Vol. CXXXIII No. 17

VOL. CXXXIII NO. 17

FRIDAY, MARch 25, 2022

CLAREMONT, CA

COVID cases increase after spring break SIENA SWIFT As 5C students rolled back to campus following spring break, an uptick in COVID-19 cases returned with them. In a Tuesday message to the community, Pomona College Dean of Students Avis Hinkson reported 33 COVID-19 student cases — just one day after students returned to campus. As of Thursday night, the college had only reported data for the week of March 13-19. There were zero faculty or student cases over spring break out of 890 tests, according to its COVID-19 dashboard. “Even in the face of pandemic fatigue, we urgently need to work together to promote public health in the final stretch of our academic year,” Hinkson said. At Harvey Mudd College, President Maria Klawe told students in a Wednesday email that the college will take additional safety precautions, citing the increase in cases across the consortium. “While the number of positive cases at Harvey Mudd has not been unusually high, we are seeing higher numbers of students testing positive at other campuses,” Klawe said. Klawe said the college expected to see cases rise as faculty, students and staff returned from spring break travels, but that the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is not treating the case surge as an outbreak. Student Health Services reported mild symptoms among infected students, Klawe said. Klawe added that students are required to test twice this week as a result of the uptick and encouraged the community to be proactive about social distancing, mask wearing and monitoring symptoms this week. Harvey Mudd’s dashboard showed a single student testing positive out of 350 recorded tests as of Thursday night. The college also reported one positive student case from the 145 tests conducted during

See COVID on page 2

cOURTESY: SIDNEY SMITh

cMc seniors will no longer participate in a joint ‘50 Days’ trip with Pomona seniors to Las Vegas this weekend as a consequence of inappropriate and illegal behavior at the college’s ‘100 Days’ celebration in Los Angeles on Feb. 24.

‘100 Days’ and 99 problems Consequences reverberate from fighting, property damage and illegal substances at CMC seniors’ 100 Days party JORLEN GARCIA & UMER LAKHANI Claremont McKenna College’s planned senior class trip to Las Vegas was canceled after its ‘100 Days’ trip to a Los Angeles nightclub was marred by drug use, excessive drinking, property damages and inappropriate behavior, CMC Senior Class President Sobechukwu Uwajeh CM ’22 said in a March 2 email. For many students, 100 Days was a fun night with friends to celebrate their approaching graduation. But that wasn’t true for everyone. Several students were kicked out of the club by

bouncers for fighting and excessive intoxication, according to Uwajeh. The senior class has a tradition of celebrating 200 days, 100 days and 50 days before graduation, usually in the form of clubbing or partying with ASCMC sponsorship of the event. But now, CMC seniors will no longer be able to join their Pomona College counterparts at the previously-planned joint 50 days weekend trip to Las Vegas this weekend. A CMC senior who spoke on condition of anonymity due to proximity to the events reported witnessing multiple students going into stalls together to use cocaine and that some students even did so

Spring break meal plan pause eats into students’ pockets

hUXLEYANN hUEFNER • ThE STUDENT LIFE

LUCIA STEIN

SIENA SWIFT

Scripps College students who remained on campus over spring break earlier this month had to make some budget adjustments after the college announced that meal swipes would not be accepted at Malott Commons during the off-week. Scripps Interim Assistant Dean and Director of Campus Life Carmen Brown said in a Feb. 23 email to students that Flex dollars, Claremont Cash or a credit card would be required to purchase meals. That email was the first that Soleil Laurin SC ’24 had heard of the change. Laurin stayed on campus for spring break, as they did for fall and Thanksgiving breaks as well, and noted the difference in policy.

A m aj or it y of Ho n nold Mudd Library staff have voted in favor of unionization, according to a March 23 statement from the California Federation of Teachers, which is representing the 7C library workers. T he Claremont Col leges Services said in a March 24 FAQ that of 34 workers eligible to vote, 17 voted yes, 4 voted no and 13 did not vote. The ballots were distributed March 7 and due March 21, after 70 percent of eligible employees expressed interest in forming a union, according to the union’s website. “TCCS responded as most institutions do when their staff decide to unionize: they chose not to voluntarily recognize the union when we submitted

See DINING on page 3

club was rented out by the college for the senior class, accompanied by some underclassmen volunteer chaperones. The senior class has a budget of $20,000 for the year. Alcohol was allowed at the event since the majority of the class is 21 or older. There was also transportation to and from the club through school-sponsored buses. Dean of Students Dianna Graves CM ’98 told TSL that the first priority of the college is the safety of students, and as such, her first reaction was relief that nobody suffered serious health and safety consequences. Still, she said in an email, “I was

See 100 DAYS on page 3

Honnold Mudd Library staff to unionize after successful election

Scrippsies, no swiping!

Students dine on Elm Tree Lawn at Scripps college.

openly on the restroom sink. The senior also told TSL that some of the underclassmen chaperones for the event were drunk, in violation of their instructions for the night and illegally, as many were underage. Uwajeh confirmed the observation, adding that some seniors gave wristbands to non-seniors and even non-CMC students. Additionally, there was an alcohol-related medical transport, urine scattered over the bus bathroom and vomit on the bus floor, seats and vent system. The property damages of the night were about $2,000, according to Uwajeh. CMC’s 100 Days was held at Elevate Lounge in LA on Feb. 24. The

authorization cards to the National Labor Relation Board and had us vote for unionization, also run by the National Labor Relation Board,” librarian Kirsten Hansen told TSL via email. Hansen said 30 workers told organizers they submitted their ballots during the get out the vote campaign. “Given the current state of the United States Postal System, we assume that some ballots arrived too late to be counted,” she said. Within the next few weeks, the union and TCCS staff will begin negotiations regarding wages, benefits, working conditions and other policies. Until the contract is ratified, 7C library staff will continue to operate under current arrangements, the TCCS FAQ said. Hansen said that the organizers did not choose to unionize

See UNION on page 2

SAMSON ZhANG • ThE STUDENT LIFE

ARTS & CULTURE How many dining hall staff members do you know by name? Meet Dora Garcia, who has worked at 5C dining halls for 34 years alongside several members of her family. Read more on page 6.

The student newspaper of the Claremont Colleges since 1889

OPINIONS

SPORTS

The growing societal acceptance of LGBTQ+ people does not take away the value of authentic, non-corporate spaces created by and for queer people, writes Nikki Smith SC ‘25. Read more on page 7.

After president Kirill Myagkov PO ’22 revamped the 5C Ski & Snowboard Club, a focus on accessibility and community outreach led the new competition team to a stellar performance at nationals last week. Read more on page 10.

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

News

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KGI opens new building, moving forward occupational therapy and physician’s assistant programs MAXINE DAVEY On March 9, Keck Graduate Institute celebrated the official opening of Building 555, which will facilitate KGI’s new degree offerings: a Masters of Science in Physician Assistant Studies and a doctorate in occupational therapy. The first cohort for the program will be welcomed in the fall. The new facility, at 555 Arrow Highway, contains four new labs and classrooms which will give students access to simulated patient exams and virtual 3D anatomy models, among other resources, according to KGI. The school is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its founding this year. Although the building is currently open, KGI spokesperson Lauren Porta said she doesn’t expect classes to begin inside until the new programs take off in the fall. “I imagine the rooms will continue to be used for events/meetings/ summer programs until then,” she told TSL in an email. The OTD is a three-year program that will involve “active-learning, hands-on lab and fieldwork experiences and team collaboration” in order to foster “compassionate, ethical practitioners who act with authenticity and integrity in every step of the occupational therapy process,” the department’s website said. The new doctoral program has applied for accreditation by American Occupational Therapy Association but has not yet been approved by the AOTA or the Western Association of Schools & Colleges, according to KGI. Christy Billock, who was hired in 2019 as the director of the OTD program, was recently selected for the California Foundation of Occupational Therapy Honored Lectureship, according to a March 7 KGI press release. The new masters is a 27-month program intended to prepare students through hands-on volunteering to provide compassionate care to patients of diverse race, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, age and socioeconomic status, according to the department’s website. “These experiences will also allow our graduates to recognize health disparities and work towards

MARch 25, 2022

UNION: ‘A greater voice in the conditions of our workplace’ continued from page 1

cOURTESY: KEcK GRADUATE INSTITUTE

KGI’s new building at 555 Arrow highway will facilitate its new degree offerings, inclduing a Masters of Science in Physician Assistant Studies and a doctorate in occupational therapy.

achieving health equity,” the website said. Sonia Otte, a practicing physician’s assistant and professor, was hired in 2020 to direct the MSPA program. The building will also host the college’s admissions and financial aid staff. KGI hopes that the launching of Building 555 will begin a new era of opportunities for students and the healthcare workers of the future. “This is not just about our new building; this is about the growth and success of KGI and the communities we will impact with the start of our new physician assistant and occupational therapy

programs,” Porta said. These programs are emerging amid KGI’s efforts to train culturally competent health care workers for the local community — especially via its new medical school, which currently offers a Master of Science in Community Medicine. KGI’s School of Medicine is searching for a new dean after Dean David Lawrence announced he was stepping down from his role on March 10, citing the need to spend more time with his family. Lawrence assumed the role in March 2020 when his predecessor resigned after only six months on the job.

scripps’ student-run and beloved Motley Coffeehouse to reopen April 1

in opposition to any specific people in management. “The reason we chose to unionize is because we value working at TCCS and want to make it an even better place to be,” she said. “Many of the changes that we want to see are institutional changes that can’t easily be made by any one person, but can be made by groups of people working together to change the institution.” Organizers will begin surveying staff to make sure that all 34 workers represented by the union have a voice in identifying major goals for the negotiations, Hansen said. “We expect that our staff survey and contract negotiations will include arguments for fair pay, transparent hiring/ firing/promotion practices and a greater voice in the conditions of our workplace,” she said. Hansen added that TCCS is “very generous” in their retirement contributions, tuition contributions and health insurance, and “it would be great to see those benefits continue” in the contract. The Claremont chapter of the American Association of University Professors, an organization that advocates for faculty interests in academic freedom and shared governance, shared its support of the results. “A huge win for labor justice & academic excellence here at t he Claremont Colleges. Unionized libraries are the best libraries!” the group said in a March 23 tweet. “I regard the unionization of library workers to be one of the most positive changes for the Colleges during [my] entire time [at the 5Cs],” Daniel Segal, a professor of history and anthropology at Pitzer College and member of the Claremont AAUP executive committee, said in an email. Segal said librarians have had to face stagnant wages a nd ot her c hallenges f rom management. “This makes their unionization especially urgent,” he said. “I urge management to accept a contract that provides them just salaries and compensation, as well as improved working conditions. Management has no trouble finding the financial resources for their high salaries and compensation, which loom over all other workers in the consortium, including faculty.” Segal added that librarians must sometimes make controversial decisions and deserve protection to do so without fear of reprisal. “Unionization is an important means to that end, which is crucial for educational excellence in the consortium,” he said. “This is an inspiring moment, a time to celebrate, as a foundation for moving forward to a better library and

consortium for us all.” Hansen said the push to unionize began in late 2021 in response to a “desire for greater transparency in library governance on the part of some library staff.” “We — the library staff who d id u n ion orga n i z i ng — e njoy working at The Claremont Colleges Library and want our careers here to be feasible in the future,” she said. Hansen said most staff had not been represented by a union before and asked the organizers quest ion s about t he process. Other staff members had questions and concerns about possible retaliation for participating in unionization. “Retaliation against employees for organizing a union is illegal but it does happen and we were honest about that,” Hansen said. “Luckily, we had the support of union organizers from the California Federation of Teachers and TCCS recognized our right to unionize without undue interference.” Hansen said that while none of the library workers pushing for a union had prior labor organizing experience, “unsurprisingly, librarians are very organized and good at documentation, two things that turned out to be very useful when unionizing.” Jeff Freitas, the president of CFT, said t hat t he federat ion looks forward to working with the consortium to “quickly negotiate a contract that recognizes the critical contributions these workers make every day to the students a nd fac ult y of t he Claremont Colleges.” 7C librarians took to Twitter this week to celebrate their victory. “Today my excellent colleagues at The Claremont Colleges Library @TCCSLSF voted Yes to form a union! I have the best coworkers anyone could ask for!” librarian Jennifer Beamer tweeted on March 21. Librarian Jeanine Finn concurred, adding on Twitter that some staff had been looking into unionization for over a year. “We came together collectively to have a greater voice and agency in our workplace,” Finn said in the CFT statement. “We are so excited to be launching a new chapter in which we can fully contribute to an environment for education where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.” When asked whether students or fac ult y should expec t a ny changes at t he librar y due to the unionization process, TCCS spokesperson Laura Muna-Landa said via email that “in its commitment to serve the Claremont Colleges community, our Library staff will continue to adhere to its excellent standards of service.” TCCS’s statement to TSL directed community members to its webpage for more information and did not address specific questions regarding unionization. “We truly believe that having unionized staff will make the Library better for everyone: staff, management, students and faculty,” Hansen said.

FLORENcE PUN • ThE STUDENT LIFE

The Motley coffeehouse will reopen April 1 after a two-year hiatus.

AMARA MIR Freshly brewed coffee, cozy events and barista-favorite playlists will return April 1 as the Motley Coffeehouse opens its doors after a two-year hiatus. The student-run space and café at Scripps College’s Seal Court closed in 2020 due to COVID-19 and has not reopened since. The coffeehouse sells ethically produced and sustainably sourced goods like coffee, pastries and other snacks. The space also doubles as an event space for organizations that fit the feminist and socially responsible mission of the Motley. “The Motley was the center of our bustling campus, literally and figuratively,” former Events Manager Medha Gelli SC ’23 told TSL via email. “[It] really did help build our Scripps and 5C community … by fostering community through everyday interaction and a warm environment.” Since the 5Cs have resumed in-person learning, Scripps students have been working tirelessly to try and revive the Motley, especially for graduating students who were last able to experience the Motley in their sophomore year. The effort was led successfully by personnel manager Uma Nagarajan-Swenson SC ’22, barista lead Diya Pereira SC ’22 and co-head managers Camila Mejia SC ’22 and Maddie Moore SC ’22. The Motley’s opening night next Friday will carry on years of Motley tradition, featuring a

themed night with managers concocting drinks behind the bar. “Our opening nights are always a blast — we serve special themed drinks, dress up and play music. This upcoming opening night will be extra special, because we are opening after more than two years of hibernation,” social media coordinator Sophie Navratil SC ’22 said via email. Navratil said that anyone is welcome at the Motley — students can pay using Flex, Claremont Cash or credit card. “For the most part, [the] Motley is going to look pretty similar to what it was before … the biggest [difference] is we’re not serving a lot of the products … because of the logistics of opening after COVID-19,” product manager Kathryn Sensenig SC ’22 told TSL. Sensenig added that the essentials at the Motley will still be offered, including most coffee drinks, an extensive range of tea, Guayakí Yerba Mate and small snacks such as mac and cheese packets and yogurt. “In a way, this is a soft opening of the Motley because we’re open for such a short time and … offering [fewer] products,” she said. “The Motley is really important to us and we realize how important a space it is, for both the Scripps community and [the] 5C community, and the goal of this opening is to get [the Motley] revitalized … and make

the process easier for the next semester.” Navratil agreed. “[It] is important to me to ensure that the Motley be a safe and special place for a new generation of 5C students,” she said. Sensenig also highlighted that the Motley is making further changes to adhere to its mission statements. These changes include discontinuing purchases from Amazon amid reports of malicious worker treatment and lack of sustainability. Instead, the Motley will purchase solely from local or ethical vendors who have a record of treating workers fairly. “I’m so happy that the first and second years will get to experience this part of Scripps’ student life — a little more busy and exciting than the rest of campus — and that seniors will be able to get their last drinks from our iconic coffeehouse,” Gelli said. “Honestly, we’re all so thrilled for the Motley’s reopening that whatever they pull off will bring [the student body] joy.” The Motley also intends on continuing its sponsorship program this upcoming fall semester, according to Sensenig. The scholarship funds student projects that align with the Motley’s goals. In 2019, Scripps also announced a remodeling of the space, which was halted amid the pandemic.

hUXLEYANN hUEFNER • ThE STUDENT LIFE

Of 34 library workers eligible to vote on unionization, 17 voted yes, 4 voted no and 13 refrained from voting or did not have ballots counted.

COVID: Pomona sees 33 cases one day after classes resume continued from page 1 the week of spring break. Pitzer College’s dashboard reported three positive cases among students and one among faculty and staff out of 360 tests conducted on March 21. But the school had discovered 13 cases as of Thursday morning, senior student representative on Pitzer’s Faculty Executive Committee James Karsten PZ ’22 said. Seven cases were on-campus

students, three were off-campus students and three were students at home, he added. Claremont McKenna College had four cases reported on its dashboard, three faculty/staff members and one student out of 327 tests conducted during the week of March 14-20. Scripps College reported three student cases for the week ending March 18. Editor’s note: Karsten is a TSL production editor.

News

MARch 25, 2022

100 DAYS: Debacle cancels Vegas trip continued from page 1 disappointed to hear about the range of irresponsible behaviors and was frustrated that those behaviors reflected so poorly on CMC and may have jeopardized our relationships with key vendors.” Compared to 100 Days, the 200 Days event held Oct. 21 at Fox Theatre in Pomona went off without a hitch, Uwajeh told TSL. She said the ambience at 200 Days was different due to the setting of Pomona compared to downtown LA. She added that it was one of the first big parties in person after being online for over a year. “I actually was able to enjoy myself that night. But with 100 Days, I just felt a little defeated,” she said. “I think there’s just ultimately less gratitude for [100 Days]. When we were having parties coming right back out of COVID-19, we’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m just so happy to even have this.’ But I think now with the changing situation, it just feels like we don’t have that.” Despite much careful planning between the senior class cabinet and the dean of students office, Uwajeh said that there is no way they could have predicted the behavior and incidents of the night. She said that there could have been more communication with the bouncers and perhaps stricter rules regarding drinking before the event, but that even if the latter action was taken, it was nearly impossible to control. The anonymous senior said that there could have been more precautions taken. “We went to LA, a place where people party even more, but you removed all the safeguards, and no one was informed. I think people might even have expected Advocates to be there,” they said. The CMC Advocates for Survivors of Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence often has volunteers present at ASCMC sponsored parties on-campus. “Three to five sober Advocates with identifying t-shirts will act as volunteer lifeguards to monitor the party and provide support (and water!) for people who need it,” an Instagram post from @CMC_Advocates said. Advocates are not at parties to “punish or be a disciplinary force” and must “prioritize what is safely within [their] capabilities,” according to the Instagram post. “Please treat us with respect — lifeguards are volunteering their time to be a resource for those attending the party,” the post’s caption said. The Advocates declined to comment. Courtney Reed CM ’22 also expressed concern about the drunken state of some underclassmen chaperones and a lack of awareness about them. “Usually Advocates have the special [teal] colored shirts, [but the chaperones] were dressed like normal. There was no way to point them out if you needed help or anything,” she said. “We weren’t told there were going to be chaperones at all. If I needed help, I wasn’t going to be looking for a chaperone because I didn’t even know they were there. So I thought that was really odd.” Uwajeh told TSL via message that “seniors generally had an idea [that] underclassman volunteers would be around. That happened for 200 days and [their presence] has been a thing at CMC Senior parties for a while.” But the anonymous senior said the information could have been clearer. “I think there should have been a little more communication telling people that we’re going to a club in LA and you could get kicked out,” the senior said. “I don’t think

anyone thought they could get kicked out.” As a result of the cost of damages and inappropriate behavior, the senior class cabinet decided to opt for a day trip to Huntington Beach on March 25 rather than join Pomona seniors in Las Vegas. Alcohol will not be provided, especially because the beach does not allow for possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages, Uwajeh said. “[From] LA to Vegas, that’s another step, another notch, and we couldn’t ensure or even feel confident in the fact that it would be a really safe situation for our class,” Uwajeh said. She also said that due to the damages incurred, the price for tickets to Vegas would have increased, and ASCMC did not want to make the trip inaccessible for any students. However, some CMC students said they were frustrated with the move. “I don’t think it’s the right decision,” Dhruv Narula CM ’22 said. “Because I think it’s the entire class being punished for the actions of just a few people. I don’t think [their behavior was] different from behavior that would occur at any other nightclub that wasn’t booked by the college.” Reed concurred: “I’m so upset about it.” She added that those partaking in illegal substances are most likely the ones that can afford to go to Vegas on their own while those who can’t afford it without CMC sponsorship lost the opportunity to visit Vegas. “You have this small subset of people that would be doing the same things, regardless of where they are and you’re blanketing the entire class and no one gets to go. But if they wanted to go, they would,” Reed said. “And I’m almost certain there’s going to be a group of people that make their way to Vegas before graduation and have a blast. Meanwhile, the rest of us are sitting on a beach in 90 degree weather and have to pay for the bus to get there.” Graves expressed support for the pivot to the 50 Days beach event as a replacement for the Vegas trip. “While there are a few who are upset, I think the vast majority of our students understand that lines were crossed, and they believe the consequences are reasonable,” Graves said. Uwajeh said that the decision to not discipline any individual students was partly because CMC is a close-knit college. “As a class, we need to accept responsibility rather than just pushing the individual actors out the bus and be like, ‘Yeah, just you can’t go to Vegas, or just you can’t do this.’ I don’t see any point in doing that. [The responsibility] is really a group thing, a class thing.” Uwajeh also said that part of her campaign platform from last year was to build a more inclusive class environment and create new traditions, so the pivot from Vegas to the beach was an opportunity to do just that. “CMC, as great as it is, has room for improvement. I think that all of our senior class events shouldn’t be centered around night time drinking and partying. I feel like there should be more than that,” she said. “I think that I was giving us an opportunity to do something different. And I think the beach day event that we’re having to celebrate 50 Days is going to be a really good one.”

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DINING: Students voice financial impacts continued from page 1 “I don’t remember them charging us then,” they said. “So I feel like it’s a little weird to be charging us now.” A March 7 statement from Scripps Associated Students noted that its board had received messages of frustration and anxiety from students about the school charging for meals over break despite students already paying for meal plans. “We were told that students who are concerned or in need of support can contact their [personal contact deans] for funding options for food over spring break,” the statement said, adding that SAS would continue to try to find a solution. SAS President Maya Lynch SC ’22 said a number of students had been in touch with her about Scripps charging for meals over break and that students were generally unhappy about the policy. “I’ve heard a lot of students concerned about the financial burden that having to pay for meals while on campus over break will cause,” she said. Lynch said she had multiple conversations with Scripps administrators in attempts to address these concerns and achieved some success — administrators agreed that students could obtain funding from their deans if buying meals posed a financial concern. But overall, she said, “the conversations on [the] admin’s end have been pretty clear that this … was not something they were open to changing this semester.” Interim Vice President for Student Affairs Adriana di Bartolo-Beckman said the meal plan blackout isn’t new for Scripps. “Spring break has always been considered a period of non-enrollment, and meal plans have never been used during that time, only Flex or Claremont Cash,” she told TSL in an email. “Historically, our dining hall was closed and Pomona or CMC kept their dining halls open for all students across The Claremont Colleges.” It seemed the decision made by the administration was not whether or not to charge students for food, but whether to open the dining hall, Lynch said, with the cost of meals coming as a result of the decision to do so.

With three class years of students having never been on campus during a spring break, though, charging for meals for students on the meal plan came as a surprise to many. Di Bartolo-Beckman said she recognized that many students may not have been aware of how the dining halls worked during break, so the administration informed students and SAS about the policy early. Students said that the Feb. 23 email was the first communication they received regarding spring break meals. “It definitely wasn’t something that I was expecting Scripps to do,” said Jaela Alvarez SC ’23. “I know that I, along with my roommates, did have a lot of issues with it because we were here for the majority of break.” Laurin felt similarly. “The reason I stayed on campus during spring break was to save money,” they said. “And [for Scripps] to charge extra just felt very inconsiderate.” Laurin argued the administration should have made the information clear at the beginning of the spring semester. They said they might have gotten a different meal plan or spent their flex dollars differently had they known then that Scripps would charge for meals over break. Alvarez also said she would have saved up her Flex money if she’d known she would need it for spring break. Staying on campus for much of break meant she and her roommates had to navigate trying to obtain extra funds from their personal contact deans for their meals, a process which she said was confusing and in fluctuation until the last minute. “The very last thing that they changed it to was they just gave us $100 of Flex, but even then you had to reach out to them and then explain why you needed it,” she said. Although di Bartolo-Beckman told TSL that all students who requested funding received it, Alvarez said that the request process could be complicated depending on students’ individual personal contact deans. In addition to the unexpected nature of meals costing dollars rather than swipes, Laurin found the school’s lack of communication about meal prices frustrating. “I have personally been avoid-

ing the dining hall, because I have no idea what they’re charging,” they said in an interview over spring break. Despite three emails to the student body about the inability to use meal swipes over the break, Scripps did not include the price of meals within any of the messages. Since they couldn’t find information on pricing, Laurin said they hadn’t gone to the dining hall once as of March 17, nor had their friends who also stayed on campus. Lynch said that charging students out-of-pocket for meals over break presents an equity issue, and should be changed, for which she advocated in her conversations with the administration. “It’s a huge financial burden. And it’s not okay,” she said. “I want to make sure that all of our students can have access to food over breaks and that’s really important.” But she noted that the issue of how food gets paid for over break isn’t a simple one to solve. “I don’t know that I think the outcome of this should just be to push to include spring break meal plans in the overall meal plan, because that just increases the financial burden on all our students, and our low income students who might not actually even be on campus over break,” Lynch said. Lynch has been looking for a solution to this issue by communicating with the other 5Cs to learn what their strategies for charging for meals during spring break look like. She admitted that while she does not have an immediate solution, she is open to ideas, adding that the general Scripps community can make a difference in what this policy looks like in the future. Harvey Mudd College took a different approach regarding spring break meals this year. According to a March 7 email to students from Dean of Students Marco Antonio Valenzuela, those on campus over break could use their meal plans at Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons, albeit with a limited menu. He emphasized that this policy would only be in effect this year. “Usually, student meal plans do not include meals during Spring Break as the Hoch is typically closed during this time. However, due to this year’s circumstances with COVID-19, your current meal plan will work during Spring Break at the Hoch only,” Valenzuela said.

hUXLEYANN hUEFNER • ThE STUDENT LIFE

“It’s a huge financial burden,” SAS President Maya Lynch SC ’22 said of charging students for meals on spring break.

Pomona, Harvey Mudd admit 2026 classes with record diversity levels SAMSON ZHANG & JENNA MCMURTRY Both Pomona College and Harvey Mudd College broke diversity records as they offered admission to students in the class of 2026 earlier this month. With 61.4 percent domestic students of color accepted at Pomona and 70 percent at Harvey Mudd, the pools of admitted first years are on track to form the most diverse class profiles in both colleges’ history. The increase in diversity follows a decrease in the number of Black and first-generation students represented in Pomona’s class of 2025, which Dean of Admissions Seth Allen said was partially due to restrictions on recruitment activities due to the pandemic. As Pomona’s admitted class of 2026 saw a slight increase in diversity across racial demographics, the most substantial increase was among admitted Black students, from 11.8 percent to 15.5 percent. International students and white students were the only demographic groups to see a decrease, with international students decreasing from 15.8 percent to 14.4 percent and white students from

26.3 percent to 20.8 percent. The 736 students offered admission to Pomona are among the “most diverse in the College’s history,” a March 17 announcement stated. First-generation students make up 23 percent of Pomona’s admitted class of 2026, a substantial increase from the 18.5 percent admitted and 13 percent ultimately enrolled in the class of 2025. 55 percent chose to submit test scores as opposed to 57 percent the year before, the result of a testing requirement that was suspended for the pandemic and which the college has continued to make optional until at least 2024. 20 students were offered admission through the Questbridge Scholars program, with another 20 through the Posse Foundation. Harvey Mudd College admitted 576 students from a pool of 4,440 applicants that made up “the second largest pool in the history of the College,” President Maria Klawe said in a Thursday update to the board of trustees. “The admitted students are a wonderfully talented group, and this admitted class is among the most diverse in the history of the College,” Klawe added.

The newly admitted class has a 28.8 percent Latino and 10.1 percent Black makeup, greater than the 21.1 percent Latino and 4.5 percent Black makeup of the current enrolled student body. The 8.1 percent international student composition of the admitted first year class is lower than the 8.5 percent international composition of the current student body. First generation students compose 20.5 percent of the admitted first year class. 34 percent of admitted students chose to submit SAT/ACT scores in the college’s second year of being test optional, a trend that falls in line with other “STEM-focused institutions while other institutions are seeing far higher percentages,” according to the board of trustees update. Each of the 5Cs released regular decision admission offers to their classes of 2026 last week, but only Pomona and Harvey Mudd have released demographic breakdowns so far. For a visualization on Pomona and Harvey Mudd admissions statistics, including more historical data, visit tsl.news.

MADDIE RUBIN-chARLESWORTh • ThE STUDENT LIFE

Pomona and harvey Mudd offered admission to to the classes of 2026.

Arts & Culture

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MArch 25, 2022

Light, love and laughter: Holi through the eyes of the 5C South Asian diaspora DIYA MEHTA The sound of laughter fills the air. Brightly colored powder is thrown with abandon, decorating the clothes and faces of all those that are celebrating. The arrival of spring is heralded with the raucous sounds of joy and love, as Holi brings together a wide array of community. Color, water, love and joy are some of the hallmarks of the festival of Holi, otherwise known as the Festival of Colors. Holi is celebrated in the 12th month of Phalguna in the Hindu calendar, which usually corresponds with February or March in the Gregorian calendar. This year it fell on March 18, and many around the world took to the streets to celebrate — including Claremont community members. Holi marks the arrival of spring and is celebrated in hopes of a good harvest. It also represents the eventual victory of good over evil, as the festival is linked to the defeat of the demon Hiranyakashipu. For many Hindus and non-Hindus alike, Holi is also a day to spend time with loved ones, to celebrate and spread love and happiness within the community. Due to the timing of Holi this year during spring break, the opportunity to celebrate the festival as a collective 5C community was limited. Instead, celebrations were mostly held at people’s homes or between groups of friends. Anika Gupta PO ’24 explained how she personally celebrates Holi, which has many diverse iterations across the Indian subcontinent and the South Asian diaspora. “First we would probably do a little prayer to celebrate the harvest season and to create an

cOUrTESY: STEVEN GErNEr/FLIcKr

This year, Holi took place during the week of spring break for the Claremont Colleges, leading many Claremont students to celebrate at home or with friends.

auspicious start for the season ahead,” she said. “Then we all celebrate with a bunch of water and colored powder (Pakka color).” To be in a Holi celebration is to surrender yourself to being completely covered in rich reds, greens, blues and yellows (and to be washing these off your clothes for at least a week). These vibrant colors are used to pay tribute to the bright colors that mark the spring season. The colors also have specific meanings: green represents nature, happiness and new beginnings, while red symbolizes love and fertility.

ShELF LIFE

Marginal musings — the power of annotation KATE JONES

I am the rare individual who remains endlessly entertained by the books I read in high school. I regularly flip through the classics of standardized English curriculums (such as “The Great Gatsby” and “Frankenstein”) for fun. I don’t do this for the stories, but rather for the scribblings in the margins — my sophomore, junior and senior-year annotations entertain me more than any classic of English literature ever could. Though many of my most enlightening notes and funniest scribbles were intended for my eyes only, the most joy I’ve found from annotating has been, surprisingly, collaborative. I understand those who appreciate annotation as a solo endeavor. At the same time, I’ve recently come to discover something uniquely beautiful about annotating for, and with, other people. For my friend’s nineteenth birthday, I annotated a copy of “Ender’s Game” for him. It was a process that took me weeks. I reread intently, commenting on everything: my favorite — and least favorite — moments and scenes, the most disturbing parts, the aspects that confused me upon my first reading (fourth grade) and the pieces that confused me, still, at nineteen. The gift was the book itself, but I was also giving him my experience of reading it. When I annotate books for people, I try to walk them through my thoughts, to let them think with me. Annotations are an invitation into my mind. This year, I received my first annotated book (Delia Owens’ “Where The Crawdads Sing”) from another friend for Christmas. It was adorned with sticky tabs and color-coded highlights, along with neatly penciled explanations of what my friend loved and hated, what made her mad, what made her feel. It was an act of love, one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. When I started the novel on a plane ride back to Seattle, multiple times I found myself whipping my head towards

the empty seat to my left. Reading the book with her commentary — bitingly funny, full of care and voice — I was convinced that she was sitting right next to me. Her annotations allowed me to read that book with her, even though we were apart. My copy of Maggie Nelson’s “The Argonauts” has been annotated four times over. The first time, by myself. The second time, by a boy I was talking to back in high school. (I trusted him with my annotations, I trusted him to annotate back to me). The third, by me, again. The fourth time, by a person I dated briefly. Rereading it now, I’m amazed by the way our scribblings blend together in the margins. Our handwriting styles converge and diverge: One of us used a mechanical pencil, another one wrote in dark, wide 6B strokes. I see points where the people I’ve cared for agree and disagree with me, where we respond to each other, where our thoughts overlap. I love “The Argonauts,” and I think I will for a while. Surprisingly, I love these annotations, too. Rereading this book isn’t sad or lonely — I’m not bitter about these past handwritings, notes from people I might not even speak to anymore. Instead, these annotations ground me in time. As I explore the convergence of our reading experiences, I’m reminded about why I cared when I did. Reading can be a solitary act. Annotating intentionally, as a gift, makes it a point of connection. Now, when I lend books to friends, I hope they will come back with split spines, bent pages, scribbled-in margins. I want to be invited into their minds, too. Kate Jones PO ’24 is from Seattle, Washington. Her favorite tool for annotation is a Zebra Sarasa Clip gel pen.

BELLA PETTENGILL• ThE STUDENT LIFE

Holi celebrations often include large gatherings of friends, family and other community members. In this way, the festival serves as a time to reflect on the value that we place on community, and how we can affirm and celebrate those that we love. Traditional celebrations involve people spraying each other with brightly colored powders and liquids. “In my building back home [in Mumbai, India], celebrating Holi is very fun,” Maya Singapuri PO ’24 said. “People of all ages, like the little kids and their grandparents, come together and wear white, and then

we squirt colors on each other.” As Holi is an enduring cultural cornerstone of parts of the South Asian community, some of its traditions have been updated for modern times, such as the colored powders used in celebrations. “Lately, since the powders are often bad for your health, my mom and other people would come together and crush beetroot and other vegetables to make organic powders,” Singapuri said. The importance of Holi as a way to have fun and celebrate is clear, especially to those that are living away from home, like

Singapuri. “It’s a way of having fun,” she said. “I always associated it with happiness and bonding with people and making friends. I think the coolest thing about Holi is that you can meet anyone in the Indian diaspora and you can connect with them based on things like Holi. It truly is a cultural celebration.” For some, such as Anika Gupta PO ’24, being so far from home at times like Holi can be bittersweet. “Spending Holi away from home was very jarring, especially for this festival, because it’s really focused on community, so being away was hard,” she said. “It was especially hard because of the timing of spring break, which meant that we couldn’t even celebrate it together at the 5Cs.” But there are ways to feel connected to this piece of cultural heritage despite not being able to celebrate it in person. “Technology helps,” Gupta said. “We have WhatsApp and things like that, so I still felt like I was celebrating it with my family, even all the way in the US.” Holi means a lot to much of the South Asian community, as it creates community, and celebrates the people close to us. For Gupta, Singapuri and many others, it’s a fun-filled, colorful reminder of what makes life worth living. “Holi is a celebration of life,” Gupta said. “I think it’s the most meaningful festival to me because even though it’s a celebration of the harvest season and spring, it means so much more. All the color and all the celebration, and the fact that everyone of all ages celebrates together shows how much it emphasizes and creates the meaning of community. It’s a way to celebrate and cherish every moment, with all those you love.”

rEGULArLY SchEDULED PrOGrAMMING

‘Abbott elementary’ is bringing back the network sitcom CLAIRE DUMONT In the past few years, the TV shows I’ve watched have mainly been dominated by what is released by streaming services. Whether I watch the episodes all at once or week-to-week as they get released, most of the shows I watch are originals from streaming services, like Hulu, HBO, Amazon or Netflix. That was, until I started watching “Abbott Elementary,” a network sitcom on ABC. “Abbott Elementary” was created by comedian and actress Quinta Brunson, whom you might recognize from her time as a mainstay in BuzzFeed’s videos. Brunson also stars in the show, along with Tyler James Williams, Janelle James, Lisa Ann Walter, Chris Perfetti and Sheryl Lee Ralph. The show follows teachers and administrators at Abbott Elementary, a public school that is often overlooked and underfunded. “Abbott Elementary” has all of the qualities of the network shows I’ve loved in the past, like “The Office” and “Parks and Recreation.” It is filmed in a mockumentary style, where the characters look to the camera in the middle of scenes and give confessionals talking straight to the camera. Tyler James Williams, playing Gregory Eddie, a substitute teacher at Abbott, reminded me almost immediately of Jim Halpert from “The Office,” with his looks to the camera. Since the premiere of “Abbott Elementary” in December, the show has enjoyed popularity and an increase in ratings. According to Deadline, it was the first premiere on the network to quadruple ratings since it originally aired. Recently, it was renewed for a second season, to much celebration on Twitter. When I first saw a lot of conversation around “Abbott Elementary,” I was at first surprised because it had been so long since I had noticed a network comedy being praised so much. Usually, the shows I saw people talking about were the shows I had been watching, mainly originals on streaming services. After seeing so many social media posts and articles (including when Brunson’s sixth grade teacher, who inspired the show, surprised her on Jimmy Kimmel) about the show, I finally started watching on Hulu, where all of the episodes are available. The show was on a break at the time, so I wanted to space out the episodes. This soon became impossible, as I was instantly hooked right when I started watching, and it didn’t take long before I fell completely in love. Although “Abbott Elementary” is comparable to other workplace comedies like “The

cOUrTESY: PAMELA LITTKY/ABc

“Abbott Elementary,” created by Quinta Brunson, follows the teachers and administrators at the fictional Abbott Elementary public school.

Office” and “Parks and Recreation,” it also seems to have created a unique genre of its own. The writing is hilarious with an impeccable writing team; it is one of the funniest shows I have watched in a while. The characters are developed and dynamic, and just halfway through the season I am excited to see where the different storylines go before the end of the season. “Abbott Elementary” also stands out as a show with a primarily Black cast. The quick success of the show is made even more special by what it means for increasing representation in Hollywood and media as a whole. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Brunson said that the show allows her to “make a comedy for everyone that still has thought behind it, still has messaging behind it, and still has a good story. Because I think everyone deserves to watch good TV.” In the early days of the show so far, the show seems to be planting seeds for potentially a longer term “will-they-or-won’tthey” relationship between Brunson’s character Janine Teagues and Williams’ Gregory Eddie. This budding relationship is reminiscent of other network comedies, as the trope is incredibly common in creating tension in a series. The more I’ve watched of “Abbott Elementary,” the higher Gregory moves in my ranking of male sitcom characters; currently, he is right next to Ben Wyatt from “Parks and Recreation.” So far, in the ten episodes of the show that have aired, it has already successfully taken on issues within education, such as an episode about gifted student programs and Janine’s ongoing struggle along with the other teachers to acquire sufficient resources for the students in an underfunded school district. Recently, it was announced that the show is partnering with Scholas-

tic to provide free book fairs to underfunded schools across the country, including the school the show is based on. In the time between when I caught up on “Abbott Elementary” and when it came back from its hiatus, I found myself really missing it. Even though I love the original content on streaming platforms that I’ve been watching recently, the show made me realize the joy of a network sitcom and how much I used to love to watch them. In the break between new episodes of “Abbott Elementary,” I revisited some of my old favorite network sitcoms. Currently, the TV comedy landscape has crossed over to the drama side, blurring the line between the two genres. The days of the 20-minute sitcom episode airing once a week in some ways seemed gone, in favor of longer comedies releasing all at once on a streaming platform. While I also love and enjoy the comedies being released on streaming services now, and the immense amount of creativity being put into the storytelling of those shows, “Abbott Elementary” reminded me that this same level of excellence and creativity can be equally present in a network sitcom as well. When speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Brunson explained that the goal of the show was not necessarily to bring popularity back to the network sitcom. However, as she elaborates, “…everybody doesn’t have cable and everybody doesn’t have streaming platforms, but network TV is for everybody.” With only a few more episodes to close out the rest of the first season, I can’t wait for the second season, and hopefully the many seasons to come. Claire DuMont SC ’23 is one of TSL’S TV columnists. She is feeling a little overwhelmed about all of the new TV that is coming out, but recommends “Severance,” “The After Party” and “Winning Time.”

MArch 25, 2022

Arts & Culture

ThE 5 TO ThE 10

BEING rEEL

Breaking Bald — when Michel Foucault did lsD with a CGu professor

2021’s ‘West Side Story’ is a remake that succeeds at all the wrong things ADAM OSMAN-KRINSKY CW: sexual violence

SArAh FLEMMING • ThE STUDENT LIFE

CASSIDY BENSKO It’s hard to come out of Michel Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish: The Birth of Prisons” without being obliterated by existential dread. Living up to its title, the book opens with a several page-long detailed description of an 18th century public execution. Foucault goes on to outline the dissipation of public executions, hangings and public torture giving way to the “humane,” discrete and sterile organization of today’s western courtroom, prison and lethal injection. As the dawn of industrial capitalism breaks, however, Foucault not only identifies the generalization of the prison model in the classroom, workplace and doctors office but also objects to the notion that these penal systems exist to reform an abnormal subject. Rather, he asserts that these institutions exist to churn out an irredeemable class of people. This irredeemable or “punishable” class is used to measure the worth and utility of their peers. It is this fear of being like the irredeemable, he argues, that makes the self. To me, his analysis checked out. But, I didn’t like it. To be fair, I don’t think anyone would like being informed that their life-long causal self-consciousness was panoptic self-policing and that their sense of self had been created by an incessant effort to differentiate themself from the “punishable” class (i.e. the incarcerated, queer, “lazy,” “insane,” etc.). This raised the question: How might one go about liberating themself from a power so pervasive and normalized that it literally shaped them, their aspirations and desires? Foucault’s answer? Perhaps doing LSD for the first time in Death Valley with a Claremont Graduate University faculty member. After being catapulted to structuralist stardom, Foucault sought out new frontiers at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1975. It was here after a lecture at UC Berkeley that former Claremont Graduate University assistant history professor Simeon Wade and his life partner Micheal Stoneman invited Foucault to Southern California. A certified Foucault fanboy, Wade had communicated with Foucault prior to his rise to international fame, hoping to inspire a visit to the Claremont Colleges. Reluctantly, Foucault agreed to the trip. During an interview with Boom Magazine, Wade discussed his persistence with getting Foucault on LSD. “I thought, if I give Foucault clinical LSD, I’m sure he will realize

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that he is premature in obliterating our humanity and the mind as we know it now, because he’ll see that there are forms of knowledge …” Wade said. “The tremendous emphasis of finitude, finitude, finitude reduces our hope.” In June 1975, the couple greeted Foucault in Claremont and set out on the five-hour drive to Death Valley — the hottest place on Earth. Through LSD, Simeon Wade aimed to metamorphize Foucault’s thought — and that he did. Prior to the trip, Foucault had published the first volume of his acclaimed “History of Sexuality.” Afterward, Wade attests to a letter he received from Foucault in which he defines the trip a “great experience, one of the most important in my life” moving him to throw out volumes two and three of “History of Sexuality.” Starting from scratch, the rewritten volumes would take on sexuality as something to be invented. Authors of “The Last Man Takes LSD,” Mitchell Dean and Daniel Zamora emphasize the transformative nature of the experience, as though the mind-altering substance dissolved Foucault’s understanding of the self. “After his California experiences … Foucault’s subject becomes a free one, an active agent capable of making itself through spiritual and physical exercises,” they wrote in the book. To Foucault, the self was not something that was buried and repressed, waiting to be discovered. He advocated that the self is a project of creation which reveals itself to those who are willing to obliterate the old self. “We should not liberate our sexuality but free ourselves from the whole confessional system that predicated liberation on sexuality,” Dean and Samora summarized. The legacy of queer self creation predates Foucault by an unknowable amount of time, but a moment of its history belongs somewhere between Claremont and Death Valley on a sweltering June day. I’m not saying the route to knowing thyself is tripping in the desert. But, to know that there is a valley beyond this, created by my hands, at the cost of executing the disciplined self — that gives me hope. Cassidy Bensko SC ’25 is TSL’s Southern California columnist from Santa Clarita, CA. They’re a certified tree hugger, goldfish enthusiast and lover of comedy.

When Steven Spielberg’s remake of “West Side Story” was first announced, I was excited. The announcement coincided with when the Ivo van Hove Broadway revival was in previews; this film remake seemed to be a chance to update the story as a response to the anti-immigration rhetoric that maliciously dominated culture in the Trump-era. There was something to be hopeful about with the Spielberg remake: it actually casted Latinx actors for the roles of the Sharks, abandoning the “brownface” that was rampant throughout the original. Maria is no longer portrayed by a white Jewish woman in Natalie Wood, but rather a Latina actress in Rachel Zegler. The accents no longer create a minstrelsy out of Puerto Ricans, something that not only horribly dated the original but made it increasingly hard to watch. However, with the remake’s delays due to COVID-19, there seemed to be a specter haunting the production, which neither Spielberg, the producers, the cast or anyone else involved seemed eager to expel. In June 2020, in the middle of production, Ansel Elgort, who plays the romantic lead Tony, was accused of sexual assault. Elgort, throughout the press run for the movie, managed to avoid the topic — a privilege that his female castmates did not have, as Elgort went unscathed. Disappointingly, his co-stars Rita Moreno, Ariana DeBose and Zegler seemed to avoid the question or maneuver around it in ways that still afforded them the ability to praise Elgort’s performance. Unfortunately, I guess that’s just how sexual assault gets handled in Hollywood — something we, as happy

consumers of its products, keep learning in the wake of the #MeToo movement. The reckless way in which his cast members came to defend Elgort and Spielberg’s lack of commentary on the issue overshadowed the release of the film. As a result, the movie did not even make half of its production value back. Beyond casting issues, the film’s content is nothing revolutionary either. The film’s status as a box office bomb hasn’t led to its disappearance from the public eye. Recently, the film has experienced a rehabilitation on Twitter (namely praising its technical aspects) which is disappointing all around — what it does get right isn’t enough to make up for everything it gets wrong. Again, the Spielberg production does do new and interesting things! It updates some of the language of the songs to be more politically sound for the moment, it solidifies the character of Anybodys as a trans-coded character (something that always seemed apparent to me but could’ve been dismissed by even the most liberal viewer) and it reorders the songs in ways that increased dramatic irony. The cinematography is gorgeous and deserves to be in the running for an Oscar. DeBose’s performance as Anita is wonderful. But the missteps it takes are still too large for such a meticulously choreographed film. Spielberg dared to recast Rita Moreno, who played Anita in the 1961 original, as the widowed wife of Doc, who is a white man who owns a drug store where the Jets hang out. Moreno herself has faced controversy regarding anti-Black comments in the wake of the release of “In the Heights” over the summer. Her role in the film was, arguably, useless. It was meant to replace the character of Doc, who is a centerpiece in the growth of the Jets in the original, by positioning Moreno as his old, widowed Puerto Ri-

can wife, which took away from Doc’s original role as actually trying to mentor the Jets boys into being better humans. The new role that Moreno inhabits becomes a crutch in the script to reinforce the film’s pathos that interracial love solves racism — which it does not. I think that any attempt to quell racism by appealing to interracial love is lazy and teaches young audiences the wrong thing about what being anti-racist should look like. It speaks volumes about Tony Kushner’s age as a screenwriter (and the fact that few people of color were consulted in the rewriting of Sondheim’s script, a fact clear in the closing credits) that he decided to make this plot change. Overall, the film is pretty to look at but fails at presenting a historical narrative with relevant current social commentary. It has nothing we have not seen before, in terms of using love as a vehicle for talking about race, in Hollywood. It might win big awards on Oscar night, but it does not deserve them. There are far better films this year that talk about queerness, race, grief and overall issues of representation. Hollywood can do much better than this, and I think the onus shouldn’t be on the audience to demand change of Hollywood, especially considering that audiences did ask for production changes. Studios, directors and actors need to take issues like sexual assault and anti-blackness more seriously because it becomes context for art that otherwise would be a joy to consume. “West Side Story” deals with issues that have been relevant since it was first performed on Broadway, but it is disappointing that an attempt to remake the film and update it cannot improve the film in any large way from the original. Adam Osman-Krinsky PO ’25 is from New York City. He loves movies and logs all his most recent watches on his letterboxd @Adam0k and is currently trying to find a new alter ego.

cOUrTESY: DISNEY

“West Side Story,” directed by Steven Spielberg, was released in December 2021 and is a remake of the 1961 film of the same name.

Diana Vicezar PZ ’24 launches free career platform for international students

cOUrTESY: SIA WErE

Diana Vicezar PZ ‘24 launched the career platform, Mapis, to aid international students in the internship search process.

XUWEN (KEVIN) HUA Diana Vicezar PZ ’24 realized there wasn’t enough assistance for international students navigating the internship search process when, in conversations with a friend, she realized she wasn’t alone in laboring to navigate the internship process. The struggle for Vicezar’s friend to obtain an H1B sponsorship was mentally taxing. “She became almost depressed when she found out that the company she previously worked for would not sponsor her,” Vicezar said. As a result, the friend had to quit her job and leave the U.S. earlier than intended.

One conversation led Vicezar to seek out more, in the hopes of gauging just how widespread frustration with the internship search process was among other international students. After conducting conversations with dozens of international students at the 5Cs, she was reassured that there was a pressing need for a solution to exist. “People whom I talked to said ‘[finding a job as an international student] is going to give you a headache’ and ‘there are not many resources, [so] you are basically on your own,’” Vicezar said. Launched in late February, Vicezar’s newly minted career

platform, Mapis, offers free services to assist international students during the internship process — an experience that comes with additional barriers for those studying in the U.S. on an F-1 student visa. At the forefront of its mission is to serve as a guiding “map” for “international students,” Vicezar said, hence the name Mapis. As international students seek internships or apply for jobs, they have the additional burden of keeping in mind their Curriculum Practical Training requirement, which is an authorization that grants international students permission to temporarily work in the US vis-a-vis their chosen field of study. For many international students, the process becomes more complicated after graduation if they wish to work in the U.S. For that, they have 12 months to legally work while still being on their student visa through Optional Practical Training. Beyond that, students can only legally live and work in the U.S. if their companies sponsor their H1B work visa. In creating Mapis, Vicezar aimed to help other international students maneuver the sponsorship acquisition process, using her past experiences looking for internships to mitigate the obstacles that might crop up in the process. To address the lack of a consolidated resource bank centered around international student needs,

Vicezar said Mapis provides a variety of advising sessions on top of scouting out international student friendly job opportunities. Before a work opportunity finds its way to Mapis users, Vicezar reaches out directly to the recruiters to verify if the position is available for international students. Since she started the project, Vicezar said she has accumulated a list of 87 “IS-Friendly” employers with a record of supporting international students. Ranging from cover letter and resume training to “General Advising Sessions,” Mapis serves as a space where partnering consultants guide users through the steps to obtain internships or jobs alongside offering career path advice and network strategies. According to Vicezar, the hundred or so “new and exciting” job postings offered to Mapis members each week cover a wide scope, including tech companies, political entities, media and communication outlets, science and research opportunities to those in business and finance. When she announced via LinkedIn that she would conduct a beta trial of the website last semester, the post went viral. “People who I have never met in my life are using the platform and telling me that it is very useful and it means the world to me,” she said. While she is exhilarated about how well-received Mapis has been

so far, she’s already looking to next steps and hopes to “make Mapis even bigger in the future.” Marcos Lavarello PZ ’25, a current beta version participant with career interests in product management, said searching for internships has been made much easier since Mapis exclusively focuses on opportunities for international students. He can now “focus on actually finding an internship [he] likes,” he said. Vitor Siqueira PZ ’24 and Richard Ampah PZ ’25 are two of the six Mapis ambassadors whose work focuses on promoting the program in the international student community. Siqueira said he believes in the value of Mapis, adding it “has the potential to become one of the world’s biggest career platforms in the future.” As an active social media user, Siqueira uses his personal channels to advertise for Mapis workshops and events. “Being an ambassador is my way to help the community,” Siqueiria said. “[The work] is a reward deep inside and a way to grow with the platform.” Ampah added that he sees potential in Mapis to “become the LinkedIn or Handshake for international students” beyond just the 5C community. Moving forward, Vicezar’s team plans to launch more features including the “mentorship database” which would connect international students with alumni. The second round of beta testing will launch in March or April, Vicezar said.

Arts & Culture

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MArch 25, 2022

Dora Garcia’s multigenerational history at Claremont dining halls MAYA OLSON Dora Garcia is a proud mother to Buddy and Chico — two adopted dogs — and her life centers around family trips to amusement parks and believing in the best of people. She genuinely makes the most of life. She often chuckles between her sentences and will never forget to wave at you, even from afar. And for the last 34 years, she has prioritized “doing right by you” every day in the 5C dining halls. She’s the smiling face that welcomes you to McConnell, though you might not always be able to see it behind her mask. If you don’t know Dora yet, it is likely because you have not caught on to her jokes when you walk through McConnell’s door. Dining hall staff can often be overlooked by students, despite their essential roles in the daily fabric of college life. But the four years students spend in Claremont are incomparable to the multigenerational dedication of Garcia’s family. While Garcia was born in the United States, she moved to Mexico during her childhood. Her father soon returned to California, where he worked as a dishwasher at Claremont McKenna College’s Collins Dining Hall, saving money until the rest of their family could join him in California. Following their father, Garcia’s three brothers worked at Collins during their high school summers, one of them climbing the ladder to management. A few decades later, Garcia’s sister-

in-law is a manager at Harvey Mudd College’s Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons, and her niece works at Scripps College’s Malott Commons. Garcia herself has spent three and a half decades at the 5Cs, beginning at Scripps. During the summers, she worked on the Pitzer College campus while Scripps was closed. Finally, she tagged along with a friend for an interview at Pitzer and was hired full-time. Now, decades later, her days often start promptly at 6:30 a.m. — after a cup of coffee, of course. “I’ve been here too long,” she laughs, adding that she can tell whenever something is out of place. “I go, there’s a chair missing here, there’s too many chairs.” She focuses on making things as convenient and easy for students as possible, rethinking ways for students to move through busy hours with ease. She will rearrange the disposable cups and utensils so that they are easier for students who are in a rush to find them and she works to make things smoother despite the frequent changes due to COVID. Through the years, Garcia has seen the dining halls, campuses and students evolve. There were fewer students when she began, even with cross-campus dining. “The students [now] are more active, but also, they’re more entitled, a little demanding,” Garcia said. The changes that trouble

MOMENTS TO SAVOr

her most are the ones that have emerged since the pandemic. “I understand that they wanna come in, sit down, relax and eat, [but there is] a lack of respect,” she said. “C’mon. Respect the people you interact with.” The relationship between staff and students has changed, with workers observing increasing issues with cleanliness and more hostility from students as dining halls adapt to pandemic-related constraints. But Garcia said she understands that students mean well, and they want to enjoy the dining hall as much as possible. “I always try to interact with people,” she said. “I told a student today, ‘nope, your [to-go] box will be $5 million,’ and she started pretend-crying, and we were both cracking up, because we have such a dry sense of humor. We were both laughing.” Sometimes, however, she can’t connect with some students, and her jokes don’t reach them. “I’m not gonna deprive students a box or whatever — I’m gonna help students,” she said. “But sometimes, you need to joke about it, because … things are so serious right now. With the virus, things change so much, and you gotta go with the change. We may not like the change, but for me … I’d rather make sure you guys eat right, eat healthy and be healthy.” She chuckled. “I don’t want you guys to get sick, because you end up getting

as well as between students and staff. For the family and workers who have dedicated decades, it is hard to imagine that students and staff can live so mutually without knowing each other’s names. Garcia said her goal is to learn everyone’s name. Now you know hers, so be sure to laugh with her next time you walk into McConnell. “We only live once,” she said. “If we see a wrong, we should make it right.”

Holy Runtime, Batman! Are today’s movies getting longer? RORYE JONES

JADYN LEE• ThE STUDENT LIFE

We all know that food gives us energy. But cooking food — mainly with friends — can also energize you when you’re too tired to do anything else. In my junior year of high school, my youth group planned a fundraiser for its upcoming retreat. One of the members of our church was the renowned pastry chef John Park who had pie popups all over Orange County, and he graciously offered to “donate” pies to this cause and let a few novice-baker high school students help him in his pie-making process. I had signed up to help make the pies and run the selling booth, but when my alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, I momentarily regretted my decision. It was simply too early to be up on a Saturday! Nonetheless, I sluggishly drove to church by 6:00 a.m., announcing my arrival into the church kitchen with a resounding yawn. My other friends who had just arrived were also yawning, and Chef John chuckled at us. Don’t get us wrong — of course we were excited about the retreat and wanted to help fundraise, but, at this moment we just wanted to go back to bed. But something shifted once we got our hands on the ingredients. Chef John first demonstrated each step of his pie-making process to us, and once we started rolling dough, preparing pie filling and crumbling shortbread topping, our tiredness seemed to disappear. Everyone quickly found their groove — by mid-morning, we were consistently rolling dough to the right thickness, whipping pie filling with ease, and crumbling shortbread topping like there was no tomorrow. Seeing the first completed pie that we had helped make was both exhilarating and comical. “I have no idea how we did that, but we did,” one of my friends remarked, shaking her head in awe. And, in that moment, we wanted nothing more than to make more and more beautiful pies and surprise ourselves in the process. We were no longer the half-awake students from just hours before — we were energetic young pastry chefs, determined to make the best pies possible. We continued making pies through the afternoon, losing track of time, until we suddenly realized it was 4:00 p.m. We had to leave because today was not only a pie-making day, but also the day of our school’s winter formal. Yes, we had a dance to get to in only a matter of hours!

me sick too!” Staff and student relationships are an essential part of a functional community, yet Garcia’s perspective is not one familiar to most students. “Be kind, because kindness can go far,” Garcia said. “I know you guys are under incredible stress right now too. Trust me, college wasn’t easy for me! And I know, college is not easy for you guys.” She wishes communication behind the scenes was better,

ScENE IT

Baking and friends offer a slice of energy

EMILY KIM

NANAKO NODA • ThE STUDENT LIFE

Dora Garcia’s father, three brothers, sister-in-law and niece have worked across the 5Cs.

So, my friends and I speedily cleaned up the kitchen and then bolted to our houses to rinse the flour off our faces, slap on some makeup and swap our sugar-stained T-shirts for dazzling dresses. We then rushed to the dance venue together, and despite having spent practically the entire day on our feet making pies, we danced the night away. After the dance, though our feet were tired, our hearts and minds were still running on this adrenaline from our earlier pie-making. We drove back to our homes at midnight, singing along to music at full volume. Somehow, remarkably, we were back at our church’s kitchen bright and early — a mere six hours later. That morning, we put the finishing touches on the pies. Shockingly, we sold out within two hours. After my friends and I sold the last pie, we started teasing each other about how tired we were feeling just the day before. When we first arrived at the church kitchen, we wanted nothing more than to go back to bed, but baking together gave us a much-needed spurt of energy that carried us through an incredibly eventful weekend. Junior year was four years ago, but sometimes, as a college student, I wish I could channel some of that pie-making adrenaline to get me through the day. Maybe you could use some of that too, as we’ve returned to classes after spring break. Perhaps a remedy for your spring semester lethargy is to cook something with friends — whether it be pie or something completely different. If you don’t feel like using the dorm kitchens, this can also look like creating a unique dish out of dining hall staples. For example, have everyone make a salad that represents them best (I have a friend whose go-to “salad” is just a bowl of pistachios). But whatever you make, I truly believe that unleashing your culinary creativity in some way with friends is the best way to energize yourself when you feel like you have nothing left to give. Food itself can nourish you, but so can time spent in good company, possibly even giving you the push you need to finish the last half of the semester well. Emily Kim PO ’25 is from Irvine, California. She loves baggy sweaters, YouTube karaoke and banana bread.

It’s time to talk about length. It seems like movies have been getting longer recently — a lot longer. Normally, I don’t complain about long films, but right now it feels like many movies have become almost insufferably extensive to sit through. The movie that prompted this observation was “The Batman,” the latest retelling of Bruce Wayne struggling to save crime-ridden Gotham City. The perception of longer runtimes could be attributed to any number of reasons, including but not limited to the undeniable amount of big screen titles boasting over two and a half hours of content as of late, the attention span of the modern day smartphone addict or perhaps the (lacking) entertainment value of said movies. With respect to reason one, the majority of films that I have personally seen released this year all possessed borderline ridiculous run times. I used to think “Titanic” (at three hours and 14 minutes long) was the movie to measure all others by lengthwise, but three hours seems to be the norm these days: “Nightmare Alley,” “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” “Dune” and “West Side Story” all clock in above two and a half hours. To test whether others also noticed a wider phenomenon, I brought up the topic of longer movies to others and received enthusiastic agreement, with similar comments about “Drive My Car” and “Power of the Dog.” Moving past verbal agreement to bolster my opinions, I turned to the almighty Google to answer my demand: are movies getting longer? The short answer to this long question is no. Apparently, the average length of a movie in 2021 hovered around 98 minutes long. This average fits well within the range of the last decade, around 90-120 minutes per movie, showing little to no change at all. But the perception of longer movies is undeniable, which makes one turn to other plausible explanations, such as shorter attention spans, fewer interesting movies or, as suggested by a host of websites, one big Hollywood marketing ploy. My first instinct as to why movies might be feeling longer hearkens back to the oftrepeated claim that humans’ attention spans are now shorter than those of goldfish — literally. Thanks to the evils of the newfangled smartphone and its brain-eating stratagems of the infinite scroll and TikTok-length video clips; we are actively getting worse at focusing due to new technology. The study that gives us the

goldfish figure demonstrates that humans are only able to focus for up to eight seconds at a time. Though published in several popular news sites such as The New York Times, this particular goldfish claim seems to be based on one 2015 study with dubious credibility. So no, I reject any comparison of my mind to a goldfish, thank you very much. While a decrease in our ability to focus for long periods of time remains unclear, there appears to be more consensus that our attention spans are decreasing actually due to the sheer amount of content that we are exposed to on a daily basis, from social media to round-the-clock news updates. Furthermore, the pandemic might have contributed to yet another negative outcome: “It’s unclear whether the COVID era has had a quantifiable effect on our attention spans, though experts confirm mental exhaustion is widespread,” USA Today concluded. Another factor that definitely plays into the perception of increased runtime is the marketing transformation of “going to the movies” as a special event. Nowadays, it is only too easy to stream movies from your couch or bed; one might feel more inclined to wait weeks after the release of a new movie until it has reached their streaming platform of choice to watch it. One movie expert suggested that people will only feel motivated to go out and purchase a ticket to the theater if the movie shown is a lengthy epic and thus worth their time

and money to leave the comfort of their home to go see. CNN’s Harmeet Kaur agreed, stating that long superhero movies in particular are the types to drive audiences to the box office. When I went to see “The Batman,” I didn’t enter the theater with the thought that I would get my money’s worth out of the $12 ticket simply due to the two-hour-56-minute runtime. In fact, I almost dreaded having to sit in a chair for that long (call it pandemic-induced mental exhaustion, I don’t know). However, what I do know is that my father checked his phone around six times during the movie; the person a few rows up with phone notifications inexplicably set to flashlight strobing effects checked theirs more. An unreasonable amount of people (at least a dozen — if not more) crossed in front of the screen on their way to the bathroom, some returning much later with popcorn buckets. The man next to me took his shoes off as he reclined his seat (I wish he had waited until the movie came out on Netflix to watch it). All of this tells me that long movies, or at least “The Batman,” can become difficult to endure without distraction. In either case, here’s a plea to the Hollywood marketing overlords for a return of the shorter movie. We value quality over quantity, trust us. After all, it’s not the length of the film that matters; it’s what you do with the film. Rorye Jones PO ’23 finally got around to finishing “Titanic” and can now reasonably call herself TSL’s TV and film columnist. Yes, she did cry (mainly for the violinists).

cOUrTESY: JONAThAN OLLEY/Dc cOMIcS

“The Batman” has a runtime of two hours and 55 minutes, following the apparent trend of longer feature films.

OpiniOns

March 25, 2022

PaGE 7

The LGBTQ+ community still needs authentic queer spaces NIKKI SMITH Over spring break, I attended an LGBTQIA+ dance party in my hometown of Boulder, Colorado. The event consisted of around 30 partygoers and a handful of drag performers dancing around in the bizarrely sweltering back room of what is by day an independent cafe/bookstore. My friend and I spent the night screaming ourselves hoarse and crushing on everyone we saw while being too shy to flirt with any of them — to sum up, it was a very queer night. And it felt tremendously freeing. On the drive home, I tried to figure out why this event felt so different from previous queer events I’ve attended. It sounds cliché, but I felt I could be myself much more on this sweaty, makeshift dance floor than I ever have at any citywide pride parade. This party made it clear that authentic queer spaces that are free from corporate sponsorship and the restraints of mainstream respectability are necessary for the LGBTQIA+community to thrive. And although it can seem like a sign of progress, queer culture going mainstream is not always a good thing. One problem with many mainstream LGBTQIA+ events is that they are not truly centered around the queer community. As LGBTQIA+ rights have gained more mainstream acceptance in the past few decades, the idea of queer pride has become increasingly commodified and watered down into sponsored parades and events that are more palatable for the heterosexual mainstream. The consequence is that at large, city-approved Pride Month events, I can’t help but feel like the focus isn’t on actual queer people;

cOUrTESY: NIKKI SMITh

LGBTQ+ people still need spaces that are created by and for them alone, writes Nikki Smith Sc ’25.

instead, we serve as a fun theme that other people can use to make money. The LGBTQIA+ dance party was a breath of fresh air, with its absence of AT&T sponsored floats or vendors hawking polyester rainbow flags. It is important to remember that no matter how many rainbows they splash on their websites during June, companies are not truly our allies and they don’t have the best interests of our community in mind. AT&T for example, boasted about its “moral and business obligation to engage on the fundamental issues of equality and fairness.” However, as the company posted pictures of rainbow flags last June, it also made at least 327 donations totaling $204,350 to 133 anti-LGBTQ legislators. And

Jasper’s Crossword: new revelations

AT&T is not an anomaly. CVS, Walmart, Comcast, NBCUniversal and Wells Fargo are just a few of the companies that claim to support LGBTQIA+ rights when it makes them look good, while donating millions to politicians actively working to dismantle gay and trans rights. This is why we need spaces that aren’t just “LGBTQ-friendly” but are instead created by and for queer and trans people. Another authentic moment of queer community that I experienced last summer was at an LGBTQIA+ mutual aid fair at a park in Denver. Everyone brought supplies to donate, mingled and listened to the live music. In contrast to sponsored pride events, the mutual aid fair was truly centered around com-

ACROSS 1. Spicy condiment 7. Stephens who has been called a “bedbug” 11. Place to be pampered 14. John hosting Last Week Tonight 15. Hoodwink 16. “A party game for horrible people,” for short 17. ___ Five (Dolly Parton hit) 18. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around 19. Poem of appreciation 20. *Davos meeting 23. Hot off the press 24. Killer whales 25. *The last time “Hamilton” counts up to ten 32. Citizen abroad 33. King from a Shakespeare play 34. Got together 37. Feels under the weather 38. U.S. surgeon general Murthy 40. Grp. that speaks more than 100 languages 41. Org. that cracks codes 42. The first human, in Māori myth 43. Assent 44. *Place for high- stakes bluffs 48. El-Waylly cooking on YouTube 50. Clean the floor 51. Doomsday... or how to interpret 20, 25 and 44-across 57. Carnaval H.Q. 58. Gov’t records law 59. ___ the line (obeying the rules) 62. Haul away 63. App for influencers’ vids 64. Tax ___ (Al Capone, e.g.) 65. Advice columnist Landers 66. Deal or No Deal container 67. Signify DOWN 1. Took home the gold 2. Actor Mahershala 3. Wave type 4. With, in French 5. Song in which Zac Efron sings “I’m not gonna stop / Not gonna stop ‘til I get my shot” 6. De-creased 7. Practice with harnessing potential?

8. Kaur with Instagrammable poetry 9. Fortnite developer 10. “Gotcha,” over radio 11. That was a sick burn! 12. ___ Hills (Claremont neighborhood) 13. Throat-clearing sounds 21. Be in debt 22. End of red cross dot 25. Ease (off of) 26. Line of rotation 27. Land in water? 28. “He ___ a skater boy...” 29. “Love Me Tender” singer 30. Originally named 31. Acorn’s origin 35. Fencing blade 36. Cake’s level 38. IV plus III 39. Turner married to Tina 40. Before now 42. “Defeating ___ is the ultimate boss battle. Even the most powerful humans in the world cannot defeat ___.” —@elonmusk 43. Greenlight 45. Band of “Mr. Blue Sky,” for short 46. “Be there in a sec!” 47. Picked up, as the bill 48. Mattress brand with a sheep mascot 49. It might be pickled or fried 52. CMC party garb 53. Popular songs 54. Overhang 55. Not be totally straight? 56. Queen of Carthage 60. Tennis court feature 61. Test for a future M.A. LAST WEEK’S ANSWERS

Nikki Smith SC ’25 is from Boulder, Colorado. They enjoy hiking, poetry, and extoling the virtues of queer rage.

Existential dread is an essential aspect of the liberal arts experience YIFEI CHENG

JaSPEr DaVIDOFF • ThE STUDENT LIFE

munity instead of profit. This is what queer spaces should strive to do; supporting the most vulnerable among us and cultivating genuine community. Underground queer spaces are also essential because they function as a haven for radical political organizing. Towards the end of the dance party, the event organizer took the stage and shouted, “I’m Venus Victrola, and I’m here to serve cunt and die!” Venus then launched into an impassioned speech about issues ranging from Indigenous rights to the legitimacy of sex work to criticisms of the local LGBTQIA+ organization for their failure to support trans adults facing eviction. The crowd roared their approval. At any other dance party, shutting

off the music to get on a soap box would be extremely unwelcome, but here it felt natural; the political speech was merely an extension of the inherently radical nature of an unapologetically queer space. Some queer people might argue that queer culture and spaces going mainstream is a signifier of increased societal acceptance and progress that benefits the queer community. While I agree that this phenomenon is the result of an increase in public support for queer rights (and is a good thing in that respect), it also functions to placate the queer community when there is still a lot of progress to be made in fighting for LGBTQIA+ rights (the “Don’t Say Gay” bill is a significant recent example of how far we still have to go). It is easy to fall into the trap of believing that since our community is being celebrated, we have achieved equality. But mainstream acceptance and rainbow logos during June should not be the end goal of the queer rights movement. It should be to materially improve the lives of the most marginalized members of our community. I encourage you to seek out, support or organize your own local queer events and spaces. I didn’t realize how disenchanted I had become with “queer-friendly” events until my recent experience at the LGBTQIA+ dance party showed me how incredible queer spaces can be when done right. In the age of commodified queer culture, authentic non-corporate queer spaces remain worth fighting for.

Before entering college, many of us harbor a romanticized conviction that our undergraduate years will offer the most liberating experience of our lives. This applies especially to the idealistic aspirants of liberal arts education, for whom intellectual autonomy often matters just as much as a college’s prestige or even knowledge itself. On this front, we won’t be disappointed. With their commitment to fostering “intellectual curiosity that reaches across disciplines” and their characteristically diverse academic offerings, liberal arts colleges (LACs) such as the 5Cs provide their students with a wide array of opportunities to forge a path of their own. We are encouraged to explore our passions and take our academic development into our own hands, even if this means breaching personal comfort zones or defying societal conventions to do so. In both imagination and actuality, the liberal arts experience does endow students with a great degree of agency in deciding who we wish to become. Various alumni stories can attest to this. Nevertheless, the boundless optimism we attach to liberal arts education remains a fiction because it overlooks one critical factor — accompanying the liberating potential of LACs is the inextinguishable presence of existential dread. Where there is freedom, there is anxiety; the anxiety to be free. LACs are not exempt from this dilemma. For students, embarking on the path of the liberal arts means forsaking the regimented academic routine that characterizes most secondary schools. With it, we must also discard the sense of security and certainty that such externally-imposed order brings. In “Pedagogy of the Oppressed,” philosopher and educational theorist Paulo Freire describes the modus operandi of secondary institutions as “the banking model,” whereby teachers deposit chunks of readily processed and compartmentalized information into their students’ brains. Coerced by examinations and other miscellaneous evaluations, the students have no choice but to accept what is given to them. Freire critiques the banking model as authoritarian — unlike their LAC counterparts, students in the “banking” institutions lack the autonomy to create knowledge on their own. Everything they learn, they receive from external sources. Hence, their purpose within the commonplace secondary education system derives not from individual agency, but from the oppressive and homogenizing environment constructed by the authori-

ty figures. For example, when parents and teachers equate admission into a reputable university with success, scoring highly on standardized exams by extension becomes valuable and meaningful to the student, despite their lack of interest in spending hundreds of hours studying for those exams. The students’ personal preferences are irrelevant to the value system to which they are subjected. Freire’s depiction of “banking” institutions borders on the dystopian, but when we leave the authoritarian secondary schools behind and embrace the freedom afforded by the LACs, another form of anxiety takes hold — we no longer have a readily available source of value and meaning. Since the “banking model” provides very tangible benchmarks for success, such as a high SAT score or an impeccable GPA, all we have to do to attain purpose and validation is follow these predetermined paths. We are marionettes dancing by the threads of ignorant contentment, unaware of our suppressed individuality and yet utterly happy about our lack of autonomy. We feel gratified, because we don’t have to interrogate ourselves about where our true passion lies or what our life trajectories should look like. The banking model has shown us a way — an oppressive and homogenizing one, but a palpable course of action nonetheless. Like those human batteries newly liberated from the deceptive but blissful illusions of the Matrix, consumed by angst as they rediscover their individual agency in a ruthless world, we must also come to terms with our newly found intellectual autonomy. Liberal arts education offers us freedom and encourages us to achieve personal growth using that freedom, but it doesn’t define the goals towards which we should strive. Unlike in the banking model, we must find the answer to that question our-

selves. This is the source of the existential dread within the liberal arts setting — in exchange for freedom, we relinquish the stable source of meaning that is secondary school, and we must face the consequences. We might even say that existential crises are inseparable from the liberal arts experience. Though we cannot avoid the occasional episodes of existential dread during our undergraduate years, we need not despair. Such crises, if addressed in a proactive manner, can facilitate growth and allow us to possess greater mastery over our intellectual freedom. We should behave more like the positive nihilists, who endeavor to construct value and meaning for themselves despite the lack of a universal meaning in the world. Instead of avoiding self-interrogation because of how challenging it is, we must ask ourselves the hard questions in our moments of doubt. What field of study aligns best with my passion? What makes life fulfilling and worth living for me? Without interference from societal standards, what essential qualities do I want to see in myself? Only by asking these questions can we find the objective for which our autonomy can be put to use. Only then can liberal arts education truly be liberating. Of course, we need not struggle alone, or restrict our quest for self-discovery to pure philosophizing. Our peers and the colleges are great resources for resolving existential dread. From chatting with friends that are going through similar processes of self-doubt to meeting a professor whose field of study interests us, there are many ways to discover personal meaning that we can easily strive for at the 5Cs. Once we overcome this existential challenge, our growth will be immeasurable. Yifei Cheng PO ’24 is from Nanjing, China. He enjoys hiking, reading (especially fantasy literature), and playing Starcraft 2.

SEOhYEON LEE • ThE STUDENT LIFE

OpiniOns

PaGE 8

Patriarchy doesn’t stop at the dinner table SHAY SURESH In high school, I distinctly remember making my best friend sit through the mind-numbingly slow, nearly three-hour film “Boyhood.” Although I was watching the film for the second time, I particularly loved how the story portrayed a dysfunctional family dynamic throughout a child’s adolescence. As a younger viewer, I didn’t notice how the often absent father’s fun and carefree demeanor contrasted with the tension of the mother’s search for security and stability as a single parent. It occurs to me now that family dramas, centered around single or divorced parents, tend to illustrate family dynamics in a very consistent manner: the father as the outlet for freedom and the mother as the recipient of resentment, assigned the role of antagonist. As psychologist Bonnie Burstow writes: “Often father and daughter look down on mother (woman) together. They exchange meaningful glances when she misses a point. They agree that she is not bright as they are, cannot reason as they do. This collusion does not save the daughter from the mother’s fate.” And indeed, in “Boyhood”, the main character’s sister has this dynamic with her father. Exposure to media that paints this image coupled with this stark assessment has me asking: Why do we find it easy to blame the female figures in our families rather than the male ones? To me, the answer is found in a social construct — specifically, the role we assign to mothers following childbirth. The person who carries and gives birth to a child becomes the one responsible for their development. Unfortunately, that same accountability falls upon mothers when mistakes happen. This extends to temperament. A mother births a child and is expected to show warmth, show commitment. If a mother doesn’t sufficiently fulfill this role, she’s cold, abnormal, unwomanly. There’s an unwritten rulebook, a set of standards mothers have to meet. This opens the door for animosity from children. A Washington Post article on the topic

March 25, 2022

THE

CLARGUMENT We ask TSL’s Instagram followers a question every Monday and share their responses here.

Which major should be abolished?

PPE. If you want a humanities major but plan to exploit ppl w/ that Econ degree, just say that @myard1998

data science … i literally cannot keep pretending to understand what it is … & i’m majoring in it @nethmin.liyanage

let classics absorb LAMS so we can have 47 majors again #chirpchirp

Sarah FLEMMING • ThE STUDENT LIFE

notes, “mother-blaming also hurts psychology and society by preventing us from looking with fully open eyes at the total range of causes for children’s unhappiness and psychological problems.” In families consisting of a mother and father figure, different parenting styles are to be expected. It becomes another story when, for every fast-food run one parent does, the other has to work twice as hard to get a fraction of the gratitude. It’s unfair that due to the way we understand gender roles, mothers must feel the burden and guilt of not measuring up to the people their children want them to be. It is important to recognize that this dynamic is not the same for everyone. I know for some of my peers, their fathers carry the load that their mothers cannot. But as someone who has fallen prey to the conventional parent-dynamic trap, I can say a shift in mindset is feasible. It is really a matter of seeing things as they are. Take note of how you measure praise and criticism for

your parental figures. Ask yourself, do you get easily bothered by one parent more so than the other? By exempting father figures for inadequacy and redirecting blame to mother figures, is it easier to misdirect our anger? The cultural narrative we ascribe to teaches us that maternal characteristics include empathy and sensitivity. Do we, as children, exploit this social construct? Another great way to reframe your understanding of gender roles in the context of your family is simply to talk. Communicate with the parental figure who, more often than not, might be the recipient of your own anger and frustration; talk about the root of your feelings, and make an effort to listen to the strain they might be enduring. In order to make sense of dysfunction, ask each other where your sentiments are coming from, and how and for whom you intend them to be shared.

@lillyhaave

Chemistry, why was alchemy insufficient??? @paco_853_

computer science, why didn’t I do art instead? @rydershutup To weigh in on next week’s question, follow us on Instagram @TSLnews and keep an eye on our story on Monday! If you have a suggestion for a future question, send us an email: opinions@tsl.news.

Shay Suresh CM ’24 is from San Jose, California. She loves literary fiction, indie music and making Pinterest boards.

Female athletes are more than just a uniform ANNIKA REFF “Come for the spandex, stay for the game,” read the flyers put up for our varsity volleyball games in my freshman year of high school. My captains decided we should encourage people to come to the game in any way we could because “we need a lot of fans for the playoffs.” For years, I faced comments from my male classmates downgrading the seriousness and importance of volleyball. But my captains took a different approach — they embraced the male perception of our sport. And, shockingly, it worked. Boys came to our first volleyball games for what I could only imagine was the purpose of looking at our uniform and gradually developed an interest in volleyball itself. Boys who had only talked to me about how I looked on the court soon started talking about our defense, asking about our plays and strategy. As a 14-year-old, I was happy that they seemed to care about our actual performance more than before; it felt like we had proven ourselves as athletes. But this is where the problem lies: the feeling that female athletes, especially young girls, need to prove that their sport is worthy of male spectatorship. My freshman year on varsity drew the biggest crowds our team had ever had through this method of marketing. We even filled the bleachers more than men’s basketball. The next year, our athletic director cracked down. She ordered longer spandex, basically biker shorts, and forbade us from leaving the gym in our shorts, or even walking back to our cars after a game. Why? It was “inappropriate.”

Kylie Mies PO ’25, a setter on the Pomona-Pitzer volleyball team, echoed a similar sentiment during my interview with her: “I was always nervous to wear my uniform outside of the gym because I felt like people were watching me with spandex on, so I would bring sweatpants with me wherever I went.” She tells of an incident that happened to her after volleyball practice when she was younger. “I forgot my sweatpants and walked into a store with just spandex on. Later on this girl came up to me and told me a man was taking photos of me. I was only 13 years old and the man was a grown adult. It really freaked me out.” All of this –– being made to feel shame by adults because my

uniform is supposedly inappropriate and distracting, and being told by my male peers that my sport isn’t worthy of attention in itself –– led me to question myself. I had been playing club volleyball since fourth grade, and I had never encountered any doubts about the legitimacy of my sport or the appropriateness of my uniform. The club world made me feel safe. I liked that the only spectators were coaches, parents and other players. It felt like a bubble in which only volleyball mattered, and it was treated with the utmost seriousness. Going back and forth from club, where my team competed at the highest level in the Junior Olympics, to high school volley-

ball, where the focus suddenly became about our uniform and our looks, made volleyball feel performative. Mies had a similar experience: “I feel like in volleyball, a lot of men like to talk about our uniform. To me, these comments take away the talents and the athleticism of the sport. Sometimes I feel like we are noticed as objects, only because of our bodies.” So, is there a solution? The approach my athletic director took was only a reaction to the problem — her solution was to change us, our uniforms, not the people objectifying us. This decision put a band-aid on a much deeper problem and only reinforced the notion that our bodies

cOUrTESY: JaNOaZS/PIXaBaY

Female athletes deserve to be taken seriously for their skills, writes annika reff PO ’25.

Editorial Board

were consumable. Instead, our collective mindset around sports must change. As Mies puts it, “To men, it might seem small when they talk about volleyball in a sexual way but to the athletes that spend so much time and effort on the sport to get good, it’s kind of a punch in the face.” Campaigns like the iconic 1997 Gatorade commercial featuring Mia Hamm and Michael Jordan, set to the soundtrack of “Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)” brought this issue to the forefront of public consciousness. In the ad, the two incredibly successful professional athletes go head-to-head in a variety of sports. Yet Jordan shuts down Hamm’s proclamation that she ‘can do anything he can’ with a blunt: “No, you can’t.” The commercial was also remade in 2021 starring athletes Abby Wambach and Usain Bolt. While the ads can be viewed as progressive since the athletes are portrayed on an equal level, it is notable that in both commercials, Jordan and Bolt push back against their female counterparts–– “No, you can’t.” Since the passage of Title IX in 1972, mainstream culture has moved in a direction that more widely celebrates female athletes. The next step, however, is removing the layer of objectification and sexualization many female athletes, and especially young girls, still face. In other words, please come for the game and stay for the game. Keep our uniforms out of it. Annika Reff PO ’25 is from Los Angeles, California. She enjoys consuming an unhealthy amount of caffeine and listening to the soothing voice of Michael Barbaro.

THE STUDENT LIFE

JASPER DAVIDOFF, Editor-in-Chief ANUSHE ENGINEER, Managing Editor CAELAN REEVES, Managing Editor

Senior Staff JAMES KARSTEN, Production Editor GRACE SAUERS, Production Editor MARCELLA CANNATTI, News Designer KLARA JACOBS, Arts and Culture Designer GIULIA BELLON, Opinions Designer JOSIE DE ANDA, Sports Designer LONDON LORDOS, Copy Chief ANNA PREWITT, Copy Chief

HUXLEYANN HUEFNER, Photo Editor NANAKO NODA, Photo Editor BELLA PETTENGILL, Graphics Editor JENNA MCMURTRY, News Editor SIENA SWIFT, News Editor SAMSON ZHANG, News Associate MENA BOVA, Arts & Culture Editor ZOEY LOFGREN, Arts & Culture Editor

LARKIN BARNARD-BAHN, Arts & Culture Associate SAE FURUKAWA, Opinions Editor BEN REICHER, Opinions Editor ALEX CHUN, Sports Editor HANNAH WEAVER, Sports Editor KENNY LE, Diversity & Inclusion Editor ANURADHA KRISHNAN, Diversity & Inclusion Editor GWYN WONG, Business Manager

TSL’s Editorial Board consists of the editor-in-chief and two managing editors. Aside from the editorial, the views expressed in the opinions section do not necessarily reflect the views of The Student Life. Single copies of TSL are free and may be obtained at news stands around campus. Multiple copies may be purchased for $0.47 per copy with prior approval by contacting editor@tsl.news. Newspaper theft is a crime; perpetrators may be subject to disciplinary action as well as civil and/or criminal prosecution.

SportS

March 25, 2022

PaGE 9

CMS bats pull Athenas through regular season series win over Redlands

cOUrTESY: cMS aThLETIcS

Maren Summers CM ’23 sends the ball flying while at bat in a game against Redlands.

ALEX CHUN Stepping up to the plate, shortstop Destiny Garcia SC ’24 eyed down the Redlands pitcher early in the first inning at Athena Field March 18. With two gone in the frame, veteran infielder Lauren Richards CM ’22 stood in scoring position at second base, looking to break the stalemate and earn an early lead for the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas. Garcia smoked a ball into short center field grass, earning an RBI single and putting CMS on top 1-0. But the Athenas’ momentum didn’t last long: The Bulldogs countered with two consecutive 4-run innings. Headlined by a bases-clearing 3 RBI triple in the second inning and a 2 RBI double in the third, Redlands jumped out to an 8-1 lead. CMS was unable to get their

rhythm back, only managing to score two runs. The team eventually lost 8-3. However, the defeat was countered with consecutive successes when CMS sought revenge in a doubleheader at Redlands the following day. The Athenas came out swinging and took care of business in their two games, pulling out tight wins in high-scoring contests: 9-6 and 10-7, respectively. On the defensive end, pitcher Jade Johnson CM ’24 shut out Redlands hitters in two relief appearances on the mound during the doubleheader, earning a one-inning save in the first and a winning five-inning relief effort in the second match. Offensively, first baseman Abby Thompson CM ’25 shined brightest for the Athenas at the plate, going 5-for-7 with 4 RBIs. The first match began on a rough first inning for CMS.

Despite scoring one in the top frame with an RBI single by Thompson, Redlands instantly answered with a 4-run inning of their own, featuring a plate appearance from all nine Bulldog hitters. Following this rocky start, two-way player Richards stabilized her pitching on the mound. For the next three tophalf innings, the veteran locked down Bulldog hitters by inducing them to hit weak pop-up fly balls for outs, limiting them to one hit through this span. This momentum on the defensive end fueled the Athena offense in the top of the fifth inning. With second baseman Emma Suh CM ’25 leading off with a walk, CMS batters strung together four consecutive singles to claw back into the game — scoring three runs in the process. After two RBI sacrifice flies later in the in-

ning, the Athenas charged back to take a 6-4 lead. But it proved to be shortlived. After a walk and a single to begin the bottom fifth, two Bulldog hitters earned two RBI singles against Richards to deadlock the score at 6-6. With both teams engaged in an intense back-and-forth, CMS found an edge in the top of the seventh inning. After veteran infielder Kristin LeBlanc CM ’23 brought home Thompson on an error by the Redlands second baseman, Maren Summers CM ’23 crushed a pitch inside the zone over the right field wall, effectively ending the game 9-6 with a 2-run home run. The momentum gained towards the end of the first match carried into the following game. The Athenas jumped out to an 8-0 lead after two tophalf innings, highlighted by a

2-run home run from Richards, a 2 RBI single from shortstop Paige Zimmermann CM ’25 and an RBI double from designated player Emily Nutting CM ’24. Although the Bulldogs attempted to stage a comeback, scoring seven runs within the second and third innings, the Athena lead proved too insurmountable to recover from. With catcher Ari Livi CM ’23 bringing in Thompson for a run with a defensive error on Redlands in the fourth and Thompson with a sacrifice fly RBI later in the seventh, the Athenas secured the 10-7 win. With this 2-1 win series over Redlands, CMS is now tied for second in conference standings at a record of 4-2 in SCIAC play. They will next face Willamette at home in a doubleheader this afternoon, then play Occidental in a three-game season series this weekend.

Senior spotlight: Tyson-Jay Saena HM ’22 wraps up a successful college biathlete career DAISY ALVAREZ With football wrapped up and a track and field season to go before ending his collegiate run, defensive lineman and thrower Tyson-Jay Saena HM ’22 is bidding farewell to his experience as a biathlete at the Claremont Colleges. “I’m pretty satisfied with what I’ve done,” Saena said. “I’m just looking forward to doing as much as I can with the little time that I have left.” Reflecting back on his athletic career, starting in junior high, Saena reminisced on how he picked up track and field in the first place. “I was really playing football at the time, and my [football] coach, [who] used to throw in college, called up my parents and asked if I would want to try shot put,” he said. His first practice with shot putting included practicing “weird things with a heavy metal ball.” Shortly thereafter, his coach decided to let him compete in his very first track meet two days after his first practice. He had absolutely “no idea what [he] was doing,” he remembered. A crucial second throw landed him third place in this competition. His impressive performance encouraged him to continue the sport through middle and high school. By the end of his tenure, Saena ranked fifth overall in Arizo-

na’s high school standings. The main factor behind maintaining his excellence in both sports throughout high school was because of his intense training that focused on his explosiveness. “When it comes to the shot put, or any of the throwing events, [maintaining] explosion from the hips is really important,” Saena said. “I always have to generate force from the ground and through the hips in football; [coach] figured that I would be able to transfer those skills into track and field into throwing the shot put at the time.” Following high school, Saena chose Harvey Mudd College because the school offered the flexibility as a top liberal arts school to play multiple sports. HMC allowed him to pursue his interests in track and field as a walk-on while being recruited for football. A walk-on athlete is a collegiate student who joins a team without being formally recruited for the sport. Within his first year as a walkon to the track and field team, Saena received the team-chosen Karl Rossi award, given to the student-athlete whose mindset best emulates the spirit of the track and field program. Saena’s sophomore and junior year athletics were virtually halted due to COVID-19, preventing him from practicing or competing in either sport.

But he wasn’t entirely discouraged. He redirected to focus on his family and engaging in his hobbies. This past season, he received all SCIAC Second Team honors, even after dealing with a hamstring injury before beginning the season and a dislocated shoulder four games before the season was set to end. While reflecting on his athletic journey thus far, Saena reflected on the sentimental attachments he had for the two sports. “I grew up playing a number of different sports, but football was the one that I really grew up playing seriously.” Football is not only a sport he dedicated a lot of time and invested a lot of care into, but it’s also a means for him to connect with family and community. “Whether it’s with uncles or even younger cousins, [football] is something that’s close to a lot of what my family does. I’m very big within the Polynesian community and I recognize that a lot of us compete and play football. And so that one always has that little part of my heart.” As for throwing? Saena teases, “I don’t have to run.” In his free time, you can find Saena either proctoring at North Hall, playing and singing along to his ukulele or streaming Warzone on Twitch.

cOUrTESY: cLarEMONT cOLLEGES MEN’S rUGBY TEaM

Saena gets into his power position while competing in shot put.

CLASSES OFFERED ONLINE & IN-PERSON THREE- AND SIX-WEEK COURSES TAUGHT BY HMC FACULTY $3,500 (3-CREDIT COURSE)

View program details, courses and registration information at hmc.edu/summer-session22

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SportS

PaGE 10

March 25, 2022

Ski and snowboard team snags top-10 finish at second-ever trip to nationals

cOUrTESY: KIrILL MYaGKOV

Left: Zoe Hancock SC ’23 lays arcs as she navigates the skier cross track. right: The 5c Ski & Snowboard competition Team poses atop the mountain at Lake Placid, NY.

HANNAH WEAVER When Kirill Myagkov PO ’22 was a first-year, the 5C Ski & Snowboard Club was just a Facebook group that set up one trip per year. Three years later, the group has more than 400 active members, frequent trips, community outreach and a competition team. The competition team, despite being very young, had an impressive finish at the U.S. Collegiate Ski & Snowboard Association National Championships in Lake Placid, NY. They sent eleven athletes, seven of which finished in the top 20 of an event. The women’s team finished in the top 10 and a total of six athletes received First Team Academic All-American honors. “I was really, really proud of that result because it was super exciting to finally see a result that put us on the national stage,” Myagkov said. The club was revamped in 2020 with three initiatives facilitating recreational trips, club competition teams and education within winter sports and activities. For each of these subjects, the club’s overarching goal is making winter sports more accessible. “Our focus was: ‘let’s create a really cool community of individuals who, whether or not you’ve never seen snow before, or you grew up ski racing or whatever, let’s create

an environment where everybody can participate in winter sports on campus,’” Myagkov said. One way they’ve fostered inclusivity is through their beginner ski days, which provide full funding for first-generation, low-income students and fill the rest of the spots with students who’ve never skied before. In general, the club strives to keep the participation cost as low as possible, even on trips not just for beginners. Another step they’ve taken towards increasing accessibility is regularly recruiting students to their team who haven’t competed before, emphasizing that anyone can compete if they want to. “From all of the athletes that ended up traveling to nationals, only three had ever had competition experience before this year,” Myagkov said. “So that was super exciting to see.” The team competes in the Southwest conference of the USCSA league. The league has a total of approximately 5,000 athletes competing in all events throughout the year. Myagkov explained that the team typically trains about twice a week on weekends, but each athlete gets to choose how much they want to train and at what

Sports Calendar P-P

CMS

Friday, Mar. 25

Friday, Mar. 25

Men’s & Women’s Tennis vs. Williams

Baseball vs. carleton

Softball vs. Lewis & clark Baseball @ calTech Saturday, Mar. 26 Men’s & Women’s Track & Field Point Loma Nazarene Invite @ Point Loma Women’s Golf UcSc Invitational @ Pacific Grove, CA Pacific Grove Golf Links Women’s Track and Field Point Loma Nazarene Invite @ Point Loma Baseball vs. calTech Women’s Water Polo @ caltech Women’s Lacrosse @ Occidental

Men’s & Women’s Tennis vs. Middlebury Softball12:00 PM vs. Willamette Baseball vs. University of Puget Sound Saturday, Mar. 26 Men’s & Women’s Track and Field Westmont classic Women’s Golf Bulldog Invitational (rancho Mirage, ca)

Women’s Water Polo vs. redlands Softball @ Occidental Women’s Water Polo vs. cSUN Baseball vs. carleton Men’s Tennis vs. George Fox Sunday, Mar. 27

Women’s Water Polo vs. cSUN

Women’s Golf Bulldog Invitational (rancho Mirage, ca) @ The S course

Women’s Golf UcSc Invitational @ Pacific Grove, CA

men’s snowboard competitor, Brian Bishop PO ’22, hit the snow park for the men’s freestyle. Zoe Hancock SC ’23 had a standout performance for the team, finishing third overall in the women’s alpine skier cross, earning her First Team All-American status. “When Zoe got third and we all went to the awards banquet, and she went up on the podium – that was super exciting for the team,” Myagkov said. “Being there with everyone was definitely just the best part.” Myagkov competes in many events but says the skier cross is his favorite, which he describes as essentially motocross on skis. “In skier cross, it’s a little bit of tussling on the course because you’re right up next to one another,” he said. “It’s a super fun event, because at a certain point, it’s kind of anyone’s game, and it doesn’t really matter who the best skier is — it’s who picked the best line and who got lucky.” At nationals, he also competed in giant slalom, an alpine skiing event in which the racer has to ski between paneled gates that they brush with their shoulder as they ski down the mountain. For this event, Myagkov and his teammates had to adjust to the Upstate New York conditions.

“The thing about the East Coast, which we’re not used to out west … it’s a very, very icy environment on the mountain and so you have to really keep a very solid edge in giant slalom to be able to really carve strong turns,” he explained. For Myagkov, his individual performance wasn’t the most important aspect of this year’s national competition. “While I didn’t perform as well as I’d like to… it was really exciting to see a lot of the athletes from the Claremont Colleges [who had] never competed before this year have just so much excitement,” he said. Myagkov feels that the result and atmosphere at nationals was representative of just how far the club and the team has come since he first came to Claremont. “It wasn’t a focus just on those top people, at the end of the day it was a team adventure and a team endeavor,” he said. “I think that I was super proud of how everyone was really supportive of one another and very excited to be there together… we’re really building an awesome community of people that are excited to compete at [whatever level] they’re able to.” Up next, the 5C Ski & Snowboard Team has their final race, the Southwest USCSA conference’s annual alumni competition in midApril at Mammoth Mountain.

Athletes of the Week Pomona-Pitzer JC Ng PO ’25 Baseball Foster City, CA In Pomona-Pitzer ’s three-game series sweep against Massachusetts Institute of Technology, rookie outfielder Jc Ng proved vital as the Sagehens’ leadoff hitter primarily in the first and second games of the weekend. After drawing a bases loaded walk and lining a 2 RBI single that contributed towards his 2-for-5 outing with three RBIs, Ng topped this performance with a perfect game in the second match of the doubleheader, flashing a statline of three hits on three attempts, three runs scored, three walks and three RBIs. He was the only player to home run in the game as well, crushing a pitch for a two-run dinger in the bottom of the third inning to contribute towards the Sagehens comeback win. Overall, Ng went 5-for-11 with four runs scored, six RBIs and five walks. Following this 3-0 sweep, the red-hot Sagehens have won seven consecutive and look to maintain their streak as they face CalTech this weekend, currently at 4-2 in the conference and 16-3 overall.

Men’s & Women’s Tennis vs. Williams

Softball vs. DePauw

Sunday, Mar. 27

level they want to compete. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the team only had the opportunity to compete once this season before flying across the country for the national championships at Lake Placid. This was the team’s second time competing at nationals, and many underclassmen’s first time ever. Myagkov was especially excited to get back on the slopes and see the club he founded compete at the highest level. “I grew up ski racing [so] for me, this is a little bit of nostalgia. It’s really fun to be out there setting courses [and] helping people get better at skiing to go to nationals,” Myagkov said. Zoe Hancock SC ’23, Claire Campbell SC ’24, Nevada Lee SC ’22, Ella Thunen SC ’25 and Haley Morton CM ’25 competed in women’s alpine ski . For men’s alpine ski, John Peabody PO ’25 and Myagkov both finished in the top 20, in the slopestyle and skier cross events, respectively. For women’s snowboard, Helena Robinowitz PO ’22 and Emily Piette PZ ’22 both finished top 20 in giant slalom, and Robinowitz also placed top 20 in slalom. Vice President of the club Jacob Al-Husseini PO ’22 finished top 20 in the boarder cross men’s snowboarding event. The sole

Baseball vs. University of Puget Sound Softball vs. Occidental

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Christina Kulick CM ’23 Water Polo Los Gatos, CA Currently with a second-place 6-1 conference record while being 10-5 overall on the season, CMS’s most recent win came on Wednesday, Mar. 23, headlined by a three goal effort from junior attacker Christina Kulick. Earlier in the week, Kulick earned her second SCIAC player of the week award this season, being a vital part of the Athena offense this year thus far. She also had a notable three-goal performance against La Verne and proved to be the difference maker in that close game, in which the Athenas won 9-8. Looking ahead, CMS will next face Redlands and CSUN during a doubleheader in their home pool tomorrow afternoon, looking to maintain their four game win streak.