03/30/23 Full Edition

Old Gold&Black “Covers the campus like the magnolias”

VOL 109 , NO. 15

WA K E F O R E S T ’ S S T U D E N T N E W S PA P E R S I N C E 1 9 1 6

MARCH 30, 2023

'Elevate and Celebrate': Women's History Month events highlight intersectionality The Women's Center collaborated with various campus and student organizations to uplift women's voices MADDIE STOPYRA News Editor More than 20 women gathered in the Black Student Alliance lounge for a casual evening of mentorship and community on March 15, sharing stories and snacks as part of the Women’s Center Girls Night.

“It was so sweet because it was not just freshmen being forced to be together and talk about something that isn’t talked about,” freshman Zoe Brown said. “It was good because it was more of a ‘big sister’ kind of atmosphere.”

Girls Night was one of more than 20 campus events celebrating this year’s Women’s History Month. Partnering with various campus and student organizations, the Women’s Center hosted programming to uplift female voices and focus on gender equity, according to Assistant Director of the Women’s Center Hannah Rehm.

"Our main focus this year was to highlight Wake Forest students, staff and faculty for whom 'woman' is a lived experience, and have used their position to promote gender equity,” Rehm said.

“We wanted to celebrate the work these individuals have done on our campus."

Women’s History Month celebrations kicked off on Feb. 25 with the Daring Deacon Drag Brunch, which accepted nominations for Wake Forest community members who have advocated for gender equality. More than 100 people gathered in the University Activity Space, previously known as “The Barn,” to celebrate 10 individuals — students, staff and faculty — and watch two local drag queens perform. Rehm explained that the purpose of the drag brunch was to give students a space to have a party and celebrate each other.

“Everyone seemed to really enjoy it,” Rehm said. “They enjoyed their time here, so I think it achieved a space where people from different backgrounds and social circles were able to come together in a non-hostile space and party and have a good time. So that was definitely a huge win.”

Alongside promoting gender equity on campus, the Women’s Center aimed to uplift women of color. Wellbeing for Women of Color is a 10-day long program during Women’s History Month that held interactive events and programming that targeted mental and physical health. More than five student organizations partnered with the Women’s Center, LGBTQ+ Center and the University Counseling Center to support women of color during the month’s celebrations.

Brown expressed the importance of highlighting women of color’s experiences during Wake Forest’s Women’s History Month in order to advocate for positive mental health both in the workplace and academic spaces.

“I think it's important to know that you don't have to be this idea of Black excellence because whether you're Black or Asian or Latino or Hispanic, you're excellent,” Brown said.

Program Coordinator for the LGBTQ+ Center and the Women’s Center Antayzha Wiseman shared the process of establishing Wellbeing for Women of Color and the integral role students played in advocating for this group of women.

The Women's Center worked to expand the program from three programs to 11 different events — collaborating with various =student organizations.

“We wanted to hit every single group that could do programming for women of color,” Wiseman said. “We did some programming around poetry and the arts, and I think we have made some

Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock

really good collaborations with student organizations. It’s really powerful when we as an office get to collaborate with student orgs and resource them.”

According to Wiseman, the Shea Moisture event on March 1 was particularly successful.

“We had an event called Shea Moisture in collaboration with the Office of Wellbeing that was about the politics of hair, natural hair care and how people feel comfortable showing up wearing their natural hair,” Wiseman said. “This was a collaboration we did with [Vice President for Campus Life] Dr. Shea Kidd Brown. We had probably more than 40 people show up in a room on the fourth floor of Benson and had a really good talk, and we were able to pass out some really good hair supplies.”

Because Women’s History Month organized a plethora of events, students could attend programming in which they were interested. Both Rehm and Wiseman were pleased with the student engagement these events incited. They attributed their success to their mindset while planning — focusing on student interests and wishes rather than the number of attendees at each event.

“We just really focused on what our student assistants were saying would be cool to do,” Rehm said. “What are the students that frequent the centers saying would be fun? It gave us the freedom to listen and focus on that and really let go of mindsets such as ‘but are we going to have X amount of people show up, what does that mean for a successful program?’ And I think that helped everything flourish.”

Women’s History Month programming concluded on March 29 with a Women’s Only Climbing Night sponsored by Outdoor Pursuits. However, celebrating Wake Forest women extends beyond Women’s History Month. The Women’s Center aims to cultivate a space where women can gather and find community every day of the year.

“Women's History Month is just a time where we can really elevate and celebrate the work that we're always doing,” Rehm said. “This isn't just a March thing for us. We're here, and we're a safe space for people to land. And whether that's just hanging out, taking a snack or investing in the programming that we do, we're here for them.”

Contact Maddie Stopyra at stopmf21@wfu.edu

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Old Gold & Black “ New dean, new opportunities This column represents the views of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Committee

Dr. Jackie Krasas, a highly-regarded sociology and women’s, gender and sexuality studies scholar, has been named the next dean of the college and the graduate school of arts and sciences. Krasas is coming to Wake Forest from Lehigh University, where she taught several courses about gender studies and social injustice. Additionally, Krasas has several published works, such as “‘Hey, Why Don’t You Wear a Shorter Skirt?’ Structural Vulnerability and the Experience of Sexual Harassment in Temporary Clerical Employment” and “Just A Temp: Experience and Structure of Alienation in Temporary Clerical Employment.”

The Old Gold & Black acknowl-

edges Krasas’ previous achievements, and we are hopeful about the fresh perspective that she can bring to Wake Forest.

According to Lehigh’s campus newspaper, the Brown and White, Krasas has made great efforts to diversify Lehigh’s faculty. Diversity of Wake Forest professors is lacking, so the Old Gold & Black is hopeful that Krasas’ administration will prioritize that work here at Wake Forest, as well.

When asked about her new position, Krasas responded with much hope for her time at Wake Forest.

“Coming into the dean role at Wake Forest feels like a natural coalescence of the many areas of academic

life that have been so important to me throughout my career,” she said.

“What especially drew me to Wake Forest is the devotion to the teacherscholar model, the strong liberal arts foundation and of course, the lived practice of Pro Humanitate.”

Krasas is consistently thinking forward, presenting fresh ideas surrounding her area of expertise: sociology and human rights. It is clear that as Dean of Wake Forest, she will be hands-on and prepared to face prevalent issues that our student body faces.

Krasas’ passion for equity is clear to see through the history of her career — between her teaching of societal issues that are all too often swept

Old Gold&Black

The Old Gold & Black looks forward to seeing what [Krasas'] administration brings to Wake Forest's campus." under the rug and her publications on modern discrimination. Krasas is certain to be a powerful and muchneeded presence at Wake Forest as she looks to lead in accordance with the Wake Forest motto — Pro Humanitate. The Old Gold & Black looks forward to seeing what her administration will bring to Wake Forest’s campus.

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News | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, March 30, 2023 | Page 3

Wake ‘N Shake raises nearly a quarter million dollars The annual dance marathon raises money for the Brian Piccolo Cancer Research Fund who were clothed in vibrant orange, green and white T-shirts bearing catchy quotes such as “give cancer the boot.” As the dance marathon teams made their way up the stairs, they were greeted with a round of applause.

Executive Director of the Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center Ruben A. Mesa opened the event by reminding attendees of the cruel, indiscriminate nature of cancer — and the hope that events like Wake ‘N Shake provide.

“Cancer is a thief that steals from patients’ both their length of life and quality life,” Mesa said. “Defeating cancer is a team sport, and today you all are part of that team.”

Mesa explained that every dollar raised could help fund groundbreaking research and bring us one step closer to a cure.

As the crowd swayed and bounced to the beats of “Lil Bit” and “Fake I.D.,” Wake ‘N Shake’s executive team fanned out through the sea of dancers to take care of their duties.

From the stage, the three directors, Caitlyn Dwyer, Jamie Wander and Matt Witterholt, led the way in teaching the dance moves while the morale team kept spirits high. Behind the scenes, the rest of the executive team managed the crowds and ensured that the refreshments were flowing.

According to Witterholt, the preparation for this 12-hour dance marathon started as early as August 2022.

The team of 48 executive members worked to secure speakers, organize dance training sessions and plan for tech, hospitality and entertainment teams.

“I’ve been doing it since freshman year, and this is my first year as a stu-

HOPE ZHU Staff Writer

The air in the Sutton Center was thick with energy and anticipation as students, faculty and staff flocked to the venue for the long-awaited annual Wake ‘N Shake event on March 25.

As the clock struck midnight, the executive board stepped forward and unveiled the grand total raised for cancer research — $248,234. The crowd erupted into a chorus of cheers and applause, honoring the dedication and hard work of all those involved.

The 12-hour dance marathon is the largest student-led philanthropic event on campus, put on in honor of Wake Forest football legend Brian Piccolo, who lost his battle with embryonal carcinoma in 1970. Since then, Wake ‘N Shake has been dedicated to supporting millions of cancer patients and their families and friends.

“Wake ‘N Shake is one of those examples of what Pro Humanitate means when it is put into action,” Vice President for Campus Life Shea Kidd Brown said.

Many student participants have been touched by cancer in some way — whether through a loved one’s struggle or their own battle. For them, dancing was not just a fun way to raise funds but a way to honor those who have been affected by cancer.

“I lost a close friend to cancer,” junior Brooks Mauldin said. “I feel like I owe it to them because they helped me become the man I am today. So, I’m giving as much as I can.”

When the event began at noon, Reynolds Gymnasium echoed with the enthusiasm of the participants,

Evan Harris/Old Gold & Black

Some of Wake ‘N Shake’s executive members cheer students on as they enter the Sutton Center for the dance marathon. dent director,” Witterholt said. “This has always been something that I am passionate about, so I am really happy that I can get as many people as possible to participate.”

An integral aspect of the event was the seven “champion” speakers who shared their experience with cancer with the dancers.

June Booth — one of this year’s champions — told the story of her son Neal Chastain (‘86), who was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia while attending Wake Forest, and Booth established the Neal Monroe Chastain Scholarship in his honor in 1987.

“Somehow, I think that Neil [Monroe Chastain] was trying to say to us, ‘I may be gone, but I am still with you,’” Booth said.

More than 200 students made it possible for Wake ‘N Shake partici-

pants to enjoy a day filled with activities in addition to the dances, including performances from Melodeac — a co-ed a cappella group — and Momentum Crew, a hip-hop and urban dance troupe. When in need of a break from dancing, participants played board games and mini-golf or posed in a photo booth.

Brian Piccolo’s daughter Traci Piccolo reflected on the impact of the event and the research fund in her father’s name.

“I never dreamed it would still be going strong after all these years,” Piccolo said. “My dad has been gone for 52 years, and the fact that this event not only continues but gets stronger and better every year is such a testament to his lasting legacy. I am so proud to be a Deac.”

Contact Hope Zhu at zhuq21@wfu.edu

Wente appoints new executive vice president Jacqueline Travisano will assume her new role in July 2023 MADDIE STOPYRA News Editor

Jacqueline Travisano prioritizes collaborative, student-centered leadership — values she says she will bring to her new role as Wake Forest’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.

“I am honored and excited to join Wake Forest, and I am eager to work with the university’s leadership team to further enhance Wake Forest as a place where students, faculty and staff thrive,” Travisano said in a March 27 press release.

Beginning her new role in July 2023, Travisano will supervise financial operations and numerous departments, including human resources, information systems, facilities and campus services; real estate and hospitality and auxiliary services. She will work alongside President Susan Wente to maximize strategic planning and resource allocation.

“Dr. Travisano brings deep higher education expertise to the EVP role and has been widely recognized for her ability to effectively manage complex organizations,” Wente said in the

press release. “We are thrilled to welcome her to Wake Forest University and look forward to the leadership, strategic vision and commitment to excellence she will bring to the community.”

For more than 30 years, Travisano has worked with universities such as Nova Southeastern University and the University of Miami to maximize their financial operations. Having assisted these institutions during crises such as COVID-19 and Hurricane Irma, Travisano worked to increase student retention rates, admission standards

and housing facilities.

She has won numerous awards during her career for her efforts to achieve diversity and equity — including the National Diversity Council’s Glass Ceiling Award. In 2019, Travisano was recognized as one of Florida’s Most Powerful and Influential Women.

This is a developing story, and the Old Gold & Black will work to update this piece with more specific comments and information as they become available.

Contact Maddie Stopyra at stopmf21@wfu.edu

POLICE BEAT • • • • • • • •

Unknown subject(s) took unsecured AirPods from the Green Room. The report was filed at 5:03 p.m. on March 20.

Underage student consumed alcohol at an unknown, off-campus location. The individual was sick and found unresponsive. The individual was transported to Baptist Hospital. The report was filed at 12:43 a.m. on March 24.

An individual concealed merchandise in a bag and tried to leave a business without paying. The report was filed at 2:18 a.m. on March 24.

An individual concealed merchandise in his clothing and tried to leave the business without paying. The report was filed at 2:18 a.m. on March 24.

Due to their call load, Winston-Salem Police Department did not respond to a loud party call. The report was filed at 2:02 p.m. on March 24.

Unknown subject(s) took a victim’s purse, two debit cards and $100 in cash. The purse was recovered in Lot M. The report was filed at 10:28 p.m. on March 25.

An individual was found to have stolen drinks. The report was filed at 1:56 a.m. on March 26.

An individual was found to have stolen candy from a shelf. The report was filed at 1:26 a.m. on March 26.

News | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, March 30, 2023 | Page 4

Event series highlights ‘autism and the college experience’ Sessions included workshops, a lecture and a student panel AINE PIERRE Online Managing Editor

According to a 2011 study — the most recent one conducted — as many as two percent of college students may meet diagnostic criteria for autism. From March 21-23, a series of events and sessions on Wake Forest’s campus trained students, parents, faculty and staff to support the autistic college students in their homes, friend groups and classrooms.

The program, which was sponsored by Wake Forest’s Center for Learning, Access and Student Success (CLASS), was originally scheduled for late March 2020 before it was canceled. The week’s events included a lecture for parents Tuesday night, workshops for professors and advisers on Wednesday, a student panel (also on Wednesday) and an event at the medical school Thursday morning.

Dr. Jane Brown and Dr. Lorraine Wolf led the programming. Brown is a clinical professor at Yale and director of College Autism Spectrum, and Wolf is director of disability and access services at Boston University.

“I was up in Boston at a training and within 30 minutes, I was convinced that the two people I wanted to bring to Wake Forest were Dr. Jane Brown and Dr. Lorre Wolf,” CLASS office director Michael Shumann said at the Tuesday night event.

At the Tuesday night lecture, Brown and Wolf spoke to an audience of mostly parents about autism and students’ transition to college. The two emphasized the importance of building resilience and strengthening Aine Pierre/Old Gold & Black self-advocacy skills.

Jane Thierfeld Brown and Lorre Wolf discuss the college autism specAccording to Brown and Wolf, when transitioning to trum during their workshop titled “Transition: Creating a Ramp, Not a Cliff.” college, some autistic students struggle with self-advocacy because parents and K-12 school staff never gave events included trainings for faculty and staff about Thompson also suggested in a post-event interview them the opportunity to learn. Part of this is because of supporting autistic students. that students may not feel comfortable “coming out” what the two call a “services cliff,” which exists in part During the “Teaching Autistic Students” workshop, as autistic at Wake Forest due to the school’s “elite” because colleges do not have the same legal responsibiliBrown noted the importance of recognizing differstatus.

Thompson also noted that she knew some auties to disabled students as K-12 schools. ences in behavior between autistic and allistic (nontistic Wake Forest students had turned down requests “It’s not an equal outcome — we’re not guaranteeing autistic) students. to be on the panel.

For purposes of transparency, this an equal outcome,” Wolf said. The only thing that is “[Autistic] students really want you to get to know reporter was also asked to participate in the panel but guaranteed in college is equal access, which addresses barriers to entry in education (some literal, some meta- them and to tell you how interested they might be in declined because she was already slated to cover the a particular topic,” Brown said, “but eye contact may event. phorical) and not student success. be an issue…and they may not be able to acknowledge “I’m imagining maybe this feels like an elite school, that you’re trying to get to know them.” and that people might worry about being judged or At the intersections Wolf also noted that professors should provide ac- being harassed,” Thompson said. “But I took note of commodations to ensure equal access to material, but [the fact] that students were feeling uncomfortable.

Intersectionality in understanding autism was a focal point of Wednesday’s student panel. Panelist Kayla that they should not compromise on their expecta- And I think that that is something that hopefully Smith, a third-year at UNC Greensboro, described her tions. can be addressed by the wider community, because “This is a real course at a real university, and the it’s not just CLASS’ responsibility, it’s our collective experience as a Black, autistic woman.

“Being Black, you have to fight even harder,” Smith meaning of the degree has to be the same for all stu- responsibility.” said. “You have to be perfect at everything.” Smith also dents, that’s really what it comes down to” Wolf said.

One student on Wednesday’s panel, UNCG senior is the creator of #BlackAutisticPride and advocates for “A watered-down course means a watered-down pro- Noah Minafo, experienced that kind of judgment intersectionality around issues of race in the neurodi- gram means a watered-down degree, and that’s not and discrimination first hand when he expressed to good for anybody.” vergence movement.

Wolf and Brown mentioned several possible accom- his friends that he wanted to go to a fraternity party UNCG freshman Isabella Gonzalez also spoke to before he graduates college. their experience being both autistic and nonwhite. modations and options for making courses more ac“I have four weeks left of school, and every time I Gonzalez noted, for example, that their actions were cessible to all students, including recording lectures for try to go to a party, my friends say they don’t think I not taken in good faith the way those of their white those with auditory processing issues, allowing sensory will be acceptable,” Minafo said. objects (such as stim toys) and adding more structure peers would be.

Some Wake Forest students were in attendance Additionally, the issue of gender and autism was to lessons. at the panel and came away admiring the panelists’ Brown also gave the Old Gold & Black an example discussed at both Tuesday’s lecture and Wednesday’s bravery, like senior Maddie Alexanian, who spoke of what she believes medical school professors need to panel. Panelist Holly Thompson, a first-year graduate with the Old Gold & Black Wednesday night. student at Wake Forest, said she was not diagnosed be aware of to best accommodate autistic students.

“I think there’s infinite value in listening to people “For people who have sensory sensitivities, a hospital until her early-20s. Gonzalez, who is non-binary, said who have stories to share and who have experiences or medical setting would be very disruptive for them, they were not diagnosed until after high school, as well, explaining it may have been because they “present as a just the smells and the sounds and all the beeping,” and really haven’t been given the platform to share woman.” This comports with recent research suggesting Brown said. “So sometimes we have to think beyond them,” Alexanian said. “And [the panel] was that that women (and those who present as or are perceived the typical academic accommodations and look at how platform, and I think that I’m personally really apas female) are more likely to receive an autism diagnosis we can meet the access needs of the students so that preciative — it was an opportunity for me to learn a lot.” they can function.” later in life.

Brown shared what she wished students would take This is due in part, Brown says, to a phenomenon Autism in college: seeing Wake Forest through away from these events (or just know in general): called masking, where autistic traits are suppressed to the trees “I would really encourage students to be welcomconform with societal norms of politeness. ing and to encourage students to not have to feel like “You have to do things that are, or make it look like At Wake Forest, the CLASS office’s statistics are they have to fit in, if that’s possible,” Brown said. you are socially acceptable and accepted in the community,” Brown explained to the audience at the pan- well below the two percent figure (which would be 160 “We want students to be able to be their true selves el. “But often, on the inside, what that does to you is students with autism). Schumann, who told the Old on Wake Forest’s campus and not have to try to be Gold & Black by email that 10 or 11 students were someone else or to mask their autism.” crushing.” registered as autistic with the CLASS office, also said Brown’s comments partially echo Smith’s, who put he “wouldn’t be surprised” if many students, faculty it this way during Wednesday’s panel: Accommodating autism in the classroom or staff were autistic but just had not been diagnosed “I want people to know I’m a human being.”

The core mission of colleges is to educate students or were not sharing their diagnosis because it did not and prepare them for careers — as such, the week’s impact their academics.

Contact Aine Pierre at pierav20@wfu.edu

FEATURES

Chase Bagnall-Koger, bagncm21@wfu.edu Isabella Romine, romiie21@wfu.edu

OLD GOLD & BLACK

PAGE 5 THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023

DEACON PROFILE Derick Mejia Torres ISABELLA ROMINE Features Editor

For junior Derick Mejia Torres, tracing the roots of his activism for undocumented immigrants is easy. He reflects on being in middle school, where, shortly after making the 2,000-mile journey as an unaccompanied minor from Honduras to New Orleans, La., to join his mother, peers bullied him for not knowing English.

“I decided I would defend myself,” Mejia Torres said. “And then when a couple kids would go and bother someone that wasn’t documented and didn’t speak English, I was there to help them and translate them and get them out of the situation.”

It would have been easy for Mejia Torres to turn a blind eye to his peers’ struggles. On top of his own issues with classmates, he was struggling with an education taught in a language he didn’t know, getting reacquainted with a mother he had only known through the phone for most of his life and recovering from a five-day stay in a migrant detainment center, which he described as a cold, unhygienic, windowless prison.

Still, his drive to help others remained undimmed: “Activism is just something I do naturally. I have to do it because I know what it feels like to not have the help and resources that you want,” he said.

The advocacy work he began in middle school continued through his high school years. Since then, it has blossomed into many variations — whether at the local school board or the Department of Justice.

In October 2022, as part of Youth Justice Action Month, Mejia Torres spoke to a council representing the U.S. Department of Justice — including Liz Ryan, Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and Vanita Gupta, Associate Attorney General of the United States.

“Sometimes when we think about the criminal legal system and immigration system, we think about them [as two things] that are completely separate from each other, but they have a lot of crossovers,” Mejia Torres said, discussing what he s h a r e d with the Department of Justice.

Mejia Torres pointed out that in Louisiana, his home state, undocumented immigrants are unable to get driver’s licenses or license plates for their cars.

Driving without a license is a crime, and many immigrants will drive to other states and pay extra money to use other people’s addresses to get license plates.

“The way that the immigration system is set up right now is making us all criminals, even though we don’t want to be,” Mejia Torres explained.

“Sometimes we have to make those decisions. For example, if you want to eat or take your kids to school, and you don’t have a driver’s license, you’re going to do it no matter what because that’s a need.

It’s not a desire.”

Mejia Torres noted that one of his goals is to ensure that all states provide a universal driver’s li-

Photo courtesy of Derick Mejia Torres

cense so that immigrants don’t have to worry about deportation while driving.

In his own community in New Orleans, Mejia Torres works with Free ALAS, a nonprofit organization that helps educators connect undocumented students with pro bono legal representation and advocates for students to stay in school before trials in immigration court.

Because those who appear in immigration court are not entitled to a public defender, securing one’s own legal representation is often a critical factor in immigration court cases. According to AP News, only 8% of immigrants who appear without an attorney win their cases, compared to 88% of those who are represented by an attorney.

Some of Mejia Torres’s specific work with Free ALAS involves accompanying the organization’s founder, Lisa Maria Rhodes, to local schools and training educators on how to best assist students that have been affected by the immigration system.

He shares his experiences of what it is like to be undocumented and the value of having a teacher’s guidance.

He has also spoken to local New Orleans school boards, advocating for increased resources and different paths to graduation for undocumented students in the United States. Many students come to the United States as high schoolers, and while they might know the content being taught, they cannot express their knowledge in English.

“The language barrier there sometimes makes [these students] seem like they don’t know any-

thing,” Mejia Torres said. “We should have a different path to graduation that, instead of taking standardized testing in English, maybe some type of portfolio can allow them to show that they have the math skills, sciences skills and reading skills that they need, but they might need some time to learn the language first.”

On a more personal level, he has also worked with local New Orleans youth through the ASPIRE Fellowship, which he helped found through Free ALAS. The ASPIRE Fellowship brings together Black and brown students and helps them remove barriers to education and advocacy imposed by immigration and criminal court systems. The sixweek program was divided into traditional learning and experiential learning days. During the former, students learned about a concept — such as anger management, what wellness looks like or how to be a board member of a nonprofit.

The experiential learning days focused on putting principles into practice, which included activities such as advocating for undocumented students to the superintendent of New Orleans schools and meeting community activists. Participants were introduced to figures such as Malik Rahim, a founder of the New Orleans chapter of the Black Panthers, and Dave Dennis, a civil rights activist who helped organize the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer and directed Mississippi’s Congress of Racial Equality.

“The philosophy that I have, and that I know ALAS has, too, is that those closer to the problem are closer to the solution, so putting youth in places of power will make change,” Mejia Torres said. “When I was talking to [Dennis], I asked how he made that big of a change. He told me that activism is just like playing basketball. When you want to achieve a goal, sometimes you have to start alone. And then someone else likes what you’re doing and asks to play with you. And then [someone else asks]... Then without realizing, you have two teams and can play a match.”

In addition to Dennis, Mejia Torres credits his mother as one of his inspirations.

“She’s always helping people. Sometimes she doesn’t even know who she’s helping. I get that characteristic from her,” he said. “She’s the best at trying really hard. She’s sent a lot of people in Honduras food, clothing, stuff like that. I want to ensure that wherever she is, she has the best resources.”

Mejia Torres recently received his U.S. citizenship, and though he has not yet decided what he wants to do after graduation, he knows it will involve advocating for and helping others.

“I understand the place of privilege that I have because I’m a college student that has documentation. I’m able to access a lot of spaces that other people can’t, maybe because of the language barrier or sometimes just because they don’t have the connections. I use the tools that I have because I feel like it’s my duty.”

Contact Isabella Romine at romiie21@wfu.edu

Page 6 | Thursday, March 30, 2023

Old Gold & Black | Features

The Promise

Kimberly Park Community Garden h CHARLOTTE RAMIREZ Contributing Writer

The chill of winter burned off as the morning progressed. The watery sun peeked through a cold sky and climbed upward, bringing with it signs of spring.

Arugula and kale sprouts poked up above the ground — their green and purple mirroring the brilliant colors of the garden shed’s murals.

Spring brought new life to Kimberley Park Community Garden.

A group of Wake Forest University students and I moved around the garden. We came for our weekly Saturday-morning volunteer session, organized by the Garden Ambassadors Program, to help Rosa Johnson, a master gardener and the caretaker of the Kimberley Park Community Garden. On some Saturdays, a couple of volunteers that were not associated with the university would join, but today, it was just our student group.

On this particular day, it was time to add more leaves to the compost, to ensure that the pile would decay into the rich, nutrient-packed soil that was perfect for adding to plant beds.

Vanessa, Anne, and I wheeled the cumbersome, green wheelbarrow up and down the small slope from one end of the plot, where crunchy, brown leaves had piled up along the chain-link fence, to the opposite end’s two compost beds, a couple feet deep and constructed from plywood.

Today, we found that using the rake to scoop the fallen leaves into the rickety wheelbarrow proved to be less efficient than imagined. We resorted to scooping the leaves in big armfuls. Occasionally, scraps of plastic had to be plucked out of the piles and were shoved into pants pockets to be taken to the trash can.

The wheelbarrow went up the hill, and we scooped up the leaves. Back down it went, squeaking as it rolled.

Back up, to be filled with more leaves, and down again. Up, again and down.

Eeeek, EEEK, the axel squeaked.

Methodical movement, broken only by our chatter while we caught up with the week’s events. Vanessa Christabel had been busy with her internship. Anne Chen told us about her job as a Resident Advisor.

Johnson told us how to use dandelions to make tea.

Johnson, known to volunteers as “Ms. Rosa,” started working with the garden about five years ago, when the space was called the Maya

Photo courtesy of Douglas Schneider/Pinterest

Angelou’s Mothers and Daughters’ Garden. She was inspired to be involved partially because she is Maya Angelou’s only living niece.

Johnson is a figure of authority, yet friendly and inspiring. Christabel, one of the regular Saturday morning student volunteers, describes her like an aunt rather than a mother figure. “She knew what she wanted to do with the garden.”

The plot of land is located on the intersection of 17th and Cherry Street, in the Boston Thurmond area.

Johnson’s vision for the space is to bring community members together to provide fresh food for the neighborhood, which is located squarely in one of Winston-Salem’s 21 food deserts.

In food deserts, like the Boston Thurmond area, most residents have limited access to affordable, nutritious foods. Johnson saw an opportunity to use her knowledge and wealth of experiences to impact the community she calls home. She has worked hard to connect with the neighborhood and the elementary school across the street.

••• The Kimberley Park Community Garden is a collection of about 30 raised beds, hosting a variety of vegetables, flowers and fruits. It’s just one of the 90 community gardens in North Carolina’s Forsyth County.

Community gardens come in a variety of forms and may look different depending on their purpose or location. Some may be located at or near a school; others may be found in urban areas, on rooftops or in a formerly abandoned plot of land. They all aim to serve their communities but may go about it in different ways. Some may contain beds that are communally worked, while others may have beds that can be rented out in an allotment system.

Community gardens can help reduce communities’ reliance on the commercial agricultural system, said Dr. Allison Lacko, the Senior Nutrition Research and Policy Analyst with the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC). FRAC advocates for policy solutions to poverty-related hunger, and Dr. Lacko works on researching national policy. Food sovereignty, which is having control over your own sources of food, is typically associated with native communities, but some gardens that provide food for the community c a n contribute to sovereignty.

The local community garden system widens access to fresh food and contributes to fighting food insecurity in Winston-Salem, a city where 18% of people don’t have reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

This n u m b e r s o a r s above the national f o o d insecurity

rate o f 10.2%.

Kimberley Park serves as a donation garden, like most of the other community gardens in Wi n s t o n - Sa l e m .

Donation gardens are typically run by individuals or groups who donate the harvests to outside organizations that can more effectively distribute food to those who need it. Kimberley Park, for example, gives its produce to Help Our People Eat (H.O.P.E.) of

Winston-Salem, a local, volunteer-based nonprofit organization that cooks and delivers fresh meals to families with children.

Donation gardens, which are often affiliated with community institutions like faith centers or schools, are just one cog in the wheel of the larger system of emergency food relief.

Allotment gardens also provide food for the community, but they let people have their own plot where they can plant and harvest crops. Though allotment gardens offer the allure of self-sufficiency, they require the input of valuable time and energy into a skills-based activity.

There are certain requirements for being able to participate in any type of community gardening. First, you must be financially secure enough to have the free time to garden. Second, you must have transportation.

Third, gardening is a skills-based experience; you must have the knowledge for how to tend a garden.

Nathan Peifer, the coordinator of the Campusas-Labs program at Wake Forest University said that community gardening is an activity for those with the luxury of time. The group of Wake Forest volunteers that I was a part of accomplished the tasks of collecting leaves and maintaining the compost. Even that seemingly small activity stretched out to take up at least two hours of our morning.

“The local food movement is a social justice movement,” Peifer said. “And often those who are the target for this movement don’t have the luxury of time.”

Johnson, though she’s in her late 70s and requires assistance with tasks like shoveling dirt and lifting wooden beams, is lucky enough to have the time, knowledge and stability to manage a community garden.

••• About five years ago, Johnson moved into an apartment in the Boston Thurmond neighborhood at the behest of her youngest daughter. She moved from Puerto Rico to Winston-Salem because her two daughters wanted her close by to help care for Johnson’s mother. Her family converged in Winston-Salem and in the Boston Thurmond neighborhood — coming from places like Baltimore, Denver and San Francisco to be closer to family.

Right after she moved in, she noticed a group of people working on a formerly abandoned space — the space that would become the Kimberley Park Community Garden. The area, leased by Kimberley Park Elementary School from the city for one dollar a year, was little more than a patch of weedy earth. It was unfenced, had no water source and sloped from north to south, yet the group was working to get the space ready for planting. This local group had gathered people to set up community gardens around Forsyth County, hoping to bring fresh food to the surrounding community.

Johnson went over and introduced herself.

Soon, she enrolled in a gardening course offered by the North Carolina Cooperative Extension, an organization that provides resources and expertise from NC State University, NC A&T State University and government partnerships. A primary way that the Extension provides support for Forsyth County community gardeners is through the courses they offer that teach students the skills needed to run a garden.

Johnson found encouragement and support when she enrolled and began talking to other gardeners.

She quickly became an advocate forthe small band of people working to improve the space and worked with them to improve the garden. She walked over to Kimberley Park Elementary School, located right across the street from the soon-to-be garden. There, she found an ally in Amber Baker, the principal at the time.

They needed to install the necessary components for a garden — chief among them was a fence. Johnson sought out help from the mayor of Winston-Salem.

While at a function, she ran into him and jumped on the chance to inform him about the garden’s potential.

Before the garden could achieve its potential, they needed assistance with getting a fence.

Thursday, March 30, 2023 | Page 7

Old Gold & Black | Features

e of Spring

Photos courtesy of Raw Pixel

helps address local hunger crisis When the mayor did not initially back up his promise of installing one, Baker kept calling and emailing until one day, workers installed a chain link fence around the plot of land.

Children from the community who lived nearby and attended the elementary school came to help.

They excitedly assisted Johnson and constantly tossed ideas around, like what they should plant or what they should build next. After the workers put up the fence, the kids posed for pictures, holding shovels and grinning next to the newly upturned earth that lay at the base of the fence.

The garden was taking shape. It was no longer an empty patch of land.

There were other necessities for a thriving garden that had to be established, however. Beds had to be constructed; dirt and wood had to be brought in. And how would water get to all these beds that sprouted in the imaginations of Johnson and her small band of elementary schoolers without any nearby watering source?

Johnson didn’t lose hope. She was determined. She recalled one gardener walking around the space and saying, “They ain’t gonna put no water over there for you, Ms. Rosa.”

But she retained hope and eventually got a special well put in, right at the entrance of the garden. “Hand washing station,” a sign now reads, next to the pump.

What more could the growing community garden want? Wood, and lots of it. Johnson sketched out a plan for the beds, arranging around 40 slightly raised beds inside the new chain-link fence. The range of the rectangles drawn onto the page required a lot of wood in order to come to life. Johnson took the sketch to H.O.P.E. of Winston-Salem and asked for enough wood to construct beds. They sent over workers and plank after plank of plywood. Soon, the vision came to life. The garden was ready to be planted.

••• Kimberley Park Community Garden alone cannot solve the food insecurity issues in Winston-Salem, though — nor can the city’s entire existing community garden system. To tackle food insecurity in the city, a web of local donation centers, advocacy groups, food banks and nonprofits supplement governmental assistance programs. A significant change in rates of food insecurity requires policy change and the addressing of underlying economic causes.

In a 2019 census by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a large part of WinstonSalem is marked with low-income and low-access census tracts, showing that a significant number of residents are more than one mile from the nearest supermarket in urban areas, or 10 miles in rural areas.

According to a 2018 FRAC report, Winston-Salem is ranked seventh on a national list of metropolitan areas with the highest rate of food hardship.

One influence on food hardship is the presence of food deserts. These are defined by the USDA as census tracts in which at least 33% of the population lives more than a mile from a large grocery store or supermarket. The low-income and low-access census tracts from 2019 flank the areas north and west of downtown Winston-Salem.

“There is a higher concentration of grocery stores on the west side of Forsyth County, while the east has higher concentrations of food pantries,” Peifer said about the unequal distribution of food access in the city. “It’s all related to issues of income inequality,” he adds.

“The main driver of hunger is poverty,” said Dr. Lacko, the FRAC policy analyst. But what are the solutions to addressing poverty, which shows up as food or nutritional insecurity? FRAC concludes that supporting economic programs, like fair wages and tax programs, through policy changes, would get to the root of this issue.

Food and nutritional insecurity often show up as a consequence of poverty because for most households without children, food i s a flexible expense. What’s inflexible are expenses like rent, mortgage or car payments. Since food is a flexible expense, families can save money by decreasing the amount they buy, or buying cheaper, often lower quality food.

Programs that provide either food or money for food can minimize budgeting concerns and can address the dietary consequences of poverty. These programs include large federal programs like SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) and WIC SNAP (SNAP targeted toward women, infants, and children), as well as smaller programs like those that fund school lunches and breakfasts. SNAP provides eligible families with benefits through an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card — which can be used like a debit card to purchase food at authorized stores.

Additionally, FRAC supports legislation and policies that address things like the child tax credit.

During 2021, this was a program that was part of the government’s American Rescue Plan that gave tax breaks to families based on their children’s ages.

This could provide working families with between $3,000 to $3,600 per child.

Since the pandemic, there has been a new report, the Household Pulse Survey, in addition to the annual USDA report and the census report. This new survey tracks food insecurity trends over time. The research that has emerged since the start of the pandemic has been based on rapid response data collection, which has emphasized how the pandemic exacerbated longstanding disparities.

The pandemic increased unemployment, increased poverty and influenced less access to school nutrition programs. The already existing structural oppression, seen through education disparities and redlining, put people in economic hardship and food insecurity disadvantages. Programs like the child tax credit, however, have been shown to be effective in reducing these disparities.

Rates of hunger reached a peak in 2020, at the onset of the pandemic. They decreased in 2021 but have been climbing upward ever since, driven by rising food prices.

••• The garden shed had not always been the centerpiece it currently is; it was a product of the community’s dedication to the garden. Adorned with bright purple paint, it holds spades, gloves, planks of wood and rakes. Bundles of drying rosemary hang from the ceiling, and mason jars and Tupperware hold seeds.

The shed sits in the corner furthest from the road and is shaded by trees in the neighboring lot.

“When the praises rise up the blessings rain down” reads one tapestry on the side of the shed as it wrinkles in the breeze.

Two other tapestries flank the big sliding door.

One blue and one purple, they each have a matching image of a figure on them.

They are the Ibeji twins — symbols from the Yoruba people of the Yoruba region, located around present-day Nigeria. When twins are born, Johnson explains, there is prosperity for the whole family. The Ibeji watch over the children.

“An artist friend of mine gave me the tapestries,” she said. “I thought they were appropriate.”

B e t w e e n the tapestries’ watchful eyes, a group of elementary schoolers had placed handprints all over the shed door, encircling them all with an outline of a big, red heart.

Johnson hopes that the teachers at Kimberley Park Elementary will encourage their students to join the newly founded gardening club so they can learn about s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y, a n d that families will maintain plots t o avoid rising food prices.

For now, though, the few plots that families had previously taken care of lay empty a n d unplanted. They no longer had free time to care for a garden space.

••• The next time I visited the garden last fall, winter was approaching. Herbs and leafy greens still dot some of the beds, sprigs of green among the dull earth, hardened by the cold.

We pulled up the pumpkin vines that decayed next to the shed.

Only three pumpkins grew this year, but t h e elementary schoolers, who visited the garden as a part of the gardening club, were thrilled to see them huddled amongst the spikey green vines and palm-sized leaves.

The vines had snaked from their bed and wound their way under and over the purple bench, climbing the chain-link fence, o r a n g e blooms wilting on the vine.

Even though many of the vines had lost their former vivacious nature, they clung tightly to the fence — resisting detangling attempts. Their spikes poked through my gloves, a n d small tendrils wound tightly around fence links.

I freed the fence and emptied the bed of greenery.

I blanketed the empty beds with mismatched pieces of cardboard, weighing them down with bricks.

“We’re putting the garden to sleep,” Johnson said.

In the spring, beds will again be overflowing with t h e varied green hues o f vegetables, fruits and flowers.

The school children and volunteers will return, and the garden will come alive again. That is the promise of spring.

Contact Charlotte Ramirez at ramica19@wfu.edu

ENVIRONMENT PAGE 8 THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023

OLD GOLD & BLACK

Addison Schmidt, schmac21@wfu.edu Bella Ortley-Guthrie, ortlbs21@wfu.edu

Stop and smell the...rocks?

Experiential learning tour leaves no stone unturned SHAILA PRASAD Opinion Editor

I’ve walked into Farrell Hall more than 100 times, and in every single instance, I’ve associated it with stress and PTSD from accounting class. Now I admire the pillars that guard the business school, and it’s all thanks to a little rock tour.

“You think the business dudes appreciate how beautiful a structure they walk past every day is?” joked Professor Stephen Smith, a visiting assistant professor in Wake Forest’s Environmental Program.

Smith has been hosting “Campus Rocks!” tours on campus for two years now. It began as a requirement for BIO/ ENV 220: Introduction to Earth Science — but it’s become more than that for his students.

“It was really nice taking a walk outside for an hour and a half,” sophomore Erin Farmer said. “It was more of a fun activity rather than a lesson –– and more immersive –– which made what we were learning more interesting.”

And that’s exactly what Smith hoped for.

“Wake Forest has an emphasis on experiential learning,” Smith said, “and getting students outside has always been an important part of my approach to teaching and learning.”

Having previously taught at the University of Connecticut, Shaila Prasad/Old Gold & Black he had conducted a similar tour on their campus and was “This isn’t my most enthusiastic rock tour, but I’m sure you’re all burnhoping to bring it to Wake Forest.

With 11 stops on the tour, Smith took us on an hour- ing with desire on the inside,” Smith joked with students on Hearn Plaza. and-a-half walk that started at the School of Law and ended to Earth Science class, that being said, I like to think anyone er said with a similar sentiment, “but I didn’t realize they on Manchester Plaza.

“I spent some time wandering around campus and picked would enjoy it,” Smith said, and it seems his students would would be connected to buildings in a way that made me out a bunch of locations I thought would be worth pointing agree. appreciate the architecture more.”

“I knew I was going to like the rock tour because Steve out,” Smith said of the process behind designing the tour. “I The Office of Sustainability has been interested in excreated a list of stops that would create a route that makes [Smith] has so much to tell us,” Vasbinder said. panding the rock tour to make it available to a larger auSmith, who encourages his students to call him “Steve,” dience, and it was highlighted as a part of the Magnolia sense.”

Curriculum Project. This project aims to “enhance teaching and engagement with sustainability issues” on campus –– something Smith is passionate about.

He highlighted the “river of rocks” outside the North Dining Hall as key to helping with filtration and land hydration on campus but also acknowledged where we as a community may be lacking.

“I feel like today our lives are so fast-paced, and we have all these things tugging at our attention like cell phones,” Smith said. “It’s not our default mode of operation anymore to pay attention to our surroundings. Once you notice something, you can’t not notice it every subsequent time that you pass it.”

Smith aims to develop a more purposeful experience over the next few years. From either adding more stops, expanding the target audience to be the greater university population or even having his students start running the tour.

“An offshoot of the tour could be to have groups of K-12 students come and spend an afternoon with the environmental students,” Smith said. “It could be a good model to take them around and talk about the integration of Wake Forest into this ecosystem –– things like stormwater management and erosion.”

Smith aims to foster a more appreciative mindset, and it’s evident he has made a positive impact on his students.

“My biggest takeaway from this tour was realizing just Shaila Prasad/Old Gold & Black how short our lives are in the grand scheme of things,” A student touches one of the rocks that’s a part of the meditation Claudia Vasbinder said. “We as humans cannot circle located behind ZSR library and inbetween Babcock and Luter Hall. sophomore possibly understand how old some of these rocks are.”

From Alumni Hall to inside Winston Hall, the Wake Now, it’s easy for students to come into the tour thinking is not only able to make a rock tour interesting for non- Forest University campus is covered in not only rocks but they’re about to be bored to death by a rock lover — I did geologists. flowers and fauna that are thousands of years old, from “I would recommend the tour to my friends because I places like the Carribean to Texas, which contribute to the the same — but it’s more than that. Students were involved, and I even found myself answering questions in my head think Steve is very knowledgeable,” said Berkeley Scharf, ground on which we walk today. with facts I learned earlier in the tour — despite not having a sophomore who took the class freshman year. “You can learn a lot while also having fun.” taken his class myself.

Contact Shaila Prasad “I knew he would show us rocks around campus,” Farm- prassp21@wfu.edu “The tour was built purposefully for students in the Intro

Environment | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, March 30, 2023 | Page 9

The digital footprint that follows us offscreen Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have a major environmental impact ROKSANNA KEYVAN Staff Writer

An epoch of economic prosperity and financial freedom is imminent. Transactions worth thousands — even millions — occur in seconds, with users anonymously sending and receiving money without having to leave their living room. How? The answer lies in cryptocurrency, or “crypto.” Paperless, efficient and clutter-free, crypto has revolutionized technology and finance, but it also has extreme environmental and energy implications.

Cryptocurrency 101: A Wake Forest field trip to the crypto and bitcoin mines Crypto is a form of decentralized currency that operates independently of a central authority figure, such as a bank or government institution. Without regulation, wire transfers across international borders have become simpler, as crypto acts as an anonymous system that operates without transaction fees.

Fahad Saleh, an associate professor of finance at Wake Forest University, outlines the technical mechanisms behind crypto.

“Bitcoin and other crypto operate on a blockchain,” Saleh said. “A blockchain is essentially a distributed database, a virtual chain of blocks that each contain a transaction — all chained together in a temporal order.”

He continued: “The Bitcoin blockchain operates as a payment system, where money ends up as a transaction on the blockchain. Transaction settlement is achieved when the transaction ends up stored on a block on the blockchain.”

With promises of financial freedom, decentralized currency and potential for massive returns, crypto companies Bitcoin and Ethereum are an appealing and novel form of currency. Unfortunately, as popularity rises, so do its environmental impacts.

Crypto is acquired through a “mining” process — a system of complex mathematical algorithms that verify transactions and maintain a ledger of all coins in circulation. Mining relies on a network of computers, each of which must perform significant computational work to mine new coins.

The decentralized nature of crypto means there is no entity in charge of regulating the amount of power used to run the mining network. Anyone with access to a working computer and decent internet connection can mine, offering a revolutionary and lucrative investment opportunity. However, this unchecked accessibility means that this network could become incredibly energy-intensive.

According to Raina Haque, a professor specializing in emerging technology law at the Wake Forest School of Law, the problem with mining, and Bitcoin mining in particular, is that its “security mechanism was developed to involve a very energyexpensive procedure, known as Proof-of-Work.”

Meaning, this energy-expensive security mechanism was built into the system to “disincentivize the takeover of the Bitcoin network by a malicious actor,” Haque said.

Saleh argues that Proof-of-Work has caused “Bitcoin’s levels of energy expenditure to be quite significant, leaving an equally significant environmental footprint.”

Roksanna Keyvan/Old Gold & Black love-child of both footprints, is a new force to be reckoned with.

Crypto is one of the leading causes of our digitalcarbon footprint. Bitcoin alone is estimated to consume around 121.36 terawatt-hours (TWh) of energy a year, according to research conducted by Cambridge University. This amount of energy a year equates to more than the energy consumption of Google, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft combined, according to Renee Cho at Columbia University.

It is estimated that crypto energy usage is responsible for the emission of about 73 million tons of carbon dioxide per year according to Digiconomist.

Bitcoin is not alone — other companies like Ethereum produced an estimated 35.4 million tons of carbon dioxide in September 2022.

Additionally, as specialized hardware grows obsolete for mining purposes, miners abandon old computers to upgrade to more energy-intensive computers. Unfortunately, old Bitcoin mining hardware is unable to be reprogrammed to be reused — generating 11.5 kilotons of e-waste each year, according to Cho. Some U.S. miners are even investing hundreds of millions of dollars to convert abandoned factories and power plants into large bitcoin mining facilities, with one notorious example being Greenidge Generation, a former coal power plant in New York that is currently one of the largest cryptocurrency mines in the country.

According to the Associated Press, generation plants in Venango County, Pa., convert coal waste into power for mining Bitcoins. In Montana, a coalfired generating station utilizes 100% of its energy for Bitcoin mining, as well. However, it is under a power purchase agreement that offsets carbon emissions.

Despite goals established by the Paris Climate Accords in 2015 to mitigate GHG emissions and keep anthropogenic global warming within 2 degrees Celsius, researchers from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa argue that Bitcoin emissions alone could push global warming above 2 degrees Celsius.

Digital footprints that follow us offscreen

Attempts to minimize the effects of crypto impress, but ultimately fall short

We’ve all heard of the infamous digital footprint — the permanent record of your online activity.

We’ve also all heard of the more infamous carbon footprint, which is the total amount of harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted as a result of human activity. Everyday, this footprint leaves a deeper impact on Earth, increasing global temperatures while decreasing quality of life.

But the digital-carbon footprint, the terrifying

Several initiatives, such as the Crypto Climate Accord and the Bitcoin Mining Council, have been launched by third-party companies to reduce crypto’s digital carbon footprint. These initiatives support projects aimed toward reducing carbon emissions and push for the implementation of renewable energy methods.

One initiative, according to Haque, is known as Proof-of-Stake — an alternative security that uses

almost 99% less energy than its predecessor, Proofof-Work.

The key takeaway is that a network of energyintensive mining devices no longer need to compete with each other to create the next block for the underlying blockchain anymore. Thus, energy emissions have an opportunity to be reduced. One successful example is Ethereum, which was able to drop its emissions by 99.95% following its transition to the new Proof-of-Stake algorithm.

However, Haque noted, “People do criticize Proofof-Stake for being less secure, as one of the key security features of Proof-of-Work is that its costly system disincentivizes bad actors from taking over. Proof-ofStake critically lacks that same disincentive.”

Crypto, however, remains an unregulated venture in which people and governments have invested millions of dollars. Transitioning to a more energy-efficient system, although theoretically possible, would be difficult and idealistic, according to a Columbia Business School professor in an interview with Cho. The key to overcoming the Bitcoin bandwagon, according to Saleh, lies in the government. Saleh says that the governmental focus should emphasize policies that are more supportive of other crypto platforms to undermine Bitcoin’s relevance.

Haque echoes this notion: “ Incentives, like tax deductions or credit for joining specific networks should be offered to incentivize people on to the government’s preferred networks … Ultimately, the goal should not be to shut down Bitcoin, but it should be to draw people away from the overall network.”

To maintain popular relevance, cryptocurrencies will no longer be able to ignore environmental considerations. Bitcoin specifically is neither reliable nor sustainable in today’s culture. In the words of Saleh, “Bitcoin is a falling star, not a rising consideration.”

It’s up to the next generation Cryptocurrency itself may be digital, but its impacts can lead to real-world consequences. While digital currency has the potential to be the lucrative future of money and the global economy, it also has the propensity to harm the environment.

These questions have remained a hot topic at Wake Forest since 2020. During the pandemic, Haque remembers the Hackathon, a Wake Forest event held that dealt with topics regarding a more equitable and efficient use of blockchains.

Saleh teaches a class at Wake Forest where students can design their own crypto using the Proof-of-Stake algorithm in its blockchain to minimize its respective carbon footprint.

According to Saleh and Haque, Wake Forest is doing more than other universities to educate its students about blockchain and engage them in this emerging sphere of technology through classes, interactive seminars and campus events.

Haque sums up the situation from a broader scope.

“We went from a society of hunter-gatherers, then discovered trading in commodities,” Haque said.

“We slowly began recognizing other instruments for trades, like notes and debts, to currencies. And now, we are here, transitioning from the American dollar to the digital era of crypto.”

He continued: “Crypto is a first-time use of this type of technology. This is just the first bubble that has to pop before things stabilize and we move into an era of digital currency and digital assets.”

According to Haque, the world is in a hiccup space right now, but things will eventually settle down.

The fate of crypto is dependent on us — the upcoming generation of leaders, entrepreneurs and conservationists. There is hope yet that the grass is greener on the other side of the crypto venture.

Contact Roksanna Keyvan at keyvr22@wfu.edu

Environment | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, March 30, 2023 | Page 10

Conservation lab explores the Lighthouse Coral Reefs Wake Forest biology students visit Belize to study coral reefs MIA SPRINGER Staff Writer

Nose-to-nose with a reef shark, Wake Forest students got to experience biology textbook material in the wild during a spring break trip with their biology class.

BIO 311: Ecology and Conservation of Coral Reefs, is a four-hour spring course taught by Dr. Miles Silman, a Wake Forest biology professor, ecologist, and avid researcher of Amazonian Andean trees and coral ecology in Belize.

“This is a capstone class, so it pulls together all the threads you have learned — everything from molecular biology to earth science,” Silman said.

The course focuses on biotic (living) as well as abiotic (nonliving) components of the coral reef ecosystem. Throughout the course, students learned how these productive and diverse ecosystems are at risk from the various anthropogenic (human impact on the environment) effects. During the semester, students read and discussed research papers weekly leading up to the lab component: a one-week trip to Lighthouse Reef in Belize.

In preparation, students were encouraged to become scuba certified — a task that can be completed at Wake Forest’s campus pool. In the classroom, students memorize all the different fish, sponge, and coral species living at Lighthouse Reef. The week before leaving, they had a final mock-dive test in the pool where they identified various floating images of fish.

Before heading out on their daily dives, students needed flippers, shorties, a snorkel, a mask, a regulator, and fish survey materials such as a pencil and clipboard. Silman describes how students were in the water somewhere between 14-16 hours a day.

Senior Meredith Power described getting up with the sun and, if there was downtime, getting to kayak

Photo courtesy of Meredith Power

The BIO 311: Ecology and Conservation of Coral Reefs class pauses their studies to take a group photo on a beach near Lighthouse Reef in Belize. famous Great Blue Hole, an enormous sinkhole off the coast of Belize.

“The amount of life and biodiversity concentrated in one place was amazing,” Power recounted.

However, this biodiversity isn’t all picture-perfect. humans have been impacting coral reefs for ages, and students observed these effects firsthand underwater.

“You can see them really strongly, and getting back you can see large-scale anthropogenic effects, such as the effects of bleaching and temperature change — these diseases that spread all throughout the Caribbean and from one year to the next, you watch stuff disappear,” Silman described.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, coral gets this “bleached” anemic-looking color after under-

tion influences the entire ocean as a very integrated system,” Espen Oswald, a teaching assistant for BIO311, said. “Oceans connect everything as water flows constantly.”

Power emphasized her biggest takeaway from the course was the extent to which humans impact coral reefs and how policies and regulations must be put in place.

Now, as students have returned back to campus, the course will begin discussing conservation.

Silman stated there are both challenges and opportunities with conservation, so the students will be discussing these at length about the Lighthouse Reef.

“I think [studying the coral reefs] is empowering.

It makes you see there are actually conservation efforts you can do,” Silman said.

Photo courtesy of Meredith Power

Students circle around and observe a sea turtle while scuba diving in the water.

or play cards with peers. One of her particularly fond memories was from their first day when a pod of dolphins swam near their boat.

“We boated to where the dolphins were, jumped off the boat, and began to swim with the wild dolphins….and after I was in the middle of a swarm of sardines,” Power said.

Senior Mac Grosscup, another trip attendee, detailed the group’s various activities and surveying during their time at Lighthouse Reef.

“We studied the dynamics of coral reef systems.

This includes understanding nutrient cycling, trophic systems and animal interactions,” he said. “We did things such as plankton tows in the day versus the night to see how the composition of zooplankton and phytoplankton changes.”

For one of the dives, students got to go to the

Photo courtesy of Espen Oswald

A student hops on a fish for a ride while exploring the Lighthouse Reef in Belize.

going stress and having expelled their symbiotic algae. This stress can be caused by a rise in ocean temperature. As climate change leads to a warmer ocean, coral bleaching continues to rise.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration identifies coral reefs as an environmental necessity, as they protect our shorelines and support most of our marine environment.

“Human impacts on the reefs are incredibly profound — not just human implications on a local level, but climate change and ocean acidifica-

Photo courtesy of Meredith Power

A student poses with a starfish in the water while standing near a beach in Belize.

Contact Mia Springer at spriml21@wfu.edu

OPINION OLD GOLD & BLACK

Shaila Prasad, prassp21@wfu.edu

Lauren Carpenter, carple21@wfu.edu

PAGE 11 THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023

The views expressed in all opinion columns represent those of the article’s author, not the opinions of the Old Gold & Black Editorial Board

Yes we ‘can’: industrialization spurs meme protests Memes are to blame for the soup vandalisms of iconic paintings ROKSANNA KEYVAN

Staff Columnist

If you were to ask anyone in the 19th century about the potential consequences of the Industrial Revolution, not a single soul would have ever imagined responding with a sentence like “mashed potatoes on the ‘Mona Lisa.’”

Strangely enough, a direct consequence of the Industrial Revolution is a popular protest movement that involves desecrating famous artworks with food.

Vincent Van Gogh’s “Sunflowers” (1888) is one of the most well-known artworks in the world. With gorgeous warm tones, realistic petals and soft brushstrokes, what’s not to love? In October 2022, however, the artwork was retouched with hues of tomato red — courtesy of a can of tomato soup from members of the Just Stop Oil campaign group. In a bold protest against oil companies and the government’s inaction on both the cost of living crisis and the climate crisis, the activists dumped an open can of soup over the painting and glued themselves to the wall.

Although the stunt, fortunately, did not leave an impact on the artwork itself, it left an impact on the world.

Since this protest inspired a surge of activism against notable artworks across the world, Van Gogh is no longer alone in this new wave of food-based advocacy against climate change. In recent months, works by Leonardo da Vinci and Claude Monet were also targeted by both food and statements challenging whether the worth of art is greater than the lives of people. Although the protests have received widespread criticism from politicians and environmental groups, activists continue to transform assorted canned goods into tools for change.

But that’s not all — climate activists have hateful views of the past — art has played taken even more drastic measures, capitali- a key role in shaping humanity’s ability to zing on both art and their physical bodies to communicate a need for change. draw international attention. In March 2023, Together, combinations of art, institution a topless protester targeted popstar sensation and activism are proven to be a powerful reciAvril Lavigne at the 2023 Juno Awards in pe for drawing attention to significant issues Alberta, Canada. Bearing drawings on her and changing the status quo. So why has the torso advocating for environmental action to world been captivated by this one string of be taken against oil pipelines, the logging of protests in particular? Oddly enough, the old-growth forests and development in answer to that question cannot be the Ontario greenbelt, this found through historical protester turned herself analyses of protests against into the art rather than the institutions because, as afotypical means of defacing rementioned, that truly is a famous work. In this insnothing new. tance, activists resolved to The answer lies at our fintarget musical artists, in adgertips — memes. dition to transforming their Yes, I am referring to the own bodies into art, as a mesatirical (and often nonsenans of drawing in (no pun sical) visual sensations of the intended) even more interinternet. In this era of menational attention. mes and GIFs, the influenOut of all these protests, ce of striking and symbolic why is the one common deimagery has become a glonominator art? balized phenomenon that Using art as a means of permeates the boundaries protest against institutions of both space and cyberspais nothing new. Throughout ce. People across the world history, humanity has both are more inclined to recogdeveloped art and targeted nize and resonate with signipopular imaficant imagery, as Photo courtesy of Lauren Carpenter, Old Gold & Black gery to protest our generation has against institubeen trained to tional conventionality. From Dadaism, which embrace visual media culture. Concurrently, was an art movement invented and utilized visual culture, shifting to reflect the perspecas a means of protesting political unrest du- tives of an ever-modernizing era, has adapted ring the early 20th century, to graffiti which to appeal to the masses. is created and displayed in public places to I argue that memes are to blame for the advocate for social and political change, to cultural reckoning brought about by the canthe toppling of confederate statues in public ned food incidents. parks to “decolonize” modern society from Each incident directly affects pieces of ar-

twork and artists (whether visual or musical) that are highly recognizable and renowned worldwide. Artwork often sustains the unique ability to transcend temporality, and the targeted works and artists, in particular, are known for their significant historical, symbolic and popular value. When activists combine their contemporary perspectives with cultural messages of the past, the artwork’s meaning is revitalized to become accessible and impactful for a new generation. By repeating this form of protest across artworks and space, activists across the world can visually “retweet” their message in mass, thus generating a powerful impact for today’s world. Does this process sound familiar? If it reminds you of memes, you are correct, as the spread of memes involves the visual popularization of phenomena across time. Essentially, this scenario is a meme IRL (in real life). LOL, right?

The Industrial Revolution was the spark that triggered the mass production of everyday commodities and brought about the dawn of new technologies, including (eventually) the Internet. With the globalization of the Internet came the instantaneous mass dissemination of visual media across bodies of people. Activists, astutely aware of the power of imagery, initiated protests that would leave a memorable, satirical and sensational impact on viewers across the globe — and they succeeded.

Although I do not condone the actions of these protests, their approach and execution is admirable. That’s just some (canned?) food for thought, in case you were wondering a little more about what made these protests so successful. Would it be appropriate to end this article with a TTYL, or am I pushing the limits of my own joke?

Contact Roksanna Keyvan at keyvr22@wfu.edu

Footage from the Capitol riots must be released Americans are being deprived of the hard facts, leaving much room for confusion and chaos ISAAC ANTHONY Contributing Columnist

The Jan. 6, 2021, riots have been called one of the biggest threats to our democracy in the past century. For two years, people on both sides of the political aisle have been making claims about what occurred.

A Congressional select committee was even formed in part to shed light on what had occurred on that consequential day.

Still, the American people learned on March 6, 2023, through the release of the footage to only one person instead of the general public, that we still do not know the whole story.

Tucker Carlson was provided with all of the Jan. 6 footage by Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Now, whatever you think of Carlson frankly does not matter. What matters is that Carlson was able to construct another story about the events of Jan. 6 that was seemingly contradictory to the congressional committee’s evaluation.

It was so damning, in fact, that members of the committee have called out Carlson for cherry-picking footage.

However, the same could also be said for the select committee’s assessment.

All the footage needs to be released to the public so that the people can make their own conclusions. It is abhorrent for politicians and journalists to tell the American public what opinions to hold about a subject. It is time for Americans to have the raw data and be able to make their own conclusions — not rely upon those that are forced on them.

The other problem is that McCarthy only released the video footage to one news outlet, and at that, one show host at that news outlet. This choice shows biases and increasing in-groupness in Congress, which may be a subject for another article, but it still confirms that the American people will continue to receive only a small sliver of what actually occurred on Jan. 6. The public discourse has been reduced

to sound bites and summary statements made by supposedly “trustworthy” people.

Those same people who claim to be unbiased, but you can see their partisan affiliations from a mile away.

McCarthy’s limited release of the footage does not equal transparency, and Carlson is as trustworthy as a career politician.

Why are Americans not allowed to know exactly what is in the footage? There are no military or state secrets in the tape that could harm the safety of our nation if the footage was released. The footage does not deal with party politics and talking points, as both Republicans and Democrats held the ability to release the footage and elected not to do so. This is what should most scare the American people.

What could possibly be in the footage that Republicans and Democrats would not want to use against each other? What could get them to agree?

Our politicians are treating the American people like children, keeping the foot-

age out of our eyes for “our own good.”

But we are not Congress’s children. In fact, the relationship should go the other way around, considering we elect them.

They need to stop trying to hide information from us because if there is nothing on the footage that goes against what they claim, then why not release it all?

At this point, there have been too many conspiracies spread, too many conflicting stories about what “actually happened” and way too long since Jan. 6, 2021 for this to still be contentious.

Release the footage to “We the People of the United States of America,” not just Carlson, not just journalists and not just to those on Capitol Hill. The long overdrawn debate over what “actually happened” needs to end, and it can with the swipe of a pen. So sign the order and release the footage.

Contact Isaac Anthony anthiw19@wfu.edu

Page 12 | Thursday, March 30, 2023

Old Gold & Black | 2SLQLRQ

THE WILLOW PROJECT Biden is betraying future generations ASHLYN SEGLER Staff Columnist Just more than three years ago at the Democratic Presidential primary Debate in 2020, Joe Biden’s campaign promises appealed to a demographic of climate-conscious constituents. His stance was clear: “No more drilling on federal lands, no more drilling, including offshore, no ability for the oil industry to continue to drill. Period.”

Yet on March 13, 2023, the Biden administration officially approved one of the largestever oil drilling projects on federal land.

ConocoPhillips’ Willow Project, called a “global carbon bomb,” is a massive oil drilling venture in the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska. The $8 billion project is expected to produce nearly 600 million barrels of oil from the North Slope of Alaska, an area already experiencing warming at a rate nearly four times that of the rest of the globe.

Once extracted, the project will generate enough oil to release 9.2 million metric tons of carbon pollution. That’s equivalent to adding 2 million gas-powered cars to the road for a year, and it would take 150 million tree seedlings 10 years to grow to successfully sequester that amount of carbon pollution out of our atmosphere.

In addition to the ominous impact the Willow project will pose to the climate, the project also threatens the immediate environment surrounding the venture. Alaska’s North Slope is a key habitat for polar bear populations, caribou migration and vulnerable waterfowl like the yellow-billed loon. The project, however, will disrupt vital ecosystems and fragment habitats through the construction of hundreds of miles of roads and pipelines, an airstrip, an operations center and a processing facility.

The influence of the Willow Project will linger long past whenever the last drop of oil is extracted, with no group suffering as much as the local community surrounding the venture. The city and Native Village of Nuiqsut, located just a short 30 miles away from the project, will likely face “chemical pollution from spills and leaks, noise and light pollution from construction, scheduled blasts and air traffic.” Indigenous food sovereignty will also be threatened as local ecosystems and species suffer alongside the community.

The Biden Administration’s approval to greenlight the Willow Project is a betrayal not only to the climate, the immediate environment and the local community but also to the generations forced to inherit a world still hooked on fossil fuels. This addiction will cost us far more than anything an oil project could generate, as the impacts of the climate change intensity.

Hotter temperatures, devastating droughts, severe storms, biodiversity loss, rising sea levels, food shortages and poverty exacerbated by climate change will ravage life as we know it — but while we still have time to mitigate the consequences, the Biden administration is signing away our future.

Where Biden once enticed young voters with promises of a 100% clean energy economy and net-zero emissions by 2050, those same constituents are now responsible for the unwelcome inheritance of a precious planet burning alive and suffocating from carbon emissions.

Opposition to the project was amplified through the work of environmental organiza-

tions, the Nuiqsut people and online activists on TikTok. Videos with the #StopWillow hashtag amassed more than 50 million views since the first video by Generation Z activist Elish Joshi went viral in early February.

One change.org petition received more than 4 million signatures in protest of the project.

Supporters of the project, including Alaskan lawmakers and a coalition of Alaskan Native groups on the North Slope, boast the project’s potential to lessen foreign dependence on oil and provide a source of income to the region to fund services like education and health care.

However, it’s important to note in an economic analysis, the Willow Project won’t even produce its first barrels until 2028 or 2029, and it will take even longer to produce at full capacity. According to the Grist, a nonprofit media organization focused on climate solutions, the global oil landscape may likely look very different by then, with new drilling projects such as those in Guyana providing new sources to Western countries. Moreover, the oil the Willow Project will produce is not a direct chemical substitute for oil imported from foreign sources in Russia and Venezuela.

Because the Alaskan oil will still need to be blended with foreign oil to be suitable for domestic refineries, our foreign dependence will persist. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s own analysis reported that only around half of the oil produced from the project will replace foreign imports.

Additionally, it’s unlikely the project will produce the kind of benefits that lawmakers promised. Grist again reports that the project is unlikely to revive the economic security oil once provided for the state. Alaska will likely suffer a six percent decrease in overall revenue through 2025, and the state will not become “cash flow positive” until 2035, according to a report from the Alaska Department of Revenue.

In a last effort for protection, a coalition of environmental and Indigenous groups are suing the Biden administration in federal court. The group, consisting of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic, Alaska Wilderness League, Environment America, the Northern Alaska Environmental Center, the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society, claim that the president’s approval fails to adequately consider the project’s impact on climate, Indigenous food sovereignty and local wildlife.

The Biden administration had legal authority to stop the Willow Project and still ultimately neglected an obligation to uphold climate campaign promises. The Willow Project prolongs an economy governed by exploitation and further delays a just transition to a regenerative economy. It compromises the health and wellbeing of people and the planet. It compromises the hopes of a generation who voted on behalf of the climate.

The courts now possess one last opportunity to curb enormous carbon pollution and protect entire communities and ecosystems. The fate of our future hinges on the court’s decision to uphold an environmental and moral duty to protect the Earth and generations to come.

If we want to preserve a future on this planet, we must stop the Willow Project and defuse the carbon bomb ignited by the betrayal of the Biden administration.

Contact Ashlyn Segler at seglal20@wfu.edu

%LGHQ LV ¿QDOO\ KHOSLQJ $PHULFDQV CONOR METZGER Staff Columnist It seems that our president has done something so unexpected. So out of the blue. Something so preposterous, unimaginable and unprecedented. President Joe Biden has decided to perform an act that is actually helpful in the short term to Americans. While this can be hard to see if you get bogged down in environmental concerns, the recently approved Willow Project could potentially have tremendous upside.

For one, Biden is answering a concern shared by many after the recent gas price uptick that came in part from the RussiaUkraine conflict. During the past summer, the price of gas rose to an all-time high with a nationwide average of $5 per gallon, leading people to choose between gas and groceries while also really questioning our reliance on foreign oil. It was also not a good look for Biden when he had to go begging Saudi Arabia for help after publicly condemning their practices.

This experience led many to question why it is we have to look so far away for fuel when there is a plethora of oil in our own backyard. Oil that we can obtain with much safer methods (both to workers and the environment) and in a more cost-effective way than some of our European counterparts can.

Before I go further into this, keep in mind that, for the majority of Americans, gaspowered vehicles are the only choice. You cannot be expected to ride a bike every day to work in areas more spread out or with more varying weather patterns. Electric vehicles are also still not near being normative in smaller towns where charging stations are scarce. Therefore, Americans need gas, and they need gas that they can afford. So, Biden’s approval of the Willow Project should be seen as a step toward helping Americans in ways that matter.

I can un-

derstand the environmental concerns surrounding the Willow Project, but we have to be realistic. Every month it seems the UN releases a report saying we won’t last another five years until the next report pushes back that timetable. With every report there comes a wave of climate activists arguing for a cut in emissions without realizing that the process of fighting climate change is a slow one with some victories and some tactical retreats.

If you then look at the actual environmental impacts of the project, you will see that even this is not a full-on setback, rather it is just a drop in the bucket combined with what we are already doing. Right now, the total world greenhouse gas emissions per year are 49.76 billion tons. The projected emissions from the Willow Project would be 278 million tons over 30 years, so a little above 9 million tons a year. This then means it would equal a little less than 2% of the emissions we are already producing, keeping in mind that early estimates of projects like these are usually inflated since they fail to take into account emissions-cutting technology that can be developed over the course of the project. Even looking at the micro-environmental response, the project is supported by a majority of the surrounding Alaskan community and the Indigenous population because it will create jobs and bolster the surrounding economy. Just look at what happened in West Virginia with poverty rising in recent years due to a move from coal production and a lack of commitment from the government to invest in transferring the job market to a new sector.

If climate activists want us to move toward a better future, they can’t expect a halt on key factors of the economy and an immediate transfer to alternative energy that is not feasible to replace our current ones.

There is not a single alternative energy source that would meet the needs of our society at large. Almost all come with their own problems and issues with the only legitimate alternative being nuclear power — an energy source with its own complex history and critics.

So while it is not a step in the right direction in the long run, for the short run, Biden has made the right decision.

He has chosen to help Americans with a problem that is ever present in their daily lives. This method does not really set back the current climate agenda but rather is a realistic path for a short-term win, which we need right now as we head toward a massive string of bank failure and a tumultuous election.

Victories are rarely ever cut and dried, especially with an issue like climate change, where we are still learning new things every day.

Contact Conor Metzger at metzcr19@wfu.edu

Photo courtesy of The Guardian

Opinion | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, March 30, 2023 | Page 13

Urgent: Tik Tok needs to be banned The infamous app poses a threat to national security OLIVER HALE Contributing Columnist Like many people I know, I use TikTok almost two hours every single day. The addictive app serves short videos to more than 1 billion users worldwide, but it’s easy to get caught up in the glamor and forget the implications that TikTok have on our everyday lives. TikTok’s access to American data and its influence on American public opinion are two main reasons why the app should be banned for our national security.

First, and most obvious, the app presents data security concerns. The Chinese government has extraordinary access to its companies’ data.

China’s National Intelligence Law allows the Chinese government to have uninhibited access to the data of any company, even companies that operate in foreign countries. Since almost 150 million Americans are TikTok users, this makes their data vulnerable to surveillance by the Chinese government, as TikTok is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance.

This is a problem because China is a geopolitical and ideological rival of the U.S., and the two countries are in the stages of a new Cold War as China has been building its military to rival the U.S. military for decades now. Their saber-rattling over Taiwan and the South China Sea has been met by American military expansion in the area. China is also economically competing with the U.S. in new fields such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing. We have also

been in a trade war with China since 2018.

But China is more than a geopolitical rival.

There are stark ideological differences at stake, too. The contest is a struggle between authoritarianism and democracy — or autonomy and freedom.

We wouldn’t have allowed the Soviet Union to have such invasive and unprecedented access to the data of hundreds of millions of American citizens, so why do we allow the Chinese government to do so? What’s worse is even an instant withdrawal of access will not change the fact that China already knows so much.

“We can’t ban them from the data they already have,” former NSA general counsel, Glenn Gerstell, told Forbes. Still, a ban would help secure the safety of newly-created data.

Access to Americans’ data is not even the most important concern. The second problem, which is perhaps the most concerning, is how China could influence the American public’s opinion. Although it is already happening, the worst is yet to come.

China, through state media networks, is already promoting pro-Chinese views on TikTok. Through a network of “influencers,” who hide their ties to Chinese state media, the Chinese government is pushing propaganda. This propaganda ranges from seemingly innocuous videos celebrating China’s natural beauty, to videos parroting Chinese Communist Party propaganda about the Ukraine war or human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Like I said, the potential worst-case scenar-

io is yet to come. In a crisis — like an invasion of Taiwan — China would have unprecedented control over American public opinion and could push propaganda and misinformation to nearly half of America.

Something like this would have been unconscionable in the Cold War. This crisis, as of now, is hypothetical, but the sway that China has over American public opinion is not.

A current TikTok employee detailed this control in a Forbes article on March 21.

“If you want to start a movement, if you want to divide people, if you want to do any kind of operation to influence the public on the app, you can just use that information to target those groups,” he said. It is clear that the power TikTok gives poses a national security risk to America.

But the ban would not come without precedent. In 2019, the U.S. banned Huawei, a Chinese tech company that was set to become the largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, for similar national security reasons.

China has banned nearly every American social media platform and censors movies, television, literature and news. TikTok itself is banned in China — only Douyin, the heavily censored Chinese counterpart, is allowed.

The ban of one app in America would be

moderate in comparison.

One objection to the ban is that it would be a restriction on free speech, but a TikTok ban would simply restrict the platform, not the content. There are many non-Chinese competitors to TikTok, like YouTube, Instagram, Snapchat and more that would still be free to operate and oversee that same content.

Congress is looking to address this problem.

The CEO of TikTok Shou Chew testified before Congress on March 23 about data access and national security concerns and faced bipartisan scrutiny. And the Speaker of the House of Representatives says legislation is moving forward.

Although I believe this needs urgent action, the ban would face numerous legal challenges.

Even if these challenges could be overcome, it is unclear if President Joe Biden would enact the ban. Biden politically relies on the younger generation for support — the app’s largest demographic. Biden’s commerce secretary acknowledged the political liability saying that Biden’s team could “lose every voter under 35, forever.”

Still, the process of banning the app should start now.

Contact Oliver Hale at haleop21@wfu.edu

Photo courtesy of Getty Images

Media coverage can resolve gender disparity in sports How equal broadcasts can give female athletes the respect they deserve ASHLYN SEGLER

Staff Columnist

If you’re anything like me, you might have spent the last week mourning the excruciating death of your March Madness bracket. You might have also watched with white knuckles as the team you picked to take it all the way got knocked out of the tournament. You might have audibly groaned as your family, friends and coworkers climbed your group’s rankings to tower over yours with their total points.

Or maybe your bracket is one of the ones to which I’m losing. Maybe you’re doing well, and the promised prize of a betting pool or simple bragging rights is just days away from fruition.

Regardless of how your bracket is fairing, you likely assumed from the offset that I was talking about the men’s March Madness tournament. There’s no shame in that assumption. It’s a fair bet, given that in 2022 ESPN had 17.5 million brackets completed for the men’s tournament and only 1.5 million (11 times fewer) for the women’s tournament. Last year, the men’s championship game averaged 10.7 million viewers, while the women’s game averaged only 4.85 million.

There’s no doubt that there's a gender discrepancy in the world of athletics.

At the NCAA Tournament in 2021, this discrepancy was on full display when University of Oregon player Sedona Prince posted a TikTok showcas-

ing blatant differences between the men’s and women’s weight rooms.

The discrepancy expands to other collegiate sports, as well. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, collegiate institutions spend only 33% of their scholarship budgets, 24% of their athletic operating budgets and 16% of their recruitment budgets on women’s athletics. University coaches for women’s team sports earn 63 cents for every dollar earned by the coach of a men’s team.

At Wake Forest, coaching salaries align with this trend. In fiscal year 2020, the last time Wake Forest employee compensation was published, men’s basketball coach Danny Manning earned a total compensation salary of more than 2 million dollars, making him the second most paid employee on campus behind university football coach Dave Clawson.

The head of the

Shaila Prasad/Old Gold & Black

women’s basketball team, Jen Hoover, did not even rank among the top 18 highest paid employees.

Turning to professional athletics, the discrepancies deepen. A 2021 study out of Adelphi University found that professional female athletes make anywhere from 15 to 100% less than their male counterparts. Tennis is the only promising example, where the average female earns an impressive 84% of the average male’s salary.

Even long before female athletes can consider a career in collegiate or professional sports, the opportunities are grim in comparison. The Women’s Sports Foundation reported that female athletes in high school have 1.3 million fewer opportunities to play high school sports than men.

The most infamous argument for gender discrepancies in sports claims that female athletes get paid less than men because they bring in less revenue than men. This justification has historically enabled unequal pay in sports but neglects two key components — coverage and broadcasting rights.

Leagues and teams generate revenue from three primary sources: media rights, gate receipts and sponsorships –– but the lack of coverage and equal broadcasting agreements for female athletics perpetuates inequalities in all three revenue streams.

Despite the fact that women comprise about 40 percent of athletes, women’s sports only constitute four percent of total media coverage, and female athletes receive only 0.4% of corporate sponsorships.

Additionally, existing broadcast agreements undervalue the growing support for women’s sports like basketball and soccer. For example, while the men’s NCAA tournament has been broadcast across several networks since 2011, the women’s tournament was not on network TV until 2021.

When solely evaluating revenue, it's easy to justify the discrepancies in evaluation at first glance. For March Madness, The Atlantic reported that “the total net income for the men’s basketball tournament was $864.6 million in 2018-19,

while the women’s basketball tournament lost $2.8 million — the most of any NCAA championship.”

However, the biggest pieces of revenue for both tournaments are their TV deals, which the NCAA sells differently.

The men's March Madness tournament has been sold as its own entity for the past several decades. In contrast, the women's tournament has been packaged with 28 other championships since it was sold to ESPN more than two decades ago. When lumped together with other sports, it is difficult for female basketball players to capitalize on the growing popularity of the game.

The national women’s soccer team faced a similar issue in their fight for equal pay. When comparing game revenue, the USWNT held its own in comparison to the men’s team since fiscal year 2016. However, games only comprise one-quarter of the revenue for the United States Soccer Federation, while sponsorships make up half. The USSF sells sponsorships, which include broadcasting rights for all soccer games, as a bundle, making it difficult to distinguish total revenue between the USMNT and the success of the USWNT. As support for female athletics surges, media coverage must shift to reflect that, and broadcasting rights must allow for female athletes to capitalize on their own success.

ESPN’s expanding coverage of the women’s NCAA tournament and other women’s sports has made headway toward advancing equality for women’s athletics, but much progress still remains to be made.

After the USWNT’s historic win to receive equal pay from the USSF, the NCAA should similarly step up to renegotiate broadcast agreements for equal coverage.

It’s time to set a precedent for equal coverage.

It’s time to reassess broadcasting rights. It’s time to abandon any gendered assumptions and support women’s sports through their successes.

Contact Ashlyn Segler at seglal20@wfu.edu

SPORTS

PAGE 14 THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023

Follow us on Twitter @wfuogbsports OLD GOLD & BLACK

Ian Steffensen stefip21@wfu.edu Aaron Nataline nataae21@wfu.edu Asst: Sean Kennedy kennsm21@wfu.edu

Deacon Sportlight: Emily Reeves 6HQLRU (PLO\ 5HHYHV UHÀHFWV RQ D OLIHWLPH RI GDQFLQJ DQG KHU VWXGHQW DWKOHWH H[SHULHQFH VIRGINIA NOONE Photography Editor

Emily Reeves has spent the last four years dancing under the lights for Wake Forest’s athletic teams. As one of the four seniors on the Wake Forest Dance Team, she has danced through the COVID-19 pandemic, four different head coaches and personal ups and downs while balancing being a student and an athlete.

The Florida resident has been dancing since the age of three, which was when she danced at her church preschool program.

“I would go to preschool and bring my little ballet shoes with me and go to dance after,” Reeves said. “Most of my life I did ballet and only started doing other genres in middle school.”

Reeves smiled as she recalled a time she lost her school shoes and was forced to wear her ballet shoes to preschool.

“I was so embarrassed,” she said.

Before coming to Wake Forest, Reeves danced the title role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in Jacksonville, Florida’s local performance of “The Nutcracker.” It stands out as a key moment in her dance career as she watched the younger, preschool-aged fairies come out to dance with her.

She saw her younger self in them and that the experience felt like a sentimental end to her ballet-filled childhood.

Being on the Wake Forest Dance Team, Reeves said she finds herself around motivated women who share similar values and who are always encouraging each other.

“It’s nice to be friends with girls who are not in my sorority, Delta Zeta, or my biochemistry and molecular biology major,” Reeves said.

“They’re all involved with organizations outside of dance, which is pretty cool.”

Reeves’ senior teammates are particularly close given their shared experience of having four different coaches and having campus shut down due to COVID-19 their freshman spring.

“We’ve been through so much change, and it’s resulted in us bonding together and becoming extremely close to each other,” Reeves said. “We’ve spent so many hours together, it’d be impossible not to be so close.”

Reeves spoke about how intense competitive dance can be, from youth dance to the collegiate level. The sport has been criticized in recent years for its toxicity and for pitting dancers against dancers on their own teams. She says that the Wake Forest Dance Team doesn’t have that dynamic at all, but rather each dancer works as part of a collective unit instead of as an individual.

“Obviously, we want to be the best dancers we can be,

during the one time she didn’t dance because she wanted to be in the stands with her friends.

“I was having a lot of fun with my friends in the stands, but it was weird to look out and see my team dance and not be with them,” she said.

Despite her last dance approaching, she says the reality of no longer dancing hasn’t really hit her yet. The competition will be the last time she takes the stage after a lifetime of dancing. Seeing as the competition is in her home state of Florida, her entire family plans to attend to watch her perform one final time.

After graduation, Reeves will work as a Process Development Research Associate in the PRISM laboratory at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard in Boston. She still wants to dance but only for fun.

“It would be weird to just stop,” she said. “In Boston, there are a ton of adult dance classes which look very fun.”

As she looked back on the impact dance had on her life, she didn’t hesitate to say that she would do it all over again.

Although no sport is perfect, she says that dance has taught her so many wonderful lessons about life.

“It’s taught me a lot about discipline and confidence,” Reeves said. “Although at first, it can knock your confidence down a lot, coming out on the other side makes you stronger.”

Reeves admitted that as a quieter child, she used to be terrified of public speaking, singing in front of a crowd or anything else that drew attenPhotos courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics tion. Dance helped her conquer her fears and become the but it’s a team effort, and we all want to do well together confident person she is today in all aspects of life. whether it’s at a game or competition,” Reeves said.

“I dance in front of thousands of people at football The team has only been going to competitions since last year. She describes last year’s competition as being a games, and now it isn’t a big deal for me,” she said. “Learn“learning experience” as it was their first year attending in ing to have that mental discipline even when it’s uncomalmost 10 years. Over Easter weekend, the team is heading fortable has helped me grow so much.”

Reeves said that dance didn’t necessarily shape who to Daytona, Fla., to compete in the National Dance Asshe is as a person but rather how she navigates the world sociation College Nationals.

“We did well, but I think this year we’re much more around her.

“Having so much change in the past four years was hard, prepared because we’ve been through it before,” she said. but the women and teammates I surrounded myself with Waking up at 5 a.m. for practices and missing out on in dance have always been a positive force in my life,” she student sections hasn’t always been easy, but the regimentsaid. ed practice schedule has kept Reeves busy and organized.

The commitment feels worth it at the end of the day. She Contact Virginia Noone at mentioned how unfamiliar it felt to watch the bowl game noonvc21@wfu.edu

Thursday, March 30, 2023 | Page 15

Sports | Old Gold & Black

Analytics team rattles its sabermetrics How statistics drive the No. 2 team in college baseball AARON NATALINE Sports Editor

The David F. Couch Ballpark has hosted 18 glorious wins for No. 2 Wake Forest (23-3, 7-2 ACC) this season, and this past weekend the Demon Deacons swept Miami for three of the latest victories.

The Demon Deacons’ brilliant pitching rotation and thunderous bats soak up a lot of attention. However, there is another aspect of this Wake Forest squad that deserves the spotlight, despite the only hint of it being a piece of paper that the coaches study in the dugout.

The Wake Forest baseball analytics team works with the current No. 2 program in the country from off–season to postseason. The Old Gold & Black spoke with the analytics team’s directors and two students involved in the program to learn more about their experiences.

Playing the game of numbers “I played baseball in high school. So without it when I got here my freshman year, there was a little bit of a void,” graduate student Chris Lewis said. “I missed being around the game and wanted to solve that my sophomore year. I thought it would be through club baseball, but it ended up being through this, and it’s been above and beyond what I could've wanted to or what I would've expected to have happen.”

Senior Nihar Maskara did not play baseball, but he did watch it, and he had experience working with numbers.

“I always knew I was good at math and stats,” Maskara said. “I always enjoyed watching baseball. When I was in high school, those more advanced numbers [in baseball] started to come out. As a curious person, I was reading all those websites, figuring out what those numbers mean. The start of my sophomore year was the first year that I worked for the baseball team.”

Though Lewis and Maskara took different paths in finding the analytics team, once they joined the two became ingrained in a culture that has attracted more and more eager minds.

“The team has grown exponentially each year,” Lewis said. “I mean, we went from four to eight to 16, and now we’re at 20. It’s been really awesome.”

As the small group evolved into a full-fledged force over the course of four years, its integration into the rest of the baseball team grew, as well. The coaching staff has also undergone changes during that period, which meant that the analytics team needed to maintain a foundation in their collaboration with the new personnel. “[Last year], they brought in a new pitching staff, so building relationships with the coaches was super important to actually making this work meaningful and useful,” Lewis said. “This year I think I have been able to be more of a leader and help our people grow into their own roles. I try to focus more on elevating the group as opposed to just doing a bunch of things. I think that's been really rewarding for me.”

After laying the groundwork with the new staff last year, the analytics team came into the 2023 offseason ready to hit the ground running. This involved training new members, collecting bullpen data and tracking player development during scrimmages.

Now, 26 games into a promising campaign, Wake Forest baseball relies on their analytics squad to be there for them step-by-step.

When you’re competing in a conference like the ACC, easy matchups are hard to come by. The scouting reports are on some of the best players in the country.

“We’re the smallest institution in the power five, and

Evan Harris / Old Gold & Black Evan Harris / Old Gold & Black

T h e A n a ly t i c s Te a m g a t h e r s f o r i t s we e k ly m e e t i n g , l e d by C h r i s L e w i s a n d N i h a r M a s k a ra , a t t h e D av i d L . C o u c h B a l l p a r k . M e m b e r s ' m a j o r s ra n g e f r o m e n g i n e e r i n g t o m a t h e m a t i c s t o f i n a n c e .

UNC, Duke and NC State are considered powerhouses in baseball,” Maskara said. “We pride ourselves in being a developmental program because we know we’re never going to get all the five and four star recruits like those schools. We strive to take a player and basically enhance their strengths.”

Pitch perfect That work begins in the pitching lab, the glory of the analytics team and a major factor in sharpening one of the best pitching rotations in the country.

“In our pitching lab, there is motion capture [technology] that creates a skeletal system of the players using a kinematic sequence that shows us the angle of any joint we want at any time,” Maskara explained. “That’s probably one of the biggest frontiers, making biomechanical information as useful as possible.”

Maskara continued: “Like if one player has a 45-degree angle between joints, that may be performing really optimal. It doesn't mean that another player would also want that angle. Every player is unique.”

The pitching lab is all about preparation, which lends to the players’ performances the next time they take the diamond. The analytics team’s duties continue there as well.

“We have a group of us who are in the press box running some of the technology that we have, like TrackMan,” Lewis said. “We also have a group that'll be in the stands behind home plate, doing some timing and looking at key performance indicators.”

The Demon Deacons have relied on exceptional pitching so far this season, especially cooling off a hot Miami team this past weekend, allowing only two runs in 26 innings.

Wake Forest boasts the best team ERA in the ACC at 2.09, and the pitching rotation includes the conference’s top three strikeout leaders — Sean Sullivan (58), Josh Hartle (56) and Rhett Lowder (48). In part, that happens with preparation.

“Part of what we do is create advanced scouting reports,” Maskara said. “We’ll see how the opposing team’s batters perform on certain pitches, areas of the plate and so on, all using metrics that we’ve created.”

He continued: “The pitching coach has those reports in the dugout every game, and we’ll try to give him everything he wants to see in those scouting reports.”

When everyone buys in Another part of the Demon Deacons’ success this year is continuity. After an overhaul of pitching coaches last year, the analytics team had the data they needed — they just needed to communicate it to the new coaches.

“We’ve tried to really focus on what our coaches want, what our players want, what will help us win and what’s going to help us get better,” Lewis said.

With that being said, shared trust between the coaches, players and analytics team have been incredibly influential on the success of the Demon Deacons during the 2023 season.

“We are really fortunate to have the players and coaches who are open and buy into what we do as an analytics team,” Maskara said. “We have a great communication stream between us where we can have trust in one another. We have an honest kind of communication.”

“Credit goes to Corey Muscara, our pitching coach, and Mike McFerren, our pitching lab coordinator,” Lewis said. “When they came in last year, they were really interested in our analytics team. They saw a lot of value and potential in us, and they really trusted in us to build these systems out and leverage the lab and its data as much as possible. They’ve been really, really great.”

As for Maskara’s favorite part of working with the team, it’s the ability to get to know everyone involved with Wake Forest baseball.

“It’s awesome to get to know the players and coaches on a better level,” he said. “If you told me sophoContact Aaron Nataline at nataae21@wfu.edu

Page 16 | Thursday, March 30, 2023

Old Gold & Black | Sports

Men’s tennis goes 3-0 on the weekend 7KH 'HPRQ 'HDFRQV PRYH XS WR IRXUWK LQ WKH $&& IROORZLQJ YLFWRULHV RYHU /RXLVYLOOH DQG 1RWUH 'DPH ALEX MOJICA &RQWULEXWLQJ :ULWHU

This past weekend, men’s tennis picked up victories against No. 39 Louisville (11-8, 2-6), No. 50 Notre Dame (10-11, 1-6) and UNC Greensboro (417, 0-5) in a two-day home stretch.

On Friday, Wake Forest took to the Winston-Salem Tennis Center’s courts to face off against the No. 39 Cardinals (21-6, 5-1). The Demon Deacons won the first doubles match to start the day.

Graduate student Jurabek Karimov and junior Luciano Tacchi defeated Etienne Donnet/Sergio Hernandez (61) on Court 2. Soon after, the Cardinals’ top doubles team of Fabien Salle and Natan Rodrigues, ranked 15th in the nation, struck back against junior Filippo Moroni and senior Juan Lopez de Azcona with a victory on Court 1 (6-3).

The doubles point came down to the match on Court 3. In the end, seniors Melios Efstathiou and Matthew Thomson defeated Will Mayew and Alex Wesbrooks (6-2), which put the Demon Deacons up 1-0 heading into singles.

After battling back from a break down in the first set, Tacchi ran away with his singles match on Court 5, defeating Hernandez (6-4, 6-1) to put Wake Forest up 2-0. Moments later,

Louisville earned its first point of the day with a win on Court 3, where No. 50 Salle defeated Matt Thomson (64, 6-4) to put the Cardinals only one point away from Wake Forest.

By the time the sun began to set, four matches remained undecided. However, it was Karimov who came through first. After winning six straight games to close out the first set, he sealed the match against David Mizrahi with a forehand winner crosscourt (6-2, 6-3).

About two hours after the first shots of the day, the eyes in the crowd were drawn to Court 6. There, Lopez de Azcona had gone from a comfortable first set (6-1) to a 31-shot rally to break a second-set tiebreaker over Andre Steinbach. This sealed the 4-1 victory for Wake Forest.

On Sunday, after the courts had dried from the morning showers, Wake Forest faced off against No. 50 Notre Dame, defeating the Fighting Irish 6-1.

On Court 3, Efstathiou and Thomson faced off against Notre Dame’s Evan Lee and Yu Zhang and lost (6-2).

On Court 2, Moroni and Lopez de Azcona were battling No. 16 doubles pair Matthew Haplin and Jean-Marc Malkowski. The two teams traded breaks throughout the match, but the Demon Deacons earned an upset victory against the Irish (7-5).

In the decisive doubles match, Karimov and Tacchi overcame Sebastian Dominko and Connor Fu to put Wake Forest ahead 1-0 entering singles.

On Court 2, Moroni defeated Fu (62, 6-0) to put Wake Forest ahead 2-0.

He is now undefeated in his last 10 singles matches.

Then, Lopez de Azcona extended the lead another point, defeating Jameson Corsillo on Court 6 (6-3, 6-0). With his win, the Spaniard senior maintained his undefeated singles record in duals.

On Court 4, No. 103 Karimov clinched the match for the Demon Deacons, earning a victory over Malkowski (6-3, 6-3). Although Karimov’s win secured the victory for Wake Forest, the two teams decided to play out the remaining three matches. Wake Forest took two of these with wins from Thomson and Tacchi, but the Demon Deacons’ top singles player, Efstathiuo fell to No. 24 Dominiko (7-6[1], 6-4).

In the second leg of Sunday’s doubleheader, the Demon Deacons faced off against UNC Greensboro’s Spartans in the evening.

Thomson and Efstathiou defeated David Flisberg and John Gabelic on Court 1 (6-1). However, on Court 3, the Spartans’ Wyatt Cannon/Harrison Gwynn defeated freshman Saud Alhogbani and sophomore Noah Hahn

(6-4) in Hahn’s first official match for Wake Forest.

The Spartans ended up on top in the doubles, with Christopher Johns and Tymofiy Khrystyuk coming back to defeat freshman Božo Barun and sophomore Vikas Deo (7-5).

Although the Demon Deacons were down 0-1, they stormed back to win 12 of 13 sets in singles to finish their day.

On Court 2, Moroni defeated Gabelic (6-0, 6-1) to put Wake Forest on the scoreboard, followed by an Alhogbani victory over Johns (6-2, 6-1). Alhogbani has yet to lose a set in a college singles match. Barun picked up a win against Devon Moskowitz on Court 5 (6-4, 6-1). In the decisive match, Efstathiou re-entered the win column, defeating Khrystyuk (6-2, 6-4).

With Wake Forest leading 4-1, both teams agreed to play out the two remaining matches. On Court 6, Deo defeated Andrew Black (6-3, 6-2). To cap off the weekend, Karimov went the distance against Flisberg on Court 3 (6-2, 3-6, 1-0 [10-5]) in order to seal a 6-1 victory over the Spartans.

Next weekend, Wake Forest faces No. 21 Duke (13-5, 6-1) on March 31 and No. 13 North Carolina (14-5, 6-1) on April 2. &RQWDFW $OH[ 0RMLFD DW PRMLDJ #ZIX HGX

Track and Field dominates at Raleigh Relays 7KH 'HPRQ 'HDFRQV VHFXUHG WKUHH SRGLXP ¿QLVKHV DW WKH 3DXO 'HUU 7UDFN DQG )LHOG &RPSOH[ CHRISTINA DENOVIO Staff Writer The Wake Forest men’s and women’s outdoor track & field teams showcased their talent and depth at the Raleigh Relays over the weekend.

“Our goal was to win the heats we were in and not worry about the clock,” associate head coach Ashley Bastron said. “If we pay attention to the process, the outcome

will take care of itself.”

The competition took place last Thursday through Saturday at the Paul Derr Track and Field Complex. The weekend turned out to be a success for the Demon Deacons, who secured a total of 10 finishes within the top-10, including three podiums.

Sophomore Rynard Swanepoel had a standout performance, as he finished with a time of 1:47.92 in the men’s 800m to

Photo courtesy of Wake Forest Athletics

The Wake Forest outdoor track and field team secured a total of 10 finishes within the top-10, including three podium honors.

earn a silver medal. Swanepoel’s finish at the Raleigh Relays is the third-fastest in Wake Forest program history.

His performance over the weekend also marks his second podium claim during the first two weekends of outdoor competition after achieving first in the 1500m during the 49er Classic the previous week.

Another Demon Deacon who had an impressive weekend was graduate student Anna Bush, whose 5.77m distance in the women’s long jump earned her seventh place. Her jump was also the eighth longest in program history.

Senior Robbie Grace finished in the No. 14 place for the event with a distance of 5.63m.

Bush has now recorded top-10 Wake Forest performances on back-to-back days, as she came in sixth place for her 14.16 time in the 100m hurdles Friday.

Freshman Sophie Perez Gonzalez also proved her talent by throwing the secondbest hammer throw in program history for the second week in a row. Her 56.75m throw, which earned her the No. 11 spot, was nearly two meters longer than the previous week’s distance at High Point.

Senior Katrina Andreassen, whose throw hit 54.14m, also recorded a top-five hammer throw in program history and finished 20th.

The men’s side also had a successful performance in the hammer throw, with three Deacs finishing in the top 15.

Graduate student Jack Pihlkar, who re-

corded a 61.76m, earned an eighth-place finish for what was the fifth-best throw in program history. Pihlkar, who now claims two records of the top five at Wake Forest, called his results at the Raleigh Relays “bittersweet.”

“It’s not the result I would have liked and know that I could perform much better, but happy that it was a decent meet where I was consistent and got a result that should qualify me for post-season meets, especially after a poorer meet last week and after throwing two other events this weekend,” Pihlkar said.

He continued: “For the rest of the season, the main goal is to keep improving, ultimately beating my personal best distance.”

Looking towards the future, Pihlkar said, “I hope to obtain other accolades like a top 3 finish in the ACC Championship Meet and make it past the East Region Preliminary Meet so that I can participate in the NCAA Championship.

Graduate student Andrew White (59.80m) and junior Jacob Goldberg (59.80m) finished closely behind Pihlkar in 10th and 14th, respectively.

The Demon Deacons are currently in Austin, Texas, where the outdoor track & field teams are competing in the Texas Relays from Wednesday, March 29 to Saturday, April 1.

Contact Christina DeNovio at denoca20@wfu.edu

PAGE 17 THURSDAY, MARCH 30, 2023

LIFE OLD GOLD & BLACK

Adam Coil, coilat21@wfu.edu James Watson, watsjc22@wfu.edu

2023 Oscars: Snubs and Dubs Reacting to the Academy's picks for the best in 2022 cinema Ally Werstler Staff Writer

Another Academy Awards — another month of controversies. I’m here to break down my thoughts on this historic night’s winners and whether or not they deserved the award. To make matters simpler, I will not be discussing every award winner nor the nominee selection. I could write an entire article about all of the more than deserving films I wish were on this year’s ballot, but that will be for another time and place. So without further ado, the Oscar goes to…

Actor in a Leading Role Winner: Brendan Fraser, “The Whale” Who Deserved the Oscar: Paul Mescal, “Aftersun” Everyone knew that Brendan Fraser was this year’s Academy favorite, and I respect his unique performance in “The Whale.” However, the film itself is the definition of mediocre. It’s predictable, slow and even boring at some points.

Fraser essentially carries the entirety of “The Whale,” and he does a good job at it, but do you know who did a better job? Paul Mescal in the emotionally gut wrenching film “Aftersun.”

From beginning to end, Mescal’s performance is the definition of masterful. Don’t get me wrong, Fraser seems like a great person based on his interviews and reputation, but that shouldn’t guarantee an actor this prestigious award because, at the end of the day, it’s the quality of the performance that matters.

Actor in a Supporting Role Winner: Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Who Deserved the Oscar: Ke Huy Quan, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Ke Huy Quan’s performance in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” demonstrates the actor’s incredible range. From kung fu fights to emotional resonant dialogue, Quan’s performance has it all. If you have not already, I would implore you to watch his acceptance speech — have your tissue box handy.

Actress in a Leading Role Winner: Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Who Deserved the Oscar: Michelle Yeoh, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Michelle Yeoh’s once-in-a-lifetime role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” deserves all the hype. No one other than Yeoh could have pulled off this demanding performance, and for that alone, she deserves this title.

Actress in a Supporting Role Winner: Jamie Lee Curtis, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Who Deserved the Oscar: Angela Bassett, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” Do I like Jame Lee Curtis? Yes. Did she do a good job in “Everything Everywhere All at Once?” Yes. Did she deserve the Oscar? Absolutely not. Again, she is a great person with a great acceptance speech, but not an Oscar-worthy performance. Like other film critics, I was surprised that she was even nominated in the first place, but when she won, I was stunned. You could say I made the “Angela Bassett face,” which was not very sportsmanlike of the former, but you really can’t blame her.

Bassett was the best part of the mid “Wakanda Forever,” as she effortlessly controlled the screen in every one of her scenes. I really can’t say the same about Curtis’s performance. Sure, it was fun, but it was not on the same level as her aforementioned co-stars. If Curtis would have received some sort of lifetime achievement recognition, I would have been more than happy to see that win, but an award for this? As such, it’s easy to see how this was one of the most controversial awards of the night.

Animated Feature Film Winner: “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” Who Deserved the Oscar: “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” Okay, I know what you’re thinking, and yes, I am crazy, but hear me out. “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” was the obvious choice, and it’s easy to see why. I have huge respect for the time and care put into stop-motion animated films along with the great storytelling and score that came with “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio.”

Although ambitious, “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” is not accessible to the average viewer. Even if I were to ignore the accessibility, it’s still not the best film on the ballot. Like I said, stop-motion is beautiful, however, because it has been around for decades, its room for development is slim to none. Hmmm, let me think… was there a movie that premiered in 2023 that improved upon a new type of animation? Was it emotionally compelling and witty? Oh right, it’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”!

As expressed in my “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” review, this is one of the best animated features that I have ever seen. This category is more of a personal preference, so I probably should have titled this section as “Who I Wanted to Win the Oscar” instead of “Who Deserved the Oscar.” I think we can all admit that “Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio” is probably better technically, but I will still go to my grave expressing my undying love of “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” Also, if any Academy members are reading this, animation is a medium, not a category!

Cinematography Winner: “All Quiet on the Western Front” Who Deserved the Oscar: “Tár” How many times have we seen basic war movies get nominated and win an obscene amount of Oscars? Yeah, I also have no idea, but I do know that it’s too many times to count. Recently, the Academy Awards have been criticized for awarding films that no one sees, and “All Quiet on the Western Front'' definitely does not help the former’s goal of modernization.

Other than myself, the only people I have met who have seen this movie are over the age of fifty, and they did not even like it. There was, however, a war-less movie that was new, different and interesting with great cinematography. The cinematography of “Tár” perfectly encapsulates the title character’s fall from grace, which is a lot more than I can say about the stale story that is “All Quiet on the Western Front.” Academy, if you want people to actually care about the Oscars, then nominate and give awards to films people actually watch!

Directing Winner: “Everything Everywhere All at Once” Who Deserved the Oscar: “The Fabelmans” Like my opinion expressed in the Animated Feature Film category, many of you are going to disagree with this take. If you’ve read my “The Fabelmans” review, then you know that this was one of my top movies of 2022, with it scoring a perfect 10/10. The directing in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” was also great, but Speilberg’s beautifully captivating film exemplifies a better job done. This film made you feel the magic of the movies.

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert definitely entice the audience’s interests in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” but it’s simply not as raw as Speilberg’s picture.

This rawness is flawlessly encapsulated in young Sammy Fabelman’s (young Speilberg’s) response to seeing his first film. You can see yourself in Sammy’s seat, remembering the first time you saw a movie, making you feel like a kid again. All I can say is that, for me, making an emotionally vulnerable film leads me to strongly believe that Speilberg should have taken home the win for his work in “The Fabelmans.”

Documentary Feature Film Winner: “Navalny” Who Deserved the Oscar: “Navalny” As a history major, it’s safe to say that the Documentary Feature Film category is one of my most anticipated awards of the night. I adore documentaries, and my favorite one of the year, “Navalny,” just so happened to be this year’s Academy Award winner. This is not only one of the best documentaries of last year, but one of the best documentaries ever made.

If you care about the preservation of democracy, then I highly recommend watching “Navalny,” as it masterfully and honestly takes you through the highs and lows of Russia’s opposition leader, Alexei Navanly. You don’t necessarily have to be a raging fan of the man himself, but, without too many spoilers, you learn to appreciate his fight for justice in a country that he deeply loves.

Audience members can truly feel Navanly’s struggle, one on which he never intends on giving up. Furthermore, you get a great understanding of the impact that his career has had on his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, and their two children.

This film also gives well deserved recognition for the seemingly impossible work that journalists do across the world.

I can safely say that “Navalny'' is a work of history, and will be used as a primary source of study for decades to come.

FREE RUSSIA! Music (Original Score) Winner: “All Quiet on the Western Front” Who Deserved the Oscar: “The Fablemans” I won’t force you to read about my hatred of run-of-themill war films again, so I’ll keep this one short. Who is the best film composer of all time? John Williams. What movie did he compose this year? “The Fablemans.” Was it spectacular? Yes, and it easily beat out its competition, thus making me strongly believe that he should have won the Oscar. See, I told you I would keep this one short and sweet!

Music (Original Song) Winner: “Naatu Naatu” Who Deserved the Oscar: “Naatu Naatu” This song is a banger. Every time I listen to “Naatu Naatu”, I feel the sudden urge to get up and have myself a little dance party. More than four minutes long, this catchy tune never gets old; in fact, it just keeps on getting better and better. I know that the choreography is not taken into account in this category, but oh my gosh how do Ram Charan and N. T. Rama Rao Jr. do it?

If you haven’t already, please give this performance a chance, and while you’re at it, just watch the entirety of “RRR!” It’s truly an epic tale that you will never forget. If I haven’t convinced you already, my review “RRR” will surely get you on the Tollywood train. After reflecting on how good this song is, I’m going to take a quick break to listen to “Naatu Naatu” for the 1000th time.

Best Picture Winner: “Everything Everywhere All At Once” Who Deserved the Oscar: “Everything Everywhere All At Once” You’ll be relieved to know that I will not finish this article on a rant, as I agree that “Everything Everywhere All At Once” deserved this Oscar win. Should it have won as many awards as it did? Well, that’s debatable, but what I can say is that the creativity in “Everything Everywhere All At Once” makes this once-in-a-lifetime film all the more worthy of Best Picture. The film demonstrates the positive changes that Hollywood so desperately needs, as it proves that originality is still the best policy. Congratulations to the Daniels and the cast of “Everything Everywhere All At Once” — you’ve truly revolutionized the Academy Awards for the better.

Contact Ally Werstler at wersaj21@wfu.edu

Page 18 | Thursday, March 30, 2023

Old Gold & Black | Life

The Housing Games: The ultimate test of friendship ROKSANNA KEYVAN Staff Writer

I’d never seen anything like it.

Voices carried down the hallways, sometimes hushed and quiet, but more often loud and panicked. The air was thick with tension. In the distance, a voice was brought to tears.

At the strike of the hour, students rushed to their laptops, clicking available icons as quickly as their fingers could manage to press the keys. In seconds, available rooms were snatched up, disappearing in a flurry of pixels before their very eyes. It felt like Thanos had made an unwelcome visit to Wake Forest to snap his fingers in our faces.

The list of remaining rooms continued to grow smaller.

70. 53. 44. 31. 24. 17. 6. Nothing.

The clock struck 7 p.m. Students crumpled to the floor in an introspective silence of sorts — defeated or victorious, I will never know. A few leaned themselves against windows and walls to stabilize their faltering balance and steady their haggard breathing. Some huddled around their laptops, mouths hanging open in shock — repeatedly pressing the refresh button in an unbroken loop.

Phones were pressed to ears, listening to words of reassurance. It was a coin flip as to whether the unseen reassuring ears received words of seething anger or elated relief.

I found myself checking the sky to see if astrology had something to do with it (it didn’t).

A lot of heads were in hands. A lot of hands were on heads.

Accusations. Betrayal. Confusion. The ABC’s of dystopia. But what I’m describing is not the introduction to a dystopian Hunger Games-esque narrative —

although that assumption isn’t too far off from the actual truth.

This is the shocking reality of the Wake Forest housing selection process. A process that started as an exciting bonding experience in January but slowly snowballed into March as chaos incarnate.

Would you believe it if I told you that two months ago, I, at one point, had a co-ed roommate group of nine individuals? Well, it was actually a bit more complicated than that.

I started with a group of seven girls. We needed an eighth. Naturally, all seven of us went on dinner dates with a new girl every night to find our eighth, to no avail.

Desperate, we turn to the upperclassmen. We recruit a male upperclassman.

Co-ed housing benefits amirite? Wrong.

We de-recruit a male upperclassman (so long to earlier registration times) and go back to seven girls. At this point, it is just a sad dance for our eighth member with people waltzing in and out until (finally) we find a girl to stay.

Plot twist. Two of our original group members leave — but this time it was because Wake Forest ran out of housing space for all eight of us. So now our suite is down to six. Welcome to the emotional roller coaster we call the Wake Forest housing process.

What’s crazy, however, is the fact that my group had a relatively early housing time, but we nearly broke down to tears as we watched suites disappear before our eyes on the pixelated spreadsheet sent out

by Residence Life and Housing outlining “Housing Availability.”

Raise your hand if your computer nearly crashed from the amount of times you refreshed that spreadsheet! (My hand is raised and yours should be, too.)

For some of my friends who were unfortunate enough to receive later reg-

Photo courtesy of Roksanna Keyvan

With an undergraduate class of about 5,400, 1,400 upvotes on a comment like this is nothing to sneeze at. istration times, their suites found themselves torn apart — with their friendships not far behind.

One student jokingly posted on the social media platform Fizz saying, “My friend group will never recover from the housing crisis of ‘23.” Another Wake Forest student, putting it into perspective, mentioned to me that “After that situation, I wasn’t sure I still wanted to room with any of my friends. It really put our friend group on edge. We ended up having to pick favorites, and no one wants to do that.”

It gets better (worse) — some students still have not received housing to this day and are waiting anxiously for the second round of housing in the summer.

Students are frustrated and stressed.

The registration process is mentally taxing and takes months of careful preparation and planning. Despite the trials and tribulations of this process, some students still have no idea where they are going to live. Surely, Wake Forest can do better than this.

At this point, the entire undergraduate class is better off pitching tents on

Hearn Plaza. We could have a little campsite with cute campfires, smores and scary stories. Or we could glamp (which is, personally, much more up my alley).

So what exactly went wrong? Well, the problem is a little more complicated than a matter of a faulty registration system.

It’s a domino effect. North campus dorms, typically taken by juniors, are now filled with seniors. Some juniors, who had expected to live on North Campus, find themselves facing another year on the Quad. Quad dorms are now filled with juniors, resulting in rising sophomores facing limited housing options. And in the case of some, no housing options at all.

One can only hope that the future of Wake Forest housing will be optimized and improved. Until then, we can laugh about all the mishaps we have along the way, as the “housing crisis of ‘23” guarantees us a lot of lasting memories. May the odds be ever in our favor.

Contact Roksanna Keyvan at keyvr22@wfu.edu

These boots are not for walking: Hyperreality in high fashion ELI LEADHAM Staff Writer

I am no Anna Wintour, but lately, high fashion has begun to look a lot like Fortnite. Prada’s purses are cartoonishly puffy, Loewe’s eight-bit hoodies look like they spawned out of a video game and just more than a month ago, MSCHF, a New York-based art collective, released Big Red Boots.

Described as “cartoon boots for a cool 3D world,” Big Red Boots have taken the internet by storm, occupying a space between real life and the metaverse. Celebrities like Diplo and Janelle Monae have been wearing them all over Instagram, so they must signify something.

The boots’ virality is partly due to their divisive design, hefty price tag and the fact that no one seems to wear them correctly. Besides the fact that they look like Anna Wintour’s greatest nightmare, Big Red Boots could set the trajectory for the future of technology and fashion.

“Big Red Boots are really not shaped like feet, but they are extremely shaped like boots,” MSCHF said. The boots' extreme boot-likeness represents the fashions of hyperreality. Hyperreality, a term coined by Jean Baudrillard, captures the inability to distinguish reality from its representation.

MSCHF’s Big Red Boots “takes design cues from a video game,” as Vogue puts it. The giant, impractical, impossible-to-take-off rubber boots were designed more for jumping off rooftops in an imaginary world than for this one. MSCHF forefronts Baudrillard’s concept of a simulacrum in their production of Big Red Boots by essentially producing a copy of a copy. Utilizing the age of hyperreality, the New York art collective produces a rendering of pixelated boots in the physical world that is simply without resemblance to reality — the definition of a simulacrum.

Technology has become really good at representing reality. So rather than implicating it like a cartoon, why can’t we bring the implications of reality to life? That is exactly what MSCHF is doing as part of a growing trend that harkens back to the existentialism of “The Matrix”, where in a world in which nothing feels real, people are opting for cartoonish fashion.

"Cartoonishness is an abstraction that frees us from the constraints of reality," MSCHF said. “If you kick someone in these boots, they go boing.”

Several brands are beginning to adapt to the trend of “cartoonifying,” their wares. Prada sells puffy handbags that look like clouds, Balenciaga’s XXL stompers look like they were designed in Rhino3D and Loewe released their spring/summer 2023 collection featuring pixelated clothes that resemble something more for a digital avatar than a human.

Loewe also released eerily artificiallooking dresses, skirts and tops for its fall/winter 2023 collections. These garments — void of any creases, wrinkles or drapings — app e a r too smooth, too static and too real while unreal.

It is as if Loewe asked ChatGPT to construct its best copy of a pink tube dress. Loewe’s unreal real designs play w i t h the hyperreal in the same way as the Big Red Boots.

With the recent trend in fashion where the top

designers are drawing inspiration from video games and cartoons, is there no longer room for novelty? Today, in an age where the simulation of reality seems more real than reality itself, it appears that we are beginning to lose a sense of originality.

The physical world has long influenced the digital world. Almost everything online is a copy of reality — from usernames to digital wallets. But as the internet evolves, we are now seeing realworld concepts that are metaphors for digital ideas, marking a radical shift in the direction of influence where the physical world draws inspiration from digital copies of itself.

With the rise of cryptocurrency, NFTs and the metaverse, it is common that we digitally own assets like money, land and art. This marks a time in history where digital life is worth more to us than our physical life.

The Big Red Boots have ultimately posed one question — does the distinction between the physical and digital world even matter?

I don’t know the answer, but I know that Baudrillard would have had a field day with the Big Red Boots.

Contact Eli Leadham at leadey22@wfu.edu

Life | Old Gold & Black

Thursday, March 30, 2023 | Page 19

‘Everything’ wins big at the Oscars, cementing its legacy EMMA SHUFORD Staff Writer A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” has solidified its place among the best of cinema, sweeping seven Academy Awards at the 2023 Oscars. Claiming Best Picture — along with awards in acting, directing, editing and screenwriting — the movie strengthened its popularity and influence.

Grossing $111 million worldwide at the box office, the film is praised for its crossing of genre boundaries. The film has greatly impacted the industry and viewers alike, portraying a diverse and primarily Asian cast at a time when anti-Asian hate has been at a relative high.

“I think what the film portrayed really well is the background setting of typical Asian families,” freshman Anita Xu said of the film.

“Parents often refuse to communicate with their children about their inner thoughts and emotions.”

She continued: “They often blame their children for everything — even blame or insult them for their physical appearance, and very few parents acknowledge and even hate the LGBTQ community, let alone if their own children are members of it. I think the film is very realistic about this kind of f****d up relationship.”

There was an eruption of applause when the film was announced Best Picture.

Throughout the awards ceremony, the camera centered upon the cast and team of “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” who held their hands above their heads in the shape of the infamous bagel — a show of the love and connectedness shared by those who worked on the film.

Michelle Yeoh, star of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” won Best Actress, her first Oscar after a long and impressive career. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — or “the

Daniels,” as they call themselves — won both Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for their vision and execution of the film.

Jamie Lee Curtis, whose long career includes starring in movies such as “Freaky Friday” and “Knives Out,” won her first Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, nominated alongside co-star Stephanie Hsu. Paul Rogers claimed Best Film Editing for his work on the action-packed comedy.

Best Supporting Actor was won by another “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star, Ke Huy Quan, who gained some fame as a child actor for his role in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” as the titular character’s sidekick. In a full circle moment, former Indiana Jones star Harrison Ford embraced Quan after announcing the Best Picture winner.

The film was nominated for 11 awards in total, including Costume Design, Original Score and Original Song, “This Is a Life” — performed at the Oscars by Hsu and David Byrne in a captivating show just as absurd as the film itself.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” follows Yeoh as Evelyn Wang, a ChineseAmerican immigrant who owns a struggling laundromat with her husband, Waymond Wang, played by Quan. Evelyn is in the midst of coping with a failing marriage, her formerly estranged father Gong Gong — played by James Hong — is now living with the family and her rebellious daughter Joy — played by Hsu. On top of all this, Evelyn and Waymond prepare papers for the IRS’s audit of the laundromat, meeting with their grumpy auditor Deirde, played by Curtis.

Suddenly, the film takes a dramatic turn.

In order to prevent the destruction of the This film will undoubtedly change the film multiverse by the being Jobu Tupaki, Evelyn industry, providing a portrayal of an incredmust connect with alternate versions of her- ibly honest Asian-American immigrant story. self in parallel universes to save the world. The A large Marvel movie-sized budget was not world becomes a place where fingers turn into needed to create the magic of the film. hot dogs, and Evelyn is a martial artist. The “ ‘ Eve r y thing Everywhere All at film is many things all at once: absurd, co- O n c e ’ feels sacred to me as medious, heartfelt, action-packed, vulnerable a piece of art,” Phan said. and exciting.

“Watching it felt healing.

“How ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ S o m e how, seeing Evelyn and incorporated so many issues smoothly into Waymond express contentment in one film stuck out to me,” junior Annie Phan their lives as it is was both the most beautisaid. “A dying marriage, financial struggles, ful and most saddening moment to have language barriers, burdensome expectations, watched. And both because it is something generational differences — I could go on. that I, and I’m sure many other children of Nothing felt out of place.” immigrants, have wanted to hear from their The budget of $25 milparents our entire lives. To finally hear it — lion produced incredible even if it’s coming out of a TV from another results. Filming took place rapidly in only 38 days, and t h e mother to another daughter — was indepraised special effects were carr i e d scribable.”

“For all the little girls and boys who look out by the Daniels’ team of five artists, like me watching tonight, this is a beacon working largely on Adobe After Effects. The majority of hope and possibilities,” Yeoh said in her o f the fight scenes and stunts, acceptance speech for Best Actress. “This is inspired largely by Hong Kong martial arts proof that…dreams do come true.”

She continued, addressing her movies, were performed by the actors themstatus in the film as a selves, who trained extensively in preparation. c h a r a c t e r ’s mom who becomes “I was surprised by how one minute I would middle-aged uncommon portrayal be laughing hysterically about hotdog fingers, the hero — an and then the next moment crying my eyes out in Hollywood: “I have to dedicate this to about an immigrant mother regretting com- my mom, [and] all the moms in the world, ing to America,” freshman Eli because they are really the superheroes, and Leadham said.

“The film without them, none of us would be here tomeans so much to me benight. She’s 84, and I’m taking this home to cause it is very rare to have her.”

Asian representation — let alone a The film did not need awards to show its story like this — told in Hollywood.” importance and significance to its cast memHe continued: “Most of the time when bers, directors, crew and adoring community Asian characters are in a Hollywood film, they of viewers. But seeing Yeoh at last with a goldare typecast as the smart friend. But in this en Oscar in her hand, the world feels right. film, the characters felt whole, like real humans with problems to deal with but were working Contact Emma Shuford at through them.” shufee22@wfu.edu

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Why online match services like Marriage Pact are problematic MELINA TRAIFOROS Staff Writer

Bzzt. My phone vibrates. I have a new email: Match Announcement If you filled out the Marriage Pact survey in February, you probably found yourself in the same position I did — only a tap and perhaps a dorm away from the Wake Forest student with whom you are most romantically compatible.

Developed by two Stanford students during undergrad, Marriage Pact claims that college is the best time to lock down a life partner. They replace the grueling work of conversation with a 50-statement survey backed by “the latest research on romantic compatibility.” Rating each statement from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree” allows Marriage Pact’s algorithm to compute, down to the exact percentage, the participant whose priorities and relationship style most closely matches yours.

“I always take the scenic route,” read one question. Another posited, “I like drama.”

“Do you really want to look up from your cubicle when you’re 40 to find yourself alone?” asks the Marriage Pact website.

No, I didn’t, so I took it. My roommate and I may have laughed off the quiz, but isn’t there something exhilarating about meeting the person with whom you are mathematically destined to fall in love?

These were my famous last words — the results broke all hell loose.

I had no problem with my match. He looked like a nice guy! I followed him on Instagram, chose not to reach out and that was that. My friends’ results were a grisly conglomerate of campus celebrities, ex-boyfriends and members of fraternities we make a point not to frequent. Shouting and general panic characterized the minutes post-release.

It was decidedly not love at first sight.

“I don’t know how much I believe it,” sophomore Lanie Kotler said. She questioned whether the 99 percent matches some students received are feasible on a small campus like that of Wake Forest.

I, too, am skeptical. Marriage Pact’s penultimate email, which revealed a plethora of commonalities between my match and me, raised a red flag. We both appreciate the beauty in the world.

We value trustworthiness and detail orientation. As the similarities stacked up, I got the uneasy feeling that Marriage Pact was matching me to myself.

In the human sexuality course I’m taking this semester, we learned that similarity does not guarantee compatibility.

“While we do seem initially drawn to people who are similar to us,” writes psychologist Justin Lehmiller in “The Psychology of Human Sexuality,” “it turns out that the factors that initially

attract us to someone are not necessarily the same factors that promote relationship stability and success.”

A 2007 study adds complementarity to the mix — finding that certain traits follow the “opposites attract” adage while others are best shared by partners.

While I am not privy to Marriage Pact’s secret algorithm, I wonder whether two highly confrontational people would resolve conflict well. Dating when you both prefer staying in for a movie night is convenient, but how will you ever experience something new together?

The cynical cherry on top is a psychological phenomenon called self-report bias, which recognizes that people are seldom 100 percent truthful when describing themselves in surveys. It is a rare respondent who, when asked if they desire a trustworthy partner, says “no.”

It seems Marriage Pact matches our personas — fabrications born of a flawed self-image and robs us of our true complement.

Marriage Pact is not the only culprit; like any form of social media, dating sites invite performativity. Tinder boils down the infinite tensions and complexities in a human person to five or six photos, allowing users to curate a collage of images.

Even Hinge, which offers quirky questions designed to bring out authenticity, cannot escape digital performance.

If you want romantic prospects to fawn over your built body, gym pics are a must. Skydiving and snowboarding photos broadcast how adventurous you are and posts with friends portray you as likable.

These sites offer insight into the romantic priorities of their users — physical appearance, quirky interests, etc.

Even Christian Mingle represents its users’ belief that their faith plays a role in romance.

We swipe left or right on the most polished versions of our peers, but none of it is real, and when you’re looking for love, real is the only thing that matters.

Marriage Pact claims to know what is best for us better than we know it ourselves. Finding “the one” feels attainable when a shiny math formula promises to tell us exactly what to do. But there is peril in succumbing to the luxury of relinquished control, especially when you are not sure to what you’re relinquishing it.

Introduce yourself to the girl sitting next to you in economics; compliment the boy with nice hair. Real connections lie waiting for us to forgo the quick solution that dating apps advertise. We are better off thinking — and loving — for ourselves.

Contact Melina Traiforos at traimg21@wfu.edu

Page 20 | Thursday, March 30, 2023

Old Gold & Black | Life

1.p? 01/8-??5ŋ10 F;9.51 ?A>B5B-8 3A501 EMILY BEBENEK Staff Writer

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Adam Coil / Old Gold & Black

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;C 9->>5-31 -:0 9;@41>4;;0 /4-:310 "->5? 58@;: LOURDES LOPEZ Staff Writer

Paris Hilton is the “it girl” influencer to many millennials and members of Generation Z. She exemplifies a certain type of self-determined stardom as the young, aloof socialite she was in the early 2000s.

Throughout her rise to fame, she was most notably known for her ignorance and detachedness from the real world as an heiress of the Hilton hotel chain, which is estimated at a $14.2 billion net worth.

Back then, Hilton used her burgeoning fame to create a cultural legacy that includes, among other things, “The Simple Life,” the expression “that’s hot,” the reggae-tinged hit “Stars Are Blind” and one enormously successful perfume line. Now, Hilton is shifting her legacy and purpose. As a 42-yearold, she is endeavoring to become a more authentic and transparent version of herself.

Hilton underwent two life-changing experiences somewhat recently. She got married in November 2021 and had a baby boy, Phoenix, in January of this year. She donned

a brunette wig and a sweatshirt and checked into a hospital using a different name on the day her child was born. Hilton wanted to avoid being recognized by one of her many calling cards — her platinum-blond hair.

Only Hilton, her husband Carter Reum and their surrogate were aware of the baby’s birth at that time — everyone else was unaware. Even their close family members didn’t learn until right before she posted about his arrival on Instagram. She and her husband decided they would have that whole experience for themselves, in contrast to the public life Hilton has had her entire life.

Being pregnant is a big secret to hide — even with a surrogate — but Hilton is accustomed to concealing aspects of her life.

She disclosed for the first time in the 2020 documentary “This Is Paris” the abuse she experienced as a teenager when her parents, Rick and Kathy Hilton, sent her to a number of boarding schools that claimed to help problematic teenagers. Since then, she has emerged as a leading proponent for banning the so-called troubled-teen industry.

In 2021, she backed legislation in Utah that would have increased school regulation, and she is currently advocating for federal change.

Another change for the artist is the dropping of her typical media persona. Hilton’s dual vocal range had been revealed in the past — one being the low-pitched and nearly sonorous voice she uses when speaking privately, and the other being her higherpitched and coy public voice. Hilton calls the persona “my steel-plated armor” and a “stupid blonde with a sweet but sassy edge.”

“I made sure I never had a quiet time to figure out who I was without her,” she adds.

By abandoning the act, she would have to manage yet another public rebuilding of herself.

Hilton is also telling her complex life in her own words in a new book titled “Paris: The Memoir.” Hilton discusses topics including her difficulties with ADHD and her traumatic experience at Provo Canyon School in her biography, which sees her uncover the underlying tales behind some of the most talked-about episodes in her life,

such as her sex tape. Nonetheless, there are also humorous and fascinating pop-culture eras that readers can enjoy.

The memoir was published in February of this year, and it puts Hilton squarely in charge of her own cultural recontextualization. She emphasizes the point of how the treatment of “it girls’’ translates to the treatment of all girls in our culture. She also delves into more disturbing details from her high school years and mentions how her priorities have shifted due to recent life events.

She is enjoying being a mother and savoring experiences that are brand new to her or the most recent version of herself. People used to approach her for selfies and ask her to comment, “that’s hot” or “sliving,” which is a combination of the words slaying and living, for a very long time. These days, she claims they tell her, “I admire what you’re doing for children” or “I experienced the same thing.” It seems that the popstar will now be slowing down, and her image will continue to shift.

Contact Lourdes Lopez at lopelm22@wfu.edu