November 11, 2022

PARTNERSHIP WITH JED SEEKS TO IMPROVE ON-CAMPUS MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT

By Katherine Mailly | News Staff

Northeastern announced in an email Oct. 31 that it will begin the process of becoming a JED cam pus in an effort to improve on-campus mental health support for students.

JED is a non-profit foundation committed to destigmatizing the conversation around mental health and preventing suicide on college campus es, with almost 400 universities currently reg istered in the network. In the four-year plan, colleges gather information on what support stu dents need and then formulate a strategy in order to address lacking areas, with the aid of JED advisors.

In the email, Senior Vice-Provost Deb Franko and Director of Violence Prevention Initiatives Megan O’Hara wrote that

Northeastern will be organizing an advisory team of faculty, staff and students to create the strategic plan.

Federica Ciummo, the sector lead for health and wellness on Student Government Association, or SGA, student services committee and a third-year health sciences and psychology combined major, said she first heard about the partner ship Nov. 4. Christine Civiletto, the assistant vice chancellor of wellness in University Health and Counsel ing Services, or UHCS, and Dan Solworth, the vice chancellor of wellness and student success, told Ciummo while in a meeting.

Ciummo attributed the move to Civiletto, who Ciummo said has worked to integrate student voices into discussions surrounding on-campus services from her time as interim director of UHCS to her transition to assistant vice chancellor.

“I definitely feel that in the last few years that I’ve been here, I’ve seen big improvements in the way that UHCS operates in the sense that it’s much more student-fo cused, like it’s actually reflecting the needs that I remember voicing even

in my freshman year,” Ciummo said. “I honestly think a big part of that has to do with [Civiletto] ... And I think that having her in an even higher position just means better things to come.”

Charlie Zhang, the vice president for SGA’s student services committee and a third-year sociology and inter national business combined major, said during his time at Northeastern he has seen an increasing focus on student input, including in regards to mental health services.

“Over the last few years that I’ve been here, I think the promotion of [what resources are available] is a lot more on the forefront than it was be fore,” Zhang said. “And part of that is to do with the increased emphasis on mental health on campus, which I re ally think is important because people need to know that they’re being heard, that what they’re feeling is valid and so many other students are in a similar position to them.”

Alex Norce, the president of men tal health advocacy group Active Minds and a third-year behavioral neuroscience major, said Active STUDENT WELL-BEING, on Page 3

HYM Investment Group, My City at Peace to turn Roxbury lot into science complex, housing, more

By Jane Clements News Correspondent

A 7.7-acre site across from the Boston Police headquarters in Roxbury is set to become a multi-use complex complete with affordable housing, a museum space, storefronts and facilities for life science research.

After receiving unanimous ap proval from the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Oversight Committee, the P3 Roxbury project, spear headed by Rev. Jeffrey Brown and HYM Investment Group CEO Tom O’Brien, will work to create a set of buildings that developers expect will generate wealth for the Rox bury community.

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“We shared the vision of Roxbury being a place where we can begin to turn around this bleed that has occurred through gentrification into an opportunity for building wealth for Black and brown families,” Brown told The News.

The designated location is cur rently an empty lot surrounded by a chain-link fence. The lot, called Parcel 3, or P3, has been vacant since the 1970s when the state tried to incorporate it into its planned extension of Interstate 95. Publicly owned for around 30 years, many developers have submitted plans for the site, including proposals to turn the site into a mall and a BJ’s Wholesale Club.

Four years ago, Brown began initial discussions with HYM Invest ments CEO Thomas O’Brien about turning Parcel 3, one of the last big parcels in the City of Boston, into a modern, community-oriented build ing complex. Brown, the co-founder of My City at Peace and an anti-vi olence leader in the community for nearly 30 years, said inspiration for the project first came to him after a 2015 report from the Boston Fed reminded him of Boston’s dramatic wealth inequalities.

“The Boston Fed report showed the relative wealth of white families in Boston at $247,500 and the rela tive wealth of Black families at $8,” Brown said. “It occurred to me that

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one of the things that leads to a sus tainability of peace is a changing of the structures within a community.”

During his conversations with O’Brien, Brown noticed that O’Brien had a similar historical knowledge about the effects of redlining and hous ing discrimination within Boston.

“As people recognize the attributes of Roxbury, there are now processes of gentrification happening in the area. So the question is, ‘Can we defend Roxbury for the people who have been long term residents of Roxbury?’” O’Brien said. “Our vision was that we should use P3 to create a subsidy that would allow us to create homeownership for people of color who live in Roxbury.”

When they thought of industries that have been typically inaccessible to communities of color, the pair came up with the unique idea of building life science facilities on the same lot as the affordable housing units. These proposed life science facilities at the site would generate an approximate $124 million cross subsidy that would be reinvested di rectly into on-site affordable housing, Brown and O’Brien said.

Brown pointed out that many starting jobs in the life science industry require specialized training, as opposed to an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, making them more accessible to high school graduates

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Boston street performer Snap Boogie creates dance NFT company

By Renée Abbott News Staff

Snap Boogie has a dream: “To do a show where people pay $100 to come watch [him] do [his] thing on the big stage.” Years and years into perform ing, that dream has not faded.

Snap Boogie, born Cjaiilon An drade, is a street performer in Boston who specializes in tap, acrobatics and most of all, his titular move: boo gieing. Most weekends, he performs at Faneuil Hall, Newbury Street, a halftime show or a private event. Weekdays, however, are devoted to his newest professional endeavor: starting an NFT, or non-fungible token, business.

“Being a street performer is totally different than being a business owner or CEO or anything like that,” Andrade said. “You have to use your street smarts just to get to the places you want to get to.”

This former “America’s Got Talent” semifinalist has it all: charm, a sense of humor, talent and the entrepre neurial spirit.

In Andrade’s typical show, he dances as an eager crowd starts to gather and pulls a kid volunteer from the audience to have them imi tate his moves.

He is at ease, in his element, inspiring young people and enticing passersby. At his Sept. 18 show on Newbury Street, he did a flip and ges tured for the kid to mimic him. The kid didn’t, of course, so Snap Boogie lifted the young girl and flipped her over herself with ease. Her parents watched anxiously from the sidelines, some spectators laughing, others tensely grinning behind their phones.

After a series of tricks, now comes the real part: the dancing. He boogied, improvised and popped to

“Don’t Stop ‘til You Get Enough” by Michael Jackson. At one point, he worked his way down to the ground and paused his music.

“The real trick is getting up,” he said.

Of course, this is just a setup for the punchline when the 29-year-old slowly stands up as if plagued by chronic back pain.

Eventually, he flipped over the vol unteers to the climax of the song “Mr. Clean” by rapper Yung Gravy. To wards the end, he asked for donations, but money isn’t his only motivation.

“I believe live street theater should be for everyone, whether you have money or not,” Andrade said.

Despite using the same jokes, mu sic and tricks for every show, much of what he does involves improvisa tion and responding to the crowd.

One of his audience members, Emmanuel College second-year stu dent Emma Connolly, said she had seen him perform in Provincetown before but still wanted to watch his show when she saw him in Boston.

“I think one of the things I was just thinking about as I was watching is how it still feels like the first time that I was watching it, it’s super cool to see,” Connolly said. “Even though he’s doing the same thing, it still entices us to watch the whole show.”

At the show, an older woman came up to him and began dancing alongside him.

“Mom, I told you to stay in the car, I gotta do my show,” Andrade said jokingly, giving her a hug. “Every body give it up for my mom!”

He let the woman take a bow when she finished her dance. After the show, he said he had never seen that woman before in his life.

“That’s kind of why I’m out here,” Andrade said. “I’m out here because I love people.”

People love him too. Kenia Gomez, who was visiting Boston from Cuba, said she has seen many street performances around the world, but still loved the show and Andrade himself.

“I thought his personality was so lively, that impressed me the most. He engaged everyone, even the chil dren,” Gomez said.

Andrade grew up in Roxbury and attended Mount Pleasant High School in Providence, Rhode Island.

“We all called it ‘Mount Pregnant.’ There [are] reasons for that,” he said.

He never graduated, instead dropping out to pursue dance. A self-taught dancer, he said he takes inspiration from Michael Jackson, which is evident through his choppy movements and affinity for Jackson songs while performing.

“I had a lot of energy. I got ADD and anytime the music was on, I was ready to go,” Andrade said.

Andrade inherited the name “Snap” from his uncle, who was also a street performer. “Boogie” came from his chosen style of dance. Andrade said many dancers call themselves “something Boogie” as a way to identify their art.

He was 18 years old when he was on “America’s Got Talent.” In his audition video he spoke about how dance kept him off the streets and helped him pay his mother’s bills.

His audition in New York started with moonwalking, then flashing his signature smile and doing a slow-motion animated wave to the audience that he still does at his shows today. The judges immedi ately loved him: on the show they described him as a “free spirit,” a “beast,” with “electric” moves.

His reign on the show ultimately came to an end in the semifinals,

but that didn’t stop him from getting widespread acclaim.

Andrade has now turned his attention to the digital space, launching his company Beauty in the Streets in 2021 and working to create his own dance NFT com pany. The idea is to ensure that dancers and their dance moves do not get plagiarized by big gaming corporations. In the past few years NFTs have risen in popularity and value as the crypto currency world has expanded.

Essentially, NFTs can be anything: an animation, a video or a work of art. By buying an NFT, one is essen tially buying the ownership of the product. In Boogie’s case, he is cre ating an animation file of a person’s dance move that can be used in video games or the metaverse.

He is doing this so that other dancers are able to take ownership of their moves and become a part of the crypto community.

“The reason I say mine is a real project is because there’s something behind it,” Andrade said. “This thing can last forever because what we’re doing is we’re getting dancers closer to getting intellectual property. If you buy the NFT, it allows you to buy the dance move inside the game.”

Some dancers in his company include the Williams Brothers, a viral TikTok and Instagram account which posts videos of four brothers doing trending dances; Poppin John, a YouTube sensation for his breaking moves; and Shafar, a dancer popular on Instagram and TikTok; and more.

Balancing his NFT company and finding time to perform on the street and for private companies takes work, but as demonstrated by his act, balancing is one of his strengths.

“We’re creating an ecosystem to build something for the future,” An drade said. “A lot of companies have tried to steal my idea, but we have the community.”

Developers hope to reenergize local community with future Parcel 3 project

who cannot afford the increasing cost of a college education. He and O’Brien are hopeful that having a life science facility in Roxbury will spur job cre ation for residents.

“We’re hoping to build all kinds of pipelines for residents because we want them to understand the value of life sciences as a profession,” Brown said.

“Given

With these overarching goals in mind, the pair went to work, hiring a team of corporate and nonprofit partners to execute their plan and contribute their own ideas for wealth

generation in the community. They hired DREAM Collaborative, a minority-owned architecture firm in Boston, to design the 1.2-millionsquare-foot complex and brought in the Onyx Group to develop the retail and commercial spaces.

Once the effort was in full force, the team attended community meetings, spoke to social groups and called local officials to garner enthusiasm for their plan. The proposal soon received the support of every local elected official in the greater Roxbury area.

“You could tell how passionate everyone was about the project, how much they believed in it and how much thought and intention went behind every detail,” said Colleen Fitzgerald, a senior public relations associate for Benchmark Strategies, the public relations firm that handles HYM’s projects.

Uniquely structured as a 50-50 joint venture between HYM Investment Group and My City at Peace, the project is set to include many firsts for the Roxbury community and the City of Boston, according to developers. It will include the first life science facility

in Roxbury, the first Black-owned and operated parking structure in the City of Boston and the city’s first crosssubsidy plan between the life science and housing industries.

Brown said he is most excited for the 31,000 square feet of museum and community space being allocat ed for King Boston, an organization that supports Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy in Boston. Brown serves as the co-chair of King Boston and said he believes that with a new home the organization could do even more for underrepresented commu nities in Boston.

“Boston has been yearning for a cultural event space for people of color for quite some time,” Brown said. “We’re hoping that through King Boston, P3 is going to be an alive and vibrant gateway into the richness that is Roxbury.”

The most recent step forward for the project came Oct. 3 when the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan Over sight Committee unanimously voted to recommend the proposal to the Boston Planning and Development Agency, or the BPDA. The second

team

Inspired by the enthusiastic stamp of approval, the team is gathering even more community input while they wait for approval for the plans from BPDA, which could take up to 12 months, Brown said.

Initial ideas for retail spaces include a performance venue within the King Boston center, a farmer’s market to bring fresh produce closer to Roxbury residents and various minority-owned retail stores looking for a bigger store front location. To prepare residents for the completion of the affordable housing units, Brown plans to host homeownership classes through My City at Peace. While these ideas are in their early stages, Brown and O’Brien remain committed to correcting discrimination within Boston’s history through P3.

“This can be seen as a way of social repair within the community as a result of the historical racial discrimi nation around housing over decades,” Brown said.

Andrade performs at Open Newbury Street on a sunny afternoon Sept. 18. Andrade recently launched his NFT company Beauty in the Streets, which seeks to help ensure dancers’ choreography isn’t plagiarized.

Photo by Renée Abbott

how close we are to Madison Park High School, we also want more students to get involved so they can enter this field that will soon be right at their doorstep.”

vying for the recommendation, Tishman Speyer and Ruggles Progres sive Partners, dropped their bid days before the vote.

A rendering of the P3 Roxbury project led by Rev. Jeffrey Brown and HYM Investment Group CEO Tom O’Brien. The complex will include affordable housing, a museum space, storefronts and more.

Photo courtesy DREAM Collaborative

DEVELOPMENT, from front

By Katherine Mailly News Staff

Northeastern students have been seeing an increase in scam emails appearing in their school emails, which some say have been harder to spot due to the similarities to legiti mate university emails. Following the scams, all Northeastern emails will be receiving an upgrade intended to keep Northeastern accounts more secure.

When fourth-year journalism major Luiza Loyo received an email advertising an employment opportunity with a doctor named Ben Simon, Loyo assumed he was associated with the university. The email said the position would pay $500 weekly for an assistant to make purchases for Simon, as well as make some philanthropic donations, which he was not able to do due to his heavy workload.

The email was well-written, and because Loyo received it to her Northeastern email, she assumed it was from a university project. As an international student, Loyo said she was accustomed to finding work through the university.

“A lot of international students are seeking jobs on-campus because they can’t work elsewhere,” Loyo said. “So it’s a very logical assump tion to make that those emails are falling into your Northeastern account because people are looking to hire Northeastern students.”

Loyo responded to the email inquiring about being hired and re ceived a response that featured odd grammar and phrasing, asking for personal information, after which Loyo would be immediately hired. It also stated that Loyo would be paid through an unnamed external group. Loyo stopped responding due to the suspicious nature of the response, but only fully recognized that it was a scam when friends were later discussing the scam emails that students had been receiving.

“After talking to my friends that day, where they were also saying that they were receiving a lot of

scam emails, it all clicked togeth er,” Loyo said. “I started looking through my inbox and I actually am receiving a lot of weird job oppor tunities all of a sudden, which I first thought was a service from the northeastern employment office.”

Eric Nichols, a fifth-year comput er science major, said he decided to look into the scam emails after first hearing about them. Nichols said he looked at the scam emails that other students had received and noticed that the email addresses that were being used — all Northeastern — were only from graduate students and professors. He also found that he and other students would receive identical offers, but the sender would vary.

Nichols said he wondered if someone was able to log into the Northeastern accounts with the us er’s credentials, or if they had been hacked. If they had been hacked, Nichols said he had concerns about what else the accounts could be used to do.

“Is it that their account was compromised or was someone able to — without logging in — imper sonate those people?” Nichols said. “And if all these accounts have been compromised, is it just that they’re sending out spam emails, or is there other stuff going on with that?”

Nichols also said the emails were not immediately apparent to be scams because of the content and structure, and because of this Northeastern’s tips to notice scams might not be very helpful.

“So when they offer advice on tips of how to spot a fake, I think there’s a potential angle there that the school is making it harder to differ entiate because they’re engaging in a lot of the same behavior when they send us emails,” he said.

Following an upgrade in Mic rosoft technology released Oct. 1, Northeastern will be integrating new levels of protection for uni versity emails.

Scott Olson, manager of student employees, services, staff and

training, said the new security is called modern authentication. The program, which was first rolled out in Northeastern Nov. 8, adds an additional layer of protection when students log into their Northeastern accounts.

According to the modern au thentication website through the Office of Information Security, or OIS, many Northeastern students have already been using devic es reinforced with the upgraded software, which involves two-step authentication through Duo.

With this log-in system, North eastern email users are granted temporary access to whatever service they had logged into, which will eventually expire. Duo au thentication will also become more common following the switch to modern authentication, according to the website.

The original log-in system, known as “legacy authentication,” would allow those with Northeast ern emails to sign in with just a us ername and password, which would then be saved by the application they logged into. This leaves those using this log-in system vulnerable to security risks, according to the OIS webpage.

“The transition to modern au thentication will enhance account security and decrease the amount of compromised accounts and phish ing emails throughout Northeast ern’s network,” reads the Office of Information Security webpage.

Following the upgrade, students using outdated log-in methods had to switch to the latest update of Microsoft 365 and make sure their email client can support modern authentication by Oct. 31, or they could have lost access to their Northeastern email.

Information Technology Services sent out an email Nov. 9 announcing the change. The announcement referred to modern authentication as Duo two-factor authentication, or Duo 2FA. It also announced that when logging in,

students will be required to log into their Northeastern accounts using Active Directory, because students may be blocked from their accounts by using the my Northeastern login method.

“Duo 2FA is already required to access the university’s virtual private network and other frequently used online services and systems. This update doesn’t change the way you log in and verify using Duo, but rather expands it to protect additional services,” the email read “Thank you for your support in helping keep Northeastern accounts and data safe and secure.”

Leading up to the switch, North eastern also sent out multiple emails warning about the increase in spam emails, as well as tips for how to spot deceptive offers. According to emails from Cassandra LeBrun, the assistant director of talent engage ment, students will always be asked to sign into NUworks if the job offer is a real position associated with Northeastern.

LeBrun also wrote that students should ask a career counselor at Employer Engagement and Career Design to verify if the offer is

deceitful and to forward her all dubious material.

The emails gave general advice about not supplying crucial personal information like bank account information and Social Security numbers, warned that if the position seems too good then it probably is and that said all international students will need to be authorized before beginning any kind of employment.

First-year journalism major Darin Zullo, who when speak ing with The News had not yet been informed about the modern authentication system, stressed the importance of involving a program that could filter out scams. Without the inclusion of such technology, Zullo said he felt the university would not be adequately addressing the situation.

“If people are getting hacked as a result of these phishing emails, the school could be doing more to respond to the situation,” Zullo said. “It’s a pretty prevalent issue and we’re all kind of aware of it because we all check our emails. I just feel like there’s not really enough being done.”

Surge of scam emails prompt security concerns, new online protection measures NU to collaborate with suicide prevention nonprofit, bolster resources for students

Minds played a key role in meet ing Northeastern officials last school year to push university accreditation through organizations like JED.

Originally, in December 2021, the student organization had pushed for an accreditation through International Accreditation of Coun seling Services, or IACS.

Norce said Active Minds met with Civiletto, Solworth and Kellianne Carfi, the associate director of the Office of Prevention and Education, or OPEN. During these meetings, members of Active Minds set forth a list of action items for the university in order to improve responses sur rounding mental health on-campus.

Norce said she thought the school officials gave non-definitive answers on how to implement the recom

mended changes, and she said she was unsure if higher-level admin istrators ever learned about Active Minds’ proposal.

“The big thing [about] talking to administration is sometimes it’s circular — not a lot gets done. … It’s just empty promises,” Norce said. “So I don’t know when we have meetings with people who are not the top of the administration, if our ideas are even getting fed through to the high er-ups at Northeastern.”

In April 2022, Civiletto and Sol worth revealed to Active Minds that they were looking into an accredita tion with JED, according to Active Mind’s minutes for the meeting.

Negotiations with university fac ulty stopped soon after that, Norce said, as Active Minds turned to send ing out their own survey to students

in order to reinforce their stance on university mental health policy.

Norce said it was disheartening that Active Minds, or any other student groups, was not recognized as part of the push behind the move to accreditation.

“We got the email and it was hon estly really surprising for all of us, and I don’t know if the people who made this decision knew that any student groups were involved,” Norce said. “It’s honestly just disappointing that they didn’t mention any of the student groups who are pushing for speech on campus, or even talk to us about it … because [Northeastern is] trying to be a voice of the students.”

Northeastern has taken its first step by announcing the Healthy Minds Survey to assemble information on what students are

looking for in on-campus mental health services.

According to the Oct. 31 email, the survey was sent out Nov. 1 to a randomized group of stu dents across all of the university’s U.S. campuses. Ciummo said the feedback the university receives may significantly change available on-campus services.

“I imagine that if there’s substantial feedback that is quite significant, there very much could be a structural change to certain things like we’ve seen in the past,” Ciummo said. “When they started offering UHCS mental health walkin hours, that was most likely as a reflection of the needs of students on campus … so if we have a signif icant kind of response … we could possibly expect that.”

Norce said because the process of working with JED will take four years, some students will never be able to access the new resources or experience the new environment under JED’s recommendations. Ciummo said, however, that this does not mean that no services are available to students or that they won’t see improvement.

“I feel like if it were to be rushed, maybe it wouldn’t access its full potential. But that doesn’t mean that all the other amazing groups aren’t doing things in the meantime; there’s constant progression happening,” Ci ummo said. “I don’t think that it will necessarily be stagnant in these four years. I think we’ll see continual pro gression and more voices being lis tened to as this progresses, … We’re still in a phase of growth.”

An increase in scam emails in Northeastern inboxes, tricking some students, has been followed up by a new form of security that will make it more difficult for other users to log into Northeastern accounts.

Photo by Grace Comer

Northeastern community reacts to Kanye West’s antisemitic rhetoric online

By Christina McCabe News Correspondent

Following a month of unre lenting antisemitic remarks, artist Kanye West is running into criticism online and corporate pushback.

Naturally, Northeastern students — on a campus with the 20th-high est Jewish population among private universities — had things to say.

Sarah Popeck, a first-year jour nalism and data science double major, and Michael Levy, a firstyear electrical engineering major, are both Jewish students. They said they were taken aback by West’s hateful tweets, but not surprised given West’s history of antisemitic comments and actions.

“I was just kind of like ‘not again,’” Levy said. “I’m kind of over it at this point. He’s just jumping from group to group to make chaos.”

This is not the first time West has publicly attacked people or groups with prejudiced claims. In 2005, West announced during a live telethon that “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people.”

More recently, in March, West harassed comedian Trevor Noah on Instagram just days after Noah criticized West’s public harassment of others on social media.

While his remarks were once limited to the online realm, West has

become more public with his latest divisive takes through his work. On Oct. 3, West wore a shirt with the caption “White Lives Matter” to a fashion show in Paris, which caused uproar online because the phrase is tied to reactionary racism against the Black Lives Matter movement.

Following the tweets, companies collaborating with West cut their ties with the artist. Longtime Yeezy col laborator Adidas cut ties with West following his antisemitic hate speech online in a severance that could cost West almost $100 million annually.

“We have to acknowledge the fi nancial aspect of having the support of a huge artist where we can’t nec essarily blame a company if they do keep them on,” Popeck said. “I think that specifically with Kanye, it’s a better move to cut him off because things like this keep happening.”

Despite West’s antisemitic re marks — which have since inspired further bigotry, like drawing a hate group to Los Angeles Oct. 22 for a demonstration of support for West on a 405 Freeway overpass — Levy said he feels tired, rather than upset, over West’s attempts at grabbing public attention.

“I feel like a lot of people don’t take him seriously,” Levy said. “I don’t think he has the impact that some people that have been removed from social media did have. He’s not really the catalyst for any major tragedy or like any

event, really. He’s just spewing whatever he wants.”

In the conversation revolv ing around controversial artists, there has been a rise in debate over whether people can separate the art from the artist. Michael Magnarelli, a second-year business administration major, has been a fan of West’s music for years. To him, this debate is a no-brainer — it is possible to separate the art from the artist.

“I think they can because it’s not like his songs are just made by him,”

Magnarelli said. “There’s so many people that go into working on this as a project, and these people still deserve credit for the amazing music that they make.”

Despite not listening to his music that often, Popeck argued that separating the art from the artist wasn’t as simple as ignor ing West’s public rhetoric; rather she called for a greater degree of awareness of his actions and real-world impact.

“I think that if people are going to keep listening to his music, they

should at least acknowledge that what he said is wrong — his actions are wrong — and just acknowledge him as a person,” she said.

The internet, Popeck and Levy said, only encourages West as the viral attention his hateful tirades receive triggers the growth of his platform and notoriety — whether positive or negative.

Levy shared what course of action he hopes public figures who hold massive platforms like Kanye West will take: “Ideally, they would all just shut up.”

These Boston cafes have pumpkin spice and everything nice for the fall season

By Sarah Popeck News Correspondent

Fall is in the air, which means it’s time for new seasonal flavors — and students’ desperate hunt for their daily fix of a pumpkin spice latte, or PSL for short.

Starbucks coined the drink in 2003, but pumpkin spice has been around for more than a century. The classic blend includes a combination of cinnamon, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and cloves — flavors that students

can find around the city at these coffee staples.

At Tatte on Huntington Avenue, the focus is on the bakery desserts. The Boston-based chain features a classic pumpkin pecan pie and a pumpkin pound cake, channe ling the true iconic flavors of the season. Tatte’s tea cakes are offered in a pumpkin-iced praline flavor, along with roasted strawberry, and both options are gluten friendly.

Tatte rolled out a starting lineup for its Christmas options with a gin

gerbread spiced loaf to spread the excitement for the holidays. The café chain also offers its own ver sion of the PSL — it just wouldn’t be fall without a classic PSL.

Haunting every other block in Boston, local favorite Dunkin’ Donuts takes the crown for the most beverage options. Four signature drinks are featured this fall: a pumpkin spice signature latte, a pumpkin chai latte, a nutty pumpkin coffee and a pumpkin cream cold brew. For students, a pumpkin donut and muffin make a good pair with a drink before an 8 a.m. class. The Dunkin’ PSL in particular felt fitting for a walk through the fall foliage in the Boston Common. Moreover, the flavor additions feel less saturated than in drinks from longtime PSL heavyweight Starbucks, where you can taste the artificiality of the syrup in the drink.

Trek over to Pavement Coffee house for three more drinks: a PSL, a maple latte and a cinnamon fig latte, a treat not offered by its competitors. Drop by a Pavement on any brisk, gloomy day, and you’ll find the ba ristas brewing up one PSL — which features a unique hint of cardamom — after another.

Last but certainly not least, it would not be fall without the cliché PSL from Starbucks that still has students’ hearts as is the company’s most popular seasonal flavor. Since 2003, Starbucks has

sold over 600 million PSLs. The chain’s newer apple crisp series of drinks made a return for anoth er year with a hint of cinnamon sprinkled on top of each cup for full fall effect. In the bakery box, Starbucks’ crafted pumpkin and pepita loaf and pumpkin cream cheese muffin are unique to the brand, yet classic.

At the end of a long pump kin spice-filled journey through

Boston that pitted the city’s coffee spots against each other, the hot Dunkin’ PSL emerged at the top. It felt the most authentic and cozy of the city’s seasonal drinks, radiating the energy of fall without being too overpowering. Regard less, there is still plenty of time and many cooler days ahead in the season for students to get to all four places and pick their own autumn favorites.

Kanye West performing at TD Garden Sept. 9, 2016 in Boston on the Saint Pablo Tour. “Kanye West Saint Pablo Tour TD Garden 2016 5” by Kenny Sun is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Falling leaves and cooler weather herald in autumn each year — and for Boston cafés, autumn brings a new slate of pumpkin-spiced drinks and goods. Pictured here, Tatte offers gluten friendly tea cakes this season.

Photo by Sarah Popeck

With a location on campus, Tatte is a fall drink hot spot for students. While the café chain boasts unique seasonal offerings — like the pumpkin pie pictured here — it’s also tossed in its own variation of the PSL into Boston’s coffee scene.

Photo by Sarah Popeck

Arden Cho discusses onscreen representation with ASU

By Juliana George Deputy Lifestyle Editor

Arden Cho returned to Northeast ern’s campus Oct. 30 for the Asian Student Union’s biannual “A Night With…” celebrity speaker event in a very different place than where she was during her visit six years ago.

Cho, who is well-known as an early pioneer of Asian representation in entertainment, played a concert on campus in 2016, back when her career was limited to a YouTube channel and supporting roles in TV shows like “Teen Wolf” and “Pretty Little Liars.” Her sec ond appearance, hot on the heels of the success of her new Netflix original show “Partner Track,” was triumphant.

Maya Lalicon, a third-year mechanical engineering major and the vice president of the Asian Student Union, or ASU, recalled that an overwhelming influx of students registered for the event as soon as Cho was announced as the guest.

“You could hear the excitement,” Lalicon said. “I remember we opened [registration] during one of our game nights with another cultural org and everyone took a pause for a solid min ute to go sign up.”

The night began with student per formances from Revolve Dance Crew, Singaporean singer-songwriter hong join and Eon Dance Troupe. Revolve, in a large crew of over 20 dancers, amped the mood up with high-ener gy contemporary choreography to a mash-up of recent hits.

“It was our first performance this se mester,” said Romee Choi, a second-year international affairs and international business combined major who performed with Revolve. “It was such an honor to open the entire show for Arden Cho.”

Revolve’s rousing routine was fol lowed by two slower, sweeter numbers

sung by hongjoin, who croons both covers and originals to his 5,000 fol lowers on Spotify. Finally, Eon, a dance troupe that specializes in fusing classic Asian dance forms together with more modern elements, took to the stage. Eon’s dancers were a graceful, billowing blur while performing the traditional Chinese water sleeves dance.

Cho arrived on the scene in a bold orange suit, complimenting the opening acts effusively and cracking jokes with undergraduate emcees Suzy Duong and Sarah Ly. Cho’s backand-forth with Duong and Ly was comfortable and witty, even when the subject matter turned serious.

Tracing her career back to the early days of bad auditions and bit parts, Cho recalled feeling trepidation at pursuing such an unconventional career path, especially coming from a traditional Korean household where she said she was expected to go into law or medicine. Even when she was cast as Kira Yukimu ra in “Teen Wolf,” her most prominent role before starring in “Partner Track” years later, she said she continued to have doubts about the place of an Asian American woman in the historically white television industry. She noted self-deprecatingly that she has probably called her agent to stop sending her on auditions at least 15 times.

Because of her YouTube channel and appearances in popular young adult shows like “Teen Wolf” and “Pretty Little Liars,” Cho was an extremely in fluential, almost larger-than-life figure in the childhoods of many Asian and Asian American young people. Many students found it encouraging to learn that a long-idolized celebrity like Cho faced similar uncertainties and familial pressures as them, including fourthyear biochemistry major and ASU President Andrea Koid.

“Arden Cho is someone that a lot of us grew up watching since we were young,” Koid said. “It’s cool to see some one you watched from such a young age, and bring her in person, and hear her talk about her experiences.”

First-year nursing major Samuel Cho echoed Koid’s attitude, adding that Arden Cho’s life is motivational even for students who aren’t thinking of going into entertainment.

“Even though she’s really successful, she had moments where she wanted to give up, or it was really hard for her,” he said. “No matter how successful you may be, there may be times of doubt. I think it’s inspirational to hear about her story.”

Cho’s interview ended on a hopeful note, with Duong and Ly giving her the chance to promote her upcoming project “Avatar: The Last Airbender,” a live-action take on the beloved animated series, which is tentatively slated for release in 2023. The highly anticipated series has been praised for its all-Asian cast and director. Before the event moved to the meet-and-greet portion, Cho promised that if “Partner Track” is

picked up for a season two, it will tackle more issues affecting the Asian Ameri can community.

The progression of Cho’s career from playing minor and oftentimes slightly stereotypical characters to starring in her own show bodes well for the future of Asian representation in Hollywood.

“I really think we’re definitely getting more represented overall, and I also think that a lot of Asian people and Asian American people are really speaking up and standing up for themselves,” Choi said.

Just recently, Cho turned down an offer to rejoin the “Teen Wolf” cast in a 2023 remake, citing the fact that she was going to be paid less than half the salary of her white castmates, sparking outrage from fans and fellow actors.

“She was so outspoken about it and I know she’s not content with just being on the show, but she’s willing to fight for what she believes in,” Lalicon said. “In trying to get ‘Partner Track’ renewed for a second season, it’s very, very inspiring both in how far she’s come, but also how far she wants to go.”

Now

- Dec. 14

New England Conservatory Free Concert

Enjoy some live classical music at one of the many free concerts offered this fall at the NEC.

Times and venues vary, Free.

Now - Nov. 13

Book Fair

Boston

Visit dozens of national and international unique book purveyors at the fair.

Times vary from 12:30 p.m. - 8 p.m., 900 Boylston St., Free.

N Snowport

Seaport will transform into a holiday wonderland with activities, food and an open-air market.

Times vary from 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., 65 Northern Ave., Free.

Fenway Open Studios

Patronize the arts and meet local artists at Fenway Studios’ annual showcase.

11 a.m. - 6 p.m., 30 Ipswich St., Free.

Nov.

25 - Dec. 11

SoWa Winter Festival

Get into the holiday spirit by browsing this annual festival with food, drinks, art and gifts.

Times vary depending on weekday, 550 Harrison Ave., $10.

Calendar compiled by Cathy Ching & Juliana George Graphics by Jessica Xing

Northeastern’s Asian Student Union hosted actress Arden Cho for its biannual “A Night With…” speaker series. Cho is best known as an early pioneer of Asian representation in modern entertainment.

Photo by Quillan Anderson

DEMOCRATS SWEEP MASSACHUSETTS IN NOV. 8 ELECTIONS

By Eli Curwin | News Staff

Election Day was full of firsts for Massachusetts. The state elected its first Black woman as attorney gen eral, first female governor and first all-female executive team, making it the first state to do so. On Tuesday, historically underrepresented com munities were able to see themselves in the five victory speeches given at the Fairmont Copley Plaza.

Democrats won all nine congres sional districts, maintained control of the State House and Senate and flipped a long-standing conservative governorship. It will be the first time since 2014 where Democrats control the state House of Representatives, state Senate and governorship. Mau ra Healey, the attorney general of Massachusetts, will be the first open ly lesbian governor in the United States and the first female governor of the Commonwealth.

“To every little girl, and every young LGBTQ person out there, I hope tonight shows you that you can be whatever, whoever, you want to be,” said Healey, who attended the North eastern University School of Law, in her acceptance speech. “Tonight … with the help of so many, we made history, didn’t we? We made history.”

For many in Massachusetts, the importance of the victory lies not in which party won, but who won.

“I think [Healey’s] unafraid to go after those who she feels are taking advantage of the people, the com mon people that she represents,” said Susie Davidson, a Brookline resident in her 60s, before Healey gave her gubernatorial victory speech. “I saw

right then and there [when Healey ran for attorney general], that she was a future star. She had a lot of appealing credentials, her personal ity, her drive and most importantly, her values.”

In an expected, uncompetitive election, Democratic Governor-elect Healey defeated Republican can didate Geoff Diehl 63.6% to 34.9% with 95% of the vote counted, as of 5:30 p.m. Nov. 9.

“I’m proud that she’s the first gay attorney general-turned-governor, I’m proud that she’s a woman, I’m proud that she’s about women’s issues. … She’ll take on anything,” Kathy Delaney-Smith, a Newton resident and Healey’s former Harvard Basket ball coach, said in an interview.

In addition to the Democrats’ championing the governor’s race, Massachusetts residents also voted blue in the state’s U.S. congressional elections. At the time of publication, the Massachusetts Democrats kept control of all nine congressional districts with an average margin of victory of about 35 points.

“Movements do not materialize from thin air. Women who are Black, brown, indigenous, AAPI, disabled and queer do not rise to higher office out of manifest of destiny,” said U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who was re-elected to a third term in Massa chusetts’ 7th Congressional District. “They are the result of good, old-fash ioned hard work. The work that wom en have been doing for generations. Work felt deeply in community, but too often relegated to a footnote in

history or erased altogether.”

Democrats also won the Massa chusetts attorney general election, electing Andrea Campbell. Camp bell is the first Black woman elected to a statewide position in Massa chusetts and the fifth Black woman to serve as a state attorney general in the United States. She won her race by a margin of 24.8 points with more than 93% of the votes counted at time of publication.

“For those who have felt unseen, this victory is for you. For those who have felt marginalized, this victory is for you. For those who have felt left out, left behind and undervalued, this victory is for you,” Campbell said.

In the closest race of the night, Democrats completed their sweep, electing Diana DiZoglio as the state auditor. A state senator, DiZo glio ran on a slew of progressive positions and won the office by a margin of about 17 points with nearly 93% of votes reported at time of publication.

Long-time Democratic incumbents Bill Galvin and Deborah Goldberg also won their races for secretary of state and state treasurer respectively. Out of the four ballot initiatives up for vote — to create a new income tax level, regulate dental insurance, change alcohol retail licensing criteria and give undocumented immigrants driver’s licenses — Questions 1, 2 and 4 were all approved, with Question 3 being rejected.

The Democratic elects will be sworn into office throughout January.

To every little girl, and every young LGBTQ person out there, I hope tonight shows you that you can be whatever, whoever, you want to be.

— Maura Healey Governor-elect

Massachusetts Governor-elect Maura Healey concludes a victory speech about diversity and broken barriers at the Massachusetts Democratic Party’s Election Night Celebration, Nov. 8 at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. Healey won the 2022 gubernatorial election by a nearly 30 point margin over Republican candidate Geoff Diehl.

Photo by Eli Curwin

Movements do not materialize from thin air. Women who are Black, brown, indigenous, AAPI, disabled and queer do not rise to higher office out of manifest of destiny. They are the result of good, old-fashioned hard work.

— Ayanna Pressley Massachusetts Representative for the 7th Congressional District

How did Bostonians vote compared to

Here’s what Bostonians said on election day

By Eli Curwin News Staff

Nov. 8 was Election Day, and with several important matters on the ballot, Massachusetts residents made their way to the polls with issues including abortion, democ racy and the economy at the tops of their minds. The News traveled

to seven different polling sites, spanning 30 miles across Boston from 6:45 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. to gauge what drew Bostonians to the polls. Everyone who spoke with The News said they voted, though some voters said they did not vote at the polling place where they were interviewed. Here’s what several residents had to say.

I vote every election. I think that’s important, it’s a gift that we have living in a democracy, the United States of America. It’s a privilege to be able to do so, and I like to take advantage of that. I’m grateful to have the right.

— Theresa Bradt Roxbury voter

It’s my duty [to vote], and always, growing up, my mother said, ‘It took a lot for women to get the right to vote, so get out there and vote.’ And so I tell my granddaughters, ‘Get out there and vote today. It was a lot of work for women to get the vote, so keep it up.’

We are American. Everybody in America, we have to vote. You see, what is going on is in your hands.

I voted reluctantly because, one, it’s Massachusetts, and it’s pretty clear how the chips are going to fall. However, I think it’s largely symbolic for me and wanting to be part of the chorus that is saying no to the rise of fascism and the attack against democracy.

— Mohamed Yussuf Roxbury voter

— Moira Raftery Jamaica Hills voter

Everybody should come out and vote because there is so much going on in this world, and everybody has a voice, and if you want to make a difference, you should come out and make that difference.

— Donna Jules Dorchester voter

— René Rives Boston voter

Photo by Eli Curwin

Photo by Eli Curwin

Photo by Eli Curwin

Photo by Eli Curwin

Photo by Eli Curwin

Vinny Borgesi: Storming his way into Boston

By Amelia Ballingall News Staff

After scoring the game-winning goal in overtime in his first collegiate game, freshman defenseman Vinny Borgesi became a newcomer to watch.

The 18-year-old stepped onto the ice this fall for the Huskies fresh off a twoyear stint with the Tri-City Storm of the United States Hockey League and has been making moves on Northeast ern’s defensive line ever since.

Northeastern has known Borgesi’s promise for years. The Philadelphia na tive had just entered his teenage years when the recruitment process started.

“I’ve known the player for a number of years, watching him,” said associate head coach Mike Levine. “I watched him closely last year when he was [with] Tri-City in the USHL. I knew his game prior to my arrival here.”

Although he had been playing hockey since the age of 4, Borgesi said the moment he began to see hockey as something he could continue doing past high school was when Northeast ern started showing interest in him. He had the opportunity to meet and speak with coaches before even starting high school, eventually com mitting to Northeastern in December 2018 as a high school freshman. He squeaked in his commitment right before the NCAA changed the hockey

recruitment timeline requiring coach es to wait until January of a player’s sophomore year to start recruitment conversations and the following Au gust to make a verbal offer.

“[They] made me feel at home as soon as I met them, so I had a gut feeling that this was the place for me,” Borgesi said.

Hockey wasn’t the only factor in his decision — Borgesi named Northeast ern’s academics program as a main reason he committed to the college so early in his career.

“You can’t find a place really in the middle of the city where the hockey program’s great and the academics are great,” Borgesi said.

Although he is in a typical curric ulum now, Borgesi had an unconven tional high school career. He attended a high school in his hometown his freshman year before transferring to South Kent School in South Kent, Connecticut, as a sophomore for its hockey program. From there, he went straight into the junior leagues.

“I tendered into the USHL as a 15-year-old, played my last two years, and now I’m here. I went into that league super, super young, which really isn’t normal,” Borgesi said.

The year Borgesi joined, the Storm had an average age of 19, making him a clear outlier. Not only was he one of the youngest players, but also

one of the smallest at 5’8”. He contin ues this theme into college, but these contrasts from his teammates don’t slow him down.

“He’s a guy that plays bigger than his size,” Levine said. “He plays with a lot of zest, lot of energy, lot of passion — doesn’t back down.”

It’s not just on the ice that Borgesi has established his place at Northeast ern; he’s already found a community in the locker room as well.

“He’s always joking around,” said senior defenseman Jeremie Bucheler. “He’s got funny comments to say and all the guys like him a lot.”

His energy and passion have already given him a spot on North eastern’s coveted first line of play alongside a slate of nationally and internationally recognized talent.

“He’s very good. He’s got good instinct and he’s not risky with the puck, but he’s got confidence with it,” Bucheler said.

That confidence showed up right out of the gate in the Oct. 1 matchup against Long Island University.

“He scored that big goal, and we’re going to need him to play like that, and I think he’s going to play like that,” Bucheler said.

Borgesi’s abundance of skill has led to him being on the starting lineup for seven consecutive games since he made that goal in his debut, the

longest starting streak of any player on the team this season.

“I think he complements any one of our defensemen really well because he has some versatility to how he plays,” Levine said. “He can play with pace, he can play with energy, he can defend hard, he plays well in transitions. He’s got a couple of different layers to his game and I think that complements our entire D-corps really well.”

versatility on the back line through out his seven during Tri-City Storm. However, he said he is still looking to better himself.

guys in the locker room and the coaches, but for them to have the confidence to put me out there right away and giving me time right away as a freshman means a lot to me. But that doesn’t mean I need to stop working, so I need to keep working and eventually, by the end of the year, hopefully be a lot better,” Borgesi said.

prove his game, his coaches already see the raw talent the freshman has to offer and will continue to hone throughout his collegiate career.

“I think he’s a guy that’s going to be a leader of our D-corps. He’s going to play every situation, and as time progresses, he’s going to … lead by example and be a leader in the locker room,” Levine said. “I think the

Hofstra defeats Huskies in CAA Women’s Soccer Championship with overtime goal

By Lauren Salemo News Correspondent

The third-seeded Northeast ern women’s soccer team (10-6-4, 5-2-2 CAA) was defeated 1-2 by eighth-seeded Hofstra University (10-7-4, 3-4-2 CAA) in the second overtime of the CAA Championship on Saturday in front of packed stands at Parsons Field. This was the Hofstra Pride’s fifth CAA Championship title in the past six seasons. The Huskies haven’t won since 2016.

Northeastern pressured hard from the kickoff. Its first offensive drive came in the second minute as fresh man forward Vivian Akyirem drib bled the ball from the midfield to the top of Hofstra’s 18-yard box, unable to shoot after falling from a tackle.

The crowd was on the edge of their seats anytime the ball was at Akyirem’s feet. The freshman was named CAA Rookie of the Week twice along with being on the CAA All-Rookie team

and All-CAA First Team. Akyirem has also recorded 13 goals this sea son, making her the seventh player in program history to record at least 10 goals in a single season.

In the 22nd minute, Akyirem struck a ball on-frame low and center, finding the hands of Skylar Kuzmich, Hofstra’s senior keeper. A few minutes later, Akyirem saw another chance to score after junior midfielder Eleanor Fisher sent a ball deep, only for Kuz mich to beat Akyirem to the ball.

With 13 minutes to go in the first half, sophomore forward Megan Putvinski sent a pass down the line to Akyirem who was uncontested and looking to send in a cross. This offensive opportunity was halted as Akyirem was quickly called offside.

As the game neared the 45 minute mark, Hofstra sophomore forward Mathilde Braithwaite had a chance to score around the six-yard box, but Northeastern’s defense proved resil ient. Sophomore defender Katherine

Marchesseault remained strong and secured a goal kick for the Huskies.

The first half ended 0-0 as both teams held equal possession. Looking ahead to the next half, the Huskies needed to capitalize on counter attacks to come out on top.

Northeastern came out hungrier in the second half, with senior forward Nina Dooley taking a shot just 30 seconds in. In the first seven minutes of the second half, the Huskies took three free kicks from the middle third, but were unable to come away with any shots on goal.

The Huskies seemed to transition more effectively into their attacking third in the second half, spending more time around the Hofstra goal, but were unable to turn their final passes into shots.

In the 60th minute, Hofstra’s fresh man midfielder Wiktoria Fronc drove the ball to the endline, making her way through three Northeastern defenders, and sent the ball into the six-yard box. Fronc’s cross was tapped into the back of the net by senior forward Ellen Halseth, putting Hofstra up 0-1.

Five minutes later, Northeast ern commanded offensive control, connecting a string of passes across Hofstra’s 18-yard box. Unfortunately, one too many passes gave the Pride defense a chance to step in and kill the Huskies’ opportunity.

With 11 minutes left in the half, Northeastern saw its chance at redemption with a free kick from the right-side corner by senior defender Jane Kaull. Kaull’s cross soared into the box, looking for senior midfielder and assistant captain Alexis Legowski, who had been dominating the middle third of the field with headers the

entire game. Legowski jumped for a header, striking the ball with precision and placing it in the back of the net, putting Northeastern on the board.

Now a tied game, Northeastern’s momentum continued as the team drove straight towards Hofstra’s goal right from the kickoff. The Huskies took another free kick, giving Akyirem a shot that was saved by Kuzmich.

Although there were 30 fouls between both teams throughout regu lation and overtime play, the only yel low card came in the 82nd minute to Legowski. Shortly after, two uncalled fouls by Hofstra squashed the Hus kies’ offensive push for a game-winner with four minutes to go.

In the 87th minute, Hofstra had a chance to score with two corner kicks, but they were successfully cleared by Northeastern’s backline, keeping the game tied.

Northeastern saw one last oppor tunity at winning in regulation in the 88th minute with a give-and-go be tween Akyirem and freshman forward Lauren Ahles, setting up Akyirem with a clear shot that was saved by Kuzmich just below the crossbar.

After 90 minutes of regulation play, the game was tied 1-1. The Huskies continued the fight for the CAA title in overtime. Two 10-minute halves needed to be played in full, without a sudden-death victory per NCAA tournament rules.

Neither team dominated the first 10 minutes of overtime as both the Huskies and the Pride recorded two on-target shots. In the last three seconds, Hofstra’s sophomore forward Olivia Pearse took a shot that looked as if it went in, but sailed just above the crossbar, ending the first half of overtime scoreless.

The first five minutes of the second half of overtime resembled the 90 minutes of regulation: the game resided mostly in the midfield and each team’s offensive transitions ended with a save by the goalies or a clearing by the back lines.

The Pride had two plays in the 106th and 107th minutes, where a smooth string of passes led to two on-frame strikes. Both shots at vic tory were stopped by Northeastern’s keeper, graduate student Holland Stam, who had been solid all game, recording seven saves in total.

With two minutes to go, a hand ball was called against the Huskies, allowing Hofstra to send a ball into the top of the 18-yard box off of a free kick. After the shot ricocheted off the crossbar, Hofstra’s graduate defender Krista Agostinello headed the ball in, putting the Pride up 1-2.

With roughly 90 seconds left to play, the Huskies quickly moved the ball up the field and held possession in their attacking third, but were un able to take any shots for an equalizer.

In the end, the Pride outshot the Huskies 21-16, although both teams had nine on-frame shots. Northeastern put up a tough fight in 110 minutes of evenly-matched play, but Hofstra came away with the victory in the last two minutes of double overtime.

Northeastern’s diligent work did not go unnoticed. Legowski, Aky irem and senior midfielder Porter Dooley were selected for the 2022 CAA Women’s Soccer All-Tour nament team. Although they fell one goal short of the CAA title, the Huskies had a stellar season, boast ing an overall record of 10-6-4 and conference record of 5-2-2.

Sophomore forward Megan Putvinski slide tackles Hofstra’s Thorhildur Thorhallsdottir Nov. 5. Putvinski ended the season with seven points.

Photo by Kayla Shiao

against Vermont Oct. 8. Borgesi scored the game-winning goal in his first collegiate game Oct. 1.

Huskies take Wildcats’ ninth life: NU hands UNH ninth loss of the season

By Eli Curwin News Staff

The Northeastern men’s hockey team (6-2-2, 5-2-1 HE) skated away with a dominant 6-2 victory over the University of New Hamp shire, or UNH, Wildcats (3-6-1, 0-6-1 HE) Friday, Nov. 4. Led by a career-first hat trick from sopho more forward Justin Hryckowian and a momentous 100th career point for senior forward Aidan McDonough, the Huskies pieced together one of the teams’ best performances of the year.

Throughout the game, the Huskies offense showed a beauti ful combination of precise passing and crafty scoring, garnering six goals and totaling 18 points, both season highs.

Hryckowian’s first hat trick came during an excellent start to his sophomore season, as the forward has collected 12 points in 10 games.

For McDonough, his 100th point speaks to a lengthy 4-year stretch of continued offensive dominance.

“It obviously feels pretty special, you know, so many great players before me to hit that mark and [I’ve] just been really fortu nate to play with so many good players over the course of my four years,” McDonough said. “Every one on the team, this all goes out to them. [I] can think of so many guys who have helped me get to [this] point.”

Despite what head coach Jerry Keefe described as a slow start, the Huskies took the lead early in the first period. After a sloppy first 10 minutes of play, Northeastern’s of fense was able to collect itself, and a sequence of passes from fresh man forward Hunter McDonald

and senior forward Riley Hughes set up senior defenseman Jeremie Bucheler for a one-timer.

Five minutes after the Huskies’ first goal, Hryckowian added to the lead. After moving the puck around the zone, sophomore for ward Braden Doyle whipped the puck toward UNH freshman goalie Tyler Muszelik. McDonough got his stick on the puck, forc ing Muszelik to block the shot, not save it. Hryckowian got the rebound undefended, and put it in for the Huskies’ second goal of the night.

As the period ended, Northeast ern’s defense protected the team’s lead. The Huskies’ ability to close gaps in the defense and poke the puck free kept Northeastern up throughout the latter half of the first period.

The Huskies offense and defense continued to fire on all cylinders heading into the second period. Two minutes into the period, soph omore defenseman Cam Gaudette zipped a pass to McDonough, who found Hryckowian again for the duo’s second points of the night and Gaudette’s first career point on the secondary assist.

Northeastern’s offense was roll ing. The Wildcats pulled Muszelik for senior goalie David Fessenden, and following a successful Husky penalty kill, Northeastern’s offense mustered five shots in one minute.

However, UNH put a dent in Northeastern’s lead about halfway through the period. Freshman cen ter Cy LeClerc was able to collect the puck off the boards and wrap a pass around Bucheler into the stick of Wildcat sophomore defenseman Jack Babbage. Babbage sent a back handed pass to freshman forward

Jake Dunlap who zipped it past junior goalie Devon Levi for his first career goal and the Wildcats’ first score of the night.

Northeastern’s offense came roaring back, spending lengthy possessions in the zone, forcing the UNH defense out of position and taking several more shots at UNH’s netminder. However, Fessenden was able to temporarily hold off the Huskies from extend ing the team’s lead.

With three minutes left in the period, Northeastern’s offense would not be halted by the Wildcats. Northeastern’s aggres sive rushes and quick passing kept the pressure up on UNH’s defense, whose defensive strategy of keeping the puck out of the middle of the ice was floundering.

After a between-the-legs pass from Hryckowian to McDonough, Mc Donough whipped a shot toward Fessenden, and on the rebound, junior forward Sam Colangelo lit the lamp, restoring the Huskies’ lead to three.

Before the second period horn sounded, Hughes and Wildcat soph omore forward Robert Cronin were put in the penalty box. Heading into the third period, both teams would be down a skater, but because Hughes’ penalty occurred before Cronin’s, Northeastern would have a power play at the start of the third.

This would prove useful for the Huskies. Thirty seconds into the period, a perfect pass from junior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine skidded past two defenders onto McDonough’s stick, who weaved around Fessenden and scored. The goal marked the Huskies’ fifth of the night and gave McDonough his 100th career point.

Northeastern almost added another goal to the team’s lead when freshman forward Cam Lund tipped the puck in with his glove. Because a player is not allowed to score with their glove, the goal was called off af ter review. But that wouldn’t stop the Huskies from scoring again, when a pretty pass from Doyle set Hrycko wian up for an angelic array of dekes and his third goal of the night.

“It’s always good when you can help the team score a couple of goals,” Hryckowian said on his hat trick. “The puck kind of has been following me a little bit and I’ve been lucky to capitalize lately.”

UNH was able to score a second time with a goal from Wildcat senior forward and captain Chase Stevenson. Following a series of Wildcat shot attempts, Levi failed to corral the puck in a pile of skaters, and Stevenson slapped it in before the group of players fell onto Levi.

Though Northeastern had sever al opportunities to score, the team

could not find the back of the net in the final 10 minutes of play.

After Friday’s 6-2 victory, North eastern headed to New Hampshire to play the Wildcats on the second night of back-to-back games. Northeastern defeated the Wildcats again, 3-0.

A weekend infused with career milestones, the two victories were stellar displays of Northeastern’s fast-paced offense and synergetic defense. Hryckowian added to his weekend point total with two more goals in Saturday’s game. Levi set a new school shutout record of 12 shutouts in 82 fewer games than the previous record holder. With a goal and an assist on the second night of play, Fontaine stockpiled his 50th career point. And Mc Donough, in addition to collecting his 100th point, notched his 100th career game.

Looking to extend its three-game win streak, Northeastern will face Boston College in a home game Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.

Northeastern crew teams compete at

57th annual Head of the Charles Regatta

By Noelia Arteaga News Correspondent

The Northeastern men’s and wom en’s rowing teams competed at the Head of the Charles Regatta Oct. 23. The men’s A boat, stroked by graduate student Rhett Burns, finished fourth collegiately and sixth overall with a time of 13:42.881, and the women’s A

boat, stroked by Iris Cotrupi, finished 10th with a time of 18:21.408.

The Head of the Charles Regatta, or HOCR, hosted rowers from around the globe who competed on the three-mile course on the Charles River, which splits Cambridge and Boston. The event includes races at the club, collegiate, alumni and family levels.

“One of the encouraging things is how competitive the Division I men’s eight field was at the top,” said Alex Perkins, the men’s rowing associate head coach. “We were just under nine seconds from being the top college crew.”

The men’s A boat placed sixth by a hair in the Championship Eight race, just 0.04 seconds ahead of the Washington A boat after trailing them by 0.058 seconds. The women’s A boat competed in the Championship Fours and finished 7.4 seconds ahead of the Dartmouth B boat and 11 seconds behind the Rhode Island A boat.

The men’s B boat, stroked by junior Paul Philips; the C boat, stroked by junior Michael Gelfand; and the D boat, stroked by freshman Daniel Kelly, also competed. The men’s B boat fin ished with a time of 14:20.163 in the Championship Eight ahead of the Navy A boat and 1.5 seconds behind the Stanford A boat. The C boat finished eleventh in the Club 8+ race with a time of 14:55.016, and the D boat finished with a time of 15:20.514.

The women’s team also competed in the Women’s Club Fours race, stroked by Hannah Szych; the Wom en’s Club Eights division, stroked by Eleanor Loonam; and the Champi onship Eights classification, stroked by Victoria Thibeault.

The women’s boat stroked by Szych placed 23rd with an overall time of 19:21.990, the boat stroked by Loonman placed 21st with 17:21.156 and the boat stroked by Thibeault placed 15th with 15:53.413.

This year, half the women’s team is underclassmen with only three grad uate students and four seniors on the team. In coming years, the team will be composed of older athletes, giving the Huskies the advantage in experience in seasons to come.

“Our athletes on Saturday were some of our younger athletes on the team,” said Joe Wilhelm, the women’s head coach, in a video on the @GoNUwrowing’s Twitter following the HOCR. “It was a great experience for them to race against some of the best colleges in the country, along with some of the best rowing clubs in the country.”

In last year’s HOCR, the A boats in the Men’s and Women’s Championship Eight took third place while the men’s boat came in first place in the Championship Four.

“We really executed what we wanted to execute this week, which was a really strong middle second half of the race and execut ing the stroke we’ve been working on this fall,” Wilhelm said.

The HOCR is the second to last race before the team goes into their winter training to prepare for the spring season, a time that is packed with home races on the Charles River. Northeastern’s rowing teams will close out the fall season at the Foot of the Charles Nov. 12.

During the winter, the team will train hard, Perkins said, focusing on fitness and physical capacity that will be key in winning home races and events out west in the San Francisco Bay Area.

“The spring season is really exciting,” Perkins said. “We have a lot of home races, which is always a big fan of the guys. We have the Ar lette Cup against BU, and we have the Smith Cup against Harvard.”

Junior goaltender Devon Levi lunges to make a save against the UNH Wildcats. This weekend, Levi broke the program’s career shutout record with 12 shutouts in 41 games.

Photo by Mika Podila

Rowers race in the Head of the Charles Regatta on the Charles River, which splits Cambridge and Boston. The regatta attracts rowers from around the world who compete on the course every October.

Photo courtesy Chloe Steele

EDITORIAL BOARD

Op-ed: NU should consider the pitfalls of an opt-in Wellness Day system

my mother’s dreams, which have now become mine.

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Growing up in my Latina house hold, I was always reminded by my im migrant mother that education is the highest achievement to strive for. My mother herself was never able to com plete her education, which empowered me to strive far in my academic goals. I carry this weight with me in every class I take and every assignment I tackle. Arriving at Northeastern, this mindset has had adverse effects on my mental health like I have never expe rienced before. When I heard about Northeastern’s Wellness Day program, part of me felt guilty for even consid ering taking a day for myself. It would be as if I took a break from pursuing

As someone who deals with lots of anxiety and stress, the workload of school on top of balancing a multifac eted life feels extremely overwhelm ing — some days more than others. College students are expected to attend class, complete assignments, partici pate in extracurricular activities and possibly have a job, while simultane ously maintaining a healthy mental state. This expectation will undoubt edly lead to burnout for some. Taking this issue into consideration, North eastern began this semester with the Wellness Day program, which provides students with an opportunity to have two excused absences by filling out a form on Student Hub.

As of now, I have already used one Wellness Day this semester. While this option may seem beneficial to students’ mental health, I found that taking a day off classes only increased my stress. The next day, when I had to return back to my class schedule, I was sud denly falling behind. By taking a day off, I missed class lectures, discussions and in-class assignments. That week, I ended up doing even more work than I would have had to without taking the Wellness Day. Not only did I have to

resume my previous workload, but I now had an additional amount of work to finish in a shorter period of time.

I assumed that a Wellness Day would be a way to step back from the constant stress of school that was affecting my mind and body. Instead, it made it worse. As a result, I have been very hesitant about when or if I should even use my second excused absence.

Since the start of the new school year, professors have told students to attend class because of the university’s strict atten dance policy. Northeastern’s 2022-2023 attendance requirements page states, “class participation is essential to success no matter the course format or its delivery; therefore, attendance is mandatory.” By emphasizing that class participation is crucial to success, students, like myself, are placed under an unnecessarily heightened academic pressure to not fail. Students are already reluctant to miss out on school for feeling ill, since all classes must be in-per son. Many professors also prohibit Zoom meetings from being provided except for extraordinary circumstances. Despite students feeling mentally exhausted, there is a high chance they will neglect their well-being by refusing to take a day off.

One’s mental health is always more important than anything else, especially grades, which is far too

often misconstrued in college. In my personal experience, I have always been hard on myself. The expecta tion to achieve perfect grades will inevitably have a negative impact on my life in many regards. When I feel this pressure, I also fail to make time for social interactions, meals and myself. Despite these tribula tions, I caved in to take a Wellness Day, which ultimately did not im prove my mental state as Northeast ern originally intended.

I do believe that Northeastern has good intentions in providing Wellness Days to care for students’ mental health. That being said, perhaps having university-wide mental health days would be more effective in tending to students’ school-related stress. If the student population as a whole receives two days off by Northeastern itself, students could use the day to par take in self-care without the worry of what may be occurring in class while they are gone.

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

years, my expectations for artists have soared.

The numbers say it all. Six days after the Oct. 21 release of her new album Midnights, it became the third-most-streamed album ever. She also became the first artist ever to oc cupy all top 10 spots of the Billboard Hot 100. She’s the female artist with the most top-10 hits in the charts ever and the only artist to have five albums selling over 1 million copies in one week.

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Those were the first lyrics I heard when I became a dedicated fan of Taylor Swift. I had been a casual lis tener throughout my life until Swift surprise-released her album folklore in 2020 while we were cooped up in our homes during the pandemic.

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Ananya Kulkarni, Aubrey Burgess, Ali Caudle, Matthew Chu, Emma Liu, Haley Pflasterer, Liza Sheehy, Kayla Shiao

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Swift is not your average songwriter. The lyrics she crafts come together in compelling ways that enrich her stories with vivid underlying themes. Some of her lyrics, especially her bridges, run through my head to provide me with a boost of mental energy to get me through the day.

Swift’s lyricism is so impressive that I honestly think she could be an esteemed poet if music did not already consume so much of her life. Listening to folklore in 2020 made me realize that Swift is much more than a white girl with blonde hair singing about her fractured relation ships. She is a lyrical genius. She is a storyteller. One might even say she is a mastermind. Swift has been bless ing her fans by releasing an endless stream of music from 2020 to today.

The immense number of tunes Swift has released in the past few years has initiated a new age in music. As a music minor reflecting on how much work Swift has done in the past few

Seeing the number of records Swift has broken with Midnights is so bewildering. It feels like I’m in a won derland living in an era with a singer as revolutionary as her. Acknowledg ing the number of records she has broken throughout her career is en chanting. These are just a fraction of all the records Swift has broken in the music industry, which is a testament to the amount of effort Swift puts into her work. These statistics emphasize the sheer number of hearts Swift has touched with her music.

The fact that her music resonates with so many people shows how music is a unifying force drawing people closer together. Whether she gets Swifties to collectively push for a “Cruel Summer” music video or make wild theories about Swift’s future work by hunting and obsessing over her Easter eggs, she has amassed a loyal fan base. Even I, a classical music enthusiast, am drawn in by the tales brought to life in Swift’s songs. Swift’s success is transformative, building bridges between individuals who can find something about her work that causes sparks to fly within.

Many artists have broken astounding records throughout their careers, but Swift’s unique accomplishments highlight how much creativity she exhibits in her works. Her album Red (Taylor’s Version),

which was released Nov. 12, 2021, included a 10 minute version of one of her hits, “All Too Well.” The newer version thoroughly recounts the hardships Swift encountered in a past relationship. In the song, she uses the metaphor of a red scarf to symbolize the nature of her relationship, discusses her experience with her ex-boyfriend’s family, reflects on warning signs embedded in the relationship and even acknowledges that the relationship she had with her ex-boyfriend was genuine despite the deep heartbreak. She even wrote and directed a short film to provide a visual depiction of the emotions incorporated within the song to help make its story less cryptic for a casual listener. Furthermore, after her masters at Big Machine Records were sold in 2019 to music manager Scooter Braun in a $300 million deal, she used her frustration to motivate herself to re-record the music she lost and reclaim it as her own. In those re-recordings, she included various “from the vault” tracks, ones previously written or recorded while preparing an album that were ultimately not included. This strategy makes the newer versions of Swift’s albums worth extra attention. Swift could have just re-released her albums with the songs they originally contained, but since she can decide what songs to release without Big Machine Records’ restrictions, she can gift her fans with a taste of stories from the past that can finally breathe in the present.

Swift is truly passionate about composing songs, especially consid ering the sheer number of albums that she has released in the past few years (Lover in 2019, folklore and evermore in 2020, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Ver sion) in 2021 and Midnights). As a bonus, she has displayed impressive flexibility with the genres she has

mastered, from country to pop to everything in between. Her passion for music is why I am so drawn to her work: she puts so much thought and care into getting in touch with her emotions and describing what she feels through lyrics. Swift’s work feels relatable because she instills so much humanity in her compositions. Anyone can take the perspective of the songs’ narrators and nourish the ways the songs relate to stories of our own lives. Swift’s songs do not just tell her own tales. They are templates for us to spiritually connect with and reshape based on our own lives. Swift emphasized on social media that she felt compelled to engage in the re-recording process because “artists should own their own work for so many reasons, but the most scream ingly obvious one is that the artist is the only one who really [knows] that body of work.” This sense of purpose provides Swift with a clear direction of how to make her hits meaningful and consequently so gorgeous.

For those who aren’t fans of Swift’s songs, you can at least acknowledge the amount of success she has ac quired and that she rightfully deserves it. Don’t spread hate comments about a woman who is willing to be vulnerable about her life through the power of music. Swift’s career is characterized by amazing work that has filled blank spaces in many of our delicate hearts. People like me use Swift’s songs as a way to both heal our pain and celebrate our victories. Please don’t ridicule us for adoring someone who has helped us have a more fulfilling life. Because if you do, then you need to calm down.

Jethro R. Lee is a second-year data science and psychology combined major. He can be reached at lee.jet@ northeastern.edu.

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

Photo by Colette Pollauf

“I’m doing good, I’m on some new s***…”

Photo by Colette Pollauf

Op-ed: Vladimir Putin is becoming more aggressive with the Russian mobilization

In the early morning of Sept. 21, Russian state television broadcasted a recorded speech by Russian Pres ident Vladimir Putin to the public. Its message revealed disturbing facts about the Kremlin’s motivations and its response to the dire situation of its special military operation in eastern Ukraine.

This televised address was the first to the public after the declara tion of the start of Russia’s mili tary operation in late February, a surprising change for a government who repeatedly assured its citizens that everything was going according to plan in Ukraine. There was much preparation for this speech both on TV, where scheduled program times were amended, and on the ground, where Ukrainian Air Force Spokesperson Yuriy Ignat reported over 700 Russian Air Force aircraft units were moved to the Ukrainian border. Mass airstrikes (such as the ones that took out most of eastern Ukraine’s power and rail infrastruc ture) were expected right after the speech, however no reports of such strikes were confirmed.

The address has major implications for the future of the nine-month-old conflict in Ukraine. The first state ment in Putin’s speech was the partial mobilization of the nation’s reserve units. The Russian Ministry of Defence released a separate statement asking the Federal Duma (Russian Senate) to allocate 300,000 reservist troops to the front line to replenish losses and create new battalions. Three hundred thousand troops theoretically represent about 1.2% of Russia’s full mobilization potential of about 25 million troops. Realistically, however, Russia could only call upon a small fraction of that theoretical number as many civilians avoid the draft and up to 50% of the rest are deemed unfit for service when called up.

These troops will be given only a month’s training before being shipped off to the front lines. This is in stark contrast to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, or NATO’s, training policies, which require at least 14 weeks of general training followed by a few more months of specialist training. Russia, however, simply does not have that much time. Recent gains for Ukraine along the north of the front line are too big for the Russians to ignore. Should Ukraine make any further pushes, existing supply lines for the Russians in the Donbass, or DPR, and Lugansk, or LPR, regions will be cut off. The Russians are spread too thin, and Ukraine’s mass mobiliza tion early on in the war is paying its dividends. Contrary to the beliefs of Putin and Minister of Defence of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu, Russian artillery and high-precision missiles cannot close the manpower gap with Ukraine.

How these 300,000 troops will be deployed is anyone’s guess. “According to plan” is what Shoigu remarked in a televised meeting with Putin released later on Sept. 21. What is clear is that these troops will not be coming anytime soon, but when they do, they will rep resent a massive increase in the forces available to Russia and the Lugansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic forces on the ground. Putin made sure to indicate that no students or conscripts would be recruited. Whether this is actually being followed in practice cannot be determined.

The second major announcement in the Sept. 21 broadcast — and the one with the most implications for Ukraine — is the referendums for annexation to be held in the four oblasts (states) that Russia currently administers. These are: LPR, DPR, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. These referendums began on Sept. 24 and lasted until Sept. 28. In the case of the DPR and LPR, these referendums had one question — whether or not to request Russia to annex these territories. Given that the parliament voted unanimously to hold these referendums, the outcome should be no surprise. In Kherson and Zapor izhzhia however, the referendum included two questions. The first had to do with succession from Ukraine to become an independent republic. The next question was about annexation to Russia. For Kherson and Zapor izhzhia, Russia will need to recognize these independent republics before they can accept the request for annex ation. Again, it should be no surprise that Russia offered the self-proclaimed republics a swift recognition.

Russia only controls the entirety of the territory of Lugansk. The DPR,

Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, are still contested between Ukraine and Russia. These referendums change what seems like a very minute, se mantic part of the conflict. However, this change brought about very real consequences. Previously, any Ukrainian attack (such as the one being conducted in Kherson) was considered an attack on Russian-oc cupied Ukraine. However, after the referendums passed, these attacks are now considered an attack on Russia proper. This gives the Russians, who claim to have been “holding back” in Ukraine, an excuse to pull out the heavy weaponry in their arsenal, up to and including nuclear weapons. This is something that Putin said he was not afraid to do.

The United Nations adopted resolution ES 11/4 condemning the annexation — but that is irrelevant. Russia will make decisions solely based on what it believes to be true. The question then lies in whether Western nations will respond by upping the amount of military aid given to Kiev, something that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made sure to comment on in his response to Putin’s statement. Europe in particular will be hesitant to add fuel to the fire given the dire situation it faces this winter.

In the early morning of Oct. 5, to much praise from his supporters, Putin signed the annexation into law, creating four new subjects of the Russian Federation. In my opinion this is a devastating escalation of the situation, and Russia has now crossed the point of no return in Ukraine. The sheer lack of recognition of the potentially devastating consequences of these actions amongst both politi cians and civilians is alarming.

Senators in the United States continue to push for more military equipment to be pro vided to Ukraine. While this is theoretically a sign of support, it only provokes a harsher Russian response, resulting in the death of more Ukrainian, and Russian citizens. Similarly, supporters of the military operation in Russia, such as Ramzan Kadyrov, push Putin to deliver harsher responses to Ukraine and Russia has clearly shown that it is ready to continue escalating the situation as it sees fit. The result of this continued brinkmanship from both sides will only be an extension of the conflict, and the death of many more civilians.

Finding a peaceful solution to the conflict will take a round of uneasy talks between leaders. Many compromises will need to be made. However, the longer those talks are delayed, the more casualties the war will create. As civilians, we have the responsibility to urge our politicians to stop the armed esca lation in Ukraine and aim instead for a peaceful solution to the prob lem. Some argue that a peaceful solution is not possible. However, I think this is a dangerous route to take if one has any consideration for the lives of the men and wom en, both civilian and military that are lost each day deciding which areas of the former Soviet Union should go to Russia and which should go to Ukraine.

Rahul Rao is a third-year computer science and political science combined major. He can be reached at rao.ra@ northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: Looking back on my unforgettable, invaluable Husky experience this fall

did not know what was waiting for me in the new city. What worried me the most was the depletion of my money.

As the bus passed through Connecticut, the beauty of scenic spots at the roadside attracted my attention and dissipated my worry. To me, the vibrant colors of the foliage were the resurrection of the famous images painted by Leonardo da Vinci.

Twenty-five years ago this Octo ber, I flew from Beijing to Washing ton D.C., where there was a small Uyghur community who would receive me at the airport.

For me, a mountain-born Uy ghur youth, coming to the United States was like coming to Alice’s Wonderland. I left for Boston on a Greyhound bus that cost me $88 on one early morning after staying in D.C. for a week. As the bus moved toward Boston, I began to feel unsettled as I knew there was no one to greet me at the bus station. I

Carrying my luggage and walking out of Boston’s famous South Station, I walked to the north, stopped, turned back, walked to the south, stood outside for a while as if I had lost my mind. I then went back inside the bus station after coming to myself. It was a cold and rainy day in Boston. I was nobody in an alien land, and I will never forget that day and that feeling.

At the information desk, with the help of a very kindhearted young lady, I found a place at Boston’s Youth Hostel for $15 a day. I made my way there by the MBTA after purchasing the yellow T token for 80 cents.

This first experience was memorable, and may be invaluable.

When each fall arrives, and trees are dressed up with colorful leaves, it reminds me of the first day I arrived in Boston. This past weekend, while walking in one of the beautiful parks on the South Shore, I thought of my time at Northeastern University. I did not only get a good education there but also laid a lifelong foundation to survive in society. The international student-friendly environment, kind and compassionate faculty and staff and dynamic, diverse campus com munity — namely everything I did, saw and learned there — has helped me in many ways.

I remember my time working in the Snell Library for $5.25 an hour and becoming a teaching assistant in the economics department. I remember my work as a proctor in the student residence halls and teaching economics in the College of Continuing Education. My profes sors’ wise advice still rings in my ears. I also recalled my efforts to look for graduate study opportunities at Northeastern University for brilliant young Uyghurs back home.

To this day, all the faces I have en countered at Northeastern are in my

memory. All the beautiful souls and their good deeds are in my heart. Among them, I found out recently, and sadly, that some professors retired, and some have passed away. One such great person is the late David A. Garelick of the physics department. I met him when I went to his department to inquire about study opportunities for my fellow Uyghur youth.

Personally, it was a difficult time for me. I was confused as I was the only and first Uyghur from Urumqi, China, to come to Northeastern and lacked experience and knowledge of living in the new society. Garelick somehow understood the complex issues international students face in this society, as he mentored many international graduate students during his time. Garelick encour aged us to be persistent when he learned that my wife was an international medical student trying to learn more about the medi cal residency program. Even his daughter Laura, a physician, called me to give some advice for my wife. What beautiful souls they were. That gesture of kindness deeply moved me, and out of gratitude from my

subconscious, I always chose the Garelick brand when I needed to purchase milk.

Two and half decades later, I no longer feel “alien,” but rather I feel like a proud “Bostonian.” I attri bute this all to several factors: the excellent education I have received from Northeastern, a supportive and embracing Husky community and the genuine kindness of people like Garelick.

Unfortunately, I begin to feel unsettled whenever I think of my fellow Uyghurs who are “alienated” in their homeland and still suffering in China’s notorious concentration camps. It is because of systematic rac ism and state-sponsored oppression.

I really wish the whole world was full of the Husky spirit — progres sive, embracing and supportive that makes everyone feel free. I also wish that all forms of ugliness, such as racism and state-sponsored oppression that chain mankind to injustices, cruelness and conflict would end.

Kaiser Mejit graduated in 1999 with a M.A degree in economics. He can be reached at kmejit@suffolk.edu.

Photo courtesy Rahul Rao

This headshot is from 1998.

Photo courtesy Kaiser Mejit