October 6th, 2021

Since 1919

The Emory Wheel Emory University’s Independent Student Newspaper

Volume 102, Issue 11

Printed every other wednesday

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Atlanta mayoral candidates talk housing, crime at Emory

By Kira Barich and Eric Jones Contributing Writers Atlanta mayoral candidates discussed public transportation, policing, housing and other issues facing Atlantans at Emory University’s Glenn Memorial Church on Tuesday night. The forum brought together 13 of 14 mayoral candidates ahead of the Nov. 2 election; one did not attend.

The event was organized by the League of Women Voters in Fulton County, the Urban League and the ACLU and was moderated by former WSB-TV Director of Editorials and Public Affairs Jocelyn Dorsey.

University President Gregory L. Fenves gave the opening statement and detailed the Atlanta City Council’s vote to annex the school into Atlanta in 2017, which he said was a “bold decision” that “created many new opportunities for our University and the city to work together to serve the common good.” He also stressed the importance of political engagement, particularly at universities.

“It’s very important to hear from the candidates to answer the voters’ questions if we want voters to participate in the general election and be engaged and make a decision based on the issues,” Fenves told the Wheel.

Currently, the two highest polling candidates are former Atlanta mayor Kasim Reed and City Council President Felicia Moore, polling at 23.5% and 20.4%, respectively, according to a poll commissioned by The Atlanta JournalConstitution. The difference between them was within the poll’s margin of error, a statistical tie.

The other candidates that polled above 1% are City Councilmembers Antonio Brown (3.5%) and Andre

Dickens (5.2%) and Denton attorney Sharon Gay (5.7%).

Attending candidates who did not poll above 1% included Kirsten Dunn (Entrepreneur), Nolan English, Mark Hammad (private sector), Kenny Hill (Non-profit founder), Rebecca King (CEO), Roosevelt Searles III (Entrepreneur & Non-profit founder), Richard Wright (CPA) and Glenn Wrightson (Resident, ran in 2013 and 2017).

Dorsey began the debate by pressing the candidates on the Clifton Corridor Transit Initiative, which would expand public transportations systems to outer Atlanta, mainly where Emory and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are located. This initiative would likely impact Emory students and employees by adding MARTA stops and other transportation forms near the campus. Dickens said transportation is “vital” and noted issues of equity that could arise in the initiative.

The candidates were also asked to address how they would support small businesses, particularly those owned by Black people and women.

In response, Moore discussed a city council initiative “Atlanta Business Matters” that she intends to expand as mayor.

“Small businesses are a vital part of our economy and the lifeblood of our city,” Moore said.

She added that she wants to make sure City Hall is “able to provide goods and services to our citizens.”

Other than public safety, most candidates noted that their top priority to address was housing. Some mentioned how fixing the housing issue could funnel into solving other societal and economic problems in the

Noyonika Parulekar/Staff

Thirteen of the fourteen Atlanta mayoral candidates gathered at Glenn Memorial Church on Tuesday night to discuss major issues facing Atlantans. city.

Gay said that, if elected, she would implement “targeted, thoughtful, public investment in under-invested neighborhoods.”

Additionally, many of the candidates drew a connection between the increase in homelessness and the rise in trash buildup in the city over the past few years. Wright also mentioned his intentions for a monthly cleanup program.

Later on, all candidates cited Buckhead’s secession from Atlanta as detrimental to the city. King, a Buckhead resident, said this issue is why she joined the race. Some like Brown, however, said that other neighborhoods aside from Buckhead deserve more attention as well.

“We’ve got to start shifting the conversation because it’s more than just Buckhead that feels unheard

Emory issues land acknowledgement

By Sarah Davis News Editor

The Board of Trustees approved a statement on Sept. 27 acknowledging the Muscogee (Creek) people who lived on the land where Emory University’s Oxford and Atlanta campuses stand today and the displacement of these people in 1821, 15 years before the University’s founding.

“We recognize the sustained oppression, land dispossession, and involuntary removals of the Muscogee and Cherokee peoples from Georgia and the Southeast,” the statement reads. “Emory seeks to honor the Muscogee Nation and other Indigenous caretakers of this land by humbly seeking knowledge of their histories and committing to respectful stewardship of the land.”

University President Gregory Fenves wrote in a statement that the acknowledgement is about “accountability as much as it is about understanding our past” and credited the work of University leaders, historians and experts to create the statement, which he said built on years of work of students, faculty and staff.

Fenves also announced plans that align with the Executive Summary of the Task Force on Untold Stories &

NEWS

Goats, jobs and Jesus: Students Reflect on Gap Year Experience... PAGE 4 P

in the city,” Brown said. “There are several underserved communities in this city that feel the same way that Buckhead does today.”

Dorsey concluded the forum by asking candidates how they plan to unite the city’s police and community after the past year’s divisions. Many candidates, particularly Dunn, emphasized unity as an important factor of their campaigns. Moore said she hopes to bring police officers into schools to foster a positive relationship and provide education.

Reed detailed his goal of adding 750 new police officers to the Atlanta Police Department, which he said will be trained “in a proactive manner.” He said he will ask “them to re-engage in the process of keeping our city safe.”

Several candidates spoke to the Wheel about the importance of college students engaging in politics.

Courtesy of Library of Congress

Disenfranchised Populations, which was released in April and advised the president on how to recognize, observe and memorialize Black, Native and Indigenous populations at the University.

These plans include the creation of a Language Path, establishing “a stronger connection” with the Muscogee Nation

EDITORIAL Months-

Midterm Madness Needs an Overhaul ...

PAGE 5 long

and continuing to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day. The president also noted the “In the Wake of Slavery and Dispossession” symposium, which hosted informational events on campus related to the University’s past oppression of Black, Native and Indigenous populations from Sept. 29

See FENVES, Page 3

A&E ‘Squid Game’: It’s

— Contact Kira Barich at kira. barich@emory.edu and Eric Jones at eric.jones2@emory.edu

Provost prioritizes accessibility, ‘student-flourishing’

By Matthew Chupack News Editor

A newspaper clipping from 1830 details how the U.S. forcibly removed Native Americans from the Eastern U.S., including in Georgia where Emory University is located today.

“My first time voting was on the campus of Georgia Tech in the presidential election,” Dickens said.

“What I think we have to do is make sure it’s very easy for college students to register and to change their domicile.”

In addition, Reed mentioned the significant role Emory plays in the Atlanta community today, citing his work with two previous Emory presidents.

“I always love being at Emory,” Reed said. “I plan on bringing Emory into the city and making it an official part of our community. It is such a dynamic part of what Atlanta is going to be in the future. And I think that the relationship needs to be nurtured and supported.”

Emory’s new provost has served in virtually every academic position possible.

Most recently the dean of Duke University’s (N.C.) Pratt School of Engineering, Ravi Bellamkonda began as a professor at Case Western Reserve University (Ohio). He then moved to the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University in 2003, where he eventually became the chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering from 2013 until 2016, when he left for Duke.

So naturally, when he “ran out of promotions in academia,” as he told the Wheel, he turned to administrative roles.

Bellamkonda, who assumed the position in July, now sees his new position as an opportunity to do meaningful work helping others.

“If I can do something … that makes one of our students lives a little bit better, a little bit richer, a little bit more conducive to personal growth and success, I find that deeply meaningful,” Bellamkonda said.

“In these administrative positions,

EMORY LIFE

Cailen

you’re a steward of very important responsibility. If I can do something that makes a faculty member’s research go better, faster, ask a bigger question, I find that deeply meaningful.”

Bellamkonda elaborated that some of the U.S.’s biggest problems, such as climate change, social justice and cancer, can be addressed at Emory.

“The beauty of Emory is that we are a full comprehensive university with law, religion … and amazing sciences,” Bellamkonda. “I think that was very attractive to me, to come back to a setting intellectually broad and equipped to take on problems I think worth taking on.”

As University’s chief academic officer, Bellamkonda is effectively the “COO” working directly under University President Gregory Fenves. This means that he oversees all educational programs, student programs and hiring of faculty, as well as all college deans.

Bellamkonda said he has four main initiatives he wants to address during his tenure as provost: the student experience, research reputation, climate and interdisciplinary work.

He stressed the importance of aiding

See BELLAMKONDA, Page 2

SPORTS Oxford Gym

Until Money Drinks Coffee: Keurig Raises Concerns ... comes to Play ...

Back Page PAGE 7 Shaming ...

PAGE 9 all fun

2

NEWS

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

The Emory Wheel

Bellamkonda returns to Emory after 5 years at Duke

Continued from Page 1

students beyond their professional ventures to life success as well. To describe this concept, he coined the term “student flourishing.”

“Often we are chasing success and defining it in terms of what we want to do and not who we want to be as people,” Bellamkonda said. “So, I’m very interested in having a set of conversations with faculty, with Campus life, with the dean’s … being intentional about helping our students have this muscle for reflection on the nature of success.”

This work entails establishing a community and building the identity of what it means to be an Emory student.

Related to this effort is addressing the nationwide student anxiety and mental health crisis, Bellamkonda emphasized.

Bellamkonda elaborated that interdisciplinary work requires “strong disciplines,” so he has begun efforts with Fenves to make sure departments have the financial resources and leadership required for a strong department, adding that a measure of success would be to have academic departments increase in rank after each student’s graduation so their degree appreciates.

Although Bellamkonda was away from Emory for just five years, he detailed that while Emory remains a “remarkable” campus, the University “has not been still.” For instance, he described the new student center as “much prettier than what we had before” and lauded the recent improvements to identity spaces, including the creation of the Asian Student Center this year.

The student body has also grown more diverse in the five years he was

at Duke, Bellamkonda said, indicating Emory’s more explicit commitment to advancing diversity on campus. He added that although the University has made progress in recent years, Bellamkonda also prioritizes making Emory more accessible to diverse and low-income students.

“The trustees and the University have made commitments to be an open, inclusive and accessible campus,” Bellamkonda said, citing

“We want to make Emory and the magic of Emory to be accessible to the best students.”

— Ravi Bellamkonda, Provost the school’s relatively high Pell Grant distribution compared to peer schools.

Bellamkonda said Emory spends a lot of its operating budget, rather than endowment, on student financial aid because this is “consistent with our values.”

“We want to make Emory and the magic of Emory to be accessible to the best students, broadly defined, from anywhere in the world, that want to be here, independent of their ability to afford things, independent of the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, all these things.”

Increasing faculty diversity is also of great importance, Bellamkonda said.

At a dean’s retreat, which included Bellamkonda, the vice provosts and the dean leadership teams, attendees

devoted a session to what being a diverse faculty means.

“We had a frank discussion about why we are not moving the needle in this space as fast as we would all like,” Bellamkonda said. “I can’t find a single dean who says they’re not committed to this, I’m committed to this, the University’s committed to this and yet we’re not moving at the pace that I would like personally.”

Bellamkonda added that in terms of faculty diversity, the University started at a point that was “not desirable.” He does not buy the argument that there isn’t a pipeline for talented, diverse faculty, however. So, the University now uses a more robust search where a wider pool of candidates are interviewed, an effort that Zoom has made easier.

“I’m not of the belief that the work of diversity and inclusion is the work of Carol Henderson and the Office of Diversity,” Bellamkonda said. “I don’t want to say, ‘Look, we hired a chief diversity officer so we’re doing diversity.’ That is not the work, the work is creating an environment where we have representation.”

However, representation is just the beginning of the University’s work.

Bellomkonda said he wants to foster an inclusive, supportive culture where the entire Emory community is invested in each other’s success.

“Sometimes people pose diversity and excellence as opposing things, which I think is a cop out,” Bellamkonda said. “I think if you are serious about excellence, you are serious about diversity.”

— Contact Matthew Chupack at matthew.chupack@emory.edu

JOIN US

Courtesy of Emory University

Emory University Provost amd Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs Ravi Bellamkonda.

EMORY NIGHT at Emory Law

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3 5:00 - 6:30 PM

Thinking about law school?

Join us in this virtual event for tips on preparing your application, crafting an admission essay, and more.

You’ll hear from the Emory Law Office of Admission and students who graduated from Emory University and are now attending Emory Law.

Register at

law.emory.edu/emory-night

NEWS

The Emory Wheel

Fenves announces language path initiative Continued from Page 1 to Oct. 1.

Kennedy Pete (24C), a member of Navajo Nation, called the land acknowledgment an “really powerful” and an “amazing step for Emory.”

Pete also said she appreciated Fenves’ reference to the symposium and the power the event had to educate and create dialogue between Indigenous, Native and Black communities.

In January 2021, Native American and Indigenous Studies Initiative (NAISI) committee leader Assistant Professor of Art History Debra Vidali published an unofficial land acknowledgement, which recognized the history of the University’s oppression of Native American and Indigenous people.

The statement, which was fact checked by former Assistant Professor of English and Muscogee (Creek) Nation member Craig Womack, explained how the First Treaty of Indian Springs on Jan. 8, 1821 coerced the Muscogee (Creek) Nation to give up the land where the Atlanta Campus and Oxford College stand today.

“The 1821 treaty and others during this period led to massive land dispossession from Indigenous nations, and allowed for continued expansion of the Southeastern plantation economy,” Vidali wrote.

“These facts also form part of the background to the horrific forced removal of over 20,000 Muscogee Creek people from Alabama that occurred in 1836-1837 and through which approximately 3,500 Muscogee Creek people died en route.”

Beth Michel (12PH), Associate Dean of Admission and a NAISI program leader, credited Womack for his role in laying the groundwork for changes announced by Fenves. During his years at Emory from 2007 to 2019, Womack taught in the English department and was a leading figure in Indigenous and Native Studies, proposing initiatives such as the Language Path, which Michel heard of when she came to campus in 2019. “[He advocated] for seeing more reflection of his ancestors and the Muscogee (Creek) community on campus because it not only sits close to his heart, but because he knew that he was teaching on his traditional homelands,” Michel said. “All of his words that he would share … have resonated with me, and they stick with me when we’re doing anything related to the Indigenous community campus work.”

While Michel only worked with Womack for one year before he retired, she said that his ideas continue to impact her today.

Fenves appointed Cahoon Family Professor of American History

Malinda Maynor Lowery and Dean of Religious Life and University Chaplain Gregory McGonigle as co-chairs for the Language Path working group.

Lowery, who joined Emory faculty this past July and is a member of the Lumbee Tribe, said that the statement is a combination of “getting the history right” and “expressing an ongoing institutional commitment that’s about the future.”

“It’s especially critical if you’re inviting people into your community and seeking their representation … that the institution makes some kind of commitment to acknowledging not just past wrong, but also continued relationship,” Lowery said. “That’s what the land acknowledgment begins to do in that it expresses truths about the past things that we must understand … and then it also establishes a framework and some values around the actions that we take Craig Womack, Former Associate Professor of English

Courtesy of Emory University

now and into the future.”

Lowery said that the timeline on the Language Path’s completion is tentative, but that the committee is in the initial planning stages.

NAISI worked with Native and Indigenous Emory students Sierra Talavera-Brown (23C), Matowacipi Horse (24C), Iliyah Bruffet (23C) and Pete to develop the Native American and Indigenous Engagement at Emory webpage, which provides resources for Native and Indigenous students and a calendar of Native and Indigenous events.

Talavera-Brown is in the process of forming a club for Native American and Indigenous students at the University this fall along with other Native and Indigenous students. She said that the land acknowledgement is a “first step” in the University’s plans to take accountability for its past displacement of Musogee and Cherokee people.

“It’s kind of heavy to know the history of where you are with everyone else around you not knowing,” Talavera-Brown said.

“If you’re brought up in the way of existing as a Native person, you’re aware of the pain and you are aware of the removal and the genocide and you still feel those people present.

That’s not something that goes away.

The land remembers all.”

Talavera-Brown, who is a member of the Diné tribe, felt like there was a “movement for change” at Emory when she first arrived on

campus in 2019 and was invited to a lunch for Native American and Indigenous students. However, she felt her perspective shift once her first semester started.

“There weren’t any Native American students,” Talavera-Brown said. “My freshman year was only me and Iliyah, and that was not shocking, but just like, ‘Oh, wow, this is really a building from the ground-up situation.’”

In Emory College of Arts and Sciences’ accepted class of 2025, only 1% of students identified as Native American. Oxford College did not accept Native and Indigenous students were not reported.

Talavera-Brown is skeptical about the University’s ability to followthrough on their promises to Native and Indigenous populations at Emory and in the Muscogee Nation.

“Having experienced some forms of silencing and microaggressions and ignorance with people high up at Emory, Emory administration, having experienced the way things that have been had been handled in the past, makes me hesitant to really believe that,” Talavera-Brown said. “It’s hard to process because things are also happening so fast.”

Talavera-Brown also recognized the dedication of former community members like Womack and Klamath Henry (19C), who was an active proponent for Native and Indigenous issues at Emory, receiving the University’s prestigious Brittain Award upon her graduation in 2019. Talavera-Brown cited the University’s failure to acknowledge the work of these leaders as one of the reasons she is skeptical of change post-symposium.

“It’s people like Klamath Henry, who graduated the year before I came to Emory, and was just an amazing voice that always shouted and screamed and made a ruckus but never necessarily got the visibility that she deserved,” Talavera-Brown said.

Lowery said that she has hope for continuing to broaden resources for Indigenous and Native studies at the University.

“My goal for Emory is for every student, staff and faculty member to see themselves having a relationship to Native studies and to Indigenous people, their ethics that are embedded in Native studies that serve everything that we do,” Lowery said. “Whether it’s what kind of community we build, and how, whether it’s what we study … what we teach and how we teach, these are things that Indigenous Studies has something to say about.”

— Contact Sarah Davis at sarah.davis@emory.edu

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

3

Emory addresses its historical role in the division of families

By Maya Deogun Contributing Writer

over 80 women and men have been identified as having been enslaved at Oxford College, Auslander said. This “On Tuesday, Jan. 4, 1854, five information came as a surprise to human beings were auctioned many students.

“I didn’t know that Emory was on the front steps of the Dekalb County Courthouse in downtown, founded on literal plantations,” Decatur, Georgia. The adult woman Rachael Obe (23N), who attended the Caroline and her infant child event, said. “[Auslander’s talk] was were purchased for $911 by James very informational.”

Auslander said that Emory’s Paden, a local judge and farmer who owned the land that six decades later sheer existence is rooted in the would become the main campus of division of families of color for the Emory University, where we are sitting benefit of prominent white members today.” of the University and that the Silence came over the room as auctioning sale and distribution Mark Auslander, research scholar in of many people caused the the Department of Anthropology at separation of many families over Brandeis University (Mass.), opened time. his plenary session, “Families Divided: Despite the rupturing of these The Human Costs of Enslavement families, Auslander said that many in Emory’s History,” in the Emory were able to reunite with one Student Center another “against on Sept. 30. The overwhelming odds” talk was part of the “An argument can be after emancipation.

University’s three-day Many of the made that a primary symposium on slavery descendants of the ideological function individuals Auslander and dispossession. of Emory College Students and mentioned in his academics filled the presentation were from its founding room to hear from present at the event. onwards was its Auslander, who was Applause filled legitimation and previously a professor the room as each at Oxford College. was reproduction of the descendant “An argument introduced. Sienna system of chattel can be made that a Woodyard (23N) said slavery as well as primary ideological that their presence felt function of Emory “very important.”

Native removal.”

College from its “It was really cool founding onwards how they actually — Mark Auslander, was its legitimation brought in the Brandeis Unviersity and reproduction of descendants and Professor allowed them to stand the system of chattel slavery as well as up,” Woodyard said. native removal,” “This is our third year Auslander said. here, and they really Auslander’s haven’t said much discussion followed the lives of people about anything like this. I think it’s who were enslaved by Emory faculty important they’re trying to educate and staff members. everyone now.”

Prominent slave owners included Auslander’s presentation allowed founding University leaders like the audience to conceptualize the Bishop John Emory, the University’s history Emory has with slavery and namesake and Augustus Longstreet, dispossession.

Emory’s second president, “one of the “It was very eye-opening, south’s most ardent and perturbative because I had never really thought defenders of slavery,” according to about Emory’s history very much,” Auslander.

Sheyenne Reyes (23N) said.

“Slavery is woven into the daily “It was really different to hear fabric of life in the initial decades about the historical records and the at Emory College from its founding plantations, but it was all with names in the 1830s until it closed its that I recognized like Emory and doors in November 1861 for the Means. That made it feel a lot more duration of The Civil War,” Auslander real. That’s something that happened right where we’re standing.” said.

“As we can see, most of the trustees, presidents, officers and faculty were — Contact Maya Deogun at slave owners.” maya.deogun@emory.edu Emory’s Atlanta Campus is situated on the same land five plantations previously sat on. Additionally,

The Emory Wheel

Have a tip for News?

Email Matthew Chupack at mhchupa@emory.edu

Volume 102, Issue 11 © 2021 The Emory Wheel Alumni Memorial University Center, Room 401 630 Means Drive, Atlanta, GA, 30322 Business (404) 727-6178 Editor-in-Chief Isaiah Poritz iporitz@emory.edu

Founded in 1919, The Emory Wheel is the financially and editorially independent, student-run newspaper of Emory University in Atlanta. The Wheel is a member publication of Media Council, Emory’s organization of student publications. The Wheel reserves the rights to all content as it appears in these pages, and permission to reproduce material must be granted by the editor-in-chief.

The statements and opinions expressed in the Wheel are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Wheel Editorial Board or of Emory University, its faculty, staff or administration.

The Wheel is also available online at www.emorywheel.com.

4

NEWS

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

The Emory Wheel

Goats, jobs and Jesus: Students reflect on gap year experiences

By Soju Hokari Contributing Writer

When Maya Brill (23C) started her second year at Emory in fall 2020, she was disappointed to find that classes would not be in person. Brill, living with a cousin and two friends in San Juan, Puerto Rico at the time, found online school to be uninteresting.

“I don’t do well sitting at home all day,” Brill said. “I felt like I wasn’t thriving in school. I felt like I wasn’t learning that much or enjoying learning.”

So Brill did what many students did during the 2020-2021 school year: She took a gap semester. Brill spent spring 2021 completing intensive Spanish lessons, finding internships and learning to manage her free time.

“While I wasn’t doing school, I was really stimulating my brain every single day,” Brill said. “It turned out to be much more valuable to me than what I felt like I was doing in the fall.”

Brill’s decision reflected a broader trend among Emory students that academic year. Of Emory’s undergraduate sophomores, juniors and seniors, 4% took one or more semesters off during the 20202021 school year, according to data provided by Assistant Vice Provost Justin Shepherd. That rate marks a significant increase from the 1.1% of students who took gap semesters in the 2019-2020 school year and the 1.5% of students who took semesters off in the 2018-2019 school year.

For Emily Ogden (21Ox, 23C), the decision to take a gap semester was difficult and happened at the lastminute. After a disheartening fall semester, Ogden found that online instruction was not working for her.

“The isolation and the anxiety and depression and everything made it so that I just couldn’t even do anything,” Ogden said. “When spring 2021 rolled around, I had kind of gotten to a point where the isolation had really started negatively affecting my classes.”

Ogden opted to take a medical

withdrawal and not finish her spring semester, which made her worry about what the people in her life would think.

“You know how sometimes your extended family just talks about you?”

Ogden asked. “You feel like you’re kind of the family disappointment … like you’re a failure.”

For one, a spiritual awakening While some students made lastminute decisions, others such as Rani Schwartz (23C) took a few months to consider options. A sophomore at the time, Schwartz was interested in becoming a lawyer. But after completing a legal internship in spring 2020, Schwartz found the legal world wasn’t without its problems. “[Defendants’] stories weren’t getting told in a way that I felt represented advocacy by the Lord,” Schwartz said. “It was kind of like a perverted version of justice. … Justice to me wasn’t the retributive thing that’s common in court systems now.”

After meeting a stranger who claimed to have a relationship with God, Schwartz started to realize that she had become attached to “silly worldly desires” and began to explore her own relationship with God. “I wanted to have a certain amount of prestige associated with my job.

I wanted to date a certain type of guy and marry a certain type of guy,” Schwartz said. “After getting to know that [stranger], I realized that he had a piece that I didn’t understand and I really wanted to know what that piece was … so I pursued Christ.”

Schwartz decided to take a gap year, tutoring students in math and volunteering with Project Unity, a nonprofit providing rental assistance to people in her home state of Texas.

“That [volunteer work] really opened my eyes,” Schwartz said. “Just getting to speak with people who you know were impoverished and who were struggling to make their rent.”

After spending her gap year pursuing God, Schwartz was no longer

sure whether Emory was the right place to come back to.

“I was like, ‘Honestly, I think I could pursue the Lord at College Station better than at Emory,’” Schwartz said.

Through talking with an older mentor, however, Schwartz realized that she could continue to find meaning at Emory. On campus, Schwartz is now a member of Bread Coffee House, a Christian group she has found acceptance in. She now plans to graduate from Emory College of Arts and Sciences rather than following the pre-law track at Goizueta.

“While I wasn’t doing school, I was really stimulating my brain every single day.

It turned out to be much more valuable to me than what I felt like I was doing in the fall.”

— Maya Brill (23C)

“I’m still stressed about my classes,” Schwartz said. “But I know that I’m pursuing something that’s so much more important than whatever is happening in the day-to-day.”

First-year deferrals First-year students took gap years at an even higher rate than their older peers during the 2020-2021 academic year, data provided by Dean of Admission John Latting showed.

About 7% of first-years, 94 total, deferred their admission to Emory, choosing instead to start college in fall 2021. This is an increase from previous years, when around 1.5% of incoming first-years took gap years. “[The increase] was pretty

dramatic,” Latting said. “We were admitting students from the waitlist trying to keep up with that change. We weren’t able to figure out where things were going to land, how many students ultimately would request a gap year.”

Latting said that Emory approved nearly all requests for a gap year, saying he “absolutely” supports taking a year off if students have a plan.

One such first year was Eli Robison (25C), who decided at the last minute that learning opportunities for the 2020-2021 school year were not sufficient. Robison embarked on a series of adventures, including jobs as a barista, service worker and tutor; a month of skiing; a job on a goat farm in Utah; and, most meaningful to him, a 50-day hike through the Appalachians with three friends.

Reflecting on the hike, Robison said he “got to experience the highest of highs and the lowest of lows.” Being amid a storm “for four days in a row, in wet clothes, not being able to sleep in the middle of the woods” was a sharp contrast to “seeing the most beautiful view on the top of a mountain” while overlooking a valley.

The gap year experience showed that the path chosen for him and his friends by his small affluent community in Connecticut was not the only possible way to grow into adulthood, Robinson said. He feels that his experience helped him garner life experience, maturity and building self-confidence.

“There’s a whole stigma to go to college, get your degree and then go into the workforce,” Robison said. “An untraditional route like a gap year is definitely not a thing where I come from … If COVID was not a thing, no way would I have taken a gap year.”

Lessons learned Some students said they valued how their gap year allowed them to slow down. For Brill, the extra time meant taking a step back and examining the busy world she grew up in.

“If I wasn’t in school I was running track, I was traveling, doing something with friends or going to a job,” Brill said. “I kind of prided myself on ‘I don’t take free time, I’m always busy and I’m so productive.’”

As she adjusted to life without the constant pull of a job or class, Brill said she found the lack of scheduled activities beneficial.

“I really learned what was important to me for sustaining my happiness and well-being,” Brill said. Those who took gap years also consistently stated they felt older than those around them, but not only in the ways one might expect.

“I definitely feel a little bit wiser and a lot more confident, knowing what I’m doing because it’s something that I’ve done before,” Ogden said. “I feel good about that but it’s also strange not having my friends on campus.”

Robison echoed these sentiments, but said he isn’t completely without worries.

“You don’t feel as comfortable when you’re not in your [grade],” Robinson said. “I definitely [feel] comfortable but I feel more comfortable with this year’s sophomores in that sense.”

Many students who took gap semesters, including Brill, said they worried about the effect it would have on their graduation date. But, students have learned to look past this fear.

“What does it matter to me if I graduate one semester later?” Brill asked. “It’s kind of arbitrary now, what year you’re graduating.”

Throughout the gap semester experiences, the prevailing feeling was one of gratitude for a once-in-alifetime opportunity.

“Yeah I think it was something that I probably never would have done in the middle of college if this hadn’t happened,” Brill said. “I learned so much about myself and it was really, really impactful.”

— Contact Soju Hokari at soju.hokari@emory.edu

Symposium highlights justice-oriented activism

By Lauren Baydaline Contributing Writer For Koan Roy-Meighoo (25C), a panelist at Emory’s recent slavery symposium, there are two hallmarks of student activism: “Connecting yourself to a broader community, rather than just your small circle, and using your power and influence as a young person to empower others.”

An organizer for the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights, an organization dedicated to advocating people on systemic racism and oppression, Roy-Meighoo defined student activism at the panel discussion “Student Activism at Emory” on Sept. 30.

This discussion was part of a slew of events the University hosted over its three-day “In the Wake of Slavery and Dispossession” symposium.

Roy-Meighhoo was joined by co-panelist Klamath Henry (19C), who serves as a research librarian at Chachalu Tribal Museum and Cultural Center of Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in Portland, Oregon.

Henry is a member of the Shasta Tribe of California and Tuscarora Nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy.

Henry and Roy-Meighoo took turns discussing the history of student activism at Southern institutions, including Emory, and the importance of recognizing the connection between Black, Native and Latinx histories when fighting for justice-oriented activism.

“Everybody!” Henry exclaimed

when asked about who is responsible for combating the legacy of colonialism.

Encouraging people to get involved, Henry said “it’s totally OK to ask, ‘what can I do?’”

Roy-Meighoo elaborated on student activism at Emory, noting that “as students, it’s our job to push professors and the institution” toward making positive changes.

He continued that “it’s the University’s job in general to ask our community, ‘what do you need from us?’”

Explaining the intersection of slavery and dispossession, RoyMeighoo argued that both histories are “inseperable” and how that plays a role in his activism.

As a grassroots activist, RoyMeighoo talked about his work within Atlanta advocacy for the removal of the Lost Cause Monument.

The monument was erected in 1908 by the Daughters of the Confederacy, and served to rationalize the Confederacy following the Civil War. Lost cause mythology centered around the belief that slavery was not the central cause of the Civil War. Roy-Meighoo also shared his contribution toward the newly erected sculpture “What Sonia said” by artist Ellex Swavoni, which was unveiled to the public on Sept. 12.

“This artwork is about the connection between African and Indigenous histories and works to highlight their successes and brilliance, not just their oppression,” Roy-Meighoo explained.

L aurne Baydaline/Contributing

Koan Roy-Meighoo (25C) and Klamath Henry (19C) speak at a panel discussion about student activism on Sept. 30.

After the panelists addressed broader themes of student activism, repossession and restorative justice, the discussion transitioned to an open forum for people to ask questions.

“Number one, stay strong, but know you don’t have to be strong all the time and you can always ask for help,” Henry said when asked about advice for current Indegnious students at Emory.

She discussed how Emory’s cultural resources can help, specifically affinity spaces.

However, some panel attendees expressed their wish for courses at the University to place greater emphasis on student activism.

“I would love for Emory to create structures where students partner with faculty to design courses that have an applied component of activism and engagement as part of the course,” an attendee said.

Emory’s student activism has been deeply rooted in the University’s history and continues to be an important part of the Emory experience. The

University seal, a crossed torch and trumpet, represent the dissemination of knowledge and Emory’s role in sharing this with the surrounding community.

It’s about asking how the University can help not just the immediate Emory community, but the Atlanta community at large.

— Contact Laruen Baydaline at lauren.baydaline@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel

O������ W��������, O������ 6, 2021 | Opinion Editors: Sophia Ling (sophia.ling@emory.edu) & Martin Li (martin.li2@emory.edu)

EDITORIALS

U.S. is not great again, but it isn’t the end of the world The prognosis for our generation doesn’t look encouraging. From increasing income inequality to worsening climate change and the twilight of America’s economic hegemony, few trends are optimistic for the coming decades.

As students entering our adult lives, how do we live well in a declining country and not fall into despair ourselves?

The U.S. is reaching its end as the dominant global superpower. Infrastructure has stagnated as the bridges, roads and railroads across the country crumble, and succumb to climate disasters that the U.S. fueled with carbon emissions. But we lack the political will to create sustainable change. The national debt is skyrocketing and the country is losing military prestige even faster than it’s losing money. The U.S. is down in the

ninth inning, and the chances of a comeback are looking slim to nil. And it won’t become great again anytime soon. Instead, we need to revamp our society to focus on community engagement, and improve the U.S. from the ground up.

The U.S. is also becoming more unpopular at home and abroad. In 1964, 77% of the U.S. public thought they could trust the government.

That number dropped to just 24% in 2021. Global popularity has also slumped as international satisfaction of the position of the U.S. has dropped from 71% in 2002 to 37% in 2021. For a nation that previously prided itself on being the stronghold of democracy and global leadership, we are consistently failing in the global sphere.

Paired with the world’s declining perception of the U.S. — both abroad

and at home — there are limited opportunities for change within the federal government. Congress has proven unable to help its constituents, while Americans have been increasingly polarized and less willing to work together. We cannot depend on Congress to save us. But we shouldn’t give up. There is still hope for transforming the United States. Instead of international and political squabbles that hinder internal progress, we should shift from being a global power to highlight the ways we can improve our communities on a local level.

Instead of feeling hopeless that we cannot solve the systemic issues of the world and the imminent decline of the U.S., it’s time to transition to the ethics of community care.

Derived from feminist care ethics, community care emphasizes the

responsibilities we have to one another within our local groups, and the duty every individual has to upholding and caring for their community. These duties are predicated on reciprocity and include caring for the unhoused, volunteering at your local library and supporting local schools. In spite of what is happening in our country now, we can still be appreciative of the world we live in and the people around us.

Our current cultural trend focuses on ourselves as individuals, rather than community members. As a result, our social bonds deteriorate and we are left uninterested in the communal works of the world around us. The neoliberal emphasis of the U.S. de-emphasizes community engagement and involvement — especially in younger generations.

We are apathetic, and need to shift

our cultural aims to foster an emphasis on our local communities.

Individuals can’t easily spur international change, but being actively involved in your local community can help spark necessary change to improve your environment. Small actions, such as supporting local food banks and mutual aid, researching and voting in local elections and volunteering at local schools, are vital to improving the community. When climate change impacts your area, support your neighbors and those worse off.

Although the U.S. won’t be the preeminent super power much longer, it doesn’t mean that our lives will be worse for it. Instead of the tradition of American individualism, we should recollectivise and become champions of flourishing local communities.

Months-long midterm madness needs an overhaul Midterm season has hit Emory students like a freight train. The stringent deadlines and long-term workload spike has produced burnout among Emory students, reflecting a flawed and inflexible set of policies and an education system that glorifies failure.

The return to normalcy with loosening COVID-19 restrictions has been a double-edged sword. For one, nearly 70% of classes are now in-person, student organizations are meeting regularly and the bustling number of people is revitalizing campus. On the other hand, students have been confronted with the gross reality that taking 18 to 21 credits on Zoom is drastically different from taking those same credits in person.

Though some may have found it feasible during pre-pandemic times, trying to find a work-life balance is nearly impossible, and we should

never have been working at that level in the first place.

Midterms, online or not, have always been one of the most stressful periods for college students. Despite being dubbed a short, seemingly seasonal occurrence, the real midterm season can last much longer. Since each class has its own schedule, some students may have multiple midterm exams spread across the semester, while others may be taking exams and writing papers all due on the same day. In the end, midterms are not a week-long endeavor, but at their worst, a months-long scramble that negatively impacts students’ mental health and grades. Not only does studying for midterms start to take up every chunk of extra time that college students have, but some exam times are abnormal and unconducive to student athletes. For QTM

100 students, a foundational course for most social and natural science majors, the lab quizzes are only open from 5:30-10 p.m., when athletes are often at sports practices or when other extracurricular events are occurring. As a result, people have to choose one activity over the other and miss out on exciting events that are happening around campus. Not allowing this leeway prevents students from being able to experience college beyond academia.

The fear of failure at a pre-professional intensive school like Emory has been ingrained into our psyche.

Students overload on credits and extracurriculars in hopes of padding their resumes. Asking for extensions is also largely stigmatized, causing people to pull all-nighters and forgo their mental, physical and emotional health in lieu of a higher grade point average. Instead of enabling students

to obsessively do everything and expect perfection, Emory should allow students to find a work-life balance by having professors increase flexibility in deadlines.

Developing a work-life balance is not easy, but professors must start coming up with creative solutions to prevent stress-induced burnouts, with the bare minimum being flexible deadlines. Some already have. For instance, in POLS 494 (Civilians in Conflict), Professor Jessica Sun offers students 48 extension hours to spend on any assignments throughout the entire semester. Other professors, like Professor of Political Science Jennifer Gandhi have also included a longer window of time to complete a certain assessment or quiz to allow students to manage their time according to their schedule.

But we should not stop there.

Since professors must also contend with mountains of work to grade, giving students windows from which they can choose their own deadlines would ease the burden on both groups. Greater flexibility for students doesn’t have to mean decreased predictability for educators. Academia is a stressful environment for everyone, but as long as our solutions are tailored to the classes and people who use them — extensions don’t make much sense for an exam-based organic chemistry section — it doesn’t have to be.

As a community, Emory needs to acknowledge the difficulties in the learning curve during this transition period. If students feel unable to ask for extensions or scale back their commitments to a reasonable level, Emory’s academic culture is failing us. We came here to learn, not to suffer for four years.

The above editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel’s Editorial Board.

The Editorial Board is composed of Sahar Al-Gazzali, Viviana Barreto, Rachel Broun, Sara Khan, Sophia Ling, Martin Shane Li, Demetrios Mammas, Sara Perez and Leah Woldai.

The Emory Wheel Volume 102 | Number 11

ISAIAH PORITZ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ANJALI HUYNH EXECUTIVE EDITOR BRAMMHI BALARAJAN MANAGING EDITOR JESSICA SOLOMON MANAGING EDITOR CAILEN CHINN CHIEF OF DIGITAL OPERATIONS PHYLLIS GUO Copy Chief NINAD KULKARNI Senior News Editor MATTHEW CHUPACK News Editor SARAH DAVIS News Editor SOPHIA LING Opinion Editor MARTIN LI Opinion Editor LAUREN BLAUSTEIN Emory Life Editor KATILIN MOTTLEY Emory Life Editor SARU GARG A&E Editor

STEPHEN ALTOBELLI A&E Editor JACKSON SCHNEIDER Photo Editor MICHAEL MARIAM Sports Editor JADA CHAMBERS Copy Editor CAROLINE SILVA Copy Editor NICOLE SEMAAN Copy Editor GABRIELLA LEWIS Digital Ops Editor ULIA AHN Asst. Multimedia Editor RYAN CALLAHAN Editor-at-Large

MILEEN MEYER BUSINESS MANAGER

AIDAN VICK Senior Editor RACHEL BROUN Associate Editor SOFIA HIMMEL Associate Editor JEFFREY ROSEN Associate Editor CLAIRE FENTON Associate Editor

Business/Advertising Email wheelbusinessmanager@gmail.com

The Emory Wheel welcomes letters and op-ed submissions from the Emory community. Letters should be limited to 300 words and op-eds should be at least 500. Those selected may be shortened to fit allotted space or edited for grammar, punctuation and libelous content. Submissions reflect the opinions of individual writers and not of the Wheel’s Editorial Board or Emory University. Send emails to emorywheelexec@gmail.com or postal mail to The Emory Wheel, Drawer W, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, 30322.

DISAGREE WITH US?

WRITE A LETTER TO THE EDITOR. Submit here: emorywheel.com/op-edsubmissions/

The Emory Wheel

OPINION

Keep the internet away from books signature inside, reminding me that I am about to join an exclusive club of people who have read that book. For a short time, it is my secret. Reading is solitary, but holding a printed book connects you to other readers: from those who see you reading their favorite book to those you will never meet but owned your copy before you. eBooks, however, forfeit this community for convenience.

They also turn a private activity into a very performative one. Posting a book on your social media is a way to declare to the world that you are educated and well-read. Instagram accounts devoted to book recommendations have been gaining popularity

to post about your reading habits on Instagram, you certainly haven’t Sophia Peyser evaded the internet’s grasp.

How did such an individualistic I am vehemently anti-eBook. I don’t activity develop an air of performance? like the weight of a Kindle, the screen I read to learn something, to better fatigue of my laptop or the cool, myself and to escape the world. So why electronic feeling against my thumb as am I so preoccupied with impressing I go to flip a virtual page. I hate how people with my choices of literature? online novels have no smell, texture or Through Goodreads, Instagram and history. eBooks are secretive and Tik Tok, we’ve become obsessed with private. You can’t see past the sleek documenting every single book we read black screen of a Kindle to identify the — but who are we doing it for? book by its cover. You can’t pass an Living with the internet means eBook down through generations, constantly proving yourself to the leaving annotations for the next reader. world. We post to prove that we dress For me, reading is an antidote for the well, have friends, go to a good college internet — so why would I read online? and have unique interests and hobbies.

We should move We are the genaway from the eration that docinternet side of uments everyliterature and thing we cook, focus on hard eat, wear and copy books visit. Even readbecause they tell ing, which is stories, create quite possibly the community and most solitary eliminate the pull activity I engage of the internet. in, is subject to I’d forfeit the that treatment. convenience and Although it’s easportability of an ier said than eBook any day for done, reading the feeling of a should ultimately worn, pre-loved be separate from book: one whose the performance spine is coming of the other undone and aspects of our whose pages are lives. stained with ink I want to look and coffee. The ILLUSTRATION BY ALLY HOM at reading the notion that somePhysical books tell stories and bring people together way I did when I one broke in this younger, in a way that eBooks can’t. was book before me before I was feels special, like there’s a secret since the 2010 release of the app. My sucked into the endless void of social between all the previous readers and social media feed is inundated with media and before I learned that me, the only ones who have touched, photos of books accompanied by reading equals smart. I miss the days dog-eared, annotated and loved this captions like “here’s everything I read when I’d wake up early to read in my specific copy. A used book might have this summer.” Trendy books with living room by the big window where travelled all over the world. It could aesthetic covers — “Normal People” by the light streamed in and illuminated have witnessed weddings, reunions, Sally Rooney, “A Little Life” by Hanya the pages. Reading should be kept old disasters and celebrations. Old books Yanagihara, “Such a Fun Age” by Kiley fashioned. That means reverting back existed in a time before screens, when Reid and “Bad Feminist” by Roxanne to paperback books, reading for pleapeople toted around heavy books and Gay — are all over social media. A sure and ending the pressure to docuread for pleasure. Vintage books trans- literary corner of Tik Tok, aptly dubbed ment your reads. It means separation port you back in time; the same cannot “BookTok,” has also become from the internet in every way — from be said for eBooks. omnipresent. It features recommenda- eBooks, from Instagram, from Similarly, brand new books smell tions for books that’ll make you fall in Goodreads. like fresh ink and oaky paper; their love with reading and books that’ll Only then will the age of performacovers are crisp and untarnished — a change your perspective on life. While tive reading end. pleasant break from an unscented, good-intentioned, posting about readsterile Kindle. I like buying recently ing as an escape from the internet is Sophia Peyser (25C) is from Manhatreleased books and finding the author’s incredibly ironic. If you feel compelled tan, New York.

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

6

Religious freedom is not free Maya Rezak The U.S. prides itself on being a secular country, but often fails to be pluralistic when it comes to religion, forgetting that tolerance does not equal inclusion. Each year, the most inescapable sign of this is the holidays that fail to gain most of our country’s attention. By leaving out the many other holidays observed by different groups in the U.S., the government’s support of Christian holidays alienates millions of U.S. citizens who practice other religions.

Since 1870, the U.S. Congress has legislated 11 federal holidays that local governments and private businesses commonly recognize, but are not legally mandated to. Religious holidays like Christmas and Good Friday are also recognized as public holidays, even though the Establishment Clause of the Constitution prohibits government sanctioning of any one religion. While the constitutionality of recognizing holidays with religious origins has been challenged in multiple courts, the government continues to argue that these holidays have evolved to serve a secular purpose. It claims that popular traditions such as Santa Claus and the Christmas tree are not rooted in religion, since they have come to represent a historical celebration. Even if these traditions are not religious rituals, they have come to represent a holiday that is an integral part of the Christian faith.

The exclusion of religious minorities is even more troubling when nearly every U.S. citizen gets at least a day off for Christmas, but other religions seldom get any time off for their most important holidays. For example, in Judaism, the most important holiday season typically falls in September or October, but the traditional time given off in the U.S. for holidays is at the end of December. Some companies have implemented floating holidays, or paid days off that employees are allowed to use for any holiday they choose, as a remedy, but this practice has not yet become widespread. Despite the acknowledgement of other holidays from different religions, it’s usually only the ones that fall around the same time as a Christian one. For instance, although Hanukkah is a minor holiday in the Jewish faith, it has become the

most well-known Jewish holiday in the U.S. Unfortunately, our society has yet to realize that not every religion’s core holidays fall in the final two weeks of December.

Only giving Christian holidays off is an even more acute problem of inclusion amongst students. While most adults have the flexibility to take a day off from work, students are not granted the same luxury. Being absent for a day of school, even when it’s excused, can pose challenges, such as falling behind on assignments and missing important lessons. Every year, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and Asian students who observe Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipppur, Eid al-Fitr, Diwali and Lunar New Year, respectively, must miss school. While these are usually counted as excused absences, many students still end up missing critical class time. By only acknowledging Christian traditions, our society cannot be considered truly diverse. One solution to this would be including other religions is by adding holidays to the school calendar. New York City, which has a relatively high percentage of members of non-Christian religions, has done this by having the public schools give off for Eid al-Fitr, Diwali, Lunar New Year, the Jewish High Holidays and Passover, in addition to Christmas and Easter.

Taking days off of school or work for each of these holidays may not be realistic on a national scale, but institutions must take action to foster religious inclusion. To accommodate students missing class for religious observances, schools should make asynchronous recordings available, offer extended deadlines on assignments and prohibit exams on these days. Similarly, workplaces should try to avoid planning important events or meetings on these days to create a more flexible holiday policy. Schools and workplaces must also do a better job at educating people on different religious traditions. From teaching a proper and culturally sensitive greeting for each day, such as how it is inappropriate to wish someone a “Happy Yom Kippur” when this holiday is one of fasting and repentance, to holding programs that educate about these holidays, there are many ways we can begin to respectfully include other religions and diversify our world views.

Maya Rezak (25C) is from Plainview, New York.

Emory Mail Service must hire more mailroomworkerstoend delays Daniel Matin Emory students all know the feeling.

Finishing up lunch at the Dobbs Common Table and thinking of checking for a package. You swipe your Emory Card on the terminal and send a prayer to whoever is listening that your package is there. But most of the time, your spirits are crushed by the message on the screen that nothing is available for pickup, even though shipping information indicates it arrived several weeks back.

Any student who has ordered a package this year at Emory has likely noticed major issues, such as long lag times between when packages are marked as arrived by the USPS and FedEx to when they are processed and ready for pickup in Few Hall. Students have waited days or even weeks for urgent packages. Simply put, Emory Mail Services (EMS) cannot provide excellent service to students with the amount of mail they have to process.

The solution to this problem is obvious: Emory should hire more mailroom workers.

In interviews with the Wheel, stu- Email notifications are back online, so students to order a lot of packages in dents testified to the backlogs they’ve people can get their packages out of the the first few weeks of school. There is experienced at the mail center. Alyssa mailroom soon after they arrive. We no reason why the sheer volume of Colen (25C) shared that “a packages at the package [she] ordered with beginning of the year three to five day shipping should have overended up taking two weeks to whelmed EMS to the be ready for pickup.” The point of necessitatpackage was necessary for one ing email notificaof her classes and its delay tions be taken impeded her ability to particioffline. pate. Another first-year, Clearly, there Vianet Ruiz (25C), “had badaren’t any systematic minton rackets ordered a issues causing the week ago arrive and be prodelays for packages. cessed faster than shampoo EMS systems — card ordered two weeks ago.” swiping, email notiWhile the mail system is fications, MSC numslowly catching up, students bers for letters — all are still encountering delays. work fine.

Emory’s struggling mail If the EMS system system makes even prioritized continues to work packages arrive late. Expewell, then the probdited shipping certainly is not lem must be going to do students any s o m e t h i n g ILLUSTRATION BY HA-TIEN NGUYEN favors if there are multi-day else: demand for Emory’s mail service is causing chaos. delays for packages. To EMS’ packages often credit, delays have improved exceeds the capacity since the beginning of the year. Pack- should not settle for this delayed fix. of mailroom worker labor. ages no longer have multi-week delays. This year isn’t Emory’s first rodeo: the This is not an indictment of Emory’s The mailroom is visibly less cluttered. University should be prepared for mailroom workers. In fact, Emory’s

mail workers have been performing above and beyond what should be expected of them. However, they do need support from the University.

With an endowment of $7.97 billion, Emory University can afford to supply this help in the form of hiring more workers. There is no reason why packages should have multiple day delays.

Packages should be able to be picked up either on the day they arrive or the next day, but an efficient turnaround time is precluded by a lack of labor.

Hiring more employees would reduce the burden on individual employees and prevent a large backlog from occurring in the first place. In fact, more employees could even enable EMS to be open on the weekends, or have extended hours during peak seasons.

Emory has the resources to fix a simple problem like mail delays. It remains to be seen whether they care enough to try.

Daniel Matin (25C) is from Franklin, Tennessee.

&

The Emory Wheel

ARTS ENTERTAINMENT WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2021 | Arts & Entertainment Editors: Saru Garg (saru.garg@emory.edu) & Stephen Altobelli (saltobe@emory.edu)

‘Squid Game’: It’s all fun and games until money comes into play

BY NICOLE SEMAAN Copy Editor

COURTESY OF

DENVER ART MUSEUM

Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota, European) and Marie Watt (Seneca and German-Scots)

‘Each/Other’: a groundbreaking new exhibit opens at the Carlos

BY ZIMRA CHICKERING Senior Staff Writer “This is an evening of firsts, but this certainly won’t be the last,” declared Beth Michel, associate dean of admission and lead for Native American Outreach at Emory. The new “Each/Other” exhibit at the Michael C. Carlos Museum, open from Sept. 25 to Dec. 12, features the innovative works of contemporary Indigenous artists Marie Watt (Seneca, German-Scots) and Cannupa Hanska Luger (Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota, European), whose works powerfully facilitate the reflection and education of the audience, as the art becomes an active, collaborative practice for each of us to participate in.

There was an electrifying energy in the air of the galleries that evening, vibrating with the excitement of the artists, collaborators and visitors who oversaw the project. Megan O’Neil, faculty curator at the Carlos Museum and Emory art history professor, began the night with a land acknowledgement, a formal statement recognizing that the land under the museum was originally inhabited by Indigenous people.

This was one of the first times I had heard a land acknowledgement at Emory, especially with such clear consideration of the historical and current impact of colonialism, coinciding with the new official land acknowledgement recently adopted by the University.

The “Each/Other” exhibition not only addresses the role of the museum, but also the role of the artist, by engaging both the artists’ hands and the hands of the community. First, many in the Emory community contributed their time and their hands to the creation of the artwork named after the exhibit, “Each/Other,” as well as Watt’s “Blanket Stories” and Luger’s “Every One.” Community involvement is intrinsic to the work of both Watt and Luger, as they help create shared masterpieces, defying the idea of artists as “owners'' or solo “geniuses.”

Instead, they can assert their posi-

tions as storytellers, sharers, creators, community builders and helpers. Herein lies the true artistic genius of their work.

The theme of collaboration follows the viewer with every turn, be it between students and artists, borrowed and new materials, the past, present and future, textile and sculpture or art and activism. Once the viewer begins to acknowledge and notice this collaboration, the connection between all creatures and times becomes apparent.

For example, Watt’s “Trek (Pleiades)” textile blends the historical teachings of the Pleiades constellation with the future science fiction ideology of the starship Enterprise from “Star Trek” using reclaimed wool blankets. Watt articulates that she sees each thread “as a metaphor for how we are all related,” and the physical unity of her textiles and the stitches that compose them sends a potent non-verbal message of “togetherness” as well. We are invited, nay required, to look at ourselves and the community around us.

This reflection of community and collaboration then transforms into action. Just as Luger’s “Mirror Shields” was used during protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline to compel police officers to consider their actions, “Each/Other” necessitates reflection in the viewers. In Luger’s words: “Art is not an object. It's a process. It's a verb, not a noun.”

Neither viewer, organizer nor artist can be complacent. This exhibit allows for art to truly live up to its highest state: one of action and investment in relationships.

The physical space of the exhibition was also critical to creating a safe environment for reflection. The voices of Watt and Luger come through clearly in the artwork descriptions and quotes printed onto the gallery walls, working in conjunction with the close physicality of the gallery space. The warm-toned grey walls, low ceilings, dim lighting and abundance of textiles achieves a sense of amity and acceptance for all who enter; the gallery reads like a

dwelling place, a cradle for these artworks.

The message of “Each/Other” is maintained throughout the Carlos Museum and beyond, as artworks from this collection are also featured in the Arts of the Americas galleries and the Greek and Roman galleries of the Carlos. This embrace continues as you leave the museum, stressing that we walk as temporary residents on a land that is not our own. We are invited to maintain the reflection from this exhibition, instead of just leaving it at the door of the museum. “Each/Other” was single-handedly the most revolutionary exhibit I have seen, not only at the Carlos, but most other museums from this past year. The artwork demands that action is taken, whether through art-making, conversation or reflection, thereby transforming the visitors into participants.

This plea helps shake foundations of denial, oppression and ignorance that have become deeply entrenched in ourselves and in institutions of higher education. “Each/Other” instead invites us as an audience to recognize our connection to fellow humans, creatures and all living things. Like a nostalgic, worn woolen blanket, let “Each/Other” both comfort you and push you out of your comfort zone.

Emory University was founded in 1836 on the historic lands of the Muscogee (Creek) people, 15 years after the First Treaty of Indian Springs (1821) through which the U.S. government acquired this area of land from the Muscogee Nation.

After this treaty, many Muscogee people relocated to Alabama and were then forcibly removed to present-day Oklahoma on the Trail of Tears in 1836. We share this acknowledgment of the history of the land to help put a better perspective on the “Each/Other” exhibition and Emory’s commitment to honor Indigenous nations and peoples, both locally and beyond.

I can still remember the stress I felt as the line for the foursquare court shortened ahead of me. Heart racing and palms sweating, I watched the ruthless fourth-graders dominate the squares, aggressively striking the rubber ball, determined to eliminate each player and claim the king quadrant. They defended the ever-changing rules of the game as though their lives depended on it (Carrying isn’t allowed! Lines are deadly!). Nothing stung more than being eliminated after the first round — except maybe the rubber kickball’s resonant sting against your palms.

“Squid Game,” Netflix’s newest dark thriller, portrays scenes evocative of the nerve-racking bouts of the elementary school playground, but with a sinister twist. Following six deceptively innocuous games, the show uniquely delivers an incongruous tone that makes for a gut-wrenching nine episodes. The premise of the games is simple: win six children’s games and walk home with an exuberant cash prize. It’s child’s play. People drowning in debt are plucked from their miserable lives by a peculiar organization and offered the chance to turn their lives around by participating in traditional games like red light, green light and tug of war. The indebted, desperate for the promised reward, are more than happy to oblige. It isn’t long before they realize that the price of losing far exceeds their dues, and elimination from the games is far worse than humiliation. The lines in this four-square match are quite literally deadly.

The show opens with the air of a cheesy drama — a cashstrapped guy who still lives with his mom has to reconcile with the fact that his gambling addiction prevents him from being the perfect father. But the show quickly takes a turn when our main character Seong Gi-Hun (Lee Jungjae) is offered a spot in the Squid Games by a mysterious businessman in the subway station (Gong Yoo). Physically beaten by the loan sharks he owes and ashamed that his daughter’s stepfather is

more financially competent than he is, he decides he has no other choice but to take the offer. After accepting his position in the games, he is anesthetized and taken to a remote island to play against 455 other competitors.

The show’s immense success is largely due to its ability to pull wool over the viewers’ eyes throughout all nine episodes. The players march to and from each game through haphazardly arranged staircases painted in bubblegum pink and chartreuse — a bizarre set reminiscent of those in old kids’ TV shows. The players are awoken each morning by the gentle waltz “By The Beautiful Blue Danube.” The prize money is collected in a comically large transparent piggy bank suspended from the ceiling. When the games’ horrors are revealed to both the viewers and the players, these aesthetic choices only compound the viewers’ fears. The eerie music-box-like soundtrack and heavily armed guards clad in hot pink jumpsuits lend to the feeling of false security, making each gruesome death all the more jarring and grisly imagery more unsettling.

More deceitful than the set design is the group of players. I love well-written, morally gray characters, and “Squid Game” delivers a whole cast of them. The show departs from the cliché hero-versus-villain trope and instead slowly reveals the villain within each character. Though generally likable, Gi-Hun often allows his emotions to hinder his decision-making. While his childhood friend Cho Sang-Woo (Park Hae Soo) takes on the role as the clever and calculated leader, his hunger for money growls louder than his loyalty. And though frail, wise Oh Il-nam (Oh Young-soo) may seem like one of the most trustworthy of the bunch, his motives are not as innocent as they seem. As the games get bloodier and the cash prize more alluring, the players must decide if preserving their integrity is more important than their lives. While some characters are more cold-blooded than others, every character grapples with a wavering moral com-

See NEW, Page 9

— Contact Zimra Chickering at zimra.chickering@emory.edu

COURTESY OF Netflix

Jung Ho-yeon as Kang Sae-byeok in ‘Squid Game.’

The Emory Wheel

A&E

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

8

Valdimar Jóhannsson displays immense courage with his theatrical debut ‘Lamb’

BY LIAM SHERMAN Contributing Writer At this point in time, it is difficult for me to see those glorious alphanumeric characters “A24” without feeling immense anticipation and not automatically become aroused.

The company has not only become synonymous with remarkable cinema, but also originality. With a catalogue of films so distinguished (“Moonlight,” “The Lighthouse,” “Uncut Gems,” etc.), the production company has made it apparent that risk-taking is a quality they search for both in a director and a story.

Without indie studios like A24, Valdimar Jóhannsson’s “Lamb” would probably have never found a home. The tale of a depressed, childless farming couple, Maria (Noomi Rapace) and Pétur (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson), finding happiness through raising a lamb with the body of a human as their own kin is not the typical coming-of-age film on the radar of Hollywood market analysts. Ultimately, A24’s bet paid off. While “Lamb” will alienate a majority of its audience due to its slow pacing, the visuals and unique form of storytelling elevates it into a highly enjoyable film.

Despite the bizarre and chaotic premise, “Lamb” is a surprisingly quiet film, with hardly any music or dialogue throughout. Initially, the film just shows the anguished, childless couple going about their week, not particularly enjoying life or each other. This silence allows the audience to fully appreciate the scenery and scope that unfolds on the breathtaking peaks of Iceland. Shots of the farming duo walking, sitting, tilling and plowing (sometimes in more ways than one) are made majestic by Eli Arenson’s cinematography. “Lamb'' ironically mirrors neorealist films, even though there is arguably nothing realistic about the premise. To spice up these shots, Jóhannsson also takes a page from Akira Kurosawa with weather effects that distract our eyes during dull moments. While we see the characters go through the monotony of their day, our eyes never stop moving from the mist, snow and rain that fill up the frame. A shot of Pétur

simply walking becomes a moment of piqued interest when we see him get lost in the fog.

Moreover, there is something profoundly charming about the couple’s unremarkable lifestyle.

Japanese filmmakers have a philosophy called “ma” (emptiness, or a pause in time) to refer to instances where the story does not control the flow of the film; meaningless moments intrude where characters take a second to breath, enjoy a glass of coffee or reflect on the serenity of their environment.

Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli is particularly known for employing this technique. In an interaction with film critic Roger Ebert, Miyazaki said, “If you just have nonstop action with no breathing space at all, it's just busyness." This stillness adds a welcome hint of realism to an otherwise ludicrous tale. It also completely subverts audience expectations, as we have preconceived notions that dark and mysterious forces are lurking close by, even though the film reveals these forces at its own gentle pace.

Part of the couple’s routine involves going to their barn and helping the sheep go through labor. There are numerous graphic, musty deliveries of bloody lambs. Each one makes the audience question, “When is it going to happen?” We wait patiently as we expect the camera to pan down and show us a monster, only to see another normal lamb. When we finally get to the anticipated lambhuman hybrid birth scene, we expect things to be different. However, the film goes against our assumption; there is no dramatic reveal and no screaming lamb aberration, only the shocked faces of the couple who look down at something we can not see.

The lamb is only unveiled about two scenes later. At first, I was underwhelmed and slightly confused, but as the film continued, I realized that this method of reveal was perfect. With no words at all, the couple brings the crossbred creature into their house (to the chagrin of the sheep), wraps it in a blanket and places it in a crib. We understand that this creature is not a curse or even a mystery to them — instead, it is family.

COURTESY OF A24

Björn Haraldsson (left) and Noomi Rapace (right) in Valdimar Jóhannsson’s ‘Lamb’

What “Lamb” excels at is the art of “showing” instead of “telling.” There are no explanations, just various events that unfold on screen, allowing the audience to piece together their significance. The moment the lamb enters the house, the couple seems elated. A discussion on their excitement would have been forced and predictable. Instead, through the couple's newfound loving interactions and brighter settings full of sunshine, the audience can easily get the same knowledge without dialogue. The film focuses on the couple desperately pretending like everything is normal, when everyone watching knows nothing about their situation is conventional.

Small instances reveal the forced illusion of happiness. Maria comes off as sweet for practically the entire first half of the film, but when the lamb’s actual mother cries and follows Maria around, seemingly begging for the return of her child, Maria snaps. She becomes the monster and for the first time we do not know who to root for.

The film is chock-full of metaphors and symbolism that can be interpreted in many ways. Is it questioning whether human entitlement to take away an animal’s offspring due to nothing more than superior intelligence is efficacious?

Or is it just simply making fun of the people who coddle their pets, dressing dogs up and carrying them in strollers? That is for the audience to decide. This review has framed the film in the “slice of life” genre, which probably confused some readers since A24 marketed it as a horror film. In reality, “Lamb” is somewhere in between. The film does possess the gentle qualities described above, but it is also filled with extreme tension.

To truly categorize it, a slow-burn thriller would be most appropriate. It echoes the same sentiments of phenomenal films like “Under the Skin” (Glazer, 2014) or “Burning” (Chang-dong, 2018): extremely slow, but suspenseful stories that build to a subtle, yet explosive ending. While I prefer those films, “Lamb” does the same and still manages to maintain

its own integrity and originality.

I recognize this film is not for everyone — my mother would probably murder me if I even thought of taking her to watch the movie.

However, it still is a worthy watch that I found myself enjoying precisely for its stylish and authentic presentation. Say what you want, but when have you ever seen a movie about a lamb-human amalgamation being lovingly raised by lonely farmers? The answer is never. A24 is such a great studio because they take chances on ideas, no matter how outlandish, and allow artists to explore whatever topics they want.

There is no formula, and that is what attracts their cult-like following of cinemagoers. A24 ensures that superhero movies are not the only films that can be seen in theaters. As a lover of cinema sailing through a turbulent sea of remakes, unnecessary sequels and sellouts, I found “Lamb” to be a sincere sense of relief that cinema and the exploration of the artform will never die.

— Contact Liam Sherman at liam.sherman@emory.edu

New Netflix series is a global sensation

Continued from page 7

COURTESY OF

Lee Byung-hun as the Front Man in ‘Squid Game.’

pass at some point in the games.

The show successfully depicts a multi-dimensional group of players, compelling the viewers to step into their shoes.

The show has transcended its origin in South Korea and has become a global sensation as the country’s first show to reach Netflix’s number one spot in both the U.S. and globally. This comes as no surprise, with comparable works such as the movie “Parasite” gaining tremendous traction outside of South Korea as well.

Similarly to that film, “Squid Game” blends traditional genres; it is a drama, horror, comedy and psychological thriller wrapped into one. Despite some of the expected deaths and laughably draNETFLIX matic conflicts between characters, there is a more profound commentary that underlies the drama that begs for discussion

even after the credits roll. Just how realistic is the characters’ hunger for money, which they are willing to put their own lives on the line to satisfy? Does cruelty in the name of self-preservation excuse itself when the circumstances are so dire? Is money really the root of all evil, or does it simply reveal the evil that was there all along?At first, my only qualm with the show was its unsatisfying ending, which falls short after the mounting tension established by the majority of the final episode. Rather than a classic Hollywood ending where our scarred victor unleashes his fury on the system that traumatized him and executed hundreds, the final moments are mostly left to interpretation. Only after sleeping on the idea, I realized that this route was more realistic. Gi-Hun keeps his promises to fallen

friends, and despite the horrors he went through, he still emerges hopeful for humanity. While the ending leaves the possibility for a second season in the air, the lack of closure is arguably more cathartic. The show provides an unforeseen departure from an obvious finale, creating a final scene with an unexpected twist that lingers in the viewer’s mind long after it’s over.“Squid Game” is perfectly bingeable, with frustratingly clever cliffhangers and suspenseful subplots that kept me captivated. While on the surface, the disturbing killings and unforgiving plot are characteristic of a typical “Battle Royale”-esque thriller, it is the unique backdrop and shocking character development that will tug on your attention and refuse to let go.

— Contact Nicole Semaan at nicole.semaan@emory.edu

The Emory Wheel

Emory Life

Wednesday, October 6, 2021 | Emory Life Editors: Lauren Blaustein (lblaust@emory.edu) and Kaitlin Mottley (kaitlin.michelle.mottley@emory.edu)

College guide to grocery shopping

By Lauren Blaustein and Kaitlin Mottley Emory Life Editors This year, many students moved into dorms for the first time after having lived at home for over a year. While we were taking classes from home, many students did not have groceries and cooking at the top of their list of priorities.

Now, though, with campus life back in full swing, you may be cooking for yourself for the first time.

With work study jobs and full class schedules, it’s not easy to plan meals, map out expenses and execute a strategy to ensure you don’t spend all your Dooley Dollars in just a month or two.

Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your time and spend your money well when it comes to grocery shopping on a student’s budget.

Shop weekly instead of monthly While it may seem wise to do all of your shopping in one go, shopping in bulk for the month can cause you to pick up many items that may go to waste in the end. That bag of apples might seem great now, but after eating all of the other food you bought, you may find that they’ve spoiled by the time you’re ready to eat them.

Shopping weekly ensures that you only buy what you know you can eat in a particular time frame. This strategy wastes less food, and you can better keep track of what you spend weekly, helping you set a range for your budget.

This tip may also help you meal plan, as shopping weekly gives you more flexibility to experiment with the options you have on hand. It will allow you to fully make use of everything you buy and enable you to experiment with leftovers.

If you know you’ll eat a certain type of meat or vegetable one week, you can try different dishes with the staple item. In the end, you’ll have used all your ingredients and be able to make better choices when you shop the next week.

Try a grocery planner Going into a grocery store without a plan can leave you spending more

than you intended on treats that catch your eye. If you plan ahead of time, you can avoid the temptations that line every aisle and leave knowing you made smart decisions that will save you money in the long run.

Making a note of essentials in a notes app before shopping is a great first step, but there are a number of meal planning websites to make your grocery trips easier.

Plan to Eat is one such example which organizes recipes, helps you create a meal planner and even generates curated shopping lists based on your tastes. Adding simple tools like this to your shopping plan can certainly simplify your planning stage.

Take advantage of coupons or apps While most grocery stores always offer discounts, oftentimes you can find additional markdowns from paper coupons or phone apps.

Although saving $1 now may seem small, if you grocery shop often, these discounts add up and help you save in the long run.

If you search the name of the store you shop at and “discount coupons” online, you should be able to find deals. Also, if you shop at a large franchise grocery store, it’s worth checking to see if they have a mobile app.

There, you will likely find discounts or other deals that may not appear in a quick Google search.

Emory and “In the Wake of Slavery of Dispossession”

Illustration by Ha-tien Nguyen

Cook quick with frozen food Throwing food on the stove or into the microwave quickly after a long day of classes makes life and cooking a whole lot easier. Especially after running around campus all day, you’re tired, hungry and want to prepare something quickly. Frozen food or pre-made frozen meals are the perfect solution if you don’t want to spend time making a meal yourself. At your next grocery run, buy frozen packs of your favorite foods, whether it be some veggies, burgers or even fully pre-made meals. On top of the ease that comes with preparing a meal, you won’t need to worry about expiration dates. You will save time and energy with this strategy since you won’t have to run to the grocery store as frequently.

With all that said, living on a college budget can certainly be difficult when it comes to grocery shopping, but it can be manageable if you follow these tips. Whether you begin checking for discounts, buying more frozen food or creating a grocery planner, making small changes can make a big difference in your saving process.

— Contact Lauren Blaustein at lblaust@emory.edu and Kaitlin Mottley at kaitlin. michelle.mottley@emory.edu Illustration by A pril L awyer

X avier Stevens/Contributing

The in-person presentation given at “In the Wake of Slavery ad Dispossession” Symposium.

By Xavier Stevens Contributing Writer Carol Henderson takes the podium at “In the Wake of Slavery and Dispossession” symposium after several performance artists, dancers and priests acknowledge their ancestors through readings, music and prayers.

She is the vice provost for diversity and inclusion, chief diversity officer, adviser to the president, co-chair of the Symposium Steering Committee and a powerful speaker.

“This symposium is a journey. I want to say that again. It’s a journey,” Henderson says. “It is a journey for us to realize a more equitable, diverse and inclusive Emory. That journey cannot begin if we don’t acknowledge where we’ve been.”

With these words, Henderson opened the symposium presented by Emory Libraries on Sept. 29 that concluded on the evening of Oct. 1. The symposium events focused on the history and impact of slavery, as well as dispossession in the South, encouraging students at Emory University to remember, or discover, the lasting implications of such events.

The symposium is part of an ongoing effort from Emory to create dialogue from perspectives of Black, Native American and Indigenous peoples. Sessions highlighted these perspectives through panel discussions, research presentations, interactive art, song, dance, virtual reality and more, with each event focused on history, impact or healing and restorative justice.

Emory also released an acknowledgement statement in conjunction with the symposium. The statement highlights Emory’s founding in 1836 by slaveholders and the Oxford campus’s construction by enslaved people.

The locations of both campuses are also on the lands dispossessed from the Muscogee Nation. The statement hopes to recognize the injustices on these peoples and their labor in the creation of the university.

In the symposium’s history track, Lucas P. Kelley, assistant professor of history at Valparaiso University (Ind.), presented his research titled, “University of the People?” on the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s (UNC) growth through dis-

possession. After the War of 1812, Americans used an expansion of power to force land sales from Indigenous peoples. UNC benefited from an 1818 treaty with the Chickasaw Nation negotiated by Andrew Jackson to acquire over 200,000 acres of land to sell and fund the university.

Emory also saw growth at this time. Only 15 years before Emory’s founding, the American government signed the First Treaty of Indian Springs,seizing Muscogee land that would later become Emory’s campuses “Not only is every American university built on Indigenous land, but many only exist today because they sold indigenous land to white expansions,” Kelley said.

One section of the symposium featured visual artist Charmaine Minnefield and her collaborators who developed the Emory Arts Praise House project. The project emulates a Praise House — a small, wooden structure used for worship by enslaved peoples in the South. To resist white oppression, enslaved peoples gathered in these structures, shouted and stomped on the wooden floors to perform the Ring Shout. This act served as a communal drum to preserve their culture and religion.

Minnifield and her team recreated a Praise House as a public art installation that surrounds the viewer with a visual presentation of the Ring Shout on the structure’s walls.

“It is the energy of the Ring Shout, that assertion of life, that we gather,” Minniefield said. “We gather in this circle as collaborators, artists and activists to remember a difficult past.

This institution has established wealth and systems of white supremacy, and we must gather in the form of a community project.”

The symposium turned its focus to solutions in the healing and restorative justice track. Briyant Hines (22T), a student at the Candler School of Theology, presented with a perspective of an American descendant of the enslaved in the 21st century.

His presentation cited scientific research that gives evidence for traumatic events leading to changes in

See SYMPOSIUM, Page 10

10

EMORY LIFE

Wednesday, October 6 , 2021

Cailen Drinks Coffee: Keurig Shaming

The Emory Wheel

How to tackle midterm season

By Cailen Chinn Chief of Digital Operations

“Knowing what coffee is supposed to taste like is a curse.” If you don’t know better, your Keurig coffee is probably We’ve been back on campus for a just as good as any other coffee you while now — by this point, you’ve prob- may purchase.

And, let’s face it: If you’re putting ably tried all the coffee that Emory has hot water through coffee grounds that to offer.

Yet, nothing compares to your quickly, your drink is going to taste trusty first cup of the morning, sour and acidic due to that short, fast, straight from the Keurig in your dorm low-pressure extraction.

The grounds are room. The Keurig is packaged in plastic, a college dorm staple, which will absorb but I’m now a little While a Keurig is a some of the flavor ashamed to admit that from the coffee, brewI had one. great first option for ing While it reliably a weaker cup. provides your caffeine anyone getting into There is, as a result, fix, it’s even more a culture around likthe coffee game, reliable for brewing ing Keurig coffee that less than mediocre you’re going to be is deemed “taboo” among college stuor, dare I say, bad coffee. better off investing dents. People who There are a few reathink Keurig coffee in a French press, is bad probably think sons why the Keurig is highly of themselves so popular. A machine or even a regular and craft coffee and can run for as low as $50, and K-cups are drip coffee machine, denounce Kaldi’s for being mediocre at easy to find and often in the long-run. best. on sale. Compared Should you choose to other single-serve to go the Keurig route coffee pods, like — still not ideal by any Nespresso capsules, the K-cups are half as expensive as means — I have a few recommendatheir competitors. tions. First, go with Green Mountain I would be remiss to not mention Breakfast Blend when buying your how easy the Keurig is to use.

K-cups.

My morning routine consisted of It’s not too bitter and has a clean turning on my Keurig and letting it flavor. Or, you can buy a reusable brew a cup as I packed up my things K-cup and fill it with whatever coffee and got ready for the day. you want.

I loved how stress-free it made my While a Keurig is a great first morning, and while I now live for the option for anyone getting into the meditative moments that come from coffee game, you’re going to be better grinding coffee and brewing a cup in off investing in a French press, or even my French press, I do miss the days of a regular drip coffee machine, in the quick, easy coffee. long-run.

Most 18 year-olds start to drink And if you think there’s nothing coffee when they come to college wrong with coffee out of the Keurig, I’ll or have only had name-brand keep you in my thoughts. chains, like Starbucks, prior to leaving home.

— Contact Cailen Chinn at As my dad put it to me the other day, cchinn@emory.edu

Illustration by A lly Hom

By Allison Marino Contributing Writer As we approach the first midterm season of the academic year, preparing for in-person tests for the first time in over a year may feel daunting.

If you feel like your old study habits won’t cut it anymore, or you’re in need of some different strategies, this article will cover it all. It can be overwhelming whether you’re experiencing midterms for the first time or what feels like the millionth time, but there are still ways to manage the stress.

Create a to-do list or use a planner Being organized is the key to acing your exams. You can use Google Calendar to schedule important dates or input tasks for the week. For example, setting out time on Sundays to list the upcoming week’s important assignments on a calendar will keep you on track. Even writing down all the assignments and exams during the first week of the month helps you visualize how much time you need to dedicate to each subject. Planners from Barnes & Noble are also great if you want to have a physical copy of important dates. For those who like digital copies, the Google Calendar or Apple Calendar are both handy.

If you have the extra time, you could also go through each class’s syllabus to create an assignment calendar. By looking ahead, you can avoid jam-packed days by working gradually until the due date. Whether it’s scheduling work during your free time on Tuesdays or penciling in dinners with friends so you know that you’ll have that time off, planning ahead is a stress reliever. It’s extremely helpful to have your deadlines and exam times in one place so you don’t miss any crucial dates.

Add tools to stay focused

X avier Stevens/Contributing

“Nightmares within an American Dream” by Frank Luster III

To resist getting distracted by your phone, you can incorporate productivity apps into your study routine. Flora, an app available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store,

allows you to keep a timer on your phone as you study. The app discourages you from closing out and blocks any social media notifications. Flora also helps time your study sessions and even enables you to put break times afterward.

Another app that is useful is Study Bunny, a focusing timer with a fun twist. You can personalize your own “study bunny” and earn coins by studying to purchase items such as food, room decor or outfits. The more hours you study, the more coins you receive, which encourages you to stay productive. There is also a to-do list feature to oversee completion of certain tasks and a flashcard feature to quiz yourself on material. No matter which app you use, it will ensure that you actively study during long periods of time.

Try listening to new music If you enjoy music while you study, listening to unknown songs is a great way to reduce distractions. By eliminating familiar songs, you can avoid getting a song stuck in your head, or you may even end up finding your new favorite song to save until after studying. Asking friends for their playlists is one place to start, but major streaming services also provide options to discover new tunes.

For one, Spotify updates their playlists every Friday and has a variety of mixes designed specifically for studying. If you do not have Spotify, Apple Music also has several playlists to choose from. Another option is a free app called Insight Timer that has meditation music, instrumentals and even vibrational hertz.

Don’t miss office hours or discussion sessions Professors are there to help you out if you’re struggling; don’t hesitate to reach out to clear up any misconceptions. If office hours don’t work, many professors are accommodating and can set up individual meetings with you. In addition to the professors, TAs can be a great resource because they typically hold a different set of office

hour times.

Study groups and discussion sessions are also a great form of studying.

When students explain concepts to each other, they are often able to break them down in a way that professors can’t. It serves as practice for classmates to teach others and for others to learn the material. The library is a great place to meet and collaborate on a confusing topic before midterms.

Group study keeps you focused and lets you learn more as a team.

Clean environment, clean mind Keeping your learning environment clean improves productivity and minimizes distractions. If you choose to study in your room, make sure the area is organized so you won’t worry about the mess and get distracted. A lingering thought of chores to do while studying will not let you entirely focus on the task at hand.

However, if your home study space isn’t doing it for you, there are so many spots on campus to enjoy. Now that we have entered fall, the weather is perfect to sit outside: in the Quad, outside of Kaldi’s Depot or outside the Emory Student Center are a few options. There are also rooms that can be reserved for group study or individual use in the library. There are even cubicles on the seventh floor that are quiet and extremely private if you like isolated places. Your environment can become your sanctuary, so pick the best one that suits you.

Regardless of how you choose to study for exams, it’s best not to overwork yourself. It’s easy to fall into the trap of losing sleep, skipping meals or avoiding social events, but remember, you always come first. Take care of your body and know when it needs a break. Especially amid a pandemic, you must take care of yourself and be safe. If you need someone to speak with, TimelyCare has emotional health support 24/7. There is no need to overwork yourself — study smarter, not harder.

— Contact Allison Marino at allison.marino@emory.edu

Symposium addresses Emory’s historic role in slavery

Continued from Page 9 DNA that can be passed down from one generation to another. Hines believes that he may inherit trauma from his grandmother who grew up during segregation and his third grandmother who experienced the burning and hanging of her husband by a white mob.

Hines also said that the many mental health issues that African

Americans experience today likely stem from the constant trauma of slavery, Jim Crow, Civil Rights and today’s institutions.

“Movements should be created that address the African American, homeless and mentally ill population as well as offering mental health resources in underserved and underrepresented populations,” Hines said. “There needs to be any emergency triage in the

African American community where healing is at the forefront.”

On the opening night of the symposium, a panel of Black students and activists gathered to explore the history of Emory and what comes next from student activism. For the panel, the journey towards healing and change does not simply end with a statement from the University or a symposium.

“I feel like a lot of the challenges

that we face here come down to the many avenues and channels that we have to go through in order to finally get the change that we need,” Coumba Diao (22B) said.

Diao was a pivotal part of the Coalition of Black Organizations and Clubs letter of demands sent to Fenves in summer 2020 and believes there is still a lot of room to grow for the University. At the symposium, Diao

had a seat with six fellow Black activists involved in the letter.

“Some of our demands have been acknowledged with action taken, but there’s some that still haven’t been,” Diao said. “How do we know when we’re going to get to a place where Emory is inclusive to all students?”

— Contact Xavier Stevens at xstevens@emory.edu

Wednesday, October 6, 2021

SPORTS

The Emory Wheel

Goals for Girls: supporting Reclaim Childhood

Lin Yu/Contributing Photographer

Continued from Back Page acknowledged the positive impact that sports had on their upbringings.

Knowing how much sports means to them makes the purpose even greater.

“Sports provided a unique environment for us to grow up in, to have role models, and it’s important to us to be able to give that to other girls around the world,” Robertson said.

Women’s soccer has fundraised for Reclaim Childhood since Lanter was a freshman, and the team has high hopes for their fundraiser this year. Players reached out to family members, soccer alumnus and other members of the Emory community to secure donation pledges.

“We raise ... $2,000 to $4,000

depending on the year,” Lanter said.

The team is again on track to hit those benchmarks once the goal donations are added.

While the team has a relatively normal season this year, women’s soccer had to be creative last year with their fundraising events.

“With COVID-19, we had to make up some cool things to raise money for Reclaim Childhood,” Lanter said. “One of the cool things we did was a turkey trot, and we raised over $1,000.”

The team hopes to continue fundraising after the season; Robertson specifically wants to get spring athletic teams involved and brainstorm other ways to raise money. Last year’s turkey trot sparked interest in hosting additional fundraising events outside of

soccer games.

For women’s soccer, spring is a transition period where the team focuses on bringing younger members up to fundraising leadership positions as older team members prepare to graduate. The hope is that these younger players will continue to grow the cause and reach other Emory sports teams.

In the past, the team has coordinated with the basketball and tennis teams for donation events, such as donations per three-point shot.

While growing leadership skills is a main focus, Lanter and her teammates also plan to find new ways to engage with the community.

“Emory women’s soccer wants to get involved and help any community they can, so when we get that opportunity, we’re super stoked to help anyone out,” Lanter said.

Reclaim Childhood is a chartered nonprofit at Emory, so anyone can participate in fundraising. Robertson and Lanter are optimistic that the soccer team can involve the greater Emory community with the organization by the spring.

SWOOP’S SCOOP Friday Oct. 8

Saturday Oct. 9

Sport

Opponent

Time

M Tennis W Tennis

@ Grizzly Open @ Ga. Southern Tourney

TBA TBA

Swimming & Diving Queens Univ. of Charlotte @ Sewanee Volleyball @ Grizzly Open M Tennis @ Ga. Southern Tourney W Tennis

11

11 a.m.

5 p.m.

TBA TBA

Sunday Oct. 10

W Soccer M Soccer M Tennis W Tennis

Monday Oct. 11

M Golf

@ Tarton Inv.

All Day

Tuesday Oct. 12

M Golf Volleyball

@ Tarton Inv. @ Berry

All Day 6 p.m.

@ WashU @ WashU @ Grizzly Open @ Ga. Southern Tourney

— Contact Jenna Daly at jenna.daly@emory.edu

12 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

TBA TBA

*Home Games in Bold

Irving risks losing millions by refusing COVID vaccine Continued from Back Page shot to enter major arenas or stadiums, including Madison Square Garden and the Barclays Center starting Oct. 13.

The same policy will be in place in San Francisco, affecting the Chase Center.

The cities’ restrictions mean that players on the Knicks, Nets or Warriors must be vaccinated if they want to play in home games. As things currently stand, Irving can play at most just under half of the season.

Needless to say, the league is at odds. As much as they would love to see the game’s best players on the court, they must abide by city law. In addition, the teams will withhold the pay of each player for every game they miss due to not being eligible to play. If this is not just a scare tactic, Irving is set to lose $300,000 per game.

The NBA has relied on science above all else since COVID forced the league to shut down in March 2020 following Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s

positive test. They have been extremely cautious, being the first league to suspend its season and the first to form a strict bubble to ensure a safe playing environment.

The league even moved the Toronto Raptors to Tampa Bay, Florida, for a season to avoid problems with teams entering and exiting a different country. In alignment with this very cautious approach, the NBA is requiring all team officials, workers and league referees to get vaccinated prior to the start of the season, barring any medical and religious exemptions. However, any unvaccinated referees will not be allowed to

W

Stephen A. Smith says write for sports.

work in arenas in New York or San Francisco, so the state rules still do

Isaac is extremely open about being unvaccinated and told WTVR and the Associated Press his hesitations about it.

“I’m not ashamed to say that I’m uncomfortable with taking the vaccine at this time,” Isaac said.

“I think that we’re all different. We all come from different places, we’ve all had different experiences, and hold dear to different beliefs… [The shot] would decrease my chances of having a severe reaction but it does open me up to the albeit rare chance with the possibility of having an adverse reaction to the vaccine itself.”

Isaac also stated that A lly Hom/Staff illustrator he is in better physical apply. condition than the vast majority of Many players have spoken on the the world, so he feels he should be issue, one of them being Orlando protected by that as well. Isaac’s Magic forward Jonathan Isaac. sentiments are felt by other

unvaccinated members of the National Basketball Players Association.

However, most are less vocal about it, as many players chose to not comment on their vaccination status, or for a player like Bradley Beal, he boiled it down to “personal reasons” and also responded to CBS reporter Jasmyn Wimbush by saying “I would ask the question to those who are getting vaccinated, ‘why are you still getting COVID?...You can still get COVID and still pass it along it vaccinated. So...” Beal also added that he isn’t opposed to the vaccine, he just needs more time to consider it.

While there is no mandate, the remaining five percent of players who are unvaccinated have a major decision to make. The league and its teams cannot force the players to get the shot, but in doing so, they are risking the team’s ability to reach its full potential.

— Contact Jared Turell at jared.turell@emory.edu

Students seek changes at Oxford gym Continued from Back Page dents have had enough and aim to bring these issues to light. Wenye Song (23Ox) has reached out to the Oxford Student Government Association (SGA) through “Speak Up,” a form through which she reported the safety concerns that the limited indoor gym space creates. Students can choose the specific department they want to report to under the drop-down

menu in the form which in Song’s case, was the Athletics and Recreation department.

The Oxford SGA responded by saying that there is no immediate solution to the reported problems.

“The school currently does not have the ability to build a new gym, but the Center for Health Living will put it in consideration as they are thinking about their long-term ability to meet student needs,” the email stated.

So write for sports.

Contact mmariam@emory.edu for more information.

Assistant Director of Facilities and Operation Andy Spruell is aware of the issue and believes that opening more gym times may help alleviate some of the issues.

“We are in conversation right now to see if we can change it up to maybe offer more free times,” Spruell said.

“We just try to do the best we can to offer as much time for activities as we can.”

While students will continue trying to take advantage of school facilities, the problem with the space and schedule of gym usage still remains a high concern for many.

“Courts for indoor sports are necessary, and having more spaces would alleviate COVID and injury related incidents,” Markham said. “More communication about gym usage would also help. Gym traffic will get easier to track and manage as the semester moves forward and the students get acclimated with the schedules.”

— Contact Kelly Zhuang at kelly.zhuang@emory.edu Catherine Zhang/Contributing Photographer

The Emory Wheel

Sports

Wednesday, October 6, 2021 | Sports Editor: Michael Mariam (mmariam@emory.edu)

Vaccine causes chaos in NBA

WOMEN’S SOCCER

NBA

Soccer scores for Jordanian youth

By Jenna Daly Contributing Writer

Emory University women’s soccer has kicked off their season with 38 goals scored through their first month of play. While any goal is exciting, these particular goals have served a greater purpose than just bringing the team to a 7-2-1 record. Each raises money for Reclaim Childhood, a nonprofit organization in Jordan that aims to provide a safe community for young girls to play sports and work with coaches.

Reclaim Childhood began in 2008 as a summer camp to support displaced Iraqi youth. Since then, the organization has opened year-round programs and has focused on the refugee crisis in Jordan, where more than 750,000 citizens of neighboring nations seek refuge. Jordanian cities are often segregated by nationality, so Reclaim Childhood unites Jordanian citizens and refugees in after school programs, leadership programs, summer camps and coaches clinics.

The team provides two ways to donate to their fundraiser: direct donations or pledges for donations per goal to be paid at the end of the season.

As of Oct. 4, the team has raised $804 in direct donations.

Junior defender Peyton Robertson and senior defender Tierney Lanter, who have worked with Reclaim Childhood during their Emory soccer careers, and are in charge of organizing the fundraiser. Robertson and Lanter

See GOALS, Page 11

By Jared Turell Contributing Writer

insufficient indoor space, they are unable to have the athletic experience that they expect to have.

“I thought we were able to have available courts when we want to play,” Zhou said. “And given the current limited space, I would like a schedule so we don’t just go there and realize we can’t play.”

When students are able to find space in the small gym, another concern is their inability to follow the COVID-19 protocols as strictly as the University would like. Students are required to wear masks in all indoor spaces on campus. Given the high volume of students going to the gym at once and the limited staff to enforce the guidelines, there is more cause for concern.

“It’s difficult to factor in hundreds of students, with some not wearing masks or cleaning up after themselves,” Markham said.

The list of issues at the Williams Gymnasium keeps growing, and stu-

NBA fans are anxiously waiting to see the newest renditions of their favorite teams on the court again.

However, fans might have to wait longer than expected to see some of the league’s top players due to conflicting vaccination policies between the NBA and major cities in the U.S., namely San Francisco and New York. On Sept.

26, the NBA decided not to require vaccinations for players after numerous negotiations with the National Basketball Players Association. The players refused to budge on a vaccine mandate and any proposal that required vaccinations was rejected by the players union.

Even with the rejected proposal, 95% of players have been vaccinated as of Sept. 30. However, some major stars including Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving and Washington Wizards guard Bradley Beal are unvaccinated, putting their teams in jeopardy. Golden State Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins decided to get the vaccine after the league rejected his application for religious exemption. .

According to the league’s COVID-19 policies, players who are not vaccinated will be required to go through daily testing and other strict protocols to keep the league safe. Unfortunately for players like Irving, his city’s regulations are not as lenient as the league’s are. In New York, everyone ages 12 and up must show proof of at least one

See STUDENTS, Page 11

See IRVING, Page 11

Sarah Davis/News Editor

Oxford students have raised concerns about the conditions at the Williams Gymnasium. Gym goers lack sufficient space to work out and are speaking up to administrators.

Oxford gym space raises concerns

By Kelly Zhuang Contributing Writer

The Williams Gymnasium, the main gymnasium at Oxford, is the only space for indoor sports on a campus which houses almost 1,000 students. To make matters worse, there is only one indoor court. Popular intramural sports such as basketball, volleyball and badminton all take place in the Williams Gymnasium as do many varsity sports, which compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association.

When different sports are going on at the same time, there are no clear dividers that separate the games.

Volleyballs fly onto the basketball court and basketballs roll onto the badminton court, causing safety concerns for students. Zylah Markham (22Ox), an employee at the Williams Gymnasium, is concerned about the dangers of the current gym conditions.

“The courts are sometimes too crowded and this could potentially

be dangerous when balls are flying,” Markham said. “It could hit someone.”

According to Markham, during the busiest gym times from 7-10 p.m. on weekdays and from 2-5 p.m. on weekends, the high two-way traffic heightens students’ safety concerns. Gym goers need to be constantly watching for flying balls while playing.

The root of the problem, though, has come from a lack of communication between the gym and the students.

There is no public schedule available to show when groups plan to use the gym space. Joe Zhou (23Ox) has been forced to move his basketball games to another location due to the limited space in the gym.

“I realized there are people who play badminton every Thursday night, so we have to move outdoors every time,” Zhou said. “That court is really small and gets slippery if there is mist.”

Due to the lack of communication, students do not know when the indoor courts will be used, or by who. When students have to relocate because of

VOLLEYBALL

Volleyball picks up first loss of year in UAA Round Robin

By Eric Jones Contributing Writer

The No. 7 Emory University volleyball team competed in the University Athletic Association (UAA) Round Robin #2 tournament, hosted by Brandeis University (Mass.), on Oct. 3. The Eagles won their first match against Washington University in St. Louis (Mo.) (WashU) but fell to New York University (NYU) in their second, marking their first loss of the season.

The UAA volleyball schedule is structured differently than prior to the pandemic. Instead of constant travel for away conference games, the UAA is hosting weekend tournaments at one location.

Coming in with a six-game win streak, the Eagles first played the WashU Bears and came out with a victory in straight sets (25-14, 25-17, 27-21). Senior outside hitter Tara Martin, freshman middle hitter Madison Cail and sophomore outside hitter Carly Wallace were the stars of the match. Martin had nine kills, Cail had four blocks and Wallace had 11

digs. While the Eagles built a comfortable 2-0 lead entering the third set, they found themselves down 7-1 early on. However, Martin led the comeback with three kills to put the team on an 11-4 run, and Wallace added two crucial kills late in the set to ultimately seal the win.

Wallace was excited about the victory over the Bears and securing a win in the first game of the tournament.

“We took care of business,” Wallace said. “It was nice winning in three sets because they are a respectable team.”

Later that afternoon, however, the Eagles’ seven-game winning streak came to an end with a loss to the NYU Violets in four sets (25-14, 13-25, 25-21, 25-23). Despite the loss, Martin, junior middle hitter Abby Heimlicher and left defensive specialist Deborah Hong had stellar performances. Martin had 14 kills, Heimlicher had three blocks and Hong had 14 digs.

While each team’s first set win was by more than 10 points, the final two set scores were much closer — the highest margin in those final sets was just four points. In the third set, NYU

went on a 7-2 run after the Violets and Eagles were tied at 14, which was ultimately too big a deficit for the Eagles to overcome. With their backs against the wall entering the fourth set, the Eagles found themselves down early.

After climbing back to make it 24-23, the Violets won the final point and clinched the match.

Despite the loss, Head Coach Jenny McDowell was proud of her team’s performance in the tournament.

“It was a great weekend for us,” McDowell said. “I am really excited [about] where our team is right now.

We beat a very good WashU team and had a great battle with NYU. I love what we have accomplished so far and I am really excited about the growth we’ve shown. But we have so much to improve on. The next five weeks are going to be really special for our team.”

Similar sentiments to McDowell’s were felt among the players. After their tournament performance, Wallace is hopeful about the road ahead for her team.

“We’ve been getting better as a team and playing better each time we step

onto the court,” Wallace said. “It’s encouraging going into practice this week knowing that we’re going to continue to get better to beat these teams in the future.”

As the team enters the thick of UAA competition, McDowell has looked towards her older players to set the example. For some players, these have been their first conference games, but even with last season an off-year due to the pandemic, the team has been able to mesh well together and build chemistry.

“This team gets along really well given the fact we didn’t do anything last year,” McDowell said. “The seniors are the only class of players that truly have been together. And their leadership shows the characters and selflessness on our team.”

As the team looks toward the end of the season, McDowell and the team have a lot of momentum to take advantage of, despite the recent loss.

“The home stretch shows you where

Catherine Zhang/Contributing Photographer

you are right now and where you want to go,” McDowell said. “One of our goals is to win the conference in a few weeks. This team is full of relentless workers, and I truly believe this is going to pay off in the end.”

Coming out of the tournament, Emory is ranked No. 7 in the nation and has a 13-3 overall record along with a 4-1 conference record. The Eagles return to the court on Oct. 9 at Sewanee: The University of the South (Tenn.) at 5 p.m.

— Contact Eric Jones at eric.jones2@emory.edu