If you have watched any sort of action movie where the guy always gets the girl, you’ve probably noticed the highlighted features of the woman he claims as his prize at the end of the story. She wears revealing clothing, high heels, dramatic makeup and has no real personality to fit in with the rest of the plot besides being the romantic interest, of course.

The reality is that the male gaze has taken over the big screen, leaving female characters in the dark and reduced to nothing more than an object. That may not be the case for every movie, but there is a definite and noticeable truth to the fact that the heterosexual male gaze has altered the way we perceive media and television.

We see in the 2005 adaption of “Sin City,” strong, powerful men who are fit and filled with lustful rage. Clive Owen and Bruce Willis portray characters who are dark and mysterious, with personalities and a deep past. Then, we see Alexis Bledel who plays the character named Becky, whose main purpose is to be eye candy throughout the majority of the movie.

Even when a woman takes on a strong female role there are still signs of sexualization throughout certain films.

This trend is pretentious in many action films where men usually take the lead but when women do they are still sexualized. Bérénice Marlohe in “Skyfall 007,” Angelina Jolie in “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” with her dominatrix outfit, the movie “Spring Breakers,” Amy Adams in “American Hustle” or Alice Eve in “Star Trek,” parading around in her underwear, all follow this trend.

When women take the lead you still tend to see highlighted sexualization such as in the movie “Black Widow” with Scarlett Johansson. Her suit strongly accentuates her body features, and because of this men in interviews would ask her crass questions such as what type of underwear she wore with the suit.

Early on in the film industry as Hollywood started to grow, objectification was portrayed which implemented the idea that women are trophy objects.

The man must win over, and, essentially, “get the girl” and that objectification is the premise of the whole movie. It has been going on for years. Almost every Elvis Presley movie includes a moment where he wins over the women with his voice. In the 1933 film “King Kong,” Kong holds the woman in his arms as the men aid her rescue.

These examples from early Hollywood may seem archaic, but the sad thing is, this hasn’t died out.

You can see it in movie franchises such as “Star Wars” and Princess Leia’s outfit of desire, the movie “Sex Sells” or “Wolf of Wall Street.” It’s in each and every “007” movie, and all of the characters I listed before. It continues to progress, even in the ad campaigns.

Kim Leonards, a journalist who researched the origins of male gaze in film, describes how movies portray women by saying “Film has become a mirror of society’s view of the female body.”

Long and observable studies have been done to further prove this point at the University of Southern California. The research provided by University of Southern California states that “they found that females are more likely than males to be shown in sexy attire (25.8% vs. 4.7%), with some exposed skin (23.6% vs. 7.4%).”

This same study performed by University of Southern California shows that women from the ages of 13-20 years old may be just as likely to be portrayed in this sexualized, objectified light as older women, and maybe even more so.

What effect does this exactly have on women today?

Women start to either feel the need to objectify and portray themselves like these women, or they feel down about the way they look because they may not meet the “ideal body standards” set up by Hollywood culture. Some women partake in immense dieting or try to alter their physical features to look like these women.

Additionally, there is an overall aggression over why women can’t have a simple role in movies without that character becoming a sex object.

We continue to see the objectification and sexualization of different body types, age, race and ethnicity within women. And it is a growing problem.

Women deserve to feel respected and not objectified for their bodies. They deserve to live without societal pressure shining down on them by the media and the movie industry emphasized by appeasing the male gaze. This problem is continuously expanding and it is something that Hollywood refuses to fix, they can create an object of desire without creating oversexualization.

On April 25, the Elektron Solar Project reached commercial operation. The project provides renewable power to six Utah-based customers. Salt Lake City is the largest consumer of the farm’s power. The farm has brought Salt Lake City closer to renewable energy goals outlined in the Climate Positive 2040 Roadmap.

The Elektron Solar Project

The Elektron Solar Project is an 80-megawatt solar farm in Tooele County. Besides Salt Lake City, the project provides energy for Park City, Summit County, Utah Valley University, Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain Resort. 

D.E. Shaw Renewable Investments (DESRI) announced the project’s completion. According to SLCgreen, DESRI is the largest renewable energy developer contracted by Rocky Mountain Power and Mayor Erin Mendenhall for this project. PR Newswire also reported that PacifiCorp has contracted 20 and 25- year power purchase agreements with Elektron Solar under Rocky Mountain Power’s Schedule 34.

“The Elektron Solar Project is going to help us meet the 50% target for municipal operations,” Salt Lake City’s Senior Energy and Climate Program Manager Christopher Thomas said.

Climate Positive 2040 Roadmap outlines this and other renewable energy goals for the city. More information on Salt Lake City’s sustainability goals can be found here.

According to the Elektron Solar Project, “Salt Lake City is the largest electricity consumer and has committed to purchasing roughly half the energy produced by the solar farm … equating to approximately 80% of the city’s electricity usage in a given year.”

Originally, Elektron Solar‘s goal was to “[achieve] net-50% renewable electricity for municipal operations by 2020.” However, the project faced delays due to various challenges. COVID-19, for example, caused manufacturing delays, Thomas said. 

“There was also a tariff investigation, looking at whether additional tariffs should be applied to panels coming from Southeast Asia. At times the entire utility-scale solar panel supply chain was frozen to the United States,” Thomas said. “Thankfully, we were able to navigate that. But, it required reworking the underlying contracts a few times, which can be scary in projects like this because everyone has to agree to the new terms. In our case, what it meant was pushing the online date back a couple of times.”

The Future of Renewable Power

Thomas noted that efforts to implement more renewable energy in Utah will likely involve solar, wind, hydro and geothermal energy in the future.

“We’d prefer to see energy sources that serve a program built in Utah. But, there’s a chance those can be built in Wyoming, or potentially even Idaho,” he said.

The Salt Lake City Sustainability Office plans to reach “100% renewable energy for community electricity supply by 2030.” H.B. 411, The Community Renewable Energy Act, set these plans into motion alongside a collaboration with Utah Renewable Communities. More information on these efforts can be found here.

Thomas pointed to another major project in the works called the Utah Renewable Communities Effort.

“That is an effort where Salt Lake City has been joined by 17 other communities across the state and we are partnering with Rocky Mountain Power to create a brand new renewable energy program designed to reach a goal of 100% renewable electricity by 2030,” Thomas said.

This program is still under development. But, Thomas shared this plan’s efforts to involve communities in decision making may be “the first of its kind in the whole country.”

Regarding the significance of community involvement in renewable energy, Thomas said, “Become as energy literate as you can. I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to create a career in renewable energy. I think when people don’t really understand how [renewable energy] works, it’s really easy to become confused or even misinformed about these really important decisions.”

a.walker@dailyutahchronicle.com

@Alina_Walkerr

The post Solar Farm in Tooele Reaches Commercial Operation first appeared on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

“The U.S. is experiencing nearly six times more major weather and climate disasters per year than it did 40 years ago,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said.

On May 21, the Biden administration announced $6.6 million for a new data assimilation consortium, marking a significant step forward in protecting populations most vulnerable to these disasters all around the country.

This project, known as the Consortium for Advanced Data Assimilation Research and Education, represents a collaborative effort between leading universities in the field of atmospheric science.

The consortium will bring together institutions from all around the country and globe, including the University of Oklahoma, Colorado State University, Howard University, the University of Maryland, Pennsylvania State University and the University of Utah. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, State University of New York at Albany and City College of New York will also participate but will not receive funding under the proposal.

Additionally, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research labs and operational centers, the Earth Prediction Innovation Center, the United Kingdom’s Meteorological Office, the University of Reading and the new Transatlantic Data Science Academy will play a vital role in this initiative.

This effort hopes to produce results that will be felt around the world, no matter if a country is directly involved, and help everyone better forecast and prepare for weather and climate-related disasters.

“Data assimilation is a science that combines observation information and numerical models together to produce an analysis that estimates the status of the Earth system as it evolves, for example,” said Project Director Xuguang Wang, who  is a professor of meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.

In other words, data assimilation is the mathematical process of continuously combining observational data with model data, or real life with theory, to better inform future models.

“For this consortium, we are trying to actually fill two gaps,” Wang said. “One is to fill the serious gap in workforce. We like to get students … interested in data assimilation, (knowing) what a data assimilation is and, you know, study it and use it down the road. So the other gap is (that) there is a lack of sustained support for innovative research for data assimilation.”

In meteorology, data assimilation provides a starting point for the forecasts people use every day.

Peter Jan van Leeuwen, a professor in data assimilation and physical oceanography at CSU, said it also plays a huge role in studying the ocean and cloud formation and in forecasting hurricanes as they grow and evolve. Van Leeuwen has been involved in research for over 30 years and serves as CSU’s representative for the project.

Van Leeuwen’s department has an existing collaboration with the NOAA’s Collaborative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere, which will aid in this new initiative.

Although not involved in this specific project, Scott Denning, a CSU atmospheric science professor, uses the field of data assimilation in his research on the global carbon cycle and measuring carbon dioxide levels in the air and oceans.

Wang said the field “brings together those who study math, physical and dynamical processes, modeling, measurements, higher performance computing and data science, and it has applications in many areas.”

The primary goal of this research, however, is focused on improving weather forecasting.

“This is a very broad collaboration nationally and internationally,” Wang said. “That’s one thing I’m quite excited about. The other one is, you know, the impact of this consortium. … We’re going to address a serious gap in workforce. This is a known issue — nationally, internationally known issue — about the workforce gap in data assimilation.”

By improving the technology that goes into numerical weather prediction models, public and public safety officials have access to more accurate and timely information. This, Raimondo said, will make communities more climate resilient.

Additionally, the consortium hopes to educate people on what data assimilation is, addressing a significant knowledge gap in the field. Most directly, this will involve graduate and postdoctoral students becoming specifically trained in the field, thereby enhancing the workforce pipeline.

“It’s not that we don’t know how to figure it out,” Denning said. “It’s just that the field is continuously evolving and being reinvented in the light of new technological advances. The lack of people with knowledge in the field makes it challenging to adapt to.”

The best way to do so, van Leeuwen said, is through science projects. His team will use data assimilation to address existing problems within the physics and math equations that drive the current models. They’ll also focus on the errors models make based on real-time observations from satellites.

“So now we have six universities involved there,” van Leeuwen said. “There are many universities in the U.K., obviously in the U.S., … where data assimilation is done. That way we can train people. … Our hope is for many people within NOAA that, that there will be funding to extend this.”

As well as holding the project director role, Wang will lead two research projects of her own. The first involves machine learning and artificial intelligence and how they can be used to reduce the computational cost of data assimilation. The second focuses on addressing the interaction of land and atmosphere during data assimilation to improve short-range forecasts.

Wang said the entire consortium will address 12 research topics, two at each institution. These vary from short-range to seasonal predictions and from new data assimilation methodologies to implementation and will focus on extreme weather like hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires.

Involved professors and scientists at NOAA offices will also travel to other universities within the collaboration to guest lecture and spread their expertise.

Alongside these higher education-based research initiatives, the consortium will develop material to be used in high school classrooms, hold summer workshops for students and publish training materials online.

Work doesn’t start until August, and funding lasts for three years, Wang and van Leeuwen said. Unless it is renewed by the next administration, the worry lies in sustaining research, the workforce and support from the scientific community. Without advancements, the future of weather forecasting and numerical weather prediction risks falling behind.

Reach Marinna Stopa at science@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.

As the fall academic semester begins in less than a month, students are beginning to receive their financial aid offers. 

The delays, a result of complications with the newly updated FAFSA form, are coming at a time of unprecedented lows, with high school senior submissions dropping to 37%, according to CNN. These declines in student financial aid applications come at a time of heavy criticism for the United States Department of Education and its decision to update the FAFSA form.

The new form, implemented during the most recent application cycle, makes it harder for some students to apply. Due to the new parent involvement system, it has become difficult for parents without Social Security numbers to complete their portion of the form.

However, the University of Minnesota’s Office of Student Finance said they feel confident they have helped students navigate the new financial aid process.

“The Office of Student Finance and One Stop Student Services have worked diligently to minimize impacts of the 2024-2025 FAFSA rollout by the U.S. Department of Education,” said Nate Peterson, Director of the Office of Student Finance, in an email statement to the Minnesota Daily. “The University began sending out financial aid notices to students the week of July 22, 2024. We encourage students to log into MyU and check their financial aid status.” 

Peterson said if students have questions about their financial aid, they can contact the Office of Student Finances or One Stop Student Services. He said he is confident in the work that has already been done to resolve issues among students.

“At this time, the vast majority of students have received their financial aid package,” Peterson said. “For students with an identified issue regarding their 2024-2025 financial aid, our offices have sent emails to students’ UMN email addresses to resolve any outstanding issues. While we share in students’ frustration at the rollout of the 2024-2025 FAFSA, we are confident that we have minimized impacts and will continue to support our students.”

However, nationally, many students have not been updated on their financial aid since they submitted their forms. 

Cal Shin, an undergraduate student at Dartmouth College, said she is struggling to prepare her finances for the upcoming semester.

“I had no choice but to fill out the paper FAFSA and mail it,” Shin said. “So, I have mailed the FAFSA before my school’s deadline of April, but unfortunately it is yet to be processed. There was an update on July 30, saying that they have identified 34,000 unique forms, and out of those forms, 25,000 can be processed while 9,000 have to be returned for missing information. I am fervently hoping that I’m one of the 25,000 forms.”

Shin said she works in admissions and worries the updated forms will make accessing federal loans more difficult for low-income students, first-generation students and immigrant families. 

“Those are the people that are getting impacted the most,” Shin said. “It was supposed to make it easier for first-generation, low-income families to fill out the FAFSA and get it processed, but it’s only made it harder on them. If you look at news articles from any reputable source on FAFSA statistics, you’ll find there’s been a very significant drop in students who have completed the FAFSA compared to previous years.”

More than 87% of first-year students receive financial aid in some form, and students attending public universities borrow an average of $29,250 to attain a bachelor’s degree, according to the Education Data Initiative. 

A second-year student at the Community College of Baltimore County, who requested anonymity due to job security, said his future in college was put in jeopardy.

Working as a part of the Community College of Baltimore County’s International Student Service Office, he said management put him on an indefinite leave until his FAFSA information was returned and a new contract for the upcoming semester could be put in place.

“My work-study was my sole source of income altogether,” he said. “I just got an email this morning about them wanting to bring me in to renew my contract. But with financial aid being the way it has been over the summer, it almost makes it not worth it. Don’t get me wrong, I love the job that I have, but the organization of the financial aid and the difficulties make it hard to make a decision.” 

With less than a month until most universities start their new academic year, Shin said students are still waiting to receive their financial aid.

“We’re just waiting to see what happens, just wishing we’re part of the 25,000, and hoping for the best, because there’s nothing more we can do,” Shin said.

Tucked away on St. Clair Ave. in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood in St. Paul is the ArtScraps Creative Reuse Materials and Idea Center, a small, colorful storefront housing endless creative possibilities in the form of donated craft supplies and other materials for reuse.

Opened in 1993, the ArtScraps store is an arm of the arts nonprofit ArtStart, which was established in 1987.

“The mission of ArtStart is to inspire artistic creativity and illuminate the connections among people, ideas and the environment through engaging artists, children, families, and communities in quality arts education experiences,” said the organization in its mission statement.

ArtStart aims to cater to all artistic pursuits regardless of age, identity or creative background. This is apparent in ArtScraps’ interior, which looks like an “I Spy” book come to life.

ArtScraps houses everything from traditional craft supplies like markers, pens and yarn to barrels full of paper towel tubes, CDs and orange prescription bottles, ready to be used in someone’s next creative experiment.

“You notice different things every time you come in,” said Cindy Lukas, a volunteer worker who has been involved with ArtScraps for nearly eight years.

Lukas started as a customer looking for materials to use in creative projects for people with dementia at the nursing home where she assisted. ArtScraps also proved useful for her own mixed media art practice.

“It just fit with the other things I was doing,” Lukas said, which is what led her to start volunteering.

Examples of art made with ArtScraps materials can be found all over the store, adding even more color to the whimsically kitschy space.

Hanging in the far-left corner inside the front window are fabric tubes tangled together and hung from the ceiling, appearing like tentacles. Buttons adorn them, as well as large glass and metal circles resembling giant eyes.

On a shelf in the middle of the store is a green paper-mâché fish and various dioramas, including one of the human brain made for a school project with its different sections made of different colored plastic leis.

“Who knows what it was to begin with, but we had it,” said Store Manager Becky Olson when she pulled the diorama off the shelf, referring to the yellow hard plastic rim containing the brain.

Olson started at ArtScraps as a volunteer, then became a teaching artist who led different store activities until becoming the manager in 2012.

An artist with a background in set production for theater, Olson said she loves ArtScraps’ mission of “being a part of the circle of materials and making them readily available.”

“People love to give their materials to a place that’s dedicated to reuse,” Olson said. “It takes a load off their minds.”

Lukas said she donates a lot of stuff because it gets it out of her house and makes her husband happy.

The value of ArtScraps goes far beyond being a drop-off site for objects without purpose. It is the community that is fostered around the exchange and discovery of objects and their creative potential that counts.

“It makes people feel good,” Olson said.

What is more, a lot of those objects are priced under a dollar, excluding items with special value.

“A lot of things are at least 50 percent off craft store price,” said Franny Haight, ArtScraps employee and fifth-year University of Minnesota fine arts student. “I once found $2 mohair yarn.”

Haight said the low prices create access to the arts and the environment of ArtScraps, which also sets it apart from craft store chains like Michaels, which she called “sterile.”

Haight said coming to ArtScraps means shopping without the ethical concerns involving corporations, such as where their wares are sourced and how they treat their workers.

“You’re supporting a small nonprofit and saving items from a landfill,” Haight said.

As a worker, Haight has helped working artists find materials for their projects but also sees a lot of children come to ArtScraps.

“Kids have less judgment about what materials they’re working with or where they come from,” Haight said.

The infinite avenues of inspiration maintained by ArtScraps create childlike wonder in everyone who visits, which ultimately spurs creativity, both individually and collectively.

Haight said young girls come in semi-regularly and the last time they came in, they challenged each other to buy only items in their favorite colors.

In another instance, Haight said a parent showed their child around the store. As they were leaving, she heard the child say, “Thanks for bringing me here.”

To find out more about how and what to donate to ArtScraps, visit their donation page on their website. Their next open donation day is Tuesday, Aug. 20.

ArtScraps is open Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Young people now hold the key to the presidential election as, for the first time in decades, the number of eligible Gen Z and Millennial voters could match the number of Baby Boomers.

On July 21, President Joe Biden announced his withdrawal from the election race and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee. His decision ended over a month of concerns surrounding his capacity to defeat former President Donald Trump in November after his dismal debate performance, poor polling and severe lapses during interviews and press conferences. As a much younger candidate, Harris has more potential to appeal to younger voters, a change that brings new hope for Democrats, who have been failing to win over youth voters with Biden as the face of the party. 

Until now, the narrative of the election has revolved around Biden’s age and Trump’s lies and felony convictions, featuring a news cycle that made the election look more like a character drama than a serious moment for the future of the country. It’s no wonder that young people felt disillusioned and unmotivated. Biden has given Democrats a chance to bring this race back around to policy issues, but Harris’s candidacy  could generate new interest among the young voters who have felt discouraged by Biden’s policies. 

As the presumptive nominee, Harris must create a narrative for her campaign that is distinct from Biden’s by appealing to the desires of young voters, especially regarding policy issues such as immigration and foreign policy. This raises questions of how she will walk the political tightrope of distinguishing herself from the president while serving as a key member of his administration. 

The Israel-Hamas war is a prime example of an area where Harris must distinguish her policy from Biden’s. The president’s refusal to halt U.S. aid to Israel during its occupation of the Gaza Strip has been unpopular and particularly concerning for voters aged 18-29, about half of whom support a permanent ceasefire in the region. Last spring, law enforcement’s violent suppression of peaceful campus protests throughout the country, including at Emory University, brought the issue to the center of national discourse, especially for students. Concern for fellow students and outrage at the ongoing violence in Gaza has caused many young voters to reconsider their support of the Biden administration. 

But a Harris campaign can still win back support from left-leaning young voters, even though many have resolved that they will not support either mainstream candidate. By departing from the Biden administration’s message, Harris must begin to woo back this essential voting bloc, lest her campaign yield only another intact glass ceiling. As the first senior state official to push for a ceasefire, Harris has expressed more contempt for the U.S. role in the war in Gaza than Biden has. If Harris is to win back the votes of young people, she must not be afraid to diverge further from the Biden administration’s stances on Israel while remaining cognizant of the large number of Democrats that support the status quo, a balance Joe Biden has not successfully found. 

Harris’s ability to engage and uplift youth voices is crucial for her political survival. Harris raised $200 million in the first week after announcing her candidacy, garnering support from Democrats across the country. Additionally, after slightly over a week of campaigning, she has clinched the support of 3,284 Democratic delegates — leaving only 39 unpledged. With the Democratic establishment behind her, what she must do now is secure the support of left-leaning 18-29-year-old voters, who constitute a significant portion of the population in swing states like Georgia, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Harris will do so by avoiding a moderate approach to her messaging. Generally, Harris is not in danger of losing young voters to Trump — instead, both Biden and Harris’ campaigns present as too moderate for young voters who may choose to not vote at all over voting for a candidate who doesn’t represent their values. Instead of resorting to political disparaging akin to Biden’s previous approaches, Harris should orient her campaign on concrete policy recommendations — such as putting an end to the ongoing violence in Gaza, supporting immigrants, and pursuing climate action — that will advance a progressive vision for America’s future.

When it comes to the election itself, bringing out the vote also means holding politicians accountable for change we want to see. Simply getting young people registered to vote in Georgia and pressuring them to vote for Harris because of her opposition to Trumpism is not the only strategy. The “she’s the best we got” argument only goes so far, and people will be more motivated to vote if they see a candidate who listens to their concerns. Biden’s age wasn’t the only thing dragging down the Democratic ticket: it was his lukewarm, centrist disposition on several issues that dissuaded young voters from seeing the Biden-Harris administration as a powerful office for good. 

As Georgia residents, Emory students have the power to make a mark on this election in a pivotal swing state. In 2020, Biden won Georgia by 12,670 votes. Emory’s total student population is 15,889. Our ability to impact this election is undeniable. In order to vote, you must be registered by October 7th, which can be done by mail or in-person for those without a Georgia ID, and online for those who do. When Harris realizes the need to rally the support of young people with substance rather than memes and pop culture references, we must give her something to listen to.

The above editorial represents the majority opinion of The Emory Wheel’s Editorial Board. The Editorial Board is composed of Marc Goedemans, Carson Kindred, Justin Leach, Eliana Liporace, and Ilka Tona.

Opinion Editor Lola McGuire contributed to the writing of this editorial.

The post Harris, avoid lukewarm politics to earn back young voters appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

The average person will spend 90,000 hours of their lifetime at work. Ninety thousand hours. Ninety thousand spent providing a roof and a meal, 90,000 spent chasing a dream. Ninety thousand working from a cubicle, attending office meetings, researching out in the field or curating a portfolio. How many ballpoint pens would one go through? How many coffee runs, red-eye flights or business dinners does one experience?

Ninety-thousand hours, yet only half of Americans feel fulfilled in their jobs.

A 2023 Pew Research study stated that only 44% of Americans are extremely or very satisfied with their opportunities for training and adopting new skills. Only 34% feel the same way about their salary, and only half say their job is even enjoyable.

For the majority of Americans who aren’t satisfied with their salary and for the half who dislike their jobs, what are those 90,000 hours put toward — a honed passion or a long paycheck? A dichotomy forms between pursuing a career that emotionally satisfies and pursuing a career that financially satisfies. For some, both are attainable. But for many, picking a career means sacrificing one consideration for another in an equally difficult choice.

What makes a meaningful career? 

Above all else, careers contribute to the human search for meaning. According to another Pew Research study conducted across 17 countries, a median 25% of adults surveyed said their occupation gave them meaning in life.

Students and faculty at Colorado State University currently search for career meaning while trying to pick between a loved passion and a good salary.

Michael Steger knows this search all too well. Professor of psychology and founder of the Center for Meaning and Purpose at CSU, an organization that promotes psychological well-being, Steger has published multiple journals on meaning and positive psychology. He best defines meaning in life as believing that one’s experiences make sense and matter. Meaningful work — a combination of factors like ambition, commitment, engagement, innovation and culture in a workplace — is a large contributor to a meaningful life.

“Meaning in life is certainly possible with any kind of work, but it is easier to have when your work is meaningful,” Steger said. “Especially when … you want to contribute to the world around you.”

Although meaningful work can boost life satisfaction, the searching process is not as simple as it may seem.

“Meaningful work is not easy to obtain,” Steger said. “Especially given distortions in (the) workplace where employers are actively working against meaningful work through policies and efforts to exert influence over workers.”

But even before the search for meaning begins, there comes a career plan. 

Engineering a path of their own 

“By the time you get to the point where you want to be a writer, you’ve sort of made the decision that your career is not going to be about money. When I first started the MFA, I thought I would just write and do a book deal and then be a writer. No. You have to do a lot of work to go up.” -Julia Marquez-Uppman, creative nonfiction MFA student

“Seeing people enjoy a sunny day pisses me off,” Jack Smith says. “You don’t know how bad I wish I could be hooping right now.”

Smith and Kai Oganeku sit across from each other at a picnic table, arms folded in mock jealousy. It’s a postcard Friday in Fort Collins: 75 degrees with a slight breeze, clouds dotting a blueberry sky like lazy brushstrokes on a painting. Students gather in clusters to lounge on the Intramural Fields, flipping like pancakes every 30 minutes to get an equal number of kisses from the sun. But for Smith and Oganeku, first-year engineering students at CSU, even the prettiest of days are all work and little play.

“A lot of people don’t understand the sheer scale of work (engineers have),” said Oganeku, an electrical engineering major. “I have about six more hours to do today.”

Despite the heavy workload, both Oganeku and Smith said the strenuous time and effort are well worth the payoff — literally. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual salary for an electrical engineer in 2023 was $106,950, while mechanical engineers made $99,510.

“I’ve always been told to choose a career that makes decent money,” Smith said, laughing. “I’ve also always had an engineer mind, though. … (I would) play with legos and cars growing up. That developed into taking objects apart and putting them back together.”

Unlike Smith, Oganeku admitted that engineering isn’t exactly a noble dream of his.

“If we’re being completely real, it’s a sucky degree — it’s really hard,” Oganeku said. “If what we were doing paid 60,000, I would not be doing it.”

For these two, career fulfillment might be defined by how much they make. But for others — including creative nonfiction MFA student Julia Marquez-Uppman — it’s defined by the art they create.

Rewriting the narrative

Marquez-Uppman comes to every class with her tumbler of coffee and a toothy grin framed by bouncing hair as she paces about the room. Twenty-nine and pursuing her master’s degree at CSU in creative nonfiction, she teaches classrooms of college students just as eager and bright-eyed as she was a decade ago. At their age, however, Marquez-Uppman didn’t realize her passion for writing until it was — presumably — too late.

“My junior year in college, I took a fiction workshop, which was just kind of on a whim,” Marquez-Uppman said. “I was like, ‘Oh, my god, if I had taken this my first year of college, I would 100% be an English major.’” 

Although she doesn’t regret her Spanish and gender, women and sexuality studies degrees from Grinnell College, Marquez-Uppman couldn’t help but feel aimless after college.

“It was just this postcollege feeling of, ‘Ah, what am I doing?’” Marquez-Uppman said. “And eventually, I just had this dream to live in Chile, in South America, for a while. I couldn’t explain why, but I had this really strong need to go there. And so that’s what I did.” 

Marquez-Uppman taught English in Chile for six months. There, thousands of miles away from the life she had known, an inspiration for a new one began: She wanted to pursue writing. Her family and friends were supportive, but no amount of support could shield Marquez-Uppman from the societal stereotypes she’d face in following her passion.

“I’ve internally contended with the stereotype that people won’t take me seriously,” Marquez-Uppman said. “I’ve learned from myself and other students that writing is so hard, but everyone thinks they can write a bestselling novel. People are like, ‘Why do you need to go to school for that?’ But it takes years and years to learn, and it’s hard to sit down and make something meaningful.”

In the time it takes to write a book, however, an author’s salary may not be sufficient. In 2022, according to The Authors Guild, the average full-time, self-published author’s book sales and associated earnings only amounted to a median yearly salary of $27,800. This is nearly equivalent to the salary of a grocery bagger.

“By the time you get to the point where you want to be a writer, you’ve sort of made the decision that your career is not going to be about money,” Marquez-Uppman said. “When I first started the MFA, I thought I would just write and do a book deal and then be a writer. No. You have to do a lot of work to go up.”

Todd Mitchell, associate professor of creative writing at CSU, would agree. It took him over 10 years to get his first book published, but Mitchell still enjoyed the journey.

“It’s essential to be patient with yourself and adopt a perspective that allows you to love the process — even when others don’t seem to love what you’re doing,” Mitchell said. “Love every step of the journey. That’s the secret to persevering in a healthy, sustainable way when the external rewards are slow to come.”

When asked whether he’d rather pursue his dreams or obtain a high salary, Mitchell said he prefers the former.

“I’ve known many people who chose a high salary over following their dreams and ended up miserable,” Mitchell said. “I’d much rather be happy and fulfilled than rich.”

The choice between love and money can feel like an impossible one, but the pressure to find either builds soon as college starts.

“It’s a really terrifying thing,” Marquez-Uppman said. “Especially for undergrads, to put this (choice) on them when they barely know who they are (at that age).”

The pressure to know

It can take decades to find a meaningful career, but oftentimes undergraduate degrees don’t even dictate one’s career field. According to Intelligent, an online research database specializing in academia, only 46% of the 1,000 Americans they surveyed in 2022 said they work in their undergraduate field of study.

Katie Larkin loves rocks, but throughout her whole childhood, she wanted to be a travel blogger or a doctor. Now she spends her weekends lost down riverbeds and winding streams, conducting research with muddy hands for her fluvial geomorphology master’s program at CSU. 

If Larkin could tell herself a couple of years ago that she’d be a fluvial geomorphologist, that mouthful of a title would be utterly foreign.

“I entered college with the full intention of graduating with a chemistry degree and going on to medical school,” Larkin said. “My dad is a doctor. … I feel it’s only natural to want to take after your parents, but they knew better and ever-so-gently urged me to consider entering a field that was a little less cutthroat and competitive, both things I despise.”

Although her career search eventually landed on geomorphology when she switched to a geology major at Washington and Lee University, Larkin’s passion for rocks always existed. As a kid, she spent hours rummaging around the local streams by her backyard, looking for the perfect specimens. Geology was — and still is — a place for Larkin to find solitude and comfort, even if the salary leaves much to be desired.

“Geology is not known for having high salaries,” Larkin said. “Working in oil (or) gas or as an exploration geologist … can pay very well, but I am dedicated to cleaning up human messes, not creating more of them. It’s nice to have a big paycheck, but ultimately, I’d much, much rather love what I do.”

Larkin reflected on her past naiveness with fond laughter, questioning how she didn’t realize geology was the right path in the end. 

“This is quite different from how I pictured my life going into high school and early college,” Larkin said. “Eighteen-year-old Katie would be in disbelief if I told her what my life looks like now.”

The pressure to predict one’s future at a young age can feel, at times, inescapable, especially when there’s such a hefty price tag attached to learning. Everybody wants to find career fulfillment, job satisfaction and meaning in life, but with the clock ticking and the student loans stacking up, the search for a perfect job isn’t a perfect trajectory at all.

“In a perfect world, we wouldn’t have to think about how our education should contribute to our circumstances and quality of life,” Marquez-Uppman said. “But I also think that your major can feel like the determining factor in your life while you’re in college. In these moments, you have to affirm yourself. You have to say, like I did, ‘I will figure it out. Even if my career has nothing to do with my major, it won’t be a waste of time. I am not a waste of time.’”

Reach Emma Souza at life@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.

On May 21, the first ever Amtrak Borealis train departed St. Paul for Chicago.

With passenger rail in the United States in decline for decades prior, the opening of a new route was a historic moment. Two months later, the train is already immensely valuable to Minnesota and the Upper Midwest.

I have already traveled on the Borealis twice — once to Chicago, and once to an intermediate stop in Wisconsin. The train provides a second rail option when traveling between St. Paul and Chicago, in addition to the Empire Builder, which has operated between Chicago, Seattle and Portland for decades.

Two options is not many, but for me and many other travelers, the added flexibility of the Borealis makes the benefits of rail travel far more accessible.

Alissa Vick, a Twin Cities resident who rode the Borealis to visit family in Illinois, said she considered Amtrak travel seriously after the new route was announced.

“I actually just learned they had this train running,” Vick said. “My daughter rode it back when it was brand new in May and she said it was really cool.”

Not all Americans hold favorable views of Amtrak. Earlier this year, another columnist at the Minnesota Daily wrote about the many flaws of Amtrak and the Empire Builder. However, the inception of Borealis has solved nearly all of the mentioned complaints.

One major criticism of Amtrak service in Minnesota was the high price of tickets, but according to an Amtrak press release, one-way fares to Chicago now start at only $41 on the Borealis. In comparison, I opted to take a bus instead of a train when traveling to Milwaukee last fall because an Empire Builder ticket cost hundreds of dollars. Compared to driving, Amtrak is often more affordable and convenient.

“Gas prices are high,” Vick said. “I drive a gas guzzler, so there’s no practical reason for me to take a car to have to pay for parking. So I was like, ‘I’m going to take the Amtrak.’ And I’m glad I did.”

Another common complaint of the Empire Builder was the lack of WiFi. The Borealis solves this problem by offering it for free to all passengers, according to Amtrak.

According to Amtrak’s schedules, the Borealis is also slightly faster than the Empire Builder. The trip from St. Paul to Chicago on the Borealis takes 7 hours and 24 minutes, which is 31 minutes faster than the other train.

The Borealis makes eleven stops between St. Paul and Chicago, including major cities like Milwaukee and La Crosse. However, the route also stops in smaller towns with otherwise limited public transit options.

Brian Nelson, president of All Aboard Minnesota, a nonprofit group that advocates for long-distance passenger rails in Minnesota, said the Borealis is crucial for many people who cannot drive.

“The addition of a second daily Twin Cities to Chicago train is a big deal for the state because it provides huge mobility benefits to college students, families with children, the elderly and the general population,” Nelson said.

The Borealis is especially important because the Empire Builder’s schedule is often too inconvenient for many parts of Minnesota, according to Nelson.

“The Empire Builder comes through here pretty early in the morning, and that might be hard for college students and families with kids,” Nelson said.

Nelson said the Borealis departs St. Paul four hours later than the Empire Builder, creating a better option for many travelers. The Borealis’ return trip to St. Paul also arrives much earlier than the Empire Builder. According to Nelson, the older train arrives very late at night, which creates problems for passengers that the Borealis avoids.

Long-distance passenger rail is better for the environment than driving a car or taking an airplane, according to Nelson. Public transit contributes less to climate change because hundreds of passengers travel together on one efficient vehicle rather than individual cars, emitting less carbon dioxide.

Larry Lile, an Amtrak rider from Missouri, said he chooses to ride trains through Minnesota and across the country because it helps lower carbon emissions.

“I’m trying to swear off flying because of the carbon footprint,” Lile said. “Also, flying stinks.”

The comfort of rail travel causes many people to choose it over the alternatives. Vick said she enjoys having time to meet new people, purchase meals and relax on the train.

“I had my dinner with someone I never knew before. I think that’s cool,” Vick said. “You get to be mindless and do whatever you want. I was crocheting.”

All the benefits of passenger rail are made far more accessible to Minnesotans with the Borealis. Unsurprisingly, the route has been an immediate success. According to Nelson, the Borealis ridership numbers in the first months of operation already outperformed estimates.

Nelson said Amtrak and the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) estimated 125,000 to 135,000 people would ride the Borealis annually, while All Aboard Minnesota estimated 155,000. However, based on the first several months of service, the Borealis is now projected to reach 220,000 passengers per year.

The route’s success is a positive sign for future rail expansion in Minnesota. All Aboard Minnesota is now advocating for an extension of the Borealis route through St. Cloud to Fargo, North Dakota. Additionally, MnDOT is considering a third daily service to Chicago that could potentially follow a new path through Madison, according to Nelson.

The demand from passengers is what makes the Borealis possible, and the same will be true for any future Amtrak routes.

“I feel like if I use this transportation method, I’m voting with my economic dollar that this is what I want,” Lile said. “More people are riding the train, and if it gets more use, it gets more funding and attention, and we need high-speed rail in this country.”

Passenger rail has incredible potential in Minnesota, and each new rider on the Borealis makes it brighter.

Although perhaps the most notorious for overused tropes, the horror genre lends itself to untapped creativity and ingenuity. In the past couple of years, scary movies, whether psychological thrillers or bizarre indie concepts have seen a resurgence at the box office, with visionary directors like Jordan Peele and Ari Aster pumping out breathtaking original content. Year after year, horror fans have been blessed with plenty to sink their teeth into. Halfway into 2024, Osgood Perkins’s hellish gem “Longlegs,” stands near the top of the year’s horror hierarchy.

Neon, the indie studio behind the likes of “Parasite” and “Anatomy of All,” got the film off to a buzzy start, launching “Longlegs” from a small-budget horror film to an anticipated event. It all began when cryptic symbols began appearing in newspapers across the country, signed with the phrase “Printed at the request of Longlegs.” In an even grander marketing stunt, the studio plastered billboards with a phone number leading to whispered threats from Longlegs himself, Nicolas Cage. An ambiguous website and eerie trailers were the icing on the cake, prepping moviegoers for an in-the-dark viewing experience. So much so, that previews of Cage’s titular character were completely absent from any ads.

Though far from perfect, containing a few questionable, out-of-place narrative and performance decisions at the tail end, “Longlegs” is a bone-chilling, twisted detective thriller. Its ambitious concept, stellar lighting and sound production culminate in a gripping journey.

The story follows FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) and her pursuit of an evasive serial killer on a terrifying killing spree throughout the state of Oregon. As she slowly uncovers clues behind the killer’s whereabouts and murderous methods, she encounters horrifying secrets that hit shockingly close to home.

Shepherded by Monroe’s straight-faced demeanor, the film draws you into its cold, desolate atmosphere. The first half of the film works excellently as a detective thriller, resembling films like “Zodiac” and “Se7en.” Aside from a heart-pounding introduction scene, Longlegs is held from the audience for a sizable chunk of its runtime, hyping up his eventual commanding presence later on.

Dimly lit interiors and gray-soaked exteriors are captured by wide camera angles, continuously forcing the brain to scan for something lurking in the background. It’s scary not because of what is shown, but what is hidden, nestled away and ready to pounce into focus at any second. Huge portions of the film are accompanied by zero music or ambient noise, adding to its isolating environment. But when the film wants to be loud, both figuratively and literally, it’s piercing.

Monroe is a horror veteran, most well-known for her turn in “It Follows.” Although her character is a bit of a square, it’s clear she’s been deeply bottling up childhood trauma. It might not make for the gaudiest performance, but there’s a level of terrified subtlety that keeps the film trudging along. As she slowly starts to crack, the final girl chops are on full display.

But of course, the performance on everyone’s mind as the credits roll is that of Cage as the film’s disgusting, devilish antagonist. He’s unrecognizable in this role, sporting a mountain of pale make-up and a cartoonish voice. He’s excellent for most of the film, but I fear some of his antics come off as slightly too goofy and wacky. His performance is funny in many ways, and I’m not sure I wanted it to be. Nonetheless, Longlegs is an extremely memorable character and a haunting antagonist.

The final unveiling of the mystery is completely unpredictable. “Longlegs” takes aggressive turns, ending in an unexpected spot. The ride might have been engaging, but the ending is a tad strange. The sheer creativity on display is enough to win me over, but I’m not sure I appreciated all of the film’s sweeping ambitions.

All in all, “Longlegs” isn’t the next horror masterpiece, but it’s as creepy, alluring and technically polished as the best of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if it topped my end-of-the-year horror list.

Jose Gonzalez-Campelo/The Cougar

On Wednesday, concerns of a possible Supreme Court case led to the early dismissal of the Student Government Association session, which had already been delayed.

Biology sophomore Aihanuwa Ale-Opinion addressed the Senate with a presentation evaluating the removal of Sen. Gerald Ramirez. 

According to the SGA Bylaws, any Senator that is absent from two Summer Senate meetings will be removed from Summer Senate. Therefore, removal of Ramirez is justified; however, there were two other senators who had also violated this bylaw but had yet to be removed. 

The bylaw considers absences, regardless of whether they are excused or not. If the two invalid senators voted on any legislation that passed during the meeting, it could be challenged in court. 

“They technically cannot be voting members of the Summer Senate, meaning that anything which is voted on today could potentially result in a Supreme Court case,” Ale-Opinion said. 

After this violation was presented, several senators including Sen. Jordan Jones, Sen. Grecia Ledezma and Sen. Jesus Nieto expressed frustration over lack of transparency and accountability from the Senate Chamber and Speaker of the Senate, Sebastian Ballesteros, as it is the speaker’s job to remove senators once they have exceeded the absence limit. 

“So my question to the speaker is why haven’t you removed the two senators that have exceeded that limit?” Jones said. “Why haven’t you gone over the bylaws and figured out that you cannot excuse absences during Summer Senate?”

Nieto continued to push the urgency of this violation, spotlighting an earlier suggestion by Ale-Opinion to table the voting and continue when all the senators hold valid votes. 

“This meeting is illegal and any votes or motions that are taken at this meeting will be illegal and will be prosecuted in the Supreme Court,” Nieto said. 

The meeting continued on for another hour until Nieto motioned for a recount of roll.

As the motion was passed, several senators including Nieto left the meeting so that the organization would fail to meet quorum and avoid invalid voting and prosecution in the Supreme Court. 

news@thedailycougar.com

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“Back-to-back controversy: Walk-out during SGA session leads to an early adjournment” was originally posted on The Cougar