The Observer, Volume LIV, Issue 2, 9/2/22

Construction and conversion of spaces occurs across CWRU

When walking from the North Resi dential Village (NRV) to the South Res idential Village (SRV), sounds of ham mering, drilling, crashing and yelling workers reverberate around the space. Given this, I have taken it upon myself to outline what exactly is occurring and how spaces will be—or have been—al tered or constructed during our hiatus for the summer.

Case Quad

First, the walk across the Case Quad on campus may look a little bit differ ent. Starting in May 2022, the Depart ment of Planning, Design and Construc tion began renovations for the Quad, with plans to redo paths, disperse seat ing more efficiently, plant more trees and improve drainage for rainwater. In addition, they are also working to make it a safer space by adding more cameras and better lighting.

Recently, the walkways and green spaces were completed, but the im provements will not conclude until spring 2023.

In addition, the grassy parts of the quad are roped off from the highly-traf ficked pathways through campus due to all-new sod, and students are not per mitted on that area for the time being. A number of new bike racks and the like are also part of these planned improve ments for the Quad.

The Tinkham Veale University Center

The interior of various buildings around campus have also been given a facelift.

For one, the Tinkham Veale Univer sity Center has a couple of new reno vations, including the transplanting of Dunkin’ Donuts into a location that previously housed Cool Beanz, directly

next to 8twenty6 and Pinzas. It will still be a part of the student meal plan, as well as the rest of the restaurants within Tink.

Not only has Dunkin’ moved, but there are new renovations in the area under the wooden staircase. A new of fice space and more secluded study spaces are currently under construction and should be completed soon.

Residence Halls

Another large construction project includes the addition of two new resi dence halls in the SRV, with an approxi mate 600 new beds for the ever-increas ing class sizes. These residence halls are predicted to be completed in the fall semester of 2024, so the construc tion noises reverberating throughout the SRV will remain a facet of everyday life for second-year students for the next couple of years.

CWRU cracks down on hazing

The beginning of the fall 2022 se mester saw the unveiling of Case West ern Reserve University’s most recent push against hazing on campus in the form of a training module.

The module comes after the tighten ing of legislation in response to an inci dent at Ohio University involving Col lin Wiant, a student who died in 2018 following a hazing ritual done by OU’s Sigma Pi, as well as an incident involv ing Stone Foltz, another student who died in 2021 at Bowling Green State University after attending an initiation event for their Pi Kappa Alpha chapter.

The new legislation, dubbed “Col lin’s Law,” increases the severity of

hazing to a second degree misde meanor. For those who permit or par ticipate in hazing practices, especially those which end in serious injury, the severity of the punishment has been in creased to a third degree felony.

The law also broadens the defini tion of hazing, requiring those who are aware of it to report and also requiring “staff and volunteers at colleges and universities to undergo training on haz ing awareness and prevention.”

Last semester, CWRU released a nine-page document in response to the new legislation, outlining the admin istration’s commitment to preventing hazing practices along with the prom

ise of more initiatives to come. This semester, leadership followed through on that promise by instituting a hazing prevention module as a new require ment for incoming students as well as providing access to the module for oth er members of the campus community.

The module consists of four dif ferent chapters on various aspects of what hazing is and the facets involved.

The first is an introduction which re minds students of the importance of the module and other hazing-prevention sources. The second and most substan tial chapter, with about 30 minutes of material, outlines misconceptions of hazing and how students are able to

Currently, there are paths around Fribley Commons toward the Mur ray Hill Residential Community in order to access the Elephant Stairs, which reach the Carlton Road resi dence halls. The barrier on the side walk closer to the stairs will remain closed for the foreseeable future. Stu dents can expect an increase in dust, noise levels and traffic for a time to come. Beyond construction efforts, first-year residence halls Storrs, Cut ler and Raymond have received new metal furniture, replacing the wooden furniture that was there before. Most first floor common spaces in these residence halls have also gotten up dated furniture.

All in all, our campus, along with its students, has a bright future ahead of it and a number of construction projects to improve the community are underway.

help, followed by a short assessment. The last two chapters are a review of CWRU’s current policy information and reporting resources.

In addition, this module is required for all of those planning on participat ing in various organizations on cam pus, such as athletics, Greek Life and Student Activities. It was also included in this incoming class’ First Year Expe rience Discover Week, alongside other requirements such as the bystander prevention and drug and alcohol mod ules.

It is accessible to all students and staff at CWRU through CampusGroups and is highly encouraged.

Grace Johnson News Editor

The addition of two new residence halls in the SRV will house the ever-growing CWRU student body, while sporting a more modern look. Courtesy of CWRU

Cameron Ward Contributing

New safety apps consolidate features of Safe Ride and Rave Guardian

Sarah Karkoff Contributing Writer

Beginning this semester, Case Western Reserve University will at tempt to bolster student safety through new apps that replace Safe Ride and Rave Guardian. As of Aug. 1, Spartan Safe and Spartan Ride are available to download for free through the App Store or Google Play.

“Whether we’re communicating emergency information or helping the CWRU community get around campus quickly, we want to be able to offer the best tools to keep campus safe,” said Megan Koeth, Executive Director of Public Safety at CWRU, on the platform switch. “Spartan Safe and Spartan Ride will help us do that.”

Upon downloading Spartan Safe, students will be prompted to regis ter with a CWRU email address and provide some personal data, such as contact information and emergency contacts, that will allow the CWRU Police Department to have adequate information to help in a timely man ner. However, it is completely op tional to store personal information on the app and any private data will be stored securely.

One of the new features includes

anonymous tip reporting through Spartan Safe. Anonymous tips can be reported through calls or by an online form, which will then be transported to the proper departments that are equipped to deal with the reported is sue.

Additionally, Spartan Safe has im plemented safety features that allow students to show friends their cur rent location, dubbed “Friend Walk.” Friend Walk gives students the op portunity to not only send their loca tion to friends through SMS or email, but to also have friends follow along as they walk to their destination. An emergency button can be activated by either the user or friend if something occurs. Students can also share their location to dispatchers in the event of an emergency.

Other important components of the Spartan Safe app include campus information on safety, wellness and mental health resources, as well as updates from the CWRU Twitter ac count, emergency plans in the event of extreme weather or evacuations and push notifications for emergen cies. Push notifications ensure that those with the app receive critical in

formation immediately, regardless of whether the user has cellular service.

Spartan Ride, which is purported to integrate campus Safe Ride servic es and shuttle route schedules, allows riders to more conveniently identify the best routes to their destination.

By combining these two services, students can easily access Safe Ride or utilize nearby shuttle routes to cre ate a more efficient transportation system. Spartan Ride aims to create a more reliable experience for users as a result.

For users that don’t have reliable transportation to get groceries, Spar tan Ride has implemented a dedicat ed grocery route to Dave’s Market. From 6-9 p.m., the app will have an established daily loop to and from Dave’s Market, allowing for shorter wait times and easier accessibility for those who require these services.

Through the advent of these new apps, CWRU hopes to create a safer campus and community experience for students. For those who were dis contented with Safe Ride and previ ous campus security resources, these new apps may be the solution.

The apps previously used for safety on CWRU’s campus (Rave Guard ian, CWRU Safe Ride, and Trans Loc) have been transformed into Spartan Ride and Spartan Safe. Courtesy of @usgcwru

CWRU Film Society

Friday, September 2, 2022 7:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.

Everything Every where All at Once (2022)

Rated R (139 min.)

Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinertz

With Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis, Stephanie Hsu

An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save the world by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led.

Saturday, September 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., 9:00 p.m.

Kung Fu Panda (2008)

Rated PG (92 min.)

Cosponsored by Kung Fu Club

Directors: Mark Osborne, John Stevenson

With Jack Black, Ian McShane, Angelina Jolie Po is an irreverent slacker panda who is the biggest fan of Kung Fu and un expectedly chosen to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Po’s dreams become reality when he joins the world of Kung Fu and studies alongside his idols under the leadership of their guru, Master Shifu. But the vengeful snow leopard Tai Lung is headed their way. Can Po turn his dreams of becoming a Kung Fu master into reality?

General Admission Free This Week

Strosacker Auditorium, CWRU Campus Quad

Free Parking: Lot 44 at Adelbert Rd and Murray Hill

Starting Off Strong

Playlist of the week 9/2/22

To everyone who just finished their first week here at Case Western Reserve University, I welcome you and hope you have been settling in nicely. To the re turning students, I hope the start of this semester has been promising, and that you are remembering to take care of yourself.

When I first drove through University Circle to visit CWRU, I was a wide-eyed 18-year-old from a small farm town in southwestern Pennsylvania. Embar rassed of my rural background, I initially viewed Cleveland as a bustling metrop olis. Back then I was, like many high school students, searching for my true self and the meaning of life. Since then, I have come to terms with many realities, and I’ve especially found that you cannot find meaning by just checking off boxes. Instead, it can be found through your daily interactions and the things you do with the time you have. Throughout the first few weeks—and even first few se mesters here—I struggled greatly to get a footing on the curriculum and what it meant to fit in as a part of “CWRU Cul ture.” Back then, I think I was trying too hard to be something I thought others expected me to be. However, throughout my three years here, I have slowly gained the confidence and purpose in life that I had been looking for so many years ago. It is a tough process, and one that often seems to require two giant leaps back ward before taking a single step forward. Thankfully for me, I was surrounded by people who helped me to become the person I am today, and for that, I will al ways be deeply gracious and humbled by CWRU. I hope this playlist exemplifies these feelings as we start the semester.

“Thunder Road” – Bruce Springs teen

In the darkest points of life, one often makes their greatest revelations. Perhaps my struggle was the dread of considering the future, or maybe it was coming back home to a place that seemingly hadn’t changed since my childhood. But it did grant me a revelation of how great Bruce Springsteen is. When I first listened to “Thunder Road” and the entire cinematic experience of “Born to Run,” I felt a fire light under me once again. I hope it pro vides you the strength that still carries me.

“Shuggie” – Foxygen

The retro feeling of ‘60s and ‘70s glam rock that permeates through most of Foxygen’s discography is in full force here. The story of a dying romance be tween the narrator and “Shuggie”—short for sugar and the moniker used by Jazz guitarist Johnny Otis—is nothing origi nal, but the sounds they create through their slowed-down instrumentals are something from a nearly forgotten era that should be brought back.

“No Cars Go” – Arcade Fire

While watching the sun set over the polluted Cleveland skyline, it isn’t hard to think about wanting to imagine it from somewhere else. For example, a place where there are no planes or cars—a place to escape, alone in the quiet night for soft comfort and solitude.

so much funk on this hit, dripping with cynicism and acerbic wit. We have all seen a girl going dumpster diving by dat ing an unattractive man before, and this song pokes fun at it. It is also a killer ka raoke song.

“Morning Train (Nine to Five)” –Sheena Easton

I first listened to this Sheena Easton hit in a “Seinfeld” episode where George Costanza—known for finding obscure ways to keep his life easy—pretends to be handicapped at work so his cowork ers treat him better. It’s a funny montage of him using accessibility accessories de signed for someone he is not, but know ing how pathetic his life was up to that point, perhaps he needed more assistance along the way.

“I.G.Y.” – Donald Fagen

“Let Me Roll It” – Paul McCartney & Wings

Taking inspiration from the opening track of George Harrison’s 1970 album

“All Things Must Pass,” fellow Beatle Paul McCartney found success with his new band, Wings, throughout the 1970s. The refrain is written in the form of a haiku, and forms a pleasant bridge to the chorus, describing his heart as a “wheel” and wanting to “roll it to you.”

“Do You Realize??” – The Flaming Lips

The former official rock song of Okla homa—seriously, look it up—is the lead single off the 2002 album “Yoshimi Bat tles the Pink Robots.” Inspired by band member Steven Drozd’s struggle with addiction and withdrawal, the song has become The Flaming Lips’ most recog nizable piece. Lead singer Wayne Coyne considers it to be their best written work.

After the band Steely Dan broke up in 1981, Fagen released his most com mercially successful solo album, “The Nightfly.” The lead track on this album, “I.G.Y.,” discusses the International Geophysical Year, an event aimed at sci entific discovery during the space race in the late 1950s. The song is sung with the optimistic view of post-war United States and describes inventions that will be seen in the near future including solarpowered cities, permanent space stations and spandex jackets.

“Ruby Tuesday” – The Rolling Stones

I originally thought this song was about my favorite restaurant growing up, and I firmly believe that any place that serves chicken tenders and fries that good deserves to have a song named after them. Alas, the song was written about the immortal Keith Richards’ onetime girlfriend and British model, Linda Keith, who left him for a different rock star, turning Richards into an emotional wreck.

“The Sweet Escape” – Gwen Ste fani, Akon

My childhood days consisted of mem orizing the lyrics to this 2006 masterpiece in an attempt to impress my then-crush, Gwen Stefani. Despite her marriage to Blake Shelton, I still hold out hope she will notice me. I have no doubt that she will come to her senses eventually.

“Break My Stride” – Matthew Wilder

The song was originally believed to be about the breakup between Wilder and his girlfriend. However, it was actually about his frustration with Arista Records. After Joe Isgro at Private I Records gave the dance song a chance, it peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1984, and was sampled in Diddy’s “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down.”

“Is She Really Going Out With Him?” – Joe Jackson

What some consider to be one of the earliest diss tracks, Joe Jackson provides

“The Winner Takes It All” – ABBA

As an homage to the recent series finale of “Better Call Saul”, here is yet another karaoke classic. In the midst of constant bickering between the pro fessionally successful Charles McGill, and his younger, less successful brother “Slippin’” Jimmy McGill, e.g. Saul Goodman, e.g. Gene Takovic, the two temporarily reconcile during their ren dition of “The Winner Takes It All” at a karaoke bar. The winner between the two is unclear, as both their spoils eventually burn down in one way or another.

“Both Sides Now” – Joni Mitchell

One of the most exciting things to happen in music this past summer was Joni Mitchell performing live for the first time since 2013 at the Newport Folk Festival, where she performed several songs off her 1971 tour de force album, “Blue.” After suffering a ruptured brain aneurysm in 2015, it was unlikely we would get to see the master wordsmith again, but fortunately, time has been kind to Joni, and we are all the better for it.

One World Day celebrates our common humanity

First impressions can make quite a difference. I count myself lucky that the first thing I saw as I was driving to Case Western Reserve University for my ini tial visit was the Cleveland Cultural Gar dens. Going down that windy tree-lined street and entering University Circle, I was already struck by the beauty of the urban park when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, meant to represent Indian culture. Then I noticed that this was just one of many statues, with the monuments and accom panying gardens filling the sides of the street. I soon realized that each garden and monument correlated with a dif ferent country or ethnic group, with the entire park itself being a monument to Cleveland’s immigrants and the diversity of the city. It was then that I would start falling in love with the city and CWRU. It is likely that without the Cultural Gar dens, I would’ve never come to this uni versity.

As such, it was a great pleasure to re visit the Cultural Gardens this year on Sunday, Aug. 28, for their 76th annual One World Day, which distills the spirit of the entire project into a single festival. After just attending the Student Activ ity Fair on Freiberger Field, where I had seen the CWRU community gather for the first time uninhibited in years, my visit to the Cultural Gardens similarly reinvigorated me. It had been a while since I had seen such vibrancy and life in Cleveland, but the festival truly brought together the greatest elements of the city into one location. With tens of thousands of visitors, including Mayor Justin Bibb and City Councilman Kevin Conwell, it was truly a bustling event, allowing each cultural group to share their heritage with the whole city.

With booths, tents and trucks lin ing Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, vari ous ethnic groups from across the globe came together in an endless stream of celebration.

Each ethnicity represented by a cul tural garden, of which there are cur rently 33, had their own little area with

trinkets, activities, food, information ses sions and speakers. Many gardens had people advising visitors on future events that their organizations would be hold ing, along with guidance on how to get more involved in the community as a whole. The food and drink options also corresponded with each cultural garden. Notably, the Indian garden featured a food truck from Chapati Indian Grill—a chain which used to have a location on CWRU campus—while the Irish and German ones both had beer gardens set up on their locations, serving beers from their respective homelands. Many eth nic groups that did not yet have gardens were also represented, with some, such as the Pakistanis, announcing plans and collecting donations for a future garden of their own.

All of these groups were also repre sented in the “Parade of Flags,” which gathered all the different nationalities in a united walk down the street. Most touchingly, the parade was led by the

Ukrainian community, in recognition of the current ongoing invasion of their home country. The entire festival was filled with pro-Ukrainian signs and slo gans, with the blue and yellow flag fly ing prominently across the festival space. The Kashtan Ukrainian Dance Ensemble was also among the many performances that the festival featured. Other perfor mances included choir and dance per formances from the Chinese community, folk dances from the Philippines and mu sic from Turkey. The unity of the festival underscored the need for international cooperation and understanding during these fraught times.

Along with booths from all the cul tural groups, various other organizations also tabled at the event, including U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, various voter registration groups, city government and infrastructure groups and local newspapers.

Altogether, the festival showed how Cleveland—and the United States as a

whole—is stronger when we embrace the diversity of our communities and im migrants, as the entire event began with a naturalization ceremony for 20 new U.S. citizens. As a child of immigrants myself, I could not have been prouder to attend such an event. Once again, going through the Cleveland Cultural Gardens has made me fall in love with this city and community once again. Though there is much to criticize about America, there is also much to celebrate, and events such as these remind us of that. By coming together and asserting our individuality and differences, festivals such as One World Day also showcase our common humanity and just how similar we truly are.

“This all shows how at our best, we can be a home for everybody and any body,” said Daniel Jackson, a resident of Cleveland. “Only in America can you see a celebration like this. When you have everybody together like this, just living together, it really is special.”

Casino Night brings together CWRU community during Discover Week

Caroline Kuntzman Staff Writer

Discover Week allows first-year and new transfer students to settle into the Case Western Reserve University com munity. It includes both informational sessions to help new students learn about the resources available to them on campus as well as social opportu nities for students to get to know each other. Hosted on Aug. 25 by CWRU’s Residence Hall Association (RHA), this year’s annual Casino Night was an opportunity for CWRU students to enjoy food, fun and games while con necting or reconnecting with friends after the summer.

Casino Night is an RHA event that has become a tradition for the CWRU community. This year, it featured food from The Jolly Scholar and Rascal House, mocktails made onsite and a wide variety of games and activities such as mechanical pig races, black jack, poker and bingo. At the end of the night, students traded in all of the poker chips they accumulated for raffle tickets to potentially win the prize bun dle of their choice, such as a weighted blanket bundle, a snack bundle or a hammock. With its formal-optional dress code, Casino Night offered stu dents a change of pace by transforming Thwing into a more upscale venue.

While Casino Night had many of

the same activities it did the year be fore, its executive board for this year strove to make improvements from the previous iteration of the event. RHA Vice President of Marketing and Cam pus Relations, third-year Johana Guçi, pointed toward reducing crowding as one of this year’s primary goals.

“Past years, in the atrium, there were poker tables but we moved the poker tables and blackjack tables to the Thwing Atrium,” Guçi said when asked about the changes RHA made to Casino Night from the previous year. They also improved space flow by cre ating a common entry and exit space for the event.

Casino Night was advertised to firstyear and new transfer students as part of Discover Week, with RHA describ ing Casino Night as “a way to relax and enjoy your Thursday evening” in the midst of the “whirlwind” of Discover Week. First-year student Courtenay described Casino Night as a good ex perience.

“The blackjack was really fun”, she said, “Low-key, not super competi tive.”

Casino Night also attracted upper classmen and brought together a sig nificant proportion of the campus com munity, with CampusGroups showing

that 1,293 people attended.

“The event itself is a lot of fun,” Guçi said when asked about their fa vorite parts of Casino Night. “I was in charge of mocktails but I also went around to the other stations.”

If you have the opportunity to attend Casino Night in the future, I would highly recommend you check it out for a little bit of fun before you start your fall semester.

Shreyas

Visitors, volunteers, performers and more mingle at One World Day at the Cleveland Cultural Gardens. Shreyas Banerjee/The Observer

An orientation tradition at CWRU, Casino Night once again welcomed first-years and returning students to an evening of food, friends and fun. Courtesy of @cwrurha

Three Thousand Years of Longing: Is it worth the watch?

Over the summer, movies—espe cially those viewed in a theater—be came an ever-increasing pastime for my friends and I. Whether it was an early morning showing or an afterhours trip to the local mall, watching movies became a means to hang out with friends without the stress of plan ning. I won’t sit here and say that all of them were necessarily good simply because I enjoyed the experience and the company—I just like a good movie theater. So when the opportunity to continue this tradition at Case Western Reserve University arose, I jumped at the chance. Maybe it was the film choice or the change of venue from my usual AMC theaters, but my lat est viewing of “Three Thousand Years of Longing” left me pondering many things.

The concept of the film is certainly interesting. It follows a scholar, Alithea Binney (Tilda Swinton), who studies narratives through a new perspective, as mythicism has been replaced by sci entific explanations. Stories from the past were often explanations of things that we now know are scientific, like gods controlling the weather. But, in the film, she is left longing as her sense of wonder is missing. In her incessant need for science to explain everything,

she is lonely in her scholarly explora tion. This struggle between her rational self is manifested in demonic halluci nations that she simply dismisses. On a trip to Istanbul, she purchases a bottle, in which a Djinn (Idris Elba) is trapped and, upon his release, he begins to tell the story of how he became trapped in the first place. This retelling was the most captivating part of the film. I was immediately invested in the mecha nisms that entrapped the Djinn. His constant suffering in his search for love and the historical elements—like his relationship with the Queen of Sheba or his involvement in the story of Su leiman the Magnificent—that were littered throughout them made it even more fascinating. Each of these stories are told with flashes of his present situ ation, where the Djinn is bound to Bin ney, as she is the one that released him. He cannot be free until he grants her three wishes. After being trapped in a bottle for thousands of years, constant ly suffering as a result of his longing for a relationship, freedom is all he desires.

Following the final tale of his trap ping, the film shifts back to the present, placing the audience in the hotel room with Binney. Throughout the film, she tries to rationalize not making wishes at all, first by suggesting that the Djinn

is a trickster and then by stating she is content in her work. But it is obvious that she, like the Djinn, is longing for something more—it is here where she concocts her first wish. The scholar wishes that the Djinn would fall in love with her, and that their constant desire for companionship would end right then and there. It is this cinematic and plot decision that—in my opinion— marks the downfall of the film and the inspiration for this piece. I understand the message of the film, that love is not something that you can simply wish into being; it is something that develops over time. The Djinn’s health begins to struggle after returning to London with Binney and she must set him free, back to his world. But the sequence felt like pulling the emergency brake in your car; it jolted the film to a startling halt. It took the film from a fantastical his torical fiction piece into an extremely slow romantic sequence. I was far more invested in the story of the Djinn travel ing through three thousand years of hu man history than I was in their domestic life and the inevitable downfall of their relationship. And that is where the film lost me; a rapid change of pace that conveyed a story the audience wasn’t entirely invested in.

Despite the disappointing ending, I

don’t want to entirely discount the film just because aspects of it were not en tirely my cup of tea. It was certainly thought provoking, with many meta phors about the expectations of love and desire. The jump through human existence, from the perspective of an outsider, was definitely refreshing and shed new light on interpersonal rela tionships. However, the change in pac ing of the film and the decision to have a character—who for the entirety of the film argued that she was content in her solitude—suddenly decide to wish for love took away from the film’s intrigue. It broke the veil on what the film was really about and shattered the juxtapo sition of these two beings: one content in their loneliness and one eaten alive by it. The film certainly sparks conver sations about the meaning of love and suffering, about human existence and about manifesting desires. But this was overshadowed by the ending of the film that, in my opinion, takes away from its metaphorical meaning. Though this film may not have been for me, if you want to watch something thought pro voking and interesting, a film to have hours of conversation with your friends about, whether positive or negative, then I would surely recommend you give it a watch.

Joey Gonzales

Editor

In “Three Thousand Years of Longing,” Tilda Swinton and Idris Elba capture their audience with stories of the love and loss of human existence. Courtesy of MGM

Tarun’s

Horoscope

The Signs as First-Year Dorm Buildings

Pierce Tyler Clarke Tower Cutter Hitchcock Norton

Pierce Raymond Sherman Storrs Cutler

Weekly

Ten of Cups (Upright)

This card signifies that your circle is full of loving people who want the best for you. Keep them close to you.

Nine of Cups (Reversed)

Don’t get too indulgent in splurging or excessive short-term pleasures.

Strength (Reversed)

You have a strong connection with someone or something but emotional worries stops you from forming more permanent bonds.

Page of Swords (Reversed)

It’s time to look at a new perspective since your current mindset isn’t benefitting you.

The Hierophant (Reversed)

This is a card of structure, and the reversed says there is too much structure restraining you. Break free of the constructs you set for yourself.

Knight of Wands (Upright)

Now is a good time to travel and get away from the environment you are currently in.

The Empress (Reversed)

A new proposal or idea is coming your way, be flexible to change.

The High Priestess (Reversed)

You need to trust your gut in situations that make you overthink.

Eight of Wands (Reversed)

Your plans may be changed a multitude of times, be prepared to roll with the changes.

Six of Pentacles (Upright)

Be always open to giving and you will receive.

The Hermit (Upright)

It is good to take time away from others and spend it on yourself, Receding inwards can help with bringing a better you outward.

Ace of Wands (Upright)

Taft

Go with your heart and follow your passions.

Aquarius

Pisces Aries

Taurus Gemini Cancer

Leo Virgo

Libra

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Capricorn

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Editorial: Addressing President Kaler’s welcome-back email

On Aug. 29, President Eric Kal er sent out an email welcoming us back to Case Western Reserve Uni versity. Kaler stated that CWRU’s three priorities are “to elevate aca demic excellence, expand our re search enterprise and enhance com munity engagement.” In the email he highlighted the university’s im provements over the summer and movement towards his goals of an expanded student body and in creased diversity. He also noted that it’s important to focus on our goals “both as a university and as individ uals.” While starting the year with positivity is appreciated, it seems like this email is ignoring the prob lems the campus community faces in the midst of CWRU’s achievements and progress.

First, with the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization deci sion overturning Roe v. Wade, the right to reproductive healthcare has been stripped away in many states, including Ohio. President Kaler sent out emails over the summer re garding this decision, announcing the launch of various resources for CWRU students, including a “Re productive Health” website, a task force, an emergency fund for travel, legal advice, and a commitment to support the free speech and advo cacy of students. On the surface it appears Kaler and the administration are making good first steps to help navigate this post-Roe era.

However, taking a closer look at the announcements, it is uncertain how much CWRU is actually dedi cated and willing to help those who are endangered by this critical Su preme Court decision. For example,

the task force’s job is to “focus on specific areas and activities that the decision may affect, and make rec ommendations regarding the univer sity’s response.” This sounds more like a statement vetted to be as vague as possible rather than something geared to help panicked students. However, the website also provides a list of on-campus and off-campus resources, notably ones provided through University Health Services. Kaler also cites the newly created Student Health Emergency Fund as a potential resource for access to healthcare, theoretically outside the state of Ohio. Though this is a step in the right direction, most of the in formation provided by the website on the fund is surface level without specific assurances. For example, if a student needs to go out-of-state to receive healthcare, the website states that the “university is researching its options given the complex legal landscape, and will update this page as soon as firm information is avail able.” Another issue is that if some one needs an abortion in Ohio, the fund normally doesn’t allocate more than $500 per person. Yet in Ohio, the cost of an abortion ranges any where from $500-$1,000.

We have seen over the years how lacking student-oriented resources on campus have been. When we think of the insufficient amount of support from the Title IX office and the University Health and Counsel ing Services, there isn’t much hope that this new website or task force will significantly help students.

Though updates on these initiatives may not have been fitting for a wel come message, we must demand

more updates and clarification as time goes on.

What was mentioned in the wel come message is worthy of criti cism, however. Kaler mentioned, with pride, the new incoming un dergraduate class of 1,550 students. However, he failed to mention the inherent stresses that will accom pany a class of this size.

Last semester, the administra tion made significant changes in the housing policy due to a lack of available space, resulting in many students not being able to have typical on-campus housing this se mester. This is despite assurances made that student housing would be guaranteed after massive back lash forced the university to aban don an even more restrictive policy. Instead of maintaining its previous policy, CWRU asked some upper classmen to live in university-facil itated off-campus apartments rather than residence halls. This is because the large student body forced some underclassmen to be placed in tra ditionally upperclassmen campus housing. However, housing issues aren’t the only predicament with more students. CWRU simply does not yet have the infrastructure for an increasingly larger student popula tion. Essential classes have become more difficult to schedule, lectures have become larger, student centers have become overcrowded and re sources have been spread thin. This will become a larger issue as more and more students are admitted each year.

Another area Kaler discussed was how CWRU was dedicating an ad ditional “$23 million in faculty and

staff compensation” and filling “key leadership positions in research, ath letics, at our library, in campus plan ning and at the School of Medicine and Weatherhead School of Manage ment.” What he failed to mention is that compensation for professors continues to be lacking, with a pat tern emerging of humanities and so cial sciences professors leaving the university. There have been numer ous instances of professors returning from retirement due to the universi ty being unable to attract new talent to fill the many niches our students require for a full education in their departments. Furthermore, while Kaler mentioned there had been im provements on the Case Quad and lab spaces, we have not seen im provements in the humanities and social science spaces on Mather Quad. Several of those buildings are in desperate need of renovation and better teaching equipment. Once again, the progress for the university seems solely to be in STEM spaces, at the expense of the humanities.

We aren’t saying that we can’t be proud of our accomplishments, but it’s essential to acknowledge the problems and failures tied to them. For too long, President Kaler and the administration have continued to boast about CWRU’s achievements, turning a blind eye to troubles and worries within our campus for the sake of positivity. CWRU’s campus community deserves transparency. Simply having cheery welcomeback emails neglects the straightfor wardness that is warranted.

the observer

established in 1969 by the undergraduate students of case western reserve university

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

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

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

executive editor & publisher SHREYAS BANERJEE director of print SARA KHORSHIDI director of digital media JOCELYN ORTIZ director of design TARUN SEPURI director of business operations KHUSHALI DESAI development editor BEAU BILINOVICH engagement editor MULAN MA news editor GRACE JOHNSON life editor JOEY GONZALEZ opinion editor KARUNA LAKHIANI sports editor PUNEET BANSAL social media editor SOPHIA POPKIN photo editor CLAY PREUSCH web editor COLLIN WONG copy editors SHIVANGI NANDA, LEXY JENSEN, RACHEL ALEXANDER & KATE GORDON layout designer DASHA DEGTEREV

Navigating the balance between self and success

Enya Eettickal Staff Writer

With the school year beginning this week, new chapters in many of our lives are also beginning, and with new chapters come new choic es. As a fourth-year, decisions con cerning my post-graduation plans are looming. Going to graduate school, entering the workforce or taking a gap year are all enticing op tions. But there are two questions I am frequently asked when consider ing which way to go: “What do you think is the best option?” and “What do you want to do?” Both are valid questions, but how I navigate an swering them has pushed me to re consider my priorities.

These two questions uniquely represent the way we weigh our pri orities. We are in a position where we have to choose between what we think we should do and what we want to do. In this case, what we theoretically should do is pitched as what is academically optimal, stra tegically best or fits the societal de scription of success. What we actu ally want to do presents as hobbies, side jobs or other activities we are passionate about. We like to draw lines to separate the ‘ideal’ and ‘de sired’ answers.

I would argue that both are impor

tant to consider in decision-making.

Now, some of you might read this and think, “that’s painfully obvious.” And you would be right. However, it’s surprising how easy it is to for get one of the two perspectives when we are under pressure. Attending the Student Activities Fair (SAF) this year quickly reminded me of that. I had several conversations with un derclassmen intrigued by various in terest groups, clubs and teams that they stumbled upon during the fair or through Case Western Reserve University’s list of student groups. But even with heavy interest, many expressed hesitancy in joining orga nizations and clubs. When I asked them why, the consistent answer was, “I don’t have time.”

“I don’t have time” is a valid rea son to decide not to take on a task or join a group, regardless of if it’s personal or professional. But when we say we don’t have time, it’s im portant to assess why that is. We all have the same amount of time in the day, and so when we don’t have time for one task, it’s because we are al locating that time somewhere else. Therefore, when you say you don’t have time for a stress-free activity

in your week, it’s because you’ve decided to spend that time on some thing different.

You weigh the “ideal” choice against the “desired” choice with every decision or responsibility. In a vacuum, there is no correct answer. Picking either choice repeatedly will not guarantee long-term success or happiness. However, that’s why it’s important to take a step back and evaluate your previous decisions in order to find a way to balance the ideal and the desired in a healthy way.

For some, allocating a large amount of time to recreational ac tivities can make other responsibili ties feel overwhelming. On the other hand, allocating almost all of one’s time to academic activities and re sponsibilities doesn’t leave much time for leisure or personal interests. This circumstance is a bit harder to remedy, as it’s heavily linked to the overachiever mindset that lies in our campus culture. Seeing others hold multiple positions or overload on credits can create pressure, making us feel like we aren’t doing enough. Therefore, in the effort to do the same, we lose time to pursue the hobbies and interests that make us

happy and distinguish ourselves.

Sometimes, I feel like I have to remind myself that there is life be yond building a resume. I should not make every decision in my life around maximizing my chances of getting into a graduate school if it means losing the things that bring me joy and make me who I am. Hav ing activities for myself also allows me to destress and relax in the midst of a hectic life, inadvertently help ing my academic life. Leisure is in tegral to preventing burnout.

The best case scenario is find ing activities that are both ideal and desired. I was lucky enough to find Mock Trial. The activity is fun be cause of the performance compo nent, but also academic because it pertains to being a pre-law student and builds public speaking skills. It may not always be easy to find, but there are many intersections between what is enjoyable and pro ductive. Whether you’re still decid ing on a major, trying to figure out what clubs to join or navigating the next steps to take after graduation, it’s possible to find a balance. All it takes is some time and energy. When you find that equilibrium, I promise you’ll find it very rewarding.

The horrifying legacy of Andrew Tate

Sophia Popkin Social Media Editor

Trigger Warning: sexual assault, sexual abuse

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve probably heard of the infamous Andrew Tate. A former professional kickboxer turned influ encer, Tate is best known for shar ing his horrifically misogynistic and generally degrading views online. This description may sound quite jarring if you don’t know who he is; however, Tate’s disgusting views definitely align with the internet per sonality’s past actions. He was fa mously removed from the TV show “Big Brother” after a video of him beating a woman with a belt was re leased online. Furthermore, Tate has numerous sex trafficking, sexual as sault and abuse allegations—he even moved from the U.K. to Romania because, as he has admitted, it would be easier to evade charges for sexual abuse crimes.

While you might think that some one who has explicitly stated that women who have been raped “bear some responsibility” for their own sexual assault would be find no audi ence on the internet for their horrify ing statements and views, quite the opposite occurred. Following these controversies, Tate gained a much larger following. Prior to his social

media accounts being banned, Tate had amassed millions of followers on every platform, including over 4.6 million on Instagram as well as hundreds of thousands of subscribers to his program called “Hustler’s Uni versity,” in which people would es sentially pay $49.99 a month to listen to Andrew Tate discuss even more of his horrendous takes, with a promise to help men get rich quick. For some, the man had sort of a meme factor: he was constantly making outlandish claims, which many people would make fun of for its sheer shock value.

However, for a majority of his fol lowers, his disgusting point of view became gospel—an especially dan gerous notion considering a vast ma jority of his audience seemed to be impressionable young men and boys.

As previously stated, Tate has thankfully since been banned from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. But his influence still re mains incredibly prominent online and in the lives of millions. For ex ample, an educator had posted on Reddit under the r/teachers subred dit claiming that young boys in her classes are now refusing to treat fe male classmates with respect and of ten decline to read any assignments that incorporate the works of female authors because of Andrew Tate’s

rhetoric. So, while Tate can no longer directly post on the internet, his in fluence on young boys’ perception of women will continue to impact their daily lives.

His fame has also allowed for many other misogynistic, “alpha male” men to flourish online. I do not want to promote the pages of any more sexist, homophobic or gener ally oppressive influencers, so I will not be sharing the names of any of these men, but believe me, they are still out there. Andrew Tate’s notori ous, harmful rhetoric lives on, with more and more men and boys falling down the dangerous pipeline from casually listening to devoutly follow ing the overly toxic misogynistic in fluencer.

This leaves our society in an in credibly concerning position: An drew Tate’s legacy of popularizing violent degradation toward women and other minority groups will con tinue to affect our lives. While mi sogyny has always been a deeply ingrained issue in our civilization, what I call the “Andrew Tate Effect” makes it feel like we are taking a huge step back. We are not only see ing men making sexist remarks more regularly, but we are also seeing a rise in young men who genuinely be lieve that women should be subservi

to write for

ent to them, are their property and de serve to be treated accordingly. This, frankly, is terrifying.

“So,” you might ask, “what can we, as a society, do to remedy the issue?” What I think is most important here is to better monitor the internet usage of young children, first and foremost. Young boys are too easily influenced to question the misogynistic rheto ric of people like Andrew Tate, and the TikTok and YouTube algorithms makes it worse. By liking a few posts from “alpha male” influencers, your pages will likely fill with similar content. We all must challenge those who have fallen down the misogy nistic rabbit hole. Most women and feminine-presenting people I know do this already, as this issue directly affects them, but it is essential that men start to call out the beliefs of their peers. Of course, some Andrew Tate stans will be too far gone to knock any sense into them, but it is up to us to at least try and help them unpack their incredibly loaded view points. If we all make a real effort to both prevent the spread of misogyny and encourage those who contribute to it to self-reflect, we can create a much safer environment for women in our society.

Club Sports Spotlights - Part II

Puneet Bansal Sports Editor Alyssa Zimmerman Staff Writer

We will be wrapping up our Club Sports program spotlights with discus sions about another six organizations. To recap, here is the general informa tion applicable to all club sports:

The Club Sports Program at Case Western Reserve University is where members of the university community can participate in non-varsity intercol legiate athletic competitions. All Club Sports are student organizations rec ognized by the Undergraduate Student Government and housed within the Department of Physical Education and Athletics. Each club has an adviser that provides guidance, coordinates facility usage and distributes funds. Regardless, the key to each club’s success comes from the students that run the programs.

Though the specifics differ slightly from sport to sport, the general path to becoming a club sport member is the same: fill out the membership agree ment (available at athletics.case.edu), join the desired club(s) on Campus Groups and pay the necessary dues. All clubs also have a social media presence for updates about upcoming events and meetings.

CWRU offers 17 club sports: archery, badminton, cheerleading, crew, cycling, fencing, ice hockey, kendo, kung fu, la crosse, quidditch, soccer, table tennis, taekwondo, ultimate frisbee, volleyball and water polo. The Observer will be spotlighting some of them to showcase the many exciting opportunities avail able for CWRU students.

Badminton

If you are someone who has quick reflexes and great agility, Club Bad minton is a fantastic organization to put those skills to work.

Members of all skill levels meet on Courts One and Two at the Veale Fieldhouse on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 5:30-7:30 p.m. These practice sessions occasionally include basic training for interested members, but mostly they are conducted as open courts where people can just come and play. A couple times every semester, the club invites all CWRU students to Net Night, where food, drinks and courts for casual matches are provided.

The club also attends the Eastern Collegiate Team Badminton Cham pionships. The seeding of the Spring Playoff division is determined by their fall semester competitions against other teams in the Midwest Conference. This includes teams from Ohio State Uni versity and the University of Michigan. Around 10 competitive members are se lected to compete in nine events: men’s singles, men’s doubles, mixed doubles, women’s singles and women’s doubles.

Last year, the club showcased an extraordinary performance to take first place in Division 2B of the tournament.

“Our favorite match was against Princeton in the semifinals,” reflected club president Jaime Wang. “We were very evenly matched and every game [was] very intense, [but we took] the 6-3 win.”

“Winning the tournament was not something we had really thought was possible for us,” Wang added, “which made securing the victory even more [rewarding].”

The team also has a great sense of ca maraderie, and everyone loves to sup port each other.

“My favorite part of tournaments is watching, cheering and coaching each other,” said Wang. “I have a lot of pride

in how hard every member of our team worked to make the success possible.”

Being a member has very low stakes. With an open court practice style, there is no commitment expectation. Prac tice expectations are higher for those who wish to be considered for the com petitive team. All equipment—shuttles, rackets and courts—is provided for members after the trial period. The first

four practices are free. Afterwards, the membership fee depends on the type of shuttles you’d like to use: $20 for plas tic and $40 for feather.

To learn more, visit the pages below.

Websites: badminton.mystrikingly. com Instagram: @cwrubadminton Discord: discord.gg/ujdyFjGkyt

stands that members often have com plex schedules and many commitments. All equipment, except for mouthguards, are managed and provided by the team. Dues are $20 but those who have con cerns can work with the executive board to alleviate them.

To learn more, email club president Sylvie Crowell at sfc28@case.edu and visit the pages below.

Website: community.case.edu/Quid ditch

Instagram: @cwrucio_quidditch

Facebook: @CWRUCIOQuidditch

Table Tennis

The Table Tennis Club offers a great way to have fun with friends while playing this indoor game, which can be quite casual or extremely flashy.

The club practices at Veale on Mon days, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:30-10:30pm. On Fridays, the team brings in Seth Pech, a high-ranked professional player and one of the best in Ohio, to lead drills and even play against members. The sessions involve a mix of people who play casually, are looking to improve their game and those who are either on the JV or varsity teams. Practices involve drills with the Table Tennis Robot to perfect strokes and matches between members. In midOctober, the club hosts tryouts for the JV and varsity teams, with the top eight performers making it to varsity.

Last March, the varsity team had a strong showing in their competitions and qualified for the National Collegiate Table Tennis Association Regionals as a wildcard. The club also hosts a Fresh man Tournament, which will be held in late September this year.

While the club sounds very serious, the members know how to have some good fun. Practices are relaxed and members often hang out at Euro Wafel or get food on Euclid Ave to get to know each other and build team chemistry.

“During our lunch break at division als,” recounted club vice president Na than Howell, “we were tasked to get around 100 chicken nuggets at McDon ald’s for the team. We were dying of laughter while ordering as we felt bad for the workers and the cars behind us. Greatest McDonald’s run of all time!”

Quidditch

Most “Harry Potter” fans know the basics of quidditch, but many don’t know how to truly play on a team. The CWRUcio Quidditch Club gives stu dents the opportunity to learn and get involved in this magical sport.

The club holds practices on Mondays and Wednesdays from 7-9 p.m. and on Saturdays from 2-4 p.m. on Freiberger Field. After a quick warmup and condi tioning exercises, a typical practice in cludes specific drills for the beaters and chasers which work on passing, throw ing, dodging and blocking the bludgers, as well as scoring and tackling. Mem bers then move to scrimmages.

Off the field, this club organizes sev eral amazing activities for its members. Game nights, “Harry Potter” Trivia

Night, Alumni Dinner, Quidsgiving and Spring Retreat are just a few highlights. One of the largest student-run dances on campus last year was the annual Yule Ball. The event incorporated perfor mances from student dance groups such as Nritya, Spartan Tappers and Swing Dance Club.

This fall, CWRUcio will be hosting home games on campus for members. Student and community spectators are also welcome. Additionally, the club will be hosting their second annual Spartan Run for Autism, a 5K charity run to be held on Sept. 18 from 9-11:30 a.m.

If you are interested in joining but cannot fully commit, you’re in luck: there is no attendance requirement for general body members. The club under

It is easy to join the table tennis club, whether you’re looking for intense competition or for a laid-back activity after classes. Tables, paddles and balls are provided but members are welcome to bring their own personal equipment. For varsity members, there is a manda tory requirement of attending at least three practices every two weeks. Dues, which go towards coaching, team equip ment and travel, are $25 for a semester and $40 for the year.

To learn more, visit the pages below.

Website: community.case.edu/TTC/ home

Instagram: @cwrutabletennis

Facebook:@CWRUClubTableTen nis

Ultimate Frisbee

Ultimate frisbee is certainly gaining popularity across the nation as it com bines the casual enjoyment of frisbeethrowing with team strategy. The Ul timate Frisbee Club brings together frisbee enthusiasts for relaxed and com petitive experiences alike.

The team practices three times a week for two hours on DiSanto or Frei

Two members the Club Table Tennis team spend their practice time per fecting their strokes Courtesy of @cwrutabletennis

The men’s and women’s Club Volleyball teams are welcoming environ ments for both competitive and casual players. Courtesy of @cwru_club vball

berger Field. Most practices consist of warmups, drills and scrimmage. Some times, practice times are used for film sessions or agility workouts. This level of dedication is not without reason: the team is one of the few at CWRU to par ticipate in NCAA DI competitions.

All competitions are tournamentstyle, and the teams attend one every month. The teams travel on Fridays, play six or seven games during the weekend and arrive back in time for next week’s classes. The club is slated to host a tournament this September. The competitive teams have found success recently, with the men’s team reaching the national championships qualifying game this past spring for the first time since 2016.

The club hosts many bonding events, including pasta dinners, board game nights and holiday parties. They also do community service and play urban disc golf around the campus.

Students of all skill levels and time commitments are welcome to join. If in terested, you are even welcome to sim ply show up to a regular practice. Dues are $40 per semester. Active members are required to purchase their own uniforms. However, the club does not want money to be a barrier. They have a strong relationship with the club’s alumni network, who are willing to pro vide financial assistance to sponsor a player.

“We take a lot of pride in playing high level [ultimate frisbee],” said club presi dent Hannah Chang. “We are one of the smallest schools that competes in DI, but we do exceedingly well despite the

plans on increasing the number of nonpractice meetings. For example, the club plans to run a grass tournament at the Fall Harvest Festival for people of all skill levels.

Interested members are welcome to attend a few practices and participate.

To officially join, club dues are $25 per semester, but those seeking financial as sistance are encouraged to reach out to the executive board. There is no man datory attendance for general members.

Members seeking a competitive envi ronment can try out for the competitive teams: these members are required to have consistent, diligent practice at tendance. No specific equipment is re quired but members are recommended to wear tennis shoes and athletic cloth ing.

To learn more, contact club president Callahan Rios (cxr329@case.edu) or visit the pages below.

Website: volleyball.case.edu Instagram: @cwru_clubvball

Water Polo

The only water-sport club at CWRU, the Water Polo Club provides a space for swimmers and water-lovers to bond.

Practices are held in the Veale Na tatorium on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and on Satur days from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Following warmups, members engage in shooting and defensive drills, followed by team scrimmages.

Every semester, the club endeav ors to host one tournament and travel to at least two away tournaments. In

Tennis teams shine at 2022 NCAA Championships

Kyle Grover Staff Writer

While most students were heading home for the summer in May, the Case Western Reserve University tennis teams were busy competing in the NCAA Divi sion III championship tournament. The men’s tennis team finished second in the team tournament for the second-straight year and finished with an overall season record of 25-5.

Then-third-year James Hopper and graduate student Jonathan Powell won the NCAA Doubles Championship, be coming the second pairing in program history to accomplish the feat.

The women’s tennis team reached the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time in program history, winning its first-ever NCAA Tournament match and falling just one win shy of the pro gram record for wins in a season with a record of 17-5. The women’s team ended the season ranked 12th.

Men’s Team

The men’s team hosted the tourna ment’s first three regional rounds at Carl ton Courts. With a first round bye, the men’s team pounced to a 5-0 win against Ohio Northern University in the second round. The Spartans rode this momen tum into the third round against the No. 39 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Though CWRU fell behind 3-0 due to uncharacteristic poor doubles play, the team’s strong singles play helped over come this deficit and make a miraculous comeback.

The Spartans then traveled to the USTA National Campus in Orlando, Florida to keep the team’s quest for a national championship alive. The men’s tennis team was locked in for their quarterfinal match against sixth-ranked Williams College with a swift 5-0 vic tory. CWRU’s dominance continued in the semi-finals with a 5-1 victory over fourth-ranked Middlebury College.

For the second year in a row, the Spar tans competed in the NCAA champion ship match. Unfortunately, their magical season ended when the men’s team suf fered a 5-2 defeat to the first-ranked Uni versity of Chicago Maroons.

Women’s Team

Just like the men’s team, the women’s tennis team started the NCAA champion ship team tournament at Carlton Courts. Though this was the first time CWRU women’s tennis has ever competed in the tournament, the Spartans didn’t get crushed by the weight of the moment and won their first match against No. 24 Denison University.

Starting off with doubles, the duo of second-year Katherine Wang and firstyear Radha Patel led the way with an 8-3 win. First-years Hannah Kassaie and Lily McCloskey extended the Spartans’ lead to 2-0 with an 8-6 win of their own. First-year Anna Kan quickly added an other point to the CWRU scoreboard after her opponent retired due to injury. Patel continued on with her success in doubles to singles play with a dominant 6-0, 6-1 victory. Shortly thereafter, the late Madeleine Eiss clinched the win for CWRU with a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

Unfortunately, the Spartans fell to the fourth-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps College Athenas in the second round. CWRU found themselves in a hole early in doubles play, with the Spartans los ing all three matches. Singles play did not fare any better, with the Athenas claiming victories in the first two singles matches winning the match 5-0.

With this defeat, the CWRU women’s tennis team’s highly successful season came to an end for all but two Spartans: Kassaie and McCloskey. The dynamic doubles pair now had to be locked in for the doubles tournament. Though Kassaie and McCloskey were unranked, they still had brilliant performances at the tourna ment. Their magical run ended in the quarter finals where they suffered a 5-7, 2-6 defeat against the University of Chi cago’s Shianna Guo and Slywia Mikos.

Overall, the CWRU women’s tennis team posted one of the best seasons in program history in 2021-2022. Still, the team is constantly looking to improve.

As the only aquatic Club sports team, the Water Polo team is excited at the prospect of attending two away tournaments, as well as hosting one this year. Courtesy of @cwruwaterpolo

odds. That being said, we have a team for everyone [from] those ultra-compet itive athletes that want to continue com peting at the highest level that they are capable of to those who just want to run around, let off steam and have fun for a couple of hours each week.”

To learn more, visit the pages below.

Website: ultimate.case.edu

General Instagram: @cwru_fighting gobies

Volleyball

If you played volleyball through high school and are looking to keep your skills up, the Volleyball Club provides a strong community for you to pursue your sports goals.

The club practices twice a week in ei ther Horsburgh or Adelbert Gym. Prac tices begin with stretches and warmups. The members then separate into compe tition teams and casual teams for drills and intra-team scrimmaging.

Most matches are held in the spring semester; the club also participates in one tournament a month and scrimmag es occasionally with other universities. Last spring, the men’s team placed first at the DII Silver Flight National Cham pionships.

In addition to these events, the club

the past, the teams have been to India napolis, Cincinnati and Rochester for these events. On tournament weekends, the teams play anywhere from three to five games. Last year, the club played against OSU and competed against the University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon University and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania at the home tournament. For more light-hearted competition, the club plans to host their annual alumni scrimmage on Oct. 8.

Outside the pool, the team loves their weekly trips to Mitchell’s Ice Cream. The club is very tight-knit, with many members making close friends through this organization.

Members are welcome to test out the waters for the first couple weeks of the semester. To continue, they must pay the $20 dues. Though attendance is not mandatory, the competitive team rosters are dependent on attendance points.

The mandatory meeting for the fall semester takes place on Sept. 7 from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on the second floor of Wyant Athletic Center.

To learn more, visit the pages below.

Website:https://community.case.edu/ cwruwp/home/ Instagram: @cwruwaterpolo

With the NCAA team’s championship over, the top players for CWRU’s men’s tennis shifted their focus to the NCAA individual championships. Second-year Vishwa Aduru, first-year Ansh Shah and Hopper were selected to represent CWRU in the singles draw. Hopper and Powell also qualified for the doubles draw.

Though the CWRU singles players ultimately faced defeat in the singles tournament, the doubles tournament was a different story. Hopper and Powell had great success and finished it off by best ing Emory University’s Andrew Esses and Nolan Shah 6-4, 6-1 in the doubles championship match. It was the second time in the history of the men’s tennis program that a CWRU pairing has won the NCAA Division III Doubles Cham pionship. Hopper and Powell joined former Spartans Eric Klawitter and CJ Krimbill in the honor, who earned the title in 2014.

Though the 2021-2022 season was an overall success for the men’s tennis team, they are already looking to next season.

“I think this season taught our team a lot of lessons and gave us even more inspiration and motivation to achieve the last hurdle of the NCAA team champi onships for this upcoming year,” said Shah when asked about the season. “Ob viously as a freshman coming in, I’m just trying to learn from the upperclass men and the coaching staff, but I think we just have to keep putting our head down and working hard and fight for an NCAA title.”

“It was our first time qualifying for NCAAs last season, which was super exciting,” said Wang when asked about the team’s future. “However, a big goal for us is to not only qualify again, but make a deeper run into the tournament this year.”

This upcoming season will be one of toughest in program history. Wang explains, “We’re going into this season without an integral member of the team. The passing away of Maddie has really taken a toll on our team and we all miss her more and more everyday, but I know we’re all ready to compete and leave it all on the court this season for her.”

Academic Success

While Spartan tennis had impressive performances on the court, they were also recognized for their achievements in the classroom. Both teams earned ITA All-Academic Team honors with a com bined grade point average of 3.827 and 3.747 for the men’s and women’s teams, respectively, for the 2021-2022 academ ic year.

In addition to this, second-year Sa hil Dayal from the men’s tennis team was the recipient of the Elite 90 Award, which is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the site of the finals for each of the NCAA’s champi onships, for the 2022 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championship. He be came just the fifth athlete in CWRU his tory to claim the honor.

The teams will kick off their season with some competitions this fall before returning in February for the spring. The women’s team will compete in the Ken yon Invitational for the Sept. 10 week end. The men’s team will play in the To ledo Invitational the following weekend.

Browns quarterback controversy overshadows team’s mediocre preseason efforts

Gaurav Hardikar Staff Writer

The Cleveland Browns, while em broiled in one of the most high-profile NFL scandals in recent memory, are preparing for a season of uncertainty following an uneven preseason.

With new starting quarterback De shaun Watson suspended for the first 11 games of the year, the preseason battles against the Jacksonville Jag uars, Philadelphia Eagles and Chicago Bears showcased the Browns’ weak nesses with their new star mostly on the sidelines.

Following an accomplished college career at Clemson University, Watson was selected in the first round of the 2017 draft by the Houston Texans. He spent his first four seasons in Hous ton, earning three Pro Bowl selections and charming countless fans with his flashy play and clutch deliveries.

By 2021, his fifth season, Wat son expressed discontent towards the Texans organization following early playoff exits and questionable trades. Watson demanded to be traded, put ting the Texans in a bind. Then came the allegations.

To date, Watson is accused of sexu ally assaulting and harrassing over 20 women. The allegations tanked Wat son’s trade value, leading many to speculate that the Texans covered up the allegations to force their star to cooperate and remain with the team. When he wanted out, it seemed as if the organization sought retribution.

This past March, the quarterback had all criminal charges dismissed, as there was insufficient evidence to con vince the jury of Watson’s guilt. How ever, the vast number of allegations and the 22 ensuing civil settlements told a different story in the court of public opinion. A week later, the Cleveland Browns traded for Deshaun Watson, surrendering six draft picks to the Tex ans in a highly controversial move. To add fuel to the fire, the Browns signed Watson to a five-year fully guaranteed contract worth $230 million, the larg est guaranteed contract in NFL history.

Yet Watson was still not in the clear. The NFL vowed to punish the former Texans quarterback for alleged con duct detrimental to the league’s repu tation. A judge appointed by the NFL determined that Watson should be suspended for the first six games of the 2022 season. Unsatisfied with the brevity of the suspension, NFL com missioner Roger Goodell appealed the ruling and came to an agreement with the league’s players association to sus pend Watson for the first 11 games and fine him a record $5 million.

The lengthened punishment might have seemed righteous at first, yet fans were quick to realize that this was all an attempt by the league to save face while avoiding any serious punish ment. Watson will now make his de but for the Browns this year against none other than the Houston Texans. To add on, the Texans avoided any sort of penalty for covering up the accusa tions, despite Watson’s extended sus pension indicating the NFL’s stance on the issue.

Fans also blasted the league for the comparatively small suspension considering the magnitude of the mis conduct. Calvin Ridley, a rising star on the Atlanta Falcons, was recently suspended for a full 17-game sea son for placing bets on his own team.

Josh Gordon, a talented wide receiver whose career has been riddled with suspensions, has missed 76 games primarily for repeatedly violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

While Watson has not been found guilty by law enforcement, Goodell

has clearly stated that he believes the accusations to be true. Fans have since accused the league of trivializing such a prevalent issue, as Watson’s 11-game punishment comes off as tone-deaf in comparison to the Ridley and Gordon suspensions.

The Browns took quite a toll throughout the whole ordeal. Despite finally ending a decades-long search for a quarterback by landing one of the best ones in the league, the Cleveland players and fan bases are divided over the controversy. The franchise has also agreed to donate $1 million to organi zations that combat sexual assault. Fur thermore, Watson now won’t be able to play for the Browns for more than half the season while the team plays in one of the league’s most competitive divisions. To top it all off, the Browns’ previous starting quarterback, Baker Mayfield, requested a trade after feel ing disrespected by the organization. Despite Mayfield helping the Browns win their first playoff game in over 20 years, the team clearly believed that Watson was the better option.

With Watson forfeiting his pay for each of the 11 games and Mayfield get ting traded to the Carolina Panthers, the Browns have more money to spend on an interim quarterback to steer the ship. But this silver lining still isn’t much to look at, as the Browns missed out on trading for plenty of viable op tions that comprised this past offsea son’s quarterback carousel.

The Washington Commanders ac quired Carson Wentz from the India napolis Colts, who grabbed former MVP Matt Ryan from the Falcons. The Falcons in turn picked up for mer Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Mariota from the Las Vegas Raiders. Most notably, the Browns could have pursued Russell Wilson, the virtuous future Hall-of-Famer and Super Bowl champion who was sent to the Denver Broncos from the Seattle Seahawks just two days before Cleveland made the move for Watson.

San Francisco 49ers quarterback

Jimmy Garoppolo, who has Super Bowl experience but was on the trad ing block while the reins went to the young replacement Trey Lance, seemed like the Browns’ only hope. However, the 49ers recently restruc tured Garoppolo’s contract to retain him and give him another shot in free agency next year. It now feels as though the Browns must struggle through the first 11 games with a back up quarterback.

Despite the noise, the Browns tri umphed over the Jaguars in the pre season opener. Watson only played in the first quarter, completing just 1 pass in 5 attempts before being re placed by backup Joshua Dobbs, who immediately led the Browns to their first touchdown of the game. Rookie running back Jerome Ford stole the show for Cleveland, tallying 57 rush ing yards and a rushing touchdown on 10 carries to add on to 45 receiving yards and a receiving touchdown on 4 receptions. Rookie cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. also impressed fans, in tercepting a Jaguars pass and taking it back 74 yards for a touchdown.

Following the 24-13 victory in Jacksonville, the Browns returned home for a game against the Eagles. While Dobbs continued to lead the charge at quarterback and even picked up a rushing touchdown, it seemed like Philadelphia had an answer for every Browns score. The Eagles eventually won 21-20 off a 55-yard third-quarter touchdown pass and held the Browns scoreless afterwards.

The Browns went on to suffer an identical loss at home against the Bears in the preseason finale. Jacoby Bris sett, the likely regular-season starting quarterback through Watson’s suspen sion, floundered against the Chicago defense, completing less than 60% of his throws while throwing an inter ception and no touchdowns. Yet fans nearly witnessed an impressive Cleve land comeback thanks to the backup quarterbacks.

After the Bears outscored the

Browns 21-6 in the first half, their of fense stalled completely. The Cleve land defense woke up to give their of fense a chance. Dobbs took the second possession of the half into the fourth quarter and delivered a 6-yard touch down pass to tight end Miller For ristall. Dobbs subsequently sprinted into the end zone for a 2-point con version to put the Browns within one score of a tie. The Browns defense continued to frustrate the Bears, as the visitors punted, fumbled and missed a field goal before Josh Rosen took over at quarterback for Cleveland. Rosen, a former first-round pick, was signed when it became evident that Watson would be suspended. Rosen delivered with a 1-yard rushing touchdown to trim the Bears lead down to 1 point.

Instead of going for the tie, how ever, the Browns opted for a potential game-winner and attempted another 2-point conversion. Unfortunately, Rosen’s pass fell incomplete, giving the Bears the chance to run out the clock and seal the win.

Despite the subpar August record, Browns fans shouldn’t lose hope over preseason woes, as starters rarely play in preseason games to avoid injury. Preseason games usually only show case backups that can be developed into starter material in the future. With a capable starting roster and Deshaun Watson set to return this year, the Browns’ immediate focus should be preparing Brissett, who most notably started two games as a rookie for the eventual champion New England Pa triots before playing well for the Colts. If Brissett can hold down the fort and Watson can thrive under the pressure on and off the field, the Browns may be in shape for Super Bowl contention this year.

The Browns open their season on Sept. 11 in dramatic fashion: a trip to Charlotte, North Carolina to play a vengeful Baker Mayfield, who will look to settle the score by leading the Panthers to a victory in his Carolina debut.

The Brown’s suspended quarterback Deshaun Watson, whose absence may be to blame for their mixed preseason record. Courtesy of Douglas DeFelice-USA TODAY Sports