The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis since 1878 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020
VOLUME 142, NO. 8
THE ELECTION EDITION
The stories of the students who powered campaigns before Election Day (Scene, pg 4)
WWW.STUDLIFE.COM
‘It just shows school pride’: How the Bears got their teammates to vote (Sports, pg 6)
Should professors hold class on election day? (Forum, pg 7)
Republicans maintain hold on Missouri Campus as WU students vote using new process community organizes for higher turnout MATTHEW FRIEDMAN ASSOCIATE EDITOR
MORAD SULIMAN | STUDENT LIFE
Washington University students fill out their ballots on Election Day at the Athletic Complex. Approximately 2,500 students registered to vote between Aug. 1 and Oct. 14, and 1,309 people voted in-person at the AC Tuesday. This was the first year that St. Louis County voters could vote at any polling place in the county.
TED MOSKAL AND EM MCPHIE SENIOR NEWS EDITORS A streamlined voting process enabled a smooth Election Day for on-campus Washington University undergraduate voters, as Republicans swept Missouri's elections and won a swing House district just west of the University. Changes such as an increased number of voting machines and virtual queuing using QR codes kept lines down compared to the three-to-four hour wait times students experienced during the 2018 midterms. President Donald Trump won Missouri by more
than 15 percentage points, while Republican incumbents Governor Mike Parson, Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe, Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft and others each defeated Democratic challengers by double-digits, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. In Missouri's First Congressional District, which encompasses the University and many of the neighborhoods nearby, Democrat Cori Bush, a nurse and activist who defeated 10-term incumbent Representative Lacy Clay in the August Democratic primary, won over Republican Anthony Rogers with nearly 80% of the vote. With her victory, Bush
became the first Black woman to ever join Missouri's congressional delegation. In St. Louis County, however, incumbent Representative Ann Wagner, a Republican, triumphed over challenger Jill Schupp by a 7-point margin, handing a loss to Democrats, who had hoped to flip the swing Second Congressional District. Missouri voters also passed a constitutional amendment that will undo a 2018 anti-corruption measure and rejected an amendment that would have instituted term limits for state executives who do not currently have them. Sophomore Brooke Simpson said that she voted at the Athletic Complex (AC) at 1:45
p.m. and did not have to wait in line. WashU Votes Outreach Chair Otto Brown was present at the AC for most of the morning. Brown said that lines were fairly long early in the morning, but died down around 10 a.m. “Overall, my experience was very streamlined and convenient,” Simpson said. “It was really helpful that my professors cancelled class so that I could make time to go vote.” College Democrats president senior Arik Wolk said he was glad to hear positive feedback about the voting process after many students experienced long lines at the AC in 2018.
SEE ELECTION, PAGE 2
When Lindsay Gassman was a second year student at Washington University in the fall of 2018, she noticed that few of her peers were thinking ahead about voting in the upcoming midterm elections. The midterms generated some energy and enthusiasm on campus, she recalled, but the elections were not at the forefront of the student body consciousness. This year, attitudes surrounding the election have shifted. Even though there are fewer students on campus, the change is still noticeable. Now the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement’s Voter Engagement Fellow, Gassman has been getting emails since the summer from freshmen who are eager to register to vote. “This year, people seem to be much more proactive about voting,” Gassman said. “It seems like there are a lot more students taking proactive steps, getting informed and getting involved.” That planning and engagement bodes well for voter turnout on campus. Just 52.5% of eligible students voted in 2016 and 41.8% in 2018, but this year, WashU Votes, Gephardt’s voter engagement partner, has set a goal of having 62.5% of eligible students vote. As students went to the polls Tuesday, there was optimism that student voter turnout would increase from past years to meet that goal. “I think we can definitely hit that,” sophomore Otto Brown, the outreach chair for WashU Votes, said. “There’s a lot of energy around voter engagement, turnout and registration.”
SEE VOTING, PAGE 3
Washington University donors met in person for event advertised as virtual MATTHEW FREIDMAN ASSOCIATE EDITOR Washington University administrators approved and hosted an in-person event with catered alcohol and at least a dozen people inside Brauer Hall last Wednesday afternoon, just days after the University increased its alert level to orange and as strict guidelines for other events remain in place. The event, a ceremony for the installation of a professor, came as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the St. Louis area reached a second peak. A University representative at the ceremony described the event as “mission-critical,” but the University did not provide an explanation of why it was deemed necessary to hold the event in person. In an email to Student Life on Friday afternoon, Interim Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Julie Flory described the ceremony as “a small, approved event,” writing that
“while there are currently restrictions in place regarding on-campus gatherings, there are a limited number of small events that may be approved.” According to the University’s Danforth Campus events and meetings protocol website, “Indoor events/meetings will be limited to a capacity of 10 or less, and require approval.” There is no mention of indoor events with more than 10 people or of an approval process for events of that size. “Indoor events/ meetings are generally discouraged,” the rules continue. Although University policy is that “Food and beverage are not permitted under any circumstance, catered or individual,” there were large bottles of alcohol present at last Wednesday’s event. Flory did not respond specifically to inquiries about the presence of the alcohol. The event was a ceremony for the installation of Philip V. Bayly as the Lee Hunter Distinguished Professor and Chair
of the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Material Sciences. On the University’s Happenings website, it was listed as a virtual event, with instructions for guests to register by Oct. 20 and a note that they would receive a link to a YouTube event after registering. The event registration page was on the University Advancement website, which is typically used for alumni and donor relations. Stephen and Camila Brauer, the namesakes of Brauer Hall, were also the donors responsible for Bayly’s endowed professorship. Senior Director of Special Events Gina Tramelli said that Brauer family members were in attendance Wednesday, including multiple children. Flory wrote that the event only included “a limited number of guests,” but did not provide a specific number, since it was a private event. Tramelli confirmed there were more than a dozen people in attendance.
Tramelli said last Wednesday that the event was initially planned to be outdoors, but that it was moved inside because of bad weather. Last Wednesday’s weather was in the 40s, with rain in the morning that tapered off by afternoon. In a second email Friday, Flory did not respond to a question regarding the mission-critical nature of the event and the rationale for it to be held in person. “We’re hoping to be able to revise our guidelines—including the number of guests and catering—to allow more small events as we head into the spring semester,” she wrote. Flory also noted that some guests were from the same family or household, allowing them to stand close together indoors. A Washington University Police Department officer outside the event space said that the University had reserved the space outside Brauer and that the Student Life reporter present had to leave
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because he was standing on private property. Some students expressed concern upon hearing of the event. “[I am] a little ticked off, just because they’ve been so strict with our rules and guidelines on the South 40,” freshman Ankit Chhajed said Friday. “I feel that if [the University] is allowed to do that for certain exceptions, then we should be allowed an exception.” Flory drew an analogy between last Wednesday’s event and some smaller, in-person events that the University is planning for students over Thanksgiving break. It is unclear whether the University has held other similar events on campus since the start of the pandemic. According to Monday’s update of the University’s Danforth Campus COVID-19 dashboard, there were 20 active coronavirus cases, bringing the total to 120 cases since Aug. 1. Additional reporting by Em McPhie
2 STUDENT LIFE
EM MCPHIE & TED MOSKAL | SENIOR NEWS EDITORS | NEWS@STUDLIFE.COM
theFLIPSIDE FLIPSIDE FRI 6
THU 5
SUNNY 74/44
AM CLOUDS/PM SUN 74/46
SAT 7
MOSTLY SUNNY 74/55
TUES 10
MON 9
THUNDERSTORMS 72/40
PARTLY CLOUDY 75/61
SUN 8
PARTLY CLOUDY 74/59
WED 11 SUNNY 50/34
EVENT CALENDAR THURSDAY 5 I Am a Wanderer: Paek Sin-ae (1908-1939) and Writing Travel Virtual Event, 4:30 p.m. Paek Sin-ae (1908–1939) was a socialist activist turned woman writer whose career was cut short by early death. By focusing on Paek Sin-ae and her travel writings, this presentation suggests a more comprehensive and fair consideration of works by Korean women writers in the early 20th century, and reconsiders social and literary categories (including supremacy of fiction and poetry) that were upheld by the hegemonic powers and institutionalized literary networks of the time.
FRIDAY 6 6th Annual Olin Sports Business Summit Virtual Event, 8:30 a.m. The annual Sports Business Summit goes virtual, much like a largely fans-free start to the baseball and football seasons during this pandemic. Current WashU students, alums and others are invited to watch panel discussions involving reps from NFL, NBA, NHL, Golden State Warriors, Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Excel Sports, WAVE.TV, Oak View Group and more.
SATURDAY 7 The Autonomous Future of Mobility Virtual Event, 11 a.m. Framed through the six themes of the upcoming Teaching Gallery exhibition, “The Autonomous Future of Mobility”—culture, signs, space, energy, speed and autonomy—assistant professors of Architecture Constance Vale and Shantel Blakely will discuss the historical consequences and future potential of automobiles, infrastructure and autonomous vehicle technology in the built environment. The conversation will focus on how these topics relate to the discipline of architecture as well as architectural education and practice.
MONDAY 9 WUMA and New Honor Society: Advertising in the Modern World Virtual Event, 11 a.m. Join WUMA and New Honor Society for an event about the advertising industry! This will be a panel from 5:30-6:30 pm on Monday, November 9th, over Zoom. Panelists will share their career journeys, experience working at an agency, and the process of creating ads. The panelists work in account management, strategy, and creative. Come prepared with questions!
TUESDAY 10 Beyond the Gender Binary Virtual Event, 5 p.m. Alok (they/them) is a gender non-conforming writer and performance artist. Their distinctive style and poetic challenge to the gender binary have been internationally renowned. As a mixed-media artist Alok uses poetry, prose, comedy, performance, fashion design and portraiture to explore themes of gender, race, trauma, belonging and the human condition. They are the author of Femme in Public (2017) and Beyond the Gender Binary (2020). In 2019 they were honored as one of NBC’s Pride 50 and Out Magazine’s OUT 100.
WEDNESDAY 11 International Writers Series: Ignacio Infante and Michael Leong Virtual Event, 7 p.m. Join Ignacio Infante, professor of comparative literature and Spanish, and translator Michael Leong for a reading and discussion of their translation of Vicente Huidobro’s “Sky-Quake: Tremor of Heaven,” published recently in a trilingual edition with the original Spanish and French. Infante and Leong will be joined by Derick Mattern, who is a doctoral student in the International Writers Track.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020
WU suspends all study abroad programs for spring semester ORLI SHEFFEY STAFF REPORTER All spring 2021 study abroad programs are suspended due to COVID-19 concerns, the Office of Overseas Programs announced Friday. The Office of Overseas Programs (OOP) emailed prospective study abroad students in August to convey the uncertainty of Spring 2021 programs, but allowed Spring 2021 applications to proceed with conditional acceptance and terms of participation. Although OOP initially said the University’s decision about the approval of spring study abroad programs would be communicated by the first week of October, an Oct. 8. follow-up email stated that additional time was needed to monitor global conditions and evaluate programs based on health, safety, risk and academic considerations. On Oct. 30, prospective students received an email stating that all spring 2021 study abroad programs were canceled. According to Director of Overseas Programs Amy Suelzer, the two main considerations were the global COVID-19 conditions and each program’s ability to support students in the current environment. While Suelzer initially thought some programs would be able to move forward, news of spiking COVID-19 infections in countries such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and the Czech Republic—all places where Washington University students study abroad—led to the suspension of all programs. “We determined that the forecasts were so grim that regardless of how strong the protocols were on any individual program, the local conditions were probably not going to be conducive,” Suelzer said. Junior Olivia Schotz, who had planned to participate in the Psychology and Sciences program at Amsterdam University, said that her program’s cancellation was not surprising, since the forecast for the pandemic had not improved. “I was definitely disappointed, but it was expected,” Schotz said. “I was more frustrated at the fact that it took them so long to come out with
CURRAN NEENAN | STUDENT LIFE
Citing student safety, study abroad has been suspended for the spring semester due to the uncertainty around COVID-19. Students were made aware of the decision at the end of October.
ELECTION from page 1 “I think that St. Louis County putting in the rule that any registered voter in St. Louis County is allowed to go to any polling site in St. Louis County was really great,” Wolk said. “I would love to see that continued after the 2020 election. And the QR code thing, we also got pretty great responses about that.” Before the election, WashU Votes hoped for increased turnout. Just more than half of eligible University students voted in the 2016 election. After setting a goal for 62.5% turnout this year, WashU Votes said they hoped the new streamlined process will help them
get there. Data from the St. Louis County Election Board shows that 1,309 people voted at the AC, but because of a new law allowing any resident of St. Louis county to vote at any polling location within the county, it is not yet known how many of those votes were cast by University students. “Those numbers are good,” Brown said. “We had a lot of people in line in the morning. There was a long line because people wanted to vote in person and they did so safely, socially distanced. Everyone was spaced six feet apart, from the entrance to the AC all the way back until the corner at the end of
MORAD SULIMAN | STUDENT LIFE
Students wait in line to vote at the Athletic Complex. Students could hold a place in line using a QR code to reduce congestion at the polls.
Siegel [Hall].” However, the high voter turnout both at Washington University and in Missouri overall did not necessarily translate into big wins for democrats, as Wolk had hoped. “Missouri results were not great for Democrats last night, to put it pretty bluntly,” Wolk said. “[Democratic gubernatorial candidate] Nicole Galloway lost, Jill Schupp lost, amendment three passed... The one bright spot was that Cori Bush won... but otherwise, even though there was increased turnout, which is a good thing, results wise [it was] not the best night for Missouri Democrats.” The results of this election cycle raised major concerns for Democrats in Missouri, but according to Wolk, the path forward will not be clear until more detailed data is released, allowing Democrats to analyze what exactly went wrong. “It'll be interesting to see when we get the precinct bubble results, what parts of St. Louis County we did well in, what parts of St. Louis County we didn't do well,” Wolk said. “And I
think [MO democrats] want to wait for that to use that as sort of a guiding light as to how Democrats should proceed in Missouri going forward.” For Republicans, the 2020 elections solidified Missouri’s status as a solid red state, something that was far from guaranteed only decades ago. Leadership from College Republicans declined to comment on these results, stating that as college students they do not have anything unique to add beyond what can be found online. Despite the lack of long lines at the AC, Simpson said that she expected student voter turnout for this election to increase compared to 2016. “I think a lot more Wash. U. students voted this year because of the political climate of 2020,” she said. “I saw so many people encouraging others to vote and sharing helpful information on social media, and I think that clearly demonstrated how much Wash. U. students were passionate about making their voices heard this year.”
happen.” Junior Emily Cohen, who had planned to participate in the Engineering, Science and Math Program in Madrid, deferred her application to fall 2021. She said that whether or not she attends depends on the conditions. “I definitely still want to go if that’s an option and if we can have a somewhat normal experience,” Cohen said. “If we can’t leave the city or country, I’m not sure what I’ll decide to do.” Schotz said she plans to defer her study abroad application to spring 2022, even though it is her last semester of college. “Everything’s kind of been put in perspective,” Schotz said. “I’d much rather go abroad and have that full experience.” “Our students have been remarkable through this whole process,” Suelzer said. “The level of flexibility tolerance of ambiguity has been really heartening.” Suelzer encouraged students who can no longer fit studying abroad into their undergraduate experience to connect with the Office of Overseas Programs for post-graduate international opportunities. “We really hope that they will stay connected to international things, even during the time when travel is impossible, and look for ways to incorporate international experiences into their lives going forward, whether it’s study abroad or something else,” Suelzer said. “It is so enriching; it provides a layer to your life’s experiences that’s hard to replicate otherwise.”
the decision...It was pretty clear that the program wasn’t going to happen well before they told us.” Suelzer said that while the University hoped conditions would improve, they didn’t feel that it would be fair to students to push the decision back further than they already had. “The biggest challenge is that nobody has a crystal ball,” Suelzer said. “All we could do is look at the projections for the limited timeframe that we had, and people need to make plans. People need to think about whether they need to have housing in St. Louis or whether they’re going abroad. People need to think about what their courses are going to look like.” Schotz said that while Overseas Programs “seems to have done the best they could to try to keep the program going,” she felt like she “was just waiting and waiting and waiting for information that was not coming.” “The hardest part of my job over the last seven or eight months has been communicating decisions that prevent a student from studying abroad,” Suelzer said. “It’s been absolutely devastating.” Suelzer is hopeful that there will be study abroad opportunities in the summer, fall and spring of next year. “We’ve already encouraged any student who had an open application for summer of 2020, fall of 2020, or spring of 2021 to study abroad in their senior year,” Suelzer said. “We are fully supportive of that and we'll do everything that we can to help them make that
NOMINATIONS REQUESTED
FOR HONORARY DEGREE RECIPIENTS Nominations for Honorary Degree recipients for
the
May
2022
Commencement are being sought by
the
Honorary Degree Task Force.
This
task
force is composed of
students, faculty, administrators and Trustees and
to
will
meet
this
spring
consider nominations. Candidates
should be distinguished individuals
who
exemplify
University
the
ideals of
through their
the
significant
achievements related University’s missions of
to the
teaching,
research, scholarship and service. To learn more about
the
Degree process and
Honorary
to
nominations, please
submit
visit:
boardoftrustees.wustl.edu/honorary-degrees
: 1, 2021
DEADLINE
,
MONDAY FEB
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020
EM MCPHIE & TED MOSKAL | SENIOR NEWS EDITORS | NEWS@STUDLIFE.COM
STUDENT LIFE 3
VOTING from page1 complicated students’ efforts to vote this fall. While the state legislature created universal mail-in voting this year, mail-in voting and most absentee voting methods both require a notary’s signature. As a result, lists of places to get ballots notarized have been an important feature of voter engagement on campus, joining explanations of the different ways to vote on social media and in informational emails. Missouri’s March 10 presidential primary served as a trial run for the fall general election, Gassman said. Since the primary took place while most students were away for spring break, Gephardt and other campus partners worked to provide opportunities for students to notarize their absentee ballots on campus. “That was foreshadowing what would return later this year as far as lots more students choosing to vote by mail and vote absentee,” Gassman said. Data suggest that the University’s work is paying off. As of Oct. 26, Gephardt had helped students notarize 258 ballots, over 100 more than it had before the March election. “It’s clear that a lot of students are seeking out these resources,” Gassman said. “Students are seeing the options that they have to vote and are going ahead and voting early and voting by mail,” she added, noting however, that there were still many students who plan to vote in person on Election Day. The increase in voter turnout over the last few years aligns with national trends, with the University’s turnout rates typically slightly higher than the national average. A 2019 report from the Institute for Democracy & Higher Education (IDHE) at Tufts University found that the national student voting rate was 40.3% in 2018, up from an average of 19.3% in 2014. When Nancy Thomas, who leads the IDHE’s National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, first sent colleges and universities data about their students’ voter turnout in 2014, she was met with a stunned response. Administrators could not believe how few students were voting. School leaders called her office to ask if their singledigit voting rates were data errors or typos. They were not. “The data were a real wake-up call for campuses,” Thomas said. “I don’t think, however, that campuses fully opened their eyes until 2016,” Thomas said. After Donald Trump’s victory took much of the country by surprise, colleges found their voting reports and decided that it was time for a change: “They took a look at [the reports] and said ‘We really need to step it up,’” Thomas explained. Since then, colleges and universities have become much more engaged as institutions, she said. Rising turnout rates over the last few years have resulted from a confluence of
three factors, Thomas said: many students have seen elections as referenda on the Trump administration; many schools, like Wash. U., have started to address the stark data they received in the early 2010s; and there has been increased student activism more generally. “Those were the three things that were in play in 2018 and if you think about it, all three are in play in 2020,” Thomas said. “For that reason, before the pandemic, I was telling college presidents not to worry about 2020 and that they should be focusing on 2022, setting up systems and structures that would be embedded and institutionalized so that the next midterm, they wouldn’t be disappointed.” The pandemic sidetracked those plans. Thomas cautioned against using data from this year’s voter turnout as an indication of any trends. Since there have been so many changes to voting laws—including numerous legal challenges that are still pending—and the pandemic provides unique challenges, she said it was too soon to tell whether researchers would be able to adequately put this year’s numbers in context. Challenges like ballot notarization or fear of the contracting COVID-19 at the polls explain why some students will not vote this fall. But even some of the University’s most politicallyengaged and well-informed students will not be voting in the presidential election this fall. In addition to costs of voting like transportation to a polling place or lost work hours, the candidates themselves matter. “A lot of students just feel completely disenchanted with the political process and genuinely see both current candidates as supervillains,” Sinclair said. Senior Sabreen Abdullah is one of those students. She plans to vote in local elections, but not for any presidential candidate, since she feels as if neither candidate would provide substantive systemic change. “For the people I’ve talked to who aren’t voting, it’s not about the process of voting,” she said. “They’ve always felt excluded before and the candidates are now trying to get them to come out and vote, but they’re going to turn around and make policies that will hurt the people they’re asking to vote.” Abdullah said that she likely would have encouraged her entire family to vote if a candidate like Bernie Sanders was on the ticket. “I would definitely vote for someone I thought could bring actual change.” Gassman noted that disenchantment with the political process was something she has encountered with many students this year. She recognized the power of direct action, but argued that voting is a crucial aspect of supporting your community. “Although the concerns about the system are valid in many circumstances, there is still value in voting as the next step forward so
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According to Brown, from August to Oct. 14, 2,536 Washington University students registered to vote, leaving the University’s total behind only Stanford University and the University of Chicago. Brown said that 33.4% of the University’s undergraduate population used the website TurboVote to register to vote between those dates, the second highest percentage in the country. “That’s huge, so we were pretty proud of those numbers,” he said. Registering students to vote required a multi-faceted approach. The WashU Votes team spent much of the summer transitioning its traditional, in-person model of registering voters through tabling events in spaces like the Bear’s Den and the Danforth University Center to an online format. The organization also launched an Instagram account and has developed partnerships with student groups. “We’ve put a lot of effort into making sure that everyone who has the opportunity to vote is able to make that choice to vote,” Brown said. In addition to communicating the specifics about how to vote, there have been efforts over the last few years to build a more celebratory environment around the act of voting itself. “Voter mobilization studies have demonstrated that activities like food and music and fun surrounding turnout actually boosts turnout way more than something like putting up a sign on Mudd Field,” Betsy Sinclair, a professor of political science who studies the role of social influence on democratic practices, said. This year, however, since the pandemic has pushed so much voter registration and mobilization online, there have been other factors encouraging students to vote. As with voters across the country, issues like racial justice and the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic are motivating students to vote. “I think having these two really strong examples of policies throughout 2020 has really mobilized a lot of students to realize ‘Oh, I need to be taking action. I need to be investing in my community, I need to be protesting, I need to be donating to mutual aid funds. And also, I need to be voting,” Gassman said. “A lot of students are looking at voting as one response to the events of this year, definitely not the only response.” It has been hard to avoid conversations about voting this fall. “People are telling [students] that this is the most important election for their generation,” Sinclair said. That messaging can have an impact on turnout, she said, because social pressure encourages people to act the way they see others behaving. “There seem to be people thinking about what people like them are doing and participating because a tremendous amount of the calculus of voting is based upon our norms,” she said. Especially given the increased interest in the election, Missouri state law has
GRACE BRUTON | STUDENT LIFE
Students wait in line to vote at the Athletic Complex in 2018. Roughly 42% of eligible WU students voted that year, when some students had to wait three to four hours in line.
that there can be people in office who are listening to the demands of the people who work outside of the electoral system,” she said. Despite the inevitable stressors of the days to come,
Sinclair finished with a note of hope for the future. She emphasized the role of habit in voting, as studies have shown that after someone votes once, they are likelier to do it again the next time
around. “If we do see this increased turnout from younger voters this election cycle,” Sinclair said. “We’re going to hear this generation’s voice for the rest of your lives.”
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VOLUME 142, NO. 8
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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020
A walk through Washington University on Election Day SCENE STAFF None of us knew what to expect. What would Election Day look like during a pandemic? Would 2020 have the same on-campus energy as pre-pandemic elections? How would people vote socially distanced at the Athletic Complex? We finally have the answers. Here is a peek into Election Day for Wash. U. students—from the on-campus polling site to the South 40 dorms to taking it all in from home.
Voting inside the Field House Seventy degrees and sunny, Election Day could not have been granted better weather. As I made my way towards the Athletic Complex (AC) at about 11 a.m., I anticipated overwhelmingly long lines and lots of chaos. Instead, I was greeted with staffed tables of red white and blue balloons, voting stickers, music, snacks and smiling faces. After verifying my daily screening green checkmark at the AC entrance, I walked down the flight of stairs to the Field House. Inside of the Field House was an arrangement of rope and floor markings for the line, various check-in tables and around 30 voting “booths” (or folded boards). I waited in line for about 45 seconds before being motioned up to the next open check-in table. As my ballot was printed, I briefly made conversation with the two
volunteers at check-in. I asked them whether they had been there since 6 a.m.—when the polling place opened—to which they laughed and responded that they had really been there since 5. From 6 a.m. through 8 a.m., they said, the voting lines went out of the Field House door. The length of a line becomes somewhat skewed in the context of COVID six-feet apart guidelines, but still, I beat the rush. This really reaffirmed my belief that I could perform my civic duty and still sleep in until 10:30. I think that outlining the details of filling out my ballot is more or less illegal, but I’ll say it went pretty smoothly. I fed my completed ballot into the machine and “wait[ed] for the American flag image to show up on the screen” as instructed. I was officially a voter in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election—and I have a sticker to prove it. You know how a lot of things in life seem exciting when you are little but then come to disappoint once you actually experience them? To me, voting is not like that at all. The hype matched what I had always imagined, and I walked out of the Field House feeling like I did something right. – Samra Haseeb, Staff Writer
The atmosphere Off. That’s the first word that comes to mind when I’m asked to describe what the atmosphere was like on campus today. Seeing everyone headed in one direction, the presence of voting signs
scattered near the sidewalks— all of it was off. Maybe it was off because it seemed as though everyone was a part of something that I couldn’t be a part of. Not only am I not registered to vote in St. Louis, like the students I saw walking towards the polling location, but I’m not registered to vote at all. Being 17, I’m just shy of having this right. It could also be off because I’m one of the seemingly few people who is actively trying not to pay attention to the election tonight. My suitemates are watching the results together in the other room, but I’m shut in my dorm trying to drown out the election noise with games and children’s television programming. Hopefully, I won’t stay up worried about this election. I want to get some sleep and face tomorrow with fresh eyes. But I can already feel my anxiety levels rising, and I’m scared I may have to do my distracting activities until sunrise. – Ryan Ricks, Contributing Writer
A digital change of pace There really isn’t much to say when you are watching the election at home. It just feels like another day—that is, until you turn on the news. My entire day felt like a great mood indicator. Sunny weather in northern California. No lectures to watch or quizzes to take. Even scheduled myself
enough time to watch a replay of the Liverpool vs. Atalanta soccer game (yes, all 90 minutes). My Twitter feed was filled with a bunch of “+ Biden,” and honestly, it has been like that for at least a few months. 2020 was a hardfought campaign season, one that at countless times seemed to indicate a change of pace from the past four years and a break from every single norm there ever existed, and frankly, I needed a change of pace after quarantining for eight months. When I started watching live streams of the election and refreshed the web pages every 20 minutes, the mood seemed to tame. Unlike in the past though, there were no watch parties to try to make sense of what was going on. It was just me, my laptop, a bowl full of Halloween candies and the chemistry notebook on my desk that I was just way too lazy to stash away. All I could see, however, were my text messages. The “HAHA”s turned into “not great”s, and the “Virginia’s” turned into “Florida’s.” From high school buddies to college acquaintances, that swift intonation contrast was all it took to feel a change of pace, just not the one I was expecting. – Anirudh Kesanapally, Contributing Writer
When the polls close Full disclosure: I haven’t been on campus at night since the fall semester of 2019. But for some reason, when I visited campus on Election night at 8 p.m., I imagined people
watching outside on a big screen. Or at the very least, I imagined people would be watching on the TV in Bear’s Den. None of these guesses were true. Tonight, no one was working in the study cubbies on the Swamp or Mudd Field. Silence filled the South 40 (though I did see people playing ping-pong on the outdoor tables for the first time in my life, so that was cool). Only a handful of people were sprinkled throughout BD—so few that you could actually hear the background music playing over the speakers. As a matter of fact, I could hear almost every conversation within a 20 feet vicinity of me. And when one of the few people near me said “oh no” or “Trump” or “Biden” or “Pennsylvania” or made any sort of abnormal noise that probably didn’t mean anything, I instantly popped open The New York Times to see if they had released any news. Nothing. There’s only one way to describe campus on the night of Election Day—dead. Part of this was definitely because of the pandemic. But the energy from earlier in the day, at least on the outside, had vanished. Instead, we are left with the lights of people’s rooms to remind us of life on the South 40. – Benjamin Simon, Senior Scene Editor
In the dorms I expected more intensity, to be honest. By the number of people that showed up (and showed up loudly) for
the debacles that were the presidential debates, the election watch parties seemed low-key by comparison. Each floor’s common room had people, but everyone was quiet, watching, waiting. I’m sitting with a few friends as I write this—all huddled around a few computers. Earlier in the evening, around 7 p.m., we were more jovial, making predictions about North Carolina and Ohio, hopping between CNN, MSNBC and even occasionally FOX News (before boos drowned out the talking heads). The third floor had a projector, cake and PJs, and the first floor had a group of very quiet students, mostly working on computers with the election on more as background noise. By 10:30 p.m., state swings corresponded with mood swings. Ice cream breaks were taken. Walk-the-hallsand-try-not-to-panic breaks were taken (okay, fine, only by me). In one of those walks, I heard laughter and music coming from one suite and wondered what, exactly, there was to laugh at, all the while wishing I could find some much-needed levity. Back in the common room, the ice cream has rejuvenated everyone, and we were back to waiting, and watching and crossing our fingers. Electorate map predictions are being filled in and rearranged. Someone makes a stupid joke about Kamala Harris winning California for Biden. Laughter ensues. – Olivia Poolos, Contributing Writer
Behind the scenes of student campaigners before Election Day OLIVIA POOLOS CONTRIBUTING WRITER With all eyes turned to the presidential election, stress levels on the Washington University campus are high. Behind the scenes, however, are students and alums working overtime on campaigns, frantically pushing through the last week before ballots start to roll in. From the class of 2019 to class of 2025, these three former and current Wash. U. students are impassioned, hyper focused and often sleep-deprived. Until Nov. 4, they will strive to keep up their drive and hold on to their sanity, all the while wholeheartedly believing in their different candidates and causes.
Balancing school and the election Every morning, sophomore Emma Singh wakes up at 5 a.m, what she calls an “ungodly hour,” to the soothing sound of National Public Radio and the gentle glow of her natural light alarm clock. Then she gets to work. Though she lives in St. Louis, Singh is working for the Texas Democratic Party, which covers all races in the state, including, of course, Joe Biden’s campaign for the presidency. She works in analytics, where her job involves a project gathering data on campaign finances and assisting with fundraising, money disbursement and volunteer engagement. If that seems like a lot, that’s because it is —and Singh’s schedule pays the price. She’ll do schoolwork from 5:30 to 8:30 a.m., then grind through campaign-related work,
emails, calls or meetings, until four or five in the afternoon, then switch back to classwork until 9 p.m. or so. “Right now I’m struggling to remember the last free weekend I had —I think it was before school started,” she said. Even throughout the exhaustion, Singh is fully committed to her job. Stretching herself to the limit isn’t new for her either. Singh acquired her first political job in eighth grade, when she interned for congressman Bill Pascrell —a position normally reserved for high school juniors. “I kind of just had a lot of balls,” she said. “They kept telling me I was too young. So I would email them a lot, to the point where it could be considered harassment.” Her persistence paid off and after an interview, Singh became the youngest intern the office had ever employed. That job snowballed into a laundry list of others, including advocating for Medicaid expansion in Missouri and working for the National Women’s Law Center, the ACLU and countless nonprofits and campaigns. Her first job is also where Singh developed a practice that she still uses today. “I apply for all the things I’m unqualified for, I show up to all the things I’m unqualified for,” she said. From a young age, Singh knew that opportunities weren’t going to be handed to her, and instead, that she would need to get her foot in the door by herself. “The ability for me to want to get in the door and be curious, and advocate for myself and my skill sets and my intelligence was probably
the greatest thing I could have done for myself,” she said. As a self-described “recovering perfectionist,” she’s allowing herself “a little bit of grace,” she said. “This is what I want to do, so I’m doing it and I’m really proud of myself for doing it.” At the end of the day around 9 p.m., Singh pauses for a few moments of relaxation. She’s a fan of TikTok (she’s on hippie/granola or ‘Christian girl autumn’ TikTok), journaling and reading. She’ll shower, talk with a friend on the phone and then set her natural-light alarm to do it all over again the next morning.
‘The off years are for self-care’ It’s just before 8 a.m. and Drew McPike is probably on the road driving the 50 minutes from his small Missouri town to Axiom Strategies, a conservative think tank in Kansas City. He’s playing 1960’s vocal hits—Frank Sinatra, or maybe Billy Joel. It’s a brief moment of peace before a long, adrenaline-filled day of emails and reports, and McPike is enjoying it. “I like to drive, and my boss knows I’m in the car so I don’t have to respond [to email] immediately. At AxMedia we’re very on the ball,” said McPike, who graduated from Wash. U. in 2019. In the throes of election week, the energy at Axiom, which provides expert consulting and services for campaigns, is at an all-time high as they cram for countrywide elections soon coming to a head. McPike’s job in the media
branch is to quantify the amount of candidate advertisements and track how much is being spent in markets and what medium it’s being spent on. He recently became the “digital lead” due to a rearrangement in company staff. Since the work is so numbers-based, McPike finds that aside from attracting him to the company, personal political ideology doesn’t play a big part in his everyday schedule. “It’s not something where even if I had a disagreement with something going out, I would be in any position to change it,” he said. The lack of political negotiation, however, doesn’t bother McPike. “At the end of the day I’m working for the party, so I don’t bring my personal beliefs into it at all,” he said. McPike grew up in a conservative family, in a conservative town, and he accredits his environment to shaping his ideology. However, in his time at Wash. U, McPike acknowledges that his views shifted. “I think any time you’re challenged in the way you think, you come away with new beliefs. I was obviously challenged a lot, and I’m very thankful for that,” he said. In fact, McPike admits that he is now seen as the “family liberal” due to his slightly less traditional beliefs. “I like to identify myself as a Mitt Romney sort of Republican,” McPike said. It was the atmosphere on campus during the 2016 election, his freshman year at Wash. U., that encouraged him to pursue politics. Fast-forward four years, and McPike is again in the
midst of the federal election buzz, though this time, with a heavier load on his shoulders. McPike often works 8:30 a.m. through midnight, with a slight lull in the middle of the afternoon. Some days, however, are worse. “Mondays are really bad. It would be like 9:30 p.m., and I would be drinking coffee,” he said. “Last Monday I sent my last email at 2 a.m., and couldn’t fall asleep until like 3:30 because I was absolutely wired.” Email, the company’s main form of communication, indicates how busy a night will be for McPike. Halfway through a 30 minute interview, McPike stops mid-sentence, his attention snapped up by a new notification. “Hang on, sorry, this one is urgent,” he said. A few moments of frantic typing, and the report is sent off, crisis averted. “It’s become where I’m a little robotic about it. Sometimes I’ll send the email and not even realize I just sent something,” McPike said. Despite the long night ahead and the longer ones looming in the future, McPike likes his work. Rest, he explains, is for after the elections. “The off years are for selfcare,” McPike said.
One student. Three campaigns. Many graduating high school seniors take gap years, but it’s not often that one’s gap year coincides with both a pandemic and the United States Presidential election. But for Washington University class of 2025 Julia Borchers, the timing worked out just right. Borchers had always
kept the possibility of working for a Democratic national campaign in the back of her mind, and the uncertainty that surrounded her freshman year due to COVID-19 gave her the final push to defer. “I wanted to have as much of an impact as possible, this was definitely the most important campaign I might ever see,” Borchers said. “I didn’t want to miss that opportunity.” Borchers lives in California, but she is working as a fellow for the Biden campaign in Michigan. Far from focusing only on the presidential candidates, she is also an intern for Congressman Eric Swalwell and a staff member for a local California mayoral candidate, Jerry Pentin. Borchers’ political inclinations started in early high school, after President Donald Trump was elected in 2016. “I [felt like] since I couldn’t vote I couldn’t do anything, and so I wanted to change that and feel like I was doing something substantial,” she said. Far from being idle, Borchers works a full 40-hour work week, bouncing between training volunteers, calling, phone banking and organizing fundraisers. Despite her exhausting schedule, Borchers’ energy is palpable through the Zoom screen, waving her hands as she describes her emotional state leading up to Election Day. “Having a personal stake in all of it is extra stressful,” she said. “Hillary Clinton lost Michigan by two votes per precinct, and so having that tiny of a margin that we’re working with is terrifying.”
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DORIAN DEBOSE & JOSH SHAPIRO | SENIOR SPORTS EDITORS | SPORTS@STUDLIFE.COM
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020
With vote pledge competition and other initiatives, student-athletes work to increase voter turnout CLARA RICHARDS STAFF REPORTER In anticipation of Election Day, the push for a higher voter turnout was pervasive throughout campus. Residential Life hosted sessions on Zoom to help students ask questions they have about registering to vote, and the Gephardt Institute brought notaries to campus to make sure that students have the resources they need
to mail any absentee ballots. This push has extended to the Washington University athletic department. A few new initiatives in place showed an increased push for civic engagement by Washington University student-athletes. This year, WashU Votes collaborated with the Athletic Department and the StudentAthlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) to run a series of initiatives to help student-athletes engage with the election.
GRACE BRUTON | STUDENT LIFE
Gephardt Institute workers stand outside the Athletic Complex voting site in 2018. WashU Vote partnered with the athletic department this cycle to boost student-athlete engagement in the election.
Each team had a student representative who relays information from the WashU Votes to the individual team members in an effort to keep voting information accessible to all student-athletes. These student reps and other student-led initiatives have been crucial for keeping studentathletes engaged. “Conversations amongst my teammates and other student-athletes are probably more effective just because we’re mostly on the same page with stuff,” said senior Kirby Knapp, a member of the SAAC executive committee and the Wash. U. volleyball team. “It’s easier to talk to teammates in some cases than older adults.” In addition, the SAAC initiated an athletics-wide team competition for voting—the team with the highest proportion of voters wins. They asked that athletes fill out a pledge to vote. “It just shows school pride—team pride—in being able to share your vote
and use your voice to make changes,” Knapp said. The competition was run through a website, allintovote.org, that has students sign their name to internally hold them accountable. “Obviously we can’t control [who votes]. But by taking the pledge, the hope is that people will follow through and hold themselves accountable, and make a plan to vote and stick to it,” said senior Tim Tague, co-president of SAAC and a member of the Bears’ football and baseball teams. After students take the pledge, they will submit a screenshot to the organizer and there will be a tally of which team has the highest percentage of team members who have completed the pledge. However, the athletic department’s efforts extend past a voting pledge. Some teams canceled training on Tuesday to allow their students to vote in person. Additionally, for the 24 hours before and 48 hours after
the election, anyone in the athletic department is completely available to talk to the students through a program called 2448. “Before the election and the results after the election can impact people in a lot of different ways, mentally and emotionally,” Tague said. “So they have doors and phones and emails wide open to talk with student-athletes [who] need help,” Tague said. Besides raising voter turnout, the voting push has also fostered a sense of community in a time where many events have been canceled. “We haven’t been able to practice or play games as much as we normally would. So I think we’ve really done a good job of switching gears and focusing on things that we can do off the field. And this was one of the things that I was really passionate about,” said senior Katy Mockett, a member of SAAC’s executive board and a back on the women’s soccer team.
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Mockett has gone one step further, having teammates promote information from WashU Votes and volunteering at the polls. “Finding ways to make sure that we’re all still connecting and being able to move forward in whatever our goals are has been one of our main priorities,” she said. “One of those goals is, for me and for a lot of other student-athletes, is to make sure that we have a good voter turnout here at Wash. U.”
Electionrelated Matt’s Musings online bit.ly/Matts Musings2020
BY JOSH SHAPIRO SENIOR SPORTS EDITOR
Andrew Whitaker on making the most of his final year Senior Andrew Whitaker isn’t your average college student. On top of his biomedical engineering coursework, Whitaker competes for two different Washington University sports teams: football and track and field. While some football seniors have already chosen to take advantage of an extra year of eligibility next year, Whitaker has not yet decided what next year will look like. In the meantime, he’s working to prepare his two teams for whatever competition might look like this year. Student Life called Whitaker to discuss the two seasons, dealing with uncertain timelines during the pandemic and what life has been like over the last few months for the Wash. U. senior. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
STUDENT LIFE: What has this season been like, without being able to compete with other schools on the field?
ANDREW WHITAKER: I feel like it’s kind of been like
an extended offseason. We’ve been able to start track season early, and for football, practices have been going pretty well. We’re not able to have contact and we’re wearing masks the whole time, so we’re staying safe. But you have to maintain within yourself, so you have to build that team camaraderie, you still have to know that you will compete eventually, so you have to keep growing, keep building and keep your goals and focus.
SL: What do those practices look like right now? You said they’re non-contact. Are they lifting? What’s the sort of protocol? AW: So, half the practice is lifting. We lift with our sports performance trainer, TO [Terry O’Neill], and then the other half [of practice] is individual drills within your position group. So I’m a defensive back. I do DB drills and then we’ll do a team period for defense where we basically just spread out and walk through different coverages and defenses and
we’ll do a little bit of running at the end.
SL: What’s it like being a senior, your last year, during all of that?
AW: I kinda feel old, especially when you start looking at the freshmen and their baby faces and their inexperience, but it’s cool. I’m glad I’m a senior with a new coach, Coach [Aaron] Keen. I think it’s really good to give him a great transition onto the team. We’ve started to implement some new things with him here, such as bringing in a sports psychologist. Once a week we bring in a sports psychologist and get everyone’s minds right, that really helps. And especially now, with all of the stress that’s going on from different arenas, it’s a perfect time—it could really help. It’s strange. It’s not how I had hoped my senior season would look like, but you take what you can in stride and you just keep on moving.
SL: What have you been doing
exercise leadership?
AW: I think one of the things is stressing to everyone that everyone else is working out now, too. Everyone else is doing the exact same thing we’re doing, they may even be able to have contact and stuff. It’s not enough that you just show up, you have to focus on your details. Every drill still matters, every lift, every rep, everything still matters. And you have to give it your all. We are a very competitive school and we’re not here to lose. Even if I don’t get to play, we’re not here to lose. I want to leave the program in the best shape possible and that’s not just on the field. You work on the details off the field, you work on film, you stress the importance of techniques and then you build team camaraderie like that. Having dinners with teammates and stuff still shouldn’t end because at the end of the day, you are playing for each other and you need to get to know each other to be able to play for each other.
to make the most of it and
CURRAN NEENAN | STUDENT LIFE
Wash. U. defensive back Andrew Whitaker (48) scans the field before a snap against North Central College last fall. A senior, Whitaker has worked this fall to keep his two teams--football and track and field-ready for anything the Bears are allowed to engage in this year.
it would be nothing too hard that I couldn’t do. There’s a lot of other football-track guys in that same position.
SL: Do you have a new, pandemic-inspired hobby?
AW: I’ve picked up quite a few hobbies, actually. I’m not one to watch a lot of TV or movies, unless I’m watching with people. So I like to find creative stuff to do. A few of my quarantine skills, as I like to call them. I am a barber now. If you need a fresh cut Josh, hit me up, I got you.
SL: What’s it like being on two
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different teams at once? There’s the potential that track has a season and you’d have to do both sports at the same time.
AW: Yeah, that goes back to your timeline question. I lowkey wish that I just knew. If the football season is canceled, it’s canceled, and I just wish I knew that, so that I could really focus on track and really focus on [that] team. Not that I wouldn’t be at football stuff, but they’re just two different shapes: football, you’re building muscle mass, you’re getting stronger, your upper body is more important. And then track is just speed, speed, speed, and you’ve got to to work on your lower body. It’s a lot of taking care of your body because track season lasts so long, usually. So it will be interesting, if that does happen, for whatever reason, we do have a track season, and maybe we do have a few games of football. It will put me in a precarious situation for sure. But I’m practicing twice a day now, so
SL: I could probably use one soon, actually. AW: I’ll give you a nice fade. I’ve learned to cook. I can cook some pretty good dishes, like tikka masala and some really good grilled salmon, some Puerto Rican chicken, so a spectrum of dishes. I started a little bit of wood carving. I made a clock, that was cool. Just some random, weird skills.
I know politics are draining, especially now with the news cycle going on. But I think people need to be educated and informed to make informed decisions. Because at the end of the day, [elected officials] really do affect our lives. And they affect a lot of other people’s lives who could really use some help, especially now… With everything going on with Black Lives Matter, I feel like some of it is kind of draining. I feel like that has definitely been the hardest part of my summer and now. Just seeing people that look like me getting shot in the streets by cops is emotionally horrible. I’m going to be out of this Wash. U. bubble next year, and then I’m going to have more interactions with police. And it’s just hard to think that any day I could just get pulled over and shot and killed and become a hashtag.
SL: Wow, that sounds like a lot.
SL: How have the teams been banding together during all of this, like have people been attending protests? Has there been action on behalf of the football or track teams?
AW: Yeah, another thing I’ve been involved with outside of hobbies is getting people to vote. I’ve been really passionate about getting people to register as poll workers. I’m a poll worker, and I’ve got a lot of football players to also become poll workers. [Football player junior] Tennyson Holmes has been working with Student Union to get that going. I think everybody being more involved with the democratic process is always a great thing. I think people need to be more aware.
AW: Yeah, we’ve done lots of discussions through both teams. As a track team, we watched the “13th” documentary. We have open discussions with people speaking about their experiences. Tomorrow, the track team is speaking with one of the police chiefs in St. Louis. He used to play football at Wash. U., so we’re talking to him and seeing what his input on the situation is. It’s going to be an interesting conversation and I’ve got some hot topic questions for him.
FORUM KYA VAUGHN | SENIOR FORUM EDITOR | FORUM@STUDLIFE.COM
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020
STUDENT LIFE 7
STAFF EDITORIAL
This is hard, but we can get through it
W
e are college students in the middle of midterms, a pandemic and a presidential election. There is so much that is uncertain and with such uncertainty, stress can follow close behind. This election season, it’s important to protect yourself and your mental health. Here, the members of the Student Life Editorial Board share their methods of grounding themselves and finding some peace in uncertainty.
Meditation and mindfulness actually work My stress and anxiety in 2020 have been at an all-time high, and the election hasn’t made that any better; I struggled trying to ground myself into a space or a moment. I downloaded Headspace—a mindfulness and meditation app—on a whim, and it was the best decision I’ve made this year. Normally it costs $69.99 for a year subscription, but as a
student, you can get a year's subscription for only $9.99. Their courses have helped me sleep better and advance techniques that help calm me in stressful moments, or simply in everyday life. -Kya Vaughn, Managing Editor
Find something tactile to focus on I started running a few years ago, not because I had any real passion for the athleticism of it, but because I wanted to have something simple that I could focus my attention on entirely. While smaller activities like this might feel meaningless, making time to take a break from the acute stress of anything offers me some perspective that really does help. If the notion of running in this fall and winter season is less than savory, there are so many other activities that require the same amount of focus, it’s just a matter of finding one that works for you. -Emma Baker, Editor in Chief
Take a media break The literal first thing I did this morning before getting out of bed was to pick up my phone and type in “2020 election.” Five times. In the span of 15 minutes. I’m here for staying engaged and informed, but not at the expense of mental health. So take a break from the media— this election isn’t going anywhere soon, so make sure to take care of yourself and try to mitigate the stress of this ongoing election. Trust me, a break from the screen will do you some good. -Christine Watridge, Multimedia Editor
If you can't take a media break, at least abandon Twitter
Walk/drive and listen to music
If you find yourself unable to escape from the allure of your screens, you may as well try to make the most of them. Doomscrolling on Twitter is always tempting, but there are ways of getting information about the election that are both more accurate and less soul-draining. Sure, there may be hot takes galore and memes that were a lot funnier on Monday than they are now, but the bird app will still be there whenever you decide to return. - Matthew Friedman, Associate Editor
Do you want to wallow in uncertainty and despair? Put on Modest Mouse and vanish into a lonely street for a while. Do you want to start manifesting joy into your life? I don't have any recommendations, but good luck to you. -Dorian DeBose, Senior Sports Editor.
The election is stressful. This might be the most stressed I have ever been. But do you know what doesn’t stress me out? John Mulaney’s “Kid Gorgeous at Radio City.” Pick a comfort movie, any comfort
Watch a movie
movie—something that makes you feel calm, something you’ve seen so many times you can practically recite it—and just ignore the world for two hours. -Isabella Neubauer, Senior Cadenza Editor and Copy Chief
Donate to Mutual Aid Funds We all know how stressful the election can be, and the large scale of it can easily make anyone feel helpless. To combat this helplessness while also benefiting your community, donate to Mutual Aid Funds! They’re a great way to actively improve the material conditions of those around you, and they’re much more immediate than future policies the next president will enact. -JJ Coley, Copy Chief
Treat yo’self Whatever that means to you. For me, that means my roommate and I eating caramel corn and playing
video games as we watched the returns. If you feel exhausted, that’s normal. Take the time to do something that makes you happy and don’t feel bad about it. A night of homework can wait. - Benjamin Simon, Senior Scene Editor
Have a good cry I know what you’re thinking: ‘Why am I going to cry if the election goes the way I want it to,’ or ‘I’ll already be crying,’ and I understand. But crying can be cathartic. This election season has been heavy to say the least, and a lot of tensions have been swirling around our country. It’s normal to be stressed and feel like the weight of the world is pressing down on you; it can be hard pretending that you have everything together. Well, this is me granting you permission to let loose and ugly cry. -Sabrina Spence, Senior Cadenza Editor
Why did I have class Tuesday? JAMILA DAWKINS FORUM EDITOR
S
ee you all next week, on Election Day!” Exhausted from being on Zoom all day and ready to take a long nap, initially, I hardly even registered the words as I moved my mouse to exit the Zoom meeting. But even as I closed my laptop and unplugged for the day, the words stuck with me. As we near voting day, talk of the election has become borderline deafening, and for good reason—there’s a lot on the line. Lately, every day that I spend on campus has been filled with predictions, prayers, and all around trepidation surrounding
Nov. 3. We are worried. We are scared. We are trying to be optimistic in the face of overwhelming pessimism. For those of us who are most vulnerable to the policies and whims of President Trump and his cabinet, we are watching the nation decide our future. For those of us who have been mobilizing for voter turnout and against voter suppression, we are anxious to see if our efforts have paid off. For those of us who have seen America fail time and time again to stand up for the voices that matter, we are waiting to see if we’ll be let down yet again. Sitting there staring at my closed laptop, I thought about how drained I was simply from attending class
and completing my work. Then, I thought about the fact that less than a week from that day, I’d be feeling the same amount of exhaustion, only with the added stress of being a part of one of the most important elections of my lifetime. So I ask, earnestly: Why do I have class tomorrow? Why aren’t more professors prioritizing the mental health and accessibility to voting of their students? As an absentee voter from a state that accepts ballots postmarked by November 3rd, I can at least rest (somewhat) assured that my ballot will be counted. But for those who are anticipating long lines at the polls, or are anxious as to whether their ballot will arrive on
time, the logistics of voting this year are one more thing to worry about in an election and national climate that already offers a physical and mental toll. To be fair, some professors are making an effort to reach out. Some have checked in with their students about their concerns around voting, or made their classes asynchronous for voting day; others have made attendance optional or canceled class altogether. But there are also professors who are holding midterms on Voting Day, and still others who haven’t discussed it with their students at all. Regardless of the outcome of this election, the country will be in turmoil. I am asking professors to
acknowledge that their students are not somehow separate from the rest of the country in experiencing the tumult of a country that is figuratively (and literally) on fire. If you support each student’s right to cast a ballot—if you place priority on the mental health of your most vulnerable students— then it shouldn’t be novel to have the conversation with your students about what they need this week. The last time Trump was on the presidential ballot, I was a sophomore in high school and three years too young to vote. I had class at 8 a.m. the morning after he won. I didn’t take any notes. I didn’t do any homework. When I think back on that day, I don’t
remember a single thing I learned in class. What I do remember are the things my friends and family said to me. I remember the people I hugged, the people I ranted to, the people I offered an ear to. I remember feeling scared, and I remember the people who made me feel safe. To students, this week, prioritize yourself. You’ve already made a voting plan—this week, make a self care plan for Election Day and the hard days that will inevitably follow. Find things to look forward to, no matter how small they may be. If you aren’t in the space to attend class and you can afford to skip, do so. Put your health first, even if your professors won’t.
You’re not being tyrannized, just dramatic KYA VAUGHN MANAGING EDITOR
I
recently saw a TikTok video of an unnamed woman who was prohibited from entering a store due to her lack of a mask. The woman even went as far as to call 911, claiming that as per the 1964 Civil Right Act, she was being discriminated against. To date, the COVID-19 pandemic has claimed 231,665 American lives, 1,208,654 globally. Over one million people have died as the result of this pandemic. Yet despite the astounding death toll, despite the many people who now have an empty seat at their
dinner tables, despite those who have lost their homes as the virus has made them financially unstable, there are still those like the woman in the TikTok video who abhor the thought of wearing a mask. Why? Because the mask is viewed as ‘tyranny.’ Read: that little piece of cloth that you could probably find at Walmart and only have to wear for some out of 24 hours in a day, is viewed as a symbol of the government trying to control us. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that mask mandates are equivalent to governmental oppression. Let’s say that masks are a big foot-in-the-door gesture to ultimate government
control. If that’s the case, the government is doing a terrible job, as the supposed tyranny is hardly recognizable. Currently, there are only 34 states that have statewide masks mandates, meaning that 16 states still do not have any formalized, statewide mask requirement. And for the states that do have statewide mandates, those mandates have caveats to them; a lot of these states only require wearing masks in public places when social distancing isn’t feasible or in public, indoor spaces. Essentially, even in the states where statewide mask mandates are in place, citizens only have to wear a mask under certain circumstances.
Editor-in-Chief: Emma Baker Associate Editor: Matthew Friedman Managing Editors: Jayla Butler, Kya Vaughn
haven’t seen is anyone coming around and fining or scolding people for their lack of a face covering. In fact, a lot of law enforcement officers have vocally declared that they will not enforce mask mandates. So, to clarify: a decent amount of states do not currently have statewide mandates. For the states that do, people are ignoring the government mask mandates. In the event that people ignore the mask mandates, the government isn’t really doing anything to enforce them. Yep, sounds like tyranny to me. What this all boils down to is really simple: the government isn’t coming for your rights, at least not through mask mandates.
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In the states without a statewide mandate, a lot of the decisions surrounding masks have been left up to respective counties. Some of these counties have put mask mandates into effect, while others have done nothing. For example, St. Charles County—one of the neighboring counties of St. Louis County—hasn’t created a mask mandate. St. Charles county officials have made light suggestions that people should wear masks, but nothing more. Meanwhile, St. Louis County has had a mask mandate in place for months, but how much is it really even being enforced? I’ve seen people publicly wander around St. Louis without masks. What I
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And to claim that mask mandates are tyrannical, despite not even being enforced by the same government that’s imposing the said “tyranny,” invalidates the argument of mask oppression. As someone who wears a mask whenever they leave home, I get it. They’re annoying to wear, frustrating to keep up with at times, and overall something that we’re just not used to. But they can help slow the spread of a virus that currently has nothing else to stop it. These words shouldn’t have to be uttered yet again. But please, if you care not for your own safety, at least care for the safety of others. Wear a mask.
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8 STUDENT LIFE
CADENZA ISABELLA NEUBAUER & SABRINA SPENCE | SENIOR CADENZA EDITORS | CADENZA@STUDLIFE.COM
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020
Cast N’ Crew finds way to show off student talent through virtual showcase SABRINA SPENCE SENIOR CADENZA EDITOR On Friday, Oct. 30, Cast N’ Crew premiered their 2020 Fall Showcase via livestream on YouTube. The showcase consisted of three short group scenes and two musical performances, with the whole event lasting roughly 35 minutes. Between performances, the Cast N’ Crew logo was adorned with graphics and gifs, providing audience members with a brief, colorful scene transition. Before the show began, Cast N’ Crew President senior Jonny Bangser asked the audience to use the chat function in place of applause to express their enjoyment. The first group scene, “El Taco Feo Lives!” was directed by junior JJ Coley and performed by sophomore Emmet Klein, junior Brylie Noe and freshman Max Juhas. The scene is an excerpt from the play “My William Shatner Man Crush,” a comedy about three roommates and the girl who has a crush on one of them. The scene itself, focused on Randy (Klein) and his job search, wearing a wrestling mask
and shouting “El Taco Feo Lives” before taking his first steps outside in who knows how long. Next in the performance line up was “Potatoes and Molasses” from “Over the Garden Wall,” a T.V. miniseries that premiered on Cartoon Network in 2014. Sung in a shower by juniors Emma LavetterKeidan and Henry Vettel, “Potatoes and Molasses” was originally sung by Blasting Company. Lavetter-Keidan played the keyboard with one hand while simultaneously acting as percussionist by hitting a pot with a spatula, while Vettel played guitar. After their rousing and comedic musical display, LavetterKeidan and Vettel dove into a short scene, claiming that their musical performance was simply “an exercise” that Cast N’ Crew could cut out, with the scene being the real act. Real or fake acts aside, the showcase continued to provide humor and comradery despite the unusual circumstances. The next act was a short play titled “Death Takes the Train” by D.M. Larson, directed by freshman Barrett Wagner and performed by freshman
Brandy Farmer, junior Meredith Levin and senior Lauren Kang. Death, in a skeleton mask and robe, takes the train to meet with a client. The three passengers, (Farmer, Levin and Kang) theorize why Death would take the train, throwing out ideas like environmental awareness and the restoration of the natural order of things. What starts as something amusing turns more serious as Dakota and Tina—Farmer and Kang, respectively—get off the train followed by Death. Are they his next victims? Their fate remained uncertain as the screen faded to black to transition to the next act, “Secondary Characters” from the musical “[title of show],” sung by Levin and sophomore Brenna Jones. Their split-screen duet captured the emotions of a secondary character taking the opportunity to bask in the spotlight while the leads are offstage. Jones and Levin harmonized to the sounds of an upbeat piano, getting a little carried away as Jones adlibbed in parts of the classic rock song “Dream On” by Aerosmith.
GRACE BRUTON | STUDENT LIFE
Cast N’ Crew performers act, dance and sing in their fall 2019 musical,”All Shook Up.” This year, the group’s fall showcase highlighted theater talent through virtual group scenes and musical performances.
“Porcelain and Pink,” a scene by F. Scott Fitzgerald, directed by sophomore Cecelia Anderson, closed out the evening. Junior Stephanie Berger (Julie) opened the scene singing in her bathtub—a recurring theme for the evening—as freshman Peri Glick, who played her sister Lois, stumbled upon her impromptu concert. The short one-act by
Fitzgerald is from a larger collection of short stories. Lois, needing the bathroom to get ready for her date with The Young Man (freshman Peter Michalski) gives Julie ten minutes to finish up. However, in that ten minutes, Lois’ date arrives and mistakes Julie for his evening’s company. Romance and laughs peppered by a slight fainting spell abound from the
bathroom in this scene of love and mistaken identity. Traditionally, Cast N’ Crew would have held a performance in the Village Black Box, but unprecedented times call for unprecedented, hilarious measures. Their Fall 2020 Showcase was a success, showcasing student talent and fortitude when performances are few and far between.
Let Him Go: Dark crime, drama and a hint of poignance ALICE NGUYEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER Based on a novel of the same name by Larry Watson, “Let Him Go” tells the story of Margaret (Diane Lane) and George Blackledge (Kevin Costner), a married couple on a quest to retrieve their grandson from the clutches of a cultish family clan, the Weboys. Set in the picturesque American west, “Let Him Go” is as charming as it is grisly: viewers are lured in by the romantic landscape and wistful
music, only to be met with brutal violence and bloody crimes committed in the name of family loyalty. With elements of horror and melodrama, “Let Him Go” is a gripping thriller and blood-curdler more than a tearjerker, although at times it attempts to become one. After the death of James Blackledge (Ryan Bruce), George and Margaret’s only son, his wife Lorna (Kayli Carter) marries Donnie Weboy (Will Brittain), moving with him to North Dakota to live
with his family, bringing James’ son with her. The Weboy family is notorious for their violent crimes and disregard for the law. Concerned about their grandson’s safety, George and Margaret head to North Dakotas in hopes of bringing the boy back. Their civil request meets fierce resistance, which quickly escalates into a bloody face-off. Lane and Costner deliver stellar performances as George and Margaret. Desperate to keep the memory of their son James
alive, the couple constantly make decisions that put themselves in danger, in a manner that straddles the line between heroic and reckless. Margaret, in particular, is headstrong to a fault and naïvely optimistic––a combination for catastrophe. And yet, it is perhaps this precise mix of reckless wife and loving, retired sheriff who should know better that makes this story possible. George and Margaret’s journey starts off a bit slow, but once the story gets going it is sure to shock and
intrigue. The couple’s relationship also carries the emotional weight of the story, which unfortunately feels underdeveloped and outshined by all the drama. The legendary Weboy family appears more like caricatures of thugs than real thugs. Ruled over by matriarch Blanche Weboy, the Weboy boys are little more than her puppets. They are the definition of mama’s boys, which is partly why I found them so laughable. The extent of their violence, however, is no joking matter. It is eerie
and perhaps sobering to see this group of simpletons, downright boring white men who could be anyone, commit terrible crimes for no reason. But as villains the Weboys could do as well as any other. In theatres November 6, “Let Him Go” is a dark crime thriller with notes of poignancy. Although the success of the film may depend on the audience’s expectations, it is sure to distract us from the drama of our current political reality.
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