When Hurricane Ian struck Pinar del Rio, a province in the westernmost tip of Cuba, the entire island went dark, leaving 11 million Cubans without electricity. A couple days later, videos began to emerge of Cubans demonstrating in the streets. They may be the largest protests since July 2021.
At the time of writing, most of the island remains dark, save for Varadero and Havana, two cities with a heavy amount of tourism. Offcials claim to be working to restore power across the island, but Cubans and Cuban-Americans are skeptical.
“I think the government is taking advantage of the fact that the hurricane passed,” said Alejandra Hernandez, a sophomore biochemistry major whose grandfather, aunt and cousins live in Matanzas, Cuba.
She believes the Cuban government is attempting to preserve power by lengthening the blackout period at the expense of Cubans who live outside of the more touristic areas.
Cubans are now protesting the blackouts. Similar to past protests, the demonstrations are evolving into a movement against the government as they spread across the island.
According to NPR, the government reports this power outage to be the result of failures in the power grid, particularly connections between the east, center and west power grids following years of deterioration.
The hurricane made landfall early Tuesday, Sept. 27 as a Category 3 storm. Winds tore through the Pinar del Rio region at maximum speeds of 125 miles per hour. The storm surge fooded the area, leaving homes destroyed and farms in
disrepair.
The effect of Hurricane Ian is particularly acute in Cuba where food shortages and rampant infation already make day-to-day living diffcult. The communist regime, led by President Diaz-Canel, has long struggled to support the needs of its people.
“It’s more not like, ‘Oh, what do I want to eat today?’ But like, ‘what can I fnd to eat today? What will be there?” said sophomore health sciences major, Daniela Dechard, whose brother lives in Havana.
Dechard’s brother also mentioned deodorant and soap shortages.
During the upcoming fall break, Dechard will travel to Havana to visit her brother, while also helping equip him with essentials, such as toiletries and food.
“There’s no plan for preparing for a hurricane,” Hernandez said. “The only plan that you would have is from your family that’s outside of Cuba.”
Her family in Miami has long been sending supplies to her family in Cuba, including a generator and batteries.
This current blackout, already stretching a week, keeps Cubans from boiling water, an essential step to safely consuming tap water and has led to the spoiling of the already scarce amount of food in Cubans’ homes.
Blackouts are common throughout Cuba, occurring at least once a day or more depending on the region.
When Hernandez visited Santa Marta, a beachside locality in Matanzas, Cuba, in late August, she noted three blackouts of a few hours each day.
Dechard’s brother similarly reports blackouts in spurts of six hours, alternating between six hours of pow-
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er and six hours without.
“Usually what people do in Cuba right when the power goes on, which is at any random hour, they immediately start to cook or clean or do the daily tasks they have to do in order to survive,” Hernandez said.
The current protests are reminiscent of the July 2021 movement, Cuba’s largest demonstration since 1994 sparked by severe food and medicine shortages along with an initially slow vaccine campaign and mounting COVID-19 deaths. While far from the same scale, Cubans are, once again, in the streets.
According to Cubalex, a Cuban human rights group, 1,329 people were verifably detained in the 2021 protests. Dechard notes some key differences between these protests and those from 2021 that she’s viewed on social media.
“Of the videos that I’ve seen in Cuba with the protesting, I would see the Cubans protest directly towards the police and the police wouldn’t do anything about it,” Hernandez said.
In contrast, she notes, Cuban police attacked, harassed and jailed protestors in 2021.
“I feel it’s doing gradual changes, even though it’s not like the biggest change in the world,” Hernandez said.
Unfortunately, the exact details of events on the island are diffcult to determine. The government tightly controls the fow of information, regulating the internet and freedom of speech.
On Thursday and Saturday nights, internet connectivity was interrupted and restored the following mornings.
“It should be more widely spread
because it shows the magnitude of things going on in Cuba and we only see the tip of the iceberg,” Dechard said. “The more we can spread the information that we do have from Cuba, the more awareness and hopefully people want to push for change.”
Rebecca Menendez, a junior studying biomedical engineering, has started a drive for nonperishable items, canned goods, batteries and feminine health products with Caribbean Student Association to help Puerto Rico and Cuba and draw attention to their crises. All goods will go to Puerto Rico-based nonproft Taller Salud.
“I also hope to continue those efforts to recognize our brothers and sisters on the island because if we don’t do it nobody will,” Menendez said.
For 138 years the Sanibel Lighthouse has watched over Lee County, Fla. marking the start of the famous shelling island that thousands call home and thousands more escape to for its calm blue water. A symbol of hope and security, the lighthouse is the coastal landmark for Southwest Florida(SWFL).
At 3:05 p.m. on Sept. 28, Hurricane Ian made landfall over Florida as a category 4 storm battering the SWFL barrier islands of Fort Myers Beach, Pine Island, Sanibel Island, Captiva Island and Cayo Costa. Ian then worked its way inward and north, generating a massive storm surge with it that fooded many coastal properties while wind gusts up to 140 miles per hour shredded landscapes.
In the early hours of Sept. 29, amid countless photos of the collapsed Sanibel Causeway Bridge, there, the lighthouse still stood in the distance, continuing to provide light to a community that would need it now more than ever.
Just over 150 miles away at the University of Miami, students from the SWFL community huddled around live news streams of local weather channels, continuously reloaded social media pages for more information and prayed for a text from their loved ones back home.
“I saw pictures of probably three feet, four feet of water in our garage. And so at that point, I was getting kind of scared and nervous and trying to text and call my family but no response. No response from anyone because the cell towers had been knocked down.,” sophomore nursing major Sadie Collins said. “I didn’t know what was happening.”
Collins and her family live on Connie Mack Island, on the bayside waterfront in Fort Myers, Fla. and a short drive from Sanibel. Her family chose to stay for the storm and watched as water rushed into their frst foor, fooding both their cars, destroying their dock and throwing their boat into the side of their house.
While the damages to their home are repairable, the wider Sanibel community faces a much different fate as entire homes have been ripped off their foundation and carried into the ocean or left dismantled as a pile of debris.
“My whole life, everything I had known —my schools, my community, our parks — everything was gone,” Collins said. “I feel like my whole life was kind of oriented around Sanibel and I don’t know when or if that will come back or ever be what it was.”
The ffth strongest storm to hit the United States (an eight-way tie), Hurricane Ian is expected to cost up to $75 billion in damages and has claimed the lives of over 100 people in Florida alone, with the number continuing to rise as search-and rescue-missions persist. 54 of these deaths are from Lee County alone, which includes Sanibel and Pine Island.
A less frequented tourist area, Pine Island did not receive the same outpour of memoriam posts as neighboring Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel did, despite suffering nearly equivalent damages. Only Matlacha, the locally-loved, spunky, Leoma Lovegrove-painted stretch of land lined with restaurants and shops garnered as much attention. This community, which surrounds the bridge that serves as the only road entry point to the island, was decimated by Hurricane Ian making the area inhospitable and bridge impassable.
“Seeing Matlacha kind of fattened and seeing houses that I’ve literally seen over a trillion times, I think that’s what gets me the most. When you see it, you understand how it’s never going to be the same or like it’s gonna take so, so long to even be okay,” Ava Diamond, a sophomore studying political science said.
Diamond has spent 18 years of her life as a Pine Island resident. Her father works as a captain on the island whose industry is centered around ecotourism and fshing.
True to his calling, her father rode out the storm on the yacht he currently captains, losing all contact
with his family, who had sheltered inland with a relative, for over six hours. It was not until Diamond’s mother called the coast guard that they were able to confrm he was alive.
“It would pop in my head like, ‘Oh my God, my dad’s dead. What am I going to do if my dad is dead?” Diamond said. “Obviously everything was fne, but I did feel really uncertain.”
Once learning her family was safe, Diamond turned her attention to her ravaged community, and how their socioeconomic status differentiates them from Sanibel.
“My perspective is that people on Sanibel are a lot richer. I don’t think that anybody’s experience is better or worse when it comes to a natural disaster because in the moment it hits everyone the same, but realistically it’s not. It’s not the same for people in different tax brackets, with the exception of the endangerment of your actual life,” Diamond said.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the median household income for Sanibel is $92,875, almost double the Pine Island median household income of $46,284 as reported by Data USA.
Diamond worries that this will limit the ability of Pine Island and Matlacha to recover from Hurricane Ian as quickly as Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel. She also believes they are receiving the brunt of aid due to their tourism preference and higher wealth status.
“It’s weird that the only people taking in food and water are regular people,” Diamond said.“Why is my dad taking an old lady from her house and bringing her to Cape Coral because she thought she was going to die? Why is my mom taking $1,000 of groceries and bringing them to the island?”
This issue extends up the coast as residents of less-popular and less news-covered areas struggle to get back on their feet. North Port, Fla., slightly north of Cape Coral, Fla., was reported to have the worst standing water problem in Florida after the Myakka River raised to
12.7 feet, following Ian’s torrential downpour. Yet, the community has received nearly no attention in the media spotlight.
“This had broad impacts. It’s not just where the almost [Category] 5 winds hit,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said in a comment to the Herald Tribune. “This was a massive, slow-moving storm that dumped a historic amount of water on our communities and places like North Port have produced historic fooding. That’s in some ways a more diffcult problem than even the wind damage.”
With the approval of the Florida Disaster Declaration, federal funds will be opened up to the affected communities of Charlotte, Collier, DeSoto, Hardee, Hillsborough, Lee, Manatee, Pinellas and Sarasota counties. While Federal Emergency Management Agency aid and state resources will be crucial to the rebuilding process, it is the local response that has been felt strongest so far.
“I will say the silver lining of all of this is seeing our community all come together to help each other. I feel like everyone I know is posting resources,” Collins said.
The expertise local guides have on the water has allowed regular citizens to become critical resources in relocating people from the now cutoff islands and delivering necessary
supplies to those in the hardest hit areas.
Collins got involved in the SWFLbased Captains for Clean Water ‘Operation for Ian Relief’ by gathering donations from friends to supply the resource line they are running directly to the islands. The organization has established drop-off points throughout the state, connecting their family of boat captains and water-lovers. Collins has stayed involved by starting a fundraiser within the UM National Student Nurses Association.
“We were trying to fnd something I know that’s local that would help my community specifcally, and I saw Captains for Clean Water had posted something where 100% of the donations would go towards relief, whether it’s providing generators and water or rescuing people. So I was like, this is perfect,” Collins said.
On Pine Island, Diamond sees how the small-community feel has turned neighbors into family, all working to help one another however they can.
“Because it’s such a small place everyone really does hyper-focus on each other and you know, do what they’ve got to do for their own community. And that’s really beautiful, but it’s not enough because you can only do so much. Especially when you’re not in a position of power,” Diamond said.
BY RACHEL APODACA EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
On Thursday, the University of Miami’s What Matters to U (WMTU) hosted a conversation with actor, comedian, writer and former White House staff member, Kal Penn. During his hour-long conversation, between comedic anecdotes and friendly banter, Penn discussed his acting career, his time in the Obama administration and the importance of diversity and representation in the media.
In 2000, fresh out of the University of California Los Angeles’ flm school, Penn — who at the time still went by his birth name Kalpen Suresh Modi — dove head frst into his acting career. The young comedian bounced between auditions and took on odd jobs with the hopes of climbing Hollywood’s star-studded ladder. However, as a frst-generation Indian-American, Penn would fnd himself faced with a plethora of hurdles.
“The barriers to entry were veryvery high when I was growing up,” Penn said in an interview with The Miami Hurricane.
In the face of Hollywood’s adversity, Penn did not waiver. He took on his stage name, Kal Penn and pursued roles that he felt opposed, or at least limited, Indian stereotypes. Penn recalled his audition for late 90’s hit show, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, in which he was asked to read his audition piece with a fabricated Indian accent.
In a separate audition, for a role alongside Ryan Reynolds in the 2002 flm Van Wilder, Penn recounted being up against a Caucassian actor in brown-face for the role of Taj Mahal, a foreign exchange student from India.
Upon hearing the name of the character for which he was auditioning, Penn refused the role. However, after reading the script in full and internal-debate over the value of the character, Penn
decided to audition for and eventually play Taj Mahal. However, this was not before Penn spoke with the writers and director about making changes to the script to limit harmful stereotypes and improve the authenticity of the character.
“That was the frst time I felt a sense of agency,” Penn said.
From there Penn went on to star in numerous flms and TV shows including House, Designated Survivor, The Namesake and The Harold & Kumar franchise.
“He was that person for me when I was younger and didn’t see myself on screen at all,” student moderator for the event Geethika Kataru said. “He was the person that was there, whose face on things and he was playing this character in Harold & Kumar that was not at all the stereotype that American-Indians usually are and it was so great having that representation, so it felt like I was talking to one of my heroes”
Penn has made representation in the flm’s and shows he works on a top-priority. Penn said that diversity in the writers room, in the cast and in all facets of media is “not just the right thing to do, it gives you better comedy.”
Kataru said this notion of selfadvocacy and value in diversity spoke to her after seeing so much of Penn’s career refected in her own.
“One thing that he said that particularly resonated with me was the struggle of trying to be a brown person in a creative feld. As a flm major that’s something that has really been on my mind and what that’s going to mean for me post-grad. So, again, I feel that that self-advocacy bit is something that I know I’m going to take away from it and just knowing that I can stand my own ground and put in my two cents when something feels wrong,” Kataru said. “You can always make it a safer place for yourself.”
Penn frst fell in love with comedy in middle school, a time in which he confesses he wasn’t everyone’s defnition of “cool.”
“Realizing you can subvert people’s expectations through humor a lot of times,” Penn said. “I don’t think that I recognized that that’s what it was when I was thirteen, but I did realize there was some magic that I enjoyed about comedy and storytelling and so that’s what drew me to it.”
This magic would carry him through Hollywood, around the globe and in 2009 all the way to the White House with the Barack Obama administration.
Penn, playing Dr. Lawrence Kutner in the hit series House at the time, was offered a position in the Obama administration as the associate director of the White House Offce of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs. Penn would go on to accept the position and serve in the White House until 2013, taking a short hiatus from the
post in 2010 to flm A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.
During his time in the Obama Administration, Penn worked on a range of initiatives such as doubling the funding for the Pell Grant, repealing the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy, the Affordable Care Act and the DREAM Act.
Penn frst got involved in the Obama administration when his House colleague, Olivia Wilde, invited him to a campaign event for the then junior senator, Obama.
Penn said he had no intention of going into politics, but found himself surrounded by individuals passionate about doing what they felt was ‘right’ and from there became deeply involved in the campaign and eventually the administration.
“I met a lot of people working long hours and sleeping on couches for things they believe in,” Penn said. “None of it was planned. It was just a sort of roundabout way of getting there.”
This strong belief in holding onto
one’s values stems from his grandparent’s involvement in the Indian independence movement. Penn recalled his grandfather sharing these stories with him as a young boy.
“He had a scar on his leg that he showed me once and I was just so foored that he’d been thrown in jail for standing up for his human rights,” Penn said. “That was never presented as politics in our house, it was always presented as doing the right thing and remembering where you came from and making sure you pay it forward. So, I had never conceived any of this as political.”
Penn’s career is shaped by this notion of progress and “doing the right thing.” Whether that be in his efforts to make Hollywood more representative of the American people, character’s more authentic or policies more just.
“What do we do to make it better,” Penn asked. “For now, I’m really happy making dumb jokes on TV.”
On Sept. 12, the University of Miami Health System offcially opened its new satellite offce within the Regus building in Downtown Doral. Despite a construction hiatus during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the satellite is now open to residents of Doral.
The offce, which serves as an offshoot of the larger UHealth system that is located throughout MiamiDade County, offers services from specialists based in the Desai Sethi Urology Institute and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
“Our new Doral location provides specialty care services, including hematology oncology, medical oncology, stem cell transplantation and private infusion bays with future services on the horizon,” director of the
Doral satellite offce Janice Sanchez said. “As we plan and prepare for phase two, we will continue tailoring our program to meet the needs of our community.”
According to UHealth staff, the satellite was established in order to bring better quality medical care to the residents of Doral.
“As the only academic based health care system in the region, UHealth offers world class care and leads in revolutionary research,” executive director of media relations and medical communication at UHealth Joanna Palmer said.
Palmer explained that the facility elevates the quality of medical care that is available to the surrounding area.
“The University of Miami Health system is proud to bring high-quality academic medicine to the rapidly
growing City of Doral,” Palmer said.
Dr. Dipen J. Parekh, UHealth’s chief operating offcer and founding director of the Desai Sethi Urology Institute, expresses similar sentiments in a Sept. 12 statement to InventUM, the University of Miami’s medical news publication.
“Opening this facility in Doral allows us to deliver more UHealth specialties to our patients in this growing area. We want to make access to academic-based health care easier across South Florida,” Parekh said.
As Parekh indicates, UHealth has plans for further expansion beyond the Doral satellite facility, including a 6-story medical building modeled after the Lennar Medical Center at the University’s Coral Gables campus.
“Opening in late 2024, UHealth at Doral, in the heart of Downtown Doral, will add even more specialties
After a long, sweaty workout, many UM students looked forward to enjoying a refreshing smoothie from Fitberry in the Wellness Center.
Fitberry, which was located underneath the stairs, closed in mid-May of 2022. Chartwells, who operated the smoothie bar, planned to close for the summer and determine concept plans for the future.
“In a random conversation among some student affairs administrators, the idea of having The Rat was brought up as an idea, but nothing etched in stone,” Wellness Center representative Tony Muscato said.
The idea to bring a well-loved Rathskeller-inspired menu to the Wellness Center was proposed to Chartwells, who agreed to introduce the concept in Fitberry’s previous location. Gym Rat, as it is now named, opened on Aug. 22.
The menu options are inspired by Rathskeller favorites, with a healthy twist, executive director of the Student Center Complex, Nick Rau and Alex Bulnes, director of the Rathskeller, said. Items
include berry or tropical fruit smoothies, salads and acai bowls. They also serve items prepared by Rathskeller such as brown rice bowls with grilled marinated chicken topped with cilantro yogurt.
“[We hope Gym Rat offers a] studentrun experience where you can sit at the counter and enjoy your meal, while engaging with student employees that prepare your food to order,” Rau and Bulnes said.
Gym Rat currently accepts dining dollars, credit cards and Cane Express as payment methods. It is open Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
In the future, Rau and Bulnes would like to see Gym Rat expand its hours and offer daily lunch specials at an economical price.
“So far [Gym Rat] seems to be well received,” Moscato said. “I think most students can identify with the Rat brand. Other non-student members are also happy to have some options for after their workout.”
to our patients,” Palmer said.
The facility will include a diverse range of medical services such as ophthalmology, neurology, orthopedics, and primary care.
“UHealth Doral will bring preeminent care to the rapidly growing city of Doral and the surrounding neighborhoods and will serve as a Western hub for our expanding network of ambulatory services,” said University of Miami President, Dr. Julio Frenk, on Sept. 23 at a press conference focusing on UHealth’s plans for expansion.
In addition to the second Doral location, UHealth is also making strides to begin construction of medical buildings in other areas of South Florida.
“On September 9th, UHealth broke ground on another outpatient ambulatory facility in North Miami, the
future UHealth SoLé Mia,” Palmer said.
According to a Sept. 9 article published by InventUM, the North Miami location is slated to open in 2025 and will offer North Miami and Aventura residents UHealth services such as the Desai Sethi Urology Institute and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The Sylvester Comprehensive Center is also working towards expansion, with a 12-story cancer research and treatment center located on the Miller School of Medicine campus slated to open in 2024, according to Palmer.
“It is the University and UHealth’s mission to transform lives in our community and around the world by delivering clinical excellence and innovation from South Florida’s only academic health system,” Frenk said.
As of June 2022, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science(RSMAS) will now be known as the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science or the Rosenstiel School. The name change comes after refecting on the school’s achievements in earth science education and research over the past 10 years.
“The new name is an accurate refection of the scope and scale of the research and educational opportunities the Rosenstiel School now offers,” Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Jeffrey Duerk said to News@TheU.
Several faculty members, including Rosenstiel School dean Roni Avissar have welcomed the name change, celebrating the school’s mission in addressing environmental challenges and the ongoing climate crisis.
An article posted to the Rosenstiel School’s website included a statement from Avissar, who emphasized the school’s role in solving these l issues and how the name change draws attention to this facet of the institution.
“The environmental challenges faced by our planet, most notably in the burgeoning climate
emergency, which affects everything from the atmosphere and oceans to rainforests and wildlife, seem insurmountable,” Avissar said. “But the Rosenstiel School has been at the forefront in helping to solve those problems for many years. And now we have a name that refects our complete mission.”
When asked about the recent name change, there was a variety of opinions across the student body.
“I think including Earth makes a lot of sense because it was basically always within RSMAS,” junior marine biology and ecology major Molly O’Neil said. “But I don’t know if the large rebranding process was necessary.”
While some believe the name change is unnecessary, others argue that it provides a better representation of what the Rosenstiel School offers.
“Honestly, I think it’s a sound decision to recognize earth sciences as a part of RSMAS and to include it in the title,” junior marine affairs major Kiera Fielding said. “The name change doesn’t personally affect me as a student and the title is better representative of what the Rosenstiel school does in terms of research and studies.”
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in America since the peak of AFVs popularity: the video content featured in one program was taken with the subject’s consent by a friend or family member, while the content featured in the other was recorded by a sprawling and anonymous corporation without the subject’s knowledge.
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BY KRIS BERG STAFF WRITER
Think about the last viral video you watched. Who was in it and what happened? Why was it funny?
Now consider the video from a less light-hearted perspective. Did the subjects of the video know they were being flmed? Did they give permission to have their image spread throughout social media?
These days, the answer is often no. Despite backlash from the subjects of some of these viral posts, the likelihood of being flmed in public is just another aspect of life in the internet age. Unwanted viral fame can be embarrassing and bring about unwanted attention. More sinister than potential humiliation is the egregious violations of individual privacy caused by the normalization of surveillance technology in everyday life.
The Amazon-owned Ring doorbell and home security system is one of the most common examples of how surveillance manifests itself as a constant and casual presence in modern life.
The main feature of the Ring system is its constantly running
In July of this year, Amazon admitted to providing police departments with video footage captured by Ring cameras in 11 separate instances — without the users’ knowledge. Although the company’s representatives denied releasing the footage to police in non-emergency situations, Amazon still received harsh criticism from activists and politicians for this alleged violation of its customers’ privacy. Knowing that the FBI has confrmed identifying and arresting protesters based on the clothes they wore in video footage posted online, concerns over the potential consequences of the ubiquitous Ring cameras are valid.
Only a few months after Ring’s relationship with police was revealed, Amazon is already attempting to rehabilitate the system’s image with the upcoming television series “Ring Nation.” The program will feature comedian and former NSA employee Wanda Sykes presenting funny videos unknowingly captured by Ring cameras, in a similar style to the smash hit “America’s Funniest Home Videos’ (AFV).
The difference between the two shows is subtle but indicative of the cultural shift
“Ring Nation” garnered intense backlash from civil liberties and personal privacy advocates. Fight for the Future, MediaJustice, Action Center on Race and the Economy and dozens of other civil rights groups published an open letter to MGM management labeling “Ring Nation” as “an advertisement for a bleak vision of the future, in which private megacorporations surveil our every move, sell us out to law enforcement, and proft off racism and hatred.”
The show was derided by reviewers as “ominous”. Even before the program’s slated release on Sept. 26, it appears the shiny veneer of “Ring Nation” is failing to distract the public from the dystopian reality at
Despite the bleak implications of the production of a show like “Ring Nation,” the adverse reactions of viewers is ultimately a good sign. If the public can see that “Ring Nation” is more sinister than funny, they will be equipped to notice other violations of privacy that they encounter in everyday life, including the possibility that the now-Amazon-owned Roomba model of smart vacuum cleaners may be selling maps of users’ houses to police to better facilitate raids, or the non-consensual sale of users’ genetic data by companies like 23andMe and Ancestry.com.
After all, there’s a reason these companies often keep their more contentious policies hidden in fne print. If the “Ring Nation” debacle has any silver lining, it is that it may inspire individuals to better protect themselves from intrusions into their civil liberties by private and government entities alike.
emphasizes spontaneity,” junior Maggie Barrow said.
The moment takes on an urgency. At the moment of notification, it’s not uncommon for people to drop everything and post a picture before time runs out.
BY PARI WALTER OPINION EDITORBeReal is a new social media platform that capitalizes on being everything that Instagram isn’t.
While Instagram has become notorious for its highlycurated content and negative impact on teen mental health, BeReal comes as a refreshing alternative. But with social media sites advertising themselves as genuine representations of life, it’s important to take a step back and remember that nothing online will accurately reflect real life.
BeReal was first launched in 2019 but spiked in popularity within the last few months.
According to Apptopia, of the total 43.3 million downloads since BeReal’s launch, 41 million were this calendar year. When the daily notification appears — the time varies each day — users have two minutes to take and upload a photo showing their current situation captured by both the front and back camera.
“I think it’s important for people to realize what you’re putting out on social media isn’t that big of a deal and BeReal
Bereal advertises itself as “not another social network” — an authentic form of social media where you can share your real life with close friends. This is a wellpackaged way of saying that most of the time spent on the app is scrolling through pictures of your friends doing mundane activities like laying in bed or working.
However, don’t let the app’s claim to authenticity fool you: BeReal is still a social media platform where users can quickly veer into the slippery slope of comparisons. In the same vein as the “natural makeup” look, users go through a certain level of curation to prove that they haven’t curated a thing.
Even with the app’s air of nonchalance, there’s a drive to frame your life as fun or interesting, even to your close friends. Users even have the opportunity to publicly react and comment on posts, providing the same incentives to maximize your content — a practice common on other popular social media sites.
While the app discourages late posts by notifying friends if you don’t post within the allotted two minutes, the threat is not taken seriously. People sometimes “save” their BeReal in order to portray a more interesting part of their day. In the eyes of most BeRealers, the threat of appearing uninteresting is far higher stakes than posting late.
Of the 40 friends I have on the app, most days only about a quarter of them post on time. The rest of the posts filter in throughout the day.
“I feel like the creators’ goal was for people to not obsess over social media and be spontaneous,” Barrow said. “But they have people obsessing in a new way, waiting around for the notification or planning around it.”
Even when people do post on time, they often scramble to look presentable and go through a series of poses to get the best shot. These days, it feels like we have an innate sense to self-filter to appear as attractive or happy as we possibly can.
BeReal encompasses the two types of online comparison that affect self-worth and adversely fuel one another. Users are caught in a harrowing cycle where they
experience the intense validation of posting their highlights for others to see and the crushing insecurity of mindlessly scrolling through other people’s highlights. A cycle where posting a BeReal while out with friends provides just enough of a high to get through the lows of laying in bed watching everyone else’s funfilled photos.
I downloaded BeReal last spring during finals week but didn’t keep up with it because nearly all of my posts featured me in front of my computer screen. But when summer came around, I was posting every day.
Still, BeReal’s style and content is still a refreshing break from the highly curated content on other platforms. It’s reminiscent of what other social media platforms used to be — no image to maintain, less thought behind
posts and no news or political content.
But as the app grows, it has the potential to assimilate to the structure of other social media apps like Instagram or Facebook. After all, the social media apps we condone for distorting reality and harming our well-being today also started out as ways to connect with friends online. With BeReal, as users add more friends outside of their social circles, they are bound to filter their posts more and more.
The key is to take everything you consume on social media with a grain of salt. Despite its title, BeReal is not real life and it is naive to assume otherwise.
The key is to take everything you consume on social media with a grain of salt. Despite its title, BeReal is not real life and it is naive to assume otherwise.
BY ARIANNA GONZALEZ ASST. A&E EDITOR
“Why not?” said Christine Marsell, a senior majoring in management and marketing, when asked about her reasoning for attending the 2022 Billboard Latin Music Awards. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” she said.
On Thursday, Sept. 29, Billboard and Telemundo joined forces to take over the Watsco Center. Thousands of people packed the arena for the chance to sit (or stand) just feet away from some of Latin music’s biggest stars.
Global superstars such as Rauw Alejandro, Maluma and Nicky Jam were set to present awards or perform at the show. Other artists like Bad Bunny — who led this year’s nominations with 10 — were missing in action.
Damaris Rojas Lopez, a senior majoring in public health and psychology, recalled the disappointment she felt regarding the lack of opportunities for UM stu -
dents to attend last year’s award show despite its on-campus location. However, she would not be left waiting outside the event this time around.
OS | LA Productions is an audience filler company that provides free (and sometimes paid) participation opportunities and casting services. This year, they offered University of Miami students an unbelievable opportunity. Students could apply to walk the red carpet, participate as seat fillers or watch the show from the stage’s pit.
The company provided interested students with applications, and those chosen to attend the event were notified via text message. Days leading up to the show, invitees were sent various emails and contacted via phone call to confirm their attendance.
Lopez said her experience as a fan in the stage’s pit standing area was unmatched. She spent the evening resting upon the stage. During Nicky Jam’s per-
formance, her proximity to the platform was so close he grabbed her hand.
“I’m still freaking out,” Lopez said.
Other UM students, such as Paul Douillon, a senior majoring in criminology and sociology, attended the ceremony through Tau Sigma Transfer Honor Society. The organization had 33 tickets for members who submitted a form. Applicants were handpicked by their executive board.
Douillon said he enjoyed the end of the show the most. Colombian singer-songwriter Camilo closed the evening with the debut of his latest project “Aeropuerto.” The track was selected as Telemundo’s official song for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Between the stage production and backup dancers of all ages, Douillon was left feeling impressed and glad that he took advantage of the occasion. He wasn’t the only one.
Grecia Rivera, a junior majoring in modern artistry development and entrepreneurship (MADE), appreciated the show providing Latin music with the recognition it deserves.
“It was a really cool experience to see the show live after so many years of seeing it through the TV,” Rivera said. “You can tell the artists were happy to be there, and as a fan that always makes the experience be so much better,” she said.
Rivera attended the show with Amelia Tripp, a junior majoring in music therapy who has been delving into the world of Latin music more as of late. “It was
really cool to see how the music and the culture came together to bring the show to life,” she said.
The award show’s schedule was jam-packed. Major wins include Becky G and Karol G’s “Mamiii” for Hot Latin Song of the year, Vocal Event. Rauw Alejandro took home the Latin Pop Song of the Year award for “Todo De Ti.”
Other legendary recognitions were given to Puerto Rican superstar Chayanne, who was honored with the Billboard Icon Award. Nicky Jam was inducted into Billboard’s hall of fame for being a reggaeton pioneer.
On Aug. 22, 2022, Bad Bunny released his music video for the track from his latest “Un Verano Sin Ti” album where he paid tribute to Elvis Crespo’s unforgettable “Suavemente” music video, Y2K vibes and all. Crespo returned the favor with his notable performance of Bad Bunny’s “Neverita” before transitioning into his famous “Suavemente.”
Billboard Latin Music Week 2022 wrapped up on Saturday, Oct. 1 with a Billboard En Vivo performance by Bresh at Oasis Wynwood after bringing a week of industry workshops, concerts and intimate networking opportunities.
Billboard’s VP and Latin Industry lead, Leila Cobo said the weeklong celebration of Latin music is designed to bring all the top artists and executives under a single roof.
“No one else does this, and we’re proud to be part of the historic growth of Latin Music,” Cobo said.
One thing is unanimous amongst those students who were able to attend the 2022 Billboard Latin Music Awards — this is just one example of the many perks UM students get from the city of Magic. For those who could not attend the show, be sure to keep an eye out for next year!
We all have those moments where we crave something sweet. Luckily, Miami is one of the best cities to find dessert. With so many options available, The Miami Hurricane has compiled a list of bakeries with desserts worth trying.
If you want the best of an overthe-top, mom-and-pop shop bakery, look no further than Fireman Derek’s. Whether you like classics like the key lime pie or you’re an adventurer who might enjoy the Nutella pie, this bake shop has something for you.
“I love the Nutella stuffed cookie cake because it’s a twist on the classic cookie cake,” sophomore neurosci - ence major Allie Rodman said. “You’re not expecting the Nutella, so it keeps you coming back for more.”
If you thought this bake shop was exclusive to pies, the sugar cookie with rainbow sprinkles will prove otherwise. This cookie has a sweet, buttery flavor that will please your eyes and satisfy your craving.
Price Range: $$
Fireman Derek’s is located at 3435 Main Hwy, Miami, FL 33133.
Although the name of this bakery is quite basic, the menu is anything but. Zak the Baker whips up everything from scratch, ensuring their menu items are as fresh as possible. The pain au chocolat has the best texture — flakey on the outside and soft on the inside. There are many ways to satisfy your sweet
craving at this bakery; the dirty chai is crafted with love and will give you that much-needed, extra boost of energy. Additionally, Zak the Baker is Certified Kosher and their bread is pareve, meaning it is prepared without meat or dairy.
Though Zak the Baker is located in Wynwood, you don’t have to drive there to experience what this baker offers. In their baked goods section, Whole Foods sells items straight from Zak the Baker, including their Artisan baguette and addictive chocolate babka. Here’s an idea for this weekend: head to Whole Foods and try the Artisan baguette for breakfast.
Price Range: $$
Zak the Baker is located at 295 NW 26th St, Miami, FL 33127.
For vegans and those who appreciate gluten-free alternatives, Bunnie Cakes is a good option for you. Everything is either vegan, kosher or gluten-free. When you step into Bunnie Cakes, you will love the decor as much as you’ll love their cupcakes and doughnuts. Their moist cupcakes come with their trademark pink sprinkle on top. The guava cupcakes are not too sweet, allowing the guava’s tangy flavor to pair well with the frosting. Understandably, it is normal to be skeptical of a vegan bakery, but Bunnie Cakes is so good that it’ll become anyone’s new obsession.
Price Range: $$
Bunnie Cakes is located at 8450 NW 53rd St Suite H101, Doral, FL 33166.
The brainchild of Chef Antonio Bachour, Bachour offers custom -
ers a fresh take on the art of dessert. Their carrot cake petit gateaux is creative, innovative and delicious. Aside from its beauty, this menu item is full of different flavors, setting it apart from traditional carrot cake. The pineapple and coconut in the cake give it a tropical flavor, making it a very Miami carrot cake. Anything you order from Bachour’s menu will provide you with the flavorful journey that the restaurant offers their customers.
Price Range: $$ Bachour is located at 2020 Salzedo St, Miami, FL 33134.
There are many hidden gems dispersed throughout the Magic City and Cafe Croissant is one of them. Cafe Croissant boasts a plethora of desserts that are relatively affordable. The almond croissants have a creamy filling with an almond topping to complement the pastry.
I’ve saved the best for last
— Cafe Croissant makes their Nutella crepes on-sight. The crepe itself is thin, making it easier to enjoy the Nutella! The overall aesthetic of Cafe Croissant is so charming that it’s easy to trick yourself into thinking you’re really eating at a Parisian pâtisserie.
Price Range: $$ Cafe Croissant is located at 1684 Coral Way, Miami, FL 33145.
The story of Gilbert’s Bakery is not unusual to Miami. The bakery first opened in Cuba, eventually fleeing from the Castro regime and rebuilding their business in Miami.
Just as the bakery’s history reflects a part of Miami’s history, Gilbert’s menu also reflects the city’s vibrant culture. Gilbert’s guava pie takes this staple ingredient in Cuban desserts and bakes it in a gooey, golden brown pie. This alternative to apple pie
(which Gilbert’s also serves), should be a thanksgiving staple in Miami.
Price Range: $$
Gilbert’s Bakery is located at 5777 Bird Rd, Miami, FL 33155.
Living up to the name “The World’s Most Famous Cuban Restaurant” is challenging, but Versailles has done it for 50 years. Versailles is best known for its restaurant, but its bakery is just as great. A cut above crème brûlée, the flan de coco couples the custard-like texture of flan with syrup and the coconut elevates this flan to another dimension. If you have already tried flan and are looking for something new, this variation will please the adventurer in you. Also, do not forget to order some cafecito to go with your dessert.
Price Range: $
Versailles is located at 3555 SW 8th St, Miami, FL 33135.
A woman in distress, an unfamiliar house and a creepy basement — at frst glance, it may seem like Zach Cregger’s “Barbarian” is just another horror movie that begins with a vulnerable character making a bad decision. But to think you have “Barbarian” fgured out by its premise is an egregious mistake when deception is the name of the game in this wildly twisted ride.
“Barbarian” opens with familiar horror fundamentals. Tess (played by Georgina Campbell) arrives at her Airbnb on a rainy night, only to fnd the home already occupied by Keith (Bill Skarsgård), another tenant who claims to have also booked the home.
For avid horror movie fans, the casting of Keith is already a red fag (Skarsgård most notably played Pennywise, the clown from 2017’s “It”), another indicator of what might go wrong. After a few failed attempts at fnding a hotel, Tess decides to stay for the night, unbeknownst to the horror that lurks within the walls of her Airbnb.
The second and third acts turn the movie on its tail, jumping time zones and decades. Characters, like
a disgraced Hollywood actor (played by Justin Long), a homeless man (Jaymes Butler) and a shady homeowner (Richard Brake) are introduced throughout the flm to expand the story in abrupt, unexpected ways.
Revealing any more about “Barbarian” will simply ruin the fun. Cregger knows what he’s doing and what he’s created here is not your typical horror fick. Sure, there are cliches that present themselves in predictable ways: ominous self-locking doors, dark corridors hidden behind a secret entrance and questionable decisions that make you go, “Don’t go that way!” riddle the entire frst act.
Yet, Cregger has crafted a careful guessing game for the viewer and he is the mastermind. Audiences will be kept on their toes with predictions and theories that almost never come true as Cregger cunningly subverts any and all expectations of his spectators. What you might expect to happen is a presumption that Cregger joyfully plays with. Going into “Barbarian” as blind as possible is the best way to experience this movie.
If you must know more and dare to peek inside the door of this haunted Airbnb, look no further than last year’s “Malignant” from director James Wan — “Barbarian” is just
as camp, out-of-the-box and horrifyingly fun. Both movies blend fun and terror in a wild ride that is meant to be seen in a theater with other people (especially with the reactive kind of movie-goer).
Unlike most good movies, “Barbarian” isn’t necessarily asking to be taken seriously — rather, it invites you in for an entertaining time and it doesn’t need to be anything more. Yet, having a deeper thematic meaning with powerful imagery and symbols could elevate this movie to the likes of horror masterpieces like Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” or Ari Aster’s “Hereditary.”
That isn’t to say that “Barbarian” is completely void of any societal messaging. The flm covers how sexual assault, gentrifcation and ineffectual law enforcement particularly affect women of color in ways that are both subtle and horrifying. Still, “Barbarian” is not the kind of movie that requires deep metaphorical analysis to really appreciate it, though you can fnd some juicy larger meaning if you dig deep enough.
There’s much more to be said about the movie, especially after knowing the true nature of the horrors that lie in the Airbnb. But even if I could perfectly articulate what this movie
is, absolutely nothing can prepare you for this viewing experience. One thing is for sure: wildly fun terror has never found a home in the horror genre quite like it does in “Barbarian.”
Rating: 4/5
Editor“Barbarian” is now playing in theaters nationwide. Rated R for nudity, language, disturbing material, strong violence and gore. Runtime: 1 hour 42 minutes.
This week, don’t be surprised if you find a poem posted in your dorm hallway or written in chalk on the sidewalk.
An unofficial holiday, poetry enthusiasts celebrate Random Acts of Poetry day every first Wednesday of October. The annual observance encourages lovers of poetry to not only write their own poems, but to share them with others.
While National Poetry Month is celebrated in April, this day in October allows poets to ensure that celebrations of poetry are not limited to just one month
each year. This love for the art form transcends U.S. borders — all over the world, people will be united in this act of spreading poetry in a variety of outlets.
Grace Altidor, a senior health sciences major, said her favorite poets are Rupi Kaur, Bible character King David, Robert Frost and Maya Angelou, who all write poetry she feels is transparent and easy to interpret no matter one’s poetry knowledge.
“I can relate to and resonate with [their poetry] in one way or another, and that continues to edify me and my sense of self understanding and in gaining and improving my confidence,” Altidor said.
Particularly fond of Kaur’s poems, Altidor cited the collections “The Sun and Her Flowers” and “Milk and Honey” as books that were pivotal in her life.
“I really love them because they empower women and people to gain a better understanding of self-worth and self knowledge,” she said. “One of the first times I read ‘Milk and Honey’ I was going through a break up, and it really just reminded me that he wasn’t the sun of my life.”
Okera Hastings, a senior studying environmental engineering, said while her favorite poems are “Once Upon a Time”
by Gabriel Okara and “A Contemplation Upon Flowers” by Henry King, her favorite poet is her friend and UM student ToniAnn Farquharson.
“She embodies a lot of emotions I feel, empathize with and relate to through her poetry,” Hastings said.
Though Hastings does not frequently write poetry, she occasionally uses the art form as a creative outlet.
“What inspires me on those very rare occasions are my emotions and how I feel about the current state of my life or surroundings,” she said.
Altidor echoed this sentiment, describing her ability to pro -
cess overwhelming thoughts and emotions after writing them down.
“Poetry allows me to translate a vibe I’m experiencing into words I can share, either with others or just explain to myself,” she said. “My poetry is definitely inspired by a desire for better self understanding and being able to express how I feel in a certain moment or as a reaction to a certain event and use [it] as a comparison for future events or emotions.”
Goalkeeper Melissa Dagenais was born to be the face of Miami soccer.
The Hurricanes have struggled in recent years, but Dagenais has given them a glimmer of hope this fall, opening the season with four consecutive shutouts to lead Miami to its best start since head coach Sarah Barnes took over in 2018.
“It gives the team confdence to be able to go out and play and compete,” Barnes said. “When a mistake is made or there’s an error, Mel is there to have their backs. We can be in any game with Mel.”
Dagenais expected to take a leap in ability this season, but even she was surprised by her stellar play.
“I did expect to start off the season well because that is what you hope for, but I didn’t expect to have four clean sheets in the beginning. That
was defnitely a nice reward for all the work I did last season,” Dagenais said.
No goalkeeper in program history has started the season with four straight shutouts, and with the help of Dagenais’ heroics, Miami soccer went 2-0-2 in that stretch.
While Dagenais has been a superstar in Coral Gables this fall, she hasn’t forgotten her roots. The SaintHubert, Quebec, Canada native looks to her parents as her source of inspiration and the reason she started playing soccer.
“My frst love of soccer started when I was 7 or 8 years old,” Dagenais said. “I ended up telling my parents I wanted to play soccer so they put me in a rec league…They are the frst people I call before I play my games. They are big role models for me.”
Initially, Dagenais was a defender but transitioned to goalkeeping. As
her game developed over time, she began working towards Division I collegiate soccer and ended up in Miami.
“I did the showcase where college coaches come to see your game. But Miami actually wasn’t there. The organizer of the showcase knows me well, so he asked me to come up with some schools that interested me… Miami actually was No. 1 on my list. They answered me within a week, I started talking with them, came on the visit and just loved it,” Dagenais said.
Last season was a successful one for Dagenais. She started all 16 matches her junior year and placed second in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in saves and saves per game. Her 86 total saves last year were the seventh most in a single season in program history.
After such a stellar season, Dagenais’ offseason focus changed a little bit. “It’s hard to go into the offseason after having a good year,” Dagenais said. “The expectation is high so just trying to maintain that, but I feel like I have surpassed it.”
Dagenais set the tone for the year with 11 saves in the opener against Mississippi State, a season-high. She currently boasts an .820 save percentage, the best mark of her collegiate career, through 10 games.
“I mean I can just keep growing from here, there is always room for improvement. I proved to myself I can get better,” Dagenais said.
Now, with her game coming into full form, it is time for the rest of the team to follow in her footsteps. After scoring only six goals in the frst nine games, the offense isn’t where it needs to be. If Miami wants to compete in the high-scoring ACC, the offense must take a big leap the rest of the season. Dagenais certainly believes in them.
“I feel pretty good about where we are at. There are little details we have to fx in order to win… A big thing for us is we have to set the tone early in
the game and not wait till something happens, like we get scored on, in order to pump up the intensity… We all see a lot of improvement from last year,” Dagenais said.
Although this season has been off to a solid start, Hurricanes soccer has struggled in recent history, with a one-win season in 2020 being the low pont. Dagenais is trying to change that narrative.
“I would say there is defnitely so much potential for our team to be good. We are seeing it this year, it is just about keeping it going because I feel like our coaches have been working so hard to make us great,” she said. “They have been here for 4-5 years, so their work is now starting to show with the girls they are bringing in, so they are defnitely there to make us better in all that they do.”
With Miami in the thick of its ACC schedule, the rest of the season won’t be easy. However, the ‘Canes can take solace in one thing - that they have Dagenais in goal.
The Miami Hurricanes soccer team lost to rival and defending National Champion Florida State on Saturday, 1-0.
Cobb Stadium was packed to the brim in one of the most highly anticipated games of the season. The Seminoles handed the Hurricanes their fourth straight conference loss, moving Miami to an overall record of 3-5-3 on the season.
The frst half was a gritty, defensive battle between the rivals. Both goalies are considered two of the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and they each held their own. Each team’s defense did a spectacular job of controlling the pace and not letting either team get anything going offensively.
After a very encouraging defensive effort in the frst half for the underdog Hurricanes, the second half started in favor of the Seminoles. In the 47th minute, a penalty kick was awarded to Florida State senior midfelder Heather
Payne and she was able to take advantage of this opportunity. Payne buried a goal in the bottom right corner of the net to put the Seminoles up one.
Panye’s goal gave the Seminoles a lead they would hold onto for the rest of the game.
The rest of the second half was all about Florida State playing it safe, trying to hold onto their lead. It did an excellent job of keeping the ball outside of the Hurricanes’ possession, which led to Miami not being able to generate any offense.
Florida State continues to thrive this year. Led by new head coach Brian Pensky, the unbeaten Seminoles have started hot and now have a record of 8-0-2 as they look to repeat as champions.
After having an encouraging start to the season, Miami has found itself in a rut after losing fve straight games.
“Obviously we are not happy with the outcome tonight, but I thought we defended well and created several good chances,” Mi-
Miami’s
ami head coach Sarah Barnes said. Defenders including Halle Salas and Emma Tucker deserve a lot of credit as they did a very nice job of keeping the ball outside of the possession of Florida State’s best
playmakers.
Miami’s offense continued its struggles against the Seminoles. Saturday’s match marks the ffth game this season that the Hurricanes have failed to score. They
were only able to get three shots against Florida State.
Although Miami took its ffth loss of the season, it competed and battled with the top team in the ACC.
The Miami Hurricanes soccer team lost to rival and defending National Champion Florida State on Saturday, 1-0.
Cobb Stadium was packed to the brim in one of the most highly anticipated games of the season. The Seminoles handed the Hurricanes their fourth straight conference loss, moving Miami to an overall record of 3-5-3 on the season.
The first half was a gritty, defensive battle between the rivals. Both goalies are considered two of the best in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and they each held their own. Each team’s defense did a spectacular job of controlling the pace and not letting either team get anything going offensively.
After a very encouraging defensive
effort in the first half for the underdog Hurricanes, the second half started in favor of the Seminoles. In the 47th minute, a penalty kick was awarded to Florida State senior midfielder Heather Payne and she was able to take advantage of this opportunity. Payne buried a goal in the bottom right corner of the net to put the Seminoles up one.
Panye’s goal gave the Seminoles a lead they would hold onto for the rest of the game.
The rest of the second half was all about Florida State playing it safe, trying to hold onto their lead. It did an excellent job of keeping the ball outside of the Hurricanes’ possession, which led to Miami not being able to generate any offense.
Florida State continues to thrive this
year. Led by new head coach Brian Pensky, the unbeaten Seminoles have started hot and now have a record of 8-0-2 as they look to repeat as champions.
After having an encouraging start to the season, Miami has found itself in a rut after losing five straight games.
“Obviously we are not happy with the outcome tonight, but I thought we defended well and created several good chances,” Miami head coach Sarah Barnes said.
Defenders including Halle Salas and Emma Tucker deserve a lot of credit as they did a very nice job of keeping the ball outside of the possession of Florida State’s best playmakers.
Miami’s offense continued its struggles against the Seminoles. Saturday’s match marks the fifth game this season that the
Hurricanes have failed to score. They were only able to get three shots against Florida State.
Although Miami took its fifth loss of the season, it competed and battled with the top team in the ACC.
“I thought the performance was pretty good. Obviously we are not happy with the outcome… [This game] is going to let us move in the direction we want to go in for the rest of the season,” Barnes said.
Goalkeeper Melissa Dadgenais has continued to be a bright spot for the team. On the other end of the ball, the offense has been abysmal, and this unit will be looking to improve as the season progresses.
Miami’s next test will be against Virginia Tech at Cobb Stadium on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 6 p.m.
The Hurricanes opened the 202223 season at the Whitten Center Pool on an overcast Saturday morning in Coral Gables, Fla. Pitted against fellow Miami-based school, Florida International, the Hurricanes eagerly awaited their frst offcial competition of the year.
Miami dominated both in the pool and through the air as they bested the Panthers, 199-100.
To begin the day, the swimming portion of the meet was controlled by UM. In the 200-yard medley, freshman Celina Kuehne, graduate student Tara Vovk, redshirt senior Zorry Mason and sophomore Jacey Hinton fnished in frst, followed by freshman Vivian Vanrenterghem, junior Emma Sundstrand, sophomore Giulia Carvalho and freshman Hana Spaulding, who fnished in second.
For individual events, redshirt junior Adrianna Cera fnished frst in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a
blistering time of 10:21.09. Senior captain Aino Otava fnished second with a time of 10:23:16 and freshman Kate Sommerstad was third at 10:27.71, rounding out a Miami sweep of the podium.
Freshman Jane Fitzgerald began her collegiate career with a secondplace fnish in the 200-yard freestyle.
The Hurricanes took a one-two fnish in the 100-yard backstroke with Mason winning the race with a time of 56.39 and Kuehne closely trailing at 56.94.
Hinton dominated the short-form freestyles, winning both the 50 and 100-yard races with times of 23.26 and 51.01. Miami took the following three places in the 100-yard freestyle as Fitzgerald (51.99), Spaulding (52.47) and Barr (52.55) followed respectively behind Hinton.
The 200-yard backstroke was another sweep of the podium as freshman Sarah Sensenbrenner won her frst career race and was followed by Sommerstad and Kuehne.
Cera won her second race of the day in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 5:02.20 and Carvalho fnished frst in the 100-yard butterfy at 56.01.
To end the meet on a decisive note, the Hurricanes also won the 400yard freestyle relay as Fitzgerald, Cera, Spaulding and Hinton rushed to a 3:25.93 fnish.
“It was a good meet today; lots of good energy,” head swimming coach Andy Kershaw said to Miami Athletics. “The things I love about this is it really gives us a chance to evaluate the things we’re doing well and what we can improve on. There’s things to improve on, but we did a lot of things really well.”
For the diving portion of the event, reigning National Collegiate Athletic AssociationNational Champion Mia Vallée was the top point scorer of the day. The junior diver would win the three-meter springboard with a total of 308.9 and fnish second in the one-meter springboard with a score
of 307.13. She was topped by fellow teammate Emma Gullstrand in the one-meter springboard and grabbed second behind Vallée in the threemeter springboard.
The Hurricanes return to action Oct. 7-8 as they participate in the SMU Classic in Dallas.
“The SMU Classic is certainly very special. It’s also challenging because we have a very limited travel squad, so I’m looking forward to going to that competition, but also have some mixed emotions, since we’re going to have some people here in Miami,” Kershaw said.
After a hard-fought win last Sunday against Notre Dame, the University of Miami volleyball team added to its winning streak against North Carolina on Friday evening at Carmichael Arena, downing the Tar Heels 3-1 for its frst Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) road win this season.
“I like the way we competed tonight,” Miami head coach Jose “Keno” Gandara said in a Miami Athletics release. “We were focused and composed from start to fnish. North Carolina put a lot of pressure on our passers, but we hung in there and Savannah [Vach] was able to run our offense as planned.”
Outside hitter Angela Grieve took control early in the frst set, accounting for three of the ‘Canes
frst four points, all of which were kills. With full momentum, the Hurricanes went up 8-3, causing North Carolina to call a timeout.
Miami easily took set one, 2514. Offensively, it had an astounding .480 hitting percentage, while holding the Tar Heels to a very low .037.
North Carolina came out on fre in the second set, taking a quick 7-2 lead that led to a Miami timeout.
However, a late 4-0 run by the ‘Canes cut the defcit to just three at 23-20.
But the Tar Heels held on, as they secured the second set, 2520, with an ace to tie the match at one set each.
The third set was initially backand-forth, but Grieve’s 13th kill of the game gave Miami a 15-12 lead and momentum going into
the back half of the set.
The Canes’ ended up with a 2520 third set victory, giving them a 2-1 advantage.
Similar to the third set, the fourth was initially close, with seven ties in the frst half of the set. Midway through, the Tar Heels held a narrow 15-14 lead.
A 4-0 run by Miami tied the score at 21, as the ‘Canes tried to fnish off the match.
With the score at 24-23, Grieve’s 21st kill ended the game and the match.
Miami showcased its many offensive weapons on Friday. Grieve was the standout performer with a remarkable 21 kills, nine digs and four blocks, while sophomore outside hitter Peyman Yardimci had 14 kills of her own.
Savannah Vach also shined with another double-double consisting
of 49 assists and 11 digs.
“I think tonight we kept our composure in high-stress situations and played well as a team,” Grieve said. “Things are starting to come together and I’m proud of
this big road win.”
The ‘Canes were dominant allaround, recording more kills, blocks, and assists than the Tar Heels.
Have a question for V? Email
dearv@themiamihurricane. com.
V’s take is The Hurricane’s most controversial and longest-running column. It is a satirical work published bi-weekly by students and for students. Using our generation’s “colorful” language to address all things sex, love and gossip on campus, V is not for the politically correct or easily ofended.
I know so very little about American football (being absolutely demolished by a 220 pound man with a lot of grunting and cheering involved is something I know quite a bit about; shoulder pads and a helmet are usually optional). Nonetheless, I do know that in an attempt to save at least a shred of our university’s athletic reputation, we should seriously consider playing fútbol instead.
It truly boggles my mind that these boys still have the audacity to slide into my DMs when they can’t even slide into an end zone … at this point it doesn’t even have to be the right end zone. I can’t help but wonder how much better we’d be if our team put half the effort they do into DMing freshmen into actually executing a play. In that vein, just imagine if they were as agile on the feld as they are when obnoxiously weaving their way through campus on their scooters.
Alas, if Miami football has taught me two things, it’s don’t get your hopes up, no matter who the head coach is, and block the wide receiver’s Instagram, no matter how smooth the opening line (trust me he’ll just fumble the bag).
So, I’ve decided to put together my own team. Call your bookies babes, cause we’re bringing home some dubs. Meet V’s starting 11:
Quarterback: Coach L, the man never disappoints.
Tight End: Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Who can do anything better than him?
Running Back 1: A literal rock. LMAO, we’ll take it. It can’t get any worse.
Running Back 2: Host Dale McLean. This man has an excessive amount of energy whilst hyping up a half empty Hard Rock, so let’s put that energy to use. An added point: McLean most certainly has a killer celebratory touchdown dance.
Wide Receiver 1:
The Dining Hall Guy. IYKYK. See @ RedCupCanes for details.
Wide Receiver 2: The guy who juggles an assortment of balls along US1. Man knows his balls.
Center:
Sebastian the Ibis. LaSt To LeAvE, frSt To ReTuRn.
Right Guard: Starbucks employees. Hold on to your pumpkin spice frappes, because these ladies won’t put up with any shit.
Left Guard: The guy who dresses in full uniform every game at Hard Rock. Showing up in 90-degree heat, in full gear every homegame, now that’s what we need in the trenches.
Right Tackle:
Any frat guy who does pull-ups on the tent crossbar at a pool party. Y’all are huge bro.
Left Tackle: The Band of The Hour conductor. If they can hold the band together they can hold the O-line together.
So, what are we waiting for? Put us in, coach!
Yours truly, V
