The Observer, Volume LI, Issue 9, 10/25/19

observer.case.edu News: On-campus drug abuse referrals reach three-year high, following national trends (pg. 3)opinion 1

the

friday, october 25, 2019 volume LI, issue 9

Observer

USG and Bon Appetit come together to address student feedback Sydney Negron Staff Reporter

notably Jim Inhofe, an Oklahoma senator infamous for bringing a snowball on to the Senate floor as evidence that climate science showing marking 2014 as one of the warmest years on record shouldn’t be taken seriously.

Wheeler worked for Inhofe for 14 years, serving as his chief counsel. Inhofe introduced Wheeler at his EPA Administrator confirmation hearing.

“I have confidence he will continue to advance a deregulatory agenda that protects the environment without placing needless burdens on job creators,” said Inhofe in a statement after Wheeler was announced as administrator.

Donald Trump, the president who gave Wheeler his cabinet position, has claimed that climate change is a hoax. Trump is pushing a deregulatory agenda, creating an executive order that called for federal agencies to repeal two old regulations for every new one.

Wheeler said one of the reasons he is not taking great action on climate change is because he believes that the technology needed to move the country to a renewable energy-based grid is not there yet.

“If we are going to make huge changes on climate change, it’s going to have to be in the development of technologies such as energy storage batteries. We’re probably on second or third generation now; we need tenth generation battery storage,” said Wheeler in an interview with The Observer. “When we produce solar or wind we have to basically use it when it’s produced. We don’t have long-term storage for those fuels. Renewable fuels are never going to be able to provide baseload generation until we have the battery storage issue figured out.”

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) has been working diligently in recent weeks to understand student thoughts and opinions on the meal plan and share them with Bon Appetit Management Company at Case Western Reserve University.

Case School of Engineering Representative Sharan Mehta and Sophie Vilamara, vice president of the USG Student Life Committee, met with District Manager Jim O’Brien and Director of Auxiliary Services Beth Nochomovitz to discuss the results of their Feedback Friday focused on the meal plan.

One of the major areas of contention from the student body was Fribley Commons extending its hours. While at the beginning of the year Fribley extended operating hours until 11 p.m. Sunday through Friday, not every student was satisfied with the follow-through by Bon Appetit staff at Fribley.

“While I can swipe into Fribley until 11 p.m., it doesn’t guarantee there will actually be food I can eat,” said one student, who had a dietary restriction. “I went there one Wednesday around 9:30.

The only food that was available was the wings and a tray of fries, and the server grabbed the fries with the same gloves he’d been grabbing wings with. They even closed up the cereal, salad and sandwich stations.”

When student comments such as the one above were brought up at the meeting, O’Brien and Nochomovitz were quick to answer.

“We dealt directly with the management team [for Fribley] on two different occasions,” O’Brien explained in relation to the issue. As a result of those conversations, since about two weeks ago, “all of the other stations [that Bon Appetit publicized to be open late at night] are open—the grill, the salad bar and pizza.”

Nochomovitz shared that “there was definitely a communication issue, there was definitely a problem,” and it appears they have worked to resolve that issue. “It’s not your problem, it’s our problem. We are not always communicating what has been done about what’s been asked.”

Another major comment was the availability of healthy foods and foods which fit dietary restrictions such as vegetarianism, veganism, gluten sensitivity or general allergens.

One student from the Feedback Friday form wrote, “I have deathly allergies and it makes it very difficult to feel comfortable eating at the dining venue. Often servers don’t know what’s in the food.”

One solution O’Brien and Nochomovitz had for that was for students to talk to the on-staff dietician, Megan Brzuski.

However, they did acknowledge that many people often don’t reach out to her.

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EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler speaking at the inaugural symposium at the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law. Courtesy of Brian Glaviano/Case Western Reserve University School of Law

Does Andrew Wheeler dream of coal-powered sheep?

An inside interview with the CWRU alumnus and EPA administrator on current issues Matt Hooke Executive Editor Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler walked up to the podium at George Gund Hall to address the inaugural symposium for the Case Western Reserve University Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law on Friday, Oct. 18. His speech was meant to honor the upcoming 50th anniversary of the EPA, a department partially created after the Cuyahoga River, 15 minutes away from where he stood, caught fire.

Wheeler earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and biology from CWRU in 1987.

However, he was not met with open arms by the student body that roams the same streets and quads that he once did.

At 7:30 a.m., as the sun rose over the horizon, a group of students and faculty gathered outside the law school to protest Wheeler’s attendance at the symposium.

Chants of “Let the earth be heard!” and “Whose future? Our future!” erupted from the crowd.

The students argued that Wheeler ignores the responsibility of the EPA to prevent environmental disasters, like the fire that created the agency in the first place.

“We think they should be pursuing policies that mitigate climate change; currently, they are not focusing on climate change at all. Wheeler himself has said that it’s not a pressing issue. He has appointed people in positions of power who are not in favor of climate change policies,” said first-year student Lily Kwiatkowski, the organizer of the protest. “We need preventive measures not reactive measures.”

During the keynote address on campus, physics graduate student Milo Korman disrupted Wheeler’s speech, protesting Wheeler’s history as a lobbyist, his proextraction policies and lack of action on climate change. Korman said that progress on the science needs to be made and that Wheeler’s deregulation and unwillingness

to make climate change a focus is harmful to that progress.

“I thought it would be a shame if he was able to give his speech without any sort of visible mark of someone objecting to it,” said Korman. “It was not about stopping him. It was more about getting it on the record that someone objected to him.”

Kwiatkowski said many of the protesters were appalled that CWRU invited Wheeler to speak, considering his policies. CWRU professor David Kaplan wrote an op-ed to Cleveland.com, arguing that Wheeler should have defended his positions in a panel discussion with other thinkers instead of speaking in a keynote.

However, Jonathan Adler, the director of the center for environmental law, argued that having Wheeler participate in a panel wouldn’t have made sense since Wheeler was not speaking in an academic capacity and the academics were there to present scholarly work. Adler said he thought Wheeler’s participation enhanced the symposium and said he would invite him again during another appropriate occasion.

“Individuals who oversee federal agencies and the implementation and enforcement of federal laws are often able to provide valuable insight and perspective on how a given agency is being run and the agency’s regulatory and enforcement priorities—and Administrator Wheeler did just that, both during his remarks and in response to questions,” said Adler.

Wheeler is not a complete climate science denier. He admits that greenhouse gas emissions are an issue, but he does not see them as an existential threat. However, the secretary general of the UN argues that if action is not taken within the next 11 years, the risk of extreme weather will increase exponentially. Wheeler has worked with science deniers in the past—most

news Anxiety from the LGBTQ community as Supreme Court prepares to rule on workplace discrimination Sydney Negron Contributing Reporter “I am scared for the safety and wellbeing of myself, those I love, and those within my community,” said Case Western Reserve University student Morgan Jones.

For members of the LGBTQ community, like Jones, the current Supreme Court term is set to be one of the most significant in history.

Depending on how the court rules in just a few cases, many feel that the results could be disastrous.

On Tuesday, Oct. 8, the Supreme Court heard a series of three cases involving workplace discrimination against LGBTQ employees.

The court will decide whether protections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act apply to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and transgender status.

The first two cases, argued as a pair by Stanford law professor Pamela Karlan, concern two men who have asserted that they were fired by their employers for being gay. The central argument was that firing on the basis of same-sex attraction constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex, which is prohibited by Title VII. Karlan argued that “when a [sic] employer fires a male employee for dating men but does not fire female employees who date men, he violates Title VII.” This pair of cases was followed by a third in which David Cole of the ACLU argued on behalf of a transgender woman who was explicitly fired by her employer because she, in the employer’s words, “was no longer going to represent himself as a man.” Cole argued that the firing constituted discrimination on the basis of sex because “if she had a female sex assigned at birth, she would not be fired. Because she had a male sex assigned at birth, she is fired.”

Since the last case argued before

the court involving the rights of LGBTQ community members, Justice Anthony Kennedy, who had a history of ruling in favor of expanding rights to the gay community, retired and was replaced by Justice Brett Kavanaugh. This change in seating has left the court with a conservative bias, and legal analysts have indicated that the oral arguments point to a division of the justices along ideological lines.

Along with ideology, the perspective from which the justices approach the analysis of the meaning of a legal doctrine is at play. There is a division over whether to interpret Title VII from the plain meaning of the text itself, or whether to consider the original intent and perspective of its authors. Some justices have argued that prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity “is a different policy issue from the one that Congress thought it was addressing in 1964.”

While Justice Neil Gorsuch has a conservative ideological leaning, he is a firm believer that the ultimate deciding factor in interpreting the meaning of a law is the text itself, rather than the consideration of who the legislators originally sought to protect, leaving him as the potential deciding vote in these cases.

Although the average American citizen is not regularly impacted

by Supreme Court decisions, this ruling will have a direct impact on LGBTQ employees across the country because of the prominence of workplace discrimination. A survey conducted by the National Center for Transgender Equality found that 90 percent of transgender individuals surveyed had experienced some form of workplace harassment or discrimination, and surveys that have asked about instances of workplace discrimination on the basis of

sexual orientation have also shown an alarming rate of occurrences.

Currently, less than half of the states in the country have passed laws specifically banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This ruling will have a significant impact on how future rights protections for the LGBTQ community are approached by lawmakers across the country.

The new conservative majority and apparent division along ideological lines have left members of the LGBTQ community worried. Jones, who is a member of the Radical Student Union and highly involved in LGBTQ activism, noted that a lack of workplace protections could reverse the recent positive changes in the increased ability of queer people to express their identities, expressing fear that “an entire generation would be forced back into the closet, to their detriment.” They argued that many non-community members fail to understand that “it is a form of privilege to be able to talk about your personal life, your partner or your experiences comfortably within the workplace.”

“Our most basic rights are being decided by an oligarchical panel of lifelong bureaucrats and oppressors,” said Jones. “Instead of the people who are actually impacted by the decision.”

Discussion in the courtroom seemed to support the justices’ distance from the issue, as it frequently turned to cultural points of contention, including bathroom use and the separation of sports teams based on sex, despite the justices acknowledging that, in these cases, the court has not been asked to decide on these issues.

With the severity of what is at stake in these cases, and with the knowledge that these decisions may

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ian specific space.

One concern Vilamara brought up, however, is that it might lessen the number of options available to vegetarians and vegans by segregating their food to one station only.

As of right now, one can on average find about four out of the five stations have vegetarian options. However, O’Brien recognized that due to the policy around needing to change gloves every time you switch from serving meat to serving a vegetarian request, they will most likely be paring down on the number of vegetarian options available outside of the specific station.

Nochomovitz said, “We’re anticipating that the folks who are not veg are going to be annoyed … I’m not acknowledging it’s perfect, but it’s better.”

Mehta also brought up several

reasons students wrote about why they wished they had the opportunity to opt out of the meal plan, including finances, lack of variety, unhealthiness and rude staff.

“Unhealthy and staff is rude— neither of [these reasons] resonate with me. But perception is reality.

Whatever you say, I’m totally agreeing. You’re the student voice, I have to listen,” Nochomovitz responded.

Nochomovitz mentioned that in terms of the schools that CWRU competes with—including Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Carnegie Mellon University, Johns Hopkins University, Washington University in St. Louis, among others—it is just below the midpoint in pricing of the meal plan.

One solution USG and the Bon Appetit representatives agreed on was sending out a breakdown of where

“We have a cultural problem on this campus. Our international students in general are not used to demanding stuff … It’s not generally acceptable in a lot of cultures to do that. If they won’t come to us they need to come to [USG].”

Another solution Bon Appetit is pursuing is creating a station at both Leutner Commons and the new Fribley dedicated solely to serving vegetarian and vegan food, in an attempt to cut down on cross-contamination concerns. This will be specifically built into the new design for Fribley, but first will be piloted at Leutner.

Right now, Bon Appetit is meeting with a kitchen designer to redesign the “Fresh Table”—currently the pizza station at lunch and the taco station for dinner—for the vegetar-

20%

of LGBTQ Americans have experienced discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity when applying for jobs.

22%

of LGBTQ Americans have not been paid equally or promoted at the same rate as their peers.

29

states

do not have state-level protection for sexual orientation or gender identity, making it legal to fire individuals sole based on being LGBTQ.

Source: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Workplace Issues: Quick Take, Catalyst hang on one conservative-leaning justice’s vote, there is little optimism in the LGBTQ community for what is to come. Community members have expressed that workplace discrimination does not simply deal with the comfort of individuals in their working environment but with their ability to provide the necessary resources to support themselves and their families.

“Money is necessary for basic survival,” said Jones. “Depending on how the court rules, people will die.”

meal plan pricing comes from, and what it goes towards. While many students tend to think of it as $17 for one swipe into the dining hall, Nochomovitz pointed out that the pricing also includes the wages of the dining hall staff, money to put toward renovations and operating costs, among other categories. Students can expect the monetary breakdown by the end of the semester.

At certain times throughout the meeting, tensions began to rise as the USG representatives brought up a piece of student feedback that the representatives from the administrative side felt they had already addressed.

In response to being asked whether he was there to fight, Mehta responded, “I don’t want to fight but I will always be here from the student perspective.”

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Cleveland mayor’s plan to plant trees should improve air quality Nathan Lesch Director of Print Air pollution has consistently made Cleveland one of the smoggiest cities in the United States, and earned the Cleveland-Akron-Canton area the number nine spot on the American Lung Association’s “State of the Air 2019” rankings of U.S. cities most plagued by year-around particle pollution. Transportation, heavy industry and coal-fired electricity generation are the main factors causing Cleveland’s continued air pollution. However, a recent announcement by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson committed up to $1 million a year for the next ten years to enhance existing steps to reduce air pollution and increase equity.

In the U.S., the Clean Air Act is the framework document governing air quality. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) is responsible for the Clean Air Act’s provisions being met. OAQPS also sets, monitors and ensures that national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) are followed.

Cleveland has improved its air quality in recent years. From 2015 to 2017, Cleveland experienced its lowest particle pollution levels since 2000, when the American Lung Association began publishing yearly reports. Furthermore, Cleveland’s number of high ozone and high particle pollution days each year has dropped consistently since 2000.

In 2016, Cleveland had only five high ozone pollution days and three high particle pollution days. Comparatively in 2000, Cleveland had 50 and 35 days of high ozone and high particle pollution, respectively.

Unfortunately, Cuyahoga County remained unable to achieve ozone and particulate NAAQS standards through 2018. Cuyahoga County has been designated as a maintenance zone for carbon monoxide and lead air pollution, which means the county only recently began meeting federal requirements for these types of pollution.

Jackson recently pledged upwards of $1 million a year to plant trees in the city over the next 10 years. This announcement was the culmination of a series of new tree-related policies instituted in the

past few years. In 2017, the city began enhancing tree maintenance and dead tree removal and, in 2018, created tree preservation requirements for new development.

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish is pursuing a similar plan at the county level. Budish intends to spend $5 million in five years planting trees. By 2040, the goal is for 30 percent of the city to be covered in tree canopy. Thirty percent canopy coverage is the threshold for a healthy urban canopy. Currently, only 18 percent is covered. According to Matt Gray, chief of sustainability for the city of Cleveland, this means that these trees need to be planted by 2030.

“To get to the 2040 goal, because trees need time to grow, the trees need to be planted by 2030,” said Gray.

Jackson and Budish’s plans to increase spending on planting trees are in coordination with a larger tree coalition.

Neither the city nor the county alone has the resources to replant enough trees to achieve the 2040 goal. According to Gray, $80 to $100 million is needed by 2030 to achieve the goal.

Allocating the planting of trees will follow a two-year neighborhood approach. Each neighborhood in Cleveland will spend the first year planning where to plant trees and the second year planting. Three or four neighborhoods will be participating in the planning phase each year and another three or four will be in the planting process.

Gray also noted that part of the funds will be available to residents by request.

“There will be money for residents that request trees,” said Gray.

Motivation for pursuing a policy of replanting trees in the city is based on economics, air pollution and public health.

According to Peter McCall, professor in the department of Earth, environmental and planetary sciences and director of the environmental studies program, “the effects [of planting trees] are immediate, local and manifold, affecting air quality and climate, social cohesion and wildlife.”

The economic benefits of trees are plentiful. Over 50 years, a tree will save approximately $62,000 in air pollution

control. Additionally, canopies can reduce air conditioning costs by 30 percent.

Jackson has several other goals for air pollution in Cleveland, including reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent and using entirely renewable energy sources by 2050. To reach these goals, significant steps to addressing air pollution will need to be implemented.

Gray mentioned that solar and wind energies will play a prominent part in Cleveland’s ability to reach these goals.

“Offshore wind is going to be a big piece of [the] pie,” Gray explained.

Increasing energy efficiency will be the most significant pathway to reducing emissions and reaching 100 percent renewable energy. So far, Cleveland has been able to reduce emissions while maintaining economic growth.

Poor air quality is associated with a myriad of health problems. About one third of all deaths from heart disease, lung cancer and strokes can be attributed to poor air quality. Children, the elderly and those with preexisting conditions are especially sensitive to air pollution, but everyone is impacted. Furthermore, over time, exposure to air pollution causes an individual’s immune system to change.

Communities of color and those burdened by high poverty are disproportionately impacted by poor air quality. African Americans, for instance, are at risk for health issues related to air pollution at double the rate of white Americans. Additionally, the schools serving communities of color are often located near highly-trafficked roadways, a major source of air pollution.

The EPA’s fifth region, comprising of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin, has the most unequal distribution of air pollution between whites and African Americans out of all 10 regions.

In Cuyahoga County specifically, McCall notes that indoor pollution from lead paint in older homes is especially pernicious. McCall explained the effects of lead poisoning and the greater impact the heavy metal has on children residing in poorer neighborhoods.

“The inhaled or ingested dust arising

from flaking lead paint is a poison that affects development in children, with lifelong consequences,” said McCall.

“Blood levels of lead in poor minority children historically confined to the worst housing in the county are several times the levels of children in richer suburban areas.”

Gray confirmed that equity and environmental justice are important considerations in deciding where trees are going to be planted.

“Environmental justice is a big deal,” said Gray. “If you look at tree canopies, trees are not evenly distributed across the city.”

Outside of air pollution’s impact on humans, poor air quality also impacts wildlife.

Emissions of nitrogen oxides from power plants and vehicles cause eutrophication, where algal blooms deplete oxygen in aquatic environments, which causes fish and other oxygen-dependent organisms to die. Lake Erie has been afflicted by frequent algal blooms since the 1990s, which turn the lake’s water a distinct blue-green hue. As recently as this past summer, visitors to Lake Erie have been warned not to allow their dogs to swim in the lake in Erie County, Pennsylvania. Native wildlife was endangered by these algal blooms much like any dog that swam in the lake.

Animals, like humans, also experience health problems, such as birth defects, reproductive failure and disease, from direct exposure to air pollution.

Mercury is one such air pollutant that affects wildlife in the Cleveland area, according to McCall.

“Mercury in Lake Erie and other Great Lakes [has caused the population of] fish and birds [to] steadily decrease[d] in the first three decades after the passage of the Clean Air Act in 1970,” McCall stated.

“Since 1990 however, the trend has reversed, first in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota, and later in Lakes Erie and Ontario.”

McCall believes this increase in mercury concentrations found in animals is likely a result of climate change. Mercury enters the air as a byproduct of coal combustion in power plants.

On-campus drug abuse referrals reach highest levels in three years Collin Wong Contributing Reporter According to the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, drug abuse disciplinary referrals have skyrocketed since 2016 on the Case Western Reserve University campus. The report defines drug abuse as the “production, distribution and/or use of certain controlled substances.” In 2016, there were only 20 drug abuse-related disciplinary referrals. However, by 2018, that figure soared to 95 referrals, which is nearly five times higher than in 2016.

On campus residence facilities saw the largest increase in drug abuse referrals, while non-residence facilities comprised less than 10% of the cases.

On-campus residence facilities constituted the majority of drug-abuse violations.

According to Dr. Sara Lee, director of University Health Services, the uptake in on-campus drug-abuse is just a microcosm of a larger national trend.

In one University of Michigan study, 2019 saw a 35-year high in marijuana consumption among college students nationwide. Moreover, annual drug

overdoses in America, including opioids and legal drugs, have risen more than twofold since 1999.

When asked to identify the root cause of the recent surge in drug abuse cases at CWRU, Lee responded, “A likely explanation for the increase of these referrals on our campus is this reduced perception of risk.” According to the University of Michigan, 75 percent of those aged 19-22 regarded marijuana as risky in 1991. In 2018, only 22 percent of those aged 19-22 regarded the regular consumption of marijuana as extremely risky. However, the short- and long-term health risks still stand. Stroke, temporary memory loss and heart disease are only a few of the numerous complications associated with marijuana consumption, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Lee observed that our nation’s changing laws contribute to the increase too. Eleven states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and more than 30 have approved its use

for medical purposes. She said that the combination of these two events has made it “much easier for people to access marijuana than a few years ago.”

Mental health also plays an important role in on-campus drug abuse. Lee noted that “there is a clear link between substance misuse and mental health issues in adults.” One reason could be that, as stated by the New England Recovery Center, substance abuse is the most common way to self-medicate.

In turn, certain substances might only amplify feelings of sadness or fatigue.

Thus, high depression rates among college students and poor coping mechanisms can cause drug use to reinforce depressive symptoms and vice versa.

An individual may become increasingly dependent on drugs in an attempt to cope with depressive symptoms.

For one CWRU first-year student, Travis Dumas, the transitional stress that incoming freshmen feel is tangible.

“I feel like if someone has been away from their parents before, they will be able to adapt more easily,” said Dumas.

“However, for those who have left the nest for the first time, it will probably take a while for them to fully adjust.”

For some, he said drugs might be a way of coping with the transition.

Dumas, an Ohio native, adds that CWRU’s campus location might also contribute to these numbers, as he is no stranger to Cleveland’s troubling history of drug abuse. Drugs seem to be readily available in Cleveland, as there were almost 1,300 drug overdose deaths in Cuyahoga County in the past two years. Dumas acknowledges that Case Western’s location makes it easy to come in contact with an off-campus drug dealer.

Fortunately, confidential and free on-campus services for mental health and substance use are available. Students can go to University Health and Counseling Services from 8:30 a.m. to 4:40 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays, though services start at 9:30 a.m. on Thursdays. When closed, an on-call counselor or nurse can still be reached by calling UHS.

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from WHEELER | 1 Tish O’Dell, a community organizer with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund, said that a more decentralized power grid, with municipalities, households and businesses creating more of their own electricity through solar panels and other means could make storage less of an issue.

Wheeler believes that the free market and improving technology will be what fixes climate change. He cited how the U.S. has seen a 13 percent reduction in carbon dioxide since 2005, because of advancements in power plant technology and natural gas production replacing coalbased power plants. Wheeler’s data includes the Obama administration, whose regulations Wheeler’s EPA has rolled back. Carbon emissions increased by 3.4 percent in 2018, according to a study by Rhodium Group. Wheeler said that exporting the innovations made here in the U.S. will clean up other countries’ power systems and that current U.S. energy policy is sufficient because technology will eventually catch up.

However, the scientific community believes that incremental progress is not enough to solve the problem of climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that limiting warming to under 1.5 degrees Celsius would require “unprecedented changes,” and that the world only has 11 years to act before a great increase in the risk of droughts, floods and extreme heat occurs as a result from the status quo.

A major concern is Wheeler’s past lobbying work at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting. He represented coal company Murray Energy, one of the largest coal producers in the United States.

Wheeler insisted that CEO Robert Murray, a big donor for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, was just one of the many clients he had as a lobbyist.

“I represented over 20 different companies when I was a lobbyist,” said Wheeler. “I represented the nuclear industry, I represented an air quality management district in California, I represented a solar company, I represented a cheese company, but the one company they all point to is the coal company.”

Wheeler’s association with the coal industry was more than the casual one he depicted when speaking with The Observer. He served as the president of the Washington Coal Club in 2016, according to the group’s tax filings. He has also come under fire for meeting with three of his former lobbying clients, Darling Ingredients, a biodiesel firm, the South Coast Airquality Management District and Archer Daniels Midland company.

These meetings came in spite of Wheeler’s promise not to meet with former lobbying clients until 2020.

“It’s like a revolving door,” said O’Dell, who has spoken at CWRU about environmental issues as part of Social Justice Institute Teach-Ins. “People who are in government go back and forth from representing corporate interests as lobbyists and then getting appointed to lead protection agencies. They are all part of that upper echelon protecting the power and wealth.”

According to The New York Times, the EPA has rolled back 85 different pieces of environmental legislation since Trump’s election.

Wheeler has introduced new environmental regulations, mainly focusing on drinking water quality. Wheeler introduced the first national action plan on PFAS chemicals, a class of chemicals commonly used in stain repellents and coatings. He also changed the EPA’s Lead and Copper rule, implementing stricter rules on lead testing and pipe replacement.

Students and faculty lined up outside the law school to protest Wheeler’s inaction on climate change and his ties to the coal industry. Matt Hooke/The Observer Some community activists like O’Dell feel the law does not go far enough, arguing that there should be no acceptable level of lead in water, since it is a poison. Wheeler argued that moving down to a zero tolerance system would help wealthy communities to the detriment of poor ones.

“We tightened how the water systems can measure and we also put the requirement in that when they find it, when [lead levels] are above 15 [ppb], [the line] needs to be replaced,” said Wheeler. “We could have lowered it to zero, but my concern would be that we wouldn’t be focusing on the most at risk communities. When the career staff first briefed me on this rule last fall, I actually sent it back to the drawing board. It’s going to take us 20-30 years to replace all the lead service lines in the country, my concern would be that we would replace the pipes in the most affluent neighborhoods first and not necessarily the most corrosive ones. Fifteen is a good marker for what is corrosive. We want to make sure we replace the ones that are 15 and above first and then replace the rest over time.”

Wheeler said the organization is having to learn how to do more with less. There are only 14,172 employees at the EPA today compared to more than 18,000 two decades ago, a reduction that has stretched the agency thin.

Additionally, the inability of Congress to act on greenhouse gas legislation has made creating regulations difficult. Several high-profile lawsuits and supreme court rulings have weakened the ability of the EPA to regulate companies. One of the reasons Obama’s Clean Power Plan (CPP) was rolled back by Wheeler’s EPA is because a lawsuit by 27 U.S. states argued that the plan overstepped the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act. Because of the lawsuit, the Supreme Court placed a stay on the legislation, so it never went into effect. Wheeler replaced the CPP with the Affordable Clean Energy Rule (ACE).

The law would reduce carbon emissions by 11 million short tons compared to a no-CPP baseline in 2030 according to the EPA, but that pales in comparison to the CPP’s projected cut of 870 million tons of emissions in 2030.

“On the ACE rule, when we did that I got beat up on the left a lot very openly in public, senators congressman, environmental groups saying we weren’t doing enough. What we did under the ACE

rule is follow the Clean Air Act and the Supreme Court cases,” said Wheeler.

“The Clean Power Act was stayed by the Supreme Court in my opinion because it went outside the Clean Air Act. I also got beat up by the right. I got phone calls from members of congress saying why are you doing anything. You should be overturning the endangerment finding, you shouldn’t be doing anything on climate change. That’s not what the Supreme Court has told us to do and not what the clean air act has told us to do. We are extremely limited by the clean air act in what we can do on CO2. John Dingell (former Chair of House Energy and Commerce Committee) said it would be a glorious mess to regulate CO2 under the clean air act and I think he was right, it has been a glorious mess.”

Wheeler said he does not think either party is willing to address climate change through legislation.

The Director of the CWRU Environmental Science Program Peter McCall said the CPP is an enforcement of the Clean Air Act, based on a court decision that said the EPA can regulate greenhouse gas emissions since they are considered a public health risk.

“Faced with the necessity of doing something by the CAA, [the EPA] rescinded the CPP and substituted [it] this summer a new rule with the Orwellian title, the Affordable Clean Energy rule,” said McCall. “The rule will not result in clean power anywhere near that contemplated by the CPP, and is affordable only where [the] costs and benefits are carefully selected to produce the desired result.”

When Wheeler attended CWRU as an undergraduate student, he wrote an opinion piece titled “Animals are not guinea pigs” in 1987. He argued against animal testing, stating that it is inhumane and unnecessary because of in-vitro fertilization and other alternatives.

Wheeler has pledged to reduce EPA requests and funding for animal testing on mammals by 30% by 2025 and eliminate it entirely by 2035. There are concerns within the scientific community that toxicity reports will be difficult to complete without the use of lab animals.

Scott Gottlieb of the Food and Drug Administration has said that without animal research, it would be impossible to gain important knowledge on many life threatening diseases.

McCall said that the new rules on ani-

mal research can be squared with the administration’s goals to deregulate industry, advocate for the fossil fuel industry and downplaying climate change.

“People are suspicious given his antipathy to controlling global warming, which will result in misery for all manner of animal life, and lack of much action to lessen the much greater suffering experienced by the 10 billion animals in factory farms,” said McCall. “I take him at his word that Administrator Wheeler cares about the lives of lab animals. Banning [the] use of vertebrates in toxicity studies may be tolerated by the chemical industry to the extent that it makes banning of some chemicals more difficult or less likely.”

Wheeler did include a measure that ensured that if animal testing is still needed for public health by 2035 the administrator can grant an exemption.

“I worked at biology labs all four years I was here at Case,” said Wheeler.

“I just think there are scientific advancements we aren’t taking advantage of. I wrote that op-ed where I called for more in-vitro testing and computer modeling, and not a whole lot has changed in that 35 years since I wrote that op-ed. Some animal testing has been reduced, but not to the level I thought it would be. I have to admit I took advantage of being the administrator of the EPA to try to move this forward. It’s interesting, I’ve gotten a lot of praise from the animal welfare groups and some criticism from scientific groups, that it’s impossible to meet, but it’s an aspirational goal. If we don’t set a goal we’ll never achieve it.”

On the issue of animal testing, Wheeler is willing to push the country forward and take risks. Yet on climate change, an issue considered by the UN to be an existential threat, he is not publicly calling for policies that create massive change in greenhouse gas emissions.

For the last sentence of “Animals are not guinea pigs,” Wheeler wrote, “It is up to us to determine the future of animals.”

Wheeler now has the power to help determine that future. However, Wheeler did not mention climate change once in his keynote speech, even though McCall and other scientists have said the crisis will create great suffering for many of the same animals that Wheeler wants to save through his regulations on animal testing.

Though taking action might be politically difficult, to quote Wheeler, “If we don’t set a goal, we’ll never achieve it.”

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arts & entertainment For Matt and Kim fans, grand tour hits all the right notes Henry Bendon Staff Reporter It’s hard to explain what a Matt and Kim show is like. The music they play could be best categorized as electro-pop, a blend of keys, drums and vocals. When played live, it sounds a lot louder and more forceful than on their records and inspires a great deal of dancing.

That said, a part of Matt and Kim’s performing style involves sampling or dancing along to other people’s music. The parts of the show where they play originals are the majority, but not the entirety of the performance.

This truth was in full effect when the duo kicked off their “Grand” tour at the Agora Theatre and Ballroom last Thursday, Oct. 17. The tour is designed to celebrate their album “Grand,” that came out ten years ago, and the tour is to remind the band and its audience of the music that launched Matt and Kim from the underground of indie-pop to headlining music festivals.

A tour centered around “Grand” is aided by the fact that it’s not very long. Its official tracklist comes in at a mere 29 minutes. In order to give the crowd a full show, Matt and Kim mixed in remixes of other artists, dance breaks, a few songs off other albums and a not insignificant number of conversations with each other

on stage.

The show also answered a few lingering questions about drummer Kim Shafino’s ability to perform—she has a torn ACL, which she described on the stage as “floating inside her leg.”

A large part of the Matt and Kim act involves the duo running around on stage, dancing and leaping, basically any activity that one might expect a woman with only one functioning leg to sit out. But beyond a knee brace, there was no indication from her performance that she was injured.

The rest of the show hit all of the highlights singer Matt Johnson had hoped for in his interview with The Observer in September—the crowd was loud, it danced, it moshed and it reacted very strongly to the surprising introduction of inflatable sex dolls that were cast out halfway through the set. Mostly, that reaction was to keep punching them back aloft like a beach ball at a music festival, which did appear to be the goal, although some concert attendees did grab and deflate said dolls and attempt to walk out with them.

Overall, the tour’s debut felt like a success. There were several elements of the show that felt like they were being worked out on stage. Specifically, one song where audience clap-and-stomp participation was re-

quested felt a little forced and less than cohesive, but for Matt and Kim fans

the show accomplished everything they came to see.

Matt and Kim, an electronic dance punk duo, break up their original songs with covers and conversations. Henry Bendon/The Observer

The first episode of “Watchmen” comments on a classic correctly Shreyas Banerjee Contributing Reporter When HBO first announced that they were making a television adaptation of the seminal graphic novel “Watchmen,” I was understandably concerned.

Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ masterpiece is considered one of the best graphic novels of all time and almost any attempt to add to it, whether it be in the form of a prequel comic series or a Hollywood movie, has ended disastrously, often because of a lack of understanding about what made the original “Watchmen” so special.

For those not familiar, “Watchmen” was released between 1986 and 1987 as 12 original issues showcasing a world in which superheroes existed in real life, with all the character flaws of real people, in a world as unforgiving as our own.

Characters like Rorschach and Doctor Manhattan might use the tropes of Batman and Superman, respectively, but they are far from the perfect heroes that can do no wrong we are used to, and instead are flawed, broken people who often make the wrong decisions in their quests for justice.

Using this setting, Moore relayed the dangers of nuclear brinkmanship, the fallacies of objectivism and the

value of human life.

So, when a 2009 feature film directed by Zack Snyder transfigured the work into an action film that was too busy reveling in its own gory violence to actually understand who the protagonist of Watchmen is (spoiler alert, despite what the film may say, it’s not Rorschach), it seemed to most that maybe the original graphic novel just could not be adapted or commented on in any meaningful way.

In general, adaptations of classics don’t go well, which made the success of “It’s Summer and We’re Running Out of Ice,” the pilot episode of the 2019 HBO series “Watchmen” even more surprising.

Written and showrun by Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of “Lost” and “The Leftovers,” the series “Watchmen” is not an adaptation of the original graphic novel, but instead a sequel, set in 2019, more than 30 years after the original’s ending.

Notably, most of the major characters from the original are absent in this pilot, with only cursory mentions of Doctor Manhattan and Ozymandias. However, this show is still unmistakably “Watchmen,” and still

commenting on a reality where real vigilantes existed and were widespread.

This show cleverly reframes the entire notion of masked vigilantes by rooting the concept in American history. In reality, the true vigilantes of the past were not pulp heroes like the ones the characters in the original “Watchmen” were trying to emulate.

Instead, as the HBO series depicts, people wearing masks and taking the law into their own hands throughout American history have typically been members of white supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan.

By reevaluating the entire superhero concept into a conversation about race, the pilot touches on taboo issues such as the case for reparations and the long history of racial violence that has plagued our national conscience.

The pilot opens with the oft-forgotten 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre when mobs of masked white men attacked the black community of Tulsa, Oklahoma, firebombing stores and shooting residents for their success.

Then, it cuts to 2019 Tulsa, where a present very different than reality is detailed. Mobs of masked racist vigilantes still exist, and are now wearing the Rorschach mask following the

character’s actions at the end of the original graphic novel.

Police officers are also forced to wear masks to protect their identities and use their own vigilantes, like Sister Night, an undercover detective played by Regina King.

It is also a world where reparations for African-Americans have been implemented, with racial tensions further strained as a result, Vietnam became the 51st U.S. state after Doctor Manhattan intervened in the Vietnam War. However, much of the details of this jarring world are purposely left a mystery, leaving an intriguing puzzle box waiting to be figured out.

You should read the original Watchmen before watching this series, as not much is explained about the minutiae of the world, at least in this first episode.

The only thing left is waiting to see if the mystery can be unraveled in a satisfying way in future episodes. If “Watchmen” can continue to touch on important issues as masterfully, this might be a worthy companion and commentary to the original.

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James Arthur’s new album “You” is strong and powerful Aimee Wiencek Staff Reporter This past Friday, soul-pop British singer James Arthur released his third studio album, “You.” Arthur, 31, quickly rose to fame after winning “The X Factor” in 2012 and releasing his incredibly successful debut cover, “Impossible.”

The album is authentic and, as Arthur puts it in an interview with Wonderland Magazine, “more inclusive and more about you. It’s inspired by other people.”

The album has 17 tracks and features many artists, including Travis Barker, Ty Dolla $ign, Shotty Horroh and Adam Lazzara.

“You” opens up with the title track, an inspiring and strong-willed song that discusses overcoming obstacles, being broken and becoming who you are meant to be.

This theme of vulnerability continues in “Finally Feel Good,” “Treehouse,” “Sad Eyes,” “Fall” and “From Me to You I Hate Everybody.” In these songs, Arthur reflects on his own struggles with addiction and the music industry, as well as how he has overcome them.

For fans of his hit love song, “Say You Won’t Let Go,” Arthur offers many similar songs on the new album, such as “Breathe,” “Maybe” and “Falling Like the Stars.” These tracks can make anyone want to be in love and offer the same warmth and fuzziness as “Say You Won’t Let Go.”

On the flip side, however, for those searching for a sad love song, Arthur offers “Marine Parade (2013),” “If We Can Get Through This We Can Get Through Anything,” “Car’s Outside,” “Quite Miss Home,” “Unconditionally,” “Homicide Love,” “Empty Space” and “Naked.”

Each song offers a different take on love gone wrong, including toxic relationships, long-distance and waiting for someone to reciprocate love.

While there are a few songs that are more upbeat musically, the majority of his songs are constructed as slow and powerful ballads.

In an interview with L’Officiel, Arthur explains how he composed the songs, using his “imagination” and “making it more of a stream of consciousness, and being inspired by other people.” Arthur believes this allows for his album to “feel more inclusive, a bit more like conversational.”

Compared to his previous albums “James Arthur” and “Back from the Edge,” it appears that Arthur is opening up and allowing his listeners to connect more to his music.

Using his own vulnerability, he taps into the good and bad aspects of relationships and personal struggles. With themes like this prevalent throughout the album, it’s easy to find songs to relate to and sympathize with.

Director Ruben Fleischer discusses “Zombieland: Double Tap” Yvonne Pan A&E Editor Few sequels live up to the original.

Ten years later, the Zombieland world returns to the big screen in “Zombieland: Double Tap,” with the original director Ruben Fleischer, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick and cast Woody Harrelson (Tallahassee), Jesse Eisenberg (Columbus), Abigail Breslin (Little Rock) and Emma Stone (Wichita).

Fleischer shared his experience directing the sequel to his first-ever movie, “Zombieland,” in a conversation with us and several other college newspapers, including Cleveland State University’s The Cauldron, on Oct. 11.

“I felt the best path for Zombieland Two was to try and harness the spirit of the first one as much as possible, because it has such a distinctive tone and style,” Fleischer said.

Though the movie maintains the same tone and style, there are new additions, like writer Dave Callaham and actors Rosario Dawson (Nevada), Zoey Deutch (Madison), Thomas Middleditch (Flagstaff) and Luke Wilson (Albuquerque).

“In the audition, I googled [Deutch] while she was acting opposite me,” Fleischer said. “I was like, who is this girl? I couldn't believe that there was someone that funny and that pretty, that I never heard of before.”

Fleischer cited Middleditch, Eisenberg’s doppelganger, as a “natural fit,” something he emphasizes was important for all new cast members to have chemistry and feel comfortable enough to improvise.

“I love improvisation and one of the joys of being a director is getting to cast these incredibly talented comedians,” Fleischer said.

He recollects “one of the funniest things in the movie,” an improvised scene in which Madison looks through

some binoculars but holds them the wrong way so the objects look smaller rather than bigger and she goes “tiny, big; tiny, big.”

Improvisation unexpectedly played a big role in the film, especially “when [Middleditch] and [Eisenberg] face-off, it's like these two doppelgangers and so much of what they say back and forth are improvised,” Fleischer said. “And there's some really huge laughs within that, that are all just improvised moments.

The cast list isn’t the only thing that has changed in the past decade. Stone, Harrelson and Eisenberg have all been nominated for Academy Awards, and Eisenberg and Fleischer are now fathers.

Fleischer has come a long way from his first film, with a few more films under his belt, including “30 Minutes or Less,” starring Eisenberg and “Gangster Squad,” starring Stone. “[The film] was born from a desire to work with those guys again,” Fleischer said. “But we all had a lot of respect for the original and we didn't want to do anything to tarnish the reputation of the first film.”

These high stakes did not come without challenges. Fleischer explains the biggest challenge was the monster trucks in the finale.

“They're very unpredictable vehicles, so you can't really have any people in proximity,” he said. “So that entire zombie monster truck sequence was done with all [computer-generated] zombies … and that was just something that was a whole new level of scale for me and it was a little daunting.”

“Some have even told me it’s better [than the original],” Fleischer said. “But I’ll leave that for you to decide.”

Zombieland was released on Oct. 18 and is currently screening at local theaters.

“Wakey, Wakey” celebrates mortality and the simplicity of human love Adam Benjamin Contributing Reporter “Wakey, Wakey” is Dobama Theatre’s Midwest premiere of playwright Will Eno’s mysterious exploration of mortality.

“Wakey, Wakey” stars Jason Martin as Guy, a man whose vitality burns through his witty soliloquy and visceral morality. Martin draws the audience in with his charm, establishing a naturalistic connection through his character’s affinity for self-card cueing—a reminder of his fleeting life.

Guy is driven by a sense of obligation to storytelling, which becomes more evident as his soliloquies grow more and more feverish.

Martin’s alluring storytelling is counterbalanced by Katrice Headd’s portrayal of Lisa, a warm caregiver to Guy. Lisa’s story is complex and distant; recent loss echoes in her devoted nursing of Guy. Headd creates a sense of immediacy in Lisa’s history; it is clear that Guy’s surreal soliloquy has moved Lisa to her own introspection. The circularity and interconnection of their stories highlights the overall message of “Wakey, Wakey”: take care of each other while you can.

The director of Dobama’s “Wakey, Wakey,” Christopher Mirto, orchestrated the conveyance of this message with deft calculation; projection coordinated with stage action emphasized the gravity of Guy’s moralizations.

Particularly striking was Marcus Dana’s lighting work, intended to establish a clear dramatic focus. The lighting was focused in a circle around Headd and Martin, rooting the integrity of the play

in the interplay between reality and philosophy.

This interplay was further developed in Laura Carlson Tarantowski’s elegant scenic design. An indefinable mystery was infused into the set: alluring greens and blues gradated the tile floor, plainness and constraint in the piles of cardboard boxes filled with unspecified memory. All pointing to the theme of human solidarity and connection.

Audience participation is invited, not imposed; Guy coaxes the audience to imagine loved ones in surreal spaces, in magic and in mundanity, and in love—in the otherwise one-sided vacuum of live theater.

That being said, Eno’s writing style leaves little to the imagination, as themes and morals are essentially driven into the audience from page one. The play is divided into two very distinct mini-plays of their own: Guy’s witty monologuing to the audience and the subsequent interaction between Guy and Lisa.

Still, though the presence of the second mini-play necessitates the existence of the first mini-play, one might find themselves lost in Guy’s moralization, ungrounded until Headd’s arrival onstage.

This 75-minute send-up of love and mortality provides a labyrinth of experiences for an unsuspecting audience. Prepare for puzzlement—in word scrambles and ambient music. Prepare to interact with the play, to be asked uncomfortable questions and to discover closure where you never suspected you were hurting.

Who is Toby?

Mystery of the name behind Toby’s Plaza Henry Bendon Staff Reporter It’s no surprise that there are a number of named spaces around campus—naming expensive projects after donors helps the University Circle community accomplish projects like the Tinkham Veale University Center and the Nord Family Greenway. There is one name, however, that sticks out a little when it appears: Toby.

Toby has both a plaza and a terrace, which are aptly named Toby’s Plaza and Toby’s Terrace. The two are located in central outdoor spaces—the plaza in Uptown, right next to the Museum of Contemporary Art (moCa) and the terrace on the expanded stage of the Nord Family Greenway.

What makes Toby different is the way things they produce are named and the connections that exist between Toby’s Plaza and some other notable on-campus landmarks. So, who is Toby?

Toby is Toby Devan Lewis, a philanthropist, art collector, author and curator. She serves on the boards of the New Museum of Contemporary Art, moCa and the Cleveland Institute of Art, which has also given her an honorary doctorate. She is responsible for sourcing and managing the world’s largest corporate collection of art, which is held and

curated by the Progressive Corporation. She is also the ex-wife of its former CEO, Peter B. Lewis.

Toby and Lewis were married in 1955 and amicably divorced in 1981, which allowed them to continue to work together at Progressive for the following twenty years. The considerable wealth managed by the two of them has shaped University Circle and much of Cleveland for a long time.

During his lifetime, Lewis was one of the wealthiest and most influential Clevelanders. The Weatherhead School of Management building that shares his name was funded in part with a $30 million gift from Lewis, and allegedly designed because he wanted his friend Frank Gehry, named the “most important architect of our age” by Vanity Fair, to build something here.

The power behind his philanthropy was so significant that when Lewis cut local funding in order to punish CWRU for moving in the wrong direction, the university revamped the board of trustees and hired a new president, according to the Cleveland Free Times.

The Free Times has since folded and been incorporated into the Cleveland Scene.

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opinion

EDITORIAL

Andrew Wheeler does not stand for CWRU values Editorial Board In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), acting administrator and Case Western Reserve University alumnus Andrew Wheeler visited campus for a day-long symposium. The event, not only intended to showcase the EPA’s anniversary, but also intended to commemorate the newest law school center, the Coleman P. Burke Center for Environmental Law. An additional 12 speakers were there to cumulatively discuss environmental issues of our time. Wheeler’s invitation and welcome to any university, particularly one that prides itself on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), is puzzling, given his cloudy history with environmental activism.

Wheeler became head of the EPA after Scott Pruitt resigned amidst a slew of ethics scandals. He, like Pruitt, is a perfect fit for the current White House occupant. That is, his environmental achievements do not exactly signify the environment as a chief priority.

Wheeler was an energy lobbyist, working primarily on behalf of one of the largest coal mining companies

in the country, Murray Energy Corporation. He also worked as an aide to Oklahoma Senator Jim Inhofe, who has a record of calling climate change the “greatest hoax to ever perpetuate Americans” and suggesting “kids are being brainwashed” with such “hoaxes.” Inhofe was, of course, quite pleased when Wheeler was nominated to the EPA. The work and people with whom Wheeler surrounds himself must be taken into consideration. Holding one of the highest governmental positions at the nexus of climate change, while actively believing it to be both an insignificant issue and one that we as people, and further as Americans, have no role in, is beyond worrisome.

However, the actions Wheeler has personally pursued since becoming active administrator to the EPA needs also to be briefly addressed.

The Union of Concerned Scientists, a science advocacy nonprofit focused primarily on climate, energy and disarmament, has compiled a list that outlines the disintegration of science and climate change activism under Wheeler. He tried to actively attack scientists and scientific data, as

to prevent them from being used to develop health standards. Moreover, he has reversed water protections set forth by the Obama administration, going as far as recommending unsafe levels of water contaminants which may lead to cancer.

Wheeler’s actions are filled with rollbacks of bipartisan environmental protections, suppressing scientific reports and ignoring scientists in order to serve the pleasures of a president who thinks climate change to be a “Chinese hoax” and corporations who prioritize coal and money over workers.

CWRU is known as a distinguished university for undergraduate and graduate STEM studies and research. We have been named one of the Princeton Review’s Top 50 Green Schools, and a climate action plan signed by President Barbara Snyder in 2011 pledged to reduce the carbon footprint to net zero within 50 years.

For a school which prides itself on the sciences, titles among lists of sustainable schools, Inamori Ethics Prizes and its large windmill in the center of the academic quad, it should surely have found another keynote speaker

who sincerely prioritizes the environment to commemorate the anniversary of the EPA. Furthermore, the event was also meant to act as an inaugural address for a building named after a man who has spent his career advocating for the environment.

To welcome Wheeler, who is actively trying to deregulate environmental standards, is to also dishonor Burke and the work he has done to prioritize the environment.

Wheeler’s address at the Oct. 18 symposium was met by protesters, who actively interrupted the speaker, with more outside the law school.

CWRU has a responsibility to support its alumni in its endeavors to better our society and planet. In that, it also has a responsibility to condemn actions which threaten all people, but especially people of color and low socioeconomic status.

To do otherwise—that is, to welcome climate denialists active in deteriorating the status of the planet, like Wheeler—is to fail our role to stand up for students, faculty and all people in our community and abroad.

Lakhiani: Why romance novels aren’t cliché Karuna Lakhiani Contributing Columnist To most people, romance novels are closely associated with predictability or cheesiness because they are supposed to end with happily ever afters or other uplifting scenarios. However, romance novels aren’t always as cliché as everyone thinks. The good ones show that love isn’t the only necessary component in a healthy relationship.

Quality romances demonstrate the real difficulties that threaten to keep the characters from finding their happy endings. What makes the story exciting is the way these problems impact the characters, place pressure on them and reveal both their virtues and flaws.

As the genre continues to expand, romances need to model a variety of perspectives, including characters from different backgrounds and cultures.

The best and most important component of a romance novel is always the journey. No matter how significant romance is in the novel, the path that the characters take to the ending is always what matters the most. In young adult romance novelist Sarah Dessen’s book, The

Truth About Forever, the main character copes with witnessing the death of her father while being a perfectionist. The story is ultimately a journey of healing as the protagonist learns to deal with grief in different ways with the help of other characters.

Great romance shouldn’t have to follow the stereotypical storyline of instantly meeting and falling in love, with a grand gesture at the end that resolves any conflict (cue the kissing in the rain). As in Dessen’s book, romance often enhances an existing plotline and can encompass much more complex themes like coping with loss or accepting yourself.

However, the major flaw with many mainstream romance novels, and literature in general, is that the main characters are all too often both white and straight.

Many brown girls like me can’t relate to the typical white heroine with the often described pale skin, perfectly placed freckles and lightcolored eyes. While Dessen writes unique plotlines, the characters don’t have diverse backgrounds. It’s

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necessary for novels to have diversity among their characters that reflects the diversity of their readers.

Although romance novels portray a realistic storyline, they do not represent a realistic cast of characters.

There needs to be a diversification of characters because otherwise, these novels build romance upon false assumptions. Often, the expectation of love in romance novels is to be heternormative and white. With this expectation, romance will continue to be too cliché.

Romance characters can show a level of vulnerability in love that readers can connect with. However, if readers can’t identify with the most basic aspects of the novel’s characters, they can’t experience the journey with the cast. The ending that the characters experience might be an uncharted and unrelatable territory for the audience.

Even though there is a convention for the typical heroine or hero, some authors are trying to change the stereotypical image. Kennedy Ryan, a contemporary romance author, writes about racially diverse

characters while addressing current racial and political problems.

Colleen Hoover, a new adult romance writer, deals with characters from various backgrounds while illustrating relevant issues, such as abuse, in various perspectives.

Romance stories are about characters who overcome obstacles to reach their happy endings, and how they do it is what makes the books powerful. However, as the romance genre continues to grow, the variety of cultures and backgrounds also needs to expand.

Authors like Ryan or Hoover contribute to that change, but more authors need to diversify their characters. Without diversity, there is a lack of empathy toward most protagonists that contributes to the reputation of monotony in romance novels.

Karuna Lakhiani is a first-year international studies major on the pre-law track. She is from Kentucky and loves her ALE8! She has a passion for creative writing and will always be reading a book in her spare time.

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Zhu: The commodification of activism by self-interested corporations Caroline Zhu Staff Columnist When did corporations start taking stances on cultural and political movements?

When it started to seem profitable to do so. Today, we see some companies put forth genuine efforts to give back to communities and to their consumers, while others put forth hollow advertising that supports social movements. Worse than that, though, is when companies support harmful political systems through their inaction. Such behavior from corporations cannot be allowed to continue, but the question still remains: What power do consumers have to change the behavior of the producers?

Take Ben and Jerry’s, for example. From racial justice to gender equality, Ben and Jerry’s lists a significant amount of “Issues We Care About” on their marketing material.

They donate to charities and causes run by or heavily influenced by the people those causes affect, and they seem to do their research when deciding what causes to support and how to support them. The effort feels genuine because they defer to those who champion these causes and there is a relative lack of advertising directly marketing the causes they support. Although they still advertise to direct revenue to a cause and raise awareness, they are not promoting products to raise awareness of their brand but rather for the cause itself.

As such, we can start to define ethical and genuine support as a respect for the cause that the company supports and the acknowledgement that what is important is not that the company is supporting these movements, but that these movements exist in the first place and require the community’s support.

Alternatively, a variety of other corporations have tried and failed to market themselves based on social movements because they did not direct the attention away from their brand and toward the cause they supposedly supported.

Consider Pepsi, whose ill-advised commercial in early 2019 starring Kendall Jenner reflected a profound misunderstanding of what was shown to be a nameless protest.

They pandered to the police force by showing that the officers involved are, indeed, human, and that they are able to connect with the protestors over a can of soda.

This commercial trivialized and oversimplified the many social movements that have swept the nation. From the widespread police brutality that defined 2015 and the Ferguson protests, to the continual downplaying of the climate march a few weeks ago, the causes that are defining a generation are not and should not be the focus of corporations aiming to relate to the youth.

To do so only reflects a deeply insensitive and ignorant view of these

important, serious social movements.

However, approaching this issue from the perspective that these corporations only aim to market their product is also reductive. Ultimately, capitalism and the desire for profit drive companies to ignore the need for social change; to drive change is to drive themselves out of business, as they lose government subsidies or important profits from other nations.

This is perhaps best exemplified in the involvement of Blizzard in the Hong Kong protests upon their removal of a pro-Hong Kong Hearthstone player who vocally supported the Hong Kong protestors in public, and their silence on the overall matter. Those who remain neutral in times of conflict like this ultimately only support the side with the greater resources and the greater influence, and act in self interest.

This is only worsened when considering the concurrent progress in technology that makes us increasingly wary of how government and other forces will contract with technology companies to obtain user data and other sensitive information.

Perhaps this is a naive argument, but it has to be made. Otherwise, we make ourselves complicit in the very same crimes that corporations are guilty of: Why do we not hold corporations to ethical standards?

Why are they allowed, time and time

again, to generate increasingly dangerous effects?

One answer is, quite obviously, that there is no single agreed upon ethical standard to uphold. It is a valid statement, but when nations like China repeatedly commit human rights violations, we must hold these corporations responsible for their actions that support countries like China, who currently hold power.

However, this seems to indict corporations either way—if they support activist causes, their messages are hollow and self-serving, and if they remain neutral or take actions to silence those who support protestors, their actions promote the ideals of a nation whose actions are questionable at best. What are companies to do?

Ultimately, all we can say is that we, as a society, must remain vigilant at holding organizations to task in their actions. Ben and Jerry’s is a wonderful example of a company that holds social issues aloft, and one that is able to defer to others when the company can and should not serve as a spokesperson for a given movement.

Although many corporations act only in self-interest, strong pushes in the right direction from their consumer base can shift those selfinterested goals to goals that match those of their communities and their consumers.

Kuntzman: Reevaluating how we fight climate change Caroline Kuntzman Staff Columnist In the wake of global climate protests and Greta Thunberg’s speech at the United Nations, recent approaches to climate change advocacy seem to be shifting toward advocating for aggressive governmental action instead of individual accountability.

With scientists suggesting that carbon emissions will need to be halved by 2030 to keep the average global temperatures from increasing more than 1.5 degrees Celsius than prior to the industrial revolution, swift action and government intervention will be crucial to meet this goal.

Fifty-seven percent of greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activity in the United States are related to our transportation and electrical systems, both of which could be reduced by government investments.

Theoretically, if both of these industries became carbon neutral, the U.S. could decrease greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 percent.

We could then ignore the other problematic aspects of our economy for the next ten years, and focus on developing net zero emissions for all aspects of American life by 2050.

Unfortunately, this ideal world is unlikely due to the existing system of transportation in the U.S. Our current economy depends heavily

on shipping goods across the country quickly. Electric vehicles and high-speed trains could help reduce the damage, but it would require a source of energy other than fossil fuels to charge the vehicles. Also, because high-speed trains demand relatively straight tracks, the majority of the existing tracks in the U.S. would need to be modified. However, eminent domain laws make it challenging for the government to acquire the land necessary to build long railroad tracks. Because major American cities are very spread out, it would be difficult for the government to buy enough land in a straight line to have a high-speed railroad.

Converting our electricity generating systems to be net zero is also challenging, as our current grids primarily use coal, oil and natural gas to produce electricity. Renewable and perpetual sources such as hydroelectric, solar, wind, nuclear and geothermal energy all have potential, but they also all have significant drawbacks.

Solar and wind energy are not always geographically available. Hydroelectric power usually requires building dams, which can cause significant damage to ecosystems. Nuclear power presents human health risks, and geothermal energy just

isn’t available in most parts of the U.S. None of these alternatives offer easy answers for how to stop using carbon fuels to produce electricity.

This is without considering the other challenges of reconfiguring our electrical system, such as the logistics of building or modifying power plants. Doing either of these tasks will require a lot of time, money and resources.

In short, we shouldn’t expect our transportation or electrical systems to have net zero emissions by 2030.

Ideally, we will reduce their carbon footprints, but we shouldn’t count on these two industries alone to deliver the 50 percent reduction of carbon emissions; we need to consider other industries as well.

The other 43 percent of the U.S.’ carbon footprint comes from industry, commercial and residential use, and agriculture. While they could all be regulated by the government, these three fields are all largely influenced by consumer demands. If the public was educated on the damage of their living habits to the environment and the risk of a global temperature increase above the 1.5 degree threshold, demand for sustainable products would grow. This consumer demand would put pressure on companies to implement

more sustainable practices, especially if it was advantageous to do so in the market economy. As more companies start producing sustainable products, competition will grow, and it should help lower prices and offer a wider variety of sustainable products. Similarly, if consumers decide they want to eat more sustainable crops, farmers may be more inclined to grow them.

Expecting government or consumers alone to completely decrease greenhouse gas emissions is unrealistic, but if both sides work together, we may be able to meet the 2030 deadline. If government policies fail to halve carbon emissions by this time, consumer actions could allow us to meet this goal. This is without considering the possibility of failing to sufficiently decrease emissions.

A 2019 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report estimates that there is only a 50 percent probability of meeting the 2030 deadline of keeping global temperatures below 1.5 degrees. Given the tremendous ecological damage expected to occur if temperatures increase this much, we shouldn’t gamble on a 50 percent chance. We must strive to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible instead of focusing on a specific number.

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sports

10/25/19

Men’s cross country conquers at Inter-Regional Rumble Chris Heermann Photo Editor While much of campus traveled home for fall break, the Case Western Reserve University men’s and women’s cross country teams journeyed to the Inter-Regional Rumble, hosted by Oberlin College. This was the last race of the regular season and the best indication of how teams will perform in the postseason. There were several nationally-ranked teams racing at Oberlin.

Despite the tough competition, the men’s team finished an incredible third out of 39 teams.

Leading the team to such an impressive finish was captain Trey Razanauskas, who crossed the line first out of all 339 runners. Razanauskas ran a new personal best, finishing the eight-kilometer course in 24:36:7. Coming in second for the team was fourth-year David Hall, with a time of 25:09.4. Next to score was first-year runner Jack Begley, who finished No. 30 while running a 25:18.7. Close behind Begley was Yoshmar Pinal-Alfaro, with a time

of 25:22.9. The pair ran both season and personal bests at the race, which suggests a promising postseason for them and the team. Following PinalAlfaro was second-year Spencer Weigand, who finished No. 41 with a time of 25:32.4. The freshman duo of Robert St. Clair and Joe Jaster, who finished with times of 25:44.9 and 25:47.8 respectively in the varsity race. Dmytro Blundell finished behind St. Clair with a time of 25:53.3, and Alex Loeper and Eric Rachita followed Blundell, with times of 26:10.7 and 26:13.0.

Coming off of such an impressive finish, the men’s team jumped nine spots in the national rankings, going from No. 29 to 20. Regionally the men remained fourth. This was a good weekend for the Spartans, but there still may be more to come. The team is coming together and finding their stride, and the UAA’s should be an excellent indicator of how CWRU performs among some of the top teams outside our region, many

of whom we will likely see again at the national meet.

The Spartans race again at the

UAA conference meet hosted by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Captain Trey Razanauskas crosses the finish line first out of 339 runners, leading the team to an impressive finish. Ryan Tatton/The Observer

CWRU Soccer performs admirably in UAA play Men’s and Women’s each hosted two games against conference rivals over fall break David Chang Staff Reporter Case Western Reserve University men’s soccer team hosted two UAA conference games over fall break. The men nearly pulled out two thrilling ties. CWRU tied the Emory University Eagles 2-2, but dropped a 1-0 loss to the University of Rochester Yellow Jackets.

The ladies team split their games, beating the 17th ranked Rochester 2-1, but dropping the match against Emory, 2-0. The women’s 11-3-0 record tied for third-most wins in a season in program history. The women also lead the conference for most goals scored with 39 goals, which is the third most within a season in program history.

For the first women’s game, Emory struck first, when the offense found a striker open at the left side of the box and shot at the top right side for the first goal of the game. Fourth-year goalie Lauren Unterborn then bounced back by saving the next two goals. At the 27th minute, second-year Anika Washburn received a cross in the box, but the opposing goalie managed to block her shot. Emory then lengthened the deficit to 2-0 when two recently substituted players crossed to each other in the box for a goal. Leading the Spartan’s unwavering defense, Unterborn then saved the shot by Emory the minute after, ending the game with seven saves. The Spartans came close to scoring in the second half when Washburn crossed the ball to first-year Johanna Dunkers, but a diving save by the keeper blocked the shot, and the Spartans never came back from the deficit.

Determined to shake off their 0-3 UAA record, the Spartans turned up the heat against Rochester, with Washburn scoring two goals, deciding the fate of the match in the first 15 minutes. First-year Merry Meyer drilled a pass to Washburn at the top of the key, who crossed two defenders and drove the ball deep into the net for the goal.

Washburn then scored the second goal off a penalty kick, tying for second-

most goals scored in a season. At the 19th minute, the Yellow Jackets responded with a goal of their own off a corner when the defense was unaware.

CWRU won the game 2-1.

The men played their games directly after the women, continuing the fiery Spartan fighting spirit. Against Emory, both teams failed to score in the first half. In the second half, third-year Seldon Magruder gained possession of the ball towards the opposing goal, jumped over a defender’s tackle and shot it over the goalie to the top right corner of the goal. The Eagles responded with a header from a corner pass to tie the game 1-1. Magruder then received a pass in the center of the box, boxing out his defender, dropping it off to a

running fourth-year forward Zachary Senft, who drilled the ball through the diving opposing keeper’s hands. Physicality was a tough factor in the game for both teams, as the teams had a total of 28 fouls and four cards called. In the last two minutes, Emory managed to tip in the ball into the goal off a header pass. Both teams struggled to score in overtime, combining for 11 shots, but time ran out for the deciding goal.

First-year Jackson Kallen totaled a career-high nine saves, manning the tight Spartan defense.

The Spartans found themselves in the same situation against Rochester, as both team’s defense’s won out.

The Spartan defense survived multiple corner kicks by Rochester in the first

20 minutes, then Magruder and Senft counterattacked but their shots were not converted. The Spartans continued attacking in the second half, attempting three shots in the first three minutes.

The first two were blocked, and a header shot by second-year Peter Dernelle off a corner was saved by the opposing goalie. The Yellow Jackets stole the show by scoring off of a corner in the final seconds of the game. Both teams were close in shots, but the Spartans had one more, 12-11.

The women will host Ohio Wesleyan University for their last non-conference game at DiSanto Field, while the men will travel to Pennsylvania to face Westminster College for their last-non conference game.

Men’s and women’s soccer only have one more non-conference game apiece. Naji Saker/The Observer

sports

observer.case.edu

11

Football remains undefeated Shreya Ramani Staff Reporter

Quarterback Drew Saxton threw for a career-high 416 yards against Saint Vincent College. Winston Delk/The Observer This past weekend, the 23rd/19thranked Case Western Reserve University Spartans traveled to Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where they improved their record to 6-0 with a 34-26 win over Saint Vincent College. This win affirmed their standing as leaders in their Presidents’ Athletic Conference, where they have a conference record of 5-0.

While the Spartans’ running game struggled, the passing attack picked up most of the slack, quarterback Drew Saxton completing 30 out of 50 passes and threw four touchdowns. Saxton’s careerhigh 416 yards passing yards, marked the fourth highest single game mark in program history. With these achievements,

Saxton received his second straight UAA Athlete of the Week Honor.

The first two touchdowns of the game were scored by Colt Morgan, a third-year wide receiver, off of a pair of five-yard passes during the first half. Second-year Robertson Albrecht tied off the two touchdowns by successfully making the extra points. Albrecht also made a 32yard field goal, which increased the Spartans’ lead to 17-6 and finished off the first half.

The second half saw more exciting action, with St. Vincent and CWRU scoring a combined 34 points during the third quarter. As the game picked up speed, St. Vincent cut the Spartans’ lead, scor-

ing two touchdowns. CWRU fired right back, with the Spartans going 67 yards down the field in one minute and 21 seconds. This drive included Saxton catching a 28-yard pass from running back Donald Day III to extend the lead to 24-13. St. Vincent then caught up to CWRU, catching a touchdown to bring the score back to within five points of CWRU. Third-year Travis Johnston pushed back with a 55yard kick return. This allowed Saxton to work with third-year wide receiver Chase Witte to score a 30-yard touchdown with 6:28 remaining in the third quarter. St Vincent did not let up and scored one more touchdown after the Spartans failed to convert to end the quarter.

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the score was 31-26. The Spartans kept a five-point lead until the closing minutes of the game. Then they extended their lead even further in the last six minutes with a 65-yard drive, that culminated in a Mario Robaina catch-and-run touchdown.

Saint Vincent made one last attempt to keep the score, but senior cornerback Kevin Chrissis blocked that attempt with five seconds remaining in the game. This last play secured the Spartans’ lead and victory, with the final score being 34-26.

The Spartans will return home next Saturday to host Geneva College at DiSanto Field. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Spartans run personal bests at Oberlin Chris Heermann Photo Editor Racing against some of their toughest competition all year, the women’s cross country team finished an impressive seventh out of 32 teams this past weekend at Oberlin’s Inter-Regional Rumble. All six teams who finished ahead of the Spartans are ranked nationally, while CWRU sits unranked for now.

Finishing the 6k course first for the Spartans was fourth-year Maddie Lindemann. Lindemann finished 16th out of 283 runners, with a time of 22:03.2.

Coming in 39th overall was Jana Fisher, running a 22:40.5. Four places behind Fisher was third-year Kiera Olson, with a 22:46.6. Next to finish was the first-year, second-year duo of Melissa Phung and Susanna Henry. Henry ran a 23:02.6 and Phung a 23:03.0. Firstyear Danielle Sarno raced across the line in 23:12.7 to finish 82nd, followed by third-years Grace Kemerer and Ol-

ivia Battistoni who each ran personal bests, 23:20.3 and 23:40.0, respectively. Fourth-year captain Vanessa Pasadyn ran a 24:02.3 to close out the varsity squad.

The third-years weren’t the only ones to record a personal best this weekend. Lindemann, Olson, Phung, Henry, Sarno, Kemerer and Battistoni all ran their fastest times ever during the varsity race. Many others Spartans also ran their personal records in the open race.

Despite the spectacular performance at Oberlin, the women’s team dropped in the regional rankings.

They need to race their best at the UAAs and Regionals in order to be in contention for an at-large bid to the national meet.

The Spartans have a week off from competition before the UAA race in Pittsburgh.

Women’s cross country is on the hunt for an at-large bid to the national meet. Ryan Tatton/The Observer

sports NCAA Ohio Division I football week nine round-up Ryan Yoo Director of Design Unfortunately, going to a Division III school means that even though the football team is actually pretty good there aren’t that many people who enjoy following the team. If you want to experience college football teams with a more vocal fanbase, here’s an update from some notable NCAA Division I teams in Ohio.

University of Akron The University of Akron Zips have had a rough season so far. The team is currently 0-5 in total and 0-3 in the conference, having lost against their MidAmerican Conference (MAC) opponents Central Michigan University, Kent State University and the University of Buffalo.

The Zips have struggled on all aspects of their season. Their offense averages only 12.3 points and 292 yards per game (and only 48.4 rushing yards). Their defense doesn’t fare much better, managing only four sacks, missing 31 tackles and having only 30 tackles for loss on the season.

The University of Buffalo Bulls beat the Zips 21-0 last weekend, giving the Bulls their first MAC win this season.

Buffalo’s defense limited the Zips to 196 yards total and an abysmal three yards rushing. The Bulls’ defense recorded five sacks and three turnovers, with two of the turnovers returned for a touchdown.

The Zips’ weak offense can be partially accredited to the absence of their quarterback Kato Nelson, who “was suspended for violation of team rules.”

Nelson has passed for 1265 yards, eight touchdowns and only three interceptions this season.

On the upside, however, the game against Buffalo was Zips’ defense best performance this season. The team only allowed 254 yards this season, much less than their 185 yards average game per season. Fourth-year linebacker John Lako leads the defense with 14 tackles.

The Zips will face the Northern Illinois Huskies on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Kent State University The Kent State University Golden Flashes currently sit atop the MAC East division standings.

One highlight of Golden Flashes’ season so far has been the game against instate rival University of Akron, known as the Wagon Wheel game. Legend has it that a wheel from the wagon of Akron industrialist John R. Buchtel, the main benefactor and namesake of Buchtel College (which would later become the University of Akron), became embedded in Akron’s mud and was pulled out by his horses. This caused Buchtel to choose Akron as the site of the new college.

Akron had won the last four Wagon

Wheel games. However, as previously mentioned, the Zips have not had a successful season, and lost to the Golden Flashes this year.

Overall, Golden Flashes have demonstrated a pretty strong offense so far this season, including record 750 yard game against the Bowling Green State University (BGSU) Falcons. This game also marks the first time the team has scored over 60 points since 2004 against Eastern Michigan.

Kent State recently played the Ohio University Bobcats, and were defeated 45-38. The game showcased the Golden Flashes strong offense, with Kent State quarterback Dustin Crum throwing for 262 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions. However, the defense was lackluster, as evidenced by Kent State allowing Bobcats wide receiver Jerome Buckner to run a 51-yard touchdown one minute into the second quarter.

Kent State University will play Miami University Saturday, Oct. 26.

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC) Bearcats have had a pretty good season so far. UC has won four of its five games, losing only to The Ohio State University (OSU) Buckeyes, who destroyed the Bearcats 42-0.

This is to nobody’s surprise, consid-

ering it’s OSU. The Bearcats have proved that they’re ready to run with the big boys. The Associated Press currently ranks the team No. 18 nationally on its week nine poll, beating out traditional football powerhouses like Michigan State University and the University of Southern California.

The Bearcats’ season highlight is their massive upset of No. 18 University of Central Florida (UCF), when they narrowly defeated the Knights 27-24. The Bearcats had three interceptions during the game and rushed for nearly 200 yards. Quarterback Desmond Ridder threw two touchdowns, as well as running back Michael Warren II rushed for 133 yards on 23 carries. The Bearcats’ defense also shined in the game, limiting the Knights to three field goals and one touchdown.

The team recently played the University of Houston Cougars, beating them 38-23. Ridder threw three touchdowns and an interception, including a 13-yard touchdown that put the Bearcats on the board. Wide receiver Rashad made a 75-yard touchdown play and finished with three catches for 121 yards.

The Bearcats will play the East Carolina University Pirates on Saturday, Nov. 2.

Volleyball splits final regular season conference action Andrew Ford Staff Reporter After a disappointing September, the Case Western Reserve University volleyball team has gotten back on track in October with a 2-2 record over their last four matches.

Against Heidelberg University, one of the best teams in the region, the Spartans fell three sets to one on Oct. 10. CWRU couldn’t put together an efficient offensive attack in that game. The team only managed a .160 kill percentage, while Heidelberg had a .239 kill percentage.

Fourth-year outside hitter Brianna Lemon led the team with 13 kills, followed by fellow fourth-year outside hitter Karley King with 11. Fourth-year setter Faith Ellis contributed 23 assists.

The Spartans rebounded nicely with a 3-2 victory over Hiram College on Oct. 16. CWRU lost the first set, but gained momentum after a tough 30-28 win in the second set. They took the third game in dominant fashion, 25-13, but lost the fourth. Then they squeaked out a 15-13 victory in the last game to ensure the win.

Lemon again led the team offensively, recording 20 kills. Fourth-year middle hitter Haley Sims and third-year middle hitter Katie Kaminski combined for 23 kills at the net. The defense stepped up well in this match, holding Hiram to a lowly .109 kill percentage and totaling 110 digs as well as 7 blocks.

That weekend, on Oct. 20, CWRU hosted the third UAA Round Robin and

split a pair of games with No. 1 Emory University and the University of Rochester.

The Spartans put up a good fight against the top-ranked team in the nation, even though they lost in four sets. After dropping the first set 18-25, CWRU stormed back with a win in the next set. They lost the next two sets 23-25 and 21-25.

Lemon and Sims paced the Spartans’ offense with 12 and 11 kills respectively.

Third-year libero Jana Giaquinto and Kaminski contributed 19 digs apiece in the effort.

CWRU finished their weekend with a solid four-set victory over Rochester, 2515, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-14. First-year setter Sara Rogers had a team-high 18 assists and also recorded 11 digs. Giaquinto had a stout defensive match with 26 digs. Sims added 14 kills.

The Spartans finished the regular season sixth in the UAA. They have a few games remaining before the UAA tournament and an automatic berth to the DIII NCAA Championship is still at stake.

“Our team has kept up a positive spirit despite some challenging results and our bench has been incredible bringing energy and enthusiasm and supporting their teammates in their efforts,” said Head Coach Karen Farrell. On Nov. 2 the team will celebrate the senior class with games at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

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