The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2023
VOLUME 145, NO. 12
FINAL FOUR BOUND
WWW.STUDLIFE.COM
CAMPUS CROSSFIRE
Women’s soccer defeats UW-La Crosse in thriller PK finish. (Sports, pg 6)
WINTER PLAYLIST
Perfect cold weather songs to listen. (Scene, pg 4)
College Republicans and Democrats host debate. (News, pg 2)
Chabad and Hillel hold event to raise awareness about hostages in Gaza AVI HOLZMAN LEWIS RAND MANAGING NEWS EDITOR STAFF WRITER
Washington University Chabad and Hillel held an event on Monday, Nov. 27 to raise awareness for hostages that were taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. The event, the first organized by a Jewish organization since a proIsrael rally on Oct. 13, drew a group of around 40 students for the main reflection at noon. Attendees stood in front of rows of folding chairs that each had a photo of a hostage taped to them. Chairs representing hostages who were released by Hamas also had Israeli flags taped to them. Eden Yair, the Jewish Agency for Israel Fellow at Chabad, spoke first at the event, addressing the crowd and explaining the event’s purpose. “Fifty-two days [have] passed [since] our sisters and brothers were kidnapped,” Yair said. “We are here today to pray and hope — and share the hope — that everyone will be released.” She then invited those present to take chairs with Israeli flags and move them to a designated area, highlighting how many hostages have been released and how many are still in captivity. Once the chairs were in place, Rabbi Jordan Gerson, Silk Foundation Campus Rabbi and Chief Experience Officer for WashU Hillel, spoke. Gerson hoped the event would provide a shining light for students during what he described as a dark time. “We are gathered here after 52 days to let the world know that we are still holding the hostages that remain in captivity in our hearts, we still pray for their release
BRI NITSBERG | STUDENT LIFE Chairs representing hostages are displayed on Mudd Field as part of the event on Nov. 27. immediately, and we look to those who have been released as hope of what will be in the future for those who remain hostages in Gaza,” Gerson said. He also asked participants to read the names on the chairs, emphasizing that not every hostage is Israeli. Rabbi Hershey Novack, Director of WashU Chabad, described the hostage crisis as currently being a “yes, and” situation, acknowledging that while hostages have been returned, there are many who still remain in captivity. Both Novack and Gerson concluded their remarks with prayers, one for healing recited in Hebrew and one for the state of Israel in both English and Hebrew. Sophomore Ilan Barnea was the last speaker. He drew parallels between current events and ones his grandfather Benjamin experienced in the years before World War II and
as an Israeli during the wars in 1948, 1967, and 1973. “Eighty-nine years on the planet, and not a moment’s rest for Benjamin. Why?” Barnea said. “Because he’s Jewish, because he believes in the right to defend himself and his people and the safe return of his brothers and sisters being held hostage.” The event concluded with participants singing Israel’s national anthem “Hatikvah.” After the event, Yair said that the return of hostages should be viewed as a human-rights issue instead of a political one. “[These are] my sisters and brothers,” she said. “[These are] my siblings. I don’t know them, but they are my siblings. They are our siblings. So that’s why I’m saying it’s super easy to support that it’s not political.”
Yair also said she believes people need to be wary of misinformation, especially before calling the actions of Israel genocide and using the phrase “from the river to the sea.” “So check the facts — check what you say, check it, check it, always check,” Yair said. Snir Dagan, the Israeli Shaliach for the St. Louis Jewish Community Center, attended the event and hopes that people will educate themselves on the issue, because what he hears from his friends in Israel is different than what is portrayed on social media. “When I talk with my friends and my family and understand the reality, [it] is very different than what’s portrayed in the media,” he said. “I have a lot of friends who are currently in the army, a lot of friends who are currently in Israel and are volunteering and donating money,
and I have friends of friends who are being held hostage by Hamas.” Sophomore Amalia Stulbach, who attended the event and has a connection to one of the hostages, wished more students were there but understands that students have classes and other obligations during the day. Stulbach missed class to attend the event “to condemn the actions of Hamas and to demand the release of all the innocent hostages in Gaza.” She found it powerful to hear from Barnea, a fellow sophomore, about his grandfather’s experience. Ofer Ashur, living in St. Louis as part of the ShinShinim Program, also shared this sentiment, saying events like this are heartwarming and provide him with a sense of comfort following the events of Oct. 7, which he describes as traumatic. Like Dagan, he believes that students at the University should educate themselves about what is happening in Israel, stressing that fighting continues and that Israelis continue to be held hostage. Even though the conflict began and the hostages were captured more than a month ago, Stulbach remains motivated to continue advocating for this issue. “I was raised as modern Orthodox, and every school told me that I’d have to advocate for the Jewish people, and I guess I kind of brushed it aside, because I thought I wouldn’t have to because the world accepts Jews,” Stulbach said. “And here I am, the 21st century on [a] college campus having to fight for my people.” Additional reporting by Joel Swirnoff.
“It’s been a roller coaster:” One year into ADHD medication shortages LILY TAYLOR SENIOR NEWS EDITOR
The FDA declared a shortage of the ingredients used to produce Adderall on October 12, 2022. Since then, many people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who take stimulant medications have experienced difficulty accessing their prescriptions. Over a year after the shortage began, members of the Washington University community with ADHD have seen improvements in their access to their medications. However, many still struggle to consistently access their medication to the detriment of their academic performance and mental health. The shortage of stimulant medications, which is often referred to as the “Adderall shortage”, refers to a class of drugs used to treat ADHD and includes Vyvanse, Ritalin, Concerta, and other variations of Adderall. These medications are in shortage for a variety of reasons, including the fact that an increasing number of people have been diagnosed with ADHD after the Covid pandemic due to school closures and reductions in physical and social activity, according to a study from the National Institute of Health. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) highly regulates
the ingredients in ADHD medications, due to their high potential for abuse, which has exacerbated the national manufacturing delays of stimulants. First-year Tally Feingold said that she has taken ADHD medication for about a year, but that she was unable to access Adderall until this semester. She said that she wanted to be prescribed Adderall, in particular, because it worked well for members of her family, who also have ADHD, but her doctor couldn’t prescribe it to her because it wasn’t available. As a result, she had to test out various medications, such as Ritalin and Vyvanse, which have similar but often distinguishable effects depending on the person. “I was put on nine or ten medications over the course of a year, and I was never prescribed Adderall,” Feingold said. “Eventually I switched psychiatrists and my new psychiatrist was able to find Adderall. From the second I took it, it’s been the only medication that has worked for me so far.” Feingold said that the process of testing medications was draining and would have been avoidable had Adderall been accessible. She said that even since she was prescribed Adderall, she hasn’t had consistent access to it. Most recently, she said that her psychiatrist wasn’t able to access her prescription in October 2023.
“I went about two weeks with no medication at all,” Feingold said. “It was at that point that I realized how big of a difference it makes in my life.” She said that focusing on academics without stimulants required significantly more energy. “I would come home from class and fall sound asleep and then my whole day would be wasted,” Feingold said. Feingold also said that not having access to her medication brought back feelings she had before she was diagnosed with ADHD. “I feel the same way I felt in high school,” Feingold said. “What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I just do my work? Even though I know what’s wrong with me now and I’m on medication, I just had that same feeling. Why can’t I just do it? It’s so frustrating not being able to just act like everybody else.” Physician Paul Glaser, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the WashU School of Medicine, treats young people with ADHD and specializes in substance use. He said that he has occasionally been unable to access his patients’ prescriptions, even in recent months. “It’s been a roller coaster for the last six months,” Glaser said. “Some months I’ll get a lot of trouble with the shortage and then it’ll go away for a month and then come back. It’s very unpredictable.” Chris Stone, Director of
ILLUSTRATION BY TUESDAY HADDEN Disability Resources (DR), said that when the shortage began last year, he and other DR employees were concerned about students not being able to access their ADHD medication. “A year ago there was a lot of concern nationally about production,” Stone said. “Not saying that there may not still be concerns, but we’re not getting the same news from the CDC and other areas that we were then. Production has not been having the same issues that it was a year ago.”
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