Feb. 8, 2021

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free

MONDAY

feb. 8, 2021 high 25°, low 12°

t h e i n de p e n de n t s t u de n t n e w s pa p e r of s y r a c u s e , n e w yor k |

dailyorange.com

C • Collective community

N • Indoor spaces

The Black Artist Collective provides a supportive space for professional artists of color in the Syracuse area through sharing resources and hosting events. Page 7

SU has started using the Dome to hold classes as well as recreational activities for students. Students will sit socially distanced in the stands for class. Page 3

S • Meeting Boeheim

Current and former Syracuse men’s basketball players from five decades share the stories of the first time they met Hall of Fame head coach Jim Boeheim. Page 12

SU implements policies to avoid another shutdown

After the fall semester ended abruptly following a rise in COVID-19 cases, the university put new measures in place with the hope that it may maintain an in-person semester, even as cases of the virus surge across the country. emily steinberger photo editor

Administrators believe increased testing and stricter policies will prevent a COVID-19 spike

By Richard Perrins asst. copy editor

A

s Syracuse University students return to campus for the spring semester, administrators are hoping that new rules and regulations will prevent another campus shutdown. SU’s in-person fall semester was supposed to last until Thanksgiving. Instead, students headed home in droves as COVID-19 cases skyrocketed at the beginning of November, some describing significant testing delays and gaps in the university’s contact tracing efforts. Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie, who has been spearheading SU’s public health efforts, knew that the fall semester was a challenge for students and faculty. But the spring semester poses unique risks, as cases of the virus surge in parts of the country. SU needed to implement major see policies page 4

on campus

SU professors, staff redesign classes and programs By Mira Berenbaum asst. news editor

The pandemic forced Michael Schoonmaker to think about the basics of storytelling. Restrictions in place to curb the spread of the coronavirus “closed the door” on several opportunities for students and faculty within Syracuse University’s television, radio and film department. But the

challenges also forced them to think creatively, said Schoonmaker, chair the department. “It brings you down to the very basic level of ‘what are we doing here?,’” Schoonmaker said. “What we ended up doing, it was different, and it was harder.” Like many other professors at SU, Schoonmaker adapted this fall to ensure students were able to learn. The pandemic has created

additional work for instructors, who again have to dedicate time and energy to redesigning classes and addressing new obstacles for the spring semester. And though this semester presents unique challenges — a 14-week term starting in the heart of winter, with just two days off — some professors said they feel more confident about their classes than they did in the fall.

This fall, the television, radio and film department worked with students to create films with strict restrictions, allowing just one student to be unmasked at any given time, Schoonmaker said. Students and faculty had to work together to employ visual tricks to make the scene flow normally with only one actor unmasked, he said. “If you learn anything about production when you’re in our curricu-

lum, it’s tricks anyway, so we just had to employ our tricks to deal with the challenge,” he said. “I don’t want to pretend like it was easy.” Milton Laufer, director of the Setnor School of Music, spent his summer working with other faculty members to develop the school’s COVID-19 protocols. Laufer and his team were tasked with figuring out how students and faculty could see professors page 4


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