Annabel Adams, Ella Barchie, Dayna Bhatti Roberts, Blaire Brown, Michael Bryan, Karli Coskun, Ava Demcher, Perleen Deol, Caroline Erskine, Adelaide Guan, Elizabeth Hample, Maggie Hoffman, Kaila Hu, Mams Jagha, Rae Kazi, Dana Kim, Adelaide Larson, Colette Leto, Fiona McHugh, Aurora Moore, Jerry Morris, Isabella Perrotta, Jamison Quinn, Blakesley Rhett, Emilia Ruiz-Michels, Corey Vitale, Julia Yezukevich
FRESHMAN INTERN
Adelaide Guan
DIGITAL
Megan Radakovich
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Emma Novy
DIGITAL EDITORS: Jaymee Hinz, Alexis Landrini, Ava Lydotes, Madelyn Taylor
DIGITAL WRITERS: Annabel Adams, Lee Bruton, Helena Chernosky, Nina Gugino, Julia Raass, Jack Pasquale, Dayna Roberts, Téa Sklar, Navya Varma, Seth Wimmer, Olivia Woloz
VIDEO DIRECTOR: Mickey Maroulis
VIDEO TEAM: Jackson Barnes, Blaire Brown, Zac Chavez, Chloe Lee, Beckett Painchaud, Alex Resnick, Julia Yezukevich, Avery Wallace
SOCIAL DIRECTOR: Kylie Adedeji
SOCIAL TEAM: Evan Edmiston, Sophia Fotter, John Lakeman, Irene Lekakis, Maude Royce Terwilliger, Navya Varma, Richard Zhou
CONTENT CREATION DIRECTOR: Brenna Desmond
CONTENT CREATION TEAM: Grace DeSimone, Nina Gugino, Jaymee Hinz, Anna Long, Eleri Martin, Beckett Painchaud, Chloe Pusey, Julia Yezukevich
CREATIVE
DESIGN DIRECTOR: Abigail Aggarwala
DESIGNERS: Claire Arveson, Caroline Connerton, Lexie Haupt, Alexa Lakeman, Julia Yezukevich, Ailani Wong
ILLUSTRATORS: Addison Pavone, Alex Youngquest, Karl Lamb Jr., Audrie Malmstrom, Emmet Kobasa, Marina Lee, Esme Jablonsky, Khloe Scalise, Max Weinstein, Meredith Rogers, Sara McConnell, Sophia Chen, Hannah Peters
PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTORS: Kailyn Peng & Max Dickman
PHOTOGRAPHERS: Shane Grates, Nathaniel Harnedy, Alicia Hoppes, Brynne Hurt, Celeste Jenkins O’Reilly, Christine Kao, Maddie Kim, Karl Lamb Jr., Alexa Lakeman, Molly Mellinger, Olivia Pagel, Chloe Pusey, Alexandra Rice, Brody Shuffler, Collin Snyder, Ailani Wong, Ike Wood
Harriet Brown ADVISOR
Through its content, Jerk is dedicated to enhancing insight through communication by providing an informal platform for the freedom of expression. The writing contained within this publication expresses the opinions of the individual writers. The opinions expressed herein are not those of Syracuse University, the Office of Student Activities, the Student Association, or the student body. Additionally, the ideas presented in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Jerk Editorial Board. Furthermore, Jerk will not be held responsible for the individual opinions expressed within. Submissions, suggestions, and opinions are welcomed and may be printed without contacting the writer. Jerk reserves the right to edit or refuse submissions at the discretion of its editors. Jerk Magazine is published monthly during the Syracuse University academic year. All contents of the publication are copyright 2024 by their respective creators. No content may be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the Jerk Editorial Board.
LETTER
FROM THE EDITOR
When I was in third grade, my school district decided to hop on the hot new trend of blogging and signed us up for a closed-circuit, school-oriented social media platform called Gaggle. Already honing my editorial eye and logging far too many hours watching Project Runway, my best friend (hi, Natalia!) helped me upload a fashion blog post complete with photos of me holding up the Marshalls finds and hand-me-downs I deemed worthy of the written word.
A few days later, a much older-looking boy—whose Gaggle profile said he lived in Nevada—was somehow able to access my school’s page, commenting a bunch of weird emojis and “I know where you live” on said blog post. I totally flipped my shit. This can be pegged to a few reasons: A. I have no chill about anything ever. B. I really hated that my mom had to email my computer lab teacher, because she’s generally nonconfrontational and prides herself on not being the type of parent who sends teachers concerned emails.
In a digital landscape where nude leaks, phone scams and threats of serious danger are a dime a dozen, this is really nothing to write home about. Obviously that little punk didn’t actually know where I lived. Frankly, it’s weird I even remember the whole ordeal. But something about the memory has always gnawed at my brain—my first meaningful encounter with the internet and the first time I thought “I wish none of this existed,” a naïve hope that the vast expanse of the world wide web would disappear with the flip of a switch.
It’s something I’ve felt plenty of times since then: every time I see an Instagram story of people hanging out without me or when I accidentally text the wrong person or whenever I have to go into the Apple store. There will never not be something daunting to me about this space of endless interconnections, in-betweens, unspoken rules and paralyzing possibilities. It’s a no man’s land that feels totally isolating but also has infinite capacity for connection and information.
The best way to make sense of all these complicated feelings? Make a magazine about it.
And we here at Jerk have done just that, throwing on our leather trench coats and tiny sunglasses to journey straight into the matrix. We’re shocking our fingers on the synapses of student life in the digital age, from the controversial arrival of the Center for the Creator Economy here at SU (page 62) to the entrance of audio erotica into our airwaves (page 11).
If you, reader, are anything like me and you’ve ever had the urge to chuck your phone into Onondaga Lake or deactivate your LinkedIn profile for good, maybe skim this magazine first. Get the low-down on emerging technologies as we explore how AI is being used for healthcare screenings on page 15 and racial inequities are being uncovered on DNA testing websites on page 23. Delve into the chronically online with a state of the union on iPad kids on page 57 or take a step into the realm of sci-fi visuals with our enviroviolence photoshoot on page 41. At least then you’ll know that you’re making an educated decision.
There’s something funny about our old school mag—a rare and lucky holdout from the heyday of print media—devoting an entire issue to all things digital. But as much as my instinct might be to throw my computer across the room and start writing these letters with a chisel and a stone tablet, I’m grateful for the last few months we here at Jerk spent wading through cyberspace. After throwing on a long black trench coat of your own and plugging yourself into this brand new issue, I hope you feel the same way. We'll show you just how deep the rabbit hole goes.
TTYL,
Sophie Davis Editor In Chief (she/her/hers)
Camden
Caroline
JERK ON THE INTERNET
Jerk Magazine is exploring new ways to compliment our print mag. Find additional content on social media @jerkmagazine and our website jerkmagazine.net.
HIT
What we love
MARTY SUPREME
DECEMBER 25
Watch out Julia Fox—Josh Safdie has a new muse! This time it’s Timothée Chalamet and he’s coming back for that Oscar, only now he’s dropped his guitar, shaved his head and started dressing as a giant ping pong ball. We here at Jerk are loving it.
BIG TIME RUSH AT UPSTATE MEDICAL ARENA
JANUARY 26
Boy bands are sooooo back! We’re ready to run over in a big time rush to the Upstate Medical Arena to see the biggest boy band reunion tour to hit upstate New York, since, like, ever. We take it all back. Cancelling on us to focus on “overall health” is a big-time sham. Get over yourselves, losers.
BRIDGERTON SEASON 4
JANUARY 29
Part one of everyone’s favorite show is back, releasing on Netflix on Jan. 29. There is no other show quite like Bridgerton for horny, period piece enthusiasts. In times when fans are lacking Keira Knightley in a corset, we instead get Shonda Rhimes’ attempt at a star-crossed lovers storyline with plenty of courts, dances and scandals to keep us occupied.
CHARLI XCX’S WUTHERING HEIGHTS
FEBRUARY 13
Are you ready for Wuthering Heights Winter?! And no, I am NOT referring to the upcoming movie adaptation. Instead I am talking about its soundtrack, an entirely new Charli XCX album that is accompanying the release of the new movie. Based on the sound of the first single, “House,” the vibe of the album seems to be inspired by gothic, darkwave pop. We are definitely intrigued by the possibility of Brat Summer’s dark and twisted sister.
Words by Adelaide Larson
NEW YEAR’S DAY HANGOVER
JANUARY 1
After sending off 2025 with a bang on Dec. 31, the inevitable slug of New Year’s day is bound to come. This year our resolution is to have fun without living through the consequences that carry on into the next year. Maybe this means popping open a bottle of sparkling grape juice instead of champagne. Trust us, future you will appreciate it.
NATIONAL BOBBLEHEAD DAY
JANUARY 7
We here at Jerk are currently staging a protest against this upcoming holiday. Why the hell do these creepy collectibles get an entire day of dedication? Who else is with us?! Down with the bobbles and all their hobbyists.
BRIDGERTON SEASON 4 JANUARY
29
Okay now, let's be real, who here is actually still watching this show? Are we all pretending to love listening to bad covers of The Chainsmokers on the grand piano and watching corny love stories disguised with British accents? Bring back Keira Knightley in a corset!
WUTHERING HEIGHTS FEBRUARY
13
Directed by Emerald Fennell, the new adaptation of Wuthering Heights seems to be straying as far away as possible from the classic tragic romance and instead turning the story into a steaming pile of erotica slop. The movie stars the familiar faces of Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie, neither of which match the character description or even the character age range. I could rant some more, but for the sake of space I will simply declare that you will not be seeing me in theaters this February.
What we hate
Mar. 21 - Apr. 19
Going home from Flip night with your ex isn’t going to open new doors, my friend. Next time the coin is in the air, turn to the person next to you, bat your eyelashes and call “Head(s)?” in a sultry tone. See where that leads you.
TAURUS
Apr. 20 - May 20
ARIES GEMINI
May 21 - Jun. 20
It’s possible that your earthshatteringly destructive hangovers are killing your vibe. Have you tried mixing in a water? Aging is cool, but it comes with a cost. Take care of yourself, Taurus, and maybe lay off the Cutwaters.
So your last failed situationship destroyed your confidence, made you question your self-respect and renewed your trust issues for the next calendar year. Who cares?? It’s 2026 now, Gemini. The world is your oyster (and the right clam could be just around the corner).
Jun. 21 - Jul. 22
Jul. 23 - Aug. 22
CANCER LEO VIRGO
I’m not a doctor, but it’s possible that 23 hours a day spent on TikTok is impacting your mental health. Put the damn phone down and read a book, Cancer. See how your attention span can flourish.
You may have failed an exam, tripped down the Carnegie steps in front of a tour group and dropped your Medi Combo on the ground, but it’s a new month, Leo. Now’s your time to shine.
Aug. 23 - Sep. 22
The prophet in my dream last night told me you have the power to single-handedly bring back Syracuse’s house party scene. Sign that lease, Virgo, and charge freshmen $15 at the door. Bring Euclid Avenue back to its glory days.
Sep. 23 - Oct. 22
What was that, Libra? Your professor thinks you used ChatGPT on your last assignment? You and I both know you didn’t, so who cares? Pick your head up, clear your search history and consult with your closest pre-law friend. You’ll be fine.
Oct. 23 - Nov. 21
LIBRA SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS
Stop leaving your dishes in the sink—your quality of life might just improve (or at least your roommates will stop talking shit about you). 2026 is yours, Scorpio.
Nov. 22 - Dec. 21
They say you are what you eat, but they forgot to mention you are what you do, too. Using Claude AI to do your earth science homework will turn you into an AI chatbot in the near future. Chill with that, Sag.
Dec. 2 - Jan. 20
Jan. 21 - Feb. 18
CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES
The 8 a.m. wouldn’t be so bad if you stopped going to bed at 4:23 in the morning. Pop a melatonin, fix your circadian rhythm and see how your life changes. The new year is for prioritizing sleep, Capricorn.
Stop ignoring your friends’ Venmo requests. It’s not cool. 2026 will feel better with that weight off your shoulders (and your wallet it was getting too heavy, big dawg).
Words by Jojo Wertheimer | Art By Marina Lee
Feb. 19 - Mar. 20
Honestly, there’s nothing worse than waking up in bed next to a pile of kiwis, unsure of how they got there. Keep your head up, Pisces, it can only go up from here.
TALK DIRTY TO ME
The sultry sounds of sex are becoming more story-focused
Words by Blakesley Rhett
Art by Meredith Rogers | Designed by Ailani Wong
When people talk about their first exposure to sex and masturbation, the topic of porn often comes into conversation. You probably had a friend in middle school whisper to you about the explicit video they sneakily watched on their family computer or how they heard the truth about the birds and bees from an older sibling.
While porn can at times be informative and explorative, it can also be hard to consume for many. Those who identify as female may feel as though porn is too manufactured, exploitative and geared towards the male gaze. It can also lead to sexual dysfunction, a recurring inability to experience satisfactory sexual activity, in viewers.
Quinn is an audio erotic app created by women as a way to address the lack of ethical sensual content that caters to women. The app can best be described as a collection of highquality, short—ranging from 10 to 40 minutes—and sexy audio books. Their stories often take a narrative focus, from friends-to-lovers tropes to historical romances.
Syracuse-based sex and relationship therapist Florina L. Apolinar Claudio says the reason many female users enjoy the app is that it puts the focus on the listener’s pleasure, because many women are taught at a young age to put others’ pleasure before their own.
“I know sometimes when [porn is] partnered, it's very unintentionally other-focused,” Apolinar Claudio said. “Whereas when potentially they're listening to the audio, it's very them-focused,” Apolinar Claudio said.
One aspect that may put women off porn the most is the lack of imagination it provides. Instead of being allowed to focus on their own fantasies, women may end up feeling like an awkward third party to something that they have little to no interest in. When using audio erotic apps, many listeners are drawn to the idea that they can aid them in letting their imagination run wild.
The app is well known for its marketing and collaboration with a variety of celebrities. Recently, Chris Briney starred in a steamy summer romance story and Tom Blyth voiced a regency-era artist in a forbidden relationship. Quinn also partners with regular voice actors.
Quinn’s library has hundreds of stories, made by a variety of audio creators, for everyone to try out and enjoy. There are audios available centered around almost every kink and fantasy possible such as meet-cutes, exes to lovers and guided masturbation audios.
The most popular audios are often praised by users for their narrative storylines. They don’t just jump right into the action—there is a buildup that
helps set the scene, introduces the characters and creates a sense of reality for the listener. This form of storytelling helps establish the mood and has the listener fully invested by the time the audio gets to the good stuff.
“It's their own created fantasy, it is their own world and I could see where anybody that subscribes to the audio can feel like it's a space for exploring, it's a space for curiosity,” Apolinar Claudio said.
While it may sound intimidating at first to get into audio porn (don’t focus too hard on imagining the actors making kissing and sex noises alone in their studio), apps like Quinn can serve as a great way to experiment with what you like and dislike in relation to intimacy. Experimentation with apps such as Quinn can also help you become more attuned to your body and pleasure.
If visual porn isn’t doing it for you, or you’re looking for something new, grab your headphones, turn off your brain and get listening to some good audio sex!
SCALERE’S WORKSHOP
A Syracuse University student turns childhood imagination into reality
Words by Kaila Hu | Photos by Brynne Hurt and Chloe Pusey
It’s finally winter at Syracuse University—the snowiest time in the snowiest place. While other students are cramming for final exams or scrolling through Amazon for last-minute gifts, Olivia Scalere is in her own little North Pole: the SU workshop. She’s the Santa Claus of upstate New York, if Santa traded his elves and reindeer for 3D printing and a losing football team.
Scalere is now a junior industrial design major, but unlike her peers, her career aspirations lean into whimsy. She hopes to work in the toy-making industry, bringing joy to others just like her toys did for her as a kid.
Scalere has always been a creator. Growing up making things, she has always been hands-on; painting and drawing throughout her childhood, creativity has also always been the family business. Her mom works as a toy designer and she said her love of toys and toymaking stemmed from the playfulness with which her mom raised her.
“I feel like I have really loved and understood toys on a deeper level," she said. Growing up, Scalere’s mom would tell her all about the excitement of the job, even having coworkers and other makers create customized accessories and gadgets for her toys.
One of her biggest inspirations for her work is her favorite childhood stuffed animal: a little plush dog.
“Everyone has some sort of comfort thing, whether it’s a toy or something else, that they’ve held onto forever,” Scalere said. “For me, it’s my dog, and I think there’s something really meaningful about that.”
She often connects this time of year to creativity and making.
“Last winter, I was in the woodshop every single day,” she said. “So I guess I associate winter with creation as much as I do with holidays.”
Scalere’s philosophy is that play isn't a sign of immaturity or something one grows out of, but rather a positive mindset.
“There's something really special about keeping that playful imagination going throughout your life,” she said.
That energy bleeds into everything Scalere makes. Her style of toys and other designs leans playful, pulling inspiration from childhood memories and nostalgia. She says that even in college and adulthood, we all “play” in our own specific ways, and that having toys as kids helped shape how we learn and grow.
Scalere says that despite being in an academically driven place, SU still embraces a silly, playful kind of culture. People here take their studies seriously, but they definitely have a fun side too, taking the “word hard, play hard” mentality to another level.
These days, Scalere is experimenting with
NOGGED AND LOADED
Looking for a game to bring some buzz to your holiday hang?
Words by Michael Bryan | Photos by Molly Melinger
INT. BACKROOM - NIGHT
We have a high-stakes game of Eggnog Roulette here.
A bunch of tough-looking cookies sit around a circular table giving each other the eye. Waiting. Anticipating.
In the center of the table is not a gun, no. It is three delectable shots of holiday nog. One of them, however, is not what it seems.
The rules are simple. Get a few shot glasses. Fill them with eggnog. Spike one of them with the strongest rum, brandy or bourbon you can find. Your dad will love this.
INGREDIENTS
• 3 oz Orange Jell-O
• 3 oz Raspberry Jell-O
• 0.25 oz or 1 packet of unflavored gelatin
It isn’t necessarily about who gets to drink the most or least liquor in a given time it’s about survival.
That’s the beauty of this game: there are no winners, just the joint suffering of you and your friends or family.
If your family has trouble being around each other during the holidays or if you are lactoseintolerant, please disregard this article entirely.
Play this game. If you have the stomach.
• 7 oz condensed milk
• 2 ¼ c vanilla vodka
• 3 ¼ c boiling water
• 2 oz plastic portion cups
JUST ASK CHAT... FOR A CANCER SCREENING?
Generative models dominate the AI debate, overshadowing their potentially lifesaving counterparts
Words by Kiran Hubbard
Art by Max Weinstein | Designed by Alexa Lakeman
Artificial intelligence burst into public discourse in 2022 with the release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Today, bringing up large language models (LLMs) or any other generative platform is a pretty good way to spark a few arguments, or at least some suppressed groans in a crowded room.
Try at your own risk.
AI has actually been in use for decades, especially in technical fields, just under different names. Predictive modeling, machine learning, whatever the title—it all boils down to the same basic principles. These technologies have been optimizing patient outcomes in healthcare since at least the 1980s, and modern developers with similar aims have also jumped on the frenzy of the last three years.
We seem to hear endless chatter about Sora, Gemini’s Nano Banana and Claude AI for students, yet virtually nothing about how AI can be integrated into scientific progress.
Generative models tend to be backed by billion dollar companies, who already have a wide reach and the media influence to oversaturate discourse with news of their developments. By comparison, smaller, clinical models could rely on data from a single hospital, making fewer waves and attracting less attention.
Proponents on either side of the AI debate tend to take an extreme stance on the benefits or deficits of generative models. Whether positive or
negative, it is irresponsible to champion a hardline viewpoint on AI technology without a full, critical understanding of its breadth of applications. This means looking past the shiny new text, image and video generations, as well as the almosttoo-good-to-be-true medical advancements that occasionally make headlines.
While there have been breakthroughs in medical care powered by predictive and classification AI models—which are trained on data from patients, not the text that LLMs learn from—emerging technologies still need to be rigorously evaluated before being paraded as miracles. The way to do this is through randomized, pragmatic testing of AI tools. Patients should be split into random groups who receive either usual care or usual care integrated with AI and analyzed for outcomes, said Daniel Byrne, who teaches an AI in Healthcare course at Johns Hopkins University.
“In healthcare, with AI, it’s like people are driving in the dark with the lights off. And I’m saying, you need to turn on the headlights and know where you’re going,” Byrne said. “Patients are going to flock to hospitals that do it the right way, and then the others are going to have to follow them.”
Byrne has been involved in the development of several AI tools across the healthcare industry, from those increasing surgical patient survival odds in 1983 to reducing autoimmune disease diagnosis time in 2024. He says prediction of complications
and diseases through AI will allow for more effective treatment, saving lives by reducing the number of preventable medical errors.
Stepping away from predictive models into the realm of text generation for patient care can be problematic. LLMs trained on medical literature without the critical thinking skills to evaluate flaws in research design or the potential for false conclusions will often spit out inaccuracies.
This should not be taken as a blanket dismissal of all AI as unreliable—rather, it is a further reason to separate types of technologies when discussing their merits.
“There are people on the spectrum who say AI is evil and it’s biased, we need to regulate it, we need to stop it,” Byrne said. “On the other end of the spectrum, there are people who say AI is magical. We don’t even need to study it, we just need to use it. That leads to short-term success, but long-term success requires being in the middle of this scientific balanced approach.”
What much of this comes down to is establishing AI literacy, an increasingly important skill in any industry. This cannot be achieved by refusing to engage with any form of the technology, nor by embracing each new development without pausing to consider its implications.
The overpowering topic of generative AI has also impacted Syracuse University students, faculty and staff.
Nolan Singh, a sophomore at SU, is currently contesting an AI violation with the Academic Integrity Office. Singh used ChatGPT to create an outline of his thoughts for a writing assignment, which he disclosed in accordance with his professor’s stated AI policy. After this,
the professor sent an email voicing her concerns with his presumed AI usage for the actual writing, held a meeting with him to discuss, then filed a violation. Then it happened again with a second assignment.
“She didn’t say it was ever flagged for AI, she was really just saying, ‘I really just have a feeling that you used AI,’” Singh said. “I basically said, ‘I’m going to take your accusations as just a positive testament to my writing abilities,’ to which she kind of backed off.”
This is just one instance where people’s obsession with generative AI has bled into academic decision-making. Beyond classwork, Singh said generative platforms are also the most commonly discussed among his friends and peers. For those in creative industries, they represent a threat to the integrity of human art.
On the other hand, tools like AlphaFold (a 3D protein-modeling software powered by Google DeepMind) and Anara can be used in scientific settings, building potentially more positive relationships with students.
Joe Martino, a medicinal chemistry senior, uses Anara to help summarize and understand research papers. This platform only pulls information from what the user uploads, and is meant to aid in analysis of topics instead of replacing the user’s thought process.
“There are a lot of uses of AI that are just a waste, like when people just sit and talk to ChatGPT, that’s weird and a waste of resources,” Martino said. “If you’re driving scientific discovery—let’s say somebody uses it and can, hypothetically, cure cancer—that’s a trade that could very well be worth it, for the right reasons.”
WORKAHOLICS ANONYMOUS
Non-stop productivity culture pressures us to optimize every aspect of our lives. The only way to preserve our sanity is to define success on our own terms.
Words by Kelly Matlock
Art by Esme Jablonsky | Designed by Lexie Haupt
Dear Hiring Manager,
We here at Jerk are delighted to apply for this position (that we don’t really want) at your company (that could go bankrupt for all we care). We are so consumed by the pressure to succeed that we’ve given up on enjoying our lives. Thank you so much for the opportunity!
Sound familiar? At this point in our college careers, we could probably write a cover letter in our sleep. With constant exposure to our peers’ success on campus and hustle culture on our feeds, students face a lot of pressure to wring every possible drop of productivity out of their days.
Hobbies are going the way of the dinosaur. Because we are constantly online and keeping tabs on our friends (and enemies), we share more of our lives than ever before. We feel the need to make everything we do into something worth posting.
Thankfully, there is a light at the end of the doomscroll tunnel. We can remove ourselves from the grind-set culture by confronting it head-on with conscious decisions that redefine “achievement.”
The pressure to succeed doesn’t just exist in our digital lives. From class to conversation and awkward rendezvous with acquaintances at parties, achievement culture looms large. Unfortunately, these online and in-person environments mean that we can’t be listening passively, otherwise we’ll absorb all the toxic messaging out there.
For creatives with big dreams, relaxing hobbies are hard to maintain because they inevitably become academic and professional pursuits. Majoring in our passions can make us better artists, but it might ruin the fun along the way.
For television, radio and film senior Chloe Fatuova, the best way to keep out toxic messaging and keep art fun is to focus on her own goals. She says she is constantly competing against herself, not others, so she knows she can put her all into her major.
While Fatuova produces her senior thesis film— which follows a ballerina who pushes herself to the limit at a heavy personal cost—she confronts her self-optimization issues during the writing process. Her film addresses the idea that the things we’re passionate about aren’t always what we’re cut out to do full-time.
A competitive dancer throughout her childhood, Fatuova had to confront the realization that she didn’t want to pursue it full-time. Now, she runs a dance-based TV show for Orange Television Network called Rhythmic, where she combines her passion for dance with her true love: film.
“I want to work for a studio,” Fatuova said. “There's literally nothing else I want to do with my life. I love it.”
Junior studio arts major Abigail Shim avoids negative hustle culture by “keeping her art fun.” Rather than isolate her creative activities, she lets herself break the rules sometimes.
“I've learned to really just do things for me,” Shim said. “Some assignments come with prompts, directions. Sometimes I just don't follow those directions and I really just go with the plan or the concept that excites me rather than what my professors might want.”
When it comes to competition and optimization, Shim says art lends itself to frustrating, stressful comparisons. Her work is tangible and literally
placed side by side against her peers, so it’s difficult not to feel pressure to put 100% into “every single class and every single thing you do.”
On the other hand, Shim said the positive side of a close group of artists is the community they share. She and her friends experience the same classes, pressures and artistic practices.
“Most of my best friends are in my program and in my major and we all have the same stresses and we all have the same struggles,” Shim said. “[We] validate each other's struggles and work together to alleviate them and continue to move forward.”
Another studio arts major, senior Flynn Ledoux, also mentioned the close community he shares with his peers in his classes. He said he sometimes learns more from his peers than their professors, because they all know each other’s work so well.
“There are definitely moments where I'm like, oh, I wish I was just doing it for fun as an escape from everything else,” Ledoux said. “I feel like it's hard to stay passionate about something when it's demanded of you for all your classes as well.”
Ledoux manages to isolate his fun hobbies from his work by keeping a few creative outlets completely separate from academic and career goals. They embroider in their free time—enjoying a three-dimensional craft as a fun break from twodimensional work.
It takes effort to consciously keep a hobby fun, but we have to. None of us would stay sane if we tried to live in a constant state of achievement. Every day, college campuses overwhelm us with new metrics for success—from LinkedIn to exam scores—let’s fight back and do art badly.
If adopting this approach sounds like another task to add to your never-ending to-do list, don’t panic! The good news is that our relationship with success is fluid, and there really are no rules.
For now, we at Jerk will continue to search for low-pressure, fun creative outlets to pursue. With this approach, after we’ve established some structures for achievement in our lives, we can stop worrying about optimizing ourselves 24/7. If you need us, we’ll be working on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Thank goodness.
JUST DO IT (ALONE)
The case for destigmatizing solo experiences
Words by Caroline Erskine
Art by Sophia Chen
Designed by Abigail Aggarwala
Picture this: you found an event online. It sounds really fun. You send it to your friends, but none of them can go. If you’re like me, you abandon the plan altogether.
I did this for years. Skipped concerts, missed museum exhibits and turned down opportunities because I couldn't find someone to come with me. Then, last summer, I had the idea for a backpacking trip through Central Europe. All of my friends were busy with work or internships, so I had a choice: spend the summer filled with regret, or go alone.
I went alone. And those six weeks taught me more about myself than any group trip could have. We need to destigmatize doing things solo— especially for women.
Pop culture has spent decades telling us that being alone is something to be pitied. Remember Carrie Bradshaw's struggle trying to eat alone in Sex and the City ? Or the countless rom-coms where a woman dining solo gets the sympathetic "just you?" from a hostess? Even Mean Girls reinforced the idea that popular people travel in packs—being alone at lunch is social death.
The message is clear: if you're alone, something must be wrong.
But where does this stigma come from? According to licensed psychotherapist Sharon Kossman, our discomfort with solo activities might be a generational issue.
"Children haven't had that experience of that lack of monitoring and independence," Kossman said. "It's a generation that's been raised with always having some sort of connection with people, in companionship with people, and then to be launched out into the world and to do things independently—there can become a bit of a barrier because of that."
This stigma hits women particularly hard, and Kossman is quick to point out that safety concerns are real, not imagined. Women are raised with keys between their fingers, constant awareness of their surroundings and the knowledge that being alone in public carries risks men don't face.
But fear doesn't have to be paralyzing. While safety concerns related to solo travel or experiences are valid, they shouldn’t stop you
from going. Having a healthy awareness of natural dangers and taking precautions is all you can control.
For me, that meant doing some research. I read up on which neighborhoods not to walk alone in after dark and which hostels were safe for female travelers. Was I pickpocketed in Brussels? Yes. Did I survive? Also yes.
What I gained in exchange was worth the risk.
In Wrocław, Poland, I spent an entire day searching for all of the city’s gnome statues. In Berlin, Germany, I went on a last-minute bar crawl with people I had met five minutes prior. In Cologne, I abandoned the walking tour I had signed up for in favor of some thermal baths a local told me about.
None of this would have happened if I traveled with a group. We would have compromised, negotiated and rushed to accommodate everyone's interests. That's not a criticism of traveling with others—it's just a different experience.
Going solo allowed me to be fully present in what I was doing. It was all up to me, and it was truly liberating to dictate exactly how my day was going to go.
Kossman argues that this is why solo experiences are so valuable. They allow you to be fully present and mindful during experiences in a way that being with a group doesn’t.
"You can enjoy the experience on all your own terms and give yourself quiet time and space within your own psyche, your own mind, to fully process and absorb it," Kossman said.
Our society tells us experiences are better when shared, when we can bounce them off someone else who had a parallel experience. But that's not necessarily true. Solo experiences aren't less satisfying just because no one else witnessed them.
Social media has only made this worse. Kossman describes our online lives as "very performative," constantly reinforcing that group experiences are more valuable than solo ones. Even when solo activities do appear on our feeds, they're framed as "novel and brave" rather than normal, which only reinforces the idea that doing things alone is somehow unusual or requires special courage.
I received that sentiment a lot during my travels as well, having strangers tell me “I wish I could do
that,” or “Wow, you’re so brave” when I explained what I was doing. The thing is, everyone can do it once they push past the initial nerves.
“The first time somebody goes out and does something alone, it'll be uncomfortable,” Kossman said. “Then the more you do it, you’ll gain that comfort and see how important it is.”
This applies to situations beyond international travel. You don't need to backpack through Europe to reap the benefits of solo activities—you can start small.
Kossman recommends beginning with activities where you can "parallel exist in society," like grabbing coffee with a book, visiting free museums on campus or taking yourself to Thornden Park with a journal. Places where conversation isn't required, where you can be around people without being with people.
I'm not arguing that we should all become hermits. Spending time with friends and family is important, and it is very possible to swing too hard in the other direction. Balance is important, but so is being comfortable with yourself.
So next time you find something you want to do and no one can join you, go anyway. Buy the ticket. Make the reservation. Take yourself on that adventure.
REGRETTING COLLEEN HOOVER
The question isn’t what she’s done wrong, it’s if she’s ever done anything right
Words by Rae Kazi
Art by Karl Lamb Jr.
Designed by Julia Yezukevich
Let’s set the scene. After a long day, you’re curled up on the couch, ready to unwind with a good book. You turn the page of a Colleen Hoover book, when all of a sudden your eyes are assaulted by a line such as:
“We both laugh at our son’s big balls.”
“When he was wiping that cow shit on me, it was quite possibly the most turned-on I have ever been.”
And who could forget Hoover’s infamous line claiming sushi and pad thai are the “same thing” because they’re “both Asian food”?
The plague that is Hoover’s writing gained popularity on BookTok, a subcommunity on TikTok. This growing side of the app gave Hoover’s books a major surge in popularity, although many were written years before.
Hoover’s virality is, frankly, inexcusable. Who told this middle-aged white woman she could write? And how did she convince so many other people? This entire article could just be cringeworthy quotes of hers, but we respect our readers too much for that.
The bad prose is just the beginning. This woman’s list of controversies rivals that of a corrupt politician, complete with allegations of covering up sexual harassment. Let’s get serious for a minute.
In 2022, Hoover’s then-21-year-old son was accused of soliciting a 16-year-old girl for inappropriate images. When the girl reached out
to Hoover, she reportedly blocked the message— until the internet found out about the ordeal. Then, she gave a half-assed apology on Facebook and claimed she never saw it.
Keep in mind, the content of some of her novels includes triggering topics like assault and domestic violence. The fact that she uses these subjects to sell crappy books without practicing prevention of such events is a testament to her character. And it’s not a good one.
We’re sick of reading about stale white bread characters over and over again, especially when they’re some of the only books being pushed by BookTok and Bookstagram. Take our word for it—these are not the places to go when you’re looking for a good book. The closest thing to P.O.C representation we’ve seen in any content of hers was the casting of Hasan Minhaj in the shitshow that was It Ends With Us, where he played a tech entrepreneur. Interesting casting for a brown man, no? That’s what you get when you bolster an author that’s just as stale and white as her characters.
Hoover’s writing itself also says a lot about her: having a character refer to all Asian food as “the same thing,” having another say he can pick how a girl dresses because he’s paying for dinner, and having yet another talk about someone “experimenting” with being gay. It’s safe to say that Hoover’s got a lot to make up for—and there are only so many mistakes we can allow.
Here lies Colleen Hoover. Let’s keep it that way.
DIGGING UP YOUR ROOTS
Exploring the process of tracing back ancestry and its inequities
Words by Fei Chan
Art by Alex Youngquest | Designed by Ailani Wong
First, make a huge outline of a tree. Then, cut and paste some pictures onto a poster board. Next, draw some lines connecting family members until they lead to you.
These are the steps to create a basic family tree—a classic elementary school project. It’s a fun craft to put together with the help of your parents as a child, but as you grow older, it becomes more than just a poster project to present to your classmates.
For many, the search for belonging and a concrete sense of identity is fulfilled by understanding their roots. Especially within the context of the United States, a country where the majority of citizens’ origins are tied to immigration, exploring ancestry can help people make sense of how they’re living today.
Today, ancestry can be traced using a variety of different methods, the most modern being services that allow individuals to submit DNA samples and analyze their results online. The “big four” companies that provide this service are AncestryDNA, 23andMe, MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA.
By 2019, more than 26 million people had added their DNA to these companies’ ancestry and health databases, according to MIT Technology Review. Users send their samples either in the form of saliva or a buccal swab with materials provided from the test kits.
From there, the companies process the sample using your autosomal DNA, the genetic material inherited from both parents that determines your traits. It’s used to pinpoint genetic markers called single nucleotide polymorphisms, where the DNA tends to differ from person to person. Since most humans share 99% of the same DNA, these markers help trace lineages because they are inherited from individuals’ biological parents.
With services readily available and accessible right from people’s homes, DNA testing has become a popular gift, especially during the holidays. But each person’s reason for trying a test differs.
Cate Vickery, a Syracuse University senior, has seen her ancestry traced all the way back to the 1600s. But she did not complete the research herself—the process is a personal hobby of her grandmother’s that has since turned into a way for her to meet distant relatives.
Vickery was never really interested in her family’s history until she was given a high school project to create a basic family tree going back two to three generations. From there, she discovered her family has had roots in America for more than 400 years, since before its establishment as the United States.
A fun tidbit she found? Every firstborn son on her mother’s side of the family was named John.
“It goes back hundreds [of years]—they're all John. Even if there's multiple siblings, the firstborn is always John,” Vickery said. “And I think that's really funny because my mother decided to not name my brother John, his name is Thomas.”
These are just some of the small, yet amusing things tracing your roots can uncover. Vickery’s grandmother pays for an AncestryDNA subscription, which allows access to more complex records.
Census documents from towns her relatives lived in and birth and death certificates are public records Vickery’s grandmother used to piece together their family tree. Lots of information was also passed down by word of mouth.
Now, with accessible digital tools, Vickery’s grandmother created several ways to keep everything saved for future reference with multiple flash drive copies, journals and books.
Access to such materials is essential to trace back ancestry, which is a privilege not afforded to marginalized groups. Natalie Novotna, a forensic science professor at SU, explains that one primary reason is simply that most people who do voluntary DNA testing of this nature are those of Western European descent. Consequently, Black, Latin, Asian and other communities of color are left out of the databases.
AncestryDNA outlines on their website that their calculating
customers’ results relies on a database of DNA samples, “collected from people with deep ancestral roots in certain geographic regions.”
For those who aren’t of Western European descent, this could mean less detailed, potentially inaccurate results.
“If you upload your profile and you're hoping for a [match] from these minorities, the chances are smaller that you're gonna get a hit,”
DNA testing is not only used for ancestry purposes, but also health ones. It can tell people if they’re at risk for certain genetic diseases or conditions, which can aid with decision-making about prevention and further screening.
According to a 2025 study done by Jemar Bather, Melody Goodman and Kimberly Kaphingst, people living in “high vulnerability” neighborhoods— which refers to areas disadvantaged by socioeconomic status, household characteristics, racial and ethnic minority status, housing type and transportation—are less likely to use genetic testing services.
Lack of healthcare access and poor infrastructure impact the resources available to perform DNA testing, making for less awareness and experience with these services, and leading to medical risk algorithms being biased against non-white patients.
Genetic testing can be expensive, which poses another barrier for communities of color.
“It can get costly, especially if you want to look more into the lineages and try to enter multiple different databases to search for potential matches or partial matches—like if you're somehow related, maybe to this person who also entered the database,” Novotna said. “Stuff like that, or
even these more involved, more complex forensic analyses might get a little bit costly.”
Furthermore, histories of slavery, colonization and discrimination caused the large gap in recordkeeping because of poor maintenance, incompletion or plain nonexistence. This makes the records that are available potentially unreliable. Historically, government records worldwide did not keep accurate documentation of people and families of color.
Knowing one’s roots may have different meanings for different people, depending on someone’s purpose for digging into the past. It’s a natural inclination to try to understand who and what made you who you are when we spend our whole lives trying to explain it to others.
Now that she’s older, the process carries more weight for Vickery, especially because she has a small immediate family.
“When you think about life, it's your parents and your grandparents, but really, there's had to be so many different combinations of people who I’m related to who've had to get married and have had kids for me to be alive,” Vickery said. “It's crazy how many people I'm related to and I could be distantly related to so many other people who I don't even know.”
EMPTY PLATES, EMPTIER STOMACHS
What’s behind the decline of SU dining?
$8,000 a year, Syracuse University students get the privilege of indulging in the school’s unlimited dining plan. While the six dining halls on campus promise to serve students a wide variety of meals throughout the day, students faced a different reality when they arrived on campus this fall.
“Multiple times this year I’ve walked into the dining hall and there’s been no stations open,” said freshman Elyssa Johnson, who dines at Sadler Hall. “The food that is out is either nearly empty,
Johnson is not the only one experiencing a shortage of options during meals. Josephine VanRy, a resident advisor at Ernie Davis hall, said this semester marked a significant drop in the number of food options. Now in her fourth year eating at university facilities, she noticed that some popular food stations like the sandwich section are closed or regularly fail to put
When asked why some of the dining hall services are not open or functioning like they used to, Interim Director of Campus Dining Carrie Frobe said the issue stems from a shortage of international and graduate student workers, who have historically filled these roles.
“A lot of those stations that you've seen closed right now—typically students run them, so we've been having this glaring hole of student labor,” she said.
Frobe explained that there was a significant drop of about 4% in the amount of international students on campus this year, which she says impacted the school’s ability to staff dining halls.
Aware of these staff shortages, Frobe said they welcome all feedback, and that she and Head Chef Rick Leonardo are always available to share a meal with students and listen to their concerns.
“It’s really important that students are willing to talk to us,” Frobe said.
But, when students do reach out, getting a response from SU officials isn't guaranteed. At the beginning of the semester, Associate Director of Residential Dining Kevin Stillman met with a group of RAs and encouraged them to reach out with any feedback. But when VanRy emailed Stillman in August, she did not receive an answer and did not see any change regarding her comments.
The SU dining plan is required for all students living in on-campus residence halls, according to the university’s website, and is a massive part of on-campus living for students who don’t have the luxury of communal or apartment kitchens. On top of this, the average room and board for
students tend to not meet demand due to understaffing.
Some of the dining centers serve only one residence hall, while others must accommodate students from two or even three dorms and the additional SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry students who eat on SU’s campus.
On a typical night, Sadler Dining Hall operates with only four to eight chefs in the kitchen. However, as the dining center serves students at Sadler and Lawrinson halls, as well as SUNY ESF students, it needs at least 10 to 15 union chefs to run efficiently, according to a staff member of 11 years who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of being mistreated. This means that students are given even fewer food options.
“It has just gotten much, much worse,” VanRy said. “There's much less flexibility in what I can eat at any given time, and what anybody can eat.”
VanRy’s dining is even more limited due to having celiac disease. Trying to find gluten-
free options had not been a struggle during her previous years at SU. Her freshman year, she praised the university for its gluten-free options, which were superior to other universities she considered attending. But now, she struggles with the repetitive nature of the meals offered.
“Over the years, that gluten free option has gotten really, really bad,” she said. “At Ernie [Davis], the gluten free option at any given meal time is just rice or quinoa and grilled chicken. Which, eating that for lunch and dinner every single day is insane.”
Another student, Lucía Santoro-Vélez, echoed VanRy’s concerns. Although Santoro-Vélez does not have any food restrictions herself, she noticed one of her friends with celiac disease struggles with meals. She pointed out that at Orange Hall, the majority of gluten-free options are contained in a small fridge of frozen meals—all the while the dining hall doesn’t even have a microwave.
SU freshman Ava Cozic, who has a vegetarian diet, said she actually enjoys the school’s meatfree dishes. However, she says about one to two times a week she struggles to find vegetarianfriendly options.
“I will walk around the dining hall and see ten different kinds of meat and not one vegetarian item, causing me to eat the same
meals over and over again that do not meet my protein goal,” she said.
Santoro-Vélez also said she is concerned about the nutrition of the food available.
“I think that SU does a really bad job in providing healthier food alternatives,” she said.
She wishes that more vegetables and fresh foods were offered. For example, on the weekends Orange Dining hall often offers “game day foods” like wings and multiple types of mac n’ cheese, but no “healthier” options, she said.
Additionally, many of the stations that were closed down this year were replaced with pastries. In Sadler, where students previously had access to a build-your-own sandwich bar, they’ll now find trays filled with cookies.
Variety in food options is not the only problem that comes with a lack of workers. Students say they also noticed that some dining halls are
unequipped to keep tables and eating areas clean.
“I remember my freshman year, it just seemed a lot more organized and well put together,” VanRy said.
But now, she said that she can rarely find a clean table—even in the mornings.
Empty stations, low food quality and dirty tables are just some of the complaints students have voiced this year. QR codes on the doors of each dining hall imply their voices are heard, and yet little to nothing has been done to improve campus dining.
Santoro-Vélez said that although she is aware of the resources to provide feedback, she feels discouraged to submit her concerns and doubts it would make a change.
“In my past three years here, the concerns have been the same every single year, and I haven't seen any change,” she said.
GETTING PRESSED
Nothing says "great career choice" like watching press freedom collapse before you even graduate.
Words by Hannah Peters and Jerry Morris
Art by Khloe Scalise | Designed by Abigail Aggarwala
So you want to be a journalist? Cool. The press is under attack, student papers are getting axed and you're $60,000 in debt to the ghost of S.I. Newhouse himself. Let's talk about your future.
Student journalists are on the front lines of a freedom of press crisis they didn’t ask for. Across the country, student publications are losing funding, advisors are being removed and even national news organizations are being censored and restricted.
At Syracuse University, where the S. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications produces some of the country's top journalism graduates, students are watching—and worrying—about what comes next.
The pressure on newsrooms doesn't exist in a vacuum—censorship has become a defining feature of the media landscape under the administration of President Donald Trump.
In October, members of CBS News turned in their Pentagon press passes after a memo stated that the Trump administration would have to approve journalists’ stories before publication, regardless of classification. With journalists fearing retaliation from the administration, some have chosen to quit rather than have their work tampered with.
Roy Gutterman, director of the Tully Center for Free Speech at Newhouse, sees these developments as unprecedented.
"These days, it feels like we are in uncharted territory with attacks on the press, many coming from the very highest people in government," he said. "It is pretty scary."
Howard Polskin, founder of TheRighting, a newsletter that tracks conservative media and collects it for mainstream and progressive audiences, has observed a troubling disconnect. Despite right-wing outlets' claims of supporting free speech and uproars about “cancel culture”, when it comes to press freedom stories, crickets.
"I've detected very little coverage of it. It's been a minor issue," Polskin said.
In October, students working for The Indiana Daily Student (IDS) were shocked to find out they were the latest victim of an ongoing attack on journalism. With a new print issue slated to release by their homecoming football game, staff and students were shocked to discover it was no longer going to print. The paper's advisor, Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush, had also been fired.
Indiana University’s excuse? The university denied censorship and claimed the issue was pulled due to financial deficits, and that Rodenbush
was fired for “a lack of leadership.” However, students and staff including Rodenbush, disagree.
Members of the IDS told The New York Times this was a targeted act, and that there are no protections in place to stop this from happening to other organizations. Gutterman found the incident deeply troubling.
"I never accepted the explanation that the action was not targeting the student newspaper,” Gutterman said. “It's an example of a wider series of attacks or negligence with student newspapers."
Catherine Loper, another professor of journalism at Newhouse, shared Gutterman’s anxiety.
"What concerns me is that you've got a university that teaches journalism asking a student publication not to print news," Loper said. "That's a problem, and it's a problem in the way we're educating the journalists of the future."
While Loper voiced that the issue at IU was a matter of censorship, she is still skeptical that this singular incident is the sign of panic for free press. However, she said when these incidents become cumulative and normalized, it becomes a “crisis situation."
Many students at SU are a part of student publications. For them, the situation at Indiana hit close to home.
Rose Boehm, managing editor of The Daily Orange (D.O.), an independent student newspaper at SU, felt the impact of what happened at the IDS immediately.
“It was obviously scary. It felt like the most direct hit we could take as a network of college newspapers,” she said.
Boehm and the other editors at the D.O. instantly stood in solidarity with the IDS , becoming a part of a network of student publications to do so.
“Right now, college newspapers have a front row seat to higher education and all the changes that have come with this administration,” Boehm said. “To me, that’s one of the most valuable parts
of being on a student newspaper right now. We want to stand with each other across the country, trying to cover this tough time.”
SU has long promoted Newhouse as one of the nation's premier journalism schools. But as censorship becomes the norm across American media, some students are asking an uncomfortable question: will SU defend student press freedom, or will it follow Indiana's lead?
Sophomore Grace Elford, a reporter for Citrus TV, worries about possible SU backlash if she were to report on certain university affairs.
"It makes me scared to think that if I found out about something happening and I did release that as news, the university would come after me in some way, whether it be not allowing me to participate in campus media anymore or even taking away my scholarship," Elford said.
Arietta Hallock, editor-in-chief of Baked Magazine, shares similar concerns as she prepares to graduate this spring.
"It's definitely a fraught time in the media,” she said. “It feels like speaking the truth about a powerful person can put you at risk or put you under threat.”
Despite her uncertainty about how SU’s administration may respond to censorship pressures, Hallock finds hope in her professors.
"I know for a fact that individual professors here are incredibly supportive and they care to protect student journalists and continue the legacy here of storytelling and truth,” Hallock said.
Polskin, who came up through the old-school journalism route—grinding his way through at a local paper before landing at a major magazine— doesn't sugarcoat the reality facing graduates. That kind of linear path for aspiring journalists is now rare.
Many current working journalists have been turning to independent media and publishing their
writing on Substack, a blog-writing website and app. Polskin, who strayed from mainstream media to write exactly what he wanted, explained the trend’s rise.
"Every time a journalist is fired, a new Substack is born,” Polskin said. That's where they all wash up, on the shores of Substack."
Polskin said nowadays, many journalists have the tools and technology to become their own publishers. However, he noted that for him and other journalists who have already had careers and made money, turning independent works well, but he questions the viability of this option for freshly graduated students.
Still, Polskin has hope for future journalists. He said the skills of content creation will always be needed, and learning those in college is very valuable. He said learning things like video production, podcasting, social media, photography and AI are always going to be needed by someone.
“Now, is that going to be in a journalism career? Maybe, maybe not," Polskin said.
Facing an uncertain future, student journalists still have a path forward according to Gutterman. He offers very straightforward advice: Do your job and make sure you get the story right. Nobody can take legitimate action against a reporter who gets everything right.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDY
Words by Michael Bryan | Photos by Max Dickman, Liv Pagel and Brody Shuffler
Designed by Megan Radakovich
coffee tables serve as living records of our social and everyday lives, and what’s left on the surface embodies the collective threads of every home. Archaeologizing these household fixtures is a precise science. If something stays on the table too long, it becomes a fossil. Or it might attract ants.
Whatever the scene might be, it serves as a window into a moment—a snapshot into a household’s lives. Our living room coffee tables have seen it all, especially in college. They are technological marvels that withstand most, if not all, of the abuse we throw at them.
"It's just lived in. You have to let it be lived in,” Syracuse University senior Eva Demizio said, referring to the coffee table she shares with her four roommates.
Aesthetics are one thing, but coffee tables illustrate the various ways in which we conduct ourselves in shared spaces. The items we leave on our tables become decorations in themselves.
For SU sophomore Sean Haggerty and his roommate, one of the big draws of SU’s South Campus was having a personal, yet shared space.
“We knew that it would not be just [for] the two of us,” Haggerty said.
To his roommates, the ability to host friends is what makes their apartment worth living in.
Through our coffee tables, collective identities manifest from the collision of everyday habits and happenings.
Next time you spill a bottle of Josh Cellars on your Room Essentials coffee table, remember: every stain, scuff and cheap digital camera is part of what makes your living room yours.
NO PAW-PARAZZI, PLEASE!
Syracuse University’s therapy dogs bring fuzzy friendship to campus life
Words by Jojo Wertheimer
Photo by Ailani Wong
Campus celebrity status is hard to obtain. You must toe the line between untouchable importance and staying approachable enough to be well-known. Showing face at campus hotspots is critical. It helps to have an air of mystery, such as keeping your fans waiting over a week to accept their follow request on Instagram. No, we’re not describing the girl in your dorm who posts a daily get-ready-with-me on TikTok. We’re talking about Clayton, the adorable Goldendoodle at pet therapy.
You may recognize him from the Barnes Center at The Arch, where his adoring fans line up to pet him. Or, you may know him from Instagram, where he mogs the hell out of us in a pair of dope sunglasses (unfortunately, we here at Jerk can only speak on the profile pic...we’re still waiting for our follow request to be accepted). Clayton is one of the many dogs (and as of recently, one cat) at pet therapy, a program designed to help students reduce stress and increase well-being. SU partners with two local therapy pet organizations, Paws of CNY and Pet Partners of CNY, to bring in our fuzzy friends.
When Clayton’s not around, like last Tuesday, dogs like Sammy, a five-year-old Goldendoodle, take his place. Sammy, whose favorite activity is seeing old friends and meeting new ones— according to the business card his owner gives out—has been a therapy dog since 2023.
“We were on vacation in Maine and every block we walked down, people would stop and say ‘oh my gosh, what a cute dog’ or ‘I miss my dog,’” said
owner and Syracuse resident Kate Gillen. “He brought such joy to people that I thought ‘I need to look into making him a therapy dog.’”
When students arrived at pet therapy, Sammy moved to greet them. A few minutes later, his head was resting on two students’ laps. Sammy is so calm, in fact, you’d never know that outside of pet therapy, he swims, paddleboards, plays in the snow, travels (his East Coast tour is well underway) and even hangs out at Harvey’s Garden.
“I love snacks and drinks, so whenever he’s able to come, I bring him,” Gillen said. “Sammy loves a brewery.”
So do we, Sammy, so do we.
Last year, on Sammy’s fourth birthday, he
Sammy’s
DISCOVER SYR:
CO-OP ‘TILL YOU DROP
Community-conscious produce sold with a smile
Words by Julia Yezukevich | Photo by Maddie Kim | Art by Marina Lee
When visiting Salt City Market for a SinBun or a taco from Ellerae’s, you might overlook the shop tucked away in the back corner. But trust us, you don’t want to. The Syracuse Cooperative Market is one of the city’s best hidden gems and a local alternative to other major grocery stores in the area. It’s stocked with fresh produce and organic snacks, and decorated with their floral logo and brightly-colored neon signs.
A group of passionate activists founded the coop in 1972 to support local farmers and producers. But the concept of co-ops dates back to the Industrial Revolution, general manager Jeremy DeChario said. Villages were urbanizing: people lived in row houses owned by the corporate class, worked in factories operated by the corporate class and shopped at stores run by the corporate class. There were no guarantees of food purity, so they took matters into their own hands, creating the “seven cooperative principles.”
The principles cover independence, cooperation and concern for community. DeChario said the co-op’s everyday work incorporates these principles, for example, they carry cooperative brands like Organic Valley dairy.
“We're paying interest to our
members instead of some JPMorgan or Chase big bank. All of the interest money for this project goes back to our members.” DeChario said.
Shopping at the co-op has inspired Syracuse University senior Carter Braxton to look for membership at a co-op in his hometown. He recommends that students check out the co-op for its sustainability, and to make sure to get Van Leeuwen’s ice cream and Ithaca hummus when they do.
“As a consumer, oftentimes it feels like you have no choice in where your dollars are truly going, especially with the amount of exploitative multinational corporations that we’re oversaturated with in our stores,” said Braxton. “What keeps me coming back to the co-op as opposed to other grocery stores is basically in its name: supporting a community as opposed to a single corporation.”
A membership at the co-op allows shoppers to invest equity, get special member discounts and receive money back occasionally.
DeChario started as a cashier at the co-op, and has now been the GM for 13 years. When he started, there were 12 employees—now there are 40.
“We have a number of people that work at the co-op that would have left Syracuse otherwise,” DeChario said. “We are a safe place for people.”
Photos by Max Dickman Kailyn Peng, Caleb LeBlanc
Designed by Abigail Aggarwala
nviroviolence
FUR-REAL?
The fall of faux fur brings a new age Claire Arveson
to pull out their warmest outerwear. It’s time to choose your fighter: the Are-You-From-NewYork-Even black puffer jacket, the Whitman-bro Patagonia quarter-zip or that guy in your 8 a.m. who’s wearing shorts. Never fear, a new character has entered the arena—the fur coat.
Whether you want to look like mob wife Carmela Soprano or ’70s rockstar Stevie Nicks, fur is back. After a period of fur slander—protesters storming fashion weeks and model Gisele Bundchen labeled as “fur-scum”—consumers began opting for the plastic-based alternative. Faux fur products are marketed as responsible substitutions for stylish customers. Synthetic pelts have become a silent signal for fashionistas everywhere to say “I’m a good person—it’s fake!”
Fur has been a part of fashion since the beginning of humankind. Homosapiens crafted fur clothing to survive, skinning bison, mammoths and elk after hunting. Early North American indigenous societies, like the Inuit, were the first to assign a class association or rank to certain pelts, introducing the idea of fur as a style rather than a means of survival. The Northern Métis are considered the “children of the fur trade,” becoming skilled hunters and trappers to sell hides to European customers, establishing the early Canadian economy and bringing fur to a new continent, according to the Indigenous Peoples Atlas of Canada.
A lot of cultures have traditional dress with fur elements. Whether it’s a Peruvian alpaca-hair poncho or a sheepskin Kozhukh coat from Ukraine, fur is in our veins. But does that mean blood is on our hands?
In an era of Instagram activism and rainbow capitalism, it is easy to fall into the trap of the faux fur industry. These companies often practice greenwashing, the concept of making misleading claims about the environmental benefits of a product. Faux fur is vegan and its material appeals to the animal lovers of the world. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has led the faux movement, condemning those who own pelts for their abusive, Earth-harming tendencies.
Faux fur isn’t as good for the environment as everyone says. Here’s something PETA would never tell you: faux fur is made of a combination of plastic polymers like polyester that shed microplastics at an unprecedented rate. Most faux fur coats are non-biodegradable, and with our culture of microtrends, these products are thrown in the landfill at record speed. Faux fur also has a shorter lifespan, around two to five years at best, while the real product can last for decades.
Similar to fur, genuine leather is making its own return. As “pleather” climbed the ranks as an affordable, eco-friendly alternative, real leather was donated and recycled to end up in thrift stores and resale sites worldwide.
Syracuse University sophomore Sheza Qasim stumbled upon a real leather piece without even knowing it, she said. After a Depop search for the perfect going-out jacket (been there!), she bought one. Only after checking the tag did she realize she purchased genuine leather.
“I had no idea that my jacket was 100% leather,” Qasim said. “I’ve seen the backlash against fur, and agreed with it on the surface. When I made that discovery, I did my research and it changed my mind about fur.”
In Syracuse, it is in every student’s best interest to own long-lasting outerwear. Even celebrities like Ice Spice and Kendall Jenner have been spotted wearing fur to high-profile events and red carpets galore.
In March, fashion house Fendi celebrated a century in business with a Milan runway—their message about fur was clear. Silvia Fendi, the only member of the Fendi family still involved in the company, stated that she wanted to honor Fendi’s origins through the show. With humble beginnings as a handbag and pelt factory, Fendi
flaunted fur on almost every model. Silvia Fendi's twin grandchildren and eventual heirs of the empire sported miniscule matching fox coats.
In a world where a McChicken is $3.29, it is easy to feel disillusioned by fashion giants that peddle expensive pelts. But the easiest and most common way to get the real deal? Gen Z’s favorite pastime: thrifting! Most people she knows with fur or leather have thrifted it, Qasim said.
SU sophomore Emma Liao picked her fur coat up at Marshall Street’s 3fifteen thrift store. Unknowingly, she bought a piece that will last her much longer than the pieces she’s owned in the past.
“Honestly, I just picked out the coat that felt the best,” Liao said. “Quality is important to me and there was not a huge price difference between my purchase and lower quality options.”
Both Liao and Qasim acknowledge their experience with authentic fur was accidental, but now impact the way they will shop moving forward.
“I don't even think I've ever seen hate on faux fur, because people assume that it's not hurting an animal,” Liao said. “They think that it's perfectly fine. No one is thinking about the broader environmental impact.”
At the end of the day, in a society where we want things fast, cheap and easy, faux fur is the obvious choice. As consumers come to their senses, we’ve started to pull out our pelts and shop secondhand.
Next time you shop, think about this: am I buying faux fur because I love animals, or is this company telling me that I’m a better person for doing so? And, could I just get this at the thrift instead?
So, don’t be afraid to do your research and buy the coat that’s best for you. Or don’t. Just make sure you don’t get frostbite.
FORM AND FUNCTION: How to dress to...
HIT THE SLOPES
Everyone's doing it, why not you?
Words by Juliet Seth
Photos by Shane Grates and Max Dickman
It seems like everyone’s up to their nose in snow nowadays. Maybe you thought it was a bit dangerous at first, but you know so many people who hit the slopes every weekend and they seem to be having more fun, so why not give it a try? Here is the essential guide for first-timers, we wouldn’t want you to blow it.
THICK PUFFER: Listen, the chills are inevitable. Is it all in your head or are the winds really that strong? Either way, make sure to bundle up!
SKI POLE: Not everyone uses them, but it’s the easiest way to get the powdery white stuff up. Plus, it makes you look more experienced.
HEAD COVERING:
Ideally one with a mouth hole, because something about being on the snow just makes you chatty. Like, really chatty. Chat, chat, chatty...
GLOVES: The last thing you want is for snow to stick to your hands—or any part of your skin for that matter. You gotta bundle up, or you might go totally numb.
TIGHT JEANS: We know what you’re thinking—no snow pants? While they may not be as warm, leggings are essential to show off how snatched this habit has made you.
GOGGLES: It’s not uncommon to get “crazy eyes” while you’re skiing. This might make you more sensitive to light, so be sure to protect them! They sure make everything look trippy...
CLOSET CASE: TO BANG OR NOT TO BANG?
Words by Dana Kim
Photos by Nathaniel Harnedy
Bangs are the toxic ex of haircuts. Whether it be the endless complaints about them or the onagain, off-again relationship with growing them out, they’re either in or out of your life at any given moment. In a sea of uncovered foreheads and bangless cuts, three Syracuse University students sat down with Jerk to share how they gained the upper hand in this situ-bang-tionship.
TAYLOR STUBITSCH
JM: How long have you been banging?
TS: Since junior year of high school.
JM: Who is your bang inspiration?
TS: Taylor Russell in Bones and All.
JM: How do you ask for it at the salon?
TS: I don’t know. My hairstylist, she just kind of gets me. I just kind of tell her my vision, and then I just give her all the faith in my hands. And then, she just did it, and made the magic happen.
JM: Best bang styling tip?
TS: If you have shorter bangs, like a baby bang, you should get a mini flat iron off of Amazon, because it’s like the perfect curvature in order to straighten that.
PILAR RIVAS
JM: How long have you been banging?
PR: Since junior year of high school.
JM: Bang inspiration?
PR: My best friend’s mom.
JM: How do you ask for it at the salon?
PR: Layers that kind of blend in with face framing, and then curtain bangs on top of that. And then, if possible, cut the middle pieces shorter or slightly wispy.
JM: Best bang styling tip?
PR: If you have the time, and if you have one to use, a roller could roll them up and away from your face and just have them on the top of your forehead.
ELYANNA MORALES
JM: How long have you been banging?
EM: I actually just cut them like last week.
JM: Bang inspiration?
EM: French style photos on Pinterest.
JM: How do you ask for it at the salon?
EM: I would show a photo of the inspiration.
JM: Best bang styling tip?
EM: I have one of those boar bristle brushes that people use for slick backs, and it actually really helps make volume with your bangs.
HEY, WHAT A WAY TO SPEND A DAY (OR 17)
An inside look at the under-three-week long rehearsal period of Black Box Players’ tick, tick...BOOM!
Words by Camden Cyr and Juliet Seith
Photos by Alicia Hoppes and Celeste Jenkins-O'Reilly | Designed by Megan Radakovich
Tick…tick…tick…tick tick. Jonathan Larson is one week away from turning 30 and is still looking for his big break. He’s an aspiring composer, but everyone else he knows is already successful by his age. Jon grapples with creative burnout, financial strain and the fear of failure. All he hears is ticking; one BOOM and it could all end.
These same sentiments resonate for sophomore Reed Grayner, who plays Jonathan Larson in a production of tick, tick…BOOM! being presented by Black Box Players, a student-run theater company at Syracuse University.
“I find his fear of dealing with time and dealing with the feeling of not being good enough, or having to find success now very relatable,” Grayner said. “So it's like, ‘No, I'm not 30. No, I don't live in the city. No, I'm not a composer.’ But I can
Originally written as a one-man “rock monologue” performed in 1990, tick, tick BOOM! is a semiautobiographical rock musical that provides a glimpse of 1990s New York City before Larson would go on to immortalize it in the Broadway juggernaut Rent . It was adapted into a three-person musical after Larson’s death, premiering off-Broadway in 2001. With driving rhythms, heartfelt lyrics and a mix of humor and vulnerability, the show explores what it means to keep creating even when time and doubt are closing in.
Director Matthew Dodaro, an SU senior majoring in musical theater, has always found the story of an artist finding motivation in the fragility of life inspiring. When choosing the fall 2025 semester’s musical, he was inspired by the political themes of the show and the similarities he drew between the political and social turmoil of the
In the musical, Larson is torn between following his passion of writing for musical theater and securing a stable corporate job, as his best friend Michael chose to do. While his heart is in show business, pressure from his girlfriend Susan to build a life together combined with crippling writer’s block causes him fear of “selling out” and never making his own artistic mark on the world. follows Jon through the week before his 30th birthday and his preparation for the workshop of his new rock musical Superbia
Throughout the show, Larson experiences the impacts of the AIDS crisis firsthand. When Michael himself contracts the disease, Larson realizes that life is too short to give up his dream—despite not receiving a production offer for Superbia—and uses his personal experiences and anxieties as inspiration for his work.
During the casting process, Dodaro and assistant director Aliana Aspesi, an SU sophomore studying theater management, emphasized the importance of finding a cast who felt as passionate about the show as they did. For sophomore Robbie Mosley, who plays Michael, the show’s representation hit especially close to home.
“This show, or this role specifically, has meant a lot to me, because as a deeper voice, bigger guy, I don't usually get to play queer roles,” Mosley said. “I'm a very straight-passing queer person, and so it's been very cathartic to get to show that side of my identity on stage. And for once, they didn't write the gay best friend for tenor.”
Sophomore Emily Koubeck, who plays Susan, has felt especially inspired by her character’s journey–someone who feels stuck yet keeps moving forward and embracing change.
“I just love the story of people being determined to get what they want and willing to do what they need to to get that,” Koubeck said. “Which is something I really connect with, of course, as a theater artist.”
Initially, the cast was only supposed to have a week to prepare for the production. But issues with the rights to the show and performance location gave them extra time they were not expecting. According to Aspesi, these issues turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“These actors are so quick to taking notes and adjusting themselves. We go through one to three scenes per rehearsal and there’s 16 total. Once we block those scenes, we’ll do a whole run through from beginning to end to make sure they aren’t losing anything that they’ve learned,” Aspesi said.
The speediness of the process allowed the cast to dig into the core themes and most important scenes of the show, giving actors more time to develop their characters. In addition, the extended schedule has granted them opportunities to rehearse in front of an audience, which Dodaro attributes to increased confidence in the actors.
The greater number of rehearsals has also allowed the actors to focus on what they truly enjoy most about theater. For Grayner, that means learning the choreography.
“It was a really fun release of energy,” Grayner said. “The show really deals with some difficult themes and deep conversations, and I think having those moments of like, ‘I'm here, just kind of dancing with my friends,’ it's great.”
Grant LaMartina is the understudy for Jon and has found the extra time spent with other actors helpful as a freshman who has never performed with BBP before. He has especially appreciated the opportunity to observe Grayner’s process and the changes he’s made to make the character of Jon his own.
“In his monologue sections that he has throughout, like parts where it's written as a loud yell, Reed chooses to change that and instead build in other places,” LaMartina said. “I love observing.”
Grayner isn’t the only one whose bold choices have made the show unique compared to previous productions. While written to only feature three actors, Dodaro knew from the start that he wanted to incorporate an ensemble to play background roles and make the world feel fuller.
“I love that Matt made the decision to be like ‘let’s make this a little bigger,’” said Aspesi. “It’s so great seeing more than three people on stage and especially the ensemble members with two or three characters, they play each of them very differently.”
One of Dodaro’s major distinctions from the original show was to have both Koubeck and sophomore Mary Potter, who plays Karessa, perform “Come to Your Senses.”
The number is performed during the Superbia workshop scene, and highlights Larson’s talent as a composer. In the original show, Susan sings the song directly to him, expressing her desire for him to be more present in their relationship. It also soundtracks Jon coming to the difficult realization that he wants to prioritize his career over his relationship with Susan.
“ Emily and Mary had such great auditions with ‘Come To Your Senses’ as Susan, so I decided to split the track up,” Dodaro said. “Usually, Susan
and Karessa are [played by] the same person, but they both were so amazing at their auditions that we couldn't really decide.”
While Dodaro was passionate about making the show his own compared to past performances of tick, tick BOOM! , Aspesi wanted to take measures that made it different from past BBP performances.
“I'm the campus engagement director as well for Black Box Players,” said Aspesi. “So my big thing this year was making sure that nonperformance majors are being seen through our performances, because a lot of stigma with BBP was that it was only for performance majors, and that’s not the case. Anyone can audition.”
While five of the seven cast members are either acting or musical theater majors, LaMartina is a finance major and Caroline Nuzzo, Karessa’s understudy, is a first-year architecture major. Both have valued the experience of getting to pursue their passion for theater in college despite working toward degrees in other fields.
Grayner’s rehearsal performance of “Why” underscores the emotional rawness his role demands. The song is a turning point in the musical—it’s Jon’s realization that he is going to pursue his passion despite his failure to secure a deal for Superbia . He wants to honor Michael, who just told him moments before that he contracted AIDS and that his future is uncertain.
Grayner sits at his electric keyboard, singing with real tears streaming down his face, his voice carrying a slight breathiness that makes each lyric feel lived-in. He is, quite literally, singing through the pain.
The song carries even more weight, as Larson suddenly passed away the night before the opening of Rent—the show that posthumously became his big break. Throughout tick, tick BOOM! , the audience connects with this struggling artist who is scared to run out of time before he can see his impact. Real-world context makes this number even heavier.
Grayner is aware of this history and uses it to fuel his emotion throughout his performance.
“I think the biggest thing I've learned is staying present to each and every moment so that I can honor [his story] as well as I can,” Grayner said.
How being chronically online is impacting the next generation
Words by Caroline Erskine | Art by Audrie Malmstrom | Designed by Claire Arveson
They’re around three to 14 years old, wellversed in terms like “skibidi toilet” and “gyatt” and never more than a few feet away from a device and their headphones.
They’re “iPad kids”—a term of dubious origin to describe Gen Alpha children who gain access to screens at a young age, according to Parents.com. The phrase mainly carries a negative connotation, especially when used by Gen Z.
Stereotypes associated with “iPad kids” tend to include a lack of social skills, rudeness and a general distaste for in-person interactions. Matthew Mulvaney, the undergraduate director for Syracuse University’s human development and family science department, said these stereotypes are credible.
“What iPads do is remove people from social context,” Mulvaney said. “Humans need social context. I think it’s as fundamental as the air we breathe.”
SIGMA?
Mulvaney argues that it's not the iPads themselves that are harmful, but the essential experiences that they replace. Childhood is the period when we learn essential social scripts: how to recognize when someone is upset, how to navigate boundaries and what happens when you push too far. Through play, children figure out complex human interactions using negotiation and partnership. Kids glued to screens simply aren't getting that experience.
The consequences extend far beyond childhood tantrums in restaurants. Mulvaney, who has been teaching for 20 years, has watched the shift happen in real time. Twenty years ago, Mulvaney’s challenge was getting students to stop talking to each other during class. Now, he walks into a room of 100 students where no one is saying a word.
This isolation has coincided with what Mulvaney describes as “unprecedented” mental health challenges among young people. The iPad kids of 2015 are becoming the chronically online teenagers of 2025, and the patterns established in early childhood are proving difficult to break.
“Young people deal with a lot of hard things, and they've always dealt with a lot of hard things,” Mulvaney said. “But I think the extent to which young people are experiencing substantive mental health challenges is unique to this era of technology.”
But here's where it gets complicated: Mulvaney doesn't believe parents are the villains in this story. In fact, Mulvaney thinks society expects too much from them. He argues parenting should be a source of joy, not a source of stress, and if giving your kid an iPad for a little bit every day helps, it's something you should do.
Kate Quinn, a mother of three, including 9-yearold Edison, echoes this sentiment. She compares screen time to how previous generations sat in front of the television in the 1980s. She argues everything should be in moderation and screens are just the modern version of an age-old parenting tool.
Quinn’s older kids, 15 and 18, didn’t receive their own devices until they were around eight years old, but Edison was given his own iPad at just 3 years old. Now he even has his own phone, but it’s not connected to any services.
“When he gets off the bus, he immediately runs for his phone and he plays Roblox with his friends, or he FaceTimes his grandparents, or he really loves the YouTube shorts now, which are terrible, I honestly think, but whatever,” Quinn said.
However, after this, Edison is cut off from electronics until he finishes his homework and extracurricular activities. Quinn said she normally sets screen time limits, but they aren’t strict. Sometimes, if it’s keeping him happy, she has to bend a little.
“There's a lot of pearl clutching, but I think every generation has been worried about the younger generation,” Quinn said. “If you're just paying attention to what your kids are watching and it’s not all the time, it’ll be okay.”
The issue becomes finding moderation in a world designed to keep us scrolling and ensuring that screen time remains a tool rather than a replacement for the fundamental experiences children need.
Mulvaney predicts a return to play-based childhood, driven by future Gen Z parents. He compares the rise and eventual fall of screens in parenting to smoking cigarettes—while we know they are bad for us, it is only a matter of time before they fade out of our lives.
So, in a world that handed them an iPad before they learned to tie their shoes, the question isn't what's wrong with iPad kids—it's what we're going to do about it.
FORGING FRIENDSHIPS ONLINE IS A NEW TREND? THINK AGAIN
Meeting your roommate online might not be as new of a concept as it may seem
Words by Jamison Quinn
by Sarah McConnell | Designed by Caroline Connerton
When sophomore Ariam Meseret first DM’ed Eve Chace, her soon-to-be best friend, she felt the pre-college jitters over meeting her new roommate. They met through the Syracuse Class of 2028 Instagram account—a staple for incoming freshmen.
As the two prepared for their first-ever FaceTime, they felt a level of uncertainty about their meeting and how it would set the tone for the rest of the year. Both girls worried that being roommates wouldn’t work out.
“I was definitely nervous,” Meseret said. “I had my friends craft a text with me and everything.”
Chace said she had similar feelings of awkwardness and nervousness when she began messaging over Instagram for the first time. Her vivid sense of humor couldn’t translate across purple bubbles, and they couldn’t express their entire personalities online.
After a few minutes of nervous fidgeting between the two, they managed to break the ice through their shared interests in music and TV shows, as well as adjacent values and political beliefs. They also connected over a natural face-to-face conversation.
“Being able to talk to each other before meeting in person definitely helped the nerves, especially because we were living together,” Chace said. “It’s definitely a little awkward at first, but it threw us right into having a natural conversation.”
By the end of the call, Meseret and Chace felt a little bit better about sharing a room for the next year. Those good feelings continued into the school year, where the two developed their friendship further.
Chace and Meseret aren’t alone in cultivating friendship online—from college roommates to gamers, people have been creating connections through the internet for decades.
The total internet usage in the United States as of 2024 is 96% according to the Pew Research Center, and about 80% of teens have friends online as of 2018.
Art
Pew regards the mid-2010s as the era of peak internet saturation, which many SU students grew up during.
Junior Iris Araki also found her roommate Dora Gordon through the infamous incoming freshman class Instagram page, and from the first conversation they had, both girls knew that they clicked. The two connected over their identities as non-white students at a predominantly white institution. One of their first conversations included how much their identities matter to them, and they still talk about the importance of retaining that part of themselves today. Araki and Gordon both found the friendship building process over the internet comfortable and natural.
“We kind of grew up on the internet anyway,” Araki said.
Incoming SU students have been using social media for at least a decade to find their roommates.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was safer for everyone to interact with each other at a distance. Araki highlighted the internet as an especially good way for youth to find a sense of community even when the world shut down.
However, PhD student Ian GlazmanSchillinger, who studies human interactions online, said people have been using computers to build communities with each other for more than 50 years.
“Since the 1970s, when you really start to have the advent of communal and social based communication networks, there have always been people whose primary form of community formation and socialization has been through the computer screen,” Glazman-Schillinger said.
Since then, it has become more and more natural for people to make their friends online. SU students have been using computers as a way to find their future roommates, or even their future friends, for many years now.
“When it comes to finding a roommate, it’s almost so easy or so natural for people to find friends online,” Araki said.
SCROLLING IS THE NEW SMOKING
Researchers have uncovered the truth behind your cricked neck and fried corneas
Words by Maggie Hoffman Art and Design by Megan Radakovich
Whether you’ve found your back aching, your eyesight worsening or migraines increasing, one thing is certain—you should probably get off that damn phone.
And as it turns out, the solution isn’t those $50 blue light glasses your favorite TikTok influencer is sponsored by.
As smartphone technology has rapidly developed over the past decade, so have studies about what it does to your health—and the results aren’t promising. That tiny glowing screen you mindlessly tap for hours on end causes all kinds of health problems, according to a 2025 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC study reported teens with an average screen time above four hours a day are more likely to have inconsistent sleep schedules, concerns about their weight and infrequent physical activity compared
Your hand, neck and back pain could also come from using your screens too much, researchers at Harvard University found in 2018. As you doom scroll in bed for hours—your sore thumb as your only form of physical activity—next thing you know your joints stiffen up so much it feels like you’ve aged 40 years by the time you stand up. You crane your neck to watch hours of PR unboxing videos that, let’s be real, you’ll forget about the moment you swipe. All of this has the potential to warp your spine so far out of place that simple things like walking will be painful.
And let’s not forget about your desolate sleep schedule. A 2022 study by the National Institutes of Health found ties between bedtime technology usage and low sleep quality, resulting in more daytime exhaustion. Between telling yourself “just one more episode” at 3 a.m. and trying to find the perfect video to end your doomscrolling, it’s no secret that you’ve killed off so many dopamine receptors that the only option left is to pass out.
You’re not going to find the solution to these issues on TikTok or in a YouTube video essay. The hard truth is, if you want your body to feel like its age, you have to put your phone away, shut your computer and turn off the television.
Go outside, read a book, talk to somebody in person. You just might also interact with the real world and notice that you start to feel young once again.
WTF 101: LET'S GO
VIRAL
Syracuse University’s initiative plans to provide mentorship, workshops and classes for the next generation of influencers.
Words by Kelly Matlock | Art by Max Weinstein | Designed by Lexie Haupt
Male journalism students of Syracuse University, rejoice! Rather than make MySlice less migraine-inducing or invest in air conditioning for the Hall of Languages swamp biome, SU just announced a new initiative to provide resources for even more men to start podcasts.
This semester, SU launched the Center for the Creator Economy (CCE). It is a wide-ranging initiative including a planned physical space in Newhouse 3, workshops and mentorship events. From Cake Boss star Buddy Valastro to alumni with podcasts we haven’t heard of, professional creators will soon be available to guide SU’s TikTok stars of the future.
School of Visual and Performing Arts alum Thomas O’Brien graduated from SU in May and is now the Project Coordinator for the CCE. He sees it as a step into the future of education.
“There's a narrative that's been becoming increasingly more popular that college is a scam, it's a waste of time, it's not worth it,” O’Brien said. “College needs a little bit of an update.”
A clickbait Instagram post from ArtNEWS announced the CCE launch with the headline “Syracuse University Pauses Some Fine Arts and Digital Humanities Majors, Opens Academic Center for Podcasters and Influencers.” Comments include “I’m getting a doctorate in ASMR with a minor in Unboxing,” and “Sounds like a headline from The Onion.”
When asked about those (objectively hilarious) comments, Whitman School of Management Dean Alex McKelvie said the CCE has received positive feedback and excitement from alumni, current students and prospective students.
“I don't think the university should stop creating new innovations that are really in touch with demand and future demand, so I think they're two
separate conversations,” McKelvie said. “Our focus is obviously on doing the best thing for the university.”
Junior Spencer Howard was filming a TikTok outside Sadler Hall in August when he was approached by Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie, who asked to meet with him and fellow student John Spina for content creator insight on the CCE.
Howard and Spina both run popular TikTok accounts, with 22,500 and 774,800 followers, respectively. Howard described his content as “shitposting” and said he posts as if he is sharing content on his private story.
Howard likened the creator economy to the acting industry. Early Hollywood actors relied on “star power” and luck to be successful, but now we have BFA programs—hello Syracuse Stage—and thousands of programs to train people to succeed onstage.
On Nov. 12, the CCE officially launched with an event in Whitman featuring former marketing lead for Instagram and YouTube, Jon Youshaei. Future events hope to create a “community of people who have a presence online,” O’Brien said.
“Whether you're the content creator or you're more on the back end, the business end of things, we want the center to be a place for students and alums to feel empowered,” O’Brien said. “To create, and to collaborate, and to spread positive ideas and messaging together.”
IS YOUR KID TEXTING ABOUT JERK MAGAZINE?
Worried your child might be talking about SU’s premier alternative magazine with their friends? Here's how to decode their secret messages.
Words
MILJ - Man I Love Jerk Magazine
SYBAU - Stinky, You Bastard Ass Unc
FART - Friends And Raunchy Twinks
SOS - Smut Or Sleep
BRB - Butches Read Books
LMAO - Last Magazine (was) Awesome and Outstanding
LMK - Let’s Murder and Kill!
by Hannah Peters
Art by Sara McConnell
Designed by Lexie Haupt and Megan Radakovich
STFU - Story That Fucks, Uberly
TBH - Totally Broke, Help
WTF - Watch This, Freak!
DM - Daddy Magazine
IMO - Independent Media, Obviously
ILY - Insert Long Yodel
NVM - Not Very Modest
YSF - Your Student Fee
AMA - Anxiety Meds, Anyone?
DTF - Down To Frack
RN - Really Nihilistic
JK - Jerk Kindly
GTG - Gooning Together Gleefully
DGAF - Discover, Gawk, Amplified, Framed
YOLO - Your Only Love, Otto
TTYL - Today's Topic: Your Lobotomy
BTW - Boys That Weep
FEVER DREAM: THE BAND THAT WOKE BACK UP
The college band's resurgence onto the local music scene
Words by Colette Leto | Art by Sara McConnell | Designed by Julia Yezukevich
Syracuse’s University Neighborhood has long hosted a vibrant music scene, characterized by its neon lights and sold out basement shows. That is, until all properties owned by rental agency Rent from Ben were forbidden from hosting live shows, a blow that has been felt by Syracuse University bands.
Now, bands like Fever Dream are itching to make their way back onto the scene. Fever Dream is a local band that consists of four SU juniors— Emerson Carracedo, Aidan Norton and brothers Nate and Zach Kyle. They are known for their fast, upbeat tunes that often turn fan favorite pop songs into rock tracks.
In the first half of the fall semester, Fever Dream staged an incredible comeback. They’ve performed at places like Funk ‘n Waffles, The Stoplight and The Shipyard, as well as a recent opening for Phoneboy, an indie rock artist currently on the road with The Happy Fits for their Lovesick Tour, at The Song and Dance.
We here at Jerk wondered if the Syracuse music scene became more competitive with the onslaught of previously popular venues shutting down, but Fever Dream assured us that wasn’t the case.
“I’d say everyone’s really supportive of each other. There's a lot of bands, a lot of musicians, but no one's
trying to topple over one another,” said Zach Kyle.
While some bands book shows through a band manager, Fever Dream plans gigs as a team. The group found that reaching out to random venues or other bands in the area has led to a number of bookings.
“We got our first show just by cold calling and ‘shot in the dark’ DMing random places,” Nate Kyle explained.
The band is quick to note that not all venues are created equal. Contrary to popular belief, bigger places that require tickets aren’t particularly lucrative for performing bands, because most of the profits then go to the venue. Venues like restaurants and dive bars are where the band makes the majority of their money.
“We try to keep it pretty democratic,” Zach Kyle said of their process for choosing which music to perform.
Their typical inspiration leans toward contemporary pop—Green Day, Chappell Roan, and some classic rock, with a particular fondness for Blondie.
After the release of their debut single "Back to Boston" this past August, Fever Dream’s been booked, but it looks like there's a break on the horizon. Finishing up a large cluster of shows late in the fall semester means that their minds are at work, looking to produce new music.
“Writing new music is going to get us to the next level,” Nate Kyle said.
AS IF!
The stepsiblings-to-lovers trope in ‘90s movies
Words by Daisy Polowetzky | Art by Meredith Rogers | Designed by Claire Arveson
What do the movies Clueless and Cruel Intentions have in common? Hint: it’s not just iconic ‘90s fashion or killer soundtracks. What both movies share is a gross, and frankly creepy, plot device known as the stepsiblings-to-lovers trope. While technically no incest is committed, featuring a love story between two characters that are known to have been raised as family should make audience members uneasy. Nothing says romance like having the same parents, right?
Clueless’s Cher Horowitz may have spent half the movie focused on the fact that she’s a virgin who can’t drive, but she really should have been more focused on the fact that she was in love with her stepbrother, Josh. Let’s dissect why this relationship was wrong on so many levels. First of all, Cher is a high schooler and no older than 16 by the end of the movie, meanwhile Josh is in college, so one can assume he is at least 18 years old—ew!
The producers of Cruel Intentions sure had some cruel intentions with the lead characters, Kathryn Merteuil and Sebastian Valmont. The film is based on the 1782 French novel, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, so all the blame can’t be put onto the movie’s writers. However, they didn’t have to take the stepsiblings-to-lovers trope as far as they did. In one of the movie’s first scenes, stepsiblings Kathryn and Sebastian are seen cuddling on a couch together, engaging in some, let’s just say, heavy petting. Audiences are to believe that Kathryn and Sebastian have some hot, sexual tension going on, as if that’s something to root for. This theme continues, with Kathryn becoming overly jealous when her stepbrother begins to get romantically involved with schoolmate Annette Hargrove. Because if Kathryn can’t have her stepbrother, then no one can. How sweet!
If you thought this strange movie trend was left in the ‘90s with jelly sandals, you would be wrong. Somehow, it has seeped into the 2020s— simillar to how Y2K style has come back from the dead. Someone in Hollywood decided that Cruel Intentions needed a TV reboot, and the TikTokviral movie, My Fault London, is centered around a stepsibling romance, just with British accents.
It’s great to have movies that showcase strong stepsibling dynamics, as long as filmmakers keep the emphasis on the sibling part of the word.
