free
THURSDAY
sept. 17, 2020 high 63°, low 41°
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 • Facial expression
N • Community gardens
S • Creating change
Some students use face masks as a form of self-expression during the pandemic, displaying their personalities with different patterns and styles. Page 6
Syracuse’s community gardens have provided some residents with an escape from the isolation of the coronavirus pandemic in addition to healthy, free food. Page 3
Black Oranges, a collective of former SU athletes, is working to improve diversity and social awareness in Syracuse and beyond. Page 12
on campus
Resident advisers want more resources, support from SU By Sarah Alessandrini asst. news editor
About two weeks into the fall semester, Syracuse University resident advisers began discussing the idea of sending a list of demands to the Office of Student Living. By then, RAs had realized that they were doing more work than they had signed up for this year, with less support and communication from the university than they had anticipated,
several RAs told The Daily Orange. “We are exposing ourselves to dozens of students on a daily basis,” said an RA in Booth Hall. “We are expected to perform the same tasks and the same responsibilities with the same resources we were given before the pandemic.” A group of RAs presented a list of nine demands to OSL on Tuesday. The demands include adding hazard pay for RAs due to their potential exposure to COVID-19, providing more
personal protective equipment and clarifying the role of RAs in the event of a campus shutdown due to a coronavirus outbreak. The list of demands comes as RAs find themselves responsible for enforcing SU’s coronavirus-related health guidelines in residence halls on top of their normal responsibilities. The three RAs who spoke to The D.O. asked to remain anonymous out of fear for their job security. An RA in DellPlain Hall said
they, along with other RAs, received an email about two weeks into the semester from another RA outlining a plan to compose a list of demands for OSL. The email asked other RAs for their support and input. Dozens of RAs have joined a group chat where they discussed the demands, said an RA from the Lawrinson-Sadler Hall complex. RAs also invited one another to join a Google document so they could edit or add to the demands as they
wished, the RAs said. The Booth RA said they heard about the demands through RAs from other buildings, but they were not involved in the initial planning or leadership. Over a dozen RAs between Booth, Marion and Kimmel halls joined in supporting the demands, the RA said. “We all support the demands, and we support the people behind it, but we weren’t involved in the leadership see advisers page 8
Increased workload Some professors say they’re doing more work as class formats shift due to the pandemic
CORAN KLAVER, English professor and chair of the English department, has found it challenging to monitor students in the classroom and those participating remotely via Zoom at once, especially in discussion-based classes. emily steinberger photo editor
By Madison Tyler and Abby Weiss the daily orange
S
yracuse University professor Daniel Curewitz has spent the past several months preparing for the increased workload of the fall semester. He’s recorded lectures and fielded hundreds of emails from confused students, trying to figure out how to run his classes smoothly online. “I’ve been working seven days a week for the past three months,” said Curewitz, an earth science and environmental science professor. SU has adopted a hybrid instruction model, in which students attend classes both in-person and virtually, to mitigate the spread of coronavirus during the fall semester. Even though the university provided faculty with guidance over the summer about adjusting their curriculum, some professors said the new learning model has caused them undue stress and has
increased their workload dramatically. Christine Ashby, an education professor who coordinates the SU inclusive elementary and special education program, said her colleagues are abnormally tired for this early in the semester. Ashby spent most of her summer altering the curriculum for her courses to account for social distancing. She’s still working to find ways to compensate for the field experience her students usually receive working with students in the Syracuse City School District. “It’s been a real challenge for my freshmen class. They usually are in schools reading with kids once a week,” Ashby said. “It’s an emotionally tiring time for everybody because we feel for our students right now.” Regina Ippolito has made her pre-recorded lectures half the length of her normal presentations to accommodate students’ shorter attention spans during online learning. But her workload has still nearly doubled under the new
model, she said. Ippolito, an adjunct professor who teaches wine appreciation at SU, has been able to hold food and wine tasting sessions for her class inperson, with plastic dividers installed to separate students. But for students studying remotely, she has had to make that portion of the class optional and film separate tasting instruction videos. “I only feel bad for the remote students for not being able to taste with me in person because I do think that’s hard to duplicate,” Ippolito said. Jonathan French, who teaches chemistry classes of 300 to 400 students, has spent the last few months recording lectures and embedding questions to make the presentations interactive. He has also changed his curriculum to rely less heavily on exams and has made multiple versions of each test to protect against cheating. “The spring semester didn’t end for me,” French said. “Once the summer started, I just see faculty page 8