October 30, 2020

The Huntington News October 30, 2020

The independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community

@HuntNewsNU

NU

AIMS TO INCREASE ELECTION TURNOUT AMONG STUDENTS

By Annie Probert News Staff A non-partisan coalition of students, staff and faculty is looking to increase voter turnout and engagement among Northeastern students during one of the most eventful election years in recent history. Dubbed Northeastern Votes, the initiative is co-led by the university’s Office of City and Community Engagement and the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy.

Hilary Sullivan, coalition co-chair of Northeastern Votes and director of Community Service and Civic Engagement at the university, said that while the term “Northeastern Votes” has been used by student organizations in the past, this coalition is in its inaugural year and strives to coordinate efforts to get Northeastern students civically engaged.

“In the nine years I’ve been at Northeastern, I’ve noticed that there is not really a strategic effort to

get students to vote,” Sullivan said.

“Most of the efforts come up every four years when there is a national election, but this coalition is really passionate about wanting to bring together students, staff and faculty to increase Northeastern’s voting efforts in every election.”

Samridh Chaturvedi, chair of the Elections Committee in the Student Government Association, or SGA, and a second-year computer engineering and computer science major, said a member of Sullivan’s team reached out to SGA to assist her office in reviving the term Northeastern Votes into a coalition for the 2020 election in late June of this year. Coordinating the effort during the pandemic forced those involved to modify traditional voter engagement methods, he said.

“Planning around [COVID-19] made it super difficult because we couldn’t rely on the past work that people had done like in-person voting registration,” Chaturvedi said.

“Everything had to be scrapped.”

While the campaign has

tabled outdoors in recent weeks, Northeastern Votes has also been encouraging students via social media to cast their ballots. Roughly 25 student organizations have signed on in support of the coalition’s efforts, Chaturvedi said, and there are differing levels of support a member organization can offer, from simply forwarding Northeastern Votes information on social media to working closely with the coalition.

The Northeastern University College Democrats are heavily involved in the alliance, Chaturvedi said, and the Northeastern University College Republicans recently signed on in support.

“We wanted to make this a really social media-focused campaign because we thought that would work best for the [COVID-19] era,” Chaturvedi said. “Supporting organizations mostly just shout us out to spread the word. We want to get some clubs to do social media takeovers as well on issues that are important to them.”

The coalition has also worked

to engage student organizations in fields of study whose members historically vote in lower numbers, like engineering and mathematics, Chaturvedi said. According to the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement, or NSLVE, Northeastern’s voting patterns revealed engineering students to vote at a rate of 53.5 percent and mathematics students 50.6 percent.

Despite college students nationally voting at a rate of 48.3% in the 2016 election, lower than the 61.4% national average, Chaturvedi said she finds Northeastern to be a “pretty politically engaged campus.

The 2016 NSLVE report eligible Northeastern students voted at a rate of 56.9 percent in 2016. A main goal of Northeastern Votes is to boost voter turnout among NU students by 10 percentage points to at least 67 percent, Sullivan said.

To achieve this goal, the coalition has coordinated various voter registration and education programs for students. During a series of voter registration drives held by

Northeastern Votes the week of Sept. 21, the coalition registered 150 students to vote, said Hannah Nivar, SGA’s executive director of communications and a second-year political science and international affairs major.

With many different voter education events occurring both on Northeastern’s campus and in the surrounding Boston area, Sullivan said another aim of Northeastern Votes is to simplify how students can find broader civic engagement initiatives and programming.

“Voter education is huge for college students, and there are so many different events about issues or candidates that happen on campus,” Sullivan said. “One of our goals is to collect all of those one-off events and advertise them together.”

With mail-in ballots growing in popularity due to the pandemic, Chaturvedi said Northeastern Votes is also trying to inform students on voting procedures they may not be familiar with. The university COALITION, on Page 3

Mass. votes on Ranked Choice Voting

By Julie Henry News Correspondant On Nov. 3, Massachusetts voters will choose whether to implement ranked choice voting or uphold the status quo of winner-take-all.

The majority of elections in the United States use the “winner-takeall” system, where you choose your candidate for each race, grab your “I voted sticker” and head out. But with ranked choice voting, commonly referred to as RCV, voters ranked

candidates as their first choice, second choice, third choice and so on.

Voters can choose to rank only some of the candidates or even just one.

The candidate who wins the majority of the votes (in this case, “majority” means greater than 50 percent) wins the election. If no candidate wins a majority of first-choice votes, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated, and their votes are redistributed. This process repeats until someone wins a majority of the votes.

While RCV may sound outlandish, it is used throughout the country.

Cambridge elects its city council and school committee using a multi-winner variant of RCV. Maine uses RCV for local, statewide and federal elections. Currently, cities in California, Maryland, Minnesota and New Mexico use RCV for local elections.

Last year, New York City voted to implement RCV for its city council, citywide and borough president primaries in 2021. This November, ranked choice voting is on the ballot

in Alaska, and Mainers will vote for the president using RCV — the first time RCV will be used for a presidential race in the United States.

Most voters have never used, let alone heard of, RCV. Some opponents of ranked choice voting worry that an alteration to our voting system would be too confusing for voters, but studies show that is not the case.

“Once people actually vote in their first ranked choice election, their positive evaluations of the system

increase,” said Victoria Shineman, University of Pittsburgh political science assistant professor. “People liked the system even more after they’d used it.”

In her research on mobilizing voters in San Francisco, she found that people who have voted in at least one election that uses RCV found that ranked choice voting was easy to understand and was better than the plurality system. Additionally, voters are more confident not only in their RCV, on Page 8

In Opinion: Election 2020 T H E C A S E FO R B IDE N Northeastern for Biden President Jackson Hurley argues that former Vice President Joseph R. Biden’s 40-plus years of public service will bode well for our country. From increasing the minimum wage, to investing in green energy and expanding Obamacare, Biden will best serve the American people. He deserves to be our next president Read more on Page 10

THE C A SE F O R TRU MP Columnist Madison Boudreau Popovic argues that President Donald J. Trump has what it takes to win reelection over former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.

She contends that Trump oversaw impressive nationwide economic growth, helped communities of color through his policy reforms and restructured the college loan repayment plan to decrease higher education costs.

Read more on Page 10

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October 30, 2020

NU expects faculty to return to campus in spring

By Matt Yan News Staff In an email sent to all faculty Oct. 22, Northeastern updated its remote work policy for the Spring 2021 semester. Faculty are expected to return to campus “to teach their courses and conduct their research and service,” according to the email from Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs David Madigan.

“We now have a new normal at Northeastern,” Madigan wrote. “In light of this, we are changing the policy for remote work requests for the spring 2021 term. For the spring 2021 term, except as outlined below, we expect faculty to return to campus to teach their courses and conduct their research and service.”

Madigan outlined two possible reasons for which faculty can

request remote work.

Faculty at higher risk under the CDC guidelines, as well as those with disabilities or a pregnancyrelated condition, may qualify for remote work under the first option, Madigan wrote. However, age will no longer be a sole determining factor.

“The university will no longer consider a person’s age alone as the sole factor for approving a work accommodation,” he wrote.

“However, individuals who believe they are at higher risk or vulnerability due to their age may raise their concerns with [Human Resources Management] by completing that section of the form in the link above.”

The second exemption is for faculty residing with someone with a pre-existing medical condition or at increased risk to contracting

COVID-19.

Madigan attributed the policy change to “strong compliance across our global university system, robust testing, and extremely low positivity rates on the Boston campus.”

While faculty are expected to return, requests for remote work will still be accepted and addressed on a case-by-case basis. Requests must be submitted by Nov. 6.

Madigan noted that this policy is subject to change “given the evolving nature of the current coronavirus crisis, as well as university operational needs.”

“We recognize that the limits of this temporary policy may impose burdens on faculty that were not the case in the fall term and we will endeavor to help,” Madigan wrote.

“We look forward to welcoming faculty and students back to campus for the start of the spring term.”

Photo by Deanna Schwartz Madigan attributed the policy change to the university’s testing system and low positivity rates.

Work the Polls looks to diversify poll corps

By Marta Hill News Staff After not being able to vote in the New York primary election because her ballot did not arrive in time, Northeastern graduate Laura Mueller-Soppart decided to testify in front of the New York campaign finance board.

“I was really seeking recourse, like I wanted to know if we should go to the [Board of Elections] or what kind of recourse exists for a voter, especially because we were talking about a magnitude of 30,000 New Yorkers that didn’t get to vote in that primary,” Mueller-Soppart said.

During her testimony, she heard from poll workers and was struck by the specificity of issues they faced.

“Because they were actually doing the tangible work of administering the elections, [the poll workers] had such clear suggestions,” MuellerSoppart said. “It was to me quite obvious that if we could just make

the poll worker corps more robust, and you could eliminate some of the issues — like [that] there simply weren’t enough of us — that would make such a sizable impact on the election.”

After hearing the testimonies, Mueller-Soppart decided to create Work the Polls. Work the Polls is a grassroots initiative whose mission is to fully staff poll sites across the country with a young and diverse poll worker corps. Mueller-Soppart said she approached a few friends, including Northeastern graduate Klevis Xharda, and the organization was up and running within a week.

“Work the Polls is really committed to making sure that young people not only are recruited [to work at poll sites], but also get through the training process,” Mueller-Soppart said. “We’ve been focused on little wins here and there as we go through, and then [we] want to recalibrate our efforts to reforming the application system.”

Photo courtesy Laura Mueller-Soppart Laura Mueller-Soppart and Klevis Xharda, the two founders of Work the Polls, want to make it easier to become a poll worker across the country.

There are other organizations out there with similar goals, but Xharda said Work the Polls stands out because of how it approaches its mission.

“I think where we differ a little bit is that the campaign has largely been focused on reaching out to our networks, to our friends, to people that we know and personalizing the experience or the process,” Xharda said. “We’ve taken the approach of not being too political and being more focused on the personal aspect of being a poll worker and what that means.”

Since its founding just a few months ago, more than 3,000 people have pledged to become poll workers, covering 46 states and more than 280 counties, Mueller-Soppart said.

She said the goal is not to reach a certain number of pledges, but rather to alleviate some of the friction that is normally part of the application process.

“We try to have a little bit of a bigger share of voice by reaching out to counties,” Mueller-Soppart said. “They send us forms and things that we just pass on directly which honestly cuts the administrative time in 12, which is great.”

Beyond helping individual people register to be a poll worker, Work the Polls has been involved in large-scale operations as well. For example, in Los Angeles, the Board of Elections, or BOE, was updating the data management system, and in the process voided thousands of new applications from poll workers. Work the Polls helped notify people whose applications may have been voided. “[The BOE was] doing good work, updating their management system … and we appreciate that they’re totally overwhelmed,” MuellerSoppart said. “If we can help amplify what the next steps are, that’s what we want to do.”

The application process to be a poll worker can vary widely even within one state. Xharda said in Boston it is a modern, easy-to-use website, but in nearby Essex County there is just a phone number and email to reach out to, which may deter people from applying.

“It just became so evident to us that because there’s no federal comprehensive federal election standards,” Xharda said. “It’s up to each individual county to create the app [for] the poll worker application process, and with over 3,200 counties that means that you have 3,200 different applications.”

While applying to work the polls in San Francisco, Xharda had to answer two odd questions at the end — one had a spelling error and one was similar to a math question on a standardized test. He said people were not told that if they answered either question wrong, they were automatically disqualified from being a poll worker.

“I quickly contacted the Board of Elections in San Francisco and described my process and didn’t really expect that to go anywhere but I was on the phone with somebody the next day and that next day they changed the application,” Xharda said. “They removed those questions and so anyone applying in the city of San Francisco would at least get the opportunity to train.”

He went on to say that a highlight of his experience with Work the Polls has been how receptive counties generally are to improving their systems.

“Part of what we’ve discovered through this process is there just hasn’t been much attention around the issue in the past and so there’s never really been incentive to change the way that the counties work,” Xharda said. “It just takes somebody saying something.”

Mueller-Soppart said her biggest

difficulty is ensuring potential poll workers stay engaged and helping them follow up with their counties.

“I think the greatest challenge for me is staying optimistic,” MuellerSoppart said. “I’m telling people [to] keep following up, keep letting BOE know that you want to work the polls, [and] eventually you will get through,” Mueller-Soppart said.

For Xharda one of the hardest aspects of this election has been the dynamic between mail-in voting and in-person voting. He said mail-in voting is a really useful tool, but he tries to encourage voting in person.

“Part of that struggle is because you never want to advise somebody to put their health in harm’s way,” Xharda said. “But for a lot of young people if you take the right precautions … you can go and vote safely in person.”

Mueller-Soppart said Work the Polls has focused on making connections with people who are pledging. After pledging, Work the Polls sends prospective poll workers emails periodically with more information about polling in their area.

“It’s just about taking that extra little time to win one more poll worker,” Mueller-Soppart said. “I think that makes an incredible difference and then always reminding people, ‘Let us know how it goes, we want to hear from you,’ because it is a conversation.”

While Work the Polls is currently focused on the upcoming election, Xharda said its work will not stop there.

“We’re always going to need poll workers, so the application process I don’t think should ever stop. If you’re not a poll worker this election there’s another one coming up in two years,” Xharda said. “There’s no need for us to regress and go back to a system where poll workers are all over the age of 60 once again.”

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Sexual health pop-ups provide students with resources

NUPD CRIME LOG

October 30, 2020

By Adessa Jayne News Correspondent Northeastern University Health and Counseling Services, or UHCS, partnered with the Office of Prevention and Education, or OPEN, along with ResLife and three student organizations, to launch a series of pop-up events and online resources for students’ sexual health throughout COVID-19.

“With the pandemic, we’ve shifted our in-person availability a bit, so we no longer have walk-ins,” said Christine Civiletto, the interim executive director of UHCS since last April.

“We came up with this idea to have sexual health pop-up events where we could have packages of sexual health supplies that we could lay out on a table that students could come by and grab at their leisure.”

The pop-up events provide students with an array of sexual health supplies — including internal condoms, external condoms, dental dams and lubricant — in the interest of making safe sex possible for everyone.

“One thing that we as students wanted to make sure of was that there were safe sex items for all communities, not just the typical heterosexual [community],” said Sara Flynn, a fifth-year human services major and vice president of external affairs for NU Sexual Assault Response Coalition, or SARC. SARC, NU Mutual Aid and NU Sexual Health Advocacy, Resources and Education, or SHARE, are the three student organizations working on these initiatives.

The pop-up events’ goodie bags include a QR code that directs students to a Linktree page with several websites covering a breadth of sexual health topics such as consent, sexually transmitted infections, or STIs, and resources for sexual violence.

Featured on both the Linktree and NU Mutual Aid’s webpage is an anonymous form allowing students to submit any questions or comments they have on sexual health, all of which will be answered anonymously on NU Mutual Aid’s website and NU SHARE’s Instagram.

According to SHARE’s resource document on sexual violence, Northeastern’s Office for University Equity and Compliance guarantees that a student who reports an instance of

We’re in the interest of expanding accessibility to get testing and removing the stirgma because it’s something everybody should do.

— Allyson Lowitz Co-President of SHARE sexual assault that involves a violation of the university’s COVID-19 regulations will not be subject to disciplinary action — though this amnesty has yet to become an official policy.

“A really important thing that SARC just advocated for is that if you are a victim of sexual violence and you’ve broken COVID guidelines, you have amnesty,” said Allyson Lowitz, a fourth-year psychology major and co-president of SHARE. Lowitz also emphasized SHARE’s mission of raising awareness for sexual health and STI testing, and explained how the pandemic could break down stigmas surrounding getting tested for STIs. “We’re in the interest of expanding accessibility to get testing and removing the stigma because it’s something that everybody should be doing,” Lowitz said. “While the pandemic adds a new dimension to physical boundaries, I think it’s hopefully also promoting a little bit more discussion because you do have to talk about those things to be safe.”

Given the increased feelings of stress and isolation caused by the pandemic, UHCS has expressed a focus on providing mental health resources for students.

“Mental health is a topic worth a lot of attention given all of the stressors in the world today, but then with the pandemic on top of it, I think it’s been particularly challenging and we’re really wanting to get that

message out that support is available,” Civiletto said. “We have Find@ Northeastern, which is a [collection] of mental health programs that offers 24/7 support to students who are in the U.S. as well as international.”

Since stepping into the role of interim executive director of UHCS, Civiletto has reached out to student organizations to build a positive relationship with students.

“It’s been truly and genuinely a pleasure to work with students and hear ways that we can together meet the needs of the larger student body,” Civiletto said. “I’ve really enjoyed the energy, the excitement, the feedback that we’ve heard — it’s been really helpful in thinking about how we structure our services.”

In the past, many students felt that UHCS did not adequately fulfill the needs of the student body.

“A broad population of the campus community has felt that [UHCS’s] resources weren’t as accessible as they needed to be and capacity was more limited than the Northeastern community that needed them,” Flynn said.

The steps Civiletto has taken to foster a positive relationship between UHCS and the student body have been well received among students, and could be a turning point for the university.

“I think it’s so amazing with this new leadership how collaborative they’re being and how they want to hear the student needs and figure out how to work with students to address them,” Allocco said.

UHCS’s collaboration with student groups aims to ensure that the proper resources and support are available to students in times of need.

“Help is available, support is available,” Civiletto said. “We’re here for you.”

SEXUAL HEALTH POP-UP HOSTED BY: • • • • • •

NU Share SARC NU Mutual Aid UHCS ResLife O.P.E.N.

NU Votes works to register students to vote COALITION, from front pays for a system called TurboVote to make the process of voting as a college student easier. Through the TurboVote site, students can enter the state they will be voting in into the online service and be walked through the voting process. TurboVote also includes options for email or text notifications with information on how to get an absentee ballot or reminders about upcoming elections.

Lily Elwood, a second-year journalism student, will be voting in Massachusetts by mail. It’s important for college students not to feed into

the divisive rhetoric surrounding the validity of mail-in voting, she said.

“A lot of people think their vote doesn’t matter anyway, especially if you live in a state like Massachusetts that almost always votes Democrat, but it does in this election especially,” she said. “The vote is really in the young people.”

Nivar echoed this sentiment, saying that it is imperative for college students to exercise their civic responsibility to impact the future.

“We know a lot of societal problems are being passed onto our generation, but if we’re not having an input in political, social or economic

matters now then someday we’ll be too old to change them because we didn’t start early enough,” Nivar said.

Chaturvedi said young voters need to ditch the “doomer mentality” of believing that their vote doesn’t matter.

“The best way you can show your politicians you are important to them is by voting and that power is something I feel a lot of young kids don’t seem to be harnessing,” Chaturvedi said. “People need to realize that if you’re more involved with the electoral process, there are a lot of ways you can make a difference in society.”

Compiled by Mike Puzzanghera, News Staff

1:30pm

8:45pm

2:52pm

MONDAY, OCT. 19th The manager of Wollaston’s Market in Marino Recreation Center reported an active shoplifter placing items in his pockets and backpack before leaving the store. Officers responded and reported checking the area with negative results. Officers report that the manager believed he was able to get all the items back before the man fled the scene, and the shoplifter provided his name. Officers also found two internal reports of the man in their system, showing active warrants. A report was filed.

An NU student reported her AirPods were stolen from a lab in the basement of Hurtig Hall last week. A report was filed.

TUESDAY, OCT. 20th An NU staff member reported that a woman, unaffiliated with NU, entered Matthews Arena through the Zamboni entrance looking for a bathroom, and that it appeared the woman was in possession of a needle. The woman was confronted and informed that the building is for NU affiliates only and escorted out of the building. Officers reported locating the female at Massachusetts Avenue and Huntington Avenue and banning the woman from all NU property. A report was filed.

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 21st

1:50pm

The manager of Wollaston’s Market in Marino Recreation Center reported that they had stopped an NU student in the store for shoplifting. Officers reported banning the student from both Wollaston’s locations. A report was filed.

THURSDAY, OCT. 22nd

4:04pm

A report was filed regarding a larceny from the mailroom in Matthews Arena.

FRIDAY, OCT. 23rd

9:47am

The manager of Wollaston’s Market in Marino Recreation Center reported that an NU student did not pay for all of their items. Officers reported banning the student from both Wollaston’s locations. A report was filed.

1:41pm

An NU student reported her laptop was stolen from her unattended bag in Ryder Hall. A report was filed.

SATURDAY, OCT. 24th

2:47am

An officer reported an intoxicated student outside of Wollaston’s Market in West Village. Officers reported requesting an ambulance for the student. The student was transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center for further evaluation. A report was filed.

9:57am

The manager of Cafe Strega in the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex reported that muffins were stolen from a recent delivery. A report was filed.

2:52pm

An NU student reported a man chasing a woman down Douglass Park Street toward Tremont Street, then taking a left on Tremont. After a brief pursuit on foot, an officer placed the man in custody in front of 475 Massachusetts Ave. The man, unaffiliated with NU, was placed under arrest for an active warrant. Boston Police arrived and assumed jurisdiction. A report was filed.

12:51am 11:21am

SUNDAY, OCT. 25th An officer reported finding a wallet containing a fake ID belonging to an NU student. A report was filed.

The manager of Wollaston’s Market in Marino Recreation Center reported a shoplifter. Officers report banning the shoplifter, an NU student, from both Wollaston’s locations.

A report was filed.

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Calendar compiled by Ingrid Angulo Graphics by Alaine Bennett & Devin Raynor

Friday, Oct. 30 Beetlejuice Drag Performance An all-star cast of actors and drag performers will stage a reading of the Halloween comedy classic “Beetlejuice,” presented on Twitch.

9 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., free with $10 suggested cover, hosted on twitch.tv/KandiDishe

Review: ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ pioneered new genre of horror

By Grace Comer News Correspondent

More than 35 years since its initial release, Wes Craven’s “Nightmare on Elm Street” continues to hold a special place in the world of classic horror. One of the most iconic and instantly recognizable villains, Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) represented a new kind of horror. Rather than simply obsessing over killing, like earlier villains such as Leatherface, Freddy truly wanted to strike terror into the hearts of his victims.

The revenge motivation, moreso than simple murder, is what continues to make “Nightmare on Elm Street” a classically scary film.

Freddy was all about the show and made sure his victims knew they were about to suffer at his hands.

“1, 2, Freddy’s coming for you, 3, 4, better lock the door…”

Terrible and inhumane even without a mask, Freddy haunted young teens in their dreams. He sought to continue killing children, as he had during his life, and to exact revenge on their parents for his death by torturing the teens, despite their innocence.

The dream aspect adds another element of fear to the film. The lines between dreamland and real life blur, especially as Nancy attempts to avoid sleep

Friday, Oct. 30 Wicked Virtual Film Fest for as long as possible. As the viewer, not knowing what is real makes Freddy’s appearances all the

Two of New England’s ghoulish ghost writers are assembling a motley crew of spooktacular documentaries and films for a 13-hour virtual film festival.

7 p.m. Oct. 30 - 8 a.m. Oct. 31, $15, tickets available via Eventbrite

Saturday, Oct. 31 Halloween at The Boohive The Beehive bistro is hosting a day-long Halloween event, beginning with brunch from 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. and specials from 5 p.m. - midnight.

Prizes for best costume will be given throughout the night.

11 a.m. - midnight, free to attend, The Beehive

Saturday, Oct. 31 Pagan Spirits of Hallow’s Eve Celebrate pagan and witchy traditions for Halloween in this virtual event. The day-long event will have storytelling, discussions, live rituals and a virtual marketplace.

12 p.m. - 10 p.m., $3, Hosted on Facebook Live by Embercraft Creations

Saturday, Oct. 31 Dumpling Cooking Class & Lunch Learn to make your favorite dim sum treats from scratch using traditional Chinese ingredients and utensils, and spend the afternoon eating your handcrafted creations.

1 p.m. - 4 p.m., $75, Selfup Venue

October 30, 2020

more unexpected and terrifying. His appearance

in their dreams negates the safety of the usually comforting words “It was just a dream,” as Tina brutally finds out.

Freddy invades every victim’s sleep — when they are at their most vulnerable and should expect to feel safe. It also adds to the adults’ disbelief, making it impossible for the teens to get help.

Their parents, who are supposed to support them, instead try to force them to sleep, believing it will help them. Being completely alone in fighting the monster, while also unaware as to why Freddy is hunting them, is the scariest part.

The impact the film had on the horror genre is also clear. From the classic, and now clichéd, creepy music to the common invisible villain or things coming through the walls, “Nightmare on Elm Street” was a pioneer for many of the genre’s tropes.

However, the obvious ’80s cine-

matographic style and special effects lessen the fear factor of the film, as it is easier now to see that it is nothing more than a film.

While I would not say that this film was truly terror-inducing, or even nightmare fuel, it was still a blueprint for future horror films. Viewers get caught up in the film, especially younger viewers, can put themselves in the shoes of the victims. In the search for classic Halloween horror movies, “Nightmare on Elm Street” absolutely makes the cut.

Review: ‘The Haunting of Bly Manor’ frightens with suspense

By Sarah Olender Lifestyle Editor

Director Mike Flanagan is a perfectionist. He couldn’t just stop after creating the chilling and widely acclaimed “The Haunting of Hill House.” He had to craft a second chapter that was bigger, better and scarier.

Thus, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” was created.

Similar to his previous mini-series, “The Haunting of Bly Manor” follows the story of a haunted family, frequently alternating between past and present to tell the ghost stories of the house and their own family history. While “Hill House” hones in on one nuclear family and their experiences stemming from a haunted house, “Bly Manor” follows an American au pair attempting to escape her past as she takes a job in rural England as a livein nanny with two children whose parents have recently died. While caring for Flora (Amelie Bea Smith) and Miles (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), she notices increasingly peculiar behaviors in the two kids, as well as the other caretakers on the property.

All the while, au pair Dani has a ghost of her own that continues to haunt her.

Bly Manor’s locale is home to a variety of spirits – Dani is haunted by her own ghost of the past, the property is haunted by a woman in the lake and the house is haunted by the people who have died there.

The diverse array of supernatural elements and storylines easily become confusing, and it isn’t until the final episode that the audience finally understands how each is intertwined. Because the show takes such a long time to reach the main plot points, the audience has more time to dwell on the suspense and mystery. The drawn out ending makes the reveal of true backstories and intentions more satisfying. There is just enough information in each episode to keep viewers invested.

The mystery of what kind of mental torture Dani is undergoing constantly keeps the viewers in unnerving suspense. Everytime

the au pair looks in the mirror, she sees the ghost of a man with bright, glowing eyes. His identity is not revealed until later in the series, leaving the audience constantly questioning who he is and what his role in her past was.

Because of the complicated backstories and characters, “Bly Manor” relies on many flashbacks to fill in the blanks and to provide context as the series unfolds.

The entirety of episode three is filled with seamless transitions between the past and the present. It is an hour of backstories for many of the main characters. The ending comes at the perfect time, where the backstories collide in one perfect ending, allowing the audience to leave the series satisfied, yet still craving more.

At times, “Bly Manor” seems to be doing too much. There are almost too many traumatic backstories to keep track of and suppressed sexualities to uncover. By the end of the nine-part series,

the audience is finally able to see all angles of this complicated story.

While categorized as a horror show, the mini-series frightens viewers more with suspense and mystery than jump scares and gore. It is chilling because of dramatic irony, where the audience knows what is happening, but the characters do not.

Even in the most dramatic of scenes, there is often an absence of music. Though the series relies heavily on suspense to keep the audience on the edge of their seat, the show effortlessly does this without any music in key points. The choice to use silence as a background noise is deafening.

On many occasions, cinematographer James Kneist angles the camera so it faces Dani from the darkest corner or angle, making the audience feel as if they are swallowed by darkness and peering out from the shadows. Lighting choices often silhouette the main characters or evil spirits, further intensifying the moment.

While slow to start, and more suspenseful than the prequel series, overall “The Haunting of Bly Manor” is a mini-series you must binge on the nights leading up to Halloween.

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October 30, 2020

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9 Hall ween must-watch movies

By Luiza Loyo News Staff

One of the best things about Halloween is the endless catalogue of spooky films to choose from as you cozy up for the fall weather.

Since most Halloween plans will be indoors this year, watching movies is a great way to celebrate and get into the holiday spirit. There’s nothing better than witches, skeletons, ghostly family misadventures and a good jump scare. Here are some of the season’s best, from scary to silly: 1. “Scream” (1996) In the film that redefined the slasher genre, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) is stalked and terrorized by a masked killer. Besides what is arguably the most iconic final-girl of all time, the movie also counts with other ’90s household names, such as Courtney Cox, Drew Barrymore and Matthew Lillard. “Scream” brought back the slasher film trope with a fresh take as it references its predecessors, like “Halloween” and “Friday the 13th,” in an intelligent, funny, meta-approach to horror. The characters are well aware of scary movie clichés, playing off them and creating what, at the time, was an innovative way of looking at the genre.

It’s a timeless classic that appeals to both die-hard horror fans and those who cannot commit to something overly scary. For newcomers and scaredy-cats, it is the perfect way to start exploring the genre.

2. “Hocus Pocus” (1993) Before there was “High School Musical” and “The Cheetah Girls,” director Kenny Ortega blessed the world with the most obvious and

essential Halloween flick: “Hocus Pocus.” In this movie, a group of teenagers light a candle on Halloween night and awake three witches from their centuries-long slumber.

The kids must stop the witches and their evil plans, which puts them through a series of goofy misadventures.“Hocus Pocus” is everything you can expect from a cheesy Disney Channel movie, but with the incredible casting of Bette Middler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker as a trio of overdramatic witches, it turns into a cultural phenomenon that must be rewatched every year.

3. “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” (2019) This holiday doesn’t have to be entirely made up of old hits, proven by André Øvedral’s take on the “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” books that haunted children for generations.

In the film, a group of friends sneak into a haunted house and steal a book that belonged to a family with a dark past, unleashing monsters and other evil creatures contained in the book.

Although it’s aimed for a younger audience, it still manages to be frightening, mostly due to the unsettling look of the demons and monsters based on the original books’ haunting illustrations. It has a goosebumps-like quality to it, which, when mixed with some ’70s nostalgia, creates both a scary and fun time. With famous director Guillermo del Toro behind the film as a producer, the audience can feel the love and dedication for the weird and ghoulish.

4. “Edward Scissorhands” (1990) This movie might not be on everyone’s Halloween watchlist, but it definitely should. The unexpected but widely-beloved pick is a Tim Burton film starring Johnny Depp

and Winona Ryder in the prime of their careers. The story follows Edward (Depp), a man who was built in a science experiment, but when his creator dies, he is left unfinished with scissors for hands and an unsettling appearance. Edward then leaves his dark residency and has to adapt to the suburban lifestyle, where people have a hard time understanding him. It is almost a modern take on Frankenstein, with a dab of social commentary and innovation. The visuals in the movie are definitely a highlight as the pastel and cotton-candy-like aesthetic of suburbia directly clashes Edward’s gothic appearance. However, the movie is not only beautiful in its style choices. The romance between Edward and Kim (Ryder) paired with the sweet story of an outcast trying to find his place makes for an emotional and sensitive watch on Halloween.

cade of Halloween movies, and the remake of the popular ’60s sitcom, “The Addams Family,” cannot go unmentioned. The tale of the quirky and spooky family with a Frankenstein-like butler and a loose hand for a pet is so iconic that it was turned into a Broadway show and most recently, an animated film. The script of the movie is intelligently hilarious and the characters play off each other’s weirdnesses extremely well. The family’s adventures as they navigate a “normal” modern world — while being completely clueless as to their different and monster-like qualities — never fail to put a smile on people’s faces.

5. “The Craft” (1996) Who doesn’t love a good witch movie? This woman-centered feature follows the story of Sarah (Robin Tunney), the new student at school that soons gets recruited by a group of wannabe witches. The fashion and campy-ness of ’90s teenage witches alone explains why this film has such a cult following, and when you pair it with staples of the time, Neve Campbell and Skeet Ulrich (also in “Scream”), it’s a guaranteed hit. Although it has fun “emo” visuals and a silly premise, the film is a supernatural and creepy mess. It does not fit into the box of funny witch movies that include “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Bewitched.” “The Craft” is guaranteed to scare you, or at least freak you out.

7. “Us” (2019) Jordan Peele’s successor to his critically acclaimed “Get Out” is the perfect choice for those looking for a spooky and mind-boggling watch.

The film follows Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), her husband and two children as they visit her childhood beach house. The fun vacation soon turns into a nightmare as the family is terrorized by four ghouls that look exactly like them. Just like in “Get Out,” Peele brilliantly succeeds in terrifying the audience while having some light-hearted moments of humor sprinkled here and there. In addition to his superb directing and storytelling, the film counts with impeccable performances by Nyong’o and Elizabeth Moss. At the surface, the jump scares and overall creepy theme of the movie already make it a scary watch. However, as audiences ponder over Peele’s intended commentary and what his open-ended, subjective plot choices truly mean, “Us” can get substantially more frightening.

6. “The Addams Family” (1991) The ’90s were definitely the de-

8. “The Witches of Eastwick” (1987) Cher, Susan Sarandon and

Michelle Pfeiffer are witches in ’80s clothes and hairstyles. That should be enough to make this an iconic movie, but the absurd plot and Jack Nicholson’s deranged character make it a cult phenomenon for the ages. The story centers around the three single witches whose wishes come true when a handsome stranger comes to town. However, like any good movie about witchcraft, the stranger turns out to be an evil and manipulative monster. The events that ensue are unpredictable, insane and guaranteed to freak you out, if not make you extremely uncomfortable. With a powerful cast and a plot that mixes horror, romance and humor all in one, this is definitely a wild ride for Halloween night.

9. “Coraline” (2009) It wouldn’t be Halloween without some good stop-motion animation.

Although “The Nightmare Before Christmas” deserves an honorable mention, Coraline takes the cake as the spookiest and creepiest animated film to ever exist. The film follows a young girl, Coraline, as she explores her new home and finds a passage to an alternative universe that almost identically mirrors her own.

In the second universe, everything seems better and her relationships are healthier, until she realizes her “second family” intends to keep her there forever. The film has a tone and visual quality similar to Tim Burton’s animated works, such as “Corpse Bride” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” but it still manages to be original and stand on its own as something far creepier. Although targeted for young children, the plot and the visuals can equally scare those who are older. You will never look at dolls and buttons the same after this.

7 ways to celebrate Hall ween safely

By Ariana Ottrando News Correspondent

This year, Halloween will look much different than in the past. Parties and large gatherings can’t occur, but there are plenty of ways that you can still get into the spirit of spooky season. Here are some ways to celebrate a fun and safe Halloween, even from your dorm room.

Watch a scary movie Whether through streaming services or Freeform’s “31 nights of Halloween,” there’s an endless amount of scary movies to choose from. You can even watch a movie with friends virtually to make the experience more interactive through

Zoom or Netflix Party. Grab some snacks and candy, of course, and watch some classics if you haven’t already, such as “Halloween,” “Friday the 13th” and “Scream.”

Dress up Even without a party to attend, you can still dress up and put together a great costume. You can make a last-minute costume from your closet, follow a scary makeup tutorial or plan a matching costume with your roommate. You can even have a virtual costume party over Zoom or FaceTime. Take some cute pictures from the comfort of your dorm room and share them online to impress your friends.

Make Halloween treats Spending the night baking some

Halloween-themed treats is a guarantee for a good time. Get inspired on Pinterest or TikTok with limitless recipes to choose from and get to creating. A microwave and fridge can still be utilized to make chocolate bark, chocolate covered pretzels, mug cakes, fudge and more. If you can’t bake, there are always premade Halloween treats or candy bags to purchase in a supermarket or pharmacy that are also delicious.

Make a Halloween playlist If you have the time and patience, making the perfect playlist is a fun way of getting into the Halloween spirit. Even if your only plans are to relax in your dorm, it is essential to have Halloween music playing in the background. Add all of your favorite

spooky songs to a playlist and enjoy!

Some classics to add are “Thriller”

by Michael Jackson, “The Monster Mash” by Bobby “Boris” Pickett and “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. to get you started.

Make Halloween crafts If you’re not swamped with homework from procrastinating, doing some Halloween-themed crafts is sure to make you feel excited about the holiday. You can find plenty of ideas online and use the resources already laying around your dorm room. Draw a Halloween sign for your door, make a lantern out of a mason jar or cut out pumpkin and ghost-shaped papers to hang around the room. The possibilities are endless!

Graphic by Vitoria Poejo “Ghost” your friends You can still socially distance while surprising your friends by bringing trick-or-treating to them. Leave personalized goody bags with candy or baked goods outside of their dorm rooms and make sure they grab them before someone else does.

Explore Halloween activities near you If you don’t want to be cooped up in your room this Halloween, you can find local activities to safely partake in while following COVID-19 guidelines. Attend a costumed walking tour, carve pumpkins or play Halloween-themed games with friends, such as wrapping the mummy or scary movie trivia. Make sure to wear your mask and practice social distancing if you celebrate outside.

CITY

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October 30, 2020

COVID-19 CREATES OBSTACLES

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By Jayden Khatib Deputy City Editor As Nov. 3 gets closer, political candidates are trying to shore up key constituencies, including the youth vote.

In the 2016 presidential election, voters in the 18 to 29 age group were the only age range to increase their turnout rates compared to the 2012 election, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

This year, with a close presidential race and crucial state and local races, many have again turned their eyes to young voters who actually might be more engaged than in previous years.

“In the last handful of years, we’ve seen a lot more political activity and activism among college students, and politics has been basically unavoidable during the Trump administration, whether

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you like it or you don’t like it,” said Adam Gismondi, the director of impact at Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education. “That was sort of step one, that people started paying more attention to policies and they started paying more attention to the day-to-day happenings in our political world in the U.S., and 2020 has been at a level we’ve never seen.”

Gismondi explained that the COVID-19 pandemic may make it especially difficult for young people to ignore politics this election cycle.

“We’re in the midst of a global pandemic. There’s questions around how the U.S. has responded, there’s questions around how states have responded. Millions of people have been personally affected in one way or another by people getting sick or close to

Photo by Kelly Thomas In 2016, voters in the 18- to 29-yearold age group were the only age range to increase their turnout rates compared to the 2012 election.

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them,” Gismondi said. “Nearly everyone in the country has had some change in their lifestyle.”

However, even if young people are more engaged than before, the COVID-19 pandemic presents unique challenges for people looking to harness the youth vote.

Gismondi, whose scholarship focuses on campus activism, has found that cultivating an environment where people can exchange ideas is key for effectively organizing young people.

“One of the things is that we really emphasize this idea of campus climate for political awareness, which basically means that students feel like they can talk about what’s happened, the public relevance and what’s happening in the world and that they have opportunities for discussion in the classroom, organizations that they’re in and just kind of in spac-

... politics has been basically unavoidable during the Trump administration, whether you like it or you don’t like it.

— Adam Gismondi

Photo by Kelly Thomas The COVID-19 pandemic may make it especially difficult for young people to ignore politics this election cycle.

Director of Impact at Tufts University’s Institute for Democracy & Higher Education.

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es on campus,” Gismondi said.

“It’s all about cultivating an atmosphere where people feel like they can have an exchange of ideas.”

Jaquell Sneed-Adams is the director of Boston programs at the Center for Teen Empowerment, an organization that helps young people from low-income communities get involved in civics and politics, and she’s found that the pandemic has made her work harder. The Center for Teen Empowerment’s work is about helping young people realize their networks and leadership potential and then act to better their communities, Sneed-Adams said.

“We have noticed that it has been more difficult to connect with parts of our community that really still aren’t that familiar with or interested in really being engaged in the online space, which is completely reasonable and

Photo by Kelly Thomas With a close presidential race and crucial state and local races, many have again turned their eyes to young voters.

CITY

October 30, 2020

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FOR ENGAGING YOUNG VOTERS

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5 6 understandable,” Sneed-Adams said. “Also, some young people really have not been able to access the virtual space or don’t really feel engaged in that way, and it’s difficult for some of them.”

Ella McDonald, the field organizer for the Erika Uyterhoeven’s campaign for state representative of the 27th Middlesex District in Somerville, found that her own sense of despair about Bernie Sanders’ presidential primary loss, combined with the current state of the world, momentarily put a damper on political organizing.

“At the beginning of the pandemic, and there’s sort of this crazy moment, where we were all sent down, sent home from college, from these organizing communities that we really built and fostered on campuses,” MacDonald said. “At the same time, Bernie dropped out of the presidential

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race and a ton of people became kind of isolated and sort of fell out of politics, maybe became disillusioned.”

Beyond the emotional issues caused by pandemic-related upheaval, many of the regular ways that young people organize, such as tabling, are no longer safe options.

“We fall into habits and that includes for political, or civic organizing. ... What do we normally do in a run up to an election? What do we normally do just generally around on campus?” Gismondi said. “A lot of those activities just aren’t possible.”

Despite the fact that many previous organizing options aren’t available anymore, Gismondi insists that there are still ways for young people to organize effectively.

“One of the points that we try to make for the 2020 election is that

Photo by Kelly Thomas Many of the regular ways that young people organize, such as tabling, are no longer safe options.

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a lot of this stuff is still possible, because so many things have moved online over the years, not just this year. There’s a lot of tools out there for people for dialogue ...” Gismondi said. “There’s some more dynamic interpersonal communication available for group conversations.”

However, Sneed-Adams has found that online organizing can lead to more fatigue in young people used to more in-person interaction.

“Young people are returning to school. It can be really difficult to be on Zoom all day for school and class and then to join another Zoom and afternoon, every day of the week to do work, and it can be really exhausting,” Sneed-Adams said. “I mean, even as an adult going through this transition into constant Zoom meetings can be really difficult.”

MacDonald said that in her

Photo by Kelly Thomas Some believe online organizing can lead to more fatigue for young people used to in-person interaction.

work with progressive politics, she saw a “big drop-off in engagement when the pandemic hit” because “what draws people in is these sort of in-person spaces where you can really come together and connect with people.”

The Uyterhoeven campaign still managed to get young people involved and engaged in the campaign. More than 400 people volunteered, a significant number for a local race, MacDonald said.

She said that one key element of that engagement was making sure that people got to know each other and hyped each other up during phone banks.

“We put a lot of intentional work into making our campaign feel like a community... It was really important, since so much of the organizing was virtual, to make people feel like they’re a part of something…” MacDonald said.

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MacDonald also said they had to be much more intentional about checking in with and encouraging volunteers, since everyone was so spread out.

“You have to put in extra work to sort of foster those relationships when you’re organizing remotely,” MacDonald said.

Gismondi said that the current political moment is impossible to separate from young people’s political involvement.

“We’re kind of in the middle of the long overdue reckoning with race in America, and when you add that to a deeply polarized country, a month plus from Election Day, it’s a political moment for this country,” Gismondi said.

“We don’t know how it’s going to evolve, but [it’s] impossible to not think about what role you might have as an individual and what role you and your peers might have.”

Photo by Kelly Thomas One key element used by the Uyterhoeven campaign was making sure people got to know each other during phone banks.

CITY

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October 30, 2020

Question 2 aims to change electoral process RCV, from front abilities to rank the candidates but in their capabilities as voters. “[RCV] is the kind of thing voters want to tell their friends about,” said Evan Falchuk, board chair of the Yes On 2 campaign and former candidate for governor of Massachusetts.

Over the past couple years, thousands of volunteers across Massachusetts worked to collect more than 100,000 signatures to get RCV on the ballot, focusing on electronic signatures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Supporters of RCV in Massachusetts include U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, U.S. Representatives from districts 2-7, Attorney General Maura Healey, Secretary of the Commonwealth William F. Gavin and dozens of state senators and representatives.

Both the Massachusetts Democratic Party and Libertarian Party support RCV along with groups such as the Sierra Club, Boston Teachers Union, Amplify Latinx and Fair Vote.

“There’s a thirst for change,” said Rev. Vernon K. Walker, executive committee member and political committee member of the Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter.

Still, some organizations are against the idea; Americans for Tax Reform, Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance and Protect My Ballot all oppose Question 2. According to a poll by MassINC Polling Group for WBUR, 36 percent of the registered voters who were polled support RCV, and 36 percent reject RCV. The remaining 28 percent were undecided.

“The biggest hurdle is voters sitting down and learning about RCV,”

Walker said. “It’s about education. It’s about educating people about what RCV is and once people are educated about what it is, I think they will vote for it.”

Since voters aren’t required to rank every candidate with RCV, they don’t have to involuntarily choose any candidate they dislike.

“Ranked choice voting can help revolutionize the way in which our democracy operates,” Walker said.

“You can vote for the person you like the [most] without fear of electing the candidate you like the least. It prevents voters from having to pick between the lesser of two evils.”

Supporters of RCV also point to how it changes the ways in which candidates campaign.

“The current system makes it easy to spend your time trying to

Photo courtesy Natalia Linos Demonstrators gather and rally support for the implementation of Rank Choice Voting.

divide us instead of uniting us,” said Falchuk.

Negative campaigning, or purposefully smearing the reputation of an opponent, has a long history in the United States with modern examples of negative campaigning including Hillary Clinton airing television ads aimed at highlighting the difference in experience levels between her and Barack Obama, and Rep. Joe Kennedy’s ad accusing Sen. Ed Markey of betraying Malden workers.

“RCV encourages more collaborative campaigning. Instead of trying to say horrible things about you which might make your supporters hate me, it made people more likely to recognize the strengths of their opponents,” Shineman said. “Because they wanted to be voters’ second

choices too.”

Opponents of RCV argue that RCV is too complex and difficult for voters to understand. When asked to ranked multiple candidates, it’s “hard to believe” that a voter could differentiate enough between the various candidates.

“In our ideal world, voters are informed and opinionated. Uninformed voters are just something that democracy deals with, and the way democracy deals with that is by asking lots and lots of people,” said Rory Smead, assistant professor of philosophy and the Rossetti Professor for the Humanities at Northeastern University. “It all depends on what we want out of democracy. More complicated isn’t always a bad thing, especially when it allows us to better express our voices.”

Photo courtesy Yes on 2 A man rallies in support of Yes on 2 for Ranked Choice Voting.

Haley House Bakery Café empowers community

By Matt Yan News Staff At Haley House Bakery Café, the mission is simple: food with a purpose.

General manager Misha Thomas said the café is far from traditional.

Located in Roxbury’s Nubian Square, Haley House Bakery Café is a social enterprise café, as part of the larger Haley House non-profit organization, which also provides services related to meals, housing, urban farming and education.

“We are not a traditional café that operates [where its] main mission is to drive revenue,” said Thomas, who started as general manager in October 2019. “We look deeper at the social impacts. We look to partner more closely with neighborhood organizations and neighborhood initiatives as much as possible.”

Founded in 1996, Haley House’s mission is to use “food with purpose and the power of community to break down barriers between people, empower individuals, and strengthen neighborhoods,” according to their mission statement.

In 2019, Haley House shut down to restructure its operations. At the café, Thomas said she and her team, including chef Alima Mbabazi, restructured the menu to highlight the cultural diversity within their community.

“After I started last October, we’ve kind of solidified our culinary model as one that celebrates and embraces the culinary contributions of cultures in the African diaspora as well as [the] indigenous diaspora,” Thomas said.

While Haley House was shut down, Thomas, Mbabazi and the rest of the team took a step back, considering ways to innovate the menu and provide fresher ingredients for their patrons.

With their customer-favorite Nubian Square sandwich, they took the sandwich, which has jerk chicken, ginger coleslaw, chipotle aioli, cheese and greens, and put it on a chapati — an Indian flatbread that is a staple in Tanzania, where Mbabazi hails from.

Thomas said another popular item has been their sambusas, deep fried pastries filled with chicken, lentils or red red, which is a traditional Ghanaian dish with stewed black-eyed peas and tomatoes.

With COVID-19, Haley House Bakery Café was forced to pivot some of its operations, like its transitional employment program.

Thomas explained that the program takes in people who were incarcerated, have a record or some barrier to getting employed and trains them. Although the program is on hold, she added that they are still doing their best to “remain diligent in terms of how we can bridge

certain gaps in work [and] help people support themselves.”

“We have some people that sit in that category or have had difficulties with law in the past,” Thomas said.

“We don’t look at those types of details. We just hire for the person’s personality, and we just work with people from there.”

Another program on hold because of the coronavirus pandemic is Take Back the Kitchen, where Thomas said they taught cooking classes to neighborhood kids of all ages in partnership with Boston Public Schools and other charter schools.

Programs like these, Thomas added,

go hand-in-hand with Haley House’s mission of food with purpose. “[Haley House] was very grassroots in its origins,” she said. “It’s always kind of traditionally been a space where we created and fostered an environment where anybody [who] has ideas around that mission can come in with their definitions and propose things.”

Even with COVID-19 and its changes in operations and prior initiatives, Haley House is still just as involved in its community.

Haley House hosted an art exhibition in partnership with Artists for Humanity Oct. 24. Throughout No-

vember in honor of Native American Heritage Month, Thomas said they also will be holding space for Native American people and “acknowledging the work it takes to decolonize the food industry.”

Ultimately, as a social enterprise, the purpose of Haley House beyond food is to serve the people in the Nubian Square community.

“It really is about the people. It’s not about the dollars,” Thomas said.

“But we’re also trying to make it so that economic empowerment is a big deal, especially for communities of color or disenfranchised people in general.”

Photo courtesy Christopher McIntosh Haley House Bakery Café was founded in 1996 and is located in Roxbury’s Nubian Square.

SPORTS

October 30, 2020

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Madison Neuner overcomes running challenges

By Leah Cussen Deputy Sports Editor At the 2019 Nassaney Invitational, the first meet of the women’s cross country season, Madison Neuner finished first among attached collegiate runners and fourth overall with a 5K time of 18:14.1 as a freshman. Now a sophomore, Neuner is no stranger to challenges. From dealing with injuries to adjusting to practices during COVID-19, Neuner has proven her ability to overcome adversity.

Growing up a triplet, Neuner has been surrounded by athletes her entire life. Her sister, Emily, runs cross country and track and field at American University, while her other sister, Jessica, competes on the crew team at Ithaca College.

It wasn’t always clear that Neuner was going to be a cross country runner. In middle school, she joined track and field as a hurdler.

“My hurdling coach in high school just happened to be the cross country coach, and one of my closest friends on my team was also on the cross country team,” Neuner said.

“So in freshman year outdoor track [season], they spent the entire season pestering me about [joining the cross country team].”

Knowing nothing about cross country, Neuner agreed to join the team in her sophomore year of high school and immediately fell in love with the sport.

Despite not knowing what to expect as a cross country and track and field runner for Northeastern, Neuner experienced many successes throughout her first year as a Husky.

During her first cross country season, she finished in 43rd place at the New England Cross Country Championships with a 5K time of 18:57.6 and placed 15th at the CAA Cross Country Championships with a 6K time of 21:39.4.

After a good race, Neuner thinks back to what she did the day before and tries to repeat them for her next race. She drank SmartWater the day before her first couple of races as a Husky, having done well in a high school race after drinking some.

While she abandoned that ritual after not seeing consistent results, there is one ritual she sticks to for every race.

“The night before a race I’ll [turn] on … the race-day playlist that my sister [Emily] made — in high school, we ran together. And I will lay on my bed with my Beats on so I can’t hear anything but the race-day playlist, I’ll just lay flat on my bed.

And I’ll visualize my best races,” Neuner said. “It’ll be 20 minutes … of me just laying on my bed completely in my own bubble, just thinking about the most memorable, most fun, biggest races and best races that I remember having, so that I can prepare myself to have another good memory that I can maybe visualize in the future.”

Still, Neuner’s first season wasn’t without its challenges. Two days after the Nassaney Invitational, she sustained a concussion. After being cleared a few weeks later, Neuner stretched her patellar tendon after tripping on a pothole.

“I ran through it for seven months because it wasn’t damaged, exactly, it

was just very, very uncomfortable,” Neuner said. “I’m glad I did because I got a lot of other fun memories from running cross country with the team.”

Neuner is no stranger to dealing with injuries. Aside from her two injuries as a Husky, she’s been injured four other times throughout her four-year running career.

“The more I just kept getting injured, I started handling it better,” Neuner said. “Because I was like, ‘Okay, you know, I’ve gone through this before. And running is super important. And I want to be able to get back.’ So I was able to work through it better than the first time.”

Neuner’s ability to overcome adversity has also translated into her regular training. NU women’s cross country assistant coach John Murray believes that Neuner was able to grow after each race last season.

“She came in fit and conditioned well for the season. And then from that we had a few other meets like the Battle in Beantown,” Murray said. “That was certainly a great learning experience for her because, you know, at a meet like that you’re competing against some of the top of the nation.”

Neuner and her teammates were forced to adapt to training during a pandemic. Until the end of September, they never even saw their coaches for practice. Now, a typical practice starts with a long run in small groups, followed by a workout on a track in Fenway.

However, since the pandemic, the men’s and women’s cross country teams can no longer train together.

“The big thing that makes the

cross country team special, in my opinion, is that the men and women actually train together. We’re seen as one singular team,” Neuner said.

“There’s a bit of a disconnect right now, but we’re doing the best we can.

Honestly, we’re just grateful to be together right now.”

Outside of running cross country, Neuner is a writer and photographer for the Red and Black, Northeastern’s student-run athletic magazine, and serves as their student athlete liaison. She is also a content creator for Voice in Sport, a sports advocacy platform that aims to support female athletes.

This past spring, she declared a double major in journal-

ism and communication studies after coming to Northeastern as part of the Explore Program.

As she looks forward to the upcoming track and field season, Neuner is ready for any challenge that comes her way.

“I think working through adversity is really important. And that’s something that’s really defined my running career,” Neuner said. “It’s made me realize how lucky I am to be an athlete and a runner.”

Photo courtesty Northeastern Athletics Sophomore Madison Neuner saw many successes in her first year as a Husky. Now, she’s ready for any challenges that come her way.

Athletes share their scholarship experiences

By Jvalanti Prasad News Correspondent Athletic scholarships are both the result of years of hard work and the start of an athlete’s career. Every athlete’s story is different, and every scholarship seems to mold to their story, especially here at Northeastern.

For Victor El Kholti, a freshman from France on the men’s rowing team, four different American universities scouted him; however, coming to America was not always his goal. His scholarship brought him one step closer to a future he didn’t believe was possible.

“Three years ago, I heard that if I [made] the junior championship, I would likely have the opportunity to get a scholarship in the United States, and for me, it was like a dream,” he said. “I think that I have to prove that I earned my scholarship because Northeastern put some money in me, and I don’t want them to regret that.”

COVID-19 has taken a lot from Northeastern’s athletic department, but it won’t take away the scholarships these athletes have worked their entire lives for. Northeastern announced that they are sustaining scholarships for current athletes during this time, regardless of whether they are on campus or not for this semester.

Sebastian Keane, a redshirt freshman pitcher on the baseball team

Graphic by Alaine Bennett and Kelly Chan

from North Andover, Mass., had a different approach to his scholarship than El Kholti.

“Northeastern was the first university that actually offered me a scholarship,” he said. “I know how hard my parents have worked to develop me as a person and a baseball player. It makes me happy that I don’t have to make them have loans.”

Unlike El Kholti, Keane doesn’t

feel pressure from being awarded an athletic scholarship.

“I honestly don’t even think about the scholarship. I just do my business every day. I just go to practice and work as hard as I can and then move on to the next day,” Keane said.

For some, athletic scholarships are their only way of going to college or having a shot at going professional.

Philips Magre, a junior runner for men’s track and field from Malden, Massachusetts, felt that Northeast-

ern was the right place for him, for both academics and athletics.

“My family comes from a lower economic background, and factoring in the fact that my mom also has four other kids to take care of, for all of us, it meant that we had to figure out our own way to get into college,” Magre said. “I’m happy I didn’t have to burden my family with figuring out how to pay for my college.”

Magre’s athletic career was strengthened by his scholarship, but all of these athletes’ seasons have been impacted by the pandemic.

The recruitment process has also changed.

The recruitment process starts for most student athletes around sophomore year of high school. Colleges start their search through the NCAA, which provides them with

a list of athletes around the world that fulfill the specific needs of their teams. They then send information and campus invites to prospective athletes, and they are evaluated in terms of both skill and academic achievements.

However, the recruitment process has become quite complex in a world riddled by COVID-19. This year evaluations are being done over video, with coaches not allowed off campus and unable to see their potential recruits first hand.

“This time is detrimental to some degree with respect to being able to see a kid [play] live,” said Mary Mulvenna, the associate athletic director.

“Prospective students that may be considered a year or two from now, are also shut down having not been on the playing field or court.”

Samantha Shupe, a senior setter for women’s volleyball from Ramona, California, feels that COVID-19 has impacted the state of the athletic world as well as how her and her teammates practice.

“Obviously, things are very different right now. We weren’t really allowed to do anything over the summer. We went back to practicing this past week, and I am so happy about that,” Shupe said. “Everything has to be super organized regarding spacing and cleaning and how we are practicing in general. We have developed a sense of being flexible and are moving a week at a time.”

OPINION

Page 10 The Huntington News EDITORIAL BOARD Editor-in-Chief

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Column: Let Trump continue to make America great again

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BUSINESS

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Photo courtesy Madison Boudreau Popovic As the next presidential election looms over the United States, President Donald J. Trump is fighting to remain in office for another four years against former Vice President Joe Biden. Trump has improved the United States by allowing the economy to flourish. As well as promoting economic growth, he demonstrates his support for communities of color by funding Historically Black Colleges and Universities, or HBCUs, that were in financial trouble and improving the college loan debt system for students. It is vital to recognize that neither of these candidates is the optimal choice and that both Biden and Trump have made offensive comments. However, as Americans, we must vote to decide which one

COPY EDITORS Alex Choung, Alexis Santoro, Ariana Bennett, Dayna Archer, Grace Horne, Hannah Anthony, Hannah Rosman, Jenna Chin, Jill Makin, Joanna Zhao, Maria Lovato, Marta Hill, Mike Puzzanghera, Petrina Danardatu, Samantha Cadenasso, Sarah Brinsley, Savannah Miller, Vishrut Sundararajan

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will lead the United States. All of Trump’s achievements, compared to Biden’s failures, make it obvious that Trump continues to be the right choice for president.

The economy prospered under the Trump administration, as the Dow increased at a historic rate compared to the Obama administration. At the end of Obama’s eight years, the Dow was at 20,000 points, and this figure rose to nearly 30,000 until the COVID-19 pandemic, which negatively impacted economies globally.

Former President Barack Obama may have improved the economy slightly, but Trump raised it exponentially, not just in growth rate, but also regarding the poverty rate among minorities.

Under Trump, the poverty rate among Black Americans decreased below 20 percent, which has not happened since before World War II. The terrific economic standing of the United States can be attributed to Trump, as he aims to better every member of American society through his economic policies.

Despite the great economic strides made during Trump’s four years, the coronavirus caused an unexpected economic downturn. Trump has worked tirelessly to improve the economy in these unanticipated circumstances as he pushed to reopen businesses and the economy.

Many people cannot wait for this virus to go away to make ends meet,

because if COVID-19 restrictions continue, they will be homeless and unemployed. Even though the current economy has much room for improvement to get it back to where it was prior to the pandemic, Trump has an urgency to fix the economy as fast as possible.

Trump has clearly shown he prioritizes the education of minority populations, as he has restored funding to many HBCUs. Trump recently signed a bill that granted more than $250 million to HBCUs, and $170 million of it will be allocated to other colleges that are tribal schools and minority-serving learning institutions.

Trump continues to demonstrate his desire to reform the United States higher education system, as he has proposed a new college loan repayment plan. His goal is to amend the Higher Education Act by limiting loan borrowing. This may sound unappealing and detrimental, but it is actually beneficial for students.

Many argue that if the amount that students can take out in loans is reduced, universities will be forced to either lower or cap their tuition. As a result, the overall cost of attending university may decrease and be less of a financial burden on families. The long-term benefits would certainly aid those paying outrageously high tuition prices.

While Trump is looking to strengthen the economy, Biden is

looking to ruin it. Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris will enact regulatory policies that may prove to cost many their jobs. Sen. Harris, Biden’s running mate, also claimed that there would not be tax increases on anyone earning less than $400,000, but this is false. Biden’s policies will increase direct and indirect taxes for those earning less than $400,000. What happened to looking out for the middle class in order to help the economy?

It is time for Americans to wake up and admit that Trump would be a better president than Biden, as Biden is not, and has never been, ready to be a leader. What can Biden do in four more years that he could not do in 47 years?

It is necessary that people comprehend that neither candidate is ideal, as their behavior can be poor and Trump and Biden have made rude statements on various topics.

However, Trump’s impact on the U.S. economy shows amazing success, and he improved the funding allocated towards HBCUs, helping students receive higher education and promoting economic growth. It is imperative that when you vote, you think long and hard about Trump’s accomplishments.

Madison Boudreau Popovic is a first-year political science and business administration combined major. She can be reached at popovic.m@northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: Gen Z, let’s build back better with Biden-Harris

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October 30, 2020

Photo by Kelly Thomas This country is at a critical inflection point. We are peering down a forked path, with two very distinct visions for the future. As voters, many for the first time, the choice we make in this election will impact us for the rest of our lives. Whether you’re a student majoring in political science or someone who tries to stay out of politics, the outcome of this election will have a profound impact on your day-to-day life.

The choice is clear. We can maintain the status quo by keeping a president who denies scientific evidence, makes voting increasingly challenging and fans the flames of racism.

Or we can pick a new path — one of light at a time of immense darkness and uncertainty. One of equality and unity at a time when our divisions have been so severely exacerbated.

With so much on the line, young

Americans need to elect a leader who understands the scale of the issues we face today, instead of someone who minimizes them and claims he’s more qualified than the experts. The leader we truly need is Joe Biden.

Biden is running as a proud, life-long Democrat, but he will be a president for all Americans. He understands the struggles of working families, because he grew up in one.

As a native of Scranton, Pa., a working-class town, Biden knows that a job is about more than just a paycheck — it’s about the respect every human being deserves. That’s why he’ll raise the minimum wage to $15 and make sure American workers are protected during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. He knows that climate change is an existential threat to the future of humanity and that it disproportionately affects impoverished people and communities of color. His plan to make a $2 trillion investment in green energy and infrastructure will meet science’s demands and protect the future of our planet for years to come.

Healthcare is personal for Biden, as the protections under the Affordable Care Act allowed his son, Beau Biden, to live out his final days battling brain cancer with dignity.

As president, he’ll make sure no American loses coverage because of a pre-existing condition, no young person is kicked off their parents’ plan before they turn 26 and no family goes bankrupt because of a surprise

medical bill. Biden will establish a robust public option that will provide cost-effective and high-quality care to any American who cannot afford or does not want private insurance.

Biden sees how the systemic barriers of racism impede and harm Black and Brown Americans in all aspects of life, especially with the contemporary economic and public health crises we face as a nation. As we begin the process of building back our economy, a Biden-Harris administration will attack systemic racism head-on and ensure that barriers to building wealth in communities of color aren’t further perpetuated.

Regardless of what matters to you, Joe Biden brings a competent understanding of issues and an empathy for other people’s struggles, which will heal this nation at a time of great division and guide us toward a more prosperous, equitable future.

Some question whether or not Biden has been an effective legislator during his 40-plus years of public service. However, the facts contradict this concern. As Vice President, Biden oversaw the economic recovery from the Great Recession in 2009 and led initiatives like the Cancer Moonshot. During his time as a senator, he championed legislation such as the Violence Against Women Act and played a key role in reforming gun laws. Over his entire career, Biden has been focused on bending the arc of moral justice toward equality, and his highly-qualified record

clearly reflects that.

With so much at stake in this election, do we really want the most important job in the world to be held by a man who thought we could defeat COVID-19 by injecting bleach into our lungs or that we could nuke hurricanes to stop them from hitting our shores?

The current administration lacks the basic skills for effective governance and the basic empathy to understand the pain so many American families are experiencing now. If Trump cared about saving American lives as much as he cared about avoiding paying his taxes, maybe this crisis could have been more competently handled. He denies the existence of climate change and dismisses systemic racism. He writes love letters to ruthless dictators. He even refuses to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses. He is woefully incompetent, dangerously vindictive and just plain bad at his job.

This November, I’m voting to put this country on a new path. This November, I’m voting for Joe Biden. In the spirit of country and individual, you should too.

Jackson Hurley is a third-year political science major. He is President of Northeastern for Biden and a national co-chair of the Students for Biden program. For Biden campaign related inquiries, please reach out to him at jhurley@joebidenvols.com. For any other inquiries, he can be reached at hurley.ja@northeastern.edu.

OPINION

October 30, 2020

Page 11

Op-ed: Make Election Day a holiday, but also fight voter suppression

Photo by Kelly Thomas On Capitol Hill, Democrats have proposed making election day a national holiday to increase public participation. With little to no movement on this legislation in D.C., individual states and organizations have attempted to fill in the gaps.

On Northeastern’s campus, a group of faculty, staff and students formed Northeastern Votes to educate the community about voting rights and civic participation while boosting the university’s voter population. Recently, they issued a petition to close the school on Election Day. Framing Election Day as a day of celebration could generate greater enthusiasm around voting while simultaneously granting a significant number

of voters adequate time to go to the polls. It could snap people out of their “voter fatigue” and increase turnout.

But, it would not address the real roots of the issue: voter suppression.

The problem with America’s current voting system is not that people are too fatigued to participate. Rather, it’s that federal and state politicians consistently disenfranchise Americans in the hopes of maintaining power and resisting change. This is not a new phenomenon either — it has been an overarching theme in U.S. politics since the Founding Fathers first put pen to paper and it won’t be changed simply by creating a new holiday.

In the beginning of our democracy, the Founding Fathers feared that a large voting population caught up in ideological fervor would steer the country toward destruction. This fear was worsened by the belief that the general voting public would never be educated enough to vote with the country’s best interests in mind. For a government supposedly by the people and for the people, there was little trust in voters. So, they created the Electoral College to mitigate this fear.

Within the system, each state has a set number of delegates based on the state’s population, and the candidate who wins the most districts in a state wins all of these delegate votes. It is

these votes that are the actual deciders of the election. The delegates act as the mediators between the supposed “uneducated mob” and the “enlightened government,” as part of a system where votes can be weighed and distributed to create a desired outcome.

Initially, this allowed the Southern states to count enslaved peoples as three-fifths of a person without giving them the right to vote. The expansion of suffrage in the coming centuries only increased the threat to existing political power structures as more Americans demanded change.

In the 1860s, it took a civil war, the first presidential impeachment and endless political compromises to even grant Black Americans the right to be free citizens with voting power. Yet not even three constitutional amendments could guarantee that Black men could vote. They faced countless political and physical voter suppression tactics, such as poll taxes, literacy tests, intimidation and lynching.

Even when the federal government was aware of these heinous crimes, many ex-Confederates in Congress unsurprisingly acted slowly to create legislation, which became practically useless once made into law. Every time a new law was passed, states would find more ways to keep Black men from the polls. At the same

time, women’s suffrage was barely considered, with the amendments specifying that citizens — or rather, men — had the right to vote.

Another century would have to pass and thousands of lives would be lost before the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. While it would be foolish to ignore the tremendous impact of this act, it would also be foolish to ignore its limitations and eventual end. The first major limitation was that the law would have to be renewed every five years by Congress, giving ample opportunities to make changes. The second limitation was created in 2013. The Supreme Court declared that nine states would no longer have to receive federal approval before making changes to voting laws, polling locations and districts. It gutted the act. Voter suppression occurred before this Supreme Court decision, but now there were even fewer ways in which people could fight back.

Since the court’s decision, politicians have publicly enacted damaging changes to voter laws ostensibly to create free, fair and safe elections.

While this sounds like a worthy aim, in the end they clearly disenfranchise citizens, especially poor Black, Indigenous and people of color. Restrictive voter ID and registration laws, roll purges,

gerrymandering and the removal of voting rights for felons have made it increasingly difficult for any real change to be made. The people hurt most by the system no longer have a way to participate in government.

It is good to emphasize the importance of voting and to increase voter turnout, but both matters do not compare in importance to the issue of ending voter suppression. For there to be any real change, we must empower and lift up the voices of the oppressed both inside and outside of government. This cannot be done by simply giving some people a day off in early November.

Perhaps achieving complete voter equality is impossible within our current electoral structure, since the foundations were built on controlling voter populations. However, we must still fight for it. For now, we should unofficially celebrate Election Day in the hopes that it will be recognized in the near future, but let us not lose sight of the long road ahead to create a truly free and fair election.

George LaBour is a fourth-year economics and history combined major. He can be reached at labour.g@northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: Eliminating spring break harms student mental health

Photo by Kelly Thomas When Northeastern’s administration sent out an email Oct. 6 announcing their decision to extend winter break by one week and cancel spring break, my first thought was that they’re just being cautious. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; doing everything they can to keep cases low has enabled them to keep campus open.

Then, the realization hit — “Wait, they’re getting rid of spring break?”

I know I’m not the only one who begins their countdown to spring break three days after the start of the second semester. I was looking forward to bringing my friends from home to Boston and showing them around, seeing my family and taking a short vacation.

Mental breaks are vital, and I’m definitely not looking forward to three and

a half months of nonstop schoolwork.

Although Northeastern instead added an extra week of winter vacation, spring break can’t be replaced.

The schedule change will make it even harder to return to online classes after being away from school for a longer period of time. Spring break creates a divide in the semester, allowing students to regroup before finals. No matter how interesting your classes are, how much you love your Northeastern friends or how great it is to live in Boston, we’re all going to suffer some degree of burnout without a much-needed break in the middle of the spring semester.

In normal times, everyday school stressors can cause significant health problems if they build up over time.

During COVID-19, it’s even harder to focus in online classes, especially when combined with the stress and anxiety that can come with the pandemic. I personally tend to lose focus around late February, and with only summer to look forward to as a break, I can already see my motivation to attend endless Zoom classes going down the drain.

While we might not be able to take tropical vacations this year, a physical and mental break from the university in the middle of the spring semester is highly beneficial. Taking vacations

Check out our podcasts this semester!

throughout the year can reduce stress, increase general happiness and even boost the immune system.

Research also supports that spring break increases focus, productivity and creativity upon return.

However, I get it. Northeastern administration wants to make sure everyone is safe, and keeping everyone on campus prevents travel and further community spread.

Canceling spring break is a sure-fire way to eliminate all the partying, binge-drinking and general risky behavior associated with spring break, which will keep COVID-19 cases low and keep everyone safe.

What I have a problem with is the lack of consistency in their decision.

If we’re able to return to campus for three weeks after Thanksgiving, shouldn’t we be allowed to leave during spring break and return afterwards for another two months?

My plan was always to fly home the Friday before Thanksgiving and not return to Boston till the start of the second semester. It didn’t make much sense for me to come back to campus for the final few weeks after Thanksgiving before winter break. If they chose to send us home after Thanksgiving and got rid of spring break, I would have grudgingly accepted their decision. I would also have accepted

Illustration by Madison Boudreau Popovic — though much more willingly — the university letting us come back after Thanksgiving and spring break.

It’s possible that they’re banking on students to keep themselves home after Thanksgiving, but that doesn’t make up for the inconsistencies.

Unfortunately, it seems like Northeastern followed other colleges that also made the decision to cancel spring break, such as Boston University and several schools in the midwest, including the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Kansas State University and Purdue University.

Some of our neighbors, however, have replaced a week long break with a shorter vacation. For example, Tufts University decided to shorten its break to four days, which would reduce the likelihood of students and faculty traveling and engaging in excessive risky behavior while allowing some much-needed time off.

For this year, I could accept not having a week-long break. However, Northeastern should add those days

back in the form of long weekends and mental health days to truly “make it up” to us. We all remember how rejuvenating the long weekend for Indigenous People’s Day was and more of those will definitely help us cope with pandemic and school stress. A three- or four- day weekend every so often will have many of the same benefits that come with an extended break. Completely getting rid of a spring break won’t bode well for anyone, and clearly, there are other ways of structuring the schedule.

Although Northeastern always claims to make decisions “after careful consideration,” I think it could have thought about this decision just a little bit more. An abundance of caution for our physical health is necessary, but when it comes at the expense of our mental health, something needs to change.

Mia Merchant is a first-year in the Explore Program. She can be reached at merchant.mia@northeastern.edu.

Page 12

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