Recipes that prove tofu doesn’t suck

Rusva Plauke/Creative Commons

Rusva Plauke under CC BY-SA 2.0

Tofu has a bad reputation. People call it spongy, flavorless and weird, which is reasonable enough. But as someone that grew up eating tofu and is now a tofu-obsessed vegan, I’ve found that many people dislike tofu because they don’t prepare it correctly. Sometimes, I see people adding it to meals without baking or seasoning it, which offends my very soul. Tofu is an amazing protein source that has to be cooked in a certain way. Be ready to open your eyes to its greatness with these simple recipes.

Tofu Scramble

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 14-ounce package of extra firm tofu
• 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
• ½ tablespoon of garlic powder
• ½ tablespoon of onion powder
• 1 tablespoon of ketchup
• 1 tablespoon of your favorite hot sauce (optional)

Directions

1. Using your hands, crumble the tofu over a plate until it resembles cottage cheese.
2. In a pan, warm some oil over medium heat for a few minutes, and then add the crumbled tofu.
3. After swirling the tofu around to coat it in oil, add the seasonings, ketchup, and hot sauce. Mix it evenly until the tofu turns an even yellow color. 
4. Now is the perfect time to add extra veggies or ingredients you want. I like to add one diced bell pepper or a handful of spinach leaves. Vegan cheese is also a great option!
5. Leave the pan simmering for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. The excess water from the tofu should have evaporated and the tofu should have absorbed all the spices.
6. Serve over toast, Tater Tots or rice! Tofu scramble can also be eaten alone, but pairing it with some carbs elevates the dish.

Sweet chili tofu

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of oil
• 14-ounce package of extra firm tofu
• ½ cup of sweet chili or sweet-and-sour sauce

Directions

1. Cut tofu into ½ inch cubes and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit (or skip this step if you prefer to use an air fryer).
3. Line the baking sheet or air fryer basket with parchment paper and place the tofu onto it.
4. Toss the tofu with oil so every cube is coated evenly and insert the baking sheet/basket to cook the tofu.
5. Cook the tofu for 15 minutes, tossing it every three to five minutes so every side is golden brown.
6. Afterward, swirl the sweet chili sauce all over the tofu, tossing it so the sauce covers every tofu cube, and cook for an additional five minutes.
7. Serve with rice and seasoned vegetables for a well-balanced meal

Although these tofu recipes seem basic, they taste delicious! Once you get a hang of how tofu works and tastes, you’ll understand why people are obsessed with it. It’s truly a versatile protein source that will have you yearning for more.

Contact Nicholas Clark at nclark@dailycal.org.

The Daily Californian

Juana Garcia/The Cougar

To follow a debut novel, author Casey McQuiston releases a story in “One Last Stop” that caters to an underrepresented community in romance literature.

Set in New York, the main character August is finding a new place to move to in the city so she could attend a new college. The novel features many side characters, including August’s roommates and co-workers that really give the book life.

Judging by the book’s title of “One Last Stop”, there are many scenes involving the subway stops of New York. It is here where August meets the book’s love interest, Jane.

Jane as a character alone is such an important love interest in the fact that she is an Asian butch lesbian that August becomes infatuated with quite literally at first glance. Not to mention Jane is a character from the 1970s in every way. This includes her fashion, music taste, beliefs and the fact that she has not aged a day since the decade as she has been stuck on a subway train for over 40 years.

In many media platforms and stories to tell, lesbian or bisexual women in relationships are not highlighted, or if they are, only cater to a certain stigma. So, “One Last Stop”  is a breath of fresh air for the sapphic community.

With McQuiston’s book, the reader can see a friend group that is not entirely made up of straight or white characters, and it helps paint a picture of what many real friend groups look like in the world today.

And it really is characters like Niko, Myla, Wes and Isaiah who make the book what it is. Their personalities and friendship with August make scenes that are supposed to just be filler before the romance plot so lively and entertaining to read.

The one thing about “One Last Stop” is even if the two main characters are not the biggest personalities in the book, there are still moments that make the reader root for their story.

Some of the scenes between Jane and August can get lost among the others as the setting pretty much stays as the subway train every interaction the characters have. This can have the reader rooting for August to solve Jane’s problem of being stuck on the train, but also have an impatience to when there will finally be a scene change.

A lot of the book is written to solve Jane’s problem and get her off of the train. But, there is a lingering question of if she would go back to the 1970s or if she would stay in the 21st century with August.

Anticipation comes in reading the novel, almost making the ending feel rushed. Those reading want more from the main couple in the book. We only really get a quick montage of what August and Jane’s life is like after Jane is released from the train and staying in the 2000s with August in the last handful of pages.

But with the happy ending the two main characters are given, finishing the book can give the reader a happy and hopeful feel that sometimes is not always the case with these stories.

With a book that was set to follow in McQuiston’s debut novel, ‘Red, White & Royal Blue‘s footsteps, “One Last Stop” was able to hold its own.

Overall, “One Last Stop”does wonders for LGBT literature in creating a story about a woman-love-woman relationship that holds a plot and a clear connection between the main characters.

arts@thedailycougar.com

—
“‘One Last Stop’ serves as a great LGBT romantic comedy story” was originally posted on The Cougar

Berkeley Law faculty releases research in light of World Refugee Day

Audrey Taylor/Courtesy

To spread insight on the international refugee crisis, Berkeley Law faculty members imparted valuable research on World Refugee Day. Their research explores misconceptions about refugees, as well as the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on migrants across the world.

UC Berkeley School of Law faculty released various research findings in light of World Refugee Day on June 20, reflecting on the current state of the refugee crisis internationally.

Khatharya Um, campus associate professor in Asian American and Asian Diaspora studies, noted that the number of refugees is at an “unprecedented high” of more than 82 million people. Um added that refugees are also experiencing longer periods of displacement, with 77% of refugees having been displaced for five or more years.

The majority of the individuals who fall under the distinction have been displaced for 20 years or more, according to Um.

“This has to do with the protracted nature of conflict, but also because of the shrinking humanitarian space engendered by the spread of protectionist policies and the lowering of refugee third country admissions, especially in the West,” Um said in an email.

Western anxieties about migrants flooding across international borders are inaccurate, according to Um. Rather, 86% of refugees are actually hosted by developing countries, Um said in an email.

The COVID-19 pandemic only exacerbated the situation. With closed borders, refugees were forced to face additional challenges and difficulties as they occupied crowded spaces, according to Katerina Linos, campus law professor. The COVID-19 pandemic also restricted movement so refugees could not flee.

Julie Freccero, director and founder of the Health and Human Rights Program at Berkeley Law, worked on a study that examined the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on girls in refugee communities in Jordan.

The study, which was published in May, found that school closures, an increase in housework and a greater financial strain on families incentivized early marriage.

“We really wanted to collect most of the data from the girls themselves and have them involved in designing the solution,” Freccero said.

Freccero’s data was collected from 280 girls who participated in the study through interviews, engaging activities and workshops involving art collages and musical chairs-style discussion groups.

As some of the first empirical research on the subject, Freccero’s findings highlighted that many girls and their families are turning to early marriage to cope with challenges they face during the pandemic, with many participants noting that many of their friends were getting married after the COVID-19 lockdown went into effect, according to Freccero.

“When people do flee, they’ve often lost loved ones. They’ve lost their homes. They’ve lost their livelihoods and they want some form of justice or retribution from that loss,” said Eric Stover, the faculty director of the Human Rights Center at Berkeley Law.

Stover said acquiring information is an ongoing struggle. For safety reasons, the data refugee organizations collect is highly protected.

However, without the necessary information on people who could be indicted for potential crimes, it is difficult to obtain justice, according to Stover.

“Refugees should be of concern to us not only because they are the human legacies of conflict and other human-made calamities in which the West are implicated, but also because issues related to migration cut across 11 of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals,” Um said in an email.

Contact Kira Rao-Poolla at kraopoolla@dailycal.org, and follow her on Twitter at @kiraraopoolla.

The Daily Californian

While in middle school, Mocorah Lewis saw members of the Providence Police Department who were placed within city schools, also known as school resource officers, discipline her classmates. 

“When it did come back to fighting, it would have been (broken up) violently by the cop,” she said. Students would “be dragged out and anyone that had recorded it, you (would) be dragged out. So it was a very violent process.” 

Lewis is a member of the Providence Student Union, one of the founding organizations of the youth-led Providence Alliance for Student Safety Coalition. Founded in December 2019 by representatives of the PSU, along with students from the Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education and Providence Youth Student Movement, PASS has spent the past 18 months organizing in support of the Counselors Not Cops campaign, a movement to remove SROs from schools. This movement builds on the work PSU started in December 2018.

On Monday, PASS released the PASS Plan for Student Safety, which “addresses how students must be made safer and more successful in school by: (1) removing police officers from Providence Public Schools and (2) making significant investments instead in culturally responsive professionals who will work full time in the schools to support the mental health, emotional well-being and overall success of PPSD students, 90+ percent of whom identify as Black, Indigenous, and students of color.”

According to a Monday press release, the plan used “academic research, policy reports, and data” both from within the state and externally to demonstrate the detrimental impact police officers placed in schools have on students. 

While Lewis’ high school does not have any SROs, it does have school counselors. Lewis said that she had gone to these counselors in difficult situations and found this support valuable. “In ninth grade, I talked to a mental health counselor which helped me a lot,” she said. “It was nice just to talk to someone instead of just getting into fights and just having the cops arrest you for that.” 

To youth activists in PASS, the dangers SROs present to student safety outweigh any benefits they provide as workers in Providence schools. Demi Egunjobi, a member of the PSU leadership team and a Classical High School freshman, said that SROs contribute to the “present school to prison pipeline.”

“There’s just no reason for cops to be patrolling the school. There should be counselors and therapists there to help kids with their needs,” she said. “It just creates this unsafe environment for kids, especially if they’ve already had bad encounters with police.” 

PASS members also believe that SROs unfairly target students of color. “Being half Asian and half Black, I just really don’t feel safe around police officers,” said Deijah Prak-Preaster, a youth organizer with ARISE and a Classical High School senior. 

“Police officers don’t belong in schools, mainly because it’s supposed to be a safe place and a safe spot that every student should feel like they are able to excel and be able to be themselves,” she said. “Having SROs in school just makes not only me, but a lot of other students, feel unsafe and feel like they’re being treated as criminals and make school feel more (like) a prison.” 

Samia Nash, a fellow youth organizer with ARISE and Classical High School senior, echoed Prak-Preaster’s description of the impact of SRO presence on students of color. Policing in schools “doesn’t make anybody feel safe” and leaves “Black and brown students” feeling like PPSD thinks that they “aren’t able to be trusted,” she said.

A spokesperson for the Providence Police Department declined to comment on this characterization.

Instead of SROs, Nash called for the hiring of professionally trained counselors. “What should be happening is that we have counselors like clinicians, a clinical therapist, psychologists to actually help aid students not only emotionally, but mentally,” she said. “When you have police there, they’re not there to talk to you and help you out. We need counselors to have somebody to talk to.” 

Counselors Not Cops school walkout and protest 

In order to galvanize support for the Counselors Not Cops campaign, PASS held a two-day school walkout on Thursday, April 29 and Friday, April 30. On Thursday, students marched from Classical High School to the PPSD building, the Providence Public Safety Complex and finally the Rhode Island Department of Education. On Friday, students marched from PSU headquarters to the RI State House. 

Organizers carried signs, gave speeches and led the crowd in chants such as “We want counselors, not cops!” and “Ain’t no power like the power of the people ’cause the power of the people don’t stop,” according to video footage of the walkout. 

Bhintuna Maharjan, a junior at Classical High School and a member of PSU’s youth leadership team, gave a speech at the event focusing on the need for mental health support staff in schools. 

Maharjan recalled discussing during her speech how the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated a preexisting mental health crisis in teenagers, and her worry that support for mental health would lapse after the pandemic. The solution, she proposed, is hiring mental health counselors to staff schools “even after COVID-19 passes,” she told The Herald.

Lewis also spoke during the march on Friday, sharing the success that the Metropolitan Regional Career and Technical Center, a network of public schools in Providence and Newport she now attends, has seen in keeping students safe without SROs on campus. “At the Met, we haven’t had a single physical fight since 1998; it’s an amazing, safe school,” she told The Herald. “It’s not a scary thing to take SROs out.”

Chanda Womack, executive director of ARISE, said the march happened after years of conversations with the state. “We have been extremely patient,” she said, saying PASS had held meetings with former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, gaining her support in removing SROs as well as that of Commissioner Angélica Infante-Green. 

But after Raimondo’s appointment as commerce secretary, her successor Rhode Island Governor Dan McKee expressed opposition to removing SROs. She claimed that McKee stepped in and stopped Infante-Green from publicly supporting the Counselors Not Cops campaign. The school walkout took place after PASS was unable to make headway with state officials, Womack added. 

PASS meets with Gov. Dan McKee 

After successfully organizing the two-day school walkout, PASS secured a call with McKee to advocate for its demands to remove SROs on May 13. But despite fruitful conversations with the previous administration, Prak-Preaster, who attended the virtual meeting, said it was “atrocious.” 

“I never really thought someone would be so openly racist in a group full of over 20 something Black and brown people,” she said, referring to McKee’s conduct during the meeting.

Prak-Preaster said that she shared the story of a traumatizing interaction she had had with an SRO in which the SRO failed to adequately help her protect her suicidal friend. She said that after telling McKee the story, “(the governor) and his team still pushed … to have SROs in the building, and no matter how many times a youth member … tried to bring up data, bring up anything, bring up personal experience, (McKee and his team) always would push it down and try to belittle our experiences and belittle what Black and brown kids are really going through.” 

“It seemed like the meeting happened because they just wanted to have a meeting, not because they wanted to listen,” Nancy Xiong, lead organizer at ARISE said, describing the meeting as “horrible.” Like Prak-Preaster, she expressed frustration that she had provided data prior to the meeting reflecting negatively on SROs and their impact that she suspected McKee “didn’t review.” 

Xiong questioned McKee on the source of his knowledge on the PPSD. “Who is he really talking to and what schools is he going into?” she recalled asking him. “Like is he going to Providence? Because other schools who are more affluent and have resources, of course, they’re going to agree that SROs have helped them.” 

Dayanara Feliz, a youth organizer with ARISE and a Highlander Charter School junior who went to a Providence middle school with SROs, said that McKee evaded addressing their concerns, “(answering) the question without answering the question.” 

“The Governor felt he had a very informative meeting with students last month in which he heard testimony surrounding their experiences as well as their concerns for their safety in schools,” wrote Alana O’Hare, the governor’s press secretary, in an email to The Herald in response to a request for comment on each of the characterizations made of McKee and his conduct.

“The Governor and his team have listened to students’ needs, and discussed adding resources that they expressed need for, such as community specialist positions to provide mental health and other support,” she added. “He appreciates students’ voices as an important one on decisions that impact their future in schools.” 

O’Hare continued that McKee believes there is opportunity for positive collaboration between “communities and law enforcement.”

“The governor and his administration have met with community members on all sides of this issue and will continue to focus on equity and safety as they engage students, families, teachers, SROs and others on this subject,” she wrote. 

McKee’s behavior, according to PASS activists, reflects a larger culture of ignoring student voices — one they believe is perpetuated by RI education leaders, including Infante-Green. Prak-Preaster, Xiong and Nash all accused Infante-Green of not showing up to meetings with students and not following up with sufficient urgency.

“The engagement around SROs started last year with direct conversation with youth, particularly during RIDE’s Racial Justice conversations in the fall,” Victor Morente, director of communications for RIDE, wrote in an email to The Herald on behalf of the Commissioner’s office. “Since then, RIDE has met with advocates numerous times and the agency continues to engage with the Providence community including students, teachers and families.”

According to Morente, RIDE has invested in systems of support in schools by “budgeting for 18 guidance counselors for Providence elementary schools and 36 community liaisons to support student achievement and social emotional learning,” he wrote. “We know that students are passionate about this and we will continue to work with them, the PPSD team and the governor to ensure student safety and success in our schools.”

Looking ahead, the youth activists plan to continue organizing. “Just because we heard ‘no’ once doesn’t mean we’re stopping,” Nash said. “We’re not going to ever stop in the future until we get what we deserve, which is removing these cops off of campuses and shifting our budget and our money toward … having counselors.” 

A positive sign for PASS and the Counselors Not Cops campaign came on Thursday from the Providence School Board, which asked the state to remove SROs from PPSD. But as a result of the state’s takeover of the district, the school board does not have the power to remove SROs itself — only the state has that ability. 

The University of Utah women’s basketball season came to an end all the way back in March as they fell to Washington State in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament. The season was by and large a disappointment as the Utes struggled throughout the year, surrendering leads and giving up turnovers as well as failing to consistently shoot the basketball.

The 2021 season looks very promising though, as the Utes have added two new freshman players thus far and strengthened the coaching staff. Not to mention the fact that they will return with most of their starters from last year. This is in fact the team that beat the ranked Oregon State earlier this year in Corvallis.

Promise abounds for the Utes in 2021. Here is what you need to know about the offseason thus far for the Utah women’s basketball team.

Two New Players

The Utes added two transfers to their roster in Maka Jackson (Texas Tech) and Dasia Young (University of Tennessee at Martin) to the program.

Jackson clocks in as a 5-foot-9 guard who started 17 times last year and was the second leading scorer on the Texas Tech squad. Though Jackson’s numbers are low compared to typical Pac-12 scorers at only 6.4 points per game, head coach Lynne Roberts is excited to add Jackson to the team.

“I am really excited about Maka joining our program,” Roberts said. “She fills an immediate need on our roster with her tremendous athleticism, the ability to defend the perimeter, and a proven competitor who plays with enthusiasm and passion. It has been fun to get to know her through the recruiting process. She will fit right in with our team’s culture and mindset.”

Young is a 5-foot-11 forward who averaged an impressive 12 points per game last season. This would have put her in the top five of scoring Utes last season. Young adds depth to an already loaded front court with senior Andrea Torres and sophomore Peyton McFarland.

Young will likely replace the departed Lola Pendande, who transferred to Miami this spring.

“I am really excited about Dasia joining our program,” Roberts said. “She brings athleticism, aggressiveness and a toughness that we really need and have missed having the last couple of seasons. She’s a winner, a competitor and is a really great addition to our returning talented group.”

Lola Pendande Departs

After dealing with injuries last year, Lola Pendande ended her time with the Utes and transferred to Miami. The truth is, Pendande was simply outplayed in the paint by freshman sensation McFarland.

McFarland largely stole the starting job by mid-January before missing time later in the season due to an injury. Expect McFarland to play a big role in the Utes’ starting lineup next year.

Utes Add Coaching Help

Jerise Freeman joins the Utes staff as a recruiting coordinator and assistant coach. Freeman played under Coach Roberts at Pacific in the mid 2000s. Freeman adds youth to the recruiting staff, and provides an excellent selling point on Coach Roberts. If players see that former athletes who have played under Coach Roberts can get a start in coaching themselves with her staff once their playing career is over, that adds another valuable chip to Utah’s recruiting playbook.

“She has a wealth of experience coaching at every collegiate level and has grown so much in the profession,” said Roberts in a Utah press release. “She has proven herself to be an incredible recruiter, coach and impactor of young people at now the highest level in college basketball. I’m so happy to have her join our Utah family — she makes our program better.”

A Way-Too-Early Utes Projected Starting Lineup

Point Guard: Dru Gylten

Shooting Guard: Brynna Maxwell

Small Forward: Kemery Martín

Power Forward: Andrea Torres

Center: Peyton McFarland

Sixth Woman: Kennady McQueen

As of right now, McQueen should split minutes with Gylten, who suffered a pretty serious ankle injury down the stretch for the Utes. We will know more when Coach Roberts begins her availability in October, but until then this is the best prediction for what the starting lineup will be whenever game one rolls around.

e.jensen@dailyutahchronicle.com

@EricJensenSport

The post Utah Women’s Basketball 2021 Offseason Round Up appeared first on The Daily Utah Chronicle.

Minnesota is home to a variety of woodland creatures — turkeys, rabbits, deer, oh my! — and it’s nothing out of the ordinary to come across the occasional backyard visitor.

But it’s not every day that Minnesotans are greeted by a cold-blooded reptilian guest.

Grace Riley couldn’t believe her eyes when she found a bearded dragon wandering outside her home in the Standish neighborhood of south Minneapolis on June 5.

“It was like, ‘Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?’ Like, this is my sidewalk, this is not a lawn decoration gone wrong,” Riley said.

A local reptile store, Twin Cities Reptiles, told Riley that the dragon could’ve walked a few miles around the city that day, touring the streets of Minneapolis on a dangerous adventure.

In hopes of finding the dragon’s owner, Riley posted about her discovery on Nextdoor, Instagram and Twitter. Although no one claimed the dragon as their own, Riley said her posts generated a lot of community support.

“We had all this enthusiasm for reuniting and thanking us for being the ones who picked it up,” she said. “It was pretty fun to see how kind and encouraging people were.”

Reptile owners on social media gave Riley advice on properly caring for the dragon for the time being. She said they were “eager to share their tips and tricks” and recommended things like calcium supplements, UVB lights and even salad recipes that their bearded dragons particularly enjoy.

Some community members offered to bring Riley the supplies she needed to take care of her new reptilian friend, including Katy Rex, who came across Riley’s post on Twitter. Rex is one of the founders of Tiny Dino Buds, a local nonprofit bearded dragon rescue.

After housing the dragon for a few days, Riley turned it over to the rescue’s care. Rex said that the dragon seemed to be in relatively good condition, aside from some fluid buildup in his lungs. The rescue is currently providing rehabilitation to help him return to his “happiest, healthiest self.”

Rex said her ultimate goal is to reunite the dragon with its original owners.

“For him to be an adult dragon that looks as healthy as he looks, he has to come from someone who loves him,” she said. “It was breaking my heart a little bit that somebody out there has taken such good care of him and doesn’t know where he is now.”

Ben Lowe, a University of Minnesota alum who earned his Ph.D. studying ecology, evolution and behavior, said the bearded dragon could have been more evolutionarily equipped to endure this urban trek than other reptiles would be, walking away with only minor health complications.

Since bearded dragons are native to Australia, Lowe said, they’ve adapted to hot, desert conditions. During its summer season, Australia’s deserts are around 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 degrees Fahrenheit. This summer has already been a scorcher in the Twin Cities, as recent temperatures soared into the 90s. According to the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the eight days between June 3 and June 10 marked the worst heatwave on record in Minnesota occurring anytime through the first half of June. Although these conditions were brutal for Minnesotans, they could have served as an advantage for the dragon.

“Our cities are all concrete and asphalt, and they tend to get pretty hot, so that could be something that would help one of these lizards tolerate wandering around on its own,” Lowe said.

A study in the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia concluded that, on average, the daily distance traveled by a group of bearded dragons was 115 meters, or .07 miles. Although this is still an “appreciably greater” daily distance than other lizards, wandering a few miles would have been quite the achievement for the dragon.

Despite potentially missing its owner and feeling lost in the big city, the bearded dragon could have explored some pretty cool places on his south Minneapolis route that day.

If he wanted to stray from his typical diet of insects and vegetables, he could’ve grabbed a “Jucy Lucy” from the iconic Matt’s Bar & Grill, topping it off with something sweet from A Baker’s Wife’s Pastry Shop. He could have soaked up some rays in Powderhorn Park or cooled off in the Sibley Park wading pool before touring everything else the area has to offer.

Scott Johnson, manager of Twin Cities Reptiles, said the dragon was pretty lucky to avoid all potentially lethal dangers along his journey.

“He could have eaten bugs that were eating pesticides from the neighbor’s yard, he could get picked up by a bird of prey, he could get eaten by the neighbor’s dog,” Johnson said. “If he went for miles, he better get a lotto ticket.”

What does it mean to “come out” or “come out the closet”? These terms are used in the LGBTQ+ community to describe the event where someone discloses their sexual orientation or identity – whether publicly or to themselves.

As we celebrate Pride Month, it’s important to also celebrate our public figures who choose to identify themselves to the world – despite possible scrutiny.

Let’s look at some celebrities who have come out recently.

Kehlani
Singer/songwriter Kehlani has long self-identified as queer and nonbinary with she/they pronouns. Known as a LGBTQ+ icon due to their proud queer anthems like “Honey” and “1st Position,” Kehlani came out as a lesbian in an intimate Instagram live. After the clip went viral, Kehlani confirmed her announcement that she “finally knows” they’re a lesbian in since deleted tweets.

Neicy Nash
Most known for their roles in “Reno 911!” and “Clean House”, the 51-year-old actress made headlines after marrying singer/songwriter Jessica Betts. Although Nash’s love for women is new to us, she told People magazine she “was not suppressing my sexuality my whole life.” The newlywed affectionately refers to their marriage to Betts as being honest with who she loves rather than coming out.

Jojo Siwa
After months of speculation, YouTube star and global entertainer Jojo Siwa announced that they are a member of the LGBTQ+ community in a Twitter post by wearing a gifted t-shirt saying “Best. Gay. Cousin. Ever” in January. Siwa introduced her 10.8 million Instagram followers to her girlfriend, Kylie Prew, in February. She initially avoided labeling her sexuality, but said she’s “technically pansexual” and likes the term “queer” in a People magazine exclusive.

Elliot Page
“Juno” and “Umbrella Academy” actor, Elliot Page, came out as transgender December 2020 in an Instagram text post. They announced that their name would change from Ellen to ” Elliot and that their pronouns were now he/they. Their coming out message included a heartfelt message regarding the abuse trans communities face saying, “I see you, I love you, and I will do everything I can to change this world for the better.”

Colton Underwood
Former “Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” contestant, Colton Underwood, came out as gay in an April interview with “Good Morning America” anchor Robin Roberts. Underwood emotionally told Roberts “I’m gay. And I came to terms with that earlier this year and have been processing it. And the next step in all of this was sort of letting people know.”

Demi Lovato
Former Disney star and acclaimed singer/songwriter, Demi Lovato, came out as pansexual on Joe Rogan’s “Experience” podcast in March. Later this year, Lovato later came out nonbinary on Twitter. Lovato wrote, ” Today is the day…I am proud to let you know that I identify as nonbinary & will officially be changing my pronouns to they/them moving forward.”

Chris Stuckmann
YouTube movie critic, Chris Stuckmann, came out to his 1.93M subscribers as pansexual in a January video. He discussed how his Jehovah Witness upbringing affected his struggles with his sexuality and identity. “I referred to myself publicly as straight for a long time because I was afraid of being officially disfellowshipped and losing my family,” Stuckmann revealed. “It’s 2021. One of my New Year’s resolutions was to be as honest about myself as possible. And I have definitely kept that resolution.”

Alexandra Shipp
Most known for their roles in “Straight Outta Compton” and” X-Men”, Alexandra Shipp kicked out Pride Month by coming out as a member of the LBQTQ+ community this June. The 29-year-old actor and singer expressed their struggles with their sexuality and societal acceptance saying ” Scared. Scared. Scared. It’s exhausting being scared all the time. It’s exhausting chasing other people’s ideas and opinions of who you should be.” Shipp went on to proudly write “I have #pride in who I am and what I’m doing on this planet. I am myself and I love LOVE.”

T.J. Osborne
36-year-old country music star, T.J. Osborne of Brothers Osborne came out as gay in a February Time magazine interview. The “Stay a Little Longer” singer says, “I’m very comfortable being gay,” and felt him not being open about his sexuality was “painful” and “isolating.” Osborne was tired of hiding part of himself and said “I want to get to the height of my career being completely who I am.”

Gigi Gorgeous
Trans icon, Gigi Gorgeous, came out as pansexual in an April YouTube video. She owns her journey from identifying as a gay male to a trans woman, a lesbian trans woman, and now a pansexual trans woman proudly. Gorgeous credits her husband’s transition to a trans man for helping “unlock” her true self. She says she realized that she fell in love with her husband’s “soul and not his gender identity.”

Emma Corin
Emma Corrin, most known for her Golden Globe-winning performance in Netflix’s “The Crown”, came out as queer through an Instagram post. Corrin posted a photo in bridal wear captioned “ur fave queer bride.”

In 1959, Dr. Marion G. Hood received a letter denying him consideration for admission from the Emory School of Medicine because he is Black. The school hosted a conversation with Hood in Convocation Hall June 17 to apologize for the school’s discrimination against Hood and other Black applicants who were denied a chance of admission during this time nearly 61 years after he received that letter. 

Current dean Vikas P. Sukhatme delivered the apology on behalf of the School of Medicine. The school accepted its first Black student, Hamilton Holmes, in 1963.

“I apologize for the letter you received in 1959, in which you were denied consideration for admission due to your race,” Sukhatme said. “We are deeply sorry this happened, and regret that it took us more than 60 years to offer you our sincere apologies.”

Dr. Marion Hood received a plaque from President of the Student National Medical Association Sydni Williams in “recognition of his tenacity and resilience in the quest to be a physician”. (Sarah Davis)

Additionally, Hood received a plaque in “recognition of his tenacity and resilience in the quest to be a physician” from the President of the Student National Medical Association Sydni Williams. The group is a non-profit organization focused on supporting underrepresented minority medical students across the United States.

The discussion was moderated by Dr. Sheryl Heron, the medical school’s associate dean for Community Engagement, Equity and Inclusion, and Dr. Carolyn Meltzer, the school’s chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion officer. 

Prior to the conversation, University President Gregory Fenves recognized Hood, as well as the upcoming official holiday of Juneteenth National Independence Day on June 19. Juneteenth marks the day that news reached Galveston, Texas that the Civil War had ended and slaves were free. 

“As we approach this weekend celebration of Juneteenth, his story unfolds during a time when our nation was engaged in a struggle for positive and for lasting change in the civil rights movement: a chorus of voices that rose up against centuries of anti-Black racism and profound injustice in this country, and Emory University was part of the problem,” Fenves said.

Hood’s story gained traction on social media in 2018 and then again in 2021 after a photo of the letter was posted online in which the director of admissions at the time, Lewis L. Clegg (25C, 31G), wrote, “I am sorry I must inform you that we are not authorized to consider for admission a member of the Negro race.”

“I did not expect to get into Emory,” Hood said. “I did not expect the letter to be on the internet. If you go to my house, that letter is framed in my basement where only my friends go. It’s not in the front of my house anywhere where anybody coming can see the letter.”

Dr. Marion Hood, who was denied consideration for the Emory School of Medicine in 1959 sat down with Dr. Sheryl Heron, the medical school’s associate dean for Community Engagement, Equity and Inclusion, on June 17. (Sarah Davis)

Originally from Griffin, Georgia, the 83-year-old currently works part time at a clinic in Warm Springs, Georgia that treats patients regardless of their ability to pay. He said that his decision to become a doctor was influenced by an experience he had as a young boy accompanying his mother to the doctor’s office.

“We had to enter through the back door of the building, and we went into a small room with no furniture that had Coca-Cola crates there for you to sit on,” Hood said. “We sat there and had to wait until the last person was seen, and then the doctor came in and took care of my mother. I was fuming. I couldn’t see why we had to wait so long just to be seen, and I said to myself that if I was a physician, my mother and my kind would not have to go into the back.”

After high school, Hood followed his brother to Clark Atlanta University (Ga.) where he decided to apply to medical schools, including Emory. Hood said he wanted to apply to Emory after Clark gave an Emory professor an honorary degree. 

“When they gave him an honorary degree, I said to myself, ‘Gosh, he can come over here and get an honorary degree, and I can’t even put my foot on his campus,’” Hood said. “I didn’t think that was quite right, so I decided I would apply to Emory.”

After receiving the letter from Emory, as well as rejections from several other medical schools, Hood took one “last shot” at medical school. He applied to Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine (Ill.) where he graduated and became a practicing OB-GYN. 

Following his conversation with Heron, Meltzer asked Hood questions from the audience on the webinar. One question about how Hood forgave those who discriminated against him prompted Hood to tell a story that brought tears to his eyes. He recounted a story for the audience about a time when he was working in an emergency room and a patient spit in his face. When he kept giving medical attention to the patient, the man became confused and asked him why he continued to care for him after he insulted him.

“I said to him, ‘I was a doctor. I wanted to take care of people and sometimes you have to take care of people that you don’t really like, that you don’t really want,” Hood said. “I say to people: You can’t be disrespectful, you have to always respect the patient, you always respect the person, you always expect the good from that person. And, if you do that, everything else will work its way out. There’s no reason for me to dwell on Emory not giving me a letter.”

The post School of Medicine offers formal apology to Dr. Marion Hood appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

Will Legenzowski ’22 and Simon Hatcher ’23.5 qualified for the 2021 U23 World Rowing Championships after finishing first in the single scull and first in the double scull, respectively, at the U23 World Rowing Championship Trials in Sarasota, Florida June 14 and 15. As a result of their victories, Legenzowski and Hatcher, both rowers on the men’s crew team, will compete for the U.S. national team in Racice, Czech Republic July 7 to 11. 

Legenzowski, an experienced sculler who just missed out on Olympic qualification with a fifth place finish at single scull trials in February 2020, went into the World Championship trials with an expectation of success. “It’s a lot lower stakes to lose a race you’re supposed to lose, versus win a race you’re supposed to win,” Legenzowski said. “But I’ve raced at this course a lot of times, I’ve raced in the single (scull) many times. For the most part, I felt pretty comfortable and in control. I put a lot of trust into my training and it paid off.” Legenzowski won the single scull final by 8.63 seconds to book his spot at the World Championships.

Hatcher, racing alongside Boston University rower Tucker Thomas, claimed victory by a 8.18-second margin in the double scull. “The U.S. trials were (my teammate) Tucker’s first race ever, so there was a significant disparity in our experience levels,” Hatcher said. “Our maturity and willingness to race in a calm and collected way definitely improved over the course of the regatta. We were just ready to let loose a lot of energy that we’d been gaining, and I think that that propelled us down the course to victory.”

For Legenzowski and Hatcher, victories at the trials mean that they each have achieved a long-held goal of representing the United States in international competition. “As long as I’ve been rowing, it has been my biggest goal to represent the United States in the men’s single (scull) at a world championship,” Legenzowski said. “I’ve tried before in the past and came up just short, so to finally check this off my list just feels phenomenal.”

“I set the goal my freshman year that I would want to row for the United States with red, white and blue on my blades,” Hatcher said. “To realize that goal within the year was the greatest feeling.”

“It’s exciting for the program that people are reaching that standard,” said crew Head Coach Paul Cooke ’89 P’21 P’22. “Simon and Will had some really good competition, so I’m very impressed by what both those guys did in order to make it to the world championship.”

“I would say they made the best of a bad situation with the pandemic,” added team captain-elect Ben Olsen ’22. “Instead of waiting for the world to start again, they focused on their training and did something remarkable.”

Since last summer, Legenzowski and Hatcher have been training at the Green Racing Project in Vermont, a facility that focuses on sculling instead of Division I rowing’s eight-person sweep standard. “We do have some sculling boats at Brown, but the Green Racing Project was specialized for sculling,” Cooke said. “It was definitely a great opportunity for them to go up there, and it was a great way for them to prepare for the trials.”

“At Brown, we’re almost exclusively an eight-person boat — but here, it’s a sculling center. It’s almost exclusively singles and doubles with two oars,” Legenzowski said. “The amount of time that we’ve spent in small sculling boats here is unparalleled to any college program, including our own.”

Following their performance in the World Championship Trials, Legenzowski and Hatcher returned to the Green Racing Project, where they will train during the weeks leading up to the World Championships in early July. “This first week is going to be pretty intense, and the second week is going to be a little bit easier in order to allow our bodies to recover,” Legenzowski said. “The vast majority of the work has already been done, a vast majority of the speed has already been found. And so now it’s just a matter of maintaining and improving upon it.”

The competition at the world championships will be even stiffer than at the U.S. trials, but Legenzowski and Hatcher are looking forward to the challenge. “U.S. rowing isn’t the pinnacle of rowing in the way that the U.S. is the pinnacle of football or baseball or basketball. So there’s a lot of really stiff competition when you go overseas,” Legenzowski said. “But I’m not really scared to race anybody — I’m really looking forward to racing some guys that I’ve heard a lot about, testing their mettle and seeing if they’re all that.”

Although they have been training off-campus for the better part of the past year, Hatcher and Legenzowski agreed that their time at Brown has proved invaluable in preparing them for the highest level of competition. “In terms of overall rowing quality, strength and fitness and competitive spirit, Brown has prepared us extremely well for being here,” Hatcher said.

“American (Division I) rowing is just some of the most intense, gruesome, smash-mouth competition that you can do. There are not a lot of easy strokes taken, and that’s really benefited me as someone who liked racing but hadn’t necessarily been the toughest athlete growing up,” Legenzowski added. “Brown has given me such mental fortitude and this really intense racing spirit that I was then able to add to my already tactically sound abilities.”

Brown’s emphasis on technical skill also translates well to small-boat racing, according to Hatcher. “Our coaches teach us how to row really well — how to get the blade in the water and pull really effectively, such that we may not necessarily have the strongest, fastest athletes on the ergometer, but we are still punching right up there with the big dogs,” Hatcher said. “That technique is super important in small boats.”

Legenzowski and Hatcher anticipate intense races at the World Championships in July. “We’re not going to have the luxury that we did racing domestically — getting up off the start and being in front from the beginning,” Legenzowski said. “There are going to be a lot of really uncomfortable moments where you’re neck and neck with an opponent for probably 1,950 meters over a 2,000-meter race.”

High school students enrolled in Brown’s Pre-College summer programs began moving into their on-campus dorms this past weekend in preparation for the first day of classes June 21. Students in the program are required to partake in asymptomatic testing, and the University has worked to keep the program’s testing and dining services separate from on-campus University students.

Each of the two program sessions will include approximately 400 students on campus, with the first session running for two weeks and the second session for three weeks, University Spokesperson Brian Clark wrote in an email to The Herald.

Pre-college students and all staff helping to run the program are required to participate in asymptomatic COVID-19 testing on campus twice per week regardless of vaccination status. The testing site reserved specifically for pre-college students and faculty is located in the Vartan Gregorian Quad complex, according to Clark. 

The program is “highly structured and heavily chaperoned,” said Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06. Students are “living together, eating together, their events are together,” and “a lot of effort has gone into really keeping that program as insulated as possible,” he added. 

If a student tests positive during the program session, they will be required to isolate, contact trace and, “given the short nature of the program, it is likely that they would go home, or leave the campus,” Carey said. Pre-college students who do not follow testing and other COVID-19 protocols “will be dismissed and required to depart from campus within 36 hours of that decision,” according to the Pre-College program’s Health and Safety Protocols.

But, due to the “relatively recent development” of vaccinations for people ages 12 to 15 and the lack of universal availability for this age group, the University is not requiring pre-college students to be vaccinated, Carey said. 

The percentage of documented COVID-19 vaccinations increased to 87.9 percent and 75.4 percent for on-campus University students and employees, respectively, during the week of June 10 to June 16, according to the Healthy Brown COVID-19 Testing Update. 

Including students and employees not on campus, 67 percent and 74.1 percent, respectively, have uploaded proof of their vaccinations with the University. 

“We really do need to get to 90 percent among students and 90 percent among faculty and staff in order to feel comfortable making more changes” to campus safety guidelines, Carey said. 

He added that “we’ll get there when we get there, so I can’t say exactly what that timeline is going to be like in terms of what will begin to change.” The University’s two “highest priorities” will be in-person dining and further reduction of mask-wearing indoors.

The testing program also reported zero positive asymptomatic COVID-19 cases during the week of June 10 to June 16, according to the Healthy Brown COVID-19 Dashboard. 

But the state governor’s briefing this week confirmed that the COVID-19 Delta variant, a highly contagious strain first identified in India and currently the dominant strain in the United Kingdom, was present in at least four cases in Rhode Island. In India, the severity of current health conditions is especially attributed to the Delta variant, Carey said. 

But “there’s been no connection that we’ve been told of with the Brown campus, and we’ve had no positive cases for almost a month,” Carey said. The presence of the Delta variant “underscores the continued importance of researching and identifying variants … and (is) further incentive for people to get fully vaccinated,” he said.

Dean of the School of Public Health Ashish Jha tweeted June 16 that “everyone needs both shots of the mRNA vaccines to be protected” from the Delta variant.

Key feature of the Delta variant is everyone needs both shots of the mRNA vaccines to be protected

But national vaccination data suggests about 10% of people have missed their 2nd shot

That’s about 18 million people

And those 18M aren’t spread evenly across the US

thread

— Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH (@ashishkjha) June 17, 2021

“People who aren’t vaccinated are vulnerable given the permutations that continue to exist around COVID-19,” Carey said.