October 11, 2019

THE GATEPOST Framingham State’s award-winning independent student newspaper since 1932

Volume 88 • Issue 5

October 11, 2019

FSUgatepost.com

FSU, MassBay receive more than $200,000 in joint state funding to diversify computer science major pipeline More than 100 students from minority populations targeted for participation in specialized programs

By Nadira Wicaksana Editor-in-Chief

A visiting Mariachi Band filled the McCarthy Dining Commons with music Oct. 9.

News

Massachusetts Bay Community College and Framingham State received a $210,351 Higher Education Innovation grant from the Baker-Polito administration Aug. 14 to address “equity by increasing the number of underrepresented ... students pursuing computer science (CS),” according to the written grant proposal.

It further states, “The project is also designed to address the growing workforce gap” in this “high-growth field in the Greater Boston region and the lack of racial and gender diversity among those working in CS and IT jobs” by focusing on Black, Latinx, and female students, specifically. These are populations that have been highlighted as “underrepresented and underserved” in tech fields.

According to the grant abstract, Caroline Gordon / THE GATEPOST 50 high school students - mostly

“Keep moving forward” Angela Salas speaks to education students and professors

Donald Halsing / THE GATEPOST

By Donald Halsing SAFETY WALK pg. 5

See GRANT page 4

Campus divided about controversial vaping sales ban Students react to Gov. Baker’s statewide health bill

News Editor

PINK PATCH PROJECT pg. 7

Opinions COLUMBUS pg. 11 A IS FOR ADDICTION pg. 12

Arts & Features MAZGAL pg. 13 STATE STREET STYLE pg. 15

Sports VOLLEYBALL pg. 17 MEN’S SOCCER pg. 19

Amanda Martin / THE GATEPOST

Angela Salas, provost and vice president for academic affairs, presented her speech, “How to Change the World,” as part of a World Teachers’ Day event sponsored by Education Club Oct. 9.

In addition to her presentation, she answered questions from students and faculty.

According to Lilly Sullivan, Education Club vice president, the club annually hosts a World Teachers’ Day event and invites a guest speaker “to reflect on the important role teachers play in all of our lives.”

Salas encouraged future teachers in the room to “lead lives of purpose” and search for humanity in all people.

She said, “Purpose and service, giving more than one receives, and sharing knowledge, mission, and skills are all ways to change the world.”

Salas said the world she encourages the audience to change is their own.

“I’d like to suggest to you, or remind you,” she said, “your capacity to be a positive influence in the world is circumscribed or constrained by the quality of your own interactions in the world.”

She instructed future educators to provide their students with the tools they need to survive in a difficult world.

However, Salas described the challenge of changing the world effectively when students feel themselves to be “drowning in insecurity,” working in tough political

See WORLD TEACHERS’ DAY page 6

By Thomas Maye Opinions Editor Campus officials have cautioned students about Gov. Charlie Baker’s four-month statewide ban on vaping products in response to a wave of vaping-related lung illnesses and deaths the U.S. Surgeon General deemed a national epidemic.

Massachusetts reported its first death from vaping-related lung illness Oct. 7, sparking concern in the medical community.

At the same time, multiple federal lawsuits have been filed against the Baker administration in response to the policy, which several local vape shops and chains said have unfairly put them out of business over health claims they consider unsubstantiated.

Students reactions are polarized in response to the bill, with impassioned concerns from both sides of the debate.

FSU itself does not permit the use of vaping products on campus - including THC, nicotine, and other products - according to Jay Hurtubise, director of Community Standards.

Hurtubise said vaping nicotine products violates FSU’s “Tobacco-Free” policy, established September 2013.

Meanwhile, THC is federally classified as an illegal substance, so Framingham State University prohibits vaping it on University property, he said.

“In some incidents, a vape, vape pen, or e-cigarette may be considered drug-related paraphernalia,” particularly when

See VAPING page 8

INSIDE: OP/ED 10 • ARTS & FEATURES 13 • SPORTS 17

NEWS

2 | OCTOBER 11, 2019

Gatepost Interview

Editorial Board Editor-in-Chief Nadira Wicaksana Associate Editors Cara McCarthy Ashley Wall News Editor Donald Halsing Asst. News Editors Leighah Beausoleil Evan Lee Arts & Features Editors Brennan Atkins Robert Johnson Jr. Asst. Arts & Features Editor Jared Graf Entertainment Correspondent Noah Barnes Fashion Correspondent Caeley Whalen Opinions Editor Thomas Maye Sports Editor Liam Gambon Asst. Sports Editors Sara Senesac Carlos Silva Design Editor Kathleen Moore Interim Asst. Photos Editor Caroline Gordon Copy Editor Lauren Paolini Staff Writers Tahir Abbas Mackenzie Berube Patrick Brady Kaitlyn Cullen Dia Kilgore Lizzy Stocks Dylan Thayer McKenzie Ward Staff Copy Editor Jordan Bacci Staff Photographers Amanda Garny Amanda Martin Advisor Dr. Desmond McCarthy Asst. Advisor Elizabeth Banks Administrative Assistant Gwenyth Swain 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

Kristin de Chaves

By Evan Lee Asst. News Editor

Lead teacher at FSU Early Childhood Center

What is your educational and professional background?

I went to UMass Amherst for my undergrad and studied psychology with a minor in education there. When I graduated, I started at Framingham State in their postbac program where I got my teaching license in early childhood education.

What made you interested in working in early childhood education?

When I was going to school at UMass, I had an internship at a preschool on campus there and I loved it. So, ever since then, I’ve been working in preschools, daycares, public schools anywhere to get more experience. And that’s what motivated me to apply to the postbac program at Framingham State to get my license.

How long have you been working in early childhood education?

I started at that preschool in UMass when I was a sophomore, I believe, so that was in 2015 when I started working in early childhood settings.

What is your favorite part of working in early childhood education?

There are all different kinds of kids.

Everywhere you work, every classroom has a different group and it’s so fun getting to know them and their personalities and learning how they learn best. I’m always learning from the other teachers I work with and from the kids.

Every school I’ve ever worked at does things a little bit differently, which is really interesting. You take stuff from everywhere you’ve been, and I like that part of it.

Can you describe your role and what you do in the Early Childhood Center?

I am one of the lead teachers here, along with my co-teacher, Ashley, and we plan each week’s lessons and then teach them. We make sure that the kids are safe and happy, getting along, and learning. And we pay close attention to their needs and try to teach to that.

What kind of needs would you say they have?

Well, every student is at a differ-

Evan Lee / THE GATEPOST ent level because we have a mixed-age group of children as young as the age of 3 and we have children all the way up to 5 years old. So, some students are already ready to be doing more work with letters and numbers. Some students are just learning how to stand in line and sit on the rug, so we try to meet every student where they’re at.

Have you noticed any challenges with teaching children of different age groups?

It can be challenging because they’re all at different levels. We need to make sure all of our lessons are differentiated.

Some students need different things, and sometimes, it’s harder for older students to get that. But in our class, they’re all used to being in a mixed-age group setting, so they do a pretty good job with it.

How would say the kids are on a daily basis?

They come in, for the most part, happy and excited. We have a lot of opportunities for free play and outdoor play where they get to choose for themselves how they want to play, who they want to play with, and what they want to do.

You always see so much more learning when the children are excited about what they’re doing, and so much learning happens in the little moments of

something we didn’t even expect, we didn’t plan - like in dramatic play or outside - the things they discover and ask about. It’s very interesting to think of things I wouldn’t have even thought of to teach them.

What advice can you give to students majoring in early childhood education?

My advice to any student majoring in early childhood education would be, “Get as much experience as you can in the field.” Work at big daycares, home daycares, public schools, volunteer, camps - anything that you can do to work with kids, even if it’s just babysitting. Get to know how children think and just get comfortable in the environment, because it will show when you’re student teaching or getting your first teaching job. It’ll show that you’re comfortable speaking in front of kids.

And when you feel comfortable, you’re more able to grab on to little opportunities you see instead of just sticking to your plan. You have to be flexible when you’re teaching, and when you’re comfortable, you’re more able to do that.

CONNECT WITH EVAN LEE elee5@student.framingham.edu

Police Logs Monday, October 7 12:50 Disturbance McCarthy Center Report Taken

Monday, October 7 20:07 Alarm (Fire/Smoke) West Hall False Alarm

Tuesday, October 8 13:09 Medical Dwight Hall Declined Transport

Tuesday, October 8 14:05 Stolen Property FSU Police Dept.

Report Taken

Tuesday, October 8 18:42 Facilities Referral North Hall Referral Filed

Wednesday, October 9 22:34 Elevator Entrapment Towers Hall Checks OK

Thursday, October 10 11:03 Bank Escort Dwight Hall Assignment Complete

Thursday, October 10 13:27 Alarm (Trouble) Larned Hall Checks OK

NEWS

OCTOBER 11, 2019 | 3

Administrators discuss increasing commuter student engagement and needs on campus

By Leighah Beausoleil Asst. News Editor

SGA discussed how to increase student involvement and engagement on campus, and heard concerns regarding Dining Services Oct. 8.

During Open Forum, multiple members highlighted issues they had with Dining Services.

Secretary Lexi Kays said, “The dining hall hours on the weekend are very inconvenient. I understand that it’s hard to staff so early on Saturday and Sunday mornings, but I have a job on the weekends where I get scheduled at 10 a.m. and I have to leave campus at 9:30.

“I pay a lot of money to eat on campus - I don’t want to pay money to eat off campus so often,” she added.

Olivia Beverlie, student trustee, said, “Last year, we asked them to post their hours for when the back entrance would be open to West [Hall residents], but that’s been kind of inconsistent, too, because even though sometimes it says, ‘We’re open these hours,’ it’s not actually open.

“I don’t know if that is just a staffing issue or what - that’s super frustrating,” she said.

Senator Mariah Farris said, “Sodexo has consistently served raw meat.”

Farris talked about her experience with a raw burger. “It literally fell apart and it was completely raw.”

Senator McKenzie Ward said, “Sometimes, the food in the dining hall is not warm. The plates are probably about 10 times hotter than the

food.”

President Matty Bennet said, “I am going to be making an appointment with the Dining Services coordinator, because myself and [Olivia Beverlie] went to a student advisory council meeting on Friday and there was mold on one of the sandwiches.

“So, I have noticed there is a definite issue with the quality of the food they have been putting out,” he said.

SGA also plans to invite a Sodexo representative to the Administrators’ Forum Oct. 22. This event is open to all students and business casual attire is required.

During the meeting, Lorretta Holloway, vice president for enrollment and student development, and Meg Nowak Borrego, dean of students, hosted a Q&A session with SGA. Holloway emphasized the importance of her “Student Group/Club in the Spotlight” program.

“I do this ... to try to highlight clubs and student organizations on campus,” Holloway said.

She explained student involvement is not simply being part of a club, but it’s also “about what you’re paying attention to in the place you live.

“I want you to be civically engaged in your communities,” Holloway added.

Nowak Borrego explained campus engagement as having different meanings.

She encouraged SGA members to get people involved.

She asked of them, “How can we as a campus help people understand the variety of things that are going on?

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST Secretary Lexi Kays discussed issues with Dining Services during Open Forum.

Weather

Sunday night Partly cloudy, low near 45. Light W winds.

Columbus Day Monday Mostly sunny, high near 65. S winds around 5 mph in the afternoon.

Monday night Partly cloudy, low around 45. Light W winds.

Tuesday Mostly sunny, high near 65. W wind around 5 mph in the afternoon.

[It’s] when we see those good things happening, recognizing them, and highlighting them and trying to go, even though we are all super, super busy.”

Ward asked, “How can we get more commuters involved? I feel like there’s this misconception that commuters can’t get as involved as residents because residents are here more.”

Nowak Borrego said, “I think what we need to do is figure out where they are when they are on campus.”

She discussed the importance of communication with commuters and emphasized their need for seating on campus during their free times and communication with clubs when it comes to meeting times.

“So, trying to make sure we have some things they can do when they are more likely to be here is important,” she said.

Farris explained how M.I.S.S. conducts some of their meetings through online livestreaming to allow online students to participate in the club.

Beverlie said some rooms, such as the Alumni Room, have a program called Zoom.

“It’s basically an application that can be used in order to call in people who are not on site,” she explained.

Beverlie suggested using Zoom to conduct events for students who would otherwise not be able to attend.

Holloway said, “Commuters are difficult because they are our most diverse group on campus.”

Senator Krista Jameson said as a commuter, she spends a lot of time in the Game Room and suggested the use of a bulletin board in that room where clubs can post flyers.

“I see commuters of all ages go to the Game Room. I know people there who are 40 and kids who are my age, so I think it would be a good way to reach a large variety from the commuter community,” she said.

Holloway said her office is looking at “geofencing” - not just in terms of social media, but for other ads as well.

Geofencing is a virtual geographical boundary that enables software to trigger a response when a mobile device enters or leaves a particular area.

Holloway said the marketing committee must be mindful of their target audience and when the optimal time is to target it.

“We are also utilizing some of our

new vendors that we’re working with.

We are working with Eduventures, which has completed a new incoming freshman survey,” she said.

Holloway explained the survey allows them to break the students up into categories of what kind of marketing they pay most attention to.

She said they will also be able to see the students “who applied here and got accepted but decided to go elsewhere, and what were the things that made them go?”

Holloway said from the surveys, her team learned state school students, in comparison to those at UMass schools, are more career-focused as freshmen and sophomores.

Beverlie said given this information, “What I’d like to see happen in the future would be something in terms of doing co-op semester internships.”

She said FSU students are focused on career readiness, so it would be beneficial to the University to market that students are able to complete full-time internships during the course of a semester.

Holloway said for this to happen, it would take a long process and would most likely happen after their time. “But that doesn’t mean that’s something that couldn’t happen.”

Bennet said many of the University’s majors require internships, yet “there is a concern that certain jobs on campus won’t allow you to get paid through the Choices or Pathways program.”

Holloway explained there was a former student employment task force they will be bringing back to address issues students have been having with jobs and internships.

Nowak Borrego said there is a governance committee that wants to hear from students regarding their issues with student life - “especially if it is a particular issue, because they can bring that to that group and perhaps update our governance policies on those areas,” she said.

Also during the meeting, SGA appointed a new senator-at-large: Mark Huskell, a freshman international business major.

The U-Rock award was presented to senator Jeneba Aruna.

[Editor’s Note: McKenzie Ward is a staff writer for The Gatepost.]

CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu

Forecast provided by the National Weather Service www.weather.gov Tuesday night Wednesday night 40% chance of show50% chance of showers. Partly cloudy, low ers. Mostly cloudy, near 50. Light S wind. low near 45. S winds around 5 mph, becoming W after midnight.

Wednesday Thursday 50% chance of showMostly sunny, high ers. Mostly cloudy, near 60. West winds high near 65. S wind 10 to 15 mph, gusting around 10 mph. to 25 mph.

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

4 | OCTOBER 11, 2019

Grant Continued from page 1

juniors and seniors from Framingham High School and Joseph P. Keefe Regional Technical School - will take college-level CS classes and also “participate in career and personal development activities” in order to “promote their interest in CS” at no cost to them.

Additionally, 60 undecided firstyear college students from MassBay and FSU will each take one CS course at their respective institutions, as well as participate in similar personal and career development activities.

The grant will enable the creation of a consortium, led by MassBay, of the two higher education institutions and the two high schools, which further builds on the “existing relationships between the four institutions,” it states.

By the fall of 2020, the initiative intends for 70% of the 110 students - 77 students in total - to elect to major in computer science or a related field, such as information systems or business IT. The grant meets one of three focuses set by the Massachusetts Department of Higher Education (DHE) - “transforming student success and empowering classroom and campus leadership,” states the written proposal.

The Higher Education Innovation Fund, formerly known as the Performance Innovation Fund, is built into the state budget and “supports competitive grants to campuses and consortia, as well as certain system-wide initiatives, to make progress on goals articulated by the [Massachusetts Board of Higher Education],” according to mass.edu.

These goals include strategic initiatives to improve and increase accessibility to STEM education, emphasize campus collaboration, and develop the incoming workforce.

A Sept. 27 FSU press release states, “The [DHE] gave priority to proposals that focused on achieving greater equity among students by increasing college-going and college completion rates of students of color, low-income students, and those who are the first in their families to attend college.

“To maximize the impact of the funds and promote collaboration within the public system, this year’s winners were chosen from among campus consortia, representing institutions that are committed to working as partners to advance student success strategies,” it adds.

The Baker-Polito administration awarded a total of $1.15 million in “competitive grants” to four community colleges - Bunker Hill, North Shore, Northern Essex, and MassBay - and two state universities - Salem State and Worcester State - to “help the state’s public campuses support the needs and talents of an increasing diverse student population.”

FSU Dean of STEM Margaret Carroll said, “The goal is to increase the percent of students from underrepresented groups in the sciences. Computer science is an area where there

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

NEWS is a particularly big gulf between white men and the rest of the world, basically. It’s white men and Asian men, and then women, and then African American, Latinx folks.”

The press release included statistics obtained from the Brookings Institution, a D.C.-based think tank, which indicate the national makeup of the workforce in CS fields is 62% White, 10% Black, and 12% Latinx. In the Greater Boston region in 2016, those numbers were 5.1% for Latinx workers and 2.5% for Black workers.

Furthermore, it states, “Participation by women in CS, IS, and IT undergraduate programs also remains low. Women received only 16.4% of bachelor’s degrees in CS in 2015 and non-Asian minorities received only 15.5%,” according to a 2015 survey from the Computing Research Association.

The lack of non-Asian minorities in CS and related fields can be attributed to many factors stemming from inadequate educational infrastructure and resources, starting at a young age.

According to the written proposal,

and Penmatsa is that students from underrepresented backgrounds might not feel comfortable in environments where they are vastly outnumbered by the majority racial groups in CS. Penmatsa said, “If those students have similar backgrounds [to their classmates],” with respect to both educational and social backgrounds, “it will be easier for them to learn.”

Some of the grant initiatives are to increase outreach to and engagement with families of underrepresented students, such as inviting them to “community-building events,” including “community dinners and career education sessions.”

Moore said students can bring their families to sessions where they will participate in hands-on activities, such as tinkering with micro:bit computers, which are “handheld, programmable micro-computers that can be used for all sorts of cool creations, from robots to musical instruments,” according to its website.

Families and students alike will also be invited to attend “mindset workshops,” during which teachers

“This initiative is particularly exciting because it provides a pipeline into a field that has growing job opportunities, but a shortage of candidates from diverse backgrounds.”

-F. Javier Cevallos, FSU president

“A recent Google report found Black and Latinx secondary students have high interests in computing, but many of their schools have limited or outdated technology resources.

“In addition, half of these students do not have a computer at home. A further impediment is students’ - and sometimes teachers’ - beliefs that they would not be successful in CS fields,” it adds.

Though diversity has been long identified as a focus in the makeup of STEM fields, it was over the summer that faculty and administrators from both FSU and MassBay started to have discussions about what they could do to address this workforce gap.

Millie Gonzalez, former FSU interim chief officer of diversity, inclusion, and community engagement, Satish Penmatsa, computer science professor, and Karen Druffel, management and business IT professor, sat down together over the summer before the 2019-20 academic year to brainstorm and write.

The principal investigator of the grant is Lynn Moore, chief diversity officer at MassBay, who submitted the written grant proposal to the state.

One problem identified by Moore

and professors will address “implicit beliefs about the factors that control students’ success or failure,” according to the proposal.

“Pervasive cultural stereotypes promote the notion that Whites and Asians outperform Blacks and Latinos, and that males outperform females in STEM fields,” the proposal states. “These stereotypes are built on a belief that fixed factors determine success.”

FSU is planning to get involved by hosting the mindset workshops on campus, which MassBay plans to do as well. They aim to get underway this spring 2020 semester.

Moore said family involvement would greatly change the outcome of student success for the better.

According to the budget worksheet included in the proposal, grant funding will be used to provide 50 personal Microsoft Surface tablets and internet hotspots to program participants, support staff salaries, and cover family dinners and travel expenses.

Penmatsa said the program would provide transportation to nearby companies in the MetroWest area, including Bose, TJX, and IBM contractors so that students have the ability to meet with industry professionals

and cultivate those relationships.

Druffel highlighted one of the hardships students face nowadays is having to find internships as early as junior year in order to build up their resume for college applications.

In order to feasibly do so, they must start cultivating interest in their freshman and sophomore years.

“The timeline for getting internships has really compressed since I had to worry about that, or even since my children had to worry about that,” she said. “I think the biggest obstacle is to have students start to build these kinds of paths, in terms of exploring industry and potential jobs.”

Penmatsa said the grant would benefit both students and faculty by “increasing motivation.

“When students are motivated, professors are motivated, too,” he said.

Constanza Cabello, FSU vice president of diversity, inclusion, and community engagement, said, “What is great about this grant is it’s creating access and opportunity many folks don’t already have. Whether it’s providing courses or giving laptops to folks to be able to actually explore this as a field, it’s awesome.”

She praised the strength of the relationships between the high schools and higher education institutions.

“What’s cool about this is that we’re working with MassBay on this - we’re sharing a mission. We’re creating this pipeline - not only with the community college into the four-year institution, but also with the high schools.

“What’s unique about the grant is that it’s cross-divisional in a lot of ways. We’re talking not only about academic affairs and offering courses - we’re talking about diversity and inclusion. We’re talking about IT. We’re talking about growth mindset and student development.

“It touches so many different areas of the campus with just one grant,” Cabello said.

FSU President F. Javier Cevallos said, “More and more, we are looking at ways that we can reach underrepresented populations prior to when they graduate from high school, so we can begin helping them gain the skills and tools needed to succeed when they arrive at college.

“This initiative is particularly exciting because it provides a pipeline into a field that has growing job opportunities, but a shortage of candidates from diverse backgrounds,” he added.

Cevallos also praised the relationships between the institutions and thanked the state government for its support.

He said, “We are fortunate to enjoy a strong partnership with MassBay Community College, Framingham High School, and Keefe Tech High School, which enables us to work together on innovative initiatives such as this. I’m grateful to the Baker-Polito administration for supporting our proposal.”

CONNECT WITH NADIRA WICAKSANA nwicaksana@student.framingham.edu

Do you need a blue light?

NEWS

OCTOBER 11, 2019 | 5

SGA conducts campus safety walk

By Leighah Beausoleil Asst. News Editor

SGA held its campus safety walk during which members addressed issues regarding blue lights, campus lighting, and areas where students feel most unsafe on campus Oct. 8.

Members expressed concerns about safety in key areas - the woods next to Dwight, the path in between the McCarthy Center and Foster Hall, Adams Road, and Maynard Road.

Administrators in attendance included F. Javier Cevallos, University president; Dale Hamel, executive vice president; Lorretta Holloway, vice president for student enrollment and development; Ann McDonald, chief of staff and general counsel; and Patricia Whitney, assistant vice president of facilities operations. Brad Medeiros, chief of University police, also accompanied them.

Blue Lights The group discussed making blue lights more accessible to the general public, but also for those who may be handicapped.

Danielle Shaw, SGA outreach and events coordinator, said, “My only issue is if someone needs to access it, they need to access it immediately. If someone is on crutches walking upstairs, it’s not feasible.

“They need to be accessible for everyone,” she added.

The group also discussed the possibility of having a map made to ensure that students know where exactly blue lights are located on campus.

They discussed the addition of a blue light map to the “FSU Go” app.

Lighting The group reviewed particularly dark areas during nighttime where students feel unsafe walking.

Whitney explained the difficulties of new developments in technology and use of LED lights. “LEDs are a softer light. … People feel like LEDs are not as bright, but it’s just a different type of light.

“They also used to make light fixtures where they shined it in your eyes, and because of light pollution and a lot of other environmental reasons, they suggest using the new technology that they shine down on

SGA members and FSU administrators toured campus and discussed safety concerns. the pavement.”

Whitney added, “As a general rule, if you’re ever walking and at any time you see a light that’s not on, you should definitely report it.”

The group discussed fixing the Framingham website in order for students to make maintenance requests that do not strictly apply to their dorms. They also suggested commuters should be able to make the requests as well.

For the time being, students can report any lighting issues to facilities@framingham.edu.

Parking lots SGA members asked if there is any possibility of putting cameras in the parking lots to ensure people are held responsible for any accidents that may take place.

Medeiros explained there are cameras in the Salem and Maynard lots, but they cannot always capture everything because of their “line of span.”

Lexi Kays, secretary of SGA, said there are no cameras in the Union or Franklin lots.

Medeiros explained due to technical reasons, the cameras would not be able to be connect to the FSU system. They would be able to tape what happens there for review, but would not be able to keep constant watch of it.

Patrols Campus Police regularly and continuously make patrols around campus, both inside buildings and outside.

“They do a lot of foot patrols all hours of the day,” Medeiros said. “I check the log every day when I come in to see when they are being done.”

The police also test the blue lights.

“Usually on the overnight shift, officers will go out once a week and there’s a list - they are all checked,” said Medeiros.

Any problems with the blue lights will be fixed by IT or by Facilities, depending on the issue.

Conflicts Adams Road is a city road, so any light problems need to be reported to the City of Framingham.

Donald Halsing / THE GATEPOST Whitney explained how it would be difficult to get a blue light on this road. “If the city put a blue light, they’d want it to report to them. I think it would be hard to get the city to put a blue light that reported to us.”

There is also the conflict of neighbors. People who share the road with FSU students do not want bright lights shining into their homes.

To avoid these conflicts, the group discussed trimming trees and adding lights to the Alumni House to provide more light to the area without disturbing the neighbors.

Another conflict is Maynard Road.

Students have reported feeling unsafe crossing the street because there is no crosswalk.

Olivia Beverlie, student trustee, said, “I hate crossing here because people fly down. … It’s scary.”

But the city cannot put a crosswalk there because of the curve.

Therefore, the group discussed the possibility of putting a speed trailer.

CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu

CLUB MEETING TIMES Monday Education Club, 1:30 pm, Club Room 1, MC 413 Nutrition Club, 1:30 pm, HH 111 Wildlife, 1:30 pm, HA 325 Catholic Student Group, 1:30 pm, EC101 Food Science Club, 1:30 pm, HH 227 Gatepost, 6:30 pm, MC 410 Dance Team, 6:30 pm, Aerobics Room 207/208 MISS, 7:00 pm, O’Connor CIE Tuesday Math Club, 11:30 am, HA 430 WDJM, 4:30 pm, MC Paul T. Murphy 520 Pride Alliance, 6:30 pm, Club Room 1, MC 413 Hilltop Players, 6:30 pm, HA 136 Black Student Union, 7:00 pm, O’Connor CIE SGA, 7:30 pm, MC Alumni Wednesday History Club, 1:30 pm, MA 111B

Wednesday (cont’d) Christian Fellowship, 6:30 pm, Ecumenical Center Fashion Club, 7 pm , HH 218 Young Democrats Association, 7:00 pm, MC Paul T. Murphy 520 Comic Book Club. 7:30 pm, Club Room 1, MC 413 Thursday Gatepost, 6:30 pm, MC 410 African Caribbean Dance Group, 7:30 pm, AF 207/208 African Student Association, 7:00 pm, North Hall Commons Brother to Brother, 7:30 pm, O’Connor CIE Marketing Club, 7:00 pm, HH 101 Friday African Caribbean Dance Group, 7:30 pm, AF 207/208 Gaming Club, 12:30 pm, Club Room 1, MC 413 Sunday Symphonic Band, 6 pm, DPAC

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

6 | OCTOBER 11, 2019

NEWS

World Teachers’ Day Continued from page 1 environments, or doing their best to maintain relationships with other people.

Salas listed false notions of when “life will begin” that students tend to accept.

“When you earn your degree, life will begin,” she said.

“When you get your first job, life will begin,” Salas noted.

“When you get the job you want, as opposed to the job you have,” she noted, “life will begin.”

Salas elaborated, listing marriage, growing a family, and buying a house as points when college students expect life to begin.

Emphatically she said, “Life has begun, and we are all in it - for worse and for better.”

Salas said decisions that shape a person’s character are already made - even before they leave college.

The standards young teachers set for themselves are demanding and often “incredibly lonely.”

According to Salas, teachers often follow models of perfection, but rarely appreciate “how they grew into their greatness.”

She spoke from experience, highlighting the use of her title, “Distinguished Scholar in Residence,” as a marketing tool to attract students to a conference in 2017.

The students at the conference viewed her as a “sage,” according to Salas, not due to her years of study - rather, it was “magic and a strong contact list” that made her admirable.

She described the guilt and isolation teachers feel, questioning whether they were too hard on a student or regretting taking an educa-

tion career path at all.

“You feel alienated,” Salas said, “either unworthy or misunderstood, and neither is a good place to stay for very long.”

Salas initiated a conversation with the audience highlighting the isolation students feel, which parallels the alienation educators experience.

During the question-and-answer portion of the event, SGA president Matty Bennet asked Salas for advice future educators can use to approach students “who don’t identify with the people who are teaching them.”

He said students of color or with different sexual identities might feel alienated in the same way teachers feel isolated.

Salas joined the University in June 2019 as the new provost after former provost Linda Vaden-Goad retired.

She said during the 1990s, she often advised students of color.

She said the faculty were afraid of “saying the wrong thing,” and students believed members of their own department with whom they did not identify “could not serve them particularly well.”

In many cases, Salas was able to connect students with advisers in their own field.

She said students had to have faith in faculty members who “don’t look like them or don’t seem to have their same lived experience.”

Salas said a “sense of human empathy and compassion bridges those divides.”

She added when life is easy, “That’s probably when you’re about to fall in a hole.” This is because all the conflict in life has been removed at that time.

Salas said educators should do their best to fill a need when they see

one.

She shared an anecdote about two classes she taught. Each read Toni Morrison’s novel, “The Bluest Eye,” which culminates with the main character’s impregnation by her own father.

The first class held an open class discussion, but the second refused to talk. Salas said, “The guys had their caps pulled down” in front of their eyes.

She instead gave the students a writing prompt to hear their thoughts. “The level of anguish those students had about what they’d read … these guys with their caps pulled down and their arms crossed said, ‘I’m so ashamed of being a man.’”

Salas had initially thought the second class was far removed from the novel, when in reality, they just didn’t have the words to express their emotions.

“If you can have a room full of people who are reading a book that’s mandated to them,” she said, “and they’re so devastated they can’t speak - what’s a better tribute to an author?”

Mary Grassetti, chair of the education department, asked if Salas had a favorite memory of a teacher.

Salas said she experienced a sense of affirmation, or “I see you,” in every case.

She sold shoes during college, beating her quota as soon as possible before retiring to the stockroom to read.

“I read so much literature in the stockroom of Macy’s - particularly my first semester of college - and that’s where I was happy.”

She was “checking the boxes” for her pre-law program. But Salas was approached by an English professor

who said she could be a lawyer with an English degree. The professor thought Salas really belonged in the English department.

Salas said, “That feeling that someone had somehow seen me - it was pretty heavy stuff.”

Her second moment of being seen came when she found out her best friend was the son of the college president. She became good friends with the president and asked if he would write her a letter of recommendation for law school.

“He said, ‘I will write you a recommendation for anything, but I don’t think you should go to law school. I think you should get a Ph.D. in English.’

“And I went and got a Ph.D. in English,” she said, “solely on the fact that he said that to me.”

Salas said moments where someone’s true self is seen are “bits of grace that we give people.”

Noticing students’ personalities and inner selves can be a useful tool for educators. “When people feel like they’ve been seen,” she said, “they will do more work.”

Salas offered advice to students in the education field who might feel alienated during their careers as teachers and “world changers.” She compared those who leave a great positive impact to those whose mark is inconsequential on a person.

“Let me assure you - anyone who has ever done anything worth admiring or emulating went through hell to do it.

“The stuff that remains,” she added, “is the result of hard work, dedication, failure, humiliation, hope, and gut-wrenching bravery, which looks an awful lot like terror,” she said.

Those who don’t make much of an impression upon you, “want you to think as they think, do as they do, and ratify their decisions with your obedience or your complacence.

“The energy they could spend making the world a better place is spent making you think that you’ve actually gone down the wrong road.

And the fact that you’re alone right now means that you’re wrong and that every moment of struggle or hesitation you endure is proof that you should trim your sails and fall into line,” She added.

“Hard as it is,” Salas said, “I hope you’ll ignore them.”

In order to change the world in good ways, Salas said it is required for future educators to protect their characters and their souls.

She said it is easier to protect one’s character when one has family or friends to lean on.

But when teachers feel alienated, and surrounded by nobody else, “You have to be your own A and B team,” Salas said.

She advised students to know what they stand for, and to believe in themselves.

“Keep moving forward,” she reiterated.

Caroline Gordon / THE GATEPOST Angela Salas discussed challeneges educators face and answered questions from students and faculty.

Continued on page 7

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World Teachers’ Day Salas said sometimes, it is important to step away in order to know how to move forward. This comes in the form of distractions or hobbies.

“Some people knit, and others tinker with things,” she said. “These tasks, and others like them, have the advantage of allowing you to see that you’ve accomplished something.”

Salas said these activities take people away from “troubling moments.” They prevent educators from becoming preoccupied with worries about their performance or teaching environments.

She personally uses runs and hikes to “remove” herself from difficult moments and to see her way through them.

Salas has walked portions of the Camino Santiago de Compostela, a network of pilgrimage routes in Spain, a total of three times.

She found the trips paradoxical.

The pilgrimage is a quest for “spiritual renewal and change.” However, Salas was annoyed by the difficulties of the trip - from slow walkers to closed bathrooms.

Although the physical training she did was fun, Salas said she should have sat down and thought, “What do I want to get as a human” during the trip?

“The spirit of the pilgrimage is humility and acceptance,” she said.

“And I was not good at that.”

Ultimately, Salas learned about the tendency to drift toward the eas-

OCTOBER 11, 2019 | 7

A marker along route of Camino Santiago de Compostela, which Salas trekked three times. iest task instead of focusing on the difficult challenges in life, such as learning some Spanish before travelling.

Changing the world can be difficult, but Salas focused on the ultimate good that comes from being a teacher.

She said, “To be a teacher is to endure insecurity, alienation, loneliness, and fear.”

She added, “To become a master teacher, and to build a legacy of your life and career, is to have taken loneliness, insecurity, fear, and hard work, and compress them into some-

thing lasting, worthy of respect, and heroic.”

Salas said, “You can make the world a better place.”

CONNECT WITH DONALD HALSING dhalsing@student.framingham.edu

Framingham State police department shows support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month

By Cara McCarthy Associate Editor

Framingham State police officers will be wearing pink police badges on their uniforms for the month of October to help raise awareness for breast cancer during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

FSUPD, along with other police departments across the country, have begun to wear pink police badges since Oct. 1.

According to the campaigns website, “The Pink Patch Project is an innovative public awareness campaign to bring attention to the fight against breast cancer and to support breast cancer research organizations.”

Starting in 2013 with the Los Angeles Police Department, the Pink Patch Project has since reached more than 300 police agencies.

Since the project was started, the Pink Patch Project has raised approximately $1 million for various breast cancer foundations across the country and has sold 900,000 patches, according to the campaign website.

According to an Oct. 1 press release on Framingham State University’s website, the project was started by the Los Angeles Police Chiefs’ Association and is now implemented by public safety departments around the world.

In the press release, FSUPD Sgt. Martin Laughlin said, “Participating in the Pink Patch Project enables our department to support a great cause, while also allowing us to interact with members of our community in a new way. All of our officers are on board and excited to help out.”

Members of the Framingham State community also have the ability to purchase the patches and donate to the cause. All proceeds raised from selling the patches will benefit the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

This is the first year FSUPD has participated in the campaign, but they plan to participate in it for years to come, according to Laughlin.

He said, “We just want to get the word out there that breast cancer is a very serious disease, as well as cancer itself.”

The patches will be on sale in the campus bookstore for $10 until they run out. They can also be purchased on the campus bookstore website.

In the press release, FSU President F. Javier Cevallos stated, “We are lucky to have an outstanding University police department. This initiative is just another example of how invested they are in the safety and well-being of our community.”

Laughlin said, “We’ve had a tremendous outpouring of purchases

Cara McCarthy / THE GATEPOST FSU Police officers (from left to right): Sgt. Laughlin, officer Soccorso and officer Young. of patches sold, which is a very good thing. We just want to let people know that the patches are here. Anything they can do to help would be incredible for the foundation itself.”

Although the patches are only guaranteed through October, Laugh-

lin said they are trying to make the patches available for sale for the remainder of the school year.

CONNECT WITH CARA MCCARTHY cmccarthy8@student.framingham.edu

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Vaping Continued from page 1 used to consume controlled substances, he said.

Hurtubise added, “While the contents of a specific tank or cartridge [in a vaping device] may be interchanged by the user, the components of the liquids/substances are generally prohibited by FSU’s policies.”

Brad Medeiros, chief of police at Framingham State, said, “In general, we [University Police] do not receive many calls for vaping or tobacco use.”

“When an officer responds to a situation involving tobacco use or vaping on campus, we try to gain compliance through conversation and advising the person about the policy,” he added.

“Should the situation continue, the individual could be referred to the student code of conduct office,” he said.

Joy LaGrutta, drug and alcohol outreach coordinator, said FSU offers a variety of resources for students who wish to quit smoking or vaping - including nicotine therapy patches, referrals to addiction specialist hotlines, and individual appointments with Health Center staff.

LaGrutta said, “I am hopeful that the health research institutions across our country are working very hard to investigate what is causing this outbreak. I am sure that when they do, products that are considered safe will return to the market, and products that are dangerous will be eliminated.

“It is believed that products coming from the illicit market could be part of the problem, but not enough information is in place to determine for certain what exactly is causing the problem. It could also be coming from products on the legal market. This has not been ruled out,” she said.

FSU’s individual policies precede Baker’s statewide ban after declaring a public health emergency in a Sept.

24 press release, noting health findings from the U.S. Center for Disease Control (CDC) and concerns regarding youth vaping.

In the press release, Baker said, “The purpose of this public health emergency is to temporarily pause all sales of vaping products so that we can work with our medical experts to identify what is making people sick and how to better regulate these products to protect the health of our residents.”

At the time of the press release, Massachusetts was the only state to outright ban all vaping products.

Since then, Rhode Island has followed suit.

The CDC, which is investigating the illness alongside the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and state and local health departments, said as of October 2019, 18 people have died from vaping lung injuries across the country. More than 1,000

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NEWS

cases have been reported, with 80% of those afflicted being under the age of 35.

“No single product or substance has been linked to all lung injury cases,” according to a statement on the CDC website. “The outbreak is occurring in the context of a dynamic marketplace for e-cigarette, or vaping, products, which may have a mix of ingredients, complex packaging, and supply chains, and include potentially illicit substances.”

The CDC web page lists the following symptoms of vaping lung injury: “cough, shortness of breath, or chest pain; nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea; and fatigue, fever, or weight loss.”

Several students said they supported the Baker administration’s response to these concerns.

Senior Cheryl Thomas said, “I think that it’s needed. … There isn’t enough research or scientific history behind it to know what the impact is on people’s long-term health.

“Just because it’s banned doesn’t mean they can’t take it away from people who already have it - but it might prevent people from getting it and getting hurt,” Thomas added.

“I have people who vape in my family. I don’t want them getting hurt,” she said.

Freshman Cian MacIver said more research needs to be conducted before vaping products go back on the market.

Senior Taylor Langmeyer said recent news has made her increasingly concerned about the health of her loved ones who continue to vape.

Langmeyer said she was worried about her boyfriend’s older brothers after they began to show symptoms, including coughing and shortness of breath from regular use.

University policies, state bans, and public outcry have not stopped some students from vaping, both on-campus and off.

An FSU senior, who asked only to be identified as “Jane,” said she vaped THC throughout high school and during college to self-medicate her clinical depression. Jane said it helped her regulate her mood and feel enough motivation to continue pushing forward with her studies.

“All of the news stories about [contaminated] vape cartridges came from the black market, whereas I get mine from a legal dispensary from Massachusetts,” she said. “I’m not worried about anything happening to me, because it came from a legitimate source.”

Jane said she felt sympathy for youth affected by nicotine addiction from vaping. “It sucks that so many people are literally addicted to smoking a flash drive,” but she disagreed with an all-out ban, saying it ignored medicinal and smoking cessation purposes.

Junior Jordan Doherty said, “They’re making an issue of something before it really is an issue.

“Cigarettes, alcohol … there’s things that are actually killing peo-

Thomas Maye / THE GATEPOST The FDA has pinpointed the solvent, Vitamin E Acetate, as a culprit for vaping-related illnesses. ple,” he said. Doherty added while he agreed more research would be beneficial, he considered the ban prematurely implemented.

The FDA found inhalation of Vitamin E Acetate, a solvent used in various vape juices, has been responsible for many of the symptoms observed in victims. A bust in Wisconsin found 87% of illnesses to be linked directly to illicit THC instead of nicotine, particularly when purchased in unregulated black-market contexts, according to a reporter for The Associated Press.

To investigate these claims, reporters from NBC tested three THC cartridges from legal California dispensaries and 15 from black market sources. None of the regulated cartridges had contaminants, while 13 of 15 purchased from black market sources had Vitamin E Acetate.

Many black market cartridges also contained myclobutanil, which turns into hydrogen cyanide when burned, they said.

Critics of Baker’s ban argue it fails to take the role of legally purchased, regulated vaping products into account. In a phone call, Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, called the ban “terrible public health policy.”

Conley said according to several British studies, including those from The Royal College of Physicians, vaping can be used as an effective means to reduce cigarette smoking.

“Any fair person looking at that data could not possibly conclude that vaping is worse than cigarette smoking,” he said.

As such, he said many people will go back to using cigarettes after the ban.

Sophomore Cameron Dolson, similarly, said he largely disagreed with the ban, since many students use vaping as an alternative to cigarettes.

“I know it’s only temporary, but practically speaking, I don’t really see a purpose for the ban,” he said.

However, a French study published in The Journal of the American Medi-

cal Association has argued while vaping can reduce cigarette smoking, it can also potentially lead to higher rates of relapse.

Three Massachusetts vape shops - Mass Dynamics, Boston Vapor, and Vick’s Vape Shop - have filed a federal lawsuit against the Baker administration, arguing the FDA already regulates e-cigarettes and other vaping products, making it an arbitrary “manufactured crisis.”

NPR reported a lawyer for one of the vape shops said, “This is, in effect, a death sentence for their business.”

Stacy Poritzky, owner of Vape Daddy’s in Framingham, told The MetroWest Daily News the ban will mean the end of her business.

The media firestorm has shaken many prominent companies that sell vaping products and caused stocks to plummet, according to Business Insider. The CEO of Juul, one of the most popular vaping brands in the country, stepped down from the company Sept. 25 in response to the controversy and said he “personally apologizes” for the rise in teen vaping.

Juul media contacts have not responded to The Gatepost’s request for comment.

Baker defended the decision, despite reports that many illnesses were caused specifically by illicit THC. Responding to the press, he cited an example of a man in Oregon contracting a vaping lung injury, despite purchasing from a legal, regulated state dispensary.

Baker’s press office has not responded to The Gatepost’s request for comment.

[Editor’s Note: The vaping illness outbreak is a developing story. Details may be subject to change as more information is discovered. Additionally, to protect their identity and privacy, a student in this article was granted anonymity.]

CONNECT WITH THOMAS MAYE tmaye1@student.framingham.edu

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Listen to Legislators

OCTOBER 11, 2019 | 9

Local legislators visited FSU to discuss their political experience and answer questions Oct. 10

Yvonne Spicer - Mayor of the City of Framingham

Caroline Gordon / THE GATEPOST

Oftentimes, you hear, “Women have to be asked many times to run for office.” No, I didn’t need to be asked many times. I knew that I could bring something, and that’s what made me decide to run for this office. I felt I could bring something valuable to this community from what I’ve learned professionally over the last 30 years that I think would be really terrific in our new city - a city that I love. I’ve lived here for 35 years, I’ve had different jobs, but I’ve never left Framingham.

Natalie Higgins - Representative for the 4th Worcester District I ran with a progressive agenda, talking about how to make government work for folks.

In my community, a lot of folks were just fed up with government. They didn’t think that elected officials were really listening to them or understood what they were going through, and I leaned into that and I wanted to say, “No - that’s our job.”

Caroline Gordon / THE GATEPOST

Maria Robinson - Representative for the 6th Middlesex District

Caroline Gordon / THE GATEPOST

One of the things that I ran on was climate change. I worked for 10 years in a renewable energy firm, working on different policies around the nation. And what I learned through this process is that Framingham cares a lot about climate change. It’s really exciting to see the number of phone calls and emails I get about that, more than anything else. It’s been a fascinating experience to better understand what the needs of our community are.

Jack Lewis - Representative for the 7th Middlesex District If you go to school or work at FSU, then you’re our constituents regardless of where you sleep at night. We’re happy to help, we’re happy to put you in touch with the state rep or state senator for where you actually sleep, but we work with people on a whole host of issues - be those internships, unemployment benefits, or state services. Many of us got our start when we were in college, so we’re eager to help folks. So, don’t be shy. We’re your elected officials.

Caroline Gordon / THE GATEPOST

Carmine Gentile - Representative for the 13th Middlesex District

Caroline Gordon / THE GATEPOST

If you were going to college in Germany today, you would have a little less than $200 in administrative expenses - and that’s it. Everything else is free. So, they’ve been doing that since the 1970s. Why can’t we do that here? Well, of course we can. A number of us, and every representative here tonight, are working in the Legislature to lower the costs of higher education with the goal of really making it free for public higher ed.

Graphic by Evan Lee, Caroline Gordon, and Kathleen Moore

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10 | OCTOBER 11, 2019

OP/ED

OP/ED THE GATEPOST EDITORIAL

Supreme Court should choose people over ideology As we approach the turn of the decade, we can proudly look back at the meaningful social progress we’ve seen during this time of enormous transition and how it has improved our communities.

But with every egregious move of the Trump administration that threatens to take away yet another basic human right every day - and the fact we have two sitting Supreme Court justices with numerous sexual assault allegations between them - it feels as though we keep going one step forward, two steps back.

Title VII is the result of the landmark federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlaws discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This statute extends labor protections to ensure no one is fired or prevented from being hired due to belonging to a certain class of people.

On Tuesday, the highest judicial authority in the nation debated the true meaning of “sex” as it pertains to sexual orientation and gender identity. Because these two classes are not explicitly delineated in federal legislation, there is no federal anti-discrimination law that will prevent a member of the LGBT+ community from getting fired because of who they love or how they express themselves.

And while Massachusetts has relatively strong protections for its LGBT+ workers, this is sadly not the case for the majority of states in this country. Only 20 states and Washington, D.C. include explicit anti-discrimination laws on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity, while many states have seen LGBT+ workers - especially teachers and those in other service-sector jobs - arbitrarily fired for something as trivial as a rumor.

Just last year, this state in which we live entertained striking down its anti-discrimination laws on the basis of gender identity when it came to accessing public places, such as restrooms. Although the law was upheld by voters, the fact that more than 800,000 people voted that there should be no such law is alarming.

Even though same-sex marriage has been federally legal for the past four years, this is an extremely short time in the grand scheme of this country’s history - especially as we are considered to be one of the most advanced nations in the world.

But American popular opinion generally lies on the side of equal rights and protections for LGBT+ citizens. For example, a June CBS News poll indicated that 67% of Americans support same-sex marriage, while 28% are opposed.

To put this into perspective, that same percentage of those who support it today opposed it more than thirty years ago in 1988, and that number continues to dwindle every year.

Today, there is more LGBT+ representation in American media and the United States government than ever before. Many TV shows - for adults and children alike - have explicitly gay characters. Some states have introduced LGBT-friendly sex education into their public school curricula.

Additionally, there are many openly LGBT+ senators, such as Rep. Tammy Baldwin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema. Pete Buttigieg is an openly gay presidential candidate who conducts rallies with his husband by his side.

Would any of this have been possible a decade ago? Probably not.

But marriage and representation, while important, are not the be-all, end-all of LGBT+ rights.

Many people thought the fight for equality ended with marriage rights, but this is far from the case. In fact, it was this year that Trump’s transgender military ban went into effect, and it took almost 20 years for the Clinton administration’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy to be struck down during the Obama era - which was admittedly progressive for its time.

Furthermore, of the roughly 1.6 million youth facing homelessness in this country, more than 40% of them identify as members of the LGBT+ community. Many of them have been disowned and kicked out by their parents or guardians, and they are unable to support themselves with jobs due to the two-pronged drawback of being both young and LGBT+.

None of the progress we’ve seen so far is truly meaningful if people can fired legally for openly and proudly being who they are and unashamed of whom they’re married to, if people can face consequences in the workplace for not being adhering to gender norms.

And little seems to be done about it.

The conservative justices of the Supreme Court defended their inaction by saying they do not want to overstep Congress’ purview by extending the legislative definition of sex to encompass sexual orientation and gender identity.

Bush-appointed Justice Samuel Alito expressed doubt that the original statute drafted by Congress was intended to include protections for LGBT+ people. Trump-appointed Justice Neil Gorsuch implied that he feared ruling in the LGBT+ workers’ favor would lead to “massive social upheaval.”

And rather than consider the repercussions of a lack of an anti-discrimination law, Chief Justice Roberts worried more about the possibility that such a ruling would take away the protections of employers who choose to be homophobic and transphobic and use religion as an excuse.

Their refusal to acknowledge unmistakable discrimination and create precedent in order to prevent it in the future - instead preferring to hide like cowards behind textualism and doctrine will definitively land them on the wrong side of history.

If we treat words as though they are immutable in meaning and profess to love ideology more than we love our fellow Americans, we do not truly stand for anything.

The laws of this land are intended to protect our rights, and there are people who take oaths to uphold them - regardless of their political affiliation or unspoken allegiance to certain people in office.

For the sake of LGBT+ and heterosexual Americans alike, we hope the Court’s decision in June will show the justices understand this.

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

From top to bottom: trans, gay, and bisexual pride flags.

Have an opinion?

Feel free to email it to gatepost@framingham.edu.

Opinions should be approximately 500 words.

Anyone can submit.

We look forward to hearing from you!

OP/ED

OCTOBER 11, 2019 | 11

The truth about Columbus

By McKenzie Ward Staff Writer How did a man who never even stepped foot in the United States somehow get an entire holiday dedicated to him finding it?

Take everything you learned about Christopher Columbus and throw it out. It was more than likely sugar-coated, and you were never told the true and horrifying reality of what actually happened to Indigenous populations in the Americas.

This is why it is absolutely essential for Columbus Day to be renamed Indigenous People’s Day, so America will no longer be honoring a man who is responsible for horrendous acts of horror.

Christopher Columbus did sail to the New World in 1492, but it wasn’t the United States that he found - it was various Caribbean Islands, but even there, he was never seen as a savior.

So, why is Columbus painted as an American hero?

Washington Irving.

In 1828, Irving wrote the first English-language biography of Columbus and filled it with myths, such as the idea of Columbus being the one who discovered America and Columbus being the savior to the Indigenous population.

But why should we change Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day? What would this change mean to the

native population?

According to Indigenous Peoples Day MA, “Words have meanings” and because we are celebrating Columbus, we are ignoring Indigenous people and how they are being treated in our country.

To us, Columbus Day may be an excuse to have a three-day weekend - but for the Indigenous population, Columbus Day is no holiday. It is a day of mourning for the loss of hundreds of thousands of natives throughout history.

Columbus is responsible for the destruction of the Indies. According to writings by Bartolomé De Las Casas, a Spanish colonist, in just 40 years after Columbus set foot in the Caribbean Islands, more than 12 million people had died through unjust tyranny committed by the Spanish.

More than 30 islands were destroyed and depopulated due to Spanish colonization led by Columbus and his men.

Yet these were not the stories told to students throughout the United States.

Instead, they were told the fairytale version of Columbus’ journey, finding the “New World” and making friends with the native populations on the islands - claims far from the reality of what actually happened.

In 2019, Columbus’ colonization still has negative effects on native populations.

They still struggle greatly with alco-

holism and high rates of suicide.

The natives were first introduced to alcohol by the colonists. According to the University of Denver, four of the top 10 causes of death among native populations are attributable to alcohol abuse.

Suicide is another problem often prevalant in native communities, with rates higher than any other racial or ethnic group in the United States, according to Suicide Prevention Resource Center. The suicide rate among native populations continues to increase every single year.

But what can we do as citizens to make this important and necessary change?

We can support the statewide Indigenous People’s Day bill by writing to our legislatures and asking them to support all five bills.

Framingham’s own representative, Jack Lewis, is the lead sponsor for this bill in the Massachusetts Legislature.

In Lewis’ speech at the hearing of the bill, he stated, “I was inspired to file this bill this session by a conversation begun in my own community around this issue.” He thanked the Framingham High School Black Student Union “for bringing this important discussion about Columbus Day to Framingham.”

Later in his speech, he said, “Nostalgia alone is not a reason to ignore facts, and we have an obligation to history and to our children to move be-

yond the outdated, or at the very least, oversimplified version of history many of us learned in school.”

This bill will replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People’s Day in Massachusetts’ General Laws and this will allow for our state to truly recognize and celebrate native communities.

This change will mean Massachusetts will finally reject the idea of celebrating colonization, while also promoting positive Indigenous representation, according to Indigenous Peoples Day MA. Yet given what this would mean for native peoples, there are still those who claim, even if the change from Columbus Day to Indigenous People’s Day is made, they would continue to call it Columbus Day. Here are my questions to them: “How are you able to excuse Columbus’ actions? Are you condoning rape, slavery, and murder?

This change for natives is not just about the words. It is also about the meaning and the history concerning Columbus and what the holiday currently honors.

By making this small change, it will recognize the resilience of the native community.

On this holiday, remember the natives who were stripped of everything, so colonists could selfishly create lives on stolen land.

Campus Conversations What do you think can be done to improve the RamTram service?

By Amanda Garny and Caroline Gordon

“It should start earlier and there should be an app that notifies you when the trams are coming.”

“Make the times more accurate.”

-Jada Lucier, freshman

“I think it runs pretty well during the day and the weekend. I don’t think anything needs to be improved.”

-Robert Gehm, freshman

-Vishnu Prabakaran, junior

“I think overall working on efficiency because some people rely on it on different levels. Better communication between drivers is needed.”

-Destinie Montano, freshman

“I have nothing to complain about because if you call them, they always wait for you.”

-Amiela McDermott, sophomore

“It should go to more places than just the mall and Shoppers World preferably somewhere like Wal-Mart.

-Anthony Behonick, junior

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

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OP/ED

12 | OCTOBER 11, 2019

GATEPOST

Grievances

Dear retail stores: your holiday spirit is driving us crazy

By Ashley Wall Editorial Staff

By Donald Halsing Editorial Staff Holidays are exciting occasions which spice up the year. They are full of laughter and joy, and are a chance to show off your holiday spirit through decoration.

Carved pumpkins and Christmas trees are both wonderful, but not when simultaneously thrown in your face like confetti.

We get it - each holiday brings new and exciting moments. But let’s not rush too quickly through each calendar year.

Retail stores are the first offenders to jump on this bandwagon. With future holidays displayed much in advance and current holidays already on clearance, it’s difficult to keep up with the ever-changing arrangement of stores.

As it turns out, Christmas in July is actually an excuse to start buying decorations for December before they sell out.

Need supplies for the next school year?

No worries! You can stock up in May before your kids are even out for the summer.

When elementary school kids are trading Valentine’s Day grams, their parents are stocking up on Easter chocolate.

This is absurd.

We visit Michael’s craft store frequently. It’s confusing to walk in and experience Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Halloween at the same time.

It is infuriating to go into a store in October with the only decorations available to purchase being Christmas ornaments.

But wait! There’s more!

You don’t even have to go into a store Christmas decorations already have their own tab on the Michael’s website.

That’s a bit premature, don’t you think?

If you believe Michael’s is the only store giving into the consumer culture - you’re wrong.

Target has strung their magical twinkling Christmas lights next to their dwindling Halloween display.

How are we supposed to shop for excessive strands of orange and purple bulbs when the store is distracting us with disco-light snow globes?

The poor pumpkin display is going to rot while shoppers flock to other holiday sections. Think of the wasted pumpkins!

At the end of September, all the Halloween decorations in stores are marked down or clearanced, when spooky season hasn’t even begun.

The final months of the year aren’t the only times when stores jump the gun on selling supplies. Back-to-school products hit the shelves before the previous school year ends.

When we should be shopping for bathing suits, our faces are shoved into piles of pencils and notebooks.

Children and college students alike are

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unable to enjoy their summer break when school looms in the corner of Target like a creepy stalker, beckoning them to stock up on notebooks and erasers.

And we can’t forget the second holiday gauntlet shoppers must brave: spring.

First there’s Valentine’s Day. Then comes St. Patrick’s Day. And Easter hops into town soon after.

You would think lovers could focus exclusively on cute cards and candy in February, but instead they’re getting slammed with freakish leprechauns and Easter egg decorating kits.

Unfortunately, as consumers, we are so used to these absurdities, we don’t even glance twice at the untimely displays. Instead we walk past and “ooh” and “aah” at their shiny objects and luring music.

It’s time to get smart about our retail shopping. We cannot hide within the comforts of Amazon online shopping forever.

Here is what we propose for retail stores: Stop putting out decorations early. We know it drives your workers just as crazy as it does your consumers.

If you do choose to continue with this ungodly habit, please keep the current holiday’s decorations up for us to purchase.

We get it. Scary jack-o-lanterns, whimsical snow globes, and charming Valentine’s Day cards are just as exciting for you as they are for us. But please, enjoy the moment you are currently in.

Don’t let these evil retailers rush you through your joyous holidays.

And retailers - your holiday spirit is driving us crazy.

[Editor’s note: Gatepost Grievances is a bi-weekly column. The opinions of the authors do not reflect the opinions of the entire Gatepost staff.]

A is for addiction

By Lauren Paolini Copy Editor One of my most vivid memories from kindergarten is sitting in a circle with my classmates and discussing what emotion we were feeling that day. Fast forward to my college career, and I can confidently tell you academics is just one of the many ways you learn in higher education.

For myself, learning how to make my health and wellness a priority - and realizing self-care isn’t selfish - has been one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned.

I guess kindergarten and college aren’t so different after all.

I am grateful to have had a mostly positive childhood, but unfortunately that is not the case for every kid. Many of the lessons I learned in kindergarten were outside of the classroom and often from watching shows on PBS after school.

This includes “Sesame Street.”

The 50-year-old TV show has sparked some controversy within the past couple days by introducing a new character who sheds light on opioid addiction. The new Muppet, Karli, reveals to Elmo and other friends she has been living with a foster family while her mom deals with a “grown up problem.”

Many people are upset “Sesame Street” would expose children to such an issue.

I, myself, applaud their decision.

I think the way the show makes topics such as addiction, autism, and parents in prison palpable for their audience is admirable - and should be encouraged.

Yes, Karli’s mom is dealing with a “grown-up problem,” but we can’t ignore these problems affect children, too.

I feel being more honest with children is overall better for their development.

No, I’m not a psychologist. I’m also not a parent, I’ll admit, I’m not even an aunt - but I was a child not too many years ago.

Addiction is scary for everyone involved, and no matter the issue, it is important to support children and assure them they are not alone.

The more we normalize talking about our issues, the more acceptable it will be for people to reach out for help and support.

When I was younger, the only thing more frightening than a “grown-up problem” was feeling alone. Talking through our issues with our support systems, and sometimes fellow Muppets, is a much healthier way to cope with what we’re going through.

Children are no exception.

By no means am I telling anyone how to parent - I simply think it’s important to prepare children for life in a healthy way.

As my new favorite character Karli says, “If you’re going through a tough time, I’ve learned that it’s OK to be sad or mad or scared. It’s OK to talk about those things. It feels good to talk about those things.”

ARTS & FEATURES

OCTOBER 11, 2019 | 13

ARTS & FEATURES

Esteban del Valle brings the conquistador into modern times in ‘Which Ridge is Next’

By Robert Johnson Jr. Arts & Features Editor

both went to the same artist residency program, a program called Skowhegan - they have a big alumni network and At the Mazmanian Art Gallery, the we both ended up giving talks. … I was urban landscapes of Brooklyn and Chi- very impressed by what he said and I cago crossed paths with Framingham thought it would be interesting on this State University through the presen- campus to see how his work would intation of Esteban del Valle’s exhibit, teract with our community.”

As for what, exactly, motivated Kra“Which Ridge is Next.” A reception kow to bring del Valle to FSU, she said and an accompanying talk Oct. 3.

Del Valle, who hails from Illinois, is it’s like answering a “multi-part quesan “interdisciplinary artist” who has tion.

“The things that interest me about been featured in various publications, Esteban’s work range from his interest including HiFructose and the Washington Post, according to a press re- in drawing and the specifics of making lease at the reception. His inspirations beautiful lines and compositions to the come from urban art forms such as political, to the humorous. The way he graffiti and the stylings found within deals with content and the beauty of Robert Johnson Jr. / THE GATEPOST his form is really compelling to me,” comic books.

The muzzle of the horse statue in the middle of the Mazmanian Art Gallery.

Krakow said.

“Which Ridge is Next” is a “I’m also extremely interested in mixed-media, contemporary look into Inclusive Excellence (CIE), was in at- of a presentation filled with pictures how he has both a mural practice the mundane and inconvenient motendance as part of the CIE’s ongoing and clips from TV shows and movies. ments of day-to-day life, inspired by which is very much in the outside, “LatinX” series of events for LatinX He also talked about his foray into indel Valle’s ongoing series, “Worst Day public context - and a fine art practice, history month. dependent films through the creative Ever,” which follows a conquistador in and kind of where they intersect,” she “When I entered into the exhibit, I process of a short film called, “Viable the modern day, takes inspiration from added was like, ‘Wow,’ basically,” Birch said. Option.”

“When I heard that he wanted to the political cartoon as an art form, “It made me think about the hardships “My first real exposure to art was showing the conquistador as “both a do a mural installation, I was super and the things that persons of color ofa mixture of graffiti and murals,” del satirical figure and a caricature of the excited because I thought that dia- tentimes have to deal with. Sometimes, Valle said, “That was my day-to-day logue would open up a lot of potential artist.” we may get thrown off that horse, but commute to grade school and I grew People at the reception were greet- for people to talk about it in different then we get back up. up seeing all these murals which were ed by images of a conquistador in un- ways.”

“You look at some of the other pic- often about community identity or poSteve Santiago, a senior and a native favorable situations, notably his strugtures, and you see the man in color, in litical issues that were important or, gles getting onto a subway train, or of the Bronx, was one of those people. black and white, you see him brushing you know, historical figures.

“When I walked in, I didn’t know being pelted by heavy rain, equipped his teeth, you see him in the city, and I “I view a lot of my work as drawwith a tattered umbrella - scenarios exactly what was going on, but when look at that like, ‘Yes, I’m in this world, ing, and most people would look at it I saw all the buildings, it tied me in,” the viewers can relate to. and sometimes, these things happen. and think of it as painting, wonderDuring the reception, Ellie Krakow, Santiago said. “Just looking around at I may get off the horse, but there’s a ing, ‘What’s the difference?’ The main professor of art and director of the gal- the different colors and buildings and whole city here to support me, and idea for me is that drawing is kind of lery, explained her reason for inviting the Puerto Rican flag made me feel while everyone may not be there to an approach to art-making that a lot of nostalgic.” del Valle to display his works at FSU. support me, there are some people times is using ready-made colors,” del Patricia Birch, director of inclusive “I have a long relationship with Eswho are.’ … To me, there’s hope.”

Valle said. “I’m using markers or colteban,” Krakow said. “Esteban and I excellence initiatives at the Center for Claudia Springer, professor of En- ored pencils, so if there’s a yellow, I’m glish, was also a fan of del Valle’s work grabbing that yellow - I’m not mixing a - “I like it for a number of reasons. I new yellow. If there’s a blue, I’m grabthink it’s very beautiful to look at in bing that blue - I’m not mixing a new terms of style and technique, but, even blue.” more importantly, I like the concept of As for what inspired del Valle to bringing Don Quixote into the mod- make the conquistador character, as ern world and showing the destruction well as “Worst Day Ever” as a whole, he and disappointment and disillusion- pointed to a scene in “Rick and Morty” ment that he and we feel.” about “real fake doors” from the 2014 Jan Franco, a freshman, said the episode, “Rixty Minutes.” exhibit “feels different coming into a “One question I wanted to answer small room, but with a lot of art with was, ‘What does a political cartoon do different, unique mediums - it’s real- after he or she’s done?’” del Valle said. ly interesting to see all the different As for del Valle’s next project, he types of watercolor or acrylics or col- aims to follow up “Worst Day Ever” ored pencil and how it all comes to- with “Worst Summer Ever,” which he is gether in the end. It gives a great mes- in the process of creating. sage.”

You can check out more of del ValAt the talk in the Forum, del Valle le’s work, as well as his progress, at eswent into greater detail about the ex- tebandelvalle.com. hibit, as well as his own upbringing Robert Johnson Jr. / THE GATEPOST as an artist and the path he’s taken CONNECT WITH ROBERT JOHNSON JR. Del Valle’s piece, “Worst Day Ever: Never eat soggy ... what?” to get to where he is through the use rjohnson10@student.framingham.edu

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

14 | OCTOBER 11, 2019

ARTS & FEATURES

The problem with comic book apparel

By Robert Johnson Jr. Arts & Features Editor

Let’s get one thing on the record: most comic book apparel on the market just plain sucks.

Yeah, I said it - absolute trash.

I have a Deadpool-themed shirt in my dorm, one that, as I’m writing this, I have never worn.

It has Deadpool’s insignia emblazoned on the front, which is pretty cool, but then you have “DEADPOOL” written down both arms, and it eventually becomes something that most official, comic book-adjacent apparel ends up being.

Flashy.

When it comes to comic books, making things over-the-top is part of the goal - it’s about pushing the boundaries of the readers’ imagination, while exceeding those limits in a cool way.

However, this axiom should not be applied to T-shirts and sweatpants sold in Hot Topic or on the clearance rack at Wal-Mart. Should a graphic designer or a manufacturer follow this axiom, it just looks tacky.

Superman’s “S” on a blue shirt or Batman’s yellow, oval-shaped emblem across the chest? That’s totally fine - it actually makes sense, given their respective, culturally accepted designs.

As for that Deadpool shirt, there are better - and more accurate ones out there. You can get a shirt of just his torso, for crying out loud.

Now, I’m not as good at finding out what’s “fashionable” or not, as compared to, say, the women who write “State Street Style” (See page 15), but I like to think I know what’s good, apparel-wise.

Unfortunately, this does not apply to most comic book fans. If you were to go to any convention, you would find someone wearing one of these trashy, generic, cash-grabbing pieces of garb.

And, yes, I do know I’m harping on you “Deadpool” fans out there, but, seriously, his merch is always the cause of many deep, frustrated sighs in my day-to-day life.

Fan-made apparel is not spared from this criticism, however, especially when it comes to those irritating, pathetic “minimalistic” designs

that people put out on Redbubble or My problem with comic book apother storefronts. parel - and this applies to T-shirts, “Yes, let me plaster a comic se- sweatpants, and what-have-you - is ries’ logo or a generic speech bub- that most things on the market are ble across the chest. This is totally just not unique enough to justify a going to get me some degree of fi- purchase. nancial payoff, despite the minimal There are too many comic work I just did in Photoshop.” book-adjacent pieces of fabric out All fan-made products are not there that just scream, “We’re gobad, thankfully - there are many ing to put this out to make a quick diamonds in the minefield that is buck,” like a red hoodie with “Red comic book apparel.

Hood” written across the chest or For the past few weeks, I’ve been a shirt with a solid color and some ogling a Rogue-themed shirt by hero’s insignia on it.

Stacey Lee that has been making That’s not making a “good dethe rounds throughout the conven- sign” - that’s “Photoshop 101.” tion circuit, and I’m in serious need So, next time you think about of one. It’s green, it’s vibrant, it ex- buying that “Thor” T-shirt, I recomudes the love and labor of the artist, mend, rather, implore you to take and it’s just an all-around, genuine a look around the internet and see product. if you could find something betThe only officially-made piec- ter first. Supporting independent es of comic book apparel to which artists will always feel better - and I can give that same praise to is an more genuine - than buying some“X-Men”-themed shirt that takes thing from a company that only influence from the animated series wants to capitalize on your movfrom the ’90s and a “Gwenpool” ie-induced hype. shirt that depicts her as different emojis.

“OK, Robbie, we get it - get to the CONNECT WITH ROBERT JOHNSON JR. point!” rjohnson10@student.framingham.edu

ACTIVITIES-RAFFLES-GIVEAWAYS

The English Department and CASA Present:

NATIONAL DAY ON WRITING October 21st --- 10 am-5 pm McCarthy Center Entrance Come complete your six-word memoir, participate in pop-up poetry, compose an "I remember" line, or take a picture to show us "what a writer" looks like!

Questions? first-year-writing@framingham.edu

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ARTS & FEATURES

Kaitlyn’s Kosmetics

Vegan options for all

By Kaitlyn Cullen Staff Writer With veganism gaining more and more popularity, many people are looking to expand their lifestyles to include vegan products outside of their diet.

There are plenty of vegan cosmetic brands available to everyday people, ranging from drugstore value to high-end quality.

The brand Pacifica is built on strong ethical guidelines. As a part of their logo, under “PACIFICA,” it says, “100% VEGAN - CRUELTY-FREE.” The heading of their website is “Natural Makeup & Cruelty Free Cosmetics.”

Pacifica products include makeup, skincare, hair care, and more. As part of their mission to only use natural products, they have recently come out with hemp-infused products such as mascara, lip gloss, eyeshadows, and makeup-removing wipes.

Pacifica is an affordable brand and their products can be found on their website and in stores like Target and Ulta.

An extremely popular drugstore brand, e.l.f. Cosmetics, is another “cruelty-free, paraben-free, 100% vegan” company, according to their website.

Their famous brand name stands for “eyes, lips, face.” Their products include makeup, skincare, brushes, and tools for application.

You can find e.l.f. products on their website and in almost any place that sells makeup - drugstores, Ulta, and even our very own Framingham State University Bookstore! This is probably the most affordable, well-known vegan brand.

A higher-end cosmetic vegan brand is Kat Von D Beauty.

According to their website, this brand is “artistry for the people, by the people, powered by long-lasting, high pigment, cruelty-free makeup … [whose] mission is to create hyper-performance vegan makeup so everyone can make compassionate choices without sacrificing bold, beautiful color and everlasting wear.”

Kat Von D Beauty products include

makeup, brushes, fragrances, and accessories such as candles, build-your-own makeup palettes, travel cases, and more.

Kat Von D works exclusively with Sephora, a more elite beauty store than Ulta. It is the only retail store where you can buy their products aside from their website.

M•A•C Cosmetics, a more controversial company than the other two, is one of the world’s most well-known cosmetic brands.

Although they aim to end animal testing, certain countries cannot follow through with that promise.

The company itself does not perform any sort of animal testing, but China tests cosmetic products on animals before allowing the sale of said cosmetics to the general population as a part of their safety regulations.

The company actually dedicates a section of their “About Us” page on their website to answering questions on animal testing.

According to this page, “M•A•C does not test on animals. We do not own any animal -testing facilities, and we never ask others to test on animals for us.

“While some governments conduct animal testing to prove safety before they will allow us to sell our products, M•A•C has never tested on animals and we continue to be a leader in the movement to end animal testing globally. To this end, we are proud to partner with IIVS (Institute For In Vitro Sciences) to expand the use and acceptance of non-animal testing methods worldwide.”

According to a local M•A•C employee - who asked not to be identified because she may be in violation of company policy - on the topic of required animal testing in China, “The company doesn’t like this, but it gives the brand a seat at the table to make change, and some have told me that China is looking to change the law.”

These are just some of the 100% vegan brands, but many companies are looking to transition to using cruelty-free products.

CONNECT WITH KAITLYN CULLEN kcullen1@student.framingham.edu

OCTOBER 11, 2019 | 15

Emmys 2019

By Lauren Paolini Copy Editor

By Caeley Whalen Fashion Correspondent We can’t decide what was better at the Emmys: the acceptance speeches or the red carpet looks.

Let’s just say they were both really good.

Alex Borstein won the award for best supporting actress in a comedy series, and Michelle Williams won for lead actress in a limited series/movie. Both gave riveting speeches grounded in female empowerment, making us feel inspired no matter what we wear.

Billy Porter is no stranger to how fashion can change lives and be a tool for empowerment in itself. The “Pose” actor has made headlines for blurring the line between men’s and women’s fashion, and he looks damn good doing it.

If all guys could wear a dress as well as he does, maybe no one would be bothered by it.

The “Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series” winner looked absolutely stunning in a black Michael Kors suit with sparkling silver stripes. He completed his winning look with a funky Stephen Jones cowboy hat and matching black platform heels.

Keep doing you, Billy.

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again - Zendaya can do no wrong.

Our latest MJ of the “Spider-Man” franchise stunned in an emerald green Vera Wang corset gown.

She completed the ensemble with matching green pumps, silver diamond jewelry, and perfectly wavy newly red hair.

It’s not hard to see why Peter Parker has such a big crush.

“Fleabag” star Phoebe Waller-Bridge stole the show in more ways than one.

The actress wore a blush gown with rose gold sequins, making the top of our list for best dressed. The tulle gown had a cinched waist and deep V-neck, which was beyond flattering on Waller-Bridge.

She also won three Emmy Awards, so that may have contributed to her undeniable glow.

For every star on the best-dressed list, there’s another name added to the worst-dressed list.

Lena Headey, nominated for her role in “Game of Thrones,” missed her seat on the iron throne and also missed the mark in her mint blue Brock Collection gown. The dress was the exact opposite of what Cersei would have worn, and it was also not cute.

The floral pattern looked like stains on the blue fabric, and the black bow around her waist disrupted the flow of the tiered silhouette.

Kendall Jenner was in attendance and also presented at the awards show. The model wore a floral gown that reminded us of a Sheri Hill prom dress with a latex bodysuit underneath, making it look like she had to run to a costume party after the show.

Don’t ask us why Jenny McCarthy was there, but all we know is her blue Alexander McQueen dress made her look like Queen Elsa gone rogue. She - for some reason - decided to wear a pair of heeled combat boots with her gown.

The unfinished hem gave the dress an edgy vibe, but her choice to accessorize with a leather belt and chain-link necklace made her resemble a fairy godmother who owns a motorcycle.

We kindly remind Jenny that Cinderella lost a glass slipper, not a leather boot.

The moral of this story is some celebs either need to give their stylists a raise or fire them.

CONNECT WITH LAUREN PAOLINI AND CAELEY WHALEN lpaolini@student.framingham.edu cwhalen2@student.framingham.edu

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

16 | OCTOBER 11, 2019

ACROSS 1. Up, in baseball 6. “This Is Us” network 9. “You ___ thing!”

13. Casual goodbye 14. App that lets you rate drivers 15. Clearasil target 16. “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” regular (starts with Batman’s alter ego) 18. “Now, doctor!”

19.“Evil Woman” band, for short 20. Keats wrote one to autumn 21. “Pong” maker 22. Advanced, financially 24. What sycophants do (Aquaman) 27. Gap 29. All the rage 30. Bora Bora, par exemple 31. Wilbur’s human friend 32. Acted like 34. Farm bundle 35. Golden Flashes’ Ohio school (Superman)

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ARTS & FEATURES

38. Decomposes 41. The “E” in QED 42. Words after a guess 45. Where the Alps are: Abbr.

46. ___-disant (so-called) 47. Clara Bow nickname, with “The” 49. In one’s birthday suit (Iron Man) 53. Stuffing seasoning 54. “Likewise” 55. Every last bit 56. More, in Madrid 57. In ___ of 58. Best-selling writers? (Spider-Man) 62. Menu with a Copy command 63. Charity 64. What the first letters of this puzzle’s superheroes aptly spell 65. Gillibrand and Warren: Abbr.

66. Class-conscious org.?

67. ___-Roman DOWN 1. Too 2. Bit of reading for a fortune-teller 3.Singer also known as Sasha Fierce 4. Author Rand 5. ___ Bo 6. Hawk or Raptor, briefly 7. Hospital unit 8. React to an onion 9. High-carb salad type 10. Mark Antony’s fourth wife 11. Winning again and again 12. One may move to a warmer climate 14. Language of Lahore 17. ___ Raton, Florida 21. Astern 23. Istanbul residents 25. Fictional Butler 26. Sci-fi syntax snubber 28. U-turn from SSW 32. Courtyards

33. Pro bono TV spot 34. Polar bears’ perches, for short 36. Advertising sign 37. “Sesame Street” watcher 38. Flippers’ transactions 39. Enjoying nature 40. Exchange, as an old car 43. Cat native to Thailand 44. Kind of chemistry 46. Schuss, e.g.

47. Doing nothing 48. To a smaller degree 50. Licks 51. Cosmic destiny 52. The “E” of BPOE 58. Gold miner’s vessel 59. Sometimes-creamy quaff 60. “Notorious” justice, familiarly 61. ___ for the course

Puzzle solutions are now exclusively online.

SPORTS

OCTOBER 11, 2019 | 17

SPORTS Volleyball beats Becker in straight-sets

By Liam Gambon Sports Editor The Rams’ volleyball team took on Becker at home Oct. 8.

Becker led 7-6 early in the first set, but then Framingham scored five-straight points and took the 11-7 lead.

From there, the Rams never gave up the lead again.

They won the first set 25-12, with six-straight points to finish it off.

In the second set, Framingham and Becker battled back and forth until the Rams took a 14-13 lead.

They stretched the lead all the way to the decisive score of 25-16 to win the set.

The third set was much of the same, with both teams scoring one after another.

When the game became 18-14 Rams, Brandee Thomas took over.

She recorded five of the Rams’ last six points to win the final set and the game.

Framingham bounced back from a recent 0-3 loss with this win.

Thomas said, “We tried a new lineup that actually worked better than the previous. We’ve been practicing the things we lack in games, and we have definitely seen improvement.”

Thomas led the Rams in the game with 14 kills, while also recording 12 digs.

Alyssa Cafarelli led the Rams in digs as per usual, putting up 13.

“Without Alyssa, we wouldn’t be able to create an offense,” Thomas said. “She constantly gets to every ball and all the girls on the team have full trust in her that she will make plays to continue the action of the game.”

A week after stuffing the stat sheet, freshman Hailey Sanders put up another great performance, racking up eight kills and six blocks.

“Hailey is an awesome player. I feel like she’s really starting to connect well with our setters,” Thomas said. “It’s great to have her performing well. It’s always exciting when she makes an amazing play.”

Framingham will play again Oct. 12 against Elms College.

FRAMINGHAM STATE

BECKER

3 0

CONNECT WITH LIAM GAMBON lgambon1@student.framingham.edu

Gatepost Archives

Natalie Reed sets up Brandey Rodriguez for a spike.

Women’s Soccer falls to Keene State

By Sara Senesac Asst. Sports Editor The Rams’ women’s soccer team fell to the Keene State Owls 8-0 Oct. 9.

The Owls got ahead early, scoring their first goal only nine minutes into the game. They managed to score four more times within the next 30 minutes, leaving the Rams down by five at halftime.

The Owls continued their momentum in the second half, controlling most of the play for the remainder of the game.

Mandi Dovas managed to score the first two goals of her career in a short four minutes, increasing their lead to seven early on in the second half.

Keene State secured their eighth and final goal in the 72nd minute, ending the game with a shutout.

In total, they outshot the Rams 26 to 13 by the end.

Caitlyn Our led Framingham in shots on goal with three. Madison Brown made nine saves on 17 shots.

Senior Samantha Beninati said, “We have a lot of obstacles that we need to overcome. We have many injured players. We need to be more confident in our abilities, and we need to trust each other.

“The game was rough, but it’s a good learning opportunity for us to build off,” she added.

The Rams are now 2-8-1 in the season, and 2-1-0 in the MASCAC. They travel to Westfield State to take on more Owls Oct. 12.

CONNECT WITH SARA SENESAC ssenesac@student.framingham.edu

KEENE STATE FRAMINGHAM STATE

Calen Frongillo chases down the opponent.

8 0

Gatepost Archives

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18 | OCTOBER 11, 2019

SPORTS

Carlos’ Call: NFL week 5 is one to forget

By Carlos Silva Asst. Sports Editor Green Bay got a huge win in Dallas, the Patriots and Texans played spectacularly, and the Chiefs finally received their first loss of the season. Sunday, however, did also remind us of what’s wrong with the NFL. It was definitely not a great week to showcase what the NFL has to offer. There were ugly injuries, blowouts all over the place, fumbles galore, and we can sort of already tell who the true contenders are for the Lombardi Trophy.

For someone who is extremely optimistic, there was a little bit of excitement buried under that mountain of baggage. There is still plenty of time left in the season for one or two more surprising contenders to peak their head out.

Let’s take a look at what we fully discovered after week 5 of the NFL. It is time to pump the brakes on the Daniel Jones bandwagon.

Jones won in his first two starts for the Giants after Eli Manning went down with an injury. It’s definitely a good sign when your rookie quarterback wins two games in a row.

However, that does not mean he is ready to shine in the Big Apple just yet. When going up against a tough Vikings team, Jones threw for just 182 yards and an interception while his offense scored a measly 10 points.

Week 5 can be known as the week where players forgot how to actually hold onto the football. Sunday’s early games were dominated by fumbles. There were 30 forced in the span of 10 games, 12 of which resulted in turnovers. Defenders would approach a ball-carrier with the sole purpose of punching the football out rather than going for the tackle. It’s a move that has been effective at specific moments for years, but this week it proved its value.

The NFL cannot catch a break when it comes to safety concerns.

Last week, we had the Vontaze Burfict issue that led to a full season suspension. This week, Mason Rudolph, the starting quarterback of the Steelers, took an awful helmet-to-helmet shot from Ravens’ Earl Thomas and was knocked out cold during the Steelers loss.

The NFL continued to look even worse when Rudolph was forced to walk off the field after being unconscious minutes earlier because the league did not provide the stadium with someone who knew how to drive the injury cart.

The Dolphins are not yet a lock for the No. 1 pick in the next draft.

After a few games into the season, Miami seemed like the worst team we have ever seen, but losses from the Redskins, Jets, and Bengals add more fuel to the NFL’s dumpster fire of awful teams. Fans at Redskins’ FedEx Field were even chanting Tom Brady’s name by the end of the game.

Week 6 is scheduled to include probably the sloppiest and most entertaining game of the entire season. We get to watch the Redskins and Dolphins battle it out to see who is the king of trash. Although no one is openly a fan of either team, it does not matter. The true winners will be everyone else watching these two embarrass themselves.

After an awful week 5, one thing stays true: Gardner Minshew II is, and always will be, our hero. He is the one and only thing that I found to be positive from this past week, and he will continue to do so until the end of time.

CONNECT WITH CARLOS SILVA csilva14@student.framingham.edu

Football wins shootout against the Corsairs

By Carlos Silva Asst. Sports Editor Framingham took on the UMass Dartmouth Corsairs in a MASCAC game Oct. 5.

The Corsairs started strong by capping off an 80-yard drive with a rushing touchdown by Stephen Gacioch to score UMass’ first points of the game.

The Rams were able to answer back right away with Adam Wojenski and Jacob Maher connecting for a 39-yard score to tie the game.

By halftime, the score was 26-13 after the Corsairs had scored the only 12 points of the second quarter.

The Rams proceeded to have a strong third quarter as they scored 13 unanswered points thanks to Wojenski’s 54-yard dart to Austin Nunn and Maher’s 97-yard receiving touchdown.

UMass Dartmouth quickly took the lead back just a minute into the fourth quarter on a two-yard touchdown run for Gacioch to mark his second rushing touchdown of the game.

The lead did not last very long as the Rams capped of a short seven play drive with a Wojenski touchdown pass to Elijah Nichols to tie the game 33-33 with 10:51 remaining.

After a Corsairs punt, the Rams took their first lead of the game on a four-yard run by Devaun Ford to put Framingham up 39-33 with 5:37 left.

UMass Dartmouth punted again but regained the football as their defense forced a quick four and out drive. With 2:56 left on the clock, everyone in the stadium was on the edge of their seats to watch the most important drive of the Rams’ season so far.

The Corsairs were building a strong drive and facing a fourth and 12 near the 50-yard line. Gacioch connected with Abbi Bamgbose, who was hit beyond the first-down marker, but made a critical mistake as he broke the tackle and then preceded to run at a backwards angle toward the sideline in order to rap around for a big gain. Bamgbose was stopped behind the first-down marker, which secured the victory for the Rams over the undefeated Corsairs.

Maher proved again to be the difference maker, as he had his best game of the season with five receptions for 215 yards and three touchdowns - one of which was a school record for the longest pass play in history.

Maher said, “It feels great to know that Adam and I were able to accomplish something great like that for the school, but the important thing is that we needed to win this game to continue our run for a MASCAC title.”

The Rams are now on a two-game win streak and are 2-0 in the MASCAC while carrying an overall record of 2-2.

CONNECT WITH CARLOS SILVA csilva14@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UMASS DARTMOUTH

Adam Wojenski sets up to pass.

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GATEPOST ARCHIVES

SPORTS

OCTOBER 11, 2019 | 19

Players of the week

Men’s Soccer wins back-to-back games

By Dylan Thayer Staff Writer The Framingham State Rams men’s soccer team won both of their games this week - the Saturday game versus Worcester State 2-0, and the Wednesday game versus Dean College 4-1.

On Saturday, the Rams beat the Worcester State Lancers 2-0 in a defensive match that saw both Rams goals come within a minute apart from each other.

After a first half that saw no scoring from either team, Gustavo Cassemiro put the Rams on the board to take a 1-0 lead. He dribbled past two defenders to score his sixth goal on the season.

Under a minute later, Cassemiro added to the Rams’ lead with a great pass that was redirected

by Bryant Nardizzi who gave it to Isaac De Souza for his fifth goal of the season.

The Rams were outshot 15-12 by the Lancers, but put more shots on goal 7-6, and capitalized on fouls. The Lancers committed seven more fouls than the Rams in the contest.

Goalie Corey Davidge played a great game in net for the Rams, holding the Lancers scoreless on all of their shot attempts. He has two consecutive shutouts in his last two starts against Mass.

Maritime and Worcester State.

FRAMINGHAM STATE

2 WORCESTER STATE 0 On Wednesday, in a matchup with the Dean College Bulldogs, the Rams dominated the offensive side of the ball in route to a 4-1 win. The Rams took a whopping 46 shots compared to the Bulldogs’ seven.

In the 16th minute, Cassemiro almost started the Rams scoring on a shot that had deflected off Bulldog goalie, Bryce Antoch, but it missed off the post.

Roughly 15 minutes later, Isaac De Souza scored on a great pass by Ibrahim Kyeyune. Kyeyune dribbled the ball through the left side of the defense and set De Souza up for an easy open shot to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.

After a goal six minutes later by Paulo Correia of Dean, the Rams did not put another goal on the board until the 71st minute. They had numerous shots that went wide, or were saved by Antoch, and everyone watching knew it was only a matter of time before they started to go in.

Finally, after a deep unassisted goal from Bryce Nardizzi in the 71st minute, the Rams took a 2-1 lead. Cassemiro put his seventh goal of the season in the net in the 78th minute, followed by a goal by Bryant Nardizzi to give the Rams a 4-1 lead.

The Rams’ offense was very dominant in the game, and it was evident with the difference in the number of shots between the two teams. The Bulldogs never got anything going on offense, but did make the most out of the minimal opportunities they had to score. Cassemiro led the team with 13 shots in the game. Antoch performed well under the circumstances, making 16 saves on the 20 shots the Rams put on net.

With the win over Dean, the Rams are now 6-6 on the season, including a great 3-0 MASCAC record, and they look like a much-improved team since their rocky 2-4 start to the season.

Coach Dean Nichols commended the defense after the game, saying the improvements they have made have been crucial to their success.

“We’re not turning the ball over as much as we did early on. Earlier in the season, we were gifting teams goals, but now we’re making them work much harder to score on us,” he said.

Cassemiro, the Rams’ star freshman, received the MASCAC Rookie of the Week Award for his efforts in the Worcester State 2-0 victory that kept the Rams undefeated in the conference. On the season, he now has seven goals, which is good enough for second in the MASCAC, and one goal behind the league lead. He also leads the conference with five assists and 19 points.

Coach Nichols had nothing but praise to give the new Rams star. “He’s a very dynamic player. He can basically do everything with the ball at his feet. He’s a handful for the other team to try to defend. He’s got the speed, quickness, ball skills - he really has it all,” he said.

The Rams look to continue their winning ways against Westfield State on Oct. 12.

FRAMINGHAM STATE DEAN COLLEGE

fsurams.com

Alyssa Cafarelli recorded 30 digs in Framingham’s 3-2 win against UMass Dartmouth.

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CONNECT WITH DYLAN THAYER dthayer1@student.framingham.edu

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Adam Wojenski threw for 422 yards and five touchdowns while running for 53 yards in Framingham’s 39-33 win against UMass Dartmouth.

Amanda Martin / THE GATEPOST James Hartshorn dives to make a save.

fsurams.com

Brandee Thomas put together 14 kills in Framingham’s 3-0 win agaiinst Becker.

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PHOTOS

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Natalie Augustin Cameroon, Africa Third Place (tied)

Bea Donoghue Florence, Italy Nora Ingram Paris, France Third Place (tied)

Wanderlust (n.) A strong desire or urge to travel and explore the world

Olivia Beverlie Swiss Alps FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM