Cal rowing to make a splash in Tokyo

Cal Athletics/Courtesy

Bears have long been a part of the Olympic Games. Cal crew teams have struck gold for the United States three times at the games, more than any other university. This July, eight rowers will join the ranks of Cal Olympians when they hit the waters in Tokyo.

Five of those eight alumni hail from the women’s rowing program.

Alumnus Kara Kohler became the first U.S. rower to qualify for the Olympics in the single sculls event. Kohler punched her ticket in February after winning the event at the U.S. Olympic Rowing Trials. A 2011 All-American and Olympic bronze medalist, Kohler had no experience rowing until her college career at Cal.

Also representing the United States is Kendall Chase, who will compete on the women’s quad. Chase, who graduated in 2016, is a three-time gold medalist at the U23 World Rowing Championships. She also was on the varsity eight team that won an NCAA Championship in 2013.

Sydney Payne, another former All-American, will row for Canada on the women’s eight. During her time at Cal, Payne led the Bears to three undefeated regular seasons and two NCAA titles. Payne joins Team Canada with a wealth of international experience: She earned gold in the 2018 U23 World Championships.

Rowan McKellar will join her teammates in Tokyo on Team Great Britain. McKellar will compete as a part of the women’s four in her first Olympics appearance.

Rounding out Cal’s crew of international Olympians is Rosemary Popa, who will represent Australia. A dual citizen of the United States and Australia, Popa earned a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships. She will race in the coxless four in her Olympic debut.

Alongside Popa, Team Australia will also send alternate Jacinta Edmunds to the games. Edmunds has previously excelled at the international level, earning silver and bronze medals at the World Rowing Championships.

Lastly, former women’s assistant coach, Lauren Korholz, was recently named the assistant coach of the U.S. women’s team. Korholz has three Olympic appearances to her name, and has been on the Team USA Coaching staff since 2005. She was also named to the Pac-12 All Century Team.

From the men’s program, three Bears will represent Cal in Tokyo.

2016 graduate Julian Venonsky was named the coxswain of the United States men’s eight squad. Venonsky is a U.S. National team member and a three-time coxswain for the United States at the World Championships.

Rising sophomore Angus Dawson, the only current Bear to make an Olympic Team, will row for Australia. Dawson, who will compete on the varsity eight, departed from the Cal team in 2021 in order to row for the Australian National team. Dawson also won a gold medal in the World U23 Championships and the men’s pair at the 2021 Australian Rowing Championships.

Jack Cleary will also row for Team Australia. Cleary won bronze as part of the quadruple scull at the U23 World Championships. He made his senior debut in 2021, and will race on the quadruple scull at the Olympics.

Rising junior Ollie Maclean will also make the trip to Tokyo as a part of the reserve for Team New Zealand. Maclean began his collegiate career at Northeastern and finished seventh overall at the IRA National Championships. He was a part of the New Zealand Junior National Team and won a gold in the quad event at the U23 World Championships.

“It is extraordinary that we will have eight current student-athletes and recent graduates racing in the Tokyo Olympics,” said men’s coach Scott Frandsen. “I’m just excited that they will get this experience of competing at the Olympics and proud that they put in the work that earned them this opportunity to race at the highest level.”

In total, eight Bears are guaranteed to race at the Olympics. From July 23-30, all of them will row at the Sea Forest Waterway.

Aiko Sudijono is the deputy sports editor. Contact her at asudijono@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

The USC presidential mansion, which has housed University presidents for over 40 years, sold for $25 million, according to an article from the Los Angeles Times Wednesday. The sale is an effort to cut costs as a result of the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic that has strained the pockets of universities around the country, as well as the $852 million settlement with former campus gynecologist George Tyndall.

The mansion, located on seven acres that includes eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms, tennis courts, a log cabin and a pool, sold for $500,000 more than its asking price, the most expensive home sale in San Marino history, according to The Times. 

After the coronavirus pandemic shuttered the University’s doors last March, USC announced a hiring freeze and a 20% reduction in President Carol Folt’s salary in April, from $1.3 million to just over $1 million. Selling the $25 million mansion was portrayed as a way to cut costs, as Folt downsized to an $8.6 million home in Santa Monica. The University also increased tuition by a total of 5.5% since the 2020 academic year, citing coronavirus costs, increasing costs of education and inflation.

Folt lived in the Santa Monica home since she began her tenure in 2019, as the San Marino mansion — also called the Seeley Mudd Estate — required $20 million in renovations, USC Board of Trustees Chairman Rick Caruso told the Los Angeles Times in 2020. 

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, the University said, “The University decided to purchase a much smaller, more sustainable property for the President’s residence. There were significant costs associated with the upkeep on a 14,000 square foot, eight acre estate, and it made financial sense to downsize to a less expensive, more efficient property.”

The mansion was the home to USC presidents since 1979, with the sprawling grounds serving as the site for countless fundraisers, galas and dinner parties, according to The Times. Former President Max Nikias hosted over 15,000 guests at the Mudd Estate during his eight-year tenure.

 Built in 1934, the American Colonial-style mansion was donated to the school by United States Army Gen. George Patton and railroad tycoon Henry Huntington. Seeley Mudd, a physician and philanthropist and namesake of the mansion as well as a building on USC’s campus, commissioned the estate.

The buyer of the historic mansion, surrounded by trees and English rose gardens, remains unknown.

As Tropical Storm Elsa continues to threaten southern Georgia communities, and as Chatham County is officially upgraded to a Tropical Storm warning,

Georgia Southern has allowed the Armstrong campus to operate normally on Wednesday, Jul.7, the day the storm should make its largest impact. ”

Communications and Marketing slightly updated their messaging via email this morning, noting the upgrade in status while also specifying that workers may have difficulty with the logistics of their commute.

“Supervisors are encouraged to be understanding of unexpected childcare and travel needs that may arise.”

The email also states that more information regarding Elsa should be provided to the community early this afternoon.

In an Eagle Alert on the afternoon of Jul. 7, 2021, the university announced. “Georgia Southern University’s Statesboro Campus, Armstrong Campus and Liberty Campus will close at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7, at which time all instruction will move online due to Tropical Storm Elsa. Face-to-face classes will move online via Folio and students should monitor their online Folio accounts for communication from their instructor.”

“Sponsored events will be canceled at 3 p.m. and Georgia Southern libraries will close at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, July 7. The University will resume normal business operations and class schedule on Thursday, July 8. If normal business operations cannot resume as planned, the university community will be notified,”  the Eagle Alert said.

Additional information about university operations during the Tropical Storm can be found in the Eagle Alert sent via text, phone call, and an email to every student’s student email.

For more information on Tropical Storm Elsa, please visit any of these resources:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
https://www.ready.gov/hurricanes
www.511ga.org
www.chathamemergency.org

The Undergraduate Council of Students noted in an April 30 email that Brown will charge a Red Meat Working Group with delivering recommendations for reducing red meat consumption on campus. The rationale stated in the Sustainability Strategic Plan for reducing red meat (i.e. beef and pork) is that it will lower the University’s contribution to nutrient pollution, which includes nitrogen- and phosphorus-laden waste products from agriculture that contribute to a variety of public health and environmental problems. Red meat purchases comprise one-fifth of Brown’s nitrogen footprint, so the plan aims to cut red meat consumption in dining halls by 25 percent by 2025 and perhaps 50 percent by 2030. 

The fact that the plan is specific to red meat, and lacks an explicit commitment to reduce animal products as a whole, makes it insufficiently holistic. It is true that reducing red meat consumption alone may constitute “progress” by the narrow metrics of nutrient pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. However, the plan fails to specify what food items will replace red meat. Those tasked with implementing the plan should note that substituting other animal products for red meat does nothing to address public health problems like antibiotic resistance and pandemic risk from zoonotic diseases, and can actually increase the number of animals that are abused on factory farms.

The public health risks associated with animal products (and not just red meat) include some of the most pressing issues of the 21st century. For example, the poultry and farmed fish industries both contribute to the rising threat of antibiotic-resistant microbes in the same way that other meat production does: When antibiotics are used in meat production, natural selection yields bacterial strains that survive current medical treatments. The United Nations has estimated that by 2050, antibiotic resistance could kill 10 million people annually, which is more than twice the number of people who have died of COVID-19 as of June 2021. If such a disaster takes place, it may be due in large part to animal agriculture. Currently, 80 percent of antibiotics sold in the United States are used in animal agriculture, and of those, 70 percent are considered “medically important” by the Food and Drug Administration.

Furthermore, switching from red meat to chicken or turkey fails to address the pandemic risk animal agriculture poses. As the past year has shown, zoonotic diseases — such as the avian flu, commonly spread by chickens — pose a serious threat to humanity. In recent decades, epidemiologists have observed avian flu strains with mortality rates up to 60 percent. Luckily, such strains have so far not been contagious among humans, but scientists worry that mutations could arise that enable human-to-human transmission. Increasing our reliance on chicken for meat heightens the risk that such a mutated strain arises. If this happens, the effects of an ensuing pandemic could far exceed those of COVID-19. 

Replacing beef and pork with other meat products is also counterproductive from an animal welfare standpoint. This is partly because chickens, turkey and fish are much smaller animals than pigs and cows, so a much larger number (100 times more chickens than cows) must be murdered in order to produce the same amount of meat. Over 99 percent of farmed chickens and turkeys in the United States are raised on factory farms, where rampant and extreme abuse is well-documented. In fact, the most common types of chicken have been selectively bred to be so heavy that they experience excruciating pain, even when kept in a decent environment.

Even if red meat tops the list of contributors to nutrient pollution, the Sustainability Plan glosses over the very real environmental threats posed by poultry and fish. Chicken is still drastically worse for the climate than plant-based alternatives, and the commercial fishing industry threatens to cause the collapse of global fisheries. This would worsen malnutrition in developing countries where, unlike at Brown, seafood provides essential nutrients that are difficult to get elsewhere. In light of all these concerns, it is odd that the Sustainability Strategic Plan only talks about red meat consumption as it relates to nutrient pollution, with a passing reference to greenhouse gas emissions. Poultry and fish are not mentioned in the plan even once.

Encouragingly though, the plan does also suggest that the Office of Sustainability will explore “options for sustainable meat alternatives” and will hold “educational campaigns around plant-based diets.” The plan also notes that “reducing red meat consumption is not the same thing as reducing protein availability.” But the same is true of reducing meat consumption generally, so it is unnecessary to single out red meat. Between lentils, nuts, seeds, chickpeas and other beans, tofu, seitan, tempeh, nutritional yeast, edamame, textured vegetable protein and any whole grain, there is no shortage of protein-dense plant foods that could easily supplant the animal products in our dining halls while accommodating a wide variety of dietary lifestyles.

The Sustainability Strategic Plan leaves ample room for interpretation by the committees and working groups that will implement it in the coming years. Hopefully, these groups will use that leeway to address animal products generally, and not just red meat. The University should prioritize replacing animal products with plant-based (and perhaps someday cultivated) alternatives, and commit to avoiding ill-conceived measures like replacing red meat with poultry and fish.

Benny Smith ’23 can be reached at austin_smith@brown.edu. Please send responses to this opinion to letters@browndailyherald.com and other op-eds to opinions@browndailyherald.com.

Best activities for Cancer season

Hannah Cooper/File

The sun is officially in Cancer, from June 21 to July 22. The previous season, Gemini, tends to be chaotic, fun and social, which is the opposite of Cancer season. This month is emotional, calm and unpredictable. It is the Lana Del Ray to Gemini’s JoJo Siwa. But this doesn’t mean you have to cancel all your fun plans in preference of watching The Notebook. Here are some fun activities to do during Cancer season for any sign! 

Hang out with your loved ones

Cancer season will bring out the homebody in people, especially Cancers. Many find themselves chilling in their room all day, catching up on Netflix shows. But after a week, it can get lonely and isolating. The best cure is to hang out with some family and friends who you feel comfortable with. Doing this too often will drain your social battery, but once a week is perfect to get out of the house. It doesn’t have to be too crazy or adventurous; the hangouts can be a picnic or a movie night. But the company of others will make this period so much more enjoyable.

Crushing on a person that will never acknowledge your existence

This is the perfect time to have a crush on someone. Not just any person; the crush has to be someone unattainable and emotionally unavailable. It can be your co-worker, a neighbor in a relationship or the hot person at the gym that once shared a glance with you. Your emotions will eventually find the perfect person to catch feelings for. Some ways to entertain this crush are creating a playlist about them, telling your friends all about this person and daydreaming about your life together if anything were to ever happen. Get some rose quartz and manifest this person into your life because the emotions during Cancer season are going to be high. It’ll feel like you’re in a romantic comedy, except that you can write your ending: Act on these feelings or let them fade into oblivion.

Listening to sad songs at night

Late summer nights consist of the heat making you sweat in your bed, the singular fan in your room trying to cool you and staring at the ceiling thinking about life. Pairing these actions with the crazy emotions of Cancer season makes it the best time to have a sad song session. This type of music is perfect to wind down from a hot, sunny day. The calmness of these songs will lull you to sleep, but also have you in your feelings. You’ll find yourself relating to the lyrics more than usual and looking back into your past. My recommended songs are “August” and “All Too Well” by Taylor Swift, “Liability” by Lorde, “Nobody” by Mitski, “Angels Like You” by Miley Cyrus and “All I Ask” by Adele. These songs may make you cry, but they are perfect for this month.

Take some time to self-reflect

What usually happens during Cancer season is the past will come back to you. It comes in various ways, from running into an old flame to watching your Snapchat memories. But it usually has people looking back, if perhaps a little too much. Instead of wallowing in memories, use this to your advantage and set some goals for yourself. Where do I see myself in a few months? How will I get there? Am I happy with where I am right now?  What can I learn from my past to help my future? These questions are great starting points to set some goals for yourself and for self-reflection. The past might come back to bite you, but you’ll be ready to dive into the future.

Cancer season can be a calm and emotional period, but it’s also what you make of it. These activities are perfect for the month and will help you immerse yourself in the vibes of the season. But if you find yourself bored with its calmness, there’s always the energizing Leo season, starting July 23rd. 

Contact Nicholas Clark at nclark@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

A multi-day heat wave at the end of June prompted complaints from students about the excessive heat with limited air conditioning and what they called an inadequate University response.

The heat wave, which peaked at 97 degrees on Tuesday, June 29, has noticeably impacted students living in dorms on campus — the vast majority of which have no central air conditioning — during an unprecedented full semester during the summer. The wave contributed to the hottest June on record for Providence since 1943. 

Rhys Long ’24, who lives in Jameson-Meade, said that the wave greatly affected his own quality of life. “On the days where the heat index is almost 110 degrees, it’s too warm to focus and too warm to sleep,” he said.

Arvind Sridhar ’24 also said that the heat impacted his ability to function as a student. “It was quite brutal, and a big inhibitor to doing work,” he said. “If I normally operate at a level of ten, with the heat I was operating at a level of six.” 

Bryce Jones ’23 agreed that the heat “makes working a lot harder and makes it harder to think.” He said that his dorm, Young Orchard, “traps heat like a sweat lodge” due to its age and building material, exacerbating the heat.

All three students expressed frustration, arguing that the University had not done enough to support on-campus students during the heatwave. They criticized the lack of access to air-conditioned spaces, including libraries, as well as the University’s ban on portable air conditioner units.

Eric Estes, vice president for campus life, wrote in an email to The Herald that “the electrical infrastructure of Brown’s full range of residence halls can not support widespread usage of individual air conditioning units across campus.”

On the University’s response to the heat, he wrote, “We’ve taken some steps similar to heatwaves in other years, yet at a more expanded scale.” These included a Main Green event where “ice pops, cooler bags, water bottles and reusable straws were handed out to students,” he wrote. The University expects to open more buildings, including the Campus Center, as vaccination rates continue to improve, he added.

But the three students said that these measures were not enough.

Long said that the University should have released a list of facilities with central air conditioning to accommodate the needs of students in dorms without it. “They’ve known for over a year that they would have almost 2,000 kids on campus this summer,” he said, yet access to air-conditioned spaces was still limited, which he called “negligent.” 

Long also proposed that the University should improve the electric grid to allow for more widespread air conditioning, a solution which he says is especially important in the context of rising temperatures due to climate change.

Jones agreed that the lack of access to such spaces was disappointing. “The libraries have such short and strange hours that there really is not much of an escape,” he said.

Sridhar said that more should be done in the long term to improve the University’s electrical system. “Any college of this nature should have an updated electrical system because of the contained nature of the student body in these dorms,” he said. “This summer has shown why it’s more important than ever to start that process in revamping the ability to address huge heat waves as they continue to increase through the rest of the summer and through the school year.”

After stating that the 2020-21 season would be his last at the collegiate level, veteran forward Eric Curry has had a change of heart, announcing his plans to play one final season with Minnesota.

Curry took to Instagram Tuesday afternoon posting a photo stating, “Let’s have one last dance, Gopher fans.” He captioned the post, “ONE more time 1⃣.”

Hailing from Memphis, Tennessee, Curry has had a tumultuous Gophers career. He made an instant impact as a true freshman, averaging 5.5 points per game. Unfortunately, he battled knee injuries, playing in only 15 games across the next three seasons. Last season as a redshirt senior was Curry’s healthiest since his freshman campaign. He played in 29 games, averaging 15.8 minutes and 3.7 points per contest.

“I’m so incredibly excited for Eric,” head coach Ben Johnson said in a statement. “I’m happy with how he is feeling physically first and foremost, and that he is hungry to compete and lead for one more year. I know he is pumped to be able to wear the maroon and gold and we are just as thrilled to have him back with us.”

Standing at 6-feet-9-inches, Curry will likely play a large role again for the Gophers in the upcoming season. He will serve as a much needed veteran post presence on a roster that lacks experience and depth in his position. After being previously recruited to Minnesota by then assistant Ben Johnson, Curry’s relationship with the now head coach could prove to be very valuable.

With the addition of Curry, the Gophers currently have two open scholarships spots, as Ben Johnson and his staff continue to construct the roster. We are currently 125 days away from Minnesota hosting UMKC on Nov. 9 to kick off the 2021-22 season.

The Minnesota Daily sat down with Yusra Arab, one of the Ward 2 City Council candidates to talk about her policies and how she plans to bring more BIPOC representation to City Hall.

Tell me about yourself.

“My name is Yusra Arab, I’m a mother, an advocate and a Ward 2 resident. I went to high school in Washburn and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a political science degree. I have a 12-year-old daughter and I currently reside in the Southeast Como neighborhood.”

So you’re right over by the University?

“Yes, I’ve been out here since my days at the U. I’m an only child, which isn’t really typical in the East African family. I was raised by a single mother in public housing in St. Paul. I fled Somalia when I was around three, and I haven’t been back since. I’ve been in Minnesota for 23 years now.”

Why did you decide to run for City Council?

“I worked as a policy adviser in the sixth ward for four years and, to be quite honest with you, it was what I saw and experienced while at City Hall that prompted me to run. One of those things were the wide disparities that exist for BIPOC communities. The fact that we don’t really have a champion at City Hall. We have allies but we don’t have actual individuals who reflect the communities they serve, who are on those decision making teams.”

What big issues are you focusing on in your campaign?

“I’m a big supporter of affordable housing. I grew up in public housing and I remember the importance of my mom qualifying to get a voucher and how that helped us get out of poverty. And so, housing is a big issue to me and a personal issue. Public safety is another area. [I want] a more holistic approach to public safety, one that makes sure that all members of our community are protected equally … And environmental justice, and injustice, and making sure that communities of color, who historically were at a disadvantage when it comes to the environment, partake and are aware of what is on the table in finding sustainable solutions.”

What are your plans for dealing with policing and public safety?

“Police in its current form isn’t working … and we need to address it urgently. Our law enforcement officers should be held to the highest standard, they should be accountable for their actions.They should be appropriately trained, and they should be demilitarized, and they should be an extension of the communities they serve … Public safety is more than just police response. At least to me through public safety, ensures that individuals and communities have the resources and support needed to address critical societal thinkers. We need access to affordable housing, food security, clean and reliable transportation and accessible health care, including mental health.”

What are your plans for housing?

“[I will] continue to invest in affordable housing production and preservation, whether it’s in assistance with Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, making sure that public housing isn’t privatized and gentrified. One of my main priorities is advancing partnership opportunities with the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and expanding the number of affordable housing units for residents at or below 30 AMI [Area Median Income] … I also prioritize the creation of pathways to support affordable homeownership, especially our BIPOC communities.”

This interview was lightly edited for length and clarity.

As Tropical Storm Elsa approaches Chatham County, university administrators encourage students, faculty and staff to make necessary preparations as the storm continues to be monitored.

All university business and campus operations will operate normally on Wednesday, Jun. 7.

As of press time, Chatham county is under a Tropical Storm Watch.

Tropical Storm Elsa is still off the coast and according to its current track, it is supposed to make landfall in Chatham County Wednesday afternoon and evening, remaining a tropical storm as it approaches.

The storm is expected to bring heavy rainfall, flash flooding and gusty winds to the region with isolated tornadoes also possible. These conditions may cause power outages, fallen limbs, and flash flooding in coastal areas and other areas near sea level.

“If the storm track changes and a threat arises to our campuses or operations, we will issue a university-wide alert through our emergency notification system and post to www.GeorgiaSouthern.edu/alert,” Communications and Marketing said in an email about the storm.

For more information about Tropical Storm Elsa, visit these resources:
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov
https://www.ready.gov/hurricanes
www.511ga.org
www.chathamemergency.org

Gov. McKee vetoes renewable energy bill

Gov. Dan McKee vetoed a renewable energy bill that would have placed millions of dollars in costs of wind and solar projects onto ratepayers rather than developers, according to The Providence Journal. McKee said that the bill would increase costs for customers of National Grid without oversight from regulatory agencies.

The bill was backed by Green Development, a renewable energy developer in Cranston, which has given around $71,000 to Rhode Island politicians and candidates since 2015, $3,000 of which went to McKee himself.

The veto is the first McKee has used since becoming governor in March 2021, when former governor Gina Raimondo moved to Washington, D.C. to lead the Commerce Department. 

Three Special Elections held in Rhode Island Tuesday

It’s election time in Rhode Island for three of the state’s cities and towns, which held special elections on Tuesday, according to NBC 10 News.

Local elections are being held for a Town Council member seat in West Warwick, a City Council seat in Pawtucket and a City Council member in Providence following Sabina Matos’ leave to become Rhode Island’s lieutenant governor.

Providence City Councilmember charged after leaving scene of car crash

Carmen Castillo, who represents Ward 9 in the Providence City Council, was charged Tuesday with a misdemeanor crime after being accused of leaving the scene of a crash this past weekend, WPRI reported.

The crash happened around 10 p.m. Sunday on Broad Street, according to a Providence Police Department report. The other driver described being hit by a Honda CRV, which did not stop after the collision.

Castillo turned herself into the Providence Police Tuesday morning. She has since been released and is due in court Sept. 7. According to the police report, Castillo had two other passengers in her car. No injuries were reported from the crash.