February 11, 2022

The Huntington News February 11, 2022

The independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community

@HuntNewsNU

BLM CO-FOUNDER DISCUSSES ABOLITION, ACTIVISM

By Katie Mogg News Staff As a part of the Central Library Author Talk Series, the Boston Public Library partnered with Trident Booksellers & Cafe Jan. 31 to host a virtual discussion with Patrisse Cullors, activist, author and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter, or BLM, movement.

The event was moderated by L’Merchie Frazier, director of education and interpretation at the Museum of African American History, and focused on Cullors’ latest publication “An Abolitionist’s Handbook: 12 Steps to Change Yourself and the World.”

When hearing the word “abolition,”

Frazier acknowledged that most people think of the 18th or 19th century when the United States confronted the moral implications of transatlantic slave trade and chattel slavery. But Cullors said she wants her readers to re-imagine the meaning of abolition and incorporate the idea into their daily lives.

“Abolition is really also about how we treat each other. It’s about how we take care of each other,” Cullors said. “My hope and my prayers is that abolition can be a solve and a balm for many of us as we try to chart a new world.”

Frazier explained that Cullors’ vision of abolition is not about the past but working toward a better future.

“You have brought to us, just in your definition [of abolition], this idea of change, a change toward a future that is not bound by the practices that we have had here before, nor a narrative that’s been here before,” Frazier said.

Although chattel slavery was abolished with the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, Cullors explained that slavery still survives in today’s society through the incarceration system. Cullors said she hopes that her book can inspire people to lobby against the current criminal justice system in favor of a new structure that prioritizes compassion and care.

Today’s carceral system, which HANDBOOK, on Page 4

Photo by Katie Mogg Trident Booksellers & Cafe’s Black History Month book section is on display throughout the month of February.

Q&A: Henderson on endemic plans

By Avery Bleichfeld and Marta Hill | News Staff Ken Henderson, Northeastern’s chancellor and senior vice president for learning, spoke with The News in a 30-minute virtual conversation Jan. 26 about the closure of wellness housing, the university’s endemic approach to COVID-19 and its goals moving forward. Below is a transcript of the full conversation, which has been edited for length and clarity.

Photo courtesy Jeopardy Productions, Inc. NU student Liz Feltner (right) stands with “Jeopardy!” host Mayim Bialik (left). Feltner will compete in the “Jeopardy! National College Championship starting this week.

NU student on ‘Jeopardy!’ college championship

By Jessica Xing News Staff Northeastern student Liz Feltner will fulfill her lifelong dream of competing in the “Jeopardy! National College Championship” starting Feb. 11.

Feltner, a fifth-year political science and business administration combined major, will be one of 36 undergraduate students from across the United States competing for the grand prize in this year’s championship.

Feltner’s journey included a threepart audition process, many weeks spent preparing for the competition

and the challenge of having to wait to tell most of her friends about the show.

While Feltner has auditioned for both the regular “Jeopardy!” game and the “Jeopardy! National College Championship” multiple times in the past, she never got past the initial online quiz until her most recent attempt.

However, Feltner has been a huge fan of the show and trivia for years.

“I used to watch it at home with my family every single night while we ate dinner,” she said. “I love trivia, I’ve always been kind of a trivia hound. … So I was like, ‘I have to. I have to be on it.’”

Feltner’s audition process started in November 2020, when she took the online test for the “Jeopardy! National College Championship.” After passing the test — ­ the criteria for which are not — Feltner was invited to join a Zoom call in December 2020. During this second phase, she and nine others in the Zoom took another online test with the producers instructing them to keep their microphones and cameras on in order to prevent cheating.

In January 2021, Feltner was invited to a formal Zoom audition where she was joined by eight other students.

TRIVIA, on Page 3

The Huntington News: Northeastern is moving toward treating COVID-19 as an endemic instead of a pandemic. How was that decision made? What led up to Northeastern making that switch this semester?

Chancellor Ken Henderson: What has become very clear during the pandemic, and in the last six months especially, is that COVID-19 is unfortunately going to be with us for the foreseeable future.

Therefore, that means that in one form or another, the virus is going to be circulating within the world’s population for at least a period of time, but probably for quite an extended period of time.

And that then means that we are unlikely to actually rid the planet of COVID-19.

And therefore it moves into an endemic phase — it’s a virus that we have to deal with on an ongoing basis, likely in a seasonal manner in similar ways that we actually deal with the cold and the flu, other respiratory illnesses.

HN: Would you say that Northeastern is currently treating COVID-19 as an endemic or it’s moving toward treating COVID-19 as an endemic?

Henderson: We can get into the

pedantic sort of nomenclature here, but the way that we’re dealing with it is we’re learning to live with it in a much more normalized fashion. I would put it [that way] rather than worrying too much about the words that surround that because you can use pandemic and endemic in terms of the current scale of the virus, like how much of it there is around. Rather than [worrying about nomenclature], it’s more talking about, how do we actually deal with the virus in our current circumstance and make sure that we are managing it appropriately.

HN: In an email to students Jan. 7, you announced the closure of wellness housing for students who test positive this semester.

Students have expressed concerns about living with roommates who have tested positive for COVID-19; how would you address students’ concerns?

Henderson: The concerns are completely understandable. And really what we’re looking at — and this is not just [on] an individual level, but on the public health scale level — is a mind shift into the place where there will be a risk of infection, but the risk of severe COVID-19, on Page 3

LIFESTYLE

CITY

MULTIMEDIA

Learn about the studentorganized Black Music Matters Festival.

Read about the webinar at which George Floyd’s brother recently spoke.

Check out our new podcast reviewing the top stories.

Bren Joy and redveil at AfterHours

Philonise Floyd memorializes his brother

Photo by Karissa Korman

PAGE 8 redveil performs at AfterHours.

Hot Off the Press: a recap podcast

Photo courtesy Talia Lissauer

PAGE 5 A 2020 Minnesota protest.

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February 11, 2022

Code4TheCulture promotes diversity in tech

By Jessica Silverman Deputy Campus Editor When second-year graduate student Betty Mesfin first came to Northeastern to study computer science, she said she was immediately met with feelings of isolation and imposter syndrome.

Frustrated with the lack of diversity in her classes and absence of spaces for people who looked like her, she went to her adviser, Ashley Armand, to express these concerns.

And she learned she wasn’t alone.

“When I came [to Northeastern] it felt really isolating,” Mesfin said.

“When we were looking around and seeing the makeup of our program and trying to create a community of others who not only looked like you but just someone who could help you or someone you could look to or relate to it was very far and few.”

Her adviser told Mesfin that she had heard these concerns from other students before, specifically from her student Xavier Husser, a third-year graduate student pursuing his master’s degree in cybersecurity. In his 200-person classes, he found that he was the only Black male.

With the help of their adviser, Husser and Mesfin connected outside the classroom. In the fall of

2020, they founded Code4TheCulture, a club designed to give them the support system they were so desperately looking for.

“In terms of diversity in tech for communities that were underrepresented, there was not a lot of diversity with the students,” Husser said. “That experience made us feel as though we should do something to help future students coming in from similar backgrounds to have some sense of community.”

Code4TheCulture is an organization for graduate students in Khoury College of Computer Sciences who identify as Black and Latinx, and serves as both a social and networking community to help students succeed in their field.

Of the club’s 40 members, many are pursuing computer science degrees in Khoury College’s Align program, which is specifically for students, who may or may not have a background in computer science, to break into the technology industry.

Along with addressing issues that stem from a lack of community, Husser and Mesfin created Code4TheCulture to help tackle systemic flaws within the program itself.

“One of the interesting things is that Align specifically was created in order to be able to create diversity in tech,

but based on observation, was that even with the sprinkles [of diversity] there are still issues within the program,” Mesfin said. “Unfortunately, what we noticed based [on] our own experiences and speaking to each other as peers, was that the people that were dropping or transferring to other programs happened to be people of color.”

To help support members and ensure their success in the field, Code4TheCulture offers a variety of programs and resources for graduate students on all Northeastern campuses, including resumé and technical interview workshops, speaker series events and its Resource Universe, which includes materials for homework and career help.

While the club’s programming is currently tailored for graduate students, it is working on opening up to undergraduate students as well, said Vice President of Code4TheCulture Ulises Rodriguez, a first-year graduate student studying computer science.

The club hosts a weekly co-working space Zoom open to all Khoury students, where teaching assistants can provide additional support for members to do their homework and discuss topics they may be struggling with in their classes.

Rodriguez is happy that such a supportive community exists for him

as he pursues his degree.

“I think bringing all these groups into tech is extremely important because we see systems now that are discriminating against certain groups already,” Rodriguez said.

“I think that our club specifically provides that kind of community, and we lift each other up rather than compete against each other, and I think it’s definitely been a community I’m proud to be a part of.”

In addition to the events and programming the club holds, the group works to advocate for its members through partnerships with technology companies. The club worked with Dell and secured a $9,000 donation to Khoury College and $1,000 to the club to fund scholarships for low-income, underrepresented minority students.

According to Rodriguez, Code4TheCulture plans to work with Spotify for future events and to further connect its members to these organizations.

Recent reports finding bias and racism in computer algorithms make supporting diversity in the technology field all the more important, club members said. As technology becomes more immersed in our daily lives, the club said it wants to foster a community of success and support to ensure that these flaws in systems are improved and corrected.

“When you Google criminals, the majority of people that show up are Black or Latinx, and these things are errors that were left when building this kind of algorithm,” said Sandra Kwawu, president of Code4TheCulture and a graduate student graduating in 2023 studying computer science. “When you look into the people that build this kind of algorithm that we use on a daily basis, there is a lack of representation.

So instead of us letting these things happen where we later come and correct them, we want to be a part of building technology with diversity and inclusion in mind.”

According to data from Zippia. com, only about 5% of computer scientists in the United States are Latinx and 1% are Black. Code4TheCulture looks to inspire future generations of underrepresented groups to break into the tech field.

The group has talked to students of all ages, from elementary to high school, about what it means to be a computer scientist in the hopes that these students can feel motivated to break into the tech field.

“That’s why we do what we do,” Husser said. “To make sure that people can envision themselves in these career paths and build a future they can see themselves in.”

Panels to celebrate, honor legacy of bell hooks

By Grace Comer Campus Editor One of Black feminism’s most prolific and influential scholars, bell hooks, née Gloria Jean Watkins, died Dec. 15, 2021 at the age of 69. To celebrate her life and honor her legacy, Dr. Régine Jean-Charles, the Dean’s professor of Culture and Social Justice and the director of Northeastern’s Africana Studies Program, organized a symposium Feb. 11 with panelists from across the Greater Boston area.

“I think in our community of Black feminist scholars especially, [bell hooks’] death was just really a shock and really sad, especially in a year that already had so much loss,” said Jean-Charles, who is a professor of Africana studies and women’s, gender and sexuality studies. “I’m the type of person who, if I can channel my grief into an action, it makes me feel so much better. … Because of my role at Northeastern as the director of Africana Studies, I had resources available to me to be able to pull something off, and I have a great team that is really good at handling logistics and planning events.”

Over her lifetime, hooks published nearly 40 books, including both scholarly works and poetry collections. Her lowercase pen name both honors her great-grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks, and encourages readers to focus on her writing, instead of her as an author. hooks’ writing explored a broad range of topics such as feminism and gender identity, environmental racism and teaching philosophies, as well as the intersection of these issues and more.

Academics in these fields and beyond have been influenced by her work for decades, with her writing inspiring new studies and impacting the way these subjects are taught.

“I was first introduced to bell

hooks’ work when I was coming from my undergraduate to graduate experience, so I was kind of growing into Africana Studies and feminist studies, and I was also teaching,” said Dr. Melissa Pearson, Northeastern’s director of Student Diversity and Success and an associate teaching professor in the English department. “Not only was I leaning into my Black feminist power, but I was also leaning into what my teaching would mean. It was very significant because I tapped into her theory about liberatory education, and that has been a guiding part of all that I do in teaching.” hooks’ works and legacy will be discussed in the three panels scheduled from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 11, featuring professors and students from Northeastern University, Boston University, Boston College, Wellesley College and Tufts University. “[Jean-Charles] did not want to see the moment pass that we didn’t pay some kind of clear homage to [hooks],” Pearson said. “With her vast social networks and influence, she pulled together women across the Boston network, African-American women who do work in teaching and research and activism, in such a way that we could reflect on what bell hooks gave to us.”

The day-long event, which can be attended in person at East Village or virtually through Zoom, is split into three different panels, “A Culture of Place,” “An Engaged Pedagogy” and “A Sacrament of Love,” inspired by hooks’ work and influence.

The first panel features professors who are originally from Kentucky, in honor of hooks’ experience growing up in the state.

“With Black women being so underrepresented in the academy, and then having this Black woman who was from the same state where I was from where the Black population was so low anyway, [hooks] has al-

ways been an intellectual figure who was really close to my heart,” said Dr. Meredith Clark, the founding director of Northeastern’s Center for Communication, Media Innovation and Social Change and an associate professor of journalism and communication studies. hooks’ philosophies were influenced by growing up in Kentucky, a state that is still only 8.07% Black or African-American, according to recent census data.

“I’ve always been intrigued by, as a Black feminist from Kentucky, how my place, this cultural place, has shaped my Black feminism, but also how it shaped bell hooks’ Black feminism,” said Dr. Shawn McGuffey, an associate professor of sociology and African and African diaspora studies at Boston College. “I don’t think that hooks’ feminism would look the same if bell hooks was born and raised in a different state. There’s something about the specificity of Kentucky that has shaped bell hooks’ feminist approach.” hooks wrote explicitly about her experiences being born and raised in Kentucky. McGuffey specifically hopes to talk about her book “Bone Black,” which is about growing up in Kentucky, and her poetry anthology “Appalachian Elegy.”

“I think those really center Kentucky in a way that people don’t really do for bell hooks,” he said.

The second panel, “An Engaged Pedagogy,” features undergraduate and graduate students from several universities to discuss how hooks’ teaching philosophies shaped the way they were taught throughout their time in school.

“I knew I wanted to do something about teaching and pedagogy, but not from the perspective of professors, but from the perspective of students, so what did bell hooks teach these students? Or how did their professors use methods that bell

hooks uses in the classroom?” JeanCharles said.

In this panel, students from around the Boston area will have the opportunity to share the impact that hooks has had on them and their studies.

“For me, I think that my educational background is two parts,” said Grace Assogba, a senior at Boston College majoring in international studies. “One part is understanding that no level of self-actualization alone can sustain the marginalized and oppressed. … Having all these academic tools and theories and historical analysis of what we’re actually engaging with — that’s amazing — but it means nothing if it doesn’t mean that we can apply it to the people who are also on the front lines of the issues we’re talking about. And the idea, on the second hand, that we must be linked to a collective struggle, to communities of resistance, and also redefining what that means in a Black feminist context.”

Following a lunch break, the symposium will resume with the third and final panel, “A Sacrament of Love.”

“What a sacrament of love really means to me is that I am trying to delve into the passion that I believe she gave to me and somehow give that back to the world,” Pearson said. “[To] put that out in some kind of way that pays the right kind of respect to who she is, that I can lift her up that way.”

In organizing this symposium, Jean-Charles hopes to create a space for scholars to talk about hooks’ work and legacy.

“I want people to see that this way of thinking or looking at the world that she had is applicable to a wide range of fields and subjects, number one,” she said. “Number two, I hope that people who don’t know bell hooks will come with curiosity

and start reading her books and also read other Black feminist scholars and take classes in African studies and Black feminism. And lastly, I wanted to create a space that would be a holding space, a place where we could come together as a community to mourn and talk about, what are some of the gifts bell hooks left us?”

Panelists hope to spread the powerful messages behind hooks’ work, while actively engaging with her theories and considering how to apply them in a modern world. Assogba personally applies hooks’ work to the idea of “digital trauma,” as videos of police brutality and gender-based violence are spread online to a degree that was not previously possible, resulting in desensitized viewers.

“We have to break through denial, and I think it starts with walking away with this understanding,” Assogba said. “What are the things that we are in denial about, that [bell hooks] talks about, that she so passionately wrote about, that she worked so hard to do so in a dialogue that was always accessible. That’s what I loved about bell hooks.”

This symposium is intended to carry on hooks’ legacy by teaching more people about the issues she wrote on and helping them apply her work to their studies and lives.

“The central takeaway for me for any sort of academic event like this is for it to be like an intellectual appetizer,” Clark said. “You come, you learn about someone that you may not have known about, you learn about work that you may not have known about, you hear about perspectives that perhaps you hadn’t heard or considered before and you go away from that hungry for more.

You leave and you’re ready to do some seeking and some reading and some talking and some living using that work on your own and in community with others.”

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February 11, 2022

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NU shuts wellness housing, says virus to stay COVID-19, from front illness is very low. And that is completely understandable, and I empathize with individuals who have concerns about this, but the game has changed with vaccinations and boosters in place and a less severe variant that dominates the infections. Two years ago, 18 months ago, it was all about trying to get transmissions down as low as possible. Now that’s just not an effective strategy because it’s such a transmissible virus.

The current indications are somewhere between a third and a half of the U.S. population are going to have been, or will be infected by Omicron by the end of February. So the ability to be able to stop that is relatively limited, and therefore we have to, as a society, sort of start to deal with that concern.

HN: There are also students who are concerned about people who are immunocompromised or have other risk factors at play.

In an email Jan. 13, you said “The university is prepared to accommodate the highest risk students in rare instances.” What do those accomodations look like? What process should students expect in order to get those accommodations if necessary?

Henderson: Our number one focus throughout the whole pandemic has been safety. Safety first has been our north star, and continues to be our north star. For those individuals, be them faculty, staff, students, there are accommodations in place and flexibility in place.

So for students that require access to that housing, they would just contact We Care, they can contact Residence Life, go through the RA if there’s a concern and then their concern would be considered through Residence Life.

An example would be an immunocompromised individual whose roommate had tested positive. If that person truly

is immunocompromised and at risk, then we would relocate that individual to emergency housing.

HN: In concert with the closure of wellness housing, the university moved away from delivering food to people in isolation. Why was this decision made?

Henderson: As we start to manage the pandemic in a different fashion, I think a clear issue here is about the risk-reward between having a fully open, functional experience for all students — which is of course what we promise and want to deliver — versus ensuring the campus is, of course, as safe as humanly possible.

Vaccines and boosters, which we require, are now in place. We’ve got effectively a fully vaccinated and boosted community. That means that — and we know this very clearly — that the risk of severe disease is very much reduced and certainly within the demographics of the student population, the risk is very, very low of severe disease if you’re vaccinated and boosted.

That has to be weighed against the restrictions that we could put in place to reduce transmission. So in the past, we would have pretty strict restrictions such as isolation housing, such as restricting access to buildings. Those restrictions have changed, as you’ve seen, over time; sometimes we increase the restrictions, and sometimes we decrease the restrictions depending on the state of the pandemic.

You’ve got a balance between the transmissibility [of Omicron], which is really, really high, and the restrictions that we would have to put in place in order to really reduce transmission significantly, [which] would be, I think, more restrictive than the population would want.

Another thing that’s changed significantly with time are the use of and availability of clinical treatments for COVID-19. We now have a list of

different treatments for various different individuals at various stages of the disease, and therefore that also reduces the risk of hospitalization.

So when you balance all these things together, we’re reducing — again, not fully — but we’re reducing restrictions and policies as we better are able to manage the disease.

HN: If there is anything the pandemic has shown us, it’s that no one knows where we are going to be in a few weeks or months.

With that in mind, what are the plans for if we see a huge increase in cases? Would Northeastern ever go back online?

Henderson: First of all, we’re always ready to pivot, and we’ve done that multiple times during the pandemic. Even though it’s been a really challenging year for the community, the community has responded remarkably well — faculty, staff, students, parents, all our stakeholders, our partners — have really shown tremendous flexibility as the as the pandemic has changed and evolved from going all the way to remote [learning] back in 2020, and then coming back fully in person in the fall of 2020.

We are always ready and prepared to change as the pandemic changes. We very much are hopeful that that life will come back to some form of normalcy, but we thought that last summer as well, things looked like they were on a good track. With the virus we have to respect that changes can come quickly.

So, we are ready; if we need to pivot then we will do so.

Infection rates alone — so the number of infections — is no longer the metric that we look at as the sort of dominant metric with regards to where the pandemic is at. It really narrows down to severe illness.

If that was to change, then we would pivot and change to ensure that the

number one priority all the time is safety on campus, on all of our campuses.

Our number one focus throughout the whole pandemic has been safety.

Safety first has beein our north star, and continues to be our north star.

— Ken Henderson Chancellor and Senior Vice President for Learning HN: As Northeastern shifts its focus to severe illness rather than case count, are there any plans to change the university’s COVID-19 dashboard and what data is displayed there?

Henderson: We do actually have the information on hospitalizations that are there. It doesn’t change much, happily. You probably saw that we’ve had one recorded hospitalization last year, and [2,389] positives, something like that number.

I think there’s the broader question about the utility of the dashboard, because you’ve probably seen, there have been some universities that have removed the dashboard. We don’t think we’re there yet. We think that it’s actually

a useful tool to tell the campus community about the prevalence. While it’s not the driving force for decision-making it is still one data point which is useful for us. So we’ll continue to use the dashboard for the foreseeable future, but we probably won’t be adding much to it in terms of new data.

HN: As we enter the third spring that’s affected by COVID-19, does the university have any goals for this spring, related to the pandemic or not, that you’re working on?

Henderson: Our constant goal is to deliver on our promise of an exceptional experiential education for our students, for all our students and all our campuses, and I’d say that remains our number one priority. Everything else is built around that, so as we hopefully move out of the pandemic, that’s what we hope. Then we’ll be able to resume all normal activity, and we hope that we will be in a position to be able to do that by the end of the semester.

The other piece that we put near in terms of priority is that we have been in two years of a very different world which has limited things like travel. We’ve still been able to carry out large scale travel programs, international co-op, N.U.in program, etc. Study abroad still goes on. But we very much expect there’ll be a pent up desire from the student population to resume travel, maybe even more so than they ever have done in the past. So this is where the Northeastern network, a global system of campuses that we have, is really key. So we’re looking for a significant amount of increased programming for our student population so that they can take advantage of the global university system and experience the world and learn in context in those locations that we now are occupying.

For the full interview, visit our website huntnewsnu.com.

Feltner lives out game show dreams TRIVIA, from front There, she and the other students were split into three groups of three, with each group competing in a practice test.

Participants were given clues and had to click pens in their hands to mimic pressing a buzzer in order to answer.

“It was very, very fun,” Feltner said.

“And they asked us what we would do with the money and to introduce ourselves, our name, our major, where our hometown was or university… I guess it was to see our personalities and to see how we were on camera.”

Following her audition, Feltner received an email informing her that she was in the contestant pool for the college tournament for the next 12 months. If she did not hear from them within the next year, then she would be able to take the test again.

After having not heard from “Jeopardy!” for nine full months, Feltner received a surprise text message on her birthday, Sep. 16, 2021, from a producer asking if she had time to hop on a call the next day.

On the phone the following day, Feltner verified some information about herself and confirmed that she was still eligible to be on the show. Afterwards, she was shocked to hear that the pool was only about 40 people, expecting it to be much bigger.

“Typically, the college tournament only has 15 competitors, but this one had 36. I did not know that at the time,” Feltner said. “So I think at that point, they

had already chosen us because it was 36 and then three alternates, and at the time they told us it was roughly 40 people.”

Two weeks later, the casting director of “Jeopardy!” called Feltner to explain that they would like to book her for the show. Feltner agreed to travel to the studio to film the show during Thanksgiving weekend.

Photo courtesy Jeopardy Productions, Inc. Feltner competed with 35 others.

In order to prepare for the show, Feltner spent hours each week studying and memorizing trivia. Some of her techniques included using flash cards, quizzing herself on past “Jeopardy!” questions with an emphasis on categories she knew she had trouble with and watching Crash Course videos on YouTube. In addition, Feltner made sure to watch “Jeopardy!” every night, clicking her pen and answering questions as if she were a contestant.

Along with preparing for the trivia show, Feltner had to balance her co-op work and extracurriculars during the Fall 2021 semester. This included being on four different club executive boards and participating in other clubs as well.

“It was easily the most stressful semester I’ve had at Northeastern and by nobody’s fault but my own because I just put so much stuff on my plate,” said Feltner. “I was very stressed out, but it was all worth it in the end.”

Feltner flew out to Culver City, California on Nov. 19, 2021, in order to film the game in the “Jeopardy!” studio. The promotional videos were shot Nov. 20, 2021, and six games were shot on each of the following three days.

Unlike the regular “Jeopardy!” show, contestants in the “Jeopardy! College National Championship” have their flights and hotels booked for them, and are even given a certain amount of funds for food each day, along with lunch and snacks while on set. This also gave Feltner the opportunity to meet and bond with the other contestants.

With her Northeastern sweatshirt on and her hair and makeup done, Feltner remembers feeling disbelief the first time she walked into the studio for filming.

“I was so nervous. And I don’t get stage fright. Like, at all,” she said.

Despite how nervous Feltner was about being on the show, she described it as “a dream come true.” While she can’t share any specific information about the

gameplay or results, she definitely had a fun time being on a game that she has watched and loved since she was a child.

In comparison to the regular “Jeopardy!” tournament, Feltner said that the questions were probably slightly easier.

She also said that the prize money for the college tournament was higher than for the regular tournament.

“If they ask pop culture questions, for the most part, it’s in the last couple of years, like Gen Z kind of pop culture,” she said.

In terms of COVID-19, contestants had to be tested the Friday they flew in, and were not allowed into the studio the next day unless they received a negative PCR test result. They also were not allowed to have anyone in the audience, and were required to have N95 masks on at all times unless instructed otherwise, such as while filming or eating.

When Feltner found out that she was going to be on the show, she was only able to share the news with her family and roommate, since Feltner would be traveling alone.

However, knowing Feltner and her love of trivia, many of her friends already suspected that she was going to be on the show before she was able to officially announce it, especially since they knew she was in California. Caitlyn McCollom, Feltner’s roommate and a fourth-year nursing major, thinks that Feltner was well-prepared for the show and for TV, and is hoping she won it all.

“I would like to think that she would, you know, win the whole thing, but you know, I guess we’ll just have to see,” she said.

Feltner’s close friends agree that she has the potential to get far in the tournament.

“I know she’s good at trivia so I can see her doing well, but I could also see her having really good interactions with the other contestants and with the host,” said Olga Prifti, a fourth-year bioengineering major. “She’s a really bubbly and charismatic individual.”

It wasn’t until Jan. 7 that Feltner publicly announced that she was going to be on the show after retweeting a promotional video posted by the show’s host, Mayim Bialik. After receiving her press packet from the studio Feb. 2, Feltner posted photos on Instagram letting her followers know about the show.

“Everyone was excited. It’s been amazing,” Feltner said. “I was not expecting people to be as supportive as they have been, which might be a little silly of me because I have lots and lots of wonderful friends.”

This year’s college tournament began airing Feb. 8, with Feltner making her first appearance on the show Feb. 11. The show will be broadcast on ABC from 8 to 9 p.m. ET every day for two weeks Tuesdays through Fridays, with the final episode airing Feb. 22. Each episode will also be streamed on Hulu the day after it is aired.

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February 11, 2022

ICA exhibition celebrates Black life, culture

By Jennifer Suryadjaja City Editor The floor of artist Deana Lawson’s exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, or ICA, is covered with a soft, merlot-colored carpet to emulate the comfortable feeling of being at home. Visitors are expected to engage with her photographs on an intimate level.

The self-titled exhibition primarily presents Lawson’s large-scale color photographs, including staged tableaux, studio portraits, family albums and documentary images. Viewers will see Black lives and experiences through her eyes, framing them as “beautiful, powerful and intelligent,” according to the exhibition website.

Anni Pullagura, a curatorial assistant at the ICA who worked with museum curators Eva Respini and Peter Eleey to put together Lawson’s exhibition, said Lawson’s vision was to create “portals to imaginary realms” through her work.

“There’s this idea of photography that images, visual culture can [take us] to another space, whether it’s imagined,

whether it’s fictional, whether it’s rooted in truth, or biography, or the ways that we see the world,” Pullagura said.

Pullagura said common threads that are present in Lawson’s work include strong gazes from the people photographed being returned to the viewer; rich purples, blues and reds; “gorgeous skin tones” and strategic placement of props.

The level of detail in each photograph allows viewers to see Lawson’s expert technical photography skills. For Pullagura, who had seen Lawson’s work prior to curating the exhibition, there is something new that catches her eye and prompts a different question.

“I think she’s an artist who really requires the viewers to ask questions of themselves, [and] ask questions of the work,” Pullagura said. “She doesn’t provide answers, so there’s a lot of trust there.”

As part of her creative process, Lawson staged and snapped photos of Black individuals and groups in public and private settings. Over 50 of Lawson’s works in the exhibition encourage

Photo courtesy Mel Taing Installation view, Deana Lawson, The Institute of Contemporary Art/ Boston, 2021.

viewers to reflect on their interpretation of her photographs and artworks.

“It’s not a single subject exhibition,” Pullagura said. “So there’s not a specific theme that they’re looking at, there’s not a subject or organizing around. The subject itself is the artist.”

Beyond photographs, Lawson also works with other mediums, such as holograms, layered images and videos in her exhibition. In the corners of some galleries, crystals are placed on the carpeted floor as a symbolism of healing and restoring energies, as well as positivity, peace and focus.

Gloria Sutton, a Northeastern University associate professor who teaches contemporary art history, said the size of Lawson’s artworks and “refusal to adhere to convention” tells a powerful narrative in her exhibition, in addition to the mediums Lawson chose.

“As an artist, she’s pushing our expectations for photographic work, not just to be about images and surfaces,” Sutton said. “This exhibition is a really good example [of] how Deana is pushing the convention of photography by including these assemblages or collages, how she’s using video and projection in that space and even down to incorporating crystals in the space speaks to the way in which the photographs are part of a bigger exhibition framework that Deana’s interested in pushing.”

With Lawson’s photography as the main medium presented in the exhibition, she presents her subjects to a range of emotions and lived experiences.

“One of the ways that I think she really pushes the boundaries of her medium is she thinks of photography as a tool to be able to tell different types of stories and how those stories manifest in spaces can happen really differently depending on the object or the relationship that’s being depicted,” Pullagura said.

While mediums affect the viewer’s experience, the people working behind

the scenes in museums are also an important aspect in curating artworks.

Sutton said it is important to look for diverse representations in the artists and people displayed on museum walls and those in curatorial departments.

“We see these as monolithic institutions, but they’re made up of individuals making choices on a daily basis,” Sutton said. “It does matter if we have more diversity and exposure and experience in the curatorial departments in equal measure as we see in terms of the work on the walls.”

In the grander context of art consumers and critics, Sutton encourages viewers to consider and address the “blind spots and biases and omissions” in museums.

“In fact, it’s the responsibility of all art historians to be equally invested in examining these questions around bias, omission and representation, not just scholars of color,” Sutton said.

Sutton facilitated virtual discussions with Respini, one of the curators, on Lawson’s art in the past. For Sutton, the staged images act as a reminder that everything that surrounds the viewer is also carefully constructed.

“I think the other thing that comes across in that show is just studied rigor that comes through her images that capture a ton of information,” Sutton said. “Even though some of them may look like snapshots, like they’re blurred, or there’s a kind of flash glare, everything in that image is composed [and] organized.”

Although Lawson has been an artist for over 20 years, Pullagura explained that this exhibition is Lawson’s first survey exhibition. “[A survey exhibition is] a chance to really look back, take pause, take stock of the work that she’s produced and present an image of her career and progress in practice to date,” Pullagura said. “The pictures that you see in her exhibition range from her earliest work

in 2004 to her most recent work at the time when the exhibition opened last year in November in 2021.”

Pullagura said there is a “sense of closeness” in Lawson’s work that pulls viewers in.

“I hope that when visitors see the exhibition … they really feel that they’re being transported, that they are entering these images and having a dialogue with the works that are on view, the subjects that are depicted and with Deana herself when she’s seen through the work that she presents to us in the space,” Pullagura said.

Kate Smails, a visitor assistant, has been working at the museum for a month. She said the striking photographs in the exhibition capture the intricate essence of Black stories.

“I just like the celebratory aspect of it, the way that the Black community can be represented so beautifully … and so glaring at the cameras, at times calling you out, making you look into their eyes,” Smails said. “They’re not just the subjects or like the objects but they also have command of the viewer in a really cool way.”

Smails is particularly drawn to Lawson’s 2018 work “Nation,” a pigment print and collaged photograph showcasing two men sitting on a brown leather couch. One of the men holds a silver iPhone in one hand and mimics a finger gun, revealing only his eyes. The other has a golden dental apparatus that functions as a mouthpiece. Lawson drew inspiration from George Washington’s dentures that had the teeth of slaves.

“It’s not just pictures of people doing things. They are meant to represent more than just what they’re doing,” Smails said.

The exhibition is on view on the fourth floor of the ICA until Feb. 27.

Northeastern students can enter for free. The museum offers free admission Thursdays after 5 p.m. for other visitors.

Public Library hosts virtual event with Cullors HANDBOOK, from front includes “prisons, police, courts, surveillance and detention centers,” Cullors explained, contributes to a greater culture that supports punishment and relies on vengeance.

Through these malicious underpinnings, the spirit of slavery persists.

“The 13th Amendment says slavery will be abolished, except if you have been convicted of a crime,” Cullors said. “We are still living in a system that relies on the vestiges of slavery, and that system is incarceration and that carceral system is held up by white supremacy and patriarchy.”

Ellis McNeiece, leading bookseller at Trident Booksellers & Cafe, said he understands how abolition can hold a place in today’s society.

“I think that going towards abolition as [Cullors’] concept is the better choice than just trying to rebuild from what we have,” McNeiece said. “By saying you’re going to abolish the thing, you’re acknowledging that the thing is fundamentally flawed. It’s something that we have to get rid of and [it] can’t be fixed or tweaked in little ways.”

Frazier noted that Cullors’ book is succinct, yet dense in resources and information as it teaches the reader to make abolition a conscious habit.

The book uses personal anecdotes from the author and includes quotes from influential figures in Black

history. As such, the book strays away from using traditional storytelling and narrative and acts as an interactive guide meant to engage its readers.

“I really wanted folks to feel held as they read the book, taken care of,” Cullors said. “I’m asking you to dig into yourself. It’s not just about looking at the system outside of us, it’s not just about pointing the finger at something outside of you.”

The abolitionist’s handbook has 12 chapters delineating exactly how readers can incorporate abolition and activism into their lives. Frazier said her favorite part was when Cullors urged her readers to open their minds to imagination as a tool to becoming an abolitionist.

Cullors explained that capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy work together to limit our imagination. These societal structures foster limitation and preclude the ability to envision a society that is more inclusive.

“I believe that our imagination is actually the central force to help us usher in abolition. We have lived in this place, this country that has stolen our imagination,” Cullors said. “It’s why so often when we use the word abolition or we call for abolition, people have a guttural response of fear. … We’re due for

imagining something different.”

Cullors urged people to imagine a new system that prioritizes and actively works to improve the wellbeing of all populations, especially during the pandemic when resources like healthcare are paramount.

While Cullors has become an influential woman in contemporary Black history in her own right — she created the “Black Lives Matter” hashtag in 2013 and has since been named one of the most influential people of 2020 — Cullors made sure to shine light on other influential Black figures who inspire her most.

“It’s the women who like Audre Lorde or bell hooks and in particular, Ella Baker. These are the women [who] have helped shape who I am,” Cullors said. “Obviously, I need to make it very clear that the woman that was on my mind the most as I wrote this book and as I’ve been doing this work for 20 years was Harriet Tubman.”

Cullors’ book borrows from the knowledge and lived experiences of acclaimed Black women.

McNeiece explained the importance of amplifying the work of authors like Cullors not just during Black History Month, but all year round.

“I think that matters of race are best told by people who’ve experienced racism in their lives or just

want to promote power within their own movements, so we try to have a good selection of diverse names on the shelves,” McNeiece said.

Trident has a Black History Month section on display throughout the month of February. The selection includes classics like Toni Morrison’s “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved.”

It also includes more modern works like “The Hate U Give” by Angie Thomas and “Yinka, Where is Your Huzband” by Lizzie Damilola Blackburn representing the diverse lived experiences of not just Black

Americans, but members of the general African diaspora. The bookshop is also selling signed copies of Cullors’ handbook.

McNeiece hopes Trident’s diverse Black History Month display will amplify the voices of a variety of Black authors.

“You need to know Black history. You need to learn about Black history,” McNeiece said. “So educating people is, I think, the most important thing. That’s what books are for, you know?”

Photo by Katie Mogg Trident Booksellers & Cafe has a diverse display for Black History Month.

CITY

February 11, 2022

Page 5

Philonise Floyd honors his brother, looks forward

By Kathryn Manning Deputy City Editor The eldest sibling to survive the late George Floyd, Philonise Floyd shared his perspective on his brother’s death and the widespread protests that swept across the country following George Floyd’s death in May 2020 in a Feb. 2 webinar.

Philonise Floyd spoke at a webinar event as part of the 2022 Lowell Lecture series, a partnership between the Boston Public Library, the Lowell Institute and GBH Forum Network. The event was hosted

by David Leonard, president of the Boston Public Library.

Leonard first called upon Philonise Floyd to describe what his brother had been like in their childhood, giving the audience an intimate look into who George Floyd was before making national headlines. Philonise Floyd painted a picture of George Floyd as an upstanding teenager and a caring older brother, challenging the notion that he was a “thug” or a “criminal,” as some officials implied after his death.

“Growing up in a poverty-stricken neighborhood, all we had was each other. George was our big brother,” Philonise Floyd said. “He always did his best to try to make sure that we were on a straight path.”

With frequent laughter and a lighthearted tone, Philonise Floyd offered anecdotes about growing up with George Floyd. Despite the fact that he was large for his age, George Floyd was terrified of mice, jumping up on the couch

when he spotted one in their childhood home.

“Just being around George had me laughing,” Philonise Floyd said. “He was different, but being who he was, he didn’t care what people thought about him. When people were around him, they lit up.”

Leonard then asked Philonise Floyd to share his experiences directly after George Floyd’s death.

Prior to his brother’s death, Philonise Floyd had worked as a longhaul trucker, transporting goods across the country. It was on one of these drives, hundreds of miles from home, where he received a text message with the video of Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on his brother’s neck.

“I started trying to find my safe haven,” Philonise Floyd said. “I pulled over into a rest area and just cried.”

These tears continued on the drive back to Minneapolis. Upon his arrival, he had little time to mourn the loss of his brother with reporters knocking on his front door asking for interviews and outrage turning into protests across the United States.

“I think in the days and weeks following the murder of your brother, some people took to the streets to protest,” Leonard said. “The family, you began to grieve and go through all of those emotions, but at some point you made a decision to shift to action and to do something about what had happened.”

Since then, Philonise Floyd has become an activist against police brutality and an advocate for black communities.

“It was an awakening call for America, for the world,” Philonese Floyd said. “People all across the world witnessed my brother’s murder.”

Philonise Floyd attended Chauvin’s trial, expressing his frustration with the criminal justice system that he found was often too willing to blame the victim.

“I had to go to court, and they put [George] on trial every day,” Philonise Floyd said. “They didn’t put Mr. Chauvin on trial, it was [George] the whole time.”

Philonise Floyd expressed his anger toward the state of the world and the lack of concrete action.

“The fact that these four officers murdered my brother and they got to go home and sleep in their beds while he’s lying in a room with a toe tag on, nothing about that is right,” he said. “Every other day, there’s a black person being murdered. Even the boys in blue, they stay silent.

That’s a lot of bad apples.”

To honor his brother and to make change, Philonise and his wife Keeta Floyd created the Philonise and Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change. The institute works to provide resources for underfunded communities similar to the ones that he and George Floyd grew up in and to combat injustice.

Philonise Floyd also testified in Congress and spoke to the United Nations about systemic racism on a global scale. He spoke with the loved ones of other victims of police brutality to offer comfort and support. He also said he must now

fill George Floyd’s shoes as the eldest sibling in his family and check in on his relatives often.

Philonise Floyd ended his lecture with a hopeful message, calling upon audiences to look into their own lives to make a difference.

“If it’s a tough conversation, we need to talk about it until it’s not tough,” he said.

Leonard spoke about the significance of Philonise Floyd’s perspective and what audiences can take away from the conversation.

“In 2020, the name George Floyd became one of the most known rallying cries for racial equity and justice,” Leonard said in a comment emailed to The News. “It was also important to get to know the man through the eyes of his family, to learn more about their struggle for justice as well as discuss the topic of systemic racism.”

Philonise Floyd’s talk was produced by GBH News’ Forum Network program, and a recording of the livestream was uploaded to their website. The Forum Network sponsors similar lectures across the city, fulfilling their mission of making

knowledge accessible to the public.

“Our Forum Network is a part of the greater GBH News and it works with different lecture series all across greater Boston,” a spokesperson for GBH said in a statement to The News. “We capture those lectures and compile them on our website for any future panels or discussions. We take the incredible information from these lectures and make them available to Bostonians to help them become better, more educated citizens.”

The Lowell Lecture Series will continue until June with small in-person audiences permitted at future events.

The featured speakers will each address the series’ main themes of equity, hope and healing.

Philonise Floyd plans to continue fighting for change and share stories of his brother. He said that he hopes to start a “banana mayonnaise sandwich” challenge on social media, calling on his followers to make and eat his brother’s childhood favorite snack.

“I’m going to make sure that George lives in anybody that is there right now … listening to me,” Philonise Floyd said.

Photo by Kathryn Manning Philonise Floyd displays his t-shirt advertising his foundation. He spoke about his advocacy mission at a webinar Feb. 2.

Local hair studio embraces natural hair services

By Alleyna Pitaso News Correspondent The LOFT Hair Studio is the only hair salon in Medford to offer services for clients with curly hair.

Founded in 2014, its purpose has been “to provide every client with the very best in curly hair services, every time,” according to its website.

Owner and curl specialist Sharita Payton, has been a cosmetologist for 23 years. She started her personal and professional natural hair journey when she moved to Massachusetts and gave birth to her eldest daughter.

“I always wanted a sleek look, so I wore weaves and extensions because I wasn’t comfortable wearing my own hair,” Payton said. “The shift came when I had my daughter because I knew she would grow up and do what mommy did. She’d want to do the same things as me.”

She decided to take the initiative to learn about the knowledge and science behind her natural hair. When she had gathered her information, Payton decided to share it with other curly-haired people in her community. The knowledge she gained proved to be invaluable.

“I started doing the research for her, and in turn, it helped me love my hair as well,” Payton said.

She taught her first seminar where about 100 people showed up. Once it was done, she was surrounded by people wanting her to do their hair.

She began working out of her home, and in 2014, she opened her first salon in Medford.

From the beginning, The LOFT has had a steady stream of loyal customers.

The attendees of Payton’s first seminar became her first customers and spread news about her through word-ofmouth. She didn’t need to advertise because she already had so many people coming to her to learn how to take care of their hair.

Her team of employees share the same passion for hair education. Almost every curl specialist at The LOFT had reached out to Payton through social media and expressed their interest in learning from and working for her.

As long as their social media accounts show love for natural hair and they’re willing to learn, Payton said she is open to training and hiring cosmetologists who want to work with curly hair.

“I love my team. Being able to see them grow from when they first walked into the salon to where they are now makes me really happy,” she said.

Curl specialist and lead colorist Korlu Bulaya has been working at The LOFT since 2018. She credits Payton for mentoring her and the internet for allowing her to research her skills.

“When I made the decision to work only with that hair texture, I was shocked at everything that could be done to it. I was surprised at what Sharita could do to hair like mine. I never knew I could get my curls to look a certain way,” Bulaya said. “I love my job.

Sharita and the other ladies I work with make it an amazing place to be.”

Bulaya describes herself as always willing to learn about hair. Accountability and setting goals for herself help make sure she’s always improv-

ing her craft. A major part of her journey was learning how to color textured hair, she said.

“Curly hair is very unique. I want women to believe that you can be curly and still have fun color,” Bulaya said. “Back then, people that had colors only had straight hair. Curly haired people never had that. I want my clients to know you can still have safe, healthy hair while having it dyed bright colors.”

Twist-outs, coloring and rod sets are just some of the treatments offered at the salon, but the most popular service is their curly haircuts. After washing, conditioning and applying products to the hair, the client will have every curl carefully cut until their desired shape is achieved.

The team at The LOFT creates a customized hair regimen for every client they meet. They provide indepth consultations and carefully explain everything they will do to their client’s hair.

Mekea Harvey has been a client at The LOFT since 2018. She had previously been trying to learn about curly hair from information posted online, but became frustrated at the excessive amount of content available.

She did not know where to start or how to apply those techniques to her hair specifically, so she made the decision to visit Payton’s salon.

“Before going to a natural hair salon, I was upset that my hair wouldn’t look the same as what I was seeing online. I didn’t know how to care for it, especially since the standard when I was growing up was to get relaxers,” Harvey said.

She had grown up around other Black women who never wore their natural hair texture and instead decided to regularly get it chemically straightened. When she made the transition from relaxers to curls, she was met with comments from other women talking about how they would never wear their natural hair out.

“Oftentimes as Black women, we have a lot of anxieties related to our hair,” Harvey said. “Sharita provides a space where we can release all of that.

Going there honestly feels like a safe space. It’s such a warm and comforting place and she’s very sweet. I’ve retained so much knowledge from my time as a client.”

Payton has taught many classes about hair in the Boston community. She has been invited to the Boys & Girls Club and the YMCA as a speaker at events dedicated to natural hair education.

“The best part of my job is helping our clients when they struggle for so long or when they’ve never seen their hair in the way they see it when they’re in our chair,” Payton said. “Sometimes, they cry or they ask to hug me. It really means so much to me.”

Payton has taught not only herself, but countless people how to care for their hair. Her salon has been a place for people of all hair textures to learn and grow. But even if a patron is not sitting on her chair, she still has advice for those wanting to begin their natural hair journey.

“Consistency is key. Like exercising, day one is day one,” Payton said. “You’re not going to get the results you want immediately because it takes time. You have to be willing to learn, grow and put the effort in, which isn’t for everyone and that’s ok. People will say it’s just hair, but it’s so much more than that.”

Photo courtesy Tiffany Hester Staff members of The LOFT smile for a group photo. Owner and curl specialist Sharita Payton, third from left, started her personal and professional natural hair journey when she moved to Massachusetts and gave birth to her oldest daughter.

Page 6

SPORTS

February 11, 2022

Men’s hockey defeats BC securing their spot in the Beanpot finals

By Annah Chaya and Alex Sumas | Sports Editors Northeastern University men’s ice hockey team faced Boston College in the first round of the Beanpot tournament Monday night at TD Garden, winning 3-1.

The game was marked by a career-launching performance for freshman goalie T.J. Semptimphelter, who took the NU net for the fourth time ever. He filled in for sophomore goalie Devon Levi, who is currently in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics playing for Team Canada.

In goal, Semptimphelter was a force to be reckoned with as he exercised complete control over his gloves, blockers and body. Semptimphelter ended the game with 41 saves in net, while Eric Dop, BC graduate student goalie, ended the game with only 26 saves, allowing in three Northeastern goals.

“I was just excited to have this unbelievable opportunity, and I just wanted to make the most of this position that I’m in,” Semptimphelter said.

The first period was led by captain Jordan Harris, senior left defense, who previously scored the game-winning goal in the second overtime period of the Beanpot Championship game against Boston University in 2020. The threepeat champions returned from a year-long hiatus from the tournament due to COVID-19 hoping to continue their winning streak. “[I’m] looking forward to hold[ing] that trophy up again,” Harris said.

Students were also excited to get back into the Garden after the cancellation of the previous year’s Beanpot tournament.

“I think there’s more people at this semifinal than there was back in 2020, which is really good to see,” said Mark Rotering, a third-year bioengineering major and NU DogHouse leadership member.

The packed DogHouse spanned across 12 sections of the Garden’s balcony and screaming chants for NU could be heard throughout the entire game.

“We’ve been trying to push people to come to the games and stuff, and we’re hoping to drive more attendance to the Beanpot games,” Rotering said.

Harris played confident defense, his teammates continuously looking to him to get the puck out of the zone. Sophomore left wing Gunnarwolfe Fontaine scored the first goal of the evening, assisted by freshman center Jack Hughes and junior right wing Matt Demelis.

While the Huskies entered the game strong, dominating possession of the puck, BC quickly shifted the momentum after the goal. However, the Eagle’s were unable to capitalize and the period ended with 10 shots for NU and 13 for BC. As they entered the second period, neither team commanded the ice, but tensions were high. Semptimphelter quickly became a target, and would stay one for the rest of the game, as BC recognized the freshman’s capabilities.

NU’s defense remained a solid unit as their offense struggled to communicate. The defense benefitted from being composed of upperclassmen while it readily became clear that the

offense, composed of mostly underclassmen, was impaired by their lack of experience playing together. Throughout the game they consistently passed to open space, missing each other and turning over the puck.

However, they managed to find each other when it mattered most. On a Northeastern power play, the offense controlled the puck, and junior left wing Aidan McDonough sent a cross goal pass to sophomore right wing Sam Colangelo, who put the puck into the back of the net with a wrist shot 5:23 into the period.

With seven minutes left in the second period, BC sophomore center Colby Ambrosio made a bounce pass to graduate student left wing Brandon Kruse. Kruse sent it towards NU’s goal; yet, Semptimphelter made a beautiful save off his right pad and covered the puck. The NU DogHouse bowed down to Semptimphelter from the balcony.

All that stood between the Huskies and their fourth consecutive Beanpot final appearance was the third period. Yet, 5:15 in, BC put themselves on the board, finally slipping the puck between Semptimphelter and the post, a shot he had been saving all night with his flexibility. It was senior center Patrick Giles who scored the goal, assisted by sophomore left wing Nikita Nesterenko.

As the period continued, BC grew frantic to tie the score. Everytime BC had possession of the puck, they tried to score, however NU did not reflect the same urgency. NU’s defense became reactionary and their offense did not attempt to capitalize on rebounds. The Huskies’ play hinted they were trying to run the clock down with half the period left, rather than cement their lead with another goal. It wasn’t until there were eight minutes left in regulation that NU seemed to comprehend how close they were to making or breaking their trip to the finals and started playing with heat.

At 1:07 left, BC pulled Dop, and it was Harris with 40 seconds left who got the puck out of NU’s zone and into BC’s. Five seconds later, BC senior right defenseman Jack St. Ivany received a two-minute penalty for cross-checking, causing BC to call a time out and put Dop back in goal. However, the game’s fate was sealed when freshman center Justin Hryckowian scored off a rebound from Harris, the 3-1 score delivering the Huskies to the Beanpot finals.

Director of Athletics and Recreation at Northeastern Jim Madigan will be inducted into the Beanpot Hall of Fame Monday.

The previous head coach for the Northeastern men’s ice hockey team spoke of his excitement of his induction in a press conference prior to the semifinals.

“Extremely honored and humbled with the recognition into the Beanpot Hall of Fame,” Madigan said.

The finals will take place 7:30 p.m. Monday at TD Garden as NU defends their title and once again faces BU in the championship game.

BU beat Harvard University 4-3 earlier in the evening last Monday.

Photo by Kayla Shiao Right defenseman graduate student Tommy Miller skates up the ice during the men’s Beanpot semifinals. The Huskies return to TD Garden on Feb. 14 to begin the fight for their fourth straight Beanpot victory.

February 11, 2022

SPORTS

Page 7

Murphy’s hat trick gives Northeastern their first Beanpot consolation game victory since 2005

By Eli Curwin | News Staff In a 3-0 shutout Tuesday against the Boston University Terriers, senior forward Maureen Murphy’s hat trick led the Northeastern University women’s ice hockey team to victory. With five goals in the last two games, Murphy leads the team with 20 goals scored and 38 points for the season.

Despite a slow first period, shooting only four shots on goal, Northeastern turned it around, ending the game with 37 shots. The Huskies defense was perfect all game, allowing only eight shots in the first period, two shots in the second period and four shots in the third period.

With a game total of 14 shots from the Terriers, the Huskies held the Terriers to their second lowest shot total all season.

Following a shocking loss to the Boston College Eagles in the semifinals of the 43rd Beanpot Tournament Feb. 1, Northeastern was fighting for 3rd place against the Terriers.

Totaling 50 shots against the Eagles, Northeastern’s offense only found the back of the net once in the first round of the tournament. However, after a 5-0 win against Merrimack College Feb. 4 in between the Beanpot games, Northeastern’s offense is back on track.

Continuing to play their games without star senior forward Alina Mueller, who is representing Switzerland in the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Huskies needed to adopt a next-man-up mentality. On Monday, that is exactly what happened.

From backup junior goaltender Gwneyth Philips to Murphy, every player on the team came ready to play no matter how much ice

time they’ve seen this season.

Philips was in goal for the Huskies, replacing arguably the best goalie in the NCAA, Aerin Frankel. Before the final stretch of the season, coach Dave Flint decided it would be best to give Frankel a rest. Philips was flawless for the Huskies, saving all 14 of Boston University’s shots.

With Husky junior forward Katy Knoll winning the faceoff, the game immediately began as a close back and forth. Filled with breakaways and transition offense, neither team was able to take many shots. The Huskies only managed one shot on goal in the first 10 minutes of the game. The Terrier’s offense was able to muster some promising possessions, but effective defense from the Huskies prevented a BU goal.

About halfway through the first period, a hooking penalty on BU senior forward Emma Wuthrich gave Northeastern a power play. With 31 power play goals this season, the most in the NCAA, playing with an extra skater is Northeastern’s bread and butter.

After passing the puck around the zone for a while, a shot from graduate student left defenseman Skylar Fontaine was saved by Boston University’s senior netminder Nicole McGuigan.

Retaining possession, graduate student forward Maddie Mills dropped the puck off for Fontaine, sending a beautiful pass across the ice to Murphy, who scored the easy goal.

Despite the uncharacteristically weak start, Northeastern was able to maintain their 1-0 lead for the rest of the period. Only tallying four shots, it was Philips and their swarming defense that kept them ahead.

Photo by Kayla Shiao Senior left forward, Miceala Sindoris, handles the puck. Her fellow left forward, Alina Mueller, is currently playing for Team Switzerland in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Photo by Kayla Shiao Senior right forward, Maureen Murphy, battles BU for the puck. Murphy went on to score a hat trick, or three goals in one game, bringing her to 20 total goals this season.

Photo by Mika Podila Northeastern women’s ice hockey player celebrates the win against BU in the women’s Beanpot consolation game. This is the first Husky Beanpot consolation game victory since 2005.

Even with a late power play for the Terriers due to a Northeastern hooking penalty, the Huskies remained solid on defense. BU only attempted one shot on goal, while Northeastern kept the puck out of the zone for most of the two minutes.

The second period started with a Terrier slashing penalty, knocking Philips to the ground. With an extra skater, the Huskies looked to add to their lead. At first, Northeastern struggled to keep possession of the puck, as a disciplined Boston University defense dumped the puck multiple times within the first minute. As the power play continued, Northeastern did a better job of keeping the puck, but crucial play from McGuigan prevented a 2-0 lead.

Midway through the second period, the Huskies organized their offense with a long possession filled with smart and calculated passes. With several shots blocked or saved, Northeastern was unable to capitalize.

Following Northeastern’s failure to score, the Terriers secured the puck and took it down to the Huskies zone. After a missed BU shot, Murphy collected the puck, and made her way up the ice. Weaving through several Boston University defenders, Murphy was able to break away and score a backhanded goal to give the Huskies a 2-0 lead.

The Huskies offense started to take control of the game, forcing McGuian to make difficult saves and taking eight shots in the eight minutes following the goal. The Huskies first period offensive woes seemed to be behind them.

A high sticking and a cross checking penalty seven minutes later caused the second and third power plays of the night for the Terriers.

Impressive Northeastern defense managed to kill both advantages. With a top 10 power play kill percentage (91.6%), going against an extra skater on the ice had little effect on the Huskies.

Despite a brief period of four-on-four with a minute left in the period, due to an elbowing penalty on Boston University senior forward Mackenna Parker, the period would end 2-0.

Starting the period already down a skater, a tripping penalty on Boston University put

them in a dangerous five on three situation. As Parker returned to the ice, Boston University nearly scored, but a vital save from Philips kept the Huskies power play alive. Following two saved Northeastern shots, and passes from Fontaine and junior defenseman Megan Carter, Murphy whipped a shot between the legs of a Terrier into the top left shelf of the goal, giving her a hat trick.

While Murphy played it cool, most likely because scoring is nothing new to her, a hat trick in the Beanpot is both rare, and worth celebrating.

After the score, Boston University came back with a vengeance, trying to cut down on the strong Husky lead. Exemplary play in the goal from Philips prevented any Terrier goals. Further, fantastic defensive play from the Huskies mitigated a Terrier power play, following a Northeastern slashing penalty.

A breakaway miraculously stopped by Fontaine and a kill following a Knoll roughing penalty sealed the victory for the Huskies. This is the first Husky Beanpot consolation game victory for Northeastern since 2005, where they defeated Boston University 4-0.

With the Beanpot finished, the Huskies will look ahead to the rest of the regular season and beyond. They will continue to fight for a higher spot in the Pairwise rankings and maintain their spot in Hockey East.

Northeastern has series against University of Maine and University of Connecticut, with a matchup against University of New Hampshire in between. With these five games left, the Huskies are almost a lock for a playoff spot as they sit atop the Hockey East.

Northeastern will play Maine at Matthews Arena Feb. 11. Boston University will play at University of Vermont, also Feb. 11.

As Northeastern looks to make up for their disappointing 2-1 loss against University of Wisconsin in the 2021 National Championship, they must play with consistency through all three periods as the stakes get higher. With Mueller being eventually added back to the roster, Northeastern has their eyes set on goals far greater than a Beanpot trophy.

LIFESTYLE

Page 8

February 11, 2022

Students react to new Chick-fil-A location in Copley Square

By Tiffany Pottenburgh News Correspondent Chick-fil-A, a popular American chicken sandwich fast-food chain, opened a new location in Copley Square Jan. 5 and has consistently served long lines.

Chick-fil-A has become a cultural phenomenon, from TikToks of people creating their own meals with Chick-fil-A products and sharing their favorite menu hacks, to Kanye West’s song “Closed on Sunday,” which name drops the restaurant chain in his 2019 album “Jesus is King.”

Despite the craze, the chain has also repeatedly come under fire for its extensive history of

supporting and financially funding anti-LGBTQ+ organizations, such as The Salvation Army and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

In a city well-known for being socially progressive like Boston, is there a place for a business with such a reputation?

“If people will spend their money there, I guess [I] would say it fits and do I see it being successful,” said Ryan Lewis, a fourth-year design major who has eaten at other locations a few times.

However, Lewis, who identifies as gay, expressed strong disapproval of Chick-fil-A’s donation history, finding their label as a “homophobic” establishment insufficient.

“Homophobic could just mean they don’t like gay people in the

restaurant,” Lewis said. “This chain goes a whole step further to actively seek out other organizations that will work against justice and equal opportunity and rights for gay people.”

Chick-fil-A has spent the past 10 years battling for a location in downtown Boston. During their first attempt to establish in Faneuil Hall in 2012, then Mayor Tom Menino openly expressed his disapproval of the chain. Northeastern students agreed, openly protesting the presence of Chick-fil-A in a city known for its influential queer population and culture.

In this same year, Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy confirmed to the Baptist Press that their business is “supportive of the family — the

Photo by Gwen Egan Chick-fil-A welcomed a new location in Copley Square Jan. 5. The chain’s controversial past with the LGBTQ+ community raises questions about its place in Boston.

biblical definition of the family unit.” Meanwhile, Equality Matters, a section of the Media Matters Action Network, reported that the chain donated millions of dollars to Cathy’s WinShape Foundation that funded anti-gay groups and organizations, some of which performed conversion therapy on young people.

Zach Greenwald, a second-year politics, philosophy and economics major and the vice president of sustainability within Northeastern’s Student Government Association, said he thinks Chickfil-A’s dedication to conservative religious values doesn’t align with Boston culture. “[Chick-fil-A’s] market is a more Christian culture centered community,” said Greenwald, who identifies as gay. “I don’t really think that that’s Boston.”

As a result of Chick-fil-A’s homophobic tendenices, he completely refuses to eat at the restaurant, even in situations where friends made him go with them, and convinced his family to do the same.

“So I’m gay and then one of my older brothers is also gay … When [Chick-fil-A] started showing up where we’re from, at first we were like ‘Oh, should we go?’ And my brother and I were like ‘No,’” Greenwald said.

In November 2019, gearing up for 2020, Chick-fil-A took a new approach to their donations by announcing three distinct focus areas: homelessness, hunger and education.

Some took this as an indication of the end of their controversial donations, though it has not been explicitly stated by the company. They still continue to give money to some religious-based organizations within the focus areas.

While homophobia is a common reason to avoid the popular chicken sandwich restaurant, Isabella Stein,

a second-year environmental science and international affairs combined major, wants to remind students of the socioeconomic reasons to avoid corporations like Chick-fil-A. “Living in an area that’s actively being gentrified, it’s disappointing that there’s so much hype around corporate food,” Stein said. “Students should really be encouraged to get local and appreciate all of the small businesses Boston has to offer.”

Stein also urged students to consider the environmental impacts of fast-food chains.

“A lot of really big, fast-food companies that are serving meat are really, really awful to the environment. Their water usage is really high. They’re not treating their animals well, they’re not treating their land well, they’re using a lot of antibiotics. There’s a lot of research on that,” Stein said. “It’s just always good to be aware of that and use your money as a tool to advocate for what you believe in.”

Lewis acknowledged that Chickfil-A has the right to donate to anti-LGBTQ+ organizations, despite the moral implications.

“I would prefer they didn’t [donate to anti-LGBT+ organizations], but there’s legally nothing I can do to stop them,” Lewis said. “It doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do, but they have a right to do that.”

The controversiality of Chick-fil-A makes it challenging to determine its success in the Boston community.

Many students continue to take issue with the chain, and some call for them to demonstrate their alleged change through actions, rather than with words.

“To really absolve themselves of it would be to donate to organizations that promote LGBTQ services,” Greenwald said.

Bren Joy and redveil perform for studentorganized Black Music Matters Festival

By Karissa Korman Deputy Lifestyle Editor Musicians Bren Joy and redveil took to the AfterHours stage in the Curry Student Center Feb. 5 for the first night of the Black Music Matters Festival, an event organized by Northeastern Council for University Programs, or CUP, Northeastern Black Student Association, NU Live Music Association, Green Line Records, Tastemakers Magazine and WRBB Radio.

With seven student organizations behind the event, individuals like Brandon Korn, the CUP operations chair, united to make the two-day festival designed to celebrate Black music and elevate Black artists a reality.

“I really appreciate that so many clubs on campus have worked together to put on an event of this magnitude,” said Korn, a second-year business administration and mathematics combined major.

In the hours leading up to the first performance, cohorts of students belonging to clubs that brought the festival to life filtered into AfterHours.

Volunteering students wheeled instruments through the building, ran speakers and soundboards past

the stage and shooed the AfterHours Starbucks patrons out of the room before the show could begin.

Justyna Stukin, a fourth-year behavioral neuroscience major and small concerts chair of CUP, caught wind of plans for the festival from Green Line Records and WRBB in summer 2021 and jumped at the chance to get involved.

“It’s not easy to coordinate with that many people, but all of us wanted to make it work so bad that the energy was just really great through the whole thing,” Stukin said.

After months of careful planning and cooperation, the AfterHours doors opened before the first show at 7 p.m. to a mass of students who gathered outside in below-freezing temperatures, anticipating live musical performances at Northeastern for another year after the pandemic introduced hurdles to in-person gatherings.

“Anytime there’s anything happening music-wise, I always want to come out and support,” said Kadijah Bah, a first-year sociology major and DJ at WRBB. “Especially because I know the different organizations put a lot into it.”

Longtime fans and newcomers alike flocked to the stage for the first act of the festival, 17-year-old rapper

redveil from Maryland.

“I haven’t listened to redveil’s music, but I also like to go to concerts and discover artists,” Bah said.

The Black Music Matters Festival featured several artists for fans to see and music lovers to discover. Bren Joy and redveil preceded IDK with Cakeswagg on Feb. 6 to make up the complete roster of the two-night event.

“It was really just a starting moment for me just as a musician,” redveil told the crowd during his set, referencing his first album that he released at 14 years old. “It’s a project that’s going to be important for me for the rest of my life.” redveil’s songwriting and enigmatic delivery of his music left an energetic, excited crowd ready for the second act of the festival, Bren Joy. The Nashville-based artist brought intimate lyricism that felt straight from a diary page onstage, performing the hit songs he released after studying at Belmont University in Nashville as a vocal major.

From redveil’s acapella delivery of his song “Brother’s Keeper” that shares his grief and anger growing up against the face of police brutality to the soaring, youthful spirit of Joy’s “Henny in the Hamptons,” both

performers took the crowd through the turbulence of coming of age in searing portraits of their lives.

As the authors behind their own work, the pair set an autobiographical tone for the rest of the Black Music Matters Festival.

As Northeastern’s campus dives into honoring Black History Month during February, organizers behind

the two-day festival hope that audiences will leave the venue with a greater appreciation for Black artistry in music — and perhaps a new artist to follow and support.

“I just really want to highlight that it is Black History Month,” Stukin said. “And the point of this was really to spotlight Black music, especially local Black music.’’

Photo by Karissa Korman redveil and his DJ Razelle opened the first night of performances at the Black Music Matters Festival. Artists Bren Joy, IDK and Cakeswagg followed throughout the weekend of Feb. 5.

LIFESTYLE

February 11, 2022

Page 9

‘Encanto’ provides Latinx representation through culture, music

By Rachel Umansky-Castro News Correspondent “Encanto,” a Disney animated movie that explores the story of the Madrigals, a Colombian family gifted with magical powers, premiered Nov. 24.

The film and its soundtrack took the holiday season by storm and continues to dominate the charts.

“Encanto” highlights the importance of family through the Latinx perspective and accurately portrays Latinx values such as close-knit familial connections, community contribution and resilience in the face of trauma.

When the family’s magic begins to go awry, the young Mirabel Madrigal sets out to save the enchanted candle, which stores their magic gifts and represents the love and support within the family.

Throughout the film, the Madrigals learn they need to resolve their family’s conflicts and trauma or else they risk losing their gifts and family connection altogether.

The unique representation of the Latinx experience is why “Encanto” resonates with many viewers.

Jasmine Velazco, a third-year journalism major and president of the Latin American Student Organization, said “Encanto” portrays traumatic experiences that many members of the Latinx community are far too familiar with.

“The storyline is really good, which is why I think people are drawn to it because it is very relatable,” Velazco said. “It is especially relatable to the Latinx community because of the generational trauma that is suffered through migration and immigration that they show in the film.”

Disney is known for its underrepresentation of diverse cultures across its filmmaking.

“Cinderella,” “Tangled,” “Snow White” and “Frozen” are examples of Disney films that prioritize white beauty standards and culture over minority-oriented

representation.

“If you think of the tradition of Disney — the castles and princesses — it responds to a very northern European storytelling,” said Daniel Cuenca, Northeastern assistant teaching professor of Spanish and Portuguese who instructs courses in Latin American film. “When we look at what used to be done before, and then at films like ‘Encanto,’ there’s a huge amount of progress. There’s no question about it. The film is a huge step forward.”

Latinx viewers feel as though films such as “Encanto” are imperative to the Disney franchise because they underscore the reality that society is not homogenous.

“Encanto” embraces diverse body types, skin colors and hair textures while depicting the real struggles that some minorities face. “[This] is important because Disney [has] not done it before and it’s time that they have, especially [portraying] the dynamic of a Hispanic household and encompassing what it’s like to be a part of an immigrant family,” said Parys Carrington, a first-year combined international affairs and political science major. “Disney handled demonstrating the struggles that went along with it in a kid-friendly atmosphere.”

While Disney has ventured to represent Latinx cultures, viewers have found their depiction limiting, as it fails to truly represent the diversity within Latinx groups. “Encanto” is a step away from that pattern.

“A lot of times within the Latinx community, it’s Mexican [culture being represented] but ‘Encanto’ is set in Colombia, which is great because we need more stories that are not just Mexican,” Velazco said. “For example,

‘Coco’ was great, but ‘Encanto’ created a space for people who are not Mexican but are Latinx.”

Behind the film’s relatable plot is a culturally rich, and catchy soundtrack that is consistently topping the charts.

As of Feb. 1, the “Encanto” soundtrack is the number one album on the Billboard 200.

The hit song, “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” is now at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and is the first Disney song to do so in almost three decades.

The soundtrack is written by the respected Puerto Rican singer-songwriter and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is best known for his work in “Hamilton,” “In the Heights” and “Moana.”

By introducing a distinct Latin sound to his songwriting in “Encanto,” Miranda grabbed the attention and appealed to the likings of a wider, more diverse audience.

The lyrics within “Encanto” reveal the hidden story behind the Madrigals’ past and unresolved intergenerational trauma, by displaying the raw frustrations of the characters.

Velazco said they can personally relate to the struggles the Madrigals face from experiences and expectations within their own household.

“In a way, I encompass all the [Madrigal] siblings because I am an only child and there’s that immigrant mentality that is perfection, helping the community, being strong and putting yourself out there,” Velazco said. “I see that with a lot of the expectations from my mother and family to do better than they did and it’s a lot of pressure.”

The magical

abilities of the Madrigal family include family empowerment, beauty and strength.

These powers are exaggerated versions of real-life expectations that members of Latinx families feel the need to embody.

“I related to Isabella a lot because being the only girl in my family, I was held to be the perfect girl, conforming to the beauty standard while constantly having straight A’s,” Carrington said. “Beauty and brains were always ingrained in my head. Feeling like I don’t have to be perfect was a hard step to take in my life and the movie perfectly encapsulated that feeling.”

Representation in the media is a way for a wide range of individuals to feel appreciated and recognized in society.

It is especially important for all children, specifically children of immigrants, as it validates and reflects personal experience, ultimately precipitating self-conviction.

“It is really this idea of recognizing oneself. The word ‘represent’ means to present back and the idea that the media mirrors. A little child can watch the film and see someone that looks like themselves and experience things they themselves have experienced,” Cuenca said.

“That sort of representation of mirroring creates a social ethnic confidence that is then used in order to affirm oneself in society, especially as an immigrant or children of immigrants.”

“Encanto” is a must-see film that tells a gripping story from a culturally diverse perspective that is new to Disney canon.

Velazco hopes the success of “Encanto” will inspire more films from Disney that will take up the all-important task of representing more cultures on the big screen.

“Representation is power,” Velazco said.

Calendar compiled by Alyssa Fell & Karissa Korman Graphics by Marta Hill

Each Monday of February Boston Globe Black History Month Film Festival Watch virtual screenings and informative panels during the second annual Boston Globe Black History Month Film Festival.

RSVP for this event via the festival’s website.

Feb. 11 through Feb. 13 CambridgeSide Black-Owned Pop-Up Market Celebrate Black History Month by supporting Black-owned businesses at the CambridgeSide mall.

11 a.m. to 8 p.m, 100 Cambridgeside Place

Saturday, Feb. 12 Spread Love Market Visit the Valentine’s Market featuring 10 black owned businesses and two DJs to shop gifts this Valentine’s Day season.

Noon to 5 p.m., 401 Park Dr.

Sunday, Feb. 13 Lunar New Year Parade Ring in the Year of the Tiger with the Lion Dance Parade that features lion dances, drums, martial arts, firecrackers and dragon dances.

10 a.m. to 3 p.m., 1 Harrison Ave., Free

Illustration by Kayla Shiao

Through March 20 Emerald Necklace Walk through 1,100 acres of Boston parkland to celebrate this shared space. Learn more on the Emerald Necklace Conservatory website.

Ongoing, Free

OPINION

Page 10 The Huntington News EDITORIAL BOARD

Op-ed: Students face therapy struggles

Editor-in-Chief

Marta Hill

Managing Editor

Avery Bleichfeld Clara McCourt Editor-at-Large

Kelly Chan Campus

Grace Comer Sonel Cutler Jess Silverman City

Jennifer Suryadjaja Kathryn Manning Breaking News

Gwen Egan Sports

Annah Chaya Alex Sumas Lifestyle

Katie Mogg Alyssa Fell Karissa Korman Opinion

Alyssa Endres Ethan Wayne Projects

Cathy Ching Photo

Harriet Rovniak Quillan Anderson Design

Kayla Shiao Jessica Xing Multimedia

Hannah Rosman Web Manager

Annetta Stogniew Social Media

Antonia Sousa Angie Slater Copy Chief

Alexis Santoro

BUSINESS

Business Manager

Eva Arad

Development and Outreach Coordinator

Matt Yan

Advertising Manager

Ashley Mandel

NEWS STAFF Ananya Kulkarni, Brenna Thornton, Christie Ya-Chi Lee, Eli Curwin, Erin Fine, Julia Yohe, Julie Sung, Lauren Thomas, Leah Cussen, Lily Elwood, Nicholas Tesoriero, Srishti Gummaraju, Thomas de Carbonnieres

Photo courtesy Rachel UmanskyCastro COVID-19 has already had a devastating effect on a large number of people needing therapy. The issue arose as there was an influx of people who wanted to seek therapy for the first time due to the impact COVID-19 had on their lives.

Now, as some therapists reopen their doors for in-person sessions, the number of incoming patients will likely grow. Although these doors may be opening, the struggle to get an appointment remains — as schedules are booked for the foreseeable future.

The struggle that young adults are facing with mental health in 2022 is not a new one by any means. Young adults 18 to 24 years old are more likely than other age groups to report anxiety, depression, substance use and thoughts of suicide, according to a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. The percentage of participants having seriously considered suicide in the 30 days before completing the survey (10.7%) was significantly higher for those 18 to 24 years of age (25.5%).

Within younger generations, more individuals are welcoming therapy with open arms. However, despite this

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rapidly increasing demand for therapy and mental health resources, neither Northeastern, nor the city of Boston, is equipped to handle the volume of individuals seeking help.

As for Northeastern University, the staff of University Health and Counseling Services, or UHCS, tries to emphasize the importance of mental health on campus by prompting wellness days throughout the semester.

Countless flyers, emails and support groups are created in order to express NU’s support. However, despite the advertising push the school has to offer, there needs to be more support for Northeastern students. As Phil Zminda reveals in an article from The News, “the reputation of Northeastern’s health center precedes itself to the point that many students bypass it entirely, taking their search for mental health care into their own hands.”

Even though Northeastern may state its support for students’ mental health, many students feel there is a lack of attention for each of their cases. An example of this is the recent tragedy with a Northeastern student allegedly died by suicide in Snell Library. If Northeastern had more resources made available to students, perhaps tragedies like this could be prevented in the future. No student should ever feel like this again, and Northeastern needs to focus on supporting every student’s mental health.

Through personal experience and conversations with other Northeastern students trying to find a therapist through UHCS, a recurring issue has been collectively recognized: There are not enough therapists at Northeastern.

In a Boston Globe article, reporter Meredith Goldstein revealed the difficulty of finding a therapist since

COVID-19. Goldstein interviewed Boston psychologist Natasha Holmes who expressed her concerns in referring patients to her friends or colleagues because all the therapists she would normally recommend are unavailable. As indicated in a New York Times article, those seeking therapy worry they might not get the help they need right away.

“With anxiety and depression on the rise during the pandemic, it has been challenging for people to get the help they need,” Christina Caron, a reporter for The New York Times, wrote.

Despite the challenges, it is necessary for anyone looking for a therapist to reach out to as many organizations as you can until you find the right therapist for your needs. It may take longer than preferred but therapists do care about your current mental health. However, clients feel as though the process of finding a therapists adds stress and worsens their mental health.

“For a person already experiencing anxiety or depression, finding a therapist who is both affordable and accepting new patients can be exhausting,” Goldstein wrote.

Therapists are experiencing less cancellations and are providing more patient referrals due to the increase of patients, according to a report by the American Psychological Association.

“Compared with before the pandemic, 29% of psychologists were seeing more patients overall, 43% were seeing the same number of patients, and 28% were seeing fewer patients,” read the study.

Boston therapists seem like a better option for Northeastern students that need more help for their

mental health than the university can provide. This rise in students searching for therapists outside the university creates a larger impact as there is a higher demand for therapist availability in the city.

Clients must also deal with the challenge of finding comfort with an in-person therapist.

“While the therapist may have great skills, their work with you will only be effective if you feel connected to them,” said Amy Morin, a licensed clinical social worker, psychotherapist and editor-in-chief of Verywell Mind. “So the same therapist that made a great impact on your friend may not work out well for you if you don’t feel that personal connection.”

It is imperative to keep trying to seek the best strategy in finding a sufficient therapist. Otherwise, serious mental health issues may lead to suicide.

As Goldstein reported, take what you can get as sessions begin to reopen and spots fill up quick. “Even wait lists can be hard to come by now. Get on all lists you can.”

Though the difficulty of finding a therapist at Northeastern’s UHCS or in Boston is rising, help is still out there. Reach out to friends, campus groups, organizations and use UHCS as a resource for therapist referrals to discover better mental health services.

Lots of research is key, especially for Northeastern students that feel their options are limited. There are plenty of resources around, you just have to take the first step to find guidance.

issue of global warming, since this decaying food produces methane.

Perfectly edible food is often thrown away due to cosmetic standards. People often pick out produce based on looks to buy the “best” food. These foods, however, taste the same and are fit for human consumption no matter how they look, so there is no reason for this food to be wasted. Since so much food is wasted throughout the U.S., it prompted me to look at Northeastern and the food waste in the dining halls.

At Northeastern, it might be assumed that multiple large dining halls would be wasting large amounts of food every day, but that is simply not the case.

Northeastern has made a very large effort to limit food waste in the dining halls, and students should also do whatever they can to contribute to this effort. In an interview with Tom Barton, the campus executive chef, I learned that the dining halls have implemented many ways to create essentially zero food waste.

Food is made in small batches and planned out for the day based on data collected over the years of how many students swipe into the dining hall a day at certain times to limit the leftover, cooked food that students do not take. Food is also repurposed. For example,

carrot tops and leftover herbs may be used to make a pesto for another meal, or leftover chicken from one dish may be repurposed and made into a soup. Lastly, there are large composting bins in each dining hall.

Students throw any leftover food into these bins to be composted by a company rather than having it end up in a landfill.

These are just some of the ways Northeastern has limited their food waste, but other large schools that serve thousands of kids every day, such as University of Massachusetts Amherst, or UMass Amherst, have also found ways to limit their food waste. According to Garett DiStefano, the director of residential dining at UMass Amherst, just by getting rid of food trays in the dining halls, UMass Amherst reduced its food waste by 30%. These same improvements were made at Northeastern where food trays in dining halls were replaced with smaller plates and bowls. Seeing that these dining halls have made an effort to limit their food waste and help the planet shows how simple it can be to make changes to help solve this problem.

However, there are still more changes to be made and this change starts with the students. Whether you go to the dining hall, cook your own food or get takeout it is important to take only what you are going

to eat instead of wasting or throwing away any leftovers.

Some students may not be thinking about wasting food, since they are more concerned about making the most of their meal swipe. Yes, the meal plans are expensive as the default meal plan is $3,955 per semester. To make the most of your meal swipe, however, taking copious amounts of food is not necessary. You are always able to go back and get more food if you are still hungry.

Northeastern and the dining halls are doing their part to help reduce food waste, which is a great place to start. Now, students need to help as well. They need to remember to only take one plate at first, rather than taking more than they know they will end up eating.

Reducing waste is not only good for the planet, but also those who inhabit it. If people waste less food, that means less wasted income, less waste in landfills, and reduced greenhouse gasses overall. Reducing food waste is not hard and everyone can be more conscious of this problem in their everyday life. Now, Northeastern students have the responsibility to make these changes.

Rachel Umansky-Castro is a firstyear combined major in criminal justice and journalism. She can be reached at umansky-castro.r@northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: Students must do our part to reduce food waste

Alexis Zacharakos, Anne Sedar, Dayna Archer, Erin Fine, Jenna Chin, Lauren Thomas, Liza Sheehy, Rachel Lee, Rachel Mann

Bill Mitchell, Carlene Hempel, Dan Zedek, Gal Tziperman Lotan, Laurel Leff, Lincoln McKie, Mark Gooley, Meredith O’Brien, Rachel Zarrell, Zolan Kanno-Youngs

February 11, 2022

Photo courtesy Alexandra Burnham The holiday season is often centered around food. People stuff themselves at Thanksgiving and every year there is a surplus of turkey, mash potatoes, green beans and especially desserts. This, of course, leads to many leftovers that often end up in the trash.

This is a good time of year to remember that the food waste in the United States only continues to increase. According to Dana Gunders, a food and agriculture project scientist for Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco, each person wastes double the amount of food than what people used to waste 50 years ago. Many people in the U.S. do not know where their next meal is coming from, yet according to Gunders, almost half of food in the U.S. is wasted and thrown away. Wasting food is a problem in and of itself, but all this food in landfills adds to the

Alexandra Burnham is a firstyear health sciences major. She can be reached at burnham.al@northeastern.edu.

OPINION

February 11, 2022

Page 11

Op-ed: It’s time to move on from a busted filibuster for the sake of American democracy

Photo courtesy Isabel Baron In recent years, if you see the word “Senate” in a news headline, odds are the word “filibuster” followed shortly after.

A frequent fixture in the political realm as of late, the filibuster has slowed Senate proceedings to a halt, stopping important bills and tedious votes in their tracks.

So why is a tactic that was created and used in the 1800’s consistently barricading bipartisan progress in office today? Unfortunately, there is no easy answer; the ancient practice has political proceedings in a chokehold, used more as a weapon instead of the democratic tool it was intended to be.

In order for American politics to return to a fluid and functioning state — something desperately needed in the polarized political climate of today — the filibuster has to go.

The filibuster dates back to the 1800’s, originally (and appropriately, I might add) named after the Dutch word for “freebooters” or “pirates.”

In its early stages, senators had to

continue speaking individually or as a team for hours on end until one side finally relented. The purpose of the filibuster was to slow debate on controversial topics.

Fast-forward to today, and the filibuster is being used on multiple legislative topics per week, causing much-needed proposals and bills to move through the Senate at a painstakingly slow pace.

The practice is in no way defined in the Constitution, but remains a relic in today’s Senate chamber, primarily used by the minority party in order to gain some say in passing legislation.

Essential to understanding the stakes of the filibuster is understanding how the Senate passes a bill in the first place. When a new bill is introduced, it gets sent to the suitable committee for initial examination and possible amendments.

If and when that committee votes in favor of the bill, it gets sent to the Senate floor for further debate and either passage or rejection.

A bill actually only requires a majority 51 votes to pass once debate has ended; however, it takes 60 votes to cut off debate and get to this point, essentially creating a “supermajority” that allows the filibuster to choke Senate progress and kill the bill in question.

While senators like Kyrsten Sinema, D-AZ, claim the filibuster is still necessary to ensure bipartisan collaboration, it can be seen time and time again that the practice does anything but bring the parties together.

Former President Barack Obama

is one of the largest proponents of abolishing the filibuster, arguing that it’s a “Jim Crow relic” standing in the way of important legislation like voter rights and gun control.

He is correct.

A much-needed voting rights bill was blocked in the Senate by a combination of Republican lawmakers and a divided Democratic base Jan. 19. This failed legislation, along with many others, was unable to reach the 60 vote threshold needed to break the filibuster and pass through the Senate.

As in most scenarios of late, 48 Democrats and 2 Independents banded together in an attempt to pass the bill while all 50 Republicans stood staunchly in the way.

The debate for voting rights stretched on for hours, but the filibuster ultimately won the battle.

Senate was also unable to override the blockade and effectively alter the filibuster rules for this one bill, which would allow passage with just 51 votes instead of 60. Sens. Sinema and Joe Manchin, D-WV, sided with Republicans to defend the filibuster while simultaneously ignoring the need for voting rights, killing the rule change as well as killing the bill.

The ineffectiveness of the federal government is a reiterated complaint present across party lines, and the filibuster is one of the main reasons as to why. Common-sense bills, such as the Build Back Better Act or the restructuring of voting rights, fail in the Senate either because of the filibuster or because of a single senator.

Manchin singlehandedly killed

How does a first-world country like the United States progress if senators have the ability to stalemate any bill that doesn’t directly line up with their party agenda, even if it will benefit the greater American population?

— Isabel Baron Northeastern student Build Back Better to the detriment of Americans nationwide.

How does a first-world country like the United States progress if senators have the ability to stalemate any bill that doesn’t directly line up with their party agenda,

even if it will benefit the greater American population?

The point of having a majority party in the Senate is essentially nullified if the minority party can simply filibuster their way out of any bill they do not want to hear.

American democracy is dependent on lawmakers and legislation. The filibuster stands not only in the way of government efficiency, but also American success; without major reform in an especially divided political climate, it can be expected that bill after bill fails in the Senate due to the outdated and overused practice.

It’s imperative that the filibuster is abolished for the betterment of our country, citizens, and democracy. If it stays, who knows what the implications will be for the future of our country.

What can you do to help? Northeastern students come from across the country; research your local senators and see where they stand on the issue. Sign petitions and contact your local senators offices to ask them what they’re doing to overturn the filibuster.

All it takes to eliminate the filibuster is to formally alter the text of Senate Rule 22, which can be done with a simple majority vote in the Senate.

The time is now to help our country and our democracy make substantial progress — the filibuster happens to be standing in the way.

Isabel Baron is a first year journalism major at Northeastern. She can be reached at baron.i@northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: When it comes to mental health, men need to feel more heard

Photo by Quillan Anderson

Editor’s note: The Huntington News wants students to know Northeastern University and elsewhere provide mental health resources for students.

• WeCare: wecare@northeastern.edu, 617-373-7591, 226 Curry • University Health and Counseling Services (UHCS): uhcs@northeastern.edu, 617-373-2772, Forsyth Building, 1st Floor • 24/7 Mental Health Support: for students by phone (FIND@Northeastern) – 877-233-9477 (U.S.), 781-4577777 (international) • Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800273-8255

The last few years have been difficult for everyone. There has been a growing trend in individuals speaking up about their mental health issues, and encouraging others to do the same.

The first high-profile example demonstrating this phenomenon that comes to mind is Simone Biles, who decided to not participate in most of her gymnastics events in the 2021 Summer Olympics due to mental health concerns. Similarly, Chrissy Teigen was open about the heartbreak she felt when she suffered from a miscarriage in 2020, which added an unnecessary stressor to an already difficultyear. In the documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry on AppleTV, Eilish, who struggles with Tourette Syndrome, body dysmorphic disorder and depression, emphasized that reaching out for help does not correlate with signs of weakness. Kristen Bell, who has dealt with anxiety and depression, echoed Eilish’s thoughts that being mentally fragile does not make you weak in an essay written for Motto.

But what about men? Twenty-one percent of adults in the United States have some form of mental illness, yet while 51.2% of female American adults get treated for their mental health issues annually, only 37.4% of men do so. In England,

three times as many men as women have killed themselves as of Oct. 1, 2021. Men, being human, are just as susceptible to mental illness as individuals of other genders. So why does it seem that men are not getting access to the assistance they need to have a stable life?

Gender norms are a factor in why men are less likely to seek advice or help for their mental health problems. “I think it may be this macho thing … a lot of guys don’t want to admit they have this problem.

They still see depression as a sign of weakness,” said Dr. Raymond Hobbs, a physician consultant at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan in an interview with Healthline.

Just as society expects women to behave or appear in particular ways, men are expected to be strong leaders.

This toxic expectation pushes many men to be as ambitious as possible while ignoring signs that they are mentally straining themselves. Due to their insensitivity towards their own vulnerabilities, men may be less likely to contact others for mental support.

This could either be because they can’t recognize their mental issues, or they simply ignore them. Men that do feel like they are struggling tend to be too ashamed to contact family or friends about their mental illnesses. Thus, they

may start to abuse unhealthy coping mechanisms such as drugs or alcohol.

This phenomenon could explain why, in 2019, 6.3% of individuals 18 and older, 8.3% of them being men and only 4.5% being women, had participated in heavy alcohol intake in the past month at the time the survey was conducted.

Trying to obtain sources of profound and reliable support is another struggle that men face. Research finds that men tend to have a more difficult time creating social connections. The idea of “toxic masculinity” forces men to be strong and less reliant on others around them, which may contribute to this concerning situation. This concept is also linked with increased rates of depression in men, who tend to underreport their depression symptoms when facing mentally pressuring circumstances.

The best thing we can do to address this situation is to break the stigma that men who address their mental health are weak. Men, like Michael Phelps who commented about his suicidal thoughts when he struggled immensely with depression, lead the movement for normalizing discussions about mental health issues.

Justin Baldoni echoed this sentiment in his 2017 TedTalk “Why I’m done trying to be ‘man enough.’” “I also think that we’ve been socialized to

think that by sharing our struggle then we are giving away our power, giving away our secrets, and that those secrets can be used against us, and that’s really sad,” Baldoni said.

We must follow their lead and listen to their wisdom. Having the courage to speak up about your mental health may be one of the most “manly” things that a man could ever do.

Check in with your friends about their mental health: both men and women. Knowing that they have sources of support to aid them in the struggles they face through life will encourage them to be more open about their mental health. Having experience with mental health issues myself, I was initially nervous about reaching out to my friends about my struggles since I didn’t want to be a burden to them. However, reaching out was one of the best decisions I made in my life. Even if my friends couldn’t provide advice that perfectly addressed my needs, the fact that they cared and were willing to listen affirmed that the world I live in contains good people who make persevering through life worth it.

Jethro Ronald Lee is a first-year data science and psychology major with a minor in music. He can be reached at lee.jet@northeastern.edu.

Page 12

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