The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2023
VOLUME 145, NO. 9
A RECORD-SETTING WIN
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UNDERSTANDING ONE ANOTHER
NYT’s David Brooks gives a lecture on campus titled “How to Know a Person” (News, pg 2)
Football dismantles Elmhurst in 66-0 win. (Sports, pg 8)
T-SWIFT REMASTERED
Review of the “Vault Tracks” on 1989 (Taylor’s Version) (Scene, pg 4)
Pro-Palestine supporters participate in national walkout after University does not meet demands AVI HOLZMAN NINA LASER MANAGING NEWS EDITOR STAFF WRITER
Washington University students walked out from their classes at 10:15 a.m. to gather with community members on Mudd Field to show support for Palestinians on Oct. 25. They also gathered to protest the University’s lack of response to the Coalition of WUSTL Students for Palestine’s published letter of demands, which included cutting ties with Boeing. By 10:30 a.m, over 100 people were gathered on Mudd Field, holding signs, chanting, and speaking about the Free Palestine movement. The walkout was part of a national movement that included colleges and universities across the country protesting the United States’ involvement and military support in Israel. The walkout followed a Boeing recruitment event on Tuesday, where members of Resist WashU protested the University’s ties with Boeing. The walkout was organized by the coalition and attracted a diverse group of attendees and speakers. There were also a number of onlookers sitting on the benches outside of the DUC. The event began with protestors chanting “Free, free Palestine!” and “Martin, Martin you can’t hide, you supported genocide!” Some made and brought signs that read, “No two sides to genocide!”; “Free Palestine now!”; and “Viva Palestina Libre.” Multiple speakers made personal connections between their identities and the longterm conflict between Palestine and Israel. One of the organizers — a junior who requested to
DANIEL HUINDA | STUDENT LIFE Students and community members gather on Mudd Field during a Pro-Palestine Walkout. remain anonymous, citing safety concerns — struggled to see how anyone could see this issue “impersonally.” “I think that just witnessing, before my eyes, a genocide, it’s impossible not to react to that,” they said. In their opinion, it has been difficult to take a stand on social issues on the Unviversity’s campus and persuade the administration to take action. “[The lack of administrative action] makes me think about the long history of other activist actions and suppression on campus […] in the most felt, visceral, and emotional way. It’s just one more thing that makes walking around this campus feel impossible,” the organizer said. The walkout started with a series of speakers, including the organizers, before opening up to attendees. More than five different people came up to address the audience, stating demands and
continuing to engage the crowd with chants. Junior Alex Herzig, one of the students who emailed the letter of demands to University administration, called the University a school that “espouses itself to be protectors of truth of research at the forefront of human rights.” Herzig expressed anger over that fact that the administration has yet to use “the term genocide to even refer directly to Palestinians and the Palestinians who have been murdered.” They criticized the University’s latest communication to students about the latest Israel-Hamas war, saying they had received two “lackluster emails that refuse[d] to address Palestinians by name when discussing the murders that have been occurring in Gaza [and] in the West Bank.” Herzig said that the second email “was even more vague,” and that University administration
referred to the recent conflict as merely, “a ‘crisis in the Middle East.’” Herzig ended their speech by re-stating to the audience that the Washington University community has power to make change happen. “We are our administration’s biggest customers. We are the people who are the very reason that this institution exists,” they said. “We have the power, we have the ability, we have the moral obligation to stand in solidarity with Palestinians, with Palestinian students, and to stand against a university that has made amply clear that it will refuse to take a stance as a genocide is happening in front of our eyes.” Junior Andrew de las Alas, another speaker, said that as a Filipino American, he grew up hearing stories about occupation. He explained that his specific cultural identity and his opposition to Boeing’s weapons
sales is why he chose to walk out on Wednesday. “I want to express my solidarity with other Muslim, Arab, and Palestinian students who felt like they have not had a voice at this institution,” de las Alas said. “And I also want to be here today because I don’t believe that my tuition should be going towards the research and development of weapons of war abroad.” He also urged students to continue taking action and putting pressure on the administration. “We must call on this institution, we must call on the donors, and we must call on future students to not be complicit in this genocide — to not send our talent, our knowledge, our abilities abroad. Instead, we can develop them here.” Dion Hines is a freshman who spoke at the walkout during the open-mic segment. He described his disappointment in the fact that he was the only one to walk out of his class, a sentiment echoed by several other attendees. Hines chose to attend the walkout because of how the Palestinian struggle connected to his own experiences as a Black person from Mississippi. He described his hopes for what the Washington University community would take away from the walkout.
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Green Action files legal complaint against University QUINN MOORE ELIZABETH STUMP CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
The environmental advocacy group Green Action WashU, formerly known as Fossil Free WashU, announced its filing of a legal complaint against Washington University at the Fossil Fuel Divestment Rally this Monday, Oct. 30. This legal complaint, filed in conjunction with five other universities collectively known as the Solidarity Six, is the most recent step in Green Action’s plan to end Washington University’s investment of unknown amounts of endowment money into fossil fuel sources. Green Action executive and junior Liam Keaggy described the grounds of Green Action’s complaint. “We filed a legal complaint with the Missouri attorney general against WashU, citing that they’re in violation of their duties as a nonprofit [under the Missouri Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act] by investing in fossil fuels,” said Keaggy. It is important to note that a legal complaint is not synonymous with a lawsuit. Junior Clara Dutton, a Green Action executive, described the perks of a legal complaint such as this one. “Most of the benefit of these complaints in the past [was] getting
press and attention and putting pressure on the school in that way,” she said. “We’re able to have legal action without having a direct lawsuit.” The Solidarity Six — which includes environmental-justiceoriented student groups at Washington University, the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Chicago, Pomona College, Pennsylvania State University, and Tufts University — is not the first to utilize the tactic of a joint legal complaint. Other universities have organized in a similar fashion. “It’s a tactic that several other schools have already used,” Dutton said.“Notably, Harvard was one of the first schools, and there’s also the Fossil Free Five. We based a lot of our ideas off that group.” Green Action’s rally on Monday was the most recent step in their campaign against fossil fuels. The rally, held at the Danforth University Center firepit, was attended by approximately 30 people, including Green Action members, professors, and passersby. Sophomore Juliana Morera, a Green Action executive, spoke about the Sustainability at Boeing recruitment event which occurred at Washington University on Oct. 24. Morera looked to examine Boeing’s statements about alternative fuel sources. “Sustainability is about making efforts that are long-term solutions,
not short-term fixes — because [Boeing is] in the hot seat for years of environmental degradation,” she said, “As an alternative, [Boeing] claims some biofuel is ‘reusing trash’ and that [Boeing] will be using ‘used cooking oil.’ Please tell me, who the hell is giving Boeing their cooking oil?” Environmental racism and injustice was another focus at Green Action’s rally. A three-panel display describing the disproportionally harmful effects of climate change on minority groups was displayed prominently at the event. Green Action executive senior Aidan Lewis explained how the University’s perpetrating of environmental injustices through its investment in fossil fuels conflicts with its mission statement of contributing positively to the St. Louis community and the world. “WashU says that they care about their students, but our generation is going to be the one that has to inherit this problem the most,” Lewis said, “It’s really a conflict of interest, especially at WashU where we’re in a very privileged area. Fossil fuels are one of the biggest contributors to environmental injustice in St. Louis, but as students of WashU we don’t have to deal with the consequences.” However, not all who attended the rally were in agreement. Senior Tommaso Maiocco, a Finance and Marketing student, attended the rally with a sign simply stating “I respectfully disagree.”
DANIEL HUINDA | STUDENT LIFE A student speaks at a Green Action Rally outside of the DUC on Oct. 30. “I’m not anti-environmentalism,” Maiocco said, “I’m also not proenvironmentalism. I think that the divest movement is economically untenable, I think it’s scientifically untenable, and — based on the information that I have garnered — I disagree with it.” Maiocco sat at the fringe of the gathering but was briefly approached by a few Green Action members in attendance. “They came over and asked what I thought,” Maiocco said, “I said I disagreed with this, and I gave them my thoughts, and then they gave me their thoughts. It was very cordial, very good.” Despite the biting wind and frigid temperatures, reactions to the event — especially to the legal complaint — were largely positive. First-year and new Green Action member Ben
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Gondzur described the rally as being “really inspiring.” Senior Spencer Kates spoke about the appeal of Green Action’s legal complaint. “It’s nice to see actual movements towards the University and actual accountability,” Kates said. “It makes me feel like there’s actual proper support for [divestment] here.” The University has yet to respond to Green Action’s rally or legal approach. Bret Gustafson, a professor of sociocultural anthropology who has been attending Green Action rallies since 2014, encouraged students to maintain hope. “Students are able to raise the level of pressure significantly,” said Gustafson. “You never know — the University might just change.”
2 STUDENT LIFE
NEWS AVI HOLZMAN | MANAGING NEWS EDITOR | NEWS@STUDLIFE.COM
THURSDAY, NOV 2, 2023
NYT columnist David Brooks delivers book talk on deepening human connection JULIA ROBBINS ALIZA LUBITZ INVESTIGATIVE NEWS EDITOR
STAFF WRITER
New York Times columnist David Brooks delivered a lecture about how to strengthen interpersonal relationships titled, “How to Know a Person” at Washington University, Oct. 30. Along with writing a column for the Times since 2003, Brooks appears regularly on PBS NewsHour, and is the bestselling author of five other books, including The Road to Character and The Social Animal. The sold-out lecture from the prominent political and social commentator took place in Graham Chapel and is part of a book tour for his sixth book, How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, published on Oct. 24. Brooks’ lecture, like his book, centered on how people can more clearly understand and uplift each other by asking deep questions and giving people time and attention. “We inhabit a society in which people don’t treat each other with kindness and consideration, and in my view, they haven’t been taught,” Brooks said. “It’s things like how to be a good listener, to disagree well, and to sit with someone who’s depressed or
grieving, and to ask for and offer forgiveness.” Brooks said that this societal failure to listen well is aggravating the state of people’s mental wellbeing. “There’s just been this epidemic of social pain I’ve been covering for about six or seven years; pain which is now being replicated on a global scale,” he said. “And that sadness and isolation turns into meanness, because if you feel invisible, unseen, disrespected, you’re going to regard it as an injustice and lash out.” Brooks pointed out the mental health crisis in the United States today. He used statistics to highlight the large percent of people who feel undervalued, misunderstood, and invisible, leading to high rates of loneliness, depression, and despondency. “As I’ve become a little more human, American society has become a little more dehumanized,” he said. While Brooks framed the relevance of his book within humanity’s high prevalence of interpersonal issues, the majority of his speech centered on ways that people can bring out the best in each other. “There are some people who are diminishers and there are some people who are illuminators,” Brooks said. “The diminishers make
you feel stereotyped, small, unseen, invisible. The illuminators are curious about you. They listen to you. They make you feel respected.” He fine tuned his themes of humanistic thinking with advice for improving interpersonal communication: listen loudly by vocalizing affirmation; ask questions that probe at why people believe what they believe; think of responses to people after they finish talking, even if that means pausing momentarily to gather your thoughts. Brooks drew frequent laughter from the audience for jokes that poked fun at his own experiences while pulling extensively on anecdotes from his own life and those of his friends and spiritual and community leaders. Towards the beginning of his talk, Brooks quoted the biographer of the English novelist Ian Foster who wrote about his subject that “‘to speak to him was to be seduced by an inverse charisma, a sense of being listened to with such intensity that you had to be your most honest, sharpest and best self.’” “Who wouldn’t want to be that guy; bring out the best in people,” Brooks said. Hellen Wilcockson, a local St. Louisan, appreciated the graciousness Brooks showed in his lecture. “He’s a
SAM POWERS | STUDENT LIFE NYT columnist David Brooks speaks about his new book “How to Know a Person” in Graham Chapel on Oct. 30. decent human being and that comes over loud and clear, and in a way that’s what he’s selling,” she said. Wilcockson added that she was not expecting to find Brooks as comedic as she did. “I think his humor surprised me, because it’s not that you don’t see humor on channel nine when he talks, but not like that.” Lisa Hautly was similarly surprised by how much humor Brooks injected into his talk and appreciated hearing how his thoughts have evolved from the past columns and books she has read from the author. “[I’ve been] reading him through different stages… [and] I think his perspective
as he matures is really important,” Hautly said. “I’m really anxious to read [How to Know a Person] because I feel like it will weave together much of what he’s talked about from a more mature perspective.” One of the key ways that Brooks’ perspective has changed over time has been tied to his religious conversion from Judaism to Christianity in 2013. He pulled on his religiosity in an anecdote towards the end of his talk about a pastor named Jimmy; a man who Brooks said saw the image of God in every person he interacted with. “He’s looking at somebody who has a soul of infinite value and dignity;
a person so important that Jesus was willing to die for that person,” he said. “Now you can be an atheist, agnostic, Jew, Christian, Muslim, whatever, but having that kind of respect and reverence for every person you meet, is the prerequisite for understanding them well.” “Every person you meet is fascinating on some subject,” Brooks said. “Every person you meet is better than you at something; every person you meet is not a problem to be solved, but a mystery you can never get to the bottom of.” The University presented this event in partnership with the St. Louis County Library Foundation and the Novel Neighbor.
Prix Goncourt-winning author reflects on writing during roundtable conference JIMMY HU STAFF WRITER
Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, the 2021 winner of France’s most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt, gave a talk titled “(In) visible writer, for whom do you sing?” during a conference sponsored by the French Connexions Center of Excellence on Oct. 30. Born in Dakar, Senegal and having studied in Paris, Sarr was the first writer from sub-Saharan Africa to be awarded the Prix Goncourt, specifically for his fourth novel “The Most Secret Memory of Men.” Recounting a fascinating story of the discovery of a novel by a young Senegalese writer living in Paris, this novel has been widely acclaimed throughout the Francophone world.
During the discussion, Sarr reflected on the purpose and address of writing itself, as well as the experience of writing with and without recognition, between the “center” and the “periphery” of the literary stage. He encouraged students and guests to stay authentic to their personal identity and origin in their own writing and expression. After a brief introduction from Professor Lionel Cuillé, Sarr started his talk by recounting criticisms he received about “not being African enough” in his style and “only writing for white people.” These criticisms led him to ponder the true audience of his work. He asked himself: “What does it mean to write for Africans, or about Africans? Who am I writing for?”
Resist WashU member protests Boeing Sarr mentioned Toni creativity and his personal recruitment event held
Morrison as an author who “spent her life answering these questions.” He believes that Morrison “write[s] for Black Americans, and therefore for all Americans, and ultimately, for all human beings who understand how a common existential theme is manifested in a particular history marked by violence.” “What truly matters at the heart of it all is that by sharing the same human experience, the reader feels connected to them, intimate with them; all of this should be evident for all writers,” he added, emphasizing that the audience should become “universal.” Sarr then shifted into a discussion of the contrast between “the center and the periphery, the core and the margin” — one that describes his source of
stories at the same time. He elicited characters in his award-winning novel for clarifying the contrast. “At the beginning of the [novel] a group of young African writers are writing from the ghetto, from this marginal space — these African writers writing in French, dreaming of making a career in France, and being recognized by the French literary milieu,” he said. Sarr then pointed out the underlying difficulties of being recognized in France for these African writers. “The path is this enviable status in [French] society, where they carry the weight of a history they did not experience, but is still their own history, which requires compromises, shared humiliation, and perhaps even betrayals,” he said. According to him, African writers on the “periphery” had to write about the trauma of African colonization in a way that catered to the French audience. Upon receiving the Prix Goncourt, Sarr said that he is no longer an “invisible writer” like the protagonists in his book. Coming out of the “periphery” of his African origin and becoming part of the “center” in the French literary milieu, he addressed the question of mediating the contrast between the center and the periphery for himself.
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VIA POOLOS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
A Boeing recruitment event about sustainability was interrupted by members of Resist WashU, a group that has helped publicize pro-Palestine events on campus this month. At least four members of the group attended the event Tuesday evening in McDonnell Hall, where around two dozen other attendees were present. This came after the newly-formed coalition of WUSTL Students for Palestine published a letter on Oct. 20 demanding that the University cut ties with Boeing. Before entering the lecture room, Resist WashU members passed out pamphlets to attendees with the Boeing logo on the front with headings such as “Do you Sleep Soundly at Night?” and “Does Job Stability Bore You?” inside. The event began as planned, with two Boeing employees who are both Washington University alumni presenting about Boeing’s recent advances in sustainability. Jill Graftenreed, Boeing Director of Sustainable Operations and Reporting, talked about employee safety and wellbeing, aerospace safety, and greenhouse gas emissions. Caitlind Walker, a Boeing engineer, spoke about the new, more efficient airplanes that she is helping Boeing design. “No matter what job you’re in at Boeing, you have a role to play in sustainability,” Walker said. The presentation lasted just over 30 minutes, after which the representatives opened the floor up to Q&A. One of the Resist
members, who declined to give their name, said, “Two weeks ago, Boeing sent a thousand bombs to Israel as Israel’s military was bombing schools and hospitals in Gaza. My question is, how does the mass murder of Palestinians square with [Boeing’s] sustainability acts?” One of the panelists responded that the Resist member’s statement about sending bombs to Israel was not true since Boeing is not allowed to sell to foreign governments. “Our customer is the U.S. government,” she said. “So if you are unhappy with how the U.S. government is using our products, I think that’s really fair to say. But I think your problem is with the U.S. government and their decisions.” Some news outlets, such as the Seattle Times, reported that there have been direct commercial transactions between Boeing and Israel in the past few weeks. Another person, who identified themselves as an undergraduate and University community member, asked, “Is there any guarantee that my work is not going to be used on a weapon that’s going to kill innocent people?” After determining that the person was not actually enrolled as an undergraduate at the University, Theresa Menk, Executive Director of Corporate Relations, asked them to leave.
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THURSDAY, NOV 2, 2023
AVI HOLZMAN | MANAGING NEWS EDITOR | NEWS@STUDLIFE.COM
STUDENT LIFE 3
Lead scientist of Mars sample return program gives lecture SRUTHI KOTLO CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Dr. Meenakshi Wadhwa, professor and Director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State University, spoke about the Mars Sample Return program at Whitaker Hall on Oct. 26. As the lead scientist for the program, Wadhwa gave insight into the motivations behind the program and the prospective timeline of retrieving samples from Mars. Run by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) and ESA (European Space Agency), the goal of the Mars Sample Return program is to deliver samples collected by the Mars Perseverance rover to Earth for detailed analysis. The project will be significant for scientific understanding of Mars’ climate and research about the plausibility of life existing during the planet’s history. Wadhwa began her lecture explaining that while Mars is currently inhabitable, it may have once been warmer and more hospitable. She introduced some of the questions her team is interested in pursuing. “What actually happened? How did that climate evolve?” Wadhwa said. “We want to understand that, and
WashU hosts training for National Disability then certainly, of course, the the atmosphere. The current According to Wadhwa, Employment potential for the development plan is that these samples analyzing the materials on of life in that context.” will be delivered to a lander, the surface of Mars will give Awareness Month Wadhwa explained that launched, and captured by scientists information about NASA prioritized the Mars Sample Return program in their last decadal survey, which outlines NASA’s goals over ten years. “It basically said that Mars Sample Return is the highest scientific priority for NASA’s robotic exploration efforts,” Wadhwa said. “It has merit, you know, high significance.” Wadhwa acknowledged that the process of analyzing the retrieved samples will be long and comprehensive, bringing together scientists across disciplines. “These return samples will be analyzed for many, many decades to come in laboratories across the world,” Wadhwa said. “The impact of that is going to be huge. There’s going to be biologists, there’s going to be geochemists, there’s going to be modelers, theorists — all kinds of scientists that are not even planetary scientists, but who will be interested in the samples that represent the very first samples from another planet that we will bring back here to study.” As for the process of collecting these samples, the Mars Perseverance rover, launched in 2020, has already documented and collected many diverse samples of rocks, regolith, and data from
an orbiter that will carry the samples to Earth. Scientists have strategically chosen which landing spots they want to collect from, hoping to obtain a broad range of samples. “The big strategy was to try to really maximize the diversity of samples that we were collecting,” Wadhwa said. To collect diverse samples, Wadhwa said her team collected two of every rock they found. They kept one on board Perseverance and saved one to analyze. Wadhwa also discussed the timeline for future launches to perform sample collections. She said that there are two launches planned for either 2027 or 2028, but that they might be pushed back by a year or two. The scientists plan to target certain locations on Mars’ surface, specifically those that mimic habitable environments. “The idea is to get a diversity of samples that are going to be helping us to address all of the science goals that I mentioned: to understand the geologic context, to understand the climate history, and to understand the history of whether there was ancient life,” Wadhwa said.
the interior of the planet, too. “If you can do geochronology, you can date the formation of these rocks,” Wadhwa said. “You can learn something about the composition of the magma from which this rock formed, and that also tells us about the interior composition of Mars.” Wadhwa also showed the audience an animation that demonstrated how the machinery would execute the sampling and retrieval. The animation portrayed the entire process of launching the samples and bringing them to Earth. It is estimated that these samples will land in the Utah desert in the early 2030s. Wadhwa ended by answering some questions from the audience and going into more detail about the design of the lander and the sampling tubes. “It is a very complicated mission,” Wadhwa said. “It’s going to be a hard thing… there are going to be a number of firsts. But, you know, that’s where you make the biggest progress, it’s when you really push the envelope, and it’s going to be doing that in space, for sure.”
Students express frustration over exams on religious holidays, faculty explain scheduling decisions ALIZA LUBITZ JOEL SWIRNOFF STAFF WRITERS
Large lecture classes in the hard sciences, engineering, and computer science departments have scheduled evening exams on major religious holidays in recent years. Students and faculty have faced challenges in accommodating religious observances when exams coincide with holidays, despite Washington University’s implementation of a policy to mitigate this issue. In 2021, The Office of the Provost introduced a new Religious Holiday Class Absence Policy with the aim of better accommodating students’ religious beliefs. Faculty occasionally schedule exams on holidays to avoid scheduling exams on the same day, and the policy seeks to alleviate potential challenges this can cause for students. The policy states that any student observing a religious holiday should have class absences excused, their exams rescheduled without incurring academic penalties, and be granted extensions on any missed assignments. Ostensibly, the policy is applied only if a student notifies their professor of their future class absence within three weeks of the beginning of classes, though
many professors offer leeway with this timeframe. The stipulations of the three week rule can pose issues for students who are not sure whether they will observe a given fast or cultural practice weeks in advance or are unaware of the guidelines of the policy. Benji Meron, a secondyear Chemistry major who practices Modern Orthodox Judaism, said he had a General Chemistry exam scheduled on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, in 2022. He also had an Organic Chemistry exam scheduled on the same holiday in 2023. “Last year, I ran straight from Chabad to my Gen Chem exam,” he said. “I didn’t have enough time to eat. I took my exam after not eating for 25 hours.” Meron said that he felt unprepared for his General Chemistry exam due to his religious observance, which made finding time to focus on studying difficult as he fasted and attended Chabad for prayer. Noah Kabbaj, a secondyear Muslim student, fasted while taking an evening Biology exam scheduled during the holy month of Ramadan. The exam took place after sunset, when observers normally break their fast and eat their evening meal. Like Meron, Kabbaj
struggles to wake up in time to eat before sunrise, so he did not eat or drink until after he completed his exam, over 24 hours since his previous meal. Kabbaj said that the only accommodations faculty members were willing to grant Ramadan observers was a 15-minute snack break during the exam. “I thought if I ate a small snack then I might be more hungry during the exam,” said Kabbaj. “So it wasn’t really worth it.” Another student, Isabella Rastegar, said that she attended her Organic Chemistry lecture this year on Yom Kippur after skipping lectures last year to observe the holiday. “I went to lecture because I didn’t want to be behind,” said Rastegar. “I didn’t want to [go to the lecture], but I was already stressed as it was.” Unlike Meron and Kabbaj, some religious students compromise their religious observance to improve their overall academic performance, not just for exams. Dina Abdalla, an observant Muslim student who studies Cognitive Neuroscience, said she faces this dilemma when a prayer room is not accessible for her daily prayers. “If I have something I need to get to super quick, and there isn’t a prayer
room in that area, then I can’t really pray,” Abdalla said. “I’ll have to put off the prayer until later with another prayer.” Abdalla, like Meron, voiced her frustration with exam scheduling during religious holidays. She fasted her freshman year when her General Chemistry exam coincided with Ramadan, and again during her sophomore year when her Biochemistry exam was scheduled during Ramadan. “It was okay in the end, but still difficult,” Abdalla said. “WashU hasn’t been very good about notifying professors that there’s a good majority of Muslims who are observing a month of fasting.” Last year, Abdalla ended up taking her General Chemistry exam in the morning shortly after having her pre-sunrise breakfast. “At that point, I didn’t feel super fatigued,” said Abdalla. “But waking up early after having just gone to sleep a few hours prior is still difficult.”
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LAUREN SMITH STAFF WRITER
New initiatives to strengthen inclusion and accessibility for people with disabilities at Washington University were discussed at a National Disability Employment Awareness Month training for students and employees at the University’s medical campus on Friday, Oct. 27. The training touched on the history of disability rights and unpacked what unintentional bias can look like in the workplace and beyond. In addition to the content presented at the training, both a representative from the Program in Occupational Therapy (OT) at the University’s Medical School and the Disability Resources department gave presentations on strides being taken to improve the experience of students and faculty with disabilities. Matthew Sullivan, Assistant Director of Disability Resources, said a common misconception on the medical campus is that people with disabilities are assumed to be patients, not practitioners. “We’re switching to understanding that in order to treat and care for patients with disabilities effectively,” Sullivan said. “We need to have a population of practitioners [with disabilities] that matches [the patients they serve] so that there’s a deeper understanding of what our approach should be.” Sullivan said there is increasing awareness amongst medical students about disability support resources, mentioning how there were roughly 40 students using accommodations in the spring of 2022 compared to 70 students in the fall of 2023, and he expects the number of students Disability Resources serves in the medical school to increase by up to 50% next year. He also discussed how time accommodations are the main form of support Disability Resources provides and how time constraints during tests have been one of the greatest social barriers for students with disabilities entering professional fields like medicine. Erin Stampp, Director of Programming and Professional Development in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) in the School of Medicine, also referenced the social barriers and social model of disability, which are the ideas that people with disabilities are disabled by structural barriers and social treatment, and removing structural barriers allows people with disabilities to thrive. Stampp said working towards inclusion is countercultural and mentioned how efforts to ensure accessibility
are sometimes viewed as overly ambitious. “The pushback is, ‘We can’t possibly do that. How are we going to include everybody? I mean, let’s not get too crazy with this,’” Stampp said. “But we’re really smart. We’ve sent people to the moon. We’ve got some of the smartest people in the world right here on campus. I think we can figure it out.” Abby King, Administrator of Department Operations and RAPS Ph.D. Academic Coordinator within OT, highlighted the work a task force within OT is doing to maximize inclusion by gathering input from students and faculty. The task force developed accessibility checklists for meetings and events that included details like how to use Zoom to ensure all people are getting the same information, regardless of their abilities to hear or see. King described how a former student created a guide to make spaces accessible through details like furniture arrangement and how the task force worked to get more automatic door openers for restrooms. A current initiative for the task force is accessibility in parking, especially for employees who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices. One potential solution mentioned is to make the shuttle work better for people with disabilities to minimize time spent traveling to the building. The task force is also looking to expand beyond OT and partner with other programs and areas of campus. Stampp also addressed how the Office of DEI is evaluating the language used around disability, and whether the office wants to use the word disability, or instead use the phrase “ability status.” Tonna Wilson, Program Coordinator in the DEI Office and MSW Student in the Brown School, said learning about the language around disability helps her make social media content accessible for the DEI Office and learn about all the lesser-known resources the University’s departments provide. Other versions of the training will be held quarterly to continue educating the University’s students and faculty and to keep them updated on developments for improving accessibility. “We’re trying to create something that we’ve never seen before,” Stampp said. “So it can feel really overwhelming… We don’t necessarily know what it looks like, feels like, or sounds like to live in an equitable community. You have to build the plane while you’re flying.”
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4 STUDENT LIFE
SCENE ANNABEL SHEN | MANAGING SCENE EDITOR | SCENE@STUDLIFE.COM
THURSDAY, NOV 2, 2023
Learning through experience: Undergraduates present their research at the Fall OUR Symposium TANVI GORRE SOPHIA HELLMAN STAFF WRITER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Bauer Hall was bustling with fresh ideas on Friday, Oct. 27 when undergraduate researchers set up posters and presented their work at the Office of Undergraduate Research’s Fall Symposium. There were 137 presentations in medical and medical adjacent research, 35 in the humanities, 36 in psychology, 10 in fine arts, 17 in environmental science, 16 in hard sciences, seven in economics, and two in math, according to the Office of Undergraduate Research. The goal of the symposium was to encourage undergraduate students to get involved in research and practice presenting their research to an official audience. Merrin Foltz, a senior presenting her research in the
Ben-Shahar Lab, explained the focus of her project: sex-specific midline crossing in flies. She said, “[In] almost all bilateral species, neurons cross the midline of the brain, but we don’t really know why it does that.” After putting a poster together, Foltz shared how presenting enhanced her understanding of axonal pathways. “[I] learned about [axonal pathways] in class, but I never understood what the point was,” she said. She went on to discuss how working in the lab deepened her knowledge of topics in classes, saying, “I think that being able to take that into my own hands and really isolate it is a big part of research.” Senior Ashley Park works in the Moron-Concepcion Lab focused on neuroscience research. Specifically, she is looking at cornichon-3’s role on AMPAR subunit
“Cabaret” preview, review, and reflection UMA SIMHAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“Cabaret,” a musical originally written in 1966, was certainly on the edgier and raunchier side of musicals from its time. It tells the story of a nightclub in Berlin during the rise of fascism. The leading lady, Sally Bowles, is an English performer at the Kit Kat Club, often performing provocative and bawdy songs. She loves and embraces life as a cabaret performer, living loosely and freely; however, she ends up in an intimate relationship with an American writer, Cliff, soon after being fired from the club. Life slowly turns to chaos as Sally’s flaws and the presence of Nazism become harder to ignore. I was privileged enough to preview the WashU Performing Arts Department’s (PAD) production of the show on Thursday, the last dress rehearsal before opening night. Dr. Julia A. Walker, chair of the Performing Arts Department, gave a striking speech before the show began. She highlighted how the themes in “Cabaret” and the current events in Israel and Palestine are eerily similar. Walker hopes audience members will be “productively unsettled,” and notice the importance of engaging with performing arts as a whole to both find community and learn from the horrors of the past. The show opens with “Willkommen,” a suggestive number that breaks the fourth wall and invites the audience into the Kit Kat Club. Here we are introduced to all the cabaret performers, along with the citizen characters in the show. From the moment she is introduced, it is clear that Sally, played by junior Danielle Bryden, is bursting with stage presence. Her acting and overall talent, along with the ensemble’s dancing skills, were the thread
that strung my attention throughout the show. The dance numbers, however cheeky, were a main highlight of the show. The costumes dazzled and the music was vibrant; the dancers alternated between functioning as one unit of performance and expressing character personality. Two songs I particularly enjoyed for their dance numbers were “Willkommen” and “Don’t Tell Mama.” After intermission, the mask that had been halfconcealing the creeping antisemitic elements in “Cabaret” gets ripped off. The songs become less racy, the dancers lose their sparkle, and an ominous air hangs over Berlin. The German characters gain depth as their country falls into fascism and its consequences become real. In comparison, Cliff and Sally seem almost caricatures; Cliff has an undeniable American naivety, and Sally, realizing she is bound to a tragic end, loses herself to her lifestyle. This decline manifests in two songs, “Maybe This Time” and “Cabaret,” causing watchers to reckon with the idea that Sally won’t ever get her happy ending. The ending of the show is abrupt, and once again forces the audience to meditate not just on Nazism in 1930s Berlin, but also on current events. The arc of the show can be somewhat alarming, seeming to shift suddenly from playful and raunchy to dark and serious, however, that is what makes “Cabaret” a good medium for audience reflection. PAD’s choice of musical was timely and necessary, a chance for all of us to examine how rapidly a harmful ideology can spread, and the havoc it wreaks. The show is only running for the weekends of Oct. 27 and Nov. 3. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3 and Saturday, Nov. 4 and 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 5.
composition in opioid use through the BioSURF program. After presenting her poster, she explained that the “experience was very helpful in getting [her] a starting point, being able to communicate that with [her] mentor, and ask[ing] questions.” Park also noted that “by making this poster, you know where your gaps are in your knowledge,” she said. Having worked in the lab since the second semester of her sophomore year, Park gained a lot of invaluable experience. When asked, she was excited to share advice to undergraduates interested in starting research for the first time. “I would say really learn what field you’re interested in, what field of study you actually want to pursue, and kind of branch off of that,” Park noted. She went on to discuss a common challenge in beginning research:
finding out which environment works best. “Be flexible,” she said. “Ask around what everyone else’s experience in research labs are.” Senior Sarah Rosen shared her unique experience in conducting historical research for her senior thesis in the department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. “I think it’s important [that] research that we do has implications for sociocultural and cultural ideology about gender, about race, about religion.” She went on to describe the differences in how research is collected in many fields and how those can affect the way we view results. She noted, “STEM and other quantitative fields [are] very frontward-facing because it’s very tangible, and humanities research is kind of more in the abstract.”
Despite this, Rosen explained the importance of students showcasing humanities research. She pointed out its sociocultural implications and conversations around broader cultural ideologies such as the ones her own project addresses: race, gender, and religion. Finally, Rosen touched on the significance of building relationships with professors and advisors, crediting them for how she was able to find the right resources. To those in qualitative fields, she advised, “Find resources like the Biggs award. They’re there to help students make sure that humanities research is being done and is being prioritized.” For students of all areas, the symposium is a place where researchers find meaning in their work. It is also a great way to recognize progress — many student researchers at the
symposium hope to expand their research into new projects, new technologies, and in some cases new legislation, according to Dr. Angela Fink, program manager of the Office of Undergraduate Research. According to Fink, the Office of Undergraduate Research hopes the symposium will encourage first-year students to seek out research opportunities in the future. “We are trying to ramp up the opportunities for first-year students to really get engaged in and learn about the onramps into undergraduate research,” said Fink. Anushka Bhat, a sophomore student researcher, said she believes the symposium highlighted the fact that research is available to everyone at WashU. “I believe that every undergrad does have a spot in a lab,” Bhat said.
Taylor Swift never goes out of style: A review of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” OLIVIA LEE CONTRIBUTING WRITER
On Oct. 27, 2014, Taylor Swift released her fifth studio album. Shedding her country roots, Swift emerged into the pure pop world with “1989.” Sending her straight to the top of the charts, the album won Swift her second Album of the Year at the 58th Grammy Awards, as well as Best Pop Vocal Album. Exactly nine years later, Taylor Swift dropped “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” as the fourth edition in her rerecording project. This venture aims to devalue the original versions of her albums owned by her previous record label, Big Machine Records, and give her control over her masters. The 16 remastered songs on “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” achieve her objective of faithfully reproducing the original songs. They are, however, enhanced. They possess a larger, fuller sound and production quality, and are given an upgrade with Swift’s improved vocal ability. Also included in the rerecordings are “vault songs.” These are tracks written at the time of the original album but ultimately not released. The five on “1989 (TV)” are a mix of hits and songs slightly missing the mark. The first song, “Slut!,” is a track that fell short. The song focuses on Swift’s reputation in the media around 2014 — someone who constantly jumps from man to man, never settling. The star declares that she doesn’t care about how the media portrays her, as long as she’s with the right person. “And if they call me a slut / You know it might be worth it for once,” she sings. For such a provocative title, the song doesn’t stand out. The production is too mellow, too restrained. It lacks momentum, especially in the pre-chorus where the melody is extremely repetitive. The one line that does shine, however,
is, “In a world of boys, he’s a gentleman.” The stacked vocals and pause in instrumentals results in a stunningly soft moment that makes the release when production resumes all the more worth it. The next two songs, “Say Don’t Go” and “Now That We Don’t Talk,” have much better drive. Though the production is still slightly subdued in “Say Don’t Go” (at least in the first half of the song), the track builds, pulling the listener in. This song explores Swift’s desire for her partner to tell her to stay in their relationship as she is walking out on it. “Halfway out the door, but it won’t close / I’m holdin’ out hope for you to / Say, ‘Don’t go,’” Swift laments. “Now That We Don’t Talk” is a danceable yet introspective peek into the complicated emotions that result from distancing oneself from a former partner after a necessary breakup. Swift chants, “I call my mom, she said that it was for the best / Remind myself, the more I gave, you’d want me less / I cannot be your friend, so I pay the price of what I lost.” Though Swift recognizes that this separation was crucial, she still misses the daily updates, the conversations, the intimacy she once had with this person. “Suburban Legends,” the fourth song from the
vault, sounds eerily similar to “Mastermind,” which appears on Taylor Swift’s tenth album, “Midnights.” The heartbeat rhythm thumping behind the lyrics, the production, and the melody all sound like a (slightly downgraded) version of the “Midnights” track. Additionally, the song holds a strange Ke$ha parallel (or reference), with the line “Tick-tock on the clock, I pace down your block.” This lyric is a bit hard to move past, but the rest of the song is lyrically strong, detailing, much like the previous song, an incompatible relationship that ultimately met its end. Swift wails, “You were so magnetic, it was almost obnoxious / Flush with the currency of cool / I was always turnin’ out my empty pockets / …when it came to you.” The final vault song, “Is It Over Now?” is the standout of the five. The song touches on Swift’s continual thoughts about her past partner after their relationship has ended. It emphasizes the ways we are inevitably changed by the people we love, causing their presence to stay, even when the relationship comes to an end. “Was it over when she laid down on your couch? / Was it over when he unbuttoned my blouse?” Swift croons. Despite both people in the
singer’s story having moved on physically, they still feel the emotional weight of one another. The song’s bridge is explicitly impactful, with Swift repeating its lyrics twice. She belts, “And did you think I didn’t see you? / There were flashin’ lights / At least I had the decency / To keep my nights out of sight,” and later, “Oh, Lord, I think about jumpin’ / Off of very tall somethings / Just to see you come runnin.’” All Swift wants is for the relationship to be truly over. But her partner’s constant presence in the media and her need for attention from this person prevent the full closure of this chapter. The song also features the already iconic line, “If she’s got blue eyes, I will surmise that you’ll probably date her.” The production is sparkly and upbeat, providing a welcome contrast with the subject of the track. The builds and drops in the song are also extremely satisfying, particularly within the repeated bridge. These songs are an appreciated addition to “1989.” Though they may not live up to the beasts of “Out Of The Woods” and “Wildest Dreams,” they are still able to hold their own on this pop bible of an album.
ILLUSTRATION BY SOPHIE LEONG
FORUM
THURSDAY, NOV 2, 2023
STUDENT LIFE 5
REILLY BRADY | MANAGING FORUM EDITOR | FORUM@STUDLIFE.COM
Genocide will not bring peace: WashU students must support a ceasefire SAISH SATYAL DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION EDITOR Hamas is a disgusting terrorist organization. Its charter, which refers to Jewish people as “the enemy,” calls for a constant struggle until they are “vanquished.” It calls for their annihilation. The organization’s attack on Oct. 7 led to the single bloodiest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. Terrorists ransacked and burned homes, kidnapped hundreds of civilians, and murdered thousands more. For a people who have faced persecution, pogroms, and the Holocaust, Hamas is the embodiment of everything they’ve feared for centuries. There are not words strong enough to condemn the organization, its actions, and its members. Its indiscriminate targeting and murder of Israeli civilians has not and will never bring much-needed justice and liberation to the Palestinian people. In response to Hamas’ attack, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to exact an “unprecedented price” from the enemy. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered a complete siege of the Gaza Strip, shutting off supply chains of food, fuel, electricity, and water to over 2 million
innocent Palestinian civilians. He claimed that Israel was “fighting human animals” and was “acting accordingly.” Regardless of whether he was talking about the Palestinian people or about Hamas, the people of Gaza have been facing near-constant bombardment and dwindling access to clean water, electricity, and food for the past month. The Israeli government has repeatedly ordered the evacuation of 1.1 million people to Southern Gaza ahead of a land invasion, but has continued airstrikes along safe routes, resulting in at least 70 dead as of Oct. 15, and widespread fears among Gazans in the North as they decide whether to flee. The continuous Israeli bombardment has led some to see the choice as risking death in their homes or just somewhere else in Gaza. As of Oct. 30, approximately 350,000 civilians are trapped and facing a large-scale invasion as Israeli airstrikes have rendered the road into the South of Gaza unusable. From Oct. 27 to Oct. 29, the Israeli government shut off Gaza’s internet and phone services and commenced with some of its most intense bombings since the start of its siege. According to NPR reporters, this has decimated rescue efforts within Gaza as people have been unable to call for aid
or ambulances. When I told people in Texas that I would be attending WashU, they told me that the school might be too left-leaning, even for me. When I got to campus, I was relieved to hear people talk about U.S. war crimes in Vietnam and Iraq with the horror and revulsion that they deserved. When I brought up Nixon and Kissinger’s American carpet-bombing of Cambodia which killed thousands of innocent people, I was pleasantly surprised to hear fellow students condemn those war crimes. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the people I spoke to say that the US invasion of Iraq was unjust. Even the people I spoke to who disagreed with the now-infamous protest against the flags on Mudd Field on Sept. 11, 2021 acknowledged that the person responsible was right to bring attention to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians that were killed as a result of the U.S. war on terror. Over the past few weeks, I have seen these same students turn around and justify the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza. In response to the dropping of 6,000 bombs in 5 days on one of the most densely packed areas in the world, I have heard students claim that Israel has a right to defend itself. This issue has been framed as
safer. Over Halloween weekend, as Israel shut off all communications in Gaza ahead of its intense bombings, civilians found themselves in the dark and unable to contact any emergency services while facing heavy bombardment from fighter jets. On October 31st, Israeli airstrikes destroyed multiple apartment buildings in a refugee camp, killing at least 50 civilians and injuring hundreds more. Amidst the constant bombardment and the rubble, Gazans have fled to hospitals in the hopes that they will not be bombed there. Hospitals across Gaza are filled with dead, dying, injured, and scared innocents while doctors scramble to do what they can. These medical facilities are running out of basic medical supplies, clean water, anesthesia, operating room space, and personnel to tend to all those who are injured. Even then, medics have reported being unable to operate on anything beyond dire and life-saving procedures as Gaza faces fuel depletion.
rendered permanently homeless while others remain unsure whether their homes will continue to remain standing or functional. As death tolls rise and Israeli bombings continue, these numbers have risen faster than Gazan officials can accurately count. How does sieging and traumatizing an entire region of people do anything to deter terrorism? In fact, doesn’t it do the opposite? This article, along with any article talking about the Israel-Hamas war, is irresponsibly incomplete without mentioning the on-the-ground impact of the constant bombardment on Gazan civilians. Day after day, horrific accounts have flooded out of Gaza, describing the hellish conditions to which innocent people are being subjected. There have been reports of the Israeli military firing shells filled with white phosphorus — a gas which causes second- or third-degree burns and is easily absorbed into the bloodstream upon contact — near civilian populations. Health workers for Doctors without Borders have reported multiple instances of Israeli airstrikes targeting ambulances (which is a war crime), leading to Gazans driving injured and dead bodies to the hospital in personal cars since they believe it to be potentially
an issue of justice — as the state of Israel striking back against evil forces who seek to destroy it. Yet, I don’t understand how murdering more than 8,000 Palestinian civilians and injuring tens of thousands more is necessary to achieve justice. I don’t understand how forcibly removing millions of people from their homes and then turning them into rubble helps Israel remain secure. How does the constant bombardment of 2.1 million civilians — almost half of whom are under 18 — by the 4th strongest military in the world achieve any measure of justice? What good can come of the murder of thousands of innocent Palestinians? What good can come out of destroying the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of Gazans? How does depriving almost 1 million children of food, water, and electricity bring justice to anyone? The bombings have displaced more than half of Gaza’s people from their homes — an estimated 1.4 million people. In addition to those already displaced, the Housing Ministry in Gaza has reported that 45% of homes in the Strip have been either destroyed, rendered completely uninhabitable, or been damaged in some way. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been
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6 STUDENT LIFE
REILLY BRADY | MANAGING FORUM EDITOR | FORUM@STUDLIFE.COM
THURSDAY, NOV 2, 2023
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Disappointed student’s response to pro-Palestine faculty letter NOAM KARGER CLASS OF 2026 It was a beautiful Friday afternoon, and the Jewish Sabbath was rapidly approaching as the sun began to set. But I couldn’t go to Chabad to pray quite yet. Why? Because there were people on my campus yelling “Free Palestine.” The phrase has become all too common on college campuses and social media and sends shivers down my spine. But I had to go listen. I write this piece to express my disappointment in the letter signed by multiple Washington University faculty members and published in Student Life on Oct. 24. The letter starts with a criticism of the University for not punishing Seth Crosby for his recent tweets. However, a close reading — in context — makes it clear that Crosby was calling for the cleansing of Hamas terrorists, not all Palestinians. He is countering the claim that the Israeli military’s actions are an attempt at ethnic cleansing by emphasizing that the IDF is not targeting the Palestinian ethnicity, but rather the specific group of individuals who make up Hamas. Defeating an armed terrorist group isn’t ethnic cleansing, it’s a basic national security operation. I think Crosby’s language was crude and careless given the current climate, but it’s clear to me that the authors of the letter are misrepresenting his statement. Crosby also followed up with a tweet explicitly clarifying that he was referring only to Hamas terrorists and saying he was fired by
the University (though I admit there is conflicting evidence as to whether he was fired). Additionally, the University came out with a public statement saying that Crosby’s statements did not represent the opinion of the University and that it was taking action to address them. Through this first section of the letter, the authors misled readers about Crosby’s message and left out crucial facts about the University’s appropriate response. From “educators deeply invested in [their] students’ ability to learn,” it’s disheartening to see this kind of intellectual dishonesty. The letter moves on to the University’s “failure to provide students with support and protection,” claiming this was the reason for the cancellation of the first pro-Palestine rally. As someone who was involved in planning the pro-Israel rally, which was announced multiple days before the pro-Palestine rally was scheduled to overlap with it, I have trouble believing the main reason for cancelling the rally was safety concerns. We talked to WUPD beforehand, who informed us that any counterprotesters that disrupted the Israel gathering would be escorted off the field according to University policy, and an organizer of the pro-Palestine demonstration referenced “trying to follow every single rule on this campus.” Seeing as Hamas leadership had called for an international day of Jihad (which often refers to the killing of non-Muslims) on that Friday — an element that the professors’
letter doesn’t address — the students who needed protecting on this day were the Jewish students at the proIsrael rally. I can affirm that the University and WUPD did, in fact, protect the students, and I have no reason to assume they would do differently for any other groups. I didn’t hear any Jewish leaders calling for the worldwide murder of non-Jews that Friday, or any day on which pro-Palestine rallies are planned. The authors argue that proPalestinian students had a “lack of protection” without identifying or substantiating a threat to said students at WashU, attempting to paint them as victims in order to accrue support without needed evidence. Ultimately, I too hope that the University will offer ample protection to proPalestine students, but as readers, let’s resist the urge to automatically agree wholeheartedly with those who the authors depict as the underdogs. “Genocide,” “indiscriminate bombing and killing,” and “colonial occupation” are all terms used by the authors without adequate definition or explanation. The use of these words is inherently manipulative since it makes readers falsely think that they align with the author’s entire argument simply because most of us automatically oppose the actions described by these buzzwords. Of course I’d be appalled if a trusted news source told me Israel was engaged in a genocide. But these descriptors often misrepresent, if not falsify, the reality. I’d love to engage in a conversation about Israel’s
treatment of Gazans, but when the authors use these inflammatory buzzwords, they paint issues as black and white and leave only extreme solutions as options; calling Israel a perpetrator of genocide makes anyone who defends it a supporter of genocide and suggests taking the most drastic actions against Israel (i.e. delegitimizing its entire right to exist). This immediately shuts down any opportunity for constructive discussion or true education while pushing readers to blindly join their side. As constant consumers of media and as students, it is our job to denounce these tactics and personally resist them when they are used against us. Lastly, the letter moves to uphold the right that America is so fond of: free speech. We stick to it for good reason — but, as Chancellor Martin recently expressed in his email to the University, there is such a thing as taking it too far. The authors of the letter call for “unequivocally supporting the right of students to speak out around issues of global concern…without retribution.” I think that’s just not realistic. Free speech is not totally free. It’s limited. And rightfully so. Would you “unequivocally support” a Nazi yelling that he aspires for the killing of all LGBTQIA+ people? Would you “unequivocally support” a KKK member calling for the murder of all Black people in the United States? Of course not. I know this language is intense, but as I explain below, I firmly believe that certain
pro-Palestine rhetoric is just as extreme, although better hidden behind social justice language to attract the modern audience. For these reasons, it’s quite senseless for the authors to expect unregulated free speech of a university (which also has its own rights as a private institution), especially given that they start their letter by condemning Crosby’s exercising his right to free speech. I wasn’t presented with any evidence of the University silencing pro-Palestine voices, but regardless, the authors rely on our sometimes-blind clinging to popular social justice themes to distract us from the ridiculousness of allowing pro-Palestine students to say whatever they want without consequence. Despite the University’s supposed “censorship” and “punishments” against proPalestine advocates, I still found myself shuddering as the massive group of protestors rhythmically shouted “Free Palestine” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”— chants calling for the mass genocide of my family and friends in Israel. My one-year-old cousin Imri. My 91-yearold great aunt Shoshana. My good friends Maia and Zevi. “Free Palestine” is pretty popular, but oddly, people never seem to finish that sentence. Free Palestine from what? Of what? Aren’t there 7 million Jews living in Israel? “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” I ask you: Free of what? Free of who? Jews. These chants aren’t calling for a peaceful two-state solution, or a miraculous deal that absorbs two
million Palestinians and Hamas’s government into Israel’s official borders without a single terror attack on Jews. No. On Oct. 7, Hamas showed us exactly what “Free Palestine” means, and no matter how many progressive Americans start their speech by saying they have a Jewish friend, Hamas will continue to “Free Palestine” by raping, torturing, and slaughtering every Jew in their path. Freeing Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea means pushing everyone that’s currently between the river and the sea straight into that sea. The Egyptians chased my ancestors into the sea once. And, just 80 years ago, my ancestors were herded to their extermination by the Nazis. In Germany, “Judenrein” meant “Free of Jews.” We saw what that meant. So, please, understand why I shake when students glare into my Jewish eyes and scream “Free Palestine.” Ultimately, I found the faculty letter to be dishonest in its treatment of Crosby’s tweets, manipulative in its use of social justice terms to gain blind support for “freedom fighting,” and ignorant in its obsession with free speech and neglect of the patterns of anti-Jewish violence. I don’t think the letter benefitted the campus community. I expect so much better from the educators of my beloved university.
Editor’s Note: See online article for tweets referenced.
OPINION SUBMISSION
A plea for Israeli-Palestine protests OSCAR WALDMAN CLASS OF 2025 As I bike past Mudd Field, I hear chanting. It’s the Palestinian community protest, so I think, “I’ll stop by.” If I can go to an Israel rally and feel comfort from my community, then why shouldn’t students with a connection to Palestine do the same I consider myself proPalestine, just as I am pro-Israel, so I stand in the rally with my fellow students. And then I hear a rallyer start on a loudspeaker passionately. As she’s rolling, I start to feel uncomfortable. “You guys
changed the Torah, you changed the Bible,” she says sternly. I start looking around, wondering, “Is anybody else hearing this?” I feel something that’s more than discomfort. I’m scared. I am being accused of rewriting the Bible and Torah to put Israel in it. Right in front of me, on the field I play intramural soccer, I’m witnessing Jews being accused of rewriting the Bible — a statement filled with conspiracy and antisemitism. All of a sudden, I feel like I’m living in history. My bubble of safety is popped, and I look around, desperately hoping someone will
say something. I will say this: the rally was open to the whole St. Louis community. I’m doubtful the person spewing out antisemitic conspiracies was a Washington University student. But I do expect WashU students to say something — to condemn when dangerous rhetoric is spread, regardless of who it’s from. I am a Jew. I am not the Israeli government. The logic that Jews, or civilians in Israel, are responsible for the Israeli government, is bigoted and a double standard rarely given to any other nation. I protested against the Chinese
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government for putting Uyghurs in camps; I did not protest against all of China; furthermore, I did not protest against Chinese people around the world. Because that would be racist. This is the same logic that speaks against Jews and Israeli civilians at protests. It’s the logic of unchecked, overflowing hate. Not a Palestinian thing. Not an Israeli thing. Just an unfortunate human thing. At the WashU protest I referred to, a speaker got up and said, “Condemning Israel’s actions is not antisemitic!” I wholeheartedly agree. But pure condemnation of Israel’s government
is often not what we’re seeing around the globe. At Tulane: Jewish student beaten after trying to stop the burning of an Israeli flag. At Cooper Union College: Jewish students are locked in a library for their safety as anti-Israel protestors pound on the doors. To people who don’t believe antisemitism can come out of what is happening: wake up. And just as Jews and Israelis are targeted, people are somehow blaming Muslims and Palestinians for Hamas’s horrific actions. We must not forget the six-year-old Muslim, Palestinian-American boy murdered by a right-wing
extremist in Illinois. When emotions are high, we must check ourselves — now more than ever. It is so easy to cast people into wide nets —- to point at anyone who doesn’t seem to be on our “side,” and associate them with the root of what we’re protesting against. But it’s not that simple. We are all fighting for innocent lives. We cannot rescue our innocents at the expense of blaming innocents on the other side. If we are going to make real change, and rescue all innocents, we must all actively agree to not fall into this trap. Outside this trap is where dialogue flows and progress is made.
09/28 WINNERS First place Me and the girls pulling up just to see three other versions of our costume. Evangeline Joyce, Current WashU Student
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Second place Me and the homies going trick-or-treating knowing we just failed our chem exam. Luis Tinajero-Areola, Current WashU Student
ILLUSTRATION BY ANAELDA RAMOS
ILLUSTRATION BY SOPHIE LEONG
Third place The realization that The Rats Family still lived there. Darren Jacobs, WashU Parent
THURSDAY, NOV 2
SPORTS HUSSEIN AMURI | MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR | SPORTS@STUDLIFE.COM
STUDENT LIFE 7
No. 2 Women’s soccer loses to Rochester, ending 15-game clean-sheet streak RILEY HERRON STAFF WRITER Just four minutes after the opening kickoff in Sunday’s divisional matchup vs. Rochester, the Washington University women’s soccer team found itself in uncharted territory. After a cross was cleared out of the box by a WashU defender, Rochester midfielder Natalie Kocsis unleashed a first-time strike from 25 yards out. As the ball sailed towards the goal, it narrowly passed a defender and found the net, despite the best efforts of an outstretched Sid Conner, WashU’s senior goalkeeper. For the first time all season, the Bears had conceded a goal, and they quickly found themselves playing from behind. Ultimately, despite a resilient attempt to mount a comeback, they would fall to the No. 6 Yellowjackets 2-1, ending college soccer’s best clean-sheet streak and placing their UAA division lead in jeopardy. Just five days after they had been named the best team in the country, the Bears were knocked off their perch and are back to the No. 2 spot in this week’s rankings. The streak, which lasted 1354 minutes and 15 games, was the third-longest stretch in Division III women’s soccer’s history. WashU was five games away from the division record of 20, which was set by the University of Puget Sound in 2005. In addition, with two goals allowed on the season, WashU is now level with No. 1 Christopher Newport University for the fewest goals allowed this year in DIII women’s soccer. Entering the Senior Day matchup, the squad looked to build on the momentum they accumulated during last Sunday’s victory over Case Western Reserve University. After Rochester’s early score, the Bears were forced to regroup. This moment was one the Bears had been waiting for, according to senior midfielder Jessica Greven.
JIALING SUN | STUDENT LIFE
Senior Jessica Greven scores a penalty kick against Rochester, the only goal in the team’s 2-1 loss on Sunday.
“Something we have been talking about for a long time is the response to that [first goal] — because a lot of people were hyping it up to be a bigger deal than it was. We wanted to make sure that our response was one of resilience. Getting scored on doesn’t mean anything if we don’t respond properly,” she said after the match. After a brief huddle of all 11 players on the pitch, the Bears attempted to claw back in the game. However, the remainder of the first half was a backand-forth affair, with neither team able to break the deadlock. At the end of the first half, both teams had four shots apiece, and the Bears went into the break down 1-0. The side’s reaction when they went down early impressed head coach Jim Conlon. When asked about his takeaways from the game, he said, “I think the biggest one was our response and our resiliency. I thought after getting down a goal and then down two goals, we responded well. We put a lot of good shots on frame, we put ourselves in position to equalize the match on the scoreboard,
and they just didn’t fall.” Early in the second half, the Bears had one of their best stretches of the match, displaying the resilience Conlon praised. In the 53rd minute, senior midfielder Anna Viscovich hit a half-volley from around the penalty spot that forced a leaping stop from Rochester goalie Grace Kuropatkin. Two minutes later, a through ball by Greven split the defense, giving the Bears a sequence of opportunities. After Kuropatkin misplayed the ball, junior Gaelen Clayton, the Bears’ leading scorer, shot the ball towards the keeper-less goal, but it was cleared off the line by a defender. Sophomore Grace Ehlert then won back the ball for WashU, but her shot was denied by another diving save by Kuropatkin, one of six stops she made that day. After the set of attacking chances, the momentum appeared to be in favor of the Bears once again. The sizable crowd of families and fans began to roar, urging the team forward in the cold and rain. With just over 30 minutes remaining, WashU looked like
they had the attacking threat to level the match or even take the lead. Though they were chasing the victory, the Bears likely would’ve been content with a tie. Earning just one point in the match would’ve sealed the University Athletic Association (UAA) title for WashU. However, in the 63rd minute, Rochester doubled their lead against the run of play, dimming WashU’s hopes of a comeback. When a free kick from a few yards outside of the box sailed towards Conner, she bobbled the catch. The ball bounced kindly to Rochester first-year Lauren Blanch, who was in the right position to slot home her fourth goal of the season. Despite complaints from players and fans that Conner was bumped by a Rochester attacker, no foul was called, and the Bears found themselves trailing by two goals. As frustration mounted amongst the crowd, the Bears pushed players forward, looking for a spark to get themselves back in the game. In the 72nd minute, after first-year Julia Moore received a cross from sophomore Ella Koleno,
she was brought down in the box by a defender. The referee blew his whistle and pointed to the penalty spot. As Greven stepped up to take the ensuing kick, she found herself in a familiar position. “It’s something that we practice all the time. We take plenty of penalty kicks in practice and just know that if you do your job and get done what you know you’re able to do, then there’s nothing to worry about. So just take a deep breath, and finish what you know [that] you can do.” Greven did her job, slotting the ball into the bottom-right corner of the goal. With the score at 2-1, the crowd’s energy began to swell once again. Despite WashU’s best efforts, however, Rochester’s defense held strong for the last 18 minutes. As WashU repeatedly lumped the ball up the field, they couldn’t beat the Yellowjackets’ stout back line, despite logging nine shots in the second half and outshooting the visitors 13-7 in the game. When the clock hit zero, the Rochester squad stormed the field to celebrate their hard-fought 2-1 victory.
Despite the loss, Conlon stayed positive after the match. “In the post-game [team talk], I just told them I was proud of them. The game didn’t go our way today, the ball didn’t bounce our direction, but I thought our response and our resolve to put ourselves in a situation to tie that game up or even win it was fantastic.” After being knocked down for the first time all season, the Bears will have a whole week to figure out how they are going to pick themselves up. As Greven noted after the match, the loss presents the team with an opportunity to improve. “Something about this team is that the learning never stops. It’s really important to go into our future goals prepared. And I think taking a loss like this gives us a lot of really important lessons to learn from. We’ve got some great material to look at for film. I think that Rochester gave us a challenge that hopefully we can learn from, and we’re just excited to go forward because this is just another stepping stone of being prepared, which will help us to meet our future goals.” While they were unable to win the UAA title, their 4-1-1 (13 points) conference record is still top in the conference. Since a win by Case Western this weekend narrowed WashU’s lead to just two points, the conference championship will be decided on the regular season’s final day. WashU will need either a point against the University of Chicago or to have Case Western and Rochester not win their games in order to celebrate their 16th UAA crown, a prize that also awards its recipient an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Though the Bears were forced to put their celebrations on ice, they remain in first place in the conference and will host the University of Chicago Saturday with a trophy on the line.
WashU men’s soccer suffers a close loss to Rochester University, ending three-game win streak ELAHEH KHAZI STAFF WRITER
This past Sunday, the Washington University men’s soccer team (7-7-1) battled the Rochester University Yellowjackets (8-2-5) in their penultimate game of the University Athletic Association (UAA) season. Though the Bears dominated ball possession throughout the game, they were unable to win the match due to the Yellowjackets’ strong defense. The game ended 1-0 with the Yellowjackets on top. The match was played on home turf for the Bears at Francis Olympic Field. As the whistle blew to start the first half, both teams came onto the turf with confidence. Despite the rain and cold weather conditions, the Bears and the Yellowjackets played neck-and-neck, grappling for a win. The Bears managed to take control of the ball early on in the game. During the first half, the Bears generated multiple scoring opportunities, but none reached the back of the goal. The Yellowjackets also tried their best to get control of the ball but had
limited success as the Bears put on a strong offensive front. Senior Owen Culver and junior Landon Green played with much zeal, producing most of the critical plays for WashU throughout the match. Culver created a match-high of seven shots, three of which were on target. Culver has been on fire for the Bears, scoring five goals in their previous three matches. But unfortunately for Culver, on Sunday, all of his shots on target were saved by the Rochester goalkeeper. Green also produced multiple attempts for the Bears, but none of his four shots throughout the game were on target. Although the Bears outshot the Yellowjackets 5-1 in the opening 45, the first half ended with both teams tied. Once both teams came back onto the field for the second half of the game, the Bears continued their dominance on the offensive front. However, even though the Bears had 13 attempted shots during the second half of the match, Yellowjackets’ goalie Santino Lupica-Tondo ensured no shot reached the back of the goal, making five saves throughout the match. In the 66th minute of the
game, the Yellowjackets capitalized on their one golden chance of the game. After an unfortunate turnover, the Yellowjackets gained control of the ball in the midfield. As they raced down the right side of the field to score, the Bears were unable to defend against them. Rochester senior Santi Ponce Ocampo got possessiona hold of the ball and sent a shot to the far side of the goal that WashU freshman goalie Cal L’Hommedieu was not able to save, giving the Yellowjackets their first goal of the game. “Sometimes, when we give up goals, we can definitely point to our team not performing the way they need to. But [over the course of the season] it [has] gotten better, and [we have] reduced how many times we make those kinds of errors. It’s a team with a lot of talent,” coach Joe Clarke said about the goal his team conceded. With less than 30 minutes of the match remaining, the Bears attempted to mount a comeback — but to no avail. The game concluded as a victory for the Yellowjackets, even though the Bears’ effort appeared to be far more substantial. This was WashU’s
MADDIX CRADLEBAUGH| STUDENT LIFE
Senior Owen Culver dodges a Rochester defender during a close loss.
first loss against Rochester since 2017. Despite the defeat, Clarke remained positive about his team’s performance. “The guys played fantastic [in today’s match]. Rochester scored on the only chance [they had], and their goalkeeper played a great game. Every single player on our team played well [today]; we just did not get [the] results we wanted,” he said after the match.
Green shared a similar sentiment, saying, “[We were] disappointed with the result of today’s game. It would have been nice to come out and beat this team, [given our efforts]. [Our team is a] good group of people. Hopefully, we can end the season on a high note against UChicago.” The Bears look to rebound when they host UAA rival University of Chicago on Saturday, Nov. 4. Despite
WashU’s three-game win streak — the longest of the season — coming to an end, the Bears look to end the season on a high note in their final game of the season. To do so, they will face a tough task from the nation’s No. 21 team. The match, which will be preceded by a celebration of WashU’s seniors for Senior Day, will be on home turf at Francis Olympic Field at 1:30 p.m.
8 STUDENT LIFE
THURSDAY, NOV 2 , 2023
HUSSEIN AMURI| MANAGING SPORTS EDITOR | SPORTS@STUDLIFE.COM
Football pummels Elmhurst 66-0 for largest victory in 85 years
CLARA RICHARDS | STUDENT LIFE
Sophomore Artrell Miller ran for 91 yards against Elmhurst on Oct. 28 during the Bears biggest win in 85 years, defeating the Blue Jays 66-0. MATT EISNER STAFF WRITER
It’s a law of nature: if a bear and a blue jay got into a fight, the bear would make quick work of the bird. The blue jay has no chance. It would be an almost instantaneous victory for the bear. Fine — I admit that I have never watched a bear and a blue jay fight. If I had to give my best guess as to what that fight would look like, though, I would presume it looks similar to what happened on Saturday afternoon, when Washington University Bears football thrashed the Elmhurst Blue Jays 66-0. The win was WashU’s first shutout victory since 2019. Per the Athletic Department, this was football’s second-largest margin of victory in program history, second only to an 88-0 thumping of McKendree College in 1938. The Bears’ offense completely dominated Elmhurst in the first half. Elmhurst fumbled the opening kickoff, and while they were able to recover the ball, a three-and-out and a 17-yard punt return put WashU in excellent field position for the opening drive. It took just one play — a 27-yard
run from junior running back Kenneth Hamilton — for WashU to find the end zone. Minutes later, another threeand-out from the Blue Jays again put WashU in favorable field position. Three plays later, sophomore tailback Fred Ware ran for a 15-yard score, bringing the score to 14-0 before WashU even ran a play outside of Elmhurst territory. Elmhurst finally broke into WashU territory later in the first quarter, but a key sack from graduate linebacker Matthew Schmal set up a crucial interception by sophomore cornerback Joseph Norris. While the Bears could not convert on the drive, Norris’ interception took away any momentum that Elmhurst may have been brewing. At the beginning of the second quarter, the Bears deployed freshman backup quarterback Levi Moore for a QB sneak into the end zone, expanding the WashU lead to 20. Throughout the quarter, Hamilton and Ware again traded touchdowns, and junior Kenvorris Campbell added a running score of his own to bring the Bears’ advantage to 42. The hypothetical betting line, courtesy of the Massey Ratings sports analytics
website, for the game favored the Bears to win by 40 points — they covered the spread at the end of the first half. “The dynamic [between the running backs] is amazing,” said Ware, one of four WashU running backs to find the end zone this weekend. “We’re always the first ones that cheer on each other, both after big plays and after mistakes, so we can come out on top and do our job.” The second half was less action-packed than the first, but featured a brilliant shutdown performance from the
WashU defense. With 10 minutes left in the third quarter, sophomore defensive back Ryan Schmadtke picked off the Elmhurst quarterback and returned the errant pass for a WashU touchdown. On the ensuing Elmhurst drive and not even two minutes after the touchdown, Schmadtke returned another Elmhurst misfire for a pick-six. Schmadtke’s dominant two minutes, paired with stellar play from the entire defense and two field goals from graduate kicker Chris Vartanian, helped WashU cruise to an
easy win. Nearly every healthy player on the roster found time on the field this Saturday, which, according to Ware, is critical to team chemistry. “We really push for having games where everyone gets to contribute,” said Ware. “The ‘family atmosphere’ of the team gets us back to having fun. We play here because we really do love the game.” With their victory, WashU has clinched a winning record in conference play this season; football has not posted a losing record in conference play since they joined the College
Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin in 2018. Despite an up-and-down season featuring an upset loss to Augustana and dominating defeat against perennial #1 North Central, WashU have kept their streak for another year. The Bears’ two losses on the season have likely eliminated them from the NCAA tournament, so this week’s win is unlikely to change the season’s outcome. Still, a victory of this magnitude is no small feat for a WashU team that has faced so much adversity this season. “Our coaches called this week our ‘Get Right’ week,” Ware said. “We had two weeks that weren’t a good reflection of our team as a whole. We wanted to ‘get right,’ we did, and both us and our coaches were happy.” Football faces a big conference challenge next weekend, as they travel to Wheaton College to take on the #12 Thunder. It will not be an easy game for WashU — Bears football has not defeated Wheaton since the 2018 season. They will hope for another all-around solid team performance to break the trend on Saturday.
LYDIA NICHOLSON | STUDENT LIFE
Senior Collin Hoyhtya and Junior Kenneth Hamilton celebrate after scoring a touchdown.
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