In the approaching fall semester, William Jewell College will be launching a Center for Faith and Culture on campus. Dr. Brendon Benz, professor of history and theologian-in-residence, will be serving as part of the leadership for the Center.

According to Benz, the Center at Jewell is a result of a very generous gift from Philip and Patricia Love. Philip is a Jewell graduate and served as managing director of the Center for Faith and Culture at Yale University, which will serve as a blueprint of sorts to the Center at Jewell. In fact, there are already some similarities between the Center at Yale and the Critical Thought and Inquiry program here at Jewell, as Benz points out.

“One of the driving features of the Center at Yale is to consider, from a broad, ecumenical perspective, what a life of flourish looks like,” Benz said. “To that end, faculty at the Center offer the course Education and the Life Worth Living to undergraduates at Yale, and Christ & Being Human to students at the Divinity School. The intentions of these courses broadly correspond to the intentions of our beloved CTI 100.”

The Center will work hand-in-hand with the Sacred and Secular category of the CTI program, with the goal of providing a better focus on spiritual exploration, one of the core values of the College.

Benz is particularly excited about one aspect of the Center.

“A particularly exciting feature of the Center that I believe will deeply impact the lives of our students and the community at large is that we aim to recruit leaders from the wider Kansas City community to develop and teach Sacred & Secular courses at Jewell as Fellows of the Center,” said Benz. “In addition to diversifying the perspectives presented in the classroom, it is our hope that these courses will provide more opportunities for students to encounter and participate in movements and activities that give flesh to what they are learning in the classroom.”

One of these courses has already been announced. Dr. Vernon Percy Howard – a Jewell graduate who is a pastor at St. Mark’s Church in Kansas City and the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater Kansas City – will develop and teach a course titled 21st Century Social Movements & The Black Freedom Struggle in the U.S. Howard has also been very influential in his community, as he received the Harold L. Holliday Sr. Civil Rights Award from the Missouri Branch of the NAACP just last year.

“This course studies key social movements in the United States and their impact upon the cultural, economic, religious, and political strata and structures of the nation,” according to the course description. “Central focus is placed on the prolific Black struggle for freedom and justice in America with particular emphasis on the African American Prophetic Tradition, a sacred stream of influence within that struggle that is infused by a biblical hermeneutic serving as the ethical norm and trademark of secular political praxis amid Black social movements for justice in America. Historical periods and phenomena under investigation include the Antebellum South, Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Movement, Black Exceptionalism, and Black Lives Matter. Through the prism of the historic Black struggle for freedom and its enduring Prophetic Tradition, this course researches the new and unfolding national/global reckoning with the moral aims of movements around anti-racism, labor rights and worker justice, gender equity and sexual orientation, reparations, climate justice, Indigenous People’s rights, women’s rights, peace, democracy, and youth activism.”

It has also been confirmed that Father Nathan Rueb, another Jewell graduate who, among other things, serves as an associate pastor at St. Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church and a chaplain at St. Pius X High School, will also teach a Sacred and Secular course.

The Center will also work to get the outside community involved.

“In the end, we are looking to foster meaningful relationships among individuals and groups on and off our campus in part through the marriage of theory and practice,” said Benz.

The Center for Faith and Culture will be something to keep an eye on as it launches next semester.

Released Feb. 25 of this year, “L.W.” serves as the follow up to King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s “K.G.” album that was released in November of last year. “L.W.” is the Australian psych-rock group’s 17th studio release since the band was formed in 2011. 

Calling the band a psych-rock group is not entirely accurate, however, as the band has experimented with a myriad of different sounds, styles and genres during their time. From the acoustic and poppy “Paper Mache Dream Balloon” in 2015 to their jazzy and trippy “Quarters!” EP from the same year, to the blues-rock inspired “Fishing for Fishies” in 2019, the band has basically done it all.

After 17 projects over the course of 10 years, all varying in style, sound and genre, “L.W.” and its counterpart “K.G.” beg the question: has the band, in fact, done it all? Do they have any more tricks up their sleeves, or have they finally begun to get too comfortable with a specific style or sound? That is a difficult question for me to answer, and different King Gizzard fans would likely have vastly different answers to that question. Even if the group has become a bit too comfortable, that does not mean they are no longer capable of making fun, exciting and enjoyable music, as showcased by this album.

The album kicks off with the song “If Not Now, Then When?” which opens with some heavy guitars and drums that, at about one minute in, dissolve into a funky clavinet riff and some synths that are reminiscent of the instrumentation on Stevie Wonder’s song “Superstitious.” The vocals are very limited and understated for most of the track, which allows the instrumentation to take center stage, and I’m certainly not complaining. It is a funky and groovy song that I found myself subconsciously dancing to on my first listen.

The next track, “O.N.E,” opens very differently than the previous track, with a somber harmonica playing over a very slow piano backdrop and some reflective vocals from King Gizzard frontman Stu Mackenzie. It doesn’t take long for the track to pick up in tone, however, as all of a sudden the soft piano and harmonica cuts out in favor of some urgent and upbeat keyboard chords that sound like the opening to a boss battle in a video game. Next comes a bağlama – a Turkish string instrument – rift, giving the track a Middle-Eastern vibe, which then leads into the awesome drums and guitar that get my headbanging every time I hear it. This is soon followed by Mackenzie’s psychedelic vocals, which, when combined with the rocking instrumental, creates an electric track that is a lot of fun to listen to.

“Pleura” is another high-octane track that also carries over the desert vibe of the previous song. The vocals on this track alternate between the somewhat soft and psychedelic vocals the group is known for and a more gruff, raspy delivery, which makes for an interesting contrast. The occasional “Wooooos” in the track are fun too, but despite these things, there isn’t much about this track that helps it stand out from other songs in this album or in much of King Gizzard’s other work. It is still a fun track, however, and one that is great to rock out to.

“Supreme Ascendancy” marks a bit of an instrumental shift from the heavy guitar and drum bangers of the previous songs, as the bass on this track is groovy and pairs well with the far-eastern acoustics. Of all the tracks with a Middle-Eastern desert vibe, this instrumental is one of the more interesting and experimental. 

The content of the song is intriguing as well. It seems to be a critique of the corruption in the Catholic Church. As singer Ambrose Kenny-Smith says in the chorus “Supreme ascendancy, tomfoolery, you’re not above the law, no matter your beliefs.” The vibrato of the vocals on the track is also a nice touch, and it pairs well with the instrumental. Overall, while this track may not bang as hard as the previous songs, it more than makes up for it with the intriguing instrumental and substance of the lyrics.

The next song, titled “Static Electricity” is the first track on the album that underwhelmed me. There is certainly a pleasant rhythm to the track, and the chorus is quite catchy, but outside of that, there wasn’t really anything about the song that hooked me. This was a rare moment on the album where I wasn’t nodding my head or tapping my foot to the music. At almost six minutes, the song also drags on a bit longer than I feel like it needs to. While it is certainly not a bad track, “Static Electricity” marks a low point on the album for me.

“East West Link” has a rustic and almost folky quality to it, especially in the opening of the song. The subtle harmonica is a very nice touch, and the new style is refreshing to the ears. The instrumental then transitions some exciting guitar layers and some more “Woooos” that can be heard on tracks like “Pleura.” Overall, this song provides a subtle yet much-needed change in style while also capturing similar aesthetics as the previous songs. 

The next two tracks, titled “Ataraxia” and “See Me” respectively, are some of the low points on the album, in my opinion. On “Ataraxia” the vocal delivery ruins any enjoyment of the song that I might have had otherwise. The vocals, done by guitarist Joey Walker, sound as though he is delivering his lines while holding back a yawn or a sneeze. This is most clear in the first verse, and it makes the track so unpleasant to listen to. The instrumentation is fine, but not nearly enough to save the track. “See Me,” while not nearly as obnoxious as “Ataraxia,” suffers from the same problems as “Static Electricity.” It is just a fine, middle-of-the-road song that doesn’t separate itself from the rest of the songs on the project.

The closing track entitled “K.G.L.W.” is a fantastic ending to the album. There is a bit of a slow build-up in the beginning, but it soon transitions into eight minutes of an old-school, thundering, metal style that is reminiscent of Black Sabbath. The production is fantastic, and even though this isn’t a style of music I often find myself listening to, I couldn’t help banging my head and playing the drums on my desk while listening to this song.

Overall, this album is incredibly enjoyable and fits very nicely into King Gizzard’s consistent yet diverse catalog of projects. Most of the low points on this album still have enjoyable qualities, and the high points are electric, thrilling, and exciting. I highly recommend not only this album but King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizards discography as a whole.

On Wednesday, Jan. 20 of this year, history was made when Kamala Harris was sworn in as the 49th Vice President of the United States of America. She became the first female, the first African American and the first Asian American vice president in American history. Vice President Harris was raised by Donald Harris and Shyamala Gopalan, who were from Jamaica and India respectively. 

This historic event has led to discussions about what is known as the “role model effect,” which helps people advance in their personal and professional lives by looking up to someone successful with whom they share a trait, generally race or gender, to make success seem more attainable.

Harris has publicly acknowledged the importance of traditionally underrepresented role models.

“My mother would look at me and she’d say, ‘Kamala you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last,’” Vice President Harris said.

This speaks to the impact that the role model effect can have. It not only raises girls’ expectations and confidence for themselves but it, in turn, can cause the rest of society to see that women or minorities are capable of anything that white men are.

A study was done by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on the role model effect that supports this idea. The co-author of the study, economist Esther Duflo, traveled to 495 villages around India and surveyed families with children aged 11 to 15 in an effort to determine whether there was a gap in expectations for male and female children. In villages that never had any female political leaders, Duflo and her team found that parents were 45 percent less likely to expect their daughters to continue beyond secondary school. The girls themselves were 32 percent less likely to have those aspirations.

In villages where women had an active role in government, however, the survey found that parents had the same educational expectations of their daughters as for their sons. Researchers also found that girls were 25 percent more likely to expect to achieve the same level of education as their male peers.

“We think this is due to a role-model effect: Seeing women in charge persuaded parents and teens that women can run things, and increased their ambitions,” Duflo said.

Based on these findings, the inauguration of Kamala Harris into the second-highest political position in the country is incredibly significant for women around the country, especially women of color. America has been making strides in this area in recent history, as women currently make up just over a quarter of all members of Congress. This is the highest percentage in U.S. history and a 50 percent increase from what Congress looked like just a decade ago. 

Despite the improvement, 27 percent is still a low number, so it will be interesting to see the effect that a female Vice President will have on how many women run for political office in the near future. Outside of the political sphere, it is still very important for young women, especially women of color, to see someone to whom they can relate achieve such a high level of success. This can help inspire women to seek to achieve their own high ambitions, whether that be in politics, in areas like business and STEM (where women are still a significant minority) or in anything they do. 

In this land of equality and freedom that we hold so highly, not everyone has felt as equal or as free as others. By seeing nothing but a majority of white men in power for so long, it subconsciously tells young girls that there are some things that they just can’t achieve. Luckily, that idea is being disproved, and having Kamala Harris as our new Vice President is a huge step in the right direction. Hopefully, this will show all women, and the rest of the world, that they too can achieve anything.

After enduring almost nine months of COVID-19 in the United States, it seems as if a vaccine may not be far away. On Nov. 9, the biopharmaceutical company Pfizer and the biotech company BioNTech announced that their vaccine candidate was more than 90 percent effective in phase three trials.

The study consisted of nearly 44,000 participants, with only 94 participants testing positive for COVID-19. Half of the participants received the vaccine and the other half received a placebo. The companies then waited for participants to get sick, then they were able to determine the effectiveness of the vaccine based on what group each infected person was a part of. No serious safety concerns related to the vaccine have been reported. The study will continue to gather more efficacy and safety data.

The clinical trial will continue until there are 164 confirmed cases in order to collect further data and characterize the vaccine’s performance against other study endpoints. This is what will likely cause the greatest delay in the vaccine being available to the general public. While these initial results are promising, it is much too small of a sample to determine just how effective the vaccine really is, as well as potential safety concerns. As well, the trial needs to collect two months of safety data as required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Pfizer will apply for emergency authorization after it collects the two months of data necessary, at which point the FDA will work with an outside group of experts to go through data about the effectiveness, safety and the company’s production potential. This process could take weeks to complete.

The vaccine could potentially be authorized for high-risk populations by the end of the year, but that is dependent on everything proceeding on schedule and the initial data holding up in a larger sample size. Once the vaccine is authorized, high-risk populations – such as health care workers, older adults and those with health conditions that put them at a higher risk – will be the first to get it. The vaccine will likely be available to the general public after that.

This will also depend on the production capability by Pfizer and BioNTech. The companies announced that, based on current projections, they expect to produce 50 million doses in 2020 and 1.3 billion doses in 2021. While this is not nearly enough doses to satisfy the world’s demand for a vaccine, if the vaccine is authorized, other companies will be able to manufacture it to help meet the demand.

Soon after Pfizer’s publicization of the results of its clinical trials, the American biotech company Moderna announced that its own coronavirus vaccine was 94.5 percent effective in preliminary trials. Like Pfizer, Moderna plans to apply for emergency authorization from the FDA.

In combination, officials have estimated that the two companies could produce vaccinations for over 20 million people in the United States by December.

Although it will still be quite a while before these vaccines are available to the general public, these initial results from the clinical trials are promising. It will be very important to keep an eye out for more information and data from Moderna, Pfizer and BioNTech in the coming weeks. But, if the initial data is confirmed, this could be the breakthrough that the world has been waiting for.