The Aquilian - October 2022 - Vol. 84 No.1

The Aquilian

Carmody Down Under - The New Gym

By: Collin Smith ‘24 Contributor

If you haven’t realized there has been a lot of con struction around campus over the summer and into the first few weeks of School. One of the areas of construc tion has been the renovation of the “old gym” into a brand new performance center.

When I have shown my friends what the New Per formance Center looks like,

they are blown away by what we now have. Sheridan Per formance Center is compa rable to the ones that you would find used by Division I athletic teams.

The Performance Center houses a brand new training room allowing Ms. Penny and Mr. Reiley to optimize the recovery and treatment of Gonzaga’s Student-Athletes. Along with the training room, there is the brand new weight

room. Previously, Gonzaga had six racks in the weight room, but with the new reno vations, there are 10+ weightlifting racks. Other new addi tions include a turf strip for sled pushes and power block adjustable dumbbells. This Performance Center allows Gonzaga Students Athletes to train, compete, and recover at the highest level.

When talking with Strength Coach Taylor about

this new opportunity, he was very excited for every stu dent stating, “this is an awe some space giving everyone a place to work and to fail, I want everyone to be a bet ter person and be more sup portive.” The gym is open for both team sports and open to all students from 2:30 to 3. With the new gym being so accessible and pristine, Coach Taylor gave the mes sage that “No more excuses”

Even if you aren’t headed to the training room to lift; check out the Performance with chairs and couches to hang out with your friends.

The new Performance Center is accessible via the breeze way, lower commons bath room, and Dooley stairwell. The accessibility of the new location gives every student access. Be sure to stop by and enjoy, it’s there for YOU.

Photo by Jackson Brewer ‘24

Elections Ukraine

By: Will Prisco ‘25 Editor

In less than two months, American voters will cast their ballots to decide which political party will possess the majority in both cham bers of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. These elections are often referred to as “the midterms” because they oc cur halfway through a presi dent’s term.

The midterm elections occur on November 8, 2022, at a time when major issues are confronting America and the public is desperately looking to the government for solutions. Inflation and rising crime, especially in urban areas, are important is sues for American voters this election cycle. In addition, the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organiza tion, which ended the con stitutional right for abortion, is also on the list of priorities for voters. Additionally, cli mate change, gun violence, and massive immigration at the southern border emerge as further issues that Ameri cans want their elected repre sentatives to solve.

Currently, the Demo crats control both the House and the Senate, but barely. Democrats only have about seven more members than their rivals in the Republican party in the House of Repre sentatives. In the Senate, the Democrats have even a slim mer majority, since the Vice President often breaks ties in the evenly divided chamber.

When President Biden took office in January 2021, many predicted that the 2022 midterm elections would be a bloodbath for Democrats, due in part to the President’s low approval ratings. How ever, ever since the overturn of Roe vs. Wade in June, in addition to the most recent legislative gains by President

Biden, the midterm elections have looked more promising for Democrats. Experts now predict that the Democrats will even keep the Senate but likely will lose the House.

Of the 34 seats up for re election in the Senate, a num ber of them are appearing to be extremely competitive. Both parties predict that the Senate races in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Ohio, and North Carolina will likely decide who controls the chamber in January. In the vacant Sen ate seat of Pennsylvania, the lieutenant governor John Fet terman, a Democrat, is run ning against a Republican challenger, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who was endorsed by former President Trump. In Georgia, incumbent Democratic sena tor Ralph Warnock is run ning for his first full term; however, Republican nomi nee Herschel Walker, a for mer running back and Heis man Trophy winner, plans to challenge Senator Warnock. Arizona, Nevada, Ohio, and North Carolina are four states that are still viewed as competitive but ultimately lean toward one party. The Democratic incumbents in the Senate for Arizona and Nevada are both predicted to keep their seats in November while Senate seats for Ohio and North Carolina are ex pected to stay with the Re publican party.

As the midterm elections loom, Democrats and Repub licans are frantically attempt ing to convince the Ameri can public that their party’s candidates are a major step in moving this country for ward. While predictions are being made for each race this November, nothing is certain about the midterms except that they have the possibility to determine the political fate of the country for the near fu ture.

By: Brendan Rohde ‘24 Contributor

It has been 208 days since the Russian army invaded the nation of Ukraine. Count less lives have been lost and many cities decimated with no end in sight for this con flict. However, since The Aq uillian’s March edition, much has changed in this conflict. Three areas of the conflict I will cover are the casualty numbers for each side, the situation with the Zapor izhzhya plant, and the recent Ukrainian counteroffensive.

The word casualty in this context refers to a military person lost through death, wounds, injury, sickness, internment, or capture or through being missing in ac tion. There is much contro versy surrounding the num bers of casualties for both sides in this war. Both the Russian and Ukrainian gov ernments have put out vari ous numbers through the con flict that seem vastly over or under exaggerated depending on the source. It would seem however the most accurate sources would come from the media companies like the New York Times, who put the Russian casualties at 8090 thousand, whereas it plots the number of Ukrainian ser vice member deaths at around 9,000. Note: this information is as of August 24, 2022, and does not account for civilian deaths. This number is cer tain to change and be updated due to the continuation of the conflict.

The Zaporizhzhya NPP is a nuclear power plant located in southeastern Ukraine. This plant is the largest in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. It contains 6 nuclear reactors and powers roughly 4 million homes, according to the Guardian. Unfortunately, this plant is being used as a military base and a munitions stockpile for the Russian oc cupiers. It has a strategic location that allows it to be used as an artillery position and is heavily protected due

to its complicated plant safe ty measures, which make the plant like a fortress. The real danger of the situation can be split down into two scenari os. First, the Russian occupi ers have threatened to blow up the plant as a scare tactic; however, if they succeed in doing this it would leak cata strophic levels of radioac tive material into the air, and due to the size of the plant could affect the whole world. The second scenario is if the power supply is damaged, or the cooling mechanisms are damaged to the point where the reactors would overheat, and this too would follow the same conclusion as the sce nario above. The Internation al Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), however, is warning that the likelihood of the sec ond scenario could increase with time if the area around the plant is not demilitarized. To draw a comparison with the Chernobyl plant disaster, this would be similar, but ex ponentially worse.

In the recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have sur prised many with counteroffensives throughout the country, which have retaken swathes of formerly Russian held territory. North of Kyiv, an area that was held by Rus sian troops is no longer under their control, due to a recent counteroffensive that has ap peared to have also retaken areas north and northwest of Kharkiv where not long-ago Ukrainian forces were locked in battle with the Russian in vaders. There has been much speculation as to why this is happening; some report low morale amongst soldiers in the Russian army, others sug gest a consolidation of Rus

sian troops in the securely held Donbas and Crimea regions, and still others sug gest simply the wear on Rus sian supply lines being ha rassed and Ukrainian tactics succeeding are beginning to show. The answer seems to lie somewhere in between all three ideas; while Russian supply lines have not been entirely secure, it seems like a tactical move to regroup in areas that are better defended and have a closer proximity to the Russian border.

However, the conse quences of these Ukrainian gains are beginning to ap pear, as Vladimir Putin starts to feel the pressure of the war from Moscow. There are ru mors that the Russian presi dent is prepared to escalate the war in a variety of ways. One such way would be to draft soldiers for fighting in Ukraine; this is not impos sible if the rumors of him considering this are to be be lieved. Another way would be to follow through on his threat of using nuclear weap ons, something Mr. Putin threatened in the early stages of the war. However, this could lead to the intervention of the U.S. or perhaps greater aid from NATO countries, something that could lead to World War 3. Mr. Putin per haps could also seek addi tional aid from anti-western nations like Iran and North Korea to aid him in his socalled “special military op eration”.

In the end, no one knows how this conflict will play out; we can only specu late and make hypothetical scenarios of how this will be resolved. I just hope it will end soon.

Meet the SGA!

By: Ryan Scott ‘26 Contributor

As a new school year on Eye Street begins, a new group of students, highly regarded by their peers, take office and make up the SGA cabi net. The voice of the students lies in the hands of these six ambitious seniors, entrusted with maintaining the stability of the student body.

Benji Garland - President:

Tell me a little bit about your self:

“I have three older siblings. I’m a rugby player and a mu sician.”

Describe yourself using three words:

“Curious, excited, loving”

Can you tell me about the day-to-day responsibilities?

“You kind of write your own day-to-day responsibilities when you are president and you get to choose basically what you want to do. I have one meeting with the student government per week. Oc casional meetings with the student diversity leadership committee. I also write pro posals. My everyday num ber one priority is getting to know new people and being a positive person on campus.”

What are your goals?

“The biggest concern of stu dent government is always the culture. We have a power ful culture here, and the num ber one goal of the student government each year is to guide that power in the right direction. One of my goals this year is to set up some sort of avenue for freshmen to get quickly immersed in the community.”

Who is your favorite musical

artist? “Skkolar”

Mekhi Spriggs - Vice Presi dent:

Tell me a little bit about your self:

“Here on campus, I’m the President of Onyx, a leader on the Student Diversity Leadership Committee, the Vice President of the student body, and I also run track. Outside of school, I can be seen as a family man. Fam ily means everything to me. I also enjoy listening to music and spending time with my friends.”

Describe yourself using three words:

“Resilient, passionate, and proactive”

Can you tell me about the day-to-day responsibilities?

“My day-to-day responsibili ties as Vice President include making sure the student body is happy as a whole by plan ning & executing different activities and events. A big ger role of mine is to advo cate for those students who are facing adversity. I just want to make Gonzaga a great environment for all.” What are your goals?

“My goals are to ensure that the student body, as a whole, feels as though they’re both heard & seen. I also want to make sure that our cabinet leaves behind a positive lega cy for classes to come.”

Who is your favorite musical artist?

“My favorite artists are Drake, Lil Poppa, Rod wave, NoCap, and Hunnitbandnick. I just couldn’t pick one haha. I love music too much.”

Aidan Bond - Communica tions Director:

Tell me a little bit about your self:

“I’m on swim and dive, wa ter polo, Gonzagafest retreat team, and student govern ment. I’ve always been the kind of guy who tries to do as much as possible.”

Describe yourself using three words:

“Gritty, loving, and hardworking”

Can you tell me about the day-to-day responsibilities?

It’s a lot of communicat ing with the student body and having the student body communicate with me. One of my biggest responsibilities is running Instagram.

What are your goals?

“Not the entire student body has social media, and it shouldn’t be the only way we communicate. This year, I’m trying to use different forms of communication, such as sending out more class emails, using flyers, and more WZAG announce ments.”

Who is your favorite musical artist?

“Baby Keem and Olivia Ro drigo”

Drew Hartman - Gonzagaf est Chair:

Tell me a little bit about your self:

“I’m from Alexandria Virgin ia. I have a sister and a yel low lab dog. I love playing soccer and board games.”

Describe yourself using three words:

“Competitive, friendly, moti vated”

Can you tell me about the day-to-day responsibilities?

“My roles go out into the school community. I’m mak ing sure that everything runs smoothly in the school. I’m a voice for the students with the faculty as well as my role being with Gonzagafest.”

What are your goals?

“This year, we’re trying to make Gonzagafest as fun as possible. We want to make sure that everybody has a great time.”

Who is your favorite musical artist?

“J Cole”

Tad Clifton - Representa tive to Campus Ministry:

Tell me a little bit about your self:

“I’m from Annapolis, Mary land. I’m in SGA and I’m heavily involved with Cam pus ministry. I’m in a number of clubs. I’ll be the chairman of the freshman retreat this year. I play rugby and I’m captain of the swim and dive team. I like to sail in my free time.”

Describe yourself using three words:

“I don’t know about three words, but I have a baby shark backpack to remind others not to take themself so seriously. I love to remind people that school is not only a place to learn, but also to have fun.”

Can you tell me about the day-to-day responsibilities?

“In the morning I walk into campus ministry and see if they need anything from stu dent government or if student government needs anything from them. You get to know the campus ministers re ally well and the teachers in SGA.”

FBI Raid at Mar-a-Lago

By: Jackson Baldrate ‘23 Editor-In-Chief

The FBI’s raid of former President Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago has sparked debate across the nation. There have been calls for Trump to be in dicted because of his possession of national security secrets, and there have been claims that the FBI should be abolished, as some view it as a corrupt insti tution out to get former Presi dent Trump. In this whirlwind of accusations and misinforma tion, let’s get down to the facts.

In January of 2022, the National Archives and Records Admin istration retrieved 15 boxes of documents from Mar-a-Lago.

While this was not particularly

unusual, an alarm was sounded within the agency because the boxes contained 150 classified documents that Trump should have turned over when he left the White House. The agency alerted the Department of Jus tice, who immediately began an investigation. After a review of the information, the DOJ alert ed Trump and his attorneys that the DOJ was investigating the missing documents. Trump’s at torneys indicated that he would comply with any subpoena and turn over all necessary docu ments. However, a mole within Trump’s circle allegedly alerted the FBI that the former presi dent was withholding docu ments and information. This led

to the DOJ getting a warrant to search the premises of Mar-aLago, and it culminated in the eventual raid on August 8th. During the raid, the DOJ found sets of confidential, secret, and top secret documents, including some that were allegedly for eign nuclear secrets.

Now that the raid is over and the FBI has seized the docu ments, the issue has largely tran sitioned to the legality of Trump possessing the documents that were found at Mar-a-Lago. Fol lowing the raid, Trump claimed that he declassified all of the documents, and he added that the president can declassify documents “just by thinking about it.” However, members

of Trump’s party and multiple examples of legal precedent suggest that is not the case. In fact, a 2009 executive order ac tually outlines the process for declassifying documents for all government officials, including the president. However, while the alleged declassification of these documents has drawn lots of media attention, it actually bears very little importance to the issue at hand because none of the three criminal laws in the DOJ’s warrant are contingent on the documents being classified. Rather, they concern whether the documents were improperly being held and concealed by Trump at Mar-a-Largo. From here, the DOJ will continue its

What are your goals?

“My main focus is the fresh man retreat and getting fresh men settled into Gonzaga.”

Who is your favorite musical artist?

“Billy Joel”

August van GeertruydenSocial Coordinator: Tell me a little bit about your self:

“My main focus here at Gon zaga has been clubs. I’m the president of four clubs. The biggest club I’m president of is Model UN. I’m also part of Mock Trial, Classics Club, and Tabletop.”

Describe yourself using three words:

“There for you”

Can you tell me about the day-to-day responsibilities?

“The technical definition of the Social Coordinator is the person that manages the dances, but that’s really what all of the SGA does. One of the things I want to focus on is clubs and enhancing club life at Gonzaga. Also finan cially supporting clubs and making sure that they get to do what they want to do.”

What are your goals?

“One of the things I want to focus on is clubs and en hancing club life at Gonzaga. Also, financially supporting clubs and making sure that they get to do what they want to do.”

Who is your favorite musical artist?

“Imagine Dragons”

investigation now that a federal appeals court overturned a dis trict court ruling that put a tem porary hold on the DOJ’s access to the classified documents. So for now, the legal battles will continue to play out in court, and the DOJ will continue con ducting its investigation into the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. If the DOJ decides to indict Trump, they have said that they will likely wait until after the November midterms before announcing any charges. One thing is fore sure: the dra ma surrounding this latest epi sode is far from over.

Inside the Mississippi Water Crisis

By: Teddy Friesz ‘24 Editor

The city of Jackson, Mis sissippi just experienced one of the worst drinking water shortages of modern times, with roughly 150,000 of the city’s 164,000 residents left without access to clean drinking water. The immedi ate cause of the crisis was a series of severe storms that caused the Pearl River to flood. These floods, in turn, forced the city to permanent ly suspend the water treat ment operations of its largest plant, the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant. However,

the events of the past month were preceded by some tell tale signs that the city of Jackson’s water treatment system was unequipped to handle intense weather.

In 2010, a winter storm overwhelmed Jackson’s wa ter treatment system and caused a widespread outage.

In February 2021, Jackson’s water treatment system was once again overwhelmed by a winter storm, and this time the effects were more widespread than in 2010. The 2021 crisis lasted for ap proximately one month, and a significant number of resi dents were left without clean

drinking water. In the follow ing months, Jackson’s water treatment infrastructure, and the Curtis Plant in particular, continued to deteriorate. By July 2022, the Curtis plant was working from backup pumps, and the city’s infra structure was not prepared for the coming storms. On September 15, after nearly a month of water outages, Governor Reeves announced that clean water had been re stored to the city of Jackson.

A number of political an alysts and outside observers have posited that the recent crisis is the result of environ mental racism, claiming that

the state has allocated dispro portionately little money to the city of Jackson compared to other areas in the state, due to the city’s high AfricanAmerican population. Some commentators have cited the fact that Governor Reeves held press conferences on the water crisis without inviting the mayor of Jackson, Chok we Antar Lumumba, as proof that Mississippi’s largelywhite, largely-Republican legislature has been ignoring the views of African Ameri cans on issues that most af fect them.

Other commentators have asserted that rather than

College Football Preview

By: Max Diaz ‘24 Editor

College football season is back and with coaching changes, transfers, NIL, re cruits, etc., it is poised to be a good one.

Team Previews: Alabama Crimson TideThis year will be no differ ent. They are Alabama, plus they have Young and Ander son, they will make the CFP again.

Georgia Bulldogs- The de fending champs. Had an amazing season last year, but lost a lot of their stars on de fense. But, so far this year, it seems like they are still a title-worthy team, CFP again. Ohio State Buckeyes - Star running back and every wide receiver that a QB could ask for, they will make the CFP. USC Trojans - USC is poised to make some noise in 2022 with their new three-headedmonster (Riley, Williams, Addison). Due to their domi

nating offense, led by Gonza ga alum, Caleb Williams, and not a lot of major threats in the Pac-12, I think that USC will sneak their way into the CFP.

Miami Hurricanes - With Cristobal at the helm, the next few years for the Canes look bright both with culture, recruiting, and coaching. But, this year, due to a disappoint ing WR core, injuries, and a new staff, a NY6 bowl could be possible.

Michigan Wolverines - Final ly made the playoffs last year, but lost their OC and some players on D. They will do well this year, but just being Michigan under Harbaugh and their QB carousel, they will not go to the CFP again.

Texas Longhorns - Had a down year last year, but should be better this year. They might make a NY6 bowl because of Robinson at RB, but no CFP due to the Ewers injury .

Florida Gators - The Ga tors had a bad season last

year and I think that Napier isn’t going to change much this year. UF and Richardson showed their true colors after they lost to UK. They will go to a low bowl.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish - They were overrated like every year, but this time they made it even worse with a terrible hire at DC. Better luck next year.

LSU Tigers - They lost to FSU… better luck next year.

FSU Seminoles - Overrated

New Coaches Performance Ratings:

The Good: Lincoln Riley (USC): 8.5/10

Mario Cristobal (UM): 7.5/10

Kalen DeBoer (UW): 7.5/10

Brent Venables (OU): 7.5/10

The Bad/Average:

Dan Lanning (UO): 6/10

Joey McGuire (TTU): 5.5/10

Tony Elliott (UVA): 5/10

Billy Napier (UF): 4.5/10

The Ugly:

Brian Kelly (LSU): 3/10

Brent Pry (VT): 2.5/10

Marcus Freeman (ND): 2/10

Heisman: Caleb Wil liams (Ri ley has pro duced 2, has a star receiv er, has mo bility, and is great at tak ing control)

CJ Stroud (Has like 10 5-star WRs, I think that he is over rated)

Bryce Young (Great player, but would need to have like a Burrow type season to pull an Archie Griffin)

Will Anderson Jr. (Deserves to win a Heisman, but they would never give it a defen sive player)

HM: Michael Pe nix Jr. (Very un derrated player, but his team won’t make the CFP, so he can be a finalist at best)

NY6 Bowls and CFP: Orange Bowl: Mi ami Hurricanes/ Wake Forest De mon Deacons/NC State Wolfpack (W) vs Michigan Wolverines

being the result of systemic racism, the water crisis was actually the result of local government failure. These commentators point out that Jackson has long had a short age of city staff and that they had adequate time to prepare a response since the earlier crisis in 2021, but they none theless failed to do so.

Others have pointed to climate change as the root cause of the water crisis, claiming that the storms that occurred in August would be considered unusual by histor ical standards and that their severity was exacerbated by rising CO2 levels.

Cotton Bowl: Tennessee Vol unteers (W) vs Clemson Ti gers/Texas Longhorns/OSU Cowboys

Rose Bowl: Washington Hus kies (W) vs Penn State Nit tany Lions

Sugar Bowl: Kentucky Wild cats vs Oklahoma Sooners (W)

Fiesta Bowl (CFP Semi): (1) Georgia Bulldogs (W) vs (4) USC Trojans

Peach Bowl (CFP Semi): (2) Ohio State Buckeyes vs (3) Alabama Crimson Tide (W)

Championship: (1) Georgia Bulldogs vs (3) Alabama Crimson Tide (W)\ Reason: Even though I don’t want them to, Alabama just has too many stars.

SGA Class Representative Election Returns

By: Ryan Scott ‘26 Contributor

Over the course of a week in mid-September, sopho mores and upperclassmen be gan their campaigns for SGA class representative. Dozens of students compete for ten sought-for positions and ex haust every resource they have to get their name out to their fellow classmates. Any student on social media can surely recall being followed on Instagram by a candidate. 43 students attended the SGA meeting on September 19th,

and 23 sophomores ran for class representative. With this many students interested in representing their class, the SGA elections could not be more competitive. These SGA members vary from each grade other than fresh man, to represent the student body.

But what exactly are the responsibilities of a class representative? Class repre sentatives basically are the advocates of their class and the main voice to the SGA. When a student has a request

or a concern with something at Gonzaga, they can go through their class represen tative to make changes. Class representatives can work on things like fun activities for students, to long lunch lines. Nonetheless, representatives have a daily impact on stu dent life at Gonzaga. A rep resentative has the power to make the year a great one and to advocate for the needs of the students to create more fun events, and make the ex isting ones even more fun.

The representative elec

tions on September 23 intro duced 10 new representatives to the Gonzaga SGA.

Sophomore class repre sentatives: Anderson Hoff man and Anderson Harlor Sophmore cabinet assistants (applied position): Luke Cousins and Lucas Abrantes Junior class representatives: Mikey Williams and Richie Pineda

Junior secretaries (ap plied position): Patrick Pri sios and Finn Mooney Senior class representa tives: Jack Teuschl and An

thony Castiello

Each of these members elected to a demanding posi tion by their peers will surely have a year to remember ahead of them. Students can go through the rest of the year knowing that these esteemed students have their backs and are here to help in any way they can. Good luck to the SGA throughout the rest of the year!

Liz Truss Becomes British Prime Minister

By: Michael Bicksel ‘25 Contributor

Out with the old, in with the new. That’s what they say, right? Either way, Bo ris Johnson, the UK’s Prime Minister for all of three years, left 10 Downing Street early September. Boris went out with a bang, finding him self smack in the middle of countless scandals encom passing everything from par ties he threw during Covid (which, by the way, resulted in a fine from the Met police in London) to allegations of having hired a known sexual predator.

Like him or hate him, Liz

Truss, his successor, is likely to mark continuity with Bo jo’s government. As the party went up in flames, leading to the resignations of count less ministers (including her competitor, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak), she stuck around as foreign sec retary. Still, she’s got a full plate: a cost-of-living crisis, sky-high gas prices, countryravaging union strikes, and work shortages (just to name a few). It’s worth knowing who she is, where she’s from, and what kind of leader she’ll be.

Born to an up-scale fam ily in Oxford, Liz plainly de

Gonzaga Football

By: James Cuthberson ‘24 Contributor

After a disappointing sea son last year, the Gonzaga football team has been writ ten off as a non-intimidating opponent within the WCAC. But after a 3-1 start to the season, the football team has started out very strong.

The team has gone through workouts all summer and a tough training camp be fore the season. Not to men tion, they went to Mercers burg, Pennsylvania to spend a week together practicing, bonding, and developing as a team. All this preparation has led up to this season, and the team is determined to come away with a winning record.

Coach Trivers, com monly referred to as “Coach

T,” has brought a completely new mindset to the team. He has manifested the idea of becoming a “house of bricks” to his players and coaching staff. This analogy serves to represent how the team needs to be tough and strong to avoid losing to other teams.

The football team, at this point, has been conditioned like no other team and has developed this sense of be coming a “house of bricks.” Coach T has also positively changed much of the way the team prepares for the season during the workouts, training camp, and practices.

With all of this, the team still has a lot of work that has to be done to become suc cessful this season.

fined herself as a left-winger. Older and more moderate, she made the move to join ranks with the Liberal Demo crats, the UK’s moderate if left-of-center party. During her time as a Lib Dem, she worked to legalize cannabis, abolish the monarchy, and re lax penalties for petty crimes. She read Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at Ox ford (like Boris Johnson, Ri shi Sunak, David Cameron, Theresa May, etc. etc.), and she soon switched to run as a run-of-the-mill Conservative in the Toryshires of the UK’s underbelly. Her time as a Lib Dem has certainly damaged

her reputation among Con servatives (especially in the early years of her political career), though she has re branded herself as a sensible, dare-I-say populist, capital-C Conservative.

That leads us right up to now. Liz has had a relatively quiet political career, hav ing slowly but methodically risen through the ranks dur ing the last twelve years of Conservative Party rule. She stayed close to Boris as he triumphed in 2019 and de livered Brexit in 2020; she similarly kept her distance when he fell apart last year. One can imagine she’ll do

much the same now as PM. She’s promised to cut taxes and slash welfare spending, all in the hope of ending the many crises facing the UK today. I’m sure she’ll make many more promises (as will her new competitor, Labour leader Keir Starmer), and we’ve yet to see whether they will pan out. Her and Boris’s backgrounds stand in stark contrast to one another, and only time will tell how that will affect her premiership. But if there’s one thing for certain, it’s that Boris is out, and Liz is in.

Gonzaga Water Polo

By: Matthew Kennedy ‘22 Contributor

Chop wood carry water. A zen saying that Mr. Pugliese, the new head of the program, uses to remind players to “be fully present” throughout the season and to do the “simple things humbly and consis tently” to help them achieve greatness.

“Every year, our goal is to win Easterns,” Mr. Pug liese says. “That’s our cham pionship.” However, this year he wants the team to “get more excited about all the other games,” and change the “only one game matters” mentality from years past.

This mentality change is part of his plan to “revital ize the culture” of the pro gram after it took a hit with the covid year. The culture change began immediately with a training trip the team took to California in August. The team put in hard work,

attending clinics with the for mer number one player in the world, Albert Español, and practicing multiple times a day.

Yet, the team still had time to experience the cul ture in and around the Bay Area. The team visited Muir Woods, several beaches, and ate great food from mul tiple cuisines. Mr. Pugliese believes that the hard work the players put in along with bonding with each other in a new environment helped “[build] a team camarade rie” that will carry on for the coming years.

of the players in the water polo program are “trying to master something new with out a lot of models for it.” He wants to help the team reach that same level of love and appreciation of the game that players of other sports have.

Mr. Pugliese is particu larly excited about the ju niors and seniors “taking leadership seriously, setting the tone,” and taking own ership of the team. He loves what they have done so far and hopes that future classes do the same.

He believes that this group is capable of winning Easterns for the second time in program history, and he can’t wait to see what they achieve this season.

On the other hand, most

Another one of Mr. Pug liese’s goals is to “help ev eryone be a lot more in love with the game.” He notices how people who play other sports “grow up saturated in those sports” and how they “watch them on TV and have posters of their favorite play ers.”

Ranking The WCAC Student Sections

By: Jackson Brewer 24 Editor

It’s football season, and that brings the question; What makes a good student section?

It has to be a mix of vol ume, creativity of chants, unique themes, and absolute rowdiness. There are a cou ple schools that I have no ex perience with, and therefore can’t rank. These include Holy Cross, Elizabeth Se ton, the Heights, St Mary’s Ryken, and surprisingly Bishop Mcnamara. There are schools I have limited expe rience with like the Heights, and so they go unranked also. St Mary’s Ryken is so far away from pretty much every other school, it is hard to rank their student section as well. That being said, let's rank the student sections.

8. Bishop Ireton

I tried to put you guys higher; I really did. The WCAC has huge rivalries that all students hype up, including Gonzaga vs St Johns and Paul VI vs Bishop O’Connel, but Ireton doesn’t have a huge rivalry with a specific school. Ireton is

part of the group of Virginia schools that haven't cracked the top-tier in football, I'm not sure they are allowed to go to away games.

7. Archbishop Carroll Carroll’s in a weird place for me. I see them similarly to the Heights, as I don’t know much about their sup port at home games and at other sports, but I was im pressed by the turnout at the Gonzaga vs Carroll football game at Gonzaga. It's not like they were insanely loud or anything, but Gonzaga is a hard place to get to for most away fans, and the turnout impressed me. I still can’t put them any higher than this, but I thought they earned their spot on the list and above Ire ton because of their impres sive away game turnout on Eye Street.

6. St. John's

For a school that's basi cally sponsored by Under Armor and holds sports to a higher standard than NASA holds safety, you’d think they’d have a bigger and bet ter student section. But alas, at every game Gonzaga plays St. John’s, it doesn’t mat

ter the sport or the location, Gonzaga has the numbers. The other WCAC rivalry fea tures two schools with more evenly matched hype groups, but St. Johns has a tough time bringing the numbers to big games. Specifically, at a home basketball game vs Gonzaga in early 2022, I don’t try to hate St. John’s student section; I like when the team opposing Gonzaga has a great student section. That makes me more excited and in turn makes the game more exciting, but St. John’s ends up standing quietly at number six.

5. Good Counsel

Good Counsel is a clas sic example of overestima tion. I find they only cheer when their team has success, and in a game or sport where they are overmatched, they show up but stand quietly. I have been to Gonzaga foot ball, basketball, and lacrosse games where the Eagles are completely overmatched and it isn’t their day, but Gonza ga's student section does two things. They stay loud, and they stay the whole game. Good Counsel doesn't check

these boxes. Even when they are winning, they don’t com pare to the big sections in the WCAC.

4. DeMatha

4 through 2 are very close for me, but I ended up decid ing that this is where De Matha fits best. DeMatha has very good fans, but I think their actual STUDENT sec tion is a bit overrated. The massive crowds that De Matha draws are impressive, but I can't verify the student/ fan ratio. Despite this, I have been impressed by both their student section and their fans in general, and they earned a spot in the top tier of WCAC student sections.

3. Paul VI PVI will travel for away games, and they have an IN SANELY heated rivalry with another school that will be talked about later. PVI has impressed me several times in the past with things I have seen online, and they also have been the only school that has done a cheer that has seriously impressed me when going against Gonzaga. But PVI loses points because of their lackluster attendance at

Random Reel Recs #1 - Fargo

By: Dalton Enright, '24 Contributor

For my first Random Reel Rec of the school year, I wanted to pick something that most kids our age would not be culturally aware of or familiar with. I compiled a list of movies that I think are unique and interesting enough for most of us stu dents to watch without really knowing what we would be in for. The movie I decided on for this month’s issue was Fargo (1996). Fargo, created by the famous Coen brothers, tells the story of a pathetic Minnesotan, Jerry Lunde gaard (William H. Macy), who hires two sketchy crimi nals (Steve Buschemi and Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife for ransom from her wealthy father. The good hearted police chief, Marge Gunderson (Frances McDor mand), is out to solve these crimes.

Fargo has a very unique and distinct aesthetic. Being set in Fargo, North Dakota and Brainerd, Minnesota, there are plenty of beautiful shots of the white, winterous abyss of Midwestern Ameri

ca; that same white hellscape where the crimes of the story take place. The shots are very eerie, especially at night, and seeing what the deso late, seemingly never ending roads of the snow covered land are surrounded by, it’s no wonder that a story like this could take place in such an isolated area.

That endless, cold, frosty

region is the perfect set ting for the story being told, which is a very violent one, frequently filled with bloody, gory, barbarity that is un expected and cringeworthy. There is an odd contrast be tween the humor of the char acters and the gruesome acts they commit, which makes the film constantly entertain ing to watch, as you never know what someone will do next. Fargo is very hu morous and is certainly a type of black com edy; some of the best comedy is when the characters employ some form of the hu morous Minneso tan/Mid west accent.

The local

terms, “oh yeah!”, “oh

deary,” and “you betcha,” are repeated probably one thou sand times throughout the runtime, clearly for come dic effect, and it surprisingly works. It is very funny and quotable. The other dialogue is good too and the characters talk like normal people hav ing relatable conversations. This helps the audience re late to and sympathize with these horrible people, who are out to do horrible things. As much as you hate what Jerry stands for and what he’s doing, there are times where the writing and the acting convince you to feel sorry for him and sympathize with his stress.

The characters in this sto ry are always being pushed to their breaking point. They are all trying very hard to reach their own goals, and those goals often conflict with each other, leading to violence and ultimately an eruption of the always building tension. The characters’ plans go down the drain and they are always being forced to adapt, often ending in lots of chaos and suspense.

The most important mo

big games, and the fact that they call their student section the sixth man. You guys do realize that makes no sense when cheering on football? I digress.

2. Bishop O’Connell

O’Connell has a good student section. I’m not afraid to say it. Now that’s out of the way, let's see why the Knights are not number one. #1: Yelling the OOOOO during the national anthem.

I don’t care if you think it's cool. It’s lame. #2: No mem orable chants. O’Connell is ahead of PVI because of their size and noise, but they say "DJO" too much. , and it hon estly makes me laugh.

1. Gonzaga Nuff said. Gonzaga com pares nationally with the huge student sections in the south and midwest. The strengths of the Gonzaga Student sec tion: how well they travel, the best hype squad in the country, and, of course, the tradition of taking the tarps off. The traditions and hype are unmatched, there's no real comparison, and number one shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone.

tivation behind all of these messed up human beings is money, which is an all too common theme. When you realize the lengths to which these people are willing to go, the story gives you a lot to think about and has lots of meaning; it paints a picture of how truly vile and despicable people can become when their own selfish greed takes over their minds and relation ships. People are willing to chop others up in woodchip pers, shoot them in the face, strangle them, punch them, axe murder them, all for the love of that green paper.

Without spoiling too much of the enthralling story, Fargo has a great climax and an incredibly tense, disturb ing ending that provides clo sure on all of the plots and on all of the characters throughout the ever winding story. If you en joy crime thrillers with a bit of humor, without sacrific ing the vicious and sadistic portrayal of the nature of hu man greed and excess, Fargo is definitely worth a watch.

NFL Overreactions

By: Andrew Lavella '24 Editor

Bengals are going to struggle: The Bengals have not gotten out to the hottest start much like the Chiefs last year, so what is the re lation? They both lost in the Super Bowl, the Super Bowl hangover is as real of an NFL theory as it gets. When you get to the big game and lose, the next year is just harder. You were right there and couldn't bring it home, in the past teams who lose in the Super Bowl have started poorly. The Bengals simply need time to realize it won't be a cakewalk back to the playoffs for them. Expect a big resurgence in the weeks to come.

The Detroit Lions are for real: Fresh off a big win against the Commanders (3627) the Detroit Lions are get ting as much hype as anyone. I myself am a Lions fan, and have never seen any love for my team quite like this. The hype is all over the NFL me

dia, big names such as The Pride of Detroit asking the question “Is it too far to think that the Lions could win their division this year.” For con text the Pride of Detroit is about as pessimistic of an outlet as it gets. So the ques tion is, is it too much to think?

The answer is of course it is, The Lions are only in year 2 of the Dan Cambell era and there are still lots of ques tions to be answered. Right now it's too much to say De troit could legitimately chal lenge any more than a 6th or 7th seed, if that.

Tua and the Dolphins offense: Although this new high flying Dolphins offense looks great, getting called a top 5 offense is simply too soon. In their game against Baltimore they looked explo sive and already top 5 how ever, just a week ago they somewhat struggled against the Patriots defense which is as deprived of talent as it has been in the past 20 years. They are only 2 weeks into a

new system and although it will look like a top 5 offense some weeks it will be hot and cold. The talent is there but in just year one there will be bumps in the road and that simply isn’t what a top 5 of fense in the NFL does in to day’s game.

The Packers are in Trouble: The NFL has seen few QBs better than the likes of Aaron Rodgers. He is on another level. As a 4 time AllPro and a 4 time MVP he just needs time. Losing a Hall of Fame WR in Davente Adams is no slouch, Rodgers will need time. When questioned about the offense moving for ward Rodgers went as far as to say, R-E-L-A-X. They had a bad time in Minnesota and there is no doubt about it but the Hall of Famer will right the ship. Give him time to adjust and heed his advice R-E-L-A-X, the Packers will be back in the playoffs in no time.

Caleb Williams Update

By: Robby DeFrancesco ‘24 Contributor

As many of you know, Caleb Williams was an amazing football player here on Eye Street. The magical 2018 football season will be remembered forever. Caleb was the starting quarterback and the backbone of the 2018 Eagle’s offense. He finished the 2018 regular season with 1,685 passing yards, fourteen touchdown passes, and only four interceptions. In addi tion to his contributions in the air, he also rushed for 230 yards and eight touchdowns. Caleb then went on to have a magical playoff with an upset victory over St. Johns, and who could forget the WCAC championship against De Matha? With three lead changes in the last sixty sec onds of the game, Gonzaga found themselves down with less than twenty seconds left. Forced to throw a hail mary, Caleb hurled the ball from Gonzaga’s forty-yard line. The ball not only reached the end zone, but it looked as if he threw it over the goal posts. Thank God it did stay in as receiver John Marshall would catch the ball to win Gonzaga the championship!

Caleb would go on to only

play four games his junior year and opted out entirely from his senior season. He finished his high school ca reer as a 5-star athlete ranked as the 2nd best quarterback in his class (per 247 Sports).

He had offers to play for all of the big contenders in college football including Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio State. He finally committed to Oklahoma where he did not start at the beginning of the season. He was fighting for the top spot with early Heis man favorite Spencer Rat tler. Rattler’s early struggles gained Caleb the opportunity to play for the remainder of the season. Caleb fin ished his freshman year with 1,912 yards, 21 touchdowns, and again only four picks. It seemed as if Oklahoma would be Caleb’s home until the NFL eventually called, but offseason controversy quickly squashed that dream. Caleb’s head coach at Okla homa, Lincoln Riley, decided to leave for the University of Southern California. When Coach Riley left, he brought with him recruits previously committed to Oklahoma and transfers. There were multi ple rumors on whether Caleb was going to stay a Sooner or

follow his coach to the sun ny beaches of the Trojans. Over the summer, Caleb an nounced his transfer to USC with many speculating if he and Coach Riley could revive the once historic program.

Let’s just say that Coach Riley and Caleb have not disappointed. In his first sea son with the Trojans, he has led them to the current rank of #7 in the college football rankings. Many believe they could make the College Foot ball Playoff, which would make them the highest-rank ing USC team since 2008. High expectations for Caleb Williams, but many believe that he will not only meet them but exceed them. There is a high chance we see him play on Sundays someday soon.

MLB Playoffs

By: Sam Galupo '23 Editor

Wild Card Round:

Braves (4) vs. Padres (5)

The defending world champs have their hands full with Juan Soto and San Diego in the first round. Luckily for the Braves, Spencer Strider and Max Fried should be able to neutralize this Padres squad which has under-per formed after a blockbuster trade deadline; it also doesn’t help that their franchise shortstop Fernando Tatis is suspended. Braves move on. Cardinals (3) vs. Phillies (6)

This should be a close series that goes all three games; nevertheless, the Phillies have the more complete team, and Aaron Nola and Zach Wheeler will be tough to beat in this short series format. The Phillies move on.

Blue Jays (4) vs. Rays (5)

Even though Toronto has failed to live up to their best-record-in-the-Ameri can-League expectations, they are still well-positioned to make a deep run. Get ting George Springer back, coupled with Bo Bichette finally heating up, should be just enough to get by Tampa.

Jays move on.

Guardians (3) vs. Mariners (6)

Seattle will finally end their playoff drought, but they will have the tough task of playing Cleveland in the first round. The Guardians have great pitching, but slugger Jose Ramirez is not enough to get by a balanced Seattle roster featuring pitcher Luis Castillo and burgeoning superstar Julio Rodriguez. Mariners move on. Divisional Round: Dodgers (1) vs. Braves (4)

This rematch of the NLCS last year might feature this year’s two top teams. Both the Dodgers and Braves have elite pitching and great lineups. With that being said, Los Angeles’ three-headed monster of Betts, Turner, and Freeman will simply be too much to handle. This will go five games, but the Dodgers move on.

Mets (2) vs. Phillies (6) The Mets have owned the Phillies all year. Even though Philly has the better lineup, having to face both Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom in a short series is not fair.

Mets advance in four. Astros (1) vs. Blue Jays (4) Even though the Astros have the much better record, this series is going to be a dog fight. Both of these squads have all-stars around the dia mond and on the mound, but Houston is hungry to prove that 2017 was not a fluke. Altuve and Verlander will shine, and the Astros take the series in five.

Yankees (2) vs. Mariners (6) What Aaron Judge is doing right now is historic; howev er, don’t let his Triple Crown season distract from the fact that New York has been abys mal since the All Star Break. Luis Castillo and J-Rod will upset the Yankees, taking the series in four.

Championship Series: Dodgers (1) vs. Mets (2) Los Angeles and New York have both dominated the regular season, so it seems inevitable that they would face off here. Obviously both teams are loaded, so it will be a tight series. Despite this, like the series with Philadel phia, the Mets’ pitching is close to unbeatable. Unfor tunately for Dave Roberts’ Dodgers, they’ll fall short of their World Series aspirations once again.

Astros (1) vs. Mariners (6) This is where the Mariners run comes to an end. Hous ton has too much talent, and they are simply just the better team. With that being said, Seattle has a bright future, and Julio Rodriguez is poised to be a top 10 talent in base ball next year.

World Series:

Mets (2) vs. Astros (1) Both Houston and New York have top pitching staffs, so this series will depend on which offense can squeak out more runs. Comparing the lineups, New York doesn’t have much fire power outside of Lindor and Alonso. With Bregman, Altuve, and Alaza rez, Houston’s offense should be enough. Even without the “assistance” of trash cans, the Astros will return to the top and win the 2022 World Series.

New Teachers and Staff At Gonzaga!

By: Billy Cannon ‘24 Editor Jackson Brewer ‘24 Editor

Mr. Steve Breit

Asst Dirt of Coll Counseling

Hometown: Port Jefferson, NY

What made you want to come to Gonzaga? I’ve known Mr. Gallagher for a long time, I also love how Gonzaga is a Jesuit high school that embraces its urban identity as opposed to running from it.

Favorite part of Gonzaga so far? How welcoming and strong the community has been.

What is your favorite part about your job? Getting to talk about college with kids. Any fun facts? I was a distance runner at Fordham University, and I coached basketball for 23 years at both St. Frances Academy & Loyola Blakefield.

Dr. Colleen Karchunas

Assistant Director of Cam pus Ministry

Hometown: Greenville, SC

What is your favorite part about your job? Creating re lationships with the students, whether that be through re treats or organizing masses. Any fun facts? I played col lege basketball at the Uni versity of Dallas.

Mr. Andrew Curtin ‘01 Social Studies Teacher, GDA Co-Director

Hometown: Alexandria, VA

What made you want to come back to Gonzaga? I learned a lot here, and the chance to come back and teach at a place where I learned a lot was a great opportunity. I also really like the Ignatian approach to education, and teaching students how to think, not what to think.

Favorite class/teacher while you were at Gonzaga? Ms. Sanders put me on the path to becoming a history teach er. I also loved Mr. L’Etoile for English and Mr. Buckley for AP Stats.

Mr. Greg Ladd

Math Teacher, Assistant Var sity Football Coach

Hometown: Danvers, MA

Favorite part of Gonzaga so far? Seeing the excitement of the students outside of the classroom, as well as my interactions with them.

Any fun facts? I’m a huge New England sports fan, es pecially the Patriots and Red Sox. Also, my grandfather was a Congressman for the state of Massachusetts.

Mr. Derek Morton Senior Director of Technol ogy & Information Systems

Hometown: Pittsburgh, PA

What made you want to come to Gonzaga? I transi tioned out of a long career in corporate technology when my youngest son graduated college. Because of this, I wanted to work somewhere I could give back what I had learned in my experiences.

Favorite part of Gonzaga so far? The electricity. I had taught at Sheridan School, which is K-8, before, and I’m a big fan of the larger environment.

Mr. Carlos Salinas

French/Spanish Teacher

Hometown: Miami, FL

Favorite part of Gonzaga so far? I love the community, I feel faculty, staff and stu dents are warm, welcoming and respectful.

Any fun facts? I have lived in six, and traveled more than thirty countries. I love dancing and learning about other cultures

Mr. Joe Nardella Science Teacher

Hometown: Scranton, PA

Favorite part of Gonzaga so far? The sense of commu nity. I’ve only been here a few weeks but I feel like I’ve been here a lot longer.

Any fun facts about your self? I have double-jointed thumbs, and I’ve met Kevin from The Office.

Any fun facts? I play gui tar, I lead the contemporary choir at my church, and I’m a diehard Washington sports fan.

Ms. Sonia Salas-Vilches Spanish Teacher

Hometown: Barcelona, Spain

Favorite part of Gonzaga so far? The students, and how polite they are.

Favorite thing about teach ing Spanish? I like how it provides a great opportunity to students, and it is a useful skill for later life.

Favorite hobby? I like swim ming.

What is your favorite part about your job? When working at a large business, you’re not always able to see the results of your work, but at Gonzaga, I see results every day.

Any fun facts about your self? I’m a huge Steelers fan, and I also helped produce a documentary called Deeds Not Words

Mr. Martin Mendoza Network Operations Center

Mr. Danny Brosnan Advancement/Religion

Hometown: Fairfax, VA

What made you want to come to Gonzaga? I met the Jesuits during my under grad years and later when I recruited for my alma mater, Wheeling Jesuit University

I really fell for the Jesuit mission when I returned to work for Wheeling, and sub consciously was hoping to someday return to working for a Jesuit school.

Favorite part of Gonzaga so far? The people and the his tory. It makes you feel part of something big.

Any fun facts? I started teaching a religion class this semester and I’m really enjoying it.

Ms, Karenja Chandara Business Office

Hometown: Columbia, MD Columbia, MD

What made you want to come to Gonzaga? Gonzaga allowed me to combine my love for education while working in finances.

Favorite part of Gonzaga?

The sense of community.

Any fun facts? I sing, play flute and piano, and was a radio personality as well.

Ms. Lauren Pagni Campus Ministry

Hometown: Chicago, IL

What made you want to come to Gonzaga? I, too, attended a Jesuit high school, St. Ignatius College Prep. in Chicago, and Kairos had a profound effect on me

Mr. Patrick Shipley ‘15 Computer Science Teacher

Hometown: Arlington, VA

What made you want to come back to Gonzaga? When I was at Gonzaga, the teachers had such a big impact on my life and my life decisions, and I wanted to have a similar impact.

Favorite memory from time at Gonzaga? Hard to pick just one, but beating St. John’s in the Dom Pettey game my senior year, as well as Kairos senior year.

Mr. Brad Gilman Business Office

Favorite part of Gonzaga so far? Spikeball Club, Pit Boss Wednesdays, and all the friendly faces

Any fun facts?My godfather is the voice of Fat Tony from The Simpsons.

Favorite teacher while you were at Gonzaga? Mr. Can non because he was so pas sionate about what he taught about.

Any hobbies? I like to ride my bike, play golf, and watch movies.