The Observer, Volume LV, Issue 13, 12/01/23

Life: “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is easily the worst of film franchise (pg. 4)

The Case Western Reserve

Observer

Friday, December 1, 2023 Volume LV, Issue 13 Est. 1969

SPORTS

Men’s basketball defeats La Roche, Denison to earn 4-game win streak Paola Van der Linden Costello Staff Writer Spartan fans were excited to see the Case Western Reserve University men’s basketball team back on the court for a new season. After hosting and winning the Bill Sudeck Tournament, they traveled to La Roche University and Denison University remaining undefeated on the season with two wins and improving to 4-0 overall.

This also extends their non-conference win streak to 24 consecutive contests.

These wins have placed them ninth in the D3hoops.com Top 25 through the games of Nov. 26. Their performance also awarded graduate student guard Anthony Mazzeo to be awarded the UAA Athlete of the Week.

In their game against LaRoche on Nov. 15, the Spartans took the lead after two consecutive 3-pointers, one from graduate guard Richie Manigault and another by Mazzeo with 17:25 left on the clock for the first half. They maintained the lead for the rest of the game. Overall, the team shot 38.4% from the field goal range, 35.5% from the 3-point line and 78.6% from the free throw. Mazzeo led the game scoring 29 points and had 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Third-year guard Sam Trunley notched his first double-double of the season and his collegiate career, adding 15 points and 11 rebounds. Manigault also added 10 points. With consistent shots and excellent ball movement, the Spartans dominated the Redhawks on the court, obtaining their largest lead of the night of 23 points after second-year forward Aaron Rucker added a layup.

The game ended with a missed jumper from La Roche with six seconds left that gave the Spartans a win of 78-58.

After securing a win in Pittsburgh, the Spartans traveled to Granville, Ohio to face Denison University on Nov. 18.

The game against Denison was a nailbiter that went into overtime. There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties. The game started with a jumper made by fourth-year guard Luke Thorburn, a play that was quickly reciprocated by a 3-pointer by Deninson. The Spartans quickly responded with a layup from graduate student forward Colin Kahl and a 3-point shot by Mazzeo to give the Spartans a 4 point lead with 16:46 left on the clock in the first half.

Denison’s strong defense made it difficult for the Spartans to maintain a large lead. CWRU was only 4 points up at any given time during this first half, the last moment after a good dunk by Manigault with 5:51 left. However, Denison maintained their ground and managed to tie the score with 2:33 left in the game. A dunk followed by another good 3-pointer from Denison gave them the 34-31 lead at the end of the half. The Spartans only shot 23.08% (3-13) from the 3-point range in this first half, particularly low for a team that had averaged 35.97% in the first three games of their non-conference play. Additionally, Denison averaged 41.67% (5-12) during the first half.

The second half of this game was equally as exciting. 16 seconds into the clock, a good 3-pointer by Manigault

After leading the CWRU men’s basketball team to two wins against La Roche and Dension, graduate student guard Anthony Mazzeo was named UAA Athlete of the Week. Courtesy of Tim Phillis/CWRU Athletics tied the score at 34-34, but was quickly reciprocated by another 3-pointer by Denison’s Kellon Smith. However, Mazzeo managed to tie the game with another successful 3-pointer.

The Spartans finally obtained the first lead of the second half after two free throw shots by Thorburn, a lead that was shortly lived after a free throw by the opposing team tied the game once again. Still, CWRU’s team did not lose their stamina and they managed to take the lead after a layup by Kahl with 15:33 left in the game. The Spartans obtained their largest lead of the night after completing 4 free throws and another layup by Kahl, putting them up by 6 with 12:27 left in the lock.

Denison did not give up and they tied the game with 10:33 left and obtained a 3-point lead shortly after. No team maintained the lead for a long period of time, but with 4:09 left in the game, a good layup by the opposing team left the Spartans down for the rest of the time in the second half.

With 41 seconds left in the game, two free throws by Denison player Ricky Radtke had the Spartans down by three points.

However, a successful layup by Mazzeo and a foul allowed the team to gain three points to tie the game with 28 seconds left and place this game into overtime. The team improved their 3-point average to 27.27% (3-11) in the second half and shot 45.45% (10-22) from the field goal range, compared to Deninson’s 33.33% (3-9) and 46.15% (12-26), respectively.

Although we saw this game have several lead changes and solid game play from both sides, the Spartans took the lead with a layup by Trunley and maintained this lead until the end of the overtime period. Trunley added 1 more point, Mazzeo added 5 and Manigault 2, ending the game at 80-74 giving the Spartans an exhilarating win. Mazzeo led all players with 25 points and added 3 rebounds and 1 assist. Manigault added 17 points and

6 rebounds and Kahl added 16 points and 7 rebounds. Thorburn and Trunley also added 8 points each. The team shot 47.3% from the field goal range, 24% from the 3-point line and 73.3% from the free throw.

The Spartans will be facing Kalamazoo College in the Horsburgh Gymnasium on Dec. 2 at 3 p.m. Historically, the Spartans have won the last two games against Kalamazoo, winning by 35 points the previous season.

NEWS

A spin cycle of emotions: Students express challenges using on-campus laundry facilities Zachary Treseler News Editor Starting in 2010, Case Western Reserve University has provided laundry rooms to students free of charge.

However, these machines are frequently subject to malfunction and interoperability for weeks on end, leaving students not only disappointed, but stuck with a pile of unwashed clothes.

Among UAA universities, CWRU is rather unique for offering free laundry; Emory University is the only other one to do so. Carnegie Mellon University has a similar one-time payment that they require all students to purchase if they live in a residence hall with laundry facilities.

“Laundry maintenance has been a long-standing issue at Case Western Reserve University,” Nandita Patil, vice president of residential services, and Patrick Wang, executive president of CWRU’s Residence Hall Asso-

ciation, said in a joint email.

In the beginning of November, the university told The Observer that “18 of the 245 machines need to be serviced or are waiting for parts.” However, this number is likely far greater.

After visiting multiple laundry rooms in first-year and upperclassman residence halls, we found 18 of 165 machines out-of-order.

LaundryView leads us to believe the situation is even more bleak. The application claims that out of firstyear, second-year and upperclassman housing, 87 machines are out-of-order as of Nov. 26.

While LaundryView has shown some discrepancies to the university’s estimations, it’s important to note that it’s not very accurate either.

Sherman and Raymond residence halls displayed no working machines, when examined, all of them appeared to be in operation.

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News

The Case Western Reserve Observer Friday, December 1, 2023 observer.case.edu Volume LV, Issue 13

Laundry from page 1

Just when you thought CWRU academics were challenging, trying to find a functional washing machine is even worse. Students across campus are met with “out of order” signs and visibly broken machines, leaving them with piles of unwashed clothes and unnecessarily added stress. Zachary Treseler/The Observer Still, the fact that the LaundryView sometimes displays incorrect information leads to frustration. Oftentimes, students recall memories from when the laundry machines were not working. One student recalled the time he had to call a friend to use their machines as “only one washer and one dryer [were] properly functioning in Hitchcock.” Likewise, another student in Michelson recounted a moment of frustration when none of

the hall’s machines were operational and nearby residence halls had just one or two functioning machines.

Most of the machines in laundry halls were manufactured in 2015, and 86 of the 87 broken machines we saw were manufactured that 2015.

This corresponds to when CWRU switched online laundry services providers from eSuds to LaundryView.

“We believe that this increase [in laundry-related maintenance issues]

is due to two factors: an influx of students living on-campus who may be new to using the machines and a failure of the external vendor to accommodate this rise in usage,” Patil and Wang said.

The external vendor, CSC ServiceWorks, is contracted by CWRU to perform maintenance operations on the laundry machines. This means when students fill out a maintenance request for a washer or dryer, CWRU Housing does not assign one of their mechanics to fix it, but instead forwards it to CSC, who sends their own mechanic and parts to CWRU. Patil and Wang emphasized that they are not blaming the students for the laundry intuition. “It should have been the vendor’s responsibility to both anticipate and address the issues in a timely manner by, for example, increasing the presence of maintenance technicians on campus for the first few weeks of the semester.”

CSC ServiceWorks and CSC ServiceWorks Academic Division, the branch which primarily deals with colleges, did not respond to requests for comment.

Adam Goodman, a fourth-year electrical engineering student, noted how one day in spring 2021 he reserved the email address “laundryappliances@case.edu” for an April Fools Day prank. He then created out-of-order signs and attached them to his building’s machines.

“Due to a combination of low building occupancy and the fact that April Fool’s was on an unpopular laundry day—Thursday—I was worried that

most people would not have been able to experience my trickery,” Goodman said. “I therefore did what any good CWRU students pissed off at admin would do—an Instagram rant about how admin never has its sh*t together, about how I pay $9,000/year for room and board but would have to do laundry in Wade Lagoon, and the rest of the works.”

Patil and Wang empathized with the struggle of doing laundry on campus: “When machines are inoperable, residents have to carry their laundry to neighboring buildings, wait until inconvenient times for working machines to free up, turn to external paid services for a necessary service their housing costs should already cover, or forgo clean laundry entirely for weeks before the machines are fixed.”

Patil and Wang mentioned some of the short-term fixes they have helped lead the charge on, including storing spare parts and machines physically on CWRU’s campus and increasing the number of laundry technicians on campus. These are changes that the university is also keen to champion.

Patil and Wang announced that in the summer, CWRU will begin the bidding process for a new laundry contract.

They said regarding the process of these negotiations, “We are currently in talks of having a student representative who has experience with laundry initiatives to be a part of the bid evaluation process, allowing for additional student involvement in the laundry experience at CWRU.”

SRV construction anticipated to finish in time for fall semester Milo Vetter Staff Writer For students living in the South Residential Village (SRV) at Case Western Reserve University, the two new dormitory buildings under construction next to Fribley Commons have been an ongoing curiosity. For over a year, passersby have been both fascinated by cranes hauling up steel beams and frustrated by inconvenient sidewalk detours.

CWRU hopes to complete construction on the two new dormitories—nicknamed the “Murray” and the “Hill”—in time for students to move in for the fall 2024 semester.

Currently, Independence Construction is focusing on enclosing the structures to allow for construction to progress through the winter.

With the building closer to the street being called “Murray” and the one closer to the hillside being called “Hill,” these names will likely not be permanent, according to Jeffrey Vavrek, a senior superintendent at Independence Construction and SRV dorms’ project manager.

“It’s just for the design team and construction team to delineate between the two structures … It’ll be news to everybody when Case decides to put final names on them,” Vavrek said.

As for the buildings themselves, Murray and Hill will be similar in style but subtly different from the existing SRV residence halls. Notably, the area will have significantly more land-

scaping as compared to the current pavement that connects the existing dorms at the bottom of the hill. The interior layouts of Murray and Hill are hallway-style, with double rooms and shared bathrooms.

The Murray building is especially remarkable for its features on the street-facing side; the corner of the building closest to Adelbert Road will have a glass multi-purpose room, similar to the one on the second floor of Fribley Commons. Murray’s facade will also be very intricate, with jagged and irregular edges that can already be seen in the existing structure facing Murray Hill Road.

To test the constructability of these details, Independence Construction built a temporary mockup of the facade, which is located just on the other side of the fence from Fribley’s hillside entrance. When asked about the mockup, Vavrek said, “We used [the mockup] for three different reasons: constructability, finish selection and performance testing … The mockup probably has one of the most complicated facade details I’ve ever seen on the Murray building.”

Because the site is surrounded by a fragile brick road, a hillside and a dining hall, the management team at Independence Construction has to make do with only one entrance and exit to the site.

This makes planning material storage and deliveries much more difficult. “We sometimes completely block off one section of the site,” Vavrek said.

“You have to think of it like painting a room. You want to work your way

Plans for the new South Residential Village residence halls include a glass multi-purpose room and an illustrious landscape, as seen in this rendering of the finished dormitory.

Courtesy of CWRU towards the door at all times, so that you don’t finish and realize that you’ve trapped yourself.” These troubles are compounded by the fact that Adelbert Road is far from quiet. Deliveries have to be planned to avoid times that most people drive to CWRU in the morning, and drivers have to be careful to avoid pedestrians walking to Case Quad from the SRV. Logistics have also been complicated by the significant underground work required for the project. Similar to other buildings at CWRU, the dorms won’t have their own heaters and chillers for heating and air conditioning. Instead, they will be heated and cooled by the central plant south of the UH Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital. Utilities are also shared be-

tween the two buildings, which are connected by an underground utility tunnel. This tunnel will only be accessible by maintenance staff.

Vavrek noted that the visibility of certain types of work can sometimes warp perceptions of the project.

“Sometimes, with construction, there’s a lot of site work and foundations, and you can’t really see it. So people say, ‘it’s been looking like this for a while. What are you guys doing?’” he said.

As the interiors of Murray and Hill become more closed off, progress will appear to slow down. However, rest assured that within those walls, a skillful team of tradespeople will be working just as hard as before in order to deliver the project on schedule.

News 3

observer.case.edu

Snowfall causes morning delay at CWRU Zachary Treseler News Editor On Nov. 28, Case Western Reserve University students woke up to an alert from CWRU safety informing them that, due to snowy weather, CWRU would be on a delayed schedule with in-person classes and nonessential employees not beginning operations until 9:45 a.m.

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a lake effect snow warning for Cuyahoga County on Nov. 28. The alert expired at the end of the day.

Sounding the alarm, the NWS warned residents that up to 16 inches of snow was to be expected at the start of the week. However, the actual snowfall, specifically in University Circle, was not that severe.

Many areas of Cuyahoga County experienced an amount of snow which ranged from 6.9 inches in Pepper Pike, to 0.1 inches at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Areas east of CWRU, such as Ashtabula County, experienced over 13 inches.

Government agencies from the NWS to the Ohio Department of Transportation advised commuters more time to get to their destina-

tions. Across Northeast Ohio’s various freeways, local media reported frequent slowdowns and car accidents.

In CWRU students’ recent memory, the last “snow day” came in January 2022, where heavy snowfall caused CWRU to close for one weekday and one day over the weekend.

In preparation for this week’s snow, the city of Cleveland recently created a snow plow map. Allebit with a 15 minute timer, it shows the live location of snow plows and when each of the roads have been cleared.

The city also declared snow parking rules in effect, making many street parking locations illegal.

In addition to CWRU, Cleveland State University had a delayed start at 12:30 p.m. Other nearby schools, such as John Carroll University and Baldwin Wallace University did not cancel or postpone classes, according to their social media accounts.

There were further shutdowns across Northeast Ohio. Cleveland Metropolitan School District closed due to the inclement weather. This is in addition to many of the surrounding school districts, who all closed due to the snowy weather. The Cleveland Public Library also closed. The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority did not publicly comment

on any disruption they faced.

Once the afternoon came, snow quickly stopped falling at CWRU and class schedules at the university returned to normal. With the excep-

tion of a few professors and students who did not make the commute to University Circle, much of the university’s day-to-day operations went on, albeit with 30 mph winds.

The inclement weather that contributed to Tuesday’s delayed start also caused campus walkways to be covered in ice and snow even after classes resumed. Zachary Treseler/The Observer

Life

The Case Western Reserve Observer Friday, December 1, 2023 observer.case.edu Volume LV, Issue 13

“The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is easily the worst of film franchise Kate Gordon Life Editor

I initially had high hopes for the latest installment of “The Hunger Games” film franchise, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.” Set 64 years before the first “Hunger Games” movie, the prequel details the rise of the original series’ villain, President Snow, during and after the 10th annual Hunger Games. Its premise seemed promising enough: Young Capitol University student Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) is forced into mentoring scrappy District 12 tribute Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), a girl whom no one expects to survive an hour in the arena. By playing to Lucy Gray’s strengths of singing and performing for a crowd, the two of them change the shape of the Games forever, turning them from a simple political punishment into a days-long spectacle.

The movie chose to explore some interesting themes, and the few moments where they do land right are when the film is at its best. The second of its three sections, which follows the Games themselves, is admittedly pretty solid. The tributes fight to the death in a primitive stone stadium leaps and bounds away from the expansive forest arena of the original “Hunger Games.”

The “Hunger Games” TV broadcast within the film had spotty camera coverage at best, with a tribute death even occurring off-camera. Seeing how the Games have evolved over the years and why some of its more frightening aspects were developed—including the sponsorship system for tributes and the interviews they undergo with the Games’ host—is thought-provoking and appropriately expands on the worldbuilding from the original trilogy.

Unfortunately, the rest of the movie falls flat for a couple of reasons. First off, its pacing is atrocious. The events

The prequel to the hit film franchise—serving as the backstory behind antagonist President Snow—was poorly paced and focused on fan service rather than character and plot development.

Courtesy of Lionsgate Films of the first and third parts of the movie fly by; both sections are far too rushed.

The third act’s pacing is especially bad, abruptly shifting in tone from the urgency of the Games to try and give Snow and Lucy Gray a romantic reunion in District 12. This entire section drags and worse, is hard to understand. The movie tries to keep Snow’s motivations open to interpretation, but this vagueness as he descends into villainy only confuses the viewer further.

I don’t want to spoil anything, but the event that truly seals Snow’s fate—and Lucy Gray’s—isn’t even definitively answered by the movie. I think that the ending would have been much more powerful if it was.

The second problem with “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is that it falls into the classic franchise prequel trap. Instead of focusing on telling a good story and developing its characters—neither Snow nor Lucy Gray nor

their relationship are well-developed in my opinion—the movie rather spends its time on inserting Easter eggs and callbacks to the original franchise. In one painfully obvious scene, Lucy Gray harvests some of the “swamp potato” that was the namesake of the protagonist of the previous movies, and remarks that it’s “too early” for Katniss.

The dialogue throughout the movie is often cheesy, with multiple snow-related puns, the worst of which is probably “Snow always lands on top.” Moments like these truly took me out of the action of the movie, making me forget about the awfulness of the Capitol and laugh at its ridiculousness instead.

The musical aspect of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” has a similar issue. The brutality and violence of the Games does not pair well with Lucy Gray’s frequent singing, which I could sometimes tolerate outside of the arena but never within. Not only does it seem

for a big expense or emergency. You should not go to them for travel costs or other repeatable expenses. If you have a concern, you can always reach out and ask, or submit a proposal.

USG: Undergraduate Student Government is the umbrella organization that oversees most clubs on campus, and the one with the largest allocation. However, their committee system can be confusing and has a lot of internal divisions.

They strive to represent all undergraduates on campus, as well as each college. They also make policies and work with campus administration to try and change things on campus while advocating for the student body. As they are the main liaison between students and administrators, if you ever have a problem, reach out and let them know your concern!

COC: Class Officer Collective focuses on campus traditions and class connections. They do not have any clubs that fall under them, but instead plan and run some of the biggest events at CWRU: Snow-

ball, Homecoming Tailgate and the Hudson Relays, to name a few. COC has specific cohorts for each class, with five positions that plan classspecific events as well as the larger events with the rest of the organization. When you graduate, your COC class president even makes a speech at graduation.

COC officers are the ones to receive pitch event ideas or a possible new tradition. They’re always looking for fresh ideas, volunteers and collaborations.

UPB: University Program Board plans numerous events each year. UPBingo, UPBroadway and Thwing Tuesdays are all popular UPB events. They are bigger than COC, and instead of focusing on traditional events like Homecoming and the Hudson Relays, they throw a wide variety of unique events including concerts, off-campus outings, Mario Kart tournaments, food tours, social dances and more. See how you can get involved with UPB’s planning or financial process—they

out-of-place and frivolous, it’s honestly just annoying. While Lucy Gray’s stage presence is important to the plot as it brings her valuable financial support from the Capitol, I could have done with a condensed soundtrack.

But the worst part of the failure of “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” is that, at least from my perspective as an outsider, its lackluster quality was more than preventable. One solution: simple editing. Cut out as many unnecessary scenes as possible to give more time to the rushed third act. Another financially riskier move would have been to split “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” into two parts. I’m usually all for a self-contained story, but in this case, I think that a second installment would have given the movie the time it needed to catch its breath and flesh out its main characters. Plus, the original book is a whopping 528 pages—that’s a tall order for a single film adaptation.

I didn’t get around to reading “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes,” but I’m sure that the movie already cut out a lot of plot points that we didn’t get to see.

With all said and done, though “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” disappointed me, I’m still glad I saw it. I loved “The Hunger Games” franchise growing up, so the movie was a nice opportunity for me to revisit something from my childhood. Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler are both talented actors in spite of the terrible script, as are many members of the supporting cast—Hunter Schafer and Viola Davis are two that come to mind. Plus, while critics generally agreed that the film was half-baked, general audiences seemed to think it was an excellent adaptation of the book. If you were a fan of the original books and/or movies, I would recommend seeing “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” for yourself, if only for the nostalgia factor. You likely might disagree with me.

Breaking down the umbrella organization headache Megan Abel Staff Writer A large part of the college experience is joining clubs and other organizations. At Case Western Reserve University, the breakdown of extracurriculars can be more than just a little headache. Despite being part of more than three organizations, it has taken me a year to understand the umbrella organization structure here at CWRU, and what each acronym stands for and what that group is doing.

AC: The Allocations Committee is an elected group that manages the Student Activity Fund and audits the other umbrella organizations that use it. They also provide one-time capital purchases for large projects or emergencies and audit all other umbrella organizations while making suggestions on how to spend their funds.

Reach out to the AC if your club needs a one-time capital purchase

do have a fairly large budget—as they can surely use all the help they can get.

UDC: University Diversity Collaborative aims to support organizations that advocate for their 8 pillars of diversity. With 54 clubs, UDC is a great place to find people who understand you and share similar cultural experiences. If you feel alone on campus, UDC is a perfect place to start looking for a community.

UMB: University Media Board houses organizations like The Athenian, Studio 300, Footlighters and The Observer. UMB organizations provide performance and writing opportunities to students including improv shows, musicals, plays, videos, radio shows, podcasts and more. Whether you want to be in front of the camera or behind it, reach out to an organization in UMB. They are sure to have a spot for you!

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observer.case.edu

Umbrella organizations from page 4 RHA: The Residence Hall Association consists of the community councils that oversee the residence halls and advocate on behalf of their community’s residents.

Upper-class housing is all under one community council, but secondyear students have three and firstyears four.

If you are having an issue with your housing, reach out to RHA and see how they can help. They have worked toward fixing housing-related problems, including making

laundry services free in 2010. They are the go-to place for any and all housing concerns, apart from any actual maintenance issues, which you should still contact University Housing to have fixed.

IFC/PHC: The Interfraternity Congress/Panhellenic Council coordinates Greek Life at CWRU and manages the activities of the 10 sororities and 16 fraternities on campus. For example, both IFC/PHC plan recruiting events at the start of each semester and PHC coordinates

formal recruitment in the spring. If you’re looking for a family on campus or just want to get out of typical on-campus housing and meal plans, check out IFC/PHC to see if there is a sorority or fraternity you fit into, or even one with a bunch of people you already know in it.

SPR: The Student President’s Roundtable is a group of presidents from the executive boards of all of the above umbrella organizations. They come together, express concerns and make decisions on

many topics and issues pertinent to campus life. If you want to learn more about what SPR talks about or what issues might be brought up next, reach out to the president of any umbrella organization.

It is nearly impossible to know everything about each of these organizations and their inner workings, but I hope this breakdown helps you understand a little more about what each organization does and where your favorite club on campus might fit in.

A look into the Student Presidents’ Roundtable’s impact on the campus community Shivangi Nanda Executive Editor On Nov. 12, the Student Presidents’ Roundtable (SPR) hosted its first town hall meeting in Eldred Hall, hoping to educate Case Western Reserve University students about SPR’s mission and discuss each of its umbrella organizations’ upcoming initiatives.

SPR is a student group composed of the highest-ranked members of all the umbrella organizations on campus, including the Class Officer Collective (COC), Interfraternity Congress (IFC), Panhellenic Council (PHC), Residence Hall Association (RHA), Undergraduate Diversity Collaborative (UDC), University Media Board (UMB), University Program Board (UPB) and Undergraduate Student Government (USG). In combining the strength of each of these organizations, SPR aims to start meaningful conversations and bring positive change to campus—often behind the scenes. To better understand what SPR does and the role it plays in our CWRU community, I interviewed several student leaders and received their input on the group’s mission, goals and impacts.

According to fourth-year student and SPR Chair Janvi Ramchandra, “SPR’s mission is to improve student life at CWRU by offering a space for collaboration between the umbrella organizations. SPR also gathers student input about any issues on campus and serves as a link between students, student leaders, and [administration.]” As USG President, one of the biggest umbrella organizations on campus, fourth-year student Basil Yaseen believes SPR is the perfect place for discussing complex issues that require larger conversations. Emphasizing SPR’s role as an open space for discussion, third-year student and UDC Chair Vaishnavi Kumar said that the group also seeks to “amplify diverse student voices from various perspectives and student organizations. Despite the differences in backgrounds and identities, [they] unite as one to advocate for all students.” As such, their initiatives are meant to address campus-wide concerns and enhance the experience of all undergraduates.

To truly make impactful change, SPR is devoted to inclusivity and equal representation, ensuring that all voices are heard and valued. They recognize that achieving inclusivity requires an active effort on the part of the student

leaders and their teams, and they are willing to take that extra step.

For example, USG hosts Feedback Fridays where students can share their concerns. Members of Greek Life are constantly considering how they can best reach students to ensure their members represent the diversity of CWRU’s campus.

Third-year student and RHA President Patrick Wang spoke more on the efforts of SPR as a whole, highlighting that “it’s not enough to just ‘be’ inclusive and accept different viewpoints when they come to you; student leaders must actively seek out and incorporate diverse voices into discussions about topics that directly affect them.”

Making sure student voices are heard starts with a strong communication strategy, and SPR is dedicated to maintaining transparency and open lines of communication with the student body. While much of their communication right now relies on the individual organizations’ campus-wide newsletters and email updates, SPR also has avenues through which students can learn more about their initiatives. They recently created a website where students can view the SPR general body meeting minutes, which are updated weekly. The organization can also be reached through their social media accounts, or through the accounts of individual umbrella organizations.

Yaseen reiterated that “students are always free to send our executive team emails, whether it be regarding questions they have about USG or concerns they have on campus, and they can expect us to get back to them in a timely fashion.”

In the past, SPR has contributed to many notable changes on campus. For instance, they were involved in renovating Eldred into a student center and bookable space for organizations to hold meetings and events. Last semester, the group provided free T-shirts to students during Legacy Week. Today, SPR is still working tirelessly to address the new issues the student body faces.

When asked about the most pressing issues facing our campus today, student leaders brought up several topics, from advocacy to housing issues to mental health needs. Ramachandra described the issue of student advocacy on campus and the need to create more channels for student expression. To address this issue, “SPR has created a Student Advocacy Wall on the side of Eldred designed to allow a space for students to expressively paint about different issues.”

A more trivial issue, Wang described laundry as one of the most pressing concerns for students living on campus. He shared that RHA understands student frustrations about the laundry issues in residence halls and stated that they are currently working with the Office of University Housing and the official laundry provider to correct these issues. Additionally, he brought up the lack of accessibility on campus. For this, Wang said they “are currently in the process of a collaboration with the Undergraduate Diversity Collaborative to organize a focus group comprised of people directly affected by these issues to discuss ways to proceed.”

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With all this said, why should CWRU students care about SPR? “Students should care about SPR because all of our organizations have one thing in common: a dedication to representing and improving the experience at CWRU for you,” Wang said. “Whether it may be through providing feedback about issues that you see on campus, participating in our events to gain a better understanding of the university, or attending our weekly meetings to be better informed about the events taking place on campus each week, supporting SPR can directly lead to improving student life on campus for everyone involved.”

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The Case Western Reserve Observer Friday, December 1, 2023 observer.case.edu Volume LV, Issue 13

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Build a snowman

Decorate pinecones

Make hot chocolate

Have a snowball fight

Go ice skating

Holiday shopping

Watch Hallmark movies

Make snow angels

Sledding

Attend a Christmas market

Build a gingerbread house

Host a holiday party

Hold a holiday photoshoot

Go to The Nutcracker

Make silly holiday cards

Take a sleigh ride

Hold an eggnog tasting

Decorate cookies

Donate a gift

Decorate an ugly holiday sweater

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WORD BANK

Cookies Candles Gifts Holidays Joy Lights Milk Ornaments Reindeer Ribbon Sleigh Travel Treats Winter Menorah Tradition

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ACROSS 1 Soft, white pieces of frozen water that falls to the ground 4 Opposite of hot 5 To move on snow with narrow strips attatched to the feet 6 Footwear in winter 7 Dress warm so you don’t _____

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12 Children like to throw one of these 14 The coldest season of the year 15 Frozen water 16 “We like to go ____ on the pond in the winter”

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DOWN 2 The color of fresh snow 3 A piece of clothing worn to keep warm 6 “The temperature fell ____ zero last night” 8 A covering to keep the head warm Head across the pond 9 An outdoor winter toy for

kids to slide down snowy hills 11 Be careful not to ____ and fall on the ice 10 A model of a person made with snow 12 In the winter, the roads can be _____ 15 Common sofa shape 13 "___ Kapital"

Overheard CWRU

Compilation of out-of-pocket things heard across campus

Tyler Vu/The Observer

A: "Time to eat a chicken rice bowl and then go lift."

B: "yeah" A: "How are you doing?"

B: "Good."

A: "Weekeennnndd!"

B: "Sure."

"People who think they are edgy but they are just furries."

"What makes a hole in the head?"

"No! He's a women-hater. Except, he does have friends and they're all women."

D

"This is why everyone hates women. Because they nag you all the time."

"I'm Dr. Nefario."

"The Observer's looking for you? Oh yeah."

8 Fun

Friday, December 1, 2023

Taurus Mags Gemini Lucky Flickerman Cancer President Snow

Virgo Rue Libra Sejanus Plinth

Sagittarius Lucy Grey Baird Capricorn Effie Trinket

Shivangi Nanda/The Observer

Sudoku Medium

Our top songs of the year

Clay Preusch:

Many Times Dijon

listened 28 times Shejuti Wahed:

All My Love Noah Kahan

listened 140 times Khushali Desai:

Don't Know Why Norah Jones listened 98 times Auden Koetters:

Stick Season Noah Kahan

listened 111 times Sara Khorshidi:

wyd Remi Wolf

listened 93 times Beau Bilinovich:

RUN UP! Jake Hill, Josh A listened 75 times Téa Tamburo:

You're on your own kid Taylor Swift Beau Bilinovich/The Observer

Scorpio Buzzcut Snow

Clay Preusch /The Observer

Leo Caesar Flickerman

Khushali Desai/The Observer

Aries Haymitch

Shejuti Wahed/The Observer

Pisces Finnick Odair

Lexy Jensen/The Observer

Aquarius Pre-reputation era Snow

The Observer wrapped Phuong Nguyen /The Observer

The signs as Hunger Games characters

What we did for Thanksgiving break!

Zachary Treseler /The Observer

Weekly Horoscope

Easy

listened 143 times Bowen Zhang:

Snowfall Oneheart, reidenshi listened 347 times Lucas Yang:

Ditto New Jeans

listened 199 times Tyler Vu:

Car's Outside James Arthur

listened 112 times Phuong Nguyen:

Getaway Car Taylor Swift

listened 112 times Zachary Treseler:

Get Better Cate

listened 519 times Lexy Jensen:

Mouse Lee go do

listened 49 times

Fun 9

observer.case.edu

9

Opinion

The Case Western Reserve Observer Friday, December 1, 2023 observer.case.edu Volume LV, Issue 13

You could be invested in fossil fuels and not know it: CWRU’s partnership with PNC Bank Sedona Jolly Contributing Writer Each year during Discover Week, a truck sits on Bellflower Road directly in front of the entrance of Tinkham Veale University Center—except instead of selling food it sells bank accounts. PNC Bank partners with Case Western Reserve University to park its bank-on-wheels at one of the busiest walkways on campus right as the school year kicks off, helping new students open their accounts. As an extra incentive to students, PNC offers them a virtual wallet account with multiple perks such as limited overdraft forgiveness for the first year, fee-free banking for the first six years and even a snazzy Spartan debit card when you open your account. This is the perfect strategy: According to Access Services

at CWRU, over 2,000 students have started banking with PNC since 2018 because of this partnership This partnership originated in 2012 when PNC agreed to pay CWRU upwards of $70,000 per year—plus a $100,000 signing bonus—to be the university’s “preferred” bank. This means PNC operates ATMs in university buildings and CWRU markets PNC to its students. As a result, PNC is convenient to bank with on campus—nearly 20% of the 140 CWRU students that responded to a survey I conducted in October said that they banked with PNC. However, the convenience students receive comes with a high hidden cost to the environment. PNC, a Pittsburgbased bank, has a history of investing in coal and other fossil fuel projects, including the Dakota Access Pipeline.

In 2020, PNC was the seventh larg-

est bank in the U.S., but ranked third for their investment in fossil fuels. Although PNC has pledged $30 billion in “environmental” investments by 2025, its annual investment in fossil fuels still exceeds its annual investment in sustainable projects. According to the Banking on Climate Chaos’s 2023 report, PNC increased fossil fuel investment by the second most out of the 60 largest banks in the world in 2022. It was also one of only 13 of the world’s largest banks to increase fossil fuel investment that year.

Where does PNC get the money for these fossil fuel projects? Deposits, including the deposits of CWRU students. Whenever you put money into your bank account, only a small fraction of it stays in your account as cash.

Banks lend the rest to borrowers in the form of mortgages, loans and investments. Those borrowers include

fossil fuel companies.

Although CWRU committed to fully divest from fossil fuels in 2021, it continues to partner with PNC and encourages unaware students to invest in fossil fuels. I didn’t know that PNC was putting my savings into oil and gas projects until this semester— and I’m not alone. When I was running around Tink and Kelvin Smith Library asking people to complete my survey, most people I interacted with were confused. When I asked Elyssa Hawkins, a fourth-year student at CWRU, to fill out the form, she responded to me in a text conversation by saying, “Why would I invest in fossil fuels!? … And why specifically PNC?” The connection between PNC and fossil fuel investment was unclear to her, to me and to many other students.

This partnership is dangerous. It preys on students’ ignorance of PNC’s contribution to the climate crisis. Although nearly half of students that responded to my survey said they would not like to have their savings invested in fossil fuels, it’s likely that many of them are already financing oil and gas companies. Given that, on average, people switch bank accounts once every 17 years, these savings could be stuck in the fossil fuel industry for a long time.

The university is knowingly incentivizing students to keep their savings in a bank whose investments are not only ecologically damaging, but also financially risky. Future government regulations, the declining demand for fossil fuel energy and increasing legal risks associated with environmental damages could limit the viability of these investments in the long run.

Some critics have gone as far as to call our financial institutions’ entanglement in fossil fuels “the carbon bubble.” This is because if climate policy were implemented such that the twodegrees Celsius cap on global warming were to be reached, as much as 80% of the world’s largest fossil fuel company’s declared reserves would be considered “stranded assets.” This means they would hold far less value than anticipated, making fossil fuels financially devastating to invest in.

Given this, CWRU should ditch its partnership with PNC. It might appear costly to opt out, but the $65,000 the university is gaining this year is chump change compared to the $17 million surplus CWRU has budgeted for the 2024 fiscal year.

Plus, with the tuition hikes we’ve seen in the past two years, admitting one more student would cover the costs of the partnership and then some.

Alternatively, CWRU could partner with a bank or credit union that does not invest in fossil fuels. University Credit Union is one example.

It serves several U.S. universities, doesn’t invest in fossils and caters to college communities—so it might be worth looking into.

Ultimately, students should not be encouraged to risk their savings in a bank that funds fossil fuel projects through a partnership with PNC that violates the university’s commitment to divest from fossil fuels. If students want to invest in oil and gas, it should be up to them.

Let us do our own research instead of blinding us with convenience.

Opinion 11

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AI is ushering in the next wave of music, for better or for worse Jessica Kwasny Staff Writer Artificial intelligence (AI) has reached the music industry, and it won’t be a fleeting phenomenon.

Chart-topping rapper Bad Bunny is one the most recent high-profile artists to address the consequences of using generative AI as a music production tool. In early November, the artist took to social media to vehemently express his disapproval of the viral song “Demo #5: nostalgIA.” The track, released by an artist called flowgptmusic, used AI to generate the voices of Bad Bunny, Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee.

The original recording has since been removed from Apple Music and Spotify, but the song’s popularity brings the conversation about

AI’s place in the music industry to center stage.

Bad Bunny is not the first figure in the music industry to be affected

by AI. Beyoncé, Drake, the Weeknd and Selena Gomez comprise only a short list of stars whose AI-mimicked voices have circulated on the Internet.

Some artists are excited about the possibilities that the tool brings with it. At a live concert in February, French DJ David Guetta performed a song that used AI to generate rapper Eminem’s voice. On X (formerly known as Twitter), Guetta posted a clip of the performance with a caption saying, “Let me introduce you to… Emin-AI-em,” and clarified in a comment that he “obviously…won’t release [the track] commercially.”

Furthermore, the production of the most recent and final Beatles song,

“Now and Then,” was made possible thanks to AI technology that was able to untangle and clarify John Lennon’s voice from an old, unreleased demo.

So, what makes AI such a disruptive force in the music industry? It is, after all, not the first technology to challenge the norms of music production. For instance, the pitchcorrecting technology Auto-Tune received backlash before permeating nearly all music genres, and platforms such as GarageBand and SoundCloud empowered hobbyist musicians to produce and disseminate music with unparalleled ease.

The answer, I think, lies in the fact that AI uniquely juxtaposes creative possibilities with intellectual property issues.

As a creative tool, AI could propel the next wave of music in a revolu-

tionary manner. Amateur musicians can prompt computer programs to generate professional-sounding songs in minutes. Hit songwriters report using it to test out lyric ideas.

Producers can also hear how a song might sound with different artists’ voices. This can both inspire a song to take a certain direction and help songwriters pitch songs to bigname artists who may be more inclined to contribute when presented with good AI demos. Additionally, independent vocalists could license their voice for producers to use in published music with consent. Finally, algorithms could learn listener preferences to generate playlists and even create customized songs.

Continue reading on page 12

Lucas Yang/The Observer

12 Opinion

Friday, December 1, 2023

New wave of music from page 11

But at this point, AI’s presence in artistic fields is riddled with legal concerns regarding intellectual property. Since many programs work by scraping masses of data to generate content, AI-generated creations often exploit copyrighted work. This type of infringement could play out in the composition of lyrics and melodies, among other musical elements. Furthermore, some singers fear that others may profit off the signature sound of their voice without consent. By using an artificial recreation of an artist’s voice, a producer can generate a sound that is similar to but not a true copy of the singer’s vocals. This nuance makes it difficult for current publicity and likeness laws to defend artists’ rights to their own voices. Undoubtedly, this predicament will spark a flurry of new laws modifying the definition of likeness in creative works.

There’s also the question of the rights of AI artists themselves.

Does the ability to masterfully use AI to generate novel outputs hold its own merit? As of March 16, the policy of the U.S. Copyright Office holds that AI-generated creative works that are made “without any creative input or intervention from a human actor” are not eligible to claim copyright. Human authorship, however, is tricky to define. The Office notes that it is a “case-by-case inquiry,” meaning it’s highly dependent on the types of prompts used.

Regardless of whether laws can keep pace with AI’s role in music or not, it should come as no surprise that AI is going to transform music and other creative industries. The tool is caught in a chaotic crossfire of legal complications, rapidly-evolving creative possibilities and a market of consumers

who have proven to be receptive to its outputs. It’s impossible to

predict exactly how AI will impact music, but we can expect the tech-

nology to help some artists flourish and leave others faltering.

LTTE: Response to Steinberg LTTE dated November 17, 2023 CWRU Faculty We write to address misleading statements in Ted Steinberg’s Nov. 17 Letter to the Editor accusing the university of “[o]penly siding with a foreign government.”

On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists launched a massacre on Israeli and foreign citizens, kidnapping over 240 people and murdering over 1,200. Hamas intentionally targeted civilians, and the victims were overwhelmingly civilians.

They ranged in age from infants to 86, and many were tortured before they were killed.

On Oct. 13, President Kaler, along with hundreds of local organizations and public officials, signed a brief statement declaring

that they “condemn the brutality of Hamas or any other terrorist group, and stand with Israel and the Jewish people.” The statement mentioned neither the Israeli government nor its response to the attacks. In fact, Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza had not even begun.

Professor Steinberg’s letter asserts that the university should “be neutral when it comes to political action.” We fail to see how standing with civilians victimized by terrorism constitutes inappropriate political action. For instance, nobody publicly objected when the university expressed solidarity with the Ukrainian people following Russia’s invasion. An institution that cannot stand against shocking and brutal acts of terror would be devoid not only of poli-

tics but also of basic human values that are an essential part of a liberal education.

We thank President Kaler for his leadership during this contentious time and mourn the continued suffering in both Israel and Gaza as the conflict continues.

Signed, Anat Alon-Beck, LLB, LLM, JSD, Associate Professor, LAW Elvera L. Baron, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, SoM Alexis E. Block, Dr.sc., Assistant Professor, CSE Justin Buchler, PhD, Associate Professor, CAS Hillel J. Chiel, PhD, Professor, CAS Alanna E. Cooper, PhD, Assis-

tant Professor, CAS Elliot Gardner, PhD, Assistant Professor, CAS Jay Geller, PhD, Professor, CAS Elina Gertsman, PhD, Distinguished University Professor, CAS Jerry Goldberg, DDS, Professor, SoDM Sharona Hoffman, LLM, SJD, Edgar A. Han professor, LAW Danny Manor, PhD, Professor, SoM Aviva Rothman, PhD, Associate Professor, CAS Daniel Shoag, PhD, Associate Professor, WSoM Glenn D. Starkman, PhD, Distinguished University Professor, CAS Aaron Weinberg, DMD, PhD, professor, SoDM Idit Zehavi, PhD, Professor, CAS

Opinion 13

observer.case.edu

EDITORIAL

CWRU’s disabled community has been neglected for too long Editorial Board On Oct. 30, students who receive accommodations through Disability Resources (DR) had all of their phones buzz from an email. The first line stated very succinctly, “Trigger Warning: Suicide Themes.” DR and the LGBT Center were collaborating on a film about suicide awareness at Allen Ford Auditorium—a classroom with steep ramps and narrow rows, making it highly inaccessible.

What is worse than the location is the topic of the film. It’s bizarre that DR would promote this film about suicide to a population that is three times more likely to report suicidal ideation than its able-bodied counterparts. It’s so unusual that the DR would choose this film, and even more so that they

would limit the target audience to a vulnerable population. Did they not consider the insensitivity of their decision?

The scariest part is for students who regularly work with DR and receive accommodations at Case Western Reserve University, this treatment is hardly surprising. It shows a pattern of neglect and dehumanization that disabled students constantly experience at CWRU. Responsive transit is a much needed service around campus, and on paper this service is incredibly useful, giving disabled students the ability to get from one end of our urban campus— which spans over a mile—to another.

Yet, there are only two drivers, and over 150 ride requests per day. As a result, demand far outpaces supply during the academic period. This makes

The Case Western Reserve Observer Established in 1969 by the undergraduate students of Case Western Reserve University

Shivangi Nanda Executive Editor & Publisher PRINT Elie Aoun Director of Print Téa Tamburo News Editor Zachary Treseler News Editor Kate Gordon Life Editor Beau Bilinovich Opinion Editor Puneet Bansal Sports Editor Lexy Jensen Development Editor Rebecca Warber Copy Editor Darcy Chew Copy Editor Sara Khorshidi Copy Editor Sarah Karkoff Copy Editor DIGITAL MEDIA Joce Ortiz Director of Digital Media Nandana Vinod Social Media Manager Aambar Agarwal Social Media Editor Shejuti Wahed Social Media Content Creator & Video Editor Clay Preusch Photo Editor Noah Henriques Web Editor

those 15-minute breaks between classes, which is already a struggle for ablebodied students, become near impossible for students with disabilities.

In addition, this service is not available on the weekends. CWRU is cutting back its drivers and making the service as inaccessible as possible, and as a result disabled students are the ones who have to suffer.

Such neglect is not an uncommon experience at CWRU. Many students have shared their personal struggles with ableism on campus, especially on social media. The Instagram account @disability.cwru has given an insight into CWRU and its faculty’s stance towards its disabled population. Several posts highlight how many classes are inaccessible to students who need remote instruction accommodations, especially due to an illness such as COVID-19.

Other posts highlight the damaging effects of productivity culture, where taking care of your mental and physical health is sacrificed to get as much work done as possible. Many stories feature professors who completely ignore students’ extra time accommodations for exams and quizzes. This mistreatment not only is in violation of university policy—and the law—but it also feeds into a destructive habit of placing work over our own quality of being.

Being a college student is already enormously stressful, especially at CWRU. Too many students see no choice but to forgo sleep, healthy selfcare practices and the opportunity to simply take a break from school all to stay on top of the unbearable workload. The longer that CWRU neglects its disabled student population, the more stories will come out of students experiencing mistreatment.

Many academic buildings are widely inaccessible. Most of Mather Quad,

from Haydn Hall to Mather Memorial, is not accessible to students with mobility aids.

Last semester, the Thwing Center elevator was out of order for over a month, and was estimated to be fixed in almost two months, which left the lower level and third floor of Thwing— as well as the second floor of Hitchcock Hall—completely inaccessible to this population, as well.

Don’t count on a handicap door button to be working. Some students have had classes moved online for prolonged periods of time because professors were unable to enter these inaccessible buildings.

In addition to poorly designed campus infrastructure, many exams are incompatible with accommodations.

From the humiliation of leaving a recitation section midway through, to the many professors who employ group quizzes, some methods of assessments are simply incompatible.

Not only does CWRU often fall short when providing academic accommodations, but it is especially frustrating to watch the university waste its budget on frivolous things that provide no immediate benefit to the student body. On CWRU’s June 5 video titled “CWRU Goes Bolder, Brighter with Brand Update” in which the university officially announced its logo change, commenter arlored1556 put it best: “Why was there a need for a new logo? Why not instead spend the $$$$$ making the Bellflower Hall wheelchair-accessible?”

CWRU could put its massive budget to better use to make this campus a more accessible place for all, and evidently the university needs to do better in communicating with disabled students and with supplying them the legal accommodations they deserve under federal law.

Photos of the week

DESIGN Auden Koetters Director of Design Anjali Bhuthpur Layout Designer Phuong Nguyen Layout Designer Bowen Zhang Layout Designer Lucas Yang Graphic Designer Tyler Vu Graphic Designer BUSINESS Khushali Desai Director of Business Operations Sophia Ran Business Manager Cayley Ng Business Manager The Observer is the weekly undergraduate student newspaper of Case Western Reserve University. Established in 1969, The Observer reports news affecting students and provides an editorial forum for the university community. Unsigned editorials are typically written by the opinion editor but reflect the majority opinion of the senior editorial staff. Opinion columns are the views of their writers and not necessarily of The Observer staff. For advertising information, contact The Observer via e-mail at observer@case.edu.

Auden Koetters/The Observer

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Auden Koetters/The Observer

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR should be e-mailed to observer@case.edu or submitted on our website at observer.case.edu. Letters can be mailed to Thwing Center 11111 Euclid Avenue, Suite 01, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. For policy and guidelines related to the submission of Letters to the Editor, refer to observer.case.edu/submit-a-letter.

The Observer is a proud member of CWRU’s University Media Board. Follow The Observer on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Instagram @cwruobserver.

Sports

The Case Western Reserve Observer Friday, December 1, 2023 observer.case.edu Volume LV, Issue 13

CWRU competes in CMU Invitational Paola Van der Linden Costello Staff Writer The Case Western Reserve University men’s and women’s swimming teams attended the Total Performance Invitational at the Steen Aquatic Center in Gambier, Ohio from Nov. 16-18. The dive team then drove to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh to attend the Diving Invitational.

During the Invitational, the CWRU teams set a total of 13 school records across the three-day invitational. On the first day, in the 400 medley relay, second-years Emil LaSida, John Drumm, Mason Bencurik and fourth-year Ethan Chuang set a new school record with a time of 3:18.26. They bested the previous record that had been set at the 2023 Midwest Invite earlier that year.

CWRU also recorded an NCAA B cut time and placed fifth in the race. In the same race, the women’s team recorded a B Cut with a time of 3:50.47 and also placed fifth in the event. The women also set a school record in the 200 free relay with second-years Claire Kozma and Eliza Dixon as well as third-years Kelly Vann and Gabriella Chambers.

They beat the record by .90 seconds which had been previously set earlier that year in the 2023 University Athletic Association Championships. A time of 1:34.05 got them second place in the event and set an NCAA B cut time. For the 50 free, Kozma finished with a final time of 23.64 seconds which awarded her fourth place, and she earned the highest individual finish for a Spartan swimmer.

On the second day of the Total Performance Invite, the Spartans set five school records. Third-year Peter Meng

set two of the records, one in the 200 free and one in the 400 individual medley. Meng broke the program record in the individual medley with a time of 3:57.44, beating a previous record set in 2017. In the 200 free he bested his own record set earlier that season.

He also joined Drumm, Bencurik and third-year Stephen Hogeman in the relay, placing third in the event with a B Cut time of 6:43.14. Bencurik placed fourth in the 200 medley relay and set a record, earning a B Cut with a time of 1:29.66 and beating the previous record set at the 2023 Midwest Invitational. For the women’s team, Kozma also broke a school record with a 55.46 second finish time in the 100 fly, and recorded a NCAA B cut time. This finish time was .08 seconds faster than the previous record held in 2014. Thirdyear Kate Menzer also placed fourth in the event. The team also set a record in the 800 free relay with Kozma, Chambers, third-year Angeli Paull and firstyear Maggie Rose Rook.

On the last day of the competition, CWRU ended the performance with six new school records. Drumm won the 200 fly with a school record time of 1:47.11. He beat his own previous program best time during the 2023 UAA Championship. He also recorded an NCAA B cut time for the event.

Third-year Kevin Hu, second-years Adam Khatib and Joshua Hernandez earned 10th, 14th and 16th, respectively. Bencurik broke fourth-year Andrew Smith’s record in the 100 free with a time of 45.29 seconds and placed fifth in the race. Meng completed the first 1,000 yards of the 1650 free and bested his own time from the previous 2022 Magnus Cup. He also completed the race with an NCAA B cut time and

The CWRU swimming and diving teams set 13 new school records during the three-day Total Performance Invitational.

Courtesy of Tim Phillis/CWRU Athletics placed in fifth place. The men’s swim team also set a school record in the 400 free relay with Drumm, Bencurik, Meng and LaSida. On the women’s team, first-year Ava Ellis touched the wall at 2:23.60 in the 200 breaststroke, beating the previous time from a 2018 UAA championship. The team also set a record in the 400 free relay with Kozma, Paull, Menzer and Chambers, beating the previous 2023 UAA Championship time. Kozma placed second in the 100 free and earned a B Cut time with 51.43 seconds. Overall both teams placed fourth out of eight teams, the men’s team with 1,140 points and the women’s team with 1,138.5 points.

For the diving team at the CMU invi-

tational, third-year Abigail Wilkov won the 1-meter dive with 469.85 points.

For the men’s team, third-year Alex Waltman placed fourth in the 3-meter dive with 416 points. Wilkov earned her second UAA Women’s Diver of the Week following her performance at the CMU Diving Invite. On their second day, Wilkov finished fourth in the 3-meter dive with 413.85 points, third-year Jocelyn Schechter was sixth (392.60) and fourth-year Rei Miyauchi placed seventh (390.60).

This meet marks the end of the competition for the Spartan swimming and diving teams in 2023. The teams will be returning next semester in their first dual meet on Jan. 20 in New York.

observer.case.edu

Women’s basketball stands 4-3 following a series of close matches Paola Van der Linden Costello Staff Writer

The Case Western Reserve University women’s basketball team started their season with a win and a loss. In the past couple of weeks they have won three more games and lost two more games, placing them at 4-3 in their non-conference play.

They traveled to Arlington,VA for the 2023 Pablo Coto Tip-Off Tournament where they faced Penn State Harrisburg for their first game. The game started with two good layups from the opposing team, putting the Spartans down by 4 with 8:18 left on the clock in the first quarter. They recovered quickly as fourth-year forward Kayla Characklis scored 4 points giving the Spartans a tie just a minute after. Even after falling behind once again, the Spartans tied the game through free throws. Fourth-year guard Margaret Terry made three successful free throws and firstyear guard Mya Hartjes made one which tied the game 8-8 with 4:18 left on the clock. A jumper shot by Characklis gave the Spartans the first lead of the night and with 3:28 left on the clock of the first quarter.

Then, a steal and a 3-point shot by graduate student forward/center Kate Montgomery gave the Spartans their largest lead of 4 points, one that they would keep into the second quarter. A free throw by second-year guard/forward Emily Plachta gave the Spartans their first points of the second quarter.

The score was eventually tied by Penn State Harrisburg with 6:01 left on the clock, but a jumper by Plachta gave the Spartans the lead once again. After a couple of lead changes in the rest of this quarter, CWRU ended up leading by 4 with the score at 36-32.

The third quarter started out slow, with the first points scored 3:30 minutes in: Two consecu-

tives 3-point shots from the opposing team left CWRU trailing by 2.

However, an offensive rebound and a 3-point shot by first-year guard Jordyn Call put the Spartans back in the game. It was not enough to keep up with the 3-pointers made

by Penn State Harrisburg which ultimately left the Spartans down at the end of this quarter.

Going into the fourth quarter, Call wasted no time and a successful 3-pointer gave the Spartans the lead once again. Continuing with their quick game-play, graduate student forward Micallef completed a layup which was followed by another 2 points from Montgomery, giving the Spartans a 7-0 run in the first two minutes of this quarter.

Although the opposing team tried to catch up they never managed to take the lead again, and the Spartans obtained their highest lead of the night after a layup by Characklis placed the score at 57-66 with 3:24 left. The game ended with a layup

by Micallef with only three seconds left giving the Spartans a win in the first round of this tournament.

Call led the team with 17 points and added 2 rebounds. Montgomery added 15 points and 11 rebounds, her first double-double as a Spartan. Characklis added 11 points and 6 rebounds and Plachta had 7 points and 6 rebounds. The team shot 37.1% from the field and 32.0% from beyond the arc.

With their first win secured, they headed to the championship game against Marymount, where they lost 57-70. The game started slow for the Spartans, suffering from a 7-2 run from the opposing team and being down by seven with only two minutes into the first quarter. They managed to tie the game after a good jumper by Characklis, and two more jumpers by Plachta and Characklis again gave them the lead.

This was short-lived after a 3-point shot by Marymount set them back once again. Through a struggle, they ended up down 6 points at the

Sports 15

During the CWRU women’s basketball match against Allegheny, fourth-year forward Kayla Characklis recorded a career high of 22 points, leading the team to a win. Courtesy of Tim Phillis/CWRU Athletics end of the first quarter. The second quarter was difficult, and even after a 3-point shot from Call gave the Spartans only a 2 point deficit, they quickly lost this advantage and were down 10 going into the second half of this game. Although Marymount increased its lead to as many as 12 points in the third quarter, the Spartans did not give up and got as close as 6 points to tie the game. But the Saints quickly recovered and by the end of the third quarter were leading by 11 points.

Again, the Spartans tried to match the Saints’ energy and they started the fourth quarter with a 10-2 run which put them very close to taking the lead, but ultimately were unable to keep the stamina going through the end of the game.

Characklis led all Spartans with a season-high of 18 points and had 6 rebounds. She also earned the AllTournament Honors after she averaged 14.5 points and 6 rebounds over these two games. Montgomery scored 8 points and had 6 rebounds.

The Spartans traveled back to Ohio to face John Carroll University on Nov. 21 where they lost the game 66-81. Although the Spartans

started the first quarter with two good free throws, this was the only lead that they would have throughout the night. Throughout the game, Characklis led the scoring between the Spartans with 21 points and 8 rebounds. Montgomery added 12 points and 5 rebounds and both fourth-year guard Sarah Mitchell and Hartjes added 7 points each.

With a losing streak of two, the Spartans redeemed themselves against Allegheny College where they were able to secure a win, finishing the game with a double digit lead. Characklis once again led all scores with 22 points. Montgomery completed her second doubledouble of her Spartan career and this season with 10 rebounds and 13 points. Micallef added 16 points and Plachta 10. The team shot 46.8% from the field goal range and 41.2%from the 3-point line.

The Spartans obtained the lead after Plachta completed a 3-pointer within the first 43 seconds of the first quarter and never lost it.

The Spartans will be facing Kenyon College on Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. in the Horsburgh Gymnasium to continue their non-conference play.

Men’s basketball starts season 2-0, wins Sudeck Tournament Marvin Lee Staff Writer

Case Western Reserve University men’s basketball Head Coach Todd McGuinness has been saying one thing persistently at the conclusion of every fall practice: “There are so many good players on this team.” After losing several key players to graduation following an NCAA tournament appearance last year, the transfer portal allowed the Spartans to reload the roster with talent from across the country, most notably five graduate transfers. For those guys, this year is their last hurrah, as most were top options on their previous teams and have spent most of fall learning how to play together as a team. The sacrifice of accepting smaller roles comes with a hope, however, that this Division III superteam of sorts can achieve more success than any of them had achieved at their previous universities. The graduate transfer rule came into effect based on a severely limited season for DIII in 2020-2021, a year where all five transfers had canceled or

significantly shortened seasons as second-years. Friday, Nov. 10 was a moment that the entire roster had been looking forward to since the summer.

The Bill Sudeck Tournament is held in honor of legendary Spartan basketball coach Bill Sudeck, who led the Case Institute of Technology, and later CWRU, for a combined 37 years, amassing over 300 wins as head coach.

The tournament kicked off on Friday with a matchup between Eastern University and Waynesburg University, where Eastern easily prevailed by a score of 82-62.

The Spartans were up next, taking on the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. The anticipation brewed as the 13th-ranked Spartans geared up for their first game of the season. The Spartans won the tip and then ran a play on the first possession of the game, which stalled. With the shot clock ticking down, graduate student forward Colin Kahl launched a 3-point shot from near half-court. The shot connected flawlessly and the Spartans never looked back. Kahl, a four-year player from Sewanee: The University of

the South, scored 19 points in the first half as the Spartans dominated, shooting 59.46% (22-37) from the floor and 50.0% (12-24) from 3-point range in the first half to take a 62-29 lead by the break. The Spartans never led by less than 27 points from that point on, and at one point they held a 37-point lead, and the score was 88-51 with around 10 minutes left in the game.

After that point, McGuinness brought in the reserves, demonstrating how deep his roster is this season. 18 of the 19 players on the roster logged minutes for CWRU on Friday night. Four first-years made their college debut and two scored for the first time in their college careers: guard Drey Fox, who made 2 3-pointers, and guard Charlie Fox, who converted a jumper in the paint. Forward Ethan Nowak and guard Jake Sambuchino also made their college debuts.

CWRU finished the game shooting 48.6% (35-72) overall and 44.4% (1636) from 3-point range. The Spartans held an 18-3 edge in second-chance points, while the Spartans’ bench outscored the Pitt-Bradford Panthers’

55-26. Kahl posted a perfect game from the field, going 8-8 overall and 3-3 from beyond the arc en route to a 23-point effort while adding 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. The 8-made field goals were the most in a game without missing a shot in CWRU history. CWRU won the game 104-73, logging the second most points in a season opener in team history.

Up next in the tournament on Saturday afternoon was the consolation game between Pitt-Bradford and Waynesburg, which was an overtime thriller with Waynesburg prevailing by just a point at the end of the extra period. CWRU was then set for a matchup with Eastern University, one that promised to be much more difficult than the one on Friday night. With just a couple hours of pre-game to prepare for this matchup, it was going to be a challenge. But thankfully as a result of the blowout the night before, the main rotation was well rested and ready to earn a statement win.

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Men’s basketball from page 15

Friday, December 1, 2023

During the Bill Sudeck Tournament hosted by CWRU from Nov. 10-11, graduate student forward Colin Kahl was recognized as the tournament’s most valuable player. Courtesy of Tim Phillis/CWRU Athletics The Spartans stumbled out of the gate, going down 13-4 just 6 minutes into game action. Third-year guard Sam Trunley and Washington and Lee University graduate student transfer guard Richie Manigault responded with a pair of 3-pointers that catalyzed a 10-2 run that brought CWRU ahead by one point.

The two teams traded leads until a 7-0 run late in the first half that put the Spartans squarely ahead 37-30 at half.

Just as they had against Pitt-Bradford, the Spartans started the second half off shakily. However, this game had much higher stakes than the previous one due to a much smaller advantage for CWRU. Despite some halftime words of encouragement from McGuinness, the Spartans fell

victim to Eastern’s press and did not make a field goal in the first six minutes of the second half. Eastern led the game until fourth-year forward Ian Elam knocked down a 3-pointer in transition, his first 3-point attempt of his college career. Even the visibly frustrated McGuinness couldn’t help but crack a smile as one of the unheralded heroes of his team last year had his moment.

Elam and his teammates later joked, “1/1, 100% from three.” But after that it was back to business.

Eastern retook the lead on a pair of free throws and the two teams once again traded leads until fourth-year forward Hunter Drenth scored 5 straight to give CWRU a lead that they would never relinquish. Drenth had a triumphant performance off the

bench in this contest, scoring 17 on 6-7 shooting in just his second game back after missing all of the 20222023 season with an injury. Thirdyear forward Umar Rashid provided the final spark to push CWRU to victory, with a layup, a free throw and a made 3-pointer pushing the lead to 11 with 1:21 remaining. From there, good free throw shooting for the Spartans sealed the deal late, culminating in two made free throws by Rashid, who finished the game with a 16 point, 14 rebound double-double while also adding 4 blocks. Eastern made one final jumper to make the score 82-72. The Eastern University Eagles let the Spartans take the final 7 seconds off the clock before the final buzzer sounded.

CWRU had won the Bill Sudeck

Tournament crown for the second year in a row. With the win, McGuinness reached 200 career wins as a head coach. 86 of those have come with the Spartans as he has helped lead the team to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths and its first ever UAA Championship last season, for which the team raised a banner prior to the season opener on Friday night.

Unfortunately for the players, McGuinness denied a Gatorade cooler being dumped on his head, preferring to save it for a more important occasion, perhaps later this season.

After averaging 16.5 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks in tournament play, Kahl was named the Bill Sudeck Tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

Drenth also earned selection to the All-Tournament Team.

Scores and Upcoming Games Men’s Basketball CWRU at Denison (11/18) - W 80-74 (OT) CWRU Capital (11/29) - W 94-87

CWRU at Adrian (12/9) CWRU vs Kalamazoo (12/2, 3 p.m., Horsburgh Gymnasium)

Women’s Basketball CWRU at John Carroll (11/21) - L 66-81 CWRU at Allegheny (11/26) - W 73-55 CWRU vs Mount Union (11/28) - W 63-59 2023 Pablo Coto Tip-Off Tournament: CWRU vs Penn State Harrisburg (11/17) - W 70-61 CWRU vs Marymount (Championship Game) (11/18) - L 57-70 CWRU vs Kenyon (12/1, 7 p.m., Horsburgh Gymnasium) CWRU at Denison (12/9)