The Observer, Volume L, Issue 12, 11/16/18

the

Case Western Reserve University volume L, issue 12 friday, 11/19/2018

Observer Spartans continue dancing, advance to Sweet Sixteen

Daniel Brenner/Observer The Spartans are moving onto the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA DIII Championships. They face Kenyon College on Friday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. If they win, they will likely face Calvin College in the quarterfinals.

David Chang Staff Reporter Although the temperature recently has dropped to about 40 degrees, the Spartans’ determination to go far in the NCAA Championship tournament remains ablazing.

Donning their long sleeves, the Case Western Reserve University men’s soccer team defeated Keystone College 3-1 in the first round and then defeated Capital University 3-0 for the clean sheet in the second round. Both games were played at DiSanto Field.

Keystone’s offense was aggressive at the start of the game, scoring the first goal of the game off a deflection from a corner kick. The Spartans pushed back, taking possession of the ball most of the remaining period, outshooting Keystone 10-3.

After regrouping from the first period, the Spartans wasted no time continuing the attack.

Third-year forward Zachary Senft stepped be-

First Round CWRU Keystone

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tween two defenders and took a shot on the left side of the goalbox. The keeper blocked the shot but was unable to catch the ball, which deflected downwards right to fourthyear forward Alex Besl, who immediately drilled it into the top left corner of the goal to tie the game and score the Spartans’ first goal.

CWRU took the momentum to create many scoring opportunities, with both Senft and Besl taking shots, but failing to score.

The team found second-year defender Nathan Ekberg twice on headers, but both shots went wide. It was not until the 79th minute when the Spartans took the lead off a shot by Senft.

The team found third-year midfielder Marques Manta at the top of the goalbox, who sent a pass ahead of the defenders to thirdyear midfielder Garrett Winter, who scrambled and managed to pass it to Senft for the goal. During the last minute of the game, Senft sealed the game with a free kick that bounced off the middle of the crossbar and in the goal.

In a post-match interview, Head Coach

Second Round CWRU Capital

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Brandon Bianco talked about his message to the team during halftime after falling behind 1-0. He joked, “Well, clearly whatever I said worked right?” Bianco continue, “The message was simple. It was let’s be composed, get on the ball, don’t try to be erratic with our play, even if we’re down a goal, let’s stay true to what we do, but still have some urgency.”

Against Capital University, the first period ended scoreless as teams traded shots. Firstyear goalkeeper Charlie Fink put on a strong defense, saving three goals in the span of six minutes. Fink ended the game with six saves and a clean sheet. Both teams set up corner kick situations and failed to score. The Spartans again came out strong in the second half, with Senft and Besl taking a shot each to begin the second period.

At the 51st minute, second-year midfielder Connor Weber found a trailing Winter, who put the ball in the back of the net. Right after kickoff, Winter again found himself with the ball in the middle of the 20 yard line and waited for Senft to slide down the left lane for the shot, scoring the second goal of the game.

Feeling the pressure, Capital tried counterattacking, but Fink saved a shot while the team blocked another from a corner.

Fourth-year defender Christian Lytle mentioned the Spartan’s defense as the key to the victory in a post-match interview. He said, “One of the thing especially we look to do ... is defend as a whole team... I think that’s where our strength is as a team and it really helped us keep that clean sheet today.”

It was not until the 72nd minute that the team found first-year midfielder Peter Dernelle trailing wide open at the middle of the 20 yard line. Dernelle stopped the ball right at the top of the goalbox, throwing his defender off and allowing the space to shoot the ball with his left foot into to goal. The keeper dropped to the ground out of frustration.

The No. 19 Spartans will play host to the sectional round of the NCAA tournament and face off against No. 10 Kenyon College on Friday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. The winner of the match will play the winner of the match between No. 4 Calvin College and Penn State Behrend. The team that wins both matches will advance to the national semifinals in Greensboro, North Carolina on Nov. 30.

Bianco emphasized how the team is living the moment in the tournament in a post game interview. He said, “We want to just enjoy this moment and get this clean sheet … this group gets to be together for another week and they love being together so it’s a lot of fun.”

For a complete preview of the sectional round, see pg. 15

News

A&E

Opinion

Sports

pg. 3 Symposium on postpartum

pg. 7 “Ralph Breaks the Internet”

pg. 11 Trump and the media

pg. 15 Men’s basketball tips off season

news Naturalization ceremony gives students US citizenship

Courtesy of the Center for International Studies Facebook Members of the campus community swear an oath as they become citizens of the United States.

Nathan Lesch Staff Reporter International Education Week was celebrated at Case Western Reserve University with five main events and several ancillary events during the week of Nov. 12. Notably, Tuesday’s naturalization ceremony allowed students and faculty to glimpse the process immigrants undertake to become United States citizens.

First celebrated in 2000, following a Clinton administration executive memorandum, International Education Week is now celebrated across the U.S. and in 100 other nations during the week before American Thanksgiving.

The U.S. Department of State, which oversees the festivities in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Education, describes International Education Week as “an opportunity to celebrate the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide.”

At CWRU, the Center for International Affairs organizes International Education Week. The Center describes the purpose of International Education Week as “promot[ing] programs that prepare Americans for a global environment and attract future leaders from abroad to study, learn and exchange experiences in the United States.”

This year, the Center employed the motto #YouAreWelcomeHereCWRU to frame the week’s activities. On Monday, representatives from the Center braved the chilly morning weather to hand

out apples and offer beverages to students on the Binary Walkway. Adorned by posters inscribed with quotes about studying internationally, the Binary Walkway also featured inflated plastic globes hanging from trees.

On Tuesday, International Education Week featured a legitimate naturalization ceremony in the Thwing Center Ballroom. Twenty-eight immigrants became U.S. citizens in front of a banner that read #YouAreWelcomeHereCWRU. The ceremony began with remarks from David Fleshler, vice provost for international affairs at CWRU, who stressed CWRU’s dedication to providing students with access to international education and perspective, and the value of International Education Week.

“We try to produce global citizens,” said Fleshler. “This is International Ed-

promotes internationalism, inclusion and economic growth in Cleveland.

“Global Cleveland attracts, welcomes and connects international newcomers to economic and social opportunities in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County.”

Cimperman invited the new citizens to “run for city council,” and take advantage of the other economic, social and political opportunities offered to U.S. citizens.

The recent political divisiveness and backlash towards immigration was addressed implicitly by Cimperman and explicitly by the next speaker, U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Parker.

“Thank you for making our country better,” Cimperman stressed. “You picked us. You picked the U.S.” Parker discussed immigration in U.S. politics, highlighting that opponents can disagree while still respecting one an-

“Thank you for making our country better,” Cimperman stressed. “You picked us. You picked the U.S.” ucation Week. We asked the court if we could do this ceremony at [CWRU].”

Unfortunately, although the seats were more than halfway filled, few students attended the event.

Fleshler then turned the mic over to keynote speaker Joe Cimperman of Global Cleveland, an organization that

other and underscored that the rich cultural traditions brought to America by immigrants make the nation better.

“This nation became a stronger nation today,” stated Parker before he performed the naturalization ceremony.

After Parker’s speech, the official ceremony began. Every person being

naturalized stood up with their right hand in the air and their left on their chest and recited the Pledge of Allegiance. They then sat back down and were called individually to the podium.

At the podium, each person shook the hand of Parker and two other officials and collected an official certificate of naturalization. The new U.S. citizens returned to their seats with smiles, happy to be Americans.

International Education Week continued on Wednesday with an event called “The Career Benefits of Studying Abroad,” featuring Rob Stall, Cleveland Clinic’s executive director of international operations. Stall discussed the advantages studying abroad can have on a student’s career prospects.

On Thursday, the Republic of Korea’s Consulate General, Jong-Kook Lee, visited CWRU to discuss U.S.-South Korea relations and other global issues, including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (also know as North Korea) nuclear weapons program.

International Education Week’s festivities concluded on Friday at Kelvin Smith Library, with a presentation put on by Tom Mrosko, director of the Migration and Refugee Services Office of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Cleveland.

Mrosko discussed the way refugee resettlement is changing Cleveland.

Director of the Migration and Refugee Services Office of Catholic Charities in the Diocese of Cleveland. Mrosko discussed the way refugee resettlement is changing Cleveland.

Want to fill this space? Have ideas for content? Reach out to us! observer.case.edu @cwruobserver on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat

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Editor’s Choice

The Fourth Trimester advocates women postpartum

Maternal mortality, postnatal care explored at symposium

Jordan Reif Staff Reporter

Access to high-quality healthcare is absolutely necessary for perinatal health. On Nov. 8, about 40 people came together to learn about the “fourth trimester of pregnancy.” Organized by postdoctoral fellow Marie McCausland, “The Fourth Trimester: Surviving and Thriving After Baby” addressed maternal mortality, postpartum health, public policy, self-advocacy and the work-life balance.

McCausland welcomed attendees and introduced herself as a survivor of postpartum preeclampsia—a pregnancy complication often characterized by high blood pressure which, left untreat-

what they both already knew: she had preeclampsia. McCausland was lucky enough to be transferred and receive treatment before it was too late.

Her traumatic experience inspired her to share her story and become an advocate, in hopes of counteracting the current trend of maternal mortality in Cleveland and the U.S. Collaborating with University Hospitals (UH), she encouraged them to retrain ED staff, require an on-call obstetrician for any woman up to six weeks postpartum and give all new mothers a post-birth factsheet with worrisome signs and symptoms; all three of which have since been implemented.

Dr. Maria Shaker, an OB/GYN with UH, followed McCausland to further discuss the reality of maternal mortal-

McCausland compared a pregnant mother to a disposable candy wrapper. “It feels as if we are monitored incredibly well while pregnant, not to monitor our health, but to make sure that we keep the baby alive.” ed, may be fatal—and shared the story of her son’s birth on Mother’s Day of 2017.

On the day her labor was induced, McCausland read an NPR and ProPublica investigative report which found the U.S. to have the worst rates of maternal death in the developed world, with mortality rates continuing to rise. “I want to be able to advocate for myself if this happens [to me],” McCausland recalled thinking on that day.

The importance of self-advocacy in healthcare proved to be a recurring theme throughout the symposium. McCausland continued, “Four days after I had my son, I started to feel a bit off. I went to go lie down, and I had this overwhelming feeling that if I go to sleep, I won’t wake up.”

Upon presentation to the emergency department (ED), the physician dismissed her, saying she did not have preeclampsia. Remembering Lauren Bloomstein, a mother described in the NPR article who died due to complications of postpartum preeclampsia, McCausland knew she needed to listen to her body and fight for care. “At one point, my blood pressure peaked at 200/115 mm of mercury [where normal postpartum is about 120/80 mm Hg] and I asked my husband to take a picture of me with my son because I thought this is it, this is all he is going to have left of me.”

McCausland showed the audience the photo of her laying in the hospital bed, trying to smile and hide her fear with visibly swollen ankles. After making countless phone calls, her husband finally contacted the on-call obstetriciangynecologist (OB/GYN) who confirmed

ity in the U.S. “An American mother in 1990 had a better chance of surviving childbirth than her own daughter has today,” with the overwhelming majority of complications being preventable, she explained.

Shaker encouraged everyone to contact members of Congress and emphasize the need for inherent change as a society. “We need love,” she said.

Shaker also suggested women get and stay healthy before, during and after pregnancy, as pre-existing health conditions can complicate childbirth.

Perhaps most importantly, she asserted to women, is to “speak up for yourself and make sure you have someone else who will fight for your health when you are in labor.”

McCausland, like Shaker, also emphasized the need to contact Congress members. There are currently bills in Congress, Preventing Maternal Deaths Act of 2017 and Maternal Health Accountability Act of 2017, which will assist states in establishing maternal mortality review boards. “One of the problems with fixing maternal mortality is that we don’t even count all the deaths, so how can we fix a problem we don’t even have data to understand,” she said, encouraging people to support the bill.

McCausland compared a pregnant mother to a disposable candy wrapper.

“It feels as if we are monitored incredibly well while pregnant, not to monitor our health, but to make sure that we keep the baby alive.” She qualified this claim with the statistic that 80 percent of preeclampsia deaths occur postpartum.

The reality of maternal mortality in

the U.S. is concerning for all women, and even more so for women of color.

Da’Na Langford, a certified nurse midwife with UH, stressed that black women are three to four times more likely to die giving birth than white women.

Langford emphasized that some people will always be at a disadvantage.

“Health disparities are often linked to social, economic and environmental status,” Langford said, “with racism being the root cause [of such disadvantages].” She discussed how racism acts as a stressor, compromising black women’s overall health and wellbeing—exemplified by their higher maternal mortality rate. Her advice was to “be good human beings.”

The fourth trimester is often minimized when discussing pregnancy expectations and realities with women.

Natalie Cowan, a staff member in the School of Graduate Studies and an attendee of the event, commented, “People don’t really shine light on all the struggles that a woman has to go through during those nine months [and beyond].

I believe it’s brushed under the rug. I think some individuals look at women as though it was your decision to get pregnant, this is just what you have to deal with.”

All of the speakers at the symposium emphasized that lack of care and death are not just things women have to deal with when they are pregnant.

The event also tried to raise awareness in support of postnatal care for women. Department of Biophysics graduate student, prospective OB/GYN and symposium attendee, Tonia Rhone, said, “In the healthcare field, a lot is focused on prenatal care and getting to the birth but then after, there is not a lot of patient advocacy and support surrounding the mother. Our mindset in the hospital is focusing on [mothers] while they’re there, but then after it is ‘you’re on your own.’”

The Cleveland Regional Perinatal Network (CRPN) works to ensure mothers do not feel alone, overwhelmed or helpless after childbirth, particularly regarding mental health. Licensed social worker and Project Director for CRPN Avril Albaugh, spoke of their efforts to help mothers struggling with mental health. The organization, among other things, launched the Perinatal Depression Project to develop screening tools, training and data systems to refer women suffering from perinatal depression to the appropriate provider and resources.

The event illuminated severe and worrisome problems, while providing relief strategies for any mothers, or those soon-to-be. Ann Blackman, a Masters of public health and social administration graduate student in the audience, emphasized that “what happens [after the third trimester] is a really important piece that is sometimes forgotten.”

“The Fourth Trimester” instilled a sense of urgency in addressing issues related to maternal mortality and postnatal care in the greater Cleveland area and the U.S. To ignore these, risks perpetuating the current circumstances in which two women—someone’s mother, daughter, sister, friend—die daily from preventable complications of childbirth.

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Cleveland Catchup Rep. Marcia Fudge considering bid for House Speaker Rep. Marcia Fudge (D), who represents District 11 in the United States House of Representatives, told cleveland.com on Wednesday that she is considering running for Speaker of the House against current Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California.

“People are asking me to do it, and I am thinking about it,” Fudge told cleveland.com. “I need to give it some thought and see if I have an interest. I am at the very beginning of this process. It is just in discussion at this point.”

She also told cleveland.com that she would like to see an African-American woman in leadership and believes Pelosi doesn’t represent the change that voters looked for in the 2018 midterm elections.

Fudge represents the district that encompasses part of the Case Western Reserve University campus.

Top county jail official resigns preceding U.S. Marshal report Ken Mills, Cuyahoga County’s top jail official, resigned late on Wednesday evening. The resignation occurred just months after six inmates died in a four month time period.

According to cleveland.com, all 34 Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judges said Mills’ jail was unsafe and inmates were not getting proper medical or mental health care. The U.S. Marshals are looking into the deaths and conditions in county prisons. A report is expected within the coming days.

No reason was given for the resignation and the county executive said a search will begin immediately for his replacement.

Dan Gilbert’s JACK Entertainment sells Detroit casino Penn National Gaming and VICI Properties agreed to buy the Detroit Greektown Casino-Hotel from JACK Entertainment, owned by Dan Gilbert, for $1 billion in cash. None of JACK Entertainment’s Cleveland-area properties have been sold.

Penn National Gaming operates casinos in Toledo and Columbus and will run the casino. It contributed $300 million to the acquisition. VICI Properties, which is the real estate investment trust tied to Caesars Entertainment, will pay the remaining $700 million for the real estate.

The deal is expected to close in 2019.

Gilbert is the majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers and both the Cleveland Monsters and Cleveland Gladiators.

All three teams play in Quicken Loans Arena, a company Gilbert is the chairman of that is headquartered in Detroit.

Ohio University orders fraternity to cease activities following student death Ohio University (OU) has issued a cease-and-desist order against the Epsilon chapter of Sigma Pi after an 18-yearold male student was found dead on Monday. The order mandates the fraternity stop all activities.

The student was a recent pledge of the fraternity, according to the Athens News, and was discovered at a residence that is “allegedly an unofficial annex” of the fraternity, according to a statement from the university spokeswoman delivered to cleveland.com.

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11/16/18

Student Spotlight

English major publishes poetry book

Justin Hu Staff Reporter

Third-year student Andrea Doe always had an affinity for literature; the English major recalls reading classics such as the Harry Potter series as a child and writing poetry in elementary school. However, it wasn’t until mid-high school that Doe took the hobby more seriously, and it was just within the last year that she realized that becoming a poet could be “a viable career.”

Since then, Doe has been busy writing pieces of poetry to compile in her book “Nightmare,” which was published this February. Her desire to become a professional writer was set into motion after meeting professional poets at Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern’s slam poetry performances.

“I saw people performing, and I’ve met poets who are like, that’s their career,” said Doe. “I’ve met people who wrote poetry books and went on to go into journalism, and I [realized] I can actually do this and make money. I felt like I had to, if that makes sense.”

She was also inspired by another Case Western Reserve University student who was a published author. Consulting the internet, Doe researched other poets and found out that quite a few of them were self-published, and she decided to do the same thing.

Doe’s book focuses mostly on recent experiences at CWRU, which, as a minority student, “has its own challenges.” It covers topics such as race, social isolation and mental illness.

“With writing and doing poetry slams, what I talk about is what it’s like being here as a black student,” she said. “Just my experiences in institutions.”

Being an English major has also ex-

posed Doe to a wide array of genres, which she says has helped her with finding new forms of syntax and sentence structure to implement into her poetry. An Ohio native, she cites fellow Ohioan Toni Morrison as one of her sources of inspiration. The genres she draws the most influence from are Gothic fiction and African-American literature.

“I remember my teacher said [that] if you want to be a good writer you have to be a good reader,” said Doe. “All these literature classes I’ve chosen to take [have] really informed my work.”

As for why she enjoys poetry over other mediums, Doe appreciates the ability for poetry to act as an outlet for her emotions. Although she also writes short stories, she feels that poetry is the most authentic.

“With poetry, I don’t hide behind characters. It’s the place I can be the most emotional and poetic and creative in a short period of time,” she explained.

This can be seen through Doe’s writing process, of which “around 95 percent” takes place on her phone, allowing her to record the spontaneous moments of inspiration which occur in day-to-day life. After she’s finished, she consolidates all her work into a Microsoft Word document.

Outside of class, she also performs her poetry at Happy Dog. Having danced ballet when she was younger and participated in theater and debate in high school, the stage feels natural to her. It also helps that she “doesn’t know the people in the crowd,” and even if she does, “the lights are so blinding that you can’t see anyone physically.”

Doe can be found on Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter as @nyenekondoe, where she posts her poetry and short stories. Her book “Nightmare” can be downloaded on Amazon Kindle.

Cleveland journalist Nikki Delamotte murdered in Wood County

Matt Hooke Arts & Entertainment Editor

Nikki Delamotte represented some of the best that Cleveland journalism had to offer.

As an arts and culture reporter for Cleveland.com, she covered the hidden gems that make the city special, often discussing how people took elements of Cleveland’s past to create a brighter future, from how Maple Lanes—a bowling alley founded in the 1940s—became a haven for underground rock when they opened their doors to live music, to profiles of notable artists and literary figures in the area. Her final story, a piece on La Plaza Supermarket opening a new taqueria, exemplified how she spotlighted the local institutions that make the city special.

On Monday morning, Delamotte was found dead inside her uncle’s trailer in Wood County. She was 30.

The reporter traveled to Wood County to reconnect with her uncle after the recent death of her maternal grandmother. According to WKYC, her death has been ruled a murder-suicide. The police say that her uncle killed Delamotte before turning the gun on himself.

Delamotte was a contributing dining editor at Cleveland Scene for two years before being hired by Cleveland.com. She authored a book entitled “100 Things To Do in Cleveland Before You Die,” as a guide to the city’s treasures.

Tributes have poured in on Facebook and Twitter from the people who Delamotte touched through her work and personality.

“The rest of the world is mourning someone who created superheroes, but Cleveland is mourning an actual superhero,” said Cleveland Scene writer B.J. Colangelo on Twitter after Delamotte’s death, referring also to the death of Stan Lee. Annie Nickoloff, a life and culture re-

Courtesy of Jacqueline Bon Nikki Delamotte covered hidden Cleveland gems. porter at Cleveland.com, said she and Delamotte were planning on launching a new series called “Building a Safer Scene,” on Nov. 19. The series would spotlight people promoting inclusiveness, safety and diversity in the Cleveland entertainment scene. On Twitter, Nickoloff confirmed she will continue the series independently.

“While I know it’s going to be difficult to do the “Building a Safer Scene” series without her,” said Nickoloff in a tweet, “I know she’d be irritated if I didn’t follow through after all our planning.”

Two local business owners who knew Delamotte, Melanie Hersh of Music Saves and Rachel Kacenjar, former owner of Re/ Dress, started a Gofundme page in her honor.

The money raised will cover her memorial costs and will be given to her mother and partner.

A candlelight vigil was held in her honor Thursday, Nov. 15, at Edgewater Park. A fundraiser to raise money for her family will held on Friday, Nov. 16, at The Side Quest in Lakewood.

Falafel Cafe forced to relocate

Increasing rent, parking fare drives out University Circle staple Matt Hooke Arts & Entertainment Editor The husband and wife team of Hani and Mae Elassal have served their reasonably priced take on Middle Eastern food from their restaurant Falafel Cafe on Euclid Avenue for 18 years.

Ms. Elassal makes her food, from falafels to spinach and mushroom pies, by hand. The two share duties in the kitchen, cooking the food and serving customers themselves.

“We work as a team,” said Ms. Elassal.

“That’s why we’ve worked for 18 years.”

Now, University Circle Incorporated (UCI) is forcing the duo to move elsewhere. The Elassals were told in March that their lease would not be renewed, and they had six months to close. The non-profit said they wanted to give another business the chance to use the space but did not provide any other reasons for evicting the couple.

“We asked them if they needed extra money or if they wanted to raise the rent, and they said no,” Ms. Elassal said.

Falafel Cafe’s move marks the latest loss to the University Circle restaurant scene. Ninja City, Dynomite Burgers, Crop Kitchen, Corner Alley and Ac-

cent Restaurant have all closed in recent years. The Elassals cited parking and high rents as the main reasons for the struggling business. The couple said these two factors made it difficult for business to survive in the area.

“For local people, it’s fine, but for people outside the area, it’s so hard to find parking,” said Mr. Elassal. “No one wants to have a sandwich for three dollars and pay five dollars for parking.”

The duo did not receive an explanation for why UCI wanted a different business in the space. When Happy Dog closed, UCI President Chris Ronayne said that a high concentration of international students “are very studious and don’t go out as much or have as much money,” meaning restaurants had to be mindful of pricing, according to Cleveland.com. Falafel Cafe, with plentiful affordable vegetarian options—such as a falafel sandwich priced at five dollars on its own, eight dollars with a salad and drink—seemed to fit the mold.

UCI did not respond to requests via email for comment on the closing of Happy Dog or Falafel Cafe.

The Elassals started off in the food business by running a catering business from home. Mr. Elassal was a manager at Kentucky Fried Chicken, while his

wife raised their children at home. The catering business lasted for two years until they decided to create a brick and mortar location. The duo opened Falafel Cafe in 1997 in Beachwood, before moving to Euclid Avenue in 2000. The restaurant will move to a new location in the University Circle area with a different landlord to ensure the situation with UCI does not repeat itself.

Ms. Elassal said she plans to reopen the restaurant in March and that she will not miss its old location.

“As long as I keep my customers, I don’t miss the place,” said Ms. Elassal.

“My customers are what make me stay in this place. If I don’t have customers and I can’t pay my rent, what’s the place for?”

One of Falafel Cafe’s more notable regular customers was the Case Western Reserve University Institute for the Science of Origins. The department held a weekly Wednesday lunch at the restaurant. When news of the move reached them, the department honored their meeting place with a party, featuring speeches and a bouquet, according to Ms. Elassal.

Patricia Princehouse, Ph.D., professor of evolutionary biology and the history and philosophy of science, said the society began hosting events at the restaurant five years ago. The restaurant’s

warm ambience created a relaxed environment which would foster discussion.

For Princehouse, some of her fondest memories are of seeing the husband and wife team at work. “[I remember] coming in and seeing [Mr. Elassal] behind the counter, his good-natured banter with the cooks,” said Pincehouse, “[Ms. Elassal] fluttering about making sure everyone got everything they wanted.”

Princehouse said the restaurants closing reflects badly on the University Circle area. Many of the restaurants in Uptown are fast-casual chains, such as Potbelly and Chipotle. She said the community should aim for the long term stability and local feel, which Falafel Cafe represented.

“One thing [University Circle] lacks that most college towns have is some sort of quirky local place with a friendly vibe and health food and vegetarian dishes in addition to diner fare,” she said. “[The Jolly Scholar] has gone through a succession of names trying to manufacture such a place, but the closest genuine things we’ve had to that are Falafel Cafe and Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern. Both of which are closing due to active decisions on the part of University Circle.”

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Panel calls on CWRU to increase campus safety, eliminate racial bias

Nihal Manjila Staff Reporter

On Nov. 12, SPARC[conversations] and the Black Student Union hosted a discussion panel called “It’s Us vs. The Problem” to encourage discussion about the topic of police enforcement and police presence on campus. Recent incidents, including the shooting of a thirdyear student outside the Phi Delta Theta house a few weeks ago, have made the dialogue all the more relevant as Case Western Reserve University reacts to and works against acts of violence against the community.

Johnathan Hicks, third-year student and Executive Chair of the Black Student Union, led the discussion with questions for the panel to talk about and give their views on. The other panelists included third-year student Eamon Sheehan and fourth-year students Nichola Bomani and Arik Stewart.

One of the first questions posed during the panel discussion was about the role and power of police. Hicks spoke about what runs through his head when

facing any potential incidents with police.

“Police always have a sense of authority,” said Hicks. “Even off-duty officers still act and try to be the hero.”

He went on to explain that while this is not inherently a bad thing, it does lead one to believe there is a strong sense of bias present.

“People of color have to swallow their pride and respect police even when police don’t show respect [to] us,” he said. Hicks spoke to how he must think about what’s more “valuable:” his dignity or his life, when interacting with police.

“Dehumanization of people of color by police is the biggest problem,” said Bomani, spiritual relations chair for the Muslim Student Association on policecommunity relations. She said that “care for others” and “having respect for each other as people” is going to be an essential part of fixing this problem.

“Community is key,” Bomani said.

Bomani also gave a short anecdote about her experiences with police violence. She grew up playing in the same

playground as Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police in 2014. Bomani related her shock as she thought about how she could’ve been in Rice’s place after the incident occurred.

“More policing isn’t the answer,” Sheehan said. “It won’t be effective.”

He said that police should undergo bias training to better understand and restrict their own internal biases toward people.

Stewart, meanwhile, executive president of the Undergraduate Diversity Collaborative, expressed discontent with the university’s response to such incidents. “I don’t like how reactive the university is,” said Stewart. He spoke about how he thinks it is far more effective to diffuse issues before they arise.

The Safe Ride program was given as an example.

“We only had four drivers for over a thousand students,” Stewart said.

The Safe Ride service, a late-night service for students who need a ride on campus, was improved after students cried out with complaints and issues in regard to wait times. Stewart mentioned the importance of student feedback to

improve safety initiatives.

He also spoke on the bias reporting system, a way of facilitating the reporting and treatment of bias in university staff. Stewart said that the system should be publicized more to the student body, as proven by the majority of students in attendance at the panel not being aware of the system. “[CWRU] really is a bubble,” Stewart said when asked about the nature of the university in the Cleveland community. Local high schoolers and non-CWRU community members, he said, don’t even know where the campus is.

“People get looks when on or even near the campus even if they’re just on their way to work at the bus stop,” he said, adding that CWRU should work to connect more with the community by actively engaging with members and organizations and publicizing programs and the university to local high schools.

The panel concluded on a note which emphasized the importance of facilitating dialogues to foster a more connected and aware community in respect to the issues explored in the talk.

Culture against sexual UPB hosts movie night violence examined at Green Upcoming events include film screening, Dot presentation murder mystery dinner

Anna Giubileo Staff Reporter

In light of movements such as #MeToo gaining momentum in society, college organizations such as Green Dot have become ever more visible and important in promoting a culture against sexual violence.

The Green Dot program focuses on improving awareness and involvement for efforts pushing against power-based personal violence on Case Western Reserve University’s campus. This includes stalking, relationship violence, sexual assault and other forms of harassment.

Coordinator of Programming in the Center for International Affairs Cami Ross is very passionate about the Green Dot Initiative. “A lot of people will ask me why I host these presentations; they expect someone from the Office for Title IX or Diversity,” she said. “But to them I say that the issues Green Dot looks at concerns everyone.”

When asked why she takes the time out of her busy schedule to speak about Green Dot to students and faculty, Ross said, “I was involved in a power-based personal issue in my undergraduate years at a different university, and I want to make sure that other students can get the support and resources I didn’t.”

Chemistry department faculty member Yasmine Ruiz-Patterson said she attended the Green Dot presentation after a coworker recommended it to her. “I wanted to learn how

to help any students that might come to my office with these problems,” she said.

Though she might not be a counselor or work in the Title IX office, Ruiz-Patterson recognizes that “we all have a role to play” in the realm of Green Dot. One of the main takeaways from the presentation was the importance of the three skills “distract, delegate, direct,” which are methods one can use when faced with a “Green Dot” situation. The presentation elaborated further on these elements: “distract” the perpetrator, “delegate” the responsibility of diffusing the situation to someone better prepared or “directly” confront the perpetrator or victim in an effort to cease being a passive bystander and become someone who works for change.

When people start to get more involved with the movement, changes in societal perception will likely be tangible. The presentation emphasized that no action will mobilize unless everyone gets involved.

“This is not something that can fall onto the shoulders of one person, we all must help out,” Ross explained. “The point of Green Dot is to create a safer, more inclusive campus where everyone is involved.”

At the end of her presentation, Ross left the crowd with a question: “When people walk into your space, how will they know your Green Dot values?”

How can you live your life so others know that you are committed to working toward spreading the values of the Green Dot program?

Jack Heneghan Staff Reporter

Coping with looming exams can be stressful, making many students want to just curl up with a nice movie. That’s exactly what the University Program Board (UPB) invited everyone to do on Friday, Nov. 9 from 6 to 9 p.m. when they hosted the UPBreakfast Club at The Spot.

On its Facebook page, the event encouraged students to “get served breakfast while watching a timeless classic,” referring to the movie “The Breakfast Club.” The breakfast food was unlimited, featuring pancakes as well as various other breakfast classics. Students were encouraged to bring blankets and pillows to “cozy up.” As final exams approach, UPB hosted the event with the intent of trying to help students relax.

This isn’t UPB’s only stress relieving event this month, though. On Friday, Nov. 16 at 7 p.m., UPB will be hosting UPBlockbuster at the Linsalata Alumni Center, but this other movie-related event has a different spin on it. Instead of blankets, UPB—along with the Class Officer Collective and the Undergraduate Student Government—will be “rolling out the red carpet,” according to

their informational page, and welcoming students dressed up as if to attend a movie premiere or dressed down like a night in for movies. At this event, UPB will be screening the movie “La La Land” and serving food exclusively catered by the Jolly Scholar.

For those who prefer books to movies, UPB is co-hosting a Murder Mystery Dinner with Cracking the Case Mystery Book Club. This event will take place at Guilford House on Thursday, Nov. 29 from 7 to 9 p.m. According to UPB’s website, the event will allow participants to “solve an old fashioned murder” with friends. The theme for the dinner is the Roaring ‘20s, and “takes place in an old-fashioned speakeasy” complete with gangsters and crooked policemen.

For the $5 ticket fee, murder mystery participants will sign up to be either a detective, who tries to solve the crime, or a normal attendee who will be given a role to play in the murder mystery and will still be able to guess who the murderer is in the end. To further the gangster theme, the event will be catered by restaurants in Little Italy. The proceeds for the event will go toward promoting children’s literacy in the Cleveland area, so attendees can enjoy the fun night while helping out the community.

Have thoughts on this week’s issue? Want to help contribute to Case Western Reserve University’s only independent student-run newspaper?

Fill out our survey online or contact us at observer@case.edu

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arts & entertainment Editor’s Choice

A look at the research behind “Ralph Breaks the Internet”

Julia Knight Staff Reporter In place of buildings and signs are skyward-stacked computers that flash fluorescent lights. People embody blockheaded avatars and aimlessly wander the busy sidewalks. Instead of cars, data-packets zoom across miles of cables. In the upcoming animated Disney film “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” the internet becomes a tangible reality.

A behind the scenes look at the film revealed the fascinating digital world that the animation and design team at Walt Disney Animation Studios worked tirelessly to build. Ernest (Ernie) Petti is a Cleveland native and the Studios’ current Technical Supervisor. Petti has worked on animation design for a variety of films, including “Chicken Little,” “Bolt” and “Zootopia.”

Petti’s path to animation was anything but typical. After graduating from John Carroll University with degrees in engineering physics and computer science, he went on to study computer science at the University of Iowa. His post-graduate work developing software for cockpit displays made him realize the passion he had for visual arts.

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” has been Petti’s project for the past two-and-a-half years. Many of the Disney films he has worked on have required on-site research. Petti recounted the animation team’s trip to Kenya to research animals for “Zootopia,” and explained that “Ralph Breaks the Internet” demanded similar fieldwork.

Much of the research for the film was done on-site at CoreSite’s LA1 data center and colocation in the One Wilshire building, a Los Angeles internet hub for connections across the West Coast. The

design team drew inspiration from its endless strings of thick cables and vertically stacked computers, which became the roads and buildings in the film’s internet world. Petti described scenes where protagonists Wreck-It Ralph and Vanellope von Schweet travel through cables as data packets to ultimately arrive inside the internet as an example of how the data center influenced the film’s structure.

“The film has little hints at [our] research of how the internet works in the environment’s design,” Petti said.

Pett admitted that at first, it was difficult for the team to translate the virtual internet into the physical realm.

“We spent a lot of time when we very first began figuring out how the heck it would all work, and having trouble with it not coming together,” Petti said.

However, the end product was something that Petti and his animators were incredibly proud of.

“When the pieces all come together and you see the final frame, that’s always really exciting,” Petti commented.

When designing a world for moviegoers to enjoy, a lot of the team’s creative decisions were made based on personal connections.

“At the end of the day, we’re fans as well. We are the audience. If we’re making a movie that we really enjoy, and that we’re inspired by, that will hopefully translate into people in the audience also enjoying that,” Petti elaborated.

One of Petti’s favorite scenes to work on involved a physical representation of Disney’s online fan club, Oh My Disney.

“There are so many references to Disney, Marvel and more,” said Petti.

“That was really fun to put together.”

After producing a film like “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” Petti is confident

Theatrical Release Poster John Carroll University alumni is the technical supervisor for the upcoming Disney movie “Ralph Breaks the Internet” that his team can tackle any animation challenge in the future.

“Everything and the kitchen sink was thrown into this movie, and it looks beautiful. Going into a new challenge, we

know now that we’re going to find our way through it. It’s good to have that mindset going in.”

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” debuts in theaters on Nov. 21.

Parisian chef visits CWRU, teaches art of French cooking Henry Bendon Staff Reporter Nearly 10 years ago while on sabbatical, Cheryl Toman, who is a professor of French and chair of the Modern Languages and Literatures department at Case Western Reserve University and holds a doctorate in Interdisciplinary French Studies, discovered a restaurant in Paris called Le Preum’s. Toman became a regular at the restaurant and struck up a friendship with its owner, chef Julie Berchoux.

That friendship survived Toman returning to the United States, the closure of Le Preum’s and a consistent 4,000 mile gap between the two. On Nov. 12 and 13, Berchoux appeared on campus

to conduct two cooking demonstrations, one in English and one in French, for the general public.

The event was not originally intended for the public. Berchoux was invited to CWRU for Toman’s Women in the Arab World course. Instead of holding a cooking demonstration for five, the chef ended up demonstrating for about 80 people in the kitchen area of House 5 in the Village at 115 over the course of two days.

Monday’s presentation was in English and was such a success that some of its attendees returned for the French session, despite speaking no French, a problem that a crowd of eager translators attempted to mitigate by relaying translations to the crowd. Another issue was scheduling, as Tuesday’s event was supposed to start at 4 p.m. and end around

6:30 p.m., but at 6:30 p.m. the event was far from finished. Also, the Village kitchens were not designed to hold so many people, and the event was very crowded.

The event’s problems ultimately did not matter because it was an excellent event.

Toman served as the host by introducing Berchoux, passing out drinks and serving food. The chef worked the crowd, explaining dishes and processes multiple times to help the audience understand her techniques. She invited the audience to participate in the kitchen so members of the crowd could learn how to cook like a French chef and—she joked—take the blame for anything that did not come out right.

The space and equipment created some technical difficulties as students were occasionally dispatched to secure cutting

boards or Ziploc bags, which were inventively used as pastry bags by the underequipped chef. This made the event more of a community activity for those involved which was well-received by the generally happy crowd.

Because she is a traditional French chef, Berchoux provided all kinds of food, pacifying the crowds watching her work. She began with a stone fruit-filled tart and followed that with a leek and vinaigrette salad made from the same vegetables she used in a stew.

Neither the stew nor the dessert, a choux pastry with a cream filling and homemade caramel topping, were finished by the end of the event’s allotted time. This did not dissuade the audience, who stuck around afterward for a chance to try what they helped prepare.

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Neil Breen’s “Twisted Pair.” How I learned to stop worrying and love AI Matt Hooke Arts & Entertainment Editor Neil Breen’s “Twisted Pair,” a crazed fever dream of a movie, written by, directed by and starring Breen, had a screening at the Capitol Theatre in Gordon Square on Tuesday. The poorly animated green screens, the shots that last far too long after the dialogue is over and a ridiculous story that is difficult to decipher make “Twisted Pair” one of the weirdest and most enjoyable experiences I have had in a movie theater.

Breen established himself as a cult film legend with his 2013 film “Fateful Findings.” His movies all follow a similar structure. He stars as a superpowered protagonist who wishes to rid the world of evil, which usually takes the form of corrupt politicians, CEOs or insurance agents. The movie, like of all Breen’s works, stars the director himself. In this film he plays the twins Cade and Cale.

One of the brothers, Cade, is virtuous, while the other, Cale, is a criminal. Both brothers try to eradicate evil but go about it in different ways. Cade works for some mysterious quasi-governmental agency while Cale is a vigilante, kidnapping three white-collar criminals and torturing them.

Watching the hour and a half long movie feels like being an amnesiac who is being assaulted by memories that have little relation to one another and is trying to piece them into a coherent whole. The movie includes a discussion about artificial intelligence, as the brothers have been augmented by advanced technology, and some talk of a corrupt digital reality, but neither of the discussions really go anywhere.

Breen throws out the concept of genre. In a movie that feels like sci-fi, there’s a fairy character that has no dialogue and no actions. I cannot confirm that it is a fairy, as it is merely a woman in a fairy Halloween costume, but considering that an evil businessman has cat figurines on his desk that move around for no reason, I have to assume that the supernatural does exist in the Breen universe.

When Cade speaks to the evil businessman who is plotting to take over the world, the fairy is present but does not do anything.

She later reappears standing by a television playing a different Breen film for one or two minutes before she vanishes.

Breen’s costumes often resemble an elementary school costume party more than a feature film; one businessman has a fake mustache made of Scotch tape—yes, Scotch tape—with brown marker scribbles on it.

The fake beards are instantly recognizable

by how light reflects off their metallic sheen.

The special effects feel like iMovie explosions with pre-recorded gunshots accompanying the action. Additionally, the setting is supposed to be the secret headquarters of a terrorist organization that Cade infiltrates, but the key card access scanners, class schedules on the wall and a flyer for Handshake give it away as a college campus.

The amateur effects and costumes are part of the fun of a Breen movie. “Twisted Pair” cannot be watched like a traditional film. If you compare Breen to Wes Anderson, you’re doing it wrong, since Breen is part of a different tradition of filmmakers.

Breen is working in the B movie midnight pulp tradition of directors like Ed Wood in the 1950s or Tommy Wiseau. What makes those two directors so memorable, from Wiseau’s “The Room,” to Wood’s “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” is how the films create a unique audience experience. Instead of passively sitting back and watching as the chaos unfolds on screen, the audience is compelled to interact with what is on display.

The audience interaction is partially an attempt to regain the collective sanity lost once the mind is wiped clean by the sight of Breen teleporting away from expositions or attempting to pet an eagle, but

actually petting the log it sits on, straight from nature documentary stock footage.

The audience at the Capitol Theater constantly made jokes at the movie, yelled out references to previous Breen movies, tried to make sense of the plot and tried to predict what would happen next. There are few things that bring strangers together like a Breen film. A group of strangers trading barbs and speculations from across the pitch black theater is quite an experience.

For most movies, this kind of behavior would be rightly considered rude, but at a B movie, rudeness becomes a necessary part of the spectacle. “Twisted Pair” does not have the quality plot, acting and cinematography we should expect from a professional film. However, if the goal of entertainment is to connect with the audience and leave viewers as a slightly different people than when they walked in, then “Twisted Pair” succeeds.

Breen closes the movie by saying he will always be in our hearts. He’s right but maybe not for the reason he intended.

Company: Breen Films LLC Director: Neil Breen Rating: I’m Feeling Less Stable

CWRU dancers paint “Mosaics” chance to grow by performing a piece more than once. She said that if dancers work for professional companies in the future, they will have to repeat a piece of dance for many times.

“Mosaics” will have more performances on Nov. 16 and 17 at 8 p.m. An-

other biannual production of the dance department, MaDaCol, will start on the last day of November. Students interested can reserve tickets online at the department website. Note that student tickets will not be available for the performance on Nov. 17.

OPEN AUDITIONS Brad Petot/Hololens Imagery: Interactive Commons The Department of Dance’s “Mosaic” featured a use of Microsoft HoloLens

Weiwei Kong Staff Reporter On Friday, Nov. 9, The Case Western Reserve University Department of Dance debuted “Mosaics,” a mix of new and old pieces. The event featured five pieces, including “Mirage,” “Air for the G-String,” “Bamboo Prayer,” “Caffeinated” and “Imagined Odyssey.”

“Mirage” is brand new, while CWRU performed “Bamboo Prayer” and “Imagined Odyssey” last year.

Karen Potter, chair of the dance department, considered the production a success.

“I think our fall productions are always very strong,” said Potter. “I feel the same about the production of ‘Mosaics’ due to the dances on the program, the skills of the dancers and the regisseur work by Gary Galbraith, who both choreographed two dances and was the rehearsal director for the remaining three dances.”

The performances featured heavy use of technology to accent the dancers’ mo-

tions. “Imagined Odyssey,” an impressive piece by professor Gary Galbraith, incorporates holographic imagery using Microsoft HoloLens, an augmented reality holographic headset.

I went to the performance on Friday and was astonished by the use of HoloLens. The interplay between the dancers, the music and the technology made me feel that I was placed in a imagined magical world.

Third-year mechanical and aerospace engineering student Eric Zhang felt that “Mosaics” was fun and enjoyable.

Zhang said that he had seldom been to dance performances and that “Mosaics” made him want to attend more performances.

“I came to the performance originally because my girlfriend needed to see ‘Mosaics’ for her class, but I ended up really liking it,” said Zhang. “The performance is very decent and technology-involved. I like how they put together the lighting effects, HoloLens, the music and the dancers.”

Potter said that the dance department revisited “Bamboo Prayer” and “Imagined Odyssey,” to give dancers the

Private Eyes

by Steven Dietz Directed by Jeffrey Ullom February 15, 16, 22, 23 at 7:30 p.m.

February 17, 24 at 3 p.m.

As You Like It

by William Shakespeare Directed by Donald Carrier April 12, 13, 19, 20 at 7:30 p.m.

April 14, 21 at 3 p.m.

• Open to all members of the CWRU community.

• Sign up sheets are posted in Eldred's 1st floor Gallery.

Please sign up in advance for an audition time.

• A comedic monologue in verse (preferably Shakespearean) is required for theater majors and desired for non-majors. Sides will be available for those without a prepared monologue.

Questions?

Call 216-368-6140 or email jerrold.scott@case.edu

theater.case.edu

Monday November 19th

6-9 PM

2nd floor theater in Eldred Hall 2070 Adelbert Rd. (on Case quad behind Millis Science Center)

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Playlist of the Week

Kyle Smith Staff Reporter

While it has been years since the rap collective Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All has released any new music, their alumni continue to produce some of the most innovative and exciting music in the rap genre. This week’s playlist is a tribute to the group and the former members who continue to carry on its legacy.

“Oldie” - Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All

For anyone who has never listened to Odd Future, “Oldie” is maybe the best place to start. Despite being nearly 11 minutes long, the song is the group’s most-streamed track on Spotify. The song, featuring verses from nearly every member of the group, serves as a reminder of why they became so popular in the first place. The beat is simple and oldschool, making the technique and lyrical prowess that Odd Future is known for the focus of the track.

“Moon River” - Frank Ocean

“Moon River” is a cover of a 1961 song written for Audrey Hepburn’s role in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” The song demonstrates the same emotional versatility that pervades much of Ocean’s work. However, the song forgoes auto-tune and instead features Ocean’s clean vocals backed by a heavily muted guitar instrumental.

“Roll (Burbank Funk)” - The Internet

Demonstrating the sheer range of talent associated with the Odd Future brand, The Internet is a funk and rhythm-and-blues band formed by Odd Future member Matt Martians and former member Syd. “Roll (Burbank Funk)” is a track from the group’s July 2018 album “Hive Mind.” The song’s title is extremely apt: the group wears its funk influences on its sleeve, and the track is propelled forward by a rolling bass line and psychedelic organ accents.

“Nowhere2go” - Earl Sweatshirt

“Nowhere2Go,” which dropped on Nov. 11, is the first rap single from Earl Sweatshirt in a few years. The song is different from his other work, featuring a staticky, synthesized beat which borders on the noise-centric style of industrial rappers. Additionally, in lieu of his usual well-enunciated rhymes, Sweatshirt opts for call-and-response style mumble rap on the track.

“I Am The Grinch (feat. Fletcher Jones)” - Tyler, the Creator

A song for a children’s movie might seem like a strange fit for the foul-mouthed Tyler, the Creator, who usually seems to revel in his outsider status. However, the past few years have seen a change in Tyler, the Creator’s music. While he is still capable of producing songs powered by sheer weirdness, the 2017 album “Flower Boy” revealed a more introspective, contemplative Tyler. Either way, Tyler, the Creator is a bizarrely good fit for the track, as his deep, unusual voice and growly rhymes carry the perfect tone for an unapologetic misfit like the Grinch.

Find all these tracks online with our weekly Spotify playlist at observer.case.edu All photos courtesy pluspremiers.us, genius.com, directlyrics.com, and wikipedia.com

Naach Di Jolly celebrates South Asian music, culture Henry Bendon Staff Reporter The piles of coats sitting by the entrance to the Jolly Scholar were falling off the tables and covered blocked-off booths last Saturday night. The reason for this calamity of coats was Naach Di Jolly, a Bollywood and Bhangra night, hosted by Naach Di Cleveland, celebrating Indian music and culture.

From 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., a large crowd danced its way through a globe-spanning set from DJ Vik, a DJ for weddings and other events.

The night focused on Bhangra, a style of Indian music that blends Punjabi musical traditions with western popular music. The music has an upbeat style that lends itself well to dancing. DJ Vik mixed hiphop and pop songs with Bollywood and Bhangra tracks from his spot on stage.

Saturday’s event was the second widely-attended cultural event held at the Jolly Scholar this semester, following in the footsteps of September’s Noche Latina. It carried a similar appeal with an easily accessible dance style that gave the audience plenty of opportunities to dance. The events were relatively similar in format, with Bhangra replacing Bachata and attendees wearing heavier clothing in the line to enter, due to the frigid temperatures outside.

Naachi Di Jolly was founded in 2014 by Case Western Reserve University students and alumni to expose the Cleveland community a board range of South Asian cultures. According to estimates, there were more than 400 attendees flowing in and out of the bar throughout the course of the evening. This attendance marks Naachi Di Jolly as one of the most popular events hosted by the Jolly Scholar so far this semester. A few attendees drank too much and caused a scene, but for the most part, the event ran mostly smoothly, with nearly everyone there having a blast.

Aranya Kumar, a first-year student, went with her friends to Naach Di Jolly. “I loved it … the music and meeting everyone,” said Kumar.

Shiv Desai, a fourth-year student, also described the event in glowing terms. Shouting over the music while continuing to dance, Desai said the event was amazing and lauded its ability to bring Indian culture and CWRU together.

Third-year Cian Desai, who is not related to Shiv Desai, echoed this sentiment, describing the evening as an opportunity to “get involved more with my own people.”

With no major complaints about the event afterward and a crowd of happy attendees, Naach Di Jolly was by most accounts a massive success.

It seems near-certain that the next Naach Di Jolly, should it happen, will also be extremely popular.

What to do this weekend

Matt Hooke Arts & Entertainment Editor

Friday, Nov. 19 What: Happy Dog Closing Concerts Where: Happy Dog at the Euclid Tavern When: 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Celebrate the last night of Happy Dog at the historic Euclid Tavern with two concerts that represent the diversity of programming at this University Circle institution. First see three rock bands—Ceiling Fan, Sweepy Heads and ITEM—for free.

Follow it up with Headspace—featuring Freakuency B2B Jayme O’Brien, Stout XTC B2B Agent Smith and Aaron Martin B2B John Rookwood—a fun techno and house music night of dancing for people age 18 and older that costs $5.

What: Fundraiser for Nikki Where: The Side Quest When: 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Cleveland lost Nikki Delamonte, one of its most well-liked and respected arts and cultural journalists, last week to an act of gun violence. The memory of Delamonte, a culture reporter for Cleveland.com and former contributor to Cleveland Scene, will be honored on this night with an open mic for anyone with memories of her. All funds from the event will be given directly Delamonte’s mother and partner.

What: Mx. CWRU Where Tinkham Veale University Center When: 7 to 9 p.m.

Sigma Psi’s annual mock beauty pageant and talent show is open to all genders.

There will be a raffle with prizes, including a Nintendo Switch. Tickets cost $5 in advance, $7 at the door and $4 for groups of eight or more. All proceeds go to the

Cleveland Rape Crisis Center.

What: The Drowsy Chaperone Where: Eldred Theater When Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m.

Check out the final weekend of the Case Western Reserve University Department of Theater’s performance of “The Drowsy Chaperone.” “The Drowsy Chaperone” is a musical comedy about a middle-aged theater fan trying to escape “the blues” through his favorite guilty pleasure. Tickets cost $5 for students, $7 for faculty and staff and $10 for general admission.

Saturday, Nov. 20

What: The Romantic Road, a Musical Journey Where: Harkness Chapel When: 4 to 6 p.m.

This concert explores the music of the Romantic Era, the period in Western music from 1820 to 1920. The night will feature works by Franz Schubert, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and more. This event is free and open to the public.

Sunday, Nov. 21 What: Child’s Play: Early Works by Mozart, Arriaga, and others Where: Harkness Chapel When 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

This concert features two great child composers side by side: the famous Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the relatively unknown Juan Crisostomo Arriaga, a talented composer from Basque Country who composed an opera, a symphony and other works before dying at the age of 19.

This free concert will focus on Arriaga and Mozart’s quartets along with works by other young composers.

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11/16/18

opinion Editorial

Once again, this is not normal

The role of the news media is rarely agreed upon. For many, it’s purely a source of information or even entertainment. For others, it can serve as a watchdog against the government. In the United States, we tend to take it as a little of all three. As much as we love to remain in-the-loop regarding current affairs, we also love watching two partisan analysts argue on live TV. It’s that watchdog role, though, that we often take for granted. When the news media shed its partisan entrenchment in the early 1900s, American reporting evolved into a massive media system seeking to be objective. Reporters focused on coverage of the latest controversy, while opinion was reserved for the editorial pages. Politicians and other officials were held accountable not just by their staff but the news media and its consumers.

The press enjoyed a long run of safety.

Through events such as Watergate, the Vietnam War and the Pentagon Papers, the press would do its job uninterrupted by the major political figures it covered.

President Donald Trump’s latest words and actions, however, indicate an unfortunate shift in belief regarding how the news media should be treated.

It was vaguely ironic when CNN dominated

the news last week after one of its reporters, Jim Acosta, had his White House press pass revoked. At a post-midterms press conference, Acosta pressed Trump regarding claims he had made about a migrant caravan moving through Mexico in the United States. Trump was not pleased with the line of questioning, giving brief answers before targeting Acosta and CNN with jabs about ratings. An intern attempted to take the microphone away while other reporters vocalized their discontent with the exchange.

For those of us on the editorial board who listened to the ordeal, “chaotic” would be the best word to describe it.

Just hours later, Acosta’s hard press pass was revoked, stunning both reporters and news agencies. Originally, the White House claimed this was because Acosta placed his hands on the intern attempting to take the microphone away. Of course, anyone there or who saw the video of the incident knew this never happened.

So the White House decided to release video evidence of its allegation but did so using doctored footage that made Acosta look violent. It was immediately discredited and derided, leading the White House to entirely change its reason for revoking Acosta’s press pass.

It’s an enormous mess of inconsistency and incompetency that plays into Trump’s abhorrent pattern of antagonizing the news media. His behavior at the press conference, albeit bizarre, was representative of his poor standing with the major agencies. Rather than answer tough questions, he would often deflect or make a personal attack against the reporter. On multiple occasions, he told reporters to sit down. He made references to the press being the “enemy of the people” and its hostility toward him.

Just a few days later, when asked about the investigation into collusion with Russia on his part, he called the question “stupid” and claimed the reporter asked a lot of stupid questions.

Hostile remarks like these have become far too common from Trump, especially in response to questions pertaining to his own statements or conduct. It’s revealing of a number of things related to his character, but it most notably demonstrates his lack of respect for the role of the news media. The news organizations are large and aggressive for a reason; when there are clear problems, inconsistencies or injustices, they have a responsibility to follow up on them.

The relationship between the news media

and the president has been clear for decades now, and very few presidents have struggled with navigating it. But instead of navigating, Trump has chosen to undermine. In doing so, he is setting a dangerous precedent, one where the president can be selective about who covers him.

Now, we hesitate to compare it to the media repression seen under authoritarian regimes, as some commentators have. But we also recognize the message it sends when the president takes it upon himself to tell the media how to do its job. If anything, the roles should be reversed.

The importance of a watchdog media cannot be understated. Even in contexts as small as this campus, having an independent mediary of information and actualities is important. Necessary change does not occur unless someone is asking the questions that matter for everyone to see.

It is understandable to be frustrated with the persistency and difficulty of questions of the media. But Trump should’ve known what he was signing up for when he went for the Oval Office.

The President’s constant battle with the news media has not made his already difficult presidency any easier or helped to alleviate the suspicions of tyranny.

Editor’s Note

It’s time to pay attention to our sports teams

It appears Case Western Reserve University is in the middle of a sports renaissance, yet no one on campus seems to notice.

In the last calendar year, four Spartan teams made the NCAA Division III playoffs. During my time here on campus, another team made the playoffs and at least four of the best individual athletes in school history have competed on the national stage.

At a school known for its engineering and medical prowess, that’s quite a lot of on-field success.

Let’s start with the men’s soccer team.

The team has advanced all the way to the sectional round of the national tournament after winning two matches this past weekend. The Spartans received one of the top seeds in the tournament, earning the right to host games before the national semifinals. It is just the team’s third appearance in the tournament and their first since 2011. So far, the Spartans have compiled 16 wins this season, the most since 2006, with just three losses and one tie.

During those two playoff matches, the combined attendance was 506. When the Spartans upset then-top-ranked University of Chicago on Oct. 14, the team’s “Senior

Day,” only an estimated 157 people sat in the stands. Compare that to the Maroons matchup with then-No. 4 University of Rochester at the end of September, one of the top Division III matches of the season.

An estimated 285 people watched those titans clash, nearly two times as many as were at DiSanto Field two weeks later.

The team will be hosting the sectional round of the playoffs on Friday and Saturday night. Their first match is on Friday night at 5 p.m. at DiSanto Field.

Sticking with teams that play on DiSanto Field, the football team just concluded its most successful three-year run since it won 38 straight regular season contests from 2006-2010 and earned trips to the playoffs from 2007-2009. Over the past three seasons, the Spartans have won 28 of their 32 games, including one win in the 2017 playoffs. That was a 28-0 victory over Illinois Wesleyan University in a snowstorm.

I was at that game in Illinois and the following playoff game at the University of Mount Union. There weren’t many CWRU students at either contest.

This past spring, the softball team also made the playoffs and finished the season with a school record 38 wins. For the program, it was just the second berth ever. More impressively, the Spartans

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advanced all the way to the Division III Championships in Oklahoma City as one of the final six teams across the country. While the team never built sustained success in past seasons, just four of the members graduated after the 2018 campaign, setting up a season with potential for another deep run in the playoffs.

Of course, most of the softball team’s playoff run occurred after the academic year ended. You would be hard-pressed to find many members of the campus community, particularly students, who know about their success. I was even talking to a softball player who complained about how many students didn’t know about their success.

Even when the team was on campus, only 115 people attended the team’s “Senior Day” doubleheader matchup against Washington University in St. Louis.

To turn back the clock a bit, during my first year on campus the volleyball team was one of the best in the country. They earned a berth to the NCAA tournament for just the second time ever and won the school’s first-ever tournament game. The following season, the team notched over 20 wins for the second year in a row and almost reached that mark again this season.

During that historic 2015 season, an estimated 184 people attended the final

home matchups. For the tournament matches, the athletics department held watch parties inside the Veale Athletic Center. Only two students attended.

Finally, the baseball team is consistently one of the top teams in Division III. Last year, the team won the University Athletic Association and were just one win short of 30 for the season.

They were ranked as high as No. 10 last season. During the 2016 season, my first on campus, the Spartans earned a berth to the national tournament and almost won their regional in 2011, 2013 and 2014.

Just 175 people attended the season ending doubleheader against the University of Chicago.

I don’t picture CWRU becoming sports obsessed. Classes are much too hard for that. But at least now students should be paying attention to what their classmates are doing on the field. This time there’s a much better chance you’ll go home happy if you do. Go support your classmates, both off and on the field.

Edward J. Kerekes - EXECUTIVE EDITOR

the observer

established in 1969 by the undergraduate students of case western reserve university executive editor & publisher EDDIE KEREKES director of web & multimedia ALEXANDRA FACCENDA director of business operations SARAH PARR director of design RYAN YOO news editor SOPHIA YAKUMITHIS a&e editor MATT HOOKE opinion editor JACKSON RUDOFF sports editor ANDREW FORD web editor PRESTON WILLIS designer KATHY YAO social media editor CHRIS HEERMAN adviertising manager DARIA RYABOGIN photo editor JAY KASSEL LEWIS accounts manager AURA ROSSY copy editors marketing manager BRADLEY SCHNEIDER development editor GRACE HOWARD MARY MCPHEETERS EMILY YOUNG advisor JIM SHEELER WON HEE KIM

opinion 11

observer.case.edu

Put the brakes on backseat driving Director of Web & Multimedia Alexandra Faccenda Driving a car with a dual brake set is an unnerving experience. You’re in the driver’s seat, with hands placed on the wheel and feet poised on the pedals.

You’re cruising along, just letting the car coast, when suddenly an overbearing figure in the passenger seat slams down on his own special brake. Your world is sent to a screeching halt.

This was my experience twice a month in driving school with a rather heavyfooted instructor. I was eager to get my license and free myself of the dual brake set. But shortly after beginning life as a licensed driver, I realized that I hadn’t freed myself after all. I found myself in the grip of a new enemy: the backseat driver.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines a “backseat driver” as “a person who gives unwanted advice or criticism, [especially] to the driver of a car.”

Backseat drivers are the ones telling you how fast to drive and where to turn. Their unwanted and frequently unnecessary input can be annoying, frustrating and distracting for drivers. A 2018 study by Accident Advice Helpline polled 2,000 drivers and revealed that 70 percent find backseat driving supremely annoying.

Backseat driving interests me because it is uniquely irritating. There is no appropriate word in the English language to describe the specific indignation I feel when a passenger tells me how to drive.

I have always considered it disrespectful.

However, many people I know and love are guilty of backseat driving. I know they don’t mean any harm, so what’s behind their bossy behavior?

To get some more insight on the motivations of backseat control freaks, I asked six strategically chosen friends and family members if they engaged

in backseat driving on an “occasional” basis. I figured they would be more likely to admit to partaking in an annoying habit occasionally rather than frequently.

Three of them didn’t confess, despite the fact that I had observed their history of unwanted driving commentary. To the remaining three, I asked a simple question: Why? The first backseat driver, a middleaged female family member whom I’ll call D., told me that she feels compelled to speak up when the driver is speeding or otherwise driving recklessly (e.g. taking turns too quickly or tailgating).

She said that her urges to comment stem from lingering fear and anxiety after a nearly fatal car accident caused by her own reckless driving. D. explained that she doesn’t really care about controlling the vehicle for the sake of control.

When someone is driving safely by D.’s standards, she is happy to be a mere passenger.

The second offender, a male Case Western Reserve University undergraduate student named A., gave me an unexpected answer: he thinks his commentary is helpful and valuable.

Similarly to my female family member, A. told me that he only speaks up when he truly believes that the driver needs advice.

He admitted that while some drivers

get angry at him for his unsolicited advice, others thank him for making valid criticisms. A. said that critiques of driving technique generally result in more angry reactions than do safetyrelated pointers, which drivers tended to receive well in his experience.

My third interviewee, a female undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh named L., told me that she often doesn’t realize she is backseat driving until her friends and family point it out. Like the action of driving, the habit has become somewhat automatic for her. L. said that she often speaks aloud to herself while driving to help her pay attention to the road. As a passenger, she tends to keep up the gentle chatter if her friends and family don’t call her out.

My investigation nudged me to rethink my anger and frustration with backseat drivers. None of my respondents had malicious motives underlying their annoying habit. All three believed they were being helpful and putting safety first.

These backseat drivers, at least, had good intentions. But it all echoes one of my favorite proverbs, which fits the situation a little too well: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

Backseat driving is likely to cause more harm than good. Any distraction that takes attention away from the road

“However, many people I know and love are guilty of backseat driving. I know they don’t mean any harm, so what’s behind their bossy behavior?”

increases the risk of a car accident.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported 14 percent of all police-reported motor vehicle crashes in 2015 were “distraction-affected accidents.” In a 2011 survey conducted by esure car insurance of more than 1,000 drivers, 14 percent of the respondents reported having an accident or near miss caused directly by backseat driving.

To me, backseat driving is a more dangerous distraction than, say, a passenger changing the radio station or having a neutral conversation with the driver.

Compared to other distractions, I think backseat driving is more likely to provoke a negative emotional response, like anger or annoyance. The 2011 esure survey found that 51 percent of respondents have gotten angry while driving because of backseat commanders. Few could argue that an angry or annoyed state is ideal for driving. To make matters worse, the driver may even begin to squabble with his backseat counterpart and become more distracted.

There are some situations in which passenger commentary might be beneficial. I’m not denying that some drivers may have avoided accidents because of vocal passengers.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find statistics on the potential benefits of backseat driving.

Ultimately, backseat driving is acceptable when the driver is clearly missing things like road signs and stop lights. If you truly believe that everyone in the car is in danger, it’s important to speak up.

But if the driver is cruising safely, backseat driving is going to do more harm than good. Most of the time, the best practice is to hold your tongue.

Alexandra Faccenda is The Observer’s Director of Web and Multimedia. Her driving skills have room for improvement.

Why not a flu shot?

Dastardly Liberal Schemes Steve Kerby Hey, you. Yeah, you. Go get your flu shot. It’s free, quick, painless and totally safe.

What a mundane, simple suggestion.

Don’t we have more important things to worry about? The Observer is otherwise filled with seriously important reporting on our campus and community, and opinion pieces can tackle important debates, including celebrity crushes.

Compared to the latest bilge emanating from the Oval Office, is the flu shot truly important? We’ve got other sorts of shots to worry about at Case Western Reserve University, including “projectile lead” and “salt+lime.” Thanks folks, I’m here all night.

What’s that, you say? No one dies from the flu anyway?

That’s where you’re wrong.

According to the Center for Disease control, tens of thousands of Americans, many of them children, die due to influenza or complications thereof each year. The CDC reports that 80 percent of pediatric deaths related to the flu are in unvaccinated children. The flu vaccine can save your life.

Imagine it’s a superhero origin story. Instead of building a nuclearpowered exoskeleton or getting bitten by a radioactive spider, an unsuspecting college student gets poked with a needle of viral matter. Then, our protagonist wakes up a few weeks later with higher resistance to disgusting diseases. Call

Marvel Studios, we’ve got a thriller on our hands.

So there you have it. Getting a flu shot is free, and it only takes three minutes.

It’s the sort of scientific genius that our ancestors a few centuries ago would consider black magic, and that’s reason enough to get your flu shot. You can set up the appointment in five minutes with University Health Service.

Suppose you wouldn’t mind getting sick and missing a class or two. Surely, you shouldn’t bother with the flu vaccine, right?

Wrong again.

When you’re vaccinated, you can’t be an incubator for the flu. You can protect little children whose parents haven’t vaccinated them.

You can also protect folks who have medical reasons for not being able to take the vaccine. If you don’t have a problem with coughing and sneezing and vomiting for a week, at least you can help save someone’s life by just getting the vaccine.

Imagine that a few people had unstoppable sneezing fits upon seeing the color orange. Not cute little sneezes, I’m talking artillery-barrage type sneezes, nonstop for hours. In their dorm room, in the dining halls, during a midterm exam … wouldn’t that be annoying in the middle of a midterm exam?

Now imagine that the sneezing-uponseeing-orange is needing protection

Courtesy of Who is John Galt We’re barreling towards the peak of flu season. Just how important is it to get your shot this year?

from the flu but not being able to get the vaccine, not wearing orange is getting a vaccine. We wouldn’t demand that everyone with orange-sneeze syndrome walk around blindfolded, we would just banish the color orange.

So, go get your flu shot. Other people are counting on you to protect everyone.

The more people get vaccinated the stronger our communal protection will be. If vaccination rates drop, though, previously controlled diseases can make a comeback.

Can you guess which malady is back?

I’ll take “Surprise! It’s the Measles” for 300, Alex Trebek. According to a recent report in Vox by Julia Belluz, the outbreaks in New York City and other cities are striking hardest in unvaccinated demographics. The crisis has only been exacerbated by parents who refuse to vaccinate their children based on holistic, non-scientific advice.

Getting a vaccine is a little superpower, but it’s not just about you.

You can be real hero by protecting the thousands of people around you.

If we all work together, if we all get vaccinated, we can make sure that another generation won’t suffer from the ailments that struck so many in the past.

If that doesn’t make you want to get the vaccine, I don’t know what will.

Steve Kerby is a fourth-year student studying astronomy and physics. He is Lawful Neutral during work hours, but after 5 p.m. tends towards Chaotic Good.

12 opinion

11/16/18

Communication is key to navigating roommate relationships In Case You’ve Never Considered It

Katharine Toledo Even as many of us enter our second years, getting along with your roommates can still be a challenge. But from my time on campus, I’ve found some of the surefire routes for having a smooth living experience.

Rule number one is communication.

To me, the biggest reason people have roommate problems is a lack of communication. It may not be an explicit decision not to tell someone how you feel; sometimes, it’s a personality characteristic. Some people are more openly expressive of their feelings, while others are more reserved and feel more comfortable expressing their feelings subtly.

You have to find a communication style that works for you and your roommates. This usually means that you should talk to each other before things get to the point of no return. When you have an issue with your roommate or roommates, agree ahead of time to discuss it calmly in a way that lets all parties express their feelings.

Often, this is easier said than done.

When someone feels hurt, it’s easy to get frustrated or angry with others, even when you’re trying to stay calm.

This is when you take advantage of the resources around you, like your resident assistant (RA). Your RA or another trusted friend can serve as a moderator, someone neutral to balance the conversation and allow everyone to express their feelings.

You can also help with communication by just setting rules ahead of time. It’s easy to be optimistic and say “Oh, we’ll never have issues,” when you first make the decision to room with someone, but the best way to avoid conflict later on is to make your expectations for one another clear from the beginning.

Make a list of rules for each of you

to abide by and put the list in a place where everyone can see it. You should include rules addressing if there should be quiet time—when talking on the phone is not allowed and headphones become necessary—what the rules are for having a significant other or friends over and sharing both property and common spaces.

In other words, it’s important to set the boundaries before things happen.

For example, if one of the roomates is interested in having a significant other spend the night, it’s first important to decide whether or not everyone is comfortable with that, then evaluate the rules that should surround such an occurrence.

Even simple things, such as what items should be shared between

“Even though it’s sometimes difficult to have roommates, it can help you develop friendships that will last a lifetime.”

roommates, can cause a good deal of strife between individuals. If roommates share a mini fridge or any other space where there is a high concentration of food, you must determine what the rules are for sharing: is everything up for grabs or do you agree to consume only what you purchased?

But perhaps the most important of living with a roommate is to have fun.

The best roommates are the ones who you stay up late with having random conversations, eat too much ice cream with and talk to when things are tough.

And if you’re following my previous two rules well, these are the exact roommates you should find yourself with.

Even though it’s sometimes difficult to have roommates, it can help you develop friendships that will last a lifetime.

Katharine (Katie) Toledo is a secondyear student from Columbus, Ohio. She studies political science and economics on the pre-law track with a minor in Spanish. Her hobbies include watching Netflix, staring wistfully at photos of her two beagles, visiting Mitchell’s Ice Cream and writing for The Observer.

Sleep is for the weak News Editor Sophia Yakumithis Method actors do some crazy stuff to land roles. Christian Bale lost 62 pounds for his part in “The Machinist,” maintaining a diet of coffee and apples for months on end. Leonardo DiCaprio once slept inside a horse carcass while filming “The Revenant.”

This week, I’ve gotten a maximum of three hours of sleep every night. I, however, am not a method actor. I am simply developing a greater tolerance to life.

My experience in sleep deprivation has given me insight as to what method actors go through, though. I certainly

don’t feel like myself. I have mood swings, loud noises bother me and I drink five cups of coffee at the minimum per day. Okay, maybe those are bad examples considering that’s just how I am. But regardless, I feel weird.

Let’s take a closer look at my nightly routine: beginning at approximately 11 p.m., procrastinate. Watch the episodes of “The Crown” where you see Matt Smith’s butt. Buzzfeed quizzes.

Remember something embarrassing that happened eight years ago. Go to the gym. Reread articles I wrote for The Observer. Gloat. Take a shower. Have an existential crisis. Watch a documentary about Soviet prisons. Cry that I have to be awake in an hour.

I think it’s normal to have an ebb and flow of sleeplessness, but in the

past few weeks, this has turned into my lifestyle, and I can’t seem to break it. I probably have this wrong, but there are stages or something in the sleep cycle, right? The first stage, I believe, is when your eyes flutter and if something falls off your bulletin board and onto your leg you think you were just struck by a semitractor-trailer.

You thought I was going to say that’s the only stage I get to during the course of the night, but in actuality, that’s how it feels when I’m awake. Right now, as I’m downing my seventh cup of coffee, I can hear someone typing nearby and it sounds like the Space Shuttle Enterprise is taking off under a giant cup. My feet are hot, and my face is tingly, while my sense of sight feels like it’s where my sense of touch should be.

My inability to sleep is apparently posing a concern to my friends and family, but I’m telling you all right now that it shouldn’t.

Think of it this way: I’m developing survival mechanisms that many humans would otherwise crumble under. Instead of putting myself in a dunk tank with sharks to become “tough as nails,” I’m merely watching the sun and moon rise and fall from the comfort of my couch all while learning to use muscle reflexes I didn’t even know I was capable of applying.

Who else can say they’ve committed to learning and mastering this craft of self-inflicted abuse? As I look down upon my peers from an imaginary throne, I am honored to be among the likes of Bale and DiCaprio.

The power in walking away Unsolicited Opinion Won Hee Kim On Nov. 3, the transgender community of Cleveland gathered together for a rally by the Free Stamp downtown in response to President Donald Trump’s leaked memo on the definition of gender. I learned about the Rally Against Erasure of the Trans+ Community from the Feminist Collective at CWRU group chat, and I accompanied my friends who learned about the event from the CWRU Radical Student Union. Everyone gathered by the bus stop in front of Thwing Center and went downtown as a group, wearing pins and transgender

flag capes and carrying protest signs.

The rally in Willard Park started off nicely, with thoughtful speakers sharing powerful stories about their experience and responding to Trump’s memo. There was a small wooden stage and microphones set up. Only, the man who had set up the stage, I’m guessing some sort of politician, had an agenda.

He came up and began talking about his issues, spitting conspiracy theories about Trump, trying to garner pity and admiration at the same time and yelling at people to shut up.

It was amusing, but completely inappropriate for him to try to take over a community who came together in order to not be erased. Despite being a so-called supporter of the trans

community, he spoke over the actual, invited speakers.

A chant started up in the crowd. “We will not be erased.” #WeWontBeErased was the Twitter hashtag that the trans community had taken up to spread their stories. The man refused to come off the stage, and the chant grew louder, gaining traction. He yelled, talking about how he had set the whole thing up and that we owed it to him to listen.

We moved across the park to face Lake Erie and left him. The rally continued with the speakers standing on top of a picnic table and using a megaphone to reach the ever-growing crowd.

As far as power moves go, the move was plenty powerful. Walking away can be a formidable response to hatred. Not

reacting changes the power dynamic between the abuser and the victim.

First, it creates distance between the two parties, which makes it easier to move on from whatever words of hate were spoken. Secondly, it leaves a strong impression on the abuser, who wants to provoke a response. It makes it so that you leave a greater effect on them than they leave on you.

Basically, you don’t have to listen to people who hurt you. The rally demonstrated something powerful: that when people are being hateful, the real answer is to ignore them and walk away.

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

observer.case.edu

fun

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Cancer Have you gained weight?

Leo Man, isn’t President Donald Trump doing a great job?

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Virgo Are you seeing anyone now?

Libra Are you still vegan?

Scorpio When do you go back to school?

Sagittarius When is winter break?

Capricorn Do you have a job?

POSTPARTUM GREENDOT I FALAFEL NATURALIZATION J THANKSGIVING O MOSAICS FRENCH L BREEN L NAACHDIJOLLY FLU Y BACKSEAT SLEEP L PRESS D WRESTLING Submit questions to our new advice column SECTIONALS D CARNEGIE at our website, observer.case.edu.

D

Aquarius Can we come visit you?

Pisces Will you be giving us grandchildren anytime soon?

14

sports

10/19/18

Athlete Spotlight

Third-year basketball player grows with experience Niko Kamlet Staff Reporter Monty Khela is a third-year guard on the men’s basketball team. He is a biology major who plans on attending medical school to become a doctor. Additionally, he is a research assistant and a teaching assistant. In his free time, he likes to work out and watch Marvel movies.

What is your favorite part of being on the basketball team? Why? My favorite part of being on the basketball team is the camaraderie and being given the opportunity to compete with the rest of the guys on a daily basis. The [University Athletic Association] trips are also very fun since we get to travel to major cities and experience other great schools.

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

I got my passion for basketball from my father. Growing up, he was a huge Los Angeles Lakers fan, and he kind of sparked my interest in the sport. I played football for a good period of time, but I was always better at basketball and after my sophomore year of high school, I just chose to stick with [playing basketball].

Do you have any games that you remember being particularly special? Why? Throwback weekend in Adelbert [Gymnasium] last year was pretty special. It was my first time playing an actual game in Adelbert, and there was just an energy

in that gym that was different from Horsburgh [Gymnasium]. It was also pretty funny since we wore our throwback jerseys that were about two sizes bigger than our regular jerseys. But we ended up getting two great wins, so the jerseys didn’t affect us too much.

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

I’m a research assistant in Dr. [David] Wilson’s Biomedical Imaging lab and am currently working on 3-dimensional fluorescence imaging in frozen and fixed tissue. I’m also a teaching assistant for Genes, Evolution and Ecology lab. I assist the instructor with class preparation and course materials. I also assist students in help rooms or review sessions outside of class time.

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

I am majoring in biology because it will eventually help me live a healthier life and improve the lives of others. Biology is also very hands-on with the number of labs and research involved, and I’m a learner that enjoys immersive experiences. What interests me about biology is that it is always around you; you are biology. And I just want to know more about myself and how my body works in relation to my environment.

What do you hope to accomplish with the degree?

With this degree, I plan on applying to medical school and eventually becoming

Go

to

Courtesy of CWRU Athletics a doctor. I am not sure what specialty yet, but I am leaning towards orthopedics.

lot of comic-based superhero movies because I’m a huge Marvel fan.

What are your favorite free time activities? Why? I love working out just because I’ve been around sports my whole life and it keeps me in shape. I also like to watch a

What is your favorite quote or what inspires you?

One my favorite quotes is from The Godfather: “Great men are not born great, they grow great,” said by Mario Puzo.

Kenya

on

Spring Break!

ORIGINS & Ev BIO! Hunt for hominoid fossils with famed paleoanthropologist Isaiah Nengo & help with med and science outreach to pastoralist villages!

Associated Course can be taken with or without trip:

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ANTH 367/467, BIOL 368/468, EEPS 367/467, PHIL 367/467, ANAT 467, PHOL 467 Topics in Evolutionary Biology Check out our other Spring Semester Courses: fmi: evolution@case.edu

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Origins.case.edu/major 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.

sports

observer.case.edu

15

Wrestling takes the mats for a new year Andrew Ford Sports Editor

Courtesy of CWRU Wrestling Twitter

Head Coach Danny Song created the Ohio Intercollegiate Open a few years with the idea in mind to attract schools from across divisions. Thus far, the tournament has been a success, drawing more than 20 schools and over 300 wrestlers.

Head Coach Danny Song is once again at the helm of the Case Western Reserve University wrestling team, and the Spartans look to improve upon the progress of last year.

According to Song, the team’s goal is to pick up where they left off at season’s end.

The Spartans return nine wrestlers from a year ago, including three Academic All-Americans: fourth-year wrestler Gavin Dersh-Fisher and third-year brothers Alec and Andrew Hoover. In addition, Song successfully recruited 13 first-year wrestlers to add to the team’s depth.

“We have a killer level of competition in our wrestling room,” Song said.

He has been looking to build depth at each position since taking the head coaching position four years ago. He believes competition in every weight class will improve the abilities of every wrestler, which will in turn help the team as

a whole. A few first-year wrestlers will also have solid chances to start in some weight classes.

The Spartans began their 2018-19 campaign Nov. 11 at the 2018 Ohio Intercollegiate Open hosted by the team.

The tournament featured roughly 350 wrestlers from 21 schools, the majority of those at the Division I or II level. The CWRU team featured eight wrestlers, five of them placing in the top eight of their weight class.

Third-year wrestler Jacob Frisch finished fourth in the 133 weight class, defeating wrestlers from Michigan State University and Central Michigan University. Alec Hoover, also in the 133 weight class, finished in fifth. Fourth-year wrestler Brian McNamara placed fourth as well in the 285 weight class. The final two wrestlers to place were third-year wrestlers Isaac Collier in fifth at 165 and Andrew Hoover in eighth at 141.

The Spartan wrestlers will compete again this weekend on Nov. 17 at the Baldwin Wallace University Invitational.

Spartans to face tough competition in sectional round

Andrew Ford Sports Editor The No. 19 Case Western Reserve University men’s soccer team is hosting the sectional round of the NCAA Division III Championships on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 16 and 17.

The Spartans will face No. 10 Kenyon College in the opener on Friday at 5 p.m. while No. 4 Calvin College will play Penn State Behrend afterward.

The matchup against Kenyon is a rematch of the Spartans’ 3-0 win over the Lords back in September. However, that proved to be Kenyon’s only loss of the year. The Lords finished the year 18-1-2 and have won nine out of their last 10 games. From Kenyon’s overall performance, the loss to CWRU was an outlier in an otherwards outstanding season. They finished in the top 10 nationally in both goals per game and goals-against average.

Kenyon is led by fourth-year midfielder David Anderson, who was named the North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) Midfielder of the Year, and fourth-year defender Bret Lowry, who was honored with NCAC Defender of the Year. Anderson has 12 goals and two assists this year while Lowry has been stout on the defensive side of the field.

Kenyon also has the advantage in experience, as they have made the tournament in each of the last four years and moved onto the Elite Eight in 2015 and 2016.

For the Spartans, this is their first tournament appearance since 2011 and only the second time CWRU has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen. They boast a 16-3-1 record with a .617 strength of schedule, the best of any of the teams in the section. CWRU also has the best record against top-25 teams at 3-1, featuring marquee victories over Kenyon and then-No. 1 University of Chicago.

On offense, the team is led by third-year forward Zachary Senft, third-year midfielder Garrett Winter and fourth-year forward Alex

Besl. All three have nine goals or more, with Senft leading that group with 10 goals and eight assists. At their best, they have proven they can beat anyone; at their worst, their offense can sputter and look like a shell of themselves. The Spartans are arguably the most inconsistent of the ranked teams and will need their best version to show up this weekend to make an improbable Final Four run.

Undeniably, the best team of the four coming to DiSanto Field is Calvin. At 19-1, their only loss came to one of the best teams in the nation, Chicago. They are the best offensive team in the nation with 84 goals in 20 games and the sixth best defensive team, allowing a mere eight goals on the season. After steamrolling through the first two rounds, they enter this weekend as the favorite to advance to the semifinals. The Knights’ roster is filled with talent that will be difficult for any team to compete with them, headlined by fourth-year defender Trent Vegter, “the best defender in the country” according to d3soc-

cer.com. Anything less than a berth to the Final Four will be considered a disappointment for Calvin.

Penn State Behrend is the only team of the four that is not ranked in the top 25. They last made the tournament in 2016 but lost in the first round. The Lions are a balanced team, ranking 22nd in both offense and defense.

They are a quality squad, but will run into a brick wall named Calvin. It is just difficult to imagine a scenario in which the Lions win this game.

The CWRU-Kenyon matchup should be a tightly contested game. The Lords will aim to avenge their loss at the hands of the Spartans earlier in the year. This game will be low scoring, with CWRU squeaking out a 1-0 win with a late goal by Besl.

In the late game, Calvin will rout Penn St.-Behrend 4-0.

That will pit the Spartans against No. 4 Calvin. CWRU has fared well against top teams this year, but this matchup will fall in favor of the Knights, 3-1.

Editor’s Choice

Men’s basketball looks to improve on last season

Sanjay Annigeri Staff Reporter

The Case Western Reserve University men’s basketball team looks to build on its progress from last year. The team finished the 2017-2018 campaign with a 12-13 record.

CWRU averaged 75 points per game and hit an average of 9.5 three pointers per game.

The team will return nine of last year’s players along with 10 incoming first-year players.

In terms of frontcourt depth, the team will miss last year’s starter T.J. Duckett, who averaged 13.3 points and 10.1 rebounds and was a two-time University Athletic Association (UAA) first-team selection. He returns to the team as an assistant coach.

Replacing him in the frontcourt will be third-year players Michael Hollis, who averaged 6.3 points, and Connor Nally, who averaged 7.9 points.

In terms of backcourt depth, the team will bring back an experienced rotation.

For the shooting guard position, the team will be led by second-year Lithuanian student

Ignas Masiulionis. Along with the sharp shooting Lithuanian, there is the duo of third-year guards Sam Hansen, 6.0 points per game, and Monty Khela, 7.9 points per game. Secondyear guard Antonio Ionadi, 7.3 points per game, will also see a majority of minutes.

At the point guard position, the team will be led by second-year Michael Volkening. He will be backed up by first-year guards James Bittner and Jack Vaselaney.

Head Coach Todd McGuinness said that his team “wanted to improve on [their] assistto-turnover ratio and defensive pressure.”

The Spartans displayed this improvement, as they kicked off the season on the right foot with a 89-80 win over Albion College on Friday, Nov. 9.

Hollis paced the team with 23 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the field and a team-high nine rebounds. Masiulionis also chipped in 23 points.

CWRU took an early 10-2 advantage in the early stages of the first half off of three pointers by Hansen and Masiulionis.

Albion would keep it close. They took a couple of leads during the frame. Ultimately, a

Courtesy of CWRU Basketball Twitter Third-year forward Michael Hollis (24) returns this season as an integral player on a young team. In the season opener he led the team with 23 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting. pair of Hollis free throws broke a tie at 37. The team took the lead for good with three minutes left in the half and went into halftime with a 47-43 lead.

With a 17 point, six rebound second half from Hollis, the Spartans pulled away from Albion, leading by as many as 16 points after a Hollis layup with five minutes remaining.

With just one game down, the Spartans

have an overall record of 1-0.

The team will continue its schedule with the Bill Sudeck Tournament, facing Franciscan University of Steubenville on Friday, Nov. 16 and either Keystone College or Washington College on Saturday, Nov. 17.w “We are getting ready to host three good teams,” McGuinness said. “We are cleaning up a bunch of stuff that hurt us against Albion.”

sports Spartans fall to rival Carnegie Mellon in overtime

Daniel Brenner/Observer First-year quarterback Drew Saxton demonstrated tremendous passing ability this season, tying the program record for most touchdown passes in a season. With Saxton at the helm and second-year wide receiver Colt Morgan outside, the future is bright for the Spartan offense.

Riley Simko Staff Reporter The Case Western Reserve University football team lost the 33rd Annual Academic Bowl to Carnegie Mellon University on Saturday, Nov. 10 on DiSanto Field. The Spartans battled into overtime but unfortunately lost by a slim 23-29 margin.

The game was also the Spartans’ Senior Night. This year the team is graduating 11 players: Steven Bachie, Chaz Brown, Tyler Bushman, Luke DiFrancesco, Ian Henderson, Jason Lockamy, Justin Phan, Joey Spitalli, David Traganza, Hunter Tulloch and JP Wassmann. The players were honored be-

fore kickoff, and many had their faces on large cutouts for fans to cheer with throughout the game.

First-year kicker Robertson Albrecht began the game with a 21-yard field goal, putting the Spartans ahead at 3-0.

The Spartans forced a three and out on Carnegie Mellon’s second drive of the night, allowing Albrecht to get another field goal kick. With almost half of the first quarter left, the Spartans led 6-0.

Third-year cornerback Kevin Chrissis returned a Carnegie Mellon pass for a 43-yard touchdown run, putting the score at 13-0.

The Tartans scored a fast touchdown and kicked a field goal, tightening the Spartans’ lead to 13-10 by the end of the half.

First-year quarterback Drew Sax-

ton threw his first touchdown of the night early in the second half, putting the score at 20-10.This touchdown tied the program record for touchdowns in one regular season for a quarterback.

Second-year wide receiver Colt Morgan scored the touchdown, adding to his record of most receiving touchdowns in a season as well.

Carnegie Mellon managed to hang on tight, scoring another touchdown to bring the score to 20-16 before the end of the third quarter.

The Tartans pulled ahead in the fourth quarter, scoring another touchdown and taking the lead for the first time in the game, 20-23.

Saxton threw to fourth-year wide receiver Luke DiFrancesco to give Albrecht the chance to kick for his third

successful field goal of the game. The 23-23 tie sent the game into overtime for the second year in a row.

CWRU had possession to start the overtime bout, but lost it via an interception. The Tartans used their first possession for a game-winning touchdown drive. Carnegie Mellon took home the Academic Bowl title, 23-29.

Over the course of the game, defense resisted hard drives from the Tartans, but Carnegie Mellon prevailed. Despite the loss, several players achieved career or season highs, like third-year safety Patrick Crossey, who achieved a season high with 16 tackles in the game.

The Spartans finished the regular season with an 8-2 record and managed second in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference with a 7-2 conference record.

Cross country advances to NCAA Championships Andrew Ford Sports Editor For the first time since 2012, the Case Western Reserve University men’s cross country team will advance to the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships. Third-year runner Madeline Lin-

demann from the women’s team also moved on to the championship race as an individual participant.

At the NCAA Division III Great Lakes Regional Championships, the Spartan men finished in fourth place.

Second-year runner Trey Razanauskas finished in 13th, the best finish for the men’s team. Third-year runner David

Hall and fourth-year runner Zach Roshon also finished in the top 35, which earned all three runners their first career All-Region honors. The next finisher for CWRU was first-year runner Spencer Weigand in 41st, followed by third-year runner Andrew Green in 47th. These five runners combined for 151 points for the Spartans, good enough for fourth-place.

Lindemann placed 10th on the women’s side, earning her an individual berth to the NCAA Championships.

The NCAA Championships will occur on Nov. 17 at the Lake Breeze Golf Club in Winneconne, Wisconsin and be hosted by the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. The women start at 12:15 p.m. and the men will follow an hour later.