April 16, 2021

Volume 89 • Issue 22

FSUgatepost.com

April 16, 2021

University to hold Ram Graduation Walk

Optional in-person experience will take place in June

By Ashley Wall Editor-in-Chief Framingham State University will hold an optional in-person Ram Graduation Walk in the Dwight Hall Performing Arts Center (DPAC) June 2-5 to celebrate the Classes of 2020 and 2021.

The walk from the Athletics Center to DPAC will provide a face-to-face celebration for graduates and up to four guests in addition to the virtual commencement ceremonies scheduled for May 23.

According to Meg Nowak Borrego, dean of students and Commencement Committee member, the University wanted to “offer the opportunity for in-person recognition for students who are seeking this experience while maintaining COVID commencement protocols.”

These protocols include capacity limits involving no more than six hands out flyers in the thletic enter pril for the guests per graduate, social distancing udea la e secretary of O guidelines such as staying 6 feet apart group’s “Reintroducing SOCA” Zoom event, which was held the following day. and requiring the use of masks, hygiene protocols such as sanitizing and hand washing, and increased cleaning and disinfecting.

Nowak Borrego said students contacted the University and indicated tire on June 30. Najjar has been the

By Soren Colstrup they were looking to participate in dean of Graduate Studies since Jan. Staff Writer an in-person event to commemorate 15, 2013, and for the last two years, their achievements. he has been the dean of Graduate After nearly 40 years of dedicaShe said, “We understand this apStudies and Continuing Education. tion to teaching, learning, and servproach is not our traditional ceremony Ellen Zimmerman, interim proing in his community, Yaser Najjar at the DCU Center but hope that bevost and vice president for Acaannounced his retirement as dean tween the virtual College Award Cerdemic Affairs, said, “I have known of Graduate Studies and Continuing emonies, virtual Senior Toast on May Dr. Najjar for many years, both as a Education at FSU. 21, and the Virtual Commencement respected faculty colleague and as Najjar said, “I made my retireCeremonies on May 23, as well as the ment decision in early March and a fellow administrator in Academin-person on-campus graduate walk informed the Provost, Dr. Ellen Zim- ic Affairs. As dean, Dr. Najjar has in June, that our students will feel recbrought many positive innovations merman, whom I report to.” ognized and celebrated for their time to graduate studies at FSU. Najjar, who began teaching at FSU spent earning their degree at Framin September 1987, will officially reingham State University.”

See RETIREMENT page 7 According to FSU President F. Javier Cevallos, the walk will be a moment for families and friends to cheer on their graduates as they have their names called, walk across the stage, and move their tassel. used by athletic trainers tending to

By Maia Almeida The idea of holding a walk came student athletes.

Staff Writer from looking at fellow public state In previous years, the Dance Team universities, according to Katie Hewould use these two rooms from Before the pandemic, there was bert, executive assistant to Cevallos never a time the Athletic Center 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through and Commencement Committee chair. was empty with sports games taking Thursday nights. This year, the team Hebert said, “[The Commencement place in the gym, students working has only been able to use DPAC on Committee] felt a grad walk offered out in the weight room, and in the Monday and Tuesday nights from students what they wanted most in an aerobics or multipurpose room - the 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. in-person experience while keeping The Dance Team hosts an annuDance Team would meet. within the strict guidelines the state al show at the end of each semester, This year, the Dance Team can be set for us. found in the Dwight Performing Arts showcasing the choreography they “Worcester State and Salem State Center (DPAC) with members spread have created. This semester, there are doing outdoor, drive-through verout across the auditorium doing are only eight dances, when normalsions, but Fitchburg offered an indoor ly there are around 25. their best to rehearse. element which we liked, so we The rooms in which the Dance Team once practiced are now being See RAM GRADUATION WALK pa e See DANCE TEAM page 16

Dean of Graduate Studies Yaser Najjar announces retirement

Dance Team looks to the future

Donald Halsing / THE GATEPOST

News ENGLISH WRITING STUDIOS pg. 4-5 THE FRESHMAN DISCONNECT pg. 6

Opinions

HONORED TO LOVE ME pg. 10 CAMPUS CONVERSATIONS pg. 11

Sports

MEN’S LACROSSE pg. 12

Arts & Features IDOLIZING POLITICIANS pg. 14-15 ‘WYNONNA EARP’ pg. 17

INSIDE: OP/ED 10 • SPORTS 12 • ARTS & FEATURES 13

NEWS

2 | APRIL 16, 2021

Gatepost Interview

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Ashley Wall Associate Editors Donald Halsing Cara McCarthy News Editor Leighah Beausoleil Asst. News Editors Dan Fuentes Ashlyn Kelly Arts & Features Editors Brennan Atkins Jared Graf Opinions Editor McKenzie Ward Asst. Opinions Editor Emily Rosenberg Design Editor Kathleen Moore Photos Editor Caroline Gordon Sports Editor Danielle Achin Staff Writers Maia Almeida James Barraford Patrick Brady Steven Bonini Kaitlin Burch Sean Cabot Soren Colstrup Olivia Copeland Haley Hadge Caroline Lanni Advisor Dr. Desmond McCarthy Asst. Advisor Elizabeth Banks

Irene Porro Director of McAuliffe Center for Integrated Science Learning

By Ashlyn Kelly Asst. News Editor What is your professional and educational background?

I am a scientist by training. I’m actually an astrophysicist. I worked as a researcher in space science for a few years. Then, I also started doing some outreach work and I realized that that was something very important. And so, gradually, I took on more work in education and outreach, and I finally got to a point when I realized, OK, this is becoming a real profession for me and a real job, so I decided to move full time to education and outreach.

What brought you to Framingham State?

As a matter of fact, I just celebrated my seventh anniversary [on April 1]. I had been working in science education and outreach for many years, mostly at MIT and the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, but at that point, the position here for the director of the Christa McAuliffe Center became available. It was very interesting so I decided to apply for this position. … I really wanted to be able to work in an environment like a state university, and also the opportunity to have a facility where people will visit regularly. In the past, I used to be planning programs that could be run at other facilities, directly in schools or after school centers.

We would also do programs on site, but we didn’t have a permanent facility like the McAuliffe Center. So again, it was a very interesting challenge and an opportunity to potentially become a director of the McAuliffe Center and so I jumped on the opportunity.

What is your role at FSU and what does your job entail?

The Christa McAuliffe Center, first of all, is a physical facility on the campus of Framingham State, where we have two main areas - a Challenger Learning Center, where students, mostly middle and high school students, come in and simulate, in person, a space mission. So we have a room that is called Mission Control and there is another room that represents a spacecraft. Students engage in role play, and they spend a couple of hours simulating a space mission. The other main physical space is actually the Framingham State Planetarium, where students - and not just K-12 students college students, and the general public come and participate in a wide range of learning programs, planetarium shows

and all kinds of activities. … So the center is again a physical presence, but also we are a team of people that create educational programs that can be shared not just at our center, but within schools and after-school programs. We are part of a collaboration to promote quality science education in the MetroWest region and beyond. So it’s really, when I talk and think about the McAuliffe Center, I really think about it as a catalyst for collaboration in the field of science education. It doesn’t have to be in a formal context of schooling. It could be for all the lifelong learners and for adults.

How has your job changed due to COVID-19?

My job changed in some aspects really dramatically and in other aspects didn’t change. As a director, my job is to make sure that we keep offering resources that people can use to learn and engage in science and have a good time with science activities or immersive experiences. So, from that point of view, making sure that [offering resources] happens, making sure that we have the funding to do that, and keep reaching out to build collaborations or relationships hasn’t changed. What changed dramatically is that we had to offer all our programs online instead of offering them in person. And I’m very happy and proud, I have to say that as of today, we are able to offer mission simulations virtually. We’re able to offer all kinds of astronomy programs and explorations online. … Now one thing I want to say that is important for me is, in a way, thanks to the pandemic - I wish we didn’t have to experience this to do this work - but thanks to the pandemic, the McAuliffe Center has developed all these online resources. We’re looking forward to going back in person, but the online resources will not go away. We’ll now be able to offer online and in-person activities for all our audiences in whatever way is easier for them.

What do you like most about your work?

I think it’s really this idea of building something new that didn’t exist before - not because I created it from scratch but because I brought together a group of people with different expertise but they have the same kind of passion and same kind of vision. I’m very passionate about science, but really, everything that connects to science. I’m very passionate about interdisciplinary activities. And so [I do anything that I can] … to present science in a way that is acces-

Courtesy of STEM Ecosystems sible and interesting to people with different backgrounds, different interests because we all can enjoy what science has to offer as long as it’s presented to us in a way that is compatible with our personality and our interests.

What would students be surprised to know about you?

I studied philosophy for three years when I was in high school. I always loved this kind of topic - history and philosophy is something that I really always enjoy, and understanding philosophy better is really what made me want to be a scientist even more. And so sometimes people don’t see the connection, but it is really right there. … I’m also a person that not only loves the arts, but it’s one of my identities. I have a dancer identity. I’ve never been a professional dancer, but I studied dance and I love dance and I keep doing it on my own. Yes, I’m a scientist - I never wore a white lab coat in my life. You don’t need to. But I wore ballet slippers a lot.

What is your number one piece of advice to students?

Don’t limit yourself to that field or to that discipline. Expose yourself to … other fields and knowledge, even when you’re uncomfortable. Go to those areas where you feel a little bit uncomfortable … because when we are uncomfortable is where we really learn. … And you will see that not only you become more comfortable with other disciplines, but also enjoy doing your work more.

CONNECT WITH ASHLYN KELLY akelly8@student.framingham.edu

Police Logs 100 State Street McCarthy Center Room 410 Framingham, MA 01701-9101 Phone: (508) 626-4605 Fax: (508) 626-4097 gatepost@framingham.edu @TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

Friday, April 9

Friday, April 9

Monday, April 12

Tuesday, April 13

Unsecure Area Hemenway Hall Secured

Community Policing Honors House Advised

Well Being Check West Hall Checks OK

Suspicious Activity Maple Commuter Parking Lot Checks OK

NEWS

Ram Graduation Walk continued from page 1

In addition to having a professional photographer in DPAC, there will also be designated photo locations across campus. Some locations will include the route to DPAC, in front of the ram statue, and the Framingham State University sign between Miles Bibb Hall and Corinne Hall Towers.

Hebert said, “There will be a listing available to students and their guests of all suggested photo loca-

modeled ours very closely to theirs,” said Hebert.

She said the Commencement Committee explored all possible locations, including athletic fields and parking lots, but quickly realized they had a “beautiful space” already available “offering a more formal photo opportunity than any stage we could erect outdoors.”

Hebert added, “If we had students and guests sitting outdoors, we likely would have had to limit it to two guests a student, and we would have been at the mercy of elements.”

Nowak Borrego said unpredictable weather, current COVID-19 restrictions, and available facilities all played a role in selecting DPAC for the walk. Additionally, DPAC will allow the University to host the walk for multiple days and time slots.

Cevallos said, “We do have a wonderful facility in DPAC which is a really nice place and allows for families to come in in small groups.”

The Committee did not want to host a drive-through celebration because “containing families to their vehicles was also not ideal because it doesn’t allow the best visibility for FSU President F. Javier Cevallos viewing” and the Committee felt the tions, but our campus will be fully experience would have been “more open, and they are encouraged to impersonal,” said Hebert. also take photos in locations that are According to Hebert, the Commitmost meaningful to them, such as tee was only given guidance from their residence hall or the academthe state three weeks ago, and their ic building they spent most of their planning has evolved daily since. class time in.”

“We quickly explored many outShe added a professional photogdoor options, the pros and cons of rapher will only be available during each, and eventually landed on the the Ram Graduation Walk in DPAC, indoor grad walk as the best experiand each student will be given a free ence for our students,” said Hebert.

5-by-7-inch print for the image cap“Our Committee has been meeting tured with the option to purchase adboth virtually and in person to careditional prints. fully map out a safe, socially disAll other locations will require tanced route that our guests should students and their guests to take feel comfortable with.” their own photos.

Hebert said the Commencement Senior English major Olivia Banks Committee wanted to fill the void said she thinks the Ram Graduation left from a virtual ceremony while Walk is a good alternative to hosting also providing flexibility. an in-person commencement cereShe added the Committee purmony. posely did not schedule the walk by “In my experience, a lot of stucollege, degree, or major. dents go to graduation mostly just “We felt it was important to allow to take pictures - or at least pictures students and families to choose the are the highlight. So, I think FSU did date and time that works best for a good job finding some common them,” said Hebert. “This format also ground,” she said. “It’s also cool that allows friend groups to coordinate so they’re letting you have four guests they can attend during similar times in case you want pictures with them, if they choose, and have the opportoo.” tunity to possibly watch their friends Jack Pierson, a senior business walk and cheer them on.”

Weather

management major, said he thinks the Ram Graduation Walk is a “great idea.

“The only problem is our families probably needed to be notified about this a couple months before this decision in order to plan,” Pierson said.

“Regardless, I appreciate the University taking the time to provide seniors with a good send off.”

Senior Biology major Sarah Parker

Courtesy of Framingham State said she was imagining a more traditional set up.

She said, “It’s good as it will give graduates their moment to be on stage. I just expected more from it.

If high-schoolers can accomplish semi-normal outdoor graduations with ceremonies, I don’t see why we can’t.”

Alexis Kays, a senior elementary education major and SGA secretary, said, “I like this idea because I know a lot of students would really appreciate being able to walk for graduation.

“However, I think it could be questionable in terms of COVID safety, and it is not at a very convenient time,” she added. “I know I will not be able to attend because I am moving out of state, and other students may be starting jobs and such that week as well.”

SGA Senator Danielle Shaw, a senior finance major with a minor in economics, said she thinks the Ram Graduation Walk is a great idea.

“I was very disappointed when I heard we would be graduating online, but also understand the circumstances and do not want to get myself or others sick,” she said. “I appreciate that more thought was put into hav-

ing some sort of in-person graduation since we have all worked so hard the last four years.”

Cevallos said he hopes many will be able to participate in the walk, although he understands members of the Class of 2020 may be unable to attend because they don’t reside nearby or due to their work circumstances.

He said, “I am truly appreciative of the resilience students have shown to continue to study and embrace the new way of learning.

“I think both classes [2020 and 2021] are going to be extremely successful in their professional careers because that resilience shows that you can do anything you want,” he added.

Hebert said, “A huge congratulations to all our graduates on their well-deserved success and for persevering through such difficult and uncertain times.

“Although it may not be a day like any of us expected, as a fellow FSU alum and current staff member, I look forward to sharing in the excitement of your graduation!”

Nowak Borrego said, “I am so proud of all you have accomplished during your experience at Framingham State University, particularly with all the changes and challenges that COVID-19 has presented to all of us.”

She added, “As you reflect upon your experiences during your time at FSU, think about the good things that have happened and all you have learned and focus on those when you apply and interview for jobs or graduate school.

“You have overcome several things people could not have predicted or may never have to experience again, so take the time to celebrate all you have accomplished.”

Graduates and guests participating in the Ram Graduation Walk must register in advance. Time slots include June 2 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m., June 3 from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and June 5 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Additional days are on reserve and will become available to graduates if needed.

To register, and for more information and safety guidelines, visit: https://www.framingham.edu/academics/commencement/ram-graduation-walk CONNECT WITH ASHLEY WALL awall1@student.framingham.edu

Forecast provided by the National Weather Service www.weather.gov

Sunday night April 18 Partly cloudy. Low near . alm ind.

Monday night April 19 Mostly clear. Low near . inds around mph.

Tuesday night April 20 Partly cloudy. Low near . ind mph.

Monday April 19 chance of precipiation. Mostly sunny. High near 60. W winds around mph.

Tuesday April 20 Mostly sunny. High near . inds around mph.

Wednesday April 21 chance of precipitation. Mostly cloudy.

High near 60. SW winds around 10 mph.

G

T TE

E

T

E E

E T T

E T E

Wednesday night April 21 ostly clear. o near . inds around mph.

Thursday April 22 Mostly sunny. High near . ind around mph.

E

E

G TE O T. O

NEWS

English writing studios address low passing rates

By Donald Halsing Associate Editor The English Department expanded a program to support first-year students with a low high school GPA by providing dedicated writing tutors in select Introduction to College Writing courses during the fall 2020 semester.

The expansion of the program was a response to the Department of Higher Education’s (DHE) Common Assessment Policy.

English Professor Patricia Lynne coordinates FSU’s first-year “Writing Studio” program, which began as a pilot program in 2017. Writing studios provide students with an hour of tutoring from a professional writing tutor outside their normal class times.

She said writing studios were offered in Fall 2017 for both Introduction to College Writing and Expository Writing because those courses have high rates of students earning a D or F grade or withdrawing from the course.

At FSU, ENGL 100 - Introduction to College Writing - is considered a “preparatory” course, and ENGL 110 Expository Writing - is a “college-level” general-education writing course.

Lynne said students placed in Introduction to College Writing who were on the “cusp” of placement into Expository Writing were given the chance to take the college-level course with a writing studio. While studios were well received by Introduction to College writing students, she said Expository Writing with an attached tutoring studio was “not popular.

“We had students do it, but they were not anywhere near as interested or as invested as the students who were getting the support to be able to succeed in [Introduction to College Writing] in the first place,” Lynne said.

She added the English Department decided to focus its limited resources on providing writing studios for Introduction to College Writing going forward. Beginning in Fall 2019, Introduction to College Writing with a Writing Studio became mandatory for first-year students with a low high school GPA. In March 2019, the DHE approved its Common Assessment Policy, which outlines placement guidelines and minimum passing rates for firstyear English and mathematics courses. Massachusetts public universities were required to submit their plans for first-year student placement by Dec. 1 of that year.

Lynne said the policy “came into full force” during the fall 2020 semester.

Starting this academic year, the DHE’s Common Assessment Policy requires 75% of first-year students at Massachusetts state universities

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

to pass college-level English and math courses within their first year, according to the DHE website. The policy’s goal is to improve placement of incoming students, which has the potential to “increase” retention and completion rates.

Lynne said the English department was close to meeting that goal already due in part to the implementation of writing studios.

She said the studios were created to “provide support for the students who are most likely to withdraw from the courses, most likely to fail the courses, most likely to stop going to college because they feel like they don’t belong - because they don’t feel like they’ve got support.”

Because this reasoning is congruent with the goal of the DHE’s new policy, Lynne said the department looked at how to adapt the studios they were already offering to meet the new guidelines.

According to the DHE website, the new policy allows incoming students to be placed into appropriate courses using high school GPA. Previously, students were required to take the College Board’s ACCUPLACER placement test, which helps universities decide whether to place students in preparatory courses or directly into college-level English and math courses.

DHE guidelines state incoming students with a high school GPA of 2.7 or higher can be placed using their high school GPA, and those below 2.7 can take the ACCUPLACER placement test.

Lynne said the University is required to follow the DHE’s placement threshold, which is higher than the threshold which was previously used to place first-year students during the years following the writing studio pilot.

She added students placed into Introduction to College Writing who are not satisfied with their placement have the option to take a “standard writing placement test” evaluated by the faculty who teach the course.

Lynne said around 60% of students who took the placement test so far have been placed into Expository Writing.

“There are good reasons for students to stay where they are, but there are good reasons to take the placement test if they don’t feel like they belong” in Introduction to College Writing with or without a writing studio, she said.

Six Introductions to College Writing courses were offered with a writing studio component during the fall 2020 semester. Lynne compiled a report at the end of the semester which included feedback from instructors and tutors, as well as survey responses from 25 students who were enrolled in writing studio sections.

When asked if they agreed with several statements on how helpful the studios were, 100% of students

responded the studios helped them understand their writing assignments. Additionally, 92% indicated the studios helped them get feedback on parts of their essays, and 88% agreed the studios helped them get feedback on full drafts of their essays.

In addition, 92% indicated the studios provided a specific time to focus on their course work, and 92% of students responded the studios helped them with sentence-level elements such as grammar or citations.

When asked which aspects of the studios were especially useful, 84% of students indicated feedback from the tutor was useful and 68% checked off the dedicated hour each week to spend on their writing for the course as useful.

All student respondents indicated their tutor regularly offered helpful suggestions about their writing and made time to talk with them during nearly every studio session. A further 92% responded their tutor regularly offered suggestions for other aspects of their academic work.

Lynne included substantive anonymous responses to open-ended questions from the survey in her report. Students were asked if there were other helpful or useful aspects to the writing studio sessions.

Many students provided positive feedback, including, “I was able to gain a lot of feedback on my writing,” “I was able to improve on my sentence structure,” and “It was very helpful and made me understand my work better.” Another student said their tutor helped them outline their writing.

One student responded their tutor “helped when we have questions on the assignments,” and another said working in a small group was helpful.

Student respondents had positive comments for their instructors, including, “Very helpful instructor and I purposefully took a class with her as my professor,” and, “Ms. Glynn and Dr. Payson are G.O.A.T.s [greatest of all time].”

The studios were also helpful beyond the course itself. Two students responded the studios were helpful because they had “a chance to talk about my other classes as well,” and “It helped me through the semester.”

Students were also asked about ways they wished the studios could have been more helpful or useful.

A few survey respondents said they wished the studios included “some more personal meetings,” or the studios were offered “more days in the week.” One student said, “I feel like there was too much free time to just do your own thing and not stay on task.”

Feedback from instructors and tutors included in the report also indicated many positive aspects of the program, along with several areas of improvement.

Lynne’s report indicated chang-

es were made to the studios during winter break based on suggestions from students, instructors, and tutors. This process included holding a meeting for instructors and tutors teaching Introduction to College Writing and attached writing studios during Spring 2021 to address common concerns.

She said overall, students “really liked” having an additional hour to focus on their writing with a dedicated tutor - “somebody who’s not their professor, who’s not judging them.”

Lorianne DiSabato, English professor and Writing Studio tutor, said students benefit from having “someone they can go to for help who’s also not grading them.”

English professor and tutor Leah Van Vaerenewyck said the one-onone relationship is more “informal” than a traditional class, and many students felt more comfortable discussing their work in the studio environment.

Michaela Spampinato, another English professor and tutor, said all the tutors are English professors who also teach or have taught Introduction to College Writing.

Lynne said Introduction to College Writing courses are capped at 18 students, and each tutoring session is limited to six students.

English professor and tutor Christine Payson said last year, each studio included students from different sections of Introduction to College Writing. “Students were assigned to studios based entirely on their schedule - so what time block was going to be the most convenient,” she said.

“I wound up with some of my own students in my studio, and it also meant that any given studio had folks who were in different classes.

They could be working on five different projects.”

Payson said this past semester, all six students in each studio were from the same section of the course, meaning they are taught by the same professor.

“I think that has made things a little easier,” she said. “It also gives them an opportunity to help each other a little bit more, which I think is a really valuable opportunity. I would much rather have another student in the course explain the directions or go over something that the professor covered in class.”

Patricia Glynn, English professor and tutor, said of the collaborative process between instructors and tutors, “Many hands make light work.

I correspond through phone calls and emails with the three studio instructors who work with my students.

They have access to my Blackboard course. They are able to provide extra support for my students. Together, we are able to help.”

Students and recent graduates who were not enrolled in the pro-

See WRITING STUDIOS pa e

NEWS

Writing studios continued from page 4 gram said they thought writing studios would be beneficial for students who need extra help.

Alyssa Nelson, a junior communication, media, and performance major, said, “I do think students would benefit from a dedicated tutoring requirement. I work at CASA as an Academic Strategy Peer Tutor, and if it has taught me anything, it’s every student has their different strengths and weaknesses with academics, and those who struggle with writing would truly benefit from a direct tutor for what they are trying to write through.”

Matthew Banks, Class of 2019, an English and secondary education major, said, “If a student isn’t skilled at writing, then they should get the help they need. Some students don’t know about or don’t want to visit CASA, but a required supplement to their writing course could push them to learn and grow.”

Gina Vilayphone, Class of 2020, a liberal studies major, said, “As a graduate, I now know how important writing skills actually are and I feel

that it would help because the capstone course requires a lot of writing especially in liberal arts.”

English professors who are not instructors or tutors in the program expressed their appreciation of the writing studios’ impact on student performance and retention.

English Professor Desmond McCarthy, who was department chair when the program was piloted, said, “Dr. Patricia Lynne’s Writing Studio program may very well be the most important and effective academic first-year student retention initiative of the last decade. It was an honor to assist her in implementing this program when I was English department chair.”

Current English Department Chair Lisa Eck said, “We know that the studio version of ENGL 100 was a success this past fall because some of the students who took ENGL 100 without the studio reported being jealous of their peers who had an additional hour per week to work on their writing with a dedicated tutor.

“The research which informs Professor Lynne’s design for the studio

project is quite telling: success in first-year writing courses is one of the best predictors of college completion,” she added.

“What I love most about the studio model is that it empowers students to assess their own needs as writers and seek help in a way that is both collaborative and focused,” Eck said.

She added, “We are so lucky at Framingham State to have a talented and dedicated first-year writing faculty who enjoy the individuated give and take of the tutorials, including the way each studio becomes its own unique community of writers.”

Writing studio instructors and tutors explained the transformative impact they were able to have on students’ academic success because of the program.

Payson said the part of the studios she enjoyed the most were “a couple of moments where I got to intervene when students were confident they weren’t good at writing.

“What I want to be doing as a studio tutor is helping - particularly like first-year students - who are like, ‘I’m bad at this,’” she said. “Writing is a

thing that happens in community.”

Van Vaerenewyck said, “Writing truly is a process, and no matter how long you’ve done it, it’s not always easy. And I think that that’s important for young developing writers to see.”

Spampinato said the Writing Studio emphasizes that “writing is a process.

“So many of us grew up believing, ‘I’m either good at this or bad at this.’

And that’s not true,” she said. “New students don’t know yet what they’re doing well.”

Spampinato added the studios give first-year students “a chance to catch their breath” and learn how to be in charge.

Payson said, addressing first-year writing students, “The University is invested in this because we’re invested in you.”

[Editor’s note: Desmond McCarthy is advisor of The Gatepost.]

CONNECT WITH DONALD HALSING dhalsing@student.framingham.edu

Gatepost receives three Marks of Excellence awards at SPJ conference

By Steven Bonini Staff Writer

Framingham State’s independent student newspaper, The Gatepost, received three Mark of Excellence (MOE) awards at this year’s Region 1 Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) virtual conference April 10.

According to its website, the mission of the SPJ organization is to ensure freedom of the press, stating they are “dedicated to the perpetuation of a free press as the cornerstone of our nation and our liberty.”

The SPJ conference sets out to recognize “the best collegiate journalism in Region 1 with 2020 Mark of Excellence Awards winners,” according to the April 13 press release.

The Region 1 section of the conference consists of schools throughout all of New England as well as Central and Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York.

The Gatepost was recognized in three different categories - one general category and two small school categories.

The Gatepost received awards in the following categories: General Column Writing for a small school, General News Photography, and COVID-19: Newspaper, Magazine and Online Coverage for a small school.

The organization’s website defines a small school as a school with no more than 9,999 students.

Sophomore McKenzie Ward, opin-

ions editor for The Gatepost, was declared the winner of the “General Column Writing” award for a small school.

Ward said she believes the reason her columns were award-winning is because of her personable writing style.

“Something that I’ve really grown to be really successful at is making my op-eds not only about me, but also relatable for other people,” she said.

Ward was not present at the award ceremony and heard of her victory through a friend who attended and said she was “excited” to hear of the news.

“I was really proud of myself. It kind of gave me a boost in my writing because I really only write for Gatepost mainly for myself. I don’t have plans to go into journalism,” she said.

“It’s nice to kind of have recognition for all my hard work over the last year or so,” Ward added.

Junior Donald Halsing, associate editor for The Gatepost was awarded finalist status in the “General News Photography” section.

Halsing submitted a photo that he said was “unique.”

The photo was taken in October 2020 and featured a drive-in showing of the movie “The Conjuring” presented by FSU organizations Motivation. Intersectionality. Solidarity.

Sisterhood. and Student Involvement and Leadership Development in the

G

T TE

E

T

Salem End parking lot, according to ented group of athletes.

Halsing.

“COVID-19 really impacted their He said the photo “captures not season, and I wanted my feature to only the time of year, that it’s fall give them a spotlight to express their and it’s Halloween, but it also cap- concerns regarding their canceled tures the unique moment in time of season as well as advice for those folus living through the COVID-19 pan- lowing in their footsteps,” she added. demic.”

Wall said she couldn’t “believe” Halsing added he was “surprised” her name was on the screen as a fito learn of his finalist status and he nalist and said she didn’t actually was “quite proud of that accomplish- notice her name at first - her mother ment.” pointed it out to her.

He attributes much of his success “To see my name amongst such to his Editor-in-Chief Ashley Wall, as talented journalists was a moment well as professors Leslie Starobin and I’ll never forget. It was a moment of Robert Alter, whom he said taught complete joy and excitement,” said him a lot about the photo-taking Wall. process.

Desmond McCarthy, advisor for “Without them, I really wouldn’t The Gatepost, said he was “delighthave learned how to take long-expo- ed” to find out about the trio’s sucsure photography,” he said. cess and highlighted the difficulty Wall was awarded finalist status of running a newspaper remotely for her submission in the “COVID-19: during a pandemic, calling their vicNewspaper, Magazine and Online tories a “remarkable achievement.

Coverage” for a small school.

“The Gatepost staff’s pride in The article was a sports feature their mission and fierce commitment titled “From competition to COVID: to a nearly 90-year tradition of excelcheer team eager to get back on the lence has been inspiring not only to mat,” which she said focused on “how me, but to countless members of our the cheerleading team has adapted University community,” he said. to the pandemic since losing out on “I’m so glad Ashley, Kenzie, and their competition season last aca- Donald are able to see their work recdemic year.” ognized alongside that of their peers She said she believes the article at Ivy-League universities and other was a finalist pick because it “re- renowned institutions in the Northally highlights the love and dedi- east,” McCarthy added. cation of FSU’s cheerleaders and shows our community that they are a CONNECT WITH STEVEN BONINI hard-working and an incredibly tal- sbonini@student.framingham.edu

E E

E T T

E T E

E

E

G TE O T. O

6 | APRIL 16, 2021

NEWS

The Freshman Disconnect During COVID-19, transitioning to college is challenging

By Maia Almeida Staff Writer This year, first-year students entered college in a global pandemic, which made it challenging to make connections with their classmates and professors and to adjust to campus.

According to the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education, FSU Fall 2020 first-time freshman enrollment has declined by 20.9% from the fall 2019 semester. While 776 first-time freshman students entered FSU for the fall 2019 semester, only 614 students enrolled for the fall 2020 semester.

This spring semester, only 17 firstyear students entered the University.

Overall, there are 497 first-year students enrolled in the University currently, 117 students decided to take a leave of absence or withdraw from the University, according to Framingham State’s Institutional Research provided by Ben Trapanick, director of new student and family programs.

Many classes have been remote for the 2020-21 academic year due to COVID-19 guidelines put in place by Gov. Charlie Baker’s administration.

Also, many faculty opted to teach remotely instead of in person.

Trapanick said there were “a lot” of challenges with first-year students that came up because of the pandemic. One reason is that most students have never experienced any on-campus involvement.

“The number of in-person classes is very low,” he said. “As a result of that, many students decided to not live on campus, so they are taking classes remotely and never experiencing anything about the campus.”

Trapanick acknowledged how difficult attending class on Zoom is. “It is hard to engage in a virtual classroom, regardless of how much effort the instructor puts into making it a safe and engaging environment,” he added.

“I am sure that it’s very lonely, regardless of the efforts made by Residence Life and other offices. You walk around and see barely anyone,” he said.

According to Trapanick, opportunities to get involved do exist, but not nearly as many as in previous years.

“Many students didn’t get the opportunity to connect in their Foundations and Rams 101 courses, so their desire to apply for leadership positions is going to be down because they didn’t get the full experience,” he added.

Trapanick said students have tried to attend class while they are working, something that they have never been able to do in the past.

“There are a lot of students who didn’t want to be part of this [experience] from the start or realized that this current situation wasn’t something that they wanted to be part of anymore. They made a decision that

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

was best for them. And I hope that they return this fall when things are better.

“It is impressive the perseverance we have seen, even through incredibly challenging times,” he added.

Dean of Students Meg Nowak Borrego praised the freshman class for choosing to enter college despite the pandemic.

“I am amazed by the resiliency of the first-year class,” she said. “The

campus makes me feel more like I am a college student.”

Ana Clara Francisco, a freshman biology major, said, “I still kind of feel like I’m in high school sometimes, but overall, I feel like a college student.”

Haley Chase, senior sociology major, said, “I’ve observed freshmen adjusting to college with COVID restrictions and I admire their dedication to their studies while still trying

Ben Trapanick, director of new student and family programs. experiences they likely had as they closed out their senior year of high school were changed due to the pandemic, and their first year of college at FSU is unlike any other student has had due to all the changes put in place here.

“I hope they find each year gets better at FSU,” she added.

Not only has there been a decrease in full-time degree-seeking students, but some students said they don’t feel like a college student because of remote learning, Trapanick said.

Zoë Ryan-Williams, a freshman political science major, said, “I feel like I am in college academically, but socially not as much. I wish I was able to make professional connections with professors and classmates in my major because it’s easier that way.”

Trevor Stenberg, undeclared freshman said, “Being a freshman here at FSU during COVID was the last expectation I had for my freshman year.

The cancellation of my first college hockey season was a huge let down but it’s also given me a full year to get fully adjusted to college and focus on my classes.”

Brooke Phelps, a freshman environmental science and policy major, said, “Having all online classes and playing lacrosse makes me feel like a high school student, but being on

Gatepost Archives

to have the college experience.”

It was a hard decision for some students to come to college in the first place.

Ryan Mikelis, a freshman history major said, “I discussed the pros and cons of staying home or going to college over and over with my family.

Eventually, I decided to attend college this year, and overall, I am glad that I did.”

Diego Cardenas, a freshman pre-engineering major, said he wasn’t sure if he would get the same level of education online compared to in-person classes.

“I tend to focus more if it’s in person, but ultimately I decided to attend during the pandemic because I feared I would lose motivation if I didn’t,” he added.

Cardenas said that being a first-generation student gives him the motivation to get a degree. “It keeps me hungry to keep going,” he added.

Kayla Barboza, a freshman American Sign Language major, said, “It was hard to decide whether or not I wanted to be on campus, but I knew I wanted to continue my education.

“I decided to live on campus, because after finishing my senior year of high school online, I felt like I needed a change of scenery and I

needed to have time to find myself,” she added.

Barboza said, “With everything going on, I feel like I am a part of the FSU community.”

Regan Fein, a freshman health and wellness major, said, “It’s a time to meet new people and spark new friendships. I think that is what I am lacking the most.

“It feels like far less of a community and more like a workplace. Instead of feeling liberation from highschool life, it just kind of feels like a constant cycle of work, eat, work, practice, eat, work,” she added.

Madison Herries, a freshman early childhood education major, said that college is meant to be challenging.

“We can acknowledge that somedays are harder than others, but I just remind myself of the end goal and that tomorrow will be a better day,” she said.

Emma Howes, senior management major, said, “If it were me, I probably would’ve taken a gap year. It must be so hard to meet people, if you don’t have a roommate, can’t go to social events, there’s not even a point to living on campus if you don’t have classes in person.”

Some students said they were worried they were missing out on the “college experience.”

Hannah Stearns, a freshman communication, media, and performance major, said she feels like she is missing out when upperclassmen tell her about their freshman year experiences.

Stearns added that being on the lacrosse team helps her feel more connected to the university because she will “always have people” around her.

Timothy Reed, a freshman history major, said, “In my opinion getting my degree faster and being able to graduate on time is more important than the year of college experience.”

Julia Taliaferro, a freshman political science major said, “I thought that in college I’d be living on campus, be able to continue cheerleading, and I was really excited to have a roommate. Canceling my housing application over the summer really hammered home the fact that this year won’t be a normal year. There’s always hope for next year!”

Ali Palladino, a senior Earth Science major, said, “Without having constant interactions on campus, it makes it difficult to make friends or get involved on campus. Without freshman year I would have never met the friends that I have now because with reduced occupancy, I might have commuted.”

Jordan Wild, senior marketing major said, “Freshman year sets the foundation for the rest of your college career. I feel like freshmen are being robbed of the full college experience.”

CONNECT WITH MAIA ALMEIDA malmeida1@student.framingham.edu

NEWS

Retirement continued from page 1 “Many exciting new graduate programs came into existence at FSU under his guidance, and our international footprint has expanded dramatically, including the addition of programs in Bermuda and Panama that will begin in the spring or fall of 2022,” said Zimmerman.

“Needless to say, we will miss him on both a professional and personal level, but wish him all the very best for this new phase of life,” added Zimmerman.

According to Najjar, this new phase will not mark the end of his dedication to community service and higher education.

“Life is really stages,” said Najjar.

“I have been working very hard for almost 40 years in my life, and I now believe there is a new chapter in life.”

According to Najjar, that chapter will focus on three things - family, serving actively in his discipline, and devoting more time on a volunteer basis to serving in his community.

“At the family level, it is really going to allow me to see my wife, my children, and my grandchildren more,” said Najjar. “Hopefully we can go on more family trips together when it is safe to do so.”

As far as his discipline is concerned, Najjar said he will continue reading because there is no end to learning and obtaining knowledge.

“I will continue learning new trends within my discipline, which is geography and urban planning, as well as higher education. The value of knowledge is being able to share it,” said Najjar. “It’s not just to keep it for yourself. Whatever I learn, I try to implement in my course.”

One FSU program that Najjar said he would like to continue serving in is International Education.

“It is a program where we offer master’s degrees overseas in about 16 countries - mainly in Europe, Asia and Latin America,” said Najjar.

“Once COVID-19 is gone, I will try to teach in one of these sites once a year.”

In terms of serving his community, Najjar said he would like to be more involved in the area of social services.

“I think there are a lot of people in need,” said Najjar. “I would like to do work to try to raise money for those in need. Hopefully, I will continue to be able to contribute in whatever capacity I can.”

Najjar often hosted an event called A Town Hall Meeting with the Dean, to which he invited students, faculty and staff to exchange ideas in a public forum once a semester.

According to Najjar, his experience as a professor of geography and urban planning allowed him to better understand and interact with the world.

“My teaching gave me a great opportunity to learn more about the land and the inhabitant of the land,” said Najjar. “This really affected me at the personal level and it shaped my value system of appreciating the

physical environment. That is why I fell in love with nature and cultures.”

As a Ph.D. student at the University of Cincinnati, he taught physical geography, which led to him becoming fascinated with the physical environment.

“When I came to Framingham in 1987 as an assistant professor, I taught numerous geography classes, as well as urban planning,” said Najjar.

“Geography is always leading me.

Once you understand the physical environment and the cultures, it is very easy to communicate with peo-

APRIL 16, 2021 | 7

work and dedication to FSU,” said Cevallos. “I am particularly grateful for his efforts to make us a global campus. FSU has been offering master’s degrees all over the world for many years, and Dean Najjar has been a champion of these international programs.”

Cevallos had the opportunity to travel with Najjar to a few of FSU’s sites in Asia and Central America, which provided him with a chance to get to know Najjar on a more personal level.

“It left me in awe of the energy and commitment he brings to

they can stay for an additional year,” said Najjar. “I started presenting this idea to the graduate program coordinators and the students.”

“I really believe that it is important to listen to others and to have team contributions. The English Department and the Nutrition Department really took this to heart,” said Najjar.

In a joint statement, Dr. Suzanne Neubauer, director of the MS Concentration in Food and Nutrition and Professor Janet Schwartz, director of the MEd Concentration in Nutrition Education, said Dean Najjar has been

“It left me in awe of the energy and commitment he brings to maintaining and growing those programs. I congratulate him on his well-deserved retirement. He certainly leaves a strong legacy within our Division of Graduate and Continuing Education.”

-F. Javier Cevallos, FSU President ple from different backgrounds. I became much more appreciative of diversity as a result,” he added.

In addition to his teaching, Najjar created field trip programs where he would take students overseas to destinations including Egypt, Peru, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica and Morocco.

“Taking the students overseas and interacting with them outside of the campus is a very rich experience,” said Najjar. “It gave me a better opportunity to understand students and their needs.”

Because of his geography and international backgrounds, Najjar became an advocate of increasing opportunities for local students to study overseas, as well as programs to bring international students to FSU. “I started in 1987 and I really remember those years. It was still Framingham State College and it was more of a homogenous kind of institution,” said Najjar.

“The diversity was not huge. After a few years, the diversity improved.

The faculty and administration opened up more, and we started accommodating to more approaches,” Najjar added.

President F. Javier Cevallos was forthright in his recognition of Najjar’s effort to make FSU a global campus.

“Dean Najjar has been part of this community for nearly 35 years, and we are deeply thankful for his hard

G

T TE

E

T

maintaining and growing those programs,” said Cevallos. “I congratulate him on his well-deserved retirement.

He certainly leaves a strong legacy within our Division of Graduate and Continuing Education.”

In addition to his work overseas, Najjar was also very proactive in introducing the 4+1 Graduate Program to FSU. “I am very proud of introducing the 4+1 Program at FSU,” said Najjar.

“Most of our programs were originally focused on recruiting students who had already graduated and wanted to enhance their status in the job market.”

Najjar said he thought about another segment of students who would really like to start graduate school right after they finish their undergraduate degree.

“I know most jobs, when you read any advertisement, they often prefer a certain amount of experience. What if you don’t have any experience?

Substitute that experience with more education and you’ve got a master’s degree,” said Najjar.

In the labor market, anyone with a master’s degree has been trained in conducting research. In other words, they will have a tremendous amount of experience by the time they enter the job market, according to Najjar.

“This program allowed us to serve our undergraduates by recruiting our junior students. If they have an interest in taking up to three graduate courses during their senior year, then

E E

E T T

E T E

E

very supportive of the two 4+1 Dietetics Programs.

“His support has helped make these programs a reality for our department and students,” they said in the statement.

According to Jerusha Nelson-Peterman, chair and associate professor of the nutrition department, when Najjar was asked to help with student issues, he often responded, “You are the expert in your program. I support your decision.”

“We have greatly appreciated this level of respect,” said Nelson-Peterman. “We will miss him and wish him the very best with his retirement.”

English Graduate Coordinator Desmond McCarthy, said, “Yaser Najjar has been a wise and innovative dean of the graduate school. Without his encouragement, counsel, and support, we would never have been able to develop the 4 + 1 English program that enables students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in only five years.

“His greatest legacy is the many students - local and international, now and in the future - who will have the opportunity to achieve their dreams by pursuing their graduate degrees at our university,” said McCarthy.

[Editor’s note: Desmond McCarthy is advisor of The Gatepost.]

CONNECT WITH SOREN COLSTRUP scolstrup@student.framingham.edu

E

G TE O T. O

NEWS

8 | APRIL 16, 2021

COVID-19 by the numbers April 16, 2021

By Donald Halsing Associate Editor

By Leighah Beausoleil News Editor

By Kathleen Moore Design Editor Over 5 million new COVID-19 infections were reported worldwide based on data from various sources taken April 14.

Just over 840 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally.

FSU President F. Javier Cevallos announced in an April 8 campus-wide email the University’s online COVID-19 dashboard will be updated on Fridays instead of Thursdays.

The email states this change gives the University’s COVID-19 Campus Analytics Team and Health Department more time to complete contact tracing and follow-up testing.

No new data was available from the COVID-19 dashboard this week.

Framingham State University administered 911 tests last week, and 4,371 tests within the past 30 days, according to the COVID-19 dashboard on the FSU website.

Nine positive tests were returned last week, according to the page. The seven-day negative test rate was 99.01%.

One positive case was self-reported by a student last week. Four positive cases were self-reported by students within the past 30 days.

Seven students were isolated on campus and four individuals were isolated off campus. Four students were quarantined on campus and 19 people were quarantined off campus.

A total of 4,289 negative, and 27 positive results, were returned in the past 30 days. The 30-day negative test rate was 99.37%.

Cumulatively, 7,908 Framingham residents, 11.58%, have tested positive for COVID-19.

The City of Framingham reported 1,504 active cases.

There were 167 new infections, 133 new recoveries, and one new death reported since April 8. The number of people infected grew by 33, or 0.43%, over the past week.

Approximately 19% of those who have tested positive remain infected.

Just under 78% have recovered and approximately 3.1% have died.

The overall death rate from COVID-19 in Framingham is 0.35%.

Cumulatively, 624,666 Massachusetts residents, 9.06%, have tested positive for COVID-19.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health estimates there are 35,786 active cases.

There were 12,841 new infections, 10,314 new recoveries, and 68 new deaths since April 8. The number of people infected grew by 2,459, or 0.4%, over the past week.

Approximately 5.8% of those who have tested positive remain infected.

Just over 91% have recovered, and approximately 2.8% have died.

The overall death rate from COVID-19 in Massachusetts is 0.25%.

The New York Times reported that cumulatively, 4,895,087 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Massachusetts. According to the Times, 46% of the population has received at least one dose, and 27% are fully vaccinated.

Full dosage is two shots of the Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna vaccines, or one shot of the Johnson & Johnson vac-

Framingham

cine.

Cumulatively, 31,444,600 United States residents, 9.52%, have tested positive for COVID-19.

Worldometer, a data source for the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resources center, reported 6,891,403 active cases in the U.S. There were 524,188 new infections, 495,981 new recoveries, and 4,840 new deaths since April 8. The number of people infected grew by 23,367, or 0.08%, over the past week.

Just under 22% of those who have tested positive remain infected. Approximately 77% of the population has recovered, and 1.8% have died.

The overall death rate from COVID-19 in the United States is 0.17%.

The New York Times reported that cumulatively, 198,317,040 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the United States. According to the Times, 38% of the population has received at least one dose, and 24% are fully vaccinated.

Cumulatively, 138,322,800 people globally, 1.78%, have tested positive for COVID-19.

Worldometer reported 17,905,406 active cases around the world.

There were 5,388,292 new infections, 3,079,220 new recoveries, and 88,233 new deaths since April 8. The number of people infected grew by 2,220,839 or 1.67%, over the past week.

Just under 18% of the world’s popu-

lation that has tested positive remain infected. Approximately 79% of the population has recovered and 3% has died.

The overall death rate from COVID-19 globally is 0.04%.

The New York Times reported that cumulatively, 840,719,672 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered globally.

Data sources: Framingham State University City of Framingham Mass. population: U.S. Census Bureau – QuickFacts Massachusetts U.S. and World population: U.S. Census Bureau – U.S. and World Population Clock Mass. data: WCVB Channel 5 Boston, Mass. Dept. of Public Health U.S. data: CDC, New York Times, Worldometer World data: WHO, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, Worldometer Recovery data: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center Active Cases: New York Times Vaccination Data: New York Times *Calculations for new infections, recoveries, deaths, and infected population size change are made using both data from this week and last week’s data published in The Gatepost. New data collected Wednesday before publication.

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

NEWS

Massachusetts

APRIL 16, 2021 | 9

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST

United States

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST

World

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST CONNECT WITH DONALD HALSING dhalsing@student.framingham.edu

G

T TE

E

T

CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN MOORE kmoore8@student.framingham.edu

CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu

E E

E T T

E T E

E

E

G TE O T. O

OP/ED

10 | APRIL 16, 2021

OP/ ED THE GATEPOST EDITORIAL

Allyship is more than a hashtag Since the murder of George Floyd, a Black Minneapolis man who was killed by police in May 2020, the Black Lives Matter (BLM) Movement has gained the national attention of many social media users.

However, some calls for justice have become performative, and therefore fail to accomplish anything substantial.

Some people think they are changing the world with a tap on their cell phones.

But while sharing information pertaining to what is happening in the world and raising awareness is an important element of working toward justice, sometimes, it isn’t enough.

Over the past week, social media platforms have been the place for another moment of “flash activism,” as users’ interest fixates on instances of police brutality.

Sharing an image on Instagram with #BlackLivesMatter is a first step toward solving racial inequality issues.

But it is only a matter of time before society’s interest wanes.

If members of our community became more engaged with why these things are happening, they would discover systemic racism is the true cause of all this animosity.

Police brutality does not come and go with these moments of flash activism. The fear people of color have is consistent and constant. To say otherwise would belittle the severity of their experiences.

At a traffic stop in Windsor, Virginia, on Dec. 5, 2020, 2nd Lt. Caron Nazario feared for his life.

“I’m honestly afraid to get out of the car,” he said, according to The New York Times.

“Yeah. You should be,” replied Officer Joe Gutierrez, who held Nazario at gunpoint and proceeded to pepper spray the uniformed lieutenant.

This dialogue was obtained from Gutierrez’s body camera footage from the incident, which was recently released and began to circulate widely across all social media platforms this month.

Seeing footage of this happening has reminded the world that the fight for justice is not over.

And it will never be over if fighting for justice is treated like a trend.

How long will people continue to share this video? A week? Perhaps a month?

Posting about inequality puts our country on the right track to solve problems. However, conversations about injustice do not last long enough to enact change.

We as responsible citizens need to keep dis-

cussing stories of people of color facing police brutality. Nobody can ignore this issue when stories like Nazario’s are constantly present.

Nobody will forget these issues if they are always reminded of them.

The importance of human lives and groups of people is not a trend. Their importance should not wax and wane with the interests of society.

Since the trial of Officer Derek Chauvin - the man who murdered Floyd - began on March 29, 2021, tensions in Minneapolis have risen.

Those tensions reached their breaking point when Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Minneapolis Black man, was murdered during a traffic stop

by Kimberly Potter, a white female police officer, who shot her gun “accidentally,” believing it was her taser, according to the Times.

However, mistaking a firearm for a taser is not a common occurrence because tasers are brightly colored, weigh less than a firearm, and the two weapons are located on opposite sides of an officer’s belt.

In solidarity, people across the internet have shared images of Wright.

Sharing images is a first step toward creating an anti-racist society. But what will happen when people stop talking about Daunte Wright?

When Instagram or Snapchat stories vanish in 24 hours, it is important to still be invested in the cause.

Social media users need to embrace the social part of social media: a place to connect with people who are motivated by the same cause.

If we want to solve these problems, here’s what we should be doing: having meaningful conversations to educate ourselves and others.

People who believe sharing photos alone is going to end police brutality are merely dusting off their “ally” titles.

Allyship is not a shiny badge to flaunt when it’s popular to do so.

Allyship is not speaking for marginalized communities, but using your privilege to amplify their voices, donating to important causes, and educating yourself and those around you.

Allyship is about consistent action.

Allyship should not just be a passive and fleeting label - it should be a lifestyle.

Social media trends come and go, but we can’t forget about the people they involve.

We can’t forget that police brutality - and systemic racism - are ongoing experiences that people of color face and will face until attention is given to these issues for long enough to bring about a serious change in society.

Allyship is something we can’t forget.

Have an opinion?

Feel free to email it to: gatepost@framingham.edu Opinions should be about 750 words.

Anyone can submit. @TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

Anyone would be honored to love me

By McKenzie Ward Opinions Editor “No one could ever love you.”

It has been over 560 days since I was told that.

And although there has been over 560 days separating me from that statement and I am no longer in contact with the individual who drunkenly slurred that to me, I think of how I’m unlovable at least once a day.

But it wasn’t always like this.

I grew up loving myself.

I loved my laugh, my ability to always put others first, and most importantly, I loved that I was me.

But at about 10 years old, I began to lose that love. I was no longer allowing myself to feel happiness about who I was because I hated who I saw in the mirror.

Unlike most 10-year-old girls, I was the chubby girl in class. I used to hide my body in sweatshirts even when it reached 90 degrees outside, and I wore shorts that went almost to my knees hoping they would hide my “thunder thighs.”

Every year when the weather begins to get warmer, I begin to panic about having to wear clothing that doesn’t allow me to hide my biggest insecurities.

My arms, my thighs, if I’m being honest - the top of my head to my toes.

To say my weight has fluctuated over the years is an understatement. During the summer before my sophomore year of high school, I was a size four after losing roughly 30 pounds in less than two months. But by the end of junior year, I was a size 10 after overeating due to birth control and the constant stress of my then relationship.

My struggles with my body image were only heightened when my toxic ex-boyfriend would repeatedly belittle me for any and all weight gain despite my best efforts to lose weight.

He was supposed to love me, but during the time he was supposed to be loving me, he instead fed into my biggest insecurities that he was well aware of.

Having to hear the individual who was supposed to love me repeatedly make comments concerning my weight worsened my anxiety about how others perceived me then and how they perceive me now. I felt as if I had all eyes on me when I wore anything that showed what he considered “unattractive.”

I could feel myself slipping into a deep depression and could no longer see my own self-worth.

At 20 years old, I still struggle with my weight, but I struggle even more with learning to love myself despite what I consider “flaws.”

To help love myself, I began to get tattoos on parts of my body that I was insecure about. I have slowly begun to transform the body I hate into a walking art museum.

I now have a new found appreciation for those areas of myself.

To my tattoo artist, Joe: you have given me the confidence boost I never knew I would find. You will never know how truly honored I am to wear your artwork on my body.

Thank you.

But still, I struggle with intrusive thoughts that pester me with the question, “If you can’t love yourself, how can you expect anyone to love you?”

However, the statement, “Nobody can love you until you love yourself” is, as our current president would say, “A bunch of malarkey.”

Because although I struggle with accepting and loving myself, that does not mean that I am less deserving of love.

Although I understand that those who preach this statement might be well-intentioned and could possibly be trying to advocate for self-love, they are feeding the narrative that those who struggle with self-love aren’t deserving of any form of love.

Each day, millions of individuals struggle with mental illness that can oftentimes destroy their perception of themselves and lead to self-loathing. But each and every one is just as deserving of love as the person who can wake up in the morning and think to themselves, “I love myself.”

So, it’s 560 days later and I still struggle with the belief that I will never be loved.

But each morning, I wake up and I try to remind myself that anyone would be honored to love me.

OP/ED

APRIL 16, 2021 | 11

Campus Conversations What steps are you taking to actively be anti-racist?

By Donald Halsing, Associate Editor

“I’m an RA, in Larned, so just creating a community where everybody feels welcome and educating ourselves. As a staff, we’ve been reading different articles and different books so when stuff comes up, if we can’t personally relate, we have some type of education behind us when helping our residents.”

-Caitlyn Krause, senior

“Social media is probably the best way to talk to friends and family, especially with different generational gaps. They probably don’t see the same news we see, so it’s easier to reach out to different people on Facebook and Instagram, and post about what’s happening to get the word out about things that are happening.”

-Emma Bernier, junior

“Spreading love, spreading kindness, and being a good peer to anybody regardless of race.”

-Damien Duke, junior

“I’m very inclusive to all cultures, and very open to learning about new cultures.”

-Jaylen Swan, freshman

“I remember last spring when there were all the rallies and marches. … A lot of petitions too - I signed a couple of those.

Basically just making everyone aware of the wrongdoings, inequalities, and injustice. And just trying to make sure everyone’s equal.”

- Jack Foley, sophomore

“I hope to educate those who don’t really understand much. I was educating people on not saying the n-word, or saying racial slurs towards Asians, mind what you say, don’t be transphobic - all those types of things.

-Jessica Ehimatre-Arhuieese, freshman

We Are Hiring!!

Student Transportation Center is now hiring for Fall 2021 Employment at Student Transportation starts at $14.50 an hour. Search for Student Transportation Center on Ramlink for more information and how to apply!

Follow Student Transportation Center on the following forms of social media for service updates and to learn more about us at STC!

@STCFSU @framinghamstc @framinghamstc transportation@framingham.edu

C A R E E R SERVICES & EMPLOYER RELATIONS

Connect virtually with diverse employers and expand your professional network by participating!

WEDNESDAY APRIL 21, 2021 Sales 2:00-4:00 P.M. Finance Education REGISTER ON HANDSHAKE HTTPS:/ / F R A M I N G H A M . J O I N H A N D S H A K E . C O M / Business Laboratory Insurance Accounting Technology Healthcare Law Enforcement Counseling International Affairs Human Services Telecommunications Natural Resources Internet and Software Behavioral Therapy Computer Networking Biotech and Life Sciences Environmental Management Transportation and Logistics Commercial Banking and Credit and more...

508-626-4625 career services@framingham.edu https://www.framingham.edu/the-fsudifference/career-services/index

Op/Ed submissions reflect the opinions of their authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of The Gatepost or its staff.

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

12 | APRIL 16, 2021

SPORTS

SPORTS Men’s Lacrosse Coach speaks on canceled season

By Danielle Achin

Sports Editor

Head Coach David Roche has been coaching lacrosse for the past 35 years, and this is his fourth season as head coach for Framingham State joining in the spring of 2017.

The dangers of COVID-19 forced coaches, players, and teammates to distance and brought a halt to playing the games they love.

While he isn’t training the Framingham State team this year, Roche said he is currently working for a club program, Piatelli Lacrosse Club.

“Since this year got canceled, it’s been a good diversion for me to stay involved with the game as much as I can,” he said.

The Club Sports Program at Framingham State University offers four competitive programs - cheerleading, men’s lacrosse, men’s rugby, and women’s rugby. Not recognized as an NCAA team, the chances of each team being allowed a season were slim.

“After knowing most people weren’t going to be vaccinated and knowing where we stood on the scale of not being recognized, there wasn’t a great chance we were going to have a season this year. I think mentally, it was pretty evident throughout the off season it wasn’t going to happen,” Roche said.

Though they weren’t granted a season, Roche doesn’t take the decision made by the school as a hit against club sports and said the head of club sports, Aynsley Rosenbaum, has been extremely supportive during this time.

“We are supported financially, we have coach buses for away games, we get field space as much as possible, and we have a new field that just got built for us,” Roche said. “But I can understand where we stand in the pecking order isn’t great.”

Roche said he doesn’t feel the disrespect some student athletes have felt these past few months, feeling overlooked by varsity sports explaining club sports here at Framingham State only practice two-to-three days during the week, while varsity sports are more committed practicing about six-to-seven days during the week.

“It’s far from a normal season for the NCAA recognized teams,” Roche said. “I think the time commitment those kids put in is much greater.

They’re also year round and we pretty much don’t start until the end of winter.

“I tend to look at things realistically, and I’m happy those players are getting a season because I know how important it is for the seniors. They lost out on something they can’t get back, and for it to happen two years in a row for those NCAA sports would have been tragic,” he added.

One main issue student athletes cited was the lack of updates from the

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

Gatepost Archives Athletic Department for each team.

Athletes said it was a difficult process scheduling an appointment with staff, or not getting replies to emails.

Roche commented on this miscommunication.

“Everytime I reach out to Aynsley Rosenbaum, he’s responsive to me.

But I think it’s different with varsity sports. It was more of a MASCAC decision, where for club sports it’s an individual University decision.

“The fact that we didn’t know until later in the winter, I didn’t take that as a slight. I honestly thought that they were holding out hope to, at the very least, have somewhat of a season.”

Roche added the decision to cancel sports was much easier to make last year than it was this year being more of a “wait and see” type of situation.

“I honestly felt that it was a priority for them to have the NCAA level teams play,” he said.

The commitment level of varsity student athletes playing on a yearround basis is significantly greater than what club sports experience.

Roche pointed out this exact reason is what draws people to join club teams.

“Not that they’re better athletes or better people or anything like that, they just put in a lot more time. It’s not an everyday thing for club teams,” Roche said. “We don’t have to be at every practice or even every game because the commitment level is far less.”

Practice time consists of fundamentals and basics taught in youth levels because the majority of the

team has no experience playing.

Roche said, “We have to teach them the game, almost like you’re getting down to the bare bones because a lot of them, probably at least 40% of them, have never played lacrosse before, which I actually love.”

He added he admired how bold enough people are to try something new.

“They’re willing to come out and try something new, and maybe even not be very good at it. But they show up at practice and work hard,” Roche said.

Roche added the main focus of the lacrosse program is working hard, being competitive, and also having fun.

Whereas the focus for a varsity sport is directed in a different way.

“Yeah we want to win, but we also want the guys to have a really solid experience and like the program and like the way the team chemistry is, and spend time outside of practices and games and get to know each other,” Roche said.

He added college is all about being a better person and student athlete, while engaging a little more in the community.

Roche said he is grateful for the “good culture” the team has with each other. He emphasized trying to find a role for everyone.

“Maybe somebody may be inexperienced or doesn’t know certain things, but they’re really fast or strong,” he added. “We find certain areas of the team - either offense or defense - they can excel at and can succeed.”

Roche said the biggest impact he sees from his team is the humility - the fact somebody comes in and is learning about the sport while having fun.

“The fact that so many of these kids are humble and for lack of term suck at something as compared to the guy next to him, but [they] are willing to work at it and get better,” he added.

Roche said the main goal for next year’s season is to get back to campus, meet people, and connect with their teammates and other students once again.

Assuming a more normal semester next fall, Roche said he wants to get the word out that the staff wants people to play and will be having in-person meetings this fall.

He said, “It’s important that we turn the page for the next few months, get everybody back on campus in September, and understand how important it is to get vaccinated.”

Roche added he is more than excited for the fall and to get back to normal and do what he and the student athletes of Framingham State love to do - play.

“I wish it was starting tomorrow,” Roche said. “I just can’t wait to be in person, get back in the meeting room, and play lacrosse.”

CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ACHIN dachin@student.framingham.edu

ARTS & FEATURES

APRIL 16, 2021 | 13

ARTS & FEATURES

What the Earth can teach us

Vandana Singh shares her climate studies

By Emily Rosenberg

Editorial Staff

By Caroline Gordon Editorial Staff The Christa McAuliffe Center hosted Vandana Singh to discuss her research on the climate crisis with her presentation “The Unraveling of the World” via Zoom April 12.

Singh is a professor of physics at Framingham State University as well as a science fiction author.

She began by discussing that whether it’s forest fires, floods and droughts, or the melting ice sheets, there is no denying that the world is “in shambles.”

Singh shared a graphic which demonstrated the tally of “life under threat,” also known as the sixth mass extinction. According to the graphic, 25% of mammals and 13% of birds are threatened with extinction.

“There’s another pandemic around the corner and this time we may not be as lucky - we do not have the luxury to turn away,” she said.

Singh explained how she started her exploration in this field of study by teaching the subject in her physics classes.

Teaching climate studies in her physics course was not successful because she tried to implement the principles of climate science and encourage her students to take action.

They became overwhelmed by “despair” and felt “burdened” by what she taught them.

Singh explained the importance of not “overwhelming them” with too much negative news, without contradicting the severity of the situation.

She discussed it is crucial to avoid informing students on the idea of single solutions, such as using LED light bulbs, as being the optimal way of helping the environment. However, small, individual steps are important, but working together will create change.

She explained how after traveling to Alaska and visiting communities of students and experts, she sought to answer the question, “What can we learn from what the Earth is telling us?”

While doing her research in Northern Alaska, she studied the melting of Arctic sea ice - a phonenmon that has been rapidly increasing.

Singh said she heard a story from a geophysicist at the University of Alaska about a group of scientists who set out to do research at the edge of the ice 30 years ago. Although the weather was beautiful, the native elder had

a gut instinct that they needed to pack up and leave. As they were leaving, the scientists heard a “deafening crack,” indicating melting ice sheets.

This story encouraged her to find other communities most impacted by the climate change issue.

She then traveled to India, another country that is vulnerable to climate impacts due to its food and water insecurity, lack of secure infrastructure, and high poverty rates. Singh said India is a region where it is already hot and there will be deadly heat waves.

Singh spoke with people who lived in the region of Jharkhand, India, a community that already had 100 heat waves and used to be heavily forested until it saw the impacts of the climate crisis.

She said after the women started to notice rising temperatures, they went out into the forest to improve biodiversity by building dams.

“Through their nurturing of 20 years, the forest has actually regenerated,” Singh added. “Although there

ic-technological ‘solutions’ to the climate issue.”

She said the climate issue cannot be seen as just a scientific problem, nor purely a social problem, but a mixture of social, scientific, and economic concerns. In addition, climate is also a complex system.

Singh said in the center of the climate problem is the issue of justice, emphasizing how in both stories she told, the victims did not cause the problems in their communities, but were the first to suffer the consequences.

She added among the victims of climate change are the youth. “We are giving them a planet that is severely damaged, and that’s not fair.”

She explained schools are compartmentalized. Students are encouraged to think short term, and not taught to work with complex systems. In addition, societies consist of unequal power hierarchies. Singh said this works against the complex thinking needed to mend the climate issue.

“The climate crisis is an inherently transdisciplinary issue, and yet it’s still being taught as though it were purely a scientific, technological issue.”

-Vandana Singh, Professor of Physics and Science Fiction Author are no tigers … other species have come back - the water table has risen.”

Singh noted two similarities between Alaska and India. They are both recovering from colonialism and are suffering because people were marginalized.

“This shows how we live in pyramidal power structures. There are few people at the top that build and manipulate all of society,” she said.

Singh said she learned climate breakdown is both local and global in vast, temporal scales. She explained the ways in which humans interact is informed by history and is incredibly important as it will “affect thousands of humans for thousands of years.

“Every scale of time and space matters,” she said.

“The climate crisis is an inherently transdisciplinary issue, and yet it’s still being taught as though it were purely a scientific, technological issue,” Singh added. “That’s why we often hear people talk about scientif-

Singh discussed the positive and negative aspects of sustainability goals. However, the goals are insufficient as they represent compromises.

She highlighted the relationship between sustainability and economic growth and how they are unattainable.

Singh discussed the population’s impact on the environment and how ecosystems have “carrying capacities.”

Carrying capacity is the maximum number of organisms that can live in a specific area based on the amount of resources available in that area.

“If a population exceeds the carrying capacity for the ecosystem, they are going to have trouble. Then, you are going to see the population collapse - any biologist or ecologist can tell us that,” she said.

Singh explained the U.S. is 5% of the world’s population and consumes 25% of the Earth’s resources.

She said the population is inter-

twined with inequity, colonialism, and imperialism, which should not be disregarded.

Singh discussed Steve Running, an ecosystem and conservation professor at the University of Montana, who thinks climate change is an emotional trauma for humans to process.

“It’s [climate change] an emotional trauma that we can’t shy or shrink away from,” Singh said.

She explained how scientists have to put their emotions aside, but teaching has made her recognize the significance of emotions.

“We have to take them [emotions] into account otherwize we paralyze ourselves from taking action,” Singh said.

Poetry and other forms of coping techniques have been implemented into Singh’s classroom to encourage group grieving.

She referred to a graph that showed CO2 levels. The amount of CO2 in the air was always constant, then the amount increased at the start of the industrial revolution, according to the graph.

Then, she described the analogy of a bathtub with a drain to explain the carbon cycle. Anything that adds CO2 to the atmosphere is represented by the water, the Earth is represented as the bathtub, and the drain represents trees and oceans.

She said natural resources that are dug up to burn for fuel, are not naturally part of the CO2 cycle, thereby destabilizing the cycle.

Additionally, humans deforest the planet and trash the oceans, resulting in the “drains” being unable to absorb CO2.

Singh noted human respiration is a natural part of the carbon cycle. When humans breathe, they release CO2 as a waste product. However, plants are able to trap the carbon through photosynthesis and without them, there would be a surplus of CO2.

She blames climate change on the wealthy as the richest 10% of the world’s population produces 50% of the individual consumption of fossil-fuel based CO2 emissions.

Singh added the poorest 50% of the world’s population produces 10% of fossil fuel emissions.

“The super rich are super responsible for this crisis,” Singh said.

CONNECT WITH EMILY ROSENBERG erosenberg@student.framingham.edu CONNECT WITH CAROLINE GORDON cgordon4@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

14 | APRIL 16, 2021

ARTS & FEATURES

What does it mean

By Steven Bonini Staff Writer Washington, D.C. has the Lincoln Memorial dedicated to the country’s 16th president.

George Washington, the first president, is memorialized on Mount Rushmore.

And New York’s international airport is named for President John F. Kennedy.

The idolization of politicians is a common part of American culture, but more recently people have begun to ask what it means to idolize elected officials and how that affects their ability to function as competent public servants.

David Smailes, professor of political science, said public servants deal “with the issues of the day.” Figures who have “transcended” to a level of “idolization,” are seen a little differently.

“There have been good, competent presidents that we’ve had,” he said.

“But I don’t think we look at them and say, ‘Wow, that’s another Lincoln, let’s go build a memorial…’ We don’t see it that way,” adding the figures who Americans truly idolize are those who represent the “American character.

“We always seem to have the idea that we want to have two things in our leaders,” Smailes said.

The first quality Americans look for in a leader is a figure who is going to “come and save us,” he said.

The second quality Americans look for in a leader is somebody who is “responsive,” and “listens,” as opposed to a person who gets wrapped up in “their own agenda,” he added.

When a political figure can have both these qualities, Smailes said it makes them popular and people begin to talk about them in “very inflated

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

terms,” adding a good example of this is former President Donald Trump.

“People wanted a hero. They wanted somebody to come in and save them,” he said. “The status quo wasn’t listening anymore - wasn’t responsive to them. Here’s somebody who seemed to be listening to them and knew them and understood them, even though clearly he didn’t in many cases.”

Smailes added the real idolization for a politician tends to begin after a person leaves politics.

“While they’re in politics, they’re often very controversial figures,” he said. “After they’ve - for one reason or

“After his death, and perhaps because of his death - in the way in which he died - that almost began immediately after his death that people began to idolize him in the way in which they remembered him,” Smailes added.

In regard to Kennedy, he said, “Kennedy was more of a symbol of what we wanted to be rather than perhaps what he really was, and I think that tends to be true for politicians that we idolize.”

Smailes added even when people begin to write books about figures who society idolizes, in an attempt to “tarnish,” the way they are viewed,

“It’s the part of them [politicians] we idolize. It has nothing to do with them as a person, it has everything to do with what we see in them.”

- David Smailes, Professor of Political Science another - are not in politics anymore, then it gives us an opportunity to idolize them in a way. To be selective in our memory about them.

“We have a tendency to see, in them, the things that we would like to be ourselves. Our own aspirations, our own sense of what it is to be an American,” he added.

Both Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy are good examples of this, said Smailes.

“Lincoln, for example, a very controversial figure in some ways, during his lifetime, and not widely recognized as the figure that we think of as Lincoln today,” he said.

such as Kennedy, it still doesn’t phase the way people think about those figures.

“It’s the part of them we idolize,” he said. “It has nothing to do with them as a person, it has everything to do with what we see in them. It can’t really be taken away, even when we find out that they were very human, and they had their flaws, and things that they did and didn’t say, disappoint us.”

Although some individuals do tend to make up their own minds about how they feel about certain politicians, Smailes said the media also plays a big role, acting as a “selective medium,” by which the “idea of what these people represent get expressed.

“I think they have a way of defining it and writing the story of a legacy,” he added. “What they represent and putting it into words or pictures or whatever medium happens to be available at the time.”

Giuliano Espino, visiting lecturer of political science, sees the idolization of politicians a little differently and personally defined political idolization as, “a relationship in which an individual citizen looks up to that politician as a hero.”

Espino said he “absolutely” believes this takes away from a politician’s ability to effectively serve as a public servant using New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as an example.

“He was sort of painted as the anti-Trump leader of the resistance during COVID,” he said. “Rachel Maddow famously had a segment saying, ‘there’s really two presidents in the

United States right now.’”

Because Cuomo was idolized as a national figure in the early days of the pandemic, the power went to his head, said Espino.

“Hiding and fudging the numbers and cooking the books on nursing home deaths,” he said.

“And then writing a book on the awesome job he did handling COVID. And then using his own fudged nursing home numbers in that book, as an example of how great a job he did,” Espino added. “There’s definitely something to be said that the power goes to people’s heads.”

He said, all in all, he does agree that the idolization of politicians does have more to do with “historical memory,” than “contemporary politics.”

Espino added he doesn’t believe there is any politician on the current contemporary political scene who will be able to transcend the boundaries of time.

Jon Huibregtse, professor of history, said political idolization can be a negative for society as it might diminish a politician and the way people see them.

“It sort of dehumanizes them and raises them into a position where we look at only the good they do and not the bad,” he said.

“In our current political climate, if you start to say something bad about someone who’s been idealized by one portion of the American political electorate, all of a sudden, they start calling you all kinds of things,” Huibregtse added.

He also went on to talk about the media and the ways in which bias has affected politics.

“When I was in college, I worked on my student newspaper … and we had three major networks that we watched for news, and that was it,” Huibregtse said.

“Newspapers had their political leanings, but they were also committed to being somewhat equitable in their treatment,” he added. “The fairness doctrine was still in existence.”

Returning to the days of radio, Huibregtse said at the time if stations aired a “Republican talk show,” then they would also air a “Democratic talk show,” to create a balance in the media.

“That’s all disappeared for the most part,” he said.

Huibregtse said social media can cause a problem too, highlighting the misinformation that gets spread on sites like Facebook or Instagram and people taking it as the “gospel truth.”

Olivia Beverlie, SGA president, gave her two cents on the subject, calling the idolization of politicians, “fan behavior” and said political idolization is treating politicians as “celebrities” rather than politicians.

ARTS & FEATURES

APRIL 16, 2021 | 15

to idolize politicians?

Beverlie attributes pop culture and social media to this idolization phenomenon, using representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) as an example of a politician who has gained traction by connecting with her constituents via social media.

“Because of that, I feel like our generation has really latched on to her as being relatable, and has thus idolized her because of it, even though she’s not the perfect politician that everyone likes to make her out to be,” she said, adding AOC has been put on a “pedestal,” but has yet to do much to “create substantive change.”

She said idolization of politicians “clouds people’s judgment,” adding citizens are not viewing politicians for the work they’re doing, but instead “they’re judging them for the persona that they’re putting out.”

Beverlie said she can’t recall a time when she idolized a politician and said there’s no politician “worthy” of being idolized in the United States or across the globe.

Politicians are “harmful” because “they are involved in a system that is biased and inadequate,” she said.

“Even if they’re not doing harm themselves, they’re buying into the system that does harm to others,” Beverlie added.

She said she doesn’t believe anybody should idolize politicians and has personally been critical of people who do.

Student Trustee McKenzie Ward agreed with the notion that political idolization is when citizens see poli-

ticians more as “celebrities” than “the common figure” who’s “supposed to be representing us.”

When citizens look at politicians in this way, Ward said it “minimizes the importance of the voices of the community,” and “amplifies the voices of one individual by acting as if politicians are better” than those they represent.

She added some people will build their political views around a politician, using the idolization of Donald Trump as an example.

“I never realized how dedicated some people can be and have kind of formed their whole personality and life around a politician and their political background,” she said.

“We saw this with Trump and the ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) slogan and his use of merchandise that kind of became - for many people … an everyday wear,” she added.

With Trump no longer being in the political “spotlight,” she highlighted the fact that some people still wear MAGA hats and other pieces of Trump gear.

She added the younger generation has changed political idolization with the use of social media, adding the TikTok app has been used by politicians to connect with young people, and said it again makes politicians look like celebrities instead of elected officials who “have to be held accountable.”

Being an Irish Catholic, Ward said she “loves” the Kennedy family and adores Joseph P. Kennedy III. Even so, she said it’s still important to hold him accountable to his actions as a politician regardless of her feelings about him and his family.

Ward said the idolization of politicians should be more about a person’s historical significance “than the actual person itself.”

[Editor’s Note: McKenzie Ward is Opinions Editor of The Gatepost.]

CONNECT WITH STEVEN BONINI sbonini@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

16 | APRIL 16, 2021

ARTS & FEATURES

Dance Team Continued from page 1 Because of the number of dances and COVID-19 precautions, there was no show for the spring and fall 2020 semesters. The Spring 2021 performance is pending approval by Student Involvement and Leadership Development (SILD).

President Haley Chase, a senior sociology major, said she has held her position as president for two years. In that time period, she should have choreographed four shows as president, but she has only staged one.

Because of COVID-19, the team is less than half the size it normally would be with only 25 members.

“On a positive note, I think because our team is smaller, we are a little bit more connected to one another, and we are able to just focus on dancing,” said Chase.

She said as one of the biggest organizations on campus, the team has a reputation to uphold.

Because most upperclassmen were not able to dance this year, the team is mostly first-year students who don’t know how the team is usually run, according to Chase.

Chase added Zoom is also an option for members if they do not feel comfortable coming to campus.

“As an organization that heavily relies on physical interaction between individuals with in-person meetings and events, it has been difficult to change the ways in which we go about things,” she said. “The safety regulations have challenged us to use our resources and find multiple solutions to our problems.

“For now, we plan to continue sharing our passion of dance with one another and find ways to showcase our creations with everyone else,” Chase

Courtesy of @fsudanceteam Dance Team’s 2020-21 eBoard. Left to right: Shae Heggs-Szabo (secretary), Hannah Mace (treasurer), Haley Chase (president), Chloe Chapdelaine (vice-president), and Cayly Eiten (publicist). danced in a show or helped put one on as an eBoard member.

“I loved coming onto the dance team,” Heggs-Szabo said. “I loved how welcoming it was and how everyone was a group of friends.”

She added getting their space back for rehearsals will be a big part of how they prepare for shows in the future.

“Having a show at the end of the semester gives us something to work toward. It’s been a little unmotivating

“I definitely miss performing. I love being on stage and I love the backstage scene of everything like running in the stairway and changing and you’re out of breath, but you’re with your team and it just bonds you.”

- Yana Trubetskaya, Member of the Dance Team added.

The executive board (eBoard) consists largely of sophomores, which means most of them have never been in a show.

Shea Heggs-Szabo, a sophomore nutrition major, said she currently serves as secretary, but next year she will be president.

Heggs-Szabo joined the Dance Team in Spring 2020, so she has never

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

knowing we might not have a show and so we’re not working toward anything,” Heggs-Szabo added.

Publicist Carley Eiten, a junior fashion design and retailing major, said what she misses most is the Dance Team rooms - the aerobics and multipurpose room.

“They have the mirrors and the stereo system that makes it a lot easier for

our team. Having mirrors is very important so you can see if you’re doing the moves correctly and if it looks like it’s supposed to,” Eiten said.

Treasurer Hannah Mace, a sophomore childhood and family studies major, said, “I miss the old space we had. It kind of sets the tone for everything and the atmosphere.

“But I love how we’ve been able to still create the same atmosphere here [in DPAC] and make it work despite the situation,” Mace added.

Vice President Chloe Chapdelaine, a sophomore biology major, said normally, newly elected eBoard members would shadow the current eBoard team to learn how the meetings are run.

Chapdelaine said the officers this year didn’t have the opportunity for the previous officers to train them because of the pandemic.

Hegg-Szabo said she is nervous going into next year because of the lack of leadership experience of the new officers. Despite that, she added, “I think it will be good to have a fresh set of eyes on everything.”

Current dance team member Yana Trubetskaya, a sophomore psychology major, will serve as dance team secretary next year.

“I miss how big the team used to be, being able to talk to everyone, and meeting new people in your dances.

My first year, I did so many dances.

Now, I don’t really have the time for that,” she said.

“I definitely miss performing,” she added. “I love being on stage and I love the backstage scene of everything like running in the stairway and changing

and you’re out of breath, but you’re with your team and it just bonds you.

“I’m really excited for when we do get to have a showcase again,” she said.

Caroline Macdonald, a senior child and family studies major, said, “We’re all such a big sisterhood. I miss doing everything close together. I miss our shows so much.”

Alex Hebert, a sophomore psychology major, said, “I mostly miss the community. There were just a lot more people to interact with and the dances had a lot more people. But I am glad that we still get to have it in person this year.”

Hegg-Szabo said, “Everyone is going through a tremendous amount of changes this year, and I think it is more prominent than ever that dance teams are a great outlet and stress reliever for many members.

“With so many changes this year, I have learned how to be a better leader by adapting to new situations and gaining more problem-solving skills,” she added.

Chase said, “With continuous challenges over the past year, I have learned to raise other leaders to adapt to change and fast-paced problem-solving while staying true to our team’s values, resulting in stronger leadership skills myself.”

She added, “At the same time I’ve learned to live in the present, but be hopeful for the future, which is something I’ve tried to convey to the team in order to keep spirits up.”

CONNECT WITH MAIA ALMEIDA

malmeida1@student.framingham.edu

ARTS & FEATURES

APRIL 16, 2021 | 17

Spy x Family: An incredible genre-blending love story

By Sean Cabot Staff Writer When I decided to read Tatsuya Endo’s “Spy x Family” on a friend’s recommendation, I was intrigued. But in spite of high expectations set by the unique premise and crisp art, that intrigue quickly turned to adoration.

Now “Spy x Family,” is the only ongoing comic that I make an effort to read as it releases. It is a well-rounded, heartwarming, and gut-busting joy of a comic that deserves the attention it has so rightfully received.

The worst thing I can say about it is I don’t get why there’s an “x” in the title when it isn’t even pronounced.

Taking place in a fictionalized version of Cold War Europe, the series centers around Agent Twilight, an expert spy working for the government of Westalia. Stationed in their neighbor Ostania, he is given a mission to track down a dangerous extremist.

The problem is that said extremist is a hermit who only makes appearances at his son’s highly exclusive

school functions. And because of the school’s rigid expectations of family structure and class, he is forced to recruit two unlikely allies.

The first is Anya, a little girl who he sends to attend the school. The second is Yor Briar, a civil servant who agrees to pose as his upper-class wife so that she can avoid the stigma faced by single women suspected of espionage.

While Twilight poses as a psychiatrist named Loid Forger to keep his identity a secret, Yor and Anya have secrets of their own. Yor is a prolific assassin, while Anya is a psychic who can read the minds of everyone around her.

In spite of their grim nature, Anya is childishly thrilled about her parents’ exciting lifestyles. As Loid tries to instruct her to the point where she can attend the private functions, he finds that his feigned feelings towards her and Yor may no longer be feigned.

These relationships are what make the entire comic.

While there are excellent moments of comedy, action, and drama, where

“Spy x Family” truly shines is in its ex- and heartfelt.

All of this is conveyed through bapert handling of the family dynamic.

Loid and Yor are mutually aware of sic-but-polished aesthetics. Though their marriage’s false nature - which simply shaded, the character art is gives them room to grow attached over raised up by expertly conveyed motime while keeping them on friendly tion.

Despite its focus on comedy, that terms throughout. Rather than bickering and bantering, the relationship the series has demonstrated such a develops from the two confiding in strong thematic identity and likeable each other over their self-doubts, cast, this quickly speaks greatly to Enleading to a refreshingly healthy ro- do’s talent.

This is by no means a comic anyone mantic dynamic.

However, Anya is the true lynchpin should miss.

“Spy x Family” is a dark horse in of the series. I’ll put it bluntly - I haven’t seen any child characters that the world of comics. Its readership has are this infectiously likeable in a long reached remarkable levels for a relatively new series, and its sales have time.

Anya’s behavior and expressions been consistently strong. Hopefully are exaggerated, but they still reflect a television adaptation is not far bea believable sense of childish impul- hind. siveness and naïveté. And her psychic abilities allow her to subtly aid in the information war the characters are The best espionage-romance engaged in.

I’ve ever read.

This allows her to contribute to both the comedy and the drama of the story. Her attempts to keep her new CONNECT WITH SEAN CABOT family together are both endearing scabot@student.framingham.edu

Grade: A

Season 4 of ‘Wynonna Earp’ was perfectly chaotic

By Olivia Copeland Staff Writer If you’d like to see a show about killing demons and monsters, hanging with old western bandits, and protecting lesbians at all costs, then look no further than “Wynonna Earp.”

The SyFy series premiered just over five years ago and has since attracted a cult following of dedicated fans who have campaigned tirelessly to keep the show running. But, as all good things must come to an end, “Wynonna Earp” wrapped its fourth and final season last Friday with a beautiful, fulfilling finale.

The show follows Wynonna, who has inherited a curse from her great-great-grandfather, Wyatt Earp, and is tasked with killing demons to protect her hometown, Purgatory.

Wynonna is supported by her bubbly little sister, Waverly Earp, as well as Waverly’s girlfriend and the sheriff of Purgatory, Nicole Haught, and the immortal gunslinger, Doc Holliday.

Season 4 follows a thrilling cliffhanger: Waverly has been captured by sentient vines from the Garden of Eden and Doc has gone in to save her. With the Earp Curse having been broken in Season 3, the team has new problems to deal with, such as a century-old rivalry with the murderous Clanton family, a mysterious fog that drives people to insanity, and, of course, wedding planning.

Waverly and her girlfriend, Nicole,

finally get to tie the knot in the series finale, after serving as crucial figures in LGBTQIA+ representation since 2016.

The wedding is turbulent but charming - just as the pair deserves. Waverly and Nicole’s relationship is a beacon of light in a season focused on healing from a lot of trauma.

The writers of “Wynonna Earp” fully understood their responsibility to accurately and respectfully represent queer relationships, and as a result, the show has garnered a loyal following of LGBTQIA+ fans.

Waverly and Nicole’s relationship is not the only representation, either. In Season 4 alone, there is Demitri, a pansexual stripper, Amon, a bisexual club owner, and Jeremy, a gay genius who was introduced in Season 2 and has a happy ending with another man in the finale.

“Wynonna Earp’s” strengths lie within its character relationships and comedic appeal, and the fourth season had no shortage of these. Corny jokes are a fundamental characteristic of the show, and Season 4 did a great job at incorporating funny moments into an otherwise emotionally heavy season.

The season also gave more attention to the relationships between characters who did not often have significant moments together, like Doc and Nicole.

What Season 4 did best was developing the characters fully and providing closure for their stories. Throughout

the series, Wynonna makes sacrifice after sacrifice for her family, and in Season 4 she finally gets to put herself first.

Waverly, the goody-two-shoes half-angel, gets to explore her dark side. Nicole goes through a journey of guilt and self-forgiveness and repairs her damaged relationship with the town. Doc, who made a lot of mistakes throughout the series, has a satisfying redemption arc in the final season.

This season brought in new characters as well, like Rachel Valdez, a spunky teenager who adds a fresh, young perspective to the team. Cleo Clanton is also introduced in Season 4, and she creates some great comedic moments and acts as a foil to Rachel.

One issue with the season was that the plot could be a little confusing and hard to follow. For example, the whole Garden of Eden storyline was never fully explained. Also, at one point, Waverly kisses a frog for no apparent reason and Nicole somehow dies, becomes a ghost, and is brought back to life. Overall, there is a lack of specific direction in this season compared to previous seasons.

Regardless of defects throughout the season as a whole, the finale was perfect. The team is given one last supernatural case to solve - one with a bridal theme that will fit the wedding occasion - and then everyone comes together to celebrate the long-awaited marriage of Waverly and Nicole.

The episode pays a beautiful tribute to the previous seasons. The team labels empty chairs for the characters from earlier seasons who could not make it to the wedding. Rachel sings a rendition of the song that played over Waverly and Nicole’s iconic first kiss from Season 1.

After a set of tear-jerking vows from the couple, each character gets a hardearned, satisfying conclusion to their story.

The final season of “Wynonna Earp” may have been messy, but it was beautiful and it did justice to the characters.

As Wynonna says: “It may be a sh*tshow, but it’s our sh*tshow.”

ADMIT ONE

Grade: B+ “Wynonna Earp” goes out with a bang ADMIT ONE

CONNECT WITH OLIVIA COPELAND ocopeland@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

ARTS & FEATURES

18 | APRIL 16, 2021

Taylor Swift, now in technicolor

By Emily Rosenberg Editorial Staff As a little girl, there was nothing more thrilling than watching mean, brunette Taylor Swift stomp off screen while Lucas Till reveals a sheet of paper with the words “I love you” from his tuxedo pocket and realizes blonde nerdy Taylor was the one for him all along.

Swift’s surprise release of “folklore” and “evermore” in 2020 served as an escape from pandemic sorrows, but the re-release of her fun, adrenaline-packed album “Fearless,” allows us to return to those days of dancing in our living rooms and fantasizing about Romeo - or Juliet.

If you aren’t well versed in Swiftie news, Swift’s old record label, Big Machine Records, was sold to Ithaca Holdings that sold her masters to another company for $300 million.

She is now re-recording her first five albums to regain ownership of her music.

Although there are few differences between what she produced with Big Machine Records and “Taylor’s Version,” the new tracks offer a richer and more vibrant listen as she comes to each song with the vocal and instrumental expertise she has harvested over 15 years and nine albums.

In “Fearless (Taylor’s Version),” she masters the lyrics with poise and pride rather than the fiery passion she had as an 18-year-old. On the

originals, sustained notes and quick passages could cause her voice to wane thin and her breath to be verbally noticeable. Here, she has full control, proving how much she has improved as an artist.

You’ll also hear enhanced harmonies, added beats, and the occasional extended riff, enchanting and sparkling all over the 2009 verses. It’s like younger Taylor took songwriting tips from her older self as influences from later albums, “Red” and “1989,” itch their way to the surface.

However, if you’re still hooked on the Tennessee country sound, don’t be disappointed. The banjos, acoustic guitars, and drums are still all where they’re supposed to be - just, I’ll say, in technicolor. And in titles like “The other side of the door” and “Today was a fairytale” where the mood is melodramatic and immature, she mocks her old accent by emphasizing ends of lines, and and singing softer - the woman knows she has a girly country aesthetic to maintain.

Swift also brings the professionalism and modesty established in her previous two albums. It seems she is continuing to sing as the wise narrator, rather than the naive, heartbroken teen. Except instead of “Betty” a fictional teenager she created, it’s an introspection into her high school self. As further proof, the song from the vault, “Don’t you” is saturated with the melancholy dew of “folklore,” and could easily serve as its

ACROSS 1. Victorious shout 5. Taps gently 9. Baloney 14. Place to find ore 15. Muscat’s country 16. Chicago airport 17. Utah ski resort 18. Emmy winner Waithe 19. Metaphorical bit of appreciation 20. *Place to hang costumes 23. Throw out 24. Prefix with “tourism” 25. Mud bath venue 28. “You wish!”

30. Covertly email 32. Symbols on Twitch 34. Competitor of AP 35. *Hollow support for a raised garden 38. Thing to pick, or pick clean 40. London’s Big ___ 41. Fraternal group 42. *Genre for The Byrds and The Yardbirds

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

seventeenth track.

Other “from the vault” tracks such as “That’s When” featuring Keith Urban, “Forever and Always (piano version)” and “Mr. Perfectly Fine” showcase Swift’s versatility - how she can swiftly transition from cheesy dance club rodeos to throbbing rainy day ballads - pun intended.

These new songs put a heavier coating on “Fearless” and are alone a reason to give the album a listen.

Beyond its merits, to release the album now at transition in her career, Swift is not only reclaiming ownership of her music, but she is also recrafting the narrative associated with her old work that the media for so long warped by spreading rumors about her dating life. In the past, the media and fellow celebrities shamed her for supposedly using her songwriting talent for exposing her exes, being a serial dater, and betraying Kanye West.

We already saw this new energy demonstrated after the release of “Mr. Perfectly Fine.” Though fans joked about the song being about Joe Jonas, her most recent ex at the time of the album’s original release, people congratulated her on the virtues of the song, rather than gossiping about the drama. Sophie Turner, Jonas’s wife even cheered her on by posting about it on Instagram.

The best part about Swift re-releasing her old albums is the songs are sung by a woman who is confi-

47. Evian product, in France 48. Silverstone of “Clueless” 49. Premium TV network, for short 50. Org. for Federer 51. “___ favor” 52. Bigheaded attribute 54. Charged particles 56. Items that are “right twice a day,” and a hint to the word surrounding each starred answer 61. Supply with food 64. Field of expertise 65. “Read ‘em and ___!”

66. Sports venue 67. One may become a queen but not a king 68. Queen in “The Favourite” 69. Deli offerings 70. Analogy words 71. Cartoony “Ouch!”

DOWN 1. Apple’s “all-in-one for all” 2. Document that bequeaths things 3. Where a spy might seemingly vanish 4. “Peachy!”

5. White House field, for short?

6. Word of agreement 7. Space drink 8. Capture 9. Hair-straightening tool 10. “Ah, got it” 11. Sturdy tree 12. “Ended, ___ it begun” (Dickinson) 13. Tokyo currency 21. Bank based in the U.K. 22. Big name in PCs 25. Drew attention from the star 26. Eat like a bird 27. Invites for a rooftop drink, say 28. Wheel cover 29. Greek god of prophecy 31. “Fast Money” network 33. Cheer at a flamenco show 36. Germany’s ___ Spiegel

dent in her skin and in control of her career. It is especially triumphant in “Fifteen” when she sings “in life you’ll do things greater than dating the boy on the football team,” for a three-time album of the year winner and American Music Awards Artist of the Decade honoree.

The “Fearless” produced with Big Machine Records was released during a time when everyone was eager to tell the story of Taylor Swift.

She has made it clear that from here on out, we will only be hearing Taylor’s version.

Grade: A Long live the queen of pop.

MENU

CONNECT WITH EMILY ROSEBERG erosenberg@student.framingham.edu

37. Mireille of “Hanna” 39. Key often pressed frantically 43. California mountains, informally 44. Schemer in “Othello” 45. Cesar Chavez, notably 46. ___ & the Gang 53. Zebra giraffe 55. “Get outta here!”

Puzzle solutions are now 56. Crooked exclusively online.

57. Presidential periods, e.g.

58. Eye of ___ (witches’ ingredient) 59. Apt rhyme for “casino” 60. Gush forth 61. Video taker, briefly 62. Violets-blue connector 63. Green or black drink

ADVERTISEMENTS

APRIL 16, 2021 | 19

Letters are due April 23rd by 5 p.m.

In 300 words or less, use your letter to give thanks to those involved in your college experience as well as express any final words to FSU

Email submissions to: gatepost@framingham.edu FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

20 | APRIL 16, 2021

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

PHOTOS