The Observer, Volume LIV, Issue 8, 10/14/22

Observer

VP Lou Stark leaves a legacy of service as he retires

Grace Johnson News Editor

Walking into Vice President Lou Stark’s office, I was immediately struck by the homeliness of it all. Pictures of Stark with family and friends filled the shelves, along with photographs with students, past and present. The photo graphs spoke to a larger truth about the kind of person Lou Stark is: someone who treats his job like his family.

The university announced his im pending retirement as Vice President of Student Affairs last month. When asked how he felt about the decision, Stark responded, “I’ve kind of been thinking about it over the last two years or so. I’ve really, just so enjoyed working with President Kaler since he’s come that it actually made the decision a little hard er to make. And I think that as I think about my future, I don’t know that I’ll retire totally. I may be interested in do ing something outside of typical higher education, but I haven’t really come to grips that it’s really happening.”

Students also haven’t come to terms with it, either. During his tenure here, he helped found the Undergraduate Diver sity Collaborative, which he claims is the accomplishment he is “most proud of.” However, he did not like the idea of it being his personal accomplishment. Rather he claimed, “it’s about all of us as a team.” This attitude was reflected in the way other people spoke of him: a friendly and kind face, always willing to listen and work together as a team. Case Western Reserve University alumna and current attorney Allison Smith New some said of him, “It was evident that he truly cared for the students and our success.”

Another alumna, Brittany Chung, carried this same sentiment: “He listens to others, processes what he has heard, asks follow-up questions to better under stand, does not invalidate one’s feelings, and takes action either through how he believes he is able to help or through the means requested.”

Even in brief interactions with Stark through residence life and other av enues, his warmth and dedication to listening to and supporting students are extremely evident. When meeting with Stark, he could identify Observer staff members by name and made efforts to ask questions about ourselves before the interview even began as if we were old

friends, just popping by for an informal chat.

His cordial and welcoming personal ity has contributed to how he has been such a force at our institution all of these years. In creating the Student Presidents’ Roundtable, Stark has been able to cre ate channels of communication between different members of the community, which he believes is incredibly valuable.

“To [have] those groups work collab oratively with each other and then have an Allocations Committee probably has helped in that sense of developing com munity over time,” Stark says. Watching CWRU change and evolve since he be gan working here 13 years ago has been one of his favorite parts of being here, he claims.

However, his job has its challenges and when asked about them, he, once again, was more concerned with oth ers. “Student crisis is always the hardest part of the job and each time it happens it takes a piece of you,” Stark says. “If you ever get used to that kind of thing, then you’ve been in this kind of work too long.”

Despite the challenges, he tries to

be there for students with a smile and a listening ear. When observing him and other administrators tackle the issue of COVID-19 during the pandemic, he ensured student success and health ran through all discussions. When students raised concerns or felt unsafe, Stark was quick to hear them out and try to fix that problem. When students wanted vac cines, Stark helped get them dispersed. These are the types of things that make someone a strong and capable leader, at tributes that Stark so strongly possesses.

Like all members of the community, leaders need help and support, too— even something as small as getting a temporary key when they are locked out. Chung told me about a time even VP Stark locked himself out: “Lou had just moved to Cleveland to begin his ten ure at CWRU and he was staying in the Village while he found his house. He got locked out of his room after walking his dog, Flower, so he came into the office to get another key and I was working that day.” So, the next time you are ashamed that you need to call the RA on-call, re member that even the Vice President of Student Affairs needs help sometimes.

Though Stark will be missed at stu dent events, he will be staying in the Cleveland community, not too far from campus. When asked about any exciting plans for his upcoming retirement, he told me about a forthcoming trip to Aus tralia and New Zealand with his wife, and a new goal of learning to play golf.

Stark has been an integral piece of our campus for so many years and has worked under a number of presidents, all while exuding joy and listening. These attributes have made him such a suc cessful part of our greater CWRU com munity.

We at The Observer wish him all the best in his future endeavors and do hope he won’t stay in Australia for too long. Whoever replaces him will be left big shoes to fill. The legacy he leaves is one which characterizes him, as Chung so eloquently put, as “[a] supporter of students, an administrator who treated students as individuals, who listened and did what was in his power to help, cheered students’ successes and com forted us when we felt we failed and [was] a role model in how to treat people in and outside of a professional setting.”

CWRU wins grant for Center of Excellence

Nihal Manjila Staff Writer

Recently, Case Western Reserve University won a five-year $14.2 mil lion grant from the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to establish a Materials Data Science for Stockpile Stewardship Center of Excel lence (MDS3 COE). CWRU is partner ing with University of Central Florida (UCF) in this effort. The MDS3 COE will also work with Lawrence Liver more National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and Kansas City National Security Complex.

The MDS3 COE will be headed by Dr. Roger French, the Kyocera Profes sor of Materials Science and Engineer ing; Dr. Laura Bruckman, Associate Professor of Materials Science and Engineering; and Dr. Yinghui Wu, the

Theodore L. and Dana J. Schroeder As sociate Professor of Computer and Data Sciences. Jonathan Steirer, Operations Manager of the SDLE Research Center, will serve as executive director of the center.

Representative Marcy Kaptur (D–OH), Chair of the House Energy and Water Subcommittee, introduced the research group to the agency. According to French, the group previously under took a smaller project for the national laboratories and succeeded using CW RU’s distributed and high-performance computing. This led the research group to apply for the grant to establish the MDS3 COE.

The center’s goal will be to under stand mechanisms of material degrada tion, and to develop methods of design

ing and manufacturing replacements for components and systems used to safely store the nuclear stockpile. As French and Steirer explained, the center will aid in preserving pre-existing nuclear material, as opposed to constructing new weapons.

“The Department of Energy works on developing replacement parts,” said French, “and as things get older, it be comes harder to do that.” He gave the example of solar panels, which have a lifetime of about 25 years with no ad ditional care or replacement.

The MDS3 COE will have two functions: conducting interdisciplinary research and educating future profes sionals. The directors emphasized the significance of experts from multiple disciplines working together, and as the

name suggests, the center will involve faculty members and students in mate rials science, data science and related fields.

“Effectively, we do team science to merge data and materials science for nuclear stockpile stewardship,” said French.

“This is really an interdisciplinary ef fort,” said Bruckman, “we have experts in chemistry and engineering working together.”

The specific technical focuses of the center were described by French as in cluding additive manufacturing of met als and polymer parts, beamline diffrac tion of materials, electronic components reliability, corrosion of metal parts and interfacial adhesion and failure.

Continued on pg. 2

In light of news of Lou Stark’s retirement, the CWRU community celebrates his work as an educator, leader and friend for students and faculty on campus. Clay Preusch / The Observer

CWRU partners with Cleveland to fight illegal trash dumping with AI

Shreyas Banerjee Executive Editor

You might see some trash being dumped around campus later this year. But don’t worry—it’s all for science and civic duty!

Illegal garbage dumping is a problem that plagues most cities—with Cleve land being no exception. Litter, yard waste, abandoned tires and garbage in alleys are increasingly common sights across the city with unsecured dumpsters and trash cans exacerbating the issue. Though illegal dumping is detrimental to the environment and cleanliness of a city, it can be hard to enforce laws sur rounding the issue due to difficulties in actually finding transgressors—people generally don’t stick around after they dump their trash behind illegally. As technology continues to progress and become more integrated with our lives, however, that may change.

When Justin Bibb was elected may or of Cleveland in November 2021, his campaign focused on approaching Cleveland’s age-old problems in new ways. As part of his pitch, Bibb advo cated for modernizing City Hall opera tions and using technology to use gov ernment resources more efficiently. Now mayor for almost a year, his administra tion has slowly seen more “smart city” solutions being adopted by the city, in cluding a snow plow tracker that citizens can use, modernized parking meters and a gunshot detection system that works by placing microphones on rooftops and utility poles that listen for the sounds of firing weapons. Case Western Reserve University may be part of the adminis tration’s push to use technology to com bat our city’s issues: specifically illegal dumping.

On Sept. 10, Cleveland City Council formally passed an ordinance to allow the city to work with CWRU and Cleve land State University in developing an artificial intelligence model to recognize illegal dumping using security footage.

The two universities partnered to gether on a project called the Internet of Things (IoT) Collaborative, which will be working on this initiative. The IoT Collaborative came about after Dr. Kenneth Loparo, who was then the de partment chair of CWRU’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science—which has since transitioned into the Department of Electrical, Com puter and Systems Engineering—de

cided to pursue a research focus in the “internet of things.” Working with thenCWRU President Barbara Snyder, Lopa ro approached the Cleveland Foundation for funding, which noted that CSU was having similar conversations with them and referred the two institutions to work together. The IoT Collaborative official ly began work in 2020 to pursue research into how technology can benefit the local Cleveland community.

“We think about the devices, sensors … and actuators—things that move that can be connected to the internet now at very low cost,” IoT Collaborative coExecutive Director Nick Barendt ex plained. Barendt is also an adjunct pro fessor at the Case School of Engineering, teaching a course on the internet of things. “So we consider things like smart watches, fitness trackers—even your cell phone really is an ‘internet of things’ de vice, packed with sensors and connected to Wi-Fi or cellular networks. We have other projects using other sorts of wire less modalities for communications.”

The “internet of things” is meant to study how the information captured by the many smart devices around us can be used to supplement our businesses, gov ernments and lives as a whole. The IoT Collaborative thus became the perfect group to pursue further study on ways the city could use technology to tackle issues like illegal dumping.

Roy Fernando, Bibb’s chief innova tion and technology officer, initially approached the IoT Collaborative to discuss projects the city could start to explore using “smart city” technologies. However, they later found illegal dump ing could be feasibly tackled using AI models.

“We’ve been looking for opportuni ties to engage with the city on some of these topic areas,” Barendt said. “So we’ve been enthused by the Bibb ad ministration and their interest in how to deploy technology … to make city op erations more effective … The topic of illegal dumping came up as something that was really being a nuisance—to put it kindly—to residents and to the city op erations.”

Though the city is already using some cameras to track illegal dumping, the current system has many issues and is rather crude. Using basic tracking, the cameras often lead to many false posi

tives that have to be manually reviewed by humans each time. The system pro posed by the IoT Collaborative would be far more advanced and hopefully more accurate in identifying true illegal dumping and tracking transgressors. The project will be worked on by CWRU and CSU faculty and students, and will start off by testing with a proof-of-concept controlled-environment on campus.

“We’ll probably be putting together a demo facility of some form on [CW RU’s] campus such that we can move boxes or bags of simulated trash into the field of view,” Barendt said. “It’s a way to build a sandbox. If we do it on our campus, things are a little more straightforward. We don’t have to worry about other people we’re disturbing. We can semi-control the environment while we’re developing the proof-of-concept.”

So yes, there will be fake trash set up around campus. Work on the project will likely begin in late 2022, with hopes of delivering some data to the city of

GRANT continued from pg. 1

“There are some traditional meth ods in working on these problems that are very time consuming,” said Wu. “These processes can be made more efficient by using machine learning, artificial intelligence, data mining and big data analysis.”

One of the goals of the MDS3 COE is to train scientists and implement so lutions at the national laboratories to put the products of center research to use in safeguarding the nuclear stock pile.

Graduate and undergraduate stu dents have an opportunity to do re search and be involved with the MDS3 COE. The center is slated to host 11 faculty members, 16 graduate students and roughly 20 undergraduates, among others. Steirer explained that the MDS3 COE has a stipend for graduate students and hourly pay for undergrad

uates. He also mentioned that roughly $1 million will be used to upgrade and modify the facility to enable students and faculty to conduct their research.

The DOE’s interest in education directly benefits the DOE and NNSA. While graduating students trained in materials science and data science skills benefit the United States, French described the issue of an aging work force that he thought could be solved through this center.

“The DOE needs young people to hire, and they need to know data and computer science,” said French. “They want us to develop a pipeline of educat ing students who will eventually work in the DOE.”

According to French, three group members have already ac cepted jobs at the DOE.

The MDS3 COE also benefits the students who become involved with

the center, as it presents a number of opportunities in research, work experi ence and networking.

“It is a very novel thing for students to have such interdisciplinary experi ences in their research,” said Bruck man. Research in a department labora tory is often limited to just one field, but the center combines work in mul tiple fields.

Bruckman also described how a major education goal is to teach stu dents how to effectively communicate through their experiences with partner institutions and national laboratories.

“The university has signed an agree ment with Lawrence to send students to intern there,” said Steirer. “This is a fantastic opportunity for students to get face time with DOE scientists.” While internship seats are not guaranteed, it is a valuable opportunity to gain pro

Cleveland in early 2023. Dr. An Wang, an AI researcher and a professor in the Department of Computer & Data Sci ences, will be leading the project as the primary faculty member on the CWRU side. Additionally, Dr. Brian Ray, a fac ulty member at CSU, will be working to ensure the project adheres to principles of digital privacy and civil liberties.

Though the concept of “smart cities” and use of technology to track more as pects of our lives raises questions about the increase in surveillance, many be lieve that it can be a powerful tool to im prove the quality of life for the citizenry by helping residents deal with issues like traffic, resource use and environmental health.

“How do we help cities make the best use of their operating dollars, to deliver services to their residents?” Barendt asked. “If there are ways we can do that, from automated tracking of assets, ve hicles, equipment and things like that … that can be a win.”

fessional experience and network with experts in the field.

“We are looking to partner with minority-serving and HBCU institu tions,” said Steirer when asked about what universities the MDS3 COE would partner or collaborate with in the future.

The education goals of the MDS3 COE also extend to future partners and collaborators.

“We want to offer fundamental data science courses to [the University of Texas] Rio Grande [Valley] and UCF,” said Steirer.

The NNSA grant has the potential to further establish CWRU as the site of cutting-edge research in a number of disciplines. The MDS3 COE also dem onstrates the utility of working across disciplines and combining expertise in different fields.

Tyler Vu / The Observer

New chair alert: Reviewing the proposed chairs for the new residence halls

On Wednesday, Oct. 12, students passing through the Tinkham Veale Uni versity Center were greeted by a group of interior designers—an unusual event. Students were asked to sit on a selection of chairs and provide their written feed back. The Office of University Housing explained, “We are looking for student feedback regarding a variety of seating options that will be in the new South Residential Village Residence Halls (opening [f]all 2024).” Fortunately for the designers and the future residents of the new residence halls, dozens of stu dents happily sat on all the chairs and opined on them.

Sindu Meier, the associate principal of William Rawn Associates, Architects, Inc., explained that the designers of the chairs have been using student feedback throughout the process of designing the chairs. The fabrics and colors of the chairs in Tink were samples and are not necessarily indicative of the final chairs that will furnish the new residence halls. New furniture can often emit harmful gasses that were trapped during their pro duction, so the chairs that make the cut will be “off-gassed” before entering the buildings to prevent negative impacts on the air quality of the residence halls.

Bedroom desk chairs

The first seating option available for testing was a two-position chair, similar to ones already used in residence halls across campus. This chair is wooden, with comfortable fabric portions for the seat and backrest. It lacks any armrests— a drawback for some people—and the backrest does not retract. The configu ration of the chair is unique as it allows students to lean back without the fear of falling; its legs have two normal configu rations. The experience of rocking the chair back is a terrifying experience for the unaccustomed, but it is a great option for restless students who love rocking without the fear of actually falling back wards.

Comfort: 7/10

Productivity: 7/10

Style: 6/10

The next chair came from the Doni Stack Line by Ki Furniture. The chair is made of plastic with no soft cushions. The backrest retracts if one wants to recline, but has no wheels, armrests or anything else to make it stand out. The plastic seat becomes uncomfortable after sitting on it for a short time, which is not ideal for study sessions. This is the weakest option out of all the bedroom desk chairs, and is likely the one that most students would least prefer for their bedroom.

Comfort: 2/10

Productivity: 4/10

Style: 2/10

The last bedroom desk chair provided for testing was Jumper by VS America. This chair has armrests and a soft interior for the seat and backrest. The backrest is able to retract somewhat, but pushing it back too forcefully or quickly might make the seat rock. For those who like armrests on their bedroom chairs, this is a great option. It makes for a great seat if one wants to read or work on a com puter and is generally comfortable and flexible.

Comfort: 7/10

Productivity: 8/10

Style: 6/10

Study and meeting room chairs

One chair that students tested that were meant for general meeting spaces was Flip by Kimball. This chair includes wheels and plastic armrests and the backrest is made of a comfortable mesh; however, it does not retract—a potential drawback for some. The bottom of the chair is soft, and the seat can be flipped upward to nest the chairs together in storage. The proportions and height of the chair are well-designed and make for comfortable sitting. In general, this chair is a great mobile option for reading, studying or working with others.

Comfort: 7/10

Productivity: 8/10

Style: 6/10

The other chair in this category comes from the Rio line by SitOnIt Seating. The sample presented in Tink is the tallest chair by far, but comes in shorter varia tions. The tall model includes a metal bar for one’s feet to rest, while some other models come with wheels. The seat of the chair is soft and comfortable and the backrest is solid and retractable, however there are no armrests. The high seat mod el is not desirable, but the shorter models would be a nice seating option for those who do not like armrests.

Comfort: 6/10

Productivity: 6/10

Style: 5/10

Lounge chairs

The unconventional selection of lounge chairs began with Open by All ermuir. The high back sample presented in Tink had a long backrest that reclind at a comfortable angle, acccomodat ing the spine well. The chair includes a soft seating cushion, low arm rests and a base that spins. Many students liked this chair because its wide seat allows for sit ting cross-legged. All in all, this chair is a great option for relaxing in many po sitions, all with adequate back and arm support.

Comfort: 9/10

Productivity: 6/10

Style: 8/10

Next came Retreat by Allsteel. This chair is immobile and does not spin. It includes thin, hard elbow rests and a long backrest; when sitting back, a metal bar at the top of the backrest presses against the middle of the sitter’s spine. The seat on this chair is soft, but the fabric on this sample seems like it will get dirty and tear easily. However, as previously noted, this fabric is a generic sample and will not necessarily appear in the final model. Regardless, this chair is not de sirable, especially for a lounging room where comfort is the highest priority.

Comfort: 2/10

Productivity: 4/10

Style: 5/10

The third lounge chair was Rock by Allsteel. The design of this chair is the most unique out of the samples, resem bling a potato with a quarter of it cut out. Unfortunately, it is not nearly as com fortable as its peculiar design would in dicate. It has the ability to rock back and forth heavily, but its backrest is hard and uncomfortable. The seat is unnecessarily wide, yet it is too thin to sit with one’s legs crossed. This is not a good lounging chair by any metric, but it is an accept able option for jittery people who want to rock back and forth rapidly.

Comfort: 3/10

Productivity: 2/10

Style: 7/10

The last chair available for testing was CrissCross by Source. This chair lives up to its name and is a great option for sit ting cross-legged. The seat is low to the ground and spacious, and while the back rest does not retract, its natural angle is great for relaxing comfortably. The chair does lack armrests, but it is still a great option for lounging and resting.

Comfort: 9/10

Productivity: 4/10

Style: 6/10

Elie Aoun Copy Editor

Students who sat on the chair “Rock” had an unpleasant experience because of its uncomfortable backrest and thin seat. Elie Aoun/The Observer.

Netflix’s cash cow: Trauma

On Sep. 21, Netflix released yet an other iteration of the infamous Ameri can serial killer’s narrative, titled “Dah mer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” Although the show depicts a dramatized, but particularly realistic, story of Jeffrey Dahmer’s life, it does so in a way that capitalizes on the pain of those who were affected by his crimes. The show has sparked much controver sy about the approach it took to depict such graphic and heavy material, espe cially in regards to the victims’ families. The timing of the series is also suspi cious. Released only a month before Halloween, it seems as if Netflix is mar keting the show as just another “spooky Halloween special,” instead of a hor rific biopic of a serial killer’s life. This show comes five years after the release of a film called “My Friend Dahmer” and merely weeks before the release of “Conversations with a Killer: The Jef frey Dahmer Tapes”—another Netflix production, which aired on Oct. 7.

Jeffrey Dahmer, known as the Mil waukee Cannibal, was an American se rial killer who committed 17 murders between 1978 and 1991. When Dahmer was eventually convicted, the extent of his crimes, including cannibalism and necrophilia, was a shock to the nation as they tried to understand how a per son could commit such atrocities. The media heavily sensationalized the mur ders and ensuing trial, contributing to the nation’s increasing facination with the serial killer. And even now, 30 years later, production companies are profit ing from retelling his crimes and con tinually reminding his victims’ families of what happened.

The show itself, with Evan Peters playing Jeffrey Dahmer, presents a par ticularly realistic depiction of Dahmer’s

life, from his childhood until 1994 when he was murdered. Although somewhat sensationalized, the focus on his fam ily troubles and his childhood obsession with taxidermy are crucial for under standing Dahmer’s killings.

However, if understanding Dahmer is the point of the show, it should not be structured in the manner it is, par ticularly showing events out of order. The show opens with Dahmer’s last at tempted killing, where his victim, Tracy Edwards, managed to escape and re port Dahmer. The next several episodes jump to Dahmer’s early life, often flash ing to the crimes he would later commit. To someone who understood the narra tive already, the change in time wasn’t confusing, but for those who didn’t have prior knowledge, it was difficult to know when events were taking place and what was going on.

In my eyes, the most jarring aspect of the show was the complete disre gard for the victims’ families and their wishes. After its release, several of the victims’ family members came forward to express their disgust with how Netflix handled the show. Rita Isbell—the sis ter of Errol Lindsey, who was murdered by Dahmer—recently spoke out against Netflix for not reaching out to her fam ily, accusing them of profiting off their tragedy. Another relative of Lindsey’s, Eric Perry, took to Twitter to express his family’s disgust at the show, stating “It’s retraumatizing over and over again, and for what? How many movies/shows/ documentaries do we need?” Both Is bell and Perry reveal that Netflix is sim ply profiting off their pain, without con sulting them in the process. And Netflix doesn’t even try to hide this fact either. In the eighth episode of the series, titled “Lionel,” the family members of Dah

Netflix’s new series about serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer has received much backlash from the families of Dahmers’ victims, who feel like their pain is being exploited for profit. Courtesy of Netflix.

mer’s victims are allowed to give their statements in court. A particularly pain ful scene to watch is Rita Isbell’s state ment in court, where she, in a moment of pure pain and fury, screams at Jeffrey Dahmer. It is absolutely gutwrenching to put yourself in her shoes; to think of her brother who was brutally murdered, and to understand the pain that was in flicted on her family. In the show, the scene is an almost exact replica of the actual event, blatantly profiting off the families pain and without their consul tation or permission. Although the scene does serve to accurately depict the court case, it does so without any input from the family.

As Netflix’s current No. 1 show in

the United States with over 700 million hours of watchtime, “Dahmer” was only able to reach those numbers on the backs of people who were drastically affected by his crimes. It profits off their pain in a disgusting fashion, by providing no compensation for and asking no input from the victims’ families. In our con sumption of non-fiction media, movies and TV shows, we need to be conscious of when a show doesn’t pay proper re spects to those who were affected, when it blatantly and unapologetically ignores the victim’s families and re-traumatizes them. So, while the show is currently a sensation in the United States, we need to understand who and what we are sup porting when we watch it.

Denzel Curry electrifies at The Agora on the “MELT MY EYEZ TOUR”

On Sept. 30, Denzel Curry blessed the citizens of northeast Ohio with a stop in Cleveland, part of his world tour promoting the release of his fifth and most recent studio album, “Melt My Eyez See Your Future.”. This is the first time Curry has performed in Cleveland as the main headliner on a tour, so this came as an extra special surprise to us.

Denzel Curry, a rapper based out of Carol City, Florida, has been active in the rap game for over 11 years. He’s gained a reputation for his gravelly, ag gressive, trap-influenced rap style, as well as his dynamic and flawless flow and thought-provoking narrative lyri cism. Curry didn’t gain much popularity until he went viral on Vine in early 2016 with his breakout hit, “Ultimate.” From there, he released his second studio al bum, “Imperial.” He was subsequently featured on the cover of XXL as a mem ber of arguably the best “Freshman Class” list—and “Freshman Cypher” freestyle rap—that XXL has ever seen.

His music is so uniquely his own— a fact that’s extremely apparent in his new album “Melt My Eyez See Your Future,” which features a calmer and more mature side of Denzel. While his lyricism and versatility as an artist has helped him create a wide range of al bums that focus on the injustices of the world at large, his newest album serves more as an introspective piece. Curry has described the album as having “No alter egos, no nothing. Just Denzel Cur ry.” In this project he aims to branch beyond his comfort zone—to not just make something he knows will sell— and he certainly impresses.

Flash forward to the much-anticipat

ed day of the show: We were standing in line outside The Agora Theatre and Ballroom to not only see the man Den zel himself, but his entire show’s lineup: Redveil, AG Club and PlayThatBoiZay, who had all come to Cleveland to get old and new fans alike hyped.

The air was electric as each new per former got on stage, each with their own dynamic flair for the dramatics—throw ing themselves into the pit and getting people to scream at the highest decibel they could manage. Shoes were lost and phones were thrown before Curry had even come on stage. After each perfor mance, each musician was met with roaring applause. However, when the neon green lights and angelic female vocals for the beginning of “Melt Ses sion #1” came on, we knew the night had come to its zenith. We were imme diately starstruck at the very sight of the man himself: The man behind the mas terpieces that we had adored for years was standing right in front of us, per forming just for us. With his masterful way of combining words with unique beats, Denzel’s stage presence com manded everyone to jump and recite the lines to his beloved and outstanding discography. Between sets, Curry re lated to the crowd that he had endured a hellish experience with U.S. Customs trying to get back into the country after performing in Toronto two days prior, and that he had only slept three hours the night before. “But you know, I’m here, I made it on the stage,” Curry reassured. “Y’all givin me a good motherfuckin’ vibe, so I’m finna give y’all a great ass show.” Invigorated with the news that we were just the pick-me-up he needed,

the crowd cheered even louder. Playing the new tracks and some of his oldies but goodies, we all came together to enjoy the raucous angry noise of “Black Balloons,” the classic and deservingly overplayed “RICKY,” “Ultimate,” “SPEEDBOAT” and the re cent headbanger “Ain’t No Way.” After finishing out with the classic “CLOUT COBAIN” and the new album’s final track, “The Ills,” Curry returned for an energy-filled encore with “ULT.” The show was exhilarating, but as a result

the night seemed like it ended far too soon.

From his time in the underground rap scene to his current status as a main stream artist working with T-Pain and other underdogs like Rico Nasty, we have adored Denzel Curry’s music. His journey and evolution as a rapper have earned him a place in the music industry since his first album, 2013’s “Nostalgic 64”—and with the show he put out this September, he won’t be leaving anytime soon.

Sara Khorshidi Director of Print

Mulan Ma Engagement Editor

Denzel Curry, who has been participating in rap battles since he was a teen, has released 5 studio albums throughout his career and now has nearly 7 millon monthly listeners on Spotify. Courtesy of Cameryn Scott.

Sudoku

Two of Coins (Reversed)

You might be struggling to balance all the things you need to do. Be fair to yourself and learn to let certain things go.

Knight of Swords (Reversed)

A person in your life may be bringing on more drama and trouble than they should be. Draw boundaries before there is too much damage.

Eight of Coins (Reversed)

It’s time to revisit old hobbies for the sake of sharpening the saw.

Seven of Cups (Upright)

A lot of opportunities this week will come your way. Be careful, they are quickly coming and going.

Wheel of Fortune (Upright)

Good luck and fortune is on your side this week. Do with it what you will.

Five of Swords (Upright)

You might be feeling disappointed by how something happened this week. Don’t fret too long, you can pick yourself up quicker than you think.

The Empress (Upright)

Your friends may be needing your advice and leadership, your wise words might just get them through a very hard dilemma.

The Magician (Reversed)

Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. Be careful where you apply your power.

Four of Wands (Reversed)

Looking back on old accomplishments can lead to stagnancy in your new endeavors.

Ace of Cups (Reversed)

You may have gotten on the wrong foot to step forward.

Eight of Cups (Reversed)

It’s time to listen to your heart about the next course of events.

Page of Cups (Upright)

A new companion has come with good intentions and wants to make new memories with you.

Editorial: We need to talk about CWRU’s budget

By most measures, Case Western Re serve University is in a pretty good fi nancial position. Since President Barbara Snyder’s “Forward Thinking” campaign raised $1.82 billion for the university, CWRU has seen a flurry of capital im provements, with a new university center and new walkways all being built over the past decade. Recently we’ve seen renovations to the Fribley Commons, refurbishments to the Case Quad and the start of construction for two completely new residence halls in the South Resi dential Village. We will also soon see a new $300 million research building join ing campus in the coming years.

Looking from the outside, the univer sity seems to be flush with cash. Presi dent Eric Kaler himself told The Observ er in April, “now we’re emerging into a situation in which our budget is as strong as I think it’s maybe ever been, certainly in the past 20 years.” But taking a deeper look into CWRU beyond all the shiny new buildings, it certainly doesn’t feel that way. Over the past few years, there have been consistent reports of staff turn over due to the salaries that CWRU pro vides their professors and administrators. As they walk out the door, the university loses years of institutional knowledge and valued community members. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been staff shortages through out CWRU, forcing resources that used to be available to students 24/7, like Kel vin Smith Library, to be more limited. Additionally due to staff shortages, there have been delays to the re-opening of Eldred Theater as a student center. Sev eral departments across campus—which directly impact student life—have been chronically understaffed compared to the scale of their work, including University Health and Counseling Services and Uni versity Housing.

Beyond community assets, it seems that there is a disparity between how re

sources are allocated across CWRU’s ac ademic departments. Some departments struggle to maintain their programs and attract new professors while other depart ments seem to always be launching new ventures and buying new equipment. All of this comes down to how our university budgets its money.

It is important to note that the vast ma jority of CWRU’s finances is restricted to certain activities and parts of the univer sity due to the way the endowment was funded. As such, even though we raised over $1 billion under President Snyder, those funds can only be used for certain projects, such as new building construc tions or creating new greenways; these are ones that donors love to fund and it’s easy for their names to adorn them. Therefore, our university only has a little amount of unallocated money that they can use for discretionary purposes. This makes it difficult for the president or a provost to plug gaps or fix issues across the university as needed. Even though there is no clear solution to this—we need donors and our endowment to sur vive as an institution—the distribution and stipulations of these funds lead to a variety of issues.

Since CWRU itself does not fund all of their divisions using their central funds, the university employs a system known as Responsibility Center Man agement (RCM). To put it simply, RCM is a budgeting model where each divi sion is forced to generate its own revenue and manage their expenditures by them selves. As CWRU puts it, their budget uses a “decentralized structure with the philosophy that each management cen ter is responsible for the planning and implementation of academic programs, revenue development and expense man agement.” This means that the dean of each division—including the College of Arts and Sciences, the Case School of Engineering, etc.—is essentially respon

sible for procuring their own funds and must, therefore, prioritize programs that produce the most revenue.

The system was set up in the 1970s as a way of dealing with the financial prob lems right after the federation of CWRU in 1967, and was created as a way to link income together with the people in charge of spending decisions to prevent unmitigated expenses. At that point in time, it was relatively rare for deans to be responsible for raising revenue. Provosts typically provided spending budgets for the year, and the deans did not have to worry about where the money came from. After the 1970s, the deans were not only responsible for spending but also for raising revenue through tuition, grants, research funding, endowment incomes, etc. that would support those expendi tures. That model has been in place ever since, albeit with modifications, even though we no longer have the same con cerns about having a runaway budget that existed in the late 1960s.

This budgetary structure inherently leads to issues with fairness and prior ity. Different academic departments have various financial focuses—for example, the School of Medicine raises more re search funding than the Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, thus having more significant revenue to spend on themselves. However, CWRU evalu ates them on the same basis, with both expected to return to the university with balanced budgets. This further incentiv izes the university’s separate schools and their deans to prioritize programs that bring them weighty revenue.

Though biology and philosophy are both under the College of Arts and Sci ences, biology will always bring in more revenue for the school than philosophy might, so the dean has every reason to create a more extensive biology depart ment and ignore issues within the phi losophy department. The treatment of

each school as a revenue-generating unit rather than an academic center that exists to foster a diverse mix of fields leads to inequitable treatment.

There’s a reason why humanities students feel like they are being short changed compared to STEM students. There’s a reason why they feel like their disciplines aren’t being considered equally. How does an institution subsi dize some of its schools but not others, and where do they get those subsidies from? When deans treat their academic departments as ways to balance budgets, it will inevitably lead to equity issues. Just because one department doesn’t raise as much money as another doesn’t mean it isn’t as valuable—yet our univer sity’s budget seems to say just that.

Our budgetary structure has depart ments jockeying for funds and coming up with ways to maximize their own prof its, leading to worse outcomes for both the university and its students. CWRU students deserve to have a multi-faceted campus, with strengths across all disci plines. The point of merging Case Insti tute of Technology and Western Reserve University was to make a well-rounded institution that prioritizes STEM and hu manities fields, but, unfortunately, that’s not the case today. Furthermore, our de centralized operations make it harder for our administrators to genuinely solve problems across the university due to their limited resources.

All this amounts to a worse experience for CWRU’s staff, faculty and students, perpetuating a corporate atmosphere within the university. We are no longer living in the 1970s, and our budget should not reflect that era either, especially con sidering present financial resources. We need to think beyond and draw more at tention to the current financial dynamics if we want CWRU to become better than what it is today. And we need our admin istration to feel the same way.

the observer

The Observer is the weekly undergraduate student newspaper of Case Western Reserve University. Established in 1969, The Observer reports news affecting students and provides an editorial forum for the university community. Unsigned editorials are typically written by the opinion editor but refle ct the majority opinion of the senior editorial staff. Opinion columns are the views of their writers and not necessarily of The Observer staff. For advertising information, contact The Observer at (216) 302-4442 or e-mail observer-ads@case.edu.

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

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A friend to all is a friend to none

Enya Ettickal Staff Writer

When coming to college, I think one major piece of advice I, and many oth ers, received was “make sure you build your network.” And I understood the merits of this sentiment. But I was a bit lost on how exactly I was supposed to do that. So, upon arriving at CWRU, I did it the only way I knew how to—by making friends. And that was working well until COVID hit, throwing a ma jor wrench in my plans to make lots of friends. It was difficult to meet new people when everyone was just a box on Zoom, muted and camera off. I fig ured I’d just restart my efforts once we returned in my third year. Once again, it worked well for a bit. But it was only then that I realized how unviable it was to be friends with everyone I met.

I know for a fact that I’m not the only person who’s struggled with this situa tion. While some people look for a com munity through making a few genuine friends, there are also people who look for security by defaulting to trying to make as many friends as possible. But this is—shockingly—unadvisable. Be ing friends with everyone is a bad idea. As someone who has been that person and also met others with the mentality, it is counterintuitive in the long run.

As with every article, defining terms is crucial. When I talk about friend ship in this capacity, I’m talking about close, semi-regular contact. So while I fully recognize that everyone has casual friends who you may catch up with on occasion, socialize with or maybe just talk to during class, these are not the types of friendships I’m referring to when discussing not being “friends”

with too many people in this article.

There are two main reasons why try ing to be friends with too many people is not a great move. For one, it’s ex hausting for the person who adopts this mentality, coming from personal experience. While I genuinely enjoyed spending time with the people I was around, having so many people to con stantly hang out with left me with very little time for myself. As that trend con tinued, I found myself drained of what I thought would be an infinite social battery. Friendships should be enrich ing. They should be enjoyable. A source of support, comfort or even just enter tainment. But anyone who is genuinely committed to a friendship also knows it’s a two-way street. So having a high number of relationships can start to feel like an obligation when you have to put constant energy into others—even if, in theory, they are giving you that energy back. Taking time for yourself is also vital to growth and self-care, so giving others all your time doesn’t allow you to be at your best, for your sake or theirs.

But there are also issues with being “friends with everyone” from an out side perspective. Call me a cynic, but I’m now skeptical when I see people who are “friends with everyone.” Re membering that the type of friendship I’m referring to involves trust, energy and commitment, it’s essentially impos sible to be loyal to everyone. Loyalty consists of providing help and support to your friends, particularly in a time of need. But when conflict arises between two people, where one’s loyalties tru ly lie will come to light. To be fair, to

The Cuyahoga County Jail saga shows the power of organizing

Avi Horwitz Staff Writer

In a move that would have been in conceivable a year ago, this past week on Oct. 4 the steering committee for the creation of a new Cuyahoga County Jail narrowly rejected the potential site at 2700 Transport Road in a 5-6-1 vote. While this vote is not necessarily the end of the story, this incredible victory would not have been possible without the Cuyahoga County Jail Coalition’s organization.

In 2018, the U.S. Marshals released a report detailing the inhumane conditions at the existing Cuyahoga County Jail. Examples include inmates being denied mental health services, medical person nel lacking the correct licenses, pregnant women having to sleep on the floor and the usage of food restrictions as punish ment. Since 2018, 14 inmates have died in the jail.

Rather than actually addressing these despicable conditions, the county plans to build an entirely new jail, which could cost taxpayers between $550 mil lion and $750 million. The Jail Coali tion, which has long engaged in efforts to improve conditions, has derided the plan for a new jail as “costly, unneces sary, and an unwanted waste of taxpay ers’ money” and has called out a speedy process mired in controversy. Behind a campaign of “Care Not Cages,” the Jail Coalition asserts that the county should instead be prioritizing alternatives to in carceration and should instead be invest ing in the community.

By itself, the plan for building a new jail makes little sense. However, the most recent proposal for its location, 2700 Transport Road, underscored the already absurd notion that this project was being pushed forward for the benefit of the community or inmates. From 1863 until 1966, the Transport Road site was

the home to a Standard Oil refinery. Ear lier this year, an environmental assess ment found that toxins in the ground, air, and water could all threaten construction workers, inmates and jail employees. While the site assessment indicates that with proper remediation, the site could be usable, considering the terrible condi tions at the current jail, there’s no reason to believe the county would properly employ the costly controls to make the site safe.

The Oct. 4 vote by the steering com mittee against the Transport Road site reflected the nearly year-long efforts by the Jail Coalition to build opposi tion against the new jail and highlight the environmental concerns. In addition to putting together a petition and letterwriting campaign, the Jail Coalition held a rally in March with the Greater Cleve land Housing Justice Coalition and has regularly organized community mem bers to give public comments at various county meetings. Most notably, on Aug. 25, over 100 people attended a commu nity meeting to show their opposition, during which 25 attendees gave public comments.

Unfortunately, the steering commit tee will not have the final say on that matter—that will be up to the county council. On Oct. 12, the council put all plans for the jail on hold until the elec tion of the next county executive. How ever, both candidates running on the bal lot this November—Chris Ronyane and Lee Weingart—have vowed that they would not move forward and purchase the property.

Regardless of what happens next, the recent rejection of 2700 Transport Road is a testament to the work of the Jail Co alition and serves as a reminder of the power of community organizing.

some degree this situation is inevitable, even for people who don’t have a lot of friends. It just takes drama within a friend group for these circumstances to arise. The issue with someone who is “friends with everyone” is that this situ ation could happen, even when the two people in conflict aren’t friends or run in the same circles. And when that hap pens, there are three potential ways the “friend of everyone” could react.

Suppose they decide to double down on maintaining both friendships. In that case, they’ll abstain from taking a side or intervening, maybe agreeing to play mediator but withdrawing from pro viding support or sharing information. While this is arguably the most moral path, and there isn’t a betrayal of loy alty, it is a passive position—which is why this method is good for leaders but unideal for friends.

The second way this situation plays out is that the friend picks a side. The problems with this are obvious. Once again, this is something that could hap pen within a friend group, with even higher stakes and consequences when a side is picked. The emotional reper cussions are also higher if either person perceives the friend to be closer with them than with the other side.

The third and worst possible way the situation plays out is that the per son takes their own side out of selfpreservation. This is what I hope to be a rare circumstance, but it’d be naive to assume that there aren’t some people who use their connections or friend ships solely for their own benefit—the reason why I am wary of those who are

“friends to all.” Because they have the trust of many, there is a power that can come with it. However, one of the ma jor ways people gain trust is by being vulnerable. The question that comes to mind is, who is being vulnerable and sharing secrets? I’ve seen it happen before: someone shares others’ per sonal information to gain a reputation.

I wouldn’t put it past those same peo ple to manipulate information to make a conflict worse if it were to improve their own circumstances. That’s where the saying “a friend to all is a friend to none” comes from.

In all three circumstances, the loy alty involved with friendship is lost to various degrees. So now what? Surpris ingly, I think the solution is easy. It goes back to having what I discussed earlier as casual friends. These are healthy con nections that are pleasant to have with less stress and commitment involved, and those types of relationships are okay. In the veins of boundary drawing, it is good to have people you can enjoy the presence of without requiring deep trust or heavy circumstances to unite each other.

These truths about friendship were hard for me to process for a long time. I felt like I was being mean for not want ing to be close friends with everyone I met. But I eventually realized that this decision not only was a service to my self, but also to my friends. By not be ing friends with everyone, I could give the people I still am close to more time, attention and care. And the friends I choose to make are ones I can cherish on a much deeper level.

CWRU Film Society

Friday, October 14, 2022

7:00 p.m., 9:15 p.m., 11:30 p.m.

A Quiet Place 2 (2020)

Rated PG-13 (97 mins.)

Cosponsored by W8EDU

Directed by: John Krasinski

With Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Cillian Murphy

Following the events at home, the Abbott family now face the terrors of the outside world. Forced to venture into the unknown, they realize the creatures that hunt by sound are not the only threats lurking beyond the sand path.

Saturday, October 15, 2022

7:00 p.m., 9:15 p.m.

The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)

Rated PG (104 mins.)

Cosponsored by The Athenian

Directed by: Chris McKay

With Billy Dee, Mark Jonathan Davis, Michael Cera

Holy plastic bricks! Bruce Wayne is scared of having a family but has to deal with it after accidentally adopting Dick Grayson. After The Joker gets sent to the Phantom Zone, Batman soon finds out it was his plan all along to get sent there and release all its villains. To save Gotham City, Batman may have to drop the lone-vigilante thing, try to work with others, and, just maybe, learn to lighten up.

General Admission $4.00

Strosacker Auditorium, CWRU Campus Quad

Free Parking: Lot 44 at Adelbert Rd and Murray Hill

FILMS.CWRU.EDU

The romanticization of crime: Can hot people get away with anything?

Sarah Karkoff Staff Writer

In light of the new Netflix show “Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” conversation sur rounding the glamorization of violent offenders has resurfaced in main stream dialogue. As the entertain ment industry continues to churn out countless movies and shows about male serial killers, it begs the ques tion of what message is being sent by highlighting their stories. By ro manticizing their crimes through true crime and fictional portrayals, it is easier for society to downplay the se riousness of the atrocities committed by these people. Casting convention ally good-looking actors to play these roles exacerbates the issue.

Attractive people are treated pref erentially in society—a concept dubbed “pretty privilege” or the “beauty bias.” This is especially evi dent in the workforce, with research showing an income gap between those that are not good-looking and those who are. Pretty people are more likely to appear trustworthy to hiring staff and get called for further inter views.

The same concepts are applicable to crimes and forgiveness. A 2010 study at Cornell University found that unattractive people are more likely to get longer and harsher sen tences when compared to attractive people. It seems as if good-looking people are considered less responsi ble for their harmful actions. Further more, men are more likely to benefit from this perceived bias; both men and women are more likely to forgive conventionally handsome males.

Now, there has been an astounding amount of serial killer media in the past few years. Actors such as Zac Efron, Ross Lynch, Darren Criss and Evan Peters have recently portrayed these killers on screen.

Evan Peters, who has previous ly portrayed violent offenders in “American Horror Story,” starred in the new Jeffrey Dahmer show. The internet fawned over his perfor mance; it was Netflix’s most-watched new show within the week of its re lease. Disturbingly, many on social media focused on the attractiveness of the actor whilst downplaying the

crimes he portrays. Some have even gone so far as to say the show was not violent enough for their tastes.

Evidently, these fictional depictions allow viewers to dissociate the real from the fictitious.

The show is especially irresponsi ble in its treatment of the victims and their families. Since Dahmer’s ac tions are of public record, the show’s creators were not required to speak with the victims’ families. The moth er of Tony Hughes, one of the victims, claims that Netflix’s dramatization of the events is inaccurate.

Moreover, she states, “I don’t see how they can use our names and put stuff out like that out there.” When these shows are produced with such disregard for the people still impacted by the events, it is clear that they have been made for selfish reasons. Rita Isbell, a family member of one of his victims, stated, “I could even understand it if they gave some of the money to the vic tims’ children…If the show benefited them in some way, it wouldn’t feel so harsh and careless.” Every time a new portrayal is released, victims’ loved ones are subjected to height ened scrutiny and online discourse that disregards their feelings without providing any benefits, all while their images and trauma are exploited for money.

Unfortunately, these men do not always have to be portrayed by the internet’s favorite white boys to re ceive sympathy from the internet. True crime itself allows people to form unhealthy attachments to these dangerous individuals, and a culture of obsession leads to forgiveness. One such example is the perpetrators of the Columbine massacre. The in ternet’s access to journals, notebooks, love letters and the “basement tapes” created a subculture that referred to themselves as “Columbiners.” With some of these obsessed individuals finding the shooters attractive, para social relationships were formed, paving the way for acceptance and forgiveness.

Parasocial relationships have be come common in the true crime com munity. A study reports, “As with all celebrities, [serial killers] have

become products of consumption for the general public as represented by their adoption by popular culture in all forms of media, allowing for those who are interested to become fans, regardless of the notoriety of their acts.” Due to the commercial ization of horrific crimes, fans en gage in parasocial relationships to understand and rationalize deviant behaviors. Such behavior, combined with how society treats those deemed attractive, leads to a dangerous phi losophy. These parasocial relation ships enable viewers to treat victims as means instead of ends. Essentially, it is easier to treat the victims as just parts of some story than actual peo ple.

Even if these documentaries and shows initially did not aim to elicit sympathy from viewers, in the end, does it really matter what the cre ator’s intent was? Although the pro

The importance of studying history

Nihal Manjila Staff Writer

I remember when I took my first history course at Case Western Re serve University, expecting the course structure to be similar to high school history classes. I entered the classroom prepared to memorize important dates and facts to regur gitate back to the professor through an exam or a paper. However, I was surprised to learn that college-level history courses required more than just this rudimentary overview of history. These courses required un derstanding substantial ideas and views alongside critical thinking to determine the nuances of a histori cal moment. While this was certainly different from what I had expected, I grew to enjoy such courses and went on to declare history as one of my majors.

Each course covered a diverse range of topics and allowed me to understand the norms and cultures of people living across time and space in history. Writing research papers forced me to look deeper into that which we take as fact, realizing the

extent that we, as a society, over simplify complex matters in our un derstanding of history. This process taught me to be open-minded when it comes to new information. While history certainly has many clear rights and wrongs, much of it lies in a gray area and is up for interpreta tion. These interpretations are valu able, as they help us understand our history better.

This brings us to disciplines that draw heavily upon history, such as politics, law and medicine. Contem porary politics seem to be increas ingly polarized between the left and right in the United States. Though there are many contemporary issues leading to this divide, there are also historical factors that explain all the events and decisions leading up to these current tensions. Time and again, people with political influ ence have swayed the polarization seen today. In recent years, conser vative politicians and pundits have used fearmongering and lies to mo tivate their voter base. This method

of politicking has a long history, and while modern iterations are new, the framework is not.

As an extension of politics, his tory has heavily influenced the law. The U.S. Constitution is the basis for American law, with its creation influenced by the norms at the time; however, the history of that docu ment continues to affect public poli cy today, such as gun rights. Further more, historical U.S. Supreme Court cases have carried out decisions that also have consequences in the pres ent. The monumental 1973 decision of Roe v. Wade protected abortion rights for nearly 50 years until it’s re cent overuling. History continues to shape the basis for our legal system, especially regarding human rights.

Medicine is not free from its his tory, either. While humans have as pired to provide quality medical care throughout history, many errors have been made along the way. Modern medicine is currently built upon sup posed pillars of ethical conduct and mindful practice however, the path

ducer of Netflix’s Dahmer show al legedly wanted to center the victims in the story, if people instead form parasocial relationships with the per petrator, any original intent is lost. This will happen when people contin ue to tell the story from the criminal’s point of view—especially one with a typically pretty face.

As you consume certain types of media, it is important to consider its effect. True crime is often incredibly tasteless in its regard to victims. Even further, as parasocial relationships become more relevant online, it is apparent that this is a topic that is of ten inappropriately handled. Nuance is often lost in online discussions— a fact that is incredibly self-evident in media involving serial killers and mass murderers. The industry con tinues to cast societally attractive ac tors, making nuance even more unat tainable.

to this point is replete with horrific experiments and the mistreatment of minority populations. The scientific basis for certain medical treatments has often harmed minority groups. Modern medicine still contends with similar issues, such as Black wom en’s high maternal mortality rate. We can only understand such disparities in healthcare through their histori cal context and resolve them through effective solutions that target the sources of these disparities.

While not every person needs to be a history major, everyone can benefit from taking a history course or doing some reading in their free time. It is crucial to be knowledge able about our past because it plays a prominent role in shaping the mod ern world. Without history, we would try to make decisions and improve society without knowing what has been helpful and what has not. Fur thermore, learning about historical wrongs helps ensure that such things never happen again.

History matters.

Tyler Vu/The Observer

Guardians sweep Rays in Wild Card round

The Major League Baseball postsea son kicked off on Friday, Oct. 7 with the Cleveland Guardians hosting the Tam pa Bay Rays in the best-of-three Wild Card round. Though they have made two postseason appearances in the last 4 years, the rebranded Cleveland fran chise was hunting for its first postsea son win since 2017.

The Guardians exceeded expecta tions this season, winning the American League Central division after experts predicted the team to miss the playoffs and have a losing record. Though the Rays lost just six more games than the Guardians, Tampa Bay snuck into the playoffs as the last AL Wild Card team and the third best team in their own di vision.

Looking to set the tone of the series early, Guardians manager Terry Fran cona selected All-Star pitcher Shane Bieber to take the mound first in Game 1. Bieber, a two-time All-Star and 2020 Cy Young winner, was coming off his second-best season in which he posted a team-leading 2.88 ERA and 198 strike outs to go along with his 13-8 record.

The Rays went with Shane McCla nahan, who entered the duel as the sta tistically more dominant Shane. The Rays pitcher earned his first All-Star se lection this season, with a superior ERA of 2.54 and only four fewer strikeouts than Bieber, even though he pitched 33.2 less innings.

Nearly 31,000 fans filled the stands at Progressive Field, eagerly awaiting the Game 1 pitching showdown as Bieber took the mound. The fan-favorite ace started off sharp, striking out two of the first three Rays hitters and allowing no baserunners, thereby giving his hitters a chance to take an early lead. Unfortu nately, McClanahan dealt a clean inning of his own, giving up only a single to shortstop Amed Rosario.

The two pitchers went back and forth, pitching a hitless second inning

before centerfielder Myles Straw hit another single off McClanahan in the bottom of the third. Bieber continued to dazzle, recording his third and fourth strikeouts in the fourth inning while the Guardians offense picked up two more singles and continued to slowly gain momentum. The Rays finally recorded their first hit of the day with a leadoff single, but Bieber and the Guardians fielders shut down any hope by getting the next three Tampa hitters out.

The Rays remained determined and scored the first run of the game in the top of the sixth as centerfielder José Siri hit a rocket off Bieber for a 403foot solo home run. With first blood drawn, the Guardians hitters wasted no time and retaliated in electric fashion. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Rosa rio hit another single and was driven in by a 389-foot home run from All-Star third baseman José Ramírez, whose hit ting prowess helped him be among the league leaders in doubles (44) and in tentional walks drawn (20) in the regu lar season.

Bieber pitched another hitless inning in the seventh and picked up another two strikeouts. McClanahan and Bieber each gave up a single in their next ap pearances before Bieber was relieved by All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, who led the league in games finished and saves this year. Picking up where he left off, Clase kept the Tampa offense quiet to secure the series-opening win for Cleveland.

With the series on the line, Progres sive Field drew in around 4,000 more spectators for Game 2 on Oct. 8. Triston McKenzie, perhaps the Guardians’ best starting pitcher behind Bieber, pitched a hitless first inning, foreshadowing the Rays’ fate.

McKenzie’s efforts were greeted by an equally spotless first inning by Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow. Acti vated off the Injured List towards the

end of the season following a lengthy recovery from the infamous Tommy John surgery, Glasnow played in just two games this year. He made his 2022 debut against the Guardians on Sept. 28 and gave up one run in three innings. Now, he was set to face Cleveland to keep his team’s playoff hopes alive.

McKenzie had a nearly perfect sec ond inning, striking out three batters but walking one. Glasnow similarly let Josh Naylor hit a single but followed it with three strikeouts. McKenzie struck out another three straight in the third, but Glasnow wouldn’t budge either. Each team singled in the fifth inning, hoping to break the dead heat, but dominance at the mound kept the score tied at 0.

In the sixth inning, the Rays’ Pete Fairbanks replaced Glasnow but was also immediately replaced by Jason Adam after walking the first two Cleve land batters. Adam hit Rosario with his first pitch, loading up the bases with no outs for the Guardians and giving them a chance to break the game wide open, especially with their best hitter stepping up to the plate. However, Adam quickly regained his composure and struck out Ramírez. Naylor then grounded into a double play, taking the air out of the sta dium as the Rays breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The seventh, eighth and ninth in nings were eerily quiet, with Guard ians rookie Oscar González recording the only hit in that span. The game then went to extra innings, with both teams still looking for its first run.

The top of the 10th inning began with Nick Sandlin pitching for Cleve land. Though he walked the first batter, Sandlin remained calm and kept the Rays off the board. Garrett Cleavinger pitched for Tampa and struck out all three Guardians batters to force an 11th inning. Eli Morgan replaced Sandlin and kept the Rays offense off base be fore Shawn Armstrong forced yet an

other extra inning after allowing only a single from Straw.

The Rays seemed to have the Guard ians on the rope in the top of the 12th, with men on first and third, but were un able to capitalize. The 13th and 14th in nings were also quiet, save for a Tampa single. Once again, the Rays had men on first and third in the top of the 15th, but the Cleveland bullpen continued to pile on strikeouts and give their offense yet another chance.

With a seventh extra inning looming and both teams’ pitching options wear ing thin, González stepped up to the plate against Rays pitcher Corey Klu ber. The matchup was nerve-wracking for Guardians fans who were all too familiar with Kluber, a 3-time All-Star and 2-time Cy Young winner who had previously pitched for Cleveland. Yet González was unfazed. After taking a cutter for ball one, González cranked back and unloaded on Kluber’s second pitch, crushing the ball for a 410-foot walkoff home run that ended the Rays’ season in one swift blow. Progressive Field erupted in cheers as the rookie strutted around the bases to seal the thrilling 1-0 win for Cleveland, propel ling them to the next round of the post season.

The Guardians now face the New York Yankees, led by AL MVP favorite Aaron Judge, in the AL Division Series (ALDS). Though Cleveland boasted the No. 6 pitching staff in the majors this season, their offense was evidently lacking and was ranked No. 16. Mean while, the Yankees are a far more lethal and balanced team, with the No. 3 pitch ing staff and the No. 4 hitting staff in the MLB. The Guardians will truly need to bring their all on both sides of the ball in the next round in order to take down the formidable champions of the AL East.

The Guardians’ first home game of the ALDS will be Game 3 on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Gaurav Hardikar Staff Writer

Rookie Oscar González ended the 15 inning stalemate between the Guardians and the Rays, bringing home a postseason win to Cleveland. Courtesy of Patrick Smith / Getty Imagess

Cavaliers begin 2022-2023 campaign with preseason

Ishan Kulkarni Staff Writer

After kicking off their basketball activities with a training camp late in September, the Cleveland Cavaliers look to prepare for the 2022-2023 NBA season with four preseason games. Two of these warm-up games were against the Philadelphia 76ers, with the first one in Philadelphia and the second one at

home in Cleveland.

In the first game, Cavs’ head coach J.B. Bickerstaff limited the starters to around 20 minutes each, while all of the bench had to fight for a spot in the rota tion. All-star guard Donovan Mitchell, who was acquired from the Utah Jazz in a blockbuster offseason trade, had a

strong showing, scoring 16 points on 6-9 shooting in 19 minutes to go along with five assists.

Aside from Mitchell, no other Cava lier shined. Given that it was preseason, it was clear that the pieces were still be ing put together and the team was try ing to figure out which combinations

worked best. The game still came down to the wire as the Cavaliers lost by just one point, with the final score being 113-112.

The second game was more of a dress rehearsal for the team as the starters played their regular minutes, with cen ter Jarrett Allen playing for a team-high 34 minutes. Evan Mobley and Kevin Love were given a rest day, so Dean Wade started in the power forward role and was the only starter who did not hit double digits in scoring.

Allen and point guard Darius Gar land led the team in scoring with 19 and 17 points, respectively. Allen also recorded a team-high 12 rebounds to go along with that. The Cavaliers’ bench failed to make an impact and the entire team had a subpar 3-point shooting per formance, going 5-21 on the night. The 76ers starters only averaged around 24 minutes, allowing their bench to get an extended run. Despite this, the Cava liers lost 113-97.

The team now has two more pre season games against the Atlanta Hawks and the Orlando Magic. These will like ly be games where the starters are rested before the regular season opener and all the bench players will go out and com pete for the last open roster spots. With 20 players on the roster, the Cavs must cut it down to 15 active roster spots and a maximum of two two-way contracts before the opening night of the regular season. The team can also choose not to fill all their roster spots and wait to see if other teams drop any players that they think will fit the team better.

The Cavaliers open their regular season on the road against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, Oct. 19.

Browns defensive struggles continue, fall to Chargers 30-28

On Sunday, Oct. 9, the Cleveland Browns hosted the Los Angeles Char gers at FirstEnergy Stadium. This was the sixth time the teams have met since 2015.

The Browns jumped to an early 7-0 lead following a 41-yard touchdown run by All-Pro running back Nick Chubb. On their following posses sion, the Browns capped off a nineplay drive with an 11-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jacoby Brissett to wide receiver Amari Cooper. The Chargers answered quickly with a 28yard field goal from Taylor Bertolet to make it a 14-3 ballgame.

Things began to go downhill for the Browns on both sides of the field. The offense was held to two three-andouts, which the Chargers capitalized on by scoring twice to take a 17-14 lead.

Late in the second quarter, the Cleveland offense tried to take over the game to seal the win, as Chubb scored again for a 21-17 lead. With an opportunity to go up seven before the end of the half, Browns rookie kicker Cade York missed a 45-yard field goal.

Cleveland’s struggles continued into the second half, as they were un able to stop Chargers running back Austin Ekeler. On the opening drive, he gave the Chargers a 24-21 lead fol lowing a decisive 22-yard touchdown run. After giving up the ball on their own 30-yard line, the Browns allowed a 25-yard chip shot field goal from Bertolet to make it a 6-point ballgame.

On the following drive, the Browns regained a 28-27 lead with a two-yard Kareem Hunt touchdown run after go

ing 75 yards on 11 plays. The Char gers stormed down the field again, re sponding with a 27-yard field goal to take the 30-28 lead.

With nine minutes left on the clock, the Browns slowly marched down the field to Los Angeles’ 9-yard line. On the verge of scoring, the Browns let their fans down again; Brissett threw what was thought to be the game-end ing interception with only 2:44 left in the fourth quarter.

In a miraculous fashion, the Browns managed to get the ball back after the Chargers failed to convert on downs. Down two with 16 seconds left in the game, Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski sent out the kicker, York, to repeat his heroics from the season opener. For the second time in nearly three minutes, Browns fans were left speechless, as York’s 54-yard attempt sailed wide of the upright.

This loss is nothing new for Browns fans. Doug Haghighi, a Browns su perfan from Alaska, stated, “Pathetic. Same ending, different script.”

This week’s game only further demonstrated several of the issues that the Cleveland Browns have been facing on all sides of the ball. Offen sively, the team has reached its ceiling with Brissett—all three of his inter ceptions this season have been thrown during the fourth quarter with the game on the line. Had he tucked the ball and ran instead of throwing the costly interception, he likely would have scored and won the game for the Browns.

The most glaring issue, which fans have publicly criticized, is the

defense. For the fifth straight game, the Browns’ secondary has struggled in zone coverage, allowing receivers such as the Chargers’ Mike Williams and Jets’ Garrett Wilson to slice apart the defense. On top of this, the run de fense has struggled. The Browns have

The Browns look to bounce back against the New England Patriots at home next Sunday, Oct. 16.

Cavs’ shooting guard Donovan Mitchell fends off 76ers’ Joel Embiid during a preseason game. Courtesy of The Associated Press

Kicker Cade York missed a field goal in the Browns’ last drive of the game, sealing their loss to the LA Chargers. Courtesy of USA TODAY Sports

Jack Martin Contributing Writer allowed 691 rushing yards over the course of the first five games, making them the fifth worst rushing defense in the league.

Spartan football dominates St. Vincent 45-21 over homecoming weekend

The Case Western Reserve Univer sity football team put their stamp on our iconic Homecoming Weekend with a demolishing 45-21 win over Saint Vincent College. As students, families and alumni packed the stands on Sat urday Oct. 8, CWRU showcased their imposing offensive firepower, led by fourth-year quarterback Drew Saxton and fourth-year running backs Antonio Orsini and Gage Duesler.

From kickoff, the Spartans’ offense was razor sharp, resulting in a touch down for six straight possessions. Af ter forcing St. Vincent to punt on their opening possession, the Spartans com pleted a 96-yard drive in three min utes. Orsini opened the drive with two rushes for 11 yards total. At CWRU’s own 47-yard line, Saxton connected with second-year wide receiver Ethan Dahlem for 43 yards. Duesler sealed the drive with a 9-yard rushing touch down, making it a 7-0 lead following the successful kick attempt.

The Spartan defense shut down St. Vincent on their next two drives, limiting them to less than three min utes of possession time. Third-year linebacker Marco Toth spearheaded the effort, notching seven tackles and three quarterback hurries for the game. Second-year cornerback Dominic Sais and third-year linebacker Sean Torres led the team with nine and eight tack les, respectively. Fourth-year defensive end R.J. Ayers added four tackles, a sack and a pass breakup.

CWRU rolled down the field once

again, their five-minute drive in the second quarter culminating in a 3-yard rushing touchdown for Orsini for the 14-0 score. In the second quarter, sec ond-year quarterback Ian Kipp took over the offensive helm, leading them on a 3:45 drive which ended in another rushing touchdown from Orsini to ex tend the lead to 21-0.

St. Vincent managed to respond with a passing touchdown with 4:41 left in the second to cut the gap 21-7. Unfortunately for them, the Spartan

offense continued to slice through the St. Vincent defense, with Duesler scor ing their fourth touchdown for the half with 43 seconds left.

The Spartans came into the sec ond half with a 28-7 lead and relent lessly piled on. Orsini recorded his third rushing touchdown of the game to begin the third quarter. St. Vincent responded with a quick 2:26 drive and 1-yard rushing touchdown of their own to make the score 35-14. CWRU’s of fense snapped back with a 4-play, 65-

yard drive that was capped off with a pass from Kipp to third-year wide re ceiver Isaiah Arrington for the 16-yard touchdown.

St. Vincent scored only once more, completing their next possession with a rushing touchdown to make it 42-21. Both teams punted for a couple pos sessions until around 10 minutes into the fourth quarter. The Spartan offense shifted to a running-focused gameplan to run down the clock. They made a field goal at St. Vincent’s 14-yard line to make it 45-21. Both teams went scoreless for the final 4:46, and CWRU took the 45-21 victory.

The Spartans dominated the time of possession 33:56 to 26:04. They recorded a season-high 500 offensive yards, including a season-high 345 passing yards and 155 rushing yards. St. Vincent was held to 303 passing yards and just 40 rushing yards.

CWRU now stands at 4-2 overall and 3-1 in the Presidents’ Athletic Con ference games. St. Vincent fell to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the PAC.

Saxton led the way with a 13-for19 performance for 236 yards while Kipp added 109 yards. Third-year Ri ley Knurek led the team with a careerhigh 124 yards. Orsini carried 19 times for 89 yards while Duesler contributed nine carries for 43 yards.

The football team will finish off their October schedule with a home game against Bethany College on Oct. 22 at 2 p.m. and a road game against Allegheny College on Oct. 29.

Men’s

First-year Michael Wojkowski falls on top of St. Vincent’s Marvelle Cromerdie during the

Homecoming football game. Courtesy of CWRU Athletics