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April 12, 2021 News Section
Dangerous Milestones
The weeks of March 22nd and March 29th, 2021 were marked with worry by activist movements like the ACLU, and home-grown allies, as Arkansas and Tennessee state legislators deliberated over four anti-trans bills. To press and media shock, both states gave the go-ahead and passed their respective bans.
Following three days floating around Arkansasan legislature, Governor Asa Hutchinson signed SB 354 on March 25th. The senate bill is an anti-transgender sports bill that would ban trans women and girls from participating in extracurricular and school women’s sports at the elementary, intermediate, high school, and collegiate levels.
The Arkansas legislature passed House Bill 1570 on March 29th. This bill would ban access to gender-affirming care for transgender minors—such as hormones and reversible puberty blockers. While Governor Hutchinson had vetoed this bill on Monday, April 5th, it was overturned by the state senate.
2 On the Tennessean docket were the anti-trans bathroom bill (HB 1182) that would prevent transgender people from using public restrooms that align with their identity, and the anti-trans athletics bill (HB 3) that would require students to prove their sex at birth in order to play in intermediate and high school sports. Governor Bill Lee signed the latter on March 26th, and the former on March 29th.
Tennessee legislature is considering several other bills, ranging from an anti-trans medical care ban (HB 529) akin to Arkansas, and a bill that would prevent schools from providing an
LGBTQ+-inclusive education (HB 800.)
These aren’t the first and only anti-trans bills to be passed through state legislations, with Montana’s HB 112 sports bill being remarked as the very first anti-transgender sports bill to be passed in any state. Mississippi and Missouri have also made attempts to pass anti-trans sports bills in recent weeks.
Alabama, as well, is looking to advance restrictions on gender-affirming care, like Tennessee and Arkansas. The Alabama Senate recently approved HB 1, which would make it a felony to
provide hormones or puberty blockers to trans minors. The West Virginian Senate, likewise, has passed trans athlete ban HB 3293.
With the exception of HB 1570, the aforementioned bills have not been passed or vetoed, of as of writing this article.
Utah and South Dakota have had similar legislation but have since been rejected. The Human Rights Campaign claims there are 174 anti-LGBTQ+ bills in state legislative consideration across the United States, with 95 directly affecting trans people.
Activist groups like the ACLU and HRC are attempting to gain support in stopping these bills from gaining traction, however a lack of attention on these issues are making these campaigns difficult.
There are resources available online, with both mentioned activist groups having personal
websites and social media accounts. While it may be hard to protest against legislation outside of New York, it is important to learn what can be done. There are always ways to help.
By Sam Sage
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Student Spotlight: Tanyesha Darkins
For our second Student Spotlight piece, we have Sophomore Tanyesha Darkins. Tanyesha is an Art and Design major with an undecided interest in what she hopes to do after college, however, wants to keep it art orientated, regardless. Her hobbies include listening to music, creating new art pieces, and competing in Track and Field. Tanyesha’s inspiration derives from “other people’s confidence and how they do not care about the opinions of others,” she says. “When I draw people, I draw my inspiration from the love they have for their bodies and the respect they hold for themselves.”
In this specific art piece, Tanyesha expresses how it “holds a lot of emotion” and how “anger and madness is not all dark colors.” She used oil palettes on sketchbook paper because she finds beauty in the idea of if you mess up, there is no erasing or going back, just “pure creativity in whatever you put on the paper.” This piece only took roughly 45 minutes, however, with her
body and self-portraits, it can take anywhere from 2 days to 2 weeks.
“I am definitely a perfectionist and get mad when a piece doesn’t go my way,” she says. “When it comes to expressing emotions from colors, I often
overthink the process and what I am feeling; I like to put everything out there and make sure what I am displaying to the world is genuinely me and how I am feeling.”
Tanyesha focuses more on drawing people and nature, but when it comes to commission work, she often prefers drawing people and nudity because “it expresses vulnerability and the beauty of the human body.” Her go-to choice of medium is pencil and pen, however, is willing to do whatever the client wishes upon request. Her longest piece consisted of a stippled flower on a ceiling tile, which took her about 4 months to finish. She likes to
thoroughly take her time with every piece, whether it is for commission or not.
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“A big reason why I enjoy making art is because there is always a deeper meaning to every piece I make,” she exclaims. “With cray pods, I can let loose and express a lot of emotion, but with nudity, I can focus more on women’s inner strength and confidence within their body; I enjoy showing the world how powerful a woman can be.”
When asked if Tanyesha had any advice for artists who are too insecure to share their art with the world, she expressed that, “it’s okay to put yourself out there because it’s scary, but once you realize that there is always at least one person who likes your work, you start to feel more comfortable and confident in your art. If you feel like your work doesn’t impact people, then you’re wrong because it impacts more people than you think.”
To check out more of Tanyesha’s work, you can visit her Instagram @taneyyasha or email her for commission work at [email protected].
If you, or anyone else, wants to be featured in our next Student Spotlight piece, email Fiat Lux Secretary Kailey Reyes to be presented!
By Kailey Reyes
Opinion Section
Graduating from the Electoral College: Intermission
Interlude: Well, If We Have No Choice
How did it come to be that every choice, in every election, is a choice between two or more Politicians trying to get reelected (even if they’re not Lifelong Politicians, why do they still sell us the Politicians Lie, in order to collect our votes)? Why do candidates feel the need to win at all costs? What happened to the representatives that could give it to us straight; and why does
everything feel so warped in Politics? To walk this line of reasoning to its bend, we should first try and establish in what ways the Politicians Crooked Grin isn’t eternal (that it stretched wider than the Representative’s Candid Smile), and how the Self-Serving came to replace the Servers of Societal Good (through the transformation of the representative into a pragmatic existence [if
5 the vote is what makes or breaks a politician, then the politician can only go as far as his base allows].
Before the
Politician’s Drive entirely consumed our officials, how did the voter speak to the
Representative?
How did they win Elections without perpetually
pandering to voters?
The proof lies in the vote, and how it wasn’t yet reaped from the voters (unlike today, where thin hands gnab to secure one more vote from the voter’s wallet). Before our election was reduced to being all about the vote, there was an implication that informed the election of each representative, and what that election meant for the voters relationship with them. That the they knew they were only there to represent political life, and that the politics they were subject to, didn’t needlessly reach outside of the Political World (while some Domestic Issues are frankly raised as Political ones, such as Infidelity in a supposedly Christian State, or Beliefs in the Church’s Worldly Supremacy in a supposedly Secular State, these would always have their uses to the Election at hand {That Lincoln’s Law Degree may have helped him to better question the Legality of Slavery, that Taft’s softer more indulgent mind-set might have helped him to be a counterbalance to Teddy’s Needling
Activism}. That the political participant knew the intended depth of politics (or how shallowly it intended to tread), and more importantly, that the voter was able to rely on the Intended
Representation of those being Elected, to affect their stay in office (When they play the role of Government Official, there was not as clear a divide of a Public Political Face used for
Campaign, and a Private Political Mind used for Legislation, it was harder to show a Politicians Public Leanings, without revealing their private conclusions about what they were doing [Since Gambling and its Cultural Themes like ‘a poker face’ hadn’t yet metabolized in the once simple towns of America]). So the best move for a Politicians, was just to be a good statesman (or war hero, if they’re Grant or Jackson), and to let that goodness show the best they can.
The problem of the politician arises when our methods of demonstrating the Representatives as they are Political Representations in an Ethically Bound Legislative Body (someone on a platform, speaking their truth into law, so to speak) shifts away from strictly being about the representing they will manage to get done in their office (even in today's elections, voters could validate their assumptions about previously elected candidates by combing through their voting
6 history and then cross-analyzing that with personal beliefs, to see how they match up compared to the other candidates, but more than likely these voting histories will only really be a part of the election when they’re politicized and distributed en masse: by a News Entity, or as a Part of the Party’s Campaign, or as ammunition in the local astro-turf war), mostly because the means of portraying how the Politician could serve the office (the promises and implications of their Candidacy), have become more sophisticated than the office itself (If something like Voting Histories or Legislative Bill Contributions {both a little fussy as an ideological indicator, since Politicians are already in the habit of checking the glances the public takes at these} gets emphasized in a race too early, then whatever potential importance that ‘factual evidence’ had begins to get used up starting when it is made issue {importance which could dissipate quickly if it isn’t particularly egregious, and the defendant has a sensible enough response to the
accusations}, and when brought up in later iterations of debate (when it is repeated), the defending party will feign weariness at the rediscussion of such a thing as their voting history (will make it know that this is a repetition, and imply heavily that this particular repetition clogs up the election process), and will then implement a rather tricky quip to try and thwart their opponents ability to discuss, in all this what becomes important in an election [which Politics in the culture becomes], is not the relevance of these ideologies to something as paltry as, say a political office, but finding a quip that is capable of demolishing another high-polling quip [which will certainly be used, until it polls poorly]. This gives a weird tail-wriggling situation, Where:
Representatives Campaign to get in Office Politicians get in Office so they can Campaign
My argument isn’t meant to just bemoan the system and politicians abandoning more traditional reasons for doing what they do, more than that, I wish to point out that the only thing that
Politicians actively generate [through their existence and what's not] is their campaign [and what that means to the Election]. You could say that Politicians should also be Law-Makers, but the essences of our Laws are mostly written by a shadowy intelligentsia that never see the light of an election. You could say they are supposed to be compromisers and diplomats, but those actions seem to be more a duty of their advisors and their friend’s sound ‘advice’. You could say they are our Representatives, but who they actually represent changes as the Election draws nearer.
The only marker of a politician’s success, is their ability to get elected (its their only real value:
to lobbyists, to other elected officials, to their own party, to those who risk their vote to elect them) and that issue cries louder for them than any Ethical or Contractual concern.
So what do the Politician’s do for us, if they’re too busy to do their jobs
And for that, we need to know what it means to have a peoples’ voice, and cries for Liberty
7 When someone can finally hear them
(Background Music Playing): And the Lives We Don’t
In fear of missing the election by even a single percent (it isn’t yet clear why politicians would want to run close elections), the Politicians hold them early, and call the second unofficial election a poll (and they’re constantly fretting about how they’re polling will help them come election time, and how being elected will help them poll, and such blissful nonsense). The next question then is this; if Politicians change their behavior because of how their behavior polls (is implied to have an impact to their electability), and the Politicians change what sort of
Representative they’ll be for these polls, then what is the difference between the Polls and the Actual Election? While polls aren’t surefire ways of determining election, they’re suspected use in determining the places of the race (Clinton is ahead in the Polls, Biden is ahead in the Polls), shouldn’t be ignored if the voter wants their voting to matter (more reliable votes have more sway with politicians, who always look to touch base with those who already plan on voting), and crucially, polling may determine more of the Election Run (what promises are made, and when they are made [and the election is always running in the background]), than the final outcome of an accounted for election (where the final vote is a cashing in on the numerous checks a Politician’s mouth has signed, and can’t respectfully ask them to write too many checks at the voting booth).
There are a couple of main-line problems with this way of running our politics. The most obvious is that polling’s power cheapens the Official Legalized Vote, and sets up more
disparities in the voter (when they have more time, and or money). It could also be said that polls
8 create issues needlessly (say about a politicians hair or hands), that aren’t usually their
responsibilities to take care of (and what that means for the laws they enact) Another trick of this system is the general lack of accountability. To ask a politician (in this case a very corrupt one), why they played the political game in the way they did, will result in a particularly confused testimony (that his corruption is done, but not by them, because it is their understanding
somehow, that everyone else is corrupt), where the particular politician under scrutiny is unable to give a full account of their particular political success (almost like they’re under an oath not to reveal it). They’re lack of awareness harkens to a terminology of the fledgling America, and her fortunes. Like their misfortune at Capital Hill is a sort of Devil’s Providence, and that the dregs will always wash to the bottom.
So how can we trust these unreliable politicians to tell the voter what they want to hear, that they have listened in on the Pulse of America, and are now going to resuscitate it, without doubting their intentions (everything they say, and even that which they don’t) for creating such a relationship with the voter in their own image [for their own ends]? How can we use the poll to establish values that cross party lines, and enforce a promise that everyone wants the candidate to keep (maybe at least try to have less corruption, regardless of affiliation, for example), when they are represented in such Red & Blue terms [the question of if a good conservative is corrupt or not doesn’t enter the mind of a staunch conservative, and is already answered for the radically
liberal, and vice versa)? What is there in the conservative world that allows for the continuation of liberal thought (where do the political lines blur into a Authentic American flavored broth), and is this process salvageable from political divisions that cut deeply, something that can never be separated (namely, the liberal and the conservative)?
If something like a liberal thought is fundamentally never employed [never in the state of being made real], or loses its credibility as a truly liberal thought when eventually established; and the conservative employment of these tired old work horses of once liberal thoughts, lay no ultimate claim to anything {the land [the vote is continued], its development [the party plays while it can], and its fruits [the direction is never the result of one platforms intentions, and cleverer yet, never the platform’s fault]}, then what is it that binds America (of course I mean bound here to the mortal realm, and not something silly like it's in each of our dreams, or its already crammed into historic tomes that were printed with dust on them). How can we be so sure that America still exists after years of lazified divisiveness (that Tom too can live the lifestyle of a Political Dissident doing his Civic Duty), and not only that it does exist as some political entity resulting from its past momentum which no individual could overthrow, but that it persists as something worth saving, as something to be ‘Progressively Improved’, or made ‘Great Again’ (depending on your Politicks of course)? But to try and reach at these ‘American’ Principles, in all their glorious Unity {Life, Liberties, and Business}, makes them all the more frustrating when again the eyes are drawn to the Duality of our Political Environment {Public vs Private, Informed vs.
Enforced, Government vs Economy}
9 And when I wanted to know one thing, I found it very annoying, that it was said both ways And when I wanted to know something,I found it interesting, that there was another way to say it When questioning our State
Why do we live in this perpetual state of irony, that can neither accomplish the Radically Dissenting Act [Create a world purely out of our thought], nor admit Responsibility for the Repeated Occurence of Thought’s Failure as Life [Accept the world after it is made real from those thoughts]? What purpose does it serve to detach so wholly from our mission [to guide liberal thought into its realization], to serve the coup d’etat while in the states employ, and wait for Socialism come, or the Past to come back. Why do we say that the brush fire started on the fence’s worse side, whenever we are asked why we are on fire?
And when looking for answers
Who is it that sees the victims’ hands trembling in an accusation, and glibly shakes it, pointing them further down the street to catch their killer? Who is it with bloodied hands, blames a rage, a frenzy, a loss of control; and suddenly holding the knife, drops it? Who is it we can put the hurt on, and who will be redeemed.
The Deposed King of Comedy Presents:
When I was young, my Grandpa gave me some good advice He says, he says
“(Grand) Son,
There’s gonna come a time in your life where people come around asking what it all meant There gonna ask you what it is that you’ve done
10 And why you did it
And when you’re facing that trial On that Judgement Day
And those people are asking their questions And those people are looking for answers You must remember to not say anything Don’t reveal anything prematurely Don’t give them a reason
Cause its your reason that they’ll use Just tell them you don’t know
You never knew
Or better yet, tell them nothing ...
Tell them it was a joke
It all was just some great big joke That got out of hand”
Happy April Fools Everybody And let the Festivus begin -Politikos
By Jakob Perez
Adapting To Life In Western New York
Moving to Western New York can be a huge culture shock for many incoming college
students—it certainly was for me. I had to move from a metropolitan area to an area surrounded by fields of deserted land, covered by snow more often than not. The transition was rough but, as
11 I approach the end of my third year in Alfred, NY, I feel confident in the way I adapted to the small-town life and hazardous climate that studying at Alfred University brings. I would like to share my little tips that I have cultivated over my time spent in Alfred.
Uniqlo HEATTECH Thermals are your best friend! Unlike many base-layers, Uniqlo HEATTECH Thermals are light and not bulky at all. You can barely feel them under your clothes, and the HEATTECH is no joke. These thermals have kept me warmer than any amount of bulky layers ever could. You can get a Uniqlo HEATTECH Thermal for $19.90, which can be a steep price for a college student. That $19.90, however, will keep you warmer than any
expensive jacket ever could. Here is a link to the one I have:
(https://www.uniqlo.com/us/en/women/heattech?quickView=428493).
Get yourself some ice cleats! My first semester at Alfred, a professor recommended that we get ice cleats. I thought to myself, “I wouldn’t be caught dead in a pair of Yaktrax.” When I moved off-campus, I was struck with the horrible realization that the off-campus sidewalks are barely maintained, never-mind salted. I laughingly slid my way to class the first few weeks, and
eventually bought myself a fair of ice cleats off of Amazon for $15.94. If people can wear Crocs to class with confidence, you can definitely truck around campus in ice cleats with confidence!
Here is a link to the pair I have:
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PL6Q841/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_0RR6REPFWRZC6 8NQMM0C).
ALDI is your best friend when you’re a college student on a tight budget. A grocery trip that costs you a small fortune at Wegmans can be cut in half by a short trip to ALDI. They even have fresh produce. Bring a quarter for the shopping cart to reduce in-store anxiety!
12 Seasonal Affective Disorder is something that can affect many people moving to an area with as little sunlight as Western New York. If you find yourself going through depressive episodes during the cold, dark winter months, consider light therapy. Light therapy changed my life in a way that a therapist just couldn’t. The key to light therapy is consistency. I got one on Amazon for $29.99 and do 10 minutes of light therapy as soon as I wake up every day. If you can’t afford your own SAD lamp, head up to the Wellness Center, where you can get free light therapy. Here is a link to the one I have:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088TRHGB4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_0DMT777MF03A Q0CWMMC7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1).
There you go, my little bits of advice from me to you. These won’t make the piles of brown snow disappear, nor will they make Ade food taste any better, but they definitely help.
By Talulla Torthe
Entertainment Section
I Was Wrong About The Snyder Cut
In the wake of the “Release The Snyder Cut” online campaign, I was convinced that the movie would not live up to the hype and just end up a massive flop. To put it quite simply, I was wrong;
the movie was fun to watch. It is a superhero movie after all, there’s not much to it.
The Snyder Cut was pretty much a four hour non-stop, slow-motion action fest. The plot is simple. Batman is trying to assemble a team to fight back the alien invasion led by Steppenwolf.
Steppenwolf is trying to collect the three mother boxes to bring about the end of Earth. His
13 motivation for doing this is that he wants to get back in the good graces of the Supreme dark lord of the universe, destroyer of worlds, Darkseid.
With that said, all the characters are still interesting. Barry brings levity to a lot of the scenes he’s in, Cyborg's backstory and role in this film are very pronounced and Batman still has no business fighting aliens with gadgets but he succeeded in getting the Justice League together. You have to give him credit there. Superman coming back was not unexpected but Snyder sells it pretty well in the movie. Steppenwolf serves his purpose pretty well too, he gets all three boxes, almost succeeds, and then gets promptly thrashed by all six heroes.
I think there are many ways you can critique this film. Firstly, it’s a bit too long. I watched the film over two days and even then I felt like it could have been cut up like a mini-series,
considering the movie itself is divided into chapters. It’s also shot in a 4:3 aspect ratio which can take a few minutes to get used to. Secondly, there are a few corny scenes here and there but not enough to affect the viewing experience. For instance, in one scene, Wonder Woman saves a bunch of school children from a bomb, and one girl comes up to her and says, “Can I be like you someday?” Wonder woman of course says yes even though we all know that’s ridiculous. Lastly, Darkseid just talks. He doesn’t do much in the film and what we see of him is mostly from flashbacks. But it’s still a good setup for Darkseid later down the line.
At the end of the day, I think a lot of people like the Snyder Cut so much because it’s not the total catastrophe Justice League was. The movie had a story, nice action set pieces, and a sense of direction. Sometimes, that’s all you can ask for in a blockbuster film.
By Alpha Bah
Sports Section
An Athlete's Performance During COVID-19
I feel like I have nothing to show for my success and work ethic. Despite the training I had over the summer, the lack of playing for over two months and the year of missed competition, I feel as though I am more behind than ever. At times, I question my ability and capabilities of being a college athlete in times of COVID.
14 When AU students were told they
could compete and attend practices again, I was ecstatic and eager to get back to work. However, once
competition began, I started getting discouraged. When I had my first match, I played horribly; I got tired and out of breath twice as fast because of the masks and felt embarrassed by my skill level, especially during a competitive match with my coach and teammates watching. This was the first time ever when I genuinely felt
incapable of being an athlete, let alone the captain of the women’s team.
After the match was over, I felt nothing but disgust and shame for having been a leader to this group of girls, for my mindset was completely negative and I lacked a great deal of focus. At times throughout my match, I questioned if COVID was to blame for the outcome, but
continuously put all the fault on myself, which further led to toxic and unhealthy thoughts about being an athlete and my role on the team.
It wasn’t until I gathered my emotions together and spoke with my coaches when I realized I was being too hard on myself; I was not giving myself enough credit. We ALL deserve to give
ourselves credit for how far we have come, for how we continue to deal with the world as it is in comparison to being a college athlete.
The Head Coach Jordan Crouch reminded me that I was a great athlete and earned the right to call myself the captain, but more so a person who makes mistakes and chooses to learn from them.
You are capable. As a college athlete, it is normal to have doubts about yourself and feel weak at times. It is simply being human. However, once you step out on the court/field, you must remind yourself of how far you have come. You must realize that the amount of emotional and physical effort you have applied into your sport has downsides to them; you get exhausted at times and question your character, capability, work ethic, skill, and more so talent. You must apply those negative thoughts into your game, for the love you have for your sport is ultimately the reason why you’re playing in the first place–apply
15 that. Apply your drive to your mind and snap out of the negative thoughts because the times we’re in are hard and none of it is your fault. COVID has negatively affected so many things with school, relationships, connections, and especially sports. “Control what you can control,”
Coach Crouch says, “because you have the power to get through anything you set your mind to.”
Despite an unsuccessful tennis season, I have learned to accept change and live with it, along with giving myself more credit for the time and energy I have applied to myself and sport. I realized that although COVID can make things very depressing, there is always something to learn from it. The effects of COVID and how it impacts our abilities on the court/field are NOT OUR FAULTS. We continue to work hard and play the sports that we love because at the end of the day, that’s all we really have. We keep fighting and grow within our character, mentality, and skill despite the obstacles that get thrown in our way. Do not let COVID take your passion away, too. Keep playing the sport you love and continue staying positive and optimistic, for it will all pay off in the end.
By Kailey Reyes
Fiat Lux Staff
Editor-in-chief: Talulla Torthe Managing Editor: Andrew Wiechert Staff Writer and Editor: Isa Hamilton Staff Writer: Sam Sage
Staff Writer and Editor: Dale Mott Slater Photographer: Aurelia Liles
Staff Writer: Alpha Bah
(this issue was originally created as webpage; information extracted and artificially created as a PDF for archival purposes)
