April 1, 2021

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C • Drag king

N • Speaking up

S • The facilitator

SU senior Rachel Ayala, also known by her drag name Javier el Jugador, won Pride Union’s annual drag show and asked her partner Cheyenne Gentle an important question.

Page 7

SU’s annual Take Back the Night rally addressed obstacles that survivors of sexual assault face when trying to come forward and called on students to uplift survivors’ voices.

Page 3

Brendan Curry is one of the smartest players on the field. The All-American junior is on pace to break his career-best in assists by using his vision to feed teammates.

Page 12

Gaps to fill

coronavirus

SU reports 42 new COVID-19 cases

By Richard Perrins Asst. copy editor

SU implemented a hiring freeze ahead of the 2020-21 academic year to reduce the financial impact of the pandemic, disrupting some departments’ plans. katelyn marcy asst. illustration

After a months-long hiring freeze, faculty are working to fill positions left open by the pandemic

By Richard Perrins and Mira Berenbaum

A

the daily orange

fter a recent hiring freeze, some Syracuse University departments have had to adjust plans to account for the lack of new faculty.

SU instituted the hiring freeze ahead of the 2020-21 academic year to reduce the financial impact of the pandemic, and it was in place during the spring 2020 hiring period. Once the freeze ended in the fall, the university was able to hire 14 faculty members, said Ramesh Raina, interim vice president for research, in a statement.

Losses in revenue across the university could have contributed to the

implementation of the freeze, some faculty members said. And that freeze, though necessary, has disrupted plans within some departments.

“There’s been a shortfall in revenue,” said Robert Van Gulick, a professor of philosophy. “Enrollment is down somewhat, as some students have chosen not to matriculate or to take a year off, waiting for things to go back to normal. You’re taking less money in and you’re having to spend more money out, so you have to make up that difference.”

With the pandemic disrupting students’ plans this year, the university has been unable to predict how many would enroll and how much revenue it would receive, Van Gulick said. By instituting the freeze, SU could see faculty page 4

on campus

SU hosts annual Take Back the Night rally

By Sarah Alessandrini Asst. news editor

Editor’s Note: This story contains details of sexual assault and relationship violence.

Kimberely Ng has heard countless people ask why she’s “still not over” her sexual assault.

“Here is something I wish I was told four years ago,” said Ng, who was sexually assaulted for the first time at age 7. “Healing is not a linear process, nor does it fit into a set timeline.”

Ng, a Syracuse University senior and a member of the Take Back the Night planning committee, spoke

about her experience at this year’s Take Back the Night rally, which was streamed virtually from Hendricks Chapel.

Speakers and organizers at the event discussed the obstacles that make it challenging for survivors to report their assault and called on SU students to uplift survivors, who often grapple with the mental effects of their assault in silence.

College campuses across the country hold Take Back the Night rallies annually to bring attention to sexual and relationship violence.

This is the second year that SU has held the rally virtually.

“While much has changed

over the last year and much will change in the year ahead, we can rest assured that, together, we will continue to support one another, no matter who you are, no matter where you are,” said Brian Konkol, dean of Hendricks Chapel, in his opening remarks.

Survivors are often unsure of whether what happened to them was assault, Ng said. Since her assault occurred at a young age, she couldn’t come to terms with it until many years later, she said.

“For me to begin my healing process, I had to acknowledge what had happened to me, and I mean from the very beginning of it,” Ng said.

At SU, 95% of students don’t report their sexual assault, according to data spanning several years.

“Society expects us to know how to ask for help and how to behave when certain events occur,” Ng said. “They question survivors and why they didn’t know what happened to them right away, blaming them for their actions or inactions.”

Approximately 23% of female and 5% of male college students report having been sexually assaulted, said Jillian Scheer, an assistant professor of psychology at SU and the rally’s keynote speaker.

Scheer specifically noted the

see rally page 4

Syracuse University reported 42 new COVID-19 cases among students, faculty and staff in central New York Wednesday, a significant increase that has the university’s public health officials “extremely concerned.”

Campus surveillance testing has identified a considerable increase in cases over the past several days, indicating a surge of infection that is likely to have stemmed from off-campus parties and gatherings over the weekend, Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie said in a campus-wide email Wednesday.

As of Wednesday afternoon, SU was reporting 134 cases of the virus among students, faculty and staff in New York. There are 246 students in quarantine.

On Tuesday, SU moved more students into isolation than was typical of an entire week in the fall semester, Haynie said. He warned that, should the pace and scale of infections continue, the university would have no choice but to implement preventative measures to break the chain of transmission among the student population.

These actions are simple and selfless and keep you and those around you safe Vice Chancellor mike haynie

In his email, Haynie listed several measures the student body can take to limit the spread of the virus.

Students should continue to wear masks, social distance, avoid travel outside of central New York and participate in testing and contact tracing procedures “immediately and honestly,” he said. Students should also adhere to all directives from state and local authorities and the university.

“These actions are simple and selfless and keep you and those around you safe,” Haynie said.

Haynie reminded students to get vaccinated as soon as possible. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that all New York state residents aged 16 and over will become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine starting April 6. Haynie said that in addition to the new guidelines, many students are already eligible for the vaccine based on the state’s eligibility requirements. rcperrin@syr.edu @RichardPerrins2

2 april 1, 2021

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“Healing is not a linear process, nor does it fit into a set timeline.” - Kimberely Ng, member of the Take Back the Night planning committee.

See Page 1

OPINION “I cannot understand why the same attention will not be given to anti-Semitism that is given to all other forms of hate.” - columnist Samantha Kolb Page 5

CULTURE “For better or worse, I’m obsessed with knitting things.” - Tasha Getten, founder Scarlet Buton Page 7

SPORTS “Honestly, I look at him a lot like Peyton Manning.

Literally, the guy’s got an absolute cannon for an arm but a computer for a brain.” - Torre Kasemeyer on Brendan Curry Page 12

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NEWS

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PAG E 3

april 1, 2021

county

GSO

McMahon delivers State of the County address GSO to fill DPS review board position

By Dominick Pfisterer staff writer

COUNTY EXECUTIVE RYAN MCMAHON addressed several challenges that Onondaga County faced throughout the pandemic, including a rise in poverty and unemployment.

anya wijeweera asst. photo editor

By Mira Berenbaum asst. news editor

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon spoke of the county’s success in its coronavirus response and vaccination efforts at his State of the County Address on Wednesday.

In his address, which was held in Syracuse University’s National Veterans Resource Center, McMahon thanked several of the essential workers who helped with the county’s COVID-19 response.

“These partnerships proved resilient and stronger than ever in the face of this deadly virus,” he said. “All of your efforts literally saved lives. The state of our county is strong and our future is bright and promising.”

Essential workers and residents across the county — including those working in government, health care, education and essential businesses— worked together to limit the spread of the virus and protect residents who were most vulnerable to COVID-19, he said. County officials also worked to help local businesses stay afloat amid the pandemic, he said.

With vaccine distribution continuing to increase, McMahon said he plans to “crush COVID” over the next few months.

“From the first dose to today, the vaccine gives us hope,” he said.

“We can see the relief and hopefulness on people’s faces as they leave the vaccine clinic. We won’t stop until everyone who wants a vaccine has been vaccinated.”

McMahon also addressed several challenges Onondaga County faced throughout the pandemic, many of which are still prominent.

The county has seen a rise in poverty and unemployment since the pandemic began, he said. Applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — monthly supplements for purchasing nutritious foods — increased by 26%, and applications for Medicaid increased by about 9%.

The county has also suffered financially during the pandemic.

The 2021 budget was about $85 million less than the 2020 budget due to a loss in sales tax revenue and a 20% reduction in state aid, McMahon said.

“In the 2021 budget, we made

decisions we could control,” he said. “We cannot control revenue, but we can control spending.”

With more businesses, i ncluding Amazon, expanding operations within Onondaga County, McMahon expects over 1900 new jobs to become available over the next few years.

Amazon announced in May that it would open an Onondaga County distribution center in September 2021.

Ultra Dairy, a DeWitt-based food processing company, and Empire Polymer Solutions, a Rochester-based environmental company, also announced expansions within Onondaga County.

“These projects are truly a game-changer for our community,” he said. “Our momentum and progress is real and is undeniable.”

McMahon also said that visitors at the county’s parks have increased significantly throughout the pandemic. The Rosamond Gifford Zoo has seen success as the first zoo in the state to open amid the pandemic, he said.

The pandemic has been especially difficult for children, especially with schools and other

entertainment sites closing, McMahon said.

The county partially reopened schools and has found that the virus has not been widely transmitted within the classroom, McMahon said. County officials are preparing to bring students back to the classroom five days per week, he said.

The county will also launch a mental health program for students that includes opening mental health clinics at every county-run school.

McMahon plans to continue supporting local businesses that have struggled amid the pandemic.

The county is launching a gift card matching program that will match every $100 in gift cards participating restaurants sell.

While the pandemic has presented several challenges, it has brought the county together in some ways, McMahon said.

“We have experienced so much together. We have felt the anxiety, the fear and the pain,” he said. “We are stronger now than we were a year ago. We are strongest when we work together.” mlberenb@syr.edu @BerenbaumMira

acts of hate

DPS finds no suspects in racist flyer incident

By Michael Sessa news editor

The Department of Public Safety has no suspects in its investigation into racist flyers found in three Syracuse University buildings.

The flyers, which contained racist language targeting Chinese students, were found in Eggers Hall, Huntington Hall and the Hall of Languages on March 10.

DPS reviewed security camera footage, but the flyers were posted outside the range of cameras, said Chief Bobby Maldonado in a campus-wide email Wednesday. The department has also interviewed multiple people but hasn’t been able to identify any witnesses or

suspects, he said.

The department also has no updates in its investigation into a Feb. 27 incident where two individuals directed antiAsian language toward a student entering their apartment complex on Comstock Avenue.

The department immediately interviewed the victim and also conducted multiple canvases of the neighborhood, including interviews with neighbors. No camera footage of the area was available, and a review of additional camera footage from nearby did not provide any leads, Maldonado said.

DPS is also investigating a racist “Zoombombing” incident on Feb. 17 where an unknown person allegedly hacked into a student

organization’s meeting, typed a racist statement into the chat function repeatedly and played offensive music.

The department worked with SU’s Information Technology Services to identify IP addresses, but the individuals involved in the incident used methods to obscure their true location to avoid identification, Maldonado said. The Syracuse Police Department, state police and the FBI were all notified about the incident, he said.

DPS has also created a page on its website to host policies and procedures for public access and has already published several policies, Maldonado said. The update comes after former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch released an indepen-

dent review of the department that recommended it make nearly all of its operating procedures public.

Lynch’s 97-page report, which is the product of a year-long investigation into how the department interacts with members of the SU community and how officers interacted with students during protests on campus this past year, outlines 23 recommendations for improving the department.

DPS has also begun scheduling trainings on hate crimes, procedural justice, principled policing and trauma-informed policing, Maldonado said. The department plans to schedule additional training for officers, he said. msessa@syr.edu @MichaelSessa3

The Graduate Senate Organization spoke about its representation on a community review board that will oversee Syracuse University’s Department of Public Safety at its senate meeting Wednesday.

In a 97-page report about DPS, former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch proposed that the department establish a community review board to review and comment on standard operating procedures and review all community-facing functions of the department.

The report, which is the product of a year-long investigation into how the department interacts with members of the SU community and how officers interacted with students during protests on campus this past year, outlines 23 recommendations for improving the department.

GSO will appoint one student representative to the board, and the Student Bar Association will appoint a second graduate student.

GSO President Mir Hashemi will serve as chair of the temporary selection committee, which will review applications for the representative position.

“This community review board has specifically selected the GSO to fill this position,” Hashemi said. “It is my preference to have the board with me and have a shared decisionmaking process in which I can hear from other senators and collaborate in making this decision.”

Typically, the selection committee would be composed of the GSO president and the executive board, though the organization has decided to take a different approach to filling this position.

Other business

Comptroller Yousr Dhouadi said that GSO has partnered with an organization that supports graduate students studying public health.

GSO will help fund the organization, which is open to graduate students enrolled in SU’s master’s of public health program and provides health resources for students on campus.

There are currently 25 graduate students selected for memberships, said Mackenzie Ess, GSO’s internal vice president. “(The organization) wanted to have speakers this semester and present those speakers with gifts of gratitude for taking the time to speak with them,” Dhouadi said. “They also wanted to buy promotional items for graduate students as well as provide professional headshots.”

GSO will also help fund the George Fisk Comfort Society, the graduate student cohort in the Art and Music Histories department at SU, which produces a catalogue about art and culture.

GSO approved funding for the distribution of the catalogue, Ess said.

Kelli Fisher, a representative from the society, said the funds will help print and ship its second catalogue, which will be produced later in the semester and also feature an digital version. dpfister@syr.edu

4 april 1, 2021

dailyorange.com news@dailyorange.com

graduate student organization

SU’s WiTec club to host cryptocurrency workshop

By Lilli Iannella

contributing writer

Syracuse University’s Worldwide Innovation Technology Entrepreneurship Club is planning to host an online introductory cryptocurrency and cloud workshop on April 9.

Red Hat, a software production company owned by IBM, is sponsoring the workshop, which is set to take place from 2 to 5 p.m. The event aims to teach students the basic fundamentals of cryptocurrency and blockchain cloud-related platforms, said Aishwarya Raj, the co-president of the WiTec club.

“We’re looking at everything holistically,” Raj said. “Once students go through the entire workshop, they should gain clarity within aspects of confusion to further build upon their skills.”

Cryptocurrency is a form of digital curfrom page 1

rally sexual assault, including that survivors of sexual assalt are 13 times more likely to attempt suicide than the general population. Survivors may also deny their assault happened to protect themselves from the mental burden of doing so, Scheer said.

“Sometimes, we intentionally forget how bad it was or could be,” Scheer said. “Sometimes, we do not want to give abusers the power of knowing their violence affects us.”

A video performance from Peer Educators Encouraging Healthy Relationships, a student group based out of the Barnes Center at The Arch, focused on the topic of consent and coercion.

In the performance, students gave monologues of scenarios in which survivors grappled with the confusion of what had happened or

rency that takes the form of tokens or coins. It is typically utilized through blockchain technology, a decentralized network that tracks individual currency transactions.

Lee McKnight, an associate professor in SU’s School of Information Studies and the faculty adviser of WiTec, said blockchain and cryptocurrencies are modern forms of the U.S. dollar designed to produce a more efficient international payment system. Blockchain systems are a new form of ‘trustless trust’ technology where users can make anonymous, but verifiable, transactions, he said.

The first hour of the workshop will include hands-on cryptocurrency and blockchain training from student members of WiTec, Raj said. During the second half of the event, RedHat members will train students in using the company’s cloud technology, said Anishka Tahiliani, the other co-president of the club.

Tahiliani said the pandemic has caused a significant increase in cryptocurrency fluctuations, and the event will also provide students with the knowledge to deal with these situations.

denied to themselves that they were assaulted.

The performance demonstrated how survivors might feel alone or unsure of what to do after experiencing sexual assault.

“Often, after they have experienced something traumatic, people feel they might be overreacting,” one of the performers said.

People who experience sexual violence may suffer both short-and long-term effects, including shame, regret and embarrassment, which can lead to depression and isolation, one performer in the video said. Ng said she still experiences panic attacks and has a hard time sleeping some nights.

Students need to be proactive bystanders who speak up and intervene when they see something isn’t right, said Sheila JohnsonWillis, SU’s Title IX officer. It’s important to acknowledge that, because of fear and safety concerns, many survivors don’t speak up

about their assault, she said.

“To be Orange is to take care of our community and not to remain silent when something is not right,” Johnson-Willis said.

SU has made significant efforts in combating sexual and relationship violence, JohnsonWillis said, citing the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence.

“Take Back the Night is designed to unite us in purpose, but our commitment must extend beyond tonight,” Johnson-Willis said.

Johnson-Willis notioned to decorative stars hanging around the chapel. The stars were created by students over the past three years with messages about how they will “Take Back the Night.”

“Each of these stars is more than just a decoration,” Johnson-Willis said. “It is an individual promise from a member of our campus community about how they will work everyday toward ending interper-

sonal violence.”

The Clothesline Display, a project in which survivors of sexual assault, relationship violence and other forms of interpersonal violence decorated T-shirts to share their experience, will also be on display in the Schine Student Center until Sunday.

The virtual event closed with photos of past rallies displayed on screen along with text of various ways attendees said they would “Take Back the Night.”

“And here’s the other thing about healing: Not only is it not linear, but it is a roller coaster ride,” Ng said. “It is important to be supportive without questioning their experiences and trauma. If you take anything away from my remarks today, remember to be supportive of each other while some of us heal.”

from page 1

next year — as far as submitting names for administrative approval — has already begun, although it may take longer than in years past.

Beyond the hiring freeze, departments had to make internal cuts as well, Van Gulick said.

Each school and college within the university had to cut its budget by at least 5%, he said.

But leaving certain positions vacant helped schools and colleges, such as the College of Arts and Sciences, meet the 5% cut threshold, he said.

We’re already using digital currency.

This is the next wave of better, more efficient and uncrackable digital currencies.

Lee McKnight faculty adviser of witec

faculty control some of its expenditure, he said.

Despite the extensive revenue losses from the pandemic, SU decided not to use its $1.4 billion endowment fund to offset some of the financial ramifications.

When the pandemic hit, Van Gulick’s department had two vacant assistant professor positions it wanted to fill — one in ethics and one in metaphysics. One of the searches was far enough along that the department was able to approve the hire, he said. But the second position is still vacant.

“It had gotten to the point where we had clearly identified the candidate we wanted to hire and had requested permission to do so from the administration,” Van Gulick said. “So that position has not been filled, and we still hope that we’ll be able to fill it next year.”

Although the hiring freeze created temporary gaps within the faculty, it was emblematic of the many struggles professors have had to endure since the onset of the pandemic, said Albrecht Diem, an associate professor of history.

“Of course there are many things on hold: conferences, guest lectures, workshops and a lot of research that requires traveling and the use of libraries or archives, but I assume that we will be able to catch up once the restrictions are lifted,” Diem said. “I think that most professors are just focusing on the challenges of teaching online or on campus in the current situation.”

SU also froze salaries as part of its hiring freeze. While it is difficult not getting raises amid the pandemic, he understands that the situation is much worse at other universities, Diem said.

The hiring freeze is not unique to SU. Many other colleges and universities also paused hiring during the pandemic and have not restarted, meaning SU is currently in a stronger position than most to continue to hire faculty members, Raina said.

“Syracuse University restarted searches before many of our peer institutions,” Raina said. “The University is in a strong position to continue to hire and retain highly qualified faculty members.”

Van Gulick said that the hiring process for

Raj said she hopes that the workshop can enhance the students’ skills, especially those looking for jobs in the technology field.

Although most members of the club attend the iSchool, Raj and Tahiliani said they plan to potentially collaborate with other clubs within the school and SU’s Martin J. Whitman School of Management to further market their event.

WiTec members perform research work and connect with technology organizations, Raj said. The club benefits from networking opportunities through technology, technical workshops and search projects. Events like the upcoming workshop are good resume builders and valuable learning experiences for members, she said.

“We’re living in a digital world,” McKnight said. “We’re already using digital currency.

This is the next wave of better, more efficient and uncrackable digital currencies.” laiannel@syr.edu

scalessa@syr.edu @sarahalessan

“It’s not that the administration wouldn’t like to fill them, they just have to work with fiscal realities Robert Van Gulick su professor of philosophy

According to Raina, the hiring plans that restarted in the fall were part of long-term efforts to increase faculty diversity. Van Gulick said that these prior commitments by the university may prolong the efforts to fill the gaps in the faculty, regardless of good intentions.

“It’s not that the administration wouldn’t like to fill them,” Van Gulick said. “They just have to work with fiscal realities.”

SU restarted an initiative this fall to recruit and retain faculty and staff from underrepresented groups. The university has also instituted a faculty diversification fund to hire faculty members from underrepresented backgrounds. Funding for 69 new faculty hires was approved in 2020, on top of the 53 planned new hires announced in 2018 as a part of the Cluster Hires Initiative.

Though the hiring freeze was not ideal for faculty members, Van Gulick acknowledged the necessity for such a measure and recognized that nobody could have predicted the extent of COVID-19’s impact.

“In my department, we understood,” Van Gulick said. “It was the right thing to do.” news@dailyorange.com

OPINION

dailyorange.com opinion@dailyorange.com

PAG E 5

april 1, 2021

personal essay

Recent rise of anti-Semitism should be addressed, not ignored

By Samantha Kolb columnist

I

t seems that my people have been forgotten once again.

Anti-Semitism is not a topic that can be addressed in one column, so I won’t bother talking about everything that relates to this issue. However, I wish this country would hold anti-Semitism to the same standard that it holds racism and other forms of discrimination.

If the same energy were given to anti-Semitic hate crimes that is given to other types of hate, people such as basketball player Meyers Leonard wouldn’t have a job anymore. He recently used a common anti-Semitic slur while streaming “Call of Duty,” and his only punishments were a weeklong suspension, a $50,000 fine and an apology statement that he was required to share. Football player Julian Edelman stated that he would educate Leonard about the word and anti-Semitism, and no one has said anything since.

Why is it then that Steve Clevenger of the Seattle Mariners was suspended for the rest of the Major League Baseball season for his tweets about the Black Lives Matter movement? What he said was not right and should absolutely never be tolerated, but I believe that using an anti-Semitic slur warrants a similar punishment.

It seems to me that the general public doesn’t think Jewish people face discrimination anymore, but this couldn’t be further from the truth.

It’s unacceptable that discussions of the rise of anti-Semitism are few and far between. More needs to be done for the Jewish community. emily steinberger photo editor

Cancel culture has become the knight in shining armor against racism and almost all other forms of discrimination, but it has abandoned Jewish people and is ignoring anti-Semitism.

I know firsthand that there are still those who don’t like Jewish people. I have experienced various forms of anti-Semitism my whole life.

When I really sit down and reflect on it, I realize that a year hasn’t gone by where I wasn’t the subject of antiSemitic jokes or comments.

As a kid growing up, other kids used to make fun of me for my nose, and one girl in particular would repeatedly call it a “Jew nose.” I never understood why she would

say that until I got a bit older and discovered that there are a plethora of harmful stereotypes about Jewish people, and that having a large, “ugly” nose is one of them.

Along with that, there are also the stereotypes that we are good with money, are very greedy, don’t like to spend said money, and above all, hate Christians no matter what.

Some would even go so far as to believe that Jewish people are the spawn of Satan himself, and if you look close enough, you can find a pair of horns on all of our heads.

While I was attending a sleepaway camp during my early years of high school, I once had a fellow camper

come up to me and aggressively place his hand on my head and say loudly, “Wait, where are your horns? My dad told me that all Jews have devil horns, since you guys come from the devil!”

He was shell-shocked when I didn’t confirm what his dad had been telling him his whole life and walked away with a dissatisfied look on his face — as if he wanted to go home and brag to his family that he finally saw and felt a Jewish person’s horns.

Although I was never subject to any extreme anti-Semitism experiences on campus, I started to fear that something might happen to me when there were antiSemitic hate crimes taking place

on campus last year.

I began to hide my star of David when I walked around on campus, and eventually, I stopped wearing it at all. I wanted no one to be able to tell outwardly that I was Jewish, and I was able to accomplish this by simply hiding my necklace.

One thing that a lot of people do not speak about is the fact that former President Donald Trump signed an executive order that would cut government funding to any university or college that wasn’t actively working to put an end to anti-Semitism on their campuses, and ensure the safety of their Jewish student population.

Without this, I worry that antiSemitic hate crimes will be allowed to continue on campuses across the country, and that anti-Semitism will continue to be ignored by cancel culture. I cannot understand why the same attention will not be given to anti-Semitism that is given to all other forms of hate.

Any and all forms of discrimination should not be tolerated, and we cannot pick and choose which groups of people to stand up for. Now that Syracuse University’s Student Association has passed a bill that condemns anti-Semitism, I hope that future students will be able to enjoy being on campus without worrying that their peers will be able to get away with anti-Semitic jokes and hate crimes.

Samantha Kolb is an environmental studies major at SUNY-ESF. Her column appears biweekly. She can be reached at sakolb@syr.edu

column

Onondaga County will reap benefits from marijuana legalization

By Nathan Fenningdorf columnist

N

ew York state has become the 15th state to legalize marijuana for recreational use, ending a threeyear dispute regarding the Schedule I drug’s legal status. The bill, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed Wednesday, has impressive provisions that will benefit marginalized community members in New York state.

New York State Sen. Liz Krueger believes that this bill will mend the injustices that drug laws have expedited. “Key provisions of the bill will begin to repair the heavily discriminatory impact that enforcement of prohibition has had on communities of color in New York State,” a press release from the senator states.

The bill dedicates 40% of state revenue from marijuana toward reinvestment in communities disproportionately impacted by the drug war and previous policies that have been detrimental to marginalized groups. Another 40% of revenue will go to schools and public education within New York, and the

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final 20% will go to drug prevention, treatment and education.

New York state’s marijuana industry is estimated to be valued at $4.2 billion, which will lead to over $350 million in yearly tax revenue.

With 40% of that revenue going toward reinvestment into communities affected by the drug war, these communities will receive $140 million per year. Another $140 million will go to the state’s public education system, which will help it improve in the many urban districts that lack adequate funding. Lastly, $70 million in yearly tax revenue will go toward drug prevention, which is an important provision, as this money will come from drug sales.

With an influx of money going toward the public education system, drug prevention programs and communities disproportionately impacted by the drug war, the New York state government is trying to right its overwhelming wrongs of the past.

One of the other significant provisions in this bill is the automatic expungement of records for people with previous convictions for marijuana use that is no longer crimi-

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nalized. Small marijuana charges will be wiped from people’s records, and people who are incarcerated for these charges will be released.

These are major steps in the right direction for New York, and they’ll undoubtedly aid in the effort to make New York state more equitable for all of its residents.

The news of legalization was met with expected backlash from groups such as the Medical Society of the State of New York, which represents thousands of physicians within New York. These physicians believe that legalization will allow minors to gain more access to marijuana, which they think could be detrimental to their health. But many progressive organizations, faith-based groups and labor unions within New York supported legalizing marijuana for recreational use. These groups encouraged the state to legalize marijuana due to the positive impacts it would have on marginalized communities.

More than 90% of New York college students supported the legalization of marijuana, according to a survey from the NewsHouse that closed

in January 2020. For these students, their lucky day is here. While SU students under the age of 21 will not be able to legally buy marijuana, the large number of SU students who are over 21 will be able to. SU students of legal age who enjoy a puff of marijuana once in a while can now feel free to light up responsibly.

The state’s tax revenue funds

Casey Darnell

Emma Folts

KJ Edelman

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

MANAGING EDITOR

DIGITAL MANAGING EDITOR

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illustration by sarah allam senior staff illustrator

will be invested into the education system into the community. This is a groundbreaking bill that will unquestionably improve the lives of many people in New York and in Onondaga County specifically.

Nathan Fenningdorf is a sophomore political science major.

His column appears biweekly. He can be reached at nlfennin@syr.edu

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CULTURE

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PAG E 7

april 1, 2021

Last dance

RACHEL AYALA a Syracuse University senior, has performed in Pride Union’s Annual Drag Show for four years. Her performance on Saturday was her first win in the competition.

emily steinberger photo editor

Rachel Ayala won Pride Union’s 19th Annual Drag Show as Javier el Jugador.

She closed out the night by proposing to her partner.

By Gavi Azoff

asst. digital editor

F

or four years, Rachel Ayala has taken to the stage in Pride Union’s Annual Drag Show and become drag king Javier el Jugador. This year, she dazzled the audience with her black joggers, cheetah print jacket and zebra print mask.

At the night’s end, Ayala won the show. And, as if the night couldn’t get any better, she popped the question to her partner, Cheyenne Gentle.

“We ended up hugging for so long at the end,” Ayala said. “I was going to try to see if I can get her to do another little dance with me, but we were both just shaking so much that I was like let’s just hug.”

Her final Pride Union Drag Show performance took place Saturday, where five finalists from the preliminaries performed for famous drag queens Roxxxy Andrews and Alaska — who were both on RuPaul’s Drag Race — as well as an in-person and Zoom audience. The show

featured student performances, as well as performances by the hosts and judges.

The show ended with Ayala’s proposal, which she had been thinking about doing since last year’s show. For Gentle, going out onto the stage at the end of Ayala’s performance was nerve-wracking because she knew something big was going to happen but didn’t know exactly what.

Although they didn’t meet in person and start dating until later on, Gentle saw Ayala for the first time on the drag show stage their freshman year.

That, Gentle said, was the first time she admired Ayala as a person and thinks it’s cool how everything came full circle.

“All I could really think was just that it was going to be an amazing experience and that it’s something really, really surreal that I can think about for the rest of my life,” Gentle said.

Hunter Gorick, the vice president of Pride Union, knew a bit about each performance before the show but didn’t know about the proposal. “I was completely shook,” Gorick said.

Like the rest of the audience, judges and hosts, see drag

king page 8

he wasn’t sure if the proposal was part of the performance or real and had to go backstage to confirm that it was in fact real.

Ayala said that despite everyone saying she “won by a mile” before the winner was announced, she didn’t believe them because she thought the other performances were so good. She described winning as feeling like a dream.

She plans to place the crown she received on Saturday night on top of the hat rack where she stores her snapbacks. Being part of Pride Union and the drag community has helped her find her place on campus. When she first got to SU, Ayala mostly hung out with straight girls. But she felt alienated because she couldn’t relate to them.

One night in Shaw Hall, those girls convinced Ayala to watch Magic Mike with them.

She thought the movie was terrible, but she genuinely enjoyed watching it and went on to Google Channing Tatum. In the process, she came across a video of his ex-wife Jenna Dewan in drag. That, for Ayala, was a moment of clarity — women can do drag, too.

slice of life

Seniors’ app makes shopping safer for those with allergies

By Folabomi Olujimi staff writer

While grocery shopping with her cousin in August 2019, Kyra Thomas read food labels in search of pescatarian options. She thought it would be helpful to have a way to scan food labels and immediately know what is in the items she was contemplating buying.

“Reflecting on my experience — when it comes to finding food I can eat — put the idea in my head that it would be cool to be able to

scan food without taking it off the shelf,” said Thomas, a Syracuse University senior.

InfoBytes, Thomas’ app that’s currently in development, creates a health profile for each user, allowing them to scan food items’ barcodes and know whether the item falls under their dietary restrictions.

Thomas created the app with fellow computer science students Tiara Logan, Jeremy Gavrilov and Lauryn Rivers. She connected with them as freshmen, and the group

We’re just trying to make that process of grocery shopping and finding safe foods easier for a lot of people Kyra Thomas co-founder of infobytes

have been in classes together since.

The creation of the app started off for fun during the CuseHacks 2020 Hackathon and turned into something bigger. They went on to win the “best inclusive hack” prize, and the victory showed Thomas and her teammates that their app has traction.

The group felt they needed a business to attach to the app to be taken seriously. In February 2021, they created the Signal Technologies company, hoping to continue

creating apps to make the world more accessible to people.

The app is targeted for people with visual impairments, said Gavrilov, an SU senior and co-chief technology officer of Signal Technologies.

“If you’re at the supermarket, what the app will let you do is scan the barcode and inform you if you can’t eat something because it has nuts in it, or because you’re on keto,” Gavrilov said.

Logan, a co-chief operating officer of Signal Technologies see infobytes page 8

8 april 1, 2021

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slice of life

C

How 1 SU senior turned knitting into brand ‘Scarlet Buton’

By Abby Presson asst. copy editor

The first thing Tasha Getten ever knit was a hat, made from a knitting kit. Next, a patchwork blanket. And now, Getten knits one-of-a-kind clothing pieces that she sells through her Instagram shop, Scarlet Buton.

The Syracuse University senior launched the Instagram account for her clothing company Scarlet Buton that sells knitwear pieces on March 13.

“My mom, a couple years ago, had bought me this little knitting kit,” Getten said. “I was always a really artsy kid. And so I was like, ‘You know what, I’ll just pick it up, see what happens.’”

In February, Getten had a conversation about how she wanted to turn her hobby into a business with one of her best friends and fellow senior Rachel Wurzburger. Wurzburger offered to help on social media and Getten accepted.

Wurzburger — who’s planning to work in social media after graduation — immediately started thinking about how to launch Scarlet Buton’s social accounts while maintaining Getten’s vision for the brand, even working with Getten to put together a mood board.

From the start, Getten and Wurzburger

wanted to ensure the branding was right and Getten’s knits weren’t coming off as tired or old-fashioned knitwear, but instead as trendier pieces. While they were brainstorming how to advertise the knitwear, Wurzburger tossed out the phrase that has since become the brand’s tagline and Instagram bio: “Not the sh*t your grandma knits.”

What I like to say is you can go have a picnic in a shirt in the afternoon and go to the club in the same top Tasha Getten founder, scarlet buton

Though making each individual knit piece can be time-consuming, Getten enjoys the process. When she walks around craft stores like Michaels to buy supplies, Getten will sometimes look at a ball of yarn and think that it would look great for a certain design, shape or pattern. She’ll often knit during downtime, like while she watches TV, both to enjoy the

hobby and produce a new item.

Getten wanted to be sure that Scarlet Buton came across as fun, not like classical knitwear, and fits well with the demographic of collegeaged girls. This shows in the little things on the brand’s Instagram, like Getten’s idea to end every post with the phrase “luv you, mean it.”

Many of the pieces Getten posts on Scarlet Buton’s Instagram are cropped designs and share details with popular styles. Knitwear overall is a trendier style right now, Getten said.

“What I like to say is you can go have a picnic in a shirt in the afternoon and go to the club in the same top, Getten said.

Despite only launching the brand’s socials about two weeks ago, the duo actively worked to promote the company and develop its online presence. Developing the brand required promotional photos to post, so on March 13, they held a photoshoot in Getten’s backyard with some of their Kappa Kappa Gamma sisters to get promotional photos of the clothes.

Not only did the shoot result in new photos of the clothes to market on social media, but freshman Alexia Siguero Campo also filmed a behind-the-scenes style video of the shoot that she thinks captures the “essence” of the brand, Siguero Campo said.

“(Getten) transformed a concept that you have this idea of being very classical and very old school, neat, polished, and she just transformed that idea and made it trendy and cool,” Siguero Campo said.

Though the company itself began in the middle of a pandemic and is only a few weeks old, Getten’s happy with the growth she’s seen in the brand already. It’s helped that buying from small businesses is trending at the moment and that people are “always looking for the next cute thing,” she said.

Getten hopes to build on the growth she’s already seen with Scarlet Buton by potentially launching a website or developing a larger online platform for the brand. Wurzburger wants to expand its social media reach and has her sights set on TikTok. But for now, Getten’s biggest goal for Scarlet Buton is to maintain the Instagram shop and growth that she’s already seen.

“For better or worse, I’m obsessed with knitting things,” Getten said. “And it’s what I do every night while I lay down and watch Netflix or whatever, I’m sitting there knitting away. And I think for me, the biggest reward is just not only getting to make the product but seeing people wear it and enjoy it.” abbypresson@dailyorange.com

slice of life

‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ depicts women’s challenges

By Ethan Chu

screen time columnist

Early in “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” teenager Skylar asks her cousin Autumn, “Don’t you ever wish you were a dude?”

“All the time,” she replies. It’s not safe being a teenage girl out there in the world. This is inherently something people already know, but far fewer may comprehend.

Eliza Hittman’s 2020 indie darling “Never Rarely Sometimes Always,” which she wrote and directed, burst onto the scene when it premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and received broad critical acclaim. The film competed for the Golden Bear at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival and received the Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize. The film is an important and unflinchingly honest portrait of womanhood and what it feels like to not feel control over one’s body.

The story follows 17-year-old Autumn, who we first meet when she’s on stage at a high from page 7

drag king Ayala first got into drag as a freshman in 2018 after seeing Pride Union’s flyer for the drag show that emphasized the idea that drag isn’t about a specific gender expression.

“I remember looking at it and knowing that it wasn’t just about drag queens, and that if I showed up as a drag king, even if I didn’t make it pass preliminaries, I would still have fun and people would still be supportive,” Ayala said.

The inspiration behind the name Javier el Jugador comes from Ayala’s Puerto Rican culture, which she fell out of touch with while going to a predominantly white high school in Cornwall, New York, and living in an area with few Puerto Ricans.

From Ayala’s first performance as Javier el Jugador in 2018 to this year, Gentle has watched Ayala grow more comfortable on stage as a performer. In that first performance as Javier, it was telling that Ayala was a freshman and new to drag. But Gentle said that from page 7

infobytes and a software developer for InfoBytes, wants to use tech to help people. She and Thomas are currently focusing on creating websites for Signal Technologies and InfoBytes, while Gavrilov has been doing research into developing the app and Rivers has been creating a business plan.

Rivers, a co-chief technology officer of

school talent show playing the guitar and singing. A boy from the audience shouts out the word “sl*t,” and the crowd breaks into laughter. Autumn pauses and continues, somehow finding the strength to push forward.

Later, Autumn suspects she might be pregnant, which is confirmed when she goes to a fertility clinic. She knows she wants an abortion, but the local fertility clinics and law in rural Pennsylvania are conservative and require her to get parental consent for an abortion. She knows her immediate family will not be supportive.

From the beginning of the film, it is clear the empathy Hittman has for her characters. The film isn’t voyeuristic in nature, and Autumn’s portrayal isn’t completely helpless and miserable. When Autumn is seemingly all out of options, she enlists the help of her cousin Skylar (Talia Ryder), and together they travel across state lines to New York City, where Autumn (Sidney Flanigan) can get an abortion without parental consent.

While they have differing personalities, the two women share a deep bond that is at most times non-verbal. The core of the film, and what gives a slight glimmer of hope to the viewer, is the relationship between Autumn and Skylar.

Relative newcomers Sidney Flanigan’s and Talia Ryder’s respective portrayals of Autumn and Skylar are incredibly powerful and compelling. The performances are subtle and understated.

Flanigan’s silent reserve is an active one, often in response to the pressure she is under and the fear of being judged by the people around her. Her silence speaks volumes about how society treats and marginalizes womens’ issues and reproductive rights, which can be seen when Autumn returns home and swallows a whole bottle of pills and repeatedly punches her stomach, all in an attempt to induce an abortion.

It’s a harrowing and disturbing scene, but all too real.

Hittman’s presentation of her social commentary is similarly non-verbal. While the film’s pro-choice stance is clear, it never preaches its messages. Instead, Hittman chooses to place the viewer in the position of these two young girls and the incredibly difficult journey they endure.

It is because of this subdued style that the film feels honest and authentic. The events of the film are realistic and unfold honestly.

Life is difficult enough. And within this realism, the film demonstrates and reflects how frightening and cruel the real world can be, which makes Autumn’s journey that much more powerful and utterly devastating.

“Never Rarely Sometimes Always” is a story of survival. It is an often difficult viewing experience and it offers no easy answers.

It is an urgent and deeply affecting piece of filmmaking about young women trying to do what’s best for them in a world that is seemingly against them. echu02@syr.edu

Ayala is now much more confident in the Javier persona.

“I really just felt like Rachel and Javier are fully one person now, even though technically Javier is still a persona, and it feels like she fully came through with her drag,” Gentle said.

Similar to the preliminaries, Javier’s performance was a hybrid of prerecorded and live dancing. The first part was the video, which featured Ayala as Javier el Jugador and Gentle as her own drag persona, Steve the Twink, dancing together.

Ayala said she incorporated the polyamorous flag into the video and onstage performance as a way to bring attention to polyamory, which involves having more than one partner. That is one way that performing in drag allows her to openly express her gender and sexuality.

Gorick said that Javier’s specialty is engaging with the audience, which is challenging to do with COVID-19 restrictions.

“It was interesting to see how they were able to then take their super engaging and

pretty sexualized aesthetic and then transfer that to a hybrid performance of it starting on Zoom, a virtual performance, and then transferring that to the in-person but obviously restricted stage performance,” he said.

Though this year’s Pride Union Drag Show was different than in past years, it was still a success, with over 100 people attending on Zoom and more in the Goldstein Auditorium. Gorick said that every year, the turnout grows.

Looking back on Saturday night, Ayala’s performance as Javier el Jugador is one everyone is going to remember. And for Ayala and Gentle, they will have an amazing engagement story to tell.

“I could not get over the idea of like 20 years from now I’ll be able to tell people that I have professional footage and pictures of my engagement and that there were famous drag queens there who congratulated me,” Ayala said. “That’s just absolutely ridiculous and I had to take the opportunity.” gavi@dailyorange.com

@gavi_azoff

Javier el Jugador comes from Ayala’s Puerto Rican culture. gavi azoff asst. digital editor

Signal Technologies, thought the idea for InfoBytes was genius when she first heard it, as she has family and friends with a wide range of food allergies and dietary restrictions.

The students have focused on developing the business in the past few months, Thomas said.

That way, the company will be able to accept any funds they may generate and acquire.

Thomas appreciates that, even with conflicting schedules, the group still reaches out to one another for support. The team tries to

meet via Zoom two to three times a week.

“We are always there for each other,” Thomas said.

The group hopes to continue building together after graduating. Gavrilov already has a job lined up after graduation but is hoping to continue his work with Signal Technologies and InfoBytes as a “side hustle,” he said. Logan is also busy creating her own applications geared toward helping people.

Rivers has high hopes for the future, including launching the app within a couple of years and seeing people begin to use it.

She also looks forward to expanding the company’s team of employees.

“We understand that the ingredient lists can be hard to read sometimes, and we’re just trying to make that process of grocery shopping and finding safe foods easier for a lot of people,” Thomas said. oaolujim@syr.edu

april 1, 2021 9

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from page 12

nfl draft All-Atlantic Coast Conference third-team defense this past season and has seen his draft stock rise significantly, especially after a strong showing at the Senior Bowl in late January. And Williams, despite playing out of position at Syracuse, has impressed scouts with his versatility and athletic profile. “(Trill’s) been one of my favorite players in the secondary,” Borowsky said. “If I was an NFL GM, I wouldn’t hesitate to take the kid in the first round.”

There’s very few knocks on the three of them.

They’re all going to go very high, and I think (they’ll) have successful careers.

Jack Borowsky sports illustrated scout

Williams’ 6-foot-2, 198-pound frame is rivaled by few besides Melifonwu’s 6-foot-3, 213-pound build. Melifonwu’s physicality, foot speed and ball skills have all impressed scouts. He ran a 4.48 40-yard dash at the Pro Day in addition to recording a 78.5inch wingspan. Melifonwu only recorded three career interceptions at Syracuse, but teams typically avoided throwing near him in 2020.

“I think he’s the third-best corner in this class, and it’s a really good class,” said Lorenz Leinweber, a senior scout at the NFL Draft Bible. “I think the size and athleticism that he brings is rare, but he’s also got the tape to back it up.”

Melifonwu is expected to be the first Syracuse player taken this year, sometime between picks 20 and 50, the scouts predicted. from page 12

casares-maher after a life-saving surgery, but CasaresMaher came out with a newfound appreciation for softball, and for life itself. As a freshman at SU, her grandfather bought her a necklace that Sharon said symbolizes “counting her blessings.”

Casares-Maher, now a senior, has worn that necklace in every game since her freshman season. She currently leads SU in 10 offensive categories, including runs, hits and batting average. Softball saved her when she was at her lowest in high school, Sharon said.

During the fall 2018, Sharon was diagnosed with cancer once again, this time in her liver. Casares-Maher was thousands of miles away from family in California, and Sharon said it was harder for the SU sophomore to cope the second time. Now, after Sharon’s second diagnosis with and recovery from cancer, Casares-Maher steps up to the plate in honor of her mother every game day.

“I think, if she wasn’t playing softball, she

Leinweber put a first-round grade on Melifonwu, while Borowsky said he will likely be a second-round selection behind CBs such as Alabama’s Patrick Surtain II and South Carolina’s Jaycee Horn. The Draft Network’s Zach Cohen said that, out of SU’s three players, he would be “least surprised to see” Melifonwu drafted in the first round. Cohen identified the Green Bay Packers as a potential team for him.

For most of the 2020 season, Cisco was SU’s highest-rated prospect, but his junior season was cut short after two games due to a knee injury. Scouts said that poor tackling, in addition to the injury, could negatively impact his draft stock. Cisco didn’t run a 40-yard dash time at Pro Day, and his medical results heading into the draft could play a large role in where he lands, the analysts said. But his playmaking ability as a single-high free safety, as well as his role as part of a “weak” safety class, will likely allow him to hear his name called sometime in the third round.

While Williams has been the least-discussed of the three, scouts acknowledged that he played out of position for most of his time at Syracuse, usually lining up at nickelback rather than at free safety or outside cornerback. But his size, physicality and versatility have impressed scouts thus far.

In October, Williams shut down Clemson’s Amari Rodgers, a potential top pick in this year’s draft. But he didn’t have the chance to play outside corner, where he could’ve covered bigger wideouts, such as Justyn Ross or Tee Higgins. Borowsky said Williams’ freshman film, when he played a lot of outside cornerback, was stronger, and he believes Williams has the most potential out of the three prospects.

“All three of them will have solid NFL careers, and they’ll all be names to watch come April,” said Vincent Calderone of the NFL Draft Bible. csmith49@syr.edu @csmith17_

probably would’ve been in a big depression,” Sharon said.

Sharon’s first diagnosis came after Mater Dei’s preseason tournament. It affected the whole team, as she was a team mom that was very active in the program.

Tia Meza, Mater Dei’s coach, and Sharon introduced Monday night team dinners that season to keep everyone connected.

Every Monday throughout the season, the players and their families gathered at the softball field for a meal. Later on, when another player had a medical issue in her family, the players came together as a family, too, Meza said.

“This group became very close, and they trusted each other completely,” Meza said.

“Every time they took the field, they played for each other.”

Casares-Maher was always one of the quietest players on the team, which made it difficult for Meza to fully recognize how she was handling Sharon’s cancer. Meza and the rest of the team tried to make themselves open to conversations for the moments when Casares-Maher did want to talk.

By the end of the season, Sharon’s initial

Three Syracuse defensive backs are expected to be selected in the first three rounds of the 2021 NFL draft. courtesy of robert willett news & observer

diagnosis that she had five months to live dissipated when she had surgery to remove the cancer.

Mater Dei went on to win the state title that year, its first since 1998. Casares-Maher clinched it for the Monarchs, catching a pop fly in left field for the final out of the 8-2 win over Orange Lutheran. She finished the season as Mater Dei’s best defensive player and was named to the All-Trinity League’s first team.

“They were not the most talented team that had ever set foot on the Mater Dei campus,” Meza said. “(But) because they trusted each other, because they honestly cared for each other, they played at a higher level together.”

Casares-Maher received college offers as a freshman and sophomore, but she took a step back in the recruiting process as a junior. She didn’t have the same motivation as she previously did to find a college until Sharon and her club coaches pushed her back into it.

With interest from top-tier programs such as Arizona and South Carolina, most of Casares-Maher’s attention had been a result

of strong advocacy from her club coaches at the So Cal Athletics. The final step was finding the right fit for her.

“She could win a game in so many different ways, kind of like a Mookie Betts type of player,” said So Cal Athletics coach Doug Myers. “Every time she went on the field, I always knew that she was going to be the best infielder on the field” But Casares-Maher began her senior year without a commitment. That’s when her batting coach, Ken Briggs, reached out to then-Syracuse head coach Mike Bosch, telling him to extend an offer to Casares-Maher while she was still available.

He immediately showed interest, and Casares-Maher was swayed to move across the country and join the Orange. She made an immediate impact, earning a starting role as a freshman. She was the team’s top slugger a season later, in Shannon Doepking’s first year as Syracuse’s head coach.

But that fall, Sharon was diagnosed with cancer once again. Casares-Maher was away from her family, but her team once again stood by her side. ahcirino@syr.edu

Wescott Area Roommate Wanted Beginning: May 1st 2021 Great location, great apartment, great opportunities for reduce/free rent I am a self-advocate living with an intellectual disability (36year old, male); currently a TA at Syracuse University and work for the Taishoff Center. I travel to speak at conferences around the US. I also like going to sporting events at Syracuse University.

I am looking for: • Someone who is caring and motivated to support my connection to the community through social and recreational activities • Help in routine apartment upkeep • A friendly, outgoing roommate to share occasional meals and hanging out.

I will offer: • Reduced/Free Rent and Utilities • Monthly food stipend Minimum Requirements: • Roommate agreement • Proof of COVID-19 Vaccination and/ or expected completion Interested?

Have any questions about my apartment or me?

Please contact the e-mails listed below: micahff@aol.com hayes.m.andrea@gmail.com

“I had a lot of fun living with Micah during my first two years of school. We had dinners together, explored community events and had lots of great conversations. I feel very lucky to be a part of Micah’s circle of support.”

NELI CASARES-MAHER used softball to cope after her mother was diagnosed with cancer twice. jordan phelps staff photographer

10 april 1, 2021

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volleyball

How Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk returned from torn ACL

By Henry O’Brien staff writer

Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk had two opportunities to tie the final set of Syracuse’s seasonopener. The outside hitter’s first attack was blocked by two Tar Heels. Setter Elena Karakasi recovered the ball and set up Lokhmanchuk on the outside once again. This time, Lokhmanchuk spiked the ball into the net to give UNC the set — and the match.

Two days later against Clemson, Syracuse was down 12-11 in the fifth set after backto-back points by the Tigers. Once again, Lokhmanchuk had two opportunities to tie it. Her first attempt was easily received and returned by Clemson. But when Karakasi set to her again, the ball ricocheted off Clemson’s Cate Long in the backcourt, tying the match.

She’d get one more kill in the match for a career-high 17 overall for the Orange’s first spring victory.

Lokhmanchuk has taken over the outside hitter role for the Orange and leads the team with 65 kills this spring. While senior Yuliia Yastrub has seen some time from the position, Lokhmanchuk has made it her own, starting in all but one game this spring. Star outside hitter Polina Shemanova was unable to return from her native Russia this season, allowing Lokhmanchuk to have her first opportunity in the starting lineup. After spending all of 2019 injured, Lokhmanchuk finally had a chance to play this season.

“If there is any player that I am so happy

for, it is Viktoriia Lokhmanchuk,” head coach Leonid Yelin said. “To go (through) what she has gone through is unbelievable.”

Lokhmanchuk made her debut in Syracuse’s first match of 2019 against Baylor. But in the third set, she tore her ACL, ending her freshman season as it was just beginning. Her recovery was more difficult in a new country, Yelin said. The Ukraine native was thousands of miles away from home, and she wasn’t able to do the one thing she came to the U.S. for.

Lokhmanchuk sat out the remainder of 2019 but was back to health for the start of this season in October. While the sophomore was able to play in the fall, her playing time was limited to just a few points over six matches. Lokhmanchuk was blocked out by Shemanova, and Yelin wanted to ease her back into the sport. A year and a half after the injury, she still wears a knee brace during every game.

“Even when she would practice the entire time, I was still so afraid,” Yelin said. “I’ve seen good experiences coming back from an ACL tear, but in the past, I have seen bad experiences coming back, so that’s why we wanted to move her as slow as possible.”

Part of the reason she can be so successful after her ACL tear is her physical build. Standing tall at 6-foot-5, the sophomore can hit the ball over an opposing blocker or block an opponent’s attack with ease. Her arms are long and strong, helping make her the hardest-hitting attacker on the team.

Lokhmanchuk also fits the physical traits

VIKTORIIA LOKHMANCHUK leads Syracuse in kills this spring after recovering from an ACL tear in 2019. gavin liddell staff photographer

that Yelin has consistently recruited as a coach. Throughout his career, he’s tended to recruit tall outside hitters. When he coached at Louisville, Yelin brought in outside hitters like 6-foot-6 Jana Matiasovska and 6-foot-8 Katharina Gaertner, the tallest player in Cardinals’ program history. At Syracuse, he’s coached players like Anastasiya Gorelina and Christina Oyawale, who both stood at 6-foot-4. At 6-foot-5, Lokhmanchuk is five inches taller than the average Division I outside hitter, according to Next College Student Athlete.

“When we first recruited her, we saw potential,” Yelin said. “She’s definitely a player that

in time could be a big hitter for us.”

Lokhmanchuk specializes in hitting the back corners of the court, behind opposing backlines and making the ball more difficult to dig. Against Virginia Tech, she finished with 14 kills, ten of them landing in two back corners of the court. Near the beginning of the first set, Lokhmanchuk fired an attack to the back right side of the Hokies’ court. A player ran backward and dove trying to recover the ball, but it hit the ground mere inches away from the line.

“When we need a big point she is steady and her arm is amazing,” middle blocker Abby Casiano said. hwobrien@syr.edu

women’s lacrosse

Opponent Preview: What to know about No. 1 North Carolina

By Skyler Rivera

asst. sports editor

No. 2 Syracuse has trailed No. 1 UNC in the rankings all season. This Saturday, the Orange travel to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to face the Tar Heels in the most anticipated matchup of the regular season. The Tar Heels have won 10 straight games, including four dominant conference wins. Most recently, North Carolina (10-0, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) defeated Mercer, 18-3, this past weekend as the Orange squeezed by ACC foe Virginia Tech 17-10.

The Orange (6-0, 4-0) are also undefeated through six games, including two wins against No. 4 Notre Dame.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Tar Heels before Saturday’s game:

All-time series

North Carolina leads 8-6

Last time they played

Emily Hawryschuk scored three goals in Syrafrom page 12

curry used sporadically this season that features offensive midfielders behind the net instead of attacks. The Orange turn to the invert when they need a spark or a quick goal late in the shot clock, Curry said.

It’s a useful offensive set because every team slides — or doesn’t slide — differently against the invert, Desko said. The invert varies depending on matchups, and he’s trying to use it sparingly so there isn’t too much film available. But the goal is to draw a short-stick defensive midfielder to X, a position where Curry said many shorties aren’t comfortable.

With Syracuse’s deep offense between its midfield and attack lines, opponents have no choice but to put the short-stick on Curry.

“You’re going to short-stick Chase Scanlan?”

Kasemeyer said, laughing. “That’s a tough dilemma to have.”

Curry’s capitalized on frequent shortstick matchups with inverted offensive schemes this season, finishing with a sevenpoint performance against Virginia and five more against Stony Brook.

“We were able to attack (UVA at X), and then we have unbelievable step-down shooters that we can just toss it up to,” Curry said

cuse’s 11-5 loss to North Carolina on April 13, 2019. UNC snapped Syracuse’s seven-game win streak, as foul trouble plagued the Orange and two first-half yellow cards led to three unanswered UNC goals. The Orange responded with three consecutive goals — two from Hawryschuk and one from Morgan Alexander, but the Tar Heels pulled away in the second half and finished the game on a 6-2 run.

Hawryschuk led the team with three goals in 60 minutes and added to her 75-goal 2019 season. During the game, Hawryschuk surpassed 140 career goals, cementing herself in ninth place on Syracuse’s all-time leader list.

the Tar Heels.

UNC ranks fourth among NCAA teams in scoring offense with 16.9 goals per game — Syracuse ranks seventh with a 16.5 average.

The Tar Heels and the Orange are near tied for overall shots per game at 33.7 (Syracuse) and 33.4 (North Carolina).

Jamie Ortega, the Tar Heels’ leading goal scorer for the past three seasons, leads the team again with 43 goals — third in the NCAA — and 14 assists in ten games. Ortega ranks second in the NCAA for points with 57 and is UNC’s all-time scoring leader.

The UNC report

North Carolina has scored at least 11 goals in each of its games so far. The Tar Heels are efficient, ranking second in offensive efficiency at 41.5% and first in defensive efficiency at 16.4%. Syracuse has struggled to score on the nation’s top defenses, such as Notre Dame’s and Virginia Tech’s, and may struggle against

Without Hawryschuk, the Orange need to create offensive opportunities through other outlets like Megan Carney, Emma Ward and Meaghan Tyrrell. Against Virginia Tech, Syracuse was slow to score and went into halftime tied with the Hokies. The Orange are comfortable being down at half, they were down against Notre Dame and made a strong

after Syracuse’s 20-10 win on Feb. 27.

He’s thrived in the invert at SU. He can win a 5-yard race to the opening of the goal against almost anyone. His speed is dangerous because “he can beat you on a one-step or he can get you on a long run,” said Todd Curry, his dad and an SU Hall of Fame midfielder. The junior midfielder forces defenses to slide and opens passing lanes.

Curry’s passing also poses a threat— he’s smart enough to read the opponent’s slide package, which is already “flip(ped) upside down” by the invert, Kasemeyer said. The vantage point in the invert is different from the top of the box, too, because it opens up Curry’s distribution options.

“He’s the best dual-threat midfielder … that’s ever played for me,” Kasemeyer said of Curry’s shooting and feeding abilities.

Back at Calvert Hall, Curry led the offense primarily from the top of the box.

Kasemeyer now wishes he used Curry in the invert more frequently, but he emphasized that it wouldn’t have made much of a difference because the Syracuse midfielder is effective anywhere on the field. “The vision doesn’t change,” Todd said.

Curry’s abilities as a passer stem back to when he started playing soccer at 5 years old, Todd said. The sport taught his son how to play with his head up and to deliver

passes where teammates are going to be instead of where they currently are. He played soccer and developed that “forward vision” until 10th grade, and it all translated directly to lacrosse.

He also developed that vision because he grew up with Todd, a three-time AllAmerican, Kasemeyer said. Todd pushed his son to focus on the fundamentals, such as driving, using stick skills with both hands and knowing where and when to shoot. He continued developing those fundamentals by watching his game film throughout high school and during his time at SU. The film boosted Curry’s confidence by showing him how to be more effective and efficient on offense, Todd added.

Compared to most players, Curry had next-level decision-making skills, Kasemeyer said. Many take a chance on a skip pass over a defender that may not get through in hopes of getting a point for an assist.

But Curry’s smart enough not to risk that, Kasemeyer said.

“If it’s not there, he’s not going to force it,” Kasemeyer said. “And then he has something to rely on … He can always dodge whenever he wants.”

During the offseason, Curry continued to build on his vision by working with former Calvert Hall teammates who now play

How Syracuse defeats the Tar Heels

second-half comeback.

But against UNC’s No. 1-ranked defense, the Orange want to avoid having to come back late in the game. The Tar Heels have yet to give up more than nine goals in a game, so the Orange will have to find a hole in their defense to score against goalie Taylor Moreno, who leads the NCAA in save percentage at .615.

Player to watch: Ally Mastroianni, midfielder, No. 12

Mastroianni handles the most percentage of plays, 10.2 % among the Tar Heels. While the senior midfielder doesn’t lead the team in goals or assists, she has scored at least once in every game this season. In 10 games played, Mastroianni has totaled 17 goals, two assists and six ground balls. If Syracuse wants to top Mastroianni, the defense needs to stop her from getting the ball and eliminating shots on goal. skrivera@syr.edu @skylerriveraa

Division I lacrosse at schools such as North Carolina, Johns Hopkins and Ohio State.

It helped Curry improve his play off the drive by recreating scenarios such as when Dordevic has the ball and Curry needs to reposition himself to receive a skip-pass, Kasemeyer said.

“When you’ve got book-end guys like (Dordevic and Curry) ... the field’s going to become unbalanced very quickly when either one of those two dodge,” Kasemeyer said. “So it’s playing off of that.”

After notching three assists — tied for the second-most of his career — in a 17-9 win over Stony Brook on March 12, Curry sat down in front of a laptop screen for a postgame press conference on Zoom.

When asked about the invert and his play from X, he explained some of his reads: one where he didn’t wait for Owen Hiltz to uncover in a pocket of space, another where Stephen Rehfuss was wide-open on the crease, several skip passes he didn’t see, and so on. Curry said he needed to take his time.

In his mind, despite three assists, despite a computer for a brain and despite the defense dealing him cards face up, he can still improve his vision. rferna04@syr.edu @roshan_f16

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football

‘Computer for a brain’

Scouts evaluate SU NFL draftees

By Connor Smith asst. copy editor

BRENDAN CURRY is on pace to set a career-high for assists in a season. His ability to facilitate SU’s offense has grown as SU relies more on the invert. courtesy of rich barnes usa today sports

How All-American Brendan Curry became one of SU’s top offensive facilitators

By Roshan Fernandez sports editor

B

rendan Curry reads defenses like they’re “dealing cards face up.”

That’s how Curry’s high school coach describes the All-American’s abilities. Curry always knows where his five offensive teammates are and where they’re going to be. He can dish the ball from the invert at X, from the top of the box and from the wings. He can feed from anywhere because he’s “the smartest player on the field,” said Torre Kasemeyer, Calvert Hall (Maryland) High School’s offensive coordinator and Curry’s current shooting coach.

This season, the junior leads Syracuse’s (4-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) two other AllAmerican midfielders in total points (17) and ranks fourth on the team behind the first-line attacks. His abilities as a facilitator have him on pace for 16 assists, breaking his previous career-best of 14 (2019) in two fewer games. For Curry, it’s all driven by his offensive vision.

“Honestly, I look at him a lot like Peyton Manning,” Kasemeyer said. “The guy’s got an absolute cannon for an arm but a computer for a brain.”

Curry is more modest, though. He credits SU offensive coordinator Pat March for switching up the offense when the opposing defense figures it out. He credits March and head coach John Desko’s game-to-game adjustments so SU can take advantage of matchups. And he credits his fellow midfielders, Tucker Dordevic and Jamie Trimboli, as well as SU’s second midfield line and its star attacks — all of whom he consistently feeds.

This season, many of those feeds have come in an inverted offense, a scheme SU’s see curry page 10

Andre Cisco was lined up near midfield, eyeing North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell.

As Howell slung the ball to All-American receiver Dyami Brown on a deep post route, Ifeatu Melifonwu remained step-for-step in coverage the whole way. Cisco bolted from the far hash to cut off the pass, notching his first interception of the season and the 13th of his career. Cisco’s 25-yard return gave Syracuse good field position in a 7-3 third quarter game.

The strong man coverage by Melifonwu and the turnover

by Cisco exemplify why the Syracuse juniors, along with Trill Williams, are expected to be taken in this year’s NFL draft, according to four draft experts who spoke with The Daily Orange.

“There’s very few knocks on the three of them,” Sports Illustrated scout Jack Borowsky said. “They’re all going to go very high, and I think (they’ll) have successful careers.”

Despite coming off a 1-10 season and allowing nearly 33 points per game, Syracuse is expected to extend its threeyear streak of having at least one player selected in the NFL Draft.

Scouts agreed that all three DBs will likely be taken in the first three rounds, with Melifonwu potentially being a first-round selection. Syracuse defensive end Alton Robinson and punter Sterling Hofrichter were taken in the fifth and seventh rounds last year, respectively.

The three defensive backs, as well as punter Nolan Cooney, have been included on mock drafts over recent months and participated in SU’s Pro Day two weeks ago. Cisco has been considered a draft prospect since his sophomore season, and even coming off an ACL tear in September, he could be one of the draft’s top-five safeties. Melifonwu was named to the see nfl

draft page 9

men’s basketball

softball

Casares-Maher coped Symir Torrence transfers to Syracuse with mother’s cancer

By Danny Emerman senior staff writer

By Alex Cirino staff writer

At 5 years old, Neli Casares-Maher often begged her parents to let her play ball at her local park. They played catch, hit grounders and shagged each ball she crushed into the outfield. But Casares-Maher was disappointed that those same types of plays weren’t replicated in her coed tee-ball league.

“When do we get to play real baseball?” Casares-Maher would ask her mother, Sharon. She want-

ed to play for something more — hitting off the tee wasn’t enough for someone with her skillset.

Ten years later, during the 2016 season that would end in a state championship for Casares-Maher and Mater Dei (Calif.) High School, Sharon was diagnosed with bile duct cancer and given five months to live.

The news was devastating, but Casares-Maher finished out her season at shortstop. She had something bigger than softball to play for.

Sharon would go on to recover see

casares-maher page 9

Syracuse has inked its first transfer of the offseason in Marquette combo guard Symir Torrence.

Torrence, a Syracuse native, announced his decision Wednesday on Twitter. The combo guard averaged 2.4 points per game in his sophomore season at Marquette.

Formerly a top-75 recruit, Torrence played on the Albany City Rocks AAU team with Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard III. “We were more than just teammates,” Torrence told Syracuse. com. “We’re always going to be

like brothers. We text each other often. They’re family in my eyes. I played with them in AAU. I played against them in high school.”

Torrence attended Vermont Academy (Vermont) before playing for Marquette for two years.

The 6-foot-3 guard projects to be a tough defender at the top of the zone. He played sparingly at Marquette, but could play a bigger role at Syracuse with the transfer of Kadary Richmond.

The NCA A is expected to approve a blanket waiver allowing transfers immediate eligibility, which would give Torrence the opportunity to play at SU

right away.

The news comes a day after promising freshman guard Richmond entered the transfer portal.

Richmond, redshirt sophomore Robert Braswell and redshirt freshman John Bol Ajak are expected to leave the program.

Forward Quincy Guerrier also announced he’s testing the NBA draft waters.

There are also likely more outgoing transfers coming. The only expected returnees, reportedly, are Buddy, Girard and center Jesse Edwards. dremerma@syr.edu @DannyEmerman