The Statesman 12-02-19 by The Statesman

Volume LXIII, Issue 14

sbstatesman.com

Monday, December 2, 2019

Researcher wins $2M to study teenage depression

Graduation rates increase over six-year period

By Maya Brown

By Samantha Robinson

On Nov. 22, Jessica Schleider, a researcher at Stony Brook University (SBU), received the President’s New Researcher Award by the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, based on the promise of developing theoretical or practical applications that represent advances to the field. The award follows a $2 million grant Schleider and her team received in early October, called the National Institutes of Health Early Independence Award. The award was created to support scientists with the “the intellect, scientific creativity, drive, and maturity bypass the traditional postdoctoral training period to launch independent research careers,” according to the website. Over the next couple of years, the grant will be used to learn more about better treatment for pre-adolescents to late-adolescents with depression by using either a computer or smartphone for therapy. The total number of teenagers who have recently experienced depression increased by 59% between 2007 and 2017, according to 2017 data from the

specific online module though a smartphone app for three weeks and will be asked multiple times in a day how they are feeling. At that point, Schleider and her team will be able to develop a profile of the patient to find out what symptoms matters most to them and what is driving their distress. In addition to potency, Schleider explained that existing treatments are not uniformly accessible to everyone. Up to 70% of youth with depression do not access services. “The main mission is to design and test both brief and more accessible ways to prevent depression,” Schleider said, adding

Stony Brook University’s 4-year graduation rate increased 17% over the past six years, Stony Brook University Interim President, Michael Bernstein said at the State of the University address in October. In 2019, the 4-year graduation rate rose to 64%, demonstrating a steady increase since a 40% 4-year graduation rate in Spring 2006. The rate fluctuated between 40 and 47% until 2013, when it hit a steady incline, according to a chart displayed at the State of the University address given by Bernstein. “We measure student success in many ways,” Bernstein said during the State of the University address. “One of the most important ways is graduation rates … we achieved a 17 percentage point increase in the 4-year grad rate over a 6-year period. That’s stunning.” The school is headed towards a one percent increase on graduation rates per year over the next several years, Braden Hosch, the associate vice president for Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness, said. With that

Continued on page 4

Assistant News Editor

EMMA HARRIS / THE STATESMAN

Snow falls on the Academic Mall outside of the Frank Melville Jr. Memorial Library on Dec. 1 as students, faculty and staff prepare for the final week of classes. Pew Research Center. According to Schleider, although efforts to reduce depression in youth have advanced greatly, 30-65% of youth who receive treatment don’t respond to it. She explained that the problem lies in the need for treatment to be matched to personal clinical needs, as depression diagnoses could encompass more than 1,400 combinations of symptoms. Jenna Sung, a first-year clinical psychology Ph.D. student at Stony Brook who works in Schleider’s lab, said that depression does not look the same for everyone. Individuals with varying symptoms may respond better to different kinds of treatments.

“Schleider’s research is an incredibly important study that hopes to provide individualized, symptom-tailored treatment to youth struggling with depression,” Sung said. Schleider said this study could also be a way to match teens to quick, but powerful treatments for depression. She and her team will work with about 300 teenagers from Long Island that are experiencing depression over the span of five years and create a single automated therapy session. “We are using a new method of the single session approach to match people to treatments that fit their needs as well as we possibly can,” Schleider said. As teenagers come into the lab, they will be matched to a

SBU population geneticist works on HistoGene study through Synergy grant

By Samantha Lauria Staff Writer

Stony Brook University Assistant Professor Krishna Veeramah, a population geneticist, will be sequencing the genomes of an ancient European tribe in order to track their migration and how it affected medieval Europe. In October, the Institute for Advanced Study received a 10 million euro grant from the European Research Council for their genome sequencing study, HistoGene. The project will attempt to further develop theories about the migration of people who lived in the Carpathian Basin, or modern day Hungary, from 400-900 C.E. Over the next two years, the six scholars involved will analyze the DNA found in medieval European cemeteries to see how the migration of the Avars tribes affected the general population of Europe.

“The study that my colleagues and I are conducting will show people the limits of what we can tell about past people,” Veeramah said. “If we have information from history, from archaeology, and genetics, what inferences can we make?” Four researchers in Europe with a variety of backgrounds will be analyzing more than six thousand graves in order to determine how the Avars migrated across medieval Europe. The team consists of Patrick Geary, a medieval historian from the Institute for Advanced Study; Johannes Krause, a biochemist from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany; Walter Pohl, a historian from the Austrian Academy of Sciences; and Tivadar Vida, an archaeologist from the Eötvös Loránd University.

Veeramah collaborated with Geary on a 2018 study on the migration of the Lombards, a tribe that emerged in Central Asia in about 500 C.E., around the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. They sequenced DNA and examined Lombard archaeological remains to track the tribe’s migration from China to Europe. The pilot study received early support from the European Research Council, an organization in Europe that funds research across the continent, which inspired them to offer Geary and his team the funds to conduct the HistoGene study, based on their previous success. “The size of the grant will make possible an extraordinary advance in both our understanding of Europe’s population during a crucial historical period as well as in developing new procedures to

News

Arts & Culture

Negotiations and future of contract were discussed.

Students can voice their opinion on artist options.

SBU holds town hall on Elsevier updates.

MORE ON PAGE 9

Men’s Basketball snaps win streak. MORE ON PAGE 12

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four-year graduation rate increases by 17% SBU holds Elsevier town hall Continued from page 1 trend, the university wants to see the 4-year rate closer to 70% and the 6-year rate near 80%. The 6-year graduation rate, measured by the number of students who graduate within six years, is also increasing. The rate rose from 68% in 2013 to 78% in 2019. It is natural, Hosch said, for the 6-year rate to rise as the 4-year rate does since the two rates overlap, but he would like to see that gap narrow. Though Stony Brook has made progress on its overall graduation rates, the university still sees a gap between men and women, Charles Robbins, the vice provost for Undergraduate Education and dean of the Undergraduate Colleges, said. “The one that has been the most challenging has been the gender-based gap, with male students graduating at a statistically significantly lower rate than women students,” Robbins said. “And we've been able to now close that gap by … seven percentage points, [but] it's still too high.” Hosch said that, even on a national level, “women significantly outperform men” in terms of graduating. In 2017, the most recent year that data is available, 63% of women graduated in six years compared to 57% of men. At Stony Brook, measured from the graduating classes of 2016 and 2017, 80% of women graduate in six years while 71% of men graduate in six years, according to Hosch. Even as a gender gap persists, Stony Brook has been able to narrow the graduation gap between races, Hosch said. White, black and Hispanic students graduated at 61%, 59% and 63%, respectively in 2018. Hispanic students at Stony Brook have made the most ground on graduation rates. In 2015, 42% of Hispanic students

graduated in four years. In 2018, that number increased to 63%. Asian students typically graduate at a higher rate than other demographics. The latest figure from 2018 showed more than 70% of Asian students graduating in four years. With the exception of 2016, the 4-year graduation rate for Asian students has increased by at least three percentage points every year since 2013. Stony Brook has been able to improve these rates by developing a multi-pronged approach. It established the Finish in 4 program, which aims to “help students stay on track to graduate,” according to its website, and offers mini-grants for students to complete their degree in four years. The university also offers an Academic Success Team, which exists to “enhance the undergraduate student’s academic experience and enhance their ability to graduate in a timely manner,” Robbins said. The school has done, according to Hosch, “virtually everything that we can think of ” to raise the graduation rates. But with new programs and better planning, targeting specific students has been one of the most effective ways to increase the rate, Hosch said. “Next door to me, I have a data scientist and her job largely centers around coming up with algorithms to help us identify students who need academic support so that we can get support to them before they need it,” he said. “Just in time is great, but before is even better, right?” The university targets men who they consider to be in jeopardy, but they also consider grade point average (GPA) when determining which students need help. A student’s first term college GPA is a strong indicator for when students will eventually graduate, Hosch said. If a first-semester student earns between a 2.0 and 2.99, the univer-

sity reaches out, either by speaking directly with the student or sending text messages suggesting which class a student should enroll in, he explained. Though the school encourages students to graduate in four years, Hosch said he understands some students may need more time than that. Financially though, Hosch believes it is in the students’ best interests to leave Stony Brook four years after they arrive. They won’t have to continue paying tuition and they can begin working and starting their careers, he said. “The hidden opportunity cost [is what] many people weren't really thinking about. So that when you get out, when you get out a year earlier, you have a year extra to work across the rest of your life,” Hosch said. “That extra year you have to work is going to happen somewhere in your career. That's an extra $58,000 somewhere.”

“When you get out a year earlier, you have a year extra to work across the rest of your life.” -Braden Hosch

Associate Vice President for Institutional Research, Planning, and Effectiveness

Robbins said the school will continue to strive for higher graduation rates. “Am I satisfied with either of them [the four-year graduation rate and the gender gap]? No,” he said. “I have no doubt that we can do better and that our students can do better, so we are continuing to aspire to do better and have our students do better.”

By Maya Brown

Assistant News Editor

Stony Brook University hosted a town hall on Monday, Nov. 25, that offered updates on negotiations between State University of New York (SUNY) and Elsevier. SUNY is currently negotiating a contract renewal with Elsevier, a scientific and medical journal publisher. Elsevier holds “a monopoly over access to high-quality peer reviewed content,” according to a slideshow presented at the town hall. “We have been going around trying to promote the awareness and consequences and create open discussion to hear about the potential of not having an Elsevier contract anymore,” Shafeek Fazal, Interim Dean of Stony Brook Libraries, said. He’s already met with the School of Medicine Faculty Senate, the University Senate and the Graduate Student Organization, in an attempt to spread awareness. The town hall focused specifically on ScienceDirect, which is the only Elsevier product that will be affected by the ongoing negotiations. SUNY paid more than $9 million for access to ScienceDirect last year, totaling nearly $45 million over the life of the contract. “Elsevier has failed to expeditiously engage in the SUNY ScienceDirect contract negotiation process and, if the contract is not extended, the SUNY community will no longer have unlimited access to Elsevier’s collection,” according to a resolution passed in October by the SUNY University Faculty Senate. The SUNY-wide subscription to ScienceDirect includes about 3,800 journal titles. Heath Martin, associate dean of collection strategy and management of Stony Brook Libraries, said that one of the state school system’s main contentions is that the price for the package has continuously increased. “[The price] has grown to the point where it no longer represents

adequate value for the system and for the individual institutions involved,” he said. According to an update from the SUNY University Faculty Senate on its contract renewal with Elsevier in 2015, the net invoice value of the 5-year Science Direct offer was $8M and in 2018, it was $9M. Martin said the situation was “unsustainable.” He added that the amount that SUNY can afford to pay and a need to prioritize resources will impact negotiations going forward. Martin said that the rising price isn’t worth the number of journals SUNY uses in the package. “We [SUNY] end up increasingly seeing a less strong argument for the value of the package, given the amount we’re [SUNY] paying for it,” he said. During the town hall, an attendee asked about the “free labor” that Elsevier receives through researchers — there are 67 Elsevier titles with leading editors from Stony Brook University, according to Fazal. SUNY is attempting to negotiate a contract that automatically gives open access for all SUNY authored Open Access articles in Elsevier titles. In addition to the already high subscription cost, Elsevier also requires SUNY authors to pay Article Processing Charges (APCs), a fee charged to authors that makes their work open access in a journal. Typically, APCs range from $8-3,900, according to an article from the American Journal Experts. SUNY authors have paid over $8.1M in APCs. “Those APCs can run pretty high into the several thousands of dollars in some cases, and the funding for those most frequently will come from a funding agency,” Martin said. He explained that if the authors are getting some funds in support of their research from a funding agency, they are then Continued on page 5

Schleider awarded $2 million grant to develop mental health app Continued from page 1 that she is trying to help broaden and extend the current ecosystem of mental health care options for teenagers. “A majority of teenagers who have depression aren’t able to access treatments because either waitlists are too long, therapy is expensive or they have travel problems." There are already more than 10,000 mental health apps available, according to NBC News. According to Schleider, digital applications geared to treat mental health may fill a critical gap in obtaining mental health care, as they can make treatment for patients more accessible. “We don’t market this as anything that will replace therapy. It’s supposed to fill gaps that need to be filled,” Schleider said. “It’s a differ-

ent feel than traditional treatment because teens can choose when and where to use the treatment.” Schleider’s study also delves into psychopathology, which views psychiatric disorders as causal interactions between symptoms. Schleider said that youth with a stronger focus on a behavioral symptom — behavior pertaining to reactions made in response to social stimuli — may respond more favorably to a single session intervention focused on a customizable and personal behavioral activation treatment. On the other hand, youth with a stronger focus on a cognitive symptom — behavior involving conscious intellectual activity — may respond more favorably to the mindset single-session intervention. Despite numerous articles that claim computers and smart-

phones lead to depression, Schleider claims that literature is flawed. “Technology and social media are really not causing depression,” she said. “When radio and television first came out, society was in an uproar because it’s just a reaction for when technology is brought into the public.” According to a longitudinal study done by researchers in Canada of 600 adolescents for two years and more than 1,000 young adults for six years, no correlation was found between social media use and depressive symptoms. Others also believe that the devices that are creating new forms of addiction and stress can instead deliver therapy or provide support for treatment. “[Schleider] is not proposing in any way that online modules will replace in-person therapy,” Julian

Pessier, director of the Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) at Stony Brook, said. “She is suggesting that there are many people suffering who do not have access to adequate care, and if her modules can be demonstrated as effective, that there is potential to help people who are in pain.” Too much screen time has also been associated with depression — specifically the total amount of time spent on social media and the frequency. A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry suggests that teenagers who spend more than three hours a day on social media are more likely to develop mental health problems, including depression. If Schleider's modules prove effective, Pessier said he would be “very open” to utilizing the treatments as part of a range of interventions that he offers to

patients at CAPS. His goal is to find each individual the tools that best meet their unique needs to reduce mental distress. “The growing interest in accessible options to disseminating interventions to youth and their families is very important and exciting from the perspective of a student entering into treatment research,” Emma Mumper, a psychology doctoral student at Stony Brook who works in Schleider’s lab, said. Schleider said that the $2 million grant that she received will allow her to grow her research team, and cover the next two years of research. “This is the first grant I received that will have a two year follow up for an intervention trial and it's a huge boost overall to what we're going to be able to do,” she said.

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Monday, December 2, 2019

SUNY focuses on ScienceDirect Study uses AI to reduce carbon emissions Continued from page 4 building the publication costs to publish Open Access into grants they may have. “We continuously remind Elsevier and other publishers of that fact and that fundamental lack of fairness in the traditional publishing model,” Martin said. If negotiations for the Elsevier subscription goes sour, SUNY is prepared to cancel it, which will have a direct impact on campus.

“Open access as a publishing model has increased in visibility and relvance over the years ... ” -Heath Martin

Associate Dean of Collection Strategy and Management

According to the update from the SUNY University Faculty Senate, some campuses have relinquished library staff to pay for the subscription. If the subscription is

canceled, SUNY library purchases will be negatively impacted and their collections will become less diverse. SUNY is currently preparing a counter offer, which will be discussed in another town hall on Dec. 10. The current contract expires Dec. 31. If there isn’t a SUNY deal, alternative means of access to the content that would be lost include an interlibrary loan, paying per article with reprint charges and having open access copy from online repositories such as Unpaywall and PubMed Central. “Open access as a publishing model has increased in visibility and relevance over the years, we have more and more SUNY faculty publishing open access,” Martin said. Since a lot of content from Elsevier is published open access, that access is still provided if the package is lost. “We still have the rights and abilities to access all of that open access content, but we won’t have the ScienceDirect platform to provide that access directly,” Martin said. “We’ll work with these other services and repositories to facilitate access and discovery of that content.” According to Martin, one of SUNY’s primary goals of the negotiation is to retain access to Elsevier’ in the future. A website with updates on the negotiations can be accessed here.

By Cindy Mizaku

Assistant Opinions Editor

Stony Brook researchers are using an artificial intelligence (AI) approach to reduce carbon emissions by converting carbon dioxide into methane, which will be made into a non-fossil fuel energy source. Led by Anatoly Frenkel, a professor of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, the team aimed to determine the properties of a catalyst — a substance that speeds the rate of a chemical reaction without being consumed — that can most efficiently convert carbon dioxide to methane. In order to measure catalytic properties like the size, structure and chemistry, the team used a machine-learning approach to extract the data. Frenkel, who is a Brookhaven National Lab (BNL) joint appointee, worked with his team in the lab’s National Synchrotron Light Source II facility, which provides equipment to further research in areas like energy security and environmental sustainability. Carbon emissions will decrease while storing and transporting the methane to make a non-fossil fuel energy source, Frenkel said, since the “methane will not pollute the atmosphere because it will be converted into feedstock for fuel.” By creating resources that do not come from fossil fuels, Frenkel spoke about how methane can be

used for chemical manufacturing. This form of renewable methane can be manufactured into everyday products, like several plastics used as building materials. Methane is used as feedstock for synthesizing methanol and is processed into formaldehyde — a chemical compound used in these plastics. The team found that copper is a promising candidate as a catalyst that can survive during catalysis — when the rate or outcome of the reaction is influenced by the catalyst — because it can lower the temperature of the carbon dioxide-to-methane reaction while deriving the desired product: methane and water vapor. By performing X-ray absorption spectroscopy — a technique that emits X-ray beams to determine the electronic structure of materials — with BNL’s synchrotron, the team analyzed how copper atoms absorbed the synchrotron X-rays. The X-ray absorption spectrum then holds the information about the catalyst’s chemical composition and structure, which is fundamental during the catalysis of carbon dioxide to methane. A challenge that arises, according to Frenkel, has to do with the fact that copper clusters are small nanoparticles that have a few atoms to collect data from; it is difficult to determine the structure and configuration of atoms that makes the best catalyst to facilitate the conversion of carbon dioxide to methane.

In order to tackle this challenge, the team used AI to extract the catalytic properties found in the X-ray signals of the catalysts. AI utilizes machine learning to create an artificial neural network that mimics how the human brain transmits and processes information. “When we have experimental X-ray spectrum, which is mirrored during the reaction condition, then we can utilize our machine-learning model to predict the structure from this experimental spectrum,” third-year chemistry Ph.D. candidate Yang Liu said. After determining the structure of the catalyst, Liu said that “at the same time when we do the experiment, we also mirror the reactant and the product, so we can correlate that reaction performance with the structure property of the catalyst.” The neurons are taught the known spectrums with their corresponding structures of catalysts that were generated during the experiment. Fourth-year materials science Ph.D. candidate, Nicholas Marcella — who worked on the project — said that the team’s next steps in their research will be to “put statistical significance on [the analytic methods used to understand X-ray spectroscopy] so we can say that with certainty, we know that the structural characteristics that we're looking at are real and accurate.”

ARTS & CULTURE

Spring 2020 Brookfest poll voting opened for the student body

able style that seems to be heavily dependent on jazz, while both Lil Tjay and Pop Smoke are popular rap artists responsible for some of the biggest hits of the year. Pop Smoke’s “Dior” and “Welcome to the Party” have a combined 25.6 million views on YouTube as of Dec. 1 and Lil Tjay released his joint project “F.N” with rapper Jay Critch this year.

By Lajiere Blake

Assistant Arts and Culture Editor

The Undergraduate Student Government (USG) at Stony Brook University (SBU) released the Brookfest 2020 Artist Poll in an attempt to gather student opinions and desires ahead of the yearly concert set to take place next semester in the spring. The poll is divided into three sections: headliner, opener and female artist; the addition of the female artist option is new to this year’s poll. USG claims in the poll, “We had many complaints about that lack of diversity, and explicitly added this category to level the playing field and give female artists an affirmed chance to be recognized and appreciated by the student body.” The section features a diverse group of female musicians with a strong fan base. The number of black women within the selection is also hard to miss — Doja Cat, Jessie Reyez, Jorja Smith, Megan Thee Stallion, Rico Nasty, Saweetie and Zara Larsson. Doja Cat, Jessie Reyez and Jorja Smith are all Rhythm and Blues (R&B) artists, while Megan Thee Stallion, Rico Nasty and Saweetie are leading rap artists. Larsson is a pop singer wellknown for her song “Symphony” with the electronic band Clean Bandit. The question now is: will the fan base of these popular musicians be represented within the Stony Brook community?

COURTESY OF USG

Poster for the Brookfest 2020 Artist Poll by the Undergraduate Student Government. The poll was released ahead of the yearly concert set to take place next semester. The headliner options are just as star-studded but feature no female artists as they have been placed in their own section. It includes DaBaby, Daniel Caesar, Gunna, J.I.D, Jon Bellion, Lil Baby, Playboi Carti, Tory Lanez and Young Thug. DaBaby was able to burst into mainstream hip-hop this past year, with his video “Suge” amassing over 177 million views, and counting, on YouTube. Lil Baby, Young Thug, Gunna and Tory Lanez have created a steady fan base over the past few

years in the time that they’ve been popular. Daniel Caesar is the only artist dedicated solely to R&B, while Jon Bellion and J.I.D are beloved rappers. Playboi Carti’s addition to the headliner options is sure to please a lot of students; with his distinct rap and production style, Playboi Carti may be a favorite in the polls. However, the selection of headliners isn’t a good mix of genres as these artists only represent rap and R&B, but it does show what musical styles are the most popular today.

Opener options are Alec Benjamin, DJ Mustard, Joji, Lil Tjay, Masego, Pop Smoke and Tinashe. Alec Benjamin, Joji and Tinashe are all singers. Joji, however, is known for more than just music; he’s also popular because of his online comedic presence, pink guy and is the author of Francis of the Filth, published under the name George Miller. DJ Mustard has produced songs for popular artists like Tyga and YG, but this year he has done a lot of work with singer Ella Mai. Masego is a singer with a recogniz-

“However, the selection of headliners isn't a good mix of genres as these artists only represent rap and r&b ... ” Each section on the poll also includes a space where students can submit suggestions. This inclusion further centers the voices of the students and allows their opinions to be heard. Many students are eager to see a more diverse set at Brookfest 2020, both in gender and genre. The poll can be accessed through an SBU email, and it closes on Friday, Dec. 6 at 12 p.m.

Halfway through, “The Mandalorian” season one midseason review By Alek Lewis Staff Writer

Disney Plus has seen the release of new exclusive shows, but none as anticipated as the first live-action “Star Wars” show entitled “The Mandalorian.” Although the “Star Wars” fan base has seen a divide with the new films, especially “Star Wars Episode 8: The Last Jedi,” “The Mandalorian” shows promise of a fulfilling show, with the first half of its first season delivering a compelling story that fits snugly into the “Star Wars” universe and feels inspired by the original trilogy of “Star Wars” films in style and writing. The show takes place a few years after “Star Wars Episode 6: Return of the Jedi.” The show centers around a nameless man, a Mandalorian bounty hunter (let's call him Mando for short) portrayed by Pedro Pascal, who takes on jobs from bounty hunter guild leader Greef Karga, portrayed by Carl Weathers, around the lawless rim of the galaxy. One such job leads him to an ex-Imperial, The Client, portrayed by Werner Herzog, to go and retrieve a mysterious but valuable bounty. Minor spoilers for the first four episodes ahead. The first half of season one is comprised of four episodes: “Chapter 1”; “Chapter 2: The Child”; “Chapter 3: The Sin” and “Chapter 4: Sanctuary.” The first episode was released with the launch of Disney Plus on Nov. 12 and each consec-

utive episode releasing every Friday thereafter. The first three episodes fit into a coherent story, which lead into “Chapter 4” which introduces Gina Carano’s character, Cara Dune, and seems to start the next act of a seemingly three-act structured television season.

“The series, although tackling dark themes of loyalty and death, has a light-hearted tone sprinkled in.”

At the end of the first episode, Mando encounters a child who appears to be the same species as the iconic Jedi Master Yoda. Since the species’ name is unknown to the universe, the internet has dubbed this child “Baby Yoda;” they are undoubtedly the cutest creature the “Star Wars” universe has ever seen and have spawned many memes. But it’s not only the internet that has developed this connection with “Baby Yoda,” the series is contingent on the relationship of Mando and Baby Yoda. Being what

the Mandalorians dub as a “foundling” or orphan found and adopted by the clan, Mando comes to see an echo of his former orphaned self in Baby Yoda, deepening their connection. The production is full of topnotch Hollywood talent. The series was created and executively produced by “The Lion King” (2019) Director Jon Favreau, “Star Wars: Rebels” and “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” veteran Dave Filoni, alongside Kathleen Kennedy and Colin Wilson. The first four episodes are directed by Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa, Deborah Chow and Bryce Dallas Howard respectively. Although I won’t be touching on the individual episodes on this review, all of these directors, accompanied by music from Ludwig Göransson, capture the spaghetti-western mixed with space opera feeling that the series harnesses. It’s directed with a distinctly “Star Wars” style reminiscent of the original trilogy. The series, although tackling darker themes of loyalty and death, has a light-hearted tone sprinkled in. Most of the humor hits throughout the show, with the natural integration that “Star Wars” fans expect sprinkled into the action and soap-operatic drama. The Mandalorians, for anyone who isn’t aware, is a race of people in “Star Wars” originating from the planet Mandalore. The culture of the Mandalorians is part of their identity; they value power, leadership and pride in their clans, who

fight to rule their planet. You don’t necessarily need to know all this to enjoy the show, but what you do need to know is that the specific clan that Mando belongs to does not remove their helmets as a sign of commitment to their lifestyle, which makes for an interesting character for Pascal to interpret. Pascal is not able to show facial emotion, the only way for him to show the audience is through his voice and his body language, this is where the direction excels throughout this show. Pascal is able to portray deep seated emotion without you having to even see his face and develop connections with the other characters through his tone of voice alone. The stand out performances of supporting characters so far are Weathers, Herzog and also Nick Nolte as Kuiil, an Ugnaught who helps Mando on his journey. The action in these first few episodes is fueled by top-notch melee fight scenes and spectacularly shot laser weapon battles. Although Mando is definitely skilled in the art of combat and blaster fire, he never feels too powerful and can often be realistically overwhelmed by his enemies throughout the action. The direction for the action feels like the “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” television show, appropriately so, since Filoni has jumped from the supervising director of that series (which there were also Mandalorians) to the same type of role in this production.

The visual effects look spectacular, with the laser fire and more computer-generated imaging segments looking realistic enough to fit in with the show’s natural environments, nothing seems too out of place. The practical effects, makeup and costumes in this show are also top-notch; all the aliens feel realistic when they are on the screen. Although Baby Yoda is mostly computer-generated, he looks like a high quality alien doll you would see at a toy store. “The Mandalorian” seems to join the rank of high quality “Star Wars” storytelling. I will eagerly await the second half of the season with unbridled anticipation, as I can’t wait to see what the rest of the story has in store and see the fate of our hero’s journey. I highly recommend “The Mandalorian” to anybody who owns Disney Plus and is a fan of “Star Wars.” If you don’t own Disney Plus and you are looking for a streaming service to spend a few bucks a month on, I would recommend giving the first half of “The Mandalorian” a watch with your week free trial and then decide if the streaming service is right for you. With the direction “The Mandalorian” seems to be headed, the show’s quality only looks to get better from here, wrapping up a coherent and compelling “Star Wars” story that has already been confirmed to be getting a second season.

Arts & Culture

The Statesman

Monday, December 2, 2019

"The Beautiful World of Jeffree Star" documentary series comes to an end By Gabby Pardo Opinions Editor

“The Beautiful World of Jeffree Star,” the first-ever documentary exposing the business and process of creating makeup premiered on the channel of long-time YouTuber, Shane Dawson this past October. With the first episode premiering on Oct. 1 and the last episode on Nov. 22, each episode has over 10 million views. This isn’t the first time that Dawson has collaborated with Jeffree Star for a series. The YouTubers collaborated last year with a five-episode series called, “The Secret World of Jeffree Star,” uncovering the behindthe-scenes of both Star’s professional and personal life — such as Star reflecting about his MySpace days, where he first became famous — to showing his warehouses and factory for his self-made makeup company, Jeffree Star Cosmetics (JSC), for the first time ever. Last year’s series ended with Star suggesting to Dawson that he should invest in the makeup community, and possibly make his own eyeshadow palette or other makeup product. A little over one year later, this suggestion became a reality when the duo sold one million eye shadow palettes in mere minutes, while also crashing Shopify, the online shopping service that runs the JSC website. All the items related to the Shane x Jeffree Conspiracy Collection sold out. The collection included the Conspiracy palette, the Mini Controversy palette, liquid lipsticks, root beer-flavored lip gloss and chapstick, makeup bags and even

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Official poster for series, "The Beautiful World of Jeffree Starr." It is a collaboration with youtuber Shane Dawson. pig-themed purses and mirrors. The collection is also sold out on Morphe and Beautylish, retailers of JSC. What’s unique to this collection is that the makeup consumers not only get to play with this creative collaboration and cre-

ate a number of looks, but they got to see every step of how it was made. The series started with an idea: to make a collection that was different than anything the beauty community has seen. The following episodes

focused on planning a timeline and what products were to be released in the collaboration. Viewers got to see board meetings with the JSC team, listen in on business calls with companies like Morphe and see the process of picking and naming eyeshadow colors. As the episodes go on, viewers see the edits made to the eyeshadows, the failures regarding the planning of the Conspiracy palette’s packaging and — most importantly — the factory making the final product. The viewers also got a glimpse of Dawson’s personal life as well. They saw him get engaged to his now fiancé, Ryland Adams, and Star gives Shane’s future sister-in-law, Morgan Adams, advice about entering the YouTube world, specifically the beauty community. There is also a part where we see Dawson’s reaction to cancel culture when #shanedawsonisoverparty was trending on Twitter. At this moment, we see a celebrity’s raw reaction in situations like these. We also got to see Dawson switch merch brands over to Killer Merch, another company Star owns. Since the docu-series is so detailed, viewers and the makeup community feel as if they’re making the collection with Dawson and Star. Also, throughout the series, when customers purchase their products, they have 100% transparency of how the products were made and the amount of effort put into creating them. Even though throughout the series JSC may have been more transparent than any other makeup company has been with buyers, there was some controversy regarding

the content. In the trailer, Dawson teased that the series will address Star’s involvement with the beauty community drama earlier in the year regarding YouTubers and beauty gurus, James Charles and Tati Westbrook. Dawson showed a snippet of him and his fiancé watching Westbrook’s video, now deleted, accusing James Charles of his poor character, including using his fame to manipulate straight men to hook up with him. Star added fuel to the fire by claiming on Twitter he has receipts to back up Westbrook’s claim, and how Charles was banned from his home. Star, however, did not show these receipts and explained why in a YouTube video. Although this was teased, we only got 20 minutes of the drama in the hour-long finale. We did not get any of Star’s unfiltered reaction to the situation; we only got Dawson’s. As it is, Dawson was torn about whether to put any of this in the finale because everyone was loving the behind-the-scenes of the makeup business, according to an Instagram Live from Dawson. He was unsure of whether to stick to his gut or expose what he promised. In the end, Dawson made the best decision for the series. By including more of the drama, he would’ve added more fuel to the fire that was pretty much put out months ago. Dawson wanted the focus of the series to be about the makeup line, the product and the production — rather than the drama within the community.

"Brian Banks" tells the true story of a wrongfully convicted black man

By Lajiere Blake

Assistant Arts and Culture Editor

Director Tom Shadyac brings the film “Brian Banks,” the true story of a wrongfully convicted man, to the big screen. In the film, Brian Banks, played by Aldis Hodge, is a former high school football star whose college career was ruined because of a rape allegation. The movie begins at the ending scene and is used as a representation of Banks’ youth and adoration of football. Rather than jump into the rape allegation and Banks’ prison time, their effects on Banks are laid out instead. The first big block for Banks outside of prison is the parole process. His parole officer, Mick Randolph, played by Dorian Missick, is automatically placed in a villainous role, always impeding Banks’ route to normalcy. Part of Banks’ parole is to stay 250 feet away from parks and this limitation comes to a head while he is on a date. This moment in the film does a great job of showing viewers the difficulties Banks still faces even while deemed free. This is Banks’ driving force and it clearly sets up his desire to get his conviction overturned. The outline of the film is solid, allowing the viewer to tag along on Banks’ journey. As we do not begin immediately with the rape allegation, the film is able to strongly insert these flashbacks a little further into

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The movie poster for "Brian Banks" which is based on a true story of a wrongfully convicted high school athlete.

the film. Although the curiosity of the viewer is there, the inclusion of the flashbacks feels purposeful rather than just to inform the viewer. The movie feels cheap at times, a surprise considering the all-star lineup it was able to snag. Morgan Freeman and Sherri Shepherd both offer star quality to the movie but they still can’t save the film from those devaluing moments. This feeling is consistent within the screenwriting and a bit of the production as well. This doesn’t completely ruin the movie, but it pulls the viewer out of the world it is trying so hard to create. Kennisha Rice, played by Xosha Roquemore, is the woman who claimed Banks raped her. She is not centered in the movie, allowing the struggles Banks faces to be at the forefront. When Rice does have scenes, it is very hard to ignore the stereotypes the film begins to heavily lean into. She seems to be uneducated and socially inept and fills the role of an angry black woman; this stereotype is notorious in its portrayal of black women as aggressive and illogical. Rice has an odd accent and speaks slowly in an attempt to highlight her lack of intelligence. She’s sexually driven, shown when she contacts Banks and explains her physical desire for him. Her mother is rude and seems to be in control of Rice’s narrative of being raped by Banks. In these moments, it’s hard to determine what

is real and what has been dramatized for the sake of the film. Hodge offers an amazing performance and his acting is enough to save the movie from its shortcomings.

“Rather than jump into the rape allegation and Banks' prison sentence, their effects on Banks are laid out instead.” His abilities are on full display in a scene where Banks is placed in solitary confinement. Banks’ mental health deteriorates completely in this one scene, a testament to the harsh reality many imprisoned people face. Symptoms of mental illness can come to the surface when inmates are forced into solitary confinement. “Brian Banks” is not an amazing movie, but any viewer can find some joy within it. The storyline and Hodge’s acting is more than enough to keep viewers engaged.

OPINIONS Editor-in-Chief..................Gary Ghayrat Managing Editor..............Karina Gerry Managing Editor..........Chris Parkinson News Editor..............................................................Brianne Ledda Arts & Culture Editor..............................................Melissa Azofeifa Sports Editor.................................................................Ryan Pavich Opinions Editor...........................................................Gabby Pardo Multimedia Editor........................................................Sara Ruberg Copy Chief..........................................................Alexa Anderwkavich Assistant News Editor..................................................Maya Brown Assistant News Editor......................................Samantha Robinson Assistant Arts & Culture Editor..........................Alexander Bakirdan Assistant Arts & Culture Editor.................................Lajiere Blake Assistant Multimedia Editor.....................................Emma Harris Assistant Opinions Editor...........................................Cindy Mizaku Assistant Sports Editor..................................................Ethan Tam Assistant Sports Editor.............................................Andrew Zucker Assistant Copy Editor..............................................Donovan Alexis Assistant Copy Editor.....................................................Karla Rios Assistant Copy Editor..............................................Michelle Wong Advertising Manager ............................................. Kaylee McAllister

Contact us: Phone: 631-632-6479 Fax: 631-632-9128 Web: www.sbstatesman.com To contact the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editors about organizational comments, questions, suggestions, corrections or photo permission, email editors@sbstatesman.com. To reach a specific section editor: News Editor.....................................news@sbstatesman.com Arts & Entertainment Editor.............arts@sbstatesman.com Sports Editor..................................sports@sbstatesman.com Opinions Editor..........................opinions@sbstatesman.com Multimedia Editor..................multimedia@sbstatesman.com Copy Chief.......................................copy@sbstatesman.com The Statesman is a student-run, student-written incorporated publication at Stony Brook University in New York. The paper was founded as The Sucolian in 1957 at Oyster Bay, the original site of Stony Brook University. In 1975, The Statesman was incorporated as a not-for-profit, student-run organization. Its editorial board, writers and multimedia staff are all student volunteers. New stories are published online every day Monday through Thursday. A print issue is published every Monday during the academic year and is distributed to many on-campus locations, the Stony Brook University Hospital and over 70 off-campus locations. The Statesman and its editors have won several awards for student journalism and several past editors have gone on to enjoy distinguished careers in the field of journalism. Follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat @ sbstatesman. Disclaimer: Views expressed in columns or in the Letters and Opinions section are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Statesman. The Statesman promptly corrects all errors of substance published in the paper. If you have a question or comment about the accuracy or fairness of an article please send an email to editors@sbstatesman.com. First issue free; additional issues cost $1.

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A picture of Long Island. On Nov. 17, Newsday released an analysis on LI's housing.

Growing up “divided” on Long Island By Maya Brown

Assistant News Editor

Maya Brown is a sophomore journalism major who lives in Freeport, NY. While the growing population of minorities on Long Island has increased more than 10% in the last two decades, the amount of inclusion and equity has not. A 2015 report by ERASE Racism found that Long Island continues to be one of the most racially segregated regions in the country. According to the 2000 and 2010 census data, it was ranked the 10th most segregated metropolitan region. Since I grew up in the town of Freeport on Long Island, these statistics were of no surprise to me. On Nov. 17, Newsday released a 3-year investigation that uncovered widespread evidence of unequal treatment by real estate agents on Long Island. The investigation conducted a paired-testing initiative across the region, in consultation with the Fair Housing Justice Center, to measure how real estate agents treated minority clients compared to white clients. Institutional racism is a fundamental cause of racial disparities in health care, education and the criminal justice system. This issue also creates unequal access to resources such as transportation and quality supermarkets. The report found “evidence of widespread separate and unequal treatment of minority potential homebuyers and minority communities on Long Island.” Black testers experienced unequal treatment 49% of the time, compared with 39% for Hispanics and 19% for Asian testers. Throughout the video and the 36-page report Newsday produced, the town of Freeport was mentioned various times. I always knew Freeport was a predominantly Hispanic and black community, as it is a town that is 42.9% Hispanic or Latino and 29.6% black or African American alone. As a child, driving through the surrounding communities, I always wondered why they had a drastically different racial makeup than mine. I realized that the adjacent town of Merrick has a white population of 88%, while Freeport has a caucasian population of 24%. How is it that two towns right next to each other could have such a different racial population?

Being a resident of Nassau County, I learned to recognize the line that separates Hempstead from Garden City, and the drastic change in the types of houses you see. In Hempstead, the median household income is $58,476 per year, while in Garden City, it’s $161,163. When I came to Stony Brook, I could tell how different Nassau and Suffolk County were through the struggle I had finding a Dominican salon or a little bodega to get Spanish food. While Stony Brook University is a very diverse campus, communities around it like East Setauket and Port Jefferson simply aren’t due to this pattern of racial segregation across the region. Housing discrimination has a huge impact on a person’s life because where a person lives determines the daily necessities they will receive, such as education, transportation and many other aspects. In 2016, the owner and management company of a Commack apartment complex was found discouraging African Americans from renting apartments by misrepresenting the availability of apartments. The lawsuit ERASE Racism, Inc., et al. v. Empire Management America, Corp., et al. followed. After the settlement resolving the case, Elaine Gross, ERASE Racism president said, “ERASE Racism is pleased to have obtained a positive outcome and hopes that this settlement will provide African Americans, who constitute approximately 1% of Smithtown’s population, access to Smithtown, a town whose population is over 95% white, and its good public schools.” School segregation is another effect of this problem. Even though legally recognized racially segregated schools are a thing of the past, the segregation has still endured and is a current reality. For example, from what I have seen, two schools — one in Hempstead and one in Garden City that are just one mile apart — are very segregated. From 2017 to 2018, Jackson Main Elementary School in Hempstead had a population of 68% Hispanic, 28% black and 2% white. Locust Elementary School in Garden City had a population of 8% Hispanic, 1% black and 81% white, according to data from the New York State Education Department (NYSED).

The children in these schools are now isolated from various opportunities they may receive from multiple environments and are not given the chance to even have racial diversity within their school. While I attended Freeport High School, I got used to always being stared at when my choir or my dance team would go to events and competitions with other schools from the Suffolk County area. I got used to being the only group with color on our skin. I hardly saw people who looked like me. Despite the constant stares, I knew my school district was one of the best ones out there even though it’s advertised as otherwise In the Newsday investigation, a real estate agent said to a white home buyer, “So a lot of people will say to me, ‘Oh, I don’t care. I’ll take Freeport and all the houses are cheap there. I don’t care about the school district. I don’t have any children.’ I say, ‘But you have to protect your investment.’” The real estate agent, in my opinion, is justifying the assumption that Freeport has a bad school district. While reading what the real estate agent said, I couldn’t help but shed a tear. Freeport High School has won numerous awards and my graduating class was one of the most competitive I have seen. According to NYSED, the graduation rate was 75% in 2018. I take pride in Freeport High School because it made me who I am today. It is frustrating to hear someone say this to a potential buyer. The fact that real estate agents are causing segregation by separating and providing unequal treatment for minority potential buyers on Long Island is disheartening and disappointing. Dating back to the 1950s, the truth of the matter is that Long Island was built on structural racism. In Levittown of Nassau County, there were discriminatory policies that intended to keep blacks out of the town. The history has shaped Long Island and drives the continuing divide between races. Whenever a problem is brought up, the ethical thing to do is to find a solution and this issue needs to be addressed by government, real estate and civic leaders. The time has come for tangible action, otherwise kids on Long Island will continue to see segregation.

Corrections

Arts & Culture

The article “Port Jefferson boutique independent fashion to Long Islanders” in the Volume LXIII, Issue 12 misstated that Origin of Era carries independent brands run by women. The store carries clothing designed by women. The story also misstated that a vintage store called SlapBack has been open for 20 years. It's been open for six years.

Opinions

The Statesman

Monday, December 2, 2019

It's about time that cancel culture gets — dare I say it — #canceled By Xenia Gonikberg Staff Writer

Xenia Gonikberg is a freshman journalism major. Cancel culture has gone mainstream. When a person, famous or not, is called out on Twitter or other media platforms for mean or insensitive remarks they have made in the past, they get “canceled.” Often when someone is canceled, they lose opportunities like brand deals and fans. In extreme cases, those people can be shunned across all social media platforms and may even lose their jobs.

YouTubers, celebrities and other people in the spotlight have all been affected by this trend. Yet, cancel culture has stopped short of actually exposing people who need to be held accountable for their actions. Instead, this trend has actually spread false allegations and taken scenarios out of context. Cancel culture picks fights unnecessarily, pits people against each other and can even turn people into pariahs on the internet. Furthermore, cancel culture has become so normalized on social media that it has done the opposite of what it set out to do: it has de-

sensitized larger issues. In an article by CNN, it mentions how cancel culture is largely black and white with either good guys or bad guys and no in-between. Cancel culture fails to take into account that life is more than just exposing people for their wrongdoings, and a lot of situations don’t have clear cut solutions. It also fails to take into account that even good people can say or do bad things. Cancel culture originated on Twitter in 2015, when it started out as a hashtag meant to call out people for problematic things like racially

GARY GHAYRAT / THE STATESMAN

A photo of a "#CANCELED" sign. Cancel culture originated on Twitter in 2015 and started out as a hashtag meant to call out people for problematic things. ACROSS 1. Water breather 5. Chooses 9. Possession 14. Feeling of the sore or sick 15. Winter wear 16. Rocky 17. Plans to stop other plans 20. Explosive 21. Score 22. An early version, abv. 23. Faded 24. Lounge or do nothing 26. Starter for many Mexican cities 27. One of three nations in 1984 31. Formal agreements 33. Big blubber bearers. 36. Name in jeans 37. “Brave __ World” 38. Relax 42. Mussolini, Stalin e.g. 47. “To __ own self be true…” -Hamlet 49. Yucked or guffawed 50. Garden tool 51. Prophetic warning 54. Sneaky 55. Times 57. Admiration 59. Aflame 62. Take from the rich, give to the poor! 65. Stream 66. Great lake can give you the chills 67. Info 68. Bono or Rollins’ first name 69. Common figures at BBQ's 70. The “O” in B.O DOWN 1. Objective object 2. Thing found on a phone screen 3. Close 4. It usually lays around a farm

5. One of three nations in 1984 6. Harbor town 7. South Indian language 8. Court transcriber, abv. 9. Donkey, for one 10. The cool guy 11. Most regretting after the gym 12. Bowel cleansers 13. Fighter Mike 18. Rubbish 19. Open 23. An elk 25. American Aviation org. 27. Snakelike fish 28. Suffix for glob or mod 29. Give some gas 30. Frozen princess 32. Mass producing people? 34. __-Aviv city in Israel 35. Quaff 39. Feel sick and queasy 40. Mailing request (acronym) 41. Cease 43. Lennon’s love Yoko 44. Entice 45. Papers commonly found at college 46. Plastic shoelace ending 47. Bullfighter in Spain 48. Possible direction to face your problems 50. Some thyme and sage, e.g. 52. Messed up 53. Nigerian dollar 56. Pen or ten suffix 58. “Same as above”, in footnotes 59. Weight 60. Having enthusiasm for 61. Russian emperor, before WWI 63. Mr. Blue __ - ELO 64. Couple’s words at the altar

By Owen Lewars

insensitive, homophobic or sexist comments and actions. Celebrities like Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein are just two of the many celebrities who have been “canceled.” In the case of Spacey and Weinstein, the #MeToo movement brought to light years of sexual abuse allegations and patterns of misconduct in Hollywood. However, canceling only works in some cases. Kanye West remains one of the most prominent rappers in Hollywood, despite his tweets calling slavery a choice and supporting Donald Trump’s presidency. Although many left-wing groups were quick to cancel him and criticize him for his remarks, he continues to have a strong fanbase and still makes music. In other instances, cancel culture has spread false allegations about celebrities based on things taken out of context. YouTuber Shane Dawson has been “canceled” numerous times, and all of the allegations that have been said about him have been completely false. For instance, people were quick to call Dawson a pedophile because of his past videos from years ago that also included racial stereotypes and derogatory remarks. The claims made against him took those videos out of context and were unsubstantiated. Dawson eventually apologized for his past actions, but some people still refused to consider what he was saying. In the beginning, cancel culture was meant to call out people who were being racist and misogynistic. But nowadays it

is mostly used to dig up dirt on successful people and undermine their achievements. Her Campus notes that the social media landscape has drastically changed over time because something deemed offensive now wouldn’t have been seen as offensive years ago. This is due to hate speech becoming more prominent in society. Cancel culture has failed to take into account the changes that have resulted from the growing social media landscape, where it is easy to write something on Twitter in the heat of the moment. This movement is toxic and problematic. People have no trouble attacking someone for past remarks without taking into context the full circumstances. People also fail to consider that the internet was a different place, even five years ago. A big reason why cancel culture is problematic is that it silences rather than educates. Rather than teaching people about their mistakes it just refuses to acknowledge any explanations or apologies which is extremely unproductive and leaves the problem unresolved. There are people who acknowledge their wrongdoings and want to change, and it is important for others to help them learn from those mistakes instead. In order for cancel culture to be more effective, people need to get more educated, differentiating between situations that warrant cancellations and situations that don’t. We should move past this idea of canceling people and instead work towards making the internet a more safe and uplifting environment for everyone.

The answer key for last week's crossword.