September 28, 2023 Student Life newspaper Washington University in St. Louis

CHESS MASTERS

Two students’ strategic success in excelling at chess. (Scene, pg 6)

SOUNDS OF SILENCE

Learning how to give up wearing AirPods around campus.

(Forum, pg 8)

received backlash from Bailey.

STILL UNDEFEATED #4 women’s soccer is yet to give up a goal after seven games. (Sport, pg 4)

Brookings tree replanted after original fell in lightning storm

St. Louis Mayor Tishuara Jones answered questions from students and spoke about the lawsuit with Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey over reproductive healthcare funding, among other issues including the housing crisis, on Washington University’s campus, Sept. 26.

In an event hosted by the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement, Jones talked about her office’s efforts to defend reproductive rights, protect LGBTQ+ individuals, and reduce gun violence towards youths. She also discussed how her office is handling the housing crisis and supporting the unhoused, as well as what her larger goals for St. Louis are, such as increasing bipartisanship.

During the Q&A portion of the event, a student asked Jones what her administration was doing to protect individuals whose reproductive rights have been under attack from the state of Missouri.

Jones responded that her office is trying to improve access to abortion through increased funding for travel costs for those who need abortions and prenatal services, but she said she has

“We’ve asked for Board [Bill] 61 to create a Reproductive Equity Fund and put $1.5 million in there for logistical access to abortion as well as access to doula services, midwifery services,” Jones said.

“Unfortunately, the attorney general is suing us for those funds and they’re in the middle of a [lawsuit] and litigation in court.”

Jones signed Board Bill 61 in late July of 2022, which would allocate $1 million in funding to cover travel expenses for individuals who have to travel out of state to get an abortion and allocate $500,000 for prenatal care such as doula and midwife services, lactation support, and mental health services.

The suit stated the bill violated a Missouri law to fund abortion with tax-payer money. Representatives from the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, who also supported the bill, said that it does not directly fund abortion given that it covers travel expenses, so it does not violate the law.

Jones said the funds are currently unable to be distributed, since a judge issued a preliminary injunction preventing the money from being allocated in early July of this year.

“But we try,” Jones said. “And also, I signed an executive order to create the [LGBTQIA Advisory Board] as well as executive order after the trans health bill became law to make sure that we have

gender neutral bathrooms in all of our rec centers and to have our Health Department put together some resources for parents or children who are trans or transitioning.”

During the event, Jones talked about gun violence, specifically referring to a shooting which occurred on June 18 that led to the death of a 17-year-old boy and left nine others injured.

Jones said that after the shooting, her administration created initiatives to provide St. Louis youth with safe and fun activities.

“We’ve had pop-up concerts,

we’ve done s’mores at the Marquette Rec Center, we have kids that play flag football at The Dome,” Jones said.

“I saw that as a cry for help from our young people,” Jones said. “In response, we opened two rec centers, one in north St. Louis and one in south St. Louis for late nights on the weekends until 1 a.m. But also, I brought in a group of young people and asked them, ‘What do you want? What do you want to see? What can we do?’”

Jones said that juvenile crime rates have gone down 30% since

SEE MAYOR, PAGE 3

SENIOR NEWS EDITOR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

A young American Basswood tree was planted in the northeast corner of Brookings Quadrangle in the presence of about 50 Washington University community members, Sept. 20.

The planting came after an earlysummer lightning storm severed the trunk of the original Brookings Basswood tree — which lived on campus for over a century.

“[The original Basswood] was a beautiful tree… it has value as a historic tree. I think it will forever be the oldest tree on campus because we are planting its clones now,” said Stan Braude, a Professor of Biology and the so-called “lorax” of the Washington University Arboretum. The planting was also attended by numerous members of Focal Pointe Outdoor Solutions, the service contractor for the University’s biodiversity landscapes.

Cody Azotea, Account Manager of Focal Point, played a crucial role in preserving the legacy of the original Basswood. He grafted the original Basswood’s scion wood 20 times at his home, yielding 17 genetic clones, three of which already stand in the Quadrangle.

SEE TREE, PAGE 3

Football records first home win of the season in a commanding performance against Carthage

Early in the third quarter, graduate student quarterback Matt Rush had just been sacked for a loss of 11 yards, bringing the Washington University football team to 4th and 26 at Carthage University’s 30-yard line. On the sideline, the Bears’ special teams was ready to enter the field for a field goal attempt. But there was one problem: Rush insisted that he and the offensive team remain on the field and go for the touchdown, possibly risking a turnover on downs.

“Coach, leave me in!” he said.

After a pause, Rush ran back on the field, and the ball was quickly snapped. As he had done all Saturday afternoon, he wasted no time in finding junior wide receiver Collin Goldberg for a 30-yard touchdown to help the Bears continue where they left off in the second half.

“I love [Rush’s] passion for wanting to play,” WashU football head coach Aaron Keen said. “He knew we had some advantages in the secondary.”

This Saturday, the Bears won their first home match of the season against Carthage with a scoreline of 38-7. With the win, the Bears improved their season record to 3-0. The main highlight of the game was Goldberg’s recordsetting 97-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Both offensively and defensively, the Bears showed up. Rush finished the game with 331 passing yards, accompanied by three touchdown passes.

On defense, the Bears had what Goldberg described as “the best game [they] played defensively,” as they held Carthage to 169 passing yards and 66 rushing yards

“I’m… happy with the win,” Keen said. “I told the guys after the game that I’ve coached long enough that I appreciate wins. It’s hard to win in college football. In the same way I am —and I think everybody on our rosters is —a little disappointed with the way we played. We were a little sloppy at times, we didn’t play our best football, and that’s our goal each week. We have a standard that we want to play to and that’s our team this year.”

In a game that was won

comfortably by the Bears, it didn’t take the Bears too long to put themselves on the scoreboard.

In the 8th minute of the first quarter, WashU found itself in its own territory at 3rd and 4. Upon the ball snap, Rush found himself in jeopardy as the Bears’ offensive line was breached. In an attempt to avoid a sack and find an open man, Rush rushed to his left side, only to find himself surrounded by four Carthage defenders ready to sack him. But in a Mahomes-esque way, Rush escaped and ran to his right side, finding a wide-open Goldberg for a 52-yard touchdown.

“I’m happy with the performance,” Goldberg said. “But I mean, there’s always room

to improve. There are a couple routes that I could have ran better conceptually or I could have helped out. But I am happy with my performance and a big win.”

The junior from Atlanta, Georgia had himself a day. He finished the game with six receptions, 194 receiving yards, and three touchdowns.

From that moment, the Bears would unleash both their defense and offense to continue dominating the game. On offense, Rush would go on to throw another touchdown to bring the scoreline to 14-0. Defensively, the Bears then forced a fumble at the Carthage 3-yard line, which was snagged by sophomore outside linebacker

Salomon Dessalines for a 3-yard touchdown — his second score of the season.

Coming into the second half, WashU possessed a healthy lead that it could build on. Rush would throw a 30-yard touchdown to Goldberg on a 4th and 26 conversion.

“In full transparency, we were just trying to delay [the] game and get a little more yardage to punt,” Keen said. “But [Carthage] gave us a man-coverage look where we knew we had a shot, and so we took it. We’re good enough on the outside at receiver and good enough at quarterback that if somebody gives us those opportunities, we’d like to think like we’re going to.”

But the Bears weren’t done just yet. Just a few minutes after its touchdown, the team scored one of WashU’s greatest touchdowns. In an incredible defensive effort, the Bears stopped Carthage at WashU’s 4-yard line, forcing a turnover on downs. Despite their defensive success, the Bears were hit with a false start penalty after their first snap, pushing them back 2 yards.

“So we had a false start earlier in that drive,” Goldberg said. “We looked at each other when we came over to the sideline after that, and they were playing man coverage. We could keep trying to run for a couple yards, but we might as well take a deep shot. So I kind of knew going into that play what [it] was going to be and as soon as I saw the ball in there, I knew [we were going deep].”

SEE FOOTBALL, PAGE 4

CLARA RICHARDS | STUDENT LIFE

Wide Receiver Gabriel Sirek completes a catch against Carthage College in route to a 38-7 win.

NINA GIRALDO WILL ROSENBLUM ALIZA LUBITZ

ALIANA MEDIRATTA

IAN GOMEZ HADIA KHATRI JUNIOR NEWS EDITOR CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

St. Louis Mayor Tishuara Jones speaks at WU about reproductive rights, gun violence, and the housing crisis

ILLUSTRATION BY RYAN DAVIS

WashU Law Professors Review SCOTUS Cases for Constitution Day

Washington University School of Law held a Constitution Day Supreme Court panel to discuss cases related to LGBTQ+ service discrimination, affirmative action, voting rights, and the Federal Student Loan forgiveness program, on Tuesday, Sept. 26.

Four WashU Law professors, Greg Magarian, Pauline Kim, Karen Tokraz, and Travis Crum, reviewed the cases and discussed the influence of Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rulings on American politics.

303 Creative LLC v. Elenis: AntiDiscrimination Laws and LGBTQ Rights

Professor Greg Magarian, constitutional law expert and former Supreme Court clerk, discussed the case 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, in which SCOTUS ruled that businesses can refuse service to LGBTQ couples.

Magarian said that he believes the ruling has broader implications, extending beyond LGBTQ rights and potentially justifying discrimination based on race or religion.

“Under this ruling WashU could hypothetically refuse admissions to Christian students,” Magarian said.

Magarian also said that he believes the court’s inconsistency with previous rulings tarnishes their reputation “I’ve had crunch wraps more supreme than this court,” Magarian said.

Fair Admissions v.

Harvard: Affirmative Action

Professor Pauline Kim, former clerk for the 9th circuit court of appeals, discussed the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (and UNC) case. The Supreme Court’s ruling banned affirmative action policies in higher education admissions.

Pauline also discussed Justice Sotomayor’s dissenting opinion which challenged the idea that the US is ‘colorblind’ and argued in favor of race based admissions policies for historically disadvantaged groups.

Pauline quoted Sonia Sotomayor by saying, “Although progress has been slow and imperfect, race-conscious college admissions policies have advanced the Constitution’s guarantee of equality.”

Biden v. Nebraska: Student Debt Relief

Professor of Law Karen Tokarz spoke about the Biden administration’s Student Debt Relief Plan, which allows borrowers to be forgiven up to 10-20 thousand dollars, adding up to billions in student loan forgiveness nationwide.

The plan cancels billions of dollars and changes the debt relief process entirely, raising the question if the Biden Administration had the authority to enact this program.

This plan began as a onetime debt relief plan and, in August 2022, the Federal Education Secretary determined that the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions (HEROES) Act

grants them authority to execute a loan cancellation program.

Tokarz brought up the motive of Biden’s political campaign, contending that the Biden administration acted outside of their designated powers and used the HEROES Act to boost Biden’s public image.

“Ultimately these interpretations and arguments for delegating authority…pose an issue if both sides cannot respond,” Tokarz said.

Allen v. Milligan: Voting Rights;

Travis Crum discussed the Allen v. Milligan case, in which SCOTUS overturned Alabama’s congressional district map on the basis that it dilutes African Americans’ voting powers. The case involved redistricting that fragmented Mobile City, a fishing industry hub and a racially diverse community.

Crum said that he believes that race cannot serve as a predominant factor in redistricting.

Alabama retained the lower court’s decision with the Black Belt map, which Crum argued was a Section 2 violation of the Voting

Student Union swears in new representatives, approves Constitutional Council nominations

Rights Act, advocating for race neutrality.

He also highlighted landmark cases like Shaw vs. Reno and Miller vs. Johnson, emphasizing that if race is to be a factor in redistricting, it must be carefully tailored.

Crum pointed to the majority opinions, highlighting that they held the 15th Amendment’s significance in redistricting. He also noted that the day of the panel, the Supreme Court had just denied Alabama’s new congressional district plan on the same basis, sending them back to the drawing board. The issue of racial gerrymandering though, is not settled yet. Crum said that “Louisiana is being sued right now under a very similar theory… So it would not surprise me to see the Louisiana case or another similar case go to

In the second joint session of the semester, Student Union (SU) Treasury and Senate swore in five Senators, three Treasury representatives, and approved five nominations to Constitutional Council. Following the joint session on Sept. 26, Treasury representatives allocated $19,975.93 in funding to five different student groups.

Joint Session

During the joint session, Chief Justice of Constitutional Council and senior, Julia Cleary, swore in new Senators and Treasury representatives.

Cleary then nominated five candidates for Constitutional Council. Sophomores Noah Gornstein, Merry Schlarman, Maddie Pira, and first-year, Marcellus Thorsen were chosen from a pool of 40 applicants. Each new appointee had to write a legal brief, as well as explain their interest in joining Constitutional Council. Additionally, senior Ashwin Srinivasan who previously served on Constitutional Council before spending a semester abroad, was also nominated.

“Overall, they’re extremely well-rounded candidates. I have full faith in their abilities,” Cleary said.

All five nominees were approved with no opposition in the Senate and one Treasury representative opposed.

Treasury Appeals

Five student groups appealed for a total of $23,819.33. Treasury approved $19,975.93 of funds to be allocated to various student groups, bringing the semester total to $81,141,42.

The African Student Association (ASA) requested $10,343 in funds to bring Dr. Nnedi Okorafor to campus to speak at the group’s flagship event, Africa Week. Dr. Okorafor is an award-winning science fiction and fantasy author.

Originally designated as a social event, Dr. Okorafor’s speech was recategorized as a mission event causing the $140 allocated for food at the event to be removed from the request.

Debate centered around the estimated cost of Dr. Okorafor’s accommodations and air travel, which totaled $2,633, with $2,000 being requested for air travel and $633 being requested for accommodations.

Treasury representative, junior Leena Rai expressed concerns about paying such a high fee for air travel and accommodations, since Treasury would not be able to recover any unused funds that were paid to Dr. Okorafor’s agent. Rai instead suggested funding air travel for $1,000 and accommodation for $500 due to the fact that SU would not be able to recoup any unused funds, bringing the new recommendation to $9,070.

“Whether they choose to make that three nights at a cheaper hotel or two nights at a more expensive hotel is the speaker and the agent’s prerogative,” Rai said.

The group was funded for $9,070.

Taiwanese Student Organization (TSO) appealed

for additional funding for the 10/10 Dinner, requesting $3,800 for a venue rental and $1,723 for transportation, totaling $5,523, $1,200 of which SU had already subsidized. TSO anticipated 180 attendees for the event and is charging $10 per attendee. The group did not include the revenue from ticket sales in their appeal for funding.

The representatives discussed raising the ticket price to help cover the event but ultimately decided that the lower ticket price allowed the event to remain accessible to more students.

“It makes it really accessible to a lot of students, especially those who are not keen on paying $25 or $30 for everyone, especially with the performance and the cultural elements as well,” Treasury representative, junior Andy Mun said.

In previous years, the venue, Mandarin House Restaurant, both hosted and catered the event, charging TSO $200 for a rental fee. Mandarin House’s closure this year forced TSO to find a new venue for the event.

The high cost of the venue caused concern among some representatives. Rai floated the idea of setting a cost cap for venue rentals at $3,000, noting the venue in question, TechArtista, is one of the most expensive venues Treasury has seen.

Treasury representative, junior, Saish Stayel was uncomfortable with setting a venue limit, citing that a limit does not account for unusual circumstances.

TSO was funded for $4,323 to use towards securing a venue and transportation costs associated with the event.

WashU Esports and Gaming appealed for $2,456 so they could attend the Pokemon Go World Championship Qualifier in Sacramento, California. Of the club’s 135 members, only four are registered as travel eligible.

Under the newly adopted travel cost cap policy, each club is allocated $800 per traveling club member. Due to an earlier appeal submitted to Vice President of Finance, Mishka Narasimhan, WashU Esports only had $1,403 remaining in travel funds, after having already traveled to Pittsburgh for a tournament earlier in the semester. Esports was funded up to the travel cap of $1,403 to compete in the tournament in Sacramento.

The treasury team unanimously moved to decrease funding for a Women’s Club Volleyball competition from $1,450 to $1,056.46. This adjustment occurred due to a decrease in gas funding from $0.25 per gallon to $0.20 per gallon and a decrease in recommended hotel prices.

Club Tennis appealed for funds to compete in the Badger Classic in Madison, Wisconsin, requesting $2,370. The treasury team recommended funding $482.60 for rental cars instead of $800. The group was funded for $2,052.60.

The Men’s Club Ultimate Frisbee Team appealed for funds to compete in the Boiler Breakaway, requesting $3,127.33, and this request was funded in full.

ISABELLE DIAZ-MIRA | STUDENT LIFE Washington University School of Law professors speak at the U.S. Supreme Court Review on September 26th.

NEEL KULKARNI NATALIA JAMULA CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

LEWIS RAND SIA BANSAL CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Read

Dialogue Across Difference course develops skills for a polarized world

LAUREN SMITH CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Last week marked the midway point of Washington University’s new Dialogue Across Difference course (DxD), an eight-week, one-credit class dedicated to fostering productive conversation about challenging topics and sociocultural differences.

The program is divided into four identity-based sections: politics, race, gender, and interfaith, and it is funded through a $1 million donation from Thomas and Nicolle McGowan.

While the course was piloted last spring, the university’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI) has taken strides to publicize the program and increase enrollment. It has tabled in the Danforth University Center (DUC) and hung signs around

TREE from page 1

The new Basswood is the fourth clone to inhabit the Quad and occupies the precise location where the original Basswood once flourished.

During the planting ceremony, students in Braude’s “Woody Plants of Missouri” class took turns digging the hole where the young basswood was placed. Michael Barash, a senior Environmental Biology major, was eager to help lower the tree into its hole.

“The times that I’ve planted a tree or a plant, I feel a lot of parenthood for it, and personally, I’ll come back to check the tree and make sure it’s okay,” Barash said. “So I feel like planting trees makes people closer to them.”

Although the new tree is

campus. Additionally, DxD switched to being offered in the first half of the semester this fall, compared to being offered in the second half of the semester (as it was last spring).

Course facilitator

Jeanne Pizarro said this was mainly in response to faculty recognizing students may find it difficult to enroll in the middle of the semester. She said that it’s been a change that serves both students and the faculty.

“It’s nice to have students in a different mental space coming to these sessions,” she said.

“Not that there’s [no] pressure at the start of the semester, but it’s a different kind of pressure during the second half, and having that weight off is nice.”

This semester also saw the introduction of the Training and Curriculum Specialist role that was filled by Maria Torres.

Last spring, she facilitated

just three years old, it has the potential to reach towering heights and become one of the largest on campus, according to Braude. The new tree will also grow large, heart-shaped leaves, which could provide refreshing shade on sunny days and further enhance the beauty of the Quad, he said.

Braude said the ceremony reflects the arboretum’s commitment to ensuring that the University’s trees will thrive well into the future.

“You don’t plant trees for yourself — you plant them for your grandchildren,” Braude said.

Washington University boasts a certified level II campus arboretum and is one of just 10 schools to receive recognition from the

a DxD course and served as Coordinator for Diverse Communities and Group Development within the CDI. Torres said the creation of her role was an initiative from Student Affairs to provide additional support to Jacob Chacko, who initially designed the curriculum and serves as the program director.

Torres discussed the vision that she and Dr. Chacko have for students going through the course.

“Something [Dr.] Chacko and I are in conversation about is this idea of bridging the gap between differences on campus, with the way that students sometimes gravitate towards one side or another and don’t necessarily see the gray,” Torres said. “I think that Dialogue Across [Difference] is a really great way to start getting there.”

Course Facilitator Julia

Arbor Day Foundation and the National Association of State Forestor’s “Tree Campus USA” program. The University is home to over 6,000 trees, and more than 300 tree species live on the Danforth campus alone.

The Princeton Review has recognized Washington University as the 10th most beautiful college campus.

Azotea hopes the new Basswood will help the University obtain the numberone spot — particularly when the tree’s petite, fragrant, white-yellow blossoms bloom.

“Hopefully there will always be Basswoods in Brookings Quad,” Braude said. “It will just be known as the Quad surrounded by Basswoods.”

Macias also spoke about how the class is creating change in how people approach complicated topics on campus.

“We’re giving folks strategies and skills and information to hold different viewpoints and still be in conversation,” she said. “I think that’s something that’s really hard at any age, any level. I don’t think adults do it well. I don’t think politicians do it well. But it’s so important.”

Pizarro said that part of what makes the course meaningful to her is the relationships that develop between the students.

“The connections that are made are really, really special to witness amongst the students, and I just see how energized they are from being a part of this,” Pizarro said. “It becomes part of who they are once they finish the program.”

Torres spoke about how one of the unique

components of DxD is that it allows students to bring in materials outside of class to supplement readings of academic texts and incite discussion. She mentioned a time when a student brought in a TikTok about the importance of using pronouns, as well as an activity in the course where students brought an object that relates to an aspect of their social identity.

“I feel like it sets up the course in a way when you bring in your vulnerable self and you’re open to hearing other people’s experiences,”

Torres said. “You may walk away saying, ‘Oh, wow, I will never agree with that person,’ but at least I know a little bit more about them and know what led them to have that opinion.’”

Student representative for DxD Mac Barnes, a sophomore, echoed how the course develops a deep level of understanding between students.

“I think all of [the

students] at first said, ‘I really struggle with talking to people that are different from me, and I wanted to learn how to do that or learn to sit in the discomfort and stop trying to be right in every conversation,’” Barnes said. “And out of all the students I interviewed, they felt they walked away from the course with the tools to do that.”

The Dialogue Across Difference course will be offered again in the spring, with all four topics available for selection.

Torres encourages any hesitant student who is considering the course to go ahead and try it.

“You don’t have to be an expert to be in a DxD course … That’s what we’re going to give you to be able to engage with one another” Torres said. “It’s one of those skills you’ll use for the rest of your life, no matter what major and no matter what field you end up in.”

the Juneteenth shooting that occurred on June 18. The St. Louis Post Dispatch reports that in the past year, crime as a whole has gone down by 22% since this time last year.

One student asked about the housing crisis in St. Louis and what Jones was doing to improve it.

“I heard some themes reverberate throughout your answers and your speech about racial equity and investment in marginalized communities,” the student said. They specifically pointed at St. Louis’s hypervacancy issues.

According to the City of St. Louis, 94.5% of all vacant lots in the city are in a majority Black area; there are nine times as many vacant acres of land in majority-Black areas of town compared to majority-white.

Jones said that she visited the Detroit Land Bank Authority, a public authority that she thought was an exemplar at attempting to fill

MAYOR from page 1 Via

vacant lots in the city.

“We went to learn from a department that we thought was doing a good job,” Jones said. “If it’s working somewhere then I’m going to go there and figure it out and bring it back to St. Louis.”

According to Jones, the city is revamping some processes to make them more equitable, including zoning changes to change the petition process for opening new shelters.

“That’s been a way for neighbors to keep [shelters for the] unhoused from coming into their communities,” Jones said.

“But this is also a regional issue. St. Louis has 80% of the shelter beds between St. Louis City and County, and we need to find ways to make sure that there are options for finding housing.”

Jones said that political polarization in Missouri made it difficult to advance initiatives.

“The bipartisanship that

was possible…I don’t think that kind of relationship is ever coming back to our civic engagement,” said Jones. “I totally blame social media for that.”

She spoke specifically about Michael Parson, who was a state senator when Jones was in the Missouri House of Representatives but currently serves as the governor of the state. Jones said that their relationship was built on mutual respect but with the advent of social media it is easy to insult one another from behind a screen.

“Congressmen should have more playdates — maybe if they play together

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SPORTS

Men’s soccer triumphs over Wheaton College 3-0

The Washington University men’s soccer team (3-3-1) continued their success by winning at Francis Field against Wheaton College. In a fast-paced match with exciting kicks, passes, and steals, the Bears were able to triumph over the Thunder, 3-0.

The game began with an exhilarating atmosphere as WashU students and parents filled the stands to support the men’s soccer team. The teams walked on the turf, and soon, the match was in full play.

“The guys came ready to play today, and they do that all the time, but [in today’s game], they especially showed this,” head coach Joe Clarke said.

The Bears started strong with an immense offensive effort, keeping the ball near the Wheaton goal. Both teams played up to par, ensuring that the other did not succeed in scoring. However, in the 35th

minute of the game, senior Carl Vestberg, assisted by senior Owen Culver, scored the first goal for the Bears. On a perfect corner kick from Culver, Vestberg jumped in the air and scored a header.

The crowd went wild as the whistle sounded, as the Bears charged up the field in celebration as they celebrated the first goal of the game.The Thunder, on the other hand, was struggling to face the strength of the WashU Bears.

Wheaton continued its efforts to block the Bears from scoring again in the first half, and they maintained ball possession for most of the rest of the first half.

After halftime, the Bears returned to Francis Field with enthusiasm and confidence to win the game. While the Thunder continued to attempt to score goals, freshman goalie Owen Ross blocked the one shot that the Thunder was able to deliver on goal. His tremendous efforts led to him earning his first career shutout victory.

“It feels great to have another clean sheet and to get playing time, especially to prepare for the upcoming tournament,” Ross said.

The Bears’ offensive front also managed to do well in the last half of the game. They were able to get in eight shots throughout the last 45 minutes, converting two into goals.

In the 76th minute of the game, as both teams were exhausted but still fighting hard, Culver played a key role in another instrumental goal. From 23 yards out, Culver scored the first free-kick of the game for his second goal of the season.

“We were pinned in at the end of the game there, holding onto the 1-0, and we needed to get another goal. It was awesome [to be able to score the goal that we needed],” Culver said.

The team cheered Culver on and huddled up to celebrate his phenomenal free-kick. Parents and students in the crowd cheered on in

Women’s soccer continues dominant run with two more shutout wins

on goal.

As the team ranked 4th in the nation, Washington University Women’s soccer was expected to handle its business this week. Through five games, the squad had shut out its opponents with a combined score of 23-0, so anything short of two dominant performances would’ve been disappointing. Thanks to two more classy displays against Illinois Wesleyan University and the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, the squad extended their win streak to seven and showed the country why it’s deserving of the number-one spot.

Facing Illinois Wesleyan away on Wednesday, WashU took an early lead and never looked back, with junior Gaelen Clayton putting one away in the second minute, tallying her third goal of the season. Senior midfielder Anna Viscovich put the second goal on the board twenty minutes later, followed by an unassisted freshman forward Madison Foley goal in the 35th minute. Through the rest of the game, the Bears continued to overwhelm the opposing goalkeeper, totaling 23 shots — 12 of which were

In the second half, WashU put on a defensive masterclass, not even allowing a single shot to pass through.

Illinois Wesleyan was willing to get physical with the Bears, fouling them 10 times, but WashU demonstrated how much it thrives at any pace of play. The match was yet another confidence booster for the entire team — at the end of the day, the final score was 3-0, bringing WashU to a 6-0 record.

On Friday, the Bears faced a different challenge: the Rose-Hulman Fightin’ Engineers. Junior forward

Meryl McKenna continued her hot start and put WashU ahead in the 12th minute with a textbook shot from the middle of the box to the bottom left corner. McKenna was assisted by Viscovich, who delivered a nicely weighted pass under pressure.

Later in the half, senior goalkeeper Sidney Conner was forced to make two saves, a rarity during WashU’s winning streak. However, Conner was able to protect the Bears’ shutout. Entering halftime, the Bears led 1-0, but it was clear they were due to pull away.

In the beginning of the second half, the Bears were living

in opposing territory, with the ball rarely finding its way to the home half. In the 60th minute, they were finally able to find some breathing room. After a close finish by sophomore forward Ella Koleno and a nicely taken corner, the Bears sprayed shots into the box at the keeper, with the fourth one finding its way in.

Sophomore midfielder Grace Ehlert scored the dagger in the 84th minute with a strong shot to the left side of the goal. This time, it was junior defender Emma Riley McGahan who crossed a well-placed ball to the top of the box, allowing Ehlert to body her defender. Soon after, the game was over, with the Bears winning 3-0 for the second time of the week, bringing their record to 7-0.

With the next round of women’s soccer rankings coming up, don’t be surprised to see the Bears taking another jump. They showed no mercy this week, and it’s hard to see a team challenging them if they keep up their recent form. The Bears will begin division play next Sunday at home versus the #17 Emory Eagles, in a matchup that will put two UAA powerhouses against each other.

the stands, creating a perfect supporting ambience for the Bears. This adrenaline and support carried onto the next goal of the game, as six minutes later, in the 82nd minute of the game, sophomore Zach Susee scored from the corner of the box, making the score 3-0.

With the Thunder feeling

the heat, its offensive front tried to make a comeback — but to no avail, as the Bears’ defensive front successfully blocked any shots to ensure their 3-0 victory. The WashU men’s soccer team will open its University Athletic Association season with a match against Emory University on Oct. 1 at Francis

FOOTBALL from page 1

Despite the false start, the Bears stayed focused. In their second snap of the play, Rush threw a rocket of a pass to the junior for a 97-yard touchdown, breaking the program record for the longest touchdown pass. According to the Athletic Department, the previous record was 94 yards, set in both 1994 and 2018. The Bears would extend their lead to 38-7.

Despite the win, both Keen and Goldberg stated that the Bears didn’t play their best game. Keen attributes this to having several players sidelined due to injuries and

sickness. But nevertheless, the football coach talked about how in a season like this, it’s all about the process — taking it one week at a time and learning from mistakes.

“[With this win], we’re hopefully building momentum, and I don’t know if we necessarily built momentum today,” Keen said. “There are things that we have to correct. We’re like every football team in America right now where you’re dealing with sickness, you’re dealing with injury, you’re dealing with new players coming in and getting new roles. So I don’t know if

Field. The team is excited to continue its strong efforts in creating a good season, hoping to make it to the DIII national tournament.

“We have had a lot of challenges this season, but our goal is to be the best Division III men’s soccer team,” Clarke said.

we necessarily played the way we’re capable of playing, but we’ll have to figure out why that is. And we’ll have to correct those things moving forward. And that’s going to be the biggest challenge.”

“It was kind of a tough week with practice and stuff,” Goldberg said. “We had some dudes dealing with some injuries from sickness and stuff, but to be able to come in, win 38-7, it’s a good game. I’m happy about it.”

The Bears will gear up again this Saturday, Sept. 30, at 1 p.m. to face North Park University on Francis Olympic Field.

Men’s soccer celebrates after a decisive victory against Wheaton College.

ELAHEH KHAZI | STUDENT LIFE

DANIEL

Kenvorris Campbell tallied 48 out of WashU’s total 170 total rushing yards

“Access Ain’t Inclusion”: increasing socioeconomic diversity at WashU

“Access Ain’t Inclusion.”

This is a phrase popularized by Dr. Anthony Abraham Jack, an Assistant Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, in his book

“Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students.”

The phrase argues that while it’s one thing to enroll more students eligible for federal Pell grants, it’s an entirely different matter to have the infrastructure ready to support them.

“[Chancellor Wrighton and Provost Holden Thorp] recognized that it was not going to be enough just to bring more students from Pell-eligible backgrounds into the University. We had to also make sure that they had a quality undergraduate experience,” said Dr. Harvey Fields, former WashU Associate Dean for Student Success.

“There are these theories about if you have a gradual increase, how do you adapt and adjust to that? But if you have a more rapid increase, you need to make sure you will have thought intentionally about what that looks like,” he said.

In its mission to build a more socioeconomically diverse student body, WashU

faced two problems: a lack of Pell-eligible students and support programs for once they arrived on campus.

In response to the New York Times article that named WashU as the least economically diverse top institution, WashU’s goal was to have a 13% Pelleligible population by 2020. But as a university that rose to such status largely through admitting the wealthiest of students, the culture wasn’t fit to welcome a large number of low-income students.

As part of the University’s goal to increase socioeconomic diversity in 2015, Thorp and Wrighton

PUZZLE PUZZLE Mania

students were experiencing ranged from “declining financial aid packages to demeaning comments and behavior from students, faculty, and administrators.”

The aforementioned points of frustration were brought to attention through anonymous Facebook posts WU/FUSED received from WashU undergraduates during the 2014-2015 academic year. WU/ FUSED received over fifty comments, which were divided into five main concerns: financial aid and tuition, social and extracurricular activities, campus climate, housing and food, and reflection.

tasked an advisory group with identifying barriers to student success and recommending strategies to tackle those barriers. The group was chaired by Dr. Fields.

This advisory group was known as the “Increasing Socioeconomic Diversity at Washington University in St. Louis Report.” Aside from Dr. Fields as the chair, the advisory group included people like John A. Berg, then Vice Chancellor for Admissions; LaTanya Buck Jones, then Director of the Center for Diversity & Inclusion; Robyn S. Hadley, Associate Vice Chancellor

for Students and Dean of the John B. Ervin Scholars Program; Jennifer R. Smith, then Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences; and Rob Wild, Dean of Students.

Increasing Socioeconomic Diversity at Washington University in St. Louis Report:

Dr. Fields’ process was composed of three main steps. First, to meet with the members of the advisory group on the subject of number diversity; second, to talk with students and find out what the students were thinking about some of these

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issues; and third, to write “a report that summarized what I had learned, and to come up with some recommendations about the directions and the structures that we should go in,” Dr. Fields said.

But Fields noted, he was asked to not give specific recommendations in the report itself, as per the instructions from Provost Thorp, but rather, to give the University “the kind of guideline that people could refer 20 years from when it was written.”

While gathering information, Fields and his advisory group learned some of the issues Pell-eligible

Dubbed the “WashU Socioeconomic Secrets,” two students wrote to WU/ FUSED saying, “a friend of mine almost had to leave WashU because he almost lost his aid. It was hard for him to talk about it because most of his friends were not on financial aid” and “my friend bought a $6,000 necklace — I sold $500 meal points to buy winter clothes.”

One other student wrote, “being from a family that couldn’t support me like my peers did affect my academic/collegiate experience irreparably. Due to my financial situation, I couldn’t join Greek Life, I couldn’t eat out with my

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friends, and I couldn’t take advantage of all the social opportunities I wanted to. Now, I have a much smaller community than I would have preferred.”

Other students wrote, “when shopping with friends, I felt out of place because they could freely spend money on whatever they wanted with their parent’s credit cards, but I had to pay for clothes by myself, watching how much I could spend,” and “listening to people on my floor bond over vacations to Europe during Bear Beginnings while I spent the summer babysitting my nephew.”

But again, the Socioeconomic Secrets were not limited to low-income students, they were open to everyone, including WashU students who came from affluent families.

One student wrote, “I am in the 1% and quite frankly there’s a real stigma about it that makes me feel uncomfortable and

embarrassed,” and another wrote “my parents hired someone to consult me on my college application essays. I feel like admission to WashU can be bought.”

So in combination with focus groups, group meetings, peer-institutions research, and WU/FUSED anonymous posts, the report identified several major areas that affect and contribute to the quality of the undergraduate experience. These include academic transition, food service, social interactions, summer school, residential life, and even study abroad to name a few.

Following the identification of these areas was the recommendation portion of the report.

“One of my recommendations in the report was that we needed to have a structure that would support the efforts that we were not undergoing, and it needed to be a structure that first of all, would be

institutionalized,” said Dr. Fields. “It needs to be something that would be existing in perpetuity, and it had to have a leader that was at a high enough level of organization when they realize institutions are not only saying we’re gonna do this, they’re making a significant investment.”

Out of the report, several groundbreaking initiatives were born. One of those programs was the Office of Student Success alongside the Deneb STARS program, or as it is now known the Taylor Family Center for Student Success. The Taylor Family Center program was founded in 2016 by Dr. Anthony Tillman and Dr. Fields as part of the Office of Students of Success and as a cohort program that provides community support to low-income students.

But you cannot talk about The Taylor Family Center without talking about Scotty Jacobs, a WashU alumni who served as an Undergraduate

Student Representative to the Board of Trustees. This was the position that he and his colleague Shyam Akula would use to argue for the case of The Taylor Family Center. All of their work was part of the bigger “Increasing Socioeconomic Diversity at Washington University in St. Louis Report” conversation.

“At the time, it was considered a taboo for students to talk about their socio-economic status to other students,” Jacobs said. “Now, it’s a totally different climate where WashU students are comfortable wearing shirts that identify with Denebs or the Taylor Family Center.”

To make their case for the Taylor Family Center, Jacobs and Akula would write a long report titled “Honoring Our Investment: LowIncome Student Success at Washington University in St. Louis” that got published in the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education. Initially, the report focused

on determining how the University could use supplementary funding to support more students than Washington University’s TRIO Grant could support on its own. But the two broaden their scope.

As part of the Office of Student Success, the Student Success Fund was also created. This is a fund designed to remove financial barriers or strains related to low-income students’ successful progression to and through their university experience. To this day, students can apply to the fund if they require financial assistance and it is administered by the Taylor Family Center.

“We launched an initial version of the Student Success fund which was nothing that had ever existed at WashU up until that point,” Jacobs said. “We came really close to actually getting it endowed by a family. They ended up not directing the funds that

way, which was like a huge bummer. But ultimately, [we] laid a foundation where someone like John Gates can make the donation needed to endow a much larger font.”

Three years later, WashU would expand its support of low-income students by announcing new start-up grants known as the “FirstYear Start-Up Grant and the Technology Grant”.

“So that was a key piece of the report above the existing University infrastructure,” Dr. Fields said. “What we were looking for is, what things can we do now that will make a difference or plant a seed for what can happen in the future?”

Read the rest online:

Freshmen making moves: WU’s upcoming chess masters

SOPHIA HELLMAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Two freshmen currently hold elite rankings in chess: FIDE Master and National Master Vincent Tsay and Candidate Master Alec Beck. Having grown up around chess, they both had their share of structured training and tournament-hopping and have found meaning in the classic, universally loved strategy game. Their newest plan of action: adjusting to college life at Washington University.

Though he recently started studying economics and philosophy at WashU, analytical thinking is nothing new to Vincent Tsay. At 12 years old, Tsay achieved the internationally recognized title of FIDE Master. He did this in an unconventional way — by becoming World Cadet Chess Champion in Brazil. First, Tsay explained the usual route to becoming a FIDE master: “You achieve a rating of 2300, which I’ve done throughout the later portion of my career.”

However, he mentioned that certain tournaments, such as international agerestrictive championships, usually have titles as prizes. “It’s much more rare,” Tsay added. So, along with winning a gold medal, Tsay became a young chess master.

At nine, Tsay discovered chess on his own from going to theater classes. Next-door to the auditorium where he had classes, he found a chess club — and from there, he was introduced to the game.

“When you’re young, it’s a lot of the time for fun,” Tsay

IRIS MISHRA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

“We are not.”

That phrase was the central idea of one of Adam Pendleton’s series featured in the Mildred Lane Kemper Museum in a new solo exhibition, “Adam Pendleton: To Divide By.” The title was inspired by the videography showcased in the exhibition featuring a poem written and spoken by Pendleton with the same title. The film is shown in a black box inside the exhibition itself, “What Is Your Name?

Kyle Abraham, A Portrait” (2018-2019). The exhibition is filled with abstract art in different formats, whether that be painting, drawing, videography, or ceramics.

Unlike what would traditionally be displayed in an

commented. He improved quickly — within only a few years, Tsay was competing in tournaments with his mother’s support. Now elevated from being just a hobby, his chess career was also aided by a natural ability that he calls his “intellectual curiosity.” However, Tsay credits most of his progress to his own training and the accessibility of chess in his environment. Living in New York, he benefited from the bustling chess scene. Tsay recounts, “At a certain stage of my career, I went to tournaments every week.”

Clearly, it takes consistency and dedication to become one of the best. As a Candidate Master, Alec Beck hopes to become a National Master, a name that only the top 1% of rated players can call themselves. Currently, one would need a rating of at least 2000 to get to Beck’s standing. He explained, “To put that in perspective, 2000 is like the top 2% of all U.S. chess members.”

Starting at four and-ahalf years old, Beck’s first tournament was at seven.

“It felt natural to me — it felt right,” Beck said.

While studying the game, he had a few different coaches throughout the years, but his goal was the same: to hit a certain rating point every year. “For 99% of people, it’s almost entirely just practicing, studying, and working at it,” Beck said.

Apart from winning a couple of elementary state chess championships, Beck noted that one of his most rewarding experiences was bringing the chess movement

art museum, this exhibition shows two different films:

“What Is Your Name? Kyle Abraham, A Portrait” and “Ruby Nell Sales.”

“The day’s paintings and the day’s drawings, and exploring abstraction language, different temporal realities, formal realities, conceptual realities, theoretical realities, really trying to create a capacious space visually and conceptually… make the case that not everything exists to be understood,” Pendleton said in response to how he would describe his exhibition as a whole.

The exhibition is filled with enormous collections of pieces like the fifty-piece “Visual Anthology #1” that Pendleton describes as his favorite. The pieces are broken into 50 different works of art, all displayed over a wall

to his own high school. When playing with friends, chess can be a relaxing pastime, but things get serious in competitive settings.

“A lot of people don’t realize how intense a tournament atmosphere is,” Tsay said. “It’s not the type of tension, like in sports, where people are screaming, yelling, cheering, booing,” he explained. “It’s a silent tension.” Discussing the reflective nature of the sport, Tsay continued, “Once you get back to the dorm, as a chess player, you’re still thinking about the game you just played.”

This pressure even applies to chess’ younger generation, likely because of some of the parents behind their boards. “[Parents] will stand there and watch the entire time,” Beck recalled. Younger kids, as Beck observed, are also known for displaying their dominance through memorization.

Memorization especially applies to the opening of a chess game and is distinct from the middle-game and end-game. According to Beck, 50 years ago you could probably make it through a match simply with a good sense of the game. Now that computers have analyzed an inconceivable number of chess variations, however, there is arguably less room for player interpretation in the first opening. Beck explained, “Whatever [the computer] spits out is the best, or the second-best,” and this could be regardless of the practiced intuition of the player. “They’ll just crush you. It’s just better.”

of the museum. They are filled with beautiful geometric imagery that corresponds with the features Pendleton added to the gallery — the black box and black triangle.

“I probably will never have the chance to — or not at least for a while — see it all installed,” he said. “So it’s really been, you know, quite nice.”

These pieces add a story to the conception of the black box. The geometric shapes that encapsulate Pendleton’s art through each gallery brings the entire exhibition together. The architecture of Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum aids in bringing together the works featured. Pendleton said he wanted to “use the space in a way that is analogous, or in alignment with the visual characteristics over the visual spaces that the work is created.”

“Usually, a chess game at my level lasts around five hours. And that’s oftentimes too little time,” Tsay stated. “When you’re really thinking in the moment, and there’s that many options to consider, and you’re debating in your mind back and forth, you know, it’s not that much time,” he concluded.

For players like Tsay, a game of chess involves many factors — not just memorization, but tactical thinking, the style of his opponent, and an intuition for pattern recognition. Tsay’s biggest tip is to “look at things from your opponent’s perspective.”

Another lesson of his goes beyond the game. For Tsay, one of the biggest teachings in chess is a sense of personal accountability. Taking responsibility for a game is something unique to chess, as it is a highly individualistic sport in nature. He added that getting help from the people around

This creates a connection between each of the rooms.

In the world of contemporary art, many wonder what the inspiration behind these compelling pieces is. For many, it is a blend of personal experiences, cultural influences, and political change. But for Adam Pendleton, an artist whose work transcends the boundaries of expression, the answer is simple.

“Curiosity. That’s my main point of inspiration,” he said. Curiosity in society drives us to create new things and achieve fresh ideas. This very principle inspires Pendleton to create beautiful art. “Really just a sense that everything is different all of the time. I mean, I don’t really see what’s more exciting than that, you know, in a new day and new happenings.”

you by asking questions is also helpful. Continuing to ask the question “What is your opponent trying to do?” Tsay describes how this breakthrough led to both competitive and personal development.

“You don’t truly understand your belief until you understand why your belief may be wrong [and] understand the counterargument,” Tsay said.

St. Louis is the chess capital of the nation, so it has much to offer in terms of community. Beck made sure to extend his reach to the biggest chess club in the U.S.

“If you’re playing chess at WashU, you’re probably part of the St. Louis Chess Club,” Tsay recounted about attending one of the St. Louis Chess Club’s invitational tournaments. “That’s actually how I got introduced to WashU.”

At the end of the day, Beck appreciates chess for its ability to transcend language

Throughout this exhibition, Pendleton challenges us to think differently and question our preconceived notions of how we view art. In Pendleton’s words, “ not everything exists to

barriers as well as connect people.

“You can meet so many new people. There’s such a wide range of interests. Chess — there’s no boundaries. If you speak a different language than your opponent, if you’re from a different place, it doesn’t matter — you can still enjoy a game with them,” he noted.

Beck explains that one of the reasons it is a special game for him is “enjoying the game itself with someone else you wouldn’t otherwise talk to.” With the potential to bring people together regardless of their backgrounds, as well as an internationally widespread community, chess offers a prime opportunity to try something new.

Finally, Beck gave his biggest piece of advice to new players:

“Keep playing games. You can study and analyze openings, but the way to get better is to play games. Play online, play with friends.”

be understood, that experiencing something can is a way of understanding something.” This notion offers viewers an opportunity to speculate and let their curiosity run wild.

Washington University Student Media, Inc., publishers of Student Life newspaper, will hold its Spring Board Meeting on Friday, September 29, 2023.

The Board of Directors will take questions and/or answer concerns from the public during the open session of the meeting at 11:15 a.m.

If you would like more information about this open session, please send an email request to: BoardMeeting@StudLife.com

no later than Friday morning, September 29, at 10 a.m.

Please put the words "Board Meeting" in the subject line and your contact information in the email.

Vincent Tsay competing and strategizing his way to reach the title of FIDE Master.

“We are not:” Adam Pendleton’s new “To Divide” By exhibition

Studying abroad in Italy this summer, I was caught in-between recognizing my own identity as a tourist and hating the influence of American culture on the rest of the world. When my family visited me, I guided them through Florence’s winding cobblestone roads with the self-assured confidence of a study-abroad student who thinks that living somewhere for 10 weeks is close enough to being a local. In my white button-down and long, flowing pants, I showed them the secret sparkling water fountains and the best noncrowded museums that still held Michelangelo’s and Donatello’s and Verrochio’s works.

Beyond it being the home of prominent Renaissance artists like Da Vinci and Botticelli and Brunelleschi, the art and detail of Florence extended into the architecture, streets, and conversations. It felt freeing being in a place where design and history were so highly

FORUM

valued, to the point that they quite literally made up the infrastructure of the city; it’s difficult to find a street that doesn’t have a beautiful gargoyle or intricate door handle or a building from at least the 17th century.

While I found myself to be an energetic tour guide and a captivated flaneur, my conflicting identity still troubled me. I enjoyed the paintings and sculptures and opera performances, but I realized that it had been a while since I’d made art out of passion myself. Throughout college, I hadn't kept a personal sketchbook or drawn something that was for fun rather than for a school project. What inspired me about the values of Florence weren’t fully reflected by my own relationship to and practices with art.

In my early years of college, I chose the path of the Communication Design Major, which is, in many ways, the art-school equivalent of “specializing” in the Adobe suite, often with the intent of being more marketable in the design industry.

Even within my experience of being an artist, I’ve felt the pressure to specialize, to gain expertise in the “industry-standard” platforms, for the purpose of marketability rather than genuine interest.

Studying Renaissance history, rediscovering my own desire to sketch for the purpose of sketching, and enjoying the process of creating for the sole sake of enjoyment alone, I felt inspired to explore. Sketching (despite the complicated factor of keeping a sketchbook being a class assignment rather than a self-driven initiative) felt like a change in mentality. I found new materials to play with and drew the world around me, with no end-project in mind. With this feeling of self-discovery motivating me, I budgeted time to write and read in the evenings, making an effort to prioritize my own interests and develop my knowledge for no other reason than simply wanting to.

In my pessimistic, woe-isme hours of contemplation,

however, I pondered — what has happened to the Renaissance man? Wandering a quiet road that I convinced myself no one else had walked before, a warm breeze flowing through my hair, I romanticized this question into a grand revelation, the kind of enlightening moment that all Americans in Europe thirst for. At what point was art described to

ILLUSTRATION BY MANUEL LOPEZ

me as a career rather than a passion? What happened to being able to explore?

Why can’t it be normalized to have an interest in science, art, politics, and literature, like the Renaissance thinkers?

with

to the richest folks around town Read

We can’t afford to wait: Go ride the damn bus

Imagine if every month, heavy machinery appeared outside your window, ready to bulldoze miles of roadways and sidewalks in and around St. Louis. The overpass and underpass are already gone and the roads and sidewalks around the South 40 will be next. Your 15-minute walk to campus has now become 30 minutes long. A trivial 20-minute drive to Target has become an impractical 50-minute journey. Some individuals are almost completely cut off from accessing campus, grocery stores, and other necessities. Worst of all, this trend shows no sign of stopping and has only accelerated since the pandemic.

You, along with every other resident in St. Louis, would likely be outraged that your own freedom of movement and access is being taken away. Although this sounds like the premise of a dystopian novel, the erosion of our mobility is and continues to be the reality for bus riders across St. Louis.

Yet, few are even aware of the current state of our bus system, much less outraged by the ongoing service cuts that have left it in critical condition.

Washington University’s history is closely tied to transit. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, WashU was known as a “streetcar college” as students from the city would commute to class using one of the four streetcar lines that bordered the campus on Skinker, Wydown, and Forest Park Parkway. Today, WashU is better connected to transit than almost any other university in the St. Louis region. On the Danforth campus alone, there are two Metrolink stations built for WashU and a bus transit center serving three bus routes named after WashU colors — Green, Red, and Gold. Three-fourths of the student body don’t have cars on campus, and many rely on non-car transportation to access basic necessities.

As such, we have a unique need for and a responsibility to our public transit system

here in St. Louis.

Although many students (especially those who frequent the medical campus) are more familiar with the MetroLink trains, the MetroBus constitutes the vast majority of our transit system, carrying almost double the number of riders. Moreover, relative to train riders, bus riders are more likely to be Black and from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Due to economic inequality, this means that they are less likely to own personal vehicles and are therefore more likely to be dependent on transit to survive.

For transit riders, frequency is freedom. A bus coming every five minutes means that missing the bus by one minute only results in a five-minute delay. Additionally, if one needs to arrive somewhere at a certain time, one would never have to arrive more than five minutes early. Planning around departure times and looking at schedules becomes unnecessary, allowing for spontaneous trips. Moreover, transfers become painless, expanding the utility of the entire network beyond a single route. A frequent network expands the reach of transit riders, bringing destinations closer and improving access to match the access that most individuals with cars already have.

In 2019, St. Louis’ public transit agency, Metro, unveiled and implemented “Metro Reimagined” — a bus network redesign meant to improve frequency along key routes. As part of the plan, nine routes ran at 15-minute frequencies during the day and 30-minute frequencies in the evenings and on weekends. One route, the 70 Grand, ran 10-minute frequencies during the day and 15-minute frequencies during evenings and weekends, surpassing the 15-20-minute frequencies of the MetroLink. Although a far cry from the 5-10 minute frequencies of the 1980s and the 30-60 second frequencies of the 1960s typical on most routes, Metro Reimagined provided a foundation from which more frequent service could grow.

Unfortunately, in less than a year, the COVID pandemic resulted in serious service reductions and route terminations. Although it would have been tolerable had the system fully recovered afterward, Metro continued to cut bus routes and service three years after the pandemic — first in September 2021, then in November 2021, then in March 2022, then in November 2022, and most recently in June 2023. Now, instead of frequent buses coming every 15 minutes during the day, buses come every 30-40 minutes . On the 70 Grand, instead of waiting 10-20 minutes for a bus, you could wait up to half an hour. Some routes that ran every hour in 2019 now run every 1.5 hours or every 2 hours. The constant service reductions have strained ridership and reduced fare revenue, resulting in St. Louis’ anemic transit recovery.

So why has Metro continued to cut service even after the pandemic? The most obvious reason is that Metro is facing the nationwide worker shortage that has left 240 bus operator positions unfilled. However, that still doesn’t explain how other transit agencies have avoided such serious service cuts. For example, Cleveland, Ohio’s transit agency (GCRTA) has restored and maintained 98% of pre-pandemic service including multiple bus routes with 15-minute daytime frequencies. Just across the state, Kansas City’s transit agency (KCATA) has also restored 75% of its pre-pandemic service. In contrast, Metro has only restored 68% of pre-pandemic service.

Therefore, what sets these agencies apart? The true reason why Metro struggles with the operator shortage is because of low wages. In fact, until August 2023, the starting wage at Metro was $19.46 per hour. In contrast, GCRTA’s starting wage was $22.07 per hour while KCATA’s starting wage was $24.11 per hour — both of which are above the national average. Therefore, the obvious solution to Metro’s operator shortage would be to significantly increase

operator wages.

Unfortunately, as one could guess, Metro has struggled to find the additional funding necessary to do so. Moreover, Metro has directed funding that could have paid for higher wages towards capital improvements to the MetroLink system as a way to attract choice MetroLink riders at the expense of captive bus riders. For example, Metro is currently spending 52 million dollars of local funding and pandemic relief aid on MetroLink fare gates meant to deter crime. This is despite the fact that the MetroLink does not have particularly high rates of crime and most riders do not perceive crime as the most important issue to begin with. Previous studies of safety on the MetroLink also recommended against the installation of fare gates as a way to deter crime.

However, unbalanced coverage of crime on the MetroLink and fear mongering by news media have created exaggerated perceptions of crime among those who rarely ride transit — mostly white, upper-middle class individuals who own personal vehicles. This has resulted in powerful voices (such as the CEO of Centene) pressuring Metro into pursuing the fare gate project rather than better aligning its priorities with those of its riders. Although it would be a quick fix to simply ask Metro to redirect the $52 million towards increasing wages, it is already too late, as the fare gate project has finished the design stage and will begin construction in the next few years.

So what can we do now?

A long-term solution is to vote for and support initiatives to fight suburban sprawl and low-density, car-oriented infrastructure typical of St. Charles and St. Louis County. In the most basic sense, sprawl and the spread of people and destinations over a large area forces transit resources (and all public resources for that matter) to be spread thin, limiting the service that transit can provide. To combat this, we

must have more people and places within walking distance of existing transit, increasing ridership and allowing for greater revenue that can support Metro. Ways to accomplish this include removing or reducing regulatory barriers that prevent denser development — exclusionary singlefamily zoning, parking minimums, minimum lot sizes, setback requirements, and height restrictions. We must also encourage individuals to move back to or stay in places such as the city of St. Louis, places that have “good bones” — i.e. a gridded street network and denser, mixed land use designed around walking and transit. We need to provide input at local meetings that traditionally attract NIMBYs, such as neighborhood meetings, to argue for more density and housing. We need to stop letting wealthy homeowners block development out of an irrational fear of renters, traffic, and impacts to property values or “neighborhood character.”

Similarly, we ought to encourage the city and county to be more ambitious with inexpensive bus infrastructure improvements that many other cities have already implemented — improvements such as dedicated bus lanes and transit signal priority which allow buses to bypass traffic and avoid stopping at red lights. Many of these improvements are relatively cheap and can speed up bus trips enough that Metro could improve frequency with its current number of bus operators. Bus lanes and signal priority also provide a competitive advantage for buses over cars, attracting even more riders, including those who own personal vehicles but don’t want to deal with traffic.

Unfortunately, most of these projects will require significant time and political will to initiate. However, there is a partial solution that is not only quick and easy, but also completely free for all full-time WashU students. One of the easiest ways you can improve our

transit system right now is to order your free U-Pass. Each U-Pass ordered is $175 that WashU pays to Metro. Although U-Pass sales revenue constitutes only a small part of Metro’s overall budget, if every full-time student at WashU ordered a free U-Pass, that would be an additional 8 million dollars for Metro each year from WashU alone, which could pay for more than 150 additional bus operators at the same wage rate as Cleveland. That would fill more than half of the empty bus operator positions.

Additionally, it is critical that we take advantage of our amazing access to transit at WashU. One of the most frequent complaints I receive regarding the MetroLink is that it doesn’t go to enough places, but a quick look at the places people want to go often reveals that it is accessible by bus (or MetroLink to MetroBus connection). For example, the number two Red stops at the South 40 and stops in front of Target, the Galleria, and Walmart. We need to learn to use the bus and actually ride it to the places we want to go.

By boosting ridership on select bus routes, we can provide Metro with the justification to preserve service on those routes. Riding the bus also opens a doorway out of the WashU bubble — a doorway that is sometimes quite literally located at our front steps. Importantly, students riding the bus and experiencing some of its challenges will serve as a constant and personal reminder of what we as regular bus riders face every day. This is what will help fuel the energy of the WashU student body to better advocate for all bus riders and the St. Louis community as a whole.

JORDAN SPECTOR JUNIOR FORUM EDITOR

JASON ZHANG MEMBER OF ACCESS STL

The freshman experience: AirPods-less edition

Silence is ever present in this new existence of mine, also known as freshman year of college. When the silence is too numbing, I resort to the usual pairing of my AirPods and a 2010s playlist.

There’s just one problem with my justification for this behavior: it is never really silent here. The passing chatter of freshmen who are attempting to find a conversation of any kind and bikers ringing their bells to try to part the sea of people fill the air. The sounds of the conversations about how long the line is at Corner 17 and

the constant lawn mowing reverberate through campus. They’re the sounds of WashU.

But why listen to that when I can listen to Justin Bieber’s iconic bop that is “Beauty and the Beat”? Besides its masterful lyricism, it brings me back to dance parties in my friends' basement and karaoke sessions in my mom’s car with my brother, even though neither of us knew the words.

The song brings me back to Connecticut winters, the obnoxious chuckles from my friends that I adore, and my dad’s tangents about the stock market that I have grown to enjoy, somehow. I find comfort in those warm moments that colored my...childhood.

Right, my childhood. I can’t just say “my life” anymore because my life now is so distinct from what it was before. My childhood is a separate entity from what I am in now, whatever that is. I don’t

ILLUSTRATION BY MEL M

know if I’m ready for whatever I am in right now. I don’t know if I want whatever I am in. My world is now characterized by the unfamiliar and the daunting so sometimes, when the unknown is too

New ranking criteria may motivate positive change at WashU

The U.S. News rankings that were published last week listed Washington University at nine spots lower than the previous year, dropping the University from 15th in 2023 to 24th on the 2024 list. Despite what the news may initially look like, the fall in ranking may actually be a step in pushing WashU towards a more diverse student body and a more supportive administration.

In the past, Student Life has criticized the basis of the U.S News rankings and questioned whether WashU’s high position actually reflected a highvalue education. There has long been debate about whether the rankings actually reflect the ability of a college to adequately educate a diverse population of students.

This year, U.S News

tweaked the system a little. They dropped the controversial alumni giving and high-school standing factors and included new factors that weighed the success of first-generation and Pelleligible students. The rankings also increased focus on university research and minimizing student debt. We wish that WashU and its peer universities would care about increasing support for low-income and minority students without the pressure of a public ranking system. We also understand why WashU would be motivated to be ranked highly — everyone wants to be seen as more academic, more prestigious, and more desirable.

This is why we believe that the pressure that U.S.

OUR VOICE: EDITORIAL BOARD

Staff editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of editorial board members. The editorial board operates independently of our newsroom and includes members of the junior and senior staff.

Managing Forum Editor: Reilly Brady

News puts on universities may be positive, especially when the factors reflect values that we believe are actually important in higher education. We commend the increased value placed on the success of Pell-eligible and firstgeneration college students in the 2024 rankings list, with the knowledge that the new ranking criteria will directly influence university policies.

If the shift in values on the U.S News list nudges more universities, including WashU, to increase the number and graduation rate of Pelleligible students, we believe that to be a positive change.

It is important to note that the U.S. News rankings take old data into account. A decade ago, WashU was among the least socioeconomically diverse

Senior Forum Editor: Sylvie Richards

Junior Forum Editor: Amelia Raden

Managing chief of copy: Ved Patel

Chief of Copy: Cathay Poulsen

Editor-in-Chief: Clara Richards

Editor-in-Chief: Via Poolos

schools in the country. In the past few years, the University has slowly risen to be among the best schools for financial aid, following policies that abolished federal loans in aid packages and made undergraduate admissions a need-blind process.

The current ranking reflects WashU’s historical lack of financial diversity and will likely change as student demographics shift. While rankings are certainly not everything, Student Life believes that they can create motivation for universities to adapt their policies in order to fit the ranking criteria. We hope that WashU will continue to emphasize support for first-generation students and financial diversity, regardless of any fluctuations in its U.S. News ranking.

YOUR VOICE:

numbing, I go back to my AirPods and my playlist to isolate myself from it all. To leave reality behind and reminisce just for a little while.

To Justin Bieber’s dismay, I went for a walk today without him. Quite the travesty, I know. There I was in the middle of the “silence.” In the very “silence” that I have been avoiding for so long. As I stood there, I found a home in the sounds of campus. The yelling of a little kid who was about to touch the Thinker on the Rock (thank goodness he didn’t do that) brought a concerned look to my face, one that has likely occupied thousands of WashU students’ faces. The menial

conversations of students made me feel content walking down the populated pathways of WashU ten minutes before the hour. The sounds of WashU. The sounds of another community I get to be a part of, another place that I can hopefully one day reminisce on when the bleakness of the world becomes too much. I will miss the sounds of my former existence on my walks. But if I don’t move on I won’t be able to accept my new community. I won’t be able to fully call WashU a home. Maybe it’s time I fully commit to this new existence. I think it’s time to leave my playlist and my AirPods.

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