The Observer, Volume L, Issue 05, 9/21/18

Colorful CWRU

Over 150 participate in FT(5)K Color Run fundraiser to benefit UH Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital

Nathan Lesch

Contributing Reporter

SpartanTHON is one of Case Western Reserve University’s most philanthropic organizations; within seven years of its presence on campus, the group has raised over $370,000 for University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital (UH Rainbow). Its FT(5)K Color Run, a five kilometer race which has been held annually for the past four years, is one of the organization’s biggest events.

On Saturday, Sept. 15, 167 entrants ran on a breezy, cloudless morning.

UH Rainbow is the recipient of SpartanTHON’s fundraising because of its status as a beneficiary of the Children’s Miracle Hospital Network (CMNH), a nonprofit organization which raises funds and awareness for hospitals, research centers and other entities focused on pediatric care.

According to Martina Pace, the Program Director for the Children’s Miracle Hospital Network at UH Rainbow, the funds from SpartanTHON make a significant difference at the hospital.

“All funds raised through CMNH activities in Northeast Ohio stay at [UH Rainbow] and are allocated to support a variety of high priority needs within the children’s hospital, [which] have no other funding sources,” she said, “such as pediatric services, programs, equipment and research. Examples include our family and child life services team, art and music therapy and patient educational programs.”

Emily Kilmartin, a fourth-year student, is the Overall Director of SpartanTHON. Kilmartin joined SpartanTHON

her first year at CWRU.

“I went into [SpartanTHON] not knowing what was happening,” said Kilmartin, but she soon “fell in love” with the organization.

Kilmartin, along with SpartanTHON’s three other directors and numerous volunteers, ensures SpartanTHON’s purpose “to raise awareness for child health issues [like] Cleveland’s high infant mortality rate” is accomplished. To do this, SpartanTHON organizes the Color Run, the Dance Marathon and other events.

The 12-hour Dance Marathon, SpartanTHON’s biggest event, attracted hundreds of students last February.

All photos: Daniel Brenner/Observer er participants than the Dance Marathon does, the event is no less high energy or fun. Ten minutes before the event was slated to begin, hype music blasted through the vicinity and a herd of white-shirted runners roamed the field adjacent to Leutner Commons.

Serious racers stretched or cycled through a series of plyometric warm ups. Others demonstrated their soccer skills or played with the young children in attendance, doing rolls, headstands and running around wildly. After a few brief remarks, including an announcement of prizes for the top three male and female finishers, the race started at 9:15 a.m. with a burst of color.

Although the Color Run attracts fewStarting in front of Leutner Commons on Sept. 15, FT5K Color Run brought joy to both its participants and the children it will be benefitting. SpartanTHON, which has raised more than $370,000 over seven years, puts on the event.

When racers dashed into the home stretch of the 5,000-meter race, 20-some odd minutes later, they were met with smiling faces, cheers and another storm of colorful dust. The energy was so infectious, many runners finished the race with smiles—a rare occurrence at running events.

Elizabeth Adams, a third-year nursing student, enjoyed the Color Run so much the first time she participated last year that she chose to run again, and plans to continue the trend in the future. A strong runner who finished third last year, Adams describes the Color Run as “really fun,” and “very positive and uplifting.”

One of the beauties of SpartanTHON, according to Adams, is the many ways in which students can get involved. After meeting members of the executive board, whose passion and dedication she describes as “infectious,” Adams decided to also volunteer at last years’ Dance Marathon.

“I would highly recommend anyone getting involved, at whatever level they can,” said Adams. “It’s such a rewarding organization and truly wonderful to see the difference [we] can make in these kids’ lives.”

Adams demonstrates that SpartanTHON’s mission—the purpose of its nine-year tenure as one of CWRU’s most distinguished student organizations—is never far from the minds of its volunteers and participants, UH officials and the families it benefits.

This mission is perhaps best said by Kilmartin: “[SpartanTHON is] for the kids, people might not know what we mean when we say that, but we are for every baby, every doctor and every nurse.”

Editor’s Choice

University’s shortcomings addressed in recommendations

Sophia Yakumithis

News Editor

Matt Hooke

Arts and Entertainment Editor

If it accomplishes its goal to “strengthen the overall value, reputation and desirability of [Case Western Reserve University’s] undergraduate experience,” the Provost’s Commission on the Undergraduate Experience (CUE) could transform the University into a more vibrant, enhanced learning environment. The broadly-worded recommendations might not draw clear enough lines to enforce the content outlined by the Commission, but have, nonetheless, sparked several campus initiatives.

CUE published its recommendations in a series of reports, the final report now available online with a CWRU login.

Organized in January 2016 and finalized this past May, the objective of the Commission’s report is to provide guidelines which will lead to a more cohesive undergraduate experience. CUE was composed of 20 members, a combination of faculty and students, who were selected by the Provost with input from the school and college deans.

New Provost Ben Vinson III will oversee each unit of CUE and continue the work of Provost W.A. “Bud” Baeslack III, who retired in July, but will not have absolute authority. In addition to Vinson, University faculty will hold primary responsibility over curriculum recommendations, ultimately through the Faculty Senate, as well as various committees and school-level faculty governance bodies.

Its Executive Summary states that CUE will address three major recommendations: “1. Create coherence and flexibility in the

undergraduate curriculum, 2. Cultivate a diverse and thriving campus community with a comprehensive identity that capitalizes on our pragmatic character and 3. Align governance, administration and budget activities with the goals of the undergraduate experience.”

The University stated that “no single timeline” will apply to enforcing the recommendations.

According to fourth-year student and CUE member Prince Ghosh, the report is not intended to “get super specific,” but to provide a general framework for department heads and other school officials on how they can implement the various recommendations at their own discretion.

The Commission’s recommendations were drawn from various statistics which reveal a troubling six-year graduation rate at CWRU and a generally unenthusiastic undergraduate student body. Using data from the 2009 entering class, the six-year graduation rate was 81 percent versus a peer institution average of 92 percent, and “seniors’ overall satisfaction with CWRU undergraduate education” decreased from 80 percent to 76 percent between 2001 and 2016.

Ghosh believes these numbers are partly associated with the University’s rigid academic structure and rigor, and he thinks the new recommendations will address those problems.

“When you think back on your time at [college], you think back on your happiest memories and worst memories. For a lot of people at CWRU, there are a lot of bad memories of spending their time [studying] in KSL or at Wade or their room,” said Ghosh. “If we make sure students spend much of their time doing tangible work, we can push people toward a

much better and happier place.”

Many of the ideas laid out in the first recommendation, “Curriculum,” are relatively vague and open for interpretation. One element, for instance, suggests an undergraduatewide general education requirement (UGER) that pays attention to “holistic health and wellness;” the definition of a holistic class schedule, though, would vary between departments.

“All of the undergraduate faculties are considering how to respond to the CUE’s recommendation for a university-wide general education curriculum,” said CUE Chair and associate English professor Kimberly Emmons. “At this time, there has been general agreement that such a ‘common core’ would be good for CWRU, but we are still working with the various schools and the college to determine the structure and content of such a general education curriculum.”

The University also explained that while new UGER have yet to be defined, “another faculty group has been working on more detailed recommendations for general education, but they are still being finalized.”

CUE’s UGER recommendation is designed to give students more academic freedom than the current undergraduate system. Presently, in addition to the GER, undergraduates must complete between 120 and 133 credit hours, the Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship (SAGES) program and major requirements before they can graduate.

According to Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education and professor of chemical engineering Donald Feke, the new curriculum is “likely to have some features that are philosophically similar to SAGES, but there are no detailed decisions yet. Writing is envisioned to remain a highly important component within [UGER].”

CUE recommends capping credit hours at 120, which it holds would provide students “some flexibility” to pursue their academic interests in addition to the GER and major requirements. It also emphasizes “studentdriven and guided exploration of the resources and opportunities afforded by the university and its surrounding institutions and communities” as a required part of the first-year experience, and suggests that faculty members integrate more meaningful coursework with post-college planning.

“Many of our undergraduates’ initial experiences on campus revolve around meeting the demands of highly structured programs,” CUE states, “rather than around discovering personal and intellectual passions.”

Ghosh said the first recommendation of the report focuses on creating a system built around practical learning instead of the “busywork” which often dominates the curriculum.

Each undergraduate college has made changes based on the first recommendation, which resulted in the Student Success Initiative (SSI). The University said, “[The launch of the SSI] represents the realization of the CUE’s preliminary recommendation to create advising teams that included ‘Undergraduate Experience Coordinators,’ now informally dubbed ‘navigators,’ charged to assist students and their faculty advisors in accessing information and services that the students may need.”

Additionally, the School of Engineering and the School of Nursing both expanded their definition of breadth requirements last academic year, while the Weatherhead School of Management added several academic con-

centrations and, although its enforcement is unspecified, the College of Arts & Sciences has increased curricular and co-curricular diversity through various resource outlets

Much of the changes in the University’s curriculum will depend heavily on how effectively various departmental heads hold professors accountable, according to Ghosh.

The second part of the report offers recommendations on “Community & Campus Identity.” This includes “countering negative perceptions” of students in non-science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, upgrading facilities for the humanities and social sciences, promoting non-STEM resources and increasing and celebrating campus diversity. This section heavily promotes student collaboration and the pursuits of non-STEM students, both areas which the Commision cites as a major contribution to the University’s lack of cohesion.

Second-year student Morgan McCommon, a history and art history double major, feels that to a certain extent, CWRU marginalizes non-STEM students by failing to promote or encourage the humanities and social sciences.

“I would love for students in STEM to view the humanities the way the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities does,” she said.

“Many students in my humanities courses are only taking the class to fill the breadth requirements, and they appear to have no genuine interest in the course,” she continued. “I also know very few people who share my majors, and many STEM students will joke that I won’t be able to find a job after college or that I don’t have any ‘real homework’ when I discuss my assignments.”

A Baker-Nord Scholar, McCommon said that her major choices are frequently questioned and challenged by her STEM peers, who she feels lack knowledge on the practical application and real-world value of her field. Despite this, she feels “fortunate” for the opportunities given to her through the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities.

“My work is just as valuable as others here at CWRU, but many people do not treat it as such, she explained. “I can never state that I’m a humanities major without someone hassling me about it.”

The third recommendation, “Governance, Administration and Budget,” calls to unify and clarify the ambiguous structure of the University’s various governing bodies to ensure accountability. However, the first subpoint also calls to add advisory groups and governance structures “for various initiatives,” including UGER and the SSI.

Additionally, this portion of the report calls to redistribute and align administrative structures with budget issues, which CUE argues will create a better oiled machine. The current undergraduate system’s structure is very “decentralized,” according to Ghosh, with many departments touching on different aspects of the CWRU experience without interaction, communication or collaboration.

Many of the issues outlined in each recommendation of the final CUE report are not new to CWRU. A similar commission in 2000, the President’s Commission on Undergraduate Education and Life (PCUEL), touched on similar issues and claimed that students often come to the University for reasons other the quality of the academic programs.

Think beyond the tongue-twister: Center for Civil Engagement and Learning

Cindy Tong Contributing Reporter

The numerous service organizations and clubs on campus can seem quite overwhelming, especially to first-year students who are new to the service opportunities available at and around Case Western Reserve University. Luckily, the Center for Civic Engagement and Learning (CCEL) can equip students with an array of different volunteer opportunities that will immerse and engage them with the community.

CCEL Coordinator Laura Bentley stated the center’s mission is “to promote meaningful community engagement through service, education which they achieve by providing and supporting opportunities for community service and collective action, while promoting civic awareness and leadership.”

According to Bentley, “CCEL was created as the Office of Student Community Service in 1994 to provide a resource for students to get involved with the Greater Cleveland community. Over the years since then, it has evolved to continue meeting student and community partner needs and was renamed [CCEL] in 2006.”

Nowadays, the CCEL office is located in the Tinkham Veale University Center and is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is

open to students, with comfortable couches and study spaces. CCEL offers many diverse programs and services that promote civil engagement.

Many new students have already become engaged with the organization through CCEL New Student Service Day. On Thursday, Aug. 23, over 600 CWRU students volunteered their time over the scope of 45 separate projects. CCEL New Student Service Day was an opportunity for incoming first-year students to volunteer both on- and off-campus and to connect with the Cleveland community. Projects included anything from gardening at CWRU’s on-campus community garden to sorting medical supplies for developing countries.

CCEL supports and organizes many other projects and programs beyond Service Day. One of them is CCEL Serves, which gives students weekly opportunities to get involved with public service. Student leaders take groups to local nonprofit sites, including “Flexible Commitment” sites, which do not require a weekly commitment, and “Semester Serves” sites, which require a semester-long commitment.

Semester Serves has openings for tutoring youth at an affording housing community at Lifelong Learning on Tuesdays from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m., tutoring adults for their GED tests at the Thea Bowman Center on Tuesdays from 5 to 8 p.m. and helping elementary students with soccer or creative writing at America SCORES

on Thursdays from 2:30 to 4:15 p.m.

Another upcoming event is the Community Service and Internship Fair on Friday, Sept. 21, which will run from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. in Thwing Ballroom. Over 50 organizations will be present with information about ways to get involved in Cleveland and beyond, and there will be free pizza.

In addition to these events, CCEL provides services, such as van rentals, to be used for the purpose of civic engagement projects. The office also provides project mini-grants up to $200, which can be used toward CWRU civic engagement projects.

Perhaps the most well-known program organized by CCEL, though, is the Civic Engagement Scholars Program. Endorsed by President Barbara Snyder, the “initiative is designed to promote meaningful community engagement through service, education and reflection.”

The program is a unique opportunity for CWRU students to learn about community issues and to engage in meaningful service activities. Susan Wong, a secondyear student, was a Civic Engagement Scholar last year and plans to apply again this year.

“I became a CCEL Scholar because I want to stay committed to volunteering and giving back to my community. I volunteered in high school and wanted to continue doing community service in college,” said Wong. “What I like about this program is how 50 hours is the goal,

but you may go over, and there are other aspects to the program like electives and the social justice teach-ins. Besides the 20 hours at the primary site, the rest of the hours can come from any other sites, which allows volunteers to explore Cleveland and give back to their community directly.”

Natalie Yang, also a second-year student, explained why she decided to reapply to the program this year. She said, “It’s a great opportunity for those who are passionate about volunteering and let’s us keep track of our hours.”

Other than the CCEL Civic Engagement Scholars Program, students can get involved in CCEL by being employed in the office. Second-year student Vanessa Pilatova works in the CCEL office. She chose to work for CCEL after participating in the CCEL Scholars Program.

“Because of [the CCEL Scholars Program], I got to volunteer for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. I love volunteering, so that was an awesome opportunity,” she said. “I wanted to get more involved in CCEL so I applied for this position. I dedicate a lot of my hours to CCEL, and I want to give back and help with stuff. Right now, I’m sorting through all the [firstyear students] who volunteered over Orientation Week.”

Regardless of year, commitment or experience, CCEL helps students participate in its engagement opportunities.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, Cleveland native Wesley Lowery explains his craft to campus

Jack Heneghan Contributing Reporter

Sophia Yakumithis News Editor

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Wesley Lowery, who was honored for his work on The Washington Post’s “Fatal Force” series, visited the Kelvin Smith Library last Friday to give a lecture on “The Crucial Role of Journalists in Society.” Following the talk, Lowery answered audience questions.

During his visit, Lowery spoke on the storytelling of people whose “stories might not otherwise be told” and how he helped create a database of police shootings, which his Washington Post series examined. During the Q&A, he recounted his own story of being arrested in Ferguson, Missouri.

Viral Mistry, a fourth-year student and current Vice Chair of the University Media Board, said, “I attended the [lecture] because I’ve been following [Lowery’s] work for a while now, most prominently the police shooting tracker he mentioned. When [I found out] about this event, I knew I had to go to see someone whose work I so greatly valued.”

Having started his career in journalism in middle school as “a way to befriend a girl,” Lowery admitted that his writing has evolved greatly over time. He recalled how he has matured as a journalist, stating, “The writers whom I most admire spend a lot of their time really listening, and I think one thing that’s helped me as a writer overtime is

being able to more closely listen to what the people who I’m interviewing and talking to are saying.”

Lowery also spoke about his collegiate experience at Ohio University (OU)’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. He said he was engaged in covering student politics and skipping classes to hand out newspapers.

“[In college, I wanted to do] exactly what I’m doing right now for the most part,” he said, and felt that his experiences at OU “really prepared” him for the work he currently does.

During college, Lowery held an internship at a local Cleveland publication, The West Life, which reports on various communities in the west side of the city. He said this opportunity led him to The Columbus Dispatch, The Detroit News and eventually The Wall Street Journal. The journalist described such experiences as “building blocks” of his newspaper career.

Before working for The Wall Street Journal, Lowery worked at the Los Angeles Times and then The Boston Globe. After Lowery arrived in Boston in 2013 to work for The Globe, the Boston Marathon bombings occurred just one month later. The tragedy was closely followed by the murder of Odin Lloyd, the First Suffolk senate race and the Boston mayoral race, all which contributed to The Washington Post hiring Lowery as a Congress reporter.

Shortly after that, he was sent to report on the police shootings in Ferguson. His experiences there motivated his Pulitzer Prize-winning series.

He said the domino-effect of his coverage opportunities “wasn’t really a path

that [was] planned out, but rather a story [which] led to the next story to the next story, and the stories have been a pretty good guide for my career so far.”

While Lowery is praised for his writing style, he is better known for the actual content and the approach of his articles, which he said he treats like a detective or investigator. The questions he asks himself when developing a story include, “What’s already been written about this? What’s the context I need to know?

What’s the history I need to know? How do I build it out?”

As a college student, Mistry felt that hearing about Lowery’s career development was extremely valuable. He said, “I found the event to be fantastic, in large part because [Lowery] chose to spend close to half the time fielding questions from the audience. People asked him really thoughtful questions about his writing process and how he chooses what to write, and I think he did a great job highlighting the difficulties of writing thoughtful work for such a prestigious newspaper.”

Not only has Lowery’s writing style evolved over time but so have his topical interests. While he originally covered politics, he now primarily covers issues of law enforcement and justice.

Lowery discussed that evolution, explaining, “I think that the job I have now is not a job that four years ago I would’ve predicted. I didn’t quite know what I was going to be doing.”

As a result of his love for telling stories, Lowery has also written a bestselling book entitled, “They Can’t Kill Us All,” which is under development as a television series with AMC.

“The thing about a book is you’re not confined to traditional style or traditional space or traditional length,” Lowery said on the difference between books and articles. “You’ve got so much more time and so much more space. It allows you to, kind of, include all the B sides; all the little pieces of string inside interviews, inside details that maybe you couldn’t get into the newspaper that day.”

Shirley Wormser Professor of Journalism and Media Writing Jim Sheeler stressed the importance of holding onto the emotions which come with storytelling and of Lowery’s elaboration on that aspect of journalism during the lecture and Q&A.

“You have to feel it in order to realize what the story behind the story is, and that’s what [Lowery is] an expert at,” said Sheeler, continuing, “finding, not only what the story is behind the story is, but more importantly, who the people are behind that story.

Sheeler added, “I think it’s extremely important [to have speakers with diverse backgrounds on campus]. You only see through the eyes that you have, and you need, to be around people who have those different experiences in order to shape [your] own.”

Lowery also offered some advice to college students looking to go into the journalism field: “I think that the most important advice is that journalism, reporting, writing and interviewing are trades, they’re not academic fields. They’re things that, the more you do them the better you are at them, and because of that, you can begin your journalism career right now.”

Constitution Day forum highlights cybersecurity

Katherine Toldeo Staff Reporter

On Monday, Sept. 17, students, faculty and greater community members gathered in the Case Western Reserve University School of Law’s Moot Courtroom to celebrate Constitution Day, a holiday dedicated to the appreciation of the 231-year-old document that serves as the backbone of the United States government.

In 2005, the federal government enacted a law requiring all institutions who receive federal funding to hold educational programs celebrating the occasion. For over a decade, CWRU has celebrated Constitution Day by holding a discussion forum with guest speakers focusing on a topic relevant to current politics.

The first Constitution Day hosted by CWRU took place in 2005 and was entitled “What Should Be in a Constitution?” Since then, discussion topics have included healthcare reform, same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization.

“The Constitution Day Forum is a tradition and to be able to be a part of it, especially as a non-political science major, has been one of the most rewarding moments of my undergraduate career,” said fourthyear student Jacqueline Kett, a member of the nine-person committee that spearheaded the organization of this year’s event.

“As both a chemical engineering and international studies major, it’s difficult for me to get relevant legal experience,” said Kett. “Constitution Day Committee allows me to prepare properly for law school.”

The discussion forums take the form of a debate, usually with two speakers of opposing viewpoints on the subject. The

event, sponsored by the CWRU Office of the President, is completely student-led. All aspects of the event including the topic, guest speakers and discussion questions are chosen by a student panel.

This year took a different turn, focusing instead on the delicate balance between privacy and public safety within the subject of encryption. The two featured speakers of the event were Professor Raymond Ku and Professor Avidan Cover, both of CWRU’s Law School.

The subject of encryption became particularly relevant after the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, when the FBI ordered that Apple Inc. create software to enter a suspect’s phone in a way that could bypass the four digit code needed to unlock the iPhone and therefore avoid destroying the information on the phone after ten failed passcode attempts. Apple’s refusal to create such a program was rooted in fear of what such a “backdoor” could mean to Apple users and launched a debate about the fine line between one’s privacy and public safety that continues today.

Cover began his opening statements by describing how his iPhone is able to predict regular patterns of behavior, like what time he leaves his house for work and gives him predictions, like map estimates of the amount of time it will take him to get from his home to work, relevant to these observations. He continued on to say that by storing both information that the users do and do not intend, iPhones “intrude on the privacy of our lives.”

Ku responded that the focus should not be on whether or not the government should be able to see one’s personal data. The focus of such a debate, he argued, should center around

when, where and why the government should have access to such information, therefore leading to more questions this would pose to the Constitution, specifically the Fourth and Fifth Amendments.

Cover continued the debate by highlighting the potential danger in a cooperation between corporations and the government, arguing that such cooperation threatens constitutionality, as both organizations together could potentially eclipse the right to privacy expected by most.

Ku, disagreeing with Cover, argued that the Constitution says nothing at all about

privacy, and posited that the government has legitimate reasons to investigate its citizens when it pertains to public safety, in cases like that seen in San Bernardino.

At the end of the debate, both professors revisited the thin line between privacy and public safety, stating that citizens should pay attention to the various rules and interpretations when it comes to encryption, as old precedents are constantly being changed in order to keep up with changing technology.

“It’ll be interesting to see where things go from here,” remarked one audience member.

H o w D i d Y o u G e t H e r e ?

W h e r e A r e Y o u G o i n g ?

Origins Fellow & anthropologist, Cynthia Beall travels the world figuring out ways humans have evolved to live at high altitudes:

Origins.case.edu/club

Origins Club is a diverse group of students interested in evolution, cosmology, astronomy and other origins topics, especially Origins Science majors. Many of us work closely with faculty in a variety of areas from lab science to field biology and paleontology. Some of us have traveled to do fieldwork in the deserts of Mongolia, the jungles of South America, and the remote outback of Turkana, Africa. You can too.

"When most Americans stay on mountaintops, we increase the amount of hemoglobin in our blood and absorb more oxygen. Andeans have high hemoglobin as expected, but Tibetans have no more than we do at sea level. How do they do that? Because, everyone has to get oxygen from the air to their mitochondria, because that’s where we produce the energy that keeps us alive. In Tibet, a lower level of hemoglobin actually correlates with a higher number of successful pregnancies - an evolutionary advantage. Our data established that there are certain variants of the EPAS1 gene unique to Tibetans. And it turns out this low hemoglobin associates with the unique variant Tibetans have. Turns out this unique variant comes from a gene important in the embryonic heart. The population that is the source of the Tibetan version of EPAS 1 is a fossil population that we only know from a couple of fossil teeth and a little tiny finger bone It’s a population called the Denisovans from Siberia, and that is literally all we know about them. It’s an exciting thought that we can trace the origin of this feature of Tibetan biology nowadays back fifty thousand years to the Denisovans in Siberia.

Courtersy of Wikipedia

arts & entertainment

Netflix’s BoJack Horseman offers a fresh twist on a tired trope

Michael Wu Staff Reporter

There are a million shows on television, and a good chunk of them are boring. At some point in recent television history, airwaves became plagued by shows with male protagonists defined by being sad and troubled. With every show scrambling to become the next “Mad Men” or “Breaking Bad,” a oncerevolutionary character type became a tiresome and boring trope.

“BoJack Horseman” feels like a balm in an era of too many bad men on TV. This is ironic considering BoJack Horseman is a male protagonist defined by being sad and troubled. In five seasons, we’ve seen BoJack, a former ‘90s sitcom star, make advances toward teenage girls, squander numerous career opportunities, isolate himself from his friends and spiral deeper and deeper into addiction.

This behavior is typical of the type of hyper-masculine protagonist that TV writers have grown an affinity for, but “BoJack Horseman” stands out in its willingness to make its central character answer for his mistakes. The women of the show are not disposable. If BoJack scars or traumatizes a woman, he is

made to agonize as well.

In the flashback that opens the fifth season’s sixth episode, “Free Churro,” a young BoJack is being lectured by his father, a cold wannabe novelist. He chastises BoJack for needing to be picked up after soccer practice and interrupting his writing. He tells his son to internalize the idea that “no one is going to take care of you.”

Once the episode cuts back to the present, we are left with a stark and stunning episode of television that consists solely of BoJack delivering a eulogy at his mother’s funeral. In 25-odd minutes, BoJack struggles to land a handful of corny jokes, rambles on about receiving a free churro before the funeral and stumbles through stories of his mother from his childhood.

In the end, BoJack realizes that the woman he learned to mistrust and resent for the past 55 years of his life is gone. The relationship he never forged with her and the answers to the questions he had too much pride to ask her would forever remain unknown, left to gnaw at BoJack for the rest of his life.

The end of the season focuses on the show’s essential question: Is BoJack a good person? One of the best parts of watching “BoJack Horseman” is witnessing how deftly it complicates the

answer, parceling out the formative moments of BoJack’s childhood for its audience and letting us sift through the traumas, big and small, that mold the man (or, horse-man) that BoJack becomes.

In attempting to understand the deep complications of BoJack’s personality, it can be easy to forget that “BoJack Horseman” is a show that that thrives on both profoundly surreal and deeply stupid satire. In the most overtly comedic storyline of the season, lovable slacker and BoJack’s former roommate Todd Chavez, accidentally becomes the director of ad sales for “WhatTimeIsItRightNow.com,” a website that tells you what time it is right now.

He uses a bunch of household appliances to cobble together a sex robot who eventually becomes the CEO of the same company. In another episode, Chavez is

Julia Knight Staff Reporter

Panic! at The Disco (P!ATD) frontman Brendon Urie’s encouraging message reaches beyond his music. Along with a new album, “Pray for the Wicked,” and an upcoming tour, Urie recently announced the launch of the Highest Hopes Foundation. The organization is dedicated to assisting nonprofit organizations in aiding human rights efforts across the globe.

“I want to join in on the fight for those who cannot fight for themselves,” Urie wrote on his website. “This is dedicated to all people and communities who are subject to discrimination or abuse on the basis of gender, race, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity.”

Urie announced that $1 will be donated to the Highest Hopes Foundation for every ticket sold to the band’s upcoming Pray For The Wicked Tour.

To help inspire LGBTQ youth, Urie pledged $1 million to the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network in hopes of establishing Gay-Straight Alliance clubs at high schools across the United States.

P!ATD will kick off their world tour in October and will visit the Quicken Loans Arena on Jan. 30, 2019. Tickets for the Cleveland show and all other dates can be purchased through the band’s website. Along with the upcoming tour, P!ATD reached new heights with “Pray For The Wicked.”

The band’s energetic new tracks not only enthuse long-time fans but feature inspirational and charitable undertones. The single “High

Hopes” was released in May as a teaser for the new album. The recently released music video opens with Urie taking a stroll through downtown Los Angeles. Despite his confident attitude, passersby continually bump into him. He stumbles and nearly turns back again and again, symbolizing how easily others can veer him off-course. Despite these distractions, Urie keeps his eyes trained on a tall building in the distance.

A tape of Urie walking through LA is incredibly unconventional for a P!ATD video. The band’s music videos tend to feature bizarre tropes and captivating scenes. “Say Amen (Saturday Night)” shows Urie fending off burglars trying to steal a rare artifact in a comical, over-the-top fight scene. In “Emperor’s New Clothes,” the singer descends into hell and transforms into a blue-skinned, horned demon.

As if answering fans’ prayers for his wellknown quirkiness, Urie reaches the skyscraper and begins walking—yes, walking—up the side of it. Smiling spectators gather to watch and their excited expressions reveal how inspired they are by his tenacity and determination. He eventually reaches the rooftop and begins playing a celebratory set with his fellow bandmates.

“No matter how hard your dreams seem, keep going,” wrote Urie about his new single. “You might even have to climb up the side of a building in downtown LA, but it’ll all be worth it at the top.”

The uplifting message of the “High Hopes” video speaks for itself. His widespread advocacy efforts exemplify his compassion toward anyone who struggles with their identity or is outcast for being who they are.

depicted as a giant hand with a face while Princess Carolyn, BoJack’s agent, is depicted and referred to as “a tangled fog of pulsating yearning in the shape of a woman.”

Five seasons in, it’s difficult to explain what exactly “BoJack Horseman” is about. It could be the saddest comedy on television, or it could be a drama peppered with the antics of an anthropomorphic horse and his friends. Five seasons in, “BoJack Horseman” has revealed only a fraction of its secrets, teasing us with the kind of story it’s capable of telling.

Title: Bojack Horseman

Platform: Netflix Release: Sep. 14

Rating:

Season five of BoJack Horseman was released on Netflix last week. While the main character is a trope, the show as a whole still succeeds because of its compelling storytelling.

Editor’s Choice

Latino Art Show honors children held in detention centers

in May 2017.

“We could not resist doing something [for the children] this year,” said Francisca Garcia-Cobian Richter, another Alianza Latina member and a research assistant professor at the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences. “Everybody can do a little bit to raise awareness, so we dedicated this year’s art show to the children being held.”

The show brought people of all backgrounds together to celebrate Hispanic heritage and a common human dignity. Krieger’s portraits will be on display until the end of Hispanic Heritage Month. The pieces depict the faces of young children Krieger encountered during his travels in South America. The drawings, done with conte crayons on huge pieces of paper, bear faces that feel familiar. From their places on three portable walls erected near Cramelot Cafe, eyes full of humanity stare out across the library.

Kyle Smith Staff Reporter

Students studying in Kelvin Smith Library (KSL) on Friday, Sept. 14 may have noticed the four foot tall walls of faces around the library. The faces belong to black and white portraits by artist Mark Krieger. The pieces are part of “For the Children,” a Latino art show hosted by the Latino student group La Alianza and the faculty group Alianza Latina/Latino Alliance. The show is a formal kick-off to National Hispanic Heritage Month which runs from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. “For the Children” is dedicated to the nearly 13,000 immigrant children being held in detention

centers across the United States.

“The purpose of the art show is to kind of anchor [Hispanic Heritage Month]. We like to open every year with a celebration. With the art show and music,” said Kari Colon-Zimmermann, a research assistant in the Neurological & Behavioral Outcomes Center at University Hospital and a member of Alianza Latina.

This year’s exposition comes at an especially turbulent time for some HispanicAmericans. On Wednesday, Sept. 12, two days before the art exhibit opened, the New York Times reported that there were now roughly 12,800 immigrant children detained in federal shelters. This marks a nearly fivefold increase from the 2,400 children detained

Looking at the stunningly realistic faces, it is impossible not to find empathy for the pictures’ subjects. The colorless drawings overflow with unmistakable childhood features: lopsided smiles, messy hair and eyes that hold a deep, unguarded compassion for the world around them.

The subjects scrawled their names across their portraits in big, lopsided letters. Next to Krieger’s precise, lifelike strokes, the childish handwriting humanizes the picture-perfect art. The children’s photorealistic expressions, combined with their messy signatures, remind the viewer of childhood laughter and memories.

“[Mark Krieger] wanted the pieces to feel welcoming,” said Richter, a friend of the artist. “He wanted them to be exhibited out in the open, in a welcoming place. He didn’t want it to feel like a flat art installation.”

Richter said it is important to celebrate the

commonality between all people.

“By learning about people from places very different than where we are from, we learn what is common among us. That common background is humanity,” said Richter.

Suzanne Rivera, Ph.D., vice president for research at the Office of Research and Technology Management and executive sponsor of Alianza Latina, shared a similar sentiment.

“This event is important because it shows the values of CWRU, values like inclusion and diversity. Celebrating Hispanic heritage through the month is a good way to highlight the unique contribution Hispanic people make to American society,” Rivera said. Grupo Kawakan, a local salsa band, provided the music. The band set up on KSL Oval and catchy, jubilant beats filled the air soon after. Faculty and students alike danced in the warm summer afternoon to sharp drum beats and swinging saxophone melodies. Frank Lopez, a member of the band and Cleveland resident, explained that during this celebration, music brought people of all backgrounds together.

“Our music originates from Cuba, but we in the band are mostly Puerto Rican,” said Lopez. “We play at a lot of Hispanic community events, but right now our biggest crowd are Americans. Music is universal. Celebrating like this, with dancing and music, is part of our culture.”

La Alianza and Alianza Latina will be hosting a variety of other events over the course of Hispanic Heritage Month. The events will celebrate Hispanic art and societal contributions as well as address social issues facing Hispanic communities. These events include a panel discussion on Sept. 25 about the effects of the physical and psychological trauma facing children currently held in federal shelters.

Heights Music Hop an intimate display of Clevelands Music

Matt Hooke

Arts & Entertainment Editor

On the first day of the three-day Heights Music Hop Festival, Madeline Finn performed poetic songs at Mac’s Backs-Books. Mac’s Backs, a three-story Coventry institution since 1984, feels more like a living room than a concert venue with wood panels and pictures of Cleveland literary legends covering the walls.

Finn’s stripped-down Americana tracks and witty banter fit the intimate venue perfectly. Finn imbued the hour with the relaxed vibe of a talented guitarist playing her songs at a house party.

“A good song transports you, and that’s what I try to do,” said Finn.

Finn is a native of Cleveland Heights but spends much of her time in Nashville working on her craft. Her main writing partner, fellow Clevelander Jason White, wrote for country stars Carrie Underwood and Tim McGraw. She said that the Nashville spirit shined through in the songs she wrote in the country music capital, with an upbeat tone and commercial polish, compared to some of her other pieces.

“In Nashville there’s a certain way things are done. It’s a formula,” said Finn. “[When] working with a producer, you have to be open to them changing things up.”

“It’s very difficult ‘cause you fall in love with your songs they way they are,” she added.

Finn’s performance was just one of the more than 70 performances at Coventry, Cedar-Fairmount and Cedar-Lee venues during the three day festival.

Another artist that performed during the festival was AJ and the Woods, who played a set of classic roots rock. The four-piece band brought great energy, and their covers showed an array of influences, from the classic Johnny Cash song “Folsom Prison Blues” to an unexpected version of the Bob Marley classic “Three Little Birds.”

In addition to the traditional musical performances, there was a group of teenage spoken word performers from Lake Erie Ink, a nonprofit headquartered in the Coventry School. The subject matter of the performances varied from issues facing our current culture such as racism and sexism in a piece titled “White Guilt” to appreciation for our bodies in another piece titled “Open ThankYou Letter to My Feet.”

New Genesis, a brother-sister duo and one of the featured performers of Lake Erie Ink, brought a political angle to the evening with “S.O.S.,” a Hip-Hop/spoken word interpretation of the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico in September 2017. The modern trap-inspired instrumental is meant to make the song’s strong message more relatable to young people and inspire them to mobilize.

“This is something that we felt we had to

do as Puerto Ricans,” the duo said via online message. “Even though we don’t live on the island we have an obligation to our people who are still there.”

The brother-sister duo opened their performance with impactful audio recordings of news reporters discussing the devastation after the hurricane struck the island. They kept their heads down and stood silently to demonstrate their sadness and respect. The duo further amplified the devastation by using audio of news reports multiple times throughout their performance.

“It’s so disgusting seeing the nonexistent governmental response to the natural disaster and how people are willingly turning a blind eye because they think we’re not American,” said New Genesis.

“No matter who gets angry or feels offended by our words, we had to say something and show that we are still living, breathing people who need as much help as possible.”

KyleSmith/Observer

“For the Kids” by Mark Krieger will be on display in KSL until the end of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Aura Rossey Accounts Manager

Playlist of the Week

Kyle Smith Staff Reporter

Grow your scruffiest beard, and put on your starchiest pair of blue jeans. On Saturday, Sept. 22, the Student Sustainability Council and the Farm Administration are putting on Case Western Reserve University’s ninth annual Farm Harvest Festival. This week’s playlist is a selection of Americana folk to listen to while enjoying all the fun pastoral America has to offer.

“Big Black Car” - Gregory Alan Isakov

“Big Black Car” evokes a quiet melancholy nostalgia. A combination of metaphors and folk instrumentation fills the listener’s head with images of a broken-hearted young man in a bygone America. Gregory Alan Isakov’s lyrics are littered with imagery. Lines like “You were a phonograph, I was a kid,” conjure up black-and-white images of the early twentieth century with young lovers listening to records together.

“Such Great Heights” - Iron & Wine

“Such Great Heights” is a cover of a song by The Postal Service, a synth-pop side project by Death Cab for Cutie frontman Benjamin Gibbard. In the song, the singer makes a performative gesture of their love, leaving the lyrics as a recording on their loved one’s answering machine. The original song is upbeat, with a bubbly synth melody. Iron & Wine’s cover, however, adds a different context. Instead of layers of synthesizer and drum-machine, singer Samuel Ervin Beam is accompanied by only a single guitar, with a thin, tinny sound as if Beam is singing alone in an empty room. Rather than performance, Iron & Wine’s song is a promise of love gone unfulfilled.

Support a good cause this weekend

Mary McPheeters Copy Editor

Friday, Sept. 21

What: Super Nachos

When: 8-11 p.m.

Where: Sigma Nu House

Notes: Enjoy nachos and support Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity at this event hosted by Sigma Nu and Case Western Reserve University Habitat for Humanity. Tickets are $6 in advance, $8 at the door and $4 per person for groups of 10 or more.

Saturday, Sept. 22

What: Beer Yoga

When: 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Where: The Jolly Scholar

Notes: Enjoy a free Jolly Scholar beer with a Vinyasa Flow yoga class. Food and drinks will be discounted by 20 percent after the class. Participants must be 21 years of age or older to attend. Tickets are $7 for Case Western Reserve University students and $10 for the public. Registration is available online. If the class is full, email onetoone@case.edu to be added to the waitlist.

What: Tricycles for Tri Sigma

When: 12-2 p.m.

Where: KSL Oval

Where: CWRU Farm Notes: This annual event by the Student Sustainability Council invites students to get offcampus and learn about living a sustainable lifestyle. The free festival features hayrides, guided hikes, a tall grass maze, performances by student organizations and sustainably sourced food.

What: Theta Chi’s Fight for USO

When: 5-10 p.m.

Where: Wade Commons

Notes: Theta Chi and the CWRU Smash Club are hosting this Super Smash Bros. tournament to benefit United Service Organizations, a nonprofit that assists veterans. Join the Competitive Melee Bracket or the Casual Smash 4 Bracket for $5. Win, and you will receive a prize of $25 or $5, respectively. A few GameCube controllers will be available for use.

Sunday, Sept. 23

What: Classical September Sundays

When: 1-3 p.m.

Where: Cleveland Botanical Garden

Notes: Violinist Kelsey Ferguson and pianist Paul Ferguson from the Cleveland Institute of Music will be performing on the Geis Terrace. Tickets can be purchased online and admission to the event grants full access to the Botanical Garden. Members are admitted for free.

What: Ohio City Street Festival

“My Father’s Father” - The Civil Wars

The Civil Wars explore the bittersweet experience of heading home in “My Father’s Father,” a poignant chaser to The Avett Brothers’ dreams of the city. John Paul White’s deep, smoky voice and Joy Williams’ high, plaintive delivery weave together perfectly in a portrait of small hopes and nagging doubts. Harmonizing soulfully in the closing lines “So here’s my hope, my tired soul, and here’s my ticket, I want to go home,” White and Williams voice the feeling that being home will make everything better, while anxiously wondering how much things have changed.

“I

and Love and You” - The Avett Brothers

No experience is as relevant to the American countryside as wanting to leave it all behind chasing your dreams in the city. For some students, the themes in “I and Love and You” may sound familiar: moving from a small, familiar community to a big city—and leaving a piece of yourself behind in the process.

Notes: Come watch teams from various student organizations compete in tricycle races. There will also be food, raffle prizes and music. Proceeds from the event will benefit March of Dimes and Play Therapy at Cleveland Clinic Children’s.

What: Farm Harvest Festival 2018 When: 1-6 p.m.

When: 12-8 p.m.

Where: West 25th St. between Lorain Ave. and Bridge Ave.

Notes: A free day-long celebration of the Ohio City neighborhood featuring food, drink, retail, arts and entertainment. There will be a Kid Zone offering family friendly performances, games, activities and inflatables.

On Willie Nelson’s “My Way” one icon pays tribute to another

Matt Hooke Arts & Entertainment Editor

In the wake of one of the most manufactured news stories of the year, when fans of Willie Nelson supposedly boycotted him for being politically outspoken, he released “My Way,” a decidedly neutral album of standards. The faux controversy illustrated how in our virtual world, a couple people angrily yelling into their keyboards can make national news. Hopefully some good will come out of this monumental waste of time, and people will listen to “My Way” now that Nelson’s name is the news again.

in the Valley” - The Head

“Down

and the Heart Instrumentation synonymous with Americana folk creates an atmosphere of a dusty, tired American countryside in “Down in the Valley.” Fiddles, pianos, acoustic guitars and a three-piece drum set create a deceptively complex melody, especially in the presence of the song’s vocal harmonies. The song is about a deep longing for a simpler lifestyle. In a similar sense, the Farm Harvest Festival can be a simple, quiet break from the crowded life of a student.

“My Way” marks the prolific 85 yearold’s second album of the year, his first being April’s “Last Man Standing.” Standards albums have been a part of Nelson’s repertoire since his 1978 landmark “Stardust,” but he brings a new twist on the concept. Nelson takes aim at the Frank Sinatra songbook on “My Way” and nails the wry sophistication that the Chairman of the Board is known for.

Sinatra and Nelson both made their names as outlaws. Sinatra’s wry sophistication that made him the face of cool for many, with his perfectly tailored suits and lavash casino parties. Despite his massive success, his mafia ties established the singer as a mainstream star with a foot in the underground. Nelson is the face of the outlaw country movement, a backlash against the commercial Nashville sound that dominated the time.

The big band instrumentals on the album are much more Sinatra than Nelson, as Nelson’s trademark classical guitar “trigger” is nestled in the background instead of being a focal point. The arrangements, by Chris McDonald, Matt Rollings and Kristen Wilkinson, provide a solid background for Nelson’s gruff vocals. Unfortunately, the studio polish, though pleasant, takes away one of the greatest parts of Nelson’s music: his rawness. His 2016 standards album, “Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin,” succeeded due to the stripped-down setting, with many songs featuring Nelson on guitar accompanied by a small backing band instead of a full orchestra. The cozier setting of “Summertime” fits Nelson like a glove, as he always sounds best when sitting in the middle ground between the cosmopolitan and the down home. Although Nelson’s vocals are not subpar by any means, a simpler setting allows the subtlety of his delivery to shine through better than on this 35-minute album. Here, Nelson’s more orchestral sound is more in line with Sinatra’s classic late ‘50s concept albums, when arrangers like Nelson Riddle created some of the best pop songs put on wax.

Despite minor misgivings, “My Way” is a touching tribute to an American icon. Nelson may not sound like Sinatra, but he does not need to. They share an honesty that shines through and is part of why both of them make standards shine in a way that many singers have attempted and failed to emulate.

Noche Latina makes strong comeback

fade at nearly 1:45 a.m.

This semester’s Noche Latina showed what last spring’s should have been, a joyous celebration of the dance and music of Latin America. Instead, the spring’s Noche Latina turned into the semester’s most newsworthy student event when a series of incidents left several students in the hospital and ended with accusations of racism toward a member of security.

Most of the issues last semester were attributed to overcrowding within the event, which led La Alianza, the organization that organizes Noche Latina, to take no chances with room capacity.

Jimenez said that this year he took on the role of risk manager and described the changes for the event this time around.

“We got another security guard so that there [were] three instead of two, which allowed two people to watch the door and one to walk around inside.” Jimenez said. “This helped with making sure that people [were] safe inside.”

The other major change made was capping the number of people that could be at in the Jolly Scholar at the same time. Monserrath Salas, a member of La Alianza, spoke about when La Alianza stopped letting people into the event.

“As soon as we reached capacity, we literally stopped letting people in,” said Salas.

Henry

Last Saturday, the door to the Jolly Scholar served a double purpose—it let people in and out of the bar and marked the dividing line between the calm, mostly empty courtyard of the Thwing Center and the exuberant bass-filled space of La Alianza’s Noche Latina.

A line stretched out the door of Thwing and led down the path between Thwing and the neighboring TInkham Veale University Center. Some attendees guessed that they spent nearly half an hour in line. The crowd caused Andrew Jimenez, the president of La Alianza, to consider moving to a larger venue or ticketing the festivities.

On the dance floor, the focus was less on facilitating a smoothly run event and

more on getting into a groove.

“Bachata with a friend, Bachata with a new person you never met before… This is Bachata!” second-year student Isaiah Carr yelled over the music.

Carr and several hundred other attendees displayed every level of skill and enthusiasm, dancing away the night in a mass of spinning, hip-shaking humanity that stayed large enough to cover the entirety of the Jolly Scholar until the crowd started to

The event itself enjoyed a somewhat unexpected boost in attendance. According to Salas, the event hit capacity in only 15 minutes, an impressive feat considering that the fall Noche Latina event was usually the less popular of the semesterly events La Alianza throws.

It remains to be seen where the next Noche Latina will be held and whether it will require tickets, but you can be sure that that no matter where it is, the dance floor will be packed.

Botox, drama in California: A review of “The Real Housewives of Orange County”

Sophia Yakumithis News Editor

If you’re a potential suitor, please note that I am not my politics. Now, let’s discuss some serious issues: “The Real Housewives of Orange County.”

I have been a fan since season four, and I fully blame my mom. She became addicted to the franchise after a broken leg left her in traction for three months with nothing else to do, and fourth grade me was there for the drama. If you’re as insecure with your life as I am, you’ll enjoy living vicariously through other people’s appearance, obsessions and materialism. Watching grown women drag each other for anything and everything is, quite frankly, astounding. From boob jobs to million dollar renovations, RHOC, as it’s referred to by superfans, is a beautiful trainwreck that will expose you to how shallow the soccer moms of our society truly are.

This season features six cast members. Vicki Gunvalson, the eldest cast member, has been on the show since it first aired in 2006 and fights with a new boyfriend in pretty much every season. The recently baptized and remarried fitness junky Tamra Judge also has a long RHOC history. Shannon Beador is a mood swinging, “holistic healing” advocate and divorcee revitalizing her life after her husband and father of three impregnated a young mistress. Kelly Dodd is a recently divorced mother of one who loves a good margarita

with a side of tea spilling. Newcomers Gina Kirschenheiter, a Long Island native and stay at home mother of three, and Emily Simpson, a happily married attorney with a blended family, round out the cast.

I had low expectations going into season 13 because the two new cast members seemed awkward and unnatural in terms of stirring the pot, but it’s improving with each episode. When you watch the show regularly, you can tell which fights are scripted by the show’s producers because they look like a high school, he-said-shesaid dispute as opposed to wine glasses being thrown across the room. I find that ironic, but it’s the truth. The seemingly “real” conflicts are far scarier, far more physically and emotionally damaging and far more entertaining.

Two episodes since the review, Simpson hosted a poker night party which ended in a tipsy Kirschenheiter being asked to leave by Simpson’s “dork” of a husband, as Dodd dubbed him, because the New Yorker was laughing so loudly that she woke up the Simpsons’ three young kids.

I was annoyed, considering that’s what happens when these women are not sober, and it really wasn’t “drama,” it was just Simpson’s husband being an irritable diva.

Meanwhile, the legitimate conflict came when Dodd heard that Gunvalson “hooked up” her ex-husband with a potential girlfriend at a party she hosted. I felt sympathetic for Dodd, who initiated the divorce, because she would pick fights with the other women in defense of Gunvalson last season. This is a conflict

that’s still unfolding. The other women are becoming more involved, it’s being brought up at almost every function and separate issues with Gunvalson are emerging out of it. Like fourth grade me who was anti-Vicki, I am here for it.

This season is young, but I am becoming more optimistic with every episode. The other shows in the franchise have comparatively more drama, but the

AuraRossy/Observer

women of Orange County have the least brain cells so it’s hands down the most binge-worthy.

Title: Real Housewives of Orange County

Platform: Bravo

Release: July 16

Rating:

Brendon Staff Reporter

HenryBendon/Observer

DJ Flaco Flash energized the crowd at La Alianza’s Noche Latina.

Word search

Horoscopes

Aries

Start - David E. Davis

Taurus

Judy’s Hand Pavilion - Tony Tasset

Gemini

Alphabet Series: BlackFletcher Benton

Cancer

Merging - Athena Tacha

Leo

Michelson-Morley Memorial

Fountain - William Behnke

Virgo

Mildred Putnam Sculpture

Garden - Richard Fleischmann, Karl Floyd, Phillip Johnson

Libra

Turning Point Sculpture

Garden - Phillip Johnson

Scorpio

Oeccan - Arthur Gibbons

Ophiuchus

Inner Circle - David Deming

Sagittarius

Spitball - Tony Smith

Capricorn

Acrobats - Keith

Two

- Keith

CUE’s final recommendations miss the mark

Since its launch in January 2016, the Provost’s Commission on Undergraduate Experience (CUE) has been crafting a list of recommendations for Case Western Reserve University. These recommendations would target all aspects of campus, from curriculum to facilities, with the goal of “[strengthening] the overall value, reputation and desirability of CWRU’s undergraduate experience.” After occasionally releasing progress reports over the past two years, the Commission finally unveiled its list of formal recommendations on Sept. 12.

The document was, to say the least, underwhelming.

It began by identifying some metrics for evaluating the state of CWRU’s undergraduate experience. Based on the six-year graduation rate, satisfaction of graduating seniors and the percentage of seniors who would recommend the institution to people from their high school, CWRU has been struggling for the better part of a decade. These findings resulted in the founding of CUE and have been emphasized in every subsequent report.

In its preliminary recommendations, released last October, the CUE identified major concerns related to the campus’ culture, curriculum and administration. In this longer list of suggestions, the CUE hinted at numerous effective proposals and built anticipation for its later reports.

However, somewhere along the way CUE lost its steam. After two years, it presented findings in the form of three

major recommendations: “Curriculum,” “Community & Campus Identity” and “Governance, Administration, and Budget.”

From the outset, these categories are too broad. There was some vagueness in the previous reports, but it was assumed that this would be clarified as the commission narrowed in on the topics it deemed most critical. This is not the case, especially in the case of the Community & Campus Identity section, where ambiguous language mars its description of both the issues and potential solutions.

The report identifies friction between science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and non-STEM majors, a lack of academic diversity and faculty-student relations as the essential Community issues to resolve. Yet, its proposed resolutions indicate a misunderstanding of what is weakening campus culture. Some student dissatisfaction is certainly derived from academic differences, but there are unrecognized issues that bear more weight.

For starters, the first-year living experience remains subpar. The dorms are still not airconditioned, with generally outdated and cramped living spaces. Furniture that was supposed to be added this year has yet to appear, contributing to an overall unpleasant living experience. CUE’s recommendation for an updated orientation approach, based around “re-recruitment,” demonstrates a lack of awareness of the infrastructure issues truly contributing to retainment difficulties.

The idea that extending Orientation Week

events into the academic year will be as effective as true structural changes to the firstyear experience is simply incorrect. If the CUE considers renovations to the social sciences and humanities buildings necessary, then why not the dorms where first-year students spend a majority of their time? If not spent on dorm updates, the Mather Quad renovation money could still be put to more effective use. Rather than spending it on another Clark Hall facelift, CWRU could hire more faculty for the very departments that occupy the building.

Departments such as computer science and political science have been consistently understaffed for years now. The CUE’s mention of changes to faculty pertain primarily to training and retaining those who represent the diversity of CWRU’s campus. While it is crucial to foster a diverse pedagogical cohort, ensuring that departments have the staff to adequately teach its undergraduates should ultimately take priority.

One aspect of undergraduate education explicitly addressed by the CUE can be found in its recommendation that CWRU implement a university-wide general education requirement. In theory, this new curriculum design would phase out the Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship (SAGES) program, thus removing a generally unpopular part of the curriculum. But this complete overhaul of undergraduate coursework seems both unnecessary and equally as ineffective as what it intends to replace.

While SAGES was not well-liked, it

was certainly repairable. Removing it in favor of a less flexible academic plan just creates a different set of headaches, giving undergraduate students a different set of course requirements they can disparage. A dedicated writing program has a place within an undergraduate curriculum if managed properly through better staffing and less rigorous work expectations. The CUE report requests the elimination of busy work, and that alone would refine SAGES’ general structure.

The concerns we’ve addressed don’t cover every detail of the report, but they draw attention to its most glaring oversights. And while much of our response has been critical, credit must still be given to the university for forming this commission, as it indicates a genuine interest in improving the undergraduate experience.

But if the university truly wishes to fix the problems identified by CUE, it may need to look beyond the scope of its recommendations.

The concerns we’ve addressed don’t cover every detail of the report, but they draw attention to its most glaring oversights. And while much of our response has been critical, credit must still be given to the university for forming this commission, as it indicates a genuine interest in improving the undergraduate experience.

But if the university truly wishes to fix the problems identified by CUE, it may need to look beyond the scope of its recommendations.

Sorry for existing: the struggle of being a woman in engineering

Now more than ever there seems to be a growing demand for women in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields, after several high profile cases drew attention to the largely male-dominated cultures in tech companies. However being a woman in the workforce, particularly in STEM fields, means being a part of an environment in which there is no space to truly be comfortable as a woman. Discrimination and the boys’ club mentality exist at every level of the profession and create a toxic environment that causes confidence and self worth issues in many women in STEM industries.

Research from the American Psychological Association shows that 40 percent of women who obtain engineering degrees either leave the field early or never enter the field at all. This is largely due to the work culture of technology companies and other engineering firms, which simultaneously dismisses women out of hand and places them under intense scrutiny. Although women are often dismissed when achieving at a standard or higher level, they are labelled as incompetent

when they make simple mistakes. Their male counterparts face no such discrimination, and as such, many women in these situations begin to see themselves as incapable of succeeding in work environments.

As such, women carry the burden of having to constantly achieve at the same level or higher as their male counterparts with the increased risk of negative backlash should they fail and without the promise of reward if they succeed.

We can clearly see why women struggle so much with confidence and self worth when they are surrounded by this environment. The effects of experiencing constant self doubt in the workplace is so powerful that it spills over into everyday life in one common habit: overapologizing.

From accidentally brushing against someone in a public place to using sorry as a filler word, many people over-apologize, but this seems particularly prevalent in women. Most women apologize for issues that they share no blame of, particularly in the workplace. One commonly cited example is that of the interruption in a conference: while someone else is speaking, a woman will bring up her own idea, often prefacing it with a “sorry to interrupt,” or “sorry, but,” as if to

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apologize for offering input.

This over-apologizing carries over to all situations, and ultimately, it becomes that women apologize for even existing.

However, this behavior is not the real problem but is in fact emblematic of the larger issue of how difficult it is to be confident as a woman. In the workplace, being confident and assertive is often labelled as aggressive, which comes with its own negative connotation whereas none exists for men. When women are called assertive and confident in their own rights, it is only because they received the validation of men in some way.

This also prompts an examination of why women put so much stock into being accepted by men. Examples of this include becoming more sexual to appeal to men or trying and emulating men in an effort to enter the boy’s club. It seems as though the options are to knowingly objectify oneself or to try and become someone else in order to succeed, which is never a burden placed upon men.

This is not to say that men are collectively out to keep women from entering STEM fields. However, men who do not speak out against these cycles of negativity are complicit in allowing them to continue.

Saying sorry too often confers a sense of

responsibility onto women for things they have no control over. This lack of confidence arises from the professional environments that women work and develop in. These toxic workplaces must be restructured so that discrimination, no matter how minor or seemingly inconsequential, is noted and responded to in order to normalize the presence of confident women in STEM fields.

These developments will take time, but starting with changes to the treatment of female coworkers, we can begin to create healthier workplaces. Increasing the amount of women in the field to address the issue of discrimination does not solve the issue but only brings more women into the toxic culture of engineering and technology firms. Instead, changes in companies’ cultures must occur to allow women the same upward mobility as men and to allow women the same opportunity to grow. In order to effect real, lasting change, we must first alter the environments we live and work in.

Caroline Zhu is a first-year computer science major with an interest in economics. She spends her time reading good literature and watching trashy movies or belting out ‘80s power anthems.

Caroline Zhu

Zhusclues

adviertising manager DARIA RYABOGIN general assistant OONA HAFFEY

Being fashionably late a major party foul

Steve Kerby Columnist

A weekend is a precious thing to waste. The average human, if they survive infancy, can expect to see over 3,500 weekends over their lifetime. I have seen about a thousand so far, and I am acutely aware of the relentlessly approaching threat of becoming old and boring.

If one is lucky, perhaps two hundred of those weekends occur during the precious four years of college life when the world is one’s oyster. Plenty of editorials give dozens of reasons to cherish your time at Case Western Reserve University, either for the friends made or the knowledge gained. I would add parties to that list.

No event better captures the freewheeling spirit of student life than a weekend party. During the week there are plenty of exams and homeworks, but

on Saturday night it’s time for fun. At a party, one can escape the daily drudgery of schoolwork for a night of dancing and Dionysian pleasures. It is a shame, then, that so much valuable party time is wasted in an effort to be fashionably late.

Numerous commentators, among them Urban Dictionary, point to one factor driving the phenomena. If someone arrives late to a party, the thinking goes, they must be popular and coming from another party. Furthermore, the anticipation of their arrival can grow the longer they delay, whereas their presence would be taken for granted if they showed up at 9 p.m. sharp.

We should discard such social norms if chasing them involves denying others predictability and enjoyment in their evening. I have seen too many hosts let their food go cold while waiting on a few absentees who are fashionably late. As the old saying goes, “Timeliness is next to cleanliness.” Arriving on time for a party means more festivities and a more memorable weekend.

Do not accuse me of being hobbitlike simply because of my distaste for being fashionably late. I can assure you there are dozens of other reasons why I am hobbit-like, but this is not one of them. I hold this position because I, like any reasonable person, want to have a good time at parties.

Good parties are not a dime a dozen at CWRU, but when they do come around they are even more appreciated

due to their rarity. I like to think that CWRU is not a large party school, but rather an efficient party school. Being fashionably late and discarding all complex notions of social cues is simply an inefficient use of party time.

Steve Kerby is a fourth-year student studying astronomy and physics. When he grows up he wants to be older.

Does bigger mean better with the new iPhone?

Kehley Coleman

Whether you follow all Apple announcements religiously or you simply stumbled into one of the numerous summaries of the event online, you’ve almost certainly heard about Apple’s Special Event that took place on Sept. 12. During the event the company announced the upcoming releases of several new models of the iPhone as well as an updated Apple Watch.

All of these new releases have one thing in common—larger screens than anything Apple has released before. The new Apple Watch models, the series 4, have a two millimeter face size advantage over their predecessors. For their new iPhone lineup, Apple has retained the dimensions of the iPhone X for the new budget option, iPhone XS, while the larger model, the iPhone XR, is nearly six inches in length. Meanwhile, their replacement for the large plus models, the iPhone XS Max, clocks in at six and a half inches in length and has more of its surface area taken up by screen thanks to the elimination of the home button.

Apple clearly subscribes to the notion that bigger equals better when it comes to their products. The gradual resizing of all their products toward larger versions has only been escalating over the past few years, ever since the introduction of the iPhone 6, which was Apple’s first major deviation from the size and shape of its earliest phones.

I for one am not thrilled with these developments. Neither are quite a number of my friends.

What’s not to love about a bigger screen? Well, for one thing, the fact that my hands are only capable of reaching so far. One of the things I like about my current phone is that I can use it onehanded—holding it and swiping across the screen at the same time. Trying that with one of the newer, larger phones will likely lead to dropping it on the floor or discovering that the screen is too large to reach all the way across.

Another issue with larger phones is that they are much harder to carry around. My older, smaller phone barely fits in the pockets of half the clothes I own, let alone a newer, larger phone. I could carry my phone in a separate bag but having to grope around in a bag that I

must constantly keep track of in order to locate my giant phone, rather than simply whipping it out of my pocket, is far more of an inconvenience to me than a smaller screen. And all this says nothing about the expense of larger models compared to smaller ones, which is far from insignificant.

Bigger does not necessarily mean better. Bigger means harder to carry around, nearly impossible to use onehanded and more expensive. For some people, especially those who are big on picture-taking or work from their phones, these tradeoffs may be worth it for the benefits of a larger screen. For people with smaller hands, pockets or a desire to actually be able to use their phone without two hands, smaller will always be the way to go.

But what’s the big deal? Just because Apple’s newest models are large doesn’t mean there aren’t still small phones on the market. The iPhone SE, released

in 2016, provides all the technological benefits of the iPhone 6 in a smaller frame and is a great option for those looking for a smaller more affordable phone.

There’s just one issue: Apple quietly pulled the SE from production the same day it announced the new X models, and does not seem to be planning a sequel anytime soon. So this is truly the end of an era. From here on out, consumers unwilling to abandon Apple have no choice but to adapt to larger phones. Even Android users may struggle to find a smaller phone as the clear trend throughout the industry has been toward larger phones.

I’m troubled by the direction Apple is going in. Between the upsizing of phones, the removal of headphone jacks for seemingly no reason but to promote their new AirPods and the elimination of the home button to make room for even more screen, I find many of the

design choices being made for newer models distressing. And it’s not just me. The definitive majority of the people I’ve spoken to on the topic prefer small phones themselves or at least think that Apple should continue to produce smaller models.

However, since it seems the market is against us, the small-phone advocates of the world may have to give up and start purchasing larger models. I’ll be holding onto my old SE for as long as the battery lasts and keep hoping that things start swinging back in the right direction before I’m forced to buy a new phone.

Kehley Coleman is a first year student planning on majoring in chemical engineering. When not in class, she can typically be found reading trashy teen fiction and/or in rehearsal for something or other.

Columnist

“Paradoxically, being pressed for time can make one slightly late, an understandable accident, while being fashionably late is a conscious choice, not driven by necessity.”

Apple unveiled its new lineup of products last week. Among the most notable design changes is an across-the-board size increase for both the Apple Watch and the iPhone.

Courtesy of John Jones/Flickr

Unsolicited Opinion

Won Hee Kim

Christine Blasey Ford, a psychology professor at Palo Alto University in California, recently accused Supreme Court of the United States justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh of a sexual assault that happened over 30 years ago. They were teenagers at a party. Kavanaugh tried to force himself on Ford, and Ford resisted. Ford has taken a polygraph exam to support her claim as well as having records from her counselor as far back as 2012. Both Ford and Kavanaugh are considered to be good honest people by those that know them, and the statute of limitations has long since run out.

Simply put, there isn’t a way to find out what really happened that night at the party, unless some other person who was present remembers and decides to speak up. Ford cannot remember the exact location or date, other than a vague “Montgomery County,” but she has described enough details for anybody with the memory to recognize. According to Linda Fairstein, the former chief of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s Sex Crimes Bureau, the details that Ford recalls are credible. Thirty years does affect memory, and the trauma behind a violent incident like that would make any memory hazy, but the specifics that Ford provided make her account more believable.

The issue isn’t really about whether or not Ford is telling the truth, because we can’t know for certain. The issue isn’t about justice either, because Ford hasn’t sought justice or anything of the sort. It is clear she spoke up either for

her civic duty or for political gain.

What we should care about is how Kavanaugh and his party defend him.

The arguments about Ford’s veracity are expected at this point, even 27 years after Anita Hill stood in front of the Senate for Clarence Thomas’ hearings. Hill was a former colleague of Thomas who, like Ford, accused a Supreme Court nominee. Her testimony in front of the Senate was a farce, and Ford’s isn’t likely to be much better. America hasn’t come that far yet.

However, there’s been a disturbing argument that if Ford is telling the truth, what happened over three decades ago hardly matters to a man’s character now. Teenagers do that sort of thing, it’s completely natural for a girl to get sexually assaulted at a party, and then the assaulter grows up.

I won’t even try to defend that argument. People may change over the years, but rapists are often serial offenders. They’re a certain type of people that seek to hurt or have power over others. This is the same reason that Ford held back her account for so many years: a belief that people can change. Kavanaugh by most accounts seems to have become an excellent person after his teenage follies, but it’s hard to trust someone who once took violent advantage of a person to make decisions that affect the whole country.

Right now, the only thing we can do is watch with rapt attention as to what happens next. If we are not satisfied with the results, we will take action at the polls this November to make some changes ourselves.

Won Hee Kim is a third-year English major with minors in creative writing and economics.

How Kavanaugh’s appointment impacts the United States

The Left-Wing Conservative

David Pietrow

The Supreme Court of the United States is arguably the most important institution in the country. It dictates the legality of the law itself and represents the highest legal authority in the country. As such, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is an important man. His vote could cause some drastic changes for the country, especially in terms of the looming results of the Robert Mueller-led Special Counsel investigation.

His stances on key issues in our country are, to the say the least, interesting.

Starting with abortion, Kavanaugh’s personal background and statements are conflicting. He is a devout Catholic who frequently attends mass, but he says that Roe v. Wade is “settled law that is an important precedent of the Supreme Court that has been reaffirmed many times.” This stance definitely diverges from the traditional Republican platform. However, President Donald Trump is far from a traditional Republican, so I suppose that his stance aligns him with the present ideology of the executive branch.

On gun control, Kavanaugh remains a somewhat steadfast supporter of basic rights for people to obtain semi-automatic guns. In 2011, when the District of Columbia upheld its ban on semi-automatic guns in the Washington D.C. area, Kavanaugh opposed the ruling. He also wrote the minority opinion, stating that he does not believe that semiautomatic guns are unusual—the majority’s basis for upholding the ban on semi-automatic guns. He went on to state that “handguns and semi-automatic rifles are weapons used for hunting and self-defense. That is what makes this issue difficult.”

Kavanaugh’s opposition to the ban may just stop there. In other words, he could be in favor of tighter regulations instead of just banning guns outright. Again, Kavanaugh’s

stance on a key issue would diverge from the traditional conservative viewpoint.

His most interesting stance, and the one you should care about the most, is his belief in the precedent that a sitting president cannot be indicted or subpoenaed. This one directly pertains to President Trump’s situation and could play a key role in the progress of the Mueller investigation. On presidential authority, Kavanaugh has said that the Supreme Court, in 1974 in the midst of President Nixon’s Watergate scandal, were wrong to uphold a special prosecutor’s subpoena for President Nixon’s tapes. These tapes turned out to be the crucial evidence needed and effectively pressured the thenpresident to resign. He considers the president to be the chief law enforcement officer and that the ability to subpoena him undermines his authority.

Why is his viewpoint on this issue is the most important? Well, if Kavanaugh is confirmed, even in the wake of sexual assault allegations and his somewhat nonconforming views to the Republican platform, then this viewpoint can easily translate to an effective end to the Mueller investigation if it chooses to look into President Trump. It provides a proverbial legal—but not based in the Constitution, so really not that legal— shield for President Trump if Mueller comes knocking at his door looking for answers.

I do not believe that providing this shield is in the interest of the American people. If President Trump did put himself in a situation where he commited a crime, then that situation deserves to be investigated. To claim that the president, who is sworn to protect the law, is beyond the law is insane to me.

But it is out of our hands for now. We can only hope that our representatives will make the correct decision in regards to this matter.

David Pietrow is a second-year student pursuing a Bachelor of Science in computer science with a minor in applied data science. He was once hit by a bus, so if his reporting of the facts are a little off, please be forgiving.

Federal Judge Brett Kavanaugh was recently nominated for a seat on the United States Supreme Court. His hearing has been sidetracked by an accusation of sexual assault that occurred in high school.

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

“His most interesting stance, and the one in my opinion you should care about the most, is his belief in the precedent that a sitting president cannot be indicted or subpoenaed.”

The truth doesn’t matter, the reactions do

Spartan receiver sets record as football team beats Grove City

Riley Simko Staff Reporter

The Case Western Reserve University men’s football team stormed the field, winning 49-23 against Grove City College last Saturday, Sept. 15.

The Spartans started the game out strong with two touchdowns from second-year wide receiver Colt Morgan in the first quarter, putting them ahead 14-0 going into the second quarter. Sam Jenkins, a third-year running back, notched a rushing touchdown to widen the score to 21-0.

Second-year running back Zach Hall ran for a 22-yard touchdown, putting the Spartans further in the lead at 28-2. In the last few minutes of the first half, the Wolverines pushed back hard, scoring their first touchdown of the game right before halftime, putting the score at 28-9 going into the second half.

Morgan opened the second half with another touchdown, putting the score at 35-9. Later, receiving yet another pass from first-year quarterback Drew Saxton, Morgan scored his fourth touchdown of the game, extending the Spartans’ lead to 42-9.

Morgan’s four touchdowns in the Grove City game makes him tied for the CWRU record for most receiving touchdown passes in one game, set in 2002 by Spartan alumnus Jason Cellura.

Going into the fourth quarter, Grove City got some momentum from thirdyear quarterback Randall Labrie. The Wolverines scored two touchdowns to put the score at 42-23.

First-year running back Donald Day III scored the last Spartan touchdown of the game, bringing the final score to 49-23 with a successful kick from firstyear kicker Robertson Albrecht. This was Day’s first collegiate score, and it locked up the Spartan win.

The Spartans ended the game with 373 passing yards and 151 rushing yards. Saxton threw for almost all those passing yards as well as the five touchdowns during the game.

After the game, Saxton said, “We knew we had the [offensive] line and skill players to compete and win, so it was a good feeling to execute our assignments that we practiced throughout the week.”

Volleyball thrives in Buffalo

Andrew Ford Sports Editor

and defense with her seven kills and six total blocks.

Recognizing the effort from everyone who played, Saxton gave a “shout out” to the team as a whole, as well as the linemen in particular. He said, “They’re what makes our offense go.”

Third-year students Isaac Withrow, an inside linebacker, and Luke Bedell, a cornerback, set personal records throughout Saturday’s game. Withrow had a career-high of 10 tackles in the Grove City game, and Bedell recorded a career high with four pass-breakups.

CWRU had 514 total yards throughout the game, but Grove City didn’t fare as well. The Spartan defensive unit kept Grove City to 387 total yards, both in the air and on the ground. Among the accomplishments of the defensive line, Bedell had six tackles and fourth-year defensive end Cameron Brown had six tackles and one sack against the Wolverines.

With two big wins for the Spartans so far, Head Coach Greg Debeljak said, “We feel positive about our start, but feel there are plenty of opportunities to improve in all areas.”

The Spartan team this year has a lot of very capable first- and second-year players, and Debeljak won’t let inexperience hold them back from showcasing those talents on the field.

“We are playing with a younger and less experienced group of players than the last few years,” Debeljak admitted. He quickly added, however, that the team is making strides to figure out the best strategy for a winning season. “We’ve tried to simplify and cut down on what we are doing in all phases of the game and put our players in situations where they can succeed.”

Debeljak said despite these unique challenges, he’s excited for the rest of the season to hold “the opportunity to grow and learn as a team.”

The Spartans have plenty of games left to make improvements, grow and learn as they move up in the Division III rankings and defend their Presidents’ Athletic Conference title throughout this season.

According to D3football.com, which ranked the Spartans No. 22 at the beginning of this season, CWRU has moved up to No. 18 overall in Division III.

The Spartans will play their next game against Thiel College at home on DiSanto Field Saturday, Sept. 22 at 7:00 p.m.

After falling to the University of Mount Union on Wednesday, Sept. 12, the Spartans women’s volleyball team had a very successful weekend at the Buffalo State Bengal Challenge, winning all three matches it played.

Case Western Reserve University lost in three sets to regional rival Mount Union, whose offense was just too much to handle for CWRU in the match. All three sets were competitive, but the Spartans were unable to come out on top in any of the games.

Fourth-year defensive specialist Karina Bondelid attributed the loss to a lack of teamwork, something that CWRU has done well in most of their matches this year. They are successful when they are not relying on individuals but instead are balanced and trust each other.

“Teams are really up to play us,” Head Coach Karen Farrell said, “and if we don’t show up with our absolute best effort, we’re not going to have the results we’re going for.”

The trip to Buffalo was much more successful. Their first match was against Capital University. Ironically, the two Ohio schools had to travel to New York to face off against each other. The Spartans walked right over their adversary, winning easily in three sets.

Third-year setter Faith Ellis did a great job of setting up her teammates, registering 18 assists. Third-year outside hitter Karley King benefited from many of those sets, recording nine kills. Third-year middle hitter Haley Sims was great at the net on offense

The most tightly contested match of the weekend was against Geneva College. The Spartans dropped the first set, 25-23, but stormed back to win the next three thanks to a more efficient offense.

Second-year outside hitter Anna Jaskoviak led the team with 19 digs, while third-year outside hitter Brianna Lemon had a teamhigh 14 kills.

In the final game in Buffalo, CWRU dominated the host of the tournament, Buffalo State College, in three straight sets, 25-17, 25-9 and 25-11. In the final two sets, Buffalo State had more errors than kills.

It was a balanced offensive attack for the Spartans. King had six kills, Lemon and Sims had seven apiece and second-year middle hitter Katie Kaminski had eight.

“If we have energy and play our own game, we’ll succeed,” Ellis said about what the team took away from this weekend. “We can’t worry too much about the other teams. Focusing on our own play works best.”

Farrell also added that this tournament gave lots of players the opportunity to get out on the court, as well as build confidence for the team as a whole.

Ellis and Bondelid both stressed the fierce rivalry against Baldwin Wallace University. Bondelid said Baldwin Wallace is like a curse for the Spartans, while Ellis said this is one of the biggest games of the year. On Sept. 19, CWRU lost to Baldwin Wallace in three sets.

The team will travel to Heidelberg University for four games on Sept. 21 and 22. The first University Athletic Association round robin will begin on Sept. 29 at Brandeis University.

Jack Boatman

Abhilasha Boruah

Emma Briggs

Erin Camia

Pearl Choi

Dallas Eckman

Lily Gasperetti

Anmol Gupta

Paul Halliday

Nicholas Han

Nathaniel Hanna

Catherine Himmelman

Karina Husodo

Eric Jiang

Robert Kidwell

Alexander Leong

Avery Lesesne

Jessica Liu

Nick Longo

Dana Lowrie

Alan Ma

Carolyn Manuck

Maria Oldenburg

Joseph Palmeri

Angela Pomeroy

Rebecca Ratzer

Miriam Ridge

Sophie Salomon

Ana Scalamandre

Sophia Trikeriotis

Morgan Wood

Samantha Xu

Hayley Yocum

This award recognizes some of the best writing from those SAGES Portfolios submitted in the academic year 2017-2018. All portfolios were reviewed by a committee of faculty from across the university in May 2018.

For more information about compiling your SAGES Portfolio, see http://sages.case.edu/2015/01/13/how-tosubmit-a-sages-writing-portfolio/ .

To work on your own writing, please schedule an appointment with the Writing Resource Center (WRC) at writingcenter.case.edu today!

Please note: if you completed your second University Seminar last Spring or Summer or prior to that, the deadline for submitting the Portfolio is November 1, 2018. Questions? Please contact SAGESPortfolio@case.edu.

Women’s soccer displays team versatility in victories

Sanjay Annigeri Staff Reporter

The Case Western Reserve University women’s soccer team was able to show its offensive and defensive abilities in last week’s matchups.

The team shutdown opposing teams on DiSanto Field, recording two clean sheets. Led offensively by first-year forward Christian Hickson, the Spartans were able to pull off a dominant 3-0 win over Hiram College on Wednesday, Sept. 12 and a 1-0 victory over Chatham University on Saturday, Sept. 15.

The match against Hiram put the Spartans’ offensive prowess on full display.

CWRU scored three goals in the first 13 minutes of the match and cruised to victory.

The first goal came in the fourth minute,

when Hickson chipped it past the goalie off of an assist from fourth-year forward Melanie Kukura. Two minutes later, fourth-year midfielder Emily Dickens hit a shot off the crossbar, which was rebounded by Hickson and easily tapped in for the score.

Third-year forward Kimberly Chen got into the action, with a curling shot to give CWRU a commanding 3-0 lead.

Along with the solid offensive display, the defense shut Hiram down, with secondyear goalkeeper Lauren Metz, third-year goalkeeper Lauren Unterborn and firstyear goalkeeper Jenna Ruccolo all combining for four saves and earning a clean sheet.

Compared to the match against Hiram, the one against Chatham was a defensive struggle.

Even though both teams were attacking offensively, with CWRU attempting 19 shots compared to Chatham’s 13, the

defense held up all through regulation for both sides.

For the Spartans, Metz recorded five saves and earned another shutout to lead the defense.

As the game was tied at zero at the end of regulation, it headed into overtime.

In the early minutes of overtime, during the 92nd minute, Hickson scored the game-winning goal by evading the Chatham goalkeeper to give CWRU the win. Chen was credited with the assist, as her pinpoint pass set up the goal.

Head Coach Tiffany Crooks had high praise for Hickson because of her amazing performance during the week and also lauded her team for their overall performance this week.

“[Hickson] has been a great addition. She showed up very fit and quickly worked her way into the starting lineup. She’s a true forward which we haven’t had in quite

a few years. We have talented attacking players like Chen and Kukura, but they didn’t grow up playing forward. They were central midfielders,” she said. “[Hickson’s] been great, but she’s also doing so well because the play of the entire front [six] has been so strong. This group is very attacking minded.”

Following a 1-0 road overtime win against the College of Wooster, the Spartans finished the week with three wins to bring their overall season record to 4-2.

The team will look to continue their win streak when they face Washington and Jefferson College on Sunday, Sept. 23 and Denison University at home on Tuesday, Sept 25.

“The season is about momentum and having the belief that an outcome will go your way,” Crooks said. “I hope we are starting to cultivate this within each player and growing more as a team.”

Athlete Spotlight

Fourth-year football player reflects on career, looks to future

Niko Kamlet Staff Reporter

Tyler Bushman is a fourth-year defensive end on the Case Western Reserve University football team. Although he wanted to quit football multiple times growing up, he stuck with the sport for what he describes as its addictive nature. He is a dual athlete at CWRU, also being on the varsity track and field team. He is an accounting major who plans on continuing his degree in graduate school. He spends his free time doing what any productive college student does: watching Netflix and taking naps

What is your favorite part of being on the football team? Why?

My favorite part of being on the football team is definitely the friendships and connections that I’ve made over the past four years. In fact, all of my current roommates are either on the team right now or have played on the team at one point or another. To me, football is fun by itself, but it’s your teammates and coaches that are the reason why you continue to play. You want to play because it’s fun, but you want to perform well for them because you don’t want to let them down.

Where did you get your passion for football? Any good stories?

Growing up I actually think that I wanted to quit playing football just about every year, but there’s just something about it that’s addicting. Something about the adrenaline rush that keeps you coming back for more. This being my last year, looking back, I’m really glad I didn’t quit no matter how badly I wanted to when I was younger.

Do you have any games that you remember being particularly special? Why?

Our first playoff game last year against Illinois Wesleyan [University] was pretty special for me personally. I’m from Naperville, so going back home to Illinois to play is always exciting, and it makes it easier on my parents for the games to be closer to home. Another cool aspect of that game was the fact that it was snowing, which is something that you don’t get to experience very often as a football player. It was also really cool to participate in the playoffs, and to top it all off, we won pretty handily and I had a really good game.

In the eighth grade I played on a nationally ranked football team, and our first game we were invited to play at the

Pro Football Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. So that was pretty insane to get to do that at such a young age. We got to tour the Football Hall of Fame as well, so the whole experience was really special to me.

Aside from football, what else are you involved in on campus? Can you explain what you do in them?

I am also on the track team here at Case [Western Reserve University]. I am a thrower with my main events being the weight throw and the hammer throw. I am in Phi Delta Theta as well, currently serving on the Judicial Board.

Why are you majoring in accounting? What interests you about it?

One of my favorite teachers in high school was my accounting teacher, and he really got me interested in accounting. I decided to pursue it as my major and haven’t looked back.

What do you hope to accomplish with the degree?

I plan on getting my master’s in accounting once I finish my undergraduate degree. From there I hope to get my Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license and work for either a public accounting firm or a smaller company in an industry that I find interesting.

What are your favorite free time activities? Why?

In my free time I watch a lot of Netflix and take a lot of naps during the week. On the weekends I like to spend time hanging out with my friends either going out to eat or trying to think of something fun to do.

What is your favorite quote or what inspires you?

“You can’t get to the top of the ladder in one step, but you sure as hell can get to the bottom in one step,” from Defensive Coordinator and Linebackers Coach Warren Miller

Courtesy of CWRU Athletics

Third-year forward Kimberly Chen (5) and third-year midfielder Mary Kate Ford (12) are both playing solid soccer for the women’s team this year. Both have started

Chris Heerman/Oberserver

Chris Heerman/Observer

Ice water in their veins

Spartans win twice in the clutch

David Chang Staff Reporter

The Case Western Reserve University men’s soccer team defeated two formidable teams, who both made the NCAA Division III tournament last year, in No. 22 Capital University 1-0 and John Carroll University 2-1 last week.

In the first half against the Blue Streaks of John Carroll, both teams traded shots but did not convert them into goals. The Spartans attacked first, with four shots in the first fifteen minutes. John Carroll responded with a flurry of shots of their own, but firstyear goalkeeper Charlie Fink managed to save three shots in the half. Opposing first-year goalkeeper Tommy Gallina matched Fink with two saves of his own, highlighted by a close block on a

header by second-year midfielder Connor Weber.

Head Coach Brandon Bianco praised Fink’s performance in his first season.

“It’s difficult for [first-year players to play his position]...He’ll get more settled as the season goes along,” he said.

The showdown of goalies halted in the start of the second half, with John Carroll scoring a surprise long go-ahead goal eleven seconds in the half. The 1-0 deficit pushed the Spartans to play more aggressively, outshooting the Blue Streaks 10-5 in the second half. The Spartans managed to create corner kick situations to set up headers, but they failed to convert. Around the 78th minute, third-year midfielder Garrett Winter blitzed through the John Carroll defense and dumped off to first-year midfielder Peter Dernelle for the first goal of his

collegiate career.

The pressure was on to break the tie. Winter again danced around the defenders and took a long shot but was off the mark. The Spartans moved the ball around and forced two corner kick situations. Weber connected with thirdyear midfielder Marques Manta on a header, but Gallina saved it. Manta, desperate to put the ball in the back of the net, slipped through the defense and dropped off a pass to second-year forward Seldon Magruder for a low goal. Magruder’s game-winning golden goal was three minutes into overtime.

Against Capital at home, both teams did not score in regulation, and the defenses had their shining moments. Fink saved an early long shot in the first four minutes of the game, and the Spartan defense forced a shot too high. Third-year forward Zachary Senft and Magruder both attempted shots, but the opposing goalie saved both, with the keeper deftly stepping up to block downwards on

Wednesday, Sept. 12 CWRU JCU 2 1

Saturday, Sept. 15 Capital CWRU 0 1

Magruder’s shot. The keeper managed to save seven total shots in the game, while Fink saved four. In the second half, the closest the Spartans ever got was Senft’s lofty curve attempt from the left side of the field, but it hit the post. The Spartans remained the attackers on offense, with 17 total shots in the game compared to Capital’s eight shots.

With a lot of experience in crunch time situations, the Spartans did not succumb to the pressure of overtime. They knew to attack immediately for the goal. Right at kick off, the ball was sent to Senft who spun to the right, back to the left and sprinted a little bit left of the goal box, faked the shot, spun to the right again and passed to second-year forward Maximillian Klemmer right in front of the goalkeeper. Klemmer hit the game-winning shot. Senft put the three defenders and the goalie in the spin cycle, and because the defense was so absorbed onto him, Klemmer was left open for the shot. The Spartans handed the Crusaders their first loss of the season.

Although the Spartans are on a fivegame win streak, Coach Bianco says the team must “stay humble… [We’ve got to] stay hungry to win.”

The men’s soccer team continued their win streak against Heidelberg University on Sept. 19, winning 4-0. They continue their home stand against Adrian College on Sept. 22.

Wednesday, Sept. 19

Heidelberg CWRU 0 4

Daniel Brenner/Observer

Third-year midfielder Brian Woo (26) and second-year forward Seldon Magruder (25) have both been impact players for the Spartans this year. Magruder scored the game-winning goal against John Carroll University in overtime.

Daniel Brenner/Observer

Third-year midfielder Marques Manta (17) made the pass that led to Seldon Magruder’s (not pictured) game-winning goal against John Carroll University.