September 30, 2022

NU DINING WORKERS AGREE TO HISTORIC NEW CONTRACT WITH CHARTWELLS

By Sonel Cutler Deputy Campus Editor

Tuesday Sept. 6 was an unusu al night for Emajhonel Rosario, a 27-year-old grill cook at the United Table at International Village, and many of his colleagues. As the clock ticked past midnight, 30 dining workers comprising the unionized Contract Committee sat in a room at Suffolk University alongside repre sentatives from UNITE HERE Local

26 Union, translators and higher-ups from Chartwells, the company con tracted with Northeastern to provide dining services.

They had reached hour nine of what would be a 12.5-hour meeting to negotiate terms for dining workers’ new five-year contract. When they emerged at 3:30 a.m., both parties had tentatively agreed to an unprecedented contract that raised wages by $9.32 per hour and ensured the best possible health

plan offered by Chartwells, among other achievements.

“We as a committee had a main goal of five things that we absolutely needed … for this new contract to go into effect because we felt that these five things would help protect us as workers from any future issues,” Rosario told The News.

Besides better health insurance and pay increases that put dining workers on the same wage levels as dining employees at Harvard

and MIT, those five goals included replacing workers that called out, guaranteeing a 40-hour work week and improving a pension plan for retiring employees.

“It’s the richest agreement that Local 26 has ever negotiated for any work place,” said Carlos Aramayo, the presi dent of Local 26. “It’s a life-transforming agreement that I think will put these jobs in the category of good jobs that are worker-affirming, are family-affirming … and are community-affirming.”

Under the new contract, Chart wells guaranteed that 75% of jobs will be classified as full time. Workers in that category will be able to work 40 hours per week, raised from the 37.5-hour-per-week cap to which workers were previously restricted. Contributions to the current pension plan will also increase annually, eventually quadrupling the current rate. Worker strain will be reduced with a guarantee that Chartwells UNION, on Page 3

Students react to Pelican case detonation

in Holmes Hall, evaluate campus safety

By Rachel Erwin and Erin Fine News Staff

Northeastern students’ lives have mostly returned to normal following an on-campus package detonation, but some are still questioning what exactly happened and why the admin istration has seemingly moved on.

At around 7:18 p.m. Sept. 13, a Pelican case in Northeastern’s virtual reality lab located in Holmes Hall depressurized, causing minor injuries to Jason Duhaime, the virtual reality program’s new technology manager, according to The Boston Globe. The university evacuated students in the building and in other surrounding

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Read about the grand opening of the Pollinator Garden at the Emerald Necklace Parkfest.

areas and canceled all remaining evening classes in nearby buildings. A note claiming the university has ties to Mark Zuckerberg, robots and the U.S. government was found with the case.

The explosion is now being investigated as a potential hoax, but there has been no clear answer regarding a motive or who is re sponsible. This uncertainty has left some students wondering about the university’s response.

“The biggest thing that sat with me afterwards was that we got more information about what happened from [both local and national news outlets] than from Northeastern, and I think a lot of people have been

saying that,” said Madison Neuner, a fourth-year journalism and commu nication studies combined major.

Neuner was in their first pho tojournalism class of the semester in Holmes Hall when the incident occurred. A fire alarm went off in the building, but the professor and students did not immediately decide to leave, given that fire alarms are accidentally set off frequently. Neun er said this did not feel “strange” to them. It was not until the professor saw that the other class in the build ing was leaving that they realized they had to evacuate.

“When you walk out of the building, you immediately see all of

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the police cars, you see the bomb squad, you see the the fire truck with a giant ladder going up to the building, so we knew that some thing was going on,” Neuner said. “It wasn’t just a drill. It wasn’t just a tiny little thing.”

Neuner said their class pulled out their phones and cameras to take pictures, noting that there was a sense of “positive energy” in the pho to journalism class. Soon after, police expanded the perimeter, restricting students’ access to the area.

The class continued in an empty classroom in West Village G. Neuner eventually stepped out of class to take a phone call from their mom and

LIFESTYLE

stayed at a cross country teammate’s residence for the night.

Neuner said that, after talking to their teammates, they realized stu dents who had not been in the area of the incident did not know what was going on.

“We saw the scene developing over that period of time, and we knew more than everyone else did at that time, because Northeastern didn’t send out a communication until 40 minutes or so after the fire alarm went off in our building,” Neuner said. “So everyone else didn’t even know it was happening until 40 min utes afterwards.”

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Photo by Marta Hill

by Riley Robinson

Photo by Jessica Xing

A dining worker speaks at a HOWL rally in April 2022. Rosario said the student-labor alliance provided dining workers with a lot of support.

Photo by Kayla Shiao

Mass Ave Coalition festival builds community

By Salma Alawi News Correspondent

Divided by Massachusetts Avenue, Chester Square Park consists of two halves of shaded green space, com plete with fountains and benches. The park was the site of the Mass Ave Coalition’s Fall Festival Sept. 18, described by organizer Carol Blair as “a festival like no other.”

The Mass Ave Coalition is a nonprofit organization that aims to build a sense of community along Massachusetts Avenue, commonly referred to as a Mass. Ave. Its goals include improving public health, transportation and streetscape.

Blair, a member of the coalition team and president of Chester Square Neighbors, played an instrumental role in planning the festival.

“The Chester Square [neighbor hood] is bisected by Mass. Ave., and we find it very difficult to build community,” Blair said, in reference to the six lanes that run through the middle of the park. “Two different people told me they crossed the street to the other [half] of the park for the first time.”

Chester Park was originally one large park, established in the 1850s. However, in the 1950s, after the establishment of the Southeast Expressway, civil and urban planners were at a loss for how to direct traffic through the city. They replaced the majority of Chester Park with a busy road, resulting in the remaining two halves of the park.

The idea of connecting the two sides of the park and the Chester Square neighborhood was woven throughout the festival. Two groups from Jazz Boston, a local jazz perfor mance troupe, played music — one

group was stationed on the left half of the park, while the other group was on the right side.

“We have the institutions and residents, neighbor associations, all working together to try to under stand who we are … and what we can be,” Blair said. “We want to be more of a connector, and less of a divider.”

When the Coalition was brain storming ideas to foster community, having an event was a popular idea.

“People love events,” Blair said. “If you do an event, everybody joins in.”

Blair, a seasoned planner, said she made a point to include a variety of ac tivities: a kiddie pool filled with rubber ducks was available for the kids, addi tional game stations made for a playful atmosphere and a popcorn machine provided a snack for attendees. Some areas of the park were left as they were, allowing attendees to appreciate the green space around them.

Numerous local organizations were present at the festival, including the City of Boston Transportation Department. The organization was taking suggestions from festival attendees on how to improve the surrounding streets and make them more pedestrian and bicycle friendly. Additionally, organizers used the event space to advertise Bluebike passes and initiatives to improve Columbus Avenue and streets in the lower Roxbury area.

Students in a Northeastern data science class called “Information Visualization & Presentation” were also present. They collected data from the attendees on their favorite places in the Mass. Ave. area and changes they want ed to see in the community. Assistant professor Michelle Borkin, who teaches the class, accompanied her students.

“Every semester we partner with

different Boston area nonprofits and work with the Service Learning program at Northeastern,” Borkin said. “The students will gather data and get data from the organization, use it for their final projects and do data analysis reports. They’ll make interactive visualizations, … then we give it back to the nonprofit organi zations. … It’s this mutual exchange where students get to have real ex perience with a real client and make a real difference in their community, and the community benefits.”

The students also set up posters so festival attendees could write down their favorite places in the area and suggestions for changes they wanted to see in the community. The class will turn these responses into a data set, so the Coalition can implement changes that the community wants to see.

“It [also] helps [the students] un derstand that the skills they’re learn ing in class have an impact outside of the classroom,” said Uzma Haque Syeda, a fifth-year computer science Ph.D. student with a concentration in data visualization who was also volunteering at the event.

Many local businesses supported the festival.

“Everyone was asking what else they could do for the festival,” Blair said. “The manager of Party City … was very helpful and gave us a couple raffle prizes.”

Blair said the atmosphere was very calm and “mellow,” maximizing the potential for community building.

“Lots of people have said they met new people,” Blair said. “People are thinking of the park in a new way; someone who has been in the neigh borhood for a long time … said, ‘My kids are playing in the park. … We should do this all the time.’”

New garden opens at Emerald Necklace Parkfest

By Erin Fine News Staff

Last Saturday, the first-ever Emerald Necklace Parkfest spanned seven parks across Boston with free games, performances and more.

Events took place across the parks all afternoon, a coordinated effort that showcased the large-scale restoration efforts across the park system, said Karen Mauney-Brodek, the president of the Emerald Neck lace Conservancy.

“This is the first time we’ve had simultaneous events at every site so we’re really excited to see everyone come out,” Mauney-Brodek said.

One event took place in the Fen way Victory Gardens in the Back Bay Fens. In a shady clearing near the entrance of the gardens, people and bees alike buzzed with excitement as the Pollinator Garden opened to the public. Years of planning, building and planting finally brought the garden to realization.

“It’s a wonderful addition to the gar dens. We’re seeing the fruition of a lot of work,” said Pamela Jorgensen, presi dent of the Fenway Garden Society.

Jorgensen has coordinated the effort to build the Pollinator Garden since 2018 when the Boston Planning and Development Agency awarded the Fenway Garden Society a grant for an open space for the public.

“It’s a great idea that you have this oasis in the middle of the city,” Jor gensen said. “Everyone has their own little oasis to make their own backyard.”

Parkgoers and gardeners who spoke with The News emphasized the value of dedicated green space in a bustling city like Boston. Many people living in Boston have no yards on their residences and turn to parks for their touch of nature.

“What’s really cool about it is when you walk through [the gardens] it’s all different,” said Adam Jaffe, a hobbyist gardener with a plot in the gardens.

“It’s just all different kinds of people that do what they like to do.”

The event wasn’t contained to the Back Bay Fens — Charlesgate held a hip-hop event hosted by Bridgeside Cypher, Jamaica Pond featured cya notype photography prints of parkgo ers and a drag queen story hour and Franklin Park hosted art, puppetry, opera and a parade. The rest of the parks were crammed with even more activities for passersby to enjoy.

“[We’re celebrating] the bicenten nial of Olmsted’s birth,” MauneyBrodek said. “He said parks are a place to see everyone come together. He knew the work to create these spaces was related to democracy.”

Several members of the Fenway Garden Society spoke to The News about Bostonians connecting in the parks — for the Parkfest and year-round.

“We have 475 gardens and we’re kind of like a community that comes together,” said Meredith Babine, the treasurer of the Fenway Garden Society.

That communinty brings together individuals of all ages.

“Our oldest gardener currently is about to turn 104 years old,” said Susan Willow, co-chair of the Gar den Society’s tree committee. “We have gardeners out here into their 90s. It’s just incredible proof of what gardening and being out in nature can do.”

The Emerald Necklace Conservan cy, a nonprofit stewardship orga nization that maintains the parks, hosted the event in celebration of Frederick Law Olmsted’s 200th birthday across the 5.5-mile park system he designed.

The Mass Ave Coalition welcomes residents to Chester Square Park for the Fall Festival. Events at the festival included games and jazz music.

Photo courtesy Moli Luo

Parkgoers gather at the Pollinator Garden Saturday, Sept. 24, for its grand opening during the Emerald Necklace Parkfest. They learned information about bees, composting and gardening.

Photo by Erin Fine

12.5 hour negotiations result in food service staff win in new agreement

UNION, from front will cover for employees that cannot come to work, preventing co-workers from having to take on two to three job responsibilities simultaneously.

Aramayo said three factors con tributed to the unusually long but ulti mately successful bargaining session.

“One is, the dining hall workers walked in with 92% ready to go on strike right there. 92% of folks had signed a petition and taken their pho tographs saying that they were willing to go on strike if we didn’t meet our five core demands,” Aramayo said.

The second factor was support from the Northeastern student body.

The dining workers’ previous contract, which was set to expire Aug. 31, gained citywide attention last spring as workers publicly expressed their frustration with their working conditions. Dining workers teamed up with Huskies Organizing With Labor, or HOWL, to raise awareness and advocate for better terms in their upcoming contract. HOWL consists of a coalition of student groups in cluding Young Democratic Socialists of America, or YDSA, NU Mutual Aid and Progressive Student Alliance.

Throughout the Spring 2022 se mester, HOWL organized rallies and marches on campus that pressured the administration to listen to the grievances of dining staff.

Joshua Sisman, fourth-year politi cal science and economics combined

major and president of YDSA, was one of the student organizers involved in the HOWL campaign that learned about the new contract before the general public.

“I was kind of shocked,” Sisman said. “I didn’t have words at first. … This is the kind of stuff, as a socialist organizer, as someone who believes that the working class is … the agent of change, [that] those are the people that we need to be fighting with, fighting for, this is the kind of stuff that we dream to have happen.”

Rosario credited HOWL for play ing a large role in providing the sup port they needed for their success.

“We don’t get anywhere without HOWL,” Rosario said. “Words can’t describe how important they were towards our cause. … Chartwells … is a very big corporation. So many of our co-workers were in fear … They don’t want to lose their jobs. They don’t want to have to go on strike, whether it be for two or three weeks because Chartwells can hold out that long. But the amount of support that these students and the whole organization in general gave us the confidence to say ‘Hey, we have people to back us up.’”

The final factor was Chartwells’ will ingness to come to the table. Employees from the top levels of the corporation flew in for the meeting, which, accord ing to Aramayo, demonstrated their commitment to reaching an agreement.

“The company was actually willing to listen,” Aramayo said. “I think without those first two things, they may not have been willing to listen, to be honest. … The workers who were there felt very, very powerful. But also, we had, on the other side of the table, a company that was willing to listen to what we had to say.”

Rosario said the late night negoti ations reassured him that Chartwells was determined to work with them and avoid a strike.

“Once it hit like one o’clock in the morning, we were all still there, still discussing and compromising. I’m like, ‘Okay, you know what? They’re here, they want to get this done. We’re here, we want to get this done. So let’s sacrifice the night, however much time it takes, to sit down and really be diplo matic about things’ And we were able to do that,” Rosario said

Though many of the unionized dining workers care for families and experience long commutes, each member of the committee present at the table stayed until the very end of negotiations.

“The thing that was extraordinary is we had about 30 people on our bar gaining committee and nobody left,” Aramayo said. “Everybody figured out how to stay, which I think shows you the seriousness with which the leader of our union took their responsibility.”

Herma Parham, a barista at Café Crossing and a member of the Con

tract Committee, said everyone in the room was hyped up, despite the length of the bargaining session.

“I didn’t expect it to run as long as it did … It came out favorably, so I feel like the time wasn’t as important as the issues on the table being addressed and being finalized,” Parham said.

As the Contract Committee closed in on an agreement around 3 a.m., the energy in the room continued to buzz.

“Once it seemed clear that we were going to get there, people got pretty giddy,” Aramayo said. “We had to be like, ‘Everybody, keep it in the can because we have to actually get this done.’ We had a lot of conversations … about how you need to keep your poker face.”

Looking forward, some dining workers have already expressed interest in helping food service workers at other Boston-area universities advocate for better contracts for themselves.

Dining workers also affirmed their commitment to continue strengthening the student-labor alliance with coalitions like HOWL.

“It’s a hand-in-hand situation,” Parhem said. “If there’s anything that we can do, we will do it. And it appears as though [HOWL] is the same way that they feel so I was very, very happy to be part of the collaboration.”

The new contract is currently in effect and will last until Aug. 31, 2027. The provisions account for inflation and, by 2027, Northeastern dining workers’ wages will surpass workers at Harvard and MIT, ac cording to Aramayo.

“We can set a standard for all the other universities to really feel inspired that, you know, we can do this, we don’t have to be afraid,” Rosario said. “We don’t have to fear anything. We are strong and we are one. We’re united.”

VR lab incident creates concerns about adminstrative communication

EVACUATION, from front

Northeastern sent out the first alert at 7:55 p.m., which said “emer gency services [were] responding to an incident at Holmes Hall” and asked students to “avoid the area during the investigation.” Neuner questioned the university’s long re sponse time and the lack of informa tion distributed to the students.

“Northeastern’s communication was vague to a point where it wasn’t helpful,” Neuner said. “And I think it did just make people more scared, confused, nervous and probably a little bit angry, to be honest.”

They also criticized the university’s decision to resume classes the next day. Their friend had an 8 a.m. class, which Neuner noted was a little more than 12 hours after the explosion had occurred.

“Continuing class at a normal rate as if everything was normal less than a day after that happened was kind of crazy,” Neuner said. “I don’t have classes on Wednesdays, so for me I got the chance to just sit and kind of digest what happened and also be removed from it, but a lot of people didn’t get that opportunity to sit with themselves and do a mental check in about how they were feeling about what was going on.”

Other students who spoke with The News said they felt that North eastern did the best it could given the circumstances.

Alex Buckley, a thirdyear political science and journalism combined major who was also in the photojournalism class that night, said, though Northeastern’s response was

not perfect, it did not put anyone at serious risk.

“I suppose it wasn’t ideal. They could have sent a notice for people to just avoid that part of campus,” Buckley said. “At the same time, the police [had] literally cordoned off that part of campus, so it’s not like anyone was at risk of accidentally tripping on the bomb.”

He said that, when he got outside, students in the surrounding dorms were shouting from their windows, trying to ask the class and the police what had happened. None of these students seemed visibly scared or upset, he said, just curious.

Buckley said he assumed the second email the university sent out, with a

subject line that included “Explosion 2,” was an unfortunate mistake.

“I’m guessing someone forgot to change it in the draft,” Buckley said. “So that was pretty funny.”

He said that students cannot expect the university to communi cate everything in the first bit of time following the incident, as the admin istration does not always have all the answers. He added that, in his three years on campus, he has typically felt it is a safe environment.

“Some areas in the vicinity of campus can be seedy, especially at night. Personally, I haven’t had any incidents, and I don’t have any friends who had any bad incidents,” Buckley said. “So you know, it’s a city school,

right? You’re in a city. There are lots of people here. There are going to be some not so great people. Overall, I generally feel pretty safe on campus.”

Ryan Gehrlein, a fourth-year computer science and game develop ment combined major who worked alongside Duhaime for a game studio course in 2020, found the coverage of the detonation troubling.

“I’m mixed about his name officially being out now that everyone is spread ing rumors that the event was … staged,” Gehrlein said. “When I took the game studio course in fall 2020 we were working with VR headsets, and so I was in the lab with him and other students on weeknights doing work.”

Gehrlein described Duhaime as passionate about his work in virtual reality and excited to assist Gehrlein with his project.

Like Neuner, Gehrlein was left in the dark about the nature of the emergency messages from the university. Officials evacuated Gehrlein’s roommates from their West Village residence, but many students were left wandering campus with questions unanswered. Gehrlein said some security guards seemed as unsure of the protocol as students.

“[My roommate] told me she asked a few guards where she could go as a detour since they roped off a big area right around West Village E, and they just shrugged her off,” Gehrlein said. “I went outside to take a picture of the area, after which she went around and made it into Rug gles street … Funny enough, after I

went out to take a picture, a security guard came from behind and told me to ‘pick a direction and keep walk ing,’ so I went back inside.”

Although Gehrlein said he was disappointed in Northeastern’s communication with students, he understands why the university pri oritized securing the area around the detonation first, he said. Still, Gehrlein said the lack of communication could have been potentially dangerous.

“The fact that they sent out an email titled ‘Explosion 2’ would be funny if it didn’t make it much more stressful for people and also helped feed into misinformation about there being more bombs,” Gehrlein said. “Overall, though, I feel like they handled the situation fairly well in terms of securing the area, but they absolutely need to com municate with people on campus about what is happening, because I feel they could have put people in danger with the way they handled that aspect of this situation.”

Following the incident, students have attempted to return to normal, but some who spoke with The News are still reflecting on how close-to-home the alleged explosion took place.

“Obviously you don’t want this to happen anywhere, but of all the places this could have happened of course it happened in my college in a building that I was in, taking a normal class on a normal day,” Neuner said. “Of course this hap pens right next to me.”

Mayor Michelle Wu and other officials from Northeastern, Boston Police Department and the FBI addressed press the night of the package detonation. Throughout the night, students received five NUAlerts with updates regarding campus safety.

Photo by Avery Bleichfeld

Students hold signs at a protest calling for increased pay for food service employees. In their new contract, dining workers will earn an additional $9.32 per hour over the next five years.

Photo by Kayla Shiao

Huskies prove top dog status over Boston Pride

By Julia Yohe Deputy Sports Editor

Northeastern University’s women’s ice hockey team made a roaring debut Sunday afternoon with a 3-2 victory over the Boston Pride.

The Huskies faced the Pride, a pro fessional women’s ice hockey team in the Premiere Hockey Federation, in a preseason exhibition scrimmage at Matthews Arena.

The game served as a boost in Husky morale after a frustrating season-ending loss in the semifinals round of the NCAA’s Frozen Four in March. The Huskies, fresh off their fifth-straight Hockey East Champi onship win and enjoying a second consecutive trip to the Frozen Four, fell 1-2 to the University of Minnesota Duluth in overtime.

Despite the tournament defeat, Northeastern’s 2021-22 season was nothing to be ashamed of. The team came home from the national cham pionship with a 31-5-2 overall record.

Although the 2021-22 season saw key players like defenseman Skylar Fontaine, goaltender Aerin Frankel and 10 others graduate, this season welcomes 10 new players — eight freshmen and two transfer students — into the teams’ vacancies.

“Honestly, going into the game, I was like, ‘Hey, I hope we can hold on,’” coach David Flint told The News after the game, reflecting on the Pride’s roster, which includes Olym pians, All-American players and two Patty Kazmainer winners. “But I

thought overall we played good from the goal line out. A lot of positives to take away from that game.”

The exhibition was a warm-up for Northeastern; it provided a chance for the veterans to start developing on-ice chemistry with the new addi tions to the team, gave the rookies a taste of high-level hockey and helped Flint gauge where his team stands going into the regular season.

“I thought [all the freshmen] were pretty solid,” Flint said. “[There were] little freshmen mistakes, but overall, they impressed me. I really wasn’t sure how this was gonna go. We kind of threw them right to the wolves. They’re playing high-level, way higher than they’re used to playing, and they held their own and did fine.”

The team’s Harvard transfer, sophomore forward Taze Thompson, played a key role in securing two of Northeastern’s three goals. Aided by speedy senior forward Katy Knoll and dexterous sophomore forward Skylar Irving, Thompson fired the puck past Pride goaltender Corrine Shroeder just 48 seconds into regulation.

The offensive line took to the net again eight minutes later. As Thomp son, Irving and Knoll sailed towards the crease, Irving fired a shot into Shroeder’s pads. Knoll, a reliable and consistently aggressive player, quick ly found the puck and drilled it into the net on a rebound before Shroeder could recover from the first save. The Huskies were up 2-0.

Surprised by Northeastern’s ferocity and determined to make a

comeback, the Pride amped up its efforts in the second half of the first period and lit into Northeastern senior netminder Gwenyth Philips, blasting shot after shot into her gear.

Philips, who spent the last three years patiently waiting on the bench and serv ing under Frankel, stood strong under the Pride’s professional-level pressure, letting only two goals in.

The first came under a poorly-timed Husky line change. With no Husky defense in front of the net to stop her, Pride defenseman Kali Flanagan earned Pride’s first point with just under three minutes left in the first.

Two minutes later, with just 23 seconds left in the first period, Philips miscalculated the puck’s location and dove out of her crease, creating a perfect window for Pride forward McKenna Brand to gently flick the puck beside Philips into the net. Northeastern graduate student forward Mia Brown swooped into the net to stop the puck, but to no avail. The Pride tied the game, and the first period came to a close.

The second period was slow and uneventful. Northeastern’s defense came back to the ice groggily, allow ing the Pride to maintain control of the puck through most of the period. Though the second period saw no increase in score, both teams grew much more physical than they were in the first. The players’ physicality landed the teams one penalty each.

By the third period, the Huskies were a completely revamped team. They were forceful and energetic, ob viously on the prowl for another goal.

The period also saw a shift in Husky goaltending. Both senior goal tender Alexa Matses and sophomore netminder Paige Taborski fought the puck in the final period.

For Taborski, it was her first chance to show off her skills on Northeastern ice. Because the 2021-22 roster had four goalies, Taborski, the youngest of the four, was taken on as a redshirt. Against the Pride, however, she earned her spot on the bench.

“This is her first real action,” Flint said of his newest goalie. “She got tested and she did awesome.”

Led by captain and graduate student forward Alina Mueller, Northeastern secured its third goal and increased the score to 3-2.

The three-time Olympian, alongside graduate student forwards Maureen Murphy and Chloe Aurard,

used her familiar agility and creativity to overpower Shroeder’s defense.

The clock ran out with the Huskies still in the lead.

Following regulation was an infor mal three-on-three overtime practice period. Knoll scored her second goal of the scrimmage, driving the Husky victory home.

Northeastern’s regular season will begin Friday, Sept. 30 with a two-game series against Long Island University at Matthews Arena.

Flint said he and his team are excited for opening weekend and prepared for the rest of this season.

“With this team, the sky’s the limit,” Flint said. “We’ve got a ton of talent. We’ve got some really good veteran leadership. So, for us, we’ve just got to bring it every day and be ready.”

Men’s hockey gears up for 2022-23 season

By Ariana Ottrando News Correspondent

It’s almost October, which means hockey season is right around the corner. Securing a 25-13-1 record last season, the Northeastern men’s hockey team clinched the regular season

Hockey East title for the first time in the program’s history, along with making the regional semifinals of the NCAA Championship. A new season brings new opportunities, and that’s the team’s mindset headed into game one of the regular season this Saturday night.

With five graduates, the team lost some of last season’s key players, including former captain and new member of the Montreal Canadiens Jordan Harris.

“We’re definitely gonna miss [Har ris]. He was a great captain and one of my best friends on the team, he’s a great guy, so he’s gonna be missed,” said starting junior goaltender Devon Levi.

Head coach Jerry Keefe said Harris “was an awesome captain for us.”

“Obviously when you see players like that, when they have success,

and they do things the right way, the younger guys follow,” Keefe said.

Hence, the decision to name sen ior forward Aidan McDonough as captain this season was an easy one, Keefe said.

“Aidan’s very similar to Jordan in that way — he’s got tremendous de tails, he’s always prepared, he’s a lead by example guy,” Keefe said.

As one of the older members of the team this year, Levi said he agrees.

“Everyone knows that he’s a great leader, so him stepping up to the plate is something that kind of happens seamlessly,” Levi said. “We all respect him just like we did [Harris], so we know he’s in it for the right reasons and wants to help lead the group.”

McDonough, one of college hockey’s lead scorers last season, said he under stands the gravity of this position and what it means for the program.

“It’s a huge honor to be named cap tain of this team. I think I’ve had great leaders before me that I can kind of take bits and pieces of how they’ve led and things that they’ve done, but I just plan on being myself,” McDonough said.

It’s apparent how significant the older players are to the team’s structure and community. Among the other graduates are Marco Bozzo, Tommy Miller, for mer assistant captain Julian Kislin and Jakov Novak — the latter unexpectedly returning as a graduate student for his second season as a Husky after he trans ferred from Bentley University last year.

“We were very excited to get [No vak] back. Not just the coaches, but especially the older guys who were re ally pushing for him to come back this season, so it kind of shows the respect he has in the locker room,” Keefe said. “[Novak]’s another guy that comes to practice everyday, wants to be a pro. He’s really good with the younger guys, kind of taking them under his wing a little bit and showing them the ropes.”

McDonough said he is just as en thused as Keefe to have Novak back for another season.

“[Novak] just had to come back and pursue grad school. It feels like he’s been here for four years even though last year was his first year,” McDonough said. “He fits well into our group. He’s a great teammate and a great player.”

Novak joins the leadership group this season as one of three assistant captains, alongside seniors Riley Hughes and Jayden Struble.

While there are changes in lead ership and chemistry on the ice, the team is adjusting swiftly as the nine incoming freshmen and two trans fers acclimate, Levi said.

McDonough has a similar take on this fresh dynamic with 11 new teammates.

“All of our freshmen are awesome kids first and foremost, really good

guys to be around” he said. “They’re all really good players and a lot of them are gonna play big minutes for us. And then the transfers have been great too. I expect all of our new players to play a big impact and a big role in our team.”

The new forwards on the roster in clude freshmen Cam Lund, Jack Wil liams, Anthony Messuri and graduate transfer Liam Walsh from Merrimack College. The additions on defense are freshmen Hunter McDonald, Jackson Dorrington, Vinny Borgesi, Kyle Furey and junior transfer Braden Doyle from Boston University. Grant Riley and Harrison Chesney, both incoming freshmen from New York, are the backup goaltenders.

While athleticism and playmaking are important components to being an effective contributor to any team, being a selfless player and person is a big factor behind the culture that the Huskies actively work to build under coach Keefe.

“When we were starting to turn the corner as a program, we really focused on the type of person we were bringing into Northeastern, and those are the guys that drive the culture. Not just being part of the culture, but driv ing it, making it better,” Keefe said. “It’s something the players take a lot of pride in and the younger guys learn it and then they start driving it by the time they’re sophomores, juniors and into their senior year.”

For McDonough, culture means always making smart decisions regardless of the situation.

“[Culture] has a lot of different aspects to it, like it’s doing the right things, being a good teammate, being

positive, having the right attitude,” McDonough said. “At the end of the day, it’s that everyday commitment to making yourself better, making the people around you better.”

Engrossed in this mentality to better the culture alongside McDon ough for the past few years, Levi said it is important to pass it down to the newcomers.

“We’re just trying to set the exam ple for [the new guys] so that they can also carry on the tradition of culture when us older guys leave and they’re the ones here introducing the [incoming] freshmen and carrying the torch,” he said.

As the new team members are learning and settling into the culture and routine, the team’s focus is set on starting off strong on Saturday for the first regular season game, Keefe said. While the team looks a little different this year, the players’ drive to exceed expectations does not.

“We want to build off of the success we had last year. Hopefully we’ve got some experience that we can advance this year, that’s our goal,” Keefe said. “We think this group can take it to another level, just pounding away at that leadership and the culture of this team. We know it’s one game at a time, but we’re really excited about playing [Long Island University] on Oct. 1.”

The Huskies will take the ice at home in Matthews Arena on Satur day against Long Island University, or LIU, at 7:30 p.m.

“Looking forward to seeing what we can do as a group,” Levi said. “The task at hand is LIU, getting ready for game one of the season and we’re all super pumped about that.”

Sophomore defenseman Taylor Guarino clashes with The Boston Pride in a race to the puck. The teams met for an exhibition game at Matthews Arena, demonstrating some of the best hockey talent in the city.

Photo by Taina Lorenzana

Devon Levi in goal against Harvard University at the NU 2021 homecoming game. NU came out victorious thanks to an overtime goal from junior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine.

Photo by Carissa Mastrangelo

Soccer teams create conversation about mental health on, off the field

By Alex Sumas Sports Editor

The Northeastern University men’s and women’s soccer teams are playing home games this week in honor of a cause close to their hearts: mental health. The women’s team faced Stony Brook University Sept. 29 and the men’s team will play University of North Carolina Wilm ington Oct. 1 in games dedicated to bringing awareness to the issue.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the conversation about mental health has increased across the nation, including in the sports world. On the public stage, athletes such as Simone Biles, Michael Phelps and Serena Williams have been leading the charge. On NU’s campus, athletes and coaches have been working to

finds the culture of athletics to play a part in hindering athletes’ mental health journeys.

“As athletes, it’s ingrained to say ‘We overcome injuries. … You’ll fight through it, you’ll be okay.’ So we’re taught that at an early age, it’s part of our psyche, it’s part of our DNA,” Madigan said.

This mentality can promote a stig ma about opening up and admitting that you need help.

Men’s soccer redshirt senior mid fielder Michael Stockley said he has battled this stigma. Stockley has been injured for most of his NU career and said the impact it’s had on his mental health has been significant.

“My freshman year I was like, ‘I want to leave here playing profes sionally.’ So imagine all the places my head has gone to as I’ve progressively

“The depression I went into, I’ve never been that low in my entire life. But something in my mind just told me, ‘You know what you can’t do is the same thing that you did before. Because look at how long it took you just to be able to communicate what was going on,’” Stockley said.

He began speaking openly with the team about his mental health strug gles and said he was surprised by the result, not expecting how many team mates would thank him for sharing.

The new head coach for men’s soc cer, Rich Weinrebe, has also made it his goal to open up communication within the team and give players like Stockley the space to share their stories. At a pre-season retreat in New Hampshire, Weinrebe introduced the Four H’s, an opportunity for players and staff members to talk about their history, hopes, heroes and heartaches, setting the example by going first himself.

Since then, players and staff members have been able to share their Four H’s on a volunteer basis and often the conversation has shifted toward mental health.

has inspired Fisher to do the same, she said.

“What our coaches do for me, I’ve tried to model with my under classmen and open up and try to be vulnerable, so that they too feel like they can be like that,” Fisher said.

For her, the resources the univer sity offers are also a key element to maintaining her health on and off the field.

they do need help they know ex actly what their options are.

“We bring [mental health pro fessionals] in for the group just to kind of get a hands-on, face-to-face person that they can go to and reach out to. But they also meet sporadically throughout the season as a collective group just to make it common. We think it’s good to normalize it,” Phillips said.

create the space for their teams to open up and feel comfortable getting the help they need.

“Every year we try to do a few games where we’re raising either money or awareness … using our platform as athletes,” said women’s soccer assistant captain and grad uate student midfielder/defender Sydney Fisher.

Reflecting on the heaviness of this past year in the NCAA with at least five collegiate athletes dying by suicide, both teams felt the call to do their part in normalizing talking about mental health.

“I think as coaches it’s an oppor tunity for you to look in the mirror and make sure that you’re doing everything you can to make sure and help and hope that’s never one of your athletes,” said women’s soc cer head coach Ashley Phillips.

Given the rigorous schedules and pressures student-athletes face, these conversations are vital.

“Being a college student is challenging; you’re 18- to 20-some thing-years-old, on your own for the first time, a little less structure. All of these things are changing. And then all the sudden you throw in Division I sports which is basi cally a full-time job,” Phillips said.

Playing at this level creates a pro file for student-athletes and expecta tions to meet.

“People are looking at scores, they know when you lose games, they know if you play or not. There’s pressure from your coaches: whether you’re starting, or getting minutes or competing for any time on the roster,” Phillips said.

NU Director of Athletics and Recreation and former men’s hockey coach Jim Madigan also

felt like that’s getting further and further away,” Stockley said.

Instead of turning to his team for support, he turned inward.

While trying to take some time alone to sort through his emo tions Stockley said he ended up isolating himself from his team, drawing out this period for three years after the injury.

Upon finally returning to the field, Stockley got hurt again.

“When we started doing it, every one was a little bit nervous and almost trying to avoid it, because they’re scared to be vulnerable. But I think we had good leadership from the older guys like [Stockley] and Timmy [En nin] that really showed us how [much of a] family we really are, how much you can really open up to the group,” said junior defenseman Sebastian Soriano. “I think that started a trend where younger guys on the team, coaching staff, trainers, everyone that’s a part of the team, were able to really open up, feel comfortable, feel safe and feel like, ‘Okay, yeah, we have something special here.’”

Fisher also credits her coaches for creating an environment the women’s soccer team feels com fortable talking about mental health in. Having her mentors and coaches talk about their struggles

Last year, right after transferring to NU for graduate school, Fisher injured herself in a preseason scrimmage.

“Being in a team environment and having to be there and just watch, I had to get really good at managing some of my demons and dealing with my own mind, honestly. I sought out a lot of those resources,” she said.

At the beginning of each year, the Sports Performance team meets with athletic teams to let them know about the resources available. This includes athletic trainers, doctors, specialists and strength and conditioning coaches as well as sports psychologists, mental health counselors and sports performance personnel, Madigan said. The Sports Per formance team works to build a relationship with athletes so when

From access to these resources to the active and intentional creation of an environment fit for vulnera ble conversations, Northeastern’s soccer teams have benefited greatly from mental health awareness.

“It’s been really cool in terms of how much closer I think [breaking the stigma has] brought teammates together. You realize, as cliche as it sounds sometimes, you’re not alone in this, and no matter what you may be going through, however big or small it feels to you or is perceived, we’ve all dealt with issues,” Fisher said. “I think to be able to say, ‘Hey, these are some resources that I went to when I was struggling, or am still struggling, and it really helped me in this sense, but also I’m here to listen, but I can also provide resources.’ Just to feel like you’re not alone in it has been incredibly awesome.”

File photo by Christian Gomez

The men’s soccer team huddles up while playing Hofstra during the spring 2021 season. NU lost 3-4 in overtime.

File photo by Christian Gomez

The women’s soccer team celebrates after a home win against the University of Delaware during the spring 2021 season. The Huskies defeated the Blue Hens 2-0.

NU DISORIENTATION EVENT EXPLORES

By Jesica Bak | News

In the midst of Northeastern’s welcome week this year, a coalition of student activist groups forming NU Disorientation held its first in-person event, determined to disrupt the university’s official orientation agenda by sharing information about social justice issues happening on campus instead.

“We really want to show new students, especially, but also returning students, the hidden truth that’s all around them when they’re on campus,” said Jonathan Bacdayan, a third-year environmental studies major and research lead at Sunrise Movement who helped pioneer the event.

stopped listening to the science … and put on the appearance of ‘back to normal’,” said Alexandra Madaras, a third-year history, culture and law major, who began the cam pus tour portion of the event in front of the Cabot Physical Education Center to speak out against the university’s gradual elimina tion of many protective COVID-19 measures, including mandatory testing, masking and quarantine housing.

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Chief among the organizers of NU Dis orientation are Sunrise Movement, a climate activist group, and the Progressive Student Alliance, or PSA, whose core focus is on addressing labor injustice at the university. In the past, Disorientation initiatives have only taken the form of a website, but Sunrise and PSA spearheaded the coalition’s first in-person event Sept. 10 alongside other social justice groups on campus such as the Young Democratic Socialists of America, Huskies Organizing With Labor, NU Mutual Aid, NU Sexual Health Advocacy, Resources and Education, the Graduate Employees of Northeastern University and the Save Mills College Campaign.

While titled Disorientation, a play on the official orientation meant for new students, the initiatives are really directed towards anyone “who may realize that Northeastern isn’t telling the whole story,” Bacdayan said.

Together, the coalition’s prima ry aim is to enlighten both new and returning students on an ongoing range of ethical concerns raised against Northeast ern, including the university’s contributions to climate change, gentrification, labor injustice, unsustainable infrastructure and the military-industrial complex, according to their 2022 Disorientation Guide.

While many of the issues brought up during Disorientation have been long standing, with some involved activist groups working for over a decade, Northeastern’s recent merger with Mills College — finalized in September 2021 and officially completed in July 2022 — was a new point of concern at the event.

Since its inception, the merger has raised numerous allegations by students and alumni at Mills, who filed a class action lawsuit in May against the Mills administration for delivering false promises that have impacted the cost, quality and timeliness of students’ educations.

Standing in front of Ell Hall to official ly begin Disorientation, Mimi Yu, a sec ond-year computer science and political science major and HOWL organizer, read a statement on behalf of Abby Selby, a former Mills student whose education, like many others, was heavily impacted by the merger.

“We tried talking with the administration, who locked us out when we peacefully pro tested and disrespected us by not listening to the same students they failed to serve,” Selby wrote in the same statement published on NU Disorientation’s website. “I urge you to please remain open to Mills and its history, as well as the stories of students disappointed by its administration and to support them however you can.”

Frustration with the college administration is the common theme for the rest of the event — a campus tour in which each participating activist group took turns situating a particular social injustice at a physical location on campus.

“[Once vaccines rolled out], Northeastern

Claiming that the discontinuation of the testing and masking mandate — in February and March respectively — caused an infec tion rate six times higher than the previous semester, Madaras was the first represen tative to reveal one of the “whole stor[ies]” that Disorientation speakers said Northeastern is failing to address.

In between Forsyth Hall, which houses the University Health and Counseling Services, or UHCS, and one of the Bank of America ATMs on campus, Bacdayan rebuked Northeastern’s lack of investment in its health and counseling staff. As of March 2021, UHCS reported a student-to-therapist ratio of around 1,300:1, paling in comparison to nearby universities like Harvard, which boasted its own ratio in 2020 of 468:1.

If any students in the crowd wondered where all of Northeastern’s money was going, Bacdayan quickly answered by pointing out the parallel between Bank of America’s significant funding of fossil fuel projects and North

frequently throughout “Does anyone know this case, corporations on university buildings?” second-year international ronmental studies major justice chair at PSA, said

In front of the Raytheon Bertolotti explained that “greenwashing,” a term with a company’s misleading environmental friendliness, Bertolotti described it as nologies, a major U.S. defense company, “showering Northeastern blood money.”

In February 2020, students of anti-war groups protested recruitment at Northeastern’s fair, criticizing the company weapons of mass destruction ing them throughout the Northeastern defended then, Bertolotti explained ship runs far deeper.

Before his passing in served as the president on for nearly thirty years. alumnus, Phillips returned trustee on the university’s 1984, and is credited with partnership between the ate and the university that is alleged that at one point, Northeastern alumni working

“The Raytheon Amphitheater walk by it everyday its connection dustrial halls at the

Similar to

Raytheon, versity’s

been

May, Northeastern dining hall

HERE the Huskies Labor, or HOWL, advocate for

Joshua Sisman, science and economics of the Young Democratic America, or YDSA, hall workers in front Village and told tunately, disrespect the

take care

Left: Noble Mushtak speaks in front of Shillman Hall Sept. 10 during the NU Disorientation track faculty from unionizing.

Right: In front of the Cabot Physical Education Center, during the Disorientation tour, COVID-19 measures

Border: NU Disorientation tour took students around campus to various locations that

Photo by Colette Pollauf

Photo by Jessica Xing

Photo by Jessica Xing

Photo by Colette Pollauf

EXPLORES GRIEVANCES WITH UNIVERSITY

the tour. how donors — in — get their names buildings?” Ava Bertolotti, a international affairs and envi major and campus labor said to the crowd.

Raytheon Amphitheater, that the answer is by usually associated misleading claims on its friendliness, but in this case, as Raytheon Tech defense contractor Northeastern with

students and members protested Raytheon’s Northeastern’s spring career company for “creating destruction and distribut the Middle East.” While its ties with Raytheon explained that the partner

2019, Thomas Phillips and CEO of Raythe years. As a Northeastern returned to serve as a university’s board from 1968 to with fostering the strong the defense conglomer that remains today. It point, there were 2,300 working at Raytheon. Amphitheater — people everyday but they don’t know to the military-in dustrial complex,” Bacdayan said of the “hidden truths” that surround stu dents all around campus. “And they walk past the dining halls and they’re served the dining halls, and don’t know about the worker fights, so we see, especially at the begin ning of the year, a great chance to reach a lot of students and help them and teach what is going on and connect resources.”

to the uproar against Northeastern’s involvement with the fight for the uni dining hall workers has outspoken and ongoing.

Northeastern students, staff and their union, HERE Local 26, formed Organizing With HOWL, coalition to a new contract that livable wages, improved conditions and affordable

Sisman, a fourth-year political economics major and chair Democratic Socialists of YDSA, stood with dining front of International told the crowd, “Unfor disrespect is the norm for dining hall workers … Northeastern does not take of them, but they [still] care of us.”

On Thursday, Sept. 15, HOWL announced that after eight months of organizing, protesting and negotiating with the admin istration, Northeastern dining workers from Chartwells Higher Education, the food ser vice vendor that employs the workers, voted to affirm a new contract guaranteeing signifi cant provisions over the next five years.

Here, Sisman also detailed YDSA’s efforts to combat the food insecurity problem on campus with its No Hungry Huskies cam paign, the main goal of which is to guarantee three meals a day for all students in mealplan-required housing at no cost. Madaras spoke at Centennial Common about NU Mutual Aid’s food distribution efforts further addressing food insecurity.

Both students emphasized that the very existence of programs like Swipe2Care — which allows students to donate meal swipes to other students in need — are a sign of a serious problem that members of Northeast ern’s community are not able to rely on its own university for a basic staple.

“We don’t even think that Swipe2Care should be around because we think that no student should be needing a program like Swipe2Care, and that’s why we’re fighting for Northeastern to use their $240 million rev enue surplus to guarantee students the food that we need,” Sisman said.

In front of Shillman Hall, Noble Mushtak, a fourth-year computer science and mathematics major, took the stage to address the university’s

repeated attempts to block full time, non-ten ure track faculty members from unionizing. In 2019, Northeastern blocked the faculty’s union election petition for the second time, writing in a 2019 statement of position that the faculty are “technically managerial employees.”

The Graduate Employees of Northeastern University, or GENU, who hosted a table at Disorientation, said these students are par ticularly affected by Northeastern’s refusal to acknowledge unionization. Galen Bunting, a PhD student in the English department, said that despite being treated and taxed as such Northeastern does not pay or provide them the same benefits that are extended to other faculty members.

Bunting — who said he gets paid about $33,000 a year — told The News that gradu ate students at Northeastern do not receive sick leave, vacation time, workers’ compen sation or childcare. As a result, some of those who have children, cannot work off-campus due to international statuses or are more likely to experience discrimination may face a more precarious financial situation.

“Northeastern, in particular, [doesn’t] allow us to work more than 20 hours a week, so a lot of us have to make up for that with jobs outside of Northeastern and have multiple [sources of] part-time work and deal with that insecure situation,” said Javier Rosario, an English Master’s student and member of GENU. “This is actual labor, and people depend on this for their livelihoods and it should be seen as a job that is respect able and able to sustain a person for their lives as they study.”

If granted unionization, the graduate students would be able to negotiate their contracts with the administration, which they are currently unable to do.

The Disorientation group then gathered at the intersection of the Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Complex its new accompaniment EXP and the LightView apartments to talk about the gentrifying impact of these structures as well as the militarization of its next-door neighbor, NUPD. To close the tour, Bacdayan ended in front of East Village with a primer on the hous ing shortage at Northeastern.

After Northeastern admitted almost 1,000 more first-year students than usual last year, its plan in February 2022 to add 900 beds into the East Village and International Village over the summer — turning singles into doubles and doubles into triples — faced an outcry of student backlash. Feeling unheard, student leaders repeatedly cited EXP throughout the Disori entation tour, emphasizing that Northeastern had spent $300 million on another science and engineering building while refusing to invest an appropriate amount into its UHCS services or solving the housing crisis.

With the long list of grievances behind and ahead of them, many of the student activist groups at Disorientation told The News they plan to return to the event every year for their ongoing fight against the administration.

“At Disorientation, you get to learn that Northeastern, as a private institution, is re ally screwing up the community, and they see their students as dollar signs rather than people that are here to be educated and treated with respect,” Sisman said. “[NU] exploits their workers, they un derpay their grad students [and] their non-tenured professors and they don’t pay [resident assistants]. There’s a whole suite of things they’re not do ing. In our view, they’re emblematic of the issues of capitalism as a whole.”

SHILLMAN HALL

CENTENNIAL COMMON

Disorientation campus tour, explaining Northeastern’s history of blocking non-tenure Alexandra Madaras speaks about the universities elimination of many protective that corresponded to specific grievances organizers have with the university.

Photos by Jesica Bak

Photo by Colette Pollauf

Photo by Quillan Anderson

Photo by Quillan Anderson

Photo by Colette Pollauf

Dreamer Boy kicks off concerts for fall semester

By Gracie Vogel News Correspondent

The Northeastern Council for University Programs hosted lo-fi artist Dreamer Boy to kick off AfterHours programming for the fall semester Sept. 15.

Dreamer Boy, who’s real name Zach Taylor, is a Nashville-based artist who grew up in Spokane, Washington. He released his first album, “Love Nos talgia,” in 2018 and has been growing a following since, with over 650,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

“Dreamer Boy has a really fun sound that a lot of Northeastern students seem to like,” said Justyna Stukin, a fifth-year behavioral neuroscience major and small concerts chair for Council for University Programs, or CUP.

Dreamer Boy is an earth-con scious artist and has a Stream 4 Trees partnership with the nonprofit One Tree Planted, which works with local communities to help rebuild forests and restore bio diversity. His most popular songs include “Falling for the Wrong One” and “Crybaby.”

Dreamer Boy’s music falls into the rising “bedroom pop” genre, and he has opened for similar artists like Still Woozy and Omar Apollo. Dreamer Boy recently toured with Clairo on her Europe an “Immunity” tour.

Corinna Parrish, a third-year psychology and music com bined major, opened the concert sporting a teal electric guitar to match her butterfly hair clips and high-energy performance.

Parrish and her band played both originals and covers, the latter category including a unique raspy twist on the classic “Dancing in the Moonlight,” which had the crowd grooving. Parrish’s original lyrics ranged from heartbreaking to soul-searching, and she and her bandmates plugged Northeastern’s songwriting club, which they lead.

Once Dreamer Boy took to the stage, the energy in the crowd skyrock eteds as he leaped and jumped across the small platform, pausing only to perform a series of jerky dance moves.

“I get out of breath on stage be cause I kind of like to freak out a bit,” he said to the crowd.

After his first song, Dreamer Boy sat down on the stage to do some free styling that had the crowd laughing.

“Pumpkin spice lattes are back, baby,” he said in reference to the Starbucks that is in the AfterHours venue. “We don’t give a f*** outside the Starbucks,” he sang.

Throughout the rest of the concert, Dreamer Boy proved to be an artist with a mission to spread love. He was conversation al with the crowd and made the small space even more intimate by kneeling down at eye level with fans as they sang along.

“The stage is so low so you feel closer to the artist,” said Eli Minihan, a second-year business administration major.

Dreamer Boy sang some of his older songs but also a handful from his newest album, “All the Ways We Are Together,” which he released this past Earth Day, April 22. He

encouraged the people in the crowd to sing along even if they didn’t know the lyrics, and he provided choreography for choruses.

Although it boosted the crowd’s energy, Dreamer Boy’s skipping and lively interpretive dancing across the stage did not bode well for the sound system, and his set had to stop four times due to technical issues.

He filled the empty moments without the microphone with more relatable ad-libbing. He took

someone’s BeReal, raved about Sym phony Sushi and managed to hoot “yee haw” between every couple of sentences. He was as goofy offstage as he was on, though eventually he had to move his performance to a stationary mic to avoid any more interruptions.

“It’s torture for me to stand right here, but I feel like moving around was the problem,” he said. “This has been the roller coaster I needed in my life.”

For the concert finale, Dreamer

Boy sang his hit “ARE YOU LET TING GO?,” which features the artist BENEE. The crowd was ecstatic, and Dreamer Boy hopped off the stage to join the students, jumping around in a sweaty frenzy and seemingly hav ing the time of his life with people who were previously strangers.

“The fact that he just came down into the crowd and danced with us — it was a great time,” said Ben Lanava, a third-year environ mental engineering major. “He has a great positive energy.”

Column: Major streaming platforms’ strike against sapphic stories cannot be ignored

By Sarah Popeck News Correspondent

Many viewers who identify as queer find it hard to relate to characters in film and television, especially when popular sapphic projects continue to be cancelled, scrapped and pulled away from big screen attention.

Recently, audiences saw potential for a sapphic series that could stand the test of time — and viewer ratings — in Netflix’s “First Kill,” which premiered on the

platform June 10 and revolves around two lesbian protagonists. Based on a 2020 short story, “First Kill” centers around Ju liette (Sarah Catherine Hook), a vampire ready to make her first kill, and Calliope (Imani Lewis), a vampire slayer. Over the course of their respective missions, the fated opponents fall hard for each other in a tragic, doomed romance.

Although the show cleared 100 million hours viewed in its first month on Netflix with enough buzz and viewership to break into the

platform’s “Top 10” list, production was canceled after just one season.

Despite mixed critical reviews, “First Kill” amassed a devoted fan base that expressed confusion and frustration over the decision to cancel the series. Following the news, many fans pointed out that studios and streaming services seem to hold queer projects, especially ones that star Black actors and other actors of color, to a higher standard than projects that follow white, heteronormative stories.

This summer, viewers also saw the overwhelming success of “Heartstop per,” another queer series that pre miered on Netfllix in April. Like “First Kill,” “Heartstopper” trended in Netflix’s “Top 10” alongside shows like “Stranger Things” and collected millions of hours of viewership and a similarly massive fanbase. When fans heard of Netflix’s premature cancellation of “First Kill,” many looked to “Heartstopper,” which attracted half of the viewership of “First Kill” but received two more seasons.

For some fans of “First Kill,” what made “Heartstopper” different was that it centers around two white LGBTQ+ men. “First Kill” is a sapphic story, which is underrepresented in media, and more likely to be on the receiving end of studio cancellations. Hollywood has a habit of accepting queer stories when they follow white men — like the movie “Love, Simon” that saw immense success in the box office — but the second a leading love story resembles a sapphic or lesbian relationship, studios and streaming platforms have a habit of shunning it and shutting it out.

“First Kill” isn’t the first time a major studio has axed a show center ing around a lesbian main character and stopping stories of “woman-lov ing-woman,” or WLW, from being told. On Netflix alone, titles like “I Am Not Okay With This,” “Every thing Sucks” and “Sense8” met the same fate as “First Kill.”

For those who identify as WLW, finding representation is no easy task in

a film and television industry that seems hostile to their stories. Sapphic media’s ongoing public battle for airspace on streaming platforms sends a message of continued exclusion, and even rejection, to sapphic audiences.

A 2021 survey by The Trevor Project, an LGBTQ+ crisis-pre vention organization, found that 42% of LGBTQ+ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, and 94% reported that recent politics had negatively impacted their mental health.

In the United States, legisla tors have introduced a barrage of anti-LGBTQ+ bills this year, many of which target transgender youth. This makes representation in popular media — a historic pillar of advancing LGBTQ+ rights and visibility — all the more essential.

Adding this cancellation to the long list of stifled sapphic represen tation is a clear sign that Netflix — and Hollywood as a whole — needs to do better. Leaders in film and television must be willing to tell sto ries about everyone, not just white, cisgender, heterosexual characters. A multibillion dollar streaming service like Netflix has the power to pull representation away from those who have fought for it, but it also has the — thus unfulfilled — capaci ty to lend its vast streaming space to those voices. Everyone deserves to have an opportunity to be seen and heard and to have their story told.

Dreamer Boy performs in AfterHour semester Sept. 15. The concert is the venue’s first of the fall semester.

Photo by Gracie Vogel

When Netflix announced the cancelation of “First Kill,” fans voiced their criticism online.

Courtesy of Netflix. © 1997-2016 Netflix, Inc. All rights reserved.

Column: These media picks are perfect for the autumn season

By Sophia Haydon-Khan News Correspondent

For anyone looking to get into the autumn mood, look no further than these songs, movies, shows and books that pair perfectly with the crisp crunch of fallen leaves and a cup of warm cider.

Songs

“1979,” Smashing Pumpkins: In addition to their seasonally appro priate name, Smashing Pumpkins’ hit “1979” is the perfect grungy track for any fall playlist, featur ing one of the greatest guitar riffs in alternative rock history. Their use of reverb and random experi mental sounds brings the song to life and solidifies it as an absolute autumnal banger.

“Say Yes,” Elliott Smith: ’90s alternative artist Elliott Smith’s “Say Yes” is the perfect mix of breakup song and fall optimism. Smith introduces his beautiful, raw layered vocals and complicated guitar picking to create a master piece one could almost mistake for a cheerful song.

“Flowers in December,” Mazzy Star: Almost every track in ’90s folk-rock band Mazzy Star’s discography carries an effortlessly autumnal acoustic guitar sequence, but “Flowers in December” arguably does it best. With soft, melodic vocals paired with well-placed harmon ica, this relaxed song feels like a stroll through a forest filled with changing leaves.

“So Far Away,” Carole King: ’70s favorite Carole King moves

the genre away from previously mentioned ’90s indie rock hits. While her appearance in the show “Gilmore Girls” — anoth er fall staple — has introduced her to a more modern audience, individually her music invokes all the comfort and warmth of a scarf on a windy autumn day.

“So Far Away” in particular pairs its slow, gloomy piano with King’s powerful voice for a love ly, reflective song.

“Lighthouse,” Adrianne Lenk er: The quick paced “Lighthouse” is one of Adrianne Lenker’s beloved older tracks. Lenker’s soft harmonies display her lyrical genius, as first and foremost she is a poet. There is nothing sweeter than hearing this song for the first time, and for those who enjoy folk especially, her discog raphy is the perfect entrance into the fall weather.

Movies

“The Paper Chase” (1973):

For anyone who particularly loves the academic, bookish aspect of fall — or perhaps needs some inspiration to study — “The Paper Chase” is an excep tional option. The story follows Harvard Law School student James Hart (Timothy Bottoms) as he struggles through the trials and tribulations of law school. Set against the backdrop of a pic turesque Ivy League campus, the cardigans and blazers solidify its status as a fall movie. Although arguably a little dated, the film carries forth timeless truths about higher-level education and

viewing life as more than a series of seemingly endless deadlines.

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (2009): A Wes Anderson favorite, “Fantas tic Mr. Fox” could not be more appropriate for this coming season — particularly for its unique and intentional orange color palette. Voiced by a star studded cast, including George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson and Bill Murray, the film is a stop-motion animated adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book about a mischievous fox and his exploits stealing from nearby farmers.

“When Harry Met Sally…” (1989): All-time classic romantic comedy, “When Harry Met Sally…” brings viewers into an unmatched New York fall. Although the film spans years and a variety of seasons, its fall scenes mark a crucial turning point in Harry and Sally’s relation ship and incorporate a series of extremely noteworthy sweaters.

“Knives Out” (2019): This Agatha Christie-inspired murder mystery succeeds in every way a murder mystery can possibly suc ceed. From its series of masterful plot twists and superb acting to its witty dialogue and engaging characters, “Knives Out” is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. The mansion that looms over the entire movie and its grounds set it up for the perfect fall viewing.

TV Shows

“Gilmore Girls” (2000-2007): Since its creation in 2000, “Gilm ore Girls” has arguably surpassed all other TV for the spot as the fall show. The entire show is struc tured to highlight each season through its Connecticut smalltown charm. Filled with hay bale mazes, Thanksgiving drama and Halloween costume parties, “Gilm ore Girls” features all the best celebrations of the season.

“The Haunting of Hill House” (2020) and “The Haunting of Bly Manor” (2020): Filled with highly symbolic ghosts and monsters, these two shows are as chilling as they are heartbreaking, entangling grief, love and the complexities of relation ships coupled with trauma and its manifestation into terror. Mike Flannigan created both shows, and they share overlapping casts, who do the remarkable work of balanc

ing the fear and anguish that makes this pair of shows so unique.

“The Queen’s Gambit” (2020): “The Queen’s Gambit” does a brilliant job telling the story of Beth Harmon’s success and intel ligence at competitive chess amid her circumstances as a woman in the ’50s and ’60s. Autumn-ready outfits — think, Tumblr-approved Peter Pan collars — and cold skies accentuate the all-things-academia setting of the show.

“Schitt’s Creek” (2015-2020): The award-winning Canadian comedy has all of the heartwarm ing feelings of fall, especially in its depiction of family and smalltown appreciation. Father and son Eugene and Dan Levy infuse this show with all their quick-witted humor and comfort.

Books

“Coraline,” Neil Gaiman: “Coraline” remains a fall staple that draws readers into Gaiman’s dark and imaginative web (no pun intend ed). Despite being marketed toward children, the book takes some creepy turns as protagonist Coraline ex plores her already-inhabited house. Overall, Coraline is a very Hallow een-appropriate choice.

“Nancy Drew,” Carolyn Keene: Another childhood classic, “Nancy Drew” is a great nostalgic pick. Nan cy and her friend’s adventures, albeit a little predictable, will put anyone in the fall mindset trying to figure out the clues to each of her mysteries.

“And Then There Were None,” Agatha Christie: One of Agatha Christie’s best works, “And Then There Were None” is a clever, chilling and captivating whodunnit full of surprising twists and creepy imagery. The book solidifies Chris tie as a true master of the mystery genre and remains a must-read for anyone who has yet to pick up one of her books.

“The Name of the Wind,” Patrick Rothfuss: Rothfuss writes fantasy in a way no one else can, as exempli fied by the first of his series, “In the Name of the Wind.” Despite its length, the world the book sets up is consistently exciting, filled with sorcery and dark magic — another ideal Halloween pick.

With the arrival of the autumnal equinox and increasingly cold and rainy nights, enjoy these cozy picks for the upcoming season.

Oct. 1 - 2

Boston Veg Food Fest

Explore an amazing array of totally plant-based food and life style products.

Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., 1350 Tremont St., Free.

Saturday, Oct. 1

Peabody Essex Museum

Tour the house of Hocus Pocus and view authentic documents from the Salem Witch Trials.

8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., 318 Essex Street, Salem

Oct. 3, 13, 24 & 31

Big Screen Classics

Attend a classic horror film showing to get into the Halloween spirit.

7 p.m., Coolidge Corner Theatre, $13.50 to $15.50.

Wednesday, Oct. 5

Red Sox Game

Cheer on the Red Sox for its last game of the season against the Rays.

4:10 p.m., Fenway Park, Prices vary.

Oct. 7 - 9

HONK! Festival

Take part in a weekend of diverse street music, ending in a commu nity parade.

5 p.m. Friday to 5 p.m. Sunday, Davis Square, Free.

Calendar compiled by Cathy Ching & Graphics by Jessica Xing

Locals on Massachusetts Avenue prepare for autumn by decorating their brownstone stoops. After this summer’s soaring temperatures, fall weather has reached Boston.

Photo by Jessica Xing

Whole Foods Market near Back Bay makes pumpkin picking easier for locals this season. Autumn officially began Sept. 22.

Photo by Jessica Xing

Juliana George

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Op-ed: Rising tuitions undermine the accessibility of education

less of how the institution attempts to make up for it through financial aid, scholarships and grants. Ac counting for inflation does nothing but emphasize the problem. Yearly inflation rates in the United States have averaged 1.8% over the past decade, while Northeastern’s tui tion has risen an average of 4.5% per year. The current school year is 4.6% more expensive than the last.

federal minimum wage was $1.60.

For today’s college-aged gen eration, earning an undergrad uate degree is essential. In most well-paying industries, it has almost become the equivalent of a high school degree 50 years ago. The key difference, of course, is the staggering cost of college tuition in the United States. For almost half a century, the cost of attending college has been skyrocketing, and is showing no signs of stopping. Even when accounting for infla tion, families all over the country struggle to provide their children with the opportunity for higher education. Northeastern Universi ty’s tuition rates are inordinate and its continuous rise pushes a college degree further and further from many young people’s grasp.

Northeastern’s tuition is $59,100 for the 2022-23 academic year, marking an increase of almost 5% from the year before. Even when adjusting for inflation the increase is completely unreasonable, regard

While inflation rates this year have been devastating, offsetting it doesn’t explain the continued increases. This is because North eastern’s tuition isn’t only high when considering inflation, it’s high compared with other universities as well. In 2021, Northeastern’s tuition was 82% more expensive than the average college in the country, with the average for private non-profit institutions being $29,844. The university is among the top 100 most expensive schools in the United States by in-state tuition, coming in at #80. This makes it 58% more expensive than other schools in Massachusetts, whose average comes in at $34,405; and the 10th most expensive college in the state.

Northeastern and other insti tutions are able to do this because the system itself is deeply flawed. College tuition prices have been increasing by gigantic margins for decades, making most families unable to afford them without significant aid. The minimum wage; however, hasn’t even come close to that rate of growth. Fifty years ago, the average college tuition in the United States was $394 and the

As of the 2021 academic year, the average U.S. college tuition is $10,560, and the current minimum wage is $7.25. While tuition prices have risen a ridiculous 2,107%, the minimum wage only grew 353%. In 1970, a college student could pay off a year of college by working 246 hours a year, or 5 a week. By 1995, the number was 670. In the current academic year a student must work 1,457 hours a year, or 28 a week, to put themselves through college. Tuition prices like this have caused an epidemic of inaccessible higher education, forcing students into grueling schedules or massive amounts of debt.

Northeastern furthers this trend and in doing so deeply hurts its past, present and future students. Sky-high tuition not only promotes but also directly causes classism amongst the Northeastern com munity. Unreasonable prices make hundreds of thousands of high schoolers unable to apply to higher education institutions regardless of academic merit, which directly contradicts the values we are told they hold. It makes wealth go a long way in deciding who applies, possibly causing Northeastern to miss out on brilliant, deserving students. Working while enrolled is always an option, but the 28 hours per week necessary to cover average tuition is grueling when paired with a full course load at a university as rigorous as North eastern. Working students have a harder time joining clubs, extra

curricular activities and having personal free time, putting them at a clear disadvantage over students who do not work.

If students choose to take out student loans, they are sentenced to bear the cost of tuition for decades of their professional careers. The student debt crisis is currently at a cumulative $1.7 trillion and is rising steadily. Graduating with thousands of dollars in debt should not be an asterisk on higher education and the ripple effect it has on those unable to pay for tuition out of pocket can not be overstated.

Northeastern is fully capable of lowering its prices but continually chooses to put bandaids on bullet holes. The university is giving over $400 million in financial aid this academic year and continues to fulfill any student’s fully demon strated financial needs, seemingly mitigating the very problem they are perpetuating. High tuition is necessary to maintain Northeast ern’s campus, staff and resources, but lowering the yearly tuition increases by even a small amount would go a long way. Reducing the financial barrier the univer sity places on its accessibility will allow the experiential education it holds so dear to be available to all who deserve it, instead of those whose parents can afford it.

Ada Spiwak is a second-year journalism and political science combined major. She can be reached at spiwak.a@northeastern.edu.

Op-ed: NU’s attendance policy negatively impacts students

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Anne Sedar,

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS

While I am enjoying the fully in-person return to campus life, I am dreading getting sick from the endless contact with others, which could result in me needing to miss class. The start of the fall 2022 semester marked the first time that Northeastern is fully back to its pre-pandemic ways. Zoom classes or hybrid mode are not an option for many classes, with some professors emphasizing a stricter attendance policy than previous years. Some professors are encour aging students to drop courses if they anticipate missing more than a couple classes, citing how fast paced the courses are planned for the entire semester. However, with masks being optional, classes meet

ing completely in-person again and students able to hang out together freely, there are a lot of foresee able exposures to getting sick. COVID-19 has not disappeared and it still affects many Northeast ern students and faculty members.

I believe that professors should still offer a Zoom option for anyone who is feeling unwell with any type of illness, not just students who have tested positive for COVID-19. If professors do not want to deal with the com plications Zoom may have, the alternative should be recording the class, especially if there are a large number of students absent due to illness. With the current atten dance policy some are enforcing, what happens if a student is out with the flu for more than a couple of classes? I believe none of the students want to miss class for long because they will fall behind and it will only result in being more stressed. Without the flexi bility from the school, students are essentially left to catch up on their own or be forced to attend class out of desperation, potentially ex posing other students to whatever sickness they have.

In an interview with News@ Northeastern, Chancellor Ken Henderson replied to the ques

tion of what will happen if stu dents test positive for COVID-19 and have to keep up with their classes simultaneously.

“The university will make academic accommodations for anyone with any illness — not just COVID-19. It’s up to individual professors to decide what accom modation works best for them and their students. The professor could record the session and give students access. It could be synchronous live classes. It could be assignments,” Henderson said.

However, it seems to me that Northeastern has not been fully keeping their promise to make aca demic accommodations for anyone with any illness besides COVID-19.

Since the beginning of this new semester, certain courses have completely eliminated Zoom and class recordings as an option all together. In my own classes, professors have gone as far as to emphasize on the syllabus not to request a Zoom link for class unless a student has proof of a positive COVID-19 test. While students are enjoying the preCOVID-19 normality, there are others who are worried about this strict attendance policy. While I agree that academics have to re turn to this sense of normalcy, my

biggest concern is that this strict attendance policy will encourage students to attend class despite feeling sick, because of the fear of missing important information and the potential for negative impacts to their performance in the class.

The bottom line is that no one should be going to their classes if they are not feeling well, whether it is COVID-19 or not. If you feel sick, then stay in your room. While I understand Northeastern wants to revert back to the pre-pandem ic ways of the world, alternatives in a classroom setting needs to be provided.

Classrooms at Northeastern are equipped with technologies that allow for hybrid learning to pre vent spread of illness. The simple act of providing a Zoom link or recorded lectures for students who are not feeling well can make all the difference. It is also important to extend this option to anyone who is sick and not just those with COVID-19. While we are able to enjoy in-person campus life once again, Northeastern must not forget to show empathy to students that may be feeling under the weather.

Ava Alaeddini is a third-year English major. She can be reached at alaeddini.a@northeastern.edu.

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

Photo courtesy Ada Spiwak

Photo by Quillan Anderson

Op-ed: Monitor your math machines

precedent in which data should be handled responsibly for the benefit of all.

The last time I touched an ency clopedia was in sixth grade. Since then, Google and its algorithms have, like for many, become my number one resource for answer ing my questions. In our increas ingly technologically innovative world, algorithms aimed at tack ling complex problems through the rapidness of computers are spreading like wildfire. The days in which people manually evaluat ed college essays, resumes, credit scores and other socially pivotal entities in our lives are increas ingly pushed behind us. However, people’s bias has led to unjust decision-making in societies and while machines may seem like a compelling solution, their manmade algorithms can still contrib ute to social disparity.

For aspiring data scientists like me, rather than let this knowledge cause you to regret your career aspirations as I initially did, let it motivate you to establish a

Many of our societal problems do not seem obviously attributed to machines. But number-crunch ing machines have corrupted a system that, as college students, we are all too familiar with: the U.S. News & World Report college ranking system. In “Weapons of Math Destruction,” Cathy O’Neil says the U.S. News & World Re port tried to elevate its declining reputation by creating algorithms that analyzed colleges through factors such as SAT scores, accep tance rates and even the percent age of new freshmen who success fully made it past their first year.

The U.S. News & World Report is prized for providing a national standard for assessing colleges.

However, a bad ranking could trap a college into a menacing cycle that further suppresses its reputa tion. O’Neil says top students and esteemed college professors would avoid schools with a poor ranking and alumni would feel less in clined to donate to a low-ranked school. She also says colleges that lose top students and professors to colleges with higher rankings feel more urged to lower financial aid for the sake of attracting people that could improve their rankings. This sacrifice harms the people who would arguably benefit from the college’s money the most: us, the students.

The fact that one has to pay for an education bewilders many.

However, the fact that a ranking system is a part of why we have to pay so much for college should motivate us and college admin istrators to accept that a school’s value is not defined by its rank ing. College administrators are instead committing themselves to unnecessarily spending money on “enhancing” their schools while forgetting their institution’s true purpose: to nourish our love for learning.

Algorithmic oppression also contributes to racism. Safiya Umoja Noble is a professor at UCLA who has researched gender, technology, culture and how their interactions direct the way people use the internet. Even though computers aren’t inherent ly racist, their algorithms cause humans to play a considerable role in reinforcing computers to function in racist ways. Search ing the keywords “Black girls” on Google used to present a revolting site that fueled egregious racial fetishization. Those results no longer exist, Noble says, but it’s unacceptable that it took at least two years for porn to be removed in the case of a search on “Black girls.” Companies such as Google need to recognize the power and dangers of artificial intelligence, which is becoming today’s most commonly used source of knowl edge. The convenience of Google’s search engine compared to reading an encyclopedia or scrutinizing a database further raises the chance of the contamination of our minds

with the internet’s misinformation.

The detriments of algorithms don’t just pertain to social har mony, but they extend to each individual’s well-being. The Di agnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, or DSM-5, is a tool used in the field of psychology within the United States for many years to diagnose someone with a mental illness. However, in the United States, most patients only receive treat ment for their mental condition if they experience a strict number of symptoms outlined in the DSM-5. While quantitative standards are important, qualitative data should also be used to determine whether a person has a mental condition worth treating through medical approaches. Since qualitative experiences play a crucial role in one’s well-being, the DSM-5 is only sufficient in determin ing whether a patient should be considered, not diagnosed, with a mental illness. To account for the qualitative aspects of one’s mental condition, clinicians should place greater trust in their patients and the people around them in deciding whether it’s appropriate to prescribe a medication that may be unnecessary and harmful, as stressed by psychologist Allen Frances’s “Saving Normal.” Frances monitored the development of the DSM-4 but has become critical of the DSM-5’s quantitative emphasis.

Living in a quantitatively-moti vated world has provided us with benefits. College students can

worry less about being evaluat ed by an admissions officer who happens to dislike people of their race. Hotels can be evaluated rapidly for tourists’ convenience by systems like Yelp. An employer with a job opening doesn’t have to waste hours manually assessing a large pool of applicants. However, bias is still a genuine and concern ing product of these seemingly emotionless machines.

As an aspiring data scientist, I yearn to manage data responsibly to undo the crippling effects of corrosive algorithms. Emanuel Derman and Paul Wilmott are financial engineers interested in quantitative finance who have writ ten about and researched a lot in human error and financial models. An oath by Derman and Wilmott describes how we can all respon sibly manage the growing reign of mathematics. Overall, we should “make explicit [mathematics’] assumptions and oversights and understand that [our] work may have enormous effects on society and the economy, many of them beyond [our] comprehension.”

Carefully measuring the impact of algorithms, acknowledging their limitations and spreading aware ness of those limitations will help us prevent math from disrupting our planet, even if it means sacri ficing efficiency for equality.

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

Op-ed: From the Americanized Brit, does Queen Elizabeth II deserve our grief?

the British national identity. This has remained especially true during tur bulent times in which she provided the United Kingdom with unwav ering stability that most politicians and authoritative figures in Britain could not. This stability has remained consistent from the beginning of her reign, which encompassed both the very real consequences of World War II and frailties of the world left behind, to the very end of her reign, in which Britain now attempts its recovery from the pandemic, Boris Johnson and Brexit.

face of national hardship and sec ondly, as an impenetrable obstruc tion for anti-democratic crusades.

The only way in which this can be done is by remaining perceptively present (consistently being in the public eye), yet simultaneously ab sent from opinion or bias. I think it is fair to say that she was con fronted with an inevitable burden of a task of leading and defining Britain and everything it stood for.

Queen Elizabeth II passed away Sept. 8 after ruling for just over 70 years. During her reign, she worked with 15 prime ministers and met with every U.S. president since her ascen sion (except for Lyndon B. Johnson). She was the longest recorded female head of state in history. However, the end of her reign has been met with conflicting sets of views about what it really means to mourn her death and to celebrate what she represented.

Despite being someone who grew up in a British/American household with maximally diverse opinions towards the British monarchy, I still firmly believe that the Queen deserves to be mourned.

What ought to be understood about the Queen is her pivotal role in

To many, she represented not the backwardness of the colonial ism she inherited, but rather a transition from loss of the British Empire to Britain’s redefinition as a multicultural nation. For many individuals, she also represented a time when Britain held a far more relevant role in the world. This is now contrasted with the UK’s decline in primacy and influence, which are also currently in a fraz zled state of precarious debate.

Furthermore, the Queen should be acknowledged for the successful way in which she carried out a monarch’s purpose, which is another debate in itself. I believe the monarchy’s true role is two-fold because of its nature and interaction with the public.

First, the monarchy should stand as a basis for stability in the

This is something which several of her predecessors were buckled by. Not the least of which being her uncle, King Edward VII, whose abdication caused a constitutional crisis. Meanwhile, I feel it is safe to say that the Queen carried through her role with success and she largely did this unfalteringly throughout her lifelong commit ment to public engagements and more importantly with her omis sion of ever expressing opinion.

There is a clear distinction between the Queen and the other royals. As a result, through mourning her, we address a crucial moment in British history where we revisit whether the monarchy — now without the universally accepted and respected figurehead — remains relevant. The Queen was a woman who maintained an exemplary level of grace and awareness of her privileged role

in life. I think this remains to be understood by most, including her harshest critics and the anti-mon archists, which include my own very-British father. However I speak from personal experience when I say that there really is a universal presence of respect for the Queen throughout Britain. I think this is because of a global recognition that celebrating her life is not ultimately synonymous with celebrating notions of impe rialism, but rather a consistency and reliability which resonates with many.

Meanwhile, I assert that other royals do not deserve the same level of respect or admiration, let alone lend themselves well to the Royalist argument. Her eldest son, now King Charles III, will always remain tainted in many eyes, because of his failure to the late Princess Diana and the cheating scandal with his now wife Camilla, the Queen Consort. Additionally, no one can forget the humiliation the Queen’s next eldest son Andrew brought with his involvement in the Epstein controversy. Unfortu nately, I must come to the logical conclusion that the deeper you look into the rest, the less acceptable and appropriate the presence of the royal family becomes in British society. Instead of the values the

Queen represented, the rest swirl deep resentments of unentitled privilege, wealth and crude igno rance through their bad behavior and scandal.

Times are changing and in the wake of people’s newly revived political awareness and imme diacy, we can see that monarchy indeed has lost its relevance and arguably its justification. The current reaction from the public is a sign of respect for personality as opposed to institution and I that the coming coronation of the new King will show how evident this really is. However, I also advocate that the mourning of the Queen is a necessary step to moving for ward towards these much needed societal and political progressions, especially if Britain is to remain intact as a relevant contender on the world stage. Mourning the Queen, recognizing her role and what she really represented will mean Britain’s necessary intro spective reflection on its values. And more practically, how it is to face the incoming perils and un certainties of the time to come.

Jemima Barroll Brown is a sec ond-year studying philosophy with a concentration in law and ethics and economics. She can be reached at barrollbrown.j@northeastern.edu.

Photo courtesy Jemima Barroll Brown

Photo by Colette Pollauf

Open Newbury Street prompts mixed reactions from local business owners

By Sophia Schultz News Correspondent

For the past six Sundays, Bos ton’s iconic location for shopping, dining and everything in between has been car-free with the city’s sixth annual Open Newbury Street. Newbury Street is located in Back Bay, and the event’s perimeters spanned from Berkeley Street to Massachusetts Avenue. Sept. 25 marked the last day of the event for 2022.

This unique opportunity allowed for pedestrians to walk along the street with no vehicle access, creating an incentive for exploring the many shops and restaurants Newbury has to offer.

Regulations were enforced with the help of the Boston Police Department, or BPD, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., to provide a safe and fun way for anyone from local residents to tourists to ex perience the street in a new way.

“It’s been pretty quiet [peace ful] for the most part. … It seems like people are enjoying it,” said Javier Pagan, a community service officer for the BPD.

The program seems to have run smoothly, with local businesses and retailers being able to set up street level accommodations, from pro motion tables to merchandise tents, providing customers with a more personal shopping experience.

Although Newbury Street has become commercialized, there is still a strong presence of local small busi nesses who would seemingly benefit from the increased foot traffic that the program provides.

This, however, did not seem to be the case to some of the businesses along the street.

Christina Jones, an employee at Lipstick, a small boutique chain of sister stores in the Boston area, said the store didn’t see any increase in sales on these days and most of the customers entering the shop were just doing so to browse.

“As a customer I can see the appeal, but honestly, it can get over whelming,” Jones said.

Lipstick is a small store with usually

only one employee, making it hard to monitor the increase in activity in the store during these past Sundays. With limited customers actually making purchases, the concern of theft has increased, Jones said.

Although it has created exposure for Lipstick and other similar shops, it has also disproportionately affected the actual business’ operations and makes for a hectic day with limited benefits for some of the local retail community.

Still, other businesses had different perspectives. Store Manager at LIT Boutique Savanna White had posi tive comments on the event.

“It creates a really good atmo sphere,” she said. “It’s definitely beneficial and really fun.”

White also discussed how it has increased traffic into the store and how they sold more clothes on these days. She said, however, that most of the sales made were from the street-level tent the store set up, which promoted their sale stock, with

items being anywhere from 40% to 80% off retail prices.

“Many customers interact with the tent first, but many end up com ing into the store to try on pieces and are able to view the inside as well,

which is full price,” White said.

White also said some stores who weren’t doing promotions directly on the street were not seeing as much of an increase in foot traffic, and that stores should take advantage of the ability to use the outdoor space of their property.

“If you don’t put yourself out of your comfort zone, you don’t grow,” said Rebecca Kalaitzidis, owner of Achelous Salon.

Being able to present her shop in a new way was a big part of how Open Newbury gave business owners opportunities not usually available, she said.

Kalaitzidis displayed a table with the products she sells in her apothe cary section of the salon, which she said attracted new customers since it drew in foot traffic, something that can’t always be done when businesses are tucked away into brownstone buildings.

“It is a way to find businesses that [people] are connected with,” Kalaitzidis said.

“If you don’t put yourself out of your comfort zone, you don’t grow.”

— Rebcca Kalaitzidis Owner of Achelous Salon

Businesses and retailers were able to set up street level accommodations, from promotion tables to merchandise tents, providing customers with a more personal shopping experience.

Photo by Sundararaman Rengarajan

A portion of Newbury Street, spanning from Berkeley Street to Massachusetts Avenue, has been car-free the past six Sundays.

Photo by Sundararaman Rengarajan

A balloon artist was among many of the local venders taking advantage of the increased open space available on Newbury Street.

Photo by Sundararaman Rengarajan