"The Student Government Association (SGA) at Johns Hopkins University is the primary representative body of undergraduate students. It is a student-run organization that is responsible for representing the interests of the student body to the University's administration," the homepage of the SGA website reads.

The SGA is a Registered Student Organization (RSO), like many official clubs or organizations on campus. The Office of Leadership Engagement & Experiential Development (LEED) oversees RSOs in matters of registration, event planning and general oversight. As an RSO, the SGA is expected to follow the expectations for organizations that LEED puts out. One of such requirements is that all RSOs must have an advisor who is a faculty or staff member of the University.

"Registered Student Organizations are required to have a faculty/staff advisor at the school where the organization is affiliated that is in good standing with the university," LEED's website states.

LEED additionally states that faculty advisors must abide by University policies, and make sure that the organizations they oversee do so as well.

"The prospective advisor must acknowledge and commit to upholding university policies. The university or school reserves the right to approve, remove, or reassign an advisor to a student organization at its discretion, including but not limited to circumstances in which the faculty member is no longer in good standing or is otherwise unable to fulfill the advisor requirements," LEED outlines in its advisor requirements.

As an RSO, SGA has multiple assigned faculty advisors. LEED, however, does not state how involved advisors have to be in their organizations, nor what their required responsibilities are besides upholding University rules.

The SGA's Constitution, which was recently amended on Sept. 18, does not explicitly define a role for its advisor. In fact, the word "advisor" is not used in the Constitution. The Bylaws of the SGA, which were also amended on the same date as the Constitution, establish the existence of an advisor in the document's seventh article, but do not necessarily indicate specific functions of the role.

"There shall exist SGA advisors who shall be resources when called upon by the SGA," one section of the bylaws states.

In addition to establishing the role's existence, the bylaws also specify how many advisors the organization needs.

"The SGA, in conjunction with the Office of the Dean of Student Life may appoint one (1) SGA Advisor for the SGA at large, one (1) Class Council Advisor for each council, one (1) Finance advisor for the Committee on Finance, and one (1) Student Organizations Advisor for the Committee on Student Organizations," the bylaws includes.

The seventh article in a previous edition of the bylaws, written in April 2026, features identical text, indicating that the section had been left unchanged when the SGA was drafting new bylaws. The Committee on Student Elections is the student-run organization closely linked with the SGA that oversees elections. Their constitution, like the SGA's, also does not make any mention of advisors.

While the existence and amount of advisors for the organization are made explicit, the bylaws do not define a specific function for the advisors to perform, other than acting as a resource, a term which is not defined in the bylaws.

According to the University, in an email to The News-Letter, the advisor's role is to make sure University policies are being enforced, while at the same time supporting the SGA members in their policy making and outreach work.

"The SGA advisor is a university staff member whose responsibilities include supporting and advising the SGA. The advisor serves in that capacity as part of their university role and provides guidance on university policies, procedures, and resources while supporting the work of SGA's elected student leaders," the University spokesperson wrote.

In addition, multiple members of SGA have discussed their experiences with the role of the SGA advisor in interviews with The News-Letter. One current senator, who wished to remain anonymous under the pseudonym Aiden, expressed their frustration with SGA advisor role.

"When I reach out to departments for meetings or with questions, instead of being able to talk to someone and express student concerns, someone in the department will loop in an advisor and drag out the process for several weeks or even months to schedule a meeting with all parties," Aiden wrote in an email interview with The News-Letter.

Specifically, Aiden shared that they believe the advisor role can make communication between members of the SGA and administration more difficult, and that this function of the advisor role may be intentional.

"I see the advisor role as a way for administration and departments to avoid transparency and open dialogue with actual students. This is by no means a critique of individual advisors, but rather the role as a whole and the way it is used as a buffer between students and the people they need answers from," Aiden wrote.

Another member of SGA, choosing to comment anonymously under the pseudonym Robin, shared generally positive experiences working with SGA advisors, in which they said that advisors would make efforts to connect with senators and support them with any questions they had.

"They get to know each [SGA member] very well and will make personal connections with each one and offer answers to any questions," Robin shared.

Robin also referenced an informal policy where SGA representatives are reminded to cc SGA advisors into emails sent from the members to University administration to ensure visibility, emphasizing that it was not for authorization nor were any member prevented from contacting anyone. The News-Letter was unable to find any information on this in their guiding documents.

Robin clarified that advisors cannot enforce rules on communication for SGA. One SGA member from the 2020-21 Executive Board, choosing to comment under the pseudonym Parker, shared their experience working with the advisors, noting that there were no communication enforcements under their term as well in an email to The News-Letter.

"When I was involved in SGA, advisors offeredto assist in facilitating discussion with University administration if we requested. If we liked, they could make the initial outreach for us when reaching out to a specific member of the University administration and cc us on the email chain. They requested that we cc them on all email communications with members of the University Administration, which we usually complied with to help facilitate a good working relationship but were not required to do," Parker wrote.

During the 2020-2021 term, Parker recalled how the advisors held regular meetings with the Executive Board, which at the time were required by the SGA Constitution, and spoke at GBMs.

Another current SGA representative, choosing to comment under the pseudonym Blake, commented that SGA advisors tend to communicate with administration about SGA-related matters without keeping members informed, which limits avenues for accountability.

"SGA advisors claim they act for the benefit of students and fight on SGA's behalf when they communicate with University Administration. In reality, SGA advisors generally take SGA's communications up the chain and will avoid copying or including SGA members in further communications, so there is no way SGA can evaluate if this is the case," Blake said.

Since the SGA has been an official organization ever since it was established in its current form in 2008, after its renaming from Student Council, the SGA has had an advisor since its founding.

Evan Lazerowitz, who graduated from the University in 2010, provided comment about his experience with his SGA advisor, which he described as somewhat less involved than the experiences of contemporary SGA members.

"In my tenure on student government, our advisor, was very hands off and advised us from behind the scenes, letting students make informed decisions that were free from interference from the SGA advisor," Lazerowitz wrote in an email interview to The News-Letter.

Jazzlyn Fernandez, a senior who currently serves as President of the Senate in SGA, also gave comment on her relationship with advisors, which she framed as helpful, especially in the advisors' ability to connect students with administration and other departments within the University.

"As President of the Senate now, I have found the role of the SGA advisor to take on a new form. We ('we' being the advisor and I) meet weekly to talk about different goals that I have for the Senate, as well as how to best serve the Senators so that they can work on their own initiatives. This meeting is a space where we feel free to have different opinions, and come to understand the different views that we have to best serve the Senate, as well as the Johns Hopkins undergraduate student body. The SGA advisor gives guidance to any Senator or Executive member who requests it, including myself, and provides connections to different administrative bodies so that we may be able to collaborate for the benefit of all students," Fernandez wrote.

Honora Muratori is a News & Features Editor for The News-Letter and Executive Secretary for SGA. She was not involved in the reporting or writing of this article.

Katherine Zhu is a News & Features Editor for The News-Letter and a Student Justice in the Judiciary Board for SGA. She was not involved in the reporting or writing of this article.

UPET, a student-led protein engineering group at Hopkins, has been selected as one of 30 teams worldwide for the top track of an international protein design competition supported by Anthropic and Adaptyv Bio. The so-called "Track 1" is meant "for labs and companies with significant protein design expertise and experts in at least one competition problem area." As a result, UPET received $50,000 in Claude credits, $10,000 in GPU computing resources from Modal and guaranteed experimental testing for dozens of its protein designs.

The group is mentored by Jeffrey Gray, a professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Whiting School of Engineering and principal investigator of the Gray Lab, which researches computational and structural prediction and design involving glycans, membrane proteins and protein crystals.

The protein engineering UPET works on spans a wide range of complex problems. At its most basic level, however, protein engineering involves designing or modifying proteins to perform a desired function.

This could mean altering an existing enzyme so it breaks down materials - such as plastic - more efficiently, developing a protein drug that binds to a viral target or creating an entirely new protein with properties that have not previously existed in nature. In the Anthropic competition, UPET is tasked with designing, among others, intelligent therapeutics for next-generation medicine, including a pH-sensing tumor-specific EGFR binder for the first week.

In an interview with The News-Letter, Jonathan Ouyang, founder and president of UPET, explained the versality of protein engineering, both as a field that allows researchers to both modify existing proteins and design entirely new ones.

"You can either take existing proteins and adapt them, or, increasingly, you can generate proteins de novo, or from scratch," Ouyang explained.

Ouyang had been drawn to protein engineering even before coming to Hopkins because of its potential to improve human health and quality of life.

"When I was going to college, I just wanted to do protein engineering," Ouyang said.

That drive eventually became UPET: a space for undergraduates to simply do protein engineering.UPET is unique in its structure. It differs from a traditional research lab in one important way: students do not need years of prior experience before they can begin contributing.

The structure also creates a fast-paced learning environment that differs from traditional academic work.

Yash Bhargava, UPET's simulation expert, described the pace of the competition in an email interview with The News-Letter.

"One thing I enjoy about UPET is how fast-paced it is. Right now, we're participating in a competition where a new challenge is released every week, requiring a very different approach from traditional academic work. We're pushed to understand a new biological problem, come up with design approaches, test different methods and iterate almost immediately," Bhargava said.

More than half of the organization's members have no previous background in protein design and come from a variety of disciplines, ranging from Cognitive Science to Biophysics. Rather than treating that as a barrier, UPET has made education one of its central priorities.

With an emphasis on democratizing access to protein engineering, Ouyang believes the field is far more accessible than many students assume.

"These are things that are much more accessible than the average person thinks they are," Ouyang said.

Ouyang compared scientific research with activities such as writing or playing music. Students often feel comfortable practicing those activities without asking for permission, he explained, while research can feel as though it requires passing through several institutional gates first.

"You can do real, good work," Ouyang said, "and you don't have to be screened by a lab or be mentored for years."

But Ouyang's ambitions for UPET extend beyond making protein engineering more accessible. He also sees AI fundamentally changing what undergraduate researchers can design.

With support from Anthropic, Ouyang hopes to expand the role of AI in protein design beyond prediction models and models trained on raw data. He envisions using agentic AI systems to oversee multiple aspects of the design process, including reasoning over biological data, interpreting experimental results and proposing how a molecule should be changed next.

Traditionally, scientists examine a structure and decide whether to alter a charged region, introduce a new interaction or mutate particular amino acids. AI systems may increasingly be able to participate in that reasoning process, making protein engineering more efficient.

For Ouyang, the competition is only the beginning. He envisions UPET growing into a hub for original research, patented protein designs and collaborations with Hopkins laboratories to design proteins, and, eventually, into a group capable of hosting a protein design competition of its own.

Before I came to Hopkins, my world was one of gilded excess. Flaky silver high school signs, faded yellow restaurants always boasting about having the "most," old cars with big logos and peeling paint. Coming from a low-income, majority immigrant area meant I was always surrounded by excess. There was an obsession with collection and preservation - take, for example, how I've never seen the back wall of my grandma's garage, despite working away at the pile for 10 summers.

I worry that new Hopkins students overfill their garages, too, overly preoccupied with the idea of "never enough."

I would never blame the freshmen (a year of experience does not amount to much in wisdom). They are promised fanciful positions and opportunities. And for how hard they work, rightfully so! But being overwhelmed with jobs, extracurriculars, internships, research, any pursuit they could dream of, anything new they could try - I think that is a great advantage for those who had more growing up, compared to those who have less. It is advantageous to grow up having more options, to be able to choose.

I say this specifically for people who come from environments like mine: the definition of success was joining everything that my under-resourced high school allowed me to do. We did not ask each other about what organizations we thought were important, only the number. We grew up hoarding belongings; it only made sense to hoard our opportunities, too. I've seen too many students step into the waters of Hopkins and immediately start to drown. Not because they're overwhelmed, but because they choose to be overwhelmed. Perhaps they do not know how to choose, how to commit or how to quit the haphazard things they somewhat love. And in exchange, they lose the depth in what they love the most, what is actually most important to them.

This is not meant to discourage anyone, at any point, from trying new things. I've grown the most through my discovered love for a cappella, something that I would've never dreamt of joining during high school. But there is a difference between having a taste and deciding to swallow the plate. Something that surprised me about Hopkins was the depth of the organizations and commitments that someone could join. It was quite easy to "accidentally" fall into an officer position for the year, into multiple six to eight hour commitments during the first month of school. For those who grew up with choice, it might be easier to distinguish one's wants and needs, what someone could realistically commit to and accomplish. But I argue that for those who see every opportunity at Hopkins as a diamond of equal size, the choice is either too paralyzing or too heavy to cash into the bank. There is no doubt that every student at Hopkins could do absolutely amazing, incredible things. I think the problem will always be the time. Not that we don't have enough, but many of us would choose to fill every overlapping gap in that schedule - the time during which we are meant to live.

Between all of the responsibilities and the preparations for jobs and graduate school, there has to be time to start anew. To be true to ourselves. It took me the entirety of freshman year to realize that I don't have to have it all. I don't have to do it all. Sticking with a few clubs, with a few meaningful things, might just be enough. And it helps the gold shine - the one under the leaf and the plaster, the stickers and the scraps. I remember the last conversation I had before I flew to Hopkins this year was in Joshua Tree, sending off one of my friends to their first year in college. And the greatest message was this: "The hardest, most impressive thing someone can do isn't necessarily what's meant for them."

So slow down. Decide what you want to do, explore different options, create a path of your own. You don't have to see it all now. Take it easy, Blue Jays. You'll accomplish everything you want to and more, I promise.

Andrew Huynh is a sophomore from Garden Grove, Calif. majoring in Neuroscience. His column, "Ad Astra," captures his reflections on modern life and Hopkins as he navigates his transition into adulthood.

SGA invited The News-Letter to call for SGA columnists at their first public GBM on Sept. 1, 2026. During the meeting, The News-Letter emphasized that all articles written by SGA members would feature a disclaimer stating that the opinion expressed solely belongs to the writer, not the entirety of SGA. Following The News-Letter's departure, an SGA staff advisor urged members to consult the Executive Board and an SGA advisor prior to writing for The News-Letter. Multiple SGA members alerted The News-Letter regarding this announcement, citing how the advisor cautioned them about criticizing SGA and University administration.

This alarmed us. The News-Letter is founded upon a commitment to student's free speech, and the possibility for conflicting dialogue to be filtered may prevent the dialogue from occurring altogether. Is the role of administration in SGA to advise the personal expression of every student who also serves as an SGA representative?

On Sept. 10, an SGA member emailed Vice Provost for Student Affairs Rachelle Hernandez, asking for clarification on the administration's stance on SGA expression, especially for public criticism. The next day, The News-Letter requested a formal directive from the SGA Executive Board, which would explicate its policy regarding SGA members' participation with The News-Letter. We did not suggest anything specific to be included in that directive -we simply asked for it to be delivered.

Shortly after these requests, the advisor's initial statement was later redacted by another SGA advisor at the Sept. 15 GBM. The advisor stated that SGA members do not require approval from administration to write for The News-Letter. We noted that "consultation," as stated by the other SGA advisor, and approval are not synonymous. The advisor also encouraged SGA to construct their own policies regarding contributing. We worried how the two contradictory announcements would affect SGA member enthusiasm for contributing to The News-Letter.

On Sept. 29, SGA passed the "JHU SGA Freedom Of Expression Directive," which reiterates and defends the public speech of SGA members. Notable sections regarding administrative input include establishing the lack of a mandatory review by administrative members, encouraging "agreement, disagreement, critique, and commentary on SGA actions, administrative actions, and campus issues." The Directive also offers SGA members the choice of optional feedback from administration.

After the first GBM and prior to the passing of the Directive, we examined SGA's guiding documents, such as the Constitution and Bylaws of the Senate, to analyze the authority and responsibilities SGA advisors and administration hold. On the one hand, the Constitution does not mention the scope of the SGA advisor. On the other hand, the Bylaws of the Senate defined the advisors as "resources when called upon by the SGA." Scattered responsibilities included meeting with SGA members to "develop a strategy for increasing student interest and engagement," dealing with accommodation requests for SGA events and other tasks. There was no mention of overseeing SGA member speech.

While reflecting on the role of the University administration in monitoring student organizations, we realized that the reverse also merited contemplation. To borrow the syntax shared by the University President Ronald J. Daniels in the title of his co-authored book What Universities Owe Democracy, what do student organizations, particularly ones central to student expression such as SGA, owe to the University administration?

In the first pages of his book, Daniels affirms all institutions' aversion to change, especially in moments of uncertainty. "This is especially the case for colleges and universities," Daniels writes. However, Daniels also notes that "within such institutions, meaningful transformation becomes truly possible only during periods of change and profound uncertainty. Economists call these 'critical junctures.'"

It seems the University itself would appear to be at such a "critical juncture." We recognize that higher education is currently facing scrutiny from the federal government, particularly in securing federal funding and navigating new higher education frameworks. Regarding the mention of "meaningful transformation," we believe that student organizations, especially SGA, have the potential to advocate for institutional changes to administration.

We are strongly aware of SGA's importance on campus; they are the only organization that can directly connect University administration with student concerns, compromise on fair, lasting changes through legislation and establish the groundwork for administration's external oversight. This is precisely what SGA owes to University administration. For SGA to continue bridging students to administration, it must still listen and communicate to students on its own accord, uninfluenced by any administrative pressure in the process. Moreover, if student representatives or entire organizations themselves become prone to routine self-censorship, who's to say that this habit, rooted in fear, will not spread to the greater student body and become engrained in student culture?

We support SGA's commitment to maintaining free speech internally, but we are aware that, even in this newly passed Directive, the role of administration in SGA expression is solely defined by what they cannot do, rather than what they can. The role of Hopkins administration in SGA should be clearly defined in its guiding documents and be adhered to so that student leaders, and the student body as a whole, can distinguish between fair administrative guidance and restriction on student voices.

Now, SGA must continue meticulously outlining and protecting their free expression, and University administration should uphold its expressed commitment to let SGA internally decide how to manage its oversight for external publication. To SGA members: The News-Letter will continue to report on and preserve your progress. Now, we hope you feel welcome to do the same.

The Editorial Board consists of the Editors-in-Chief, the Managing Editors, the Opinions Editor, and one Editor-at-Large from any section other than News & Features. The Editorial Board operates independently from the reporting conducted by the News & Features section.

Hopkins Symphony Orchestra is composed of the Symphonic Orchestra, which is led by Music Director Jed Gaylin, and the Concert Orchestra, led by Blair Skinner. The Symphonic Orchestra is the organization's big ensemble orchestra, with around 130 members. The Concert Orchestra, by contrast, is a string-only ensemble with only around 40 to 50 members.

In an interview with The News-Letter, HSO General Manager Marcie Kolacki explained that the Concert Orchestra allows musicians to develop their skills while still performing at a high level.

"Consider the concert orchestra… [it's] not quite a training level ensemble, but… it's a place [for musicians] to develop their skills," Kolacki said. "That's a really good place to do it, especially for string players because this is really like one of the only places for string ensembles to happen on campus."

HSO has been in operation since 1981, and some community members have been members since the very beginning. According to Jed Gaylin, who has served as the Music Director for HSO for the last 35 years, the combination of these more experienced community members with Hopkins students is very effective for HSO.

"The community members bring experience. The student musicians bring the zeal of playing this piece for the first time. They're up on their game, they've been practicing and winning competitions in high school," Gaylin said. "The combination is really very… generative. I mean, it sort of keeps that engine just perking along."

Over the last 35 years in his role, Gaylin has noticed a distinct shift in the makeup of the orchestra. When it was first founded, HSO was more geared towards the community aspect, with far more of the members being Baltimore City residents.

However, today, a higher portion of HSO is made up of Hopkins students.

"We have a real mix of experience, different levels, like a lot of different backgrounds, and it's just a really cool way to bring everyone together," Kolacki said. "It's a great community. I just feel like I was very embraced right from the beginning, and we have a lot of members that have been here since the orchestra was founded in 1981."

Regardless of their position in HSO, involvement with the organization has been cited as very rewarding and beneficial experience for participants. Even those not playing an instrument in HSO are able to benefit from what HSO brings, such as sophomore Cleo Wang, a stage manager with HSO since January. Wang and other stage managers are involved in ensuring that rehearsals and performance operate without error. They set up, take down the stage and deal with any unplanned problems.

"Just being able to be here for the concert and… make sure everything's…. running smoothly, it's super fun and… really rewarding," Wang said.

For others, HSO and playing music offers a release from the stresses of everyday life. First-year graduate student and HSO cellist Micheal Chung, a student in the University's CBID program in biomedical engineering, highlighted how music has become his escape from the stressors of his graduate program.

"It's very intense. So music is kind of my break from that," Chung said.

For student musicians, HSO also provides an opportunity to build connections and friendships with other musicians outside of their academic work.

Allison Lee, a sophomore violinist in HSO, agrees that HSO has helped decrease her stress.

"I get to de-stress and it's a fun way to connect with other people and to socialize through having a common goal, which is making good music," Lee said.

Chung also noted the importance of music as a universal connector.

"I feel like music's kind of a universal language," he said. "We all came here to play great music, and I think just having all the different instrument sounds, everyone kind of working together to make something…. really beautiful that's meant to be shared. There's just something about it that I really enjoy."

Every year, auditions for HSO are held in the fall. Candidates are expected to come prepared with two contrasting performance-ready pieces, and they are given ten minutes to present their pieces. Kolacki emphasized the importance of making this process as low-stakes as possible.

"It's really, really scary to walk into a room and play your instrument for strangers. One of the really scary things about being a classical musician is auditioning," she said. "We try to keep it as friendly of an environment as possible and make people feel welcome."

Kolacki also noted that HSO aims to keep the organization as open as possible. With HSO being a community orchestra, she believes it should accept as many people as possible taking capacity into consideration. The fact that HSO is split into two different ensembles makes this goal easier to implement. Additionally, once someone is accepted into HSO, they will not have to re-audition in future years.

HSO is having their first performance on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 7:30 PM in Shriver Hall. The performance, which is titled Northern Pastorals, centers around themes of change and adapting to a new environment. As with all HSO events, the performance will be free to all Hopkins students.

For those who may be unaware, Hopkins is located less than one-and-a-half miles from Warehouse Cinemas in Rotunda (around a 30 minute walk or a 10 minute drive). If the proximity of the theater is not incentive enough, consider the available-every-Tuesday $7 tickets. Furthermore, if you are into "classic" horror films, this theater will be showcasing a variety of films for you to discover and indulge in all the way through Oct. 31. Accompanying these spooky films are some new releases that just happen to "fall" into the Fall category that we are hoping to encapsulate throughout this article.

Of these soon-to-be-released films, a notable one to mention is Practical Magic 2. Considered an "essential" Halloween film, the first Practical Magic movie follows two sisters (who happen to be witches) as they combat a serial killer ex-boyfriend and attempt to break the curse that prevents them from falling in love. In terms of aesthetics, the film is filled with deep red and orange hues, candlelit scenes, and many well placed falling leaves. The sisters are played by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, and the film is available for streaming on HBO Max as well as Hulu (more on this as we go).

Another film to consider adding to your "Fall Movie Bucket List," and whose showings begin on Oct. 1, is Verity. Adapted from the novel by Colleen Hoover, this psychological romantic thriller revolves around a struggling writer who is asked to ghostwrite for Verity Crawford, a bestselling author who has become comatose in the wake of a car accident. Deeply disturbing, this film (or novel, should you choose to read it) will leave your skin crawling and keep you questioning, long past its ending, what was true and what was false.

For users of Disney+, there are many autumnal films to choose from. A couple of noteworthy movies include Hocus Pocus and Jennifer's Body.

Hocus Pocus, arguably one of my favorite fall films, takes place in Salem, Mass. and follows Max Dennison, his sister and his crush through their journey to kill the three witches he unwittingly resurrected by lighting the Black Flame Candle. This movie is perfect for those who want to experience a "spooky," not "scary," fall.

On the other end of the spectrum, Jennifer's Body, a comedy-horror film, is ideal for those eager to watch a disturbing take on the high school experience. The story, told from the perspective of Anita "Needy" Lesnicki, follows Jennifer Check, Needy's best friend, who becomes a cannibalistic man-killer after a bar catches on fire. While certainly more "thrilling," the movie has been deemed by fans a thought-provoking piece representative of the societal pressures women face. This film is also available for free on Pluto TV (which is accessible on most browsers).

If you want movies that are not necessarily spooky in nature but that instead merely capture the "essence" of the fall season, I would consider looking into the following:

1. Good Will Hunting (available for free on Pluto TV): This film follows a gifted 20-year-old janitor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is given the opportunity to study math on the condition that he attends therapy. The movie is incredibly vulnerable, and its themes of change and growth are especially relevant during the transition from summer to fall (and the beginning of a new school year).
2. Another film to consider adding to your watchlist is Dead Poets Society (only available to rent or buy as of right now). This story revolves around a group of boys enrolled in an all-male Episcopal boarding school who, inspired by their English teacher, re-start the "Dead Poets Society" and attempt to live life on their own terms.
3. If romantic comedies are your preferred genre, watching Notting Hill will allow you to continue your romanticization of the fall season while simultaneously allowing you to indulge in the romanticization of friendships and human connection. This film takes the viewer through the obstacles a bookstore owner and a famous actress face while navigating their friendship.

Hopefully after reading this article, you have left with a couple movies you want to watch again or perhaps watch for the first time (maybe at the local theater). Even if these films did not spark any inspiration, I would definitely look at HopkinsGroups and consider going to watch the free films offered on the first Friday of each month. However, whatever the result this article may have been for you, don't forget to enjoy the fall season and take advantage of all that Hopkins and Baltimore have to offer.

The News-Letter: Where are you from? Where do you call home?

Bryant Williams: I'm from Baltimore, Maryland. I call home Baltimore, and Woodbury. I was raised in Woodbury. Right across from Druid Hill Park. I spent my life in the woods, going after bamboo, walking in red clay, which we called quicksand because we had an active imagination. So we called it quicksand, and that was during the day. Then at night, we would go out front and play catchers or freeze tag or stuff like that. Also during the day, we would go enjoy the park and go hunting for crayfish in the ponds.

N-L: Were there deer in Druid Hill Park then?

BW: Not at that time. They started coming around like '97. At that time there were just owls and hawks and foxes and rabbits. And squirrels and chipmunks, snakes - a lot of snakes. Yeah, the snakes would come across the street and come onto your porch. And I would think they're going to come into the house because they were, like, hunting people. But they were just looking for more hunting grounds. They were trying to get into the woods, but the houses were in the way.

N-L: Would you see them in your house sometimes?

BW: Not me. Other people. Yeah, I was lucky. Didn't see any.

N-L: Did you work anywhere before Hopkins? If so, where?

BW: Let me see, I did some different jobs downtown and at other security companies. I was there back in '98.

N-L: That's when you started working with Hopkins?

BW: Well I was actually at the Eisenhower library with a different company called Master Security. We were at the library and I was watching the students studying, and I was like, I'm gonna try to go back to college. So I went, I tried to go back to Coppin to be a zoologist. But I could not get past algebra. Algebra made me sick. I got lightheaded, almost threw up, almost passed out. I cried. It was terrible. It as just basic algebra. I had a terrible algebra teacher. I was like, I can't become a zoologist because I can't do algebra, so I quit. I was sad.

N-L: What did you want to do with zoology?

BW: I just wanted to go out into the Serengeti and watch animals, film them, in different parts of the world. Film animals, talk about them, learn about them. But I couldn't do it. It was terrible.

N-L: Which animal would you have wanted to focus on?

BW: Cats. Lots of cats. I just wanted to do the cats. I wanted to do the lions and the servals, and the leopards and cheetahs. And this one called a pampas cat. He looks like a house cat and his face is kind of smudged in. And he has lots of fur. They give you a mean like: "get out of my face, I'll go kill you!" They'll get in your face, just rub out your face, rub out your Adam's apple and scratch out your eyes.

N-L: How did you get into working in security?

BW: I used to work at Blockbuster. You ever heard of Blockbuster? There's like one Blockbuster left someplace in the south. At first, Blockbusters used to have off-duty police officers as security. Then the security guards were like "we want a raise" and Blockbuster said, "nah, bro, you're not getting a raise." So the cops were like "all right, fine, we out." So they left and we had to do security.

Then somebody robbed the Blockbuster. I didn't know that we were being robbed. I saw the manager's face. He was red, and I was like why is Tom's face red? And this other dude was like, "you got a problem with this?" And I was like, "Oh he's not talking to me." So I turned around and he was leaving. But his gun was inside his pocket.

N-L: So you went from working at the Blockbuster to Master Security?

BW: Yes, at Eisenhower and also on Beaver Dam Road. It was a quarry. A rock quarry where they get sand and basically a lot of rocks for seamen. There were a lot of deer around there and groundhogs and lots of birds and geese. Yeah, I had a run-in with a goose. It was a female goose in her nest. I wanted to know how close I could get to her before she would zap out. So I got from here to where that carpet is and all of a sudden I saw her mate. His head just popped up from the water. I was like, uh oh. And the homie started running and flapping his wings. I just wanted to see so I jetted. Okay, alright I got to see how close I could get.

N-L: Where did you work after that?

BW: I went from there to Peabody. It was very pretty. I just liked walking around. I couldn't touch the books because they were so ancient. I would just walk around there and just look at the shelves and the floor and how sparkly the brass railings were. Very sparkly. At first I thought it was gold.

After working for Master Security, I didn't do security for a while. I was a bill collector. That was fun… no it wasn't. You hear sob stories. I was almost crying. It was stressful. I had to work this job but I was there too long. Then I went to Securitas Security. I was downtown at Harbor East, just walking around. I was a rover, walking around, visiting stores, making sure everything was cool.

N-L: What has been your experience with Hopkins and Hopkins students? How long have you been working in a space with Hopkins students?

BW: Well, later on this month it'll be a full two years. And I've just been at this library and Brody. Sometimes I will be at the different residence halls. Either Wolman or Scotts-Bates or McCoy. And Rogers House and Bradford House. Yeah, those right there are boring because I gotta sit up. Well, I'm able to move around here, but there, if you want to move, you have to call for a replacement. I felt like I'm more locked-in, on lockdown. I don't like that.

N-L: Have you noticed anything change in Hopkins students? Are they generally the same vibe?

BW: Yeah, about the same vibe. Yeah, locked in, locked in, locked in - 'Gotta study'. I'm like, wow. I look at what they study, and I'm like, 'oh my god, that looks so scary.' Anything dealing with chemistry and physics, and calculus. Calculus III freaked me out. I'm like, what is that? I mean, I saw a trident, then I saw a rectangle. No, no, not a rectangle. A triangle and a bowl. And I'm like, why? A trident! Aquaman and Poseidon, they use the trident. The only thing about organic chemistry I understand is photosynthesis. It's so hard. I mean, like if you can survive Hopkins, you're ready for that world.

N-L: What is your biggest piece of advice for a student that's really stressed out, has a ton of work?

BW: Sleep. Stay strong, and be blessed and just sleep. Yes, and pray. Pray a lot.

N-L: Why do you like talking to students? Why is it important to you?

BW: Oh, to keep them encouraged, to help them to relax, not to let that stress get to them. Just relax and get them to laugh a little bit.

N-L: What does a typical day in the life look like for you?

BW: A day off? Sleep. I try to run errands. Go get things I need to get. I need to get some boots, some more boots, and I need another book bag. I have to make time to go for a walk in the park. At either Druid or Lincoln Park. I live across the street from another park. It's part of Gwynns Falls, and it's also part of Lincoln Park. So I walk over there. They have deer there too, and foxes and groundhogs and hawks. There's a hawk around there, and I haven't seen it yet, but I heard it.

N-L: What is your favorite food, because your meals always look great. And what are some of your favorite movies?

BW: Oh yeah, I like science fiction, and I like action adventure, and I love Star Wars. The originals, Lucas. First three, yeah, the first three and the prequels. Nothing that Disney made. I like some westerns. I like Tombstone with Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell, Clint Eastwood: A Few Dollars More, Fistful of Dollars and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

And my favorite food is spaghetti. Spaghetti with ground turkey and Prego sauce. I love Prego sauce.

N-L: What is your favorite song or album of all time?

BW: Favorite album of all time is 1999 by Prince. Also, Bob Marley Survival.

The Champions will be hunted

The Knicks went 16-3 through last year's playoffs, including 13 straight wins, the second-longest streak in playoff history. They beat the favorites, a dominant Spurs team, in five games, and Jalen Brunson took home Finals MVP.

However, oddsmakers still rank the Thunder and Spurs ahead of them when predicting who wins the title. It's clear that everyone going against the Knicks won't underestimate them; every opponent brings an extra effort against the champions. The Spurs in particular were and are a young and relatively inexperienced team, but losing a Finals teaches you things, and I expect them to be a lot sharper in high-pressure moments this time around.

History is also against New York. The league has had eight different champions in the last eight seasons, and the last repeat winners were the Warriors in 2017 and 2018. The Knicks are bringing back the exact same roster, and the odds still aren't with them. Then again, when were they ever?

The powerhouses in the East

In Philadelphia, LeBron James signed to begin what some call the final chapter of his career, joining stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. And if the 76ers didn't have enough talent, the franchise then landed Jaylen Brown from Boston for Paul George. Undoubtedly, the 76ers boast one of the most talented starting fives in the league, but only the season will speak to whether it fits together. LeBron turns 42 in December, and Embiid's health remains a worry. Several high-usage stars have to share one ball. The 76ers were also swept 4-0 by the Knicks in last year's conference semifinals, so they have something to prove from the first night.

Miami went big too, with the Heat acquiring two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo from Milwaukee, pairing him with Bam Adebayo. A physical, defense-first frontcourt suits the Heat's identity better than most superstar trades suit their teams. For Milwaukee, the deal ended a 13-season era and kicked off a rebuild.

Boston is the odd one out. The Celtics lost a recent Finals MVP in the Brown trade, but they should benefit from a full season of Jayson Tatum, who played only 16 games last year. Whether the deal was a smart reset or a mistake mostly comes down to Tatum's health.

Then there's Detroit. The Pistons were the East's top seed last year with a 60-win season, but they still lack scoring behind Cade Cunningham. They also traded Isaiah Stewart, one of the best rim protectors in the NBA, so that defense has something to prove.

The two-team rivalry in the West

The Oklahoma City Thunder had the league's best record at 64-18 and returns a core led by back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Last season, the team lost Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals to the Spurs while Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell were hurt, but it'll undoubtedly be a powerhouse again this season. As strong title contenders, the Spurs are still anchored by some of the league's best placers, De'Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and, of course, Victor Wembanyama. The NBA scheduled the rematch for the nightcap on opening night.

Elsewhere, the West is also busy. Minnesota made a win-now move for LaMelo Ball, and the Lakers, after losing LeBron, got Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade. Denver still has the league's best player, placing Nikola Jokić and his team as the fifth most likely to win a title.

Upcoming dates and takeaways

• Oct. 20: A high-profile triple-header opens the season, with Celtics-Pistons at 3 p.m., Knicks-76ers at Madison Square Garden at 7 p.m. and Thunder-Spurs at 9:30 p.m.
• Christmas Day: LeBron faces his old team in Los Angeles, and the Spurs visit the Knicks in a Finals rematch.
• February: All-Star Weekend comes to Phoenix.

The West will be decided by whether Oklahoma City's depth or San Antonio's upside wins out in a long series. The East has more upheaval, and nobody knows how much of it will pay off. Philadelphia has the talent, but championships are rarely won by the most gifted roster on paper, so I'd count on the Knicks' cohesion over the Sixers' star power, at least in the regular season. Miami will be quite an intriguing wildcard.

Still, I'm not sure any of this matters as much as I think it does. 53 years is a long time to wait, and I'm still getting used to calling my team "Champions." The odds say the Knicks will be hunted this year, and they're probably right. But what I love about basketball is that odds never play the game. A 6'2 guard can outshine a 7'4 giant, a team nobody picked can win 13 in a row and a drought can end on one electric June night. I can't wait to see the surprises this season will hold.

Migration is the area I know best through my studies and work experience, so I will focus primarily on that part of the summit. Mamdani welcomed the mayors and set his message on migration. While leaders "both in the United States and overseas," as he put it, "demonize and terrorize immigrants," he argued that migration is quite fundamental to a city's success. Mamdani sent a message far beyond New York City, whereby mayors from around the world came to an agreement.

Mamdani also made a point I think is the key to everything else. When a city fails at providing basic rights like housing or transit, people look for someone to blame, and newcomers, namely migrants, are the easiest target. If that's true, the best way to protect migrants is to make sure basic needs are met, and that tells cities exactly where to put their money.

First, housing. Newcomers deserve real homes, not to remain in temporary emergency housing. At the height of the asylum surge in January 2024, New York City was caring for nearly 70,000 asylum seekers, many of them in emergency sites that kept people safe but gave them no path to a stable life. Now the city plans to close its last emergency migrant shelter by the end of this year, and that's the right move as long as what replaces it is better. The money should go toward turning vacant buildings into apartments and helping families move into permanent homes so the next people who arrive are met with a welcoming and established neighborhood community. Those apartments help longtime New Yorkers too, which shows that welcoming newcomers and caring for current residents aren't in competition.

Second, jobs. Many migrants arrive with real skills but get stuck when it comes to receiving validation on work permits (especially during the current administration) and possibly language barriers. Picture a trained nurse waiting months for a work permit, relying on city services when she could be paying taxes and working at a hospital that needs her. While waiting for approval, cities could offer funding for legal clinics that help people file applications thoroughly, offer some training or even help to partner employers with newcomers for an easier transition. So much can be done.

How the money is spent matters just as much as where. The people migrants trust most are usually community groups, religious organizations and neighbors from back home. Migrants are often rightfully skeptical of government buildings and offices due to fear of potential detention or questioning. Cities should give these groups steady, longer-term funding instead and should team up with employers so job training leads to taking on actual jobs. They should also keep working with each other, sharing costs and information so no city is left to handle a surge alone. Mamdani's summit was the start of exactly that.

Spending on migrants is a controversial subject because residents often cannot afford to pay rent or live in an area of high unemployment, which sometimes creates the stereotype that migrants are taking jobs from non-migrants. But that's the point of the summit: housing and jobs help everyone at once. If cities win the power and money the mayors asked for, the plan should be simple: homes before shelters, jobs that use people's skills and building partnerships among one another. That's how cities can prove the summit's core message: migration makes them stronger.

Sabrina Bet-Mansour is a senior from London, England, studying International Studies.

Friday

Flaunt: When Appearance Speaks Exhibition Preview Party, American Visionary Art Museum, 7:15 p.m.

The American Visionary Art Museum celebrates the opening of Flaunt: When Appearance Speaks, its 31st major thematic exhibition, with an evening of art, music and food. The exhibition features more than 60 works exploring self-expression through clothing, sculpture, photography and transformed everyday materials. Guests can enjoy remarks from the director, curator and featured artists, as well as light fare, a signature cocktail and music from DJ Carl of Collective DJs. Suggested attire is "Nowhere to wear this!" Tickets are $50, with free admission for Fan Club members.

Pieces of a Dream 50th Anniversary Celebration, Keystone Korner Baltimore, 1350 Lancaster St., Oct. 9 and 10, 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.

Celebrate five decades of jazz fusion with Pieces of a Dream at Keystone Korner Baltimore on October 9 and 10. Known for their catchy riffs, infectious grooves and compelling vocals, the band has shared the stage with musical legends including Miles Davis, Count Basie and James Brown. The anniversary performances feature Curtis Harmon on drums, James Lloyd on keyboards, Tony Watson on saxophone, Elec Simon on percussion, Stacey Richardson on vocals, Carolyn Brewer on keyboards and vocals, and John Hall on bass. Tickets range from $20 to $75.

Saturday

Baltimore Taco Festival, Power Plant Live!, October 10-11, 2-8 p.m.

The Baltimore Taco Festival returns for its ninth annual celebration, bringing more than 30 food vendors to Power Plant Live! for a weekend of tacos, entertainment and family-friendly activities. Visitors can enjoy lucha libre wrestling, mariachi music, folkloric dance performances, giant margarita bars, a tequila expo, local artisan vendors and taco-eating contests. Families can also visit a free pumpkin patch, enjoy pumpkin painting and explore a kids' fun zone. General admission runs from 2-8 p.m., while VIP entry begins at noon and includes drink and food vouchers, access to a private area, and an unlimited nacho bar. Children 10 and under can attend for free. Tickets are required, and the event takes place rain or shine.

Baltimore Open Studio Tour Weekend, 7 St. Paul St., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

The Baltimore Open Studio Tour returns October 10-11, inviting art lovers, students and collectors to explore the creative process behind Baltimore's local art scene. The citywide event gives visitors the opportunity to meet professional artists, see works in progress, learn about different artistic practices and purchase original artwork directly from creators. The tour offers a chance to connect with the artists shaping Baltimore's creative community and discover new work in studios across the city.

Sunday

My Sunday Market at The Avenue, THE AVENUE at White Marsh, 8125 Honeygo Blvd., 11 a.m.

Spend Sunday browsing handmade goods and supporting local creators at My Sunday Market at The Avenue at White Marsh. The free community market features more than 50 local vendors, live music, themed crafts, face painting and food from nearby eateries. Visitors can bring a blanket for a picnic on the turf, enjoy the outdoor atmosphere and explore a variety of handmade products. The event welcomes all ages, and dogs are permitted in the outdoor common areas. This month's market also features an acoustic performance by Mudbugs Duo.

In Galiatsatos' eyes, medicine does not begin when a patient enters a hospital. It begins at the patients' schools, homes, neighborhoods and churches. Giving care and personalizing it starts at the places where people live long before they become patients.

Drawing from years of community work throughout Baltimore as well as his Baltimorean upbringing, he reflected on his experiences with community that pushed him to reconsider the traditional boundaries of a physician's role.

The idea for this book, he explained, came about years earlier when he was still completing his medical training. After hearing Galiatsatos describe his approach to community engagement, one of his mentors told him: "You should write a book."

At the time, Galiatsatos said, writing one seemed unrealistic while he was still trying to finish his medical training. Years later, however, the suggestion stayed with him as his work increasingly brought him outside the hospital and into Baltimore communities.

Eventually, the questions he received from others changed as well. People no longer only wanted to know what he was doing; they wanted to understand how they could do it themselves.

"What is your approach? How do you begin to do this?" Galiatsatos recalled people asking.

The resulting book is partly an answer to those questions. But Galiatsatos emphasized that he did not want it to function simply as an instruction manual. Instead, he described it as an "ode to Baltimore," with stories of community members who shaped his understanding of medicine and challenged assumptions he carried with him as a physician.

One story Galiatsatos shared involved his early work with Armistead Gardens, an East Baltimore community. It's considered an urban island, creating practical barriers to health care such as transportation, and the students in this community were frequently missing school because of asthma.

His first instinct was a medical one. Baltimore had pediatric pulmonologists, major hospitals and extensive healthcare resources. If asthma was keeping children home from school, he initially wondered why those resources were not solving the problem.

But going into the community changed the question.

A prescription could treat asthma, but it could not guarantee that a parent working long hours could reach a pharmacy. A specialist could recommend care, but that recommendation meant little if transportation made accessing it difficult. Health outcomes, he realized, were being shaped by factors that could not be understood from an exam room alone.

Those experiences forced Galiatsatos to confront the assumptions physicians can make when they encounter a patient's illness without encountering the conditions surrounding it.

The lesson became central to his broader argument: physicians cannot address health disparities exclusively through better treatment after someone becomes sick. They must also understand the social circumstances that repeatedly bring patients back into the healthcare system.

For Galiatsatos, that requires presence.

"Half the job that we'll do is just showing up, listening to them, standing in it and trying to find resources," Galiatsatos said.

Throughout the talk, Galiatsatos returned repeatedly to the idea of "showing up." Community engagement, in his telling, is not a one-time screening or outreach event. Physicians must spend enough time in communities to understand their priorities rather than arriving with predetermined solutions.

That distinction becomes especially important amid declining public trust in medicine.

Galiatsatos argued that healthcare institutions have traditionally expected patients to come to them. Hospitals and clinics remain essential, but they represent only one part of people's lives. Schools, churches, neighborhood organizations and other community spaces may hold relationships that stretch back years.

If medicine wants to regain trust, he argued, it must become present within the places people already trust.

Understanding these conditions, though, does not make medicine less scientific, Galiatsatos emphasized. It makes physicians better equipped to understand the circumstances in which disease develops.

Galiatsatos acknowledged that physicians cannot individually solve every social problem affecting their patients. But he rejected the idea that this limitation should keep them confined within hospital walls. Sometimes, he suggested, the first meaningful intervention is simpler: entering a community, listening to what people say they need and remaining present long enough to earn their trust.

Medicine for the Greater Good ultimately presents that philosophy not as an addition to medicine, but as part of medicine itself. Treating disease may begin with understanding the body. Caring for a person, however, requires understanding everything around it.

Three years after 9/11, To Catch a Predator premiered in 2004. Primetime places itself in 2006, near the end of the show's run. The film is a period piece situated in the mid-2000s with every accuracy accounted for: Fergie, flip-phones, Subway's Jared and constant coverage of the Iraq War.

Initially, the audience sees Dateline NBC news anchor Stone Phillips (Bill Heck) report the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Right after this clip, Hansen runs into Phillips in the NBC building, and Phillips condescendingly compliments Hansen, who begrudgingly thanks him. Once this moment passes, Phillips as a direct rivaling force also leaves the story, and the two never interact again.

His presence, and his wider coverage of the War on Terror, are never true motivators for Hansen's ambitions to be a surpassing force. However, Phillips and his reports of Hussein's trial return while Hansen does seek out bigger, more spectacular predators.

The images of Hussein are not the only repeated signs of the War on Terror. Osama bin Laden's face is seen as the target in the police practice room just before the climatic ending raid on the last predator of Hansen's show. This raid is also staged like the reports of SEAL Team Six's raid on bin Laden himself.

The most obvious callback to the War on Terror comes right out of Hansen's mouth. Before the last raid, there's a moment of hesitation from the decoy who needs to lure out Hansen's target. Hansen repeats George W. Bush's "you're either with us, or against us," which the former president used in his launch of his anti-terroism campaign. While the U.S. leader had specifically said "you're a terrorist if you weren't with 'us,'" Hansen says the decoy must be aligning himself with the predator if he refuses to do his part.

Terrorism and pedophilia are obviously distinct crimes; neither director Lance Oppenheim or screenwriter Ajon Singh argue otherwise. However, by positioning the War on Terror with reality television and associating the word "terrorists" with "predators," Primetime does convey a shared political fantasy between the two threats.

There's a fantasy that danger can be identified and eliminated before it reaches you without exploiting yourself or others in doing so. The sexual predator and the terrorist are both invisible but pre-existing enemies: an ever-present anonymous threat that commands surveillance and preemption in the name of prevention.

"In discipline, it is the subjects who have to be seen. Their visibility assures the hold of the power that is exercised over them. It is the fact of being constantly seen, of being able always to be seen, that maintains the disciplined individual in his subjection," says Foucault in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison.

To Catch a Predator reifies Foucault's visibility as a trap into visibility as a punishment. Once identified, the threat of a predator cannot remain unseen; it presents itself as chatlogs, voice messages and finally, on video. The spectacle of the scaffold becomes the spectacle of the television, and Oppenheim's Hansen echoes this:

"There used to be a pillory in every civilized town. Now, there's television in every home."

The pillory and the television do not serve as vehicles of justice; guilt is pre-determined by the time whoever is guilty is on display. The display is entertainment, and the entertainment should capture the viewer.

"We need the spectacular, the best of the best," Hansen says when he realizes To Catch a Predator needs to increase viewership.

He starts looking for what he calls a "whale," a predator referred to as a creature he can catch and parade. Hansen becomes an Ishmael-type, cataloging the search for a true vessel to blame for the evils he's against. When this whale threatens to escape, Hansen is willing to manipulate everything around him to get it.

Like there were no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, there's no perfect whale for Hansen to catch. Still, the paranoid search for an internal enemy remained. The PATRIOT Act and all its associates won; there's no discerning against the surveillance culture around us anymore. Most people don't even notice it.

Primetime depicts the apparatus of predator-baiting and hunting as public justice masquerading as voyeuristic pleasure. It asks us to look at the ugly truth of a moral crusade being based on some form of falsification. Hansen's predators or America's terrorists may have been threats, but the people who took them down were liars. The only American certainty is to push forward, believing in a mistaken sense of morality.

The event featured Nagaraja's Troop Movements: Labor, Race, and Global Freedom Struggles in America's World War II. The book adopts a bottom-up, multi-scalar approach, examining how World War II mobilization brought workers into overlapping struggles over labor, race, citizenship and broader political and societal change during and after the war.

Schrader opened the conversation by emphasizing the book's attention to ordinary people's ability to shape political change.

"World War II is thought of as a moment of political consensus, but when you look beneath the surface, there was a lot of contestation and conflict, [...] and a lot of that conflict was powered by workers who were trying to build more equal and racially integrated workplaces," Schrader commented.

Nagaraja teaches at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. He began his presentation with photographs of actors and activists Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. By drawing connections between their wartime experiences and their later activism, Nagaraja argued that World War II should not be understood solely as a period of national unity against Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. Instead, Nagaraja centered defence workers and military personnel who participated in strikes, civil-rights campaigns and protests over working conditions and racial discrimination while contributing to the war effort.

"World War II is not just this nice prologue of unity." Nagaraja said, "Actually, the conflicts that happened in the early 1940s tell us a lot about the conflicts that would shape the 60s and the 2020s."

Schrader then asked why Nagaraja places defense-industry workers and soldiers within the same framework.

"The lines were blurred between the foreign and the domestic in this particular war," said Nagaraja, "tens of millions were serving in the armed forces and the defense industries in what I call a composite workforce, and that created blurred experiences and the possibilities for linked coalitions too."

Nagaraja also connected wartime racial politics to policing. He recounted the 1942 killing of Black servicemember Thomas Broadus by a Baltimore police officer while Broadus was on leave. The case became a rallying point for local civil-rights activists, labor organizers and students, who organized around demands such as police reform, housing rights and desegregation.

The conversation later widened beyond Baltimore to the immediate aftermath of the war. Nagaraja described 1945 and 1946 as an uncertain period between World War II and the emerging Cold War, when workers and service members across different countries organized strikes and protests while anti-colonial movements challenged European empires.

He pointed to American service members and merchant mariners who questioned support for European efforts to restore colonial control in places such as Vietnam and Indonesia.

"They actually made people-to-people connections in that moment," Nagaraja said, "and they envisioned another world."

Returning to the civil rights movement, Schrader asked how the organizing of the 1940s connected to the activism of the 1960s. Nagaraja pointed to wartime migration and military service as opportunities for Black workers to build coalitions across regions and national borders.

"And so that civil rights movement was a labor movement, and that civil rights movement was in tension with policing and incarceration, and that civil rights movement was a global struggle," Nagaraja said.

Eva Klaus, a student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, recalled how the event offered an opportunity to explore activism and meet people with shared interests in an interview with The News-Letter.

"This is one of the events that I liked the most." Klaus continued, "I actually read part of his book while he was doing the talk, and while of course it's difficult to both absorb the information that I read and listen to his talk, I really liked the amount of depth he went into with his not only his book but his actual talks."

Baltimore resident Ryan Hardey, who works on global trade policy, said his interest came from the relationship between war and social movements in an interview with The News-Letter.

"Being present in a longer conversation with somebody, especially like Tej, who's such an expert," Hardey stated. "It just makes us smarter people."

"Chris Sale and Pray for Hail"

I am a Braves fan and couldn't resist writing about the Braves finally getting over the hump in the postseason against their always feisty division rival. The Phillies have been death for America's Team in the past decade but clutch hitting and unlikely big-time performances on the mound proved to be enough for the Braves to outlast the Phillies in 2026.

In the '50s, there was a catchphrase of "Spahn then Sain then pray for rain" when the Braves only had two good starting pitchers, but for the 2026 Braves, "Chris Sale and Pray for Hail" might be more accurate. Injuries have hampered the Braves' rotation, requiring Chris Sale to put the team on his back in this three-game set, pitching into the seventh inning in the Game 1 victory before getting the final four outs in Game 3 on only one day's rest. Journeyman Ray Kerr also had a huge performance in the deciding game of the series, but a beleaguered Braves team now stares down a Goliath in the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Divisional Round. Don't cross your fingers.

A Yankees three-Headed monster

Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz. Schlittler, Fried and Cole. That could very well be the company for this trio of starters atop the Yankees rotation. Fried and Cole are well-established veterans who have been torturing big league hitters for a decade, while 25-year-old Cam Schlittler has burst onto the scene in his first full MLB season with a Cy Young-caliber season. The three are also already more than proven when October rolls around. Max Fried was part of the 2021 Braves World Series squad, while Gerrit Cole has pitched in two different World Series and owns a 2.77 ERA in 133.1 career postseason innings. Cam Schlitter has the shortest resume of the three but in his young career has been an outstanding big game performer. In his three career postseason appearances, he has only allowed two runs in 20.2 innings.

The Rays earned the top spot in the American League, but the Yankees have firepower in their rotation that perhaps only New York money can buy. This series will be the classic clash between a scrappy small market team and the bruising Bronx Bombers roster.

Is anyone hotter than the Padres?

The San Diego Padres finished the season scorching hot and parlayed that into a decisive sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the Wild Card. Their success is in large part due to a plethora of backend bullpen arms highlighted by star closer Mason Miller. Miller has been unhittable this year. He sports a 1.67 ERA while leading the NL in saves and recording 129 strikeouts in only 70 innings. Adrian Morejon, Bradgley Rodriguez and Yuki Matsui have also been dominant in 2026, giving the Padres an arsenal of relief pitchers at their disposal.

Their lineup also packs some punch with star outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. leading the charge. The Friars match up with the Milwaukee Brewers in the Divisional Round and will be heavy underdogs. However, history has shown that momentum and a bullpen can get you a long way in the MLB playoffs, so watch out for the Padres to potentially go on a run.

Rizk, who hails from Jezzine, a mountainous town in Lebanon (a country he emphasized is, in fact, not a desert), became interested in autonomous vehicles while pursuing his PhD at Georgia Tech.

"[I participated in] a competition for autonomous drones to fly from point A to point B, pick up an object, deliver it to point C and come back to point A."

His team became the first to conceptualize and build a quadcopter. This four-rotor design is very stable because two rotors spin clockwise and the other two spin counterclockwise, generating equal and opposite torques that keep it in the air. Rizk recounted demonstrating the design to a U.S. Navy captain, an encounter which suggested people can often not see immediate value in ingenious ideas.

"[The captain] looked at it and said 'That's a pretty cool toy, but what do I do with it?'"

However, they could only afford to carry one camera on board, given the bulky size of the computer that processed video in real time to aid in navigation.

"That's really when I realized that the world of AI, the world of autonomy, is not going to take off unless you solve the vision problem." Rizk said, alluding to his eureka moment.

Rizk corroborated the hypothesis that vision was the limiting factor in translating many technologies into real-world products while working in the aerospace industry and collaborating with the defense world, settings in which people still relied on the traditional camera and computer set-up to collect data and make decisions in real time.

Inspired by the human eye's ability to process visual information alongside the brain, detecting contrast, color and minute details, Rizk founded Oculi. Its technology centers on the sensing and processing unit (SPU) it created. The SPU is composed of pixels with individual logic and memory, allowing each pixel to process the visual data it captures and determine whether it is of interest before sending it to a downstream processing unit. This approach can minimize energy consumption by reducing the power required for data transfer.

Additionally, Oculi offers an enticing solution for data privacy, as its technology can make decisions without even generating an image of the scene. However, a trade-off remains between collecting more data - on the off-chance it is needed - and giving up data that might be useful.

"You can save up to $50 billion in energy every year if you make them smart," Rizk described.

Oculi's main focus is commercial applications of its SPU. Take sliding doors, for instance. Rizk believes that instead of going after superintelligence, current work in the field should stop and consider basic functions in the world that still aren't well automated, like why a sliding door opens even when walking past it or just waving a hand in front of it. With Oculi's SPU, this issue could be tackled by programming the door to open only when someone walks toward it with the intention of passing through.

Rizk explained these applications might not have the same allure as using an SPU in unmanned defense vehicles operating in off-grid terrain, but they could have an immediate impact. In Northern Japan, for example, black bears sometimes venture into urban environments in winter to find food. There have been instances where bears have gone into supermarkets simply because a sliding door opened for them, a calamity that could easily have been avoided with an SPU. Adding vision can also reduce pedestrian deaths, help the visually impaired community and cut energy and money wasted on heating, cooling and lighting.

Rizk is fueled by problems like these, which exemplify what it means to engineer solutions for humanity's greater good. He is quick to point out, however, that in startups - unlike in academia - he has to consider not just what he wants to do, but also what his investors want. When asked what advice he would give students grappling with different career options, he was clear: be honest with yourself and ask whether you're competent and self-motivated.

"[If you are,] you should go start your own company or join a startup or small company," Rizk remarked.

The future for physical AI is promising, particularly as startups like Oculi pave the way for dynamic solutions that can revolutionize everything from traffic management systems to electronic devices. Rizk firmly believes the vision problem is the Achilles' heel we need to tackle to engineer a safer, greener and more efficient future.

1. The bag itself: This navy Longchamp Le Pliage Original Tote bag has been around longer than I have, always faithfully draped over my mom's shoulder on every errand, vacation and doctor's appointment. Using that very bag now for college feels almost surreal; I spent my childhood watching it follow my mom through so much of her adult life, and now it follows me as I begin mine. The frayed corners and the worn leather straps make me feel as though she's right here with me. Carrying my mom's bag each day has become a way of keeping her close while she's more than 3,000 miles away.

2. HeyTea laptop sleeve: I never used a laptop sleeve before, but apparently all it took was a free one to change that. Over the summer, my best friend and I woke up at six in the morning and drove 30 minutes to the grand opening of the HeyTea in my hometown. The result? This free white puffy laptop sleeve, which now houses my Mac.

3. My iPad: a non-negotiable for notes and schoolwork. My 30-hour GoodNotes screen time each week can probably speak for itself.

4. My Owala: an investment made by my 10th-grade self. The scratches and dents are evidence of all the highs and lows we've been through together. It's become my emotional support water bottle, even though it's gotten a little wobbly on its feet after all these years.

5. My Sony headphones: a gift from my dad from one of his many business trips abroad. These headphones have accompanied me on every plane ride, workout and study session since. I am the student I am today because of noise-cancelling. Thank you, Dad.

6. Mentholatum Melty Cream Lip Balm: basically Japanese Aquaphor.

7. A banana clip: a hair accessory I recently discovered that has quickly become my favorite. It's not quite a claw clip, but it works perfectly with my thin hair. It lets me put my hair up and out of my face while I'm working without the headache-inducing tightness of a ponytail.

8. Blue-light glasses: spoiler alert: I have 20/20 vision, but I like wearing glasses, so it's me and my $12 blue-light glasses from Amazon against the world. After all, I need to protect my eyes somehow from the absurd amount of time I spend on GoodNotes every week.

9. Mini portable fan: the most recent addition to my bag. Baltimore's end-of-summer humidity has been a rude awakening for me. I'm never taking Cali weather for granted again.

10. An Omamori: a protective amulet from my senior trip to Tokyo. Knowing this little amulet is in my bag feels like I'm carrying a bit of good luck wherever I go. It reminds me to trust that everything will work out, even when I'm far from home and still figuring things out for myself.

Reflecting on the long-term residents of my bag left me feeling oddly nostalgic and homesick and, in a way, gave me a better understanding of myself. I never really gave much thought to why I carry these things beyond what they're designed to do, but I've realized that each one has its own story and is, in some way, uniquely meaningful to me. Together, they represent the people, places and moments that have shaped who I am. Of course, I have been warned about using a shoulder bag for college, but I'll check back at the end of the semester, hopefully still with symmetrical shoulders and no back problems.