Journalism Pieces
For Le Moyne College
Seniors Coming to Terms With the End
By Maddie Rhodes
Assistant Sports Editor
There’s 10 minutes left in the soccer game. The scoreboard reads 1-1. A defender sweeps the feet of Ava Bligh and the referee blows the deafening whistle. Bligh lines up for a free kick, just outside of the half line. She approximates this to be a 50 yard kick to edge the ball near the goal. The opposing goal keeper eyes the forwards, waiting for a lofted ball outside the box. Bligh lines up, sizes up the goal, takes five steps out and one step to the left. She charges the ball, sweeping her leg through the grass. The ball catapults through the netting. The keeper doesn’t even jump. The scoreboard reads 2-1. The final whistle blows.
Ava Bligh, a graduating senior on the Women’s Soccer team, recounts this memory from her earlier years. Bligh, like many other seniors this year, recently received the heartbreaking news that she will no longer be a collegiate athlete due to the postponement of the fall season. COVID19 has affected everything in our daily lives, for Bligh, this includes soccer.
“I had a feeling when we went home in the spring. I was saying to my parents, ‘if the season doesn’t happen, life goes on.’ I would say it, and I would continue to just say it just randomly trying to convince myself. Once Coach Carrie told us, I was in complete denial… “
Bligh, like many other athletes in her position, struggles coming to terms with the end of an era in her life. Bligh began playing soccer when she was 3 years old. Soccer has been a part of her life for as long as she can remember. She doesn’t know how to live life without it.
“My mom asked if I was okay, and she is never usually worried about me. That was something I remember, we were in my kitchen, and I came home. She asked me ‘are you okay Ava,’ and I literally just started bawling, I told her ‘I don’t have a purpose in life, I don’t know who I am anymore. All my friends are athletes, I feel like I won’t fit in.’”
Bligh describes soccer as an identity. Soccer was always something she had to do. She had to workout for soccer. She had to skip social events because of soccer. Everything she ate, drank, and acted was because of soccer.
“It was 18 years of my life, and it was my identity. That’s what I was. I went to high school, I played soccer, that was my thing, everyone knew that… I don’t really know who I am outside of soccer and I guess I’m still trying to figure that out right now. I don’t know what my purpose is. It’s always been in the back of my mind just get better at soccer, always get the touches in, you need to work out… Now that I don’t have that, it’s very confusing… I need to figure that out, what my next sense of purpose is in my life.”
Bligh is now beginning to throw herself into other parts of her life that were neglected. Soccer took up her entire life, whether it’s her time, headspace, or body. Without soccer, Bligh explains what it’s like to continue her life with the largest part of it missing.
“Once we found out about soccer being cancelled, I needed to take a break from working out, and clear my head. It was getting very confusing, why am I even doing this? I’m never going to play soccer again. To keep myself motivated I’ve been going on runs when I want to. Working out when I feel the need to.”
Bligh struggles to find motivation without soccer controlling her life. She has decided to take a break from her 18 year long training, to share time with other important factors in her life.
“Right now, I am studying for the GMAT (Graduate Management admission Test) which I take in December, which is during our usual practice times, I use that time to study. I recently got a boyfriend, that’s another thing I manage my time with for school. I try to workout but that’s on the backburner.”
As much as Bligh loves the sport, she has accepted the fact that her career in soccer is over. With her studies and other college extracurricular, she has moved onto working to be accepted into graduate school. She plans on achieving her masters in Business Administration. Bligh nostalgically recounts,
“I think I’ve grown out of it. As hard as it is to accept that I am done, and that 18 year period of my life is over, I think I’ve grown out of playing soccer, which is very strange to think about.”
Although the ending of a soccer career is heartbreaking, Bligh has made the most of her extra time without it. The memories of scoring the winning goal in a tied game will always stay with her, as nothing will ever feel quite like that moment again, but Bligh looks forward to many more memories to come, with or without soccer.
​
What Would it Take For You to Swim in Onondaga Lake?
The 1 billion dollar Onondaga Lake clean up has been successful in removing 2.2 million cubic yards of material, but as they plan to create a beach, the public cringes. Despite the lake's clean up benefits, it’s questionable whether Onondaga can overcome the pollution and reputation it has suffered.
Onondaga Lake, most commonly known as the most polluted lake in America, has a lasting reputation of containing sewage from the city and suburbs, poisonous fish that can only be eaten once a month, and a century’s worth of an industrial garbage can.
Honeywell, the main investors in the lake, have worked tirelessly to convince the public that the lake is beginning to clean up, as Methylmercury in deep-water portions decreased 98 percent since 2009. They have a website ( www.lakecleanup.com ) which is dedicated to their work with the lake, and the benefits they are seeing. Despite these facts, the public is yet to be convinced.
The 1 billion dollar clean up that dates back to 2008 has brought back 65 species of fish, up from nine in 1970. They have also restored 90 acres of wetlands, and have planted around 1.1 million native plants. The water quality is at its best within the last 100 years.
Onondaga Lake’s next new project is creating a beach. Although this still needs to be approved and has no official start date, it's estimated to cost 2.8 million dollars. This beach could open up a new summer location, and attract locals to the newly reformed concession stand, bathhouse, and picnic area.
Despite Honeywell’s valiant efforts to create a new spot for the summer, Guthrie Schumaker, an Aquatics and Fisheries major at SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, questions if it’s even worth it. Schumaker is under the impression that despite the lake’s clean up crew, “it’s still polluted like crazy.” Schumaker concludes, “Just because we could swim in it, doesn’t mean we should.”
Swimming in Onondaga Lake has been banned since 1940, however, in 2015, 50 people jumped into the lake to prove that the water was safe. Five years later, and now defended by scientific evidence, locals are having trouble grasping the concept of swimming in the most polluted lake in America.
In an online survey, only 22% of people agreed that the lake was swimmable, even though scientific results concluded that the beach would meet state standards of water clarity and bacteria levels. Despite the beginning signs of restoration, the lake still has a bad reputation.
A Syracuse local, Katie O’Connor (21), explains that, “The only thing I’ve really heard is there's a bunch of garbage and pollution in there, as well as dead fish, which means there’s probably a lot of chemicals. I would never want to personally swim in it.”
O’Connor continues, “I grew up in Onondaga county and for the past two decades. I’ve just heard about how polluted the lake is, just from everything I’ve heard I wouldn’t want to take a chance by going to the beach there, I would just go to Skaneateles nearby.”
Another consideration of the 2.8 million dollar beach project is Skaneateles Lake. Skaneateles is one of the most visited bodies of water from Syracuse locals. It is so clean that it is used as a water source for Syracuse. This lake will rival Onondaga for visitors, as people have put their continuing trust in the water that has been clean long term.
Although the Onondaga beach may be appealing to passerbyers, locals are not convinced. With Honeywell’s hopes of littering Onondaga with nothing but people, many are reluctant. With continued scientific evidence, and people accumulating overtime, the beach may be on its way to being built. Onondaga has cleaned its waters, and now must purify its reputation.
​
Le Moyne Athletes Lose to Washing Machines in the Battle for Sustainability
By Maddie Rhodes
While there is less than 1% of fresh water left on the Earth, Le Moyne College is using a lot of their share on the laundry services. While the most common washing machines use around 30-40 gallons of water per load, the Athletic Center (AC) in particular uses machines that release up to 45 and 60 gallons, which results in an average of 884 gallons of water per day.
Both the washers and dryers are also using copious amounts of energy. These washers and dryers are able to hold more than 3 times the load of a normal machine, but this encourages athletes to wash unnecessary items that otherwise wouldn’t be washed.
Polluted wastewater is created and deposited down the drain from the 30-40 gallons of water used per load for a normal washer. The electricity used to heat the clothes in the washer, especially the dryer, use fossil fuels which add to global warming. Moreover, 700,000 microplastic fibers are picked up from the synthetic in clothing during each wash. Microplastics can kill aquatic life that ingest them.
These major repercussions of washing and drying machines are based off of normal machines, not including the UniMac washers and dryers found in the Athletic Center. The AC washing machines run 15-20 times per day, averaging in 884 gallons of water used per day. The washer and dryers also use energy amounting to around 8,530 watts per load. To put this into perspective, it takes less energy to power a normal household for a full day.
This information isn’t monitored at Le Moyne College because as the Assistant Vice President of Facilities and Management, Jed Schneider, explains that, “The Athletic Center and the Rec Center comes from Grewen Hall and they are all fed from 1 main meter off from Salt Springs rd. So I am not able to tell you how much water is consumed by the laundry room.”
Although Eric MacCaull, the Director of Internal Sports Services, hangs many of the athletes’ uniforms out to dry, this doesn’t account for the rest of the practice apparel washed and dried everyday. “It depends on the cycle and what is being laundered ranges from 16 minues to 90 minutes.” MacCaull claims that for drying, “for the most part is 30 minutes on medium heat with 5 minutes of cooling.”
With 19 athletic teams using this laundry system, athletes continue to do laundry outside of the AC. Kevin Sheehan, a sophomore on the Men’s Lacrosse team, claims that everyday “I put a shirt, shorts, socks, compression shorts, and sweatshirt,” on a laundry system that loops the athlete’s clothes together. “It’s basically packed, the loop is packed… We’ll put them in the laundry room after practice and they’ll be there the next day- the next morning.” Outside of the AC, Sheehan washes his regular clothes once every 3 weeks.
It’s arguable that washing all the athletes’ clothes together saves laundry and water, however the system isn’t environmentally friendly. The easy to use services cause athletes to wash articles of clothing that don’t need to be washed everyday. Sheehan, for example, washes his sweatshirt everyday which wouldn’t be washed if there was no laundry system.
Running multiple peoples’ clothes together saves water and energy. However, the AC can still be more sustainable by only washing the necessities, and hanging up clothes to dry. Moreover, if the washing machine runs on cold water, rather than the warm flush that’s being used, it will decrease the energy needed to wash clothes. With these adjustments, the Athletic Center will be more sustainable.
Michaela Karlsen’s Plant Based Lifestyle
On March 3rd at 7pm, Michaela Karlsen, PhD and the author of “Plant Based Life,” arrives at Le Moyne College to discuss the benefits of a plant based diet. As the Grewen auditorium fills with students, the majority being nursing majors, she describes a way to eat successfully in the modern food environment.
Karlsen explains how a plant based diet consists of whole grains, legumes, fruits, greens, nuts, seeds, avocados, olives and avoids animal processed foods. She preaches that cutting processed foods, such as meat, shouldn’t be a problem.
“Meat has become equated with protein… If you're eating a diet based on whole plant foods with sufficient energy consumption it is impossible to not get enough protein,” states Karlsen.
She further explains that “We need B12, it is produced by bacteria in soil, not from animals.” The only beneficial vitamin we get from animal products is B12. Animals only have B12 in them because their diets consist of vegetables. They are essentially the middle man to get B12 into our system.
Karlsen holds the audience's attention when she describes the health benefits of going plant based. She displays a powerpoint that shows how a plant based diet helps with diabetes, cancer, reduces heart disease, and obesity due to the lack of red meat in your system. She also describes how in some cases, type 2 diabetes can go away by eating plant based. She reports that people who go plant based, including herself, feel better and more energized than when they were consuming animal products.
Because a few athletes chose to attend this speech as well, Karlsen explains how many olympians have made the transition, including bodybuilders. These bodybuilders rely on their weight and muscle, but they are still benefiting from a plant based diet. She confirms that it shouldn’t be a problem for athletes who are concerned with their protein levels, because animals shouldn't be where we get our protein from.
Karlsen cautions the audience about the transition to a plant based diet because “Survival does not equate to thriving…” She makes it clear that there are supplements needed with a plant based diet, and eating plant based is more than just getting by each day with food. This isn’t like a diet, it’s a lifestyle.
Karlsen suggests consulting with your doctor, which is what she did when she first started the transition. She frequently visits her doctor now because she is on a plant based diet while pregnant. She talks to her doctor about which supplements to consume especially while pregnant.
She concludes with the increasing number of people following a plant based diet. She reiterates how it’s much healthier to get rid of animal processed foods. She explains that if she can do it with a baby on the way and remain healthy, we can all do it.
​
​
Why do we Love Sad Movies?
No, you’re not crazy, most people enjoy watching sad movies. Researchers from Ohio State University discovered that sad movies actually make people happy. This happiness after watching a tragedy comes from self-reflection, our personal emotions, and hormones released in our brains.
Self-reflection comes immediately after the sad movie ends. This is why it’s more likely to increase happiness over a sad movie rather than a comedy. Sad movies often provide a worse outcome than the audiences’ current lives, making people feel better off than the character. This also allows the audience to reflect on their own relationships, despite the sadness in the movie.
Our personal emotions are often related to our feelings about sad movies as well. In many cases, we feel better after crying. Sad movies are a way to let out our pent up emotions without getting upset over our own lives. For those who don’t enjoy a good cry, comedies may be more your style.
Katie O’Connor, a Psychology major at Le Moyne College, speculates that, “People often suppress their sad feelings when they do not feel like they are able to confront them, so overtime it builds up. When you watch a sad movie it allows you to let out your sadness but not have to personally identify with the pain of it.”
Sad movies also increase our endorphins by exercising the pain tolerance in our minds, according to researchers at Oxford University. Similar to going for a quick jog outside, watching a sad movie puts physical stress on our minds, eventually making us stronger. This releases endorphins, which reduce stress, and leave us with a happy feeling.
However, endorphins aren’t the only things released in our minds after a sad movie. Oxytocin is emitted as well, which is a hormone released within a mother during childbirth to help them connect with the child. This makes them a better caretaker. This hormone promotes the feeling of bonding and love, and is also released during a sad movie. In shorter terms, the hormone makes us feel connected to the character, and fully empathize with their situation. Because of this, we feel emotionally connected to the characters, and therefore able to let out our emotions.
O’Connor brings up another related point, “People might like to watch sad movies because you form more of an emotional bond to the character. For example, in a horror movie you don't feel as emotionally connected to the characters, and you don’t care as much about their outcomes. But in a sad movie, you connect to the character usually based on aspects that you have experienced previously in your life, for example, a break up. This personal connection leads you to care more about the outcome and the character, and allows you to release emotions more easily.”
Whether it’s suppressed emotions, needing a sense of bonding, or a lack of endorphins, consider embracing the discomfort of a sad movie. So instead of confronting your true emotions about unrequited love, watch P.S. I Love You, because at least they didn’t die of a brain tumor.