December 1, 2023

The Huntington News December 1, 2023

The independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community

@HuntNewsNU

NU ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR ARRESTED ON CHILD PORNOGRAPHY CHARGES

By Emily Spatz | Deputy Campus Editor

Content Warning: This story contains details of sexual assault and child pornography.

An admissions counselor at Northeastern was arrested Nov. 21 for allegedly receiving and possessing child pornography, according to the Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s office.

Beau Christopher Benson, a 35-year-old who resides in Dorchester, allegedly used Zoom video chat rooms to share and view child pornography. Fifteen video files, which allegedly depicted explicit content of children 2 to 14 years old and contained conversations about child pornography between Benson and othPhoto by Elizabeth Scholl er members in Zoom chat rooms, were found saved The John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse sits at 1 Courthouse Way. Northeastern admissions counselor Beau in his Dropbox account, Christopher Benson was arrested Nov. 21 for allegedly receiving and possessing child pornography.

according to a press release.

Law enforcement was reportedly notified of his possible involvement in viewing and distributing sexually explicit material of children in April.

Benson appeared in front of U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell on Nov. 22, who ruled Benson would remain in custody.

Another detention hearing was scheduled for Nov. 27.

According to an affidavit from Boston Police Department Sergeant Detective Michael Sullivan obtained by The News, which describes the content of the 15 videos, Benson allegedly entered Zoom chat rooms with other men and masturbated to videos that depicted children being sexually assaulted.

The affidavit states an unidentified person who previously pleaded guilty to child pornography charges came forward to police saying he knew Benson personally and had “encountered [him] in Zoom rooms that were used for the streaming of child pornography” prior to meeting him.

BENSON, on Page 2

A Boogie Wit da Hoodie rocks Matthews Arena at Homecoming performance

By Niya Plynton News Correspondent New York-based hip-hop superstar A Boogie Wit da Hoodie concluded “Me vs. Myself: The College Tour” at Matthews Arena Nov. 9, where he performed as the Homecoming Week’s headliner, sponsored by the Northeastern Council for University Programs, or CUP. Following previous Homecoming events, which included a talk with former Patriots player Rob Gronkowski and an appearance from the ever-iconic drag queen Monet X Change, A Boogie’s performance brought high energy to Northeastern.

Tickets sold out in just three hours, said fifth-year business administration and communication studies combined major and CUP president Mahong Bloom, and resold at higher prices on Northeastern’s Reddit page.

First-year biology major Caralena Genova said that it was “a scramble to get tickets” and wound up securing hers through a friend.

The event garnered a huge turnout, with the entrance line extending from the front of Matthews to around the block. CUP staff guided attendees into Matthews and provided students with bottled water to prevent dehydration, which has become a major concern amid venues.

CUP staff were also uniquely excited about the event. Erin Vetter, a fourth-year communication studies and sociology combined major and director of community events for CUP, said, “the Homecoming headliner seamlessly aligns with Homecoming Week … and heightens the spirit among students on campus.”

And that it did.

Matthews was tightly packed, with a large crowd in the front section

CAMPUS

Student dining board to incorporate feedback

paid homage to his deceased friend and fellow rapper Juice WRLD, displaying visuals of the late musician against the clouds in the backdrop.

Concertgoers continued to dance and crowd the stage for the entirety of the set.

HIP-HOP, on Pages 6-7

Photo courtesy Kimmy Curry A Boogie raps while running across stage. The artist performed at Matthews Arena Nov. 9 as the Homecoming Week headliner.

CITY

SPORTS

Read about the non-profit seeking menstrual equity.

Read about the future of Husky volleyball.

Love Your Menses fights for menstrual wellness

Read about efforts to improve meal plans in 2024.

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and a completely filled balcony.

CUP organizers began the event by thanking the volunteers who helped set up the venue in just one day — for similar events, such as Springfest, Bloom said they usually have a twoday build period. Organizers then introduced DJ Guru Sanaal, who serenaded the crowd with popular hip-hop tunes and afro beats in preparation for A Boogie’s set.

A Boogie was well-received by concertgoers, with attendees erupting in excitement the moment the rapper took the stage. Both dedicated fans and casual attendees enjoyed the event, becoming especially active during A Boogie’s most popular and TikTok-trending tunes, such as “My Shit” and “Look Back at It.” A Boogie was joined on stage by DJ Ominaya, who boosted the audience’s engagement and matched the energy of the event. During his set, A Boogie

Photo courtesy YDSA

PAGE 5

Women’s volleyball season recap

Photo courtesy Ebere Azumah

PAGE 9

Photo by Sofia Sawchuk

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December 1, 2023

Northeastern employee could face decades in federal prison, US attorney says Content Warning: This story contains details of sexual assault and child pornography.

Editor’s Note: The Huntington News wants students to know Northeastern University and elsewhere provide sexual assault resources for students.

• WeCare: wecare@northeastern. edu, 617-373-7591, 226 Curry • University Health and Counseling Services (UHCS): uhcs@ northeastern.edu, 617-373-2772, Forsyth Building, 1st Floor • 24/7 Mental Health Support: for students by phone (FIND@Northeastern) — 866-233-9477 (U.S.), 781-457-777 (international) • Suicide Prevention Hotline: 1-800-273-8255 • Sexual Assault Prevention and Survivor Services (SAPSS)

BENSON, from front The Boston Police Department, or BPD, received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children July 27, according to the affidavit, referring the police to the Dropbox file Benson, using a username and email that contained his name, allegedly uploaded videos to. According to the affidavit, Dropbox reported that there were two graphic videos uploaded to the file July 10.

BPD obtained search warrants for Benson’s residence in August, the affidavit read, and Benson reportedly admitted that his email was the one associated with the Dropbox account in a police interrogation.

Benson told authorities he had allowed a guest staying at his residence to use his Dropbox account and was unaware that it contained child pornography.

“Benson indicated that Dropbox reported to him that [he] had illegal

pornographic content,” the affidavit continued. “Benson denied having anything to do with child pornography found in his Dropbox account.”

Benson also said that he had encountered Zoom rooms where people were playing child pornography, but he would “immediately leave” the room upon realizing what was being streamed. He admitted to using the Dropbox file to save “homemade adult pornographic videos,” the affidavit read.

It was unclear when Benson allegedly began participating in chat rooms or was first in possession of the explicit videos, though the affidavit concluded that Benson “knowingly received child pornography” around Dec. 24, 2021.

According to Benson’s LinkedIn, he has worked at Northeastern as a senior associate director of admissions for international recruitment since October 2017.

In July, he was promoted to director of global enrollment strategies, in which role he is responsible for “overseeing undergraduate international student enrollment.”

According to travel itinerary logs obtained by The News, Benson visited several high schools in New York and abroad to recruit students to the university from August to November. The travel occurred after the BPD executed the search warrant and questioned Benson about child pornography connected to his email account.

Northeastern did not immediately respond to questions from The News about whether the university was aware BPD had executed a search warrant and questioned Benson about child pornography.

The university also did not respond to requests for comment or questions about whether Benson was still employed by the univer-

sity, but a university spokesperson told The Boston Globe that Benson had been “suspended indefinitely” from his position. The Globe said the spokesperson declined to comment further.

Benson formerly worked in admissions at New York University and was the associate director of admissions for the school from 2015-2017.

As of Nov. 22 at 2:55 p.m., Benson’s profile page on Northeastern’s website linked to an error 404 message. He is also no longer listed as an admissions counselor on the university’s admissions staff page.

If Benson is found guilty of receiving child pornography, he could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

The charge of possession of child pornography holds a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, according to the press release.

ical engineering major and chair of the board. “Northeastern has changed so much. I feel like we need to adapt to the student body that we have now.”

One of the board’s main focuses is adjusting the number of swipes offered by the current meal plan options. For 17 meals per week, which is the highest number of meals offered before the unlimited plan, Northeastern charges students $4,090 per semester. Even on this plan, students are not guaranteed three meals a day, seven days a week. Other plans offered to students are the unlimited plan, the 12- and 7-meals-per-week options, which are $4,405, $3,700 and $2,600 per semester, respectively.

“I feel like the astronomically high price compared to the really average quality does not match up — the price is too high for the quality of food served,” said Luke Sanders, a second-year electrical engineering major. “And the cost of a meal exchange doesn’t get you nearly as much food as what it should.”

While a typical meal swipe for a meal in a Northeastern dining hall is about $17 for breakfast, $20 for lunch and $22 for dinner, a meal exchange in the Curry Student Center is equivalent to $14 at most, Sanders said.

Therefore, he feels that many students are shorted when it comes to meal exchanges around campus.

Julian Herzing-Burkard, a Dining Advisory Board member and second-year international business major, said he had heard complaints about the meal exchange program from many students, specifically concerning “how much value that meal change has and how little choices there are.”

In order to maximize the effects of a revamped meal plan, the Dining Advisory Board has used student outreach to ensure all students are heard and have a say in what they want in a meal plan.

“All the members of the board or most members of the board are also very involved in various organizations on campus,” Katz said. “So

we are fostering those connections, using those connections to our advantage to spread the word that way.”

In February, the Northeastern Young Democratic Socialists of America, or YDSA, held its first rally as a part of its No Hungry Huskies campaign, which aims to combat food insecurity on campus. Since then, SGA and YDSA have engaged in conversation with university administration to begin working toward ending food insecurity on campus.

On Oct. 16, the board hosted a listening session and invited students to discuss their thoughts on Northeastern dining. The board also hosted a Nov. 16 “Rocky Horror Dinner Show” to gather student feedback in an interactive setting. There, the board gained insight into some of the most common concerns students have.

One issue the board heard frequently was about the lack of food options in the dining halls.

“There’s so many different dietary restrictions, religious dietary restrictions or even just personal preferences and being vegan or vegetarian,” Katz said.

At the board’s Oct. 16 listening session, Sydney Rossi, a first-year business administration and economics combined major who has egg and nut allergies, said she isn’t confident the food in the dining halls is safe for her to eat.

“A lot of the time when I’m trying to find food options, I have no idea if it’s been anywhere near eggs when I’ve had an allergic reaction due to cross-contamination,” Rossi said. “I’m in a place where I don’t really trust the dining halls because I’m never sure what’s safe and what’s not.”

First-year students like Rossi are required to be on a meal plan since they reside in university housing.

But Rossi finds that being required to be on a meal plan that does not accommodate allergies traps students in situations similar to hers.

“I’m required to be in this dorm, required to be on this meal plan, but

I don’t have any way to accommodate my own allergies,” Rossi said. “So I’m trying to find ways to work around it, but it’s really difficult, especially how Northeastern’s kind of put me and every freshman in the same box. But the box hasn’t worked for everyone and it’s not working for me.”

While the board members creating the revamped meal plan have accounted for undergraduate concerns, the board is also focusing on how graduate students are affected by the current meal plans.

“I am just trying to understand how the community for the graduate student is with the meal options,” said Adithya Mysore Shivakumar, a board member and second-year graduate student in the College of Professional Studies. “Because when I came here I faced the same issues they do with food insecurity.”

Shivakumar, who represents graduate students’ dining needs, said that with Northeastern’s global presence, the university should offer more food options that are native to where its students live.

“I feel like you should see the demographics and where most of the people come from, and this would really help to shape the Northeastern dining room,” Shivakumar said. “Given the crowd that is from different places across the globe, they should have options that reach their home.”

Northeastern offers other ways for graduate students to obtain meal swipes if they are not on a meal plan.

Swipe2Care was created in 2017 as a way for students on a meal plan to donate unused meal swipes to those in need. When the program was extended to graduate students in 2022, the number of requests for a swipe increased significantly, Glucksman said. On campus, international graduate students request the most swipes, which suggests they are the most food insecure demographic on campus.

Therefore, Shivakumar feels the best way for the university to address graduate students’ needs in dining halls is to consider the demographics.

The Dining Advisory Board takes the student body’s information it has gathered and shares it with the Northeastern administration.

“What I can tell from our communication [with administration] is that we have very similar goals,” Glucksman said. “The administration’s goal and the student goal on the board are unified to help the student body to the best it possibly can.”

While the board has gained traction, the revamped dining plan is not set to roll out just yet.

“It will definitely be rolling out in the fall of 2024,” Herzing-Burkard said. “We don’t know how much is going to change, but that is definitely the plan.”

Dining advisory board plans to revamp meal plans in 2024 following student feedback

By Christina McCabe News Staff After months of collecting student feedback, the Student Government Association’s Dining Advisory Board is getting ready to put a new, revamped meal plan in place for students beginning in fall of 2024.

The Dining Advisory Board, created this semester and housed under the campus affairs division of the Student Government Association, or SGA, consists of 13 board members who represent different clubs and organizations on campus but share one common goal: to reconstruct Northeastern’s meal plan.

“Our mission is to create an affordable, sustainable, diverse meal plan,” said Zi Glucksman, a third-year politics, philosophy, and economics major and vice chair of the board.

“The goal [of the board] is to serve the student body as best as it can.”

Since September, the board has been gathering data through student input during listening sessions, tabling and events, such as a “Rocky Horror Dinner Show.” On Nov. 29, Student Life at Northeastern sent a campus-wide email that included a survey from SGA and the Office for Student Life. The survey asked students what exactly it is they would like to see change in the meal plan, including affordability, dining hall operation hours and more diverse food options.

The plan the board is hoping to implement would include all aspects of student feedback it has received, including dining dollars, meal exchanges and the number of meals offered. The board is working with administration to not abandon the current meal plan altogether, but instead revamp it. With tuition reaching a new high almost every year, board members said many students feel the university should be able to keep up with their dietary and financial needs.

“The meal structure that exists now has not changed in several decades,” said Greg Katz, a fourth-year mechan-

Photo by Curtis DeSmith Students give feedback about current meal plans at a Nov. 16 event hosted by the Dining Advisory Board. The board has collected feedback for several months to propose a revamped meal plan.

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Northeastern graduate student union announces first bargaining committee

By Zoe MacDiarmid News Staff On Nov. 14, the Graduate Employees of Northeastern University, or GENU-UAW, announced the members of its first bargaining committee, the union’s first major step towards bargaining with the university since its certification in September.

The election of a bargaining committee came almost two months after GENU-UAW officially became a certified union Sept. 21, with 94% of eligible voters electing to certify. This nine-member committee will represent the union, which is composed of approximately 1,200 graduate students, in contract negotiations with the university.

The bargaining committee has nine positions encompassing six jurisdictions of various graduate departments at Northeastern. The bargaining committee members elected were Chloe Bennett, Xenia Dragon, JD Foster, Shahinaz Geneid, Kevin Jun Ha, Sydney Purdue, Tim Rupprecht, Sophia Sheng and Niki Thomas.

Currently, no graduate student worker has access to dental care through the university-provided health insurance plan, Sheng, a second-year law student working as a research assistant, said in a press release on GENU-UAW’s website.

At the law school, student workers’ pay is capped at $2,000 per semester due to restrictions that the university places upon federal work-study grants, according to Sheng.

“I know from first-hand experience that what Northeastern offers us is well below what our colleagues receive at other academic institutions, and I am dedicated to ensuring that we get the improvements that we so desperately need,” Thomas, a

sixth-year student pursuing a doctoral degree in bioengineering, said in the release.

The union is advocating for a range of demands, including higher wages, improved medical coverage and better childcare support for graduate students who are parents.

“Between the 60+ hour work weeks at exceedingly low wages, the lack of adequate health and dental care, the failures of proper protec-

tions for reporting advisor abuse or the lack of childcare for graduate worker parents, these forms of exploitation have irreparable consequences on the minds, bodies and spirits of the workers that keep this institution going,” Jun Ha, a sixthyear sociology doctoral student, said in the press release.

The union is now in the process of deciding which issues to highlight in its bargaining talks

Photo by Elizabeth Scholl Students hold signs promoting the graduate student union vote Sept. 21. GENU-UAW announced the members of its first bargaining committee Nov. 14.

with the university to determine specific language for their contracts, according to the press release. Once the bargaining committee and the university reach an agreement, the union will vote on whether to accept the contract.

“I’m excited to help win our contract for us now, but I’m also thrilled to establish a strong foundation for incoming graduate workers who can join our community with more protections, more financial security and better benefits, and to set yet another precedent of the collective power of graduate workers with an excellent contract,” Purdue, a second-year doctoral student in the Interdisciplinary Design and Media program, said in the release.

The union faced pushback from the university in the years leading up to September’s vote, but the bargaining committee is now set to begin negotiations in the coming months.

“The only way forward is to organize ourselves and each other through the democratic and worker-led process that is collective bargaining,” Jun Ha said in the press release. “Having been actively silenced by my own department who purportedly maintain pro-union views, I am firm and unwavering in my commitment to the success of our union.”

Northeastern community and loved ones remember grad William Jennings

By Lily Webber News Staff William Jennings, who graduated from Northeastern in May with a degree from the College of Engineering, died Nov. 4. He was 22.

Jennings was killed in a plane crash in Queensland, Australia, along with two others on board who have not been publicly identified, while surveilling and imaging wildfires to aid firefighting efforts. Jennings had been hired temporarily as a contractor and was slated to return to the United States in about a month, according to loved ones who spoke with The News.

Those who knew Jennings remember him as a kind, positive and giving person who constantly put others before himself.

When Jennings moved into his apartment in Mission Hill, he had spent almost eight hours moving out of another building the same day. Despite this, he arrived at his new home and greeted his future roommates with a smile, telling them how excited he was for their next chapter.

“He came back and he was like ‘Oh my goodness, I am so excited to live here with you guys. It’s going to be great,’ and it really was — we always had a really happy house,” said roommate and friend Jennifer Murphy, a 2023 Northeastern graduate.

“He always had a smile on his face,” Murphy said. “Will was probably the best person I’ve ever met, and he was the kindest person I’ve ever met.”

After graduating summa cum laude in May, Jennings worked in the field of aerial surveillance in both Arizona and Australia. This fall, Jennings was hired by AGAIR, a Victoria-based aerial firefighting company, according to Australian media source 7NEWS Australia.

A contact from Jennings’ co-op contacted him about working in Australia to survey wildfires for about a month, Murphy said. “He decided to do that because he was such a generous guy and he wanted to help people in any way that he could, and so he went to Australia,” she said Jennings’ selflessness and desire to help others is a common recollection among loved ones.

“I met him four years ago — freshman year. He was the most positive person I’ve ever met in my entire life,” said Brendan Fernandes, a 2023 Northeastern graduate. “No matter what was happening, he was always trying to be a positive influence on everyone. He was being positive for himself, but he was also trying to make everyone else as happy as possible.”

According to those who knew him well, Jennings hoped to use his degree to help his parents in any way he could.

“He always talked about how he wanted to become a mechanical engineer to help people and help his parents. He always wanted to help them first and himself second,” Murphy said. “He has always been like that. He has always helped others before helping himself.”

A GoFundMe campaign set up by family friend Dennis Wickes is raising funds for Jennings’ family.

“We’re hoping to raise enough funds to cover William’s funeral costs and the costs to bring his remains home from Australia,” Wickes wrote on the GoFundMe page. “Every little bit counts and will have an immense impact on supporting William’s grieving family.”

The GoFundMe had raised more than $90,000 as of Nov. 28.

An update from the GoFundMe shared that, “As the funds continued to roll in, Joe and Denise [Jennings] felt some of their worries lifting off their shoulders, as they knew now that they could give William the proper burial and service he deserved, surrounded by those who loved him.”

The update added that Jennings’ parents plan to use some of the surplus funds to “continue the legacy that their son had started” by creating “a special Memorial Scholarship in William’s name at a later date, to honor his memory and the values he stood for.”

When he arrived on Northeastern’s Boston campus from his hometown in Long Island, New York, Jennings dove right into the Northeastern community, friends said. Those who spoke with The News recalled his enthusiasm for intramural and club sports including soccer, volleyball and spikeball. An aspiring mechanical engineer, Jennings was a member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honors society, as well as the Northeastern chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, or ASME.

“I will always remember Will as someone excited about the world and the people he came across,” said Simran Bajaj, a friend of Jennings. “Someone who wanted to push himself and wasn’t scared to pursue his dreams.

And most of all, someone who did it all with a big smile without fail.”

James Minardi, Northeastern ASME’s president and a fourth-year mechanical engineering and physics combined major, wrote in a statement to The News that Jennings was an active member of their community. “[Jennings had] a commitment to becoming a better mechanical engineer. He even put in the extra time and effort to become a Certified SolidWorks Associate through our supplemental course in the Spring 2021 semester,” Minardi wrote.

Loved ones emphasized Jennings’ ambition and his love for others.

“Will was absolutely extraordinary, in every sense. He genuinely lit up every room he walked into,” Bajaj said. “I’ve seen him make people smile and laugh, even after only meeting them once. His energy was so vibrant and contagious. I think he really found joy in the smallest things and chased his dreams.”

Fernandes recalled a time years ago when he mentioned to Jennings he was planning on studying abroad, and Jennings jumped at the opportunity to join him.

“I had just met Will, and about two weeks later I told him about it and he was like ‘Oh that sounds awesome … How about we both study abroad in Italy and we room together?’” Fer-

Photo courtesy GoFundMe William Jennings holds a saxophone and poses for a photo. Jennings, who died Nov. 4, was remembered by friends as someone excited about the world who constantly put others before himself. nandes said. “That was kind of who he was. If there was an opportunity at Northeastern, or from the world, he wanted to take it.”

Jennings was also a hiker, nature lover and gifted photographer who shared his photos on an Instagram page.

“One of the first times I hung out with him, a few of us went on a hike and he brought his camera and told me about his interest in photography,” Bajaj said. “We would stop for the small flowers in the lake or the beautiful green view from afar so he could take pictures. Every time I saw him again I would ask what cool new things he saw and he would show me his collection and tell a whole story about the place and what he experienced with so much excitement.”

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December 1, 2023

Recent Mass. and Cass ordinance passes amid backlash of potential harmful effects

By Alexa Coultoff News Staff Mass. and Cass, the colloquial name for the area at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, is notorious for its long history of homeless encampments and open-air drug use. On Nov. 1, the intersection was completely cleared out after an ordinance filed by Mayor Michelle Wu passed in the City Council Oct. 25.

The ordinance, filed Aug. 28, came after increased violence in the area which spiked last summer. It was created in an effort to “boost public safety and eliminate the violence and criminal activity that can undermine service delivery,” the ordinance reads.

Boston Police officers cleared the intersection of encampments and relocated inhabitants to shelters and treatment centers. Enforcement allegedly occurred only after individuals were offered adequate housing, shelter and transportation and given the opportunity to move their personal belongings.

City council members were initially hesitant to pass the ordinance due to feelings that it wouldn’t solve the overarching crisis of scarce housing and few drug treatment options for Mass. and Cass inhabitants, which is why it stalled in conversations and hearings up until the 60-day deadline, when a proposed ordinance is automatically enacted.

“The sweeps and clearing of encampments have failed in every single city that has attempted this,” Councilor Ricardo Arroyo said at the Oct. 25 vote, where he was one of three councilors to vote against passing the ordinance.

Amendments were made to the ordinance by Arroyo throughout the deliberation process, leading the council to vote ‘yes’ in a 9-3 majority, allowing the clearing of encampments to take effect the following week.

Amendments to the ordinance included removing the $25 fine for violators and ensuring Boston Public Health Commission involvement in cases where shelter space is limited. Rising violence and drug use at Mass. and Cass prompted the Council to push for a state of emergency declaration in early September, working with the Boston Public Health Commission to look for solutions. Wu’s ordinance was not accepted as the solution to Mass. and Cass by many who are well-versed in the effects of encampment sweeping patterns, as expressed in opinions voiced at a governmental operations hearing Sept. 28 that was headed by Arroyo.

Councilor Erin Murphy opened the September hearing by sayingthe tragedy at Mass. and Cass concerning drug use and violence was “unprecedented in Boston’s history in its severity and duration.” She said she hoped the hearing would pave the way to handling the crisis in a “very safe and humane manner.”

The immediate action of clearing the encampments was seen as a benefit of the ordinance to Council President Ed Flynn. “[The tents] must be removed from public spaces immediately,” Flynn said. “The status quo is not an option, and we must provide positive leadership to address this emergency.”

Despite councilors adamantly expressing that action must be taken immediately, other councilors and

members of the community panel felt there was a better and more permanent way to promote a public health solution.

Dr. Avik Chatterjee, the medical director of the Southampton Street Shelter Clinic, has been overseeing patients from the Mass. and Cass area since 2015.

“The biggest threat to public safety I would argue are overdose deaths,” he said.

Chatterjee said overdose deaths become less frequent, and overall safety is increased when people reside in groups. He said the encampment area at Mass. and Cass helps people feel supported by a community and allows emergency medical services to easily locate patients when faced with emergency situations. On past occasions when homeless concentrations have dispersed, he said emergency medics have been unable to quickly reach patients due to the spread of drug usage into random alleys.

In advocating for a prevention center rather than a sweep, Chatterjee said, “there’s no evidence that [dispersing the tents] makes the needles go away and people stop using drugs. Sweeping it away is not going to make it go away.”

Cassie Hurd, the executive director of Material Aid and Advocacy, has worked with unhoused people in the Boston area for the past 17 years.

“This is not a public health proposal,” she said. “This is doubling down on inhumane and ineffective police actions and will result in increased harm and potentially preventable death.”

Hurd’s main concern with the ordinance is how it gives law enforcement the ability to evict people with little to no notice. Hurd offered

alternative solutions, including permanent low-threshold housing, more overdose prevention centers and increased education.

However, the most impassioned argument at the hearing against the ordinance pertained to how it can’t guarantee available housing for everyone who needs it. Instead, it may further displace a population of people seeking shelter.

Dr. Lara Jirmanus, a physician at the Cambridge Health Alliance, said the public health approach to the crisis must put permanent, stable housing first, along with evidence-based involuntary drug treatment. This refers to Section 35, a Massachusetts law that allows a qualified person to request for someone to be treated involuntarily for an alcohol or substance use disorder.

Many are also concerned there won’t be room at the local shelters for everyone relocated from the Mass. and Cass area.

“I’ll come out of the clinic at 8:30 and the cafeteria will be full of people sitting there, whose bed for the night is the chair they’re sitting in,” Chatterjee said about the Southampton Street Shelter.

There are currently six low-threshold sites that provide temporary shelter and substance use resources in Boston. Murphy said the city is working urgently to replace services to accommodate the large influx of residents these sites will see in the days after the ordinance passes.

“It’s difficult to see how this will work and where all these people will go,” Chatterjee said. “[The shelter] is already 100 people over capacity and demand gets higher as it gets colder.”

Chatterjee is concerned for the future of the shelter because he said if residents plan to work a job, they would have to stop working by 1 p.m. to ensure a bed for the night. After residents claim a bed, they cannot leave the shelter before nightfall without the risk of losing it.

Since the ordinance passed, about 80 Mass. and Cass inhabitants have been moved to temporary housing in emergency shelters, homes for recovering addicts and mental health facilities, according to WBUR data.

So far, the ordinance appears to have taken effect smoothly, according to Wu’s comments at a press conference Nov. 9. She said the peaceful dismantling of Mass. and Cass marked the beginning of a new, collaborative effort to connect people struggling with mental health and substance use problems with social services, according to reporting in the Boston Globe.

Yet, some community members are still unsure about the effectiveness of the ordinance in the longevity of protecting Boston’s homeless and those who struggle with drug use.

“This is a complex issue,” said Mark Martinez, a Roxbury resident.

“It is the complexity of the issue that makes the vagueness of the ordinance inadequate to address the problem. Too many things are left open to question.”

He said the ordinance could either be the first step in improving quality of life and helping the homeless population move off the streets permanently or create adverse results of displacement, spreading drug use and violence to other parts of the city.

“We won’t know if it works until it is too late,” Martinez said.

Warm Up Boston helps the unhoused

By Eleanor Goudie News Correspondent A mutual aid network in Boston is on a mission to uplift unhoused individuals where it matters. Warm Up Boston, founded in 2020, provides meals, clothes, harm reduction equipment and funds directly to unhoused people in Boston.

Twice a week, Warm Up Boston holds distributions to donate supplies, one in Downtown Crossing and one mobile pop-up that changes depending on needs across Boston, said organizer Cole Price.

“My original goal was to just raise money and help out the Freedom Fighters Coalition,” said founder Vincent Jaclard, who originally sought donations for items to help people keep warm during harsh Boston winters.

“We just kept getting donations, and eventually it turned into an [organization].”

The organization garners most of its support and donations online.

“We do occasional shows where we table and sell t-shirts … but at the end of the day, it 100% comes through social media,” said organizer Miguel Maron.

The group finds that direct monetary contributions are the most efficient means of aid.

“When it comes to material donations, a lot of extra time needs to be considered … making time to be around to collect donations from folks,” Jaclard said.

This makes it easy for anyone to get involved by making donations online, and in-person volunteers are also greatly needed by the organization to collect supplies and manage distributions.

“Volunteer retention would be a pretty big [problem],” Jaclard said, but this year things have changed. “There’s been a lot more people who have stuck with it, and I think the [organization] is growing in that way for sure.”

Within the last six months, the organization has consisted of a core group of around 14 organizers and about 45 additional volunteers.

In terms of material goods, the most helpful donation that Warm Up Boston receives is harm reduction supplies to ensure safer substance use. Syringe kits, safe injection kits and smoking supplies donated from harm reduction agencies sets the organization apart from many others in the area, Maron said.

Harm reduction is a principle of mitigating drug use by accepting that substance use is a reality for unhoused individuals and choosing to minimize its effects rather than ignoring or condemning them. Providing safer means to use drugs over potentially

dangerous means they might find on their own meets people “where they are at” , according to the National Harm Reduction Coalition and is a step in addressing substance abuse in a way that maintains respect for those suffering from addiction.

“Those sorts of things really help us connect with the community,” Maron said. “It really provides people another avenue of access that they wouldn’t normally have.”

A lack of resources and housing are not the only perils that unhoused individuals face in Boston. Police sweeps of encampments jeopardize the little temporary shelter people can find, losing tents and many of their belongings to state authorities and leaving them with nowhere to go.

Recent policy by the Boston city government has banned encampments, a move slated to make it more difficult for the daily life of Boston’s unhoused population.

Mitigating the effects these sweeps have on unhoused people is part of Warm Up Boston’s mission.

“We have ears in a lot of state agencies,” Maron said. “At this point in our organization, we have a pretty good sense of when something’s coming.

That helps us organize a response and try to stay on top of things to the best of our ability.”

In addition to helping people move and salvage belongings, organizers sought to challenge the sweep.

“We learned from previous sweeps kind of how to act. We wanted to agitate a little bit,” Jaclard said.

Making a banner in November reading “sweeps are violence,” the group was able to push back against the police presence and spread word of the harm sweeps cause.

“You could hear the cops being like, ‘what do they mean by sweeps are violence?’ So hearing encampment residents explain to the cop why sweeps are violent was beneficial,” Jaclard said.

Overall, the organization seeks to build a sustained community

presence through a harm-reduction approach. The unhoused population is experiencing a constant cycle of traumatic experiences, Maron said.

“Anything that we’re doing to make their lives slightly easier, the effects of it multiply … you can really see the material change that happens in a community,” Maron said.

As the organization grows, they hope to multiply that change.

Warm Up Boston is also hoping to expand its efforts across Massachusetts and is looking to collaborate with other mutual aid organizations Price said.

“The work is never really done,” Jaclard said. “There’s always something more to be doing.”

Photo courtesy Miguel Maron Some of the harm reduction supplies that Warm Up Boston distributes. The organization has also provided meals, clothes and funds to the unhoused.

CITY

December 1, 2023

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Boston-born group Love Your Menses promotes global menstrual equity

By Zoe MacDiarmid News Staff Growing up in Plateau State, a small city in northern Nigeria, Dr. Ebere Azumah said no one told her what to expect when she got her first menstrual period. A selfdirected learner, she took to reading textbooks to educate herself, which helped fuel her lifelong dream of becoming a doctor.

Azumah moved to the United States when she was 16 years old, completing her undergraduate degree, medical school and master’s in public health. She began practicing independently as an OB/GYN after finishing residency in 2014 and currently works in Maryland. But through her schooling and training, she continually sees women suffering from a lack of knowledge about their anatomy and bodily processes.

In the summer of 2019, Azumah, alongside Bria Gadsden, who stepped down from her role as executive director of the organization in January, founded Love Your Menses. Originating in Boston, they created the nonprofit group in response to the growing menstrual wellness needs of girls, menstruating youths and women. When they started, menstrual equity groups did not have the presence that they do today, Azumah said, meaning the group had to learn how to run the organization as well as figure out how to expand.

“At the time when we started, we were just learning,” Azumah said.

“And we didn’t have extra resources to hire anybody. So we learned on the fly, and we just kept on doing it.

And then we expanded to Nigeria because people saw the work we were doing and reached out to us.”

Shortly after the founders obtained their non-profit status and began applying for grants, the pandemic began. COVID-19 highlighted women who struggled with period poverty, Azumah said. “COVID does not stop menstruation,” she said.

The pandemic left many girls who relied on schools to get menstrual products empty-handed. In response to this, Love Your Menses introduced their “period packages” campaign, delivering packages of menstrual products to women in Boston and surrounding areas.

Stories of girls in need of menstrual product inspired the “I AM” bill, which the Massachusetts senate passed on Oct. 26. The bill aims to increase access to menstrual products in prisons, homeless shelters and public schools.

Despite the setbacks of COVID-19, Love Your Menses expanded to Connecticut, Washington D.C., Maryland and Virginia, helping girls combat period poverty. Worldwide, 800 million people are menstruating every day.

The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, estimated that at least 500 million of them cannot afford or access menstrual products.

Photo courtesy Ebere Azumah Esther Balume leads a discussion on menstrual equity in Uganda.

Since their founding in 2019, Love Your Menses has worked to expand their presence internationally.

From the start, Azumah said she knew that she wanted to extend the reach of Love Your Menses overseas.

As of 2023, the organization has a presence in Liberia, Nigeria, The Gambia, Haiti, Uganda, São Tomé and Príncipe and Kenya.

“Most ladies [in Kenya] are struggling from period poverty,” said Briston Barasa, a graphic and social media team member based out of Kenya. “Some men in town are taking advantage of that instead of allowing our ladies, our daughters to be in school and study.”

The group’s latest move happened in September with the addition of pop-up “period workshops” across Boston.

“We just want to build an environment where Black and brown girls as well as all menstruators are comfortable in learning about [periods],” said Yetunde Bankole, menstrual equity Boston coordinator

who joined the organization in August. “[Girls] could be with their parents or even their mates, and [our goal is] making [periods] something that’s comfortable for them to want to know about instead of waiting until they get their cycle.”

For a long time, menstruation has been stigmatized and something that girls needed to hide, Bankole said. “[Nothing like] this program was around when I was growing up, and I really wish it was just like a lot of older women,” she said. “They’re like, ‘Where was this when I was growing up?’”

To sustain this multinational organization, Azumah built up a staff of program coordinators, designers, researchers, medical students and educators. Azumah, who described herself as a “big picture” personality, said her team members are more “detail-oriented.”

The group feels united by a shared passion for learning, advocacy and education, said Dernsta Darang,

a Boston program coordinator.

“They’re very passionate about what they’re doing. They really do care,” she said. “And that’s how I am. I’m a very compassionate person and I really want to take part in making a difference within the population, within our communities.”

The organization’s overarching mission is in the name itself. Coined

by Gadsden Azumah said it is meant to be counterintuitive.

“My partner, like many other people, did not really love her menses while growing up, because one, [women] didn’t really have enough information about menstruation. And then for some [women], it’s a time of pain. And for some, it’s a time of shame,” she said. “So [the name is] like empowerment. The goal was to empower women … by changing how women view their menses.

Like, you know what, why don’t you love your menses? Why don’t you love yourself?”

Photo courtesy Ebere Azumah Students in Monrovia, Liberia hold up period products. Love Your Menses collaborated with Mavee Maternal Empowerment Initiative to provide communities with menstrual products.

MBTA unveils future design for Ruggles improvement project phase II

By Gitana Savage News Staff Ruggles Station, located in the heart of Northeastern’s campus, services many bus routes, the Orange Line and the MBTA Commuter Rail, making it a primary stop for many Massachusetts residents and one of the most used stations in the MBTA network. On Nov. 8, the MBTA announced the completion of the design for Phase II of the Ruggles Improvement Project, as the authority continues to conduct renovations on the station to improve the experience for riders.

The MBTA’s Ruggles Station Improvement Project, an $124.5 million initiative, began in 2017

with the goal of updating the station and addressing customer concerns.

Sabrina Rice, a first-year business administration and media and screen studies combined major and regular T rider, said that the renovations are long overdue.

“I think there is definitely room for improvement,” Rice said. “[The trains are] really slow, and the station is kind of old and sometimes it can feel a little unsafe, especially at night, but my main complaint is that it is really slow.”

The project has been split into two phases. During Phase I, which was completed in December 2021, the MBTA addressed many of the concerns Rice and other riders expressed by making Ruggles fully

Photo courtesy MBTA A rendering of the new Columbus Avenue entrance to Ruggles Station.

Phase II designs have been completed with construction expected to begin in the spring of 2024.

accessible —replacing four of the existing elevators at the station and installing a new one for passengers transferring from the bus to the train. Additionally, to enable more train flow through Ruggles, the MBTA built an 800-foot platform so more trains could stop at the station.

For those who frequent Ruggles Station, the Phase I of the improvement project was an exciting announcement, addressing several of the accessibility concerns at the station. Eddiel Dones, an MBTA employee at Ruggles, hopes the rest of the $124.5 million project budget will go to more structural renovations as Phase II of the project commences.

“It’s been a while since they’ve fixed anything in the building. The money should go to better services, for elders, people in wheelchairs, etc.,” Dones said. “It should also go for more cover when the winter comes, of course. We need that.”

Phase II of the repairs is expected to begin in Spring 2024. The MBTA is planning to conduct structural repairs as well as add additional accessibility improvements, addressing many of the concerns Rice, Dones and other Ruggles station regulars have brought up. One of the most anticipated renovations is the addition of a

Photo by Darin Zullo The entrance to Ruggles Station from Northeastern’s campus. The $80 million improvement project for the station began in 2017. covered walkway at the Columbus Avenue entrance of the station.

The station upgrades are a part of a larger MBTA initiative, which was approved in July of 2023, to upgrade all its transportation infrastructure.

With a $9.6 billion budget, the MBTA is embarking on the five-year task of renovating its stations, updating its fare collection systems and improving the accessibility of its transportation.

Joey DeVingo, a lifelong Massachusetts resident, said he is thrilled about the renovations the MBTA has lined up.

“I think the MBTA gets a lot of flack but it’s not really the company’s fault, it’s more Massachusetts’ fault

for not funding them,” DeVingo said. “So I think this is really exciting that they are putting so much money into renovations because it is much needed.”

He said he is especially excited about the Ruggles Station improvement project and the new era of Ruggles the renovations will bring.

“Ruggles is right by Fenway, and any time I wanted to go to a Red Sox game I would take the train into Ruggles, so I have a lot of nostalgia tied to the station,” DeVingo said. “But if you were to tell me the whole station was being torn down and rebuilt, I would say that’s probably necessary.”

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December 1, 2023

Hip-hop star brings en 1

2

HIP-HOP, from front The night concluded with A Boogie splashing water on attendees while playing one of his popular hits, “Drowning,” much to the excitement of the crowd.

Bloom reflected on the success of the event, saying she knew the Northeastern community was starved for a giant hip-hop show.

Bloom said it was the first time CUP had “sold out a Matthew show since before the pandemic,” and it was a surreal experience for the organization.

CUP’s headliner was a success for both the organization and Homecoming Week. The hype around the event and the execution was a great conclusion to the week’s excitement.

1. Audience members close to the barricade cheer for and photograph A Boogie during the Homecoming performance. 2. A Boogie points upward while r

Column: Musician-label relations are changing in the era of rerecordings and restrictions

Graphic by Emma Liu

By Grace Cowell News Correspondent Big fan of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)”? Record labels aren’t. Days after the release of Taylor Swift’s latest rerecording endeavor, Billboard reported that major labels had begun working to alter artists’ contracts to lengthen the amount of time they have to wait before rerecording music.

In late 2021, the Wall Street

Journal, or WSJ, first reported that Universal Music Group, or UMG, Swift’s label, was increasing rerecording restrictions in new contracts.

Previously, artists were allowed to rerecord five years after the original release date or two years after their contract’s expiration. Studios extended these restraints in 2021 to seven years post-release and five years after their contract ended. According to the WSJ, UMG’s limitations are

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typically what become the industry standard due to their reputation as the biggest label in music.

UMG and other labels, such as Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, are now looking to extend their rerecording clauses to last anywhere from 10 to even 30 years in the most extreme cases. Music attorneys and representatives have pushed back against the implementation of these clauses, advocating that artists shouldn’t have to agree to longer restrictions than those of past contracts.

These kinds of restrictions have existed for decades but have recently gained popularity, especially with Swift’s ongoing rerecording project.

Moving forward, labels want to prevent other artists from doing the same, reasoning that if they’re going to invest the time and money into a project, the hope is that the artist does not release a competing version.

Labels’ concerns have come into play as the release of “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” culminated in Swift’s largest selling week and the sixth-highest sales week of any album ever, outperforming and depleting the sales and streams of the 2014 version.

Today’s digital age of music has

increased the competitive nature of the relationship between musicians and labels, as streaming services and a social media presence help give artists leverage. The same WSJ article reported that with the self-promotion element of these platforms, artists don’t necessarily need a label to gain an audience and traction.

This relatively new level of self-promotion allows musicians to have more power when negotiating record deals because, unlike the individual artists, labels do need musicians to stay in business.

While no longer necessary, signing to a label is still a highly strived-for feat in the music industry. In the two years since the WSJ article and continued success of rerecordings, artists hoping to attain a contract may not be able to hold as much influence as those with large independent platforms, causing another shift in label-musician relations.

According to music attorneys for artists who have already reached superstar status, negotiations for lowering the window for rerecordings are doable, but, for new artists, deals are harder to strike. These artists are typically eager to sign onto a label, and, without much experience or

a firm reputation in the industry, they are easily susceptible to the strict control of music groups. When signing to a label, an artist sacrifices a portion of control over both the creative and monetary aspects of their music in exchange for resources such as funding and a wider network.

Artists also sign away ownership of their masters, or original recordings of performances or songs, allowing labels to sell the music without consulting the creator. This deal is difficult to overturn for even the biggest of names, hence Swift’s desire to rerecord her first six albums after the sale of her own masters. Since signed artists are rarely able to hold the rights to their own music from the beginning, extending the rerecording time clauses will only tighten label control — even years later, artists still won’t be able to rerecord their music and gain ownership over it.

As other artists, including ’90s boy band 98 Degrees, have taken inspiration from Swift and announced plans to rerecord some of their most successful songs, it will be interesting to see if the proposed limitations are approved and what other measures record labels will take to discourage a rerecording trend.

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LIFESTYLE

December 1, 2023

Page 7

nergy to Northeastern 3

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Photos courtesy Kimmy Curry rapping, illuminated by the set lights. 3. A Boogie poses with members of CUP in a group photo. 4. DJ Ominaya performs his set on stage, helping to boost the audience’s engagement.

Review: Just like ‘Wonderland,’ it’s easy to get lost in ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’

Graphic by Ali Caudle

By Sarah Popeck News Staff A leading player in the pop music industry, Taylor Swift is back with a new release — one that is an hour and 17 minutes of gorgeous production, lyricism and raw emotions.

“1989 (Taylor’s Version)” was released Oct. 27, marking her fourth rerecord of her masters. Swift chose to release her first six albums a second time due to Scooter Braun, a talent agent who maintains possession of the original variants.

The production differs slightly from the initial version — most songs feature more of a techno, rhythmic beat — which allows fans to savor their favorite songs from the past while still experiencing something new.

Opening with “Welcome To New York (Taylor’s Version),” this differ-

ence is evident almost immediately, and it’s quite symbolic of the pop star’s current fame. Swift sings, “, “It’s a new soundtrack,” and “The lights are so bright, but they never blind me.”

“Blank Space (Taylor’s Version)” and “Style (Taylor’s Version)” are other fan favorites with refreshed vocals that mimic their original versions very closely. Other songs, though, faltered — “All You Had To Do Was Stay (Taylor’s Version)” and “New Romantics (Taylor’s Version)” suffer from overproduction that makes her vocals and the background riffs, sound more robotic.

An unexpected standout is “I Know Places (Taylor’s Version)” where Swift sings, “They are the hunters, we are the foxes / And we run,” with an aggressive tone and growl absent from the original, remaining raspy and passionate

throughout. It matches the energy of the track, which centers around a hidden romance, perfectly.

Her love affair stays in the present, rather than looking at the future and its consequences.

Listening to “Clean (Taylor’s Version)” is another full circle moment; as she reclaims an album very dear to her, she is finally “clean” of her stolen masters and can happily showcase her work as exactly that: hers. It is another song with evident production changes that uplift the track, such as a more tonal and noticeable beginning melody and recurring backing line, allowing fans to take in her writing and emotions.

“Wonderland (Taylor’s Version)” is another high-energy hit as Swift alludes to a storybook tale, saying that she and her lover “fell down the rabbit hole,” in their affair, but “In the end, in Wonderland / We both went

mad,” because of just how immersed they were in their romance. The bass is amplified much more, allowing the listener to feel that same rush of the thrilling adventure.

Swift turned to her unreleased vault for the final five songs of the album. In the album announcement, she explained that these vault tracks were “insane” and just short of making the original album.

It starts with “’Slut!’ (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” an enchanting, laid-back song that expresses Swift’s thoughts on how she is perceived by the public. She sings, “And if they call me a slut / You know it might be worth it for once / And if I’m gonna be drunk / Might as well be drunk in love,” revealing how her love for her partner goes beyond the paparazzi’s watchful eye.

She continues, “Everyone wants him, that was my crime / The wrong place at the right time / And I break down, then he’s pullin’ me in / In a world of boys, he’s a gentleman.” She does not care for the public’s thoughts because of her love for him, emphasizing that she’s the lucky one who caught his attention.

Her next vault track, “Say Don’t Go (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” describes a vulnerable and uncertain heartbreak, expressing that it would take minimal effort for her to stay in a broken relationship. “’Cause you kiss mе and it stops time / And I’m yours, but you’re not mine,” she sings, telling her lover that she would stay if they told her to.

The only flaw with “Now That We Don’t Talk (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” is its duration, as it’s it one of the shortest songs in her discography.

Swift struggles to close out her relationship, reminiscing “I cannot be your friend, so I pay the price of what I lost,” as she loses not only her lover, but also a friend. She realizes all the joys that come with the breakup and not having to fake any emotions. “And the only way back to my dignity / Was to turn into a shrouded mystery / Just like I had been when you were chasing me,” Swift sings, likely referring to

the period of time she spent away from the public eye after her breakup during the “1989” era from early 2016 up until the release of “Reputation” in 2017.

“Suburban Legends (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” is an upbeat track with vivid imagery that portrays a thrilling relationship. In the bridge, she writes, “I broke my own heart ’cause you were too polite to do it / Waves crash on the shore, I dash to the door / You don’t knock anymore and my whole life’s ruined.”

She uses the motif of a ticking clock that ran out of time to symbolize the relationship’s expiration, causing everything to finally crash down. Even after believing they were bound for massive success — “We were born to be national treasures” — she knows that destiny brought them together for a reason that was not romantic in nature.

Last but certainly not least, the closer, “Is It Over Now? (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” is rumored to be about Harry Styles, her beau at the time of the original album’s release. It flashes back to her relationship, questioning what was truly the end as she reminisces on the memories. She sings, “Let’s fast forward to three hundred awkward blind dates later / If she’s got blue eyes, I will surmise that you’ll probably date her.”

The song highlights Swift’s writing abilities and is one that seems to give her emotional closure.

She also included references to the snowmobile accident she got into with Styles, writing “When you lost control / Red blood, white snow.”

It also connects to “Out Of The Woods (Taylor’s Version)” in which the subject is the same incident, singing “Remember when you hit the brakes too soon? / 20 stitches in a hospital room.”

While “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” provides a refresh on her old hits, the true standouts are the vault songs that have been tucked away for a decade. Swift continues to outdo herself as a lyrical mastermind, and this album is no different.

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December 1, 2023

Rob Gronkowski dishes on life after the NFL during Homecoming event

Calendar compiled by Kristina DaPonte & Laura Emde

By Lila Hempel-Edgers and Annah Chaya News Correspondent and Managing Editor Hundreds of students waited in line outside Blackman Auditorium Nov. 8 to see Rob Gronkowski in one of the multiple Council for University Programs, or CUP, 2023 Homecoming events.

“A Conversation with Rob Gronkowski,” moderated by fourth-year business administration and mathematics combined major and CUP’s Vice President of Finance and Operations Brandon Korn, covered everything from Gronkowski’s, or Gronk’s, favorite football play to where he gets his underwear.

“My mom gives me socks for my birthday and Christmas every year,” Gronkowski said. “Same thing with my underwear: It’s always from my mom. My mom knows; I don’t even have to make requests anymore.”

Gronkowski, who spent nine seasons as a tight end for the New England Patriots, spoke about his unwavering love for the city.

“If I’m somewhere else and I’m feeling down, I just come to Boston,” he said. “New England is the city of champions — it’s the number one sports city in the whole world.”

Despite landing in Boston at 1 a.m. Wednesday morning, Gronkowski was in high spirits for those who came out to see him.

The crowd was amused when the tight end began heckling Korn in response to his pre-written script.

“You have a cheat sheet in front of you, so you didn’t prepare that well,” Gronkowski

said, as Korn rambled off a series of questions. “Don’t worry, I just wanted to talk smack. You’re actually doing an unbelievable job, my man.”

Korn jumped between topics, at one point shooting rapid-fire questions at Gronkowski regarding his controversial two-year stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While playing a Florida vs. New England game, Gronkowski said he prefers the Florida beaches to the New England mountains; however, he will never forget the first eight years of his NFL career.

“Boston will always be a home,” Gronkowski said, who continues to maintain a residence in Foxborough, where the Patriots’ home field of Gillette Stadium is located.

“I’m a Patriot for life, no doubt about that.”

Fans across Massachusetts still consider the former tight end part of the community. Rohan Jayaraman, a first-year mechanical engineering and design combined major, grew up next to Gillette Stadium. His friend, Gavi Escamilla-Salomon, a first-year mathematics and psychology combined major from Cambridge, credits Gronkowski for a large portion of the Patriots’ dynasty.

“Me and my friends used to trick-or-treat at Gronk’s house,” Jayaraman said. “Gronk is a household name, so it’s kinda crazy that he’s here.”

Fans had many questions, but, most importantly, wanted to know if the former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was a deciding factor in Gronk’s return to football.

Gronkowski said he told Brady to keep him in mind when the NFL legend was thinking of leaving the Patriots’ organization. Five weeks after Brady signed with the Buccaneers, Gronkowski was traded to Tampa, and “the rest is history.”

Their friendship, viewed by many as one of the NFL’s most iconic duos, took years to cultivate.

Gronkowski told the audience that the two stayed after practice every day for the first two years of his NFL career, and joked that it took five years until he was able to tell Brady he didn’t think they needed the extra practice anymore.

Although the two are no longer teammates, Brady continues to inspire Gronkowski off the field.

“He’s a great family man, he’s always there for his kids,” he said.

“Young guys seeing the greatest player of all time just doing the right things in life is what it’s all about.”

And “doing the right thing” is something Gronkowski strives to live up to in his daily life. During the conversation, fourth-year bioengineering major Rahul Mamtora hollered a request for Gronkowski to pay his college tuition. Stunned by the steep cost of Northeastern tuition, Gronkowski reached into his own pocket.

“Whatever’s in my wallet, you get,” Gronk said, who first joked that he only had

a single dollar bill on him. After opening his wallet once more, he announced, “We got a couple hundreds, baby.”

Mamtora, who ran down to meet Gronkowski on stage, returned to the crowd with $800 in bills, half of which he immediately gave away, shocking the crowd and Gronkowski himself.

“I think he gave me like $800, $700. I didn’t even look at it, I was just handing it out to people,” Mamtora said. “I kept, like, $400. I had no clue it was that much, but that’s crazy.”

Gronkowski didn’t only give away money to Northeastern students — he also gave some life advice.

“I would say to live it up, you know, have a good time, establish your identity throughout college, understand how to be social and communicate very well. Communication is huge in life,” he said. “And let your feelings out — what you think, what they think, and you can figure out a problem from there.”

What’s next for Gronk? Well, he skydived into his contributing role on the NFL Kickoff during the Veterans Day game. He may hold the record for most touchdowns in a season as a tight end for the Patriots and for the NFL, but Gronk is still crossing items off his bucket list.

Graphics by Jessica Xing

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Saturday, Dec. 2 McMullen Holiday Celebration Drink hot cocoa, sample holiday treats and partake in holiday activities at an art museum.

12 p.m. - 3 p.m., 2101 Commonwealth Ave., Free.

Monday, Dec. 4 Alfred Hitchcock Film Series Join the Boston Public Library for a viewing and discussion of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 film “Vertigo.”

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Thursday, Dec. 7 Boston Design Center Holiday Stroll Tour the showrooms of established Boston designers in an immersive holiday setting.

4 p.m. - 7 p.m., 1 Design Center Pl., Free (registration required).

Dec. 9 - Dec. 10 Canal District Winter Market

Photos courtesy Olivia Watson Rob Gronkowski speaks to the audience while Brandon Korn sits and smiles besides him. Gronkowski visited Northeastern Nov. 8 as part of CUP’s 2023 Homecoming events.

Explore this boutique market spotlighting local businesses, artists and artisanal food makers.

11:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m., 675 W Kendall St., Free.

SPORTS

December 1, 2023

Page 9

Husky scorers hit their stride, claiming rivalry win over Providence Friars

By Amelia Ballingall Sports Editor Tuesday night, the Northeastern women’s hockey team (10-8-0, 6-6-0 HE) hosted long-time rival, the Providence Friars (5-10-0, 4-6-0 HE), for the pair’s third matchup this season.

Earlier in November, they came away with a drastic split: 6-1 in favor of the Huskies, then 3-1 for Providence.

With one final game to decide the regular season victor, and coming off a huge 3-1 win over No. 14 Boston College (8-7-1, 8-3-1 HE), the Huskies had momentum and home ice on their side as they skated their way to a 4-2 finish.

The game-changer was Northeastern’s shot distance. The Huskies have struggled with scoring this season, averaging 2.2 goals per game compared

Photo by Izzy Harris Sophomore forward Mia Langlois beats Providence to the puck in Tuesday night’s game. The Huskies bested the Friars 4-2.

to last year’s 3.8. However, Tuesday night, they got in close and didn’t back down. Three of Northeastern’s four goals came from inside the crease.

Providence started off with control of the puck, but Northeastern made a couple scrappy shots early on to keep the Friars on their toes.

Then, just seven minutes into the game, the Huskies made the first mark.

Junior forward Skylar Irving won the offensive zone draw, kicking the puck to sophomore defender Jules Constantinople, who gave it right back.

Irving sauced the puck cross-crease all the way from the boards, and junior forward Taze Thompson was eager and ready to put it in the back door.

After a few weeks on the road, Northeastern looked comfortable back on its own ice.

Players showed off their stick work, made clean passes and skated with an ease that kept Providence at bay

through the opening 20.

The Friars gained back some zone time in the final few minutes of the first period, but it wasn’t enough.

Northeastern more than doubled its shot tally, 17-8.

After a quick trip to the locker room, Providence came back to outshoot the Huskies through the final two periods, and it paid off right away.

Forty-one seconds into the frame, Friars sophomore forward Reichen Kirchmair scored off a rush. Her shot whistled past fifth-year goaltender Gwyneth Philips and clanged off the crossbar, tying the score.

They didn’t keep that lead for long, though, because two minutes later, Northeastern fifth-year forward Katy Knoll tallied her second of the season. Senior defender Abbey Marohn held the puck at the goal line, but pressure from Providence forced her to give it away. She sent it across to Irving, who was slicing through the center toward Friars junior goaltender Hope Walinski. Beside the net, Irving passed to Knoll, who was in the right place at the right time to tip the puck into the net and score.

Soon after, Providence earned a chance to even the score again when Constantinople was sent to the box for tripping. Northeastern forced the Friars to shoot long-range, minimizing their chance on the power play, and killed the two-minute minor.

When the tables were turned in the latter half of the period, off a high sticking call against Friars senior defender Brooke Becker, the Huskies made the most of their opportunity.

At the blue line, junior defender Tory Mariano found freshman forward Allie Lalonde at the top of the circle. Lalonde took the distance shot, smacking the puck home to extend Northeastern’s lead to 3-1.

When the third period kicked off, Providence fought hard for the puck, desperately trying to narrow Northeastern’s dangerous two-goal lead, but the Huskies continued to drive the net and snuck even further ahead.

With 16 minutes left on the clock, Constantinople skated up from the neutral zone and flicked the puck to Thompson in the crease. Thompson jammed at the puck again and again, finally slipping it past Walinski’s pads.

Although each team got another power play opportunity in the period, Providence squandered its chances, allowing Irving to get a breakaway chance shorthanded.

The Friars got one last say in the game when junior defender Lily Martinson closed in on Philips and took her own rebound, finalizing a 4-2 Huskies win.

Despite the absence of key defenders — graduate student Megan Carter and senior Lily Yovetich — the Huskies’ drive and confidence kept their net safe and their lead safer.

In this game and last, players like Thompson, Irving and Lalonde stepped up, making themselves known as play-makers and goal-scorers on this rebuilt Northeastern squad.

The Huskies will close out 2023 Friday night at Boston University (6-7-1, 4-5-0 HE) before taking a month-long winter break. They swept the Terriers earlier this season and will look to do it again when the puck drops at 6 p.m. in the Walter Brown Arena.

What does the future of NU volleyball look like as 6 key seniors say their goodbyes?

By Esha Minhas News Staff Northeastern’s volleyball team finished 11-14 overall and 9-9 in conference play for the 2023-24 season. Despite clinching a CAA tournament berth by earning the final sixth seeded spot, the Huskies lost in the first round against Campbell Univesity, 3-0.

Although the Huskies were stacked with strong players, they failed to finalize a cohesive lineup by the end of the season, and with six central seniors graduating, what does the future of Husky volleyball look like?

One of the critical issues the Huskies faced this season was their lack of a consistent lineup on the court. When the Huskies were down on the scoreboard, head coach Lenika Vazquez would make several substitutions that altered the flow of the game. If a player is struggling, coaches often take them out and bring in a fresh player, but these large-scale changes usually happen toward the beginning of the season as coaches test out different players and how they perform in a specific lineup. Vazquez continued making major shifts until its last games.

In their final regular season

matches against Towson, the Huskies were still experiencing big lineup changes. During the first match of the series, Vazquez subbed out freshman libero Tessa Onaga for senior libero Maddie Donaphon after the second set. The libero runs the defense for a team and also sets the out-of-system balls, so a change this late in the game affects the chemistry the previous two sets had built.

There were more subs in the second game of the series, with freshman middle blocker and opposite Leilani Gillespie getting subbed in late in the second set and graduate student middle blocker Nyla Shepherd joining the lineup in the third set. Substitutes can often be a difference-maker as they are eager to play and can boost the energy reasonably fast. However, multiple and frequent sub changes leave players that may not have chemistry with each other together, allowing for more errors on the court.

For six key members of the team, the game against Campbell may have been their last as Huskies: Donaphon, graduate student outside hitter Julianna Truscott, graduate student middle blocker Anabel Zier, senior outside hitter Defne Arliel, senior middle blocker Marika Virthe and graduate student setter

Inbal Peleg. Each of these seniors was a starter for the team, and all made a noticeable impact.

Truscott, Arliel, Virthe and Zier were all in the top five in kills for the team, and Truscott led the team in digs with 178. Zier was named to the All-CAA Second Team, and Virthe dominated the net for Northeastern, leading in blocks. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA granted student athletes another year of eligibility, so we may see some seniors return next year.

Possibly losing six older players not only affects the starting lineups, but it affects the team’s chemistry. It was clear that the older players were big leaders on the team. Having played so long together, they had that builtin chemistry, which is something that the now young team will have to work on during the off-season.

But, one of the biggest differencemakers for the team came from a freshman. Outside hitter Abby Reck led the team in kills in her

first season with 255. Reck collected 12 double-digit kill matches during the season and was named the CAA Rookie of the Week thrice.

She closed out the season by being named to the CAA All-Rookie Team.

Reck’s performance as a freshman was powerful. Her positive and uplifting energy will be vital for the team going into next year as she takes over Arliel and Truscott’s role as a go-to outside hitter.

Another outstanding freshman player was Onaga. Second on the team in digs (173) and aces (16), Onaga was all over the court — her

ability to read where hitters would swing or tip was vital in her defense.

Later in the season, Vazquez opted to start her over Donaphon as libero or sub her as a defensive specialist to make that difference on the court.

As she steps into her sophomore season, she will be a crucial part of the Husky defense.

As the team adjusts to the dominating graduating class leaving, younger players must step into new roles to lead the team to a better outcome than the 2023 season. Vazquez should aim to integrate the younger players into a concrete lineup early on in the season so they can build their chemistry over time. With several talented players still on the roster, Reck leading the way, and Vazquez entering her fifth season as head coach, the future of Husky volleyball looks promising.

Photo by Sofia Sawchuk The Huskies huddle up between points.

Northeastern finished this season with an 11-14 overall, 9-9 CAA record.

OPINION

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

Eli Curwin

Managing Editor

Annah Chaya Olivia Becraft

Op-ed: University communities can help keep SCOTUS in line

Editor-at-Large

Marta Hill Campus

Sonel Cutler Emily Spatz Val O’Neill City

Alyssa Fell Alexis Algazy Sports

Amelia Ballingall Sofia Garrett Lifestyle

Jake Guldin Kristina DaPonte Laura Emde Opinion

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Jessica Xing Darin Zullo Elizabeth Scholl Design

Angelica Jorio Liza Sheehy Multimedia

Annika Sunkara Jethro R. Lee Social Media

Kevin Gallagher Kate Armanini Copy Chief

Christina McCabe

BUSINESS

Business Manager

Ananya Chaudhari Development and Outreach Coordinator

Ananya Kulkarni

NEWS STAFF Benjamin Churney, Emily Chung, Erin Fine, Esha Minhas, Ethan Wayne, Gitana Savage, Joseph Brant, Juliette Piovoso, Kate Deskey, Lauren Salemo, Lily Webber, Sarah Popeck, Zoe MacDiarmid

COPY EDITORS Erin Fine, Ethan Wayne, Julia Tushla, Kira Eske, Lauren Salemo, Emily Chung, Lin Luo, Lucy Shepherd, Matt Yan, Sydney Schulz, Heidi Ho, Zoe MacDiarmid

Photo by Darin Zullo After a flurry of hotly debated rulings delivered since the summer of 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States, or SCOTUS, has become an increasingly controversial institution in American politics. The Court has continued the work of its tumultuous 2022 term with the abrupt end of affirmative action and its determination to weaken the administrative authority of the federal government.

As the Court deliberates issues of incredible urgency, including online free speech protections, it is more important than ever for the public to monitor and criticize the activity of the Supreme Court.

Court watching has also increased in importance because of the Court’s slippery use of the “shadow docket,” a special fast-track process for time-sensitive cases that expedites less consequential rulings by withholding full, public arguments. For example, the Court controversially used the shadow docket in 2021 to allow the enforcement of an abortion ban in Texas until another relevant case could be decided by the Court. These rulings are less likely to attract national attention but can still have major legal and ideological implications.

DESIGN STAFF

PHOTO STAFF Aiden Stein, Ananya Kulkarni, Izzy Harris, Margot Murphy, Quillan Anderson, Sofia Sawchuk, Tanisha Gaikwad, Yaakov Aldrich

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Although the Court’s current term seems much less explosive on paper, there are many cases that could discreetly shift the balance of powers within the government and radically transform the precedent future cases will be decided on.

For example, the Court is scheduled to hear arguments in a case regarding commercial fishing laws in New Jersey. Although the case seems of little relevance to the general public, it has the potential to overturn “Chevron deference,” a standard set by a 1984 case that gave federal agencies wider latitude to perform necessary functions. This ruling, which could cripple the U.S. administrative state, has gotten very little press coverage, likely due to the legal intricacy and lack of interest in the case.

The American public must not let the complicated arguments of the Court discourage them from understanding and evaluating its decisions and legitimacy, which is exactly where universities, scholars and students can step in. Research universities and higher education institutions are uniquely positioned to perform this important work because of their high concentration of resources and degree of political saliency. At a time when SCOTUS seems more disconnected from the general public than ever, scholars and students can help bridge the gap between the inaccessible legal body and concerned citizens.

Even after some of the most volatile terms in recent history and record-low approval ratings, the Court’s most conservative justices do not seem discouraged or embarrassed by their hyperactivity. Operating in a vacuum of accountability, many justices have flagrantly abused their influence for personal gain and ideological achievement. Among the most

blatant of the offenses was billionaire and real estate magnate Harlan Crow’s payment of boarding school tuition for Justice Clarence Thomas’ nephew, a “gift” that couldn’t help but arouse scrutiny and suspicion.

Without a clear system of rules for addressing justices’ unethical behavior, political and academic actors are left to enfore the expectations of SCOTUS justices on their own, creating a wide disparity between the legal values of the nation and the reported behavior of justices.

Now, with a vague ethics code only recently implemented by SCOTUS, Court watching continues to be a crucial method for identifying and discouraging unethical behavior by the nation’s most powerful judges.

Although the ethics code is a step in the right direction, it is largely an adoption of principles and policies already followed by the justices and reads more as an explanation of bad behavior than a concerted attempt to cleanse corruption from the Court.

However, the adoption of an ethics code demonstrates that the Court is not immune to public scrutiny and fears being delegitimized by the general public.

As students of well-connected and well-funded universities, it is our responsibility to support, consume and perform the research that allows the public to understand and criticize the Court’s role in American politics and society. This work can be tedious and oftentimes goes underappreciated, but is necessary for forecasting Court trends and enforcing the Court’s ethical principles. It’s easy to get comfortable in the self-selected ideological bubbles of universities, especially ones in majority liberal cities like Boston. However, these de-

cisions have very real and immediate consequences for people with less privilege and protection, including those who could be exposed to abuse from the deregulation of state governments and agencies.

Because the Supreme Court continues to grow in influence while losing support from the public, ignorance is not only irresponsible but also dangerous. Court watchers and other political actors can and should pressure the Court to maintain its status as a lawful and righteous legal body. In a legal system that is centered around lifetime appointments, it is sometimes necessary to use the pulpit of public opinion to discourage justices’ unethical behavior.

The work done in universities can further develop these conversations while analyzing the American political landscape and researching the implications of decisions, Court culture and ethics violations. Not only can students get involved on their campuses by hosting political discussion groups or writing for publications like political reviews, newspapers and magazines, but also by making use of their university’s research resources to uncover tools and strategies that can be used by the public in interpreting the rulings and culture of the Supreme Court.

By building networks of support and information for Court watching, students and scholars can create a political environment that holds the Supreme Court to the fundamental ethical standards of nearly every other profession in the nation.

Joseph Brant is a second-year combined political science and economics major. He can be reached at brant.j@ northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: The Israel-Hamas conflict lays bare our moral (in)consistencies

Ali Caudle, Ananya Kulkarni, Jessica Xing, Marta Hill, Zoe MacDiarmid

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

December 1, 2023

Photo by Jessica Xing Following the Oct. 7 attacks, I was struck not only by the barbarity of the violence, but by the irreconcilable positions that many of my student peers chose to endorse. After reading the now infamous Harvard-Harris poll — conducted 11 days after the attack — I was shocked to learn that a slight majority, about 49% to 51%, but a majority nonetheless, of 18-24 year olds believed that “Hamas’ killing of 1,200 Israeli civilians can be justified by the grievances of the Palestinians.”

It quickly became clear that this conflict would function as a litmus test to determine both the decency of people’s beliefs and their ability to stay morally consistent.

Too many have subscribed to the

ill-founded notion that multiple things cannot be true all at once, yet to believe this is to uphold partisanship over nuance and prioritize comfort over reality. It can certainly both be true that Hamas’ recent attacks on Israeli civilians are abhorrent and that Israel’s far-right government has been responsible for illegal — and above all, immoral — forced ethnic displacements throughout the West Bank. It can also be true that protestors praising the Oct. 7 attacks on the far-left of the American political spectrum do not represent the voices of all who call themselves Democrats, just as it can be true that conservative politicians who have called for the deportation of all Palestinian immigrants and their supporters do not represent all those who label themselves Republicans.

To acknowledge these facts need not mean an acceptance of bothsidesism, in which one attempts to place equal blame on two parties even though there might be an actor who is obviously more at fault than the other, but instead means to be partisan only to the truth. Serious conversations should be held about the responsibility Israel has for providing basic necessities to civilians fleeing violence in Gaza, about the duty the Palestinian

government has to protect its citizens and about the role that universities should play in the public discourse.

However, it is farcical to believe that all of us students are sufficiently informed to have the correct answers to all of these questions.

Universities should be places that nurture intellectual honesty, compel moral introspection and equip us with the necessary tools to seriously grapple with these most difficult questions. Anyone serious about learning and providing their opinion on this topic should attend the College of Social Sciences & Humanities’ “Crisis Conversations on Israel and Gaza” and participate in the exchange of honest dialogue with the sole aim to examine all sides of the conflict.

The worrying uptick in the number of hate crimes within the last month is reason enough for a renunciation of our incessant need to have a strong opinion on every issue regardless of how much we know on the topic and to further emphasize the importance of constructive discourse.

Acknowledging that much of our relentless one-sided support is not based in reason nor truth, but is oftentimes fueled by anger, might help us realize that we have more in common

with those we disagree with than we might have originally thought.

Even Israelis and Palestinians share the belief that their current forms of government are wholly inadequate to represent them: A mere 21% of Israeli respondents expressed confidence in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government following the Oct. 7 attacks while just 29% of Palestinians placed their trust in the Hamas-led Gaza government in prior years. The gloomy reality is that this war is being led by mandateless leaders on both sides, is fueled by fanatical factions and has and will continue to be paid for with the blood of innocent civilians.

Neither those who support Israel nor those who support Palestine will get everything they want from a future resolution, and both sides will continue to denounce each other as enemies for years to come. But we mustn’t forget that as students, our role first and foremost is to be properly informed.

Nor should we cease to remember that it is only with our enemies with whom we ultimately broker peace.

Jack Masliah is a third-year political science and philosophy major. He can be reached at masliahlitchi.j@northeastern.edu

OPINION

December 1, 2023

Page 11

Op-ed: You don’t need to empty your wallet to vindicate your devotion

Photo by Jessica Xing Big names love to market themselves. For decades, merchandise has been a popular way of showing random strangers, “Hey! I am a fan of the people who designed what I’m wearing!” From cardigans to sweatshirts to mugs and photo coasters.

Even Pizza Hut tried to get on the trend in 2021 with its release of “Pizza Hut Tastewear,” and Shrek has his own makeup line. With the advent of these exclusive collectibles, our growing urge to acquire a celebrity’s latest products seems like it will only ever increase, with these articles making us walking advertisements for our favorite musicians, YouTubers and actors.

These famous individuals have not tried to hide that they want their fans to adorn their merch — many have

tried to entice fans by marketing their products as available for a limited time (even when it’s not) — constantly promoting merch whenever possible such as at the end of YouTube videos and, of course, popularizing it through social media.

With merch seemingly shoved in our faces the instant we decide to commit ourselves to a fanbase, and despite their outrageous prices ($64.89 for a crewneck? Really, Taylor?), we feel like we have to buy some to justify our loyalty. Even if the merch admittedly sucks.

It’s important to recognize when some celebrities’ marketing tactics are too unreasonable. For instance, Olivia Rodrigo released four supplementary songs on her album, “Guts,” across four variations of vinyl. She has a purple vinyl with a track called “Girl I’ve Always Been,” black and red editions with a song called “Obsessed,” a white one with a track called “Scared of My Guitar” and a blue one with a song entitled “Stranger.” Hence, if fans want to listen to the complete collection of Rodrigo’s sophomore album, they would have to purchase four vinyl variants in total, and the cost of each can amass into an unsettling amount — potentially around $120.

Similarly, even though I am an ardent fan of Taylor Swift, I concede her marketing tactics reveal an unethical

capitalistic side to her. For instance, it seemed a bit disingenuous that she released eight physical variations of her latest album “1989 (Taylor’s Version),” with only one containing the exclusive bonus track “Sweeter Than Fiction.”

She also pressured fans to buy all four vinyl variations by advertising their distinct album gatefold jackets, back and cover art, collectible album sleeves and exclusive photos.

Furthermore, she prodded her fans into pre-ordering physical copies of CDs for “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” by stating they were available for only 48 hours, only to make them all back in stock months later. She also released not only a deluxe version of the album with a remix of her hit “Bad Blood” featuring Kendrick Lamar, but another deluxe version containing the “Bad Blood” remix and an acoustic remix of her track “Slut!”

Don’t fall prey to these celebrities’ shady promotion methods. Purchase them if you genuinely want them, but do not do so out of obligation.

From a logical standpoint, it is unreasonable for anybody, no matter how famous, to expect people to buy everything they have to offer, and you should not feel pressured to buy something from someone who does not know you personally.

Some of the merch is not even worth buying. Users on Reddit have

expressed disdain over Ed Sheeran’s poor tour merch, some claiming his “Life Goes On” shirt is “super thin” and the merch from his concerts is getting “worse and worse.” Swift is notorious even among her most devoted fans for having merch with low-quality designs. Worse, her merch tends to come at outrageous prices, too.

Alternatively, you can go on Etsy to purchase higher-quality merch for more affordable prices. The United States already had the largest apparel market in 2022, reaching a revenue of $1.5 trillion. This figure is projected to surge by nearly $2 trillion in 2027, an increase of over 100%. Psychological marketing strategies, zealous loyalty and the rising popularity of casual clothing in the last few centuries help to explain this phenomenon, but we should not let that trend deter us from committing to a more frugal approach with our celebrity obsessions.

I also know a lot of people feel pressured to buy merchandise because they see so many others around them doing so too. Not purchasing your favorite celebrity’s products makes you feel like a “fake fan” since you have nothing to physically corroborate your devotion to them. However, this leads into a trap where fans buy someone’s merch fully knowing they won’t ever complete the collection, buy more merch as a result, reprimand themselves for spending

more money on merch and struggle to ignore the same disquieting “FOMO” inner voice telling them that the merch they have is not enough.

Overall, remember that the least you can do to prove your love for a celebrity is just support them, even if it’s just in your head. Even though I do not own any Taylor merch, I have been listening to her albums constantly due to her recent rise in popularity, and even though it seems like I bashed it, I absolutely love “1989 (Taylor’s Version)” (if you’re curious, my favorite track is “Blank Space” while my current favorite vault track is “Say Don’t Go”).

In the end, our favorite celebrities do not even know who we are and whether we are spending money on them. We don’t need to keep encouraging them to impose unfair capitalistic practices on poor, but adoring fans, not just us, but also the families with children who throw tantrums to push their parents to purchase products of their favorite names out of guilt. Life is too short to toss away your money on ugly clothes and a plethora of variants: Money is transitory, but your internal connection to your celebrities can remain eternal.

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

Op-ed: The right to protest is a fundamental human right — even on campuses

Photo by Jessica Xing Amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, university campuses across the United States have become grounds for ideological battles in the form of protests and demonstrations, particularly in the college city of Boston. The rise in protests, notably by pro-Palestinian groups, has provoked intense arguments and, in some cases, incidents of retaliation and hatred by opposing groups, calling the entire nature of these demonstrations into question.

On college campuses, backlash against pro-Palestinian groups has been widespread. Students for Justice in Palestine, or SJP, and Jewish Voice for Peace, or JVP, at Columbia University were suspended as official student groups until the end of the fall semester, and the SJP chapter at Brandeis University was banned. At Harvard University, a doxxing-truck labeled Pro-Palestinian students as “Harvard’s Leading Antisemites.”

Many of the protests’ critics assert that banning these demonstrations is the solution, claiming that limiting

such “controversial or hateful speech” will prevent tensions on campuses from escalating. Groups like the Anti-Defamation League have claimed that terms used by SJP like “ethnic cleansing, apartheid, forced sterilization and genocide,” are hate speech against Israel and Jewish people. These, however, are valid arguments and terms used to depict the human rights violations of the Israeli government.

Furthermore, such attitude on limiting protest rights is fundamentally flawed.

Protesting is a basic human right, a pillar of democratic society and the foundation upon which countries like the U.S. were established. Protesting is a powerful tool for citizens to express their discontent and push for social, political or cultural change. It is a peaceful and productive means of expressing oneself, allowing individuals to actively shape the course of their communities and nations. By attempting to suppress protests, we risk undermining democratic norms that emphasize the value of many voices and perspectives in the public space.

Universities, which are commonly considered incubators for social justice movements, should be places where different points of view flourish and criticism is met with dialogue rather than suppression.

Restricting students’ right to protest not only limits their freedom of expression, but also fosters alienation and antagonism that could have been avoided. Many Arab and Muslim students at Northeastern have felt that the university has ignored their demands and instead fostered this hostile environment.

The pro-Palestinian student movements of today are part of a broader tapestry of student activism, one that is reminiscent of the student movements of the 1960s. They are both rooted in a desire for social justice and addressing injustices, both in the U.S. and on a global scale. The 1960s student movements left behind a legacy of promoting American student political activism and altering public perceptions of free speech on college campuses. However, administrators at universities then responded to these initiatives in a similar way to how they currently respond to pro-Palestinian student organizations. Administrators at universities would attempt to halt the demonstrations and enforce disciplinary actions, but would later modify them by either lifting or easing the restrictions in response to student outrage.

These similarities serve as a compelling argument against the present censorship, which has only served to widen the divide between students and universities’ administrations.

The alarming pattern of schools and institutions outlawing pro-Palestinian organizations creates an alarming precedent that is evocative of historical periods like the Red Scare and McCarthyism. During the early 1950s in the Cold War era, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy conducted a series of investigations and hearings to investigate alleged communist infiltration of various branches of the U.S. government and in the fields of journalism and Hollywood. This instilled fear among left-leaning individuals in the U.S.

who wanted to avoid being labeled as a “communist.” Students who speak out against the Israeli and American governments for funding and orchestrating what many call a genocide are now labeled “antisemitic,” which has discouraged many people from speaking out for fear of losing job opportunities, being harassed and being doxxed.

Universities may be driven by a desire to keep receiving donations, but it would be more grievous to alienate and silence current students.

Donors at prominent colleges such as Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania have threatened to sever relations if the student clubs promoting “anti-Israeli” views are not condemned. On the other hand, a university that bills itself as educationally liberal should defend the ideals of free speech and nonviolent dissent. These student organizations are protesting the persistent human rights’ violations, occupation and the loss of thousands of innocent lives.

Universities bear the risk of losing the vibrant, dynamic environment that is essential for both intellectual advancement and the development of well-rounded individuals when they impose restrictions on the room for discussion and disagreement. The hostile atmosphere that is seen around campuses in the Boston area is a clear illustration of this, as students feel betrayed by institutions that have decided to suppress their right to hold demonstrations and protest Israel’s regime

of oppression and domination. The repercussions transcend beyond the existing student body, influencing prospective students’ decisions to apply or not based on an institution’s commitment to free speech.

Ideological disagreements cannot be resolved by putting an end to demonstrations on college campuses.

Student organizations who support Palestine are demonstrating for the rights of families, children and a society that has endured nearly 75 years of unrelenting violence and aggression. This false notion that these organizations are promoting hatred is aiding in the suppression of this social justice movement. Upholding democratic norms and preserving the core ideals of universities — the pursuit of knowledge via free and open discussion — go hand in hand when it comes to defending the right to protest.

Salma Sheikh is a first-year public health and journalism major. She can be reached at sheikh.sal@northeastern.edu.

Graphic by Emma Liu

SPORTS

Page 12

December 1, 2023

Knoll and Carter: 5 years of dedication and friendship

By Sarah Popeck News Staff A penalty in a junior hockey game was what brought Katy Knoll and Megan Carter face-to-face for the first time.

“I tripped Megan when going into the corner. I apologized, but she had no words and just stared into my soul.

I just sat there for about two minutes, and I was like, ‘Okay, this is gonna be my future teammate,’” Knoll, now a fifth-year forward on the Northeastern women’s hockey team, said.

However, it was associate head coach Nick Carpenito who had the thought of setting up the two athletes as roommates. Knoll texted Carter to make it official, igniting a friendship that would last a lifetime.

“It was pretty instant how we clicked. Our compete levels, our drive, our ambitions for school, hockey and everything really aligned,” Carter, a graduate student defender, said. “We’re very similar in the sense that we know what we want out of life and what we want out of our experience at Northeastern, and we’ve been on the same track the whole time.”

Their freshman year was massively successful — both skated in all 38 games, with Knoll tallying 26 points as a rookie — but they only continued to grow from there. The two stars have numerous Hockey East accolades under their belts and have made appearances in several NCAA tournament games, including Hockey East Championships and the Frozen Four.

“It’s hard to remember a day that they weren’t as close as they were.

I don’t think you’ll find two people who push each other more and really don’t let the other get away with anything,” said assistant coach Lindsay Berman. “It’s been fun from a front-row seat to watch them grow together.”

Knoll and Carter have a plethora of unique memories, such as warm-up drills they’ve done hundreds of times since their freshman year, but every moment on the ice is filled with a balance of laughter and competition.

“If I see her do something that we’ve worked on a bunch of times in practice, I feel so proud,” Knoll said.

“I always want to make sure that I acknowledge that for her because she deserves all the acknowledgment in the world and she’s done nothing but make me a better player.”

Their support for one another helped smooth the transition to a collegiate hockey team and encouraged them to work harder.

“They handle the pressure really well. Both of them are expected to perform, but also lead, so they use each other if they need a little help or a little pick me up,” Berman said.

“They go harder on each other than anybody else. It sets a standard for the rest of our team that we play really hard against ourselves in order to translate that to playing games.”

Aside from being teammates, they have been roommates since freshman year. Like two peas in a pod, they are just as close off the ice.

“On a typical day, we will obviously have our separate classes — early on, we used to try to have classes together, too,” Carter said. “We’re at

THIS WEEK

IN SPORTS Scores compiled by Julia Yohe Graphic by Angelica Jorio

Men’s Hockey at RPI

3 3 Saturday, November 25

at RPI

9 2 Sunday, November 26

Women’s Hockey vs. Boston College

3 1 Saturday, November 25 Photo courtesy Jim Pierce Carter and Knoll skate together at Matthew’s Arena. They both joined Northeastern’s women’s hockey team in 2019. the rink together, we’re at lift together and then we come home, we watch hockey, we make dinner … we pretty much do everything together.”

That support was a foundation for them on and off the ice. With an automatic chemistry, they got used to each other and recognized their tendencies quickly, which helped them thrive and improve every day.

“From freshman year, we roomed together and were best friends, and we stuck through it,” Knoll said.

“With how close we are, there’s a sense of trust when we’re on the ice that I can do my job and I know she’s gonna do her job. We just go out there and try to have fun anytime we can.”

Now entering their fifth year of playing together, they each have a letter on their jerseys to commend their efforts in their time at Northeaster: Carter is the captain of this year’s team and Knoll serves as an assistant captain.

“From the very beginning, we knew that they both would be leaders at some point,” Berman said. “That’s just how they are as people. The way that they carried themselves, even from a young age, it was clear that they would be captains for our program.”

Carter’s leadership assistants also include fifth-year goaltender Gwyneth Philips and senior defender Abbey Marohn, both of whom have lived with the duo in past years.

“Sometimes you don’t really want to see two best friends be captains together, but for them, they put the team first,” Berman said. “If they do disagree on something, they’ll voice it. They both have strong personalities and they’re elite competitors so they have a great balance with each other.”

They are always each other’s cheerleaders, hyping each other up for all of their wins. In a recent game against Long Island University, Knoll scored on a short-handed play to put

the Huskies on the board. Of course, her biggest supporter was out on the ice with her to celebrate. “[Katy] scored, and I don’t think I’ve jumped that high. I think I literally slammed her into the boards because I was so happy,” Carter said.

“It’s very cool to share that and to see all the work paying off. We put in the work together. It’s really rewarding.”

Although they’re similar in many ways, a unique aspect to their friendship is their diverse backgrounds: Knoll is American and Carter is Canadian, bringing them together through different experiences growing up and playing hockey.

“They’re both fighting to get a spot on their respective national teams,” Berman said. “They utilize each

other for fuel and to make the other better. “off off and ... [they] always help in every aspect of their lives.”

After a Frozen Four upset last season, the Huskies are back and ready for a redemption season. It also means that the Carter and Knoll power duo is skating for its last few months together wearing the red and black jerseys. While the team was what brought them together, it is their immense passion and dedication to their shared values that will forever connect them.

“It’s a privilege to play with my best friend day in and day out,” Carter said. “I’m very grateful that Northeastern brought us together, and I know it’s a friendship that’s going to continue beyond our years.”

vs. Providence

4 2 Tuesday, November 28

Men’s Basketball at Princeton

66 80 Saturday, November 25

at Seton Hall

75 88 Wednesday, November 29

Women’s Basketball at Columbia

45 88 Saturday, November 25

at UNH

41 51 Wednesday, November 29