religious, but it’s an understandable interpretation.

Here we’re reminded of the uncontrollable, mysterious force driving the narrative forward: whatever happened to create the time loop and the freaky glowing cave. As “Palm Springs” progresses and Nyles and Sarah delve further into carelessness, so do we: even just watching their lives becomes claustrophobic, exhausting. It’s like living the last minute before the world ends over and over again.

So what do they do? What to do as the world ends, and ends, and ends? Well, without spoiling anything, “Palm Springs” is still a rom-com. There is still a romcom ending.

Something switches. Nyles and Sarah, at different times, decide to not act as if nothing matters. “I think that life should be shared now,” Nyles realizes, in a big last-minute rom-com-style confession of love. The comfort of the meaningless and absurd and destructive is replaced with a comfort in just being together.

For everything philosophical, meta and existential that “Palm Springs” thinks about, in the end it’s just two people who choose to be together.

types of bacteria found on dollar bills … so I decided to look at [the currency] of conflict nations and grow bacteria in them or just put them in liquid agar.”

Finally, he displayed AI-authored drawings trained on images of biological networks. One of these vibrant images humanized the cell and provided a three-dimensional perspective on the labor involved in large-scale cellular functioning.

“I thought stable biological networks can be causal information and machine networks,” Rinaldo said. “Once the drawings were done … it reminded me of the images in the training set … and the words themselves allowed them to evolve the verbs, and this is [the result] they gave me.”

Following the talk, Rinaldo held a workshop where participants created microbial self-portraits by bringing three personal objects and pressing them into a petri dish to create a record. The participants used everything from currency to Taylor Swift memorabilia for this project.

Rinaldo emphasized the intertwined nature of integrating scientific and artistic perspectives in our daily lives.

“When you look at Nobel Laureates, most of them have some experience in the arts,” Rinaldo said. “The most dangerous scientists are the ones that look at close slivers without an open mind, but I think scientists are extremely creative beings.”

APIDA brings Night Market to the Claremont Community BECCA CHOE

SASHA MATTHEWS • THE STUDENT LIFE

much insects are slowly being destroyed and all the different effects that can [have] … I feel a bit more aware and concerned about the situation,” Perez-Merchant said.

In his work “Borderless Bacteria, Colonialist Cash,” Rinaldo cast bacteria growth as analogous to colonization.

“I realized that bacteria are the original colonizers … and developing monetary systems are an expression of how nations feel about themselves,” Rinaldo said. “I was interested in an article that talked about the 3000

At the 5C Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Night Market on Nov. 19, crowds of students gathered to enjoy foods made by APIDA affinity groups and organizations across the 5Cs. Located in the open field of Walker Beach at Pomona College, tabled booths were set up in two rows as students across the consortium lined up with stamp cards. From popcorn chicken to onigiri, students tried foods from all across the Asia-Pacific continent. Typical of a traditional Asian night market, the 5C Night Market was packed and bustling.

The Night Market was organized by the Taiwanese American Student Association (TASA). It was their second year hosting this event since returning to campus after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Last fall, we hosted the first night market since the pandemic began,” Jennifer Hu SC ’24, co-President of TASA, said. “Before, it was a yearly tradition.”

The night market was a collaboration of 12 student clubs across the consortium and funds from the event were donated to Maui fire relief and Gaza medical relief.

Hu explained the cultural history and context of night markets in Taiwan.

“Night markets are most

well known for xiaochi, a category of food translating to ‘small eats,’” Hu said. “They are usually in small portions and enjoyed in informal settings.”

TASA, along with many other APIDA affinity groups, set up booths where students could try all different types of Asian-Pacific foods. Organizations such as the Korean Student Association (KSA), Hui Laule’a (5C Hawai’i Club) and more participated.

The Hui Laule’a booth served hurricane popcorn, gummy bear mixes, spam musubi and P.O.G. (passion fruit, orange, guava) juice. Caitlin Niiya PZ ’26, one of the group’s co-Presidents, described her experiences tabling at the night market.

“It was really nice to see so many people show up for the APIDA night market because I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much Asian representation and support in Claremont,” Niiya said.

KSA served jumoekbap (Korean rice balls) and ssoteok ssoteok (sausage and rice cake skewers) at their booth. Zoe Park PZ ’26, a KSA board member, expressed her favorite part of the event – seeing the reactions of students trying jumoekbap or ssoteok ssoteok.

“It’s fun to see people at the night market … come up and [get] so excited about trying our food,” Park said. “They’d never heard of it, but they were so excited to try it.”

Attendee Emily Lee PZ ’26

described the experience of sharing Asian food with the APIDA community at the Claremont Colleges.

“Having an APIDA night market means having more authentic Asian food than [what’s available in] the dining halls,” Lee said. “It’s nice to get to know people and bond over food.”

Throughout the event, student groups performed dances and musical numbers. Claremont Tamasha performed a Tamasha dance number and Claremont Colleges Shogo Taiko performed a musical set with traditional Japanese percussion instruments.

“I grew up going to a lot of Japanese and Okinawan festivals and a lot of times people would perform Taiko,” Niiya said. “So it just brought me back to childhood memories.”

Alongside these strong cultural moments, the night market became a strong place of community for Claremont students.

Attendee Evelyn Hao PO ’27 reflected on what the event meant for her as an Asian student at the 5Cs and the value it holds within the Claremont community.

“To me, coming from a super white town in Pennsylvania, the night market represented the diversity of Southern California,” Hao said. “It was so amazing to see so many cultures openly displayed with pride and seeing how many people came out to attend, including non-Asian people, made me feel so much more comfortable.”

COURTESY: 5C HAWAI’I CLUB The 5C Hawai’i Club shared their food with the Claremont Community as a vendor at the APIDA Night Market.

Arts & Culture

PAGE 6

Scripps welcomes yogi Jessamyn Stanley to campus PETER DIEN On Thursday, Nov. 16, Scripps Presents hosted author, yoga teacher, entrepreneur and advocate Jessamyn Stanley to speak at Balch Auditorium. Stanley is the co-founder of The Underbelly, “an inclusive digital wellness experience featuring yoga classes … and a curated collection of products,” according to her website.

Her speech promoted representation in wellness, the power of individuality in community settings and the necessity of disrupting dominant narratives.

Paired with a visual presentation, Stanley also offered a re-articulation of the book “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom” by Don Miguel Ruiz. The four agreements, which are “be impeccable with your word, don’t take anything personally, don’t make assumptions and always do your best,” resonated with the audience of parents, students and members of the broader Claremont community.

“In [The Four Agreements], Don Miguel Ruiz [explains] that all of life is a collective dream that we’re all having together, with agreed upon rules that were agreed upon before we were even born,” Stanley said. “Thinking of the dream of the planet helps me understand that there are dominant narratives in our society that are a part of that dream.”

After finishing the section about “The Four Agreements,” Stanley emphasized the importance of one’s ancestry to their individual wellness, especially in a world which she regards as consumed with intergenerational trauma and complexities of parent-child relationships. “[Your lineage] tells you … [how] you were primed to understand … your reality,” Stanley said.

“It helps you understand how deep within and how far back those dominant narratives go.”

Stanley consistently connected the themes of the “Dominant Narrative” and “The Four Agreements” to promote the subjective human experience and ability of the individual to disrupt the dominant narratives they inherited. She implored the audience to close their eyes and think of a time when each audience member was the “only”

in order to craft her idea of the human experience as that of simultaneous interconnectedness and isolation.

As the speech continued, Stanley articulated several philosophical concepts that informed her path to wellness along with the path she hopes others will continue on. She spoke of her upbringing as a queer Black woman, articulated by her as being the “only,” and attending a predominantly white institution.

To Stanley, her experiences of marginalization and the lack of representation — both in her college experience and the wellness space —are fundamentally linked to her self-education on how to become a “disruption.”

“I derived great power from being the ‘only,’” Stanley said. “It was very lonely, very scary, and it made me doubt myself constantly.

But it also gave me an opportunity to unequivocally look within myself for validation. I could either believe the dominant narrative or look within myself. I chose and continue to choose to be the disruption.”

Elita Kutateli SC ’26 felt connected to Stanley’s personal path to disruption and self-acceptance.

She believed in her message of recognizing self-representation, personal identity and lived experiences in order to pursue a path of self-acceptance and institutional reform, especially for the

wellness community.

“Intersectionality, especially in wellness, is really important because … accessible practices and love and support are the overall goals of wellness,” Kutateli said. “Wellness speakers are predominantly white, so it is important to go back to the roots of community and support.”

Reese Rutherford SC ’26 resonated with the messages of self-love and recognition of personal traumas described by Stanley.

“I loved her metaphor of comparing the self to the celestial body and us living with other people being other celestial bodies in our galaxy,” Rutherford said. “This talk gave me good ways to center myself and it was just nice to sit, listen and be mindful in the moment.”

Briana N. Salmon, a Black yogi in the wellness community, discovered the Scripps Presents event from Eventbrite after following Stanley’s work for years.

“When you’re driven, we have purpose and focus and direction, but by going inward we must … figure out how to reattach … to healthier, more balanced, outward expressions,” Salmon said. “I definitely do feel more clarity, mostly because I have been working on mindfulness for the past few years … the talk has helped me reconsider what I’m here to work on today.”

December 1, 2023

Breaking the ‘bubble’ in Human Centered Design with local artist Jocelyn Mulgado ELLIE URFRIG The ‘Claremont bubble’ is a trope every Claremont student likely resonates with. However, the Human Centered Design (HCD) final project prompt provided students with a unique opportunity to burst the bubble we know, love and (occasionally) need to break.

For our final project, we were challenged to design an avenue of meaningful community engagement for the newly opened Pomona College Community Engagement Center (PCCEC) located in downtown Pomona.

After multiple interviews with locals, my group discovered two things. First, many students in the city of Pomona are seeking artistic outlets. Second, the only bilingual newspaper in the city is geared toward people ages 40 and up.

To support students interested in journalism, we imagine a future where the PCCEC offers writing, artistic and design oriented workshops that Claremont Colleges students could aid or lead.

As excited as we were about these ideas, we needed to ensure that the city of Pomona youth felt the same. So, our group sent out a message to organizations and schools, calling for written or artistic submissions. Much to our delight, local artist Jocelyn Mulgado felt called to share her artwork.

We hope that Mulgado’s art is the first of many community contributions to TSL. Our group learned that creativity can break the social barriers within the ‘bubble’ and connect people in the process. We hope TSL readers are moved by Mulgado’s paintings and perhaps even inspired to break their ‘bubble’ and visit her gallery opening next semester.

Artist statement:

COURTESY: DAVID TORRALVA Jessamyn Stanley signs books while speaking to student at Scripps Presents.

21-year-old Jocelyn Mulgado is a local artist based in the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County.

She is currently studying at Azusa Pacific University for her BFA in Fine Arts, with an emphasis in Drawing and Painting, and will graduate in the spring of 2024.

Jocelyn has also been a proud employee of Pomona’s dA Center

COURTESY: JOCELYN MULGADO

for the Arts since the summer of 2023, where she helps with exhibitions and teaching. Her work emphasizes her Chicana culture, background and Christianity. Her first solo show Dreams, Reality and Nightmares Coexist will have its grand opening Feb. 27, 2024 at Azusa Pacific University’s Duke Gallery from 6-8 p.m., and will run until Mar. 22, 2024.

FILM FILES

HORROR HOUR

The plague of marketability Great films in 90 minutes or less in holiday horror HANNAH ELIOT

ANNA PETERSON As we head toward the winter holidays, I was sad to say goodbye to the barrage of horror movies that came out this past year. However, as I settled in to watch “Priscilla” at the Laemmle Claremont 5 and take a much-needed break from my horror fanaticism, I was shocked to see the trailer for “Thanksgiving” (2023) on the screen.

Starring TikTok Influencer Addison Rae and “Grey’s Anatomy” heartthrob Patrick Dempsey, the movie follows an ax-wielding murderer who takes revenge following a deadly Black Friday riot. Upon seeing the trailer, I initially felt intrigued. I wondered why Eli Roth, director of torture porn film franchise “Hostel,” would produce a movie of this nature. Considering his past work, it seemed totally uncharacteristic for Roth to make a film with a campy tagline like “This Thanksgiving, there will be NO LEFTOVERS.” So, why holiday horror? To answer this question, it may be best to look at “Krampus” (2015), the first of its kind since “Halloween” (1978) to fully embrace the sub-genre. Based on ancient European folklore, the movie draws from the tale of Krampus, a horned beast who punishes naughty children during Christmas. Directed by Michael Dougherty, the film follows a dysfunctional family as they band together to fight off the monstrous Krampus.

With some visually stunning scenes and a coherent plot, the film earned a 66 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and garnered $61.5 million at the box office.

Despite its gory nature, the movie has a fairly family-friendly lesson. It warns audiences to understand the true meaning of Christmas — to spend time with, cherish and forgive our families.

The film hones in this message from the beginning with an opening scene of angry Black Friday shoppers

pummeling one another for discounted televisions and children crying on Santa’s lap to Bing Crosby’s “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.”

Yet Dougherty’s criticism of Christmas consumerism seems a bit hypocritical when we consider the nature of holiday horror. I mean, there’s a reason why “Krampus” was released in December and not in the middle of April. These films are meant to be marketable.

In fact, I would argue that many directors who capitalize on holiday horror prioritize marketability over the integrity of their work. While not necessarily bad, “Krampus” is a one-time watch. Aside from its holiday-themed ambiance, the movie fails to distinguish itself from other high-budget horror productions.

It’s far from a cult classic, and it’s hard to imagine new viewers tuning in anytime besides December.

Further, holiday horror serves as a distinct sub-genre that garners a diverse audience. Viewers who typically avoid scary movies may feel more inclined to watch “Krampus” or “Thanksgiving” solely for their thematic ties to the holiday season.

Despite my criticism, I don’t believe holiday horror is an inherently flawed genre — I actually think it has a lot of potential. However, instead of focusing on its marketability, directors and producers should challenge themselves to create a movie that holds up across all seasons. If you want to make a holiday horror work, I should be able to watch it at any point without feeling totally out of place.

So, a note to all filmmakers: Make a holiday horror that transcends calendar daters and resonates year-round.

As college students, we are all short on time. I often find myself hovering, about to start a movie, only to convince myself that I have other things to do instead — a thesis to write, friends to see, laundry to do. But when I do carve out the time to watch a film, I almost always come away with something new, something that expands my view on things and makes sacrificing those two extra hours in the library more than worth it.

If you’re overwhelmed like me but still want to fit a film into your daily routine, this list is for you. The following films are all 90 minutes or less, promising a brief but worthwhile viewing experience.

“Paris is Burning” (1990)

“Paris Is Burning” is a groundbreaking documentary that offers a vibrant portrayal of the African American and Latinx drag-ball scene in Harlem during the 1980s.

Filmed over seven years, it provides a close-up view of this dynamic subculture, focusing on the competitive yet supportive environment of rival fashion ‘houses’ within the drag-ball scene. Director Jennie Livingston explores the intense competitions for trophies and the role of house mothers who provide crucial support in a world marked by homophobia, transphobia, racism, AIDS and poverty.

Featuring legendary figures such as voguers, drag queens and trans women like Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey and Venus Xtravaganza, “Paris Is Burning” celebrates the art of voguing, the power of creative expression and the importance of community.

The film is a time capsule for a rich, distinctive moment in New York City’s cultural history.

“Tomboy” (2018)

BELLA PETTENGILL • THE STUDENT LIFE

Céline Sciamma’s second feature, “Tomboy,” is an intimate and moving exploration of childhood gender nonconformity. The film follows the story of ten-year-old Laure (Zoé Héran) who relocates to the suburbs and decides to present as a boy named Mikael when interacting with the local children.

Mikael catches the attention of the group’s leader, Lisa (Jeanne Disson), who is taken with the new arrival.

The film unfolds as Laure/Mikael learns to code-switch between their life at home with family and their interactions with neighborhood friends, including an innocent, childish romance with Lisa.

BELLA PETTENGILL • THE STUDENT LIFE

“Tomboy” reminds me of the unself-conscious, non-judgmental ease with which bonds are formed as children. Mikael’s initial nerves keep them on the edge of the group, but as soon as they realize that the other boys think nothing of their presence, they find themself easily assimilated into the pack of kids. As we grow older, particularly during our teenage years, friendships become far more contentious; guards go up, walls are built and identity is often sacrificed for the sake of fitting in. The ease with which Mikael finds themself accepted by their new friends enables them to feel more confident in their gender expression, casting off their shirt during a game of football and any sense of doubt in their place in the world with it.

“Lover’s Rock” (2020) Filled with the intoxicating sounds of reggae, dub and Lovers Rock, the second film in Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” series unfolds over the course of one night into dawn in early-1980s West London, as a young woman (Amarah-Jae St. Aubyn) sneaks out to attend a house party. As rhythms pulse from a homemade sound system, romance sparks on the dance floor, and the house, for a moment, provides a sanctuary from the outside world.

Aided by the sensual cinematography of Shabier Kirchner, McQueen shows us an exhilarating moment of Black joy amidst the backdrop of a society historically bent on stifling it.

“Beau Travail” (1990) In her visually arresting adaptation of Herman Melville’s “Billy Budd, Sailor,” French director Claire Denis solidifies her position as one of the greatest living directors and pos-

sibly my favorite of all time. Against the backdrop of Djibouti’s deep blue waters and sun-drenched desert landscapes, the film follows a French Foreign Legion sergeant (Denis Lavant) whose infatuation with a striking young recruit (Grégoire Colin) unfolds over the course of their training.

Denis, alongside cinematographer Agnès Godard, weaves together themes of military and masculine codes of honor, the lingering impact of colonialism, destructive jealousy and repressed desire. These are brought to life through stunning and hypnotic imagery, culminating in one of the most remarkable and unforgettable endings in contemporary cinema.

“Stop Making Sense” (1984) Rounding out this list is another documentary — Jonathan Demme’s “Stop Making Sense.” In this concert film at the Hollywood Pantages Theatre in 1983, Demme skillfully captures the dynamic energy and artistry of the band Talking Heads.

The film begins with the band’s frontman, David Byrne, appearing solo on an empty stage with just an acoustic guitar. As the performance unfolds, he is gradually joined by bassist Tina Weymouth, drummer Chris Frantz, keyboardist Jerry Harrison and a group of backup singers. Together, they deliver renditions of the band’s popular hits, culminating in a memorable performance featuring Byrne donning an oversized suit. Whether or not you are a Talking Heads fan, it is hard not to find joy in this film.

Byrne’s performance alone is a full movie in itself.

From the vibrant drag-ball scene of 1980s Harlem in “Paris is Burning” to the pulsating rhythms of reggae in “Lover’s Rock,” these films are testaments to the idea that sometimes, less is more.

Opinions

December 1, 2023

PAGE 7

The 5Cs need to fix their professor review system ROWAN GRAY If you’re anything like me, you probably spent more time than you’d care to admit looking at Rate My Professor reviews during class registration week.

But I want you to close your eyes for a second and imagine someth i n g. I ma gi n e a wo r l d where you had all the information you could ever want about your classes at the touch of a button. Where the only thing that stood between you and a perfect schedule was your late registration time. Doesn’t that just sound a lot better than what you’re doing now?

Professors at the Claremont Colleges have a massive impact on the classes you take, with control over the syllabi, the classroom environment, the grading p o l i c i e s a n d t h e c u r ve . A n d because we have such a lovely, diverse group of professors, all these elements vary widely from class to class. All this is to say, which professor you have is probably the biggest determinant of what the class is like learning-wise, work-wise and grade-wise.

Arguably, this is a problem — it makes totalizing statistics like the all-important GPA feel somewhat meaningless, since t hey co n t a i n n o i n fo r ma t i on about which professors you took or their grading scale. But I’d be okay with it if it weren’t so damn hard to get information on how professors teach and grade.

Of course, different colleges handle this problem differently.

At Claremont McKenna College, all students are required to fill out a review of their professor in each class within a dedicated class time. And this information is, technically, publicly available.

But you have to make a request for each individual class and professor, making the process of learning anything about your potential classes unbearably slow — so slow that nearly nobody uses it.

This isn’t even to mention what I see as the biggest problem with CMC’s review system — the whole process is done in the final meeting of class, before the final exams and before receiving final grades. In many of our classes, the final exam is a huge part of our grades and not including it in the review system inevitably misses a massive part of the experience.

That leaves us with two op-

SASHA MATTHEWS • THE STUDENT LIFE

tions: Rate My Professor and word of mouth. Rate My Professor has a couple problems.

There is no incentive for leaving a review, so many professors — especially here where our class sizes are so small — have very few reviews. This incentive also means that people only write reviews when they feel particularly inclined to, so most reviews are overwhelmingly positive or negative, making it hard to get a grasp on what the average experience is like with a professor.

Word of mouth can be a lot better — if you’re someone with a lot of friends who have taken classes from every professor at the 5Cs, then your intel is one text message away. But, of course, most people don’t have access to this information — and even those that do could only get their friends’ opinions on what a class is like.

I’ll note here that other colleges have done this better than CMC. As much as I hate to use Pomona College as an example,

their system is a much more transparent and useful way to do reviews. They essentially have an entire built-in, Rate My Professor-esque system on their student government website, where students are incentivized with gift card raffles and other rewards to write anonymous reviews of their classes and professors that are open to all other Pomona students to see.

Pomona also has an entirely separate second system of reviews that works basically the same way as CMC’s does.

So should we all just do whatever Pomona does? Of course not … we don’t want to be stuck with mediocre dining halls, abysmal school colors and a clock tower that can’t even strike on the hour. But there are some things to be learned from how they conduct this process.

So, here’s my ideal system of professor reviews at the 5Cs. The professor review process has two parts: collecting the reviews from students plus ag-

gregating and displaying them in a useful way.

Let’s start with review coll e c t i o n . Po m o n a a n d C M C both have a pretty good system here — CMC only system and Pomona’s second system, with its dedicated class time, probably gathers more reviews, but does so at the cost of 20 minutes of class or so. We could easily fix that problem by making reviews mandatory and something you complete after the semester ends. Pomona’s ASPC displays its reviews in a much more accessible and useful way.

Next, the aggregation. Both Rate My Professor and Pomona’s ASPC system have pretty good takes on this. Some information is compiled into averages, like the average rating out of five stars, the average difficulty out of five stars and the amount of time per week spent on classwork. But there’s a lot more information we could get here, right? CMC’s professor review survey asks many more questions, like how good specific

parts of class are, what the professor most needs to improve at and a piece of advice you’d give to future students. This sort of material would also be useful to have, and it’s not guaranteed that you’ll get it unless someone does an exceptionally thorough Rate My Professor review. And even then, you won’t have aggregate data, just a bunch of paragraph summaries that are hard to parse.

The bottom line here is that who you have as your professor matters a ton, and our current professor review process makes it really hard to learn much about how professors teach or grade before you take them. A world in which we all had access to the information that we already collect about professors would be an obviously better one, and it’s one the colleges should implement as soon as possible.

Rowan Gray CM ’26 is from Sharon, Massachusetts. He wants you to know that all Oxford commas in this piece were violently deleted by his copy editors.

Beyond Taylor’s jets: How Claremont students can pave the way for climate justice DAVID DE SOUZA With the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28) around the corner, the media is bringing attention to inequities in the causes and effects of climate change between wealthy and poorer nations. However, these inequities can also be seen within wealthy nations like the United States. Consider the case of popular celebrities and their carbon footprint — Taylor Swift, one of the most beloved artists of our generation, has been reported to have the highest carbon emission among celebrities due to her private jet usage, emitting 1,928 times more than the average person. Even more than direct lifestyle impacts, a 2023 study showed that the investment choices of the wealthy significantly contribute to climate change. Wealthy individuals and companies tend to, knowingly or not, invest in fossil fuels and high-emissions companies, leading to more environmental problems.

The point here is not to single out individuals or assign blame, but rather to highlight a systemic issue that requires collective action and awareness. For Claremont students, this inequality presents a responsibility considering most Claremont graduates are likely to join the top 1 percent of income earners worldwide, according to the 2-year median e a r n i n g s o f Po m o n a C o l l e g e students. As future influencers, Claremont students must recognize their role in advocating for sustainable practices and influencing their network towards climate action.

Students who come from wealthy backgrounds should engage with their families and network about the realities of climate change and the ethical responsibility that people with affluence hold. A 2019 study by Matthew Goldberg, a researcher at Yale University, found that such discussions lead to pro-climate attitudes. These students should use family gatherings, vacations and even business meetings as an opportunity to bring up the topic of climate change and suggest initiatives — such as divestment from high-emission

companies — to fight climate change.

One effective strategy for having these conversations is using social proof. For example, you can highlight examples of other affluent people who are committed to a greener lifestyle.

You can also mention facts from trusted climate scientists and personal stories from your peers to evoke empathy. It is essential to try to find a common ground by not just telling them to change their ways, but also

providing them with a greener alternative. Avoiding blame and focusing on solutions can help reduce defensiveness and inspire them to change for a greener earth.

However, the responsibility doesn’t just lie with students from affluent backgrounds.

Those of us who come from low-income backgrounds also have a very important part to play. As Claremont students, we are in a unique position where our network is not only

built of students with affluent backgrounds, but also extends to a future network of very influential people — ranging from employers and work colleagues to contacts in graduate school.

To support climate initiatives, we should use every opportunity to discuss climate change with these peers so that they can then influence their network to work towards a greener earth.

Some ways that you can do this is by discussing your personal stories and experiences

MAX RANNEY • THE STUDENT LIFE

with climate change, or any other personal stories you may have heard. Research shows that people listen to anecdotal evidence more than facts when it concerns personally relevant issues.

Regardless of your financial background, it is crucial to use the foot-in-the-door technique — starting with small discussions before talking about more significant issues and actions — if you encounter resistance.

For example, instead of jumping straight into a conversation about personal carbon emissions, start by talking about personal experiences with extreme or unusual weather events or noticeable changes in local nature. You could share a story about a hike where you saw less wildlife or an event that was impacted by severe weather. This personalizes the issue and makes it more tangible and less overwhelming, which can open the door to broader discussions about climate change and individual responsibilities.

It’s normal to question if individual efforts, especially for those who are less wealthy, truly make a difference. Why should we all bear responsibility for the environmental problems caused largely by the affluent? However, it’s important to note that climate change is a complex issue that requires collective action at all levels. Every single action matters!

After graduation, most Claremont students will have the influence, network and finances to help in the fight against climate change. Use it to advocate for sustainable practices within your domain by promoting eco-friendly business models, supporting sustainability in corporate decision-making, working in domains directly combating the effects of climate change and most importantly, encouraging divestment from high-emission companies.

Remember, the disproportionate impact of climate change requires more than mere recognition. It is time for the rich to match their footprint with responsibility.

David De Souza PO ’24 is from Benin, West Africa. He loves working out and listening to RNB in his free time.

Opinions

PAGE 8

December 1, 2023

Mewing, mogging, male models — is Looksmaxxing the key to acceptance?

ANJALI SUVA As social media beauty standards evolve at a breakneck pace, pseudoscience and men’s insecurities combine in the Looksmaxxing community. Looksmaxxing, an online trend popular among young men, promotes the maximization of physical attractiveness through dubious regimens and exercises like mewing, extreme diets, skincare routines and rigorous workouts. However, Looksmaxxing could be better used as an avenue to connect and find compassion with others who want to improve and accept themselves.

The worries of the young men and adolescents who engage in Looksmaxxing content parallel many of my own insecurities as a woman. Much of my adolescence was spent fretting over minuscule parts of my appearance, including my skin, face shape and eyebrows.

Similarly, within the Looksmaxxing community, there is a heavy fixation on certain traits that members of the community place value on, such as one’s canthal tilt or midface ratio.

However, the main idea that Looksmaxxing promotes — that one’s worth is based on one’s appearance — is not new.

Because of the disproportionate social pressure for women to spend more time pursuing beauty compared to men, Looksmaxxing has been an implicit part of life for many women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, both of which have made strides to expand the scope of what is considered attractive.

Rather than simply being a toxic trend, Looksmaxxing could be a way for men to find common ground with women and the LGBTQ+ community and experiment with behaviors that defy gender expectations of men. Such behaviors could include wearing makeup, expressing oneself through fashion, and taking skincare and grooming advice from women.

Long seen as a gendered practice, wearing makeup is a way for one to alter their appearance through several different styles and techniques. In the context of Looksmaxxing, make-

NORA WU • THE STUDENT LIFE

up can encourage men to expand out of gendered stereotypes and embrace a practice that can help them become more comfortable with their appearance. While I recognize that wearing makeup may not tackle the root of one’s appearance-related insecurities, it can allow men to become more familiar with their own appearances and be open-minded about different looks.

Many models idolized in the Looksmaxxing communities, such as Jordan Barrett and Francisco “Chico” Lachowski, also wear makeup for their photoshoots.

With this in mind, it’s not a stretch

to imagine that the Looksmaxxing trend could be the key to eroding gender stereotypes that have long plagued young men.

Similarly, men could alter their wardrobe as an effort to Looksmaxx and appear more attractive.

This may seem a superficial goal at first. Still, over time, that exploration of different styles can transform into a genuine passion for experimenting with new styles and having fun with one’s appearance beyond simply ‘looking good.’

There is a stereotype that the male-dominated Looksmaxxing community despises women and

FREAKY FRIEND FACTORY: A COMIC BY SASHA MATTHEWS

those who identify as LGBTQ+. To an extent, that may be true. However, the targets of these Looksmaxxing videos aren’t necessarily so-called bigots but rather young men who are struggling with their appearance and beauty standards, something that women and queer people can certainly relate to. Because some men who Looksmaxx already use techniques found in women’s magazines and apply them to their own lives, it’s not a stretch to think that much more could be done to shatter the rigid gender norms that prevent young men from being more accepting of

their appearance.

It’s important to remember that the current Looksmaxxing trend is quite toxic, as it preys on young men’s insecurities. These insecurities, however, shouldn’t be disregarded or dealt with through facial exercises based on pseudoscience. Instead, an open-minded approach that offers the possibility of greater self-acceptance must be the solution.

Anjali Suva PO ’27 is from Orange County, California. She loves watching horror films, reading fantasy books and just about anything that allows her to avoid touching grass.

YOU DRAW IT

Email your drawings to editor@tsl.news!

JJ’s Crossword: Almost there!

ACROSS 2.

“You’re on thin _____” (especially if you go skating on a pond

4.

Best PO dining hall, excluding Oldenborg

6.

Almost the _____ day of classes for Fall 2023

7.

Hopefully you like yours for next semester; if not, there’s always Add/Drop

DOWN

JJ HOFFMAN • THE STUDENT LIFE

1.

11th month of the year

3.

It’s ______ season. Good luck! (or the first letter of every answer)

5.

Fruit or tech company

Sports

December 1, 2023

PAGE 9

CMS women’s basketball seeks to overcome early season losses AMEYA TELI Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) women’s basketball had a rough preseason to say the least, losing four games to non-conference opponents and dropping their regular season opener to California Lutheran on Nov. 30.

Despite their less-than-ideal beginning, the Athenas are hoping to run back their success from last season. In 2022-23, the team went 16-8 overall and 12-4 in conference, qualifying for the SCIAC tournament and losing by four points in the semifinals to Redlands.

Unfortunately for CMS, their hope for another playoff berth seems in danger just two weeks into the season. Despite their first victory against East Texas Baptist on Nov. 25, the loss to Cal Lu marks a rough start to conference play. Still, CMS is looking ahead to the remaining season, determined to bounce back from their early setbacks and hopefully make a splash in the conference.

Helping them gain a fresh start are five new freshmen. Welcoming a much younger roster this year, the Athenas are prioritizing team chemistry and elevating the competitive atmosphere as they embark on the uphill road ahead.

According to Renee Chong CM ’26, the team’s first victory against East Texas Baptist allowed them to

find relief.

“It was definitely a rockier start, but we had a really big win and it was just like a weight lifted off our shoulders,” Chong said.

Despite dropping the first four games, those games remained competitive, holding even scores until the fourth quarter. In their opener against Lincoln on Nov. 10, the Athenas held a 10-point lead at 56-46 going into the final period.

However, in the fourth quarter, they yielded 29 points while only scoring 12, resulting in the loss. This

trend persisted in the subsequent three games of the season. In their victory over East Texas Baptist, a similar pattern unfolded for the first three quarters, but they successfully fended off the Tigers to secure their first win.

As a result of these close matchups, Ruva Kiara CM ’25 said that their victory felt like a turning point for the team to get back on track.

“We know it’s only going to get better from here,” Kiara said. “We celebrated it like it was a championship, and I think we’re going to

COURTESY: PEYTON THIBAULT Katie Resendiz CM ‘26 dribbles past an opponent during their Nov. 17 game against Trinity Texas.

keep that mentality going.”

Chong said she thinks the rough start stemmed from last year’s seniors graduating, leaving leadership roles vacant and a drop-off in team chemistry. Chong added that, especially with the addition of so many first-years, the Athenas especially needed this first win to help build team solidarity for sustained positivity and motivation.

“It [the win against East Texas Baptist] had to happen for the team chemistry to keep developing,” Chong said.

According to Mary Markaryan CM ’24, since the introduction of the new members, the team’s initial lack of experience playing together may have contributed to their losses. She noted that even though they came up short, she is confident in their ability to succeed later in the season.

“We have a lot of new members on the team, so we’re just working on building the chemistry of the team as a whole, which has already been improving with every game,” Markaryan said.

Kiara noted that although they may be a young team, the rookies are no less valuable.

“We have five [first-years], but all of them play because they all bring something valuable to the court,” Kiara said.

CMS works to continue their

upward trajectory by maintaining a competitive environment during training.

“The team is looking really good even though we had a couple losses, we’re still confident in our game,” Markaryan said. “We bring the competitive atmosphere everyday on the court while still embracing a positive environment.”

The Athenas have not let their rocky start or young roster get in the way of chasing down the conference title.

“Our goal is the SCIAC championship,” Kiara said. “Period. Point blank.”

Chong agreed, reflecting on what it means to bring younger players into the fold.

“This season we’re focusing on staying together and winning together,” Chong said. “Because we are on the younger side, it takes a lot more togetherness and coming together to stay together in the harder times.”

Despite being in an unfamiliar underdog position, CMS women’s basketball is still on the hunt and not backing down.

“We have this one chant,” Kiara said. “One dog. One bark. Despite a slow start or not, I think that we’re going to come out with a punch.”

The Athenas will look to earn a big victory when they play at Chapman on Dec. 2 at 4 p.m.

How to talk to people who care CMS Athenas volleyball reaches final way too much about sports four, loses at home to Hope College MAC KELLEY Maybe you don’t know much about sports but just swiped right on someone wearing an NBA jersey.

Maybe your roommate has been talking about their fantasy football team nonstop for the past 14 weeks.

Hell, maybe you just want to know what’s going on when there’s a hockey game on (I actually can’t really help with this one. Just complain about the fights and you’ll be fine). Regardless of why you need it, I’m here to offer a comprehensive guide on becoming a casual sports fan, or ‘a casual’ for short.

Some may say that being a casual is a bad thing in sports fandom. I, for one, disagree and would argue that being a casual is an important step in becoming a ‘true’ sports fan. A casual fan has a certain beauty that when you become a so-called superfans. I have gone through many phases of my sports fandom, but I would consider myself no more than a casual for many sports. So, here is my guide to being a casual while passing as a die-hard sports fan.

The first step to being a sports fan is to pick a team. This is the easy part: either pick a team near where you’re from, one that you like the color scheme of or maybe one that rosters Taylor Swift’s new man. Your criteria for why you pick the team you like really doesn’t matter. The other great part of being a casual is that you don’t actually have to stick with the team you pick, so no pressure if you ditch them after they trade Kendall Jenner’s current boyfriend and follow him to a new city.

Once you pick a team, you’ll need to do a little research. First, know the stars of the team. This is the easiest thing to learn: just look up the team and the player on the front of everything is their star player. Even the worst team has a star. They may get the most tackles or points. The star player doesn’t necessarily have to be that great, they are just the player you need to be able to talk about. Try to decide if the prevailing narrative around that player is that they are playing well or underperforming. It is normally pretty rare that a player is just doing what everyone expected, especially if they are the star of their team. This player will be your key to holding a conversation about this sport. In football, most star players are fantasy-relevant, and in basketball, they may be in trade rumors. Basically, if you know a little about the star it can propel you far in the game of pretending to be literate in sports.

Another great point to discuss to keep the ruse alive is to know about the ‘young guys’ on the team. In professional sports this is easy — just look up your team’s most recent first-round pick and, when in doubt in a conversation, just bring up that name and ask your interlocutor their opinion on the player. Nine times out of ten that’ll start up a conversation that you can smile, nod and seem informed without having a thought behind your eyes to contribute. This can be a little more tricky with college sports, but if there is a freshman worth talking about on a college team, they are probably one of the stars. From the previous step you should already know about them.

Some easier ways to get in the

know about your new ‘favorite’ sport is to find a content creator that covers the league as a whole.

There are many creators on YouTube that make 10-12 minute videos discussing the state of teams and sports leagues. Your huge sports fan buddy watches these guys too. It’s how they form opinions on sports they don’t understand and teams they don’t watch. These are sometimes easier to digest than entire games for someone just getting into sports fandom.

If you are new to the sport you are becoming a casual of, sometimes creators that analyze plays or possessions can be helpful to improve your overall understanding of the game. However, understanding the sport you are discussing is not terribly important in the grand scheme of things. Use your knowledge of star players and some sports buzzwords,throw in a stat that may or may not be true and you are good to go.

Your time to step up to bat Picture this: It’s boys night. You walk into your friend’s dorm and they have the game turned on. You may want to try one of these classic sports lines: “Oh lord, *insert star player’s name* just made that man touch earth!” Or: “That was an absolute frickin swamp donkey from *baseball player who just hit a home run*.” If someone clearly just did something remarkably sporty you could try: “Yeah, that’s gonna be on SportsCenter top 10 tomorrow.”

There are other optional tips that may make your life easier in a sports conversation, but they are certainly not necessary. Try to pick up the names of a few coaches. This will come with time, as the same great coaches get mentioned nonstop in pretty much all sports coverage. You don’t have to know the coaches by name — just recognize the names and you’ll get by. You can also always go with the classic “What is that one coach’s name?” and the person you’re talking to will get you through. The more advanced you get with the casual fan tactics the more you’ll know.

Even if you’re just becoming casual so you don’t feel lost when talking to your friend who is a little too big of a LeBron fan, you may very well start enjoying the sports you follow for yourself. You may start watching the games or having your own piping hot takes about who the GOAT is. You may not, and that’s perfectly alright too. That is the beauty of being a casual — it’s low stakes, high reward. You can talk to the dude standing at the bar about the game, but you don’t have to own a jersey. Come Superbowl Sunday, whoever is throwing the party probably has an extra jersey anyway, so just ask to borrow it. They’ll be happy to share. So remember, pick your team, know your stars, care about the young guys and flaunt your stuff. You are now ready to show those sporty people in your life just how much you care about sports (or at least you won’t feel so lost watching the game).

SASHA MATTHEWS • THE STUDENT LIFE

ADAM AKINS • THE STUDENT LIFE Georgia McGovern CM ‘26 sets up for a spike in the NCAA quarterfinals at Roberts Pavilion on Nov. 29.

ADAM AKINS Have you ever found yourself wondering, “Why is there a fourteen-foot-tall inflatable volleyball sitting right in front of Roberts?” We may have an answer for you.

This year, for the first time in program history, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) is hosting the NCAA Division III women’s volleyball national tournament at Roberts Pavilion. The Athenas, perennial national contenders and the undisputed rulers of SCIAC for the past seven years, had a storied season leading up to their second consecutive postseason berth.

Last year, CMS did not concede a single match until their elimination in the postseason.

This fall, they suffered several losses early in the season, falling to Washington University, Juniata University, Whittier and in-conference opponent La Verne.

“During the season we did have our ups and we had our downs,” said Dede Carranaza CM ’25. “We lost to La Verne and we lost to Whittier, which was a little bit unlike us. I felt like it was really good for our team in a way looking back now. I felt like it made us stronger.”

The 2022 run to the round of 16 was a Cinderella story gone wrong. After ranking only third in a SCIAC preseason poll, CMS spun the narrative on its head. Against expectations, the Athenas added another tally to six years of SCIAC championships, going 16-0 in all conference matches and sitting comfortably as No. 2 in the nation for most of the season. Unfortunately for the 5C faithful, this dominance didn’t stretch to the national

tournament, where the Athenas were eliminated at home in the round of 16 by region X rival Trinity Texas, ending the season with a 30-1 record.

Carranaza noted that despite last year ’s dominance in the regular season, they lacked the experience they needed to win it all.

“Last year, we did lose in the regional championships at home … that really stung,” Carranaza said. “We had been undefeated all season, and we didn’t get more exposed to that kind of adversity going to five sets.”

This loss marked the first time CMS hosted regional finals in program history. According to CMS Athletic Director Erica Perkins Jasper, after being selected to host Nationals the Athenas started strategizing to make sure they wouldn’t be stuck on the sidelines.

“I was really thankful that we got that opportunity last year because it was a really good trial run,” Perkins Jasper said.

“We could really come up with a strong plan for this year.”

Since the start of the post season, CMS has conquered three beasts from the east, handily sweeping UMass-Dartmouth in the first round and running up consecutive 3-0 sweeps against Salisbury and tournament hosts MIT. This series of wins earned the Athenas an elite eight spot for the first time since the 2021 season, ensuring that they would benefit from their home court advantage.

On Nov. 29, Roberts Pavilion was packed with CMS fans decked out in cardinal and gold to watch their eighth-seed Athenas continue their dominance, sweeping the one-seed University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Titans 3-0 to earn their spot in the final four.

“The support for the team was so energetic and encouraging,” crowd member Evelyn Harrington SC ’27 said. “It was incredible to witness what that team was capable of.”

The Athenas latched onto this energy as soon as the clock started, throwing the crowds of Oshkosh fans, all clad in bumblebee-striped denim overalls, into a fervor.

CMS swept with great efficiency, handily knocking the No. 1 seed, who had mounted a 34-game win streak during their season, out of the tournament and punching a ticket to the semifinals.

Taking place less than 24 hours later, energy on the court was electric going into the Athenas’ next matchup as the Athenas challenged the Hope College Flying Dutchmen. On Nov. 30, Roberts welled to capacity as waves of crimson-clad fans crashed into the student section once more, waving banners and leading chants deep into the night.

CMS fell behind early, bleeding two sets without a response to the Dutch before coming from behind in the third set, where they found their footing from strong central support and sets from Georgia McGovern CM ’24. The crowd came alive, fueling the Athenas’ two consecutive sets and the tie-breaker, a first to fifteen bout that would determine who faced off in finals against Juniata. Unfortunately, the pressure was too great and the Athenas fell to an error, evoking screams of distress from the crowd, ending their 2023 season with the deepest run since their national championship in 2017.

Despite this disappointing end, Perkins Jasper noted the unifying impact that CMS’ tournament run had on the community.

“I was really excited with how well our students showed up,” Perkins Jasper said. “I think they created a really nice home-field advantage for the students.”

Sports

PAGE 10

December 1, 2023

Under new leadership, Sagehens men’s cross country secures third NCAA championship title ANSLEY WASHBURN A cloud of blue and orange screaming, jumping, crying. Pure elation in the Sagehen tent in Newville, Pennsylvania, at Big Springs High School.

On Saturday, Nov. 18, the Pomona-Pitzer (P-P) men’s cross country team won their third NCAA Division III National Championship.

Winning their first championship title in 2019 and a second in 2021, the Sagehens have finished first at Nationals three times out of the past four races, a feat only accomplished by three other programs in the nation.

Nevertheless, even with their recent dominance, securing this victory was far from guaranteed.

Going into the race ranked at No. 8 nationally, their lowest ranking ahead of Nationals in the past four years, expectations were low.

As the race began, the pre-race projections appeared accurate as P-P got off to a slow start. Trailing Wisconson-La Crosse by 56 points at the six-kilometer mark with just two kilometers left in the race, P-P needed nothing short of a miracle to pull off a first-place finish. Against all odds, they delivered, shifting into high gear in the final stretch of the race. The Sagehens orchestrated a remarkable comeback, narrowly surpassing the Wisconsin Eagles — who finished in second place — by one single point.

Derek Fearon PO ’24 said the team was thrilled by the results, emphasizing that the proximity of the competition made it particularly special as it signified the integral contributions of every runner.

“It was just overwhelming joy, we were so proud of everyone,” Fearon said. “With a one-point win, every person mattered.”

The Sagehens’ success this year falls in stark contrast to their underwhelming performance at Nationals last season. In the fall of 2022, P-P was ranked No.1 by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) every week of the season, even leading up to the NCAA final. Despite that, the Sagehens finished fifth at the meet, failing to make the podium.

However, the Hens were able

to switch the narrative on this setback and have used it as a catalyst for positive change this year. Under the guidance of both seasoned senior leaders and a new coaching staff, P-P focused this year on realigning their priorities, directing their focus inward and remembering that this victory is about more than just the gold medal.

Despite ultimately pulling off a championship, Fearon said that the team’s mental approach on race day was affected by external rankings.

“Going in at number eight was really tough,” Fearon said. “It was our worst ranking in my three years [of being] here. We were not expected to win, we were not even expected to make the podium.”

However, their unique position as underdogs allowed the Sagehens to break free of the burden of living up to expectations, something that, according to Fearon, they struggled with the preceding year.

“Last year there was a lot of pressure to do well and a lot of the energy and emotion going into the race was anxiety about doing poorly,” Fearon said. “This year, the attitude was not about it going bad, because it was already going badly. So it was more, ‘What if it goes really well?’ That switch in perspective was really helpful.”

Changes for the Sagehens from last season extended beyond the athletes. This season saw the introduction of a fresh staff, with new head coach Amber Williams and distance coach Emma DeLira leading P-P into a new era.

Williams echoed Fearon, emphasizing how she and DeLira hoped to help the team shift away from fixating on rankings.

She said she wanted to help the team prioritize the mental aspect of bouncing back from last year’s disappointing upset. “[Coaching strategy] was more about making sure that their mental [game] was there more than anything,” Williams said. “I wanted to make sure they weren’t questioning who they were or the talent that they have. I wanted to bring them back and rewrite the

COURTESY: AARON GRAY Sagehens men’s cross country posed for a photo after securing their third NCAA championship title in program history on Nov. 18.

story to be one of redemption and resiliency.”

And that she did. Williams made history as the first female head coach to lead the Sagehens to an NCAA victory. With two women at the helm, the Sagehens stand among only a few men’s teams in all of collegiate cross country with female coaches. According to Williams, the team has embraced this change with open arms. She said that despite not being what she called ‘the typical look of a head coach,’ she felt immediately accepted. “[As a female coach] especially in athletics, because it is such a male-dominated industry, sometimes you kind of second guess yourself … or wonder how you will be accepted,” Williams said. “Luckily for me — and it’s a tribute to these guys and their character — they opened up their arms to myself and coach Emma

DeLira. To them, it didn’t matter who the coach was, it was all about their knowledge and ability to help them achieve their goals.”

Fearon expressed his enthusiasm about the team’s role in reshaping the narrative of leadership in sports.

“It certainly means a lot that we’re part of this really small tradition of women coaches in men’s athletics,” Fearon said.

The night before the race, the team gathered to talk about strategy for the next day. However, this meeting, especially for seniors like Fearon running in their last cross country meet, was more than just about discussing tactics.

“We really tried to focus on how grateful we were to be at the race,” Fearon said. “Not every team in the nation gets to go to a national championship and get the opportunity to work for a title, so we really just tried to stay

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

Pomona-Pitzer The junior midfielder took home All-American honors this week after being named to the All-American First Team. Endo tallied 12 points in 18 games via five goals and two assists this season, leading the Sagehens to an undefeated regular season, SCIAC Championship and National Tournament berth.

Nettekoven earned Most Outstanding Player honors for the SCIAC tournament, leading the Stags to their first SCIAC championship since 2015. The senior goalkeeper recorded six saves and snagged two steals in the final against Redlands.

Athletes of the Week Aidan Nettekoven

Ella Endo

PO ’25 Minneapolis, MN Women’s Soccer

HM ’24 Aliso Viejo, CA Men’s Water Polo

Friday, December 1 Men’s Swim and Dive vs. Pomona-Pitzer

CMS

Women’s Swim and Dive vs. Pomona-Pitzer Saturday, December 2 Men’s Swim and Dive vs. Pomona-Pitzer 10:30 am

P-P

grateful and see what we could do.”

The morning of the final race, Ian Horsburgh PO ’24 said he woke up and felt that he and his teammates could pull off another championship.

“I definitely thought we had it in us to win,” Horsburgch said.

Following the victory, on Nov. 21, the USTFCCCA named Williams as the NCAA DIII Men’s Cross Country Coach of the Year.

Williams said she is overwhelmed with pride at their win, crediting all of the program’s accomplishments to the team and looking forward to the future.

“For us to have this story-book ending I couldn’t be happier, and I couldn’t be more proud,” Williams said. “Anything that leans in my direction, I always point it back to them. I get … all of these congratulations because they are great people … I’m so excited to see what track and field brings.”

Women’s Swim and Dive vs. Pomona-Pitzer 10:30 am

Men’s Basketball @ Chapman 2:00 pm

Men’s Track and Field (Sharon Colyear-Danville Opener) @ Boston University 2:30 pm

Women’s Basketball @ Chapman 4:00pm

Women’s Track and Field (Sharon Colyear-Danville Opener) @ Boston University 10:30 am

Men’s Water Polo (if CMS advances)10:00 am third place game or 12:00 pm National Championship game

Men’s Water Polo @ Augustana 12:00pm

Friday, December 1

Saturday, December 2

Men’s Swim and Dive @ CMS 10:00 am

Men’s Swim and Dive @ CMS 10:00 am

Women’s Swim and Dive @ CMS 10:00 am

Women’s Swim and Dive @ CMS 10:00 am

Sunday, December 3

Sports Calendar

Women’s Basketball @ Cal Tech 4:00 pm Sunday, December 3 Men’s Basketball vs. UC Santa Cruz 2:00 pm

Men’s Basketball @ Cal Tech 2:00 pm

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