Match-point mentality: Erin Richardson’s climb to success

Gabriel Nuer/Staff

A strong serve on match point — left-handed, with a bit of spin — and the opponent is thrown off. The return is slow, and Cal women’s tennis junior Erin Richardson pulls out a down the line forehand winner. Boom: Game, set, match.

Skilled in both singles and doubles, Richardson shines on the court. But what truly makes her stand out as an athlete is her mindset.

In tennis, your mind is your most important asset. Even with all of the talent in the world, your head needs to be in the game. It can make or break a point, a match or even a championship. The combination of determination and hard work, while also having an eye for technique, is the recipe for a great tennis player.

Always looking to improve and challenge herself, Richardson has her eye on the prize — ever since she was young, that prize was playing in junior Wimbledon. Participating in such a prestigious tournament is a huge goal, especially as an English player. To achieve that goal twice is an impressive feat.

The first time did not go so smoothly: A knee injury just weeks prior put a big question mark on her potential to attend, let alone do well. The second time around, however, Richardson had the greatest win of her career.

“To win the first round at Wimbledon as a Brit, with the crowd behind you, was the coolest thing,” she said. “I will never forget that match — that was the happiest I’ve ever been. That is probably forever going to be the best moment in my tennis career.”

Richardson first picked up a racket when she was six. Without any immediate family members who played tennis, she was introduced to the sport when some local coaches came to her elementary school to scout young potential.

Eventually, as she kept playing, Richardson found herself participating in more international tournaments. Her first was at just 14 years old. Before she knew it, the young athlete was traveling across the world to play tennis, going as far as India and Taiwan.

At the same time, Richardson was also attending one of the best tennis academies in the country. She was surrounded by determined, hard-working athletes, and flew under the radar until she started competing at an international level.

For many, being surrounded by such a large number of talented players with the same goals would be an immense amount of pressure. For most, it would be too much to handle. For Richardson, however, the competition gave her something to work towards.

Rather than holding her back, it motivated her.

“I always had something to push towards. I was never happy being where I was because there were always people better, doing more. I wanted to be doing what they were doing. Subconsciously, that made me push more,” she said.

Growing up, Richardson also had another goal: to play tennis for a U.S. college. The opportunity for female athletes to continue sports at such a high level, all while maintaining academic rigor, was something she could not pass up.

Though when it came to recruitment, the process was long and hectic. Richardson flew out three separate times for visits, with Cal and Georgia Tech being her two last in May 2019.

“I knew before I stepped onto campus that if they offered me I wasn’t gonna say no,” she said. “I just kind of knew this is where I wanted to be. Georgia Tech was great, they actually exceeded my expectations, but I just knew I couldn’t be swayed.”

And so, Richardson committed to one of the nation’s best colleges for women’s tennis. With a newcomer ranking under her belt, she was ready to make a mark. But the road wasn’t exactly smooth.

While having the skill to be a great asset on the court, mentality was her biggest barrier — soon to become a crucial asset. Richardson experienced what she described as a mental block.

Coming into such a strong team as a freshman, she said, made it difficult to bring your best — with so many great players, it’s tough to step up each time. This continued after the team returned from the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of her sophomore year. Struggling with mentality and her nerves, Richardson wasn’t able to meet the expectations she set for herself.

“I mentally struggled with my nerves,” she said. “I had this mental block when I was going into the spring last year, and that really affected my tennis.”

She then had a reset. Working hard on both her fitness and her confidence, she started asserting herself on the court.

“I’ve got a bit more trust that my level is there, that’s not going to change, and it’s definitely helped me bring better tennis,” she said. “If you commit to your game, it will be a lot more successful than if you hesitate, step back and then get nervous. I just wasn’t able to see past that last year.”

She also became more vocal. Being outspoken on the court helped bring confidence to her game. With this fresh start, Richardson has been playing increasingly more singles matches for Cal.

After her first dual singles match, and win, of the season, Richardson couldn’t contain her excitement. She said she wanted to go out and do everything that she could for the team — to be on the same scoreboard as everyone else.

“She’s been through a lot, being at Cal,” said Richardson’s close friend and teammate Valentina Ivanov. “For her, it just means a lot to get a chance to play and show all her hard work has paid off.”

When it came to mental strength, Richardson learned by watching the best of the best. Rafael Nadal, Richardson’s idol and fellow lefty, is known for his perseverance. The way he fights and puts everything out there is something she finds admirable.

The confidence doesn’t just end on the court, though. Good tennis players are able to translate their mentality off the court as well. To Richardson, overcoming obstacles on the court gives you faith to take on challenges in other areas of life.

Cal women’s tennis head coach Amanda Augustus described Richardson as having grown into a “quiet leader.” With a good attitude and readiness to work, Richardson leads by example.

“Erin has grown a lot,” Augustus said. “She’s been improving because she’s learned how to be really open to coaching and push herself harder. She was already a really good player before she came, but her confidence is continuing to grow more and more.”

Wishing she could speak to her 14-year-old self, Richardson would say “just go for it.” If you did something you believed in, and committed to what you thought was right, you won’t have to live with regret.

As Richardon’s third year at Cal comes to an end, and as she stands on the horizon of her senior year, she looks towards other prospects. An economics major, Richardson fell in love with the world of finance through her Introduction to Finance class last semester.

After college, though, Richardson is keeping her options open. A professional career isn’t out of the question.

“I am just going to see how I feel. I’ve really been enjoying tennis a lot more this semester, especially (since) my body’s been holding up better. And my mentality has shifted a bit, so I wouldn’t rule anything out,” she said.

Whatever she does, Richardson will be sure to take her attitude and confidence with her.

Maria Kholodova covers women’s tennis. Contact her at mkholodova@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

If a stage is merely its core components — the performer, the music, the stage lights and the speakers — the foyer of the house at 1152 Houston Mill Road was one. I felt Atlanta shifting, settled dust kicking up, cowboy boots stomping on hardwood and thrumming speakers. Shouting. Movement. This was Emory Musician Network’s (EMN) Equinox Fest: music resurfacing.

On March 19, EMN’s first house show featured performances by Punch, Ninjeezy, Band Absolute, G.R.E., Queen of Hearts, Lev Sheinfeld, Portmanteau, Freddy and the Fangs and Equal Creatures. 

College students clustered in the house, all the way from the kitchen island to the living room mantle. After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it felt like, just maybe, the kids are alright.

Michael Nguyen (16C), known by the pseudonym Ninjeezy, took to the stage in a cowboy hat and sunglasses. His backing guitarist wore a fake beard on a strap of elastic around his jaw. 

Nguyen’s set introduced “country trap,” a blend of trap beats with a southern twang that swaggered to life under the colored stage lights. 

A solo artist with an ever-changing band, Nguyen performs with various friends and musicians, playing gigs like Equinox Fest as a member of the Georgia Tech Musician’s Network.

Nguyen describes his sound as a departure from Atlanta’s classic trap music.

“It’s essentially just a twist on normal trap music, like Gucci Mane or something,” Nguyen said.

Giuliano Rengifo (22B), known by his stage name G.R.E., performed original hip-hop tracks to a crowd that reflected his passion for music.

“For me, it’s really a method of self-reflection,” Rengifo said. “I’m a pretty introverted person, so for me, it’s a lot easier to speak through music.”

Onstage, framed by two ivy-wound speakers and colorful stage lights, Rengifo spoke. The crowd listened, spread in a close scatter from the deck in the back of the house to a crush of bodies like pulsing liquid around the speakers.

“You can feel the love and energy from everybody in the crowd,” Rengifo said.

Outside of school, Rengifo said that he commits “all [his] free time to making music.” In addition to performing at EMN events like open mics and Equinox Fest, Rengifo has released five albums.

Emory students who make music thrive under EMN’s umbrella.

Lev Sheinfeld (25C) played Equinox Fest solo, commanding the room with just his voice and a keyboard. His band, Livingroom, has released an album and an EP, and Sheinfeld has a passion for the singer-songwriter genre.

Sheinfeld on the keyboard (The Emory Wheel/ Oli Turner)

Sheinfeld, who draws his inspiration from singer-songwriters like Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, pursues a major in vocal performance at the University, sings in the Catholic choir and plays at EMN open mics on campus.

While most Equinox Fest performers are Emory students, some are local to Atlanta, like Portmanteau, a guitar-heavy band. Lead guitarist Jonah Stadler, guitarist Harrison Halicki, bassist Caleb King and drummer David Bittenbender formed the band within the past several months. 

Halicki and Bittenbender met at Maynard Holbrook Jackson High School in Atlanta, where Halicki is still a senior. 

“We like psychedelic music,” Halicki said. “Half of us like metal. We all like different things.”

Portmanteau’s sound is a lively blend of its influences. The band has a striking silhouette onstage: three distinct guitars, Bittenbender on the drums and Halicki’s unruly curls tossed back and forth around his shoulders.

Halicki and Bittenbender have been making music together for the past year and a half. King and Stadler joined them recently, and though the band has played only two shows together, their chemistry suggests more.

The bond between band members who started out as friends seems unbreakable, the chemistry unmatched. Queen of Hearts, a band of Emory students, is another example of how music can bond people.

The band’s lead singer, Sophia Bereaud (23C), is Emory’s own pop star, rock star and punk-stress rolled into one. 

Queen of Hearts only recently acquired a formal name, and Equinox Fest was the group’s second show as a true band, Bereaud said.

Before they decided to form the band, Bereaud, guitarist Sawyer Gray (22C), bassist Lonnie Reid (23C) and drummer David Mosden (23C) were friends first.

Gray, Reid and Bereaud from Queen of Hearts (The Emory Wheel/Oli Turner)

Bereaud classified the band’s style as “very eclectic,” formed from the members’ varying personal tastes, ranging from rock, pop and punk to emo.

“Everybody chooses a song, and from that we get a pretty nice amalgamation of stuff,” Bereaud said.

In 2018, Bereaud co-founded EMN, a revival of the now-defunct Emory Society of Musicians, and has served in various executive positions since.

“[Equinox Fest] was an initiative that I was really pressing earlier this semester because I’ve gone to Georgia Tech house shows, and they’re so much fun,” she said.

Bereaud said she is motivated to create musical spaces because of the sense of community they cultivate.

“You can see we have a really cool cross section of people from the school here today,” Bereaud said at the house show, gesturing toward the elevated deck. Students dangled their legs from railings and stairs, sat on the arms of a sofa and held plastic cups under the porch lights. Before the spring equinox, it was too early in the season for mosquitoes, allowing for the crowd to comfortably gather outside. 

Bereaud has been a musician all her life, which is evident in her passionate presence and powerful vocals.

“It’s my favorite way of being with people, of being in community,” she said. “It really unifies in a beautiful way.”

Unity: the house was bursting with it. As Queen of Hearts played, the crowd was full of belting lips and scrunching eyes. And something was sparking from the speakers, streaming from outstretched hands, transcending the house. Was it youth? Love? Something eternal revived in the wake of so much illness?

The post Emory’s musical equinox: a new golden age appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

Gophers men’s hockey junior co-captain Ben Meyers has signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Colorado Avalanche, the NHL team announced Wednesday.

Originally from Delano, Minn., Meyers will burn the first year of his two-year deal that is through the 2022-23 season if he plays in a game this season with the Avalanche. He is ineligible for the playoffs because he was not on an NHL roster before the trade deadline.

Meyers, the second Gophers men’s hockey player to sign an NHL contract this week behind senior Blake McLaughlin, represented the U.S. in the Olympics earlier this year and was named the Big Ten Player of the Year and a Hobey Baker finalist.

In his third season with the Gophers, Meyers recorded career-highs in goals (17), assists (24), and points (41) in 34 games played en route to being named an NCAA West Second-Team All-American and a First Team All-Big Ten member.

Meyers, 23, skated in 102 collegiate games with the Gophers, where he tallied 95 points (39 goals, 56 assists) over that span.

Meyers will join an Avalanche team that sits atop the NHL standings with the Florida Panthers, as both teams are tied for first place with 110 points this season.

More updates

Three Gophers men’s hockey players – seniors Ben Brinkman and Grant Cruikshank and junior Jonny Sorenson – have entered the transfer portal this week, according to Gopher Puck Live and Eric Vegoe.

(Pixabay/Mohamed_Hassan)

The concept of flourishing typically encompasses rapid growth and success. Yet I associate flourishing with strength and courage, particularly as a result of growing up in a highly “machista” region. To begin flourishing, it takes an incredible amount of strength to face the obstacles life presents. Personally, the pressure and pride of being one of the few Nicaraguans at Emory have afforded me the opportunity to flourish as a student, woman and individual in our diverse and driven community while also challenging misogynistic stereotypes surrounding Latin American women.

Being a woman in Latin America is not easy, especially when confronted with the societal expectations of women. Thousands of women associate success with fulfilling household and family duties, rooted in the pervasive patriarchal culture in the Latin American region. Even if the influence of women in the workforce continues to increase, women are socially coerced by men, and at times, by other women, into traditional gender roles that limit their ability to flourish as independent women. I’m expected to create a family even if I have worked hard over the years to prepare myself for a different future — even if I don’t know what my plan will be. In no way do I criticize women who choose a household role over other paths, but it was always my plan to defy the traditional roles encouraged in Latin America. As a result, it has taken tremendous strength and courage to even fathom pursuing higher education and growing as a professional in a foreign country. I strive to inspire other young Latin American women into believing it is possible to pursue dreams beyond the sexist standards and the violence that thousands of women face every day. 

My parents, while maintaining their conservative values, have supported me in my mission to transcend traditional roles. My journey hasn’t been easy. Rather, I am always expected to hold the best grades, participate in tens of extracurriculars and hold a job to support myself without complaining. It is disappointing at times to have my stress invalidated, given those around me constantly remind me I signed up for this. Instead of getting discouraged, I have managed to use this pressure to remind myself of the importance of proving Latinx women are capable of more than what the patriarchy expects from us. 

In the spirit of constantly challenging the patriarchy, I always proudly told my peers, family and friends that I would attend the most prestigious university outside of Nicaragua. I would learn all the necessary skills to become a political analyst, mathematician or president one day. But I was repeatedly told that my vision was “cute” rather than courageous or driven. My path toward flourishing was never meant to be cute.

When I started college at Emory University, a glistening sense of hope reignited my mission to prove misogynist stereotypes. I may not be a pioneer for Latin American women, but I am not easily giving up and complying with what is expected of us. It is not part of my character to pause life for someone other than myself. Truth be told, this journey is scary. There are a lot of expectations from everyone who knows I was given the opportunity to further my educational career at one of the best universities in the country with a good scholarship. This accomplishment is a step closer to proving the tangibleness of pursuing an education abroad. I wish to flourish at Emory as a person, student and Latinx woman, setting one more example for future generations and making success an experience unbounded by gender roles and expectations.  

The pressure that comes with pursuing higher education as a Latin American woman is not always easy to handle. There are moments when I get overwhelmed, stressed and hopeless. We are all human after all. However, I remain confident that my journey to flourish will inspire other young women to break boundaries in Latin America.

Sara Perez (24C) is from Managua, Nicaragua.

The post Flourishing as a Latinx woman at Emory appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

The easiest cold foam recipe to elevate your iced coffee

Bru-nO/Creative Commons

(Photo by Bru-nO under Pixabay License.)

Cold foam has taken the coffee world by storm. After all, who doesn’t love the rich, creamy goodness it adds to every regular cup of joe? Aside from that, it also gives a hint of sweetness to the drink, if that’s your thing. This cold foam recipe is easy to make at home and doesn’t require a milk frother. 

Ingredients (makes about 1 cup of cold foam)

½ cup heavy cream or vegan cream substitute

4 tablespoons milk or plant-based milk 

1 tablespoon sweetener of choice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Directions

1. Combine all the ingredients into a bowl. Chill the cream and milk beforehand to make it easier to get to a foamy state. 
2. To whip the mixture, you can choose between the following three options:
   • Put the ingredients into a jar and shake it for about a minute or until the mixture is foamy
   • Pour the mixture into a blender and whip
   • Use a whisk to whip the mixture manually 
3. Pour the cold foam on top of your coffee and enjoy! 

Contact Samantha Centeno at scenteno@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

Columnist Brendan Nordstrom assesses top USFL storylines ahead of week one.

Utah houses around 100 troubled teen institutions — more than any other state in the country. Thousands of teens have passed through our state’s teen treatment centers, and many former residents have spoken about the abuse they experienced there, including celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Danielle Bregoli.

Aaron Ross went to Utah’s Provo Canyon School in 2001 and experienced this abuse firsthand. The isolation of being far from home and living in a place where his abusers were also his caretakers made it hard to reach out for help when he experienced abuse. Utah has made some changes to address abuse in teen treatment centers, but until the state takes further action to end the isolation those teens face, they won’t be able to get the help they need.

When he was in eighth grade, Ross refused to go to school to avoid bullying. After speaking with an educational consultant who recommended treatment at Provo Canyon School, Ross’s parents sent him halfway across the country from his home in New York to Utah. There, Ross witnessed and experienced physical, emotional, sexual and medical abuse. The abuse he described to me mirrored the experiences of many other teen institution survivors.

For instance, in late 2019 after a riot broke out at Red Rock Canyon School, an investigation uncovered a number of abuse incidents, including videos from earlier in the year of a teen put in a chokehold by a staff member, another being thrown across a room and one being injured after getting pinned down for an extended period of time. During his time in Provo Canyon School, Ross, too, repeatedly saw peers violently restrained. He described one peer who “was forced to sit on a chair and face a wall day after day after day after day. And this happens to many of us.”

Physical violence is far from the only abuse that occurs at teen institutions. Emotional abuse at these treatment centers often includes name-calling, bullying from staff and solitary confinement. The riot at Red Rock Canyon School, for example, started after a staffer called some teen girls derogatory names trying to get them back into their room. Ross described one incident of abuse where he soiled himself in solitary confinement because he had no access to a bathroom. When staff finally came to check on him, they made fun of him.

Ross became well acquainted with solitary confinement during his time at Provo Canyon School. When Paris Hilton spoke publicly about her abuse at the same institution, she described long periods of solitary confinement in a cold, empty room with scratches and blood on the walls. Similarly, Ross described time in solitary confinement as seemingly never-ending — lasting for days or weeks at a time — in a cement room with no natural light, toilet, food or water.

It was also in solitary confinement that Ross experienced sexual abuse “about ten times” at the hands of a Provo Canyon School staff member. Sexual abuse claims are widespread in Utah’s teen treatment centers. Survivors from Utah’s Vista centers have talked about experiences with sexual assault at the hands of staff members and the ridicule and shame thrown at them when they tried to come forward. Like those teens, Ross tried to go to the authorities with his experience but said he wasn’t taken seriously.

Through all of this abuse, Ross was also forced to take medication each and every day. When he first got to Provo Canyon School at age 13, he was prescribed four very strong mental health medications that could certainly affect a developing brain. “I was tackled by staff multiple times and they held me down and they injected me with Haldol, which was in addition to the other four drugs that I was already taking at the same time,” Ross said. “I was literally shot up with like five drugs simultaneously. It’s a miracle that I didn’t die.”

He explained that the drugs had “a very detrimental effect on my ability to remember things, on [his] ability to focus, on [his] ability to learn,” as well as caused constant and extreme drowsiness. In other teen treatment centers, medical abuse has involved staff giving teens strong mental health medication without a prescription.

Ross’ experience and the experiences of other survivors illustrate that abuse in these treatment centers is rampant. But the comparisons between Ross and other so-called “troubled teens” doesn’t end at the abuse they experienced. Ross came to Utah from New York, like the 2,574 teens in 2018 and the 1,407 in 2019 who came to Utah residential treatment centers from other states. This creates an isolated environment for thousands of kids in Utah treatment centers. That environment is reinforced by, as Hilton described to the Washington Post, constant monitoring of “all communication with the outside world.”

Ross knows that changing these institutions is a long, hard road that will involve better regulation from our state. Isolation is the mechanism that keeps these kids in abusive environments without access to help. Until Utah adequately addresses it, children in Utah’s teen treatment centers will remain at risk.

k.cushman@dailyutahchronicle.com

@cushman_kcellen

The post Cushman: Utah Needs to Address Isolation of Teens in Utah Teen Treatment Centers appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

The Old Dominion baseball team has been playing quite well so far this season as they continue to play at a high level. This past weekend, the Monarchs welcomed conference foe UTSA into town. ODU would win game one of the series against the Roadrunners handily 11-0 before falling in game two 8-7 in extra innings. Old Dominion would then fall in game three of the series 13-4 as the Roadrunners got the bats going. After the losses, ODU stood with a 22-8 (6-6 C-USA) record and turned their focus onto Tuesday evening as they had a long-awaited rematch with UVA. The Cavaliers of Virginia came into the matchup as the eighth-ranked team in the nation with a 26-6 (9-6 ACC) record. The last time ODU and Virginia met was in the postseason last year as the Cavaliers prevailed in extra innings at the NCAA Columbia Regional Final. They would hit a home run in the 10th inning to defeat ODU 4-3 and end the Monarchs’ remarkable 2021 run.

At the top of the first inning, the ODU offense got after the bats early as they scored two runs off a double down the left-field line which gave the Monarchs a 2-0 advantage. They could have added two more runs later in the inning, but the UVA second baseman, Justin Rubin, made a big diving catch to prevent more runs from coming in. The score would remain 2-0 until the bottom of the third inning when the Cavaliers would tie the game after a homerun struck over the right-field wall. The ODU offense retaliated in the top of the fourth. To get things started, senior catcher Brock Gagliardi hit a single up the middle. Then junior outfielder Thomas Wheeler made contact towards right field and got on base before Tommy Bell advanced the runners to second and third base with a single to the shortstop. After a fielding error by UVA, the Monarchs brought in two more runs to regain the lead 4-2.

Later in the inning, ODU tallied two more runs thanks to the pitching for the Cavaliers as a wild pitch and walk would result in a 6-2 advantage in Old Dominion’s favor. Gagliardi would go out swinging to end the top of the fourth, and in the bottom half of the inning, the ODU defense began to put the pressure on UVA as the Cavaliers went three-and-out. After that, the offense on both sides would not tally any more runs up until the top of the ninth when the Monarchs sealed the deal with some insurance runs. Senior third-baseman Matt Courtney got things started in the ninth with with a home run blast over the wall, extending ODU’s lead to 7-2. After the homerun, Gagliardi and sophomore outfielder Robbie Petracci reached base after a couple of walks, but Virginia would go back to the bullpen for a change. Wheeler then got on base off a fielder’s choice to the shortstop that advanced Gagliardi to third. Eventually, Wheeler got into scoring position after stealing second and freshman infielder Kyle Edwards brought the two runners in with a single down the right-field line. The game stood at 9-2 going into the bottom of the ninth inning as the Monarchs were three outs away from getting its revenge on UVA.

In the bottom half of the ninth, the Monarchs went to the bullpen and brought in sophomore left-handed pitcher Jacob Gomez to help seal the victory. Gomez earned two strikeouts to help secure the win for Old Dominion 9-2 over the Cavaliers. This victory was the first win over a top ten program for ODU since the 2016 season when they defeated tenth-ranked N.C. State 5-0. This was also the first non-conference loss for Virginia this season and their first home loss in 19 games.

The pitching for the Monarchs on Tuesday evening played a pivotal role in the victory as senior left-handed pitcher Tommy Gertner pitched well over 4 2/3 innings, limiting the Cavaliers to just four hits and two runs. Freshman right-handed pitcher Henry Hersum made his second appearance of the season and was brilliant in relief, throwing a hitless 1 1/3 innings. Redshirt junior, Brad Dobzanski, a transfer from Kentucky, threw two scoreless innings that ended off with Gomez ninth-inning performance.

After the game, Old Dominion head coach Chris Finwood talked about the importance of beating UVA and how this particular matchup meant more to him personally. “Any time ODU beats Virginia in any athletic event, it’s a big win. I don’t want to undersell that. I don’t know how many times we beat them in anything,” Finwood stated. “They beat us twice at the end of the year to knock us out of the tournament. You try to have the same mentality every game, but I was a little fired up for this one because the way the season ended last year.”

The Monarchs improved their record to 23-8(6-6 C-USA) and are back in action this weekend as they travel down to Alabama for another conference series with the University of Alabama-Birmingham. The series will be three games, with game one slated for Thursday, April 14 at 7p.m. The first pitch for game two will be on Friday, April 15 at 3p.m., and game three will be on Saturday, April 16 with a 12:30p.m. start time.

Juana Garcia/The Cougar

If the state of world politics over the past few decades has shown anything, it’s shown that the United Nations is in major need of some power. In other words, it’s time to revisit global federalism.

Global federalism refers to having a lawmaking entity at the global level to deal with worldwide problems that cannot be effectively solved on a smaller scale. 

The international system based entirely on diplomatic relations between nation-states is destined for continual shortcomings if not eventual collapse.

No better example remains than the Paris Agreement, which has demonstrably failed at sufficiently countering climate change. An outcome that shouldn’t be surprising since the agreement consisted not of legally binding requirements but rather only on the ever unreliable promises of politicians.

 According to the World Meteorological Organization, the planet is now on track to far exceed the 1.5 Celsius warming limit, a point which climate scientists at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have marked as the limit beyond which the damage from warming will dramatically escalate.

 If things continue as they are now, the consequences will be a catastrophic loss of biodiversity, human life and economic output that will impact the people of all nations.

Similarly, despite over 100 U.N. resolutions condemning them, the Israeli government continues its reprehensible apartheid against Palestinians. This occurs as Ethiopia’s genocidal civil war, which has claimed up to 500,000 lives in the past 16 months, rages on, and Russia continues its fascistic expansionist efforts in Ukraine. 

All this while the lack of any global economic governance has incentivized a race to the bottom in national labor standards, worsened inequality, permitted large-scale tax avoidance and allowed long-term trade imbalances to persist.

When taken in tandem with the inability of the current system to deescalate the ever-growing global polarization in the competition between the U.S. and China and the continued proliferation of nuclear weapons, these facts should make it clear that the status quo is not acceptable.

The reality is that global problems require global solutions. In practical terms, this means that there is a need for current international structures to be transformed into ones that have some actual authority. 

However, this greater endowment of authority must also be accompanied by sufficient measures to ensure these institutions are transparent, democratic and only exercise power over issues that lower-level governments can’t properly handle.

Luckily, many ideas already exist for how this can become a reality. There are movements to democratize the U.N. by adding a permanent Global Citizens Assembly. Some activists and social scientists have advocated reforms to the U.N. charter that would create for it distinct, albeit limited, powers of taxation and international law enforcement. 

One approach could be to revisit an idea that economist Yanis Varoufakis has recently revived. The idea is to create an international unit of currency exchange. Once accepted, this could be used to penalize activities that violate international law. 

These institutions would then be able to create policies that could solve many of the aforementioned issues facing the world. For instance, these policies could mandate basic labor and environmental standards, establish a global carbon tax, create powerful incentives for nations to reduce their trade imbalances and so on.

With a new level of democracy at the global level, humanity would be able to enter another era. An era where conflict can finally be quelled, where the governments of the world are no longer devising how they can best dominate, exploit and destroy other nations. 

Instead, governments could refocus their full energies on solving the genuine problems humans face, and where people of all nations would be able to communicate, travel and trade more freely than ever before. For this, global federalism is necessary. 

Micah Erfan is an economics freshman who can be reached at opinion@thedailycougar.com

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“Global federalism is necessary to solve world problems” was originally posted on The Cougar

Top 3 competitive esports to watch in 2022

Amy Jiang/Courtesy

Gaming is back in! Competitive esports is predicted to make a return in 2022, with multiple large-scale international tournaments and events fueling the ever-growing industry. If you’re searching for a specific game to learn, or just simply some of the most popular and exciting esports, this is the place to look.

Valorant
Valorant is a first-person, team-based shooter game released by Riot Games. It came out in June 2020 and completely blew up the competitive gaming scene, now boasting a monthly average of 13 million active players. It’s extremely popular on Twitch — a streaming service dedicated to gaming — ranking No. 5 in the top games streamed. Valorant is gaining a lot of traction in the gaming world right now because of how recently it was created, as well as the sheer magnitude of well-known pro players for other previously popular games, such as CS:GO, joining professional Valorant teams. It has various individually hosted and official regional/international tournaments with decently large prize pools, such as the Valorant Champions Tournament (VCT) for professional players. Though relatively new, the competitive scene of Valorant is charged with many recognizable esports players and teams, making it not only convenient to learn, but also a nostalgic yet refreshing reintroduction to our favorite childhood streamers and YouTubers.

League of Legends
League of Legends has been persistent in the long run since its peak, and has continued to top the charts as one of the most popular esports for the past decade. The 2021 world championship had the highest number of viewers ever for an esports tournament, with more than 73 million viewers at its peak. Since it’s a strategy based game, players can appreciate the grind of building an account with various Champions (the playable characters) through the in-game currency. The location of the world championship for 2022 is also in North America, which is sure to pull many American competitive players and viewers back into League.

DOTA 2
DOTA 2 was not as popular as League or Valorant in 2021, but the tournaments for DOTA 2 raise the stakes and keep it fairly popular in terms of competitive play. Recently, the 10th installment of the most popular annual DOTA 2 tournament “The International” was played last year. This tournament has rebounded the excitement for fans and DOTA 2’s popularity because it holds the record for the largest single-tournament prize pool in any competitive esports tournament: $40 million. Since each tournament’s prize pool outgrows the last, competitive players of DOTA 2 are sure to be training for an even bigger prize and even bigger competition. The incentive is so large that the pro scene of DOTA 2 is extensive, and worthy of looking into.

Esports graveyard: Overwatch
As an extremely prominent game in the past couple of years, Overwatch deserves an honorable mention — but not a place on the list. For a majority of 2021, it was not only dead in the game itself, but also appeared sparsely in the competitive scene. Overwatch players have been waiting in anticipation for Overwatch 2, which is tentatively scheduled to be released in the summer or fall of 2022, but has been delayed multiple times in its development. This has greatly discouraged a large population of Overwatch fans — the original game has no new updates, characters or maps to be explored. Many streamers and professional players have dropped Overwatch for games that are more recently popular and widely viewed by the gaming community, such as Valorant. Overall, because there has been no content released, Overwatch is slowly dying in terms of not only players, but also viewers. Many are hoping that the release of Overwatch 2 will change this.

In review, all of these games are worth playing. But only some of the professional scenes are alive and well because of the fading popularity of many “one-hit wonder” games. To keep up to date with the esports community, these freshly popular games are the best to watch consistently in 2022.

Lindzi Hutchinson covers esports. Contact her at lhutchinson@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian