Processing the ICE surge isn’t over, professor says



Hamline University creative writing professor Angela Pelster-Wiebe never expected to have to make a plan like the one she brought to her students on the first day of the semester in January.  

She told them a plan for what they would do in the unlikely situation of immigration enforcement officers coming into class.  

“It was really awful to say that and to watch people’s faces fill with fear, even just talking about it. It made me sick. It still makes me sick thinking about it,” Pelster-Wiebe said. 

It was the peak of what the federal government called “Operation Metro Surge,” causing palpable tension across the small St. Paul university. 

She wanted to assure students that since Hamline is a private college, ICE is not allowed on campus without a warrant. She explained that, if they were to show up, no one should lie. They would all work to ensure laws were followed and that they looked out for their “most vulnerable” classmates. 

It was inspired by a plan another professor made. They felt it was necessary to address the topic that had become an unescapable reality for both the school and the surrounding Hamline-Midway community. 

Now, nearly two months later, Pelster-Wiebe said it remains too early to talk about what happened as people process. She said she sees the ripple of anxiety and trauma in her classes still. 

“It feels like people are emotionally unwell in a way that feels a little bit different from other years,” Pelster-Wiebe said. "Maybe I’m just making that connection because it feels like it's a difficulty I’m still processing. But it‘s not usual for students to just start crying in class one after the other.”

Since the drawdown of federal immigration officers in the state, she has noticed students have resorted to a “back to normal” approach, attempting to shift their focus on the semester wholeheartedly, even though it seems many are still navigating the emotional effect of the ICE surge.  

For Pelster-Wiebe, it feels rooted in a lack of coping mechanisms. It reminds her of how people slowly got life back to normal after the worst of the COVID pandemic because no one knew what else to do.

“We haven’t figured out how to help students holistically as a society,” she said. “It’s really weird on individual levels when we get students in the classroom who are desperately trying to hold things together but don’t really have structures in place to deal with it.”  

Less than 1 percent of Hamline’s student body are international students; however, nearly half identify as people of color, according to the university. Pelster-Wiebe said students feared for their own safety and their peers after seemingly racially targeted arrests in the cities.  

Moving forward  

Creative writing has always offered Pelster-Wiebe a space for processing. As primarily a nonfiction writer, her work often explores trauma-induced storytelling.  

Throughout everything that has happened, she’s turned to writing to help feel grounded.  

“I keep needing to have affirmed what we went through, because it was so unlike anything I’ve ever lived. There’s so much of part of it that just feels not real.”  

It’s something she continues to offer her students through class. She is noticing themes of what happened seeping into her students' work in unforeseeable ways, though she admits it is too early to know what it means.  

“My students, who maybe used to write about werewolves and dragons and otherworldly creatures, are writing about that less, and their writing seems to me to be more focused on reality,” Pelster-Wiebe said.  

Pelster-Wiebe and the creative writing program initially hosted writing and art events for the university and the surrounding community. They have since shifted to partnering with other campus and surrounding events since different spaces in the surrounding community were hosting events on the same nights.  

The importance of not rushing into the future is top of mind for Pelster-Wiebe. She doesn't know how or when a feeling of safety will be restored. 

“I feel like we’re in this moment of shock and processing now,” Pelster-Wiebe said. “Now that the anxiety and the reoccurring traumas have slowed down, I think we're just in this period of taking stock of everything.”  



Source link

Leave a Reply

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Get our latest articles delivered straight to your inbox. No spam, we promise.

Recent Reviews


Groovy is a subset of the java language and shares a good market in recent times. If any of the java programmers are looking out for a career change, here you go. We are going to design Groovy interview questions and answers under the guidance of the SEO team and Groovy experts. In this Groovy interview questions and answers post, you will be learning the very important questions which are asked by top companies. Kick start your Groovy professional career with the help of frequently asked Groovy interview questions and Answers. 

Most Frequently Asked Groovy Interview Questions

What do you know about JVM (java virtual machine)?

Ans : JVM stands for Java virtual machine and they are considered to be an important component of Groovy runs. So Groovy needs the JVM to perform many java-based tasks. 

What do you mean by Groovy?

Ans : Groovy is basically an object-oriented programming language and it has been a top choice for many programmers to write and execute their Java codes. The reason behind its popularity is its customization features to any extent. And also last but not the least, the best user interface services. So it is very easy to develop applications with the help of the Groovy user interface.

What are the true reasons behind Groovy popularity?

Ans : Here we would like to mention a few reasons behind its popularity among other java programming languages.

  • Groovy can be used for scripting like log configuration.
  • It is not a fully object-oriented programming language.
  • It mainly uses Java libraries and multiple inheritance.
  • It offers native support for various markup languages like HTML (hypertext markup language) and XML (extended markup language). 
  • It has a public modifier.
  • It supports tools like Gradle and Spack 
  • It also consists of tools that support other programs to run. For example Grails and Java

Could you please mention the benefits of using Groovy?

Ans : Below are the primary advantages of using Groovy;

  • Compile and execute with all the java libraries that include a part of the COAT JAVA installation.
  • It offers very light syntax while writing a program
  • Offers several examples in the software center.
  • Less work is required during the time of processing HIPO files as input.

What are the limitations of the Groovy language?

Ans : Here are the few disadvantages of using the Groovy language:

  • Having to use GROOT means not having all the plotting and fitting power associated with ROOT as GROOT is a smaller subset of the ROOTs plotting and fitting.
  • Need to know JAVA which is less common for psychic-based analysis

Explain the concept of thin documentation in Groovy?

Ans : This is a very common issue in almost all object-oriented languages. The real problem behind this inaccuracy is that Groovy doesn’t provide detailed documentation on the projects or code. Therefore you will get limited documentation with no information regarding programming codes or run-time errors

How can you run the script in Groovy?

Ans : Running script is a nit a big deal for many programmers. All the plain scripts are very easy to run on a Groovy, and one good thing is that there is no need for programmers to declare any class or methods which consume extra time. At the beginning of any script, that enables the programmers to use import values. This process is very similar to implementing them in a class. In case you want to declare a function outside the class, you can make use of the command “def

Name a few infrastructures that can be used along with Groovy?

Ans :The following are the name of a few infrastructures that can be used along with Groovy;

  • App servers
  • Servlet (java servlet) containers
  • Databases having JDBC drivers
  • All other java based programs. 

Do you really think that Groovy is a simple language than others if so give reasons?

Ans : Yes, most of the developers agree that Groovy is a simple language to use and code. The reasons are as follows;

  • Users can enjoy a simple declaration of all the arrays, maps as well as ranges. 
  • This makes programmers proceed with multiple tasks and they can expect effective outcomes s

Groovy Training

  • Master Your Craft
  • Lifetime LMS & Faculty Access
  • 24/7 online expert support
  • Real-world & Project Based Learning

 

. Is it possible for you to integrate with other applications that are not based on Java?

Ans : Yes, this is possible. However, only one problem with Groovy integration is that it offers limited features that cannot be used to handle complex programming.

. What are the basic requirements for Groovy?

Ans : The primary requirements that are needed for Groovy are as follows:

  • The Java 1.4 version.
  • The Groovy. Jar 
  • The ASM libraries

. What do you mean by Groovy applications?

Ans : Apache Groovy is one of the powerful approaches used in the different modules. The very first thing that comes to mind is adjoining the different modules of java. It doesn’t matter the size but they can be easily combined with the different Java modules. In addition to this, all the existing java applications can be extended through Groovy very simply. This process also makes it easier to develop java-based applications without any error. There are several other applications available, but they are quite common.

. What are the features Groovy JDK equipped with?

Ans : Below are the common features that Groovy JDK (java development kit) is equipped with;

  • Using Groovy is simple as it does not require any complex things to implement the applications.
  • It doesn’t matter which operating system you are using and what are the components of the server, it is easily made up to perform various tasks as per the requirements.
  • In addition to this, there are other features available to run the application smoothly based on Java. 

. Compare the old version of the Groovy with the new version?

Ans : When it comes to the new version, there are a lot of advanced features that are quite simple to use when compared to the older version. With the help of the new version, it is also possible to stream arrays and objects of object-oriented methods used in the older version. In addition to this, a lot of run time errors have been eliminated at various stages and commands also have been improved for smooth operations.

. Suppose you are running something on Groovy, is it possible for you to add any data or for the classpath?

Ans : The answer would be yes it is possible. To perform this task, a $classpath variable can be considered. Some programmers also build the $HOME- -> a.groovy – ->lib directory for this. It can simply be defined in the $HOME and users can keep up the pace at every stage

. What do you know about listeners and closures in Groovy?

Ans : Groovy does not support all types of asynchronous inner classes. Users need to be more conscious about the class that they are going to use while defining the functions. In the Groovy also, you will get to see two different types of classes, firstly listeners. In the listeners, the closures can be considered as an adapter for the listener that offers no limit for the inner class implementations. Whereas the closures are nothing but a process of determining the actions that are extremely easy to use.

. Is there any limit on appending the jars that are available in the groovy?

Ans : No there is no such limit, programmers can make them available in any number whenever they need them.

HKR Trainings Logo

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to get new updates..!

 

. What is the importance of using ExpendoMeta class in Groovy?

Ans : Expendometa class is a powerful option available in Groovy. With the help of this class, the programmers can able to add and consider properties, constructors, methods, and operations to perform various tasks. By default, ExpendoMeta cannot be inherited and users need to call it whenever they required it. 

The following command is used to declare ExpendoMeta class;

ExpandoMetaClass.enabledglobally()”.

. What factors do you need to take care of while declaring Groovy strings?

Ans : Below are the important factors you need to take care of them;

  • All the expressions which are used in Groovy must be declared using the ${}.
  • The next step is, it should be joined by double-quotes. 
  • However, if the strings are regular, you can use a single quote.
  • The Square bracket [] in the Groovy can be applied in a very general manner.
  • Also, users need to remember one thing that is Groovy string is also known as Gstring.

. In Groovy, from the database how can you derive a single class?

Ans : This can be done with the help of the following command;

Println “Row; ColumnA = $”.

There is another option that is also available to do so manually but it is a complex one and there are certain sets of modifications required which will never be performed by programmers

. What is querying in Groovy? Why there is a need for it?

Ans : Querying in Groovy is basically an approach that is used to detect whether the set of commands is compatible with the required operations or not. Also, it can be considered when users need to verify or cross-examine something. The Groovy is an approach that has support for the various queries and the same thing can be handled. The primary task of Querying in Groovy is to ensure error-free outcomes under every situation.

. What does the AST stand for?

Ans : AST in Groovy stands for Abstract syntax trees.

. Explain the AST builder in Groovy?

Ans : In DSL (data syntax language), the codes, as well as strings, are extremely useful factors. This type of task is reliable and there is nothing much that the users need to do. While building AST, sometimes this process might take several hours that depend on the exact number of tasks that are under a tree structure and how they are to be handled.

. Can we include one Groovy script into another Groovy?

Ans : Yes, it is possible. To perform this operation, you need to follow the below codes.

Evaluate(new file (“../tools/Tools.groovy”))

Always remember one thing, place the code on the top of the script for copying the contents.

. What do you mean by Groovysh?

Ans : Many a time while developing codes programmers have to go through a complex when it comes to evaluating classes, expressions, as well as running the experiments. Groovysh is considered to be a powerful command-line application that makes sure of easy access to the same. Groovysh is used at many stages and the good thing is programmers can call it directly. 

Groovy Training

Weekday / Weekend Batches

 

. How could you retrieve a single value from a database using the Groovy?

Ans : The following are the command is used to retrieve a single value from a database using the Groovy;

row = sql.firstRow ('select columnA, column from tableName')

println "Row: columnA = $ {row.columnA} and column = ${row.columnB}"

wing are the command is used to retrieve a single value from a database using the Groovy;

. Explain how you can query in Groovy with code example?

Ans : Let’s have a look into a simple example where we can query the database in Groovy:

import groovy.sql.sql

sql = Sql.newInstance ('jdbc: jtds: sqlserver://serverName/dbName-Class;domain=domainName','username','password','net.sourceforge.jtds.jdbc.driver')

sql.eachRow ('select * from tableName') {print "$it.id--${it.firstName} –"  }

. Explain GroovyDoc comment?

Ans : Like other multiline comments, Groovydoc comments are multiline but it starts with a /** and ends with */. These comments are related to

  • Type definitions (classes, interfaces, enums, and annotations).
  • Fields and properties definition.
  • Methods definitions.

. Explain the bitwise operators in Groovy?

Ans : Bitwise operators in Groovy can be implemented on a BYTE or an INT a return and INT. There are four types of bitwise operators in Groovy;

  • &: bitwise “and”
  • I : bitwise “or”
  • A : bitwise “xor”
  • ~ : bitwise negation

. When “propertymissing(string) “ method is called?

Ans : The propertymissing(string) method is called when no getter method for a given property can be detected by the Groovy runtime.

nal thoughts:

As per the latest reports, an average salary for any Groovy developer earns Rs. 8, 00, 000, and the salary will increase for an experienced Groovy developer. Groovy is the popular choice of Java program due to its less complexity and coding. In this post, we have listed very important Groovy interview questions with Answres under the supervision of Groovy experts. The companies like PWC, IBM, TCS, Amazon, Facebook, and Instagram are showing keen interest to hire Groovy developers 

About Author

author-image

As a Senior Writer for HKR Trainings, Sai Manikanth has a great understanding of today’s data-driven environment, which includes key aspects such as Business Intelligence and data management. He manages the task of creating great content in the areas of Digital Marketing, Content Management, Project Management & Methodologies, Product Lifecycle Management Tools. Connect with him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Upcoming Groovy Training Online classes

Batch starts on
22nd Apr 2026
Mon & Tue (5 Days)
Weekday
Timings – 08:30 AM IST
Batch starts on
26th Apr 2026
Mon – Fri (18 Days)
Weekend
Timings – 10:30 AM IST
Batch starts on
30th Apr 2026
Mon & Tue (5 Days)
Weekday
Timings – 08:30 AM IST



Source link