The meeting began with a presentation from the SGA Judiciary Committee outlining their responsibilities. The five-member court, which currently contains two vacancies, reviews formal complaints, interprets SGA governing documents, issues binding decisions and serves as the final avenue of appeal for SGA matters. It also hears appeals of election rulings issued by the Committee on Student Elections.

Civic Engagement Committee Chair Jackson Morris presented a comprehensive view of the U.S. Department of Education's recent "National Call to Action" with the hope that the SGA can make an informed decision about whether the issue is important enough to act on. The letter, sent by U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to U.S. university presidents on August 3, asks universities to publish a statement by the end of 2026 addressing seven topics: transparency and merit in admissions, free speech and open inquiry, intellectual pluralism and academic vitality, affordability and student outcomes, academic rigor in the age of artificial intelligence, protection of research from foreign influences and the prioritization of U.S. interests.

Morris acknowledged that many of the letters' stated goals, such as protecting open debate and tuition transparency, were worthwhile. However, he was concerned about the final two questions regarding foreign influence and U.S. exceptionalism as well as their potential implications for international and immigrant members of the Hopkins community. "While the words 'international' and 'immigrant' do not appear in this letter, it is impossible to ignore [them] in the context of this administration's attacks on U.S. citizens and limits on noncitizen and international student enrollment, work authorization and subsequent residency and citizenship," Morris said.

Morris argued that the University's response will be better and much more representative of the community if students play a role in crafting it. After discussion, members proposed meeting with the Office of the President and the Office of the Provost, conducting an undergraduate survey and contacting registered student organization (RSO) leaders to gather opinions. SGA did not reach a formal decision on the issue during this meeting. Morris offered to serve as the point of contact for members interested in developing a more concrete action plan to be voted on.

Following this discussion, SGA passed a bill for a prospective student organization fair on October 2 on the Beach. The event will give proposed organizations an opportunity to recruit members needed to apply for recognition. Organizers plan to invite more than 200 students who attended information sessions about creating new organizations, and provide ice cream at the fair. Senators also passed the Accountability Act, which changes attendance and accountability procedures for SGA members.

Senator Mamadou Thiam introduced a bill requesting partial funding for Phi Delta Theta's fourth annual Crab Fest during Family Weekend. Fraternity Representative Reagan Sam claimed the event served over 500 people last year and usually raises about $10,000 for the LiveLikeLou Foundation, which supports amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research. Some senators' were skeptical of the event, noting that 12 bushels of crabs remained after last year's event.

Lastly, public member Sean Durkis-Dervogne proposed the Budget Reporting Act. The bill would require the treasurer to publish a more detailed summary of SGA's spending each semester. The reports would break spending down by RSO and expense categories without identifying the allocation received by every individual organization.

Letters Without Limits, founded by students at Johns Hopkins and Brown University, connects volunteers with palliative care and hospice patients to co-create "Legacy Letters." These letters capture memories, values and lessons that patients wish to share, preserving stories that might otherwise be lost. By honoring these voices and preserving legacies, Letters Without Limits hopes to affirm the central role of humanism in medicine, reminding us that every patient is more than their illness and that their voices deserve to be heard. As you read these powerful Legacy Letters, we invite you to pause, reflect and recognize the beauty in every life.

Interviewer's note

Rose Tuck is an optimistic individual. I admire her love for taking care of others and spending time with her family. It was a pleasure to learn about her life and listen to the many stories she has to share. Her authentic life-view is especially inspiring to me.

Early life

I was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania on December 8, 1942. My mother was a domestic worker, and my father was a steelworker. I had five siblings, and we had a pleasant childhood. We managed to stay together, go to school, accept responsibilities and accept jobs that we wanted. Growing up, I always did what I was told to do. I always wanted to be a leader. I never wanted to be a follower. Even when I was younger, I never wanted to be a follower. When I was going to high school, in the 12th grade, these guys came up to us and asked if we wanted to smoke. I said all right. I started coughing. Threw it down. Stepped on it. That's it, no more. At graduation they were having parties. Everyone was trying vodka, and I stuck my tongue in some one time. Never, no more. When we were all going out together, I was the driver. I never let someone get behind the wheel if they were drinking. Everybody's different.

Career

I was looking in the News-American paper, and there were jobs for the state of Maryland. I went to apply for the job. I was 24. They said that they wanted the first people they hired to be 26. I haven't done anything wrong. I'm gonna do something wrong. I asked my sister if she knew anything about make-up. She said tomorrow we're going to Murphy. I went, and I got all that stuff. So I made my face back up, I went right back to the same job, and I talked to the same woman. She said I have to be 26, and I said I was 26. So I got the job, and I stayed on the job. When I went to personnel for retirement, the lady said that I was born in '40. I said someone made a mistake. I was born in '42. She changed it. I worked for the state of Maryland, with the intellectually disabled, for 40 years. We enjoyed something that we wanted to do, and we were blessed by doing it. We made a lot of friends, met a lot of people that we cared about and we took care of them proper.

My family

I was married for 34 years. When we started dating, I said that we're gonna wait a while. We're gonna wait three years. So after three years, everything went well, and I said yes. We were both 36, and we got married. He passed away in 2009. I got a sister who is 95, and we get along fine. We have a knit family. We have a family reunion every September 6, and our entire family comes together.We meet together every Thanksgiving, Christmas and September 6. We all enjoy each other. Most of my family, the younger generation, they're involved in church. I got a very pleasant, very nice daughter. My daughter is young, and she has a lot of years ahead of her. I hope if anything happens to me, she remains who she is. I hope she remains comfortable in herself. Her do's and don't's are her concern. She comes every other day. She takes my clothes home, does them and takes them back. My brother in law comes with her. He's such a lovely person. He does the laundry and cleaning and goes to the store with my daughter. In our home, I don't have to do anything but take care of myself. I'm grateful for that. We get along fine, the three of us. That's the way life is with me.

Helping others

I take care of everybody. I go take people to the store. I take a lot of people to bingo. If people call me and ask me to go to hospital appointments, I go with them. That's what I did every day before I got sick, and I intend to continue as I get better. It's something that God gave me. It's a gift that he gave me, and I accepted it. It's something that's just in me. It's been like that for me ever since I was 19 years old.

Final message

I tell everyone to live your life the best you can and to the best of your knowledge. Follow your steps. Don't start something and then stop. If it's something you like, you do it. If it's not, pursue what you want to do with your life. Follow your dreams. Do what you think is right. Nobody tells you what to do.

With love,

Rose Tuck

On Thursday, over 100 students lined up outside the store waiting for the 11 A.M. start. When the doors were opened, attendees were treated to sugar cookies with Hopkins logos, a photobooth, and a popcorn machine. Alexis Daniels, a Washington D.C. based event planner, brought the popcorn machine in addition to the balloon garlands she made for the event. In an interview with The News-Letter, Daniels described her experience working with Hopkins.

"This space is really nice," she said. "It was really good working with Hopkins."

Daniels has worked with other universities, including George Washington University, to plan events in the past.

Kristin Forbes, who joined Hopkins with Follett Education, is the new store manager. She has been working on the space's renovation for over a year. In an interview with The News-Letter, she described her enthusiastism about how the changes to space will affect the atmosphere.

"We really wanted to make this feel like a store for the students," Forbes said. "You guys are always welcome here."

Forbes explained that although the person-oriented design of the store prioritized student experience, the store's renovations were meant to extend beyond student needs.

"You know how Hopkins has security all around the building," she said. "They come here with regularity. Everybody's welcome: community, staff, faculty, students."

Officer Iona Brown was working as security outside the store during the celebration. In an interview with The News-Letter, she confirmed Forbes' description of the store as a welcoming space for security staff to recharge.

"It's a nice, chill, cool spot for us to go sit down as security guards," she said. "We can charge our phones, relax and get some air."

Students, seasoned and new at Hopkins, had an overwhelmingly positive view of the reconnations. Some of these renovations included the adding of a Changing room, the revamping of a technology sales and J-card and IT service and increased seating on the second floor.

Savannah Anderson, a senior at Hopkins, was the last person to receive a complimentary gift bag as the 100th person in line. In an interview with The News-Letter, she described her excitement about the bookstore.

"I think the new bookstore is great," she said. "I'm glad I get to experience this during my senior year before I graduate."

Anthony Lu, a freshman at Hopkins, visited the bookstore in December before he began classes at Hopkins. In an interview with The News-Letter, he explained that the store looked significantly improved and admired the modern look.

"When I first came here, the bookstore did look old," he said. "I like the layout now. Something I especially like is the Hello Kitty merchandise."

Attendees of the event were given discounts to apply to their purchases and shopped the bookstore aisles shortly after the celebration began. Many perused the merchandise, which has been newly organized. Additionally, under Follet Education, Hopkins affiliates will be able to customize their own merchandise online.

Whitney Taylor, a professional staff member of 14 years at Hopkins, was similarly impressed by the store's renovation. In an interview with The News-Letter, she described her curiosity about how the bookstore might be affected by Follet Education's takeover and her eventual satisfaction.

"I love the look: nice, new and fresh," she said. "I really hope it does well."

In addition to housing merchandise and providing study space, the bookstore is expected to host events like book signings, live music and art exhibitions.

Estelle Chen: Sophie Calle's The Sleepers installation at the Museum of Modern Art

Many artists are inspired by dreams. Sophie Calle's The Sleepers is inspired by sleep. The state of sleep is precisely that thing most vulnerable and unaware, which is exactly what prompted French conceptual artist Sophie Calle to invite 27 people into her bed over the course of eight days in 1979. She documented their bed habits; she fed them, questioned them and photographed them while they were sleeping.

This amalgamation of art, social experiment and semi-breach of privacy is an ongoing installation which opened last spring at the Museum of Modern Art. The Sleepers occupies the walls of an entire exhibition room. The people in her bed include strangers, friends and Calle's own mother. During each one's 8-hour shift, she takes a photo every hour. She notes what they wear to bed and how they arrange the sheets. No detail is too minute.

Traversing the installation this summer, I felt that I was both trespassing into something intensely private and witnessing the results of an ordered scientific procedure. Both feelings speak of a special care - Calle didn't consider herself an artist at the time, but rather someone with a peculiar interest, attentively making public some of our most private experiences.

Yet Calle kept her distance from the sleepers, with "an attraction, not to know somebody's life, but to know details." The result is a strange beauty. The photos capture the comfort of rest through the frankness of strangers, at once intimate and the alien.

Saffron Hallett: the Musical Bodies exhibit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art:

Available from June 7 to Sept. 27, this exhibit covers the complex connections between music and the human form through a unique display of instruments, art and interactive experiences. Upon entering, the viewer sees anthropomorphic instruments from early civilizations, highlighting the use of instruments and music to capture age-old customs and their place as historical artifacts. Looped videos of dance and singing performances depict the function of the body as the first musical instrument and its many modes of expression. A display of instruments, like a 360-degree keyboard and a theremin, are accompanied with headphones to listen to performances and directly experience the sounds. For even greater immersivity, visitors can choose to use the giant floor keyboard similar to that used in the movie Big. The following section introduces pieces that reflect personal identities - like Prince's Symbol Guitar - and cultural practices, such as the vast array of European pochettes (thin, portable fiddles used by dance masters who served aristocracy).

The final exhibits focus on the role of music in two important factors of life: love and death. From a painted harpsichord to porcelain figurines, these pieces exemplify Darwin's own ideas on music in sexual selection such as bird song. Meanwhile, the juxtaposition with death in the accompanying room further stresses the presence of music throughout and beyond life. The most eye-catching piece in this room is the full Día de los Muertos drum kit of Alex González of Mexican band Maná - with all its skulls and vibrant turquoise color scheme. This free exhibit raises the bar in musical representation in museums by unveiling the rich tapestry between facets of human life and this magical art form, utilizing 130 pieces spanning 4,000 years of history in ways that immerse visitors of all ages.

Finnigan Keane: We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune

While the cover of the book is beautiful, it wasn't what caught my attention. I had read TJ Klune in the past, reading both books in the Cerulean Chronicles series - House in the Cerulean Sea and Somewhere Beyond the Sea - and I thoroughly enjoyed both books. But, one thing to know about TJ Klune is his books are usually over 400 pages long! So, when I saw that his newest release We Burned So Bright, was merely 176 pages long, I was incredibly surprised. Although the length of the book has been a subject of much controversy and debate on the Internet, I think it makes the book all the more powerful. I won't spoil the book, as I think it is an incredible book that everyone should read it. But, I will attach a snippet of the summary from the back of the book, as Klune words it more beautifully than I ever could:

"Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they've experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world. Now, the world is ending for real. A wandering black hole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they've ever known will be gone. Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They're in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it's all over."

As one can see, the incredibly short length of the book makes sense, making it feel like both the characters and the author himself are running out of time. Despite it appearing as such a sad book (and trust me, it is), there are a lot of beautiful, bizarre and absurd moments that get slapped in there. From impromptu weddings to the small, intimate moments Don and Rodney have, We Burned So Bright shows that not every moment before the end has to be depressing.

River Phan: Rose of Nevada directed by Mark Jenkin

In Rose of Nevada, two fishermen crew a mysterious boat and find themselves transported back 30 years ago as the now-deceased men who previously manned the vessel. Nick (George McKay) longs to return to his family once he realizes they've been displaced in time. Meanwhile, Liam (Callum Turner) enjoys his new role; back in their reality, he's a wayward worker with no ties to anyone or anything, but in the '90s, he's a father like present-day Nick.

While Nick tries to sail the boat back to his time, Liam settles into the town and his new life. Their personal motives complicate the two fishermen's values and sense of duty as it becomes clear the small port town depends on them for economic survival. Nick, now constantly plagued by nightmares and visions of the original crew, confronts Liam about their disturbing situation as he descends deeper into despair while Liam solidly upholds his new identity. Their confrontation turns physical; the two men seem to be at irreconcilable odds.

Shot entirely in 16mm, Rose of Nevada fills the screen with an overwhelming sense of smothering, textured nostalgia: a ghost story haunted by an abandoned past revived against the wishes of its new inhabitants. As a sad, slow picture, Rose of Nevada methodically conveys the means necessary to letting go as the only choice before memory inevitably flees.

Selven Ren: The Odyssey directed Christopher Nolan

A story nearly three millennia old. An Oscar-winning filmmaker. And, for the first, time, a feature shot entirely with IMAX film cameras.

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey (2026) turns Homer's ancient Greek epic into a massive 172-minute adventure. The film follows Odysseus (Matt Damon) as he struggles home to Ithaca after the Trojan War. Across the sea, his wife Penelope (Anne Hathaway) is surrounded by suitors competing for her hand and his throne. Meanwhile, their son Telemachus (Tom Holland) sets out in search of his father who never returned. With angry gods, terrifying monsters, brutal wars and a perilous journey at its core, Homer's story already has everything a fantasy fan could ask for.

But, Nolan's ambition goes far beyond simply bringing a well-known ancient hero to the big screen. The film offers a unique, Nolan-esque take on Odysseus, shedding light on the darker side of the heroism that has defined The Odyssey for thousands of years. Nolan's Odysseus is less a legend than a survivor - a man driven by instincts, cunning and everything he has suffered along the way.

And then, there is the music. Reuniting with Nolan after Tenet and Oppenheimer, renowned composer Ludwig Göransson delivers one of the film's most striking creative strengths. He blends music with his unique sound design to create a distinctive sonic landscape that gives us a vivid sense of the character's inner world.

Whether you're a Nolan fan, a mythology buff or simply looking for a place to spend a few hours, The Odyssey gives you plenty of reasons to make the trip to IMAX.

Steve Wang: Lost Weekend by Phoebe Bridgers

In the six years since her last solo album, Phoebe Bridgers' career seems to have taken an impossibly sharp turn toward the mainstream: she was touring the world after Punisher took off, and then again with her supergroup boygenius after the release of The Record, and then again opening for Taylor Swift… all while processing the passing of her father in early 2023.

It is not surprising then that her new album, Lost Weekend, is one of movement and experimentation for Bridgers. She does not simply settle with the ambient, droning indie-folk that made her popular, instead opting to incorporate new influences all the way from bluegrass to indietronica.

The album opens with Bridgers at her father's funeral "crying in a suit and tie" while she explores her relationship with dissociation in front of an appropriately sparse, piano-led instrumental. After nearly a minute of outro, the album's lead single "Lost Boys" opens to a more uptempo tone and horn lines from Bright Eyes' Nate Walcott reminiscent of "Kyoto."

As the album continues to unfurl, we see some of Bridgers' signature deathly potent one-liners on "The Governor's Waltz" with "you're next to me / I'm next to nothing" and "being myself wasn't easy / do it for me" standing out, a surprisingly joyous love song to Bo Burnham in "Bobby" and a massively epic buildup at the end of "I Can't Wait."

In all, Bridgers manages to come back from her hiatus with a beautifully intimate album that is both wonderfully celebratory yet haunted with grief and sorrow.

Much of Calder's presentation dealt with the Gulf States - namely Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman - and their ever-changing relationship with the U.S., especially in the context of the upcoming November midterm elections. The talk also touched on the Iran war, as well as the global oil supply, and how these provide context on the U.S.' increasingly complicated relations with the Gulf States. The presentation took place in Mergenthaler Hall and was well-attended by students both inside and outside of the International Studies department.

Calder introduced his presentation by highlighting the complex nature of U.S. relations with the Gulf States and how this impacts their hopes for the midterm elections.

"Things are changing very fast. It's certainly not a sort of situation where we can say, well, the Arab Gulf States are in favor of [Democrats] winning or Republicans winning, or something like that," Calder said.

Calder specified that these six countries, all members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), differ somewhat in their foreign policy agendas and that the U.S. does not have equally strong relationships with every GCC member.

"The strongest relationships with the United States have been between Saudi Arabia and the UAE," Calder said. "Saudi Arabia [has] a very long historical relationship with the United States; you can go back to any president since the 1940s, since Roosevelt, and we see this strong relationship between the House of Saud, that is, the kings, the monarchy of Saudi Arabia, and the presidents, both Republican and Democratic in the United States."

However, Calder did highlight one trend that can be noticed in the relations between the U.S. and all of the Gulf States: they have deteriorated since the start of the Iran war.

"If there's one sort of big picture conclusion, it is that the Iran War caused all of the GCC countries to lose faith in their relationship with the United States," said Calder.

Calder also touched upon the relationships between the GCC countries themselves and how, in the past and currently, they have not always been positive.

"Another thing that has happened is a widening of the rift between GCC members. Some of you may remember some years ago, about eight years ago, there was a blockade of Qatar [enforced by other GCC states] particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE and Kuwait, sort of against Qatar," Calder said.

The blockade Calder referred to lasted from 2017 to 2021 and largely consisted of pressure from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States as a result of Qatar's sympathetic relationships with certain Islamist groups.

Calder closed out his talk by emphasizing that GCC members do not necessarily have a simplistic solution in mind when it comes to U.S. relations and the midterm elections.

"I think it's too simplistic to say [that] Trump is unpredictable. Trump's not on the ballot," Calder said. "Therefore, the GCC governments want the Democrats to win."

Calder went on to describe what specific goals the GCC members have in mind for the U.S. federal government as a whole.

"I do think that they would probably be happy with a checked president, a president that does not have a majority in Congress that allows him to do almost everything he wants," he said. "The ongoing war in Iran is terrible for them, with the exception of this brief window in June and July when there was a ceasefire that then quickly ended."

After the presentation, Calder then yielded to questions from students and faculty in attendance on a range of topics from the military readiness of GCC countries to the Strait of Hormuz.

Approaching the field of neuroscience from an engineering background, Sarma was able to identify key interdisciplinary connections that enabled her to think of the brain from a new perspective.

"What I've learned is that when you're trying to understand the complex system, in this case the networked brain, you actually don't need to understand all its details, its dynamics, in order to control it… If you think of a bicycle, I would argue it's somewhat of a complex system. If you talk about the laws of motion, the equations of motion that govern the bicycle dynamics… I'm confident that none of us are simulating these equations in our head to figure out how to control the bicycle," Sarma explains.

The way to achieve this control, Sarma explains, is through understanding and synthesising the various sensory inputs involved, such as proprioception or vision. This enables the rider to create a model of the bicycle which they can then operate. A similar principle becomes transferrable for a practical model of the brain. Sarma's lab works on several kinds of biomarkers and imaging data points in order to arrive at a simple, functional model of the human brain.

Beyond just a model, what distinguished Sarma's approach was her focus on clinical applications. She argued for the limited capabilities of medical practitioners to regularly measure and monitor abnormalities in brain function - such practices are not integrated directly into most typical check-ups, and often disorders are only identified when it becomes too late to take action. Sarma's team aimed to create a screening test that could successfully fill this gap.

"I want a number between, say, zero and one that says: zero, you don't have a healthy brain; one, you have a very good brain… it should distinguish a healthy brain from a not healthy brain… it should scale with the severity of the disease… it should modulate the treatment," Sarma shared.

The concept that led to Sarma's method involved the heavy engagement of a graduate student in her lab, whose varying field of expertise and willingness to challenge accepted ideas were identified by Sarma as key contributors to the success of the project. Across the board, collaboration played a crucial role: from working with other professors to cross-check mathematical calculations to drawing on the insights and data of active medical practitioners.

The central principle around which Sarma and her team were able to build their health index was entropy: the notion that there would be greater dispersion in a system while at rest and more concentration during focused activity. They noted this was visible across several biological systems. For example, schools of fish would be dispersed in normal conditions and gather together when avoiding predators. Similarly, brain activity shows no bias in location when at relative rest, but it becomes concentrated in specific functional neural networks during specific activities.

Using this principle, the data available from imaging techniques and several equations for coupled behavior and distribution analysis, Sarma's lab was able to approach a mathematical model of the 'ideal' brain, where healthier individuals would tend towards this model and any difficulties would tend away. This model was further predicated on several properties of brain activity at rest, such as stability over time, low variability and regulation.

Furthermore, the specific kind of imaging method used could also affect the accuracy of the model. Electroencephalography (EEG) techniques were the most direct measure of voltage available to the team, making it highly compatible with the model created. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), on the other hand, provided a more indirect measure to compute the index.

Nonetheless, both reflected that diseased brains would show greater deviation from the ideal distribution model whereas healthier brains would tend towards it. In addition, the deviation from the model was shown to scale along with the advent of greater disorder, while also becoming modulated and closer to the expected value when successfully treated. The exact shape of the index generated for each patient could also reflect which tenet of healthy brain activity was being violated by the disease, such as lots of fluctuation visible in schizophrenic subjects. This was also different across disorders, such as between patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and epilepsy, both in terms of the principles violated and the areas of the brain where activity was greater or lower

The preliminary data, gathered from publicly available sources, indicated the model's potential for clinical applications. While it does not necessarily act as a perfect test for diagnosis currently, the results suggest evidence for its success in distinguishing between healthy and non-healthy brains, lending credence to more long-term studies in the future.

"That's what I'm most excited about. I think, especially in psychiatry, that can really have this quantitative measure, or even in Alzheimer's, when they don't know if their drugs [are effective]... Could be interesting to bring [this] into a clinical trial as [a] measurement, right?"

Football: L (21-28)

Hopkins football opened their season with a victory over Ithaca that began with a dominant half of football. Unfortunately for the Blue Jays, despite coming into their second game as the #3 team in the nation and a heavy favorite, Baldwin-Wallace stunned Hopkins with a strong second half. Baldwin-Wallace claimed victory on the back of their running game. The Yellow Jackets ran for 254 yards on 39 attempts with four touchdowns while only attempting nine passes in the contest. The Blue Jays opted for the opposite strategy, passing 52 times in the game through unior QB Luke Baker, who threw three touchdowns to one pick and racked up 218 yards through the air. Sophomore WR Jaeger Krauss had a standout performance in the loss, pulling in two touchdowns and leading the Hopkins receiver unit with 62 yards.

The Blue Jays are now 1-1 on the season and will be back in action at home against Susquehanna on Saturday, Sept. 19 at 1 p.m.

Field Hockey: W (3-1), W (4-1)

Hopkins Field Hockey played host to two ranked opponents this week and defeated them both in resounding fashion.

The week began against Rowan, ranked 24th in the nation, where the Blue Jays dominated the game in every facet en route to a 3-1 win, only allowing a goal in the game's dying minutes. It was a hattrick for sophomore Forward Ava Zimmerman that propelled the Jays to victory as she buried two in the first half before a third right after the halftime break secured the treble.

The Blue Jays ended the week against The College of New Jersey, ranked #22 in the nation. Sophomore Midfielder Sarah Chilton contributed a hattrick of her own, this time entirely in the first half, and by way of three penalty stroke goals. Senior Midfielder Eliza Vander put away Hopkins fourth goal of the contest before the Blue Jays conceded a late goal to bring the final to 4-1.

These two victories push Hopkins Field Hockey to 3-1 on the season. A strong start to the season, especially when considering their strength of schedule. Every team that the Blue Jays have played this year has been ranked in the top 25.

Field Hockey will make the road trip to Salisbury on Wednesday, Sept. 16 for their next contest.

Men's Soccer: W (2-0), L (1-2)

Hopkins Men's Soccer split their week, beating Lebanon Valley to start the week before dropping their second match of the week to Rutgers-Newark.

Graduate Student For. Dylan Ellis did his work off the bench as he provided both goals in the contest for Hopkins. The Blue Jays defense was staunch, only needed three saves from Junior GK John Ghanem, who secured a clean sheet for Hopkins.

Against Rutgers-Newark, the Blue Jays struck first early in the second half, but a brace by Junior Ian Brown, including a heartbreaker in the 89th minute, was enough to hand Hopkins their second loss on the young season, bringing their record to 2-2-1.

The Blue Jays will begin Centennial Conference play next week away against Swarthmore on Saturday after a non-conference matchup at home versus St. Mary's on Wednesday.

Southern California Drama Meets Melbourne Madness

In one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the year, Thursday Night Football began on a Friday on the other side of the globe! NFC West division rivals San Francisco and Los Angeles faced off at the illustrious Melbourne Cricket Ground in front of over 100,000 people. These two teams could not have had more polar opposite offseasons, one clouded by injuries, shootings and imposter NFL players, while the other added three of the best defensive players in the world, including a (not so shocking) unretirement from one of the sport's greatest. Despite this, it was San Francisco, the underdog, who came out as the dominant victors from this matchup down under.

In what many expected to be a coming-out party for the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl, the 49ers completely shut down what looked to be a jet-lagged Rams team. Matthew Stafford looked horrible, missing countless throws by wide margins, and the reigning DPOY did not register a single stat. Speaking of which, Garrett has now been put on the IR and is expected to miss at least four weeks with arthroscopic surgery on his knee.

Maybe I am too giddy on the upside of the 49ers if they can stay healthy, or maybe I'm being too reactionary towards the Rams, but one of my biggest hot takes this season is that the Niners will win the entire NFC and earn that bye week in the first round of the playoffs. Shanahan has proven countless times that his teams are not to be brushed to the side, and I have full confidence in this revamped San Fran offense with Deebo back in the fold and Mike Evans as the X.

Are the Bears This Year's Cowboys?

The highest-octane matchup of the week was, by far, the game between the Chicago Bears and the Carolina Panthers, in which there were a combined 96 points scored! The Bears accounted for 59 of those points, in large part due to a Herculean effort on the ground, amassing 291 yards on just 39 carries, along with six touchdowns. Head Coach Ben Johnson did state during the offseason that he wanted the team to have the "highest scoring offense ever," and it's pretty safe to assume he was not joking.

However, there is a rather glaring issue that I see with this team, found on the other side of the ball: their defense. Last season the Bears found a lot of success due to an unsustainable amount of turnover luck. Their turnover margin was +22, while the second highest (the Houston Texans, arguably the best defense in the league) was just +17. Now if the Bears had more talent on their roster this might not be such an issue, but with the departures of Gervon Dexter, Kevin Byard, Nahshon Wright and Tremaine Edmunds, it is difficult to see them crack even the top half of the league in most defensive metrics.

Like last year's Cowboys who suffered from defensive woes that saw them miss the playoffs, the Bears have all the offensive weaponry required to go head-to-head with every team in the league. However, if they make a habit of poor defensive performances like against Carolina, a sub-par offense, then they too could fall short of the lofty goals they have for themselves.

Lamar and Josh are the Best in the Business

Following a disappointing year for Lamar Jackson, plagued by injury and offensive woes, the pressure was back on to show that he can still play at an MVP-level. Baltimore fans should be relieved after seeing how he performed, throwing for an efficient 324 yards and adding 40 more on the ground. The Ravens looked scary en route to demolishing the Indianapolis Colts, and in large part due to their superstar quarterback. We cannot forget about his running mate, Derrick Henry, who seems to be getting better with age, rushing for 144 yards and three touchdowns: a superhuman effort from the 32-year-old King.

Josh Allen was also sublime in his season debut against what many consider to be the best defense in the league. Allen also finished his 2025 season in disappointing fashion, turning the ball over five times against the Denver Broncos, but he looks in prime shape to make a charge towards his first Super Bowl. Fantasy managers across the country were delighted to see him account for four touchdowns, two through the air and two on the ground, along with 334 passing yards.

The two biggest questions surrounding the Bills will once again be their defense and Josh Allen himself limiting turnovers. Those two things killed Buffalo last year, and they'll be hoping that those nightmares don't come back to haunt them in crunch time later this season.

Having diverse perspectives is incredibly important and rightfully celebrated at Hopkins and other elite institutions. Even so, there are certain situations in which the ability of a STEM major to contribute in a humanities class based on their unique lived experience is reliant on their willingness to do so, which FA requirements interfere with.

During my freshman year, two of my floormates, both of whom were pre-med STEM majors in KSAS, took Introduction to Fiction and Poetry (IFP) in order to fulfill their FA1 Writing and Communication requirement. Throughout the semester, I watched idly as they continuously used ChatGPT to produce poetry. Beyond my concerns for their personal development, I wondered how this was impacting the quality of class discussion and participation -surely they were not the only STEM students using the introductory Writing Seminars class as an easy way to fulfill their requirements. Later on, in The News-Letter Gatehouse, I asked some fellow editors about their experiences in IFP as humanities majors; they affirmed my assumption that discussions were often filled with uninformed and uninspired contributions by non-Writing Seminars majors. On top of that, they expressed difficulty registering for the class in the first place, which is necessary for their major, due to the increased demand.

This conundrum indicates that, instead of inspiring interdisciplinary exploration and the expansion of the breadth of undergraduates' knowledge, fulfilling the FAs is an annoying chore for STEM students and a hurdle to deeper learning for humanities students. In the current age of technology, STEM students naturally employ AI and other forms of academic dishonesty to complete this chore, further weakening the quality of the humanities courses they choose.

The aspect of this issue that is unique to the humanities is twofold. First, humanities majors are more likely to be able to fulfill their FAs within the realm of their own majors - as an International Studies and History major, I have not been forced to explore beyond my existing major requirements in order to fulfill my FA credits. Because of this, humanities students who are less familiar with general STEM concepts are not populating introductory STEM courses against their will. The second issue is that, because many upper-level courses in the humanities do not require prerequisites - something more common among STEM courses - STEM students also populate upper-level courses.

The phenomenon of having STEM students without humanities backgrounds or relevant experience in upper-level humanities courses is something I am intimately familiar with. During this semester alone, I have enrolled in both 200- and 300-level History courses with significant populations of STEM students who openly admit that they have chosen the courses simply to fulfill a requirement. I can only assume that this is why the professors of these courses go on to assure the class that no prior experience is needed to succeed.

Hearing such comments is what inspired me to write this piece in the first place. Previously, I accepted TAs having to explain the foundational elements of Rousseau's philosophy, the Opium Wars, or the Articles of Confederation as a painful but inevitable fact of life. In hearing professors, especially in upper-level courses, assert that no prior knowledge of history is necessary for the class, I began to wonder whether the quality of my education was being impacted by the necessity for STEM students to take humanities courses, and whether their syllabi had been edited since STEM students flooded into their classes on account of the FA system.

If 3 of 15 necessary credits in the Science and Data FA2 requirement can apply to Elements of Microeconomics, a requirement for an International Studies major, there is no reason that a given course in, for example, the Medicine, Science, and Humanities department cannot also be tagged with the Culture and Aesthetics FA3. Separately, the reason humanities students are not fulfilling their FAs by taking, for example, Physical Chemistry I, a 300-level Chemistry course, is not only because they can fulfill their requirements elsewhere in a more relevant field - it's because they are systematically prevented from doing so. In this way, the system recognizes that admitting humanities students to upper-level STEM courses would naturally interfere with the efficiency and rigor of the course and uses pre-requisites to prevent that. Why is the same principle not applied to the humanities?

The University therefore has three options if it decides to rectify this issue: cross-list more STEM courses with more humanities-related FAs so that students can use relevant coursework to fulfill them; create explicit prerequisites for humanities courses; or abandon the FA project entirely. The blame does not lie with the STEM student. It lies only with the University, which failed to consider the decreased rigor of humanities courses that are natural when the FA system is implemented in its current form. Those costs are not worth the appearance of offering a more liberal arts-based education to onlookers while students pay.

Julia Schager is a junior majoring in International Studies and History from Stamford, Conn.She is a Copy Editor for The News-Letter.

In downtown Manhattan, Ed Saxberger (Willem Dafoe) lives as an aging, elderly postal office worker who seems content playing pool with his working class friends in his spare time. One day, he's approached by Meyers (Edmund Donovan), a wealthy NYU graduate, who expresses great awe and reverence towards Saxberger. Meyers explains he's obsessed with Saxberger's mostly forgotten, unacclaimed poetry collection from the '70s: Way Past Go.

Meyers invites Saxberger to meet his literary group of young, rich writers called "The Enthusiasm Society," claiming they're also fellow fervent admirers of Saxberger's writing. Saxberger agrees, and he's quickly fond of the attention he receives from the group. He's particularly drawn by Gloria (Greta Lee), the only member of the group who's an actress. As he gets more involved with the members of The Enthusiasm Society, he discovers there's less he has in common with the writers and their goals than he initially expects.

At one point, Saxberger describes Meyers as an "Edith Wharton protagonist." When Saxberger visits Meyers' massive apartment in the city, he confirms his comparison. Meyers is a truly wealthy upper-class man from a family providing significant monetary support. He shows off his first edition of Naked Lunch, which Saxberger opens to see a price tag of $1,200 inside. Later, he sets Saxberger up to meet with a literary agent who's a family friend of Meyers.

Despite all of Meyers' institutional credentials, like a MFA from a prestigious university and deep connections to the publishing world, he seems superficially interested in actually writing. While Saxberger struggles to overcome writer's block in writing a new poetry collection for publication, Meyers' primary goals are expanding the cultural reach of The Enthusiasm Society; he offers no genuine sympathy towards Saxberger when the older man confides in him about the difficulties of writing poetry again.

While the friendship between Meyers and Saxberger starts to deteriorate, Gloria and Saxberger grow closer. Saxberger realizes Gloria's performances have extended beyond the flirty actor persona she has. Unlike the other wealthy members of the Enthusiasm Society, Gloria, like Saxberger, lives with ordinary, working-class means. He finds Gloria in her regular, almost bare-bones apartment where she's unadorned by any elaborate makeup or costumes.

The two get into a disagreement as she urges him to leave, unhappy to be seen in this state of sincerity. Now, all his major relationships within The Enthusiasm Society seem strained. And earlier, before this confrontation with Gloria, Saxberger had abruptly left his pool-playing friends after attempting to share his poetry with them; his poetry was not received with proper consideration or respect. Saxberger reacts coldly to this reception, and his friends fight back too. They argue that Saxberger must think they're too "low-brow" for him.

Eventually, the reading event Meyers has planned with The Enthusiasm Society comes to pass. Saxberger reads his own poetry to a crowd and Gloria also performs some of his work. The poetry reading gets mostly negative reviews, and Saxberger must navigate the group's response and his own future as a poet.

Willem Dafoe imbues a delicate quality of subtle joy and sadness in his performance. His superb portrayal of Saxberger's resilience and wisdom makes the poet's moments of vulnerability much more impactful. Similarly, Greta Lee conveys all of Gloria's nuances with appropriate depth; a glamorous actress, a struggling woman in the city and a dreamer who follows opportunity.

Although Late Fame tackles the class and generational differences between its characters, the film's most lasting interrogation dissects the performances of all its players. As Meyers, Gloria and Saxberger accept or reject the expectations given to them, they reveal the ever-changing motives for portraying or hiding parts of their identity as an artist. Saxberger, in particular, discovers the crucial need to be true to your pursuits. After being involved in the tumultuous dynamics of the wealthy literary youth, Saxberger plays pool again with his old friends by the end of the movie. His career in poetry may have never truly actualized, but he knows who he is.

Bras started by providing a brief recount of Venice's history and how its geographical structure came to existence.

"Venice has a history of 1000 years… It became Venice when people from the north of the [Venetian] lagoon moved away from attacks of northern tribes, and in essence settled in these islands… Then [the city] was [a] maritime power and controlled commerce for a long time, all along the Mediterranean."

The Venetian Lagoon is amorphous, with many different entrances into the lagoon itself. Bras also highlighted various lines on a map of Venice from the 16th century. The Venetians diverted the rivers because they were a market power. After comparing this map to one from the present day, the diversions remain. Ultimately, these led to entrances, or inlets, into the lagoon. Had the Venetians not acted upon the environment, present day Venice would appear as a vast marshland.

"Then the other thing you notice of this lagoon is that it's an engineered environment. Nature does not make straight lines… They diverted the rivers so that sediment would not accumulate. They wanted to throw away the sediment out to the ocean because they didn't want to be invaded by land. They were [a] maritime power. They did not have armies. They had naval power, so they wanted to keep a lagoon to protect them, like a big mold for them in many ways."

This allows for a shallow lagoon, in which depths vary from 10 to 17 meters. However, on Nov. 4, 1966, intense flooding from the Arno River swept into Florence; a similar event occurred in Venice. The tide reached extreme heights, going over the seawall and over the barrier islands, even breaching some of them. This was a high tide of 0.5 to 0.6 meters over the period of the event. With the combined effect of another meteorological surge, it created a record flood level of approximately two meters. Bras then explained the concepts that are generally attributed to furthering the issue.

"There are two elements that [have] created the problem. One is sea level rising… and one is subsidence; the whole lagoon environment sinks."

According to Bras, the rate of sinking has accelerated historically especially due to reconstruction of the World Wars, where water was pumped for use by industrial regions. The lagoon has been subsiding at a rate of 0.4 millimeters per year. The rate of sea level increase has accelerated to around 2.7 millimeters per year, almost six times larger than the subsidence. In addition, the number of meteorological events that cause flooding have increased.

To solve these issues, an international contest was held for engineers and architects to come up with solutions.

"The solution, the best way to solve the problem, is to create a series of barriers that will close off the lagoon from the sea [when you predict a storm surge]. You predict the tide, you close the inlet, keep the ocean out, keep the lagoon down. Ocean can go up. Everything [is] good when everything is over. You open the barriers, and that's it."

Bras outlined how this is not a new solution. In Rotterdam, Netherlands, there are also floodgates that when a flood is predicted, they cut off the canal and create a temporary dam. However, this type of gate was not acceptable for the Venetians. They are sizable and too obvious. Venetians wanted something that was able to conserve land, not alter the cross section of the inlet, and be invisible.

What Venice decided on were flaps. These large, "invisible" flaps sit under water in a crater, usually full of water. When a meteorological event is predicted, water is pumped out and the flaps float up and rotate around a hinge to create a barrier. Each flap is independent of one another, with a gap of about 15 centimeters between. The gates can open within 20 minutes, compared to Rotterdam's six hours.

"This is the way it would operate. It's sitting on its cradle. You pump air out. They come out. They settle in. The sea goes up to wherever it goes. Creates a dam. Goes down the sea. When everything is level, you put water in, air in, and settle [back down] again."

There are four sets of gates: Lido North, Lido South, Malamocco and Chioggia. The largest in weight are in Malamocco, which is the industrial hub of the area; the smallest is Lido North. The building of these structures required immense effort. Generally, the gates run from one end of the inlet to the other, closing off access to the land it encloses. In addition, refuge harbors were built for ships that may be stuck outside the barrier in case of a meteorological event. Essentially, the gates were floated to their location, sunk, and then joined.

"When the gates operate… the idea is that you make a prediction of the tidal flooding, and you predict that the tide is going to go above some level. The trigger in the operating rules of this is that you trigger a closure when you predict 110 centimeters."

Bras then transitioned to another history lesson of the gates, dating back to 1984, when the concept was introduced. At this time, a special law was also made where a consortium named the Consorio Venezia Nuova gained power to protect Venice and the lagoon. Construction started in 2003 and was set to be completed in 2012. However, also at this time, corruption was rampant, including bribing and illegal financing. In addition to the economic crisis of 2008, funding to complete the project was low. The Italian government also fired individuals involved with the project, which left no experts to carry out the rest of construction. In 2020, the government decided to resume construction and eventually the gates were operational by 2021. Bras emphasized that although they were operational, there still was a change in how these gates were functioning.

"The big difference is that this is being operated manually because the automatic controls were all gone."

Bras finished his lecture providing some images of a flooded Venice. He used these photos to illustrate that with the gates now in successful operation, the future of Venice is dry.

The Independent reports that the screenwriter of the upcoming 26th Bond film, Steven Knight (creator of Peaky Blinders), was recently asked in an interview with BBC Radio 4 about whether he wrote the script with the chosen actor in mind or relied on the already established canon.

"It's a bit of both. It does make life a little bit easier if you know who that person is, but also you have to write the character, not the actor," he said.

Additionally, actor Gary Oldman, of the TV series Slow Horses, whose co-star has appeared in the running for Bond, addressed the rumors when asked about the James Bond rumors on Canada's The Morning Show.

"We're going to find out pretty soon, aren't we? Because they have picked him… They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet," Oldman said.

Since Amazon MGM acquired the Bond franchise from the long-time ownership of the Broccoli family in February 2025, all eyes have been on the talent coming in. Denis Villeneuve (director of the Dune trilogy) is set to direct. Amy Pascal (producer of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spiderman franchise and Project Hail Mary) and David Heyman (producer of Paddington and the Fantastic Beasts franchises) are set to produce. The final piece remains. Here are the frontrunners:

No time to die

Jacob Elordi is no stranger to Hollywood. He's starred in hits such as Saltburn, Frankenstein (2025) and Wuthering Heights (2026). He's also being set to star in the book-to-screen adaption of Outer Dark with Lily Rose-Depp. The Australian actor has circulated through the James Bond rumor mill for a long time, outlasting names like Idris Elba and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

"I just like that people maybe want to put me in their movies. That makes me really glad," Elordi said in 2023 when Extra asked about the casting rumors. Although he has denied recent questions at The Dog Stars premiere in London, he is still certainly a fan favorite.

You only live twice

Callum Turner, BAFTA TV award nominee and star of popular films such as Eternity and One Night Only, is another contender. He's also had leading roles in TV shows like Masters of the Air and is set to star in Apple TV's Neuromancer. In this upcoming series, he plays a hacker on the dark web intending to pull off a difficult heist against a corporate empire. The British actor has so far laughed off the speculation and has responded to Esquire.

"I'm not going to comment. It's just so loaded, it's just such a loaded thing," Turner said.

Never say never again

Paul Mescal, the future Paul McCartney in the upcoming Beatles biopics, is another popular choice. He has the range, from playing the son of the most famous fictional gladiator (Gladiator 2) to a complicated father in an indie classic (Aftersun). Although the Irish actor is likely tied up in the upcoming four-movie Beatle extravaganza, he is also a popular contender. Vogue Adria reports that after appearing in a Bond casting poll on Digital Spy, Mescal spoke about the role.

"Would I play Bond? Yeah? I don't know. If that opportunity ever came up, we'd have a conversation about it… I don't want to say yes or no. I'm a huge fan and will continue to be, regardless."

For your eyes only

Jack Barton is a newer actor, and out of the five, the most unknown. At 31 years old, his main credits include Heartstopper Forever and Steven Knight's SAS: Rogue Heroes - a TV series about how the British Special Air Service came into being during World War II. Ultimately, it may be his relative mystery that keeps him near the front of the pack as the franchise may be looking for a fresh face. Debbie McWilliams, a now retired casting director who worked on 13 of the last 25 Bond movies and cast Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, described the role in an interview with The Independent.

"We want to know as little about [the actor] personally as possible, because that's what spies are. We don't need to know where he goes shopping or who his parents are or where he lives. We never want to see him at home. And a vital element of the whole thing is his job description. He's licensed to kill, and we have to believe that he can do that. If you don't, then you've lost the audience," McWilliams said.

On her majesty's Secret Service

Finally, there is Jack Lowden. He is Gary Oldman's co-star on Slow Horses as a demoted MI5 agent on a team of similarly dysfunctional agents to defend England. It's a funny coincidence, and the 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes for this British spy thriller only seems to fuel the rumors. Beyond the show, he is a relatively unknown actor, fitting the bill of McWilliams' descriptions. As a bonus for the James Bond purists, the actor is Scottish, just like the first Bond actor, Sean Connery.

Tomorrow never dies

Looking back at the previous Bonds, there is a common trend. While most had few credits to their name before Bond, their addition to the franchise propelled their careers into the spotlight. What fate lies in store for the seventh actor to be granted a license to kill?

Note for the purists

For the purposes of this article, only six actors who have played in classic Bond films produced by the EON Production company are being referenced. They are, in order: Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. David Niven in the non-EON 1967 comedy spoof version of Casino Royale does not count.

The trail begins at the end of Craycombe Avenue in the Hampden neighborhood and ends at San Martin Drive, which marks the western edge of Homewood Campus. Stony Run flows north to south throughout Wyman Park, and bridges that cross the stream are limited. The newly-rebuilt footbridge is the closest crossing of the stream to much of the Homewood campus, with the trail letting out near the Bloomberg Center for Physics and Astronomy. Since Wyman Park is located in between Homewood Campus and the Hampden neighborhood, crossing the park is often the most convenient way to get between the two.

The footbridge and trail closed in May 2025 because of potential safety concerns. Baltimore City councilwoman Odette Ramos, who represents District 14 - including both Hampden and Homewood Campus - announced over Instagram that the bridge would be closing.

"Our engineers are diligently working to resolve the issue with the bridge's structural integrity. Please stay clear of this area. This is for everyone's safety," Ramos announced.

Because of the bridge's closure, those passing between Homewood Campus and Hampden had to find alternative ways to travel. The trail remained closed while the bridge was being rebuilt by Baltimore City's Department of Recreation and Parks, until it reopened prior to the start of the academic year.

The reopening of the bridge was announced by the conservation organization Friends of Stony Run. On August 25, the organization announced on their website that the bridge was considered safe to cross and that the trail had reopened as well.

"We are excited to share that the Craycombe Road Stony Run pedestrian bridge is open again," the organization wrote.

While Ramos did not initially share the issues with the bridge's structure, Friends of Stony Run offered more context in their announcement, saying that the bridge had only been temporarily repaired. They are continuing to plan how to replace the bridge permanently.

"The failing support structures for the bridge have been reinforced with stacked heavy bags filled with structural grout - allowing the current bridge to be used again temporarily while a permanent replacement is designed. Stay tuned for the next round of improvements and plans for a permanent bridge," the organization wrote.

Sophomore Fabiana Arcila, majoring in Biomedical Engineering, worked on campus over the summer and lived in Hampden before the bridge reopened. When asked about her commute to Homewood, she said that she tried many different ways to get to campus more efficiently.

"It depended day-to-day, I used kind of a mix. At the beginning, I walked, which was a 30 minute walk from Hampden to AMR II. Then I started taking the Spin scooters," said Arcila. "I also tried taking the shuttle […] but I missed it all the time."

When Arcila did walk, she said that she was able to go through Wyman Park, but sometimes had to bypass it entirely.

"It's a very scenic route," said Arcila. "But usually, when it was raining, I wouldn't go through there because it's going to be muddy. So I would take the long route and just walk up and then walk down."

When informed of the Stony Run Bridge's reopening, Arcila thought that the bridge would have made her commute much more convenient.

"If I had a bridge, that would have made it easier for me to walk," said Arcila.

The remark, made by United States Tennis Association (USTA) CEO Craig Tiley in reference to the US Open, has seemingly proven true. Yet this 'Disneyland,' intended to popularize the sport's appeal, has also attracted spectators unfamiliar with the sport, and not for the better. Videos have gone viral of one spectator using bright lights and another group of spectators filming distractedly, indifferent to the match in front of them.

To this, professional tennis tour athletes have shared their thoughts, some leaning toward the positives of growth in the sport. Others emphasized the added distraction to high-pressure matches.

"People are down there trying to perform, and it's their career and their job. It seems like a bit disrespectful," World No. 3 ranked player Jessica Pegula commented in an post-match interview.

As a highly anticipated summer sporting event in New York of all places, the tournament is inevitably a strong magnet for influencers and content creators. This movement is further reinforced by tournament organizers, as they aim to draw younger, diverse audiences, for example, issuing media credentials to high-profile creators like MrBeast, contracting 15-20 creators for content specifically tailored to the US Open, or popularizing the fan experience, such as selling Honey Deuce beverages with melon (tennis-looking) balls for the Instagram-worthy picture. Still, this does not dismiss the sport's noise etiquette. Distinct from the constant noisy rumble of any other sport field or stadium, tennis courts stay comparatively quiet. A polite smattering of applause, the oohs and aahs, among other verbal distractions are kept to a minimum. The chair umpire, mic'd, even gives an occasional "Quiet please." Spectator movement is also intentional, timed to happen during breaks. It is like the audience is one with the players, maximizing their focus.

Tennis historical traditions to have quiet crowds can be traced back the sports' elitist roots, when higher class British culture correlated 'lawn tennis' as symbols of leisure and luxury. Aspects like behavioral conduct, including self-restraint, honesty, and game sportsmanship reflected the 'gentlemaness' linked with the upper-class. These unspoken expectations greatly affected play structure and strokes where taking advantage of one's strength through playing at the net and volleying was looked down upon as carrying selfish, aggressive intentions for trying to end the point rather than continuing the rally, or using the drop shot to end the rally was viewed 'unsporting.' This behavioral etiquette was underlyingly "...a meaningful source of power, symbol of prestige and tool for social enhancement for lawn tennis players." Though this restrictive play is no longer practiced to such extreme, certain areas of tennis etiquette are founded on similar underlying principles of sportsmanship and restraint, such as acknowledging lucky net-cord points with a raised hand, not celebrating an opponent's unforced error, or returning balls safely during warmups and for stopped points.

Dress code also largely reflected status as tennis had thrived under its associations with the British upper class. Influenced by old money aesthetics of European aristocracy of the Victorian era, fashion was shaped as etiquette for matchwear, but also a standard and barrier for those who could afford to play and/or watch. The dress code of blazers and flannel trousers for men and long kilt skirts with corsets for women reflected the material and designs of what was worn to other high-end outdoor leisure activities. Although not ideal for comfortable play or practicality, it was a socially coded sign of affluence. In addition, the 'all white' dress became another hint toward the traditional elitist image of tennis, a way to appear more proper by managing perspiration better. Specifically, purity of white signaled privilege because they were the ones able to dress cleanly and maintain the white color all day.

The sport's upper-class fashion sentiments still reflect in today's tennis branding. Professional tennis players partner with brands for sporting clothing kits, accessories, travel/tennis gear and other custom luxury items that vary from tournament to tournament. In fact, a style movement dubbed 'Tenniscore' has also emerged, combining luxury with leisure through preppy and polished streetwear. In some ways, this trend made tennis fashion a more inclusive part of the game, serving as a ritual and a source of confidence for embracing the game wholeheartedly, pushing the idea that sport extends beyond 'game play' alone. To this day, Wimbledon, another Grand Slam tournament like the US Open, upholds an all-white dress code. Even further, there seems to be an unspoken formal and elegant aesthetic shared by attendees as well with fashion coverage from buzzworthy media outlets like Vogue. However, tennis fashion today emphasizes player style and individuality even when somewhat rooted in traditional wear. Recently, four-time Grand Slam Winner Naomi Osaka has taken the sports world by storm with her fashion game. She is one of many figures who has creatively used tennis fashion beyond self-expression: to honor heritage, communicate bold statements and break norms.

Tennis is dynamic, and so is its etiquette. While the sport has progressed tremendously since centuries ago, it has continued preserving the very practices that historically made it distinct. The least one can do when entering a new sports venue is to better understand or educate oneself on what responsible and respectful fandom looks like, enhancing the experience for players performing, fellow fans and, ultimately, oneself. Popularizing a sport does not need to undermine the etiquette that builds its game. Young American star and 2023 US Open Women's Champion Coco Gauff had fittingly noted, "if you're being invited to a red carpet, you wouldn't show up in jeans." Well, it's not much different with any sport: respect the players.

We live in tumultuous times, where the topic of immigration is highly controversial. Yet I connect the memories of my family's history of intergenerational trauma and escape to my personal experiences bringing my opinion to light: immigration should be open borders; immigrants should NOT be discriminated against.

My family has been living in diaspora for well over a century. My great-grandmother, Luba Bet-Alkhas, was a young woman in Russia in the late 1920s when the Russian Revolution's aftermath made staying there impossible. She and her husband, my great-grandfather, Elisha, fled south, eventually settling in Urmia, a city in the Assyrian region of northwestern Iran. They built a life there.

In parallel, my paternal grandfather's family fled the 1914-1918 genocide that the Ottoman Empire carried out against Assyrians, Armenians and the Greeks. When the Ottomans invaded Iran to massacre and ethnically cleanse Assyrians in Urmia and its surrounding villages, the women and children in my grandfather's family fled to the British refugee camps built in Baghdad (in current-day Iraq), while the men joined an Assyrian regiment fighting the Ottoman army alongside the British, who had promised the Assyrians that if they helped the British defeat the Ottomans, they would have a homeland of their own. World War I ended, and the British reneged on their promise. Some of my grandfather's family eventually made their way back home to Iran, though others stayed in Iraq. Either way, "home" became a concept with more than one answer.

60 years later, my grandparents fled again. This time, from the 1979 Iranian Revolution, along with my father and aunt, who eventually made their way to the United States.

I am absorbed by immigration because of my family's personal memories of intergenerational trauma of escape from political persecution and violence. Through working with nonprofits that serve gender-based violence survivors, I saw clear patterns in the trauma clients carried: Many women from West Africa were survivors of female genital mutilation, and those from Ecuador and Colombia had fled gender-based violence severe enough to make staying a matter of life and death. Each case was severe and it was very quickly proven to me how poorly run the immigration system is.

I won't pretend I can do justice to what they told me, and I don't think it's my place to retell their stories in detail; they aren't mine to tell. What I can say is that I sat with people who had survived traumas I struggle to even hold in my imagination and who still found the strength to trust a stranger with a piece of it.

None of these lives are similar, but the same thread runs throughout: having to build a new life in a new home after fleeing violence.

When my family fled Iran in the late 1970s, gaining legal status in the United States was difficult, but it was not the ordeal it is today. Now, it is nearly impossible. In June 2026, 94% of asylum cases were denied. Hundreds of immigration judges are being fired, and asylum denial rates are higher than ever. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detain and deport people who have been here for years, who have their lives here. Some of our own peers here at Hopkins had their visas abruptly revoked in 2025.

None of this makes the country safer. It just makes it crueler, and it's simply baffling to think that a first-world country like this one can make such mistakes.

Immigration policy should not be built around suspicion. Every person fleeing from violence deserves to be treated as a person, not as a security threat or a line item to be denied. My great-grandmother was not a threat, neither was the rest of my family who came thereafter or the woman I described at the start of this piece. Immigration policy should exist to give them, as it once gave my family, an honest chance at life and a chance at the American dream.

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

This will be my fourth semester volunteering at a Baltimore hospital. In that time I've gone from a wide-eyed and scared pre-med fascinated with the theoretical "patient experience" to looking forward to listening, connecting and being with patients. I've picked up skills and strategies to be more present with patients. Thinking back I am almost surprised at the number of patients I do not remember. I see hundreds of patients a semester, but even though I can recall the emotions an encounter elicits, I have realized the specifics of most interactions have escaped me. I do not remember my first, and I don't remember most of the brief cups of water, fetching of blankets or restocking of gloves, nor the muted interactions that prompted them. But I do remember the patients who ask questions, who ask me to stay. I remember the pride staying 10 minutes over my shift to talk a patient down from a panic attack brought me. I remember the wonder in the eyes of a woman as she outlined her son's adventures across Laos on tuk-tuk.

But there is one patient I will never forget. I remember everything about that night. The weather that night, what I was wearing, the room. Everything. I was just over halfway through my shift and the nurse I'd been talking to prepped me for the next room. The situation was delicate and the patient spoke only Spanish. I tried to soften my composure even more and struggled to recall the three years of Spanish classes I'd taken. I knocked and entered the room with the Spanish version of my opening spiel on my lips.

"Hola, me llamo Michael, soy-"

Inside, the patient was young and the surgery she had scheduled for the next morning was the kind that scares you. Being pre-op, she was NPO (nil per os, Latin for nothing by mouth), so there wasn't water or ice chips I could offer, nor much menial I could busy my hands with. She sat there shell-shocked, scary-quiet, somewhere far away from the room. She did not react when I asked if she was cold and offered "una manta otra," another blanket.

Her mother was not quiet. She was unraveling. She crossed the room before I'd even finished my introduction, took both of my hands in hers - she had to reach up to do it, she was easily a foot and a half shorter than me-and started praying. Over her daughter. With me standing there, a stranger with a laminate who'd walked in three minutes earlier struggling to recall phrases from my Spanish classes, mentally preparing to have a conversation because I thought she wanted someone to speak to her.

I was wrong. She didn't need someone to talk to her. She needed someone to listen and let her talk to G-d. Her Spanish was rapid and as she clasped my hands and in the middle of what must have been a terrifying, horrible night, waiting on a lifesaving surgery for her daughter that she couldn't control, she thanked Him. For 30 minutes she proclaimed her faith and thankfulness for the strength He had given her until tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes, and she literally shook with the effort, taking long, shuddering breaths.

Finally, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. I asked if I could bring her a coffee. When I returned she took it gratefully, and she had grown quieter, calmer. She told me she hadn't slept in a while and thanked me profusely for just bringing her coffee calling me an angel. She introduced me to her daughter, who didn't respond, and asked where I was from. She told me I was a child of G-d, as were we all.

Honestly, I did very little. I poured a cup of coffee from a pot I didn't brew and stood in a room and listened to a language I'd really only practiced in a classroom. But before I left, she traced the sign of the cross over me and asked me a few small questions: my name again and where I was from, the kind of details I realized that she needed so she could keep praying for me after I walked out the door.

I finished up my shift, forcing everything down, going through the motions. I did not have any other deep interactions for the hour I had left. I did see one person who told me her life story, and we guessed at Family Feud answers together, but then I clocked out of my shift at 8 and then chose not to go home.

I walked aimlessly and thought about medicine. I really thought about it. Why would I, why would anyone want to go into a career of such pain? Choose to see people at their most fearful, most in pain? I began to question myself. Am I just a morbid observer happy because I can peek into people's lives before darting back to safety in the reality of my healthy body?

I know I helped that patient, or at least her family, but at the end of the day I can walk away from the horror and realities of that room.

At that point my reasons for medicine were pretty cliche. I wanted to "help people." I relished the order and stability a life in medicine might provide. Vain enough, I wanted what a white coat said about me. But all those selfish reasons really paled at the patient I had seen.

What I see as a volunteer is a snapshot. A freeze-framed moment in time of a person's life, and I feel both privileged to share that moment and duty bound to help them any way I can.

Being a volunteer has taught me the role of a health-care provider is to meet every patient where they are. No two patients are alike and your role requires an even keeled flexibility not to act a role for a patient, but to try and connect with them where they are at. At times I have been a friend, a source of home, a curious listener, an impressionable young person, a storyteller, a source of entertainment, even someone uniquely talented to decode the complicated hospital TV remotes. I was many things for that patient and I hope the connection we developed in that snapshot helped her continue on her journey as much as it has helped me on mine.

Sebastian Alderman (they/them) is a senior from Tulsa, Okla., studying Anthropology and History on the pre-med track.

During the initial period of funding changes, The News-Letter interviewed several Hopkins researchers to gain more insight into the direct and indirect effects felt. One year on, these researchers were interviewed once more to understand their current circumstances and concerns about the future.

Brendon Davis, who was a PhD student in cell and molecular biology and serving as Vice President for Science Policy of the Science Policy and Diplomacy Group at Hopkins during the time of his previous interview, highlighted the political underpinnings of the matter at hand.

"I think we saw the whole cycle last year... president requests large cuts to science, Congress generally rejects those cuts and kept funding for pretty much most science agencies, which was good... we're now in that cycle again, but I think... you're seeing a lot more people get a little more into the specific rules that are being proposed."

When asked about potential steps towards remedying the situation, Davis highlighted the need for advocacy from the scientific community.

"I think we kind of sit in these academic circles and talk about science... the ones on the ground doing the science... can go to communities and policy makers and talk about it the most effectively, as long as they get out of that bubble... we're close enough to DC that that's easy to go to a lot of big [rallies], but on the other hand, you can also set up meetings with your members of Congress... you can write op-eds... The only way that things can actually materially change is if people are actually speaking out to all those policy makers and all the people who are voting for those policy makers."

Beyond students, The News-Letter also interviewed several professors to gain insights into the experience of running a laboratory or operating in a similar position of authority throughout this situation.

Dr. Peter Winch, a professor at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, previously addressed the loss of two of his projects focused on environmental sustainability in Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of the Congo as a result of federal funding changes. While he re-emphasized the detrimental effects of the reduced funding on international cooperation and the people who stood to benefit from the success of those programs, he also highlighted the specific predicament faced by Hopkins as a private rather than public institution.

"[State universities] get a check from the government to run the University, and that's like the core of their funding... the faculty positions are frozen... Private [universities] don't have any capitation, so our income comes from tuition and [mostly] from research money... Even for the funding that exists, people are unsure what the rules are, and the rules are changed all the time by the Trump administration..." Winch said.

Winch also discussed how the cuts impacted the researchers working on the project.

"The number of faculty isn't set... a lot of those people who we hire to work on specific projects [have to leave] when the funding for those projects ends... At the time when the cuts were made in January 2025, Hopkins as a whole was well-funded and there was lots of discretionary money... So we sort of kept people going for a while, hoping that funding would come back. But now that we see funding isn't coming back, we're starting [to] cut people," he added.

Winch highlighted recent staff layoffs carried out by Hopkins as examples of this phenomenon. Furthermore, he indicated his experience with graduate students having difficulty finding further jobs and with funding the indirect costs not usually accomodated for within grants.

Similarly, Steven Salzberg, who had previously spoken about his concerns regarding the effects grant funding changes could have on the future of the field, continued to highlight the threat of the financial climate to research. While his lab has been able to continue its operations, he stressed the unsustainability of operating without more stable government funding.

"There is no scenario under which private funding can possibly support the United States research enterprise... Scientists have been going to private donors already for decades. Of course, we get private funding already, and those private donors didn't suddenly get a lot richer last year..." Salzberg said.

Salzberg emphasized the historical importance of research funded by the federal government.

"Starting back in the 1950s, universities would do research funded by the federal government, and the system grew over the years... in part because it was very successful. It still is very successful. It's brought a lot of discoveries that over the course of time have been very beneficial to United States, which is paying for this, and to human beings in general... it's the kind of long-term investment that companies just can't do or won't do," he said.

Speaking of the long-term, Salzberg highlighted the significant stressors the circumstances placed upon international recruitment and collaboration.

"It's not that it impacts the research itself, it impacts people in the lab, most of whom are not native-born US citizens, and it affects our ability to recruit new people... We've been a tremendously attractive place to come and work, and so we've been able to bring the best minds from around the world to our labs. I've had some excellent people come from other countries. Now I know that some of them don't want to come because of the hostility they perceive."

Zooming in on specific fields within research, The News-Letter had the opportunity to follow up with two faculty members studying means to explain and treat pancreatic cancer. Dr. Elizabeth Jaffee and Dr. Daniel Zabransky previously explained their boundary-pushing work was highly reliant on federal funding and consistent investment to provide the ability to take risks and plan long-term experiments.

In her follow-up interview, Jaffee highlighted the significant technological and scientific advancements that were being made in the search for a pancreatic cancer vaccine. Yet, the funding situation has added new barriers to their success.

"This current environment, politically, is squashing what we can do in science. Our grants are at risk. This is all government funded work... our work is under pressure, and I'm very worried about that... in fact, our vaccine work depends on our vaccine. We developed our vaccine ourselves, but there's only one company that will make the vaccine for us that we can give to patients right now, and that's in Germany...another lot of this vaccine came to the US border, and we were told that we had to pay an extra $13,000 because of the tariffs now. I don't know where to get that extra $13,000; they're cutting our grants," she said.

Zabransky, her frequent collaborator who continues investigating pancreatic cancer, suggests the situation might be even worse for other fields.

"I think infectious diseases and global population health research that focuses on disparities [is] much more affected by the change in priorities and the change in policies. [In comparison,] cancer research, in a broad sense, always gets a lot of popular support, and I think the importance and the significance of it is well understood. But even without direct targeting... a lot of the structural changes in how the NIH and other government funders makes it harder for everyone."

These effects have been observable directly at Hopkins. The News-Letter reached out to Radha Rajan, at the time a researcher working at the Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs. She spoke about the struggles imposed by funding changes and specifically the Breakthrough ACTION project focused on the implementation of health knowledge in her previous interview. Upon follow-up, Rajan confirmed through e-mail that the project was halted and never reinstated.

Nonetheless, all fields remain under some level of threat. In his interview last year, Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Jeff Coller emphasized the uncertainty faced by his field of RNA research, ranging from a loss in international competitiveness to difficulties in recruiting graduate students to sustain his work's future. During a follow-up interview with The News-Letter, he explained that many of these concerns remained or were even exacerbated by the continued difficulties as well as proposed policy changes to give the government greater oversight regarding research and grant approval. Coller also highlighted the role played by Hopkins in weathering the storm.

"Hopkins has been fantastic in the way in which they've responded to try to help and protect the faculty, mainly through the active creation of funding mechanisms. They won't be able to take care of everybody, but they've created these resilience funds which are competitive...It's actually very encouraging, and I feel very privileged to be at a university where there is this active stance by the university's administration to really try to make sure that we're protected in this in this really delicate time," Coller said.

Though the situation remains tense and continually evolving, there remain ways in which scientists, activists, and all concerned parties within the public can continue to push for solutions to the various issues described.

"I don't think anyone would ever vote against [getting] rid of cancer... I think it's harder for the public to understand [that] one of the best ways to do that is to use federal government money to really support research institutions, to support academic research labs... a lot of that work came from government-funded non-profit research support... that's the pipeline, that's the foundation for a lot of the great breakthroughs that are going to help everyone in their health in the future," explained Zabransky.