Issue 9 Spring 2020

Inaugural Issue of the Fall 2020 E-Board see page 8

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April 29, 2020 VOLUME XL, ISSUE 9 Online-Only Edition

The Budget Was Finalized. Then Coronavirus Hit.

By SAMANTHA MATTHEWS, NICOLE PERKINS, JACQUELINE PIERCE AND EMMA SEIWELL

Mia Agostinelli, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’23, applied to another university for the fall semester, despite loving her freshman year at Fordham.

Agostinelli has discussed the possibility of transferring if the university continues operating at the same cost remotely. With more students grappling with

the decision to return to campus, a projected decrease in enrollment will in turn hurt Fordham’s overall revenue.

“If we are online still, it will be really critical to see how much the university will modify its costs,” she said. “I’m sure that’s going to be a major factor in students’ decision to stay at Fordham or transfer to another university.”

The net tuition received by the university — which makes

up 79.3% of the budget — is heavily impacted by the number of students enrolled and can fluctuate as a result of it. A downturn in student enrollment means a downturn in total tuition collected and less funding for the school overall.

According to The New York Times, “Administrators anticipate that students grappling with the financial and psychological impacts of the virus could choose to stay closer to home, go

to less expensive schools, take a year off or not go to college at all. A higher education trade group has predicted a 15 percent drop in enrollment nationwide.”

Steve Raymar, associate professor and area chair in the Gabelli School of Business (GSB), said that there are concerns regarding graduate students.

“With the graduate business program, there’s logical fears of lower enrollment because of international students having

Cooking Together Across the World

difficulty getting to the United States. That, more or less, affects the whole school-wide budget.”

In the dire time of the novel coronavirus, the financial situation for students, staff and the university is anything but ideal.

In an official statement, University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., wrote, “the University has had to introduce see BUDGET page 3

‘Cautiously Optimistic’ for Fall 2020

By JOE KOTTKE News Editor

It is difficult to navigate conversation with students and faculty alike without touching upon anxiety around the impending decision of the fall semester. According to J. Patrick Hornbeck II, special faculty adviser to the provost for strategic planning, Fordham University will make an announcement about the fall semester in regard to the coronavirus on May 11.

“That announcement will not take the form of a yes or no, we will or won’t be back answer. It’ll be more nuanced and complex than that,” Hornbeck said. “What we would not want to do is today, in April, guess on what the public health situation will be on August 26, the scheduled start to the fall semester. We do not know what will or will not be possible at that time.” see PLANS page 4

Belongings Left in Empty Dorms

By MICHELLE AGARON Asst. News Editor

food. “Leeza and I aren’t chefs,” Primis said. “When it comes to cooking, we just happen to enjoy it.” They understand the social connotations of food — how food is not just something to be consumed, but something that people can bond over.

The last time most Fordham students saw their dorms and all the belongings within them was the middle of March when the university urged all residents to return home. On March 9, the week before spring break, the Office of Residential Life (ResLife) sent an email encouraging all residents to vacate the campus until the end of the month.

On March 13, the university decided to cancel all face-to-face instruction and ResLife emailed students again to dissuade them from returning to campus. Many students left their belongings, including textbooks and everyday items, as they expected to return to campus eventually. Instead, Fordham has now been emptied of everything except abandoned student belongings.

see COOKING page 13

see DORMS page 5

COURTESY OF LEEZA RICHTER

“The Zoom Show: Bringing People Together Since 2020” is a cooking show that’s not confined to just one kitchen, but to kitchens as far as the Ramily stretches.

By AASTHA AGGARWAL Staff Writer

Is Zoom exhausted? Not in this socially isolated period, and not if we can cook together virtually.

The latest addition to the Zoom portfolio of Fordham meetups is the brainchild of Leeza Richter and Avery Primis, both Ford-

ham College at Lincoln Center ’22. “The Zoom Show: Bringing People Together Since 2020” is a virtual cooking meetup. It’s not like the cooking tutorials of most Instagrammers, who broadcast their picturesque kitchens and glamorous finished products, but a genuinely enjoyable platform helmed by two amateur cooks,

where all the participants actually cook together.

The slogan “Bringing people together since 2020” evokes familiar taglines pervading pre-coronavirus life. That is the point of The Zoom Show: Food is an enabler of connection. Primis and Richter developed a solid friendship over their love for

News

Sports & Health

Opinions

The Pass/Fail Dispute

Carton Confusion

Commuting From Home Chesca Mac Helpful tips to handle your trip to Zoom class

Singer-songwriter releases single inspired by Fordham memories

Food for Thought

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Page 6

Page 11

Page 14

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Students petition for a later deadline to declare pass/fail

Understanding the meaning behind egg labels

Arts & Culture

The Student Voice of Fordham Lincoln Center

Fun & Games Digest some food metaphors in this week’s crossword

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April 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER

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Students’ Job Searches Go Digital

By JOE KOTTKE News Editor

Along with losing the remainder of the spring semester on campus, students have been experiencing cancellations of summer internships due to the coronavirus outbreak. Despite this, according to Assistant Director of Career Services Student Engagement Kayla Lauricella, if you are set on interning this summer, you definitely can.

“It is not impossible to get an internship, but I would not count on it being in-person. The majority of internships are going to be remote,” she said.

Handshake, Fordham’s platform for career postings, is still up and running and employers are continuing to post available positions, with more than 5,000 jobs and internships posted since the pandemic started.

Lauricella said even if social distancing is lifted this summer, she does not believe any company is going to be comfortable with the risk of having students on-site. “It is totally legitimate to prefer an in-person internship, but you would be making the decision to not be a part of one this summer.”

“For people in finance summer internships, it is more about being around the culture, picking up jargon and being able to know how the business works,” Ethan Sacco, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’23. “Virtual internships obviously do not provide that type of environment and on top of that, business majors — especially finance — are under a large amount of pressure to get experience.”

If students opt out of remote internships, Lauricella recommends starting or continuing to network, as well as trying to learn some skills that could be beneficial to your desired field.

She also said an advantage of remote internships, however, is

the ability to familiarize yourself with the technology of your field through firsthand experience.

For students who are seeking summer employment, positions would typically be secured by the end of April, according to Lauricella, but internship searches have been delayed this year due to the unpredictable nature of the virus. She said she wouldn’t be surprised if offerings that haven’t been received already come in early or mid-May. One of the new remote Fordham-exclusive internship possibilities that has its decision coming out in May is the Teen Program with the New-York Historical Society. Fordham College at Lincoln Center Dean Laura Auricchio took the initiative with the internship, which she said is “intended to enhance the ability to deliver on the promise that New York is my campus; Fordham is my school.”

The New-York Historical Society internship is the first in a series originating from Fordham's Continuous University Strategic Planning process, offering work at cultural institutions.

“To be honest, I had intended to devote a significant part of this spring speaking with other institutions to develop paid internships for this summer,” Auricchio said. “Unfortunately, the challenges of coronavirus meant that I was not able to move this initiative as far as I had hoped this semester.”

According to Auricchio, the Historical Society internship is donor-funded by a Fordham alumnus, and close collaboration took place between Lincoln Center and Rose Hill deans to ensure inclusivity for both campuses.

“Cultural institutions in New York City are suffering severe financial impacts due to the current crisis, and by offering paid internships, Fordham is supporting them in a time of need,” she said.

Auricchio also said she hopes

ANDREW DRESSNER/THE OBSERVER

With many in-person summer internships canceled, Fordham's Career Services encourages students to search for available remote opportunities.

that their efforts to devise paid internships will provide financial support to students who are encountering difficulties finding paid work.

Career Services recommends monitoring what fields you are going into because remote internships might not even be a

possibility.

“There are definitely industries to avoid right now, as well as industries that are booming or hiring normally,” Lauricella said. “If you’re considering law, finance, human resources, or publishing, all of those jobs can be done remotely.”

Career Services continues to operate normally — besides holding in-person meetings — with individual career counseling appointments via Zoom or phone call. Webinars are also posted to Handshake by outside companies and members of the Career Services team.

Foreign Language Classes to Hold Formal Exams

By ALLIE STOFER Asst. News Editor

After classes were moved online for the remainder of the spring 2020 semester, Fordham told professors to get creative

with how they will conduct their final exams. Although many professors are opting to administer nontraditional final exams, the majority of foreign language core courses are continuing to require a traditional final exam.

ANDREW DRESSNER/THE OBSERVER

The university encourages professors to get creative with ways to test students in language classes while they take finals at home unmonitored.

On April 8, the modern languages and literature department met to discuss how finals would be held. According to Chair of modern languages and literatures Andrew Clark, the decision to move forward with formal exams came from a need for consistency between classes, since foreign language is a core requirement.

“There was no top-down type of initial dictation in terms of what faculty had to do,” Clark said. “The general desire is that within each language that there is some consistency and transparency.”

One of the problems that the department faced was deciding how to effectively monitor students during the exam. The worry came from the fact that in languages such as French and Spanish, a student can easily use Google Translate during the exam.

“We've seen that students have drastically moved to translators and other types of things to do their work,” Clark said.

In order to avoid cheating, the department has decided to focus on context-based questions and also have questions in different orders. Clark explained that monitoring the exams did not seem feasible to the department.

In addition, Fordham chose not to purchase monitoring software due to the cost.

The majority of foreign language final exams will be held on May 4 on Blackboard, the day they were originally scheduled.

Students will be given 24 hours

to take the exam but will have to complete the exam in one sitting.

Also, many classes have made final exams have less weight, putting more emphasis on the oral component.

“ There have been questions whether one should give exams at all.”

Andrew Clark, Chair of modern languages and literatures

“In general, in transitioning to online teaching, we have had to reassess what is the essential material that we will need to cover and that is possible to cover online,” Spanish professor Arnaldo Cruz-Malvale said. “Keeping in mind the limits of supervising or proctoring online exams and students’ added stress, many courses have decided to replace final exams with compositions or take-home exams. Others have combined presentations with compositions. And yet others have given shorter Blackboard exams.”

Jaaee Nadkarni, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22, is currently in Latin 1002, which will have a traditional final on a different date. Nadkarni said that she prefers formal finals over papers. However, she worries about students with fewer resources.

“I’m really fortunate in which

I’m in a good situation for people in quarantine,” Nadkarni said. “I just hope that people with different situations aren’t being overlooked in this.”

Clark stated that if there is a viable reason for a student to miss an exam, then there will most likely be a makeup period.

Aside from the desire for consistency within the languages, the formal exams are also believed by Clark to provide a better assessment of students’ skills.

He explained that it is more difficult to judge a student’s weakness based on a take-home exam due to the different types of questions that are asked.

“There have been questions whether one should give exams at all,” Clark said. “But I think there was consensus that a sitdown type of exam will still be worthwhile and useful in terms of assessing the level of the students.”

Joseph Vasco, FCLC ’21, is in a Spanish 1502 class. He explained that he feels nervous about his ability to effectively prepare for the exam, and would have preferred a take-home exam or essay.

“The sudden transition from an in-class learning environment to an online learning environment impeded on my ability to fully grasp and absorb the material the same way,” Vasco said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has increased tensions within my family to stay healthy, so that has also negatively impacted my ability to prepare for a final exam.”

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Understanding the Inner Workings of Fordham’s Finances BUDGET from page 1

significant cost-saving measures to cover increased operating and technology costs ... as well as to offset the issuance of pro-rated refunds to students for room and board and certain fees, and to make up for the lost revenue associated with the cancellation of various conferences, events, and camps that were scheduled to take place on campus this spring and summer.”

The Fordham University budget is balanced for each fiscal year (FY), which begins on July 1 and ends on June 30 of the following year. Each year, Martha Hirst, senior vice president and chief financial officer and treasurer of Fordham University, hosts a budget forum where she gives an updated presentation on the projected budget for the next FY. At the last budget forum on Friday, Nov. 8, 2019, when asked why students should care about the budget, Hirst responded, “All these revenues and expenses are worthy of student attention because this all makes the place grow and makes it what it is. It’s reasonable for you to pay attention to tuition and fees, and auxiliary enterprises, room and board because they absolutely directly affect students.”

With that being said, Fordham’s main sources of funding are in three categories: tuition and fees, auxiliary revenue, and other revenue. Auxiliary revenue is broken down into Fordham press, food services, and room and board. Other revenue includes, but is not limited to, grants, private gifts and investment income, according to Hirst’s presentation in November 2017.

Fordham uses that revenue to fund its expenses. The biggest monetary provider for the university is net tuition — forecasted to be $482.3 million for FY ’19 in May 2019.

Students who choose to live on campus also contribute to the university’s auxiliary revenue through room and board fees.

In 2020, auxiliary revenue was proposed to account for 13.6% of the university’s budget, at a total of $88.3 million. Due to students moving out early and receiving partial refunds, the

university took a significant hit to its auxiliary revenue.

The university budget tries to prepare for unplanned or unanticipated costs in their contingency section. For FY ’18, $800,000 was set aside for contingency.

Fordham also said they hoped to increase the money they have on-hand. In the November 2017 budget presentation, Hirst said $0 to $5 million dollars onhand had, “little cushion for unplanned costs,” and anything more than $6 million and above reserved would be ideal.

In the May 2019 budget forum, Fordham proposed a $3.5 million on-hand result for FY ’20. This on-hand money could go directly toward unanticipated costs.

In another revenue stream, Fordham began FY ’18 with $65.1 million in stock market investments (defined as publicly traded securities on their tax returns). They ended the year with $210.2 million. While this growth is commendable, the future of the investments is uncertain after stocks plummeted and the Dow suffered its third-worst day ever.

Private gifts, grants and contracts also play a significant role in the budget. According to data compiled by the Office of the Treasurer and the Office of Institutional Research, the recession of 2008 — while difficult on stock markets — resulted in a higher level of donations for Fordham. In 2009, Fordham received $46 million of its budget from this revenue stream. In 2011, it hit a peak of $79.1 million — a number that has not been matched in the years since and follows a trend found at a number of universities across the country.

The effect on the budget will appear in different ways across the university. Jason Morris, chair of the department of natural sciences, explained that his department is “very dependent on Fordham’s budget for salaries of faculty, administrators, TAs (teaching assistants), and tutors, and for supplies and equipment for our teaching labs and research programs.”

Student leaders have also felt the effects of Fordham budgeting uncertainty. United Student

Government (USG) Treasurer Joseph Moyer, FCLC ’22, chairs the Student Activities Budget Committee (SABC) as part of his position’s duties.

He explained that the prorated refunds residential students received included the student activities fee, which is the basis for SABC’s budget. Because they will not have any funds roll over from the spring semester, Moyer said that in the fall, “We know that we’re going to have less money than other years.”

“USG relies completely on the budget as we get all of our funding from SABC ... so in terms of events, right now we just focus heavily on prioritizing. Just because we have less of a roll over this year doesn’t mean we won’t be able to fund things next semester,” Moyer explained.

SABC member Zuzanna Smurzynska, FCLC ’22, is treasurer of the Campus Activities Board (CAB). Smurzynska explained that CAB, along with other clubs who are now hosting virtual events, is actually saving money at the moment.

Smurzynska said, “For example our virtual bingo definitely cost us a lot less than our usual bingo because we didn’t have to get any food or any decorations or anything like that.”

When considering potential funding cuts that may lie ahead, Smurzynska said, “I would like to see them continuing to make sure that it is evenly spread out so all clubs are able to put on their events. I’m hoping that it stays that way in the fall.”

Rev. Vincent DeCola, S.J., GSB assistant dean, expressed his optimism for the future of Fordham. “While there will be many challenges, Fordham is positioned very well to come through this and, in due course, to pick up on what has been a very notable upward trajectory for 20 years or more.”

A new budgetary plan was approved on April 23 by the Board of Trustees and is set to be released sometime this week. With the outbreak of the coronavirus, a proprietary budget that was finalized has to be reevaluated in order to ensure the university can survive this difficult time.

Andrew Beecher contributed additional reporting to this story.

Fordham Financial Information

GRAPHS AND GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MADDIE SANDHOLM/THE OBSERVER

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April 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER

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University Community Prepares Contingency Plans for Fall Semester

PLANS from page 1

Hornbeck expressed the goal of preparing to deliver a Fordham education under any circumstance, which requires planning multiple eventualities instead of making a bet on a certain set of facts.

In an email sent to the Fordham community on April 24, University President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., said, “We are not waiting passively to see what happens — rather, we are actively planning for operations across multiple scenarios.”

The Office of the Provost is leading the conversations around contingency plans, as they are responsible for the academic mission of the university. Hornbeck has been authorized by Vice Provost Jonathan Crystal to speak on behalf of the office.

Input from various groups of the Fordham community has been a crucial factor in the development of contingency plans. Hornbeck attended the Fordham College at Lincoln Center Council on April 23 to discuss contingency plans which were also a leading topic of discussion at the Faculty Senate on April 24. Deans and administrators have been included in the conversations, as well as 150 faculty members and administrators at a town hall meeting on April 27.

A call has been put out to all faculty to submit their own ideas.

Also, 40 student leaders will take part in focus groups this week to discuss the best methods of student achievement. The students include United Student Government representatives, graduate students, law students and commuters.

“Ultimately, the test of a successfully developed plan is if students can look at the plans and say, ‘This is an unpredictable time, but this plan gives us confidence that Fordham is going to deliver on our promise,’” Hornbeck said.

Aside from student and faculty

consultation, the role of the city, state and national governments will play a large role in the ultimate decision of when students can return to in-person classes.

The White House Task Force’s Guidelines for Opening Up America Again follow a three-phase approach, ranging from phase zero — complete state shutdowns — to phase three, when states show no signs of a rebound in coronavirus cases.

According to Hornbeck, the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU), an association of independent New York state colleges and universities, want to show Gov. Andrew Cuomo that higher education institutions have the ability to rise to the challenge of a phased reopening, with the end result being back to full operation.

The three-phase approach acknowledges the possibility of influxes back and forth between the phases and continued social distancing practices during the first and second phases.

“Phases might include forms of social distancing that would affect residential life, academic classes and cafeteria spaces — anywhere with close proximity,” Hornbeck said. “We don’t know exactly what the requirements would be. We would comply with them and work with other institutions.”

Cuomo’s New York State on PAUSE executive order is currently in effect until May 15, keeping campuses closed to everyone except essential employees. Hornbeck said members of the CICU are consulting among themselves on the best practices to follow and meet Cuomo’s requirements when New York state begins to unpause.

He predicts western and northern regions of New York are more likely to reopen sooner, as New York City has become the virus’s epicenter.

“We are keeping an eye out for what all institutions are doing, but

ANDREW DRESSNER/THE OBSERVER

Fall 2020 is still months away, but Fordham's faculty are actively preparing for what future classes will look like.

paying specific attention to those in New York City,” Hornbeck said.

“Some institutions are already saying they will or will not be back in the fall. At this point, we do not feel like we are in a position to make a yes or no call, so instead, we are developing procedures to make Fordham resilient in the face of whatever the circumstance might be.”

Another decision that is contingent on the university’s choice for the fall semester is the fate of study abroad programs — all programs were abruptly suspended this semester due to the outbreak.

“The university is cautiously optimistic about resuming faceto-face instruction in the fall semester here in New York,” Bob Howe, assistant vice president for communications, said. “Whether study abroad programs resume in

the fall will likewise depend upon the conditions in the host countries, and the advice of local public health officials.”

The conditions of foreign countries will also inhibit some international students from returning to Fordham since restrictive student visa policies have been implemented, as well as general travel restrictions.

“Regardless of the circumstances, there will be some population of students and faculty who will not be able to return when the university is fully in on-theground operations,” Hornbeck said. He also emphasized the need to equally accommodate students who are and aren’t able to return.

With this reality, the Office of the Provost is looking into how to improve online learning in the chance of a return to virtual class-

es for a period of time.

“What we had to do this semester is remote learning with faculty converting courses and teaching in a remote format within 48 hours.

We recognize that is not an ideal format for students or instructors,” Hornbeck said.

If the need arises, the university would support instructors to maximize the capacity of different platforms used for online learning. Guideposts would be set, but online learning plans would be modified by the deans and faculty for different schools within the university.

“We are committed to education with a close connection to faculty, other students and New York City,” Hornbeck said. “Everybody at Fordham wants to get students back to campus at the earliest moment that it is safe.”

Professor’s Algorithm Forecasts Italian Outbreak

By KATRINA LAMBERT News Editor

In a rare crisis, such as the new coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, global leaders often look to other countries’ experiences to try and learn how to strategically respond.

With Italy heading the virus in such a high magnitude in early March, it became the country that policymakers across the globe looked to for navigating the un-

charted territory of the virus within their own countries.

However, Italy’s projection models for coronavirus cases are only as accurate as its data. Currently, the data projections made in Italy are based on non-random, non-representative samples of the population, as the only people being tested are those who show signs of symptoms related to the virus.

Since many people with the virus can be asymptomatic, only

COURTESY OF FORDHAM NEWS

Ten years ago, Fordham professor Hrishikesh "Rick" Vinod developed his MEB. Now it is being used to help save lives during the pandemic.

testing those with symptoms leads to inaccurate data. Knowing how to construct accurate projections from limited data sets is crucial to prevent the spread of misleading information.

In 2009, professor of economics at Fordham University Hrishikesh “Rick” Vinod developed a statistical algorithm, the maximum entropy bootstrap (MEB) based on the traditional bootstrap method.

His statistical tool is being used by researcher Livio Fenga, Ph.D., from the Italian National Institute of Statistics in order to predict the trend of the coronavirus in Italy.

The MEB is a computer algorithm that constructs confidence intervals by shuffling short-period datasets while upholding the data’s time dependency, according to Vinod.

The computer algorithm can remember the up-down pattern of the data over time, which the traditional bootstrap method is not capable of doing. This allows Vinod’s algorithm to minimize its reliance on arbitrary guesswork for generating the projection.

Vinod used the analogy of forecasting snowfalls to help explain his method. When a weather forecaster states that he is 90% confident one to two inches of snow will fall in a particular region, then he is providing a 90% confidence interval for that snowfall range.

“Since meteorologists have many years of data for developing snow forecasting models based on long time series of wind velocity,

temperature and humidity, they have a summary of 100 scenarios ranging from zero inches (best case) to five inches (worst case),” Vinod explained.

If a meteorologist went to a new area, where only 30 instead of 100 observations of snowfall data were available, then this would make him unable to predict snowfall with 90% confidence. He would have to use the limited data available to him to make his prediction.

With the traditional bootstrap method, the meteorologist’s prediction process would essentially look like this: Write down the 30 snowfall observations on a deck of 30 cards, pick one up and record the number, shuffle the cards, and then repeat 100 times. “The 90% confidence interval is constructed by focusing on the middlemost 90 snowfall numbers,” Vinod said.

Now, change “snowfall” to COVID-19 deaths or ICU requirements in a small region; the random selection of each card would not be sufficient to predict the trend of the virus or ICU demand in each region.

“The up-down pattern in these 30 numbers contains valuable information,” Vinod said.

With the MEB, however, the algorithm allows each regional data series to have its own unique pattern. In this way, the likelihood of each data point’s selection is based on previous trends, and thus not arbitrarily generated.

Vinod said that he never imagined his MEB would be applied to

a situation like this, referring to the pandemic.

“I did know that it has wide applications in different fields, but something like this was quite a surprise,” he said.

Since he last checked on April 21, Vinod’s computer algorithm has been downloaded almost 49,000 times, according to Vinod.

“It is applied in so many different spheres,” Vinod said. “There are a lot of problems where the inference is difficult and you have time sensitive data.”

Accurate projections for time-sensitive data are necessary at the regional level in order for public officials to make critical decisions, such as how many snow plows to have on hand. With the current crisis of the pandemic, accurate projections are even more critical.

Having accurate projection models regionally for COVID-19 is necessary so officials can optimize the number of ventilators, hospital beds and ICU beds for the situation.

For this reason, Vinod said that he thinks the “MEB would be helpful to apply to NYC or other US states, since currently the US is struggling with a lack of testing data.”

In a recent interview with Fordham News, he said that it is very important that decisions be based on science and data, rather than on hope. He is very pleased that the work of economists is being applied to the medical sector.

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Students Submit Pass/Fail Requests Prior to Finals

By ALLIE BEEKMAN Staff Writer

More than 8,200 students issued a pass/fail request by the April 24 deadline, according to Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) Dean Laura Auricchio.

At the beginning of the remote learning period, the previous pass/ fail deadline, which only applied to elective courses, had already passed. However, due to the unprecedented circumstances of the pandemic, the undergraduate deans worked together and decided that students should have the option to pass/fail all courses as the added stress would affect all classes, not just electives, Auricchio said.

“I think that the principles that underlay where we landed were that we should give students sufficient time to see how things were going after they switched into remote mode and we thought a full month was a good chunk of time.

By then you would know either I’m disrupted or I’m not disrupted,” Auricchio said.

Jessica Yu, FCLC ’23, decided to

make two classes pass/fail based on this disruption. Yu added that she had a hard time focusing on these two classes even before remote learning began and feared they would bring down her GPA, so deciding on pass/fail became the best solution for her.

Professors also did their best to help with the transition to remote learning, and this was a key factor in the decision Ritamarie Pepe, FCLC ’22, made in keeping the letter grades of her classes. Pepe explained that her professors edited their syllabi in an effort to prevent added stress, which helped ease her mind.

“If my professors hadn’t done this, I probably would have considered using the Pass/Fail option in order to manage struggles with mental health during all this fear and uncertainty,” Pepe said.

Finley Peay, FCLC ’20, had a different experience with some professors, which became a reason for her to utilize pass/fail. One professor, Peay said, encouraged most seniors to take advantage of the pass/ fail opportunity, while another did not see a purpose in the pass/fail

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY MADDIE SANDHOLM/THE OBSERVER

option, disregarding the unusual circumstances.

Despite student petitions and an April 23 email from the United Student Government to extend this deadline until after students received a final grade, the administrators of Fordham’s undergraduate colleges were all in agreement that the deadline was where it needed to be.

Kiya Brown, FCLC ’23, said that with the transition to online learning, her professors have not input grades as quickly, so she had to guess what her grades would look like in making decisions before finals.

Adah Unachukwu, FCLC ’23, agreed with Brown. “We won’t know how badly we’ve been affected by all of this until the final exams, which tell us whether the learning we did in the past term was sufficient,” Unachukwu explained.

The reason the deadline was set before final grades came out is that the university did not want to create a stigma around pass/fail grades.

“The consensus view was that if Pass/Fail were awarded after students saw their grades, then the only students who would elect Pass/Fail would be those who got relatively poor grades,” Auricchio said.

The university wanted to prevent the association of a “pass” grade with a lower letter grade.

“It’s just a Pass, there’s no value judgment based into it,” Auricchio explained.

Unlike Columbia University, which made pass/fail mandatory, the Fordham administration decided on an optional pass/fail policy because students were also lobbying to keep grades, according to Auricchio. The optional pass/ fail was also implemented in other NYC schools, yet the deadlines for this decision vary.

Similar to Fordham, the deadline for pass/fail at Pace University was April 27, before their final exams. At the City University of New York, students have 20 business days after final grades are due to request pass/fail, the dates for which vary depending on the time-

line of the class.

To help her students gain perspective on what option to choose before finals, Fordham English professor Elisabeth Frost wanted to make sure her students were aware that their mental health was a priority at this time.

“The choice is still in the students’ hands, and I’m just really, really grateful the University has embraced this option. The more options the students have, the better at this point,” Frost said.

“My own feeling is that self-care and mitigating stress are the most important things in everyone’s lives right now,” she added.

Stephanie Polakowski, Gabelli School of Business at Lincoln Center ’22, was studying abroad at the London Centre this semester.

The pass/fail option was extended to certain study abroad programs, and Polakowski is grateful to be given the option.

“If nothing else it at least helps alleviate a small amount of stress during this super stressful and uncertain time,” Polakowski said.

Other students are utilizing pass/fail to relieve stress about making arrangements to return to New York in the fall. Already accepted into a graduate program, Peay knew she did not need to keep the letter grades and wanted to focus on the transition back to New York from California.

With the option of pass/fail, there is no way to keep a letter grade on record for future purposes, such as applying to graduate programs, Auricchio said. “In an ideal world, that’s what we would have wanted. But apparently it’s not possible, I’m not sure if it’s because of the system that we have or the variation of the system that we have, but it was something more technical than I can really comprehend. In this case, at Fordham, the letter grade will not be preserved anywhere.”

After doing her own GPA calculations, Savanah Manos, FCLC ’20, decided to keep the letter grades because none of her classes seemed to affect her GPA negatively. Also attending graduate school next year, Manos took a different approach from Peay in deciding that

keeping the letter grade could possibly help her transcript in the transition to a graduate program.

Brianna Doucette, FCLC ’23, wanted to keep her letter grades for graduate program applications later in her Fordham career. With plans to go to law school, Doucette decided that since her grades appeared to help her GPA, it was better to keep them than to go pass/ fail.

“ My own feeling is that

self-care and mitigating stress are the most important things in everyone’s lives right now. ”

Elisabeth Frost, Fordham English professor

The technicalities of pass/fail stretched across virtually every unit of the university, according to Auricchio. This started with all undergraduate colleges working in conjunction to make sure all students had the same available options and stretched further into other departments as the conversation continued.

“This actually took a lot of behind the scenes work by Academic Records and IT. They had to be a big part of the conversation too to be sure we could actually, literally do it,” Auricchio said. “We also had to speak to Financial Aid because there are potential Financial Aid implications. We had to speak to international students because of potential visa implications. Every unit of the University was involved.”

As shown in the decision to offer pass/fail, the most important thing that administrators agreed on in these uncertain times is putting mental health first, as Chair of English Mary Bly emphasized.

“Let’s be kind to ourselves. If you adore a class and you’re acing it, fabulous. If you are staggering on, pretty sure that a class you loved is now your least favorite, opt for Pass/Fail,” Bly said. “It’s not a failure. It’s simply a recognition that the world is turned upside-down.”

Uncertainty of Recovering Abandoned Possessions DORMS from page 1

Nearly a week later, ResLife emailed residents a form to sign up for pickup anytime from March 30 to May 17. By providing a large window of time and allowing students to arrive in groups, ResLife hoped to promote social distancing. Due to Gov. Andrew Cuomo announcing a lockdown on New York City, ResLife could not follow through with this plan.

In April, the Office of the President issued two updates via email including information about student belongings on campus. The first email was sent on April 7, reminding students that Cuomo extended the New York State on PAUSE order to April 29, and barring students from returning to retrieve their items. Another email was sent on April 24, noting the further extension of the PAUSE order until May 15 and reiterating the uncertainty surrounding the question of reopening.

Danielle Kezeli, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’22, is currently residing in New York City without the ability to return to Fordham for her belongings.

Although this poses a problem for her, given the textbooks and clothing she has left behind, she supports the university’s decision to bar students from returning.

“I do want my belongings back, but I consider our safety to be the

highest in terms of importance,” she said. “Personally, I would put the blame more on myself. Since I’m closer, I should have waited another day for my parents to bring whatever was necessary so that I could take everything away.”

Kezeli said she would have liked more communication from Fordham and ResLife regarding the status of student belongings. She mentioned that she wanted fewer emails about virtual events and more consistent coronavirus updates to keep students in the know.

Raquel Arabalo, FCLC ’22, is currently in California and left the majority of her possessions behind due to the rush of packing up for departure the first time Fordham asked students to return home. Although she left some of her schoolwork and essential items behind, she appreciates not having to pay for storage to keep her items safe.

“I think May 15 is a little too soon. With the numbers in New York, I really don’t feel comfortable going back. I don’t have family there, so I wouldn’t have a place to stay and would probably have to pack everything up in a day,” Arabalo said.

Arabalo’s mother has pulmonary fibrosis, so she said returning to New York to gather belongings would not have been worth the risk of potentially catching and carrying the coronavirus home.

Despite being extremely affect-

ed by the rush to move students out of dorms, Arabalo remains appreciative of Fordham and understands the measures that needed to be taken for students’ safety.

Her main concern at the moment is how long her items can be kept in the dorms.

Eva Lin, Gabelli School of Business ’23, is originally from China but is currently staying with her roommate in Boston. Although 90% of her belongings were left at her dorm, she would not characterize her issue as urgent and would rather comply with New York City lockdown rules. However, the uncertainty surrounding belongings comes into conflict with her plans to eventually return to China.

“The biggest problem is that I’m going to China in June, so my items are probably going to stay there forever! Next semester, I’m not going to use Fordham housing because I am moving out, so I don’t even know when I’ll be able to get them back,” she said.

“I know we can’t go back, but I still want some information from Fordham because we are constantly wondering about this. Especially for us international students –– we need to go back to our countries sometime. If they don’t tell us when we can get our belongings back, we’ll keep wondering,” Lin continued.

On March 13, New York University issued a COVID-19 statement

ANDREW DRESSNER/THE OBSERVER

Many students were forced to leave some of their belongings behind, such as textbooks and clothes, after rushing out of the dorms. It is still unclear when those items can be retrieved.

in which they assured students that their belongings would be shipped back to them if they were unable to pick them up themselves. Fordham did not offer the same services to their students, but discussions around alternative ways of sending possessions back to students are underway, according to Jenifer Campbell, associate director of ResLife.

“Presently, we await notification from the Governor and Mayor regarding when we can resume move-out activities. At the point when the University planned to close, we were outside of the win-

dow of opportunity for continuing move-out activities, but we have started discussion with a number of vendors,” she stated.

All three students stated that they would have liked the option of shipping their items back to them, but ultimately would not sign up for the service due to privacy issues and a general feeling of discomfort with strangers rifling through their possessions.

There was a general consensus for more frequent coronavirus updates, with suggestions spanning from a few times a month to every week.

Sports & Health Editors Aiza Bhuiyan - ebhuiyan@fordham.edu Patrick Moquin - pmoquin@fordham.edu

Sports & Health

April 29, 2020

THE OBSERVER

Cracking the Code: What the Labels on Your Eggs Really Mean

ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER

The broad range of options in the egg aisle can be overwhelming, especially when you don’t know what the labels mean. The USDA regulates the use of these labels, depending on the type of egg and how the chickens have been raised.

By MAGGIE MCNAMARA Asst. Sports & Health Editor Eggs: one of the most versatile, nutrient-dense refrigerator staples.

Relatively cheap, quick and easy to cook, they have a permanent spot on many students’ grocery lists.

They’re delicious scrambled. Fried.

Hard-boiled. Soft-boiled. Poached.

The list goes on — but it seems like for every way to eat an egg, there’s a different label on the cartons at the grocery store.

When trying to choose among free-range, organic or cage-free or to just grab the cheapest option and head to checkout, deciding which eggs to buy can be a real headache.

What does each title on egg cartons really mean?

It’s important to keep in mind the official seals on labels. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requires certain conditions to be met in order for specific phrases to be used on packaging. However, many independent organizations advocating for animal welfare offer their own additional certifications, often with more stringent requirements.

Cage-Free The USDA’s conditions for “cage-free” eggs are that they must be “produced by hens housed in a building, room, or enclosed area that allows for unlimited access to food, water, and provides for the freedom to roam within the area during the laying cycle.” Egg-laying hens are typically raised in battery cages, but hens laying cage-free eggs are not kept in individual enclosures. In theory, they are given barn space in which they may walk around, but many humane organizations point out that factory farms pack chickens in too tightly for them to actually do so, as there are no per-bird space requirements.

Free-Range The USDA defines “free-range” eggs as those “produced by hens housed in a building, room, or area that allows for unlimited access to food, water, and continuous access to the outdoors during their laying cycle.” This is essentially cage-free, but hens are able to go outside.

However, there is no minimum

be granted the same conditions as free-range, but with a larger space requirement of 2.5 acres per 1,000 birds, or 108 square feet per bird.

All-Natural, Happy Hens, Farm Fresh, Etc. This terminology is not regulated by the federal government.

Phrases such as “all natural” and “farm fresh” can be used on any carton of eggs, and manufacturers employ them solely for marketing purposes. The USDA notes that terminology such as “happy hens” is “misleading and subjective.”

Grade AA, Grade A and Grade B

JILL RICE/THE OBSERVER

Chickens and other birds roam free outside a house in rural Maryland. Free-range and cage-free egg labels refer to the chickens’ living conditions during the egg-laying cycle.

space requirement, and animal advocacy groups assert that outdoor access often just means a “pop hole,” not allowing hens full-bodied outdoor space.

When it comes to egg cartons, trying to discern between a marketing ploy and actual fact can be a bit of a puzzle.

Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) has additional requirements in order to achieve their Certified Humane free-range label. In addition to the USDA’s rules, they necessitate 2 square feet per bird, and during the outdoor season, hens must be fully outdoors for at least 6 hours each day.

Organic Organic eggs are produced by free-range hens who are given

The U.S. Poultry and Egg Association notes that the grade given to a carton of eggs is based solely upon their appearance. Grade AA eggs have “thick, firm whites and high, round yolks,” whereas Grade A eggs are the same but have only “‘reasonably’ firm” whites. Grade B eggs have the lowest visual quality, with “thin whites and wider yolks.” Most eggs sold in grocery stores are Grade A.

Where do Fordham’s eggs come from?

ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER

Organic eggs come from hens that are given feed without chemical additives, hormones or antibiotics. Free-range hens must be allowed unlimited access to food and outdoor space.

only organic feed (feed without chemical additives like pesticides). Additionally, hens producing organic eggs can only be given antibiotics in the wcase of sickness, whereas conventional hens are given them regularly. No hormones may be used in these chickens. Look for the USDA Certified Organic label to make sure these eggs meet governmental standards.

Pasture-Raised The USDA has not defined what “pasture-raised” means; therefore, this branding is not regulated by the government.

However, independent organizations offer standards for pasture-raised eggs. In order to achieve HFAC’s pasture-raised certification, egg-laying hens must

As part of sustainability efforts on the Lincoln Center campus, Fordham Campus Dining states that “Humanely Raised Cage Free Shell Eggs are used across campus.” They also note that across all Fordham University campuses, they “purchase local, seasonal and responsibly raised, grown and sourced products whenever possible.” Fordham Dining did not respond to a request for comment.

When it comes to egg cartons, trying to discern between a marketing ploy and actual fact can be a bit of a puzzle. Although it can be confusing, taking time to understand the terminology behind the labels can really pay off. From price to sustainability, plenty of information on your eggs is available right in front of you, as long as you know how to look.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER April 29, 2020

Sports & Health

Uncovering Cuban Baseball’s Bronx Origins

By PATRICK MOQUIN Sports & Health Editor

If Cuba were an American state, it would be one of the highest producers of professional baseball players in the country.

In 2018, 26 Major League Baseball players came from Cuba, a greater number than 40 states and Washington, D.C., despite strict immigration laws making their path much more difficult. To understand how baseball became more important in a foreign country than in most of the United States, one has to know the story of 1800s Fordham baseball player Steve Bellán.

The prominence of baseball in Cuba and other Latin American countries began in the 1860s.

At that time, American sailors introduced the game to Cuban children during their stay on the island. At the same time, Cuban students began bringing it back after receiving their education stateside.

One of these men was Estevan Enrique Bellán, known colloquially as “Steve,” the son of a wealthy Cuban family from Havana. At the time, it was common practice for wealthy Catholic children in Cuba to be sent to the United States for a formal education.

When Bellán was 13, he traveled

with his mother, brother Domingo and sister Rosa to New York.

That fall in 1863, he enrolled at St. John’s College, a relatively new school in the Bronx built on Rose Hill Manor. It would be another 44 years before the school was renamed Fordham University, but Bellán’s introduction to the rest of his life began in the rudimentary fields of the Fordham area.

There is some uncertainty as to when Bellán first learned about baseball, as its introduction in Cuba did not begin in earnest until a few years after his departure.

Regardless, Bellán became increasingly familiar with the sport during his time in America, and at 16, he joined the varsity team, then known as the St. John’s College Rose Hills, or the Fordham Rose Hill Baseball Club.

At this time, baseball was very different. There were still different variations of the sport by region, with the New York variety eventually popularizing the nineman lineup. Balls were pitched underhand and gloves were not used. Regardless, Bellán played intercollegiate baseball at a time when it was very new, batting leadoff and catching for St. John’s against teams around the country.

While often cited as an alum-

nus of St. John’s, there is no record that Bellán ever graduated. At some point in 1868, he left school to pursue a career in professional baseball. He joined the Union of Morrisania baseball club, which took him around the country on various road trips. At some point, his entire family moved upstate in order to accommodate his shift to a baseball team playing near Troy, New York, known as the Haymakers.

At some point during his run in professional baseball, Bellán switched positions from catcher to third baseman. In a gloveless era, the Baseball Hall of Fame reports that he was an exceptional fielder, earning the nickname “The Cuban Sylph” for his grace at third. Despite an “erratic” arm and “average hitting skills,” the Hall of Fame archivists also found an article quaintly describing him as “one of the pluckiest of base players.”

After a short stint in 1873 with the New York Mutuals, Bellán and his family returned to Cuba.

He arrived home to a country that had taken to baseball almost as fervently as he had in New York.

Baseball had grown considerably in popularity since he had left in 1863, and the Cuban Sylph found himself a pioneer in a booming industry.

COURTESY OF FORDHAM UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES DIGITAL COLLECTION

These are excerpts from a student catalogue and registration ledger from the 1860s at St. John’s College, where Bellán joined the varsity baseball team.

7

COURTESY OF THE SOCIETY FOR AMERICAN BASEBALL RESEARCH

Estevan Bellán attended St. John’s College, which would later be renamed Fordham University, between 1863 and 1868.

Baseball was so popular in Cuba that it became a symbol of rebellion. In 1869, baseball was banned by the imperial Spanish government in an effort to affirm bullfighting as the national sport. This led to unrest in Cuba and popularized baseball even further.

After playing baseball in Cuba for the better part of the decade, Bellán was integral to its official formation. In 1878, he was the player-manager in the first organized baseball game in Cuban baseball history in a game between his team Club Habana and Club Matanzas. He went on to lead that team to three Cuban League championships, with the third coming in the 1882-83 season. He, among others, is commonly referred to as the Father of Cuban Baseball, and the Club Habana baseball team he helped found lived on until 1961, when the new government leader Fidel Castro banned professional baseball again.

In a speech commemorating 150 years of baseball at Fordham University, President Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., said that through Bellán, “Fordham taught the Caribbean how to play base-

ball through the connection from Jesuit high schools in Cuba to St. John’s College.”

While Bellán didn’t introduce baseball to Cuba, he took a rising sport in his home country and used his American experience to shape it into an official organized sport. Even after another ban on professional baseball in 1961 following Castro’s takeover, baseball survived and lives on as the national sport of Cuba.

In recent years, before tensions were eased between the countries, many Cuban baseball players risked their lives to reach the United States and the MLB. Yasiel Puig, Yoenis Cespedes and Aroldis Chapman all stand as modern testaments to Bellán’s original dream: to play professional baseball at any cost. They all defected under threatening circumstances, far more threatening than Bellán faced, but the culture he helped to establish a century and a half earlier ingrained in all of them a dream to pursue a sport they had seen as a way out since childhood.

Bellán may have been the first Cuban professional baseball player, but his contributions over three decades in the sport ensured that many more would follow.

Administrative Building in the 1860s

COURTESY OF FORDHAM UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES DIGITAL COLLECTION

Opinions Editors Emily Ellis - eellis14@fordham.edu Haley Smullen - hsmullen@fordham.edu

Opinions

HAVE EMPATHY FOR FORDHAM’S FINANCIAL SITUATION

T

plain that, ideally, Fordham should set aside around $6 million dollars or more to be kept on-hand.

Fordham also received $8 million from the CARES Act, of which 50% will be given to students. This money, while a great benefit to Fordham, will not alleviate all the financial strain that the school is under.

Although it may seem like Fordham has an abstract, large sum of money to fall back on, that money is not easily accessible and not a viable plan for handling the financial losses caused by the pandemic.

The university is not in a financial situation to do so while continuing to pay and look after all the people who make Fordham Fordham.

While Elite Ivy League universities such as Harvard rejected the federal money, they benefit from some of the largest endowments in the country. Fordham does not have that luxury — it

Observer the

STAFF EDITORIAL

he switch to online classes has been a stressful time for the Fordham community as teachers, students and administrators juggle the demands of a digital education. While Fordham’s financial struggles directly impact the student body in regard to tuition and auxiliary costs, it is important that the Fordham community take the time to understand the financial repercussions caused by the virus and be compassionate in their requests from the university.

For the 2020 fiscal year, Fordham proposed $3.5 million toward on-hand money in the event of an unplanned expense, just as they would any other year. However, the outbreak of the virus could never have been foreseen, so understandably this money is not nearly enough to appropriately respond to this large-scale emergency.

In a November 2017 budget presentation, Martha Hirst, senior vice president of Fordham and its chief financial officer and treasurer, wrote that Fordham had “little cushion for unplanned costs” if it had an on-hand fund of $5 million or less. Hirst went on to ex-

April 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER

depends on this aid to help soften the heavy financial blow of this pandemic.

Many colleges and universities will not be able to survive the financial turmoil of this year due to their inability to liquidate enough money, and the Fordham community should be grateful that the university is in a relatively stable position compared to many small colleges.

Although students have begun to petition for tuition refunds, the reality is that the university is not in a financial situation to do so while continuing to pay and look after all the people who make Fordham Fordham.

Students, professors and faculty need to practice empathy and assist each other in transitioning to the new reality of the pandemic. Of course, financial issues are a serious concern that need to be addressed appropriately and promptly, but students and the Fordham administration need to recognize that everyone in the world is struggling right now.

Empathy is needed now more than ever, and the Fordham community as a whole will benefit by placing themselves in the other’s shoes.

New New Yorkers Emerge

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POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

COURTESY OF DAVID BLEECKER-ADAMS

While people stay inside for quarantine, a masked bandit rummages in a trash bag on a once-busy New York City street.

• Letters to the Editor should be typed and sent to The Observer, Fordham University, 140 West 62nd Street, Room G32, New York, NY 10023, or emailed to fordhamobserver@gmail.com. Length should not exceed 200 words. All letters must be signed and include contact information, official titles and year of graduation (if applicable) for verification.

• If submitters fail to include this information, the editorial board will do so at its own discretion.

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• The Editorial is the opinion held by a majority of The Observer’s editorial board. The Editorial does not reflect the views held by Fordham University.

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THE OBSERVER April 29, 2020

Opinions

9

Stop Expecting Students to Function Normally During the Pandemic EVELYN SIMS Staff Writer

On Wednesday, March 11, the day of my first online class after Fordham announced the suspension of face-to-face instruction due to the coronavirus, I knew my semester would be like nothing I ever could have anticipated. I couldn’t help but wonder — am I really expected to be continuing with my coursework as normal right now?

As a college student quarantining during the coronavirus outbreak, I’m left wondering what exactly I’m supposed to be doing, knowing that thousands of people are dying outside my house. I feel too young to know how or why I’m supposed to pretend like everything is fine as I stare at my computer screen during another Zoom lecture. The world has come to a standstill and I find it unsettling that I’m expected to perform just as well academically as I would if classes were still on campus.

For Gen Z, our entire lives have been plagued with a never-ending stream of crises. I’m too young to remember 9/11 but know how it changed the country forever. I saw all the news coverage about terrorist attacks that occurred in the following years and never knew how to respond to them. My entire middle and high school career was shaped by my fear of knowing how frequent school shootings were.

We never knew when the next tragedy would strike.

Over the course of our short lives, Gen Z has become the “thoughts and prayers” generation.

Amid all the wars, natural disasters, protests and countless other life-altering events Gen Z has experienced, we’ve been told to push on and cling to the hope that

ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER

The stress of striving for academic success has placed extra pressure on many students during an already-unstable time. Since moving online, some have claimed that academic workloads should be reduced.

our government would intervene for our safety. In reality, nothing ever seemed to change, and we were still forced to go to school, barely acknowledging the events going on in the world around us.

The world around us never stopped when another tragedy struck, but now during the coronavirus pandemic, it has. You can’t tell me to carry on with my schoolwork anymore when nothing about my life is anywhere near normal.

As someone who has sacrificed my well-being for the sake of good grades for the majority of my educational career, I feel perpetually stuck in the motions that have come with online learning. I have no will to type my essays, my online exams feel futile and I simply do not have the emotional energy

to participate in class when I know I am living during one of the most deadly events in U.S. history. It baffles me that the well-being of students is an afterthought when it comes to our grades and workload.

I know I am not getting the most out of my education due to the effects of the coronavirus and I cannot see why academia is not universally acknowledging this.

It’s completely mind-numbing to sit in front of my laptop all day attending Zoom lectures and writing papers when my life is a shell of what it once was. No amount of “quarantine self-care” content on the internet can eliminate the underlying fact that I’m still expected to produce the quality of work I could before the coronavirus outbreak. Given the circumstances

students are faced with right now, Fordham needs to take measures to alleviate the stress of our coursework.

As students worry about their health and the health of their family members, it is unreasonable to expect that this large amount of stress will not impact their ability to produce quality coursework. Yes, we’re home and have some more time on our hands, but in a world where taking a trip to the grocery store is deemed dangerous, it becomes increasingly difficult to care about assignments to the same degree as we could months ago.

It is no secret that the coronavirus is causing serious effects on people’s mental health as we are cut off from most in-person interaction with friends and family. The

overwhelming sense of loneliness the coronavirus has caused due to quarantining measures has resulted in people losing one of their basic forms of identity — human interaction. When it is so apparent that people’s mental health is rapidly declining as a result of the coronavirus, I can’t help but cringe at people’s attempts to make light of the quirks that come with online learning instead of acknowledging the detrimental effects it is taking on the health of students.

I consider myself lucky. I have professors who are accommodating and open to feedback regarding their teaching during this time period. I also commend them on adapting their entire course to an online format on such short notice. However, on some occasions, this has come at the cost of assigning extra work and making assignments more difficult due to the increase of available time and resources.

I know I am extremely fortunate to be receiving a college education at Fordham, but given the circumstances of the coronavirus outbreak and its drastic effects on the lives of students, the expectations of academic performance need to be lowered. The pass/fail deadline should have been extended until we get our final grades. Fordham needs to establish university-wide policies that alleviate some of the stress of coursework. Having professors extend deadlines and grade more holistically does not sacrifice the education we pay for, as we are already being forced to function in abnormal circumstances.

I find it hard to believe that anyone has the right answers regarding how students should be expected to function right now, but taking measures to remove some of the stress that comes with academia needs to be the start.

New York’s Budget: It Ain’t Much, but It’s an Improvement

If Marxist magazine Jacobin doesn’t like it, it’s probably a good thing. Such is the case with New York state’s recently approved budget for the 2021 fiscal year. Although strategically sprinkled with all too common sleights of hand from New York politicians, next year’s budget poses a win for New York’s middle class residents and reinforces safety throughout the city and state.

First and foremost, the budget, narrowly approved by the state legislature and signed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on April 3, lowers the state income tax rates for nearly all middle-class New Yorkers. Any New Yorker making between $27,900 and $323,200 in annual taxable income will see their state tax rate drop. And while $323,000 might seem like a rich man’s salary, keep in mind that New York is the nation’s most expensive city in nearly every metric. One financial adviser at Business Insider stipulated that it takes a $300,000 salary to even be considered middle-class in cities like New York. It should also be noted that New York City is one of the nation’s rare localities to level a local income tax, and a high rate at that.

But wait, there’s more. With a new limit on how much of state and local taxes Americans can

deduct from their federal tax returns, residents in high-tax states like New York and New Jersey were hit with whopping tax bills last year. It doesn’t get much more expensive than the Big Apple. For a city whose annual budget is already higher than Florida’s, a state with twice the population, the last thing New York needs to discuss is a tax hike.

In another important feature, the budget significantly alters the state’s bail procedure. Previously, New York had usurped its entire way of handling pre-trial detention by eliminating cash bail for most crimes and releasing inmates while they awaited their trial. Pressed by concerns over the safety of this reform from across the ideological spectrum, from Mayor Bill de Blasio to the NYPD Commissioner, the state legislature tweaked this rule, renewing 15 categories of crimes that are now eligible for cash bail. The budget also gives judges discretion on placing restrictions on defendants while they await their trial.

This common-sense reform of the reform makes New York safer for everyone. In January, when the previous relaxations on cash bail began, crime rates in New York City spiked. According to NYPD officials, as of Jan. 1, 483 people who had previously been arrested for a felony were rearrested for committing 846 additional crimes. This is a common-sense provision that should have served as the crux of the initial bail reform, but it’s better late than never. Let those being charged with misdemeanors and

many non-violent offenses stay out of prison until their trial and keep the serious offenders behind bars.

The budget also hands a win to environmental activists, banning Styrofoam found in single-use food containers and the similarly composed packing peanuts. It creates a $3 billion bond to fund environmental restoration throughout the state. Instead of furthering the continued harassment of car owners who drive in Manhattan, it includes legislation to legalize the e-bike and e-scooter network.

So, what’s wrong with the budget?

Concerns over the environment go too far, for one. Cuomo touted the budget’s permanent ban on hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, in the state. To be fair, there are certainly tenable concerns over fracking and its safety and environmental effects, but an outright ban on the practice is not a good idea. Over the past two decades, this process has lowered our nation’s carbon emissions and decreased our reliance on foreign oil from Russia and Saudi Arabia. Many younger Americans might not remember when President George W. Bush said, “America is addicted to oil.” Now we aren’t, but that’s because of fracking. Ask yourself the following question. What would be worse for the environment: fracking in a highly regulated U.S. state or oil production in developing nations run by quasi-dictators?

This fracking ban is a product of emotional outage from the

lobbying of environmental activists. Until we can feasibly implement cheaper and more environmentally efficient forms of energy extraction, fracking should continue. The ban will simply write a multi-million-dollar check to northern Pennsylvania communities situated on top of Marcellus shale, a type of rock containing the largest source of natural gas in the U.S. With an impending recession due to the coronavirus crisis, I’m sure Pennsylvanians in the natural gas industry will be very thankful to New York.

Additionally, I’ve noted that honesty and New York politicians don’t mix well. We see that front and center with this budget. The state legislature is getting set to implement congestion pricing on

cars driving below 60th Street in Manhattan as a way to reduce the already snail-like pace of traffic in the city. State officials had promised that the money would go into a lockbox solely for use on Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) capital projects. Now, the state has amended this language, allowing the MTA to use this money for any operating expenses. According to the New York Post, this will make it easier for the state to grab cash from the agency. So much for promises.

But don’t hold your breath for politicians to become honest; that’s like waiting until the cows come home. Although imperfect, it is refreshing to see a bipartisan, fair and comprehensive budget for the Empire State.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER

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Opinions

April 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER

www.fordhamobserver.com

Digital IDs — the Miracle Cure for a Lockdown Exit Strategy?

TIZIA-CHARLOTTE FROHWITTER

Staff Writer

With nearly 3 billion people from over 100 countries in lockdown, humanity is moving to an online world. As the infamous work-from-home joke goes, “Now we will see which meetings could really have been done over email.”

The key to ensuring digitalization is a digital ID, to prove that you are, in fact, you. It may also be the key to provide for a secure exit strategy out of the lockdowns.

Through the powerhouse marriage of biometrics and blockchain, the new era of global digital identity is dawning.

Digital identity solutions are our immediate future. At this very moment, they are integrated into every thinkable process around the world. Digital IDs are the backbone to assuage our thirst for digitalization in our economy, and the answer to closing the identity gap of the over 1 billion undocumented people in alignment with the United Nations’ (U.N.) Sustainable Development Goal 16.9 “legal identity for all” by 2030. The only question is, will they also cement our way out of the novel coronavirus lockdown?

Sitting in an overcrowded doctor’s waiting room is an unpleasant experience, even more so since the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Telemedicine for online consultation provides a remedy. The Swedish startup Kry, which offers video counseling and therapy services, experienced a skyrocketing increase in demand by 240% since February. Due to the private nature of the data, digital identity verification comes into play in order to ensure the patient’s safety. Thus, it comes as no surprise that the digital identity verification startup Onfido saw an increase of 370% since January. Through the teamwork of a selfie and an artificial intelligence algorithm, the identity of a client can remotely be verified in as few as 15 seconds.

ID.me, an American online identity network, together with gas stations BP and Amoco, initiated a support program for health care workers and first responders in the

coronavirus pandemic by deducting 50 cents off per gallon on their gas purchases. The global digital identity platform Yoti will offer its services for free for three months starting in April to organizations fighting the novel coronavirus to ensure contactless staff verification.

Likewise, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) implemented a UAE Pass app, a digital identity program that allows not only for identity verification but also for e-signing documents to support the government’s social distancing measures.

With the world arguing over potential exit strategies, slowly but surely digital identity solutions find their way into the debate in regard to immunity verifications. If and when the world develops the holy grail of this pandemic — a vaccine — there must be a digital account for its injection into the patient in order to nip fraud, corruption or accidental duplication in the bud.

The same holds true for a potential antibody immunity. Those who are immune could be issued a digital certificate that exempts them from the government-imposed restrictions. Current types of ID verification entail the risk of inaccessibility, data insecurity and identity fraud.

Over 15 million people fell victim to identity theft in 2017 alone.

In 2019, the government of Bangladesh and the vaccine alliance Gavi launched a digital identity program to keep track of who received a vaccination. The backbone of this partnership is the strategic global initiative ID2020.

The alliance consists of private and public partners such as the Rockefeller Foundation; the city of Austin, Texas; Accenture; Gavi; hyperledger; the University of California Berkeley CITRIS Policy Lab; and Microsoft. Along with the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the alliance advocates for an ethical and privacy-protecting approach toward worldwide digital ID implementations in their landmark manifesto from 2018.

Additionally, a digital ID could restore normal travel protocol. The World Economic Forum (WEF) has been promoting digital borders since 2017. In March 2020, the WEF published its Known Traveler Digital Identity whitepaper. Using

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER

blockchain technology, biometrics, mobile devices and cryptography, it aims to increase security, as well as the passenger experience.

A pilot between the Netherlands and Canadian border is already in place. Since March 20, South Korean citizens are allowed to board domestic flights using digital IDs, which are likewise based on blockchain technology.

So how does a digital ID work?

After the biometrics scans — fingerprint, voice and/or iris — are conducted, a unique identifier using several security protocols is generated. Next, the identifier is recorded on the blockchain. Secured by blockchain’s cryptographic principles, the biometric data is now immutable. There it functions as an index with respective links to the data. As a result of the decentralization superpower of blockchain, we will get our long-lost right to self-sovereignty over our own data back, since we get to decide what we share with whom.

The UNHCR promotes contactless iris-scan biometrics as they reduce the risk of conducting the novel coronavirus. Some pilot projects have already launched in Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Zambia and

Malawi. Voice biometrics provide the same contactless solution.

In October of last year, Nuance Communications and Microsoft announced their partnership to transform the doctor-patient experience with, among other things, the use of voice biometrics to unlock private health records.

Nuance’s voice biometrics security technology saved $1 billion in fraud costs in 2018 alone. As an immediate consequence, passwords and pins will be left behind in our past.

While that all sounds too good to be true, and maybe even like a modern-day tech fairy tale, there are, in fact, some real-life limitations. If our endangered data is the beautiful princess and our blockchain-based digital identity is the prince, then cross-border governance and human cooperation issues are the evil witches.

Global digital governance needs to be established in order to accelerate our digital life and truly initiate a paradigm shift. The WEF released a blueprint and a strategic imperative for a worldwide inauguration for digital IDs. If digital identities fail to work the right way, the consequences

may include users’ loss of trust and control over their data, increased data security and compliance costs, and open doors for fraud. Hence, it’s crucial that a so-called good digital ID is built. This entails a unique design which is highly verified and authenticated, only established with the user’s consent, protecting their privacy and ensuring control over their personal data. This way, privacy protection and the acceptance of the government, as well as the private sector, are harmonized. Unfortunately, digital IDs are not immune to misuse. Deepfakes — AI-powered, realistically appearing fake videos or voice recordings — pose a real threat, as they could be weaponized for the exploitation of digital authentication.

Debates surrounding the potential use of digital immunization certificates will get louder with every day spent in social distancing restrictions. The G-20 states just announced an initiative for health tools needed to combat the pandemic. With global teamwork, the hope for a united approach out of the lockdowns is dawning on the horizon. At the heart of this hope is a digital ID.

Existing Internationally in the Time of a Pandemic PHILIP PANTITANONTA

Contributing Writer

If you tried to convince the February version of me to stock up on Clorox and told him that he’ll be meeting his professors through his webcam, he wouldn’t believe it. “The coronavirus is just another flu,” they said. “Why does everybody act as if it will lead to an inevitable death once you catch the virus?” they asked. Back in January, my friend showed me the article on a mysterious disease that had taken hundreds of lives in Wuhan, China.

But that didn’t concern me: Wuhan was thousands of miles away, and by the time the virus arrived in the city, we would be ready to tackle it efficiently. I was certainly wrong.

Now, locked up in my house in Bangkok, Thailand, I wonder if I could have done anything to prepare myself better for leaving my friends so soon, and whether I will be able to return to New York for the start of the next school year.

The last time I saw my friends was on March 13. We had dinner in a small Russian restaurant and departed casually, not really expecting to say goodbye. A week later, the city was a ghost town.

People fled upstate, over the state lines and across the Atlantic. I was doing just fine in my home in New York, determined not to leave.

Packing my things to go back to Bangkok after weeks of hoping it would be all right was mind-numbing. I crossed the Williamsburg Bridge in an Uber and spared one last look at the mighty Manhattan from my airplane’s windows.

I traveled 8,000 miles and finally arrived back home. It was close to midnight, so I stayed up for my 1 p.m. class. The time difference between my home in Thailand and New York City is 11 hours, yet my heart still beats in its rhythm. It’s hard to connect with your New York friends when you’re 11 hours ahead of them. I woke up at 7 a.m. to sing “Happy Birthday” at my friend’s 8 p.m. Zoom party.

I FaceTimed another friend at 5 p.m. and woke her up before either her dog or the sun managed to do so. Whenever I send out a goodnight streak over Snapchat, I receive replies of “good morning,” “good day” or “good afternoon.”

I used to be the rare individual who woke up in a good mood when it was a school day. Now I struggle to stay optimistic when my classes finish after 1 a.m.

Asynchronous classes, which were supposed to help me bear the load, only demotivate me, and I find myself with less and less incentive to actually watch them. It’ll sure be fun catching up during finals week.

The internet connection also poses a problem. I’ve been forced

to pay extra in order to upgrade the speed of my home Wi-Fi because it couldn’t support a family of four working from home, all at the same time. Still, even with a better internet speed, I failed to register for my major requirement class during registration day because of lagging, and I’m sure I’m not the only one.

School or no school, it is the physical human interaction that I miss the most. I’m an extrovert, and I consider myself lucky to be born in an age that has FaceTime and online group games one click away. When I decided to go on a nostalgia trip and visit Club Penguin, I found it full of college students, equally starved for human connection. And talk about dating — even if your significant other lives four blocks away, they might as well live on the International Space Station. Texting through Snapchat helps, since you can actually see the other person’s face, which somewhat maintains the illusion of them being there with you. The illusion quickly disappears, however, when you realize that they’re watching the sunset while the rain splatters on your window’s glass.

International isolation is not what I hoped for. Sustaining a college schedule with an extreme time difference is hard, but adapting to the new norm of

COURTESY OF PHILIP PANTITANONTA

Fordham’s international students face time zone differences and a world of uncertainty with regard to whether they’ll be able to return to New York in the fall.

communication is even harder.

Every day, I find myself wondering if we can ever go back to the way things were. Yet, I am hopeful that

one day I will return to my New York home and see the whiteboard which says, “Hey, Phil! Welcome back!”

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER April 29, 2020

Opinions

11

Advice on Commuting to Your Zoom Class ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS

Fun & Games Editor and Asst. Photo Editor

I’ve been riding the subway to school since the sixth grade, and before that, I endured the horrors of the yellow school bus, so I consider myself an experienced commuter. In this crazy and unusual time, students taking online classes from their bedrooms are lacking the usual trip to school, but do not let that deceive you: The commute is alive and well. Here are some tips to get you through the process so you can quickly and safely bask in the glow of your computer screen lecture. The following advice is brought to you from the depths of my denial. I mean, er, wisdom.

Waking Up The first challenge you will encounter on your way to class is an alarm clock that is broken, too quiet or otherwise inadequate.

The solution to this problem is to call upon your friends and family to drag you kicking and scream-

ing (screaming about how much you love and appreciate them, of course) from your slumber. You likely have people in your lives who are also stuck at home and have nothing better to do than become your personal alarm clock, whether in person or by calling you repeatedly. Chances are, if you are cooped up with another human being, they are so sick of you by now that they’d relish the opportunity to bang some pots and pans together next to your sleeping ears.

Getting Ready Once awakened, you no longer have to deal with the stress of picking out clothes or perfecting your hair or makeup because, let’s be honest, who gets dressed anymore? However, you are now confronted with a whole new stressor: picking your Zoom background for the day. You can easily bring the same flair and dash of spicy chaos to your curated Zoom personality as you would to your outfit and accessories for an in-person class.

Delays You may have been used to sometimes-daily train delays in your past life, but nowadays you’re up against a host of even more frustrating holdups en route to Zoom school: delays in motivation and coordination.

Whether your foot gets tangled in a blanket, tripped up on an uneven patch in your carpet or slid from under you by the coffee that has sloshed out of yesterday’s mug, there will always be required maintenance, service changes and other poorly explained reasons to be late. To avoid future delays, you might consider traveling around your house or apartment on roller skates, the domestic equivalent of giving up on public transportation and taking an Uber.

Thank you for your patience.

Stopping for Breakfast Picking up breakfast on your way to class can also slow you down, and that’s no different at home. Personally, I cuddle with a coffee maker at night and keep

a full array of breakfast cereals on my bedside table to minimize the time it takes. It’s no Freshens, but it does the trick. I tried to include milk in my satellite pantry, but I quickly learned that refrigeration is not, in fact, merely a suggestion. If you’re forced to make a trip to the kitchen for any of your breakfast needs, keep your eyes down and walk quickly to avoid distractions. The PlayStation is calling your name just like your chatty neighbor would on your way to school; exchange pleasantries as you walk, but slow down for no one.

Crowd Control The last obstacle you’ll typically face is an overcrowded elevator, or in this case, an overcrowded internet. Between working and taking classes from home, streaming the newest Netflix hits, and Googling cooking tutorials and homemade hand sanitizer formulas, everyone is online right when you need to launch Zoom. Even

your sister’s cat is watching videos of mice on YouTube. The Wi-Fi network is buckling under the pressure, much like your sanity, and the sound of your laptop overheating has replaced the equally awful buzz that the Lowenstein elevator doors make when they’re angry.

Short of going off the grid, there’s not much you can do but pray. (Your favorite deity T-Mobile is also working from home right now.) If I were smart, I’d have saved all my class Zoom links in an easily accessible place to save time, but why would I do that when I could spend ten minutes sifting through old emails and probably get distracted by a particularly intriguing phishing scam?

There is no guarantee that you’ll make it to school in one piece, but there never was anyway. If people ask how it’s possible to be late to class in your own home, there’s no better time to stutter inaudibly and pretend that your screen has frozen.

GRAPHIC ILLUSTRATION BY ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS/THE OBSERVER

Liberty Over Life During Lockdown?

MADISON LETO Social Media Editor Emerita

On March 23, just a few days after the governors of nearly all 50 states issued lockdown decrees, various conservative politicians, including President Trump himself, began questioning how long it would take until economic activity could resume as usual. In conjunction with an incredibly slow and lackadaisical response to the coronavirus and the skyrocketing of infection and death rates in New York and elsewhere, talk of returning to work was deeply unsettling for many.

Several governors and local officials attempted to assuage fears of a premature reopening and a more deadly second wave of coronavirus infections. Others instead declared that older generations should be willing to sacrifice their lives for an economy that would inevitably plummet even further if a sizable portion of the workforce were to fall ill or die from this virus.

For a split second, it seemed as if all had settled, with most of the lockdown naysayers fading into the background for a week or two. However, over the course of the past two weeks, civilians across the United States have started taking to the streets of their state’s capital in order to protest stay-at-home orders. Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick returned to Fox News to pat himself on the back, claiming that “there are more important things than living,” and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp moved to reopen many nonessential businesses on April 24. Protestors from St. Paul to

Denver to Buffalo, the second largest city in New York, showed up to fight against the nationwide stay-at-home orders’ infringements on their liberties. They argued that mandatory quarantines are inherently communist and even faced off with health care workers on the frontlines of the crisis.

This situation is also distinctly partisan; most of the protests have taken place in states with Democratic governors and are supported and coordinated by national conservative groups, which is all the more ironic. After all, haven’t conservatives championed

abortion restrictions throughout the United States — even going as far as banning abortions in Texas and Arkansas during the coronavirus — in the name of being prolife? Protestors have touted signs demanding haircuts, threatening those enforcing stay-at-home orders with their guns, begging for their golf seasons to be resumed and, most importantly, claiming that their health is their choice — a play on the “my body, my choice” chants of abortion rights advocates.

Returning to a sense of normalcy in the United States during a time when many states

have not yet reached the peak of the coronavirus crisis is a death sentence for many Americans.

The truth is that, while their own deterioration of health due to the coronavirus may be their choice, the essential workers in food service, medicine and even certain retail stores do not have the same choice to decide their health. Members of America’s working class must continue to work to feed their families in places that have not closed due to the coronavirus and are still not granting their employees paid sick leave. These workers are also ineligible to receive unemploy-

VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Demonstrators outside the Ohio Statehouse on April 18 protest the state’s shutdown. Similar protests have occurred in many states this month.

ment benefits if they quit their jobs without “good cause” and will be at an even greater risk than they already are if stay-athome restrictions are loosened.

Moreover, many working-class Americans who have been furloughed for the time being will be asked to return to work if their non-essential place of work reopens, thereby risking the health of an even greater portion of the working class than is already at risk. Every conservative who feels the need to take their health and liberty into their own hands with indifference to contracting the virus themselves must consider that they would also be jeopardizing the health and liberty of their barber or hairdresser, the receptionist at their gym, the sales associate at their favorite retail store and so forth.

The Americans protesting the lockdowns are not truly doing it in the name of freedom for all; instead, they are focused solely upon their own ability to subjugate those most at-risk to their own non-essential whims and desires. They do not care about the lives lost, so long as these lives are not their own. Reopening the economy prematurely in the age of the coronavirus is not only contrary to the Jesuit values that our university holds, but also to the values of Christianity as a whole. At the same time, it highlights the overwhelming hypocrisy of the pro-life movement and the ways in which these faux-Christians’ means always lead to one end — that is, to exercise control over the people they perceive as morally beneath them in the name of their personal liberties.

Arts & Culture

Arts & Culture Editor Ethan Coughlin - ecoughlin7@fordham.edu

April 29, 2020

Dancing Together, Hundreds of Miles Apart

THE OBSERVER

An Ailey senior reflects on the online dance world during her virtual final semester

By NICOLE PERKINS Features Editor

Lindsay Jorgensen, Fordham College Lincoln Center ’20 and features editor emerita, just bought a Marley floor. It’s a special type of vinyl that acts as a shock absorber and prevents injury for dancers. Usually, she would have no need to own one — the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where Jorgensen studies, is the largest space dedicated to dance in New York City.

But on March 9, Fordham suspended all in-person classes for the foreseeable future and Alvin Ailey followed soon after, on March 12.

Initially, there was a lot of uncertainty. “The week of the 9th (Fordham was) saying ... go home. We’ll reevaluate in three weeks. I stayed at Fordham and went to my Ailey classes,” Jorgensen explained.

She had a previously established agreement with Ailey that two days of the week — Thursday and Friday — she would commute to her home in New Jersey and rehearse with a company based there, which allowed her to work at a studio while continuing to get Ailey credit.

Jorgensen said, “I went home Wednesday night, had rehearsal on Thursday, and then that night, he (the dance instructor) was really nervous so we didn’t have rehearsal the next day. That weekend I ended up picking up all my stuff at Fordham ... and I’ve been here ever since.”

She misses the big things, like friends and teachers left behind before there could be a proper

goodbye. “I won’t be able to see (my friends), I won’t be able to perform with them for the last time ... there is a camaraderie among the dancers that you just really can’t get (over Zoom),” Jorgensen lamented.

She continued, “I didn’t even get to say goodbye to any of my teachers ... teachers I’ve had for four years ... (who) have been the most inspiring and encouraging teachers that I’ve ever had in dance. It’s a very sensitive place to be in that dancer student, dance teacher relationship ... they’ve just been so influential and so motivating ... it was a bummer to kind of just pick up and leave and not really say ‘goodbye’ and ‘thank you’ for what they’ve done.”

But Jorgensen also misses the little things: “It was amazing watching the sunrise at 8:30 am and watching the sunset later that day. The studios are gorgeous ... (I miss) being able to request space for free and create in there.”

There have been challenges to the adjustment, for sure — it’s not easy to transform a childhood bedroom into a dance studio overnight. “Using your kitchen bar or your kitchen counter as a barre (while your) parents are on a conference call in different rooms ... it’s just very different.”

The lessons themselves have also changed. Ailey classes are now 40 to 50 minutes instead of the usual hour and 20 minutes. “At first I thought, oh, why are we only getting 40 minutes?

This isn’t fair ... Going back and thinking about (it) the teachers are more focused on giving the

“ Dance has adapted over many years. So this is just another. It’s not a hindrance — it’s going to help us adapt and move forward, and expand the craft.”

Lindsay Jorgensen, FCLC ’20

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NIR ARIELI

Lindsay Jorgensen, FCLC ’20, has had to bring the dance studio to her house as the coronavirus has forced dance studios to shutter their doors across the country.

combinations because they can’t really spend time giving corrections, especially personal corrections.”

The adaptation has caused a shift in method as well. Jorgensen said, “It forces you to just focus on yourself internally. I don’t have a mirror when I’m doing class at home. I’m not constantly thinking oh, how do I look? I’m feeling what’s happening in my muscles and just relying on that muscle memory to kind of get me through the class.”

Jorgensen continued, “I’m someone who likes to travel and use up all my space ... How do I adapt and how do I feel like I’m dancing big or how am I utilizing the space as best as I can?”

Though this change is unexpected, Jorgensen is hopeful.

The adaptation to dance classes being entirely online has been swift, and resources for people wanting to continue their learning abound.

“I was really amazed by how quickly the dance world came online and was really supportive of other artists,” Jorgensen said.

She referenced the project Danc-

ing Alone Together, which compiles dance classes, dance-making prompts and dance footage to allow for dancers to collaborate across the globe. This opens up new doors for students. Jorgensen said, “I was able to take a ballet class with New York City ballet dancer Tiler Peck.

I was able to take a contemporary class from a mentor of mine who lives out in Portland, Oregon, and I haven’t taken a class from him in years ... it’s really interesting how close you feel to everyone now in the dance world.”

The American Ballet Theatre is streaming children’s dance classes.

Ailey Extension is putting on Instagram Live instructionals. New York Live Arts has been posting full-length performances on their website. All of these are done free of charge.

Jorgensen epitomized it by saying, “Dance has adapted over many years. So this is just another. It’s not a hindrance — it’s going to help us adapt and move forward, and expand the craft, which I think is very uplifting or maybe very naive ... but during this time of isolation, we need to find a way to connect everyone.”

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER April 29, 2020

Projects in Quarantine: Fordham Food Network

Arts & Culture

13

People who cook together, thrive together

COOKING from page 1

While The Zoom Show is mainly about connection, it also brings in an element of productivity and a sense of accomplishment to its participants. As Primis said, “If you are making cookies from scratch and you get to share them with people you are living with and they love it, then that’s something you did.

We did it with you, but you accomplished that. We’re all in this together.”

People are also not confined to the same physical space while cooking together. “We can really branch this out to people all over the world. It shows us a glimpse into each other’s lives,” Richter said. And the fear of not “performing” correctly is absent here.

The hosts themselves try out the recipes with the participants for the first time. Participants not only share tips; they also correct

the hosts while cooking together.

As long-time foodies, Primis and Richter usually select recipes from The New York Times Cooking and Bon Appétit on Instagram, among other sources.

The ingredients for the recipe of the week are shared among the participants every Tuesday, giving them enough time to procure the essentials. People also share their ideas regarding recipes for the next week’s meetup, adding a collaborative aspect to The Zoom Show.

Cooking together every Friday at 1 p.m. is the sense of normalcy that The Zoom Show touts in these turbulent times. “The external circles connecting back to us and us coming together to make something is really cool,” Richter said. The subsequent meetups will involve making quiches, dumplings, Italian pancakes, perogies and other dishes.

“If we can make a new dish every

week, then that’s the newness we need,” Primis said.

“ If you are making

cookies from scratch and you get to share them with people you are living with and they love it, then that’s something you did ... We’re all in this together.”

Avery Primis, FCLC ’22

If you would like to be a part of this meetup, send an email to t hezoom k itc hen@g ma i l.com to be added to their mailing list.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF LEEZA RICHTER

As amateur chefs themselves, Leeza Richter and Avery Primis, both FCLC ’22, host a Zoom cooking show with an inviting atmosphere to learn some new recipes and engage with the Ramily remotely.

Video on Demand: A Cure for Cinephilia?

With movie theaters closed until further notice, Fordham’s cinephiles have multiple options when it comes to satisfying their craving for motion pictures

By KEVIN STOLL Staff Writer

Upon hearing that movie theaters throughout the nation were temporarily closing, the film industry seemingly came to a standstill. Suddenly, cinephiles were forced to realize that it might be a while before they step foot inside a movie theater again. More importantly, the 2020 theatrical release schedule drastically changed as a result of this sudden closure.

Universal and Sony Pictures have already announced that the majority of their 2020 films, including “F9: Fast and Furious 9” and “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” won’t be released worldwide until spring of next year. Paramount made the decision to delay their blockbuster sequels, “A Quiet Place Part II” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” from March and June

to September and December, respectively.

Even films that are scheduled to release in 2021 have now become subject to unexpected production delays. Director Matt Reeves’ upcoming reboot of “The Batman,” for instance, was recently pushed back from June 25, 2021, to October 1, 2021, in large part because Reeves himself willingly came out to the public and revealed that only around 25% of the film’s principal photography was completed prior to the production’s shutdown.

Nevertheless, through Video on Demand Services (VOD) such as Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Vudu and Kanopy, students and cinephiles have practically unlimited access to a wide selection of cinematic entertainment. With films that range from Oscar-nominated dramas to lighthearted romantic comedies and everything

in between, there is certainly enough variety to tide everyone over, regardless of their preferences. Considering how much downtime students have had since face-to-face instruction was suspended, avid watchers can finally get around to viewing some of the films that they’ve somehow missed out on.

However, just because the theaters have closed doesn’t mean that distributors have done the same. Universal, whose films “The Hunt,” “Emma.” and “The Invisible Man” were released right before the pandemic began, directly offered consumers films that were technically “still in theaters” to make up for lost box office potential. Disney, meanwhile, has already released the Pixar-animated “Onward” to both VOD and Disney Plus, and it announced that the Kenneth Branagh-directed “Artemis Fowl” will be skip-

ping theaters altogether when it arrives digitally on June 12.

On the more independent or arthouse side of the moviegoing spectrum, Focus Features has released Eliza Hittman’s Sundance-winning coming-of-age drama “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” to VOD, while IFC Films recently decided to do the same with Carlo Mirabella-Davis’ psychological thriller “Swallow.” Cinephiles can also check out Spike Jonze’s “Beastie Boys Story” documentary, released just last Friday to Apple TV Plus.

While there is no doubt that this pandemic will eventually subside, the question still remains: Will movie theaters even be able to stay afloat if they continue to remain closed? After all, with recent reports concerning AMC Theatres’ current financial struggles making headlines across different media outlets, where does

that leave the rest of the industry?

In other words, once everything is said and done, will there still be a future for moviegoing?

Even when contemplating just how much of an impact this pandemic has already made on the industry, it’s still hard to say whether or not they’ve seen the worst of it. Although, with some theaters hoping to reopen by late July, it might not be long before going to the movies becomes a mainstream practice again.

But as it stands, theaters have yet to do so. And while cinephiles such as myself would much rather walk to AMC Lincoln Square 13 from the Lincoln Center campus instead of simply browsing through the “virtual cinema,” there’s nothing they can do to change the reality of this situation. In the meantime, though, they might as well work with what they have.

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Arts & Culture

April 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER

Coronavirus Can’t Stop Creativity

www.fordhamobserver.com

Fordham artist Chesca Mac releases new single ‘AWTC’ with Ramses Records

COURTESY OF CHESCA MAC

ANDREW BEECHER/THE OBSERVER

The latest single by Chesca Mac, FCLC ’21, draws from the connections she’s made at Fordham despite the single being released while students are forced off campus.

By JOHANNA CYRAN Staff Writer

Many continue to struggle physically and mentally as the coronavirus pandemic plunders on into May, leaving a majority of the student body feeling disconnected from both our Fordham community and home in New York City.

However, there are silver linings around us. Despite the anxiety and isolation that comes in waves, art still prevails. Especially not to be missed are the

masterpieces created within our own Fordham family, being served up with complementary words of encouragement. “I feel closer to my music than ever before, and it’s something that has allowed me to combat this disconnection.” Let us reintroduce you to Chesca Mac. Francesca Macalintal, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’21, also known as Chesca Mac, released her latest single “AWTC” on Friday, April 24, in collaboration with Ramses Records, an independent music

“ I tell myself

it’s okay if I can’t please everyone, especially as a musician, because that’s not the point of it.”

Chesca Mac, FCLC ’21

label run by Fordham students.

Mac’s powerful single “AWTC” launched on Spotify, Amazon Music, YouTube and all other streaming services.

Inspired by some of the notes and flavorings of Adele, Mac began work on the song in August 2019. She recounted the process of writing the line — and now the title of the track — “Are We the Criminals.” She then built a story out of that core; to her, it felt as though the main piano melody and mysterious vibe held hints of “Bonnie and Clyde.” “It’s basically a song for people who knew they weren’t right for each other, but stayed together anyways,” Mac said.

It’s obvious from the strength of her voice and the intricacies of her songwriting that Mac is talented. Lesser-known to those who know her only through her music is the humility she exudes regarding her journey and inspirations. Mac explained that her success is due both to her family’s influence and strong support of music from a young age, and the maturation she has experienced in college as a result of making mistakes, embracing change and implementing self - motivation.

She credits her college community as responsible for inspiring her in the pursuit of making music she wants to make, “to not feel like it needs to be a certain way, to really just stay true to myself and my values.” By encouraging and collaborating with friends at Fordham, Mac explained how their support enabled her to join the Songwriting Club, perform at Winterfest and further reach out within the Fordham community.

Mac has joined the many who have turned to creation and immersion in the arts as both a coping mechanism and way to utilize this extra time whether self - proclaimed artists or not. The popular infusion of homemade sourdough bread, DIY haircuts and therapeutic paintings have all added to our landscape of craft and collaboration. Her new song “AWTC” gracefully joins the mix, and she leaves listeners with not only a solid track to appreciate in our quarantines, but also reminds us that people -pleasing has no place is the creation of art. Mac said, “I tell myself it’s okay if I can’t please everyone, especially as a musician, because that’s not the point of it.”

Virtual Club Spotlight: BeWell LC Goes Remote

By KRISTEN SKINNER Staff Writer

Fordham’s BeWell LC club posts weekly to their Instagram story and feed with facts about the coronavirus and tips for health and wellness during these challenging times.

Although collaborating and coordinating meeting times has been more difficult, the club has stayed virtually active by hosting The Virtual Amazing Race on April 16.

BeWell LC has hosted an Amazing Race for freshmen students in the fall and one open to everyone in the spring. Usually, these races consist of groups of students racing around the city and competing for prizes. Since this was not an option this year, the club had to get creative with how to conduct one virtually.

Finley Peay, Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’20 and BeWell LC president, has been involved with the club since her freshman year.

Her resident assistant, who was the president at the time, recommended the group to her as a way to have fun and make some new friends. “I have come to have a greater appreciation for what the club stands for

and what we do and the community we are able to create for undergraduates,” she said.

According to Peay, one idea the group had for creating a virtual scavenger hunt would have students find common household and outdoor objects. Considering the fact that everyone has different homes and backyard settings, though, the club opted not to do this, as they wanted to make the race as accessible to everyone as possible.

Instead, what they decided to do was hold the virtual race over a few days, April 16 through April 20, on Instagram. In order to compete, students had to follow the club on Instagram and post pictures or videos, tagging the club, of them completing challenges suggested by BeWell LC’s post. These challenges included doing push-ups, making new recipes, pictures of pets, Tik Tok dances and a coronavirus bucket list.

Each picture post counted as one raffle entry for a prize and each video post counted as two raffle entries. The winners will be announced within the coming days.

Peay noted that it has been hard

for BeWell LC to keep students engaged and attending meetings regularly once going remote, but she is grateful for the support BeWell LC has received from the club’s adviser, Melissa Gazal, assistant director for programming and coordinator of alcohol and other drug education.

“We’ve gotten a lot of support from our advisor who has been in the Office for Student Involvement and I think that’s been great,” Peay said. “I think we are really lucky in that way, just having a greater level of support like USG (United Student Government) and CAB (Campus Activities Board) does than other clubs, so I feel fortunate for that.”

These challenges have caused the club to consider what the group is and what it stands for both on and off campus. Peay explained that this “has been an interesting journey.”

BeWell LC leaders are doing what they can to connect with students and help promote both physical and mental wellness as students, professors and faculty members face the universal challenges of the coronavirus.

COURTESY OF FINLEY PEAY

Rather than cancel the annual spring Amazing Race, the BeWell LC E-Board was able to adapt the contest to a remote format that still captured the essence of the event.

www.fordhamobserver.com

THE OBSERVER April 29, 2020

Arts & Culture

Lightening the Mood in Liminal Space

15

By CAITLIN BURY and CLEO PAPADOPOULOS Multimedia Editor Emerita and Staff Writer

Cleo Papadopoulos and Caitlin Bury, both Fordham College at Lincoln Center ’22, discuss the artistic adaptations and contributions occurring during this time of uncertainty and confinement.

Papadopoulos and Bury study new media and digital design, and visual arts, respectively. In addition to creating art within their respective major classes, the two also express their creativity outside the classroom with their own work.

CAITLIN BURY/THE OBSERVER

From Day-to-Day Art-Making to Adapting in Quarantine

CLEO PAPADOPOULOS/THE OBSERVER

Cleo Papadopoulos (CP): Normally I work with things that I’ve been doing on a day-to-day basis.

So, everything that’s new is something I can use in my art. I mostly use my film photos from the rolls I’ve shot and developed. I’ll make collages with it on my walls or I’ll do it digitally on Photoshop. I can’t shoot film now because I’m in quarantine, so I’m working with older material. Regardless, it’s very mild, calming artwork. It’s something I like to do for fun.

Caitlin Bury (CB): All of my stuff comes from my personal experiences. They always say, “Write what you know” or variations of that — CP: ’Cause it’s more real — CB: Exactly. But now, it’s more about looking back. And I think you’re doing something similar. It

feels like we’re in this artistic, liminal space.

So, I’ve been trying new artistic techniques that I haven’t really tried before because I didn’t have enough time to get better at them, or I didn’t have the resources.

CP: I’ve been trying to use Adobe more than I used to because a lot of my stuff was more physical. But I don’t have access to the materials I normally work with. It’s all very limited, but also kind of not, because it’s something that I haven’t done before. So, it might be better to look at stuff like that, but honestly, it’s just kind of sad looking at everything and not having anything new to work with.

I feel like the art that I’m making now is such lighthearted work because it’s such a downer all the time. I don’t feel like people under-

stand the reality of what it’s like to live here in New York (right now).

I haven’t gone outside since March 9. The only thing I really like doing in my free time is looking back at photos with my friends from the school year and making fun little collages and color palettes with them.

In my freshman year, I read a book on colors. It was called “Pantone: The 20th Century in Color,” and it defined each decade by its own color palette based on the events that occurred. Ever since, I’ve been thinking more about how colors influence our lives, and now, I view the world more in color. And so, when I look at the photos of my friends, I draw on the colors I remember from those moments. Those are the colors that defined the year.

The Artist’s Response: How Artists Are Creating in Quarantine CB: What you were saying about making your art feel very light right now speaks to how artists create with a response to something. So, for example, if a movement is happening then an artist will respond to that within their art. I feel like that’s what you’re doing — what a lot of people are doing. I mean, you can even scroll through YouTube and different television shows have been doing table reads on Zoom to respond to the current moment and bring back this lightness. So, I feel like that’s what we’ll be seeing a lot of. It may not necessarily be new or groundbreaking art, but I really feel like people are just trying to lighten lives right now.

So, if I draw an egg for a friend.

For me, it doesn’t mean something more —

CP: Doesn’t have a deeper message — CB: No deeper message with a drawn egg. It’s just that my friend likes eggs and I want to make her smile. During this time, there can be art with greater messages. However, we don’t need to pressure ourselves to be the next Shakespeare who’s writing “King Lear” in quarantine. To be fair, we’re all still students. We have a lot of homework every night and Zoom classes, so we don’t have to expect that from ourselves. We can only expect ourselves to do whatever we need to do to lighten the mood.

Whether that’s creating art, like we’re doing, or documenting a new subject — CP: A new normal — CB: Yeah. It’s about trying new

things and trying to create a positive space.

CP: I’m glad that you said that because I feel like the work that I’m making is so lighthearted that it’s almost ... stupid? And it might be, honestly, but if it’s something that makes me happy then it’s worth making.

People have been posting things about New York as it used to be. The city is very open and loving, and from the confines of quarantine, that’s what people are remembering.

And then people are posting about what it looks like now: very dreary — lights on, but nobody outside.

When I look at that, it makes me feel worse. But, it’s beautiful and it’s something that we should look at because it’s probably never happened in the history of New York. For me, if I look at something now, I want to be happier when I look at it.

CAITLIN BURY/THE OBSERVER

Finding Inspiration

CLEO PAPADOPOULOS/THE OBSERVER

CB: This goes back to an earlier part of the conversation, but I was just thinking about where inspiration comes from right now. There are no life experiences to draw from. I feel like I’ve turned to other things for inspiration. Instead of looking at a film from a renowned director or photographs from my favorite photographers or art from The Met, I’m looking at things that are more DIY or homemade — that could be a YouTube video or things that my friends are putting out. I feel like some have regressed to very DIY — CP: Very simple things — CB: I think it’s just working with what you have. And maybe it’s about being back in your

childhood home or a place that feels like that. Potentially it’s about feeling younger again and looking back to the things that inspired you at that age.

CP: It’s about reminiscing about a simpler time. It all looks like a dream and it makes me super happy to think about.

CB: It speaks to the fact that art really is what people turn to, no matter what. I’ve been seeing this post being shared on social media that says something like: Think about the television shows, the movies, the music, etc. Think about that — that’s art and you’re turning to it during this time. So don’t discount artists.

CP: That’s beautiful.

Fun & Games Editor Esmé Bleecker-Adams - ebleeckeradams@fordham.edu

un & ames

Crossword: Food for Thought

ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS

16. angry to the point of turning liquid to gas 18. “You Can’t Stop the ___” 19. west German city that was once a coal center 20. mosque topper, often 22. difficult to get down, as of information 29. espied

ACROSS 1. Tupperware seal 4. ___ on; approach closely 9. flower on “The Bachelor” 13. “will be” in Spanish or French 14. squirrel food 15. lambs’ mothers

Sudoku

30. well-explained 31. building instruction, for short 35. Indonesian animal also known as the sapiutan 37. “what doesn’t come out in the wash will come out in the ___” 38. able to be charged levies on, as of income 40. picks 42. capital of Ghana 43. nickname for actress Justice, perhaps 45. place for eggs 46. absolute 47. teeming (with) 49. undercooked notion 54. govt group responsible for farming, among other things 55. former CEO of Pepsi Nooyi 58. back of the foot 61. warm a piece of knowledge up and sweeten 65. ___ grey tea 66. goofed 67. slight accent or inflection 68. “All You Had to Do Was ___” 69. king of Megara, in Greek mythology

7

6 5 7 8 9 2 8 5 6 3 7 4 3 8 4 7 1 1 6 2 6 4 3 1 9 4 5 ESMÉ BLEECKER-ADAMS

Fun Facts

By JILL RICE Copy Editor

DOWN 1. people born in late July or August 2. from the third largest island in Europe 3. genus of the prairie clover 4. type of vehicle that travels between Lincoln Center and Rose Hill 5. test that measures heart signals: Abbr.

6. ___ com 7. seniors, in less than a month 8. equip (with) 9. uprising 10. be indebted to 11. Mediterranean or Red 12. commenced: Abbr.

13. hotel-owning Entertainment Group 17. French assn. that studies working conditions and safety 21. large-scale 23. agreement 24. essential principle 25. artist and activist Ono 26. glasses or telescope component

27. desert green spots 28. snatch (from) 31. stockpile 32. Ukhu ___: Incan underworld 33. spreadsheet creator 34. with caution 36. having an unpleasant smell 39. projections used to stop birds from sitting on fences 41. without distortion, of sound, for short 44. mine product 48. make corrections to 50. people who market 51. northern New Zealand conifer 52. alkenes with hydroxyl groups 53. over-the-counter painkiller 56. be dependent (on) 57. creative pursuits 58. “___ Got the Whole World in His Hands” 59. consume 60. time period 62. lawyer network: Abbr.

63. Romanian currency 64. necessities to scan into school

Word Ladder

4 9 3 1

6 3

April 29, 2020 THE OBSERVER

Foods not to eat in quarantine:

• Durian is the stinkiest fruit: People claim it smells like turpentine and onions with gym socks. It’s banned on Singapore mass transit.

• Époisses de Bourgogne is one of the world’s stinkiest cheeses. It is a soft dairy cheese that is banned on French public transportation and banned outright in the U.S. • Surströmming is fermented herring originating in Sweden. It is lightly salted so that it is prevented from rotting during the fermentation process.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Sign up for The Observer’s weekly newsletter for more puzzles and the latest stories

By JILL RICE Copy Editor

Instructions: Get from one digestible thing to another by changing one letter at a time, highlighted in yellow.

Clues 1. dinner 2. dinner protein 3. drummer’s job 4. sailing vessel 5. constrictor snakes 6. tendency 7. advances at an auction 8. assists 9. performs penultimate PEMDAS step 10. may be three-to-one 11. poems 12. Caesar’s infamous March day 13. notion