MARCH 2023 VOLUME 120 #4
The Official Newspaper of Alfred University
FIAT LUX NEWS
Supporting Access to Free Press
WHAT’S INSIDE?
Chemical Release Sends Shock- waves Across the East Coast
Page 2
Off the Shelf and On Display Page 3
Why “Fiat Black History Month”
Continues to Fail Page 4
“Jingle Dress Dancer in Pink”
Artist Statement Page 6
St. Patrick’s Day Comics Page 8
“The culture of Alfred Univer- sity is bland, to say the least.
Most people who engage in the spirit weeks and other events are
BIPOC students, and they get nothing in return.”
MARCH 2023 NEWS
On February 4th on the coast of South Carolina, an unidentified flying object was shot down by the U.S.
government. The balloon-like craft was seen drifting over the state for a few days, suspected of being from China but its true intentions and ori- gin remain unknown.
Following this incident, three more high-altitude objects were shot down in different areas. On February 10th, a similar structure was shot down on the northern end of Alaska. The following day on the 11th, another craft was shot down on the border of Canada and America. Compared to the first incident, officials say this object had a smaller, more cylindrical shape. The most recent high-altitude craft was shot down near Lake Huron on February 12th.
These mysterious objects in the sky have made people wonder, could these be aliens? Trying to combat these rumors on February 14th, the White House held a press conference
where secretary of press Karine Jean- Pierre stated, “There is no indication of aliens or extra-terrestrial activity with these recent takedowns.”
Following this, the Strategic Com- munications Coordinator John Kirby says, “I don’t think the American peo- ple need to worry about aliens, with respect of these crafts.”
He also explains in their examina- tion of the debris, they learned that these objects do not have the ability to maneuver, propel themselves, or communicate, and were unmanned.
Fighter jets also note that even though these objects were the size of cars, they did not appear on their radar.
The possible answer for these crafts that the U.S. government is pursuing is Chinese surveillance balloons. The Sunday after the first object was shot down, U.S. defense officials tried con- tacting China about the object but received no response for many days.
The following Monday, China’s For
eign Ministry denied any involvement and pointed out that in the past year the U.S. has sent surveillance balloons into its airspace ten times.
“I haven’t ruled out anything,” says U.S. Northern Command Commander General Glen VanHerck. The mystery of these events has put people into a
panic. The U.S. government is deter- mined to find the origins of these ob- jects and understand their intentions.
Although the government reassures that they do not believe it is extrater- restrial, it is still a possibility.
Possible Alien Sightings Shot Down by the U.S. Government
Claire Squicciarini, Staff Writer
3 NEWS
On Friday, February 3rd, a system of about 50 freight cars en route to Conway, Pennsylvania derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. Eleven freight cars contained toxic chemicals, with five containing vinyl chloride. Vinyl chloride is a manmade gas, colorless, odorless, and highly flammable. The chemical has been associated with various health issues, with short-term exposure causing irritation of the eyes, nose, throat, and lungs, dizzi- ness, headaches, sleepiness, nausea, and numbness or tingling in limbs.
Long-term exposure has been linked to an increased risk of liver cancer, brain and lung cancers, lymphoma, and leukemia.
Following the crash on Sunday, February 5th, Ohio governor Mike DeWine issued an evacuation order for those still within a one-mile radius of the derailment as temperatures in one of the train cars shifted dras- tically. Fearing an explosion as a result of the temperature shift, the government proceeded by conduct- ing a “controlled release,” which involved draining the chemicals into a trough and disposing of them via
a “controlled burn,” releasing Phos- gene, a highly toxic chemical used as a weapon in WWI, and hydrogen chloride into the air. At the time of the burn, Governor DeWine urged citizens to evacuate or close all windows and doors, claiming it to be a life-or-death issue. Two days after the government conducted the controlled release, however, the evacuation order was lifted and residents were allowed to return to their homes and life as normal though many, reportedly, pro- ceeded with abundant caution.
On Tuesday, February 14th, Gov- ernor DeWine released an update, stating air and water quality had remained normal post-chemical release, but citizens argued otherwise.
Many citizens have started reporting adverse health effects, including nau- sea, headaches, rashes, vomiting, eye irritation, coughing, and wheezing.
At one company adjacent to the train derailment site, five of ten workers became too ill to continue their work, later being diagnosed with chemical bronchitis. A nurse named Deborah Weese at Quickmed Columbia, one of the closest clinics to the derailment
site, says she has been seeing five to 10 people daily from the area exhibit- ing symptoms congruent with chemi- cal exposure.
Aside from the health effects seen in citizens, wildlife appears to be suf- fering as well. While the EPA stated tests conducted on the municipal water supply detected no contamina- tion associated with the derailment, an oily sheen has been observed on the surface of various water sources, and approximately 3,500 small fish died in the creeks surrounding the de- railment site. Despite this, authorities claim further significant deaths have not been reported.
Citizens in both Ohio and Pennsylva- nia have taken to the popular social media site Tiktok, appearing to tell a different story from released reports.
On Tiktok, user @thefoxfreak, who cares for a variety of animals including foxes and coyotes, has lost some of his animals as a result of the exposure.
Others are heavily medicated after showing symptoms such as coughing, face swelling, runny eyes, and loss of appetite.
Despite the government seemingly downplaying concerns, many citi- zens of both Ohio and Pennsylvania are still proceeding with immense caution, avoiding using tap water, staying indoors, and closely monitor- ing health symptoms. This concern has begun to spread in locations like Odessa, Ontario where Tiktok user @ kevinwokeup has been sharing videos of his flock of birds showing neuro- logical symptoms, seemingly without any other cause but the crash, and Buffalo, New York where the Erie Wa- ter County Authority has reportedly begun routine water testing.
Chemical Release Sends Shockwaves Across the East Coast
Jo Castine, Copy Editor
Herrick Library student assistant Sophia Carter designed and created a display in honor of Black History Month. The display is located in the foyer of Herrick Memorial Library and features fiction and nonfiction library materials from Herrick’s collection selected by Carter.
Some featured nonfiction titles include Tomiko Brown-Nagin’s Civil Rights Queen, Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou,
and a biography of James Baldwin.
Featured fiction
works include novels by Zakiya Dalila Harris, Namwali Serpell, and Kai Thomas.
In celebration of Black voices and achievements, Carter also surround- ed the display
case with short biographies of scien- tists, politicians, entrepreneurs, and activists, includ
ing Shirley Chisholm, Madam CJ
Walker, Mae Jemison, and Muham- mad Ali.
Carter’s display joins another student-made display in the Herrick BookEnd Lounge, Blind Date with a Book, which was the group effort of many Herrick Library student assis- tants led by Amber Weinar and Corrie Kayes.
These student-led initiatives are part of an effort to expand the crea- tion of displays to include voices
and perspectives from all over cam- pus.
Interested in Making a Display?
Students, clubs, or organizations interested in creating a display in Herrick Memorial Library or Samuel R.
Scholes Library can contact libraries@
alfred.edu for more information.
Off the Shelf and On Display
Alfred Libraries, Guest Submission
Herrick Library student assistant, and AU freshman, Sophia Carter Black History Month display in Herrick Library’s foyer
MARCH 2023 OPINION
For a university whose motto is
“Outside of Ordinary,” it is astonish- ing how ordinary Alfred University is when it comes to its interactions with its BIPOC population.
While white students make up approximately 50-66% of the Alfred University student body, BIPOC make up the remaining 34-50%. Most classrooms across the colleges will have at least one BIPOC student, if not a whole class full. However, fac- ulty representation is shockingly low.
Professors, coaches, Public Safety offi cers, and other staff are predomi- nately white. This introduces its own problems, from BIPOC students not necessarily trusting the law enforce-
ment that is supposed to protect this campus to feeling like there is an unclimbable wall between them and their instructors.
As far as anyone knows, Alfred University has never had a Black president, with white men claiming the position. The Board of Trustees is also mostly white, as are most others involved in the upper management of this predominantly white institu- tion (PWI).
The culture of Alfred University is bland, to say the least. Most people who engage in the spirit weeks and other events are BIPOC students, and they get nothing in return. They are often forced into positions of
explaining, teaching, and excusing when it comes to misinformed or un- informed white students and faculty.
A perfect example of this is an instructor who enraged many Black students with her assignment of putting themselves in the shoes of
“an African American.” Instead of acknowledging that this was an un- comfortable and unnecessary assign- ment (or even having the foresight that this is an inexcusable action in higher education, let alone any education), she went ahead and only worsened her position.
Black History Month is a time for respect, love, admiration, and rever- ence toward the BIPOC on campus.
This is your month to exercise this opportunity, although it should be done all days of the year. Yet this ordinary PWI can’t even exercise this opportunity, itself, this short month.
Alfred University, what will it take for you to become anti-racist and ac- tually become the inclusive, diverse space you tout yourself as? There are more clubs and organizations dedicated to BIPOC with each new semester, and the only things in your repertoire that you feel pertinent to share are that you hosted BLM rallies and were one of the fi rst universities to allow Black people to study. It’s a new year, AU. Do better. Your popula- tion deserves and demands it.
Why “Fiat Black History Month” Continues to Fail
Anonymous, Guest Submission
Amazon Frowns Upon Non-Profi ts
Monica Nowik, Staff Writer In 2013, Amazon launched Ama- zonSmile, a charity donation pro- gram that allowed customers to send a percentage of an item’s purchase price (on eligible purchases) as a donation to nonprofi t organizations at no extra cost to the customer. The program benefi ted over a million small nonprofi t organizations, with many of them dependent on dona- tions as part of their annual income, and allowed customers to directly engage with whatever charities they wanted to support.
So, a mere decade later, here we are: On February 20th, 2023, Amazon permanently shut down AmazonS- mile to “continue to pursue and in- vest in other areas where we’ve seen we can make meaningful change.”
Getting their worth out of that the- saurus, huh?
Amazon posted a blog on its website stating that AmazonSmile has not made the impact that the company initially hoped for; indeed, its “ability to have an impact was often spread too thin.” For a com- pany that makes around $1.29 billion a day (not a year, a single day), this seems like a rather cheap and hollow explanation. After all, even if we are to suspend our disbelief and say that Amazon isn’t able to support all these organizations as much as they want, does it hurt the company that much to keep the program open and give charities that little added revenue, even if it fails to make the
“impact” that Amazon keeps vaguely citing?
To ease nonprofi ts through this dif- fi cult and unexpected time, Amazon will provide them with a one-time
donation equivalent to 3 months of what they earned in 2022 through the program. Moving forward, Ama- zon has pledged to donate $2 billion (less than two days of their profi ts) to aff ordable housing in Washington and Virginia, to invest in computer science education across the coun
try, as well as continue their disaster relief and community funding.
With Amazon now fully in control of who gets their donations, we can only hope that the company fulfi lls their promises.
Don’t Want to be the Boy Who Cried Wolf
Anonymous, Guest Submission “Do you feel safe?”
It’s a question I was asked recently, and for all intents and purposes, I haven’t stopped thinking about how to answer it honestly.
While I have always had a nag- ging, anxious feeling that something tragic was bound to happen to me while I was on campus, I had always answered the safety question rather optimistically.
This semester, however, has been a challenge. It seems like that higher confi dence in safety is getting dropped day by day, and I don’t see
or feel many reassurances.
Campus is meant to be a home away from home, and so why do so many of our students spend their spare time wondering how to escape from a school shooter or how to con- front a possibly threatening stranger within our community?
Like everyone, I have had to grap- ple with the dilemma of knowing that I am experiencing the world via symptoms of the Mean World Syn- drome, and of knowing that I need to be vigilant in modern America.
Part of this feeling may be at-
tributed to the high rates of mental illness amongst college students, but that is not a strong enough reason for the AU community to hide behind. Staff , faculty, and students deserve to feel safe, and there aren’t many opportunities it seems where we can actually feel that way.
I am part of a who-knows-how- large group of community members whose phone is essentially a brick. I can’t call Public Safety if I see a threat to my safety, I can’t receive Rave Guardian notifi cations on my ho- mescreen. I rely solely on trust that
if there is a problem, it will be well communicated by Alfred University. I rely solely on the hope that our com- munity won’t fail us.
Wellness Center: 607-871-2400 After-hours Crisis Support:
Text: HOME to 741741
Call: Peer to Peer hotline 518-442-5777 Call: National Suicide Lifeline 988
5 OPINION
Can We Find Unbiased News in 2023?
Alyra Rain, Staff Writer
In 2018, only 56% of Americans said that mainstream media covered news accurately, according to the Pew Research Center—a percent- age that has likely decreased since the study was conducted. When you search “unbiased news” on Google, the fi rst several results are sites try- ing to gain user traffi c, littered with advertisements and requests for donations. Looking for truly unbiased news coverage means navigating a minefi eld of money grabs and hidden agendas. It’s very easy, especially for less conscientious consumers, to fi nd so-called “bipartisan” sources promot- ing harmful beliefs and borderline conspiracy theories.
Every source has bias, purposeful or not. Traditional television news channels in the United States are famously partisan in their viewership, and the newspapers that still circulate widely have gained the same reputa- tion. However, there are some sources
that make it their mission to produce truly unbiased news coverage. It’s im- portant to evaluate sources, whether they’re on this list or not, but this list is attempting to provide options for less biased news.
RocaNews: A social media-based news company can raise red fl ags, but with increasing numbers of young adults getting their news coverage almost exclusively on social media, providing unbiased news on social media is becoming more important.
This Instagram-based company is a less biased alternative to follow- ing politicians or traditional media companies. They say that “the news shouldn’t be alarmist and partisan:
It should be nonpartisan, balanced, and informative.” Their coverage can be surface-level, but they have newsletters that dig deeper than their Instagram posts. Their comments on Instagram are fi lled with people from both ends of the political spectrum,
demonstrating that they haven’t formed an echo chamber.
1440: Another online company, 1440 claims that their daily newslet- ters go out to a readership that “spans the political spectrum, with roughly 33% affi liated with the left, 33% with the right, and 33% as independent.”
They have funded partner posts, but their sponsors are obviously disclosed and easy to skip over. In their articles, they link sources directly and provide background information on news that might be confusing.
Associated Press: The most well- known news organization on this list, the AP was founded in 1846. They represent themselves as “an inde- pendent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting.” They are trusted by most Americans for election coverage and were 99.9%
accurate in calling elections in 2020 (100% accurate in presidential and congressional coverage). They also
have a specifi c section of their web- site that fact-checks common news misinformation.
Wikinews: Run by the Wikimedia Foundation, the parent company of Wikipedia, Wikinews is composed of articles by independent users. This means that personal fact-checking is important. However, articles are also looked at by editors and taken down if they aren’t factual. Reading a news source by independent authors is a good exercise in fact-checking and critical thinking, and almost all the articles on Wikinews are true and high-quality.
In the “misinformation age,” it’s more important than ever to view news critically. Hopefully, this list can provide less biased sources to those who are tired of partisan spin and bias.
The recent dance show on Febru- ary 16th, 17th, and 18th in Miller Theatre was a huge success. Even from an inexperienced audience member’s viewpoint, the show was visually engaging while sporting an immersive sound design. Addition- ally, the student dancers all seemed to be enjoying themselves, which always makes a show pop.
Artistic directors D. Chase Angier and Colleen Wahl orchestrated the impressive performance and choreo- graphed several of the dances, but the show wouldn’t have been the
same without the student-choreo- graphed pieces: “We Like to Party” by Genesis Taina Luciano, “Grounded”
by Danielle Brown, “In Neutral” by Ro Robertson, “Falling Into the Collec- tive” by Meira Naugle, and “Prohibited Proximity” by Brenna Turner.
“Reaching for the Ground,” by guest choreographer Cayla Mae Simpson, served as the signature fi nal dance in the show. It was memorable in its story, sound, and design, but it was the passionate movement from the dancers that closed the night on a cheer-worthy note.
Refl ection: AU’s Evening of Dance 2023
Monica Nowik, Staff Writer
Top Left: Dancers letting loose in We Like to Party Middle: In Neutral’s twirling performers
Bottom Left: A still from Prohibited Proximity Right: Poster for the event
Credits: Dance Department; @arts_at_alfred
MARCH 2023 CELEBRATE BIPOC
“Jingle Dress Dancer in Pink” Artist Statement
Leo Bonaccio, Guest Writer
Oki and Taiguey! My name is Leo Bonaccio, I am a mixed Taino and Sik- sika artist who specializes in acrylic painting.This piece is titled “Jingle Dress Dancer In Pink.” It is an acrylic paint- ing done on a 16 x 30-sized canvas.
Because I grew up in Manhattan, I had easy access to my local mu- seums, whether it was the MET or MOMA. However, I found myself constantly disappointed with the representation of figure painting art within these museums. I’d regularly think to myself, “where are the peo- ple who look like me?” And even as I grew older and explored the depths of Indigenous people depicted in art, I found time and time again that the most famous pieces of us were either created by white artists and/or were strictly depicting men.
A lot of my inspiration comes from the strong women of color in my life. I look to my mother and aunt as inspiration regularly. Although I do not come from a family of traditional Jingle Dress dancers, I look to the Indigenous women who do compete in Jingle Dress Dancing in admira- tion. Within this painting, I attempt to portray this woman as strong and goddess-like. It is now more than ever that we need Indigenous, Black, and WOC, representation in order to show young women of color that they too are powerful and resilient.
If you’d like to know more about Jingle Dress Dancing, the Ojibwe people, and how Jingle Dress Danc- ing came to be, I recommend the ar- ticle “The History of the Jingle Dress Dance” located on the National Con- gress of American Indians website.
7
BIPOC Appreciation
Sam Sage, Editor-in-Chief
A drag queen with two queer women of color at a 2019 pride event in Hilo, Hawaii. This particular pride festival commemorated the 50 years since the Stone- wall Riots and was only the seventh year that Hilo had hosted the event.
A group of BIPOC teenagers at de Young Museum in San Francisco during the summer of 2016. Posing in front of various interpretations of fine art, their laughter echoed in the grand, quiet exhibits.
A Black couple at Niagara Falls in the summer of 2020. They were a part of a larger group, all having fun and doing all the usual tourist things despite the suffocating New York heat.
CELEBRATE BIPOC
MARCH 2023 SEASONAL
Comic Corner
Franmy Mateo-Tapia, Staff Comic Artist
9 SEASONAL
MARCH 2023 ART
Credit
Jason Crocker, Staff Photographer
Credit
Jo Castine, Copy Editor
11 ART
Credit
Jo Castine, Copy Editor
Credit
Sam Sage, Editor-in-Chief
FIAT LUX NEWS
Our Staff
Editor-in-Chief: Samantha Sage
Social Media Managers: Monica Nowik
Noelle Stratman
Copy Editors: Jo Castine Ashton Julian
Staff Photographers: Piper Lilley Jason Crocker
Staff Writers:
Alina Zabihailo
Claire Squicciarini
Alyra Rain
Staff Comic Artist Franmy Mateo-Tapia
WANT TO JOIN THE FIAT LUX NEWS TEAM?
Positions for staff writers, photographers, editors, and more are available.
Email us at aufi [email protected] with questions or come to our weekly meetings on Fridays at 5:30pm in the Prunty-Russo Media Lab, Powell Campus Center to get involved.
Submissions to the FLN should be emailed to aufi [email protected] as attachments.
For articles, attach a word document or use the “insert fi les from drive” option in your gmail to attach a Google document. Name all fi les as “Your Name - File Name”. Please include your name and submission title in all submitted documents. Photos should be attached to emails
and submitted as high resolution JPEGs or PNGs.
Make sure to include who took the photograph or where the photograph came from.
Front Cover Credit: Nathan Mills
