Type Away Cait

SUNY Buffalo State College Mock Trial Team (left to right) Dominique Zirpola, Grace Gallagher, Vincent Bai, Lindsey Roth, Madeline Crosby, David Ben-Merre, Cait Malilay, Jerick Flores, Mimi Byrne, John Quinane and Jillian Tung Buffalo State College’s mock trial team shared what it was like competing for the first time in person at the Third Annual Geneseo Joust on Nov. 20 and 21 since the COVID-19 pandemic. The whole team, coached by David Ben-Merre, an English professor, was so happy to be back in person. “This year, it’s been great to be back in person and be able to compete safely,” he said in an email. Ben-Merre, who began coaching mock trial in 2008, said that although it was fun to be able to compete last year over Zoom, it felt like something important was missing. Vincent Bai, a University of Arizona graduate and mentor who helps coach the English-389 class, said that he judged a few competitions virtually, but observing online, he could tell that it comes with its challenges i

Thanksgiving is a time where friends and family get together and reflect on what they appreciate most, but what exactly is the historical background of this holiday? Lisa Marie Anselmi, an archaeologist and department chair of anthropology at SUNY Buffalo State College, describes Thanksgiving as predominantly “a constructed American myth or narrative,” which all began in 1621 Plymouth, Massachusetts with the Pilgrims hosting a Harvest Festival. “They feasted in such a way that they were firing off their guns and cannon, so they have imbibed a bit too much alcoholic beverage,” she said. The sounds of the gunshots piqued the curiosity of the Wampanoag warriors, who “entered into a tentative alliance” with the English and went to see if they needed their assistance. What resulted was a three-day feast and the Wampanoag warriors brought foodstuff like venison. Anselmi says that there are two primary sources about the “so-called first Thanksgiving,” but in reality, it was not celebrated as

photo credit: Elijah Robinson The Record had an opportunity to speak with the president of Turning Point USA Buffalo State chapter, a conservative-leaning organization that values free speech and has yet to be officiated by the United Students Government, on his thoughts on Critical Race Theory. Alexander Kolasny, a senior at the State University of New York at Buffalo State College and peer minister at the Newman Center, says that he is “personally not a fan of Critical Race Theory,” as someone who plans on being an educator. “With CRT, there is a little bit more of them telling you the narrative even though the narrative is contradictory a lot of the times to the historical things that have actually happened,” the social studies education major said. “It also degrades the value of how people perceive themselves because with CRT, you’re stripping down the person to their associated labels that they are asserting for themselves rather than talking and teaching to the student that'

(This article was co-written with Joseph Scordo) Elijah Robinson, the general manager of WBNY and opinion editor for The Record, had an opportunity to interview Mayor Byron Brown to discuss the mayoral race. Brown has been the mayor of Buffalo since 2005. One accomplishment he said he is proud of was his administration’s inclusion of women and people of color. He is running a write-in campaign against democratic socialist India Walton after her upset victory in the primaries. In their respective interviews, it was clear that each candidate holds a different view of the term, “democratic socialism.” Brown said that it’s solely socialism and “will create infighting with the democratic party.” “We’ve seen the extremes of the far right and how bad that has been for the country,” Brown said. “It’s the same with the extremes of the far left. That would be bad for the country as well.” Her policy agendas would lead to undesirable consequences, according to Brown. “She has ideas like raising