GRIEF pg

Letter to the Editor How to save the Earth - and your money

Framingham State was named among the most environmentally friendly colleges in America by “The Princeton Review.”

FSU does a good job trying to reduce their carbon footprint. According to Framingham.edu, two solar PV arrays were installed on the athletic building and campus center. There is also a food composting program and the University utilizes water-saving dishwashers.

However, I have noticed some less environmentally friendly things happening around campus such as leaving the water on in the bathroom, wasting food in the dining commons, and littering.

The community can improve their efforts to make campus a healthier place. People need an incentive to want to make a change. Here’s one everyone can get behind - being environmentally friendly can save you money and here are some tips.

Though buying plastic water bottles in bulk is not cheap, a pack of 35 Poland Spring water bottles is nearly $30 at Walmart - FSU has water bubblers around campus to refill a plastic or glass bottle, saving you hundreds, if not thousands a year on water alone. Plastic water bottles are also damaging to the environment. According to Myequa.com, plastic bottles take 700 years to dissolve and 24 million liters of oil are required to produce billions of plastic bottles. If you buy a reusable bottle, you are saving plastic and minimizing expenses - it’s a win-win.

If you are a resident student, you need to pay $1.75 to wash one load of clothes and another $1.75 to dry them. That is $3.50 every time you need to do laundry. Resident students live on campus roughly 36 weeks out of the year - if you do a load a week, that’s $126 over the course of the year, on top of your other expenses.

Using cold water while washing clothes is a more eco-friendly approach. According to epa.gov, heating the water takes up 90% of the energy the machine utilizes. The site also suggests washing in full loads as you can save 3,400 gallons of water each year. These methods don’t cost you a dime but can minimize your carbon footprint, saving our home.\ Investing in a dry rack can help you cut the cost of drying in half - which is $63 saved on laundry while conserving water. Dry racks are cheap, and you can get one at Walmart for $10. Most dry racks are small and collapsible and can fit in the average college dorm room.

Some students eat on the go or in their dorm as they are too busy to make it to the dining commons. Using paper dining wear is typical for many college students. Instead, try buying microwave-safe reusable dining wear. It’s more expensive in the short term, but you’ll end up saving more in the long run because you won’t have to keep buying paper plates over and over again. Along with being more affordable, it will help minimize paper waste.

Lastly, taking notes electron

ically can save you money on buying notebooks, while also saving paper and a trip to the store.

Being a college student can be financially distressing, but there are ways you can ease the ache of your bank account while simultaneously helping the Earth.

If each college student takes these little steps, we can make a big impact.

Sincerely, Caroline Gordon Editorial Staff

More than just five stages

By Kenzie Ward Interim Columnist

I sat in the cafeteria of the National Archives in Washington, D.C. over my January break when a tsunami of grief swallowed my family.

News of my great Aunt Patty’s death poured through the cracks in the walls I had built around myself with bricks of hope. Hope. Hope that the woman who had helped raise me since I was 6 months old would make it. Her passing followed a mere 32 hours after her husband’s death due to injuries sustained in a car accident.

I could see my mom’s mouth wording something out to me, but I was drowning. The tsunami had consumed me whole and I could barely breathe.

I was 446 miles away from home and there has never been another moment in my life I so desperately desired Dorothy’s ruby red slippers. I was mad at myself. For not calling them more. For not canceling the trip even though their doctors told me to go.

For not being able to remember the last time I told them “I love you.”

People showed their support understanding what I was going through, but others did more harm than good.

I don’t want to hear you say “their death was a blessing.” The implication that “at least” something worse hadn’t happened downplays what people go through. As if they are not allowed

to grieve because at least something worse hadn’t happened.

My pain and loss are not a “blessing.”

When they first passed, I had a lot of people reaching out to me - giving me advice about grief, sending me articles, telling me it gets easier, and telling me they knew what I was going through.

Many people had me believing I would deal with my grief in a very cookie-cutter way. That I would go through the five stages of grief and everything would be OK.

What many fail to realize when they aren’t in your shoes is that grieving is not linear, or even a relatable experience in most cases. There are not necessarily five predefined stages everyone follows in order to cope with their grief. It’s often uncontrollable and creates a life of its own.

Many times, the grieving process is a disorganized mess of trying to figure out how to live your life with what feels like a piece of you is now missing. The hole is a void I have tried to fill with memories of what was once there, but nothing will ever come close enough to fill it than their actual presence here with me.

Everyone deals with trauma in different ways, so no one can be expected to have similar experiences when an event to this degree occurs.

As time passed, the initial tsunami did too but it has left me in pieces and I am still trying to recover.

As the weeks continue to pass, there are good days and then there are the really bad days where I just want to stay in bed and don’t want to talk to anyone.

No, I am not OK, and I don’t think I will ever be. But, just as others who

deal with unexpected loss of loved ones, I’ll learn how to cope with my grief.

But the loss of my loved ones will never get easier.

Admission is FREEfor all students of Framingham State University!

we are your museum.

Current Exhibitions:

FAMILY FICTIONS

LIz alberT

On view January 11 through April 5, 2020

Family Circle

On view January 18 through May 10, 2020

Single Room Selection: Feb. 27th Open Room Selection: March 4 & 5

Please check Room Selection Guidelines for more information.

Campus Conversations

How do you think the impeachment trial will effect upcoming elections? By Amanda Garny and Caroline Gordon

“I would hope his impeachment would cause a change in the country and cause people to see who he is, but I feel that it could cause him to be reellected. Younger voters should go out and vote” -Amanda Stackpole, junior

“I don’t think it will effect upcoming elections, because we are likely about to go to war. While we are in war a new president has never been elected in office.”

-Kyle Gerrior, junior

“I have no idea.” -Connor Priest, freshman

“I think it will be interesting to see how voters will be more conscious about who they are choosing.” -Julia Hanson, senior Op/Ed submissions reflect the opinions of their authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of The Gatepost or its staff. “I haven’t looked into that recently.” -Dan Santos, freshman “I have no idea about politics.” -Halle Merkowitz, freshman

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

ARTS & Trends of ARTS & FEATURES

Netflix Noah Barnes Entertainment Correspondent

The basic image Netflix’s original series, “American Vandal,” presents in its absurd and disgusting premise - that I will not spoil for the sake of surprise - is one of juvenile humor. While the show is indeed a parody with a ton of laughs, it’s far more clever than its cover leads on.

That’s the whole point of the show. It’s an oddly authentic look at high school students, and how human beings view each other and form opinions without getting to know one another.

“American Vandal” is a brilliant true crime mockumentary.

There’s the perfect mixture of comedy, mystery, and an oddly gripping message, topped off with such a short runtime, which makes it a breeze to binge watch, and one of American Vandal (2017)

Netflix’s most rewatchable original series.

Both seasons tell different tales, but each one shares a unique perspective for new laughs and new meanings, all told behind that embarrassing high school lens that most if not all of us will surely recall.

The Lighthouse (2019)

Brennan Atkins Arts & Features Editor

“The Lighthouse” is not only one of the best films of the decade, but has a narrative so shocking that it would have American writers such as Edgar Allen Poe holding their breath. “The Lighthouse” is a 2019 horror film written by Roger Eggers, and stars Robert Pattinson as Ephraim Winslow and Willem Dafoe as Thomas Wake. The two start as friendly accomplices tending to a lighthouse off the coast of New England. Thomas is in charge and orders Ephraim to do chores around the island.

Quickly, the audience starts to realize there is something strange happening - Thomas seems awfully fond of the light, and actively tries to keep people away. Ephraim is poten

tially seeing things that aren’t there, and the relationship between the two men starts to morph into an interesting power dynamic.

While there’s much to take away from this film, I found there were some incredibly well-crafted themes about men, their expectations in life, and the reality of what they want.

Warner Bros.

Cara McCarthy Associate Editor

Sometimes, the best media Hollywood can make is a film that messes with your mind and leaves you with more questions than answers.

In 2010, writer and director Christopher Nolan did just that with his film “Inception.”

The film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Cobb, Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Arthur, and Ellen Page as Ariadne, takes a common human experience - dreaming - and makes it, for lack of a better term, terrifying.

“Inception” centers around Cobb, a thief who uses the concept of inception to steal information from the subconscious minds of those he targets.

Cobb, Arthur, and Ariadne are tasked with using inception to implant an idea into the subconscious of Robert Fischer - the son, and heir-apparent Inception (2010)

Jared Graf Asst. Arts & Features Editor

Since his 2005 debut, The Game has been a controversial, polarizing figure in the hip-hop world. Unfortunately, due to multiple publicity stunts, legal issues, rap beefs, and his frequent tendency to name drop - anyone from John Wilkes Booth to LeBron James’ mother - The Game’s consistency and raw talent are often overshadowed by superfluous drama. 2011’s “The R.E.D. Album” seemed like the start of a new beginning for Game. His first three albums felt like introductions that merely nicked the surface of his personal life - leaving fans to question who The Game really was beyond his tough-talking persona. Over the course of 21 tracks, Jayceon Taylor spits his autobiography over masterful production, beginning with his unstable upbringing and detailing gang life, party days, an abusive father, a near-fatal shooting in 2001, and then gracefully ending with the birth of his daughter - a turning point for the Compton native.

With narration from Dr. Dre, a track list that reads more like a Coachella lineup, and production from the likes of Cool & Dre, Boi1da, Pharrell, and DJ Khalil, it’s hard to find fault with The Game’s fourth studio album.

Some highlights from the project include “Drug Test,” a fast-paced club anthem with a Nate Dogg-esque hook, “Ricky,” an account of The Game’s shooting over soulful saxophones and violins, “All I Know,” showcasing his lyrical dexterity, and “Born in the Trap,” a classic sounding boom-bap record courtesy of DJ Premier.

But perhaps most importantly, “The City” served as many rap fans’ (including mine’s) introduction to Kendrick Lamar, who delivers a feverish hook accompanied by a scathing, rapid-fire acapella verse to properly close out five minutes of fierce lyricism, proving he could keep up with rap’s heavyweights.

Nearly nine years later, “The R.E.D. Album” is quite possibly The Game’s magnum opus. The R.E.D. Album (2011)

to a billion-dollar company in order to dissolve his father’s empire.

The best part of this film is the complexity of it and how Nolan executed it in such a seamless way. He makes it a point to confuse you, so you can’t help but watch the movie over and over again until you understand it.

But, just when you think you’ve got the plot of the movie down, the last 30 seconds throw a curveball which leaves you questioning your own life.

DGC/Interscope Records