The Observer, Volume LIV, Issue 22, 3/24/23

President Kaler responds to USG concerns on diversity, tuition and growth

Shreyas Banerjee Executive Editor

Following a period of tension between the administration of Case Western Reserve University and its Undergraduate Student Government (USG), President Eric Kaler addressed the entire USG on Tuesday March 21 and participated in a Q&A session with student representatives. This academic year has been an acrimonious one for USG’s relationship with Kaler specifically following the student government’s passage of Bill 31-15 on Nov. 8, 2022, which called on the administration to divest from corporations in Israel given the government’s human rights violations. Following the passage of the bill, Kaler released a statement calling the bill “anti-Semitic,” “naïve” and an act of “hate.” As a result of the public statement, much national political attention was brought to CWRU, leading to increased tensions on campus and even harassment of some USG repre-

Anita Hill, activist for sexual assault surivors, visits CWRU campus

sentatives.

As this was the first time he’s publicly addressed the undergraduate student body since this incident, all this history was very much in the backdrop of Kaler’s appearance at USG’s General Assembly this Tuesday, though it was never directly addressed. The first question posed to him by USG was with what authority and knowledge he could unilaterally claim that certain language opposing the state of Israel was inherently antisemitic. Kaler mostly brushed off the question about his actual response to the USG bill, instead noting that while he hadn’t taken classes on the Israel/ Palestine conflict, he has “read extensively on the topics,” spoke to “many people for many years” on Middle Eastern issues and has visited Israel himself, including trips to the West Bank and Golan Heights. As a result, he concluded by saying he feels “pretty informed about the issues there” and moved on to other questions.

Continue reading on page 3

Grace Johnson News Editor

In celebration of Women’s Week through the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women, Case Western Reserve University students welcomed Anita Hill to campus on Wednesday, March 22. In the 32 years since Hill gave riveting testimony accusing then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment, she has become an activist, writer and professor at Brandeis University. Now she is a celebrated guest at CWRU and gave a speech at Maltz Performing Arts Center (MPAC).

However, Hill is more than just her titles; her testimony before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 1991 changed how we discuss sexual violence in America. Because of her bravery, anti-sexual assault movements including #MeToo gained momentum, causing a surge of female politicians and other women

to feel more comfortable speaking out against powerful men abusing their power via sexual assault, harassment and misconduct cases.

Following the incident, Hill practiced law both privately and publicly, taught at various higher educational institutions, authored a book and received seven honorary degrees from several colleges and universities.

The talk began at MPAC with a few remarks from CWRU President Eric Kaler as well as an introduction by Dr. Angela Clark-Taylor, executive director of the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women. During the introduction, Dr. Clark-Taylor spoke on Hill’s accomplishments and life mission, saying that “Finally, [Hill will] demand that America see gender-based violence as a cultural and structural problem that hurts everyone, not just survivors, and she invites all of us to be part of a collective solution.”

Continue reading on page 5

14 STRAIGHT WINS

Softball team sets program record

Puneet Bansal Sports Editor

Like several other successful teams this season, the Case Western Reserve University softball team has gotten off to an impressive start, winning 14 consecutive games to notch the longest winning streak in program history. The Spartans traveled to Winter Ha-

ven, Florida during spring break to participate in THE Spring Games from March 12-17. Though there were several games in which they faced strong competition, CWRU handily defeated most opponents. CWRU kicked off the first day triumphantly against Ramapo College. With bases loaded in the third inning, the Spartans took a 4-2 lead after a single, a walk and a double by second-year Isabella Russo. First-

year Elizabeth Berry and third-year Stevie Rieger each recorded two hits for CWRU. Russo drove in 2 runs while third-year KaiLi Gross and first-year Anna Gobeyn recorded a double and a run batted in (RBI). Second-year Lexi Miskey pitched for the first four innings in which she allowed 3 runs, 4 hits and 2 walks to go with 8 strikeouts. Second-year Kylie Hosey finished the last three innings, allowing a run on 3 hits and

a walk with 3 strikeouts. At the end of the day, CWRU managed to pull off the 6-4 win.

In game two of the first day, the Spartans crushed Ohio Northern University 8-1. CWRU took control early in the second inning after scoring 4 runs. Fourth-year Amanda Riely finished the game 3-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and a run.

Continue reading on page 15

Third-year KaiLi Gross was one of several key players in the CWRU softball team’s 14 consecutive wins. Courtesy of CWRU Athletics

A look at CWRU’s Hololens program: What is the future of mixed reality?

Milo Vetter Staff Writer

When computers were first created, only academics, warmongers and managers of the most complicated industries had any use for them. But today, everyone in the developed world either owns or uses computers in some capacity. However, the explosive growth computers have had is far from common. For every invention that breaks into the public and reaches ubiquity, there are thousands more that are promising but ultimately fail to find an extensive purpose. Mixed reality technology is currently at that junction and Case Western Reserve University is spearheading it.

First and foremost, what even is mixed reality? Well, it’s a mix between virtual reality and augmented reality, hence the name. If virtual reality is being immersed into a movie or video game right in front of your eyes, and augmented reality is “Pokemon Go,” where graphics are overlaid with the real world,

then mixed reality is “Pokemon Go” right in front of your eyes. In practice, mixed reality is a headset with glasses that projects interactive holograms. It allows you to observe and interact with immersive 3D representations of objects without having to learn how to use normal 3D modeling software. Currently, the leading mixed reality hardware— and the one used at CWRU—is the Microsoft Hololens 2.

To learn more about CWRU’s Hololens program, The Observer met with Erin Henninger, the executive director of CWRU’s Interactive Commons, which is a charming and cozy little space just between the Thwing and Tinkham Veale centers. The Interactive Commons is a relatively new space, having just replaced storage space in the Thwing basement in 2015, but it is now in full gear in its education innovation work.

Right now, the primary use is at the medical school, where students are using holograms of the human body. The students at CWRU’s medical school are no longer using

textbooks and cadaver dissection as their only tools for learning human anatomy. While there is a debate in medical education about the extent to which cadaver dissection is necessary, the bulk of medical educators firmly believe that even if other methods are more effective in learning anatomy, cadaver dissections are still necessary, if only for the profound emotional lesson that medical students learn when they cut open a human body for the first time.

The staff at CWRU’s Interactive Commons are cognizant of this sentiment, and their messaging is clear that Hololens curriculum will not completely replace cadaver dissection, but rather replace the most tedious and time consuming portions, while supplementing the knowledge gained. After all, the nature of dissection is that a student can only see one layer at a time, while with a hologram they can view the entire body at once, hiding and showing features at their discretion.

However, medical students aren’t the only ones who get to try out

the new tech. Anatomy is just the beginning of the Interactive Commons’ work with the Microsoft Hololens 2. “We had to spend a lot of time creating art specifically for anatomy, but we created it so that many could use the framework that we’re developing… you could dump out the anatomy and dump in engine parts,” Henninger said. The Interactive Commons is currently using this framework to develop new software for the Hololens 2 that takes advantage of its unique ability to show students immersive 3D models.

For fine arts students, mixed reality can create interactive models of pottery or other similar art, or even simulate an entire archeological site. And for those in STEM, 3D models are useful for things like understanding molecular structures or visualizing complex 3D situations in physics where forces and locations are difficult to depict on paper. The staff at the Interactive Commons are planning a demonstration of some of these programs near the end of the semester, so keep an eye

out for that. In the coming years, undergraduate students can expect several class periods every semester to take place in the Kelvin Smith Library, where these programs will be used to supplement the rest of their course material.

More broadly, however, what is the future of mixed reality? CWRU is pioneering this technology, but being a pioneer only matters when organizations and individuals adopt it. A “smartphone scenario”—in which everyone has a mixed reality headset in their bag—is very unlikely, at least for the foreseeable future. The limited battery life of about two to three hours makes consistent use impractical, and the prohibitive cost of $3,500 means that personal, everyday ownership is a long way off.

A more realistic possibility is the

use of mixed reality within certain industries. There are some fields that could benefit massively from better visualization of 3D objects, such as construction, architecture or other engineering fields. However, use cases may be narrower than one might expect. For example, the purpose of an engineering drawing is not just to represent a creation accurately, but also to do so in a disposable manner, so a machinist can spill a bucket of cutting oil on a print or a construction worker can forget to weigh down site plans and have them fly off without significant consequence. Hardened professionals would probably also be very suspicious of the short battery life. However, this hasn’t stopped Microsoft from marketing Hololensintegrated construction hardhats

for $5,200 each. There may very well come a day when companies collectively decide that mixed reality has a high enough return on investment to justify use.

However, the most likely scenario for the near future is other universities following in CWRU’s footsteps and integrating mixed reality into their curriculum. The nature of mixed reality lends itself to education very well: A 3D model’s simplest function is as a tool for understanding. It’s much more useful for people training to be experts than it is for the experts themselves, because the goal of educational mixed reality is for people to understand information conveyed by holograms so well that they don’t need to use the holograms again. However, at the end of the day, only time will

tell how many colleges will be convinced that the advantages of mixed reality education make it worth adopting.

As for CWRU’s Interactive Commons, Hololens software probably won’t be the last thing you see from them. At the end of our interview, Henninger expressed optimism about the future of their work.

“We’re doing a lot of Hololens right now, because it’s the latest thing. But I think it’s important to think about it’s not just about this but the bigger project,” she said. “I hope that [readers] feel proud of what’s happening at [CWRU]…I hope if they’re interested, they can reach out to me to get involved so we can have more student workers, and so that we have the ability to help with student projects.”

Using Hololens 2 technology, CWRU’s Interactive Commons has been working to forge a promising educational future for students since the creation of the space in 2015. Courtesy of CWRU

KALER RESPONDS from page 1

The topic came up again when another USG representative asked how the president’s office determines stances of support or opposition towards USG resolutions, though Bill 31-15 was not specifically mentioned. Kaler responded by saying it depended on the subject matter of the resolution along with how “the resolution would place the image of the university in the eyes of the public.” He continued by saying, “And then we’ll make a judgment about it—and it is a judgment.”

Aside from this, questions from USG mostly focused on the university’s commitment to diversity, plans for future growth and ways to ensure that student tuitions don’t become even more unaffordable.

Kaler responded to major student concerns surrounding the potential unsustainability of CWRU’s undergraduate student population growth by saying it was just a 10% growth, noting that class sizes will go from 10 to 11 students. As a result, he believes “there shouldn’t be a qualitative change in the quality of the education, the experiences you get with [these] relatively minor or modest quantitative changes in the number of students.”

He also justified the increase in enrollment by saying that it was necessary “to generate resources that would be put right back into the educational programs, the hiring of faculty and laboratory enhancements.” Kaler specifically highlighted increased spending on renovating the chemistry and biology labs. He did not mention, however, that the renovations of the biology labs are happening in part because of a flood that occurred over winter break in DeGrace Hall. He also noted that CWRU had increased hiring of faculty, with 42 new tenure and tenure-track faculty, along with 26 new assistant professors, 13 of which will go towards the Case School of Engineering and the remaining nine will go to the College of Arts and Sciences. He also announced that they have 45 ongoing faculty position searches, but he cautioned that not all of these will make for an increase in the overall faculty population because of various retirements and departures.

Kaler additionally described how CWRU was investing in the infrastructure needed for the increased population, calling attention to the ongoing renovations of Eldred Hall into a student center and classroom space, the recent renovation of Fribley Commons and the construction of new residence halls in the South Residential Village to accommodate 600 students, due to be finished by fall 2024. In order to supplement the shortage of available on-campus housing, Kaler mentioned that the university was leasing the Monroe Apartments in Little Italy in the short term, just through 2024 until the new residence halls are completed. While he acknowledged that current students would have to deal with “some pinch points,” they would all be addressed by fall 2024.

With regards to other potential construction and renovation projects at CWRU, Kaler said there were no current plans to renovate or build new Greek Life houses, saying that the university does “notice that the overall university-owned Greek Life houses on campus have a relatively low occupancy, and that I think we need to work on and think about what that means going forward for all of those organizations.” Kaler was also repeatedly deprecating towards the firstyear residence halls in the North Residential Village, expressing that even saying the buildings were “past their

prime” is a “kind description” and that the living situations are “Spartan, no pun intended.” While he did acknowledge that they need HVAC systems and bathroom renovations, he said the style of living that the residence halls promoted was still good as they encouraged students to “unavoidably get out in the community.”

With that said, it is unclear when these renovations will actually happen as CWRU is currently drawing up its next master plan. There are many priorities on the agenda, including the upcoming $300 million Interdisciplinary Science and Education Building (ISEB), which is “very important for our research enterprise.”

“It’s a little bit like the movie that won the Oscar this year, right? It’s ‘Everywhere, All the Time, All at Once,’” Kaler said, jokingly attempting to reference recent Best Picture-winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once” to explain how many projects CWRU had lined up.

Other concerns include the everincreasing tuition prices to attend CWRU. The university recently announced that tuition will increase to $64,100 for the 2023-2024 academic year, seemingly marking a 13% increase from last year’s $56,720 tuition, which was already a 5% increase.

Acknowledging these concerns, Kaler endorsed a model of indexed tuition, wherein people’s financial aid packages will adjust each year to ensure that the gap between what aid covers and the total cost of tuition

could be moved to a remote work model, cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions caused by commutes for CWRU employees. Further, he announced that the university is working to bring back a bike sharing program for students.

Additional questions from USG representatives overwhelmingly focused on how the university can increase diversity and inclusion on campus. Kaler reassured the student leaders by saying that this was an “extraordinarily high priority” for him, saying “Equity and diversity and inclusion is the foundation upon which an excellent university is built. Period. You cannot have excellence without having a diverse group of people.”

He specifically outlined plans to hire more professors of color in conjunction with the Office of Equity and Diversity and build more connections with undergraduate and graduate students from predominantly Black institutions. When a student asked if CWRU would ever establish an ethnic learning community so that minorities can live together if they so wish, Kaler responded by saying that “We’d be happy to respond to requests to establish a community,” adding that they were “relatively easy to do within the res[ident] hall

Other questions were about CWRU’s disability accessibility. One USG representative noted that CWRU had received an “F rating” in this category, which he had learned at a bioethics seminar. The Observer has similarly found a peer-reviewed study that assigned an F grade to CWRU as well as other top universities regarding accessibility and disability inclusion based on infrastructure accessibility, public image of disability inclusion, accommodation procedures and grievance policies. Kaler responded by saying he was surprised by complaints and that we might have gotten an F as CWRU is “definitely in compliance with ADA standards everywhere.” He did say that “there are some areas on our campus that could be more accommodating and we will work to rectify those where we can.”

remains the same for families for all four years of attendance.

“That gap, at least as a percentage, I think shouldn’t grow during the four years that a student is here,” Kaler said. “We’re working on a way to essentially guarantee to a family that there will not be a marked change in what they will need to provide for their student’s education.”

Despite this hope, there is no clear timeline for when these plans will be implemented as “it’s a little complicated” with a lot of “little pieces” and “people who have to buy into this” as the Board of Trustees will have to approve this change.

Kaler also defended CWRU’s tuition by saying that “in the global scheme, we’re not bad” as the national average of student debt for students graduating from private non-profit universities is $29,000 while CWRU’s average student debt is $26,000. He did acknowledge, however, that our peer universities have lower student debt totals, so CWRU’s goal is to reduce average debt to $20,000 “really quickly as we can.” He also highlighted how his administration was increasing fundraising efforts for scholarships, as the university does rely on philanthropy.

Moving on, Kaler briefly addressed climate goals, saying that the university wished to electrify their fleet of 65 vehicles over the next three years and build more electric vehicle charging stations on campus. He also mentioned that more administrative roles

configuration.”

While the president said that increasing the campus population would assist the admissions office with enrolling more underrepresented minority students, he also warned that some political processes may be out of their control.

“I think it’s pretty easy to imagine that the Supreme Court will act and eliminate the use of race in admissions decisions; I think that’s pretty clear,” Kaler said. “What we are not going to do is step away from a commitment to a diverse and excellent population, faculty, staff and students across the board. We may have to work harder to get that. But we’re not gonna step away and we have double the handful of ideas that people are looking for.”

Outside the assembly, when asked by The Observer about how the university is reacting to a bill going through the Ohio Senate that would punish public and private universities in Ohio that have diversity and inclusion-related mandates and training courses, Kaler responded by saying “it’s terrible” and that CWRU was lobbying behind the scenes to make sure the bill’s effects aren’t too harmful if passed. He justified the less public approach by saying that “the nail that sticks out gets hammered.”

Kaler also announced plans for a celebration of CWRU’s bicentennial in 2026, as one of our predecessor institutions, Western Reserve College, was first established in 1826. The event will reportedly feature the ribbon cutting of the new ISEB, along with prominent alumni returning, symposiums on CWRU history and other aspects that are in the planning stages. While most current CWRU students will have graduated by the time the bicentennial rolls around, he encouraged students to return for the event.

Kaler ended the session by saying that no CWRU student should be afraid to approach any administrative office on campus if they require support on any issue. He also revealed that the university was going through a “pretty major revamp of all of the student connecting structure that we have, which I think doesn’t work particularly well,” and is rethinking how Navigators, advisors and the administration can support students.

This university continues to evolve and with Kaler closing out his second year as CWRU’s president, the degree and nature of that evolution remains to be fully seen. We can only hope that students will continue to stay informed and be consulted about these changes to our institution.

President Kaler joined USG’s General Assembly on March 21 to address student questions and concerns about diversity, increases in tuition and the continuing growth of the student population.

Tyler Vu/The Observer

“Equity and diversity and inclusion is the foundation upon which an excellent university is built. Period. You cannot have excellence without having a diverse group of people.”

SAGES is ending next semester. But what’s actually changing?

Shreyas Banerjee Executive Editor

Since 2003, students at Case Western Reserve University have been required to take courses within the Seminar Approach to General Education and Scholarship (SAGES) sequence. Forming the basis of CWRU’s undergraduate curriculum, SAGES classes are seminar-style courses meant to teach students the basics of writing. This educational process occurs over three total classes, which begin the first semester during a student’s first year. For decades, SAGES has been an essential component of a CWRU education, as it forms a universal experience for all students. That’s all about to change as CWRU plans on phasing out the SAGES program and introducing new Unified General Education Requirements (UGER) in fall 2023.

The new UGER keeps the same overall values and format of the SAGES program but aims to give students more flexibility in choosing their electives and more exposure

to academic departments throughout CWRU. In essence, the changes broaden breadth requirements for students by moving SAGES-type courses directly under specific academic departments rather than having their own classification.

The one exception is the introductory freshman writing course, which will remain pretty much the same.

The current four-credit SAGES “First Seminar” will transition into a threecredit “Academic Inquiry Seminar.”

The new introductory seminar will have similar goals to current First Seminar classes but students can take it their first or second semester at CWRU, theoretically allowing for more flexibility in what courses students wish to take. Academic Inquiry Seminars will continue to be provided on an array of topics, though they won’t be under any specific department. The intermediate SAGES courses, currently known as “University Seminars,” will be transitioned into academic departments with the label of “Communication Intensive” courses, of which students will still have to take two. By being under

specific academic departments, students can use these courses to fulfill major, minor or breadth requirements that they may have.

There will now be a single breadth requirement of 18 credits, which students will have to take between three categories of “STEM,” which consists of all natural and mathematical science courses in the College of Arts and Sciences, all engineering courses and all nursing courses; “Social Sciences and Management,” which consists of all social sciences in the College and all Weatherhead courses; and “Humanities and Arts,” which consists of all humanities and arts courses in the College. If someone’s primary major is in one of these categories, students will have to take at least two courses in each of the other two areas, along with two additional courses in either non-major area. These breadth courses may include either or both of a student’s “Communication Intensive” courses or courses that fulfill other UGER requirements.

These new Academic Inquiry Seminars will be taught by a new

group of adjunct faculty lecturers from the Department of English that the university claims “will have greater stability than the SAGES lecturer positions were able to have.”

CWRU also asserts that they expect most SAGES lecturers to continue teaching with the new UGER.

With the move of these mandatory courses to be under specific academic departments, CWRU hopes that students will be able to explore more departments across the university outside their major, hopefully allowing them to pursue new interests. A side effect of this change will be an increase in enrollments occurring in humanities classes in the College of Arts and Sciences directly. This will theoretically allow the College to increase its budget as CWRU allocates undergraduate tuition revenue depending on enrollments to each school under CWRU, which includes the College, the Case School of Engineering and the Weatherhead School of Management.

Continued on page 5

CWRU is eliminating the SAGES program and replacing it with Unified General Educational Requirements (UGER) in the hopes that students will have greater flexibility to explore classes in departments across the university. Courtesy of CWRU

SAGES from page 4

How this change exactly plays out remains to be seen, but CWRU has committed to ensuring that no school is budgetarily worse off due to the new UGER.

Other changes outside of SAGES include the physical education (PE) requirement being transitioned into a general “Wellness” requirement. Students will be able to take cooking, psychological wellness and financial wellness classes to fulfill the requirement rather than strictly PE courses. The SAGES Departmental Seminars and Capstone Seminars will mostly remain the same but will be renamed to “Disciplinary Seminars” and “Capstone Project Courses,” though CWRU notes that some departments may alter their offerings for these courses. A writing portfolio will still be required, though the requirements will be adjusted for the new curriculum. Students will also be participating in an “Explore” program to help them find out more about other academic departments, university resources and Cleveland’s cultural institutions they might not otherwise have exposure to. The exact details of this program have not yet been determined, though.

Also unclear are the exact class sizes of these courses. SAGES First Seminar courses were capped at 17 students, and similarly Academic Inquiry Seminars will be capped at 16 students. The amount of students per Communication Intensive class still remains unclear as the university tries to find the “optimal equilibrium,” but generally these classes may be larger than current SAGES courses if they can be broken down into smaller sections of 18 or so.

Students currently enrolled at

CWRU will not have the new UGER but rather will continue under the current system. However, as SAGES courses will no longer exist, continuing students will have to supplement their requirements with the new equivalents. Students needing a SAGES Natural World (USNA) course must take a Communication Intensive course under a STEM department, students needing a SAGES Social World (USSO) course must take a Communication Intensive course under a Social Science or Management department and students needing a SAGES Symbolic World (USSY) course must take a Communication Intensive course under a humanities or arts department. These new SAGES substitutes notably cannot be used to fulfill breadth requirements for returning students as they can under the new system that incoming students will use. The newer broader Wellness courses, however, can be used to fulfill existing PE requirements.

Another major change is that First Seminar professors will no longer act as pre-major academic advisors. Students under the new UGER will now be matched with a faculty member “with whom they share some academic interest (potential major, minor, or field of interest).” How this matching process works is not entirely clear but incoming students will meet with their Navigator to choose their first-semester courses, after which they will be paired with an advisor who they will keep until they receive a major advisor.

SAGES was first created in order for CWRU students to have introductory classes with small class sizes and to create a universal curriculum across campus. At the time, profes-

ANITA HILL from page 1

Hill took the stage shortly after, offering short remarks and thanks to those sponsoring the event. Quickly, Hill introduces the purpose of her talk, stating “And I know that somebody out there is saying, but didn’t you lose?” She continued, “After all, you know, he won, he’s there. You’re not. And so tonight, what I have tasked myself to do is to show you that I didn’t lose. And to explain why I didn’t lose.” Here, she refutes rumors that she “lost” her battle against sexual assault when Justice Thomas joined the Supreme Court, despite her brave testimony in front of the Senate.

After discussing the aftermath of her testimony, Hill took the stage to educate others on how to approach and handle women who come forward and speak of their trauma, stating it is important to “treat them as full human beings. We are more than plaintiffs. We’re more than witnesses and dramas created by others. And we are certainly more than victims. We must be treated with dignity and respect. And our stories and our narratives of our own experiences need to be honored.”

The rest of Hill’s talk combined inspirational messaging with personal stories, both about herself and her associates. In addition, Hill also acknowledged the strides that have been made since her initial testimony in 1991, as well as the importance of speaking out and how that can positively impact so many others.

“You have to be able to tell

your story to someone,” Hill said, “And we are [doing just that] today. Those telling the stories can change lives, not only your life, but the lives of others. I’ve heard countless of those individual stories that have been told around the kitchen table, especially in 1991, that have changed the way people look at the problems that women and girls face when they go out into

sors complained of excessively large class sizes for their introductory courses within their departments’ course sequences, leading to teaching not being as effective for essential skills. While the new UGER will be moving essential writing courses under various departments, CWRU hopes to build off of the SAGES program’s values while adding flexibility.

Peter Shulman, associate professor of history, and past chair of the Faculty Senate and Faculty Senate Committee on Undergraduate Education, was involved in the development of the new curriculum and commented on the need to adjust our current educational requirements.

“One intention in designing this new [UGER] has been to try to prevent problematic unintended consequences like excessively large classes,” Shulman said. “In part, that involved careful consideration of how these changes would actually look for students and for the institution, and this involved a considerable amount of enrollment and budgetary modeling—we wanted the program to be driven by data and evidence. Still, it’s inevitable that some unexpected results might happen, which is why we built in regular reviews of how things are running as well as clear mechanisms for the faculty to adjust the program if the need arises.”

CWRU began planning these changes in January 2016, though planning has continued until this day. First, a commission was formed by the Office of the Provost to reevaluate the undergraduate experience, which identified potential areas of improvement for two years before

giving their recommendations. After handing in their report to the provost and faculty in May 2018, plans for implementation began as the Faculty Senate created another committee to develop more specific recommendations. Work continued through 2019 as the committee started communicating with faculty members and an undergraduate representative of the Undergraduate Student Government to develop a final proposal. In early 2020 the committee revealed the proposal to the general university public, with plans to implement it at the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted CWRU’s operations, delaying endorsements from university faculty and final implementation. Following a vote by the entire university faculty and approval by the Faculty Senate in late 2021, the formal creation of the new UGER was set in motion with a three-semester timeline for enactment.

With that timeline coming to a close and the program set to phase in next semester, the CWRU community will soon discover the benefits and drawbacks of getting rid of the current SAGES structure and embracing more thorough breadth requirements.

“Every set of general education requirements at most universities have about a twenty year lifespan, before changing needs, interests, circumstances, and priorities lead faculty to develop new curricula,” Shulman said. “We think the new [UGER] will be a very positive change for students and we’re excited it’s finally about to arrive.”

the world...especially when they’re out in the world on their own.”

Her transparency and honesty in speaking on her sexual assault experience publicly has been instrumental in driving a conversation around gender disparities that only continues to grow more relevant.

In her words, “We have moved forward, we are continuing to

grow. The conversation is not over. For those of us who hear the question all the time ‘Has any progress really been made since 1991?’ I hope that all of us here will think back on all of the developments that have happened since 1991. And understand and say and answer that question by saying, yes, there has been change, and there will continue to be change.”

As one of their many events taking place during Women’s Week, the Flora Stone Mather Center for Women invited attorney Anita Hill who has been influential in changing the discourse of sexual misconduct. Courtesy of Mike Lovett/Brandeis University

Major balance changes accompany Nintendo’s fourth wave of new tracks for “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe”

Elie Aoun Copy Editor

On March 9, Nintendo released the fourth wave of new tracks to “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” as part of the “Booster Course Pass DLC,” including an update that made many changes to the base game—most notably, a major balance patch to karts and characters in order to achieve greater diversity in character/vehicle combinations.

Some minor features were also added in this wave. Players can now use their rearview mirror when spinning, crashing or using a Bullet Bill item. Nintendo also created a new shortcut over a Whomp on Berlin Byways, a track from the third DLC wave, pleasing many fans who complained of Nintendo’s previous discouragement of large shortcuts. Many other minor bug fixes were included in this update which have reduced glitches such as characters slipping into the ground.

Additionally, Nintendo added Birdo as a playable character in this update. She is a character in “Mario Kart Tour” (2019) and was previously included in “Mario Kart Wii” (2008). In “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe,” she has nine different color variants that players can choose from, similar to Yoshi and Shy Guy. With the addition of Birdo, there are now five new slots on the character selection screen denoted with question marks, meaning that there will likely be more new characters in the final two waves to come.

The most notable change in the update is the rebalancing of karts and characters. Before this wave, most competitive players used a combination of Waluigi with the Wild Wiggler kart and Roller or Azure Roller wheels. A few others played the same kart combination with Roy or Morton or opted for the Biddybuggy kart. This update has given stat increases to many characters but excluded Waluigi, Roy, Morton and several others. Most vehicles have also been buffed with the exception of a few. These changes have completely shaken the meta of the game and made most world records obsolete in an attempt to bring more balance to the game’s customization. Some players have tried to find a new meta in characters such as Rosalina and Birdo and in karts such as the Teddy Buggy and Landship, but the jury is still out on the most optimal combinations. While many have praised the balance patch for its prospect of increased character and vehicle diversity, others argue that it will only lead another combination to become the overplayed meta.

Like the previous three waves, this DLC includes two Grand Prix of four tracks each, bringing the total number of DLC tracks to 32.

The Fruit Cup

The first track of this Grand Prix is Amsterdam Drift, a city track from “Mario Kart Tour.” This track takes racers through famous sites in the Neth-

erlands, including its canals, Zaanse Schans and the Keukenhof tulip fields. Like most city tracks, Amsterdam Drift changes its layout every lap. It includes an underwater section and numerous extremely sharp turns that can be unpleasant to navigate. There is a difficult shortcut on lap one that involves hopping over a canal to skip a bridge, and there are a few other small shortcuts through patches of grass. Moving trams serve as obstacles throughout the track along with Piranha Plants in the tulip fields, but the pipes that shoot gusts of air in the underwater section are rather annoying. The music is unremarkable, but the bright visuals are pleasing. Amsterdam Drift alternates between being a fun challenge and a frustrating experience.

5/10

The next track is Riverside Park from “Mario Kart: Super Circuit” for the Game Boy Advance. The track has been greatly redesigned in this new version. Riverside Park is full of Ptooies, a type of walking Piranha Plant that blows bananas and mushrooms that they will drop if hit by players. There are several grass and mud shortcuts in the track and a pretty cave section that ends by driving through a waterfall. The track is short and simple with good visuals and music that fits the track’s jungle theme. While not being exceptional, Riverside Park is an enjoyable experience for players of all skill levels.

6/10

The third track in this Grand Prix is DK Summit, a fan-favorite from “Mario Kart Wii.” This track has kept all of the charm it had in “Mario Kart Wii” and has not been significantly redesigned: the long cannon section, half-pipes and snowboarding Shy Guy obstacles are all still there. Most importantly, Nintendo included the track’s famous “double cut” that involves driving over two chasms through the S-turn, saving a lot of time if done successfully but crippling a player’s race if failed. The

snowy mountain aesthetic of the track is stunning and the music is amazing. DK Summit is a wonderful experience for all levels of players and presents a high skill ceiling for those who seek to master its peaks.

9/10

The last track in this Grand Prix is Yoshi’s Island, a brand new track for this game. This track has a few small shortcuts and many obstacles, including Stilt Guys, Huffin Puffins and a hanging Piranha Plant. On the glider section, players can drive through a moving Winged Cloud to create a new stretch of road that saves time compared to the default path. The visuals of this track are striking, with entire sections that do not resemble any other track in the game. The music is upbeat and typical for a Mario Kart track. Yoshi’s Island is a cute and enjoyable track, and its inclusion in this wave as a new track hopefully portends more new tracks in future waves.

8/10

a pair of Piranha Plants that shoot fireballs onto the road. The track has several tight U-turns at the end of the lap that reward good driving. The track’s visuals have received a significant upgrade, while the music is simple and nostalgic. Even though Mario Circuit is relatively simple, it takes a lot of skill to avoid the fireballs and optimize driving around the tight turns, making this track a challenging and fun experience.

7/10

The Boomerang Cup

This Grand Prix begins with Bangkok Rush, a track from “Mario Kart Tour.” This city track changes each lap and takes racers through many famous parts of Bangkok, including the Chao Phraya River, the Train Night Market and the Democracy Monument. The track lacks any serious shortcuts or obstacles—except for a glider shortcut around the Democracy Monument that does not even save time—but it does present some alternative routes in the form of highways over the track. The music and visuals are nice but not particularly notable. The lack of serious challenge or shortcut potential in Bangkok Rush make it one of the weakest tracks in this wave.

5/10

Next follows Mario Circuit from “Mario Kart DS.” This classic track has many off-road shortcuts and obstacles in the form of Goombas, a Wiggler and

Nintendo included another famous track in this wave with Waluigi Stadium from “Mario Kart: Double Dash!!” for the GameCube and later “Mario Kart Wii.” The layout of this track has barely changed: the Fire Chains, Fire Bars, muddy pools, tires and half-pipes are mostly in the same locations. The Piranha Plants have been changed from their original horizontal orientation to a diagonal one, making them easier to avoid, and a new raised route has been added to parts of the track. The visuals and music of the track are unique and exceptional. Waluigi Stadium is still a difficult track to master and an exhilarating one to experience, and its inclusion in this wave is certainly a highlight.

9/10

The final track of the fourth wave is Singapore Speedway from “Mario Kart Tour.” This track’s inclusion in the Boomerang Cup alongside Bangkok Rush marks the first time that two city tracks appeared in the same DLC Grand Prix, and this track’s layout also changes with every lap. Players see many famous landmarks of Singapore on this track, driving on top of the Marina Bay Sands casino and through the Helix Bridge. There are several glider sections on this map but only a few minor shortcuts and no obstacles. The track is fast-paced, with stunning visuals and exciting music. Singapore Speedway is one of the strongest city tracks in the “Booster Course Pass” and it is a fitting end for the fourth wave of DLC tracks.

7/10

The fourth wave of the Booster Course Pass introduces Birdo (right), a character with nine customizable colors, and Yoshi’s Island, a brand new track created exclusively for this game. Courtesy of Nintendo

A new character, a retroactive shortcut and many bug changes were also included

UPB takes on spring break

Alivia Cook Staff Writer

The University Programming Board (UPB) finds many ways to engage students around campus, with programs like Thwing Tuesday, UPB Bingo, UPBeats and more. Now that COVID-19 regulations are relaxed and more people are able to travel, UPB has brought back its annual trips for the second year in a row since the pandemic shut them down.

This spring break, I was lucky enough to be chosen through the lottery to go on the UPB Orlando trip and I am going to tell you about my experience. There were two options for spring break trips; the first was to Orlando, Florida and the second was meant to go to Mammoth Mountain in California. Unfortunately, the Mam

moth Mountain trip was canceled due to extreme snowfall that buried the resort—participants instead went to Disneyland Anaheim and Los Angeles instead. Fortunately, the Orlando trip ran as intended.

To enter the lottery, you could submit either a group of two or four to travel with. Groups were then randomly selected and UPB would contact you if you were chosen. UPB sent excursion and payment options later on. Nothing on the trip’s itinerary was required for guests, with the exception of transportation, staying at the provided hotel and a mandatory midweek check-in.

The trip was heavily discounted. For a quad occupancy, hotels and flights were $275, and $375 for a double oc cupancy. The group flew Southwest, so everyone was able to have two free checked bags if they so desired. We flew into Tampa, Florida which was

a bit weird because then we then had to drive two hours—with heavy traffic—to our hotel. However, UPB did provide charter buses to and from the airport.

They also provided excursion tickets that you could purchase at a cheaper rate than public prices. For Walt Disney World, a 2-Day Park Hopper ticket costs $285 for participating students— public prices are $374. For Universal Studios Florida, a 2-Day Park-to-Park ticket costs $150 with the trip versus the $351 public price. A 2-Day ticket was $125—public price was $292— and a 1-Day ticket went for $90 versus $137 for regular visitors. A day trip to Cocoa Beach was only a $25 round trip.

The hotel itself also had some accommodations. Seven outdoor heated swimming pools and hot tubs, an activities center, arcades, nature trails, barbeque grills, picnic areas, a fitness center and a business center were all provided by the hotel. There were also shuttle services to the theme parks, two grocery stores and ample restaurants located within a one mile walk of the

hotel. They did not provide breakfast or have restaurants on the property, so you had to either order in or walk to the surrounding places.

UPB sent an advisor, Marc Hartmann, and multiple UPB members to accompany the lottery winners.

Throughout the trip there were excursions such as voyages to Cocoa Beach. Funnily, that particular trip as the dates were mixed up, leading many people to miss the trip because they weren’t made aware of the change. Another mixup was that transportation was provided to the airport from Case Western Reserve University’s campus, but not upon our return to campus. We did arrive around 2 p.m., so it was still light outside for those uncomfortable taking the RTA in the dark.

Overall, the trip was full of fun experiences, and the price was very reasonable. UPB plans to do more excursion trips like this in the future so be sure to follow their instagram @upbcwru, look at CampusGroups and check your email for more information on trips to come.

Alivia

A spring checklist for CWRU students

With the very unfortunate end of spring break, we must once again put our nose to the grindstone for another six weeks of semester struggles. With midterm grades recently released and summer right around the corner, we should reflect on how we want this academic year to end and what personal goals need to be fulfilled. Do you need to make changes to your study habits to get those ever elusive A’s? Do you need to make a comprehensive plan of your course list to prepare for fall registration and the rest of your time in college? Or do you just need a fun summer bucket list to detox? Whatever your end of semester needs are, we’ve got some tips and tricks to help you make the most out of these last few weeks.

Keep up with your course load

This should be your highest priority. Midterm grades are, for better or for worse, a reflection of your academic standing. So, if those results

do not look as great as you’d hoped they would, don’t hesitate to ask professors for advice on how to im prove for upcoming exams or proj ects; in fact, many often encourage students to drop in for office hours. Additionally, consider attending S.I. sessions and T.A. office hours when applicable because they have likely taken the class before. If you’d like more private, one-on-one help, Case Western Reserve University offers both individual and group peer tutoring services, which you can schedule for one-time homework help or on a regular basis. Moreover, if you feel that any of the classes you are enrolled in won’t be advantageous in the long run, there’s nothing wrong with considering dropping it. Your academic advisors are great resources to discuss your options if this is the situation in which you find yourself.

Organize your academic plan

Course registration for the summer 2023 sessions and fall 2023 semester are fast approaching and the Shopping Cart is now open. To ensure you continue on the right track, we recommend meeting with your academic major advisors to figure out which classes are best suited for

on how to accomplish them. Having this tangible plan will help you to make sure you’re on track to graduate. However you choose to plan, you can apply for summer courses on April 3rd.

Plan for extracurriculars inside and outside of school

In addition to planning your future courses, it’s important to keep an eye on your future extracurricular activities. For seniors, this could mean looking forward to life after college and the responsibilities which accompany that or mentoring underclassmen with the knowledge you’ve gained in college. For the underclassmen, it could be taking on more responsibility in clubs or finding activities that better suit your future. And for those who just want time to travel or meet up with friends, now is the perfect time to look into future travel expenses and accommodations.

Get outside and take care of yourself

Speaking of relaxing times, now is

be used to prepare for the fast-ap proaching beach season. Some might want to slim down, while others may prefer to build a bit of muscle before hitting the sand. For those looking to trim, more cardio and a healthy caloric deficit is recommended, while those building muscle should have a high protein intake and more anaerobic exercise, such as weightlifting. Creating positive eating habits, engaging in consistent exercise and getting enough sleep are crucial for any goals that you might have for the summer. No matter what you hope to achieve, keep in mind that any goal should be realistic and attainable.

So, as the weather begins to warm up and the semester draws to a close, it’s important we don’t lose sight of our goals. Take advantage of this time to have one last look at the semester and see if there’s anything you want to improve on or changes you think you should plan for. But make sure to find time for self-care and to enjoy the beautiful spring weather.

Students chosen from the random lottery of UPB’s spring break trips were able to travel to Orlando, Florida and visit attractions like Walt Disney World (above) and Cocoa Beach at discounted prices.

Cook/The Observer

Shivangi Nanda

Copy Editor

Noah Henriques Staff Writer

While CWRU students all stayed at the same hotel, they had relatively free reign otherwise and could choose which excursions to join. Alivia Cook/The Observer

AI tools are going to transform the way we do college assignments

Shreyas Banerjee Executive Editor

Higher education has changed in incalculable ways over the past few years. Since I entered my final semester at Case Western Reserve University, it’s impossible to reconcile my memories of how classes functioned before the COVID-19 pandemic and after. Necessitated by social distancing, technology is now at the forefront of almost every class.

Now professors are much more proficient in their use of digital resources, with many now posting lecture slides on Canvas, using Canvas discussion boards far more frequently, using Zoom for office hours and sometimes even using Zoom for classes when they are unable to attend in-person. Turnitin is now a commonly used tool to catch plagiarism, and sometimes even entire classes are held remotely or asynchronously depending on the course content. The expectations surrounding how accessible both students and professors are have been altered dramatically, as well as our expectations surrounding how much in-person interaction we are required to do. Making people get out of their room for a supplemental instruction session or a quick group meeting is no longer realistic when we can all meet virtually. As a result of these changes, I’ve felt as if class discussions have petered out, especially as we are all required to post comments on discussion boards and provide canned responses to each others’ posts. Regardless of the direct effects, it cannot be denied that we have all made big shifts in how we go through our college lives since the onset of the pandemic due to technology.

As I walked into one of my first classes this semester, I became acutely aware that we are going to be going through a big shift once again. Within the syllabus, the instructors included a new section titled “ChatGPT.” The section reads “If the instructors suspect use of ChatGPT or other artificial language language tools, then the student will be able to choose from three options: take an F on the assignment, resubmit the assignment with their own work, or do an oral exam/presentation. Should the student submit another assignment that the instructors suspect was created using ChatGPT or other artificial intelligence (AI) language tools, then the student will receive an F on the assignment.”

Now if you are unfamiliar with ChatGPT and what it entails that may seem like a harsh punishment, but in reality this is the first instance of professors trying to prevent the utter annihilation of our current system of assignments at universities. While the stiff penalty may curtail behaviors this semester, it will not be able to stop the onslaught of AI tools that are going to fundamentally change our society and our system of higher education.

That sounds hyperbolic on the face of it, but AI tools will have profound implications on future college life.

By now you’ve likely heard of ChatGPT—it’s only the fastest growing web platform ever with faster growth rates than Instagram and even TikTok. At the base level, ChatGPT is an AI chatbot based on large language models developed by corporation and non-profit OpenAI (it’s complicated). Based on a database of text that it is trained on, ChatGPT can generate text in response to queries that you may pose. In this way you can have the chatbot create poems,

write code, draft essays, synthesize information and provide plans if you ask it to. It’s important to remember that none of it is actually original and that the AI isn’t actually thinking—it’s really just a stochastic parrot. They don’t actually do any actual thinking and don’t generate any content, rather just mirroring what other sources say online and the overall human discourse. The large language models are trained on data accessible from the internet and regenerates it in often a random manner, often making factual mistakes despite seeming authoritative. As Google themselves say about their own AI, “While [large language models] are an exciting technology, they’re not without their faults. For instance, because they learn from a wide range of information that reflects real-world biases and stereotypes, those sometimes show up in their outputs. And they can provide inaccurate, misleading or false information while presenting it confidently.”

All that being said, the technology is still wildly impressive. The proliferation of generative text has already, as mentioned before, raised red flags among professors as they try to discern what is written by students and what was given to them by an AI chatbot. However, this issue is only going to get worse because these technologies are only getting better at mimicking human language and in their synthesis skills.

OpenAI recently announced that they will be upgrading the large language model they are using from GPT3.5 to GPT-4. This will not only improve the reasoning capabilities of ChatGPT but also can now analyze visual information and answer questions about it as well. Most interestingly, at least for professors, is that it can also mimic the writing style of the user, making plagia-

rism even harder to detect.

I recently had the chance to use Microsoft’s new chatbot, codenamed “Sydney,” that they will be integrating into Bing later this year to improve their search results and summarize answers, as well as do other chatbot functions like ChatGPT. Sydney is based off of GPT-4 and in my brief time with it, I was truly impressed. While Sydney did not appear to fall in love with me and gaslight me as it has with others, it did allow me to create chord progressions for songs, code macros for Excel and write hypothetical diary entries for historical figures all in a far more natural manner than ChatGPT currently does—though its search results are still often inaccurate.

I’ve also been able to try out Google’s recently released AI named “Bard,” based off of their LaMDA model that is so convincing that it caused a Google employee to say they believed it was actually sentient. Bard is far quicker in processing results than ChatGPT or Sydney and is able to draw from Google’s vast array of search results to strengthen its responses. I was able to have Bard write the lyrics of a song in the style of a specific Beach Boys album, create a chord progression and assign instruments for the various verses. I was also able to have it draft emails to respond to professors and classmates using various tones while also giving ideas as to how people may react to my messages. It even gave me feedback on this very article. These uses of large language models are only the start, however.

Microsoft, using GPT-4, will soon be creating tools within Microsoft Office that will greatly change how we create documents, emails, slideshows and spreadsheets. Soon you will be able to tell Copilot, as it is being called, to draft proposals based off of notes that you provide, create spreadsheets with the ideas you give and even create PowerPoint presentations from Word documents. Within Office you’ll be able to simply type “create a proposal and presentation based off these notes” and it will do it for you. Additionally you can ask Copilot to proofread what you’ve written so far and write more paragraphs of content in the same style that you have so far. Google is also going to be rolling out similar features within Google Drive in the next year based off of its own large language models, along with features that allow you to autodraft emails.

Besides destroying a lot of jobs, it is also going to make education radically different. When students no longer have to actually synthesize information or even create presentations, most assignments we college students have to do will become completely obsolete. Writing discussion posts is going to become as simple a matter as telling a chatbot to analyze a statement and draft a response. Creating proposals and slideshows will just be a matter of feeding some bullet points and having the rest be generated automatically. While writing good essays, with reputable citations and proper formatting, will continue to be a struggle, AI can be used to draft and generate ideas far differently than what most professors probably intend.

So how will academia react? We’ll probably continue to see more antiChatGPT clauses in syllabi, but as tools continue to improve and proliferate, there’s no stopping what’s coming. Perhaps this will lead to less emphasis on out-of-class work and more on in-class discussion and collaboration, but who can say.

Whatever happens, student life will never be the same.

Fun

Tarun’s LOLs

The signs as spring animals

Weekly Tarot

The Hanged Man (Reversed)

You may be making yourself more of a martyr than you actually are. Rethink your choices in self-sacrifice.

Ace of Coins (Upright)

Time is money and the time to get money is now!

Eight of Coins (Reversed)

You may be working yourself to the bare bones, please spend time to recharge before you burn out.

Page of cups (reversed)

A new friendship may come as conditional.

What we’ve been listening to

Gato de Noche

Ñengo Flow, Bad Bunny

Shejuti Wahed

BLOCKED G Luné

Sara Khorshidi

Another Star

Stevie Wonder

Shreyas Banerjee

I'll Be Waiting Adele

Clay Preusch boyhood

The Japanese House

Kate Gordon Golden bb blue

Rachel Alexander

Turbulence

P!nk

Beau Bilinovich

Menina Flor

Stan Getz, Luiz Bonfá, Maria Toledo

Lexy Jensen

Masakali

Mohit Chauhan

Karuna Lakhiani

FALLING RIZLAS Actress

Shifra Narasimhan

Peter Pan

Brainstory

Tarun Sepuri

Wheel of Fortune (Upright)

Good luck is in your foresight! Enter a raffle and test your newfound luck.

The Hermit (reversed)

It’s time to get yourself back out there again.

Three of wands (reversed)

A disbalance in your life is dragging you down. Work hard and play hard but give yourself time to just be.

Page of Wands (Upright)

A new opportunity comes your way.

Nine of Coins (Reversed)

You must prepare yourself for the new resources that are coming and available to you. Right now you are not ready.

The Sun (Upright)

Good times await you in the spring.

The Tower (Reversed)

You can not always be aware but a storm is headed toward you. Be careful.

Six of Cups (Upright)

Right now is a time to reflect on the past and use those learned lessons in your present.

Read

Crossword

ACROSS

1 Important skill in an awkward interaction

5 Pearly ___ (entrance to heaven)

10 Org. overseeing Rx's

13 "Here comes trouble ..."

14 Cured slice on a deli tray

15 Place to lay a napkin

16 Ice cream dessert served in a boat

18 Address ending in .com or .edu, e.g.

19 Vegan version of a classic brunch dish

21 Basic country dance

24 Bird symbolizing the arrival of spring

25 Vietnam's capital

26 "M*A*S*H" eatery

29 "Peeper" that makes no sound

30 Podcasting partner, e.g.

33 Pushing the envelope, so to speak

34 Citrusy cocktail garnish

36 Lofty spot for

K-I-S-S-I-N-G, in a schoolyard taunt

39 "Count me in!"

40 What the fish said when it swam into a concrete wall, per an old joke

43 Witty banter

45 Euphemism for an

expletive, with "the"

47 Love to bits

48 Neighbors of flutists, in an orchestra

50 Sweet spiral pastry topped with icing

54 Hit the ___ (go to bed)

55 Not pay for a meal at a restaurant ... or a hint to each half of 16 -, 19 -, 34 - and

50 -Across

59 Durable wood that's softer than oak

60 Numerous beyond calculation

61 Big name in dry-erase markers

62 Stubborn animal

63 Lowly workers

64 Cut the crop?

DOWN

1 Big ice cream container

2 "Eureka!"

3 Pro's opposite

4 "Oh, really?"

5 Fill one's tank

6 Mountains where St. Bernards were originally bred

7 Soft mineral powder

8 Kuwaiti ruler

9 Instruments for Ravi and Anoushka Shankar

10 Misspoke a line, e.g.

11 "Honey" or "sugar" alternative

12 Galore

14 Out of danger

17 Catch sight of 20 Quintessential

Route 66 lodging

21 With 23 -Down, a person's soul mate

22 Method

23 See 21 -Down

26 World, in French

27 Bruins legend Phil, to fans

28 Fume (over)

31 Skip over

32 Catcher's spot, in baseball

34 Get educated (about)

35 Surround completely

36 Windpipe

37 Tries to call again

38 Ones after whom others are named

40 Fancy hairstyles, informally

41 Museum hangings

42 Physicians, for short

44 Get educated (on)

46 Harder to tame

48 Tests taken verbally

49 Connect as pals

51 "It's ___, all ___!"

52 Not hoodwinked by

53 Like glow paint colors

56 Lumberjack's implement

57 Me-day destination

58 Partner of skip and jump

Word Search: Spring break destinations

Photos of the Week

The Observer Spring Break Edition

Some members of our editorial board attended the Associate Collegiate Press conference in San Francisco over spring break!

More spring break photos from our editorial board!

Campus engagement is the key to a happy and successful college experience

Editorial Board

After spring break, some of us might feel rejuvenated and ready to finish the semester strong. However, others of us might be feeling burned out still or unmotivated—or even both. While it is common to coast through the rest of the semester post-break, that can be mentally debilitating. Instead, rather than just focusing on finishing school, find the joy that comes from being more engaged on campus.

We aren’t talking about picking up a new hobby or partaking in your current extracurriculars; rather, find something that you can be passionate about or have fun with while connecting and engaging with other members of the Case Western Reserve University community.

CWRU has a reputation for being a school that feels very disconnected from its wide multitude of communities. In other words, it feels like we all just happen to be here at the same time taking the same classes, with nothing binding us as a university community. For underclassmen, we know it can be difficult to be actively present within the campus community. It’s easy to

get absorbed in the hectic nature of classes, establishing yourself in clubs, volunteering, preparing for summer opportunities and more to set yourself apart and up for the years ahead. We aren’t saying those aspects of your college experience aren’t important or necessary; however, your early years at CWRU are when you should be going out and making the most of the university’s many diversions. Doing something outside of academics, including resume-building activities, house parties and social gatherings on the weekends can be rewarding. Go to those campus events beyond Thwing Study Over during finals week or be involved with inner-campus workings—being engaged on campus might make being at CWRU more enjoyable beyond just tolerating it for the academics and people. Even if it’s going to one athletic game during the semester or attempting to dance at Noche Latina at Jolly Scholar, there are things you can do to make sure you always have something to look forward to.

For upperclassmen, maybe you feel it’s too late to become involved on campus—but being involved doesn’t necessarily mean actively being a part of Undergraduate Student Govern-

CWRU Film Society

Friday, March 24, 2023 7:00 p.m., 9:30 p.m., 11:59 p.m.

Rififi (1955)

Not Rated (118 mins.)

Directed by: Jules Dassin

With Jean Servais, Carl Möhner, Robert Manuel Fresh out of jail after five years, master burglar Tony le Stéphanois returns to Paris to discover that his girl is now the mistress of a rival dope-dealing gangster. Tony reluctantly accepts the proposition of a quick smash-and-grab raid on a prestigious jewelry store, as long as he can turn it into an all-out jewel heist. The band of thieves stands a great chance of succeeding—but what if opening the safe is the robbery’s easiest part?

Saturday, March 25, 2023

7:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.

Zindagi Na Milegi

Dobara (2013)

Not Rated (155 mins.)

Directed by: Zoya Akhtar

With Hrithik Roshan, Farhan Akhtar, Abhay Deol Cosponsored by uISA

Three friends who were inseparable in childhood decide to go on a three-weeklong bachelor road trip to Spain, in order to re-establish their bond and explore thrilling adventures, before one of them gets married. What will they learn of themselves and each other during the adventure?

General Admission $4.00

Strosacker Auditorium, CWRU Campus Quad

Free Parking: Lot 44 at Adelbert Rd and Murray Hill FILMS.CWRU.EDU

ment (USG) or even attending every single campus event. In fact, you can be involved in the same way underclassmen can. Again, that can mean participating in Homecoming Weekend activities or going to a play hosted by the Department of Theater.

There are tons of things to do at CWRU that have so much potential to be entertaining. For instance, there are the Hudson Relays, the oldest official tradition on campus where you can run, cheer or just celebrate at Jolly Scholar. Alternatively, you could attend a CWRU softball game, especially since the team is doing well at the moment. Perhaps even tag along to an IMPROVment performance during the weekend on campus. If you’re someone who leans into the activist facet of campus, go to a USG General Assembly, even if you aren’t involved with the organization, and voice your concerns about our university.

If we all start attending events or being involved with campus, we can collectively make our campus a more lively one. While anyone can be involved in contributing to these events—whether

it’s being on the SpringFest committee or any other student engagement planning committee—being engaged on campus does not have to be a dreaded time commitment.

Furthermore, being involved beyond attending fun campus events also does not have to be a huge time commitment. This includes writing for The Observer, where you can write punchy pieces about student life on campus or delve into your experiences at CWRU so you can discuss the challenges within the community or anything else you are passionate about.

We are all familiar with the stress of school, the difficulties of personal relationships or the overwhelming anxious feeling of what we are going to do in the future. However, what we are not familiar with is how our campus can be fun and enjoyable instead of tolerable. So, the next time you see something going on around campus, you might consider exploring it. Who knows, you might meet a new friend, start your own semesterly tradition or make your own impact on our university.

The Case Western Reserve Observer

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

Shreyas Banerjee Executive Editor & Publisher

PRINT

Sara Khorshidi Director of Print

Grace Johnson News Editor

Joey Gonzalez Life Editor

Karuna Lakhiani Opinion Editor

Puneet Bansal Sports Editor

Beau Bilinovich Development Editor

Mulan Ma Engagement Editor

Shivangi Nanda Copy Editor

Lexy Jensen Copy Editor

Rachel Alexander Copy Editor

Elie Aoun Copy Editor

Kate Gordon Copy Editor

DIGITAL MEDIA

Joce Ortiz Director of Digital Media

Sophia Popkin Social Media Editor

Clay Preusch Photo Editor

Shejuti Wahed Video Editor

Collin Wong Web Editor

DESIGN

Tarun Sepuri Director of Design

Shifra Narasimhan Layout Designer

Auden Koetters Layout Designer

Catherine Choi Layout Designer

Tyler Vu Graphic Designer

BUSINESS

Khushali Desai Director of Business Operations

Matthew Chang Business Manager

Mohit Kosuru Business Manager

Ryan Chang Business Manager

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

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

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

Give and Take? It’s not a scale

Transactions and Friendships

Enya Eettickal Staff Writer

As someone who is regularly approached for advice, one of the hardest discussions I have with friends is when we debate if a relationship is reciprocal or not. Whether the situation is romantic or platonic, the hardest thing to sort out is if a friendship is balanced. At face value, maybe it seems simple. Maybe we can simply give and take to sort everything out in friendships. But what really makes the situation more difficult to navigate is trying to find the line that distinguishes when a relationship is organic versus transactional.

Usually, I approach the solution to my philosophical questions by defining terms, so I started there as per usual. A mutually beneficial relationship to me is one where both people gain something of value from the other individual. A transactional relationship is one where both parties expect that they get something in return for what they give.

I think this is where the problem starts. Evidently, these two definitions are very similar, to a point that parsing the difference cannot occur by just looking at their definitions. In transactional and mutually beneficial relationships, both parties benefit by having an established dynamic with the other person. While they seem like synonyms, they obviously aren’t. Mutually beneficial relationships aren’t as cold as transactional relationships. So where is the difference?

Mutually beneficial relationships are positive and should be considered in most friendships and romantic partnerships. This is the conversation I have with a lot of my kind-hearted, passive friends who tolerate and maintain friendships that exhaust them. Often, they are used for the benefit of another person, without being given similar kindnesses or assistance in return. For them particularly, assessing whether or not a relationship is mutually beneficial is really important in helping maintain one’s self-worth. If only one person is initiating every

conversation, every hangout or is the only one to put their neck out for the other, it’s fair to say that the relationship is not entirely mutual. Calling that out and assessing that aspect of a dynamic isn’t inherently a problem.

The question becomes: When can you take that too far? What happens if someone accuses you of looking for a transactional relationship? While transactional relationships are acceptable in business and professional capacities, issues arise when those metrics blend into personal relationships. Say a friend surprises you with food or checks in on you on a random day. Some element of the friendship is compromised when you don’t reciprocate in exactly the same capacity, and they have a problem with it. When every favor has to be repaid with a favor, or one specific act of assistance has to be returned in a similar fashion, the emotional aspects of friendship are done an injustice.

What I’ve decided is that the distinguishing factor is intent. It’s not about scorekeeping, but rather

about the emotions attached to the relationship. Transactional relationships can be measured in a tangible way, whereas mutually beneficial relationships cannot. If the way someone discusses friendship is linked to trades, specific instances and counts, that may be a red flag. But if the friendship is assessed in a manner of how it makes the other feel—regardless of the method in which the two people express friendship. It also matters when these considerations are made. If someone starts to look at the give and take of a friendship right from the start, it may be more transactional in their mind. But if these are discussions and considerations that occur after a relationship dynamic has been established for a period of time, then it’s probably with the goal of mutual benefit.

Friendships are about bonding with someone else, they’re supposed to make everyone feel a bit better in the crazy journeys life puts you through. Trying to keep the emotions involved intact is worth the effort, so long as you’re careful to not trivialize them in the process.

Your opponents deserve to win as much as you do

Catherine Choi Layout Designer

A civil attitude is necessary to appreciate the value of sports. Fans must respect the other teams as much as they support their favorite team rather than attacking them, which also frequently happens. Furthermore, the tendency of fans to attack the players by using derogatory terms and gestures regarding topics irrelevant to the sport—such as race, ethnicity, personal background and religion—are antithetical to the spirit of sports competition.

An instance where the attack went beyond words occurred on March 15—two European soccer teams, S.S.C. Napoli of Italy and Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany, had their second leg of the UEFA Champions League round 16. Napoli was on a positive edge because they won the first leg by 2-0; however, Eintracht Frankfurt had to score at least three more goals than Napoli in the second leg to progress to the quarterfinals. After the first leg at the home stadium of Eintracht Frankfurt, a violent offense occurred by fans of Eintracht Frankfurt. Frankfurt fans were angry because of the defeat and attacked SSC Napoli fans congregating in local pubs. As a result, the Italian government requested permission from UEFA to ban the fans of Eintracht Frankfurt from approaching the city and purchasing tickets, which the UEFA granted. However, the ultras (fans famous for their fanatical support) of a different team, Atalanta B.C. (one of the biggest rivals of S.S.C. Napoli), escorted the Eintracht Frankfurt ultras on their way to Naples, purchasing their tickets for them and supporting them in the mass violence. On the festive day that S.S.C. Napoli made history by winning and advancing to the quarter-finals, Naples was in flames, eight people were arrested and 470 people got kicked out of Italy under the escort of the police.

In Europe, soccer leagues are incredibly popular and take a big part in life, as evidenced by the rev-

enue the soccer industry makes. To many, soccer is like a religion. However, the tension between the rival teams tends to be so intense that it frequently leads to events that involve physical violence and criminal charges, demonstrated by the recent match. Several innocent people were injured (especially the police), and monetary damage occurred. On the international scale, diplomatic conflicts between Italy and Germany arose as the Italian government urged a meeting with the German ambassador to discuss compensation. UEFA also is likely to impose disciplinary actions on the team and the fans.

Sports in actuality are just entertainment, and learning how to separate oneself from their favorite team is necessary. Even though losing may be bitter, one must accept the results and attempt to win in

the future by analyzing the cause of defeat and making modifications rather than striving to change the irreversible outcomes. Both sides played under the same conditions, and only the players’ athletic abilities were at stake. Sports is one area where one’s demographics, opinions and personal background aren’t evaluated within the match. Being overly immersed in one’s team damages the ability to remember that the opponents’ victory is well-deserved and fair, forgetting that their opponents deserve to win as much as their team does. This bad sportsmanship ruins the positive spirit of the game.

Winning is much more delightful than losing. However, it is necessary to let go of what happened and move on, and not putting too much meaning on the result is the first step. In 1994, a Colombian gang

murdered a soccer player on the Colombian national team for scoring an own goal in the World Cup—an innocuous mistake in real life and not something that should be punishable by death. In this incident and other clashes between fans, the people put too much emphasis on the results and considered their favorite team’s defeat equivalent to their failure. One must remember that defeat does not make the loser inferior and vice versa. A strong team is not entitled to victory—for instance, Belgium was not entitled to victory in the 2022 World Cup, and the riot that broke out in that country cannot be justified. Focusing on reality beyond competition and not letting it define who you are and how much you are worth is the key to growth. Remember that your opponents deserve to win as much as you do.

Destructive riots broke out in Naples, Italy before a UEFA match between S.C.C. Napoli and Eintracht Frankfurt, in a fiery example of fans taking sports too seriously. Courtesy of the Associated Press

The worrying increase in recording strangers for entertainment

Latavya Chintada Staff Writer

If you—like millions of people around the world—are on TikTok, you might have seen countless videos recording random strangers in public. With no apparent connection to the people they are filming, the creators of these videos might appreciate the strangers they are filming or poke fun at them, all without consent. These videos will then go viral, making their way through Instagram Reels, Snapchat Spotlights and, of course, the dreaded Twitter feed.

Recently, I came across a video on my TikTok For You page (FYP) of a stranger holding his head in his hands on a park bench, obviously having a bad day. The creator of the video seemed to have taken this from afar, zoomed into this man and captioned it with “when your girlfriend breaks up with you.” To make matters worse, the comments were all proposing their own ideas on why this man was having a bad day, ranging from lighthearted jokes about how this is them when Chipotle runs out of chicken to more distasteful comments probing at the man’s personality. It struck me as absurd, seeing as none of these people even knew the man or what he was going through. What if this man was mourning the loss of a loved one?

Or what if he was recently fired from a job that supported his entire family? Obviously, these are very extreme scenarios—however, regardless of what he was distraught about, seeing people make wild assumptions about his life did not sit right with me.

From videos of strangers having emotional moments (like this man in the aforementioned video), to a couple having a fight to an elderly man wearing an eccentric outfit, to even a teenager trying to dance and have fun, there is an endless supply of strangers being recorded in public. This all enforces a way of thinking where everyone needs to conform to a social standard, otherwise you too will be recorded and made fun of online.

One prime example of this that we all may know of is “Couch Guy.” For those of you who don’t know who Couch Guy is, here’s the backstory. The TikTok video records a long distance girlfriend going to her boyfriend’s apartment to surprise him, and she’s met with a lackluster response from him as he remains on a couch. The internet went crazy over this, with thousands of videos mocking him and their relationship, telling her to leave him, attacking his character and making other presumptions about their relationship. While there may be some truth to some of these assumptions, realistically, we still

don’t know their relationship based on a 30 second video. I think presumptions like these are harmful, as it often perpetuates a false stereotype of a random stranger while making this man’s image be ubiquitous across the internet. Not to mention, he will be forever known as a “bad boyfriend” because of this video. However, last time I checked, their relationship still seems to be going strong despite public backlash so props to them.

While we don’t have the absolute right to privacy especially in a public setting, why can’t we at least get the basic dignity we deserve? It seems that filming strangers in public has become a sort of cash grab or even a way to get clout by poking fun at others. Huge social media accounts such as those prank YouTubers or social experiment TikTokers are a popular form of entertainment, but ultimately they are monetizing the mockery of strangers. These people also do not give permission to be filmed beforehand (I suppose to not undermine the authenticity of the prank), but find themselves viral on the internet with people commenting on their behavior, looks or all of the above. It can be troubling and anxiety-inducing.

There are times that recording can be beneficial, especially when recording abuses of power, harassment or crimes. For example, recording police brutality or harassment from an au-

thority figure can be in the public’s interest. This is how large social movements come to fruition, and there is no denying the benefits. However, when it comes down to recording normal people doing normal things, there is a fine line between goodhearted teasing to public harassment.

This again comes down to the social conformity point—if someone is doing something that we find odd, the first response has become to record them, put it online and have thousands judge their behavior.

Social media has made us so far removed from empathy that we forget that these are real people with real feelings and real lives that we do not know of. We also need to remember that everyone has a different perspective and reaction to things, and people handle surprise, happiness and sadness differently. What you might do when you are happy might not be the same as someone else, so it’s not right to subject someone else to the same emotional guidelines (such as Couch Guy) to determine if they are reacting the same way or not.

Ultimately, this culture around social media needs to change. We need to start giving people room to make mistakes, and we should give them grace when viewing public embarrassments. That’s what you would want for yourself, right? Basically, we need to mind our own business more.

SOFTBALL from page 1

Russo and Gross recorded a pair of hits, while third-year Kela Jagoda and Rieger drove in a pair of runs each. Miskey allowed just one run to go along with 7 strikeouts. Hosey allowed a hit and a walk with 2 strikeouts.

On the second day, CWRU defeated Salve Regina University 12-7 after dominating the first few innings to take a quick 11-2 lead. Jagoda and Gross led the team to victory with a combined 5 runs scored and 7 runs batted in. Jagoda also recorded 3 RBIs, matching her career-high. Hosey did not allow a hit in the last three innings and struck out 5 batters, lowering her run average to 1.38 at the time.

The game against Babson College proved to be the most challenging thus far, but CWRU pulled off the 3-2 win in eight innings. Fourth-year Carli Tucci scored on a sacrifice fly from first-year Elizabeth Berry for the 1-0 lead. The Beavers took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning off of two-out hits. In the same innings, Riely tied the score with a one-out home run, the fourth

of her career, to bring the game within reach for CWRU. In the final frame with an automatic runner on second, Riely’s sacrifice bunt and Tucci’s fly ball to center field scored the winning run.

CWRU recorded two shutouts on the third day, powered by pitchers Hosey, Miskey and third-year Jenna Jaklich. Against the State University of New York College at Geneseo, Tucci hit her third home run of the season to put the Spartans on the board. Gross’s single drove two runners in for the 3-0 lead. The Spartans finished the game 5-0, with Hosey lowering her run average to 1.06.

Against Endicott College, CWRU did all their scoring in the first two innings. Miskey handled the rest of the game, allowing just one hit in the third inning for the 3-0 win.

On the penultimate day of THE Spring Games, CWRU defeated Westminster in a tight 4-3 match. The Spartans kicked off scoring with 2 runs in the fourth inning from Tucci and Gobeyn. The Titans managed to reach bases but couldn’t convert in

the fifth inning. CWRU took advantage and added two more runs following a home run from Riely to make it 4-0. Westminster responded with a three-run home run in the sixth inning, but Miskey halted their chances of a comeback in the seventh inning.

The following match against Hood College was less competitive, as the Spartans handily earned the 8-1 victory. Gross finished the game twofor-three with two doubles, a run, a run batted in and a stolen base. Eight of nine Spartan starters recorded a hit, with the team notching 11 in the game. Russo added 2 hits, while Tucci and Gobeyn recorded 2 runs batted in each.

CWRU started off their final day of matches with a dominating 9-0 shutout against Hope College. Gobeyn added 2 runs in the second inning and another 2 in the third inning, putting the Spartans ahead 4-0. First-year outfielder Brianna Landers scored the 5th run following a sacrifice fly by Rieger. In the final inning, the Spartans added 4 runs off of a run-scoring single from Gross, 2 runs on a Hope

error and Russo’s double.

In their final game, CWRU defeated the University of Wisconsin Stout 5-1. Hosey shined in the game, retiring nine batters in a row through the first four innings. She earned her sixth win of the season after completing six innings with 7 strikeouts. She didn’t allow any runs, lowering her earned running average (ERA) to 0.91. Hosey was named the UAA Pitcher of the Week after going 4-0 for the seventhranked CWRU with a 0.30 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 23 and one-third innings. Riely was named the UAA Hitter of the Week after hitting .577 with 2 home runs, a .593 on-base percentage and 1.000 slugging percentage in eight wins.

Miskey was also named the Spartan Club Athlete of the Week for March 13 after striking out 15 batters in eight innings on the first day of THE Spring Games. CWRU will now face conference play, with their first series coming up on the road against Emory University. The Spartans will play four games over three days from March 24-26.

Find us at observer.case.edu

Men’s basketball season ends in second round loss to Wis.-Whitewater 75-78

Paola Van der Linden Costello Staff Writer

The Case Western Reserve University men’s basketball team made it through the first round of the NCAA Division III tournament after an 82-76 win against Arcadia University but lost in the second round against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 78-75 in a close match. With this, the Spartans ended their season with an overall record of 22-4 and a 4-2 all-time NCAA tournament play.

Fourth-year forward Cole Frilling led the game against Arcadia with 20 points and 12 rebounds, recording his ninth double-double of the season. Graduate student guard Danny Frauenheim led all players with 7 assists, notching 174 for the season and achieving a new program record. Third-year guard Luke Thorburn had a season high of 16 points and 6 rebounds. The team shot 46.6% from the field and had 40 rebounds.

The game had a slow start for both teams, with a couple of possessions without scoring by each team. Finally, Thorburn made a free throw and a jump shot that had the Spartans leading by 3 with 18:41 left in the first half. Another layup by Thorburn gave the Spartans their largest lead of the half while Arcadia remained scoreless with 16:17 left.

The Knights were able to tie the game after a successful 3-pointer with 12:09 left in the half but that shot was quickly reciprocated by second-year forward Umar Rashid, giving the Spartans the lead once again. The Knights took the lead after two successful free throws

which left CWRU trailing by 1—a gap that was difficult for the Spartans to close through the remainder of this first half. Despite tying the game multiple times for the rest of the half, and even taking the lead at some point, the Spartans still trailed by 1 into the second half.

An early layup by Frauenheim gave him his first two points of the night and tied the game. A subsequent layup by Frauenheim again gave the Spartans a two-point lead. It was a 3-pointer by Cole Frilling that allowed the Spartans to regain their lead and maintain it for the rest of the night. The largest lead came after Frilling made another successful 3-pointer with 5:25 left,

putting CWRU up by 15. Despite the Knight’s attempt to come back, the game ended after a missed 3-pointer and Rashid obtained a defensive rebound with six seconds left.

Unfortunately for CWRU fans, the result was not the same the following night at the Horsburgh Gymnasium. Although the Spartans overcame a double-digit lead against the University of WisconsinWhitewater, it was not enough to take home the win. Graduate student guard Mitch Prendergast led all CWRU players with 24 points followed by Rashid with 18 points. Thorburn and second-year guard Sam Trunley each had 10 points. Frauenheim added 10 more as-

sists, making the program-record 184. Frilling led all players with 10 rebounds. CWRU shot 26-63 from the field goal range (41.3%) and 1026 (37.0%) from beyond the arc to go along with 39 rebounds. UWWhitewater shot 23-58 (39.7%) overall, 11-25 (44.0%) from the 3-point range and collected 43 rebounds.

CWRU started out the game with a 3-pointer from Prendergast, giving the Spartans their largest lead of the night. Despite a relatively close game throughout the first 12 minutes, the Warhawks proceeded to go on a 20-10 run which put them up by 11 with 2:32 remaining in the first half. Two 3-pointers from Trunley and Rashid allowed the Spartans to trail by only 4 heading into the second half.

The Spartans tied the game into this second half after Prendergast hit a 3-pointer and obtained a lead after Prendergast made a layup. However, a 12-2 run by the Warhawks left CWRU trailing by 10 with 7:22 left on the clock. The Spartans, however, did not give up and another 3-pointer by Rashid helped cut the deficit to 1. After some more difficult minutes, the Spartans found themselves once again down by 7 with 37 seconds left. A defensive rebound followed by a 3-pointer by Trunley gave the Spartans a glimmer of hope, closing the gap to 4. With 23 seconds left Rashid got a steal and made a layup, but, ultimately, after a free throw made by the Warhawks and a missed shot, the Spartans were unable to tie the game.

With this, the best season in program history came to an end. We are excited to see what this team has to bring next year.

Softball

5-1

Women’s Tennis

CWRU at Emory (3/24)

CWRU at Emory (3/25) - 2 games

CWRU at Emory (3/26)

Men’s Tennis

(18-4)

CWRU at Lynn (3/12) - W 6-3

CWRU at Barry (3/13) - W 4-2

CWRU vs Florida National (3/13) - W 6-3

CWRU vs Keiser (3/13) - L 6-1

CWRU vs Indianapolis (3/14) - L 5-2

CWRU vs Oneonta St. (3/14) - W 9-0 CWRU vs Mary Hardin-Baylor (3/15) - W 9-0 CWRU vs Illinois Tech (3/15) - W 9-0 CWRU vs Skidmore (3/15) - W 9-0

CWRU vs Denison (3/31)

CWRU vs Wis.-Eau Claire (4/7)

CWRU at Lake Forest (4/7)

CWRU vs Wis.-Whitewater (4/8) CWRU at North Central (4/8)

Third-year guard Luke Thorburn scored a layup in a hard-fought loss against the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the last match in the best tournament run in the history of CWRU men’s basketball. Courtesy of CWRU Athletics