In an email to The News-Letter, the History Department explained its decision to invite Lew-Williams to speak about this topic.

"[Immigration] is a hot button political topic, and it has shaped American history in profound and abiding ways. It is a subject of interest to all kinds of students and scholars as well. We also have a new undergraduate track in Law and History. The History Department wanted to use the Stulman Lecture to shine a light on this vital topic and the importance of law in shaping immigration regimes," the department wrote.

The event began with Lew-Williams contextualizing the word "Chinaman." She explained that it was used to denote inferiority rather than overt racism.

"It was not sort of an aggressive racial slur [in the 19th century]... It had a weight to it. It conveyed a sense of inferiority, and it's really only over time that it became this more aggressive racial slur," Lew-Williams said.

Lew-Williams also explained that the word "Chinaman" aligns with the anonymity of Chinese individuals in immigration records.

"[Americans] recorded 2,581 Chinese people, but only about two dozen of them had names. But everyone else is listed in this way, as a Chinaman," Lew-Williams explained.

To research her book, Lew-Williams visited archives across California to investigate what Chinese people were permitted to do in U.S. society, how laws and government policies shaped their behavior and how they endured, negotiated or resisted these restrictions.

Lew-Williams mainly searched for trial transcripts from local court cases, which proved difficult because of how anonymous and rare the cases were. During her search, she stumbled upon many photographs, offering another way to examine how Chinese individuals were monitored.

One individual was photographed in different mug shots for separate instances. Initially, he wore his hair in a traditional queue, a hairstyle that symbolized loyalty to the Qing government, but he later shaved it off. She explained that this could serve as a way to make it harder for him to return to China.

"To cut Chinese hair of Chinese men at this time was to make them an outcast, make it difficult for him to return to China," Lew-Williams said.

Sheriffs maintained mug books of Chinese individuals, including those who had not committed crimes, as a way to monitor the Chinese population. Lew-Williams explained that this was a part of federal immigration policy through the Geary Act of 1892.

"One of the Chinese Exclusion Acts, the Geary Act, required that all Chinese immigrants be photographed and registered at a time before passports, before sort of this, you know, carrier documents… This is really one of the early examples of having to carry papers in order to live within the United States," Lew-Williams said.

Also, Lew-Williams worked with Hannah Postel, an assistant professor of Public Policy at Duke University, and they found over 1,000 anti-Chinese discrimination laws. She classifies these laws into three groups: identity-based, behavior-based and general outcast groups that regulate the economic, political, social and spatial behavior of the Chinese.

Lew-Williams then discussed Chinese racial segregation. She read an excerpt from Chinese man Pany Lowe's testimony that recounted his experience with finding housing outside Chinatown.

"I want to live in residential district, but they make lots of trouble if you try to live outside Chinatown. One friend, he born in this country, he buy $6000 house in the Rose City District. White people make hell lot of trouble for him. They take it to court. He fight it. Just the same, they kick him out. He can own house, but no live there. I think that very unjust. Those people very uncivilized have no regard for humanity," the excerpt read.

In another example, the Sanborn Fire Insurance Company mapped which homes Chinese people lived in to insure them against fire, a stereotype that the Chinese associate with a risk of fire. Also, cities created a dissimilarity index that forced lots of Chinese residents to move out of cities to create "perfect integration."

Lew-Williams attributes the causes of Chinese segregation to racial zoning laws, alien laws, violence, racial restrictive covenants and real estate practices.

Regarding violence, the Chinese were burned out of Truckee, California in 1878 and forced to relocate to the other side of the river in the town. A similar event happened in San Jose, California where the Chinese were burned out of the heart of the city and forced to resettle in reservations on the outskirts.

Also, racial restrictive covenants complicated the Chinese's lives. A lease from 1886 in Ventura County prohibited the selling and leasing of property to Chinese individuals.

"It was fought out in a case called Gandolfo v. Hartman, and it was found actually by the California courts to be unconstitutional to have these racial restrictive covenants," Lew-Williams shared.

Unfortunately, lawyers and judges used this case as another means of enforcing racial segregation. Lew-Williams highlights the parallels between Chinese and Black racial zoning.

"It's an example of a technology that sort of first experimented on the West Coast, and then becomes, you know, so elemental to Black segregation later," she said.

At the end, the program transitioned to its Q&A section. An audience member asked Lew-Williams whether she finds hope and inspiration within Chinese resistance. 90,000 Chinese people disobeyed the Geary Act.

"The U.S. government didn't have at the time the money or the manpower or perhaps the will to actually deport them all, and so… it showed how, you know, mass resistance actually did curtail the government for a short period," Lew-Williams said.

Another attendee asked about the experience of second- and third-generation Chinese immigrants in terms of legal and cultural discrimination.

"Since Chinese were so associated with exclusion and foreign medicine as immigrants… we see that [the second and third generations are] not treated as full U.S. citizens," Lew-Williams remarked.

In an interview with The News-Letter, second-year History and Latin Studies student Jasmin Mendoza-Aragon shared the importance of learning about the history of anti-Chinese discrimination in the U.S. because of how racial exclusion has shaped U.S. immigration policy.

"There is a pattern in U.S. history when it comes to immigration, of where they have excluded a lot of people, beginning with the Chinese, and then the Japanese, and then the Indians, and then it goes towards, like, people trying to escape third countries that have had, like, extreme violence, such as the Cubans and the Haitians," Mendoza-Aragon commented.

The protest began at 5 p.m. Demonstrators held signs reading "We are Jane Doe" and "I am Jane Doe" as they followed one of the co-organizers, Ally Donovan, in chanting, "We love you. We believe you. We will fight for you." Throughout the rally, survivors of sexual violence and their supporters delivered speeches addressing the impact of sexual assault, calling for greater support and solidarity with survivors.

Donovan is a graduate student at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. In an interview with The News-Letter, she said that the protest aimed to provide a space for Baltimore residents to express solidarity with survivors amid recent national attention to campus sexual violence.

"Our intention was to bring the community in general together to support sexual violence survivors… and to ensure that we hold a space here in Baltimore where survivors can gather with the difficult times that we're experiencing right now with everything in the news cycle," she said.

Donovan further explained that the demonstration was intended to show solidarity with Jane Doe, the former Cornell student whose lawsuit has drawn national attention, and Kendall Francis, a Louisiana State University student who has publicly challenged her university's handling of a sexual assault complaint.

The protest was titled "From the Frat House to the White House: Stop Sexual Violence," and it was part of a national day of action organized by Women's March, me too. International, Feminist Generation and FEMINIST.

The national demonstrations followed a civil lawsuit filed on Sept. 16 by a former Cornell student identified under the pseudonym Jane Doe. The lawsuit alleges that seven members of Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity sexually assaulted her in October 2024 after she consumed alcohol and was pressured into taking ketamine.

Cornell's internal disciplinary proceedings resulted in the expulsion of two students and the suspension of two others. No criminal charges have been filed against the accused in connection with the allegations. After local prosecutors reopened the investigation on Sept. 28, New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to investigate this incident.

So far, all of the seven men denied wrongdoing, and none have faced criminal charges. Moonies Bar & Nightclub denied serving Jane Doe alcohol when she was underage.

Beyond the Cornell case, the national campaign called for stronger Title IX enforcement, expanded campus support services for survivors of sexual violence and the abolition of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. At Patterson Park, participants also emphasized the importance of community support and institutional responsibility.

For Edith, a student at Baltimore School for the Arts, the protest offered an opportunity to connect with others who shared her concerns.

"I've heard a lot about everything that's going on right now, and I just have a lot of feelings about it," she said to The News-Letter. "And I wanted to be surrounded by people who also have the same feelings."

Teresa Lancaster, an attorney, advocate and survivor who attended the protest, emphasized the need for strong protections against sexual violence in institutions such as churches and universities in an interview with The News-Letter.

"These universities need to take a stronger look into what goes on and stop brushing it over just because a lot of the students have money," Lancaster said.

Despite her concerns about institutional accountability, Lancaster expressed optimism about the demonstration's potential impact.

"I'm very delighted to see many people turn out and recognize that this was wrong, that [it] needs to be right," she said. "[I've] been fighting for it all my life, and we're seeing it."

The meeting then moved into reports from the executive branch of SGA, as well as a report from the SGA Advisor about a planned social event for SGA senators. Then the meeting allowed for individual reports from senators, during which Senator Paul Woo gave a report on potentially replacing two-factor authentication with passkeys on University Wi-Fi, as well as the possibility of establishing a community garden on the Homewood campus.

President of the Senate Jazzlyn Fernandez then announced that SGA members in attendance would be nominating a Senator of the Month for September. Student Athlete Caucus Chair Sophia Baleeiro was chosen for the title.

Senator Peter Tarpley then gave a presentation about the state of SGA's budget, in which he shared that SGA is slightly overspending and advised a weekly spending budget of $4,500.

The meeting then entered legislative procedures. Vice President of the Senate Shreeman Patel introduced a bill for first reading about the establishment of a caucus for transfer students, which was referred to the Internal Affairs Committee. Senator Paul Woo then introduced a bill aiming to amend the bylaws to explicitly appoint a member of SGA to the University's Cross-Institutional Student Advisory Committee (CSAC,) an advisory board made of students from all of the University's campuses. The bill was also referred to the Internal Affairs Committee after a moderated caucus, in which SGA members mentioned that Sophomore Class President Veda Kommineni already serves as SGA's appointee to the CSAC. Senator Sophia Baleeiro also introduced a bill to fund T-shirts for the Student Athlete Advisory Council, which was referred to the Finance Committee.

Sophomore Class President Veda Kommineni then discussed her bill, which was in its second reading. The bill focused on a tabling event for SGA, in which students will be able to give feedback to SGA. The committee then motioned for a moderated caucus to discuss whether an online survey or index cards were the best method to gather feedback. After Kommineni's bill was passed, the meeting moved into cohort time and then adjourned.

This October, dash into the fields of Autumn, petticoat swishing, with Georgia Oakley's new adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. The film will follow the love stories of the Dashwood sisters, with Elinor Dashwood played by Normal People star Daisy Edgar-Jones, and Marianne Dashwood played by Esmé Creed-Miles. The cast will also feature Caitríona Balfe, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Frank Dillane and George Mackay. Oakley's adaptation faces high expectations, as Emma Thompson and Ang Lee's 1995 adaptation was incredibly celebrated and successful during the time of its release and is still held close to many Austen-fan's hearts. This 2026 adaptation had an early release in the United Kingdom on Sept. 25, but United States audiences will gain access starting Oct. 16.

In Mother Tongue: Immersions and Other True Stories, Faro Morábito travels across the world through the one thing that connects us most to each of our homes: language. The book alternates between and blends fiction and essay, exploring the concepts of translation, language and their influences on the minutiae of our lives. The multilingual Morábito was born in Egypt to Italian parents, was raised in Milan and has lived and published in Mexico City since the age of 14. He has published numerous poetry books in Spanish, but not without maintaining connection to his roots, publishing also a great amount of Spanish translations of great Italian poets. A linguistic cosmopolitan, Morábito tackles cross-linguistic relationships, literary aspirations, genres and conventions in Mother Tongue, releasing Oct. 13.

Carrying on with linguistic cosmopolitanism, expand your musical horizons with Belgian pop singer Angèle. Daughter of the singer Marka and comedian Laurence Bibot, Angèle grew up with a multitude of artistic influences. She is most known in the anglophone world for her feature on Dua Lipa's "Fever" remixed on the Future Nostalgia Digital Reissue. Angèle's newest album, Instinct, fits into a modern pop genre of electronic synth dance music with singles like "Dis-le," "Une seule vie." The single "Love Triangle" features art-pop singer Caroline Polachek and electronic musician SebestiAn; the song contains both Belgian-French and English lyrics. Interested in a European Fall? Check out Angèle's Instinct when it releases on Oct. 16.

Stay in the francophone world with the Walter Art Museum's free Sunday Screening event showing avant-garde artist Jean Cocteau's Orpheus. The film stars Jean Marais, Cocteau's lover, as the titular poet Orpheus, who betrays his wife Eurydice (Marie Déa) as he slowly falls in love with Death (María Casares) herself. A spectacle from the 1950's, Orpheus features beautiful and breathtaking early special effects and uses the Orphic gaze to analyze sight and the visual. By the "happy" end of the film, it is not the power of love over death which wins out, but the power of death's love. Watch this beautiful classic black-and-white film from 1-3 p.m. on Oct. 18 at the Walters Art Museum for free entry with prior registration.

To watch…

• Sense and Sensibility, directed by Georgia Oakley - Oct. 16
• You Can See Everything, directed by Lance Oppenheim, Nathan Fielder - Oct. 16
• Crawlers, directed by Ángel Gómez Hernández - Oct. 16
• You Can't Leave, directed by Scott Windhauser - Oct. 16
• Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub, directed by Kook-Hee Choi - Oct. 16

To read…

• Mother Tongue: Immersion and Other True Stories, written by Faro Morábito - Oct. 13
• The Third Love, written by Hiromi Kawakami - Oct. 13
• On Un/Certainty: The Uses of Doubt in Dangerous Times, written by Natasha Lennard - Oct. 13
• Luna, Phoenix, Queen, written by Julie Orringer - Oct. 13
• We Survived the Night, written by Julian Brave Noisecat - Oct. 13

To listen…

• Instinct, by Angèle - Oct. 16
• Dopamine Chamber, by Fontaines D.C. - Oct. 16
• Confessions of a Lonely Heart, by Eric Nam - Oct. 16
• ALOUD!, by Lucky Daye - Oct. 16
• "Housewife", by Tate Mcrae - Oct. 15

Live events…

• Sunday Screening: Jean Cocteau's Orpheus - Oct. 18, 1-3 p.m. at the Walters Art Museum
  • This event is free with registration.
• 8th Annual Indigenous Powwow - Oct. 12, 12-2 p.m. at Decker Quad
  • This event is free with registration.
• Lunch with the Libraries & Museums: Artists' Books from A to B and Back Again - Oct. 16, 12-1 p.m. online
  • This event is free with registration.
• 2026 Latin American Film Festival: "A Poet" - Oct. 14, 5-7 p.m. at Mergenthaler Hall 266
  • This event is free.
• Jessica M. Floyd with Steven Dashiell: THE SONS OF NEPTUNE - Oct. 15, 6 p.m at Bird in Hand
  • This event is free with registration.

Sands opened his lecture with an overview of the diplomatic relationship between the United States and Canada. He highlighted the upcoming 100 year anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations following the Balfour Declaration of 1926, which increased Canada's sovereignty as a British dominion.

"Prior to that, we just dealt with the British, and so in a way, that anniversary is significant coming up next year because it's really the beginning of Canada having its own personality and the back and forth relationship," said Sands. "From the very beginning, the Canadians were friendly with us."

Sands detailed the complex cultural ties that have resulted from the nations' historically close relationship. He described how American automobile manufacturers invested heavily in Canada in the early 20th century, which resulted in the beginning of integrated trade between the U.S. and Canada.

Sands shared how as communication technology developed Canadians became increasingly anxious about defining their cultural identity.

"Canadians became worried about their own culture. And if you think about Canadian geography, you kind of see why. Although the country is 10% larger than the U.S. it's only got about 10% of our population and most of that population, about 90%, lives within 150 miles of the border with the United States. But it's actually because much of their economy is connected to the United States," Sands said.

As the 20th century progressed, the economic relationship between the U.S. and Canada was formalized with the U.S.-Canada Free Trade agreement in 1989 under President Ronald Regan. Sands explained how this agreement turned into the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between Mexico, Canada and the U.S.

"The U.S. had gone through a long period through free trade [with NAFTA] where we made it easier to sell into the U.S. market than it was to sell out of the U.S. market. So we were encouraging countries to export to us where we had the consumer base in order to get richer and felt that that would eventually be better than just offering development assistance," said Sands. "It sort of hollowed out a lot of Midwestern industrial areas because we're also buying a lot of resources from abroad. It really weakened the American economy."

Sands argued that the impacts of NAFTA on the American economy created resentment toward the idea of free trade with allies like Canada. Sands further emphasized how politically unpopular NAFTA was in the United States, even across party lines.

"From 1992, when we hadn't finalized the agreement, but we were pretty close, all the way until 2016, every presidential election we had an anti-NAFTA candidate," Sands shared. "In 2016, we finally got a case where we have both candidates, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, who don't like NAFTA. But Donald Trump turned out to be a bit of a surprise because he didn't like NAFTA, but he actually wanted to do something about that."

During his first administration Donald Trump replaced NAFTA with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) in 2020. This agreement got bipartisan support in the U.S. and it included things like a fixed sixteen-year duration after which it has to be renewed and periodic six year reviews of the terms from all three nations.

In his second term President Donald Trump has taken a more aggressive approach to reworking the United States' international trade and economic relations. Trump levied tariffs against more than 80 countries, Canada included. However, Sands points out that only China and Canada have retaliated.

"70% of [Canada's] exports come to the United States, and that's less than it was a few years ago, but it's still a substantial portion. So they're super vulnerable to American retaliation. However, they decided to retaliate in the interest of dignity," Sands said.

With the idea of a trade war between the two nations throughout his talk, Sands stressed how the deteriorating relations may not only have economic consequences.

"This isn't so much a trade war as a trade civil war. Because like a civil war, when you fight with other parts of your same country, everything you destroy, you will have to rebuild or need later. If you lay waste to huge parts of the economy, that's going to be your economy later, and you're going to have all this disaster. If you create bitterness because of the casualties, you have to live next door to the people who are bitter, who lost people in the war," said Sands.

Sands emphasized the importance of the U.S. and Canada coming to an agreement before Jan. 1, 2027, Trump's deadline for further escalation. Despite this overt warning over what tariff escalation could lead to, Sands made sure to contextualize the current impacts of tariffs on U.S.-Canada trade.

"Canada-U.S. Trade is $2.8 billion every day. So the trade war right now covers about $21 billion Canadian, so a little bit less than that in American [dollars]. So it's about 20, I don't know, about 10 days worth of trade. That's why we're not panicking," said Sands.

The event was well-attended by students and local community members. Connor Hartigan, a graduate student at SAIS and a research assistant of Dr. Sands shared his take-aways from the talk.

"I'm optimistic that in the longer term, a younger generation of Americans who have studied Canada and are interested in Canada can forge personal connections with Canadians and rebuild over the coming decades," Hartigan said.

"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.

In regards to SGA members communicating with University administrators or faculty, a Senate bill passed in April discussed guidelines for how to go about initiating communication.

"When requesting meetings or initiating conversations with university administrators via email, the email must have Charles O Norman III … and Tekeya Peterson … CC'ed on it for transparency. This is for transparency alone, and neither Charles nor Tekeya may reprimand or bar a Senator for or from initiating conversations. Additionally, this requirement is waived for any conversations with administrators which are initiated regarding the conduct of LEED."

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.