October 23, 2020

TH E G ATEP O ST Framingham State’s award-winning independent student newspaper since 1932

Volume 89 • Issue 6

Salem End drive-in

FSUgatepost.com

October 23, 2020

Donald Halsing / THE GATEPOST

M.I.S.S. and SILD hosted a drive-in movie theater in the Salem End Parking Lot Oct. 15. See HOMECOMING page 6.

Administrators announce potential budget and calendar changes, anti-racism initiatives

By Cara McCarthy Associate Editor President F. Javier Cevallos, along with several administrators, spoke to the FSU community during the All-University Meeting Oct. 19.

At the meeting, administrators unveiled an amended 2021 spring calendar.

The meeting covered several topics, including the 2020-21 budget, COVID-19, schedule changes for the Spring 2021 semester, the upcoming election, and anti-racism initiatives.

Budget Executive Vice President Dale Hamel presented the latest budget for Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21).

Hamel noted there have been extensive conversations between the

Budget & Planning Committee and the Board of Trustees.

“This has been a certainly volatile environment, particularly as it relates to the budget,” he said.

Hamel discussed the changes implemented since May, when the Board of Trustees initially approved the FY21 budget. The budget, according to Hamel, is primarily determined by state funding, total enrollment, day-division course enrollment, and residential occupancy.

In May, the University anticipated a 3% decrease in state funding, a 10% decrease in total enrollment, and a 4% decrease in day-division course enrollment. Additionally, the University predicted residence hall occupancy would be 66%.

Budget assumptions have been up-

dated, according to Hamel. Day-division course enrollment is now forecasted at 9% reductions, total enrollment is projected to be down by 12%, which is “significantly more than the reductions that we had assumed at -4%,” Hamel said.

Residence hall occupancy of 37% is significantly lower than anticipated, according to Hamel. “In fact, we have the lowest occupancy in our residence halls of the state university segments,” he said.

Due to the large decrease in residence hall occupancy, the University is facing over a $4 million deficit in the residence hall and dining hall trust funds, according to Hamel.

When the initial budget was ap-

News RESIDENCE HALL REGULATIONS pg. 3 COVID-19 BY THE NUMBERS pg. 4-5

Opinions CLASH OF OPINIONS pg. 10 WHAT CARDI B SAYS ABOUT US pg. 11

Sports

See UNIVERSITY MEETING page 8

SGA holds Administrator’s Forum

Concerns raised about academic policies and gender identity training

By Dan Fuentes Staff Writer FSU administrators responded to students’ concerns regarding academic policies, Thanksgiving and spring breaks, the need for gender identity training, parking, and COVID-19 during the Administrators Forum hosted by SGA Oct. 20.

A number of attendees on the Zoom webinar joined anonymously.

Academic Policies Lexi Kays, secretary

of

SGA,

brought up an issue about professors’ communication with students.

“I just think that if professors expect us to have these due dates, all of our assignments done by these due dates and have good communication, I think it’s fair to assume that they’ll have that same respect back for us students,” she said.

Interim Provost and Vice President Ellen Zimmerman responded by saying, “The college deans and I are actually aware of this issue and have met to talk about it.”

“Students clearly need other ways

and multiple ways that they can converse with their faculties. And I’m really sorry to hear people have been struggling with that in certain cases,” she added.

In addition to a lack of communication, SGA Senator Danielle Shaw was concerned about how the Pass/ Fail Policy will work this semester.

Zimmerman explained that the current Pass/Fail Policy allows students to declare pass/fail until the withdrawal date, rather than the add/ drop date.

Senator Eryca Carrier said sever-

See ADMINISTRATORS’ FORUM page 7

MEN’S SOCCER pg. 13

Arts & Features

WEEK OF POETRY pg. 14 SPOOKY SUGGESTIONS pg. 16-17

INSIDE: OP/ED 9 • SPORTS 13 • ARTS & FEATURES 14

NEWS

2 | OCTOBER 23, 2020

Editorial Board

Gatepost Interview

Editor-in-Chief Ashley Wall

Veronica LaPlante

Associate Editors Donald Halsing Cara McCarthy News Editor Leighah Beausoleil Arts & Features Editors Brennan Atkins Robert Johnson Jr. Asst. Arts & Features Editor Jared Graf Opinions Editor McKenzie Ward Design Editor Kathleen Moore Photos Editor Caroline Gordon Asst. Photos Editor Amanda Garny Staff Writers Danielle Achin Patrick Brady Steven Bonini Kaitlin Burch Daniel Fuentes Haley Hadge Ashlyn Kelly Caroline Lanni Johan Perez Lydia Staber Advisor Dr. Desmond McCarthy Asst. Advisor Elizabeth Banks

Academic Adviser

By Ashlyn Kelly Staff Writer What is your professional and educational background?

I had my undergrad in psychology from Bridgewater State, and I have my master’s in mental health counseling from Salve Regina. So, I actually had a private practice for about 14 years as a mental health counselor and actually as a hypnotherapist. Then I’ve also been working in advising for about 11 years at different universities and schools.

What brought you to Framingham State?

I had actually made a job change in 2019. So, July 1, 2019, I switched back to more of a case-managing position within the university and college setting. It was a one-year contract, and I decided I didn’t really want to get back into the counseling aspect. I enjoy advising a lot more because there’s a lot more hope.

If someone’s working toward their education, they have a little hope for the future. Even if they’re struggling, they still have a teeny weeny bit of hope. So, I wanted to get back into advising.

What made you interested in advising students?

Honestly, it was hope. I remember it was the summer, like 11 years ago, and I was reading a job description, and it was for an academic advising position at the time. It’s just this positivity.

This is a step forward like you’re going somewhere. You can take a student - the student can have a horrific background and have all these struggles that they’ve had to deal with, but they’re still trying to work toward something positive and make changes in their life, and I can help them in the future. I think higher education is really important.

What is your number-one piece of advice to students?

Stay engaged. Ask questions. I have an 18-year-old who just started her freshman year and I’m sure she’s tired of hearing me say ask questions, ask questions, ask questions, ask questions.

Ask questions of your advisors. Ask questions of your professors. If you’re engaged with your professor and you’re

Courtesy of Framingham State asking questions and you’re talking to that person, you’re more apt to do well in the class. So, my number-one advice is to stay engaged by asking questions.

How do you advise when students come to you?

I am more proactive. Generally, … because of my background, because of the way I work with students, I like to engage with them on a regular basis, so that they feel supported and know they can come to me if they have any academic problems. So, I’m reactive if someone comes to me and I haven’t talked to them yet, but more often than not, I’m emailing my students and trying to stay on top of what’s going on in the semester, what’s going on in their

lives, and keep them engaged with the University - especially now with the pandemic. A lot of students, especially the freshmen - they’re not [engaged].

How do you start your freshman year and get engaged when you have to live off campus and start taking college classes online, which are terribly hard?

What would students be surprised to know about you?

I’m a hypnotherapist. I’m a cancer survivor. And I’ve run two marathons.

CONNECT WITH ASHLYN KELLY akelly8@student.framingham.edu

Police Logs

100 State Street McCarthy Center Room 410 Framingham, MA 01701-9101 Phone: (508) 626-4605 Fax: (508) 626-4097 gatepost@framingham.edu @TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

Friday, Oct. 16 01:22 Assist Residence Life Larned Hall Party removed

Saturday, Oct. 17 17:42 Found Property McCarthy Center Report taken

Sunday, Oct. 18 18:32 Disabled Motor Vehicle Franklin Street Services rendered

Sunday Oct. 18 21:11 Harassment McCarthy Center Report taken

Monday, Oct. 19 13:18 Suspicious Activity McCarthy Parking Lot Unfounded

Tuesday, Oct. 20 16:17 Undesireable Sandella’s Advised and Removed

Tuesday, Oct. 20 17:38 Domestic Violence Miles Bibb Hall Checks OK

Wednesday, Oct. 21 01:11 Medical Pierce Hall Transported to Hospital

NEWS

OCTOBER 23, 2020 | 3

Campus residents face new COVID-19 regulations

By Steven Bonini Staff Writer Approximately 725 students are living on campus for the fall semester, a major decline from the 1,803 who were living on campus last fall.

Resident students are facing a slew of new regulations put in place to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

Those living in the residence halls are required to wear a face covering outside of their dorm rooms at all times and maintain a six-foot social distance from other residents.

Residents are not permitted to have family members or guests from other halls in the dorms, according to the “Guide to Residence Living 2020-21.”

Students are permitted to have one guest per person in their bedrooms. Those living in suites are allotted two additional people.

Residence Life instituted a new elevator policy. Elevators now have a maximum occupancy of one person per ride. The Guidebook strongly encourages the use of stairwells.

Students are advised to limit traveling and are expected to fully abide by the Massachusetts COVID-19 Travel Order.

Resident assistants completed fully remote training this year.

Glenn Cochran, the associate dean of students, student life & director residence life and housing, said it was a challenge for the resident assistants to complete the training.

“It’s important training,” Cochran said. “We’re doing it with a group of people who aren’t trained faculty members.”

Cochran added the professional sta too t e tec no o teac n online course put together by the ducat on ec no o ce t s summer. s course as mod fied or t e resident assistants.

Cochran said he was not surprised by the number of students who decided to live on campus this semester.

“That probably was impacted by the people who I had talked to who were leaving in March, who didn’t want to leave,” Cochran said.

Cochran added the decrease in the number of students living on campus as defin te a ected t e

Weather

n ers t financ a “Without the pandemic, we were projecting occupancy of over 90% and we are at 36% now. We would typically house at least an additional 1,100 residents for the fall semester,” Cochran said.

Residence hall living rates typically range between $4,320 and $5,320 per semester, according to the University website.

Due to the decrease in resident students, the University lost approximately $5.5 million, or more than what they would have typically brought in during a normal semester.

Cochran said this year, students were required to submit a personal

to the new regulations.

“It’s not 100% all the time, but I’ve been heartened by the people that I see not only in the halls, but even on the sidewalks on campus that are clearly paying attention,” Cochran said.

Cochran has received a number of phone calls and emails from students who strongly support the new regulations, but have noticed some of their peers not adhering.

“I’m here trying to make this work, and it’s really frustrating when somebody doesn’t make it work,” Cochran said, summarizing the messages some students have left.

Cochran would like to see unity,

“Without the pandemic, we were projecting occupancy of over 90% and we are at 36% now. We would typically house at least an additional 1,100 residents for the fall semester.”

- Glenn Cochoran, Associate Dean of students, student life & director of residence life and housing medical plan of action, should they need to isolate or quarantine for reasons related to COVID-19.

“We do have a limited number of quarantine and medical isolation rooms on campus for students who may have extenuating circumstances or who may not be able to enact their emergency plan,” Cochran said.

According to Cochran, students in quarantine are delivered a limit of three meals a day when ordered online through Dining Services.

“Dining Services delivers to the outside of a hall, where they are met a es dence e sta mem er who delivers the meal to the outside o t e students door and not fies t e student their food has arrived,” Cochran said.

Cochran said he has been pleased with the way students have adhered

residents about wearing masks and taking the right precautions.

“I believe that campus has supplied enough email correspondence, signage, and word of mouth. I think that’s probably where we’ve been the best - telling people to make sure that they have their masks on at all times,” Doggett said.

Doggett added from time to time, residents will slip up and forget a mask, but said for the most part, people are cooperating.

SGA President Olivia Beverlie said she was impressed by the precautions taken by the University, especially on “Move-in Day,” Aug. 27-Sept. 1. e d d t t on fi e peop e per hour, so it made it really easy to move in and not have to worry about waiting to get a bin,” said Beverlie.

Beverlie added she believes Framingham State University has done better than most campuses at enforcing regulations and maintaining control.

“Weekly COVID tests on campus - that’s something we have that I know not all campuses have,” she said. “I think they’re doing a really great job.”

“I think that a lot of people were expecting us to get sent home by now, but the fact that we’re still here is a really good sign,” Beverlie added.

Some students said they were concerned about staying on campus this semester for reasons related to health and safety. ndre ameron a first ear transfer student from Rochester Institute of Technology, said this wasn’t the right time to stay.

“I didn’t feel staying on campus was the safest due to virus complications. Plus, all of my classes are online, so it just didn’t make sense,” said Cameron.

Nicholas Grimaldo, a junior biology major, said due to family concerns, he didn’t want to stay on campus and risk bringing home the virus on the weekends or holidays.

“I’m staying with my grandmother right now and would never want to risk exposing her to the virus,” Grimaldo said.

and thinks students understand if they want things to return to normal, “It’s going to take everybody pulling in the same direction.”

Students who decided to live on campus said they have been pleased with the way the University has enforced the new regulations.

Freshman biology major Mackenzie Boyle said she is comfortable with the new regulations and notices how seriously the University is handling the matter.

“They really make sure that we follow the regulations. We’re not allowed to leave our dorm rooms without a mask. Even if we’re outside, if the cops see you without a mask, they’ll tell you to put one on,” Boyle said.

Arthur Doggett, a resident assistant, said RAs have been doing the CONNECT WITH STEVEN BONINI best they can to correspond with sbonini@student.framingham.edu

Sunday night Oct. 25 Mostly cloudy. Low near 40. Calm wind.

Monday night Oct. 26 50% chance of showers. Mostly cloudy.

Low near 50. SE winds around 5 mph.

Forecast provided by the National Weather Service www.weather.gov Tuesday night Oct. 27 Wednesday night Oct. 28 50% chance of show40% chance of showers. ers. Mostly cloudy.Low Mostly cloudy. Low near near 40. Light NE wind.

40. W winds around 5 mph.

Monday Oct. 26 40% chance of showers. Mostly cloudy.

High near 60. SE winds around 5 mph.

Tuesday Oct. 27 40% chance of showers. Mostly cloud.

High near 60. N winds around 5 mph.

Wednesday Oct. 28 50% chance of showers. Mostly cloudy.

High near 55. Light and variable wind.

Thursday Oct. 29 30% chance of showers.

Mostly sunny. High near 55. W wind around 10 mph.

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

NEWS

4 | OCTOBER 23, 2020

COVID-19 by the numbers

October 23, 2020

By Donald Halsing Associate Editor

By Kathleen Moore Design Editor Three million new COVID-19 cases were reported worldwide since last week based on data from various sources taken Oct. 14.

This represents an increase of almost 1.5 million cases since last week, or 3.8% The number of people infected by COVID-19 in the United States increased by 3.6% since last week, also.

Framingham State University administered 752 tests within the past week, and 3,144 tests within the past 30 days, according to the COVID-19 data page on the FSU website.

One positive test was returned in the past week, according to the page.

The 7-day negative test rate is 99.87%.

This follows a two-week period with no

positive COVID-19 tests at FSU. A total of 3,116 negative, and 5 positive results, were returned in the past 30 days. The 30-day negative test rate is 99.84%.

Around 3.6% of Framingham residents tested positive for COVID-19.

There were 64 new infections, 10 new recoveries, and 4 new deaths reported.

The number of people infected grew by 50, or 2.1%, since last week.

Over 52% of those who contracted the virus remain infected. Over 45% have recovered and 3% about 3% have died.

The overall death rate from COVID-19 in Framingham is just over 0.2%.

About 2.1% of Massachusetts residents tested positive for COVID-19.

There were 5,889 new infections, 3,964 new recoveries, and 160 new deaths twice as many new deaths as last week.

The number of people infected grew by 1,765, or 1.3%, since last week.

Over 52% of those who contracted the virus remain infected. Just under

45% have recovered, and about 3.5% have died.

The overall death rate from COVID-19 in Massachusetts is under 0.15%.

Just over 2.5% of United States residents tested positive for COVID-19 down from 2.75% last week. There were 488,192 new infections, 197,262 new recoveries, and 6,231 new deaths - over 1,00 more than last week.

The number of people infected grew by 284,699, or 3.6%, since last week.

Slightly over 70% of those who contracted the virus remain infected.

About 28% of the population has recovered, and about 1.9% have died.

The overall death rate from COVID-19 in the United States is 0.07%.

Globally, around 0.5% of the population has tested positive for COVID-19.

There were 3,138,392 new infections, 1,651,134 new recoveries, and 44,044 new deaths.

The number of people infected grew by 1,442,214, or 3.8%, since last week.

Out of those who contracted the virus, under 60% remain infected. Recoveries are just over 40%, and around 1.6% have died.

The overall death rate from COVID-19 globally is 0.01%.

Data sources: Framingham State University Town of Framingham MA population: United States Census Bureau – QuickFacts Massachusetts US and World population: United States Census Bureau – US and World Population Clock MA data: WCVB, MA DPH US data: CDC, New York Times Recovery data: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center World data: WHO, Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center *Calculations for new infections, recoveries, deaths, and infected population size change are made using both data from this week and last week’s data published in The Gatepost.

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST

Framingham

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

Massachusetts

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OCTOBER 23, 2020 | 5

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST

United States

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST

World

Kathleen Moore / THE GATEPOST CONNECT WITH DONALD HALSING dhalsing@student.framingham.edu

CONNECT WITH KATHLEEN MOORE kmoore8@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

6 | OCTOBER 23, 2020

NEWS

Homecoming events held in new ways

By Donald Halsing Associate Editor

Despite COVID-19 restrictions on in-person gatherings, Homecoming events were held at FSU between Oct. 13 and 22.

The offices of Student Involvement and Leadership Development (SILD), Student Union Activities Board (SUAB), and Alumni Relations hosted events.

Motivation. Intersectionality. Solidarity. Sisterhood. (M.I.S.S.) co-hosted a drive-in theater with SILD. Other events were held “grab-andgo” style. Alumni Relations hosted all its events virtually.

Sara Gallegos, director of SILD, said her office hosted several “grab-and-go” events. Students registered on Ramlink and picked up their materials from the McCarthy Center Game Room.

She said this method of distribution minimizes contact between individuals, and there is adequate space in the room for event staffers to socially distance.

SILD hosted a “stuff-a-ram” graband-go event Oct. 15. The event was based on “stuff-a-bear” events from previous years - this time featuring a ram plush inspired by FSU’s mascot Sam the Ram. Gallegos said last year’s SGA president Matty Bennet was able to fund the event at the end of spring semester with money left over from the Fiscal Year 2019-20 budget.

A total of 105 stuff-a-ram kits were given out. Some were picked up in the Game Room, while others were distributed by mail to students who were not able to pick them up on campus.

Gallegos said SILD has distributed do-it-yourself kits every Thursday so far during the semester, and offers the option to mail kits for all Thursday doit-yourself events. This was the only Homecoming event with an option for distribution by mail.

Thursday do-it-yourself events are being scheduled for the remainder of the semester.

SILD and SUAB hosted a “design your own mask” grab-and-go event Oct. 13.

Gallegos said participants submitted their designs online, which were printed on masks for students to pick up. A total of 50 customized masks were distributed.

SILD hosted a pumpkin decorating grab-and-go event Oct. 16. Funding was also provided by Brother 2 Brother.

Gallegos said Paige Capone, a student ram pride and spirit events coordinator, came up with the idea. A total of 18 pumpkins were given out with decorating kits.

She said the masks and rams were provided as kits from FUN Enterprises.

“A lot of the stuff that FUN Enterprises is creating is all very good with social distancing.”

Gallegos said SILD and SUAB also co-hosted a nine-hole miniature golf course on Larned Beach Oct. 14.

The course was provided by Mike’s Music. Although she had not hosted a miniature golf event at FSU before, Gallegos said the event was successful “during normal times” at other institutions.

A total of 20 people played miniature golf.

M.I.S.S. and SILD co-hosted a drive-

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

in theater in the Salem End Road parking lot Oct. 15. Twenty-four cars with 52 people parked in the lot to watch “The Conjuring.”

Mariah Farris, M.I.S.S. co-president as well as ram pride and spirit events coordinator, said they reached maximum capacity due to COVID-19 regulations and had to turn cars away.

Ewine Fedna, the other M.I.S.S. co-president, said their organization usually hosts a “big” event at the beginning of the academic year with other affinity groups, but were unable to this year because of COVID-19.

Farris said M.I.S.S. usually holds four “big” events each year - one at the beginning and one at the end of each semester. Last spring, their “M.I.S.S. Madness week” was canceled due to COVID-19, and the funding was rolled over into their budget this year to fund the drive-in.

She said the club’s “back to school bash” was canceled as well, which provided more funds for the event.

Farris added this was the first time

clusion, and community engagement, Oct. 14. A total of 14 guests attended.

An “AstroNights Live” event was hosted by Alumni Relations and the McAuliffe Center Oct. 16.

President F. Javier Cevallos hosted a virtual coffee house the morning of Oct. 17. Nine guests joined on Zoom and 12 watched live on Facebook. DeFronzo said about 350 watched some portion of the event after it ended on Facebook.

The annual Alumni of Color Networking Panel, “Surviving White Workspaces,” was attended by 36 guests.

The presentation of the “Alumni Achievement Award for Inclusive Excellence” to Enzo Surin ’00 was attended by 29 guests.

A new event, “Trivia Challenge,” was attended by 26 guests. Four teams, totalling 18 guests, answered FSU trivia questions in a competition for prize packages. The winning teams were “In Bed by 10” and “Lady Rams.” The “’78 is Great” team will receive Ram bobbleheads as a consolation prize, De-

“For me, planning was very fun because I got to take some of my ideas I had been saving and share them.”

- Paige Capone, Ram Pride and Spirit Events coordinator they have hosted a drive-in, and the event was a trial run for future events.

Both co-presidents said they plan to host more drive-in theater events during the academic year. However, they said winter weather may prevent them from hosting one until the spring.

Farris said they did not know until half an hour before the movie started if the inflatable screen could go up because of high winds that night.

Fedna said cars parked for the drivein theater cannot idle their engines and provide heat for passengers, so it would get cold if they hosted a drive-in during the winter.

Farris said M.I.S.S. hosted the drivein for students to “be in the same vicinity” and help to “get the college vibe back.” She said freshmen students told her they were lacking that experience.

As for the reason behind hosting an in-person event, Farris said, “As a student myself, I’m in Zoom 24/7, and I didn’t want to be on Zoom for Homecoming.”

Jennifer DeFronzo, director of alumni relations, said all events she hosted were virtual.

She said normally, Alumni Relations mails invitations only to alums living in the northeastern U.S. However, “having the virtual events means that it doesn’t matter where you are as an alum - you can participate.”

DeFronzo said families of students and alumni were invited to join the virtual events in lieu of traditional events on campus.

A panel titled “Creating an Anti-Racism Community” was hosted by Alumni Relations and Constanza Cabello, vice president for diversity, in-

Fronzo said.

Alumni Relations also hosted a “Sunday Spotlight” at the Danforth Art Museum Oct. 18. The event, featuring Katherine Gulla’s work, was attended by 26 people.

A virtual Oktoberfest beer tasting with Exhibit A Brewing was held Oct. 22. DeFronzo said she hosted another virtual beer tasting over the summer, which was a success - leading to the decision to host the second event.

DeFronzo said the Alumni Relations side of Homecoming was successful because she was able to provide the right kind of events to keep people engaged. Several alumni and family who attended the events contacted her afterwards with positive feedback, and some even provided donations to the University.

She said, “What I didn’t want was for Homecoming to pass without being recognized by us [Alumni Relations].”

Homecoming Committee Chair Rachel Lucking said planning for Fall 2020 was put on hold in the spring after the COVID-19 pandemic set in and FSU switched to remote learning.

She said the Committee did not begin detailed planning until six weeks before Homecoming, after COVID-19 guidelines were established.

Capone said, “The time crunch did affect some ideas we may have had because we had to think of our budget and all the other logistics that go into planning a larger-scale event that complies with all COVID procedures.

“For me, planning was very fun because I got to take some of my ideas I had been saving and share them,” Capone added.

Attendance at this year’s Home-

coming events was significantly lower than previous years.

Gallegos said the annual Carnival usually brought in 300-400 people.

Lucking said hundreds of people attended Homecoming football games - an event absent this year due to cancellation of fall sports games.

Moonlight Breakfast usually attracted 600-800 attendees, she added.

Lucking said, “I have no gauge on what would be a good attendance number or not. We’re still learning so much about what makes sense in programming and engagement.

“Overall, I was pleased with the number of people who came out and connected,” she added.

Lucking said SILD spread the word about Homecoming events through social media, the FSU website, and their Ram Pride and Spirit Events Coordinators, Capone and Farris.

DeFronzo said for free virtual events, usually about half of those who signed up actually attended.

Several students on campus said they did not attend any Homecoming events. Most students didn’t know about them.

Senior Roberto Carvalhaes said, “I didn’t know about them. Plus, I have a lot of school work going on.”

Sophomore Jay Christian said, “I didn’t get the memo.”

Junior Mykenzie Rexford said, “I didn’t hear anything about it.”

Sophomore Josh White said, “I wasn’t aware that there were any going on. I just didn’t know about it.”

Some students knew about the events, but didn’t attend any.

Sophomore Danielle Parenteau said, “I know there was the drive-in. I think I went home, unfortunately, but it looked fun.”

Senior Destiny St. Amand said, “I just didn’t have time. I knew about it, but I had to run to class.”

Some commuter students said they did not attend any Homecoming events.

Senior Molly Roach said, “I’m only here two days a week, so I didn’t really come out for any event.”

Junior Ellen Lucier said, “I commute, so I wasn’t around.”

Despite attendance far lower than previous Homecomings, members of the Committee said the events were successful.

Capone said, “We chose to do events that catered to every group of students, past or present. That is why some events were online via Zoom and there were also on-campus events that were interactive to get students excited!”

Lucking said, “We kind of viewed it as ‘Homecoming Version I,’ with the hopes that in the spring, we might be able to do something a little bit larger.”

DeFronzo said Alumni Relations is planning events for the annual student reunion weekend.

Last spring’s reunion was canceled, meaning any graduate from a class year ending in a zero or five couldn’t attend. She said those who missed out will be invited to join those with class years ending in a one or six next spring.

DeFronzo added, “We’ve doubled up, so this has the potential to be the largest alumni recognition weekend we’ve ever had.”

CONNECT WITH DONALD HALSING dhalsing@student.framingham.edu

NEWS

OCTOBER 23, 2020 | 7

Administrators’ Forum continued from page 1 al students had spoken to her and shared that their professors have “intentionally made this semester harder.

“For example, making more assignments, refusing to record lectures for people who are unable to attend classes due to the semester being mostly remote. What can be done to address this issue?” she asked.

Zimmerman said, “I don’t know whether they’re making assignments harder or not. … It’s a hard thing to evaluate or prove. We have talked with the department chairs about that, trying to make sure that that doesn’t happen.”

She added, “We can’t require anyone to record their class, but we have strongly recommended and most faculty are doing it. Most faculty are recording their classes.”

An anonymous attendee was concerned about course registration.

They said the University has yet to provide a plan for the spring semester.

The student asked, “How am I supposed to plan what courses to take without knowing what the spring semester is going to look like? For example, knowing if I should register for in-person classes without knowing if I’ll be on campus?”

Zimmerman explained classes will have descriptions of whether they are in person, hybrid, remote, synchronous or asynchronous, and “all of those descriptions will appear next to the course number and title.”

Glenn Cochran, associate dean of students, student life & director residence life and housing, said, “If you’re on campus now, you should know if you feel comfortable that you will continue to be on campus in spring if you want to be.”

“We also anticipate having spaces to increase the residence community.

For the spring semester, we’ve started a waitlist already,” he added.

Cara McCarthy asked, “Has there been a decision made or is there going to be an ongoing conversation about residents being allowed to leave their housing contract with no financial penalty in the event that they do not wish to live on campus in the spring?”

Cochran replied, “We have been dealing with requests from people who have had a whole range of issues. ... We will continue to work with people on that.”

Thanksgiving and Spring Break Hillary Nna asked, “What is going to happen with repopulation after Thanksgiving break?”

President F. Javier Cevallos said, “Our plan is to continue as we have been doing with testing and testing protocols that we have. Of course,

we know that there is a little bit of a spike going on and we have to be very careful.”

Ilene Hofrenning, director of health services, said, “We are a little concerned about Thanksgiving break - letting students go home for at least a four-day weekend seeing family and friends, probably doing more socializing.”

“We’re thinking about testing everybody - having onboarding testing after Thanksgiving,” she added.

“In the next couple months coming into flu season, we’re worried about twin damage with both the flu and COVID-19.

The University is currently offering free flu shots for students, faculty, and staff from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday Oct. 27.

Student Trustee McKenzie Ward brought up student concerns about the cancellation of spring break.

Zimmerman said the rationale for canceling spring break was to give the University time to test students when they come back from winter break.

“We need to test all of the returning students before they come on campus, which means we have to either interrupt the original break and take the last several days of that break to do that and bring people back on campus, or we take that extra week and use that time to do the test,” she explained.

“Canceling spring break was really done as a safety measure,” she added. “Spring break was traditionally a time for people to travel and often the locations where they ended up would be crowded. There wouldn’t be very much ability to socially distance.”

SGA President Olivia Beverlie said, “I think the decision wasn’t made out of any malicious intent to take spring break away from students. It was made more from my point of view as an effort to make sure that students on campus don’t get displaced after coming back from spring break.”

“I know it was a tough decision,” she added. “But there were other student leaders involved in the process who also shared the same view.

But we were thinking mostly from the standpoint of putting students’ health on campus first.”

Lorretta Holloway, vice president for enrollment and student development, explained, “There are particular requirements for how many days, according to the state, that we are actually in session for school. We also have to follow contract guidelines about when the beginning and the end of the semester happens.”

COVID-19 An anonymous attendee asked, “I’ve heard some residents in my building questioning the legitimacy

of COVID test results as the number of cases have been very minimal.

How do we know if the tests are accurate and everyone is COVID free?”

Hofrenning answered, “The test that we use is the PCR [Polymerase Chain Reaction] molecular test, which is the gold standard of testing for COVID-19.”

“I think the tests are as accurate as they can be. With any testing, there’s always the possibility of some false negatives and false positives,” she added. “But I think that it’s really minimized with the kind of test the lab that we’ve sent it to. I agree that it’s surprising that we’ve had as few positives as we have.”

Another anonymous attendee asked, “If all my classes are remote and I’m living at home, am I allowed to come on campus to receive a flu shot or the COVID test?”

Hofrenning replied, “Yes, you are.

If your classes are remote, you don’t necessarily have to come to get the COVID test, but if you want to you can.”

Another anonymous attendee asked, “Is there a possibility that residence halls will be completely shut down besides emergency housing?”

Cochran responded, “We have a campus COVID-19 analytics team that is continually monitoring metrics, and making recommendations on steps the University can do to try to address and be proactive and stay ahead of things so that we can keep the residence halls open - keep the semester going.”

Holloway said, “I do want to assure students that we will still remain open for emergency housing - students who are housing insecure, food insecure, etc.”

Gender Identity Training Carrier said, “I’ve experienced firsthand and have students talk to me about how staff and faculty on this campus have poorly handled conversations around gender and sex.

“This is something I’ve heard of each of my four years at FSU. The topic of gender will come up in a class and a professor will say that they aren’t getting involved or try to remain neutral while students debate over if there are two genders or two sexes.

“The reality is that allowing people to have opinions that there are only two biological sexes or two genders is anti-science and it condones and promotes violence against transgender and non-binary students. How will staff and faculty be educated on how to handle situations like this in the future?” she asked.

Constanza Cabello, vice president of diversity, inclusion, and community engagement said, “We’ve definitely offered training on gender identity and expression in the past, and

so that’s certainly something we can continue to offer.”

She added, “The Bias Education Response Team is a tool.”

Cabello asked students to use the tool to report what’s happening in classrooms and residence halls that may be “promoting bias on campus.”

Carrier then asked, “Offering these trainings is not enough when the rhetoric that is being condoned by negligence is pro-violence. What will it take for these trainings to be mandatory for faculty?”

Zimmerman said, “Mandatory trainings are difficult to implement.

What we can do is create trainings that occur at times where people have very few other obligations where there are incentives for attending them.”

Vice President of SGA Abigail Salvucci said, “I just want to reiterate the importance of student safety regarding their identity on this campus when it comes to gender pronouns and sexual identity. These are not things that are light-hearted.

“These are things that can actually affect a student’s life and can affect the safety of their life if it’s not taken seriously. I just think trainings like this are necessary and important to the safety of these students,” she added.

“These are students’ lives on the line.” Salvucci said.

Parking FSUPD Chief Brad Medeiros said a number of residents have noticed the Maynard and Salem End Parking Lots are nearly empty.

He said students are concerned about safety walking from Maple and have asked, “Would it be possible to reassess the ability for resident students to park closer to campus?”

Medeiros said, “We will be opening up Maynard, and Salem End Lots and making them available to residents students.”

He added the RamTram will only continue to service Maple Lot. Since this Administrators’ Forum meeting, students have received an email stating, “Resident students for the Fall 2020 Semester will now be allowed to park in Maynard Lot and Salem End Lot during the week as well as on weekends in addition to the Maple Parking Lot.” [Editor’s Note: Daniel Fuentes is a Resident Assistant and staff writer at The Gatepost. Cara McCarthy is an Associate Editor at The Gatepost. McKenzie Ward is the Student Trustee and Opinions Editor at The Gatepost.]

CONNECT WITH DAN FUENTES dfuentes@student.framingham.edu

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8 | SEPTEMBER 25, 2020

Univerity meeting continued from page 1

proved, Hamel said there were a lot of questions concerning state and federal funding. “A lot of that [state funding] was uncertain,” he said, “largely related to the uncertainty of any federal funding that might be coming to support the state.”

However, Hamel said halfway through the semester, some of the unknowns at the time of the budget approval have “come into better focus,” specifically in regards to state funding after Gov. Charlie Baker rereleased his FY21 budget.

He added despite Baker’s rereleased budget, there has been no approval by the legislature and the University has been receiving interim monthly budgets as a result.

There are several issues the legislature will need to consider before approving Baker’s new budget. Specifically, the newly proposed budget involves using approximately a third of the state’s Rainy Day Fund to support the public higher education system, according to Hamel.

He said these decisions were made with the assumption there would be a $3.5 billion reduction in state revenue.

Hamel said, “Assuming the state budget is consistent with the governor’s proposal, this is a much better position than we had anticipated being in this fiscal year.”

He added for FY22 and potentially FY23, administrators anticipate similar levels of difficulty to those experienced in planning the FY21 budget.

Hamel said there are currently no plans for any layoffs or furlough programs among faculty and staff.

The Budget & Planning Committee will review the current multi-year pro forma budget at its next meeting to address the “structural deficit in the out years,” which may include a deficit of approximately $1.3 to $1.5 million, according to Hamel.

He said the University projects these deficits largely because of the forecasted enrollment decrease over the next few years “in addition to the nearly 25% reduction in day-programming enrollment we have experienced over the past five years.

“We’re about a quarter of the size smaller in the day program than we were just four years ago,” he added.

COVID-19 Ann McDonald, chief of staff and general counsel and secretary to the Board of Trustees, and Ellen Zimmerman, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs, shared information about how the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the campus and their plans for the spring semester.

According to McDonald, the University created several working groups to respond to the pandemic. “We had, over the course of the summer, these continuity teams that took over from what originally had been a public health emergency planning team,” she said.

McDonald added the teams consisted of academics, administrative services, and broad spectrum, “which was the general team continuity of

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NEWS

instruction, enrollment, and student programs and services.”

These teams included between 10 and 20 people who “played a big part” in rolling out the current COVID-19 policies and procedures, according to McDonald.

Two other teams, the COVID Oversight Team comprised of chairs from each committee - and the Campus COVID Analytics Team (CCAT), look at every week’s results and statistics from the University as well as the city and state.

The University sends out weekly COVID-19 status surveys to departments that “the campus relies on for health and safety standards,” according to McDonald.

These departments include University Police, Facility Operations, and Dining Services.

McDonald added the University has signed a contract with the Broad Institute to conduct testing on campus. The community is divided into three different testing groups.

One group is resident students, who signed a contract to be tested every other week upon move-in, according to McDonald.

The second group is comprised of random samples of commuters and employees on campus. McDonald also said employees always have the option to test if they feel they should be.

The final group consists of students who are considered a “high-contact group.” This includes student employees and athletes who are more likely to be exposed to the virus, according to McDonald.

She reported the University has been testing between 600 and 650 people every week.

McDonald said so far, testing results have been “good.”

She added, “But every week, we hold our breath a little bit and wait for those results to come out.”

She acknowledged the spike in positive tests which occurred earlier this semester.

“We knew a couple [tests] came up as positives, and made a decision to test all of the students in that residence hall on that Friday,” she said.

McDonald added this week, the University will begin looking at contracts to continue testing for the spring semester.

Zimmerman discussed three major changes to the academic calendar for the Spring 2021 Semester which have been approved through governance.

She announced the first day of classes for the spring semester will be Jan. 25 rather than Jan. 19 as originally scheduled.

“That extra week in January will allow the University to conduct COVID-19 testing for students who are returning to campus,” Zimmerman said.

Due to the semester starting a week later and in order to prevent the spread of the virus, she announced the cancellation of spring break.

“Spring break, as we know, is a time when people often travel to areas that involve crowding and/or that could be COVID-19 high-risk

areas,” she said. shops will cover topics such as white In lieu of spring break, Zimmer- privilege and understanding racial man announced there will be an trauma. additional three-day weekend in Cabello acknowledged the “overMarch. whelming” response her division has “In order to provide that received regarding the workshops. much-needed break for people to “Our last couple sessions on undercatch up with academic work, classes standing racial trauma were maxed will not be held on Friday, March 19,” out.” she said.

She said her division intends The final change to the Spring on holding more workshops in the 2021 calendar is an adjustment to spring. the Pass/Fail Policy.

Cabello also emphasized the im“The deadline to select a pass/fail portance of supporting not only stugrade for a course has been extend- dents of color, but employees of coled to coincide with the date to with- or as well. draw from a course,” she said. “This She said it is important to “recogchange was approved through gover- nize that employees of color, specifnance in Fall of 2019 and was meant ically our black employees, are expeto be long-term.” riencing the world differently than Zimmerman announced stu- white employees and white people.” dents will know before registering Cabello also spoke about the role for classes whether the course will and importance of the Bias Educabe in-person, remote, or a hybrid so tion Response Team (B.E.R.T) and they will be able to plan accordingly. said that “bias incidents haven’t She added the University expects stopped because of a pandemic.” She the spring semester to look “a lot like stressed that students should use the this fall semester.” resources available to them.

Anti-racism initiatives Election Constanza Cabello, vice president Vice-President of Enrollment and of diversity, inclusion, and commu- Student Development Lorretta Holnity engagement, discussed the Uni- loway discussed how the University versity’s anti-racism initiatives. plans to respond to the aftermath of Cabello said the ongoing efforts the presidential election. to promote diversity and inclusion Holloway said the upcoming electhroughout the community are spe- tion is a topic her division has been cifically in response to the events talking about for a while. Student which took place nationwide as a re- Services has been using its social sult of the killing of George Floyd. media to encourage students to vote.

“We are meeting a moment right “We are very concerned about now that is steeped in a history and the campus community pre- and legacy of violence and racism in this post-election,” she said. country,” Cabello said, “and we are She added because the election being asked as a University commu- will not be decided that day, “It nity to really step up, and to really won’t matter which party wins. We’re meet the moment where we’re at and expecting a lot of turmoil, long term, do the work we need to do to create a and at least until the inauguration, if more equitable community.” not beyond.”

She said because of the death of Holloway emphasized the imporGeorge Floyd and the political move- tance of supporting students and the ments which took place over the campus community after election summer, the University is recom- day through the end of the semester mitting itself to promoting anti-rac- and into the spring. ism initiatives and, as a community, She said her division has been discussing ways the University can spreading the word about the Counovercome these obstacles. seling Center to ensure the commuOne of the efforts the Universi- nity is able to receive the emotional ty has implemented is the Inclusive support it may need post-election.

Excellence Committee, a group com“The concern was that we wanted prised of faculty, staff, and students students to really not feel helpless to advance anti-racism on campus. and hopeless, and really be able to “I think one of the biggest parts direct them and help them figure out of this work is making sure that we ways to take action,” Holloway said. have a shared vision and shared voShe also stressed the importance cabulary around these efforts,” Ca- of students protecting themselves bello said. and others if they are attending proShe added the committee “is tests. talking about reevaluating our pracHolloway added it is important tices, policies, and programs to re- to talk to the community about how distribute power to enhance racial students can protect themselves “in equity on campus.” those spaces.”

Cabello added the committee is She also recognized the imporgoing to “look at the policies, look at tance of having conversations about the practices, determine how we can “long-term educational programs.” best address inequities on our camHolloway encouraged students to pus. vote not only in national elections, “This group is going to be much but in local elections as well. more high-level in terms of looking Approximately 260 people - stuat policies,” she added. dents, faculty, and staff - joined the The University is hosting work- Zoom call. shops for faculty and staff, including one on teaching and advising and how to incorporate those processes CONNECT WITH CARA MCCARTHY into classrooms. The other work- cmccarthy8@student.framingham.edu

OP/ED

O P / ED THE GATEPOST EDITORIAL

More than a physical health emergency

Earlier this week, University Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Ellen Zimmerman announced changes to the Spring 2021 academic calendar at the All-University meeting.

One of the most significant calendar changes is the cancellation of spring break in order to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

We get it. With students leaving campus for a week to visit home or to go on anticipated trips, it would be challenging to contact trace and maintain our low COVID-19 positive cases.

We agree with our administration’s decision to cancel spring break - and stand by the cancellation - but with this decision comes the need to acknowledge the potential repercussions that may emerge from not having a break - which would not only affect our physical health, but also our mental health.

According to The New England Journal of Medicine, “The COVID-19 pandemic has alarming implications for individual and collective health and emotional and social functioning.”

Emotional outcomes of the pandemic include “stress, depression, irritability, insomnia, fear, confusion, anger, frustration, boredom, and stigma associated with quarantine, some of which persisted after the quarantine was lifted,” according to the journal.

In lieu of spring break, Zimmerman announced there would be an extra three-day weekend.

Giving students one Friday off is simply not enough time to recharge - especially for individuals struggling as a result of quarantine and strict social-distancing guidelines. Which, let’s be honest, is a vast majority of us.

Frankly, it’s insulting that our administration believes one day is an equal - and adequate - replacement for the typical week off.

As college students, we are under an unparalleled amount of stress. From figuring out Zoom classes to studying for final exams at home, we rely on spring break to recover and rejuvenate our bodies and our minds in order to finish the year strong.

We are not saying spring break needs to be reinstated.

Instead, we are asking our administration to take into consideration the miniscule effect one singular day off in the middle of a semester would have on our community and our health.

Is one Friday off - a day many students typically have off to begin with - really the right replacement for our expected week of rejuvenation?

Several Universities including Springfield College and the University of Colorado Boulder, have canceled their spring breaks and instead implemented several “mental health”

days to provide the much-needed break students and faculty need.

While we recognize that Springfield is a private college, and having additional days off may not be a possibility given the state-mandated number of class days, the administration needs to do more to support the community’s need for mental health resources.

We believe our University needs to better prepare for the inevitable repercussions that will emerge from removing our much-needed break.

Our University needs to ensure they are continuing to support the physical and mental health of its students and faculty.

Our University needs to ensure they are providing resources for the Counseling Center to meet the demands of every student in need of mental health counseling.

We are at a point where it cannot fall solely on our counselors’ shoulders to support our students’ emotional needs.

Mental health is just as important as physical health. No matter what health precautions we need to take, the University needs to ensure our community’s emotional needs are met with the same level of care.

We understand why the University has prioritized physical health over mental health given the public health emergency that is the COVID-19 pandemic - it is their job to keep us safe.

Our campus’ mental health emergency cannot be inadequately addressed - especially by our University’s leaders.

Have an opinion?

Feel free to email it to: gatepost@framingham.edu Opinions should be about 750 words.

Anyone can submit.

We look forward to hearing from you!

OCTOBER 23, 2020 | 9

Don’t split the vote

By McKenzie Ward Opinions Editor We are now less than two weeks from an election that will arguably be one of the most historic most of us will ever experience.

Although I was not originally thrilled when I realized that the only way to get President Donald Trump out of office was to vote for Joe Biden, I needed to remind myself that voting isn’t marriage. It’s not about waiting around for the perfect candidate because if I did, by then I’d have grey hair, six cats, and be spending my entire day watching “Jeopardy.”

And trust me: I love “Jeopardy,” but I can only get the answer wrong so many times until I get fed up and switch the channel.

Many argue that voting is like public transport. The bus route might not have the exact destination you want to go to, but they have ones close to it. So, you get on that bus and you go to the closest spot that you can and hope that one day, there is a bus spot at the exact location.

But over the past couple of months, I have heard from multiple people saying that we do have choices other than Biden if we don’t want to vote for Trump - Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian Party’s Presidential nominee and Howie Hawkins, the Green Party Presidential nominee.

Now I would never force anyone to have the same political beliefs as I, but if you do not want to see another four years of Trump, please do not vote third party.

Voting for a third-party candidate is just another vote for Trump as it will split the votes among Biden, Jorgenson, and Howie Hawkins, and Trump will win.

This happened in 1912 when Teddy Roosevelt, the cowboy president, decided to run as a candidate for the party he established, the Bull Moose Party.

Roosevelt originally tried running as a Republican but lost the nomination to friend and Republican, William Howard Taft.

So, Roosevelt did what he thought was best and created a third party.

Although Roosevelt believed what he was doing was what was best for the country, his choice to run as a third party split the Republican vote between Taft and Roosevelt and ultimately, Democrat Woodrow Wilson won the 1912 election.

Although I understand that Biden is not the perfect nominee and that many do not want to vote for him, a vote for anyone but Biden is a vote for Trump and a vote to take away the rights of millions of individuals living in America.

Many people see voting for someone like Jorgenson, Hawkins, or even Kayne West - I can’t believe it, either - as a protest vote.

A protest vote is a vote cast in an election to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the two parties’ nominees or with the current political system of two parties. Many argue that voting third party allows them not to choose the “lesser of two evils” and to protest the two-party system.

However, this is not the election to try to dismantle the two-party system. Dismantling the two-party system is going to take years of work and unlearning the current mindset our country has that we can only have two parties.

Our founders warned us of the troubles that would create, and surprisingly, we didn’t listen.

This election is not about making your dislike of the two-party system heard through your vote when your vote decides if I will have a right over my reproductive system and who I can and cannot marry.

This election is bigger than just the individual person.

This election is about…

Women.

Immigrants.

People of Color.

The LGBTQ+ community.

And the millions of other people whom Trump has repeatedly put in danger the past four years and will continue to do for the next four if elected again.

This election is about protecting our entire country.

We need a president who will put the people first and a vote for anyone but Biden will jeopardize that.

We don’t need a Democratic or Republican president.

We need an American president.

So please, before you vote, remember your vote is more than just a filled-in bubble.

Your vote helps determine our future.

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

10 | OCTOBER 23, 2020

OP/ED

Clash of the Opinions Yes on Question 1 The Massachusetts “Right to Repair” initiative in 2012 gave independent auto-repair shops access to diagnostic data and safety information previously only accessible to the car manufacturers themselves. This meant that Massachusetts residents could choose to go to smaller businesses, with the aim of bolstering competition in the auto-repair industry.

Question 1 (2020) aims to transform the law to require manufacturers to include standardized open-access software for independent auto-repair shops to access telematics systems. According to the State Attorney General, telematics systems are defined as “systems that collect and wirelessly transmit mechanical data to a remote server.”

Along with this, owners of vehicles that have telematics systems would be able to access their data from a mobile device.

The “Right to Repair” laws have always been about creating a healthy competition between manufacturers and independent repair shops - it’s neither fair, nor convenient, for Massachusetts residents to feel cornered into paying manufacturers more money simply due to the fact that their local mechanic can’t access their information.

The only people who win from a “no” vote is Big Auto.

A person with access to this information is able to retrieve mechanical data, send commands, and perform diagnostic testing on the vehicle. Accessibility should not be seen as a privilege when purchasing a vehicle - it should be a given.

Furthermore, this seems to be against what residents voted for in the past. According to Massachusetts Elections Statistics, 85.7% of Massachusetts residents voted in favor of Question 1 (2012), and telematic systems have just replaced the revenue that manufacturers earned from charging consumers for access to diagnostic data.

In fact, trade organizations such as Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association, Coalition for Auto Repair Equality, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers and the Association for Global Automakers agreed to meet these requirements in all 50 states, despite Question 1 (2012) not being a federally mandated bill.

A decision for “no” could have serious consequences in the future, mostly pertaining to what automobile manufacturers will be able to get away with. We cannot allow companies to create an atmosphere in which residents have no options but to conform to whatever price manufacturers set.

One of the biggest arguments against a vote for “yes” is a concern about cybersecurity. Naturally, this anxiety is valid because telematics systems can track a vehicle’s location and perform certain tasks such as turning off the vehicle, or even braking.

The real question is, “Why did we ever feel safe leaving this sensitive information in the hands of big manufacturers in the first place?”

If a vote for “no” is genuinely due to a fear about cybersecurity, then we need to assess where this information is going, and if it is being used for anything other than repairs. Just because this information is in a server that may never be used doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s secure.

This is why, even if question 1 does win, we need to find out what is being done with this data, and how lawmakers plan on creating a secure environment for the future of automobiles.

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A YES VOTE would update a “right-to-repair” law that allows vechicle owners and independent repair shops the same access to veichle computer information that is used to dignose problems by a handheld code reader that automotive manufacturers have.

A NO VOTE would mean no update to the current Right to Repair law, which would not force manufactuers to give access to the vehicle computer information to vechicle owners and independent repair shops.

No on Question 1 A “no” vote on Question 1 (2020) would not require U.S. vehicles manufactured in model year 2022 and beyond to include standardized open access software systems, which would allow independent autorepair shops to access telematic systems and data. Only automotive manufacturers - or auto-repair shops affiliated with a manufacturer, such as those at an automotive dealership - would be able to access that data.

Those against this proposed change usually cite privacy as their deciding factor.

The Coalition for Safe and Secure Data has raised $26.5 million in contributions against the ballot initiative, mainly from automotive manufacturers. The Coalition claims approving this ballot question will make conditions easier for anyone to access data about people’s driving habits, not just independent auto-repair shops.

Those in favor of the initiative say drivers will be able to access their own driving data from their mobile devices and personal computers. If it is easy enough for that data to be transmitted on the internet, it could easily be accessed by hackers and criminals for nefarious purposes.

A “no” vote would allow lawmakers more time to develop regulations.

Those regulations would put into place security measures, and give automotive manufacturers time to create, test, and install security software and hardware.

Telematic data is not necessary for independent auto-repair shops to operate. They have been functioning fine without access to this data for years. Despite the modernization of automobiles, their systems remain mechanical. Therefore, most issues can be resolved without the need to analyze telematic data.

The new law would not require authorization from manufacturers in order for a third party to access data. The current regulations serve to protect consumers’ data from falling into the wrong hands. Without those safeguards in place, anyone with an internet connection and some computer knowledge could access, manipulate, or erase data from consumer automobiles. Proposed changes outlined in Question 1 (2020) would cause more harm than good.

Consumers may benefit from access to this data, but the uncertainty of who else could access it places an individuals’ health and safety at risk. The data would be accessible at any time, meaning hackers could modify data while an individual is driving, which has the potential to impact their vehicle’s diagnostic system and cause an accident.

Beyond criminal purposes, for-profit third parties have the potential to use data for unwanted marketing and other purposes if this question passes. Companies would have the potential to know GPS locations of consumers’ vehicles, and potentially use that information to figure out where people shop, eat, and live.

Even more dangerous is the potential for GPS data to be accessible to stalkers and sexual predators. Accessible telematic data would allow such individuals to locate the whereabouts of their victims.

A “no” vote on this question supports privacy rights to which all citizens are entitled. This sensitive information is best in the hands of automotive manufacturers, who will safeguard it from hackers, stalkers, and advertising agencies.

We should not vote to approve making access to telematic systems and data free and open until proper security measures are in place.

Approving this measure before these systems have been tested is a potential threat to driver safety.

OP/ED

OCTOBER 23, 2020 | 11

We’ll settle for Biden this time, but never again

By Emily Rosenberg Staff Writer I remember how hopeful and excited I was in February watching the Democratic debates at night while doing my math homework.

In the morning, my friends and I would casually debate who had the strongest bid for the presidency.

At this point, the selection of candidates was diverse, and it was anyone’s prize. In our friend group, we had one for the Yang Gang, several Bernie Bros, a strong Liz supporter, and then a girl who timidly blurted, “I like the gay one.”

Yet, however long or strange our political conversations got, they always seemed to end with one phrase: “None of this matters. Biden is going to win the nomination anyway.”

Why? Biden was losing in the primaries to Sanders, Buttigieg, and anyone newer and cooler. Heck, even Amy Klobouchar had a stronger chance of getting my vote at that point and her most memorable debate points were something like, “I don’t seem like I belong on this stage, but I promise I do.”

As an aging politician, Biden also made questionable racist statements on the campaign trail and had poorly defined priorities.

This was extremely frustrating to me.

Progressive, unprecedented faces stood on that stage and their merit

was undermined by the democratic system, not because Biden was the best option, but because he was the only option in a country where a presidential candidate runs on the campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” and that old America was even more racist, misogynist, and segregated than it is today.

As the only non-radical man on the stage, Biden’s almost obvious nomination was a compromise that gave swing voters and conservatives a justification to vote for the Democratic party without feeling offended or threatened by his views or identity.

Right now, it is weird how settling for Biden is the most progressive action you can take in TrumpLand.

But something like a Biden nomination is something that must never happen again if we want to make real strides toward equality.

In the past four years, the LGBTQ+ community, illegal immigrants, the disabled, women, and all people of color (POC) have been battling for respect and for rights, and most of all living with the fear that their rights will be taken away.

The election of 2020 is the election to win back security and rid the country of hate.

One day, I was scrolling through my social media feed, and everyone was sharing a post: “It isn’t a vote for Joe Biden, it’s a vote for equality.”

Well, yes… but no.

A vote for Biden is a vote against Donald Trump, but a vote for Biden is also a vote reaffirming that we can’t have what we want unless a white man says we can have it.

Funny how the candidate for “equality” proves how white men dominate and rule this country.

Imagine the unprecedented and inspirational changes that could have been made in this country if we had a nominee willing to fight for universal health care, or universal basic income.

Imagine our first openly gay nominee.

Or our second woman presidential nominee.

Or our second POC presidential nominee.

This would become the norm instead of something of a shock to Americans.

This election, the Democratic party settled for Biden because they couldn’t risk anyone else. The Midwest and swing state voters will not vote for Sanders or Warren because their socialist, liberal ideals are considered too extreme, and they wouldn’t vote for a moderate candidate like Buttigieg because he is gay.

Biden’s nomination highlights the racist and patriarchal institutions on which our country is built.

The people of the United States ar-

en’t ready for policies that offer opportunities for all, and if they were, Trump wouldn’t be president.

Think about it: by allowing the rest of the candidates to step down, the Democratic party voters basically said they were stronger with a white man.

We are not beating a racist system by voting for Biden - we are feeding into the racist system by giving racists what they want and playing it safe.

In the end, it’s not the president who decides whether we keep our rights - it’s us.

Just as we can’t settle for racism, we can’t settle for a weak candidate.

If we want to dismantle racism, we need to stop compromising with it.

In the next four years, we need to use our power to influence through social media and word of mouth to convince those uncomfortable voting for an extreme candidate that perhaps those politicians’ policies aren’t so absurd afterall.

Instead of settling for someone the other side might deal with - although barely - we need to show them that it’s okay to step out of their comfort zone.

During the next election, there will be no need to settle because the progressive candidate will be a winner.

What Cardi B says about us

By James Barraford Staff Writer

On Aug. 17, 2020, former Vice President Joe Biden was interviewed

by Cardi B for Elle Magazine. She asked him questions about how his administration would deal with police reform, racial equality, and college debt, amongst other issues.

At the same time, her popular single featuring Megan Thee Stallion, “WAP,” was breaking records on the Billboard Hot 100 for several weeks.

As of today, it is still charting at #2.

While I don’t question Cardi B’s sincerity, I wonder whether it was the best decision to allow her to interview the potential Leader of the Free World, especially with her infamous new song.

There is no denying Cardi B has stage presence and charisma. She can be wildly raucous and funny.

Yet I am left asking myself whether Cardi B is reflective of a healthy society. If Trump is symptomatic of our country’s unaddressed corruption, does music like Cardi B’s “WAP” reflect that corruption?

Upon watching the music video, I wasn’t shocked or amused; I was bored and saddened by her attempts at transgression. Her song, an acronym for “wet ass p****,” had none of the flare of “I Like It,” which made her enormous ego a charming asset. This felt more like the agitations of a lost soul.

When one of the most popular

performers in the country can stay on top of the charts for weeks singing about her “p****,” is that not representative of something grossly wrong with our society?

The Washington Post had hardly a negative thing to say about it. The only exception was an article titled, “The ‘WAP’ music video controversy that no one is talking about,” which was concerned about the welfare of the wildcats - the wildcats both performers emulated through animal print lingerie - featured in the music video.

The New York Times was laudatory of “WAP.” Jen Gunter, a gynecologist, wrote a piece in the Times called, “The Glory (and the Taboo) of ‘WAP.’” She praises Cardi and Megan for bringing up the issue of vaginal lubrication, a question she says many of her patients struggle with for fear of abnormality.

“So as I watched Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion praise a wet and gushy vagina in a stunning display of confidence - and not just sexual confidence - I was thrilled.” Gunter said.

How anyone could seriously consider this to be an act of “confidence” is mind-boggling. An act of cynical narcissism seems more accurate.

The lyrics, which I won’t repeat, are a disservice to women. It saddens me how our society is so numb that somehow music like this can be tout-

ed as empowering.

On Oct. 8, Megan Thee Stallion’s former partner, Tory Lanez, now faces two felony charges after allegedly shooting her in the foot with an unregistered firearm in July.

Can this vicious attack at the hands of Megan’s partner be considered a shocker? The song debases women more effectively than any pornographer has.

Aside from several on-camera assaults, most notoriously when Cardi B struck Nicki Minaj in 2018 at New York Fashion Week, she has also admitted to seducing, drugging, and robbing her clients when she was a stripper in New York City.

After much prodding from the public, which had created #SurvivingCardiB, an allusion to alleged sexual predator R. Kelly, she released an apology through Twitter on March 26, 2019. She explained she was limited financially during that time and behaved in ways she regretted. In conclusion Cardi said, “The men I spoke about in my life were men that I dated and was involved with men that were conscious, willing and aware. I have a past that I can’t change we all do.”

It’s nice to know Cardi was courteous enough to ask the men permission to be drugged and robbed.

The symptom of our culture’s decay which allows Trump to thrive despite numerous alleged accusations

of sexual misconduct and endless boarish pronouncements is the same disease that drives Cardi B’s records to #1.

While this is a highly unusual election, and I cannot truly fault Biden for speaking with a popular performer, it is demoralizing to think that this is how low our culture has fallen.

I do not find it shocking or coincidental that Trump is the president and Cardi B is interviewing Biden.

Our polarization has allowed us to overlook bad behavior in the name of political expediency. This unconscious blindness hurts us all.

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

OP/ED

12 | OCTOBER 23, 2020

Campus Conversations What do you think about spring break being canceled?

By Donald Halsing, Associate Editor

“I kind of expected it, with everything going on. I don’t think it’s bad - we have the three-day weekend now.”

-Kayla Barboza, freshman

“If it’s for our safety I agree with it.

Obviously, everyone wants a spring break - but this year nothing’s going to be normal. If it’s for our safety I agree with it.”

-Ashley Wixson, freshman

“I don’t think it’s that big of a deal because you can just turn your assignments in and go do your break.

You don’t have to be here.”

-Twayne Clarke, sophomore

“I don’t really think it’s a big deal if we’re getting another week for winter break. I don’t really see the big deal in it. I think people just want to complain - that’s it.”

-Danielle Parenteau, sophomore

“Especially during these times now, there’s not much to do anyways. It doesn’t matter to me too much. Because it’s getting added onto the longer break during winter and Christmas I can spend more time with my family that way.”

-Nathan Robillard, freshman

“I feel like with Corona[virus] it is kind of a safety hazard to have it. But, I feel like a week off would be nice. I wish they would put it back.”

-Cassie Langley, freshman

Op/Ed submissions reflect the opinions of their authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of The Gatepost or its staff. @TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

SPORTS

OCTOBER 23, 2020 | 13

SP O RTS

Men’s Soccer team ‘fired up’ for next year’s season

By Danielle Achin Staff Writer This year, the COVID-19 outbreak forced all Framingham State fall sports to come to an end.

Sophomore Dante Mancini was crushed to hear his soccer season was cut short.

Mancini arrived from Hopedale and had been playing soccer since he was about 3 years old. He decided to continue his athletic career at Framingham State, and has been representing the uniform since.

“When I was younger I played a bunch of sports. I was into soccer, lacrosse, football, and basketball sometimes,” Mancini said.

“I played soccer and lacrosse for seven or eight years just before high school started, and I stuck to just soccer.”

Last season, the team took home victory in the MASCAC championship game against Salem State, 1-0, and were determined to make it there again.

They played their final game Nov. 16, where they fell in the NCAA Tournament against Messiah University.

“We were all sad, after our last

season we were all excited to play again,” Mancini said. “A Lot of us live for the competitiveness, and we just wanted to fight for another championship.”

Mancini finished last year’s season with a .118 shot percentage, scoring two goals and an assist.

Although they don’t have any scheduled practice times, this didn’t stop the team from getting together on their own to play.

“We still practice at least two times a week - we’re still very lucky to even play,” Mancini said.

“Even though we don’t have a season and the competitiveness isn’t there, we still love to get together and continue to play.”

Mancini said the passion his teammates showed for the game and the welcoming community Framingham offered is what kept his spirit going.

“Going into freshman year, I never actually looked into going to Framingham until last minute,” Mancini said. “But with the team, not even just the chemistry, but the way everyone cared about the game, it was one of the only factors that kept me at Framingham.”

He added, “Without my teammates I wouldn’t be where I am.”

Mancini said with COVID-19

Courtesy of Dante Mancini

Courtesy of Dante Mancini

having postponed their season, it has brought them closer together as a team on the field.

“We had to stick together as a group and pushed each other on the field,” Mancini said. “Through all that adversity, in the end it paid off. The balance of having fun and knowing when to win and get stuff done was one of the key factors that helped me stick to the group.”

Mancini hopes the season will resume next year, when he can get back to the field with his teammates.

He offered some words of experience to the upcoming members.

“A bunch of us know the feeling of almost not being able to play, so we try to stay positive,” Mancini said. “Keep working hard and make this experience the best, and remember what’s driving us all, four seasons isn’t much in the long run, so just show everything you have.”

CONNECT WITH DANIELLE ACHIN dachin@student.framingham.edu

Courtesy of Dante Mancini

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

14 | OCTOBER 23, 2020

ARTS & FEATURES

ARTS & FEATURES January Gill O’Neil presents personal poetry

By Leighah Beausoleil Editorial Staff To kick off the English Department’s Alan Feldman Week of Poetry, FSU welcomed poet January Gill O’Neil as the keynote speaker Oct. 20 on Zoom.

O’Neil has published three poetry collections, the first, “Underlife,” in 2009, then “Misery Islands” in 2014 which won a 2015 Paterson Award for Literary Excellence, and “Rewilding” in 2018 which was recognized by Massachusetts Center for the Book as a notable collection for that year.

O’Neil is currently an English professor at Salem State University and holds board positions at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs at Montserrat College of Art. Encouraging everyone to vote, O’Neil began her reading with a poem titled “November 4th, 2008” from her book “Misery Island.”

O’Neil described how “momentous” it was voting for the first Black president.

The emotion O’Neil felt during this moment was expressed in the lines, “Their hands on mine darken the circle on the paper ballot / Our grip on the pencil tight enough to break / The weight of us overflowing.”

O’Neil said in New England people often tell her she looks similar to the former first lady, Michelle Obama.

In her poem titled, “On Being Told I Look Like FLOTUS, New Year’s Eve Party 2014,” O’Neil said she knows it’s a complement, but knows it is an “allblack-people-look-alike moment.”

The poem touched on the awkwardness of the interaction shown in the line, “So I use the minimal amount of muscles to crack a smile.” The poem illustrated not only the awkwardness felt, but the patience it takes to deal with these common microaggressions.

O’Neil said her poem titled “Hoodie” was written for her son - who was 13 years old at the time.

She said she wrote the poem thinking about Tamir Rice, a 13-year-old boy who was fatally shot by police while playing

“I would never tell my daughter that some nights I lie awake / listening for the raccoon I know is in the attic / but pretend isn’t there” - January O’Neil, from her poem “Brave” with a toy gun in a park.

But she added the poem is also reminiscent of Trayvon Martin, who was fatally shot by police walking home from a convenience store.

The poem discussed the fears many Black parents share concerning their children’s safety when out in the world.

O’Neil’s disbelief that an innocent child could be mistaken for anything else is demonstrated in the poem’s last line, “And wonder who could mistake him for anything but good.”

O’Neil’s poem, “Brave,” jumped back and forth in time. The beginning is set on Sept. 15, 2001.

Only a few days following 9/11, her wedding was meant to take place in her hometown, Norfolk, Virginia.

The poem describes the drive down with her family and fiancé then jumps to the lines, “I would never tell my daughter that some nights I lie awake / listening for the raccoon I know is in the attic / but pretend isn’t there,” but praying the raccoon does not have kids.

From there, the poem delves into the loneliness she felt from her now ex-husband’s absence. Flashing back to the day in court when the judge “uncoupled” them, she said, “Hallmark doesn’t make a card for this.”

This line speaks for itself of the surging emotions felt as they ended their marriage.

The poem then begins to rewind, demonstrated by the repetition of the phrase, “And before that,” tracing back to when she first asked if they should go through with the wedding.

The ending parallels her personal family dynamic with that of the raccoon shown in the line, “I would never tell my

daughter male raccoons have no part in raising their young.”

The Q&A portion of the event was facilitated by student moderators - Sara Hughes, Kurt Shaffer, and The Onyx Editor-in-Chief Olivia Banks. The audience wrote their questions in the Zoom chat.

Shaffer read Sam Stafinski’s question, “When you constructed [Brave] did the idea of relating the raccoon to codependency on men come to you, or was it something that you had to work on?”

O’Neil said, “It was my goal to try to put things together that didn’t seemingly work, and try to make them work.”

She added she didn’t initially plan to use the comparison of the raccoon, and said when writing, “I think we are drawn to the subjects and the moments that we need to be drawn to.”

O’Neil said she found it interesting that she was able to take three seemingly different topics - 9/11 travels, divorce, and a raccoon - and loosely connect them all.

Lisa Eck, chair of the English Department, asked O’Neil how she uses time in her poems.

O’Neil said her poem “Brave” was written around 2013-14 at a writing retreat. The writing prompt had been to write a poem that takes place in the past but also jumps around in time.

Banks said many of O’Neil’s poems are very personal and relate to her children, and then asked her if she ever struggles with feeling “vulnerable” dealing with such personal topics when reading to an audience.

O’Neil said, “In thinking about poems that I’ve written about my kids, I like to think I’m telling my perspective of the

“Their hands on mine darken the circle on the paper ballot / Our grip on the pencil tight enough to break / The weight of us overflowing” - January O’Neil, from her poem “November 4th, 2008”

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

story. I feel like when they’re older they can tell their version of the story.”

On reading personal poems, she said, “I don’t think I know any other way to be - I’m fairly honest and straightforward in my real life.

“I kind of really believe in saying things simply and directly, and trying to continue the poetic language that happens,” O’Neil added. “So, it’s a delicate balance.”

She said when looking back on poetry she has published in her books, there is a “transfer” that happens where it becomes art and she is able to separate it from the original emotion. This ultimately allows her to read and talk about her work without feeling embarrassed.

Hughes read Helen Bodell’s question, “Can you talk about the instinct to protect your children in this climate? It is stark and painful and brave the way you share the hard history and it’s perpetuation in the present day.”

O’Neil discussed how her son is now 16 years old and working and has to think to himself whether a customer is rude because they aren’t happy with their order or simply because a person of color is serving them.

She said she wants to write more on the subject, but doesn’t think poetry is the right medium to do so. She said she is thinking of possibly writing essays on the subject matter.

Approximately 70 students, faculty, and staff were in attendance including Alan Feldman, former FSU English Department chair and professor.

The Feldman Week of Poetry is held annually in honor of Feldman who was the founder of FSU’s Creative Writing Program as well as an award-winning poet, according to Eck. Eck said every year, the English Department invites a poet to hold a workshop for selected students followed by a reading event of the poet’s work accompanied with a Q&A. Other Week of Poetry events included a poetry reading by English Department faculty Oct. 22 and a student open mic Oct. 23.

CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu

ARTS & FEATURES

OCTOBER 23, 2020 | 15

Music, nature, and a paintbrush

Tim McDonald shares his latest collection ‘the drums are the sun’

By Cara McCarthy Associate Editor The Mazmanian Art Gallery hosted their latest installment of their Tuesday Talks series on Zoom, Oct. 13 with a presentation

by Art professor Tim McDonald.

Director of the Mazmanian Art Gallery, Ellie Krakow, introduced McDonald and said the talk would be unlike past sessions, as McDonald said he wanted it to be “more of a conversation,” which consisted of a 20-minute presentation followed by a question and answer portion lead by Mazmanian Art Gallery interns - Samantha Coombs and Haley Donahue.

The 2020-21 academic year will mark McDonald’s 15th anniversary with the University, according to Coombs, who introduced McDonald and gave a brief overview of his career as an artist and professor.

McDonald earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Studio Art from the University of Rhode Island in 1983 and would go on to get his MFA in Painting from East Tennessee State University in 2005, according to Coombs.

She added his works have been displayed in solo and group exhibitions locally and nationally, most recently at Farm Project Space in Wellfleet.

“He lives with his life partner in Fitchburg and Wilmington, North Carolina with several rescue animal companions - where he makes art, reads extensively, shovels snow, mows grass, watches birds, and drinks too much coffee,” she said.

Having had McDonald as a professor herself, Coombs said she was very excited to talk about how his thought process and personal experiences have affected his artwork.

McDonald then began his talk by thanking Coombs and Donahue for the “great work” they’d been doing with the talks. “I want to thank Ellie for organizing these Tuesday Talks and really… I’m humbled to be in a lineup with the group that you’ve assembled for these talks,” he said.

McDonald began his talk by telling those in attendance he was only going to talk about his most recent works.

He said this would be the first time people would be seeing his artwork aside from - what he said, were poorly photographed Instagram posts.

McDonald said the discus-

sion would be a great opportunity for other people to share their thoughts on his work.

He then proceeded to pull up his presentation titled, “the drums are the sun,” after his most recent project.

“I wanted to say that I am coming to you from the Breadmill Creek Watershed in Cape Fear River Basin in Wilmington, North Carolina,” he said. “That’s where I’ve been basically since March.

“I came down here for what I expected to be two months,” he added. “And I ended up being here from March until July.”

According to McDonald, his new pieces of art deal with abstraction and his experiences in the natural world.

He said while he was working on his pieces, he “stumbled” upon several tantric paintings from Rajasthan. He said he was amazed by, what he called, “contemporary abstraction” of the paintings and said he felt a “kinship” with them.

“I’ve been working relatively small for a while, so I’ve sort of gravitated to that,” he said. “I was like, ‘how do you make this work at this scale?’”

He decided these works would be 2 feet by 2 feet.

McDonald explained how he was inspired by Terry Winters’s work - an artist who specialized in painting natural systems, systems of thought, and systems of mathematics. He said, “I was especially drawn to his drawings, but the last body of paintings that he made, ‘chromatic feel’ - the last ones I saw in person - I was really drawn to.

“I started keeping that stuff in mind when I came down here,” he added.

He said he decided his paintings would be in a diamond format because he was inspired by a song he was listening to at the time called “The Diamond Sea.” McDonald shared later in his presentation much of his inspiration comes from music as well as nature - specifically his desire to be near the beach.

The first painting he shared, “the drums are the sun he heard someone say.” A diamond shaped canvas with a yellow, sun-like shape in the middle that gets darker until it mimics the color of the night sky.

He said the title of the painting comes from Rion Amilcar Scott’s short story, “The Last Son of God.” “Many of the paintings that I made during this time kind of fit

‘the drums are the sun” by Tim McDonald

either visually or thematically with the original idea of making paintings over the light of the sea,” he said.

He then shared “swirling and gathering toward the ocean toward the shore,” another diamond shaped piece that resembles that of a stone tile.

“It was like the stones that wash up on the beach - the tide goes in, the tide goes out,” he said. “And it makes this pattern on the shore.

“And ultimately, I saw the painting in the midst of its making, and that’s what determined where it went,” he added.

Before introducing his piece, “ancient cape fear,” he said he was inspired by painted utility poles “ancient cape fear” was written on one.

The photo, which was taken from a canoe, shows the trees being reflected into the water as the sun was setting.

He then proceeded to share “longleaf,” which he said was inspired by the colors in the bark of the long leaf tree and feature thick, vain purple and neon green lines that resembled the nearly extinct tree, according to McDonald.

After sharing a few more pieces of artwork, he said he was only giving “an overview” of his work.

In total, McDonald said he made 16 paintings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic after deciding to stay in North Carolina while he taught remotely.

“The world is feeling particularly toxic for me - as it has for whatever reason,” he said. “And I was just feeling the pressure and it was

pushing down on me - I needed to do something.”

He concluded by saying he made the paintings to be a “refuge” for himself.

Following up on his presentation, Donahue and Coombs asked McDonald questions about his work.

Donahue asked, “Do you find it easier to get your intentions across when posing your statement as a question being asked of you and delivering it in a poetic way?

“Does the poetic nature of your statement accompany any other works?” she added. “I know you talk a lot about other art forms in your own art.”

McDonald responded by saying he feels like it’s really hard to write a statement about his works.

He said, “I was getting nowhere with it - because I’m still thinking about the work, it’s not all super clarified for me with what I’m doing.

“It’s a way for me to think about everything that’s riding under and through it,” he added.

He was also asked if his paintings shared a common theme or if they were meant to be viewed in a particular order.

“They all relate because they’re all sort of evocation of consciousness, but self contained in its shapes,” McDonald said.

[Editor’s note: Patrick Brady contribuuted to this article.]

CONNECT WITH CARA MCCARTHY cmccarthy8@student.framingham.edu

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

16 | OCTOBER 23, 2020

ARTS & FEATURES

Spooky

By Cara McCarthy Associate Editor In 2005, no one thought a show called “Supernatural” would end up being one of the most popular TV shows of all time.

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles star as the dynamic, monster-hunter duo Sam and Dean Winchester, respectively.

Two brothers who were raised by their father, John, after the “mysterious” demon related death of their mother, Mary.

While the show originally was about the brothers hunting and killing vampires, werewolves, and crossroads demons, after 15 seasons, the show has evolved from killing monsters, to saving Sam and Dean from a fate of being possessed by Lucifer and Michael - yes, the archangels - to teaming up with angels and demons alike to kill God. But, we still don’t know how the whole “killing God” thing is going to work out.

The show, which is currently airing their 15th and final season, has captivated peoples screens for over 15 years, and for good reason.

The show was initially scheduled to end after season five, but thanks to the “Supernatural” fandom, it survived an additional 10 seasons.

For a show as old as “Supernatural,” their ability to keep fans invested for this long with captivating story lines makes it worthy of its spot as a spooky suggestion.

By Robert Johnson Jr. Arts & Features Editor

When it comes to the Archie Comics universe - or “Archieverse,” as it is often referred - the mythos behind Sabrina Spellman’s character has always been my favorite one to observe.

Every interpretation of her story is unique, and this brilliant comic is no exception. With a riveting story by Kelly Thompson, art

by Veronica and Andy Fish, and lettering by Jack Morelli, this take Frictional Games on “Sabrina” is as enchanting and as gorgeous as per the franchise’s

By Brennan Atkins usual.

Arts & Features Editor This time around, Sabrina and her aunts (as well as Salem) move “Amnesia: The Dark Descent” into the close-to-Riverdale-butis a 2010 survival horror game not-quite town of Greendale, made by Frictional Games, and where the Spellman family have places the player into the mind to acclimate to their new surof Daniel, a man who can’t reroundings. member much, and is slowly Of course, with them being the starting to grow insane.

Spellmans, this endeavor is not The game challenges the playa simple one, for Sabrina quickly er in a series of puzzles through comes to grips with the fact that an 1830’s Prussian castle, all her fellow high school peers are while being chased down by a not all they seem to be, for many humanoid abomination. Daniel of them are monsters by nightfall. has no way of fighting the monThis comic run is fun, as it is sters, and all you can do is run also hilarious and addictive. I and hide. highly implore that you give this a This creates a triangle of read if you, too, have been missing gameplay resulting in searching, “Chilling Adventures” something running, and hiding. While this fierce. may seem redundant, the game does everything in its power to make new areas interesting through lighting choices, the intensity of the music, and even a new monster at one point.

The story is unlike anything else in horror games to date even its own sequel, “Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs,” failed to live up to its stunning reveals and twists. One thing I personally love about the game is that the story gets better with how much effort one puts in - you don’t really have to read every note, but doing so will piece together a narrative that made this game one of the most popular horror Archie Comics The CW Television Network games to date.

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

Touchstone Pictures Skellington Productions

By Leighah Beausoleil Editorial Staff

Growing tiresome of the same old routine year after year, Jack Skellington in Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” longs for something new in Halloween Town.

Stumbling upon a door to Christmas Town, Jack becomes obsessed with the holiday’s twinkling lights and happy carols. He believes there must be some deeper meaning to the holiday he just can’t seem to grasp.

In a town meeting with his fellow Halloween Town citizens, Jack declares the holiday for themselves.

The once joyous holiday now takes a sinister turn.

As Jack assigns roles to everyone in the town, each element of Christmas slowly turns dark with toys becoming monsters, a sleigh now pulled by skeletons, and ultimately the kidnapping of Santa Claus.

Danny Elfman, the movie’s composer and Jack’s singing voice, masterfully composed each piece to encapsulate each character’s persona. Notably the longing in “Jack’s Lament,” the sorrow of “Sally’s Song,” and the wickedness of “Oogie Boogie’s Song.”

And I simply cannot leave out the fan-favorite song, “This is Halloween,” that will surely get you into the Halloween spirit.

The stop-motion film is beautifully crafted with each character uniquely sculpted. Elements of Burton’s beloved art style are all present.

The movie celebrates its 27th anniversary Oct. 29, and still year after year, it never lets down longtime fans and continues to draw in new viewers.

If you haven’t seen this movie yet, get out there and watch it.

With its catchy songs and loveable characters, it’s surely one you won’t regret.

ARTS & FEATURES

OCTOBER 23, 2020 | 17

Suggestions

By Cara McCarthy Associate Editor

By Jared Graf Asst. Arts & Features Editor Nothing says Halloween quite like a vulgar, murder-fueled rap album from two of New York’s most elite MC’s. Three years ago, Fabolous and Jadakiss teamed up to deliver the collaborative project “Friday on Elm Street,” a Halloween anthem that went under most people’s radar.

The duo begins by tapping into the classic horror movie series “Friday the 13th” for inspiration on “F vs. J Intro.” With Fabolous rapping from the perspective of Freddy Krueger and Jadakiss as Jason Voorhees, the pair detail a killing spree while getting off some amusing lines over an eerie instrumental.

“Run and then all a sudden you fall like the white chicks,” Jadakiss spits, somehow managing to keep his intimidating demeanor intact.

On “Ground Up,” the chilling production allows Fab and Kiss to shine, as they drop their horror movie personas for a more modern take on murder, rapping about violence that happens every day in their own neighborhoods.

For those not interested in listening to an entire album about death, both rappers find moments to keep the mood light with some witty one-liners. “She so cold, have your nose running,” Fab says while Kiss details his version of a bad day - “red wine on a silk suit.”

If “Friday on Elm Street” isn’t in your Halloween playlist, it should be.

New Line Cinema

By Patrick Brady Staff Writer

Since Halloween is quickly approaching, it has come to my attention that the sequel to 2017’s “IT” was quite underappreciated - “IT Chapter 2” is still a great horror film.

The scares come more frequently and there are much bigger set pieces. In fact, the film’s epic climax is huge in scale.

Contrary to the previous film, the movie centers around the adults of the “losers’ club,” rather than their kid counterparts.

And while the character motivations and dialogue can be cliché at times, there is always something happening on-screen.

“Chapter 2” has the perfect blend of gore, scares, and humor.

But above all else, Bill Hader’s portrayal of the grown-up Richie Tozier steals the show.

Even though it relies too much on jump-scares during the final act, “IT Chapter 2” will appeal to any horror buff and film enthuDef Jam siast alike.

Growing up, as spooky season approached, my favorite movie to watch during Disney Channel’s Monstober was “Halloweentown.”

The movie focuses on 13-yearold Marnie Piper, played by Kimberly J. Brown, and her family as she learns she is a witch and her mother, Gwen, played by Judith Hoag, hid her and her siblings from their powers and refused to let them go out on Halloween.

It isn’t until their grandmother Aggie - played by Debbie Reynolds - shows up that they realize who they really are.

Early in the film, it is revealed that if Marnie does not use her powers soon, she will lose them for good. This results in an argument between Aggie and Gwen, which Marnie overhears and decides to follow her grandmother back to Halloweentown.

While the film initially is about Marnie learning about her powers, the antagonist - Kalibar is revealed and Marnie must join forces with her grandmother and her mother to defeat him and save the town.

The idea of there being an alternate dimension where it is Halloween every day of the year captivated me as a kid - as it was my favorite holiday growing up - and to this day remains one of my favorite Halloween movies of all time.

Disney

Cartoon Network

Emily Rosenberg Staff Writer Cartoon Network may be an old, nostalgic memory, but “Over the Garden Wall” expands far beyond any “Adventure Time,” “Powerpuff Girls,” or “Teen Titans” you’ve seen before.

It premiered in 2014 as the Network’s first mini-series and won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program and Outstanding Individual Animated Achievement.

“Over the Garden Wall”l follows Wirt and his younger brother, Greg who find themselves mysteriously trapped in “The Unknown,” a supernatural woods run by a terrifying beast who hunts children for their souls. They’re also helped by a stubborn talking blue bird, Beatrice.

The dynamic brotherhood brings us a series of adventures, including their visit to Pottsfield, home to a skeleton cult, and their day enrolled at an animal school led by a melodramatic human teacher. Of course, this does not go without catchy and adorable songs sung by Greg: “Potatoes and Molasses” and “Adelaide Parade” as well as its beautifully menacing soundtrack.

By the end, you’ll be on the edge of your seat, clutching your chest when we discover the hilarious, yet tragic story of how the boys came to be in “The Unknown.”

I consider myself to have a high tolerance for horror, but during the last episode - when the intentions of the beast are uncovered - I couldn’t help but hide.

Not only is “Over the Garden Wall” the perfect Halloween watch because of its great use of corny jokes and tropes, but it also tells a complex story of family, bravery, and adolescence which will leave you heartbroken for days.

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY'S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM

18 | OCTOBER 23, 2020

ARTS & FEATURES

ROBBIE’S COMIC CORNER Ghosted in L.A.’ is a mysteriously spooky delight

By Robert Johnson Jr. Arts & Features Editor Halloween is almost upon us, once again, and here at “Robbie’s Comic Corner,” I like to highlight comics and graphic novels that delve into the supernatural, the macabre. … The spooky, if you will.

Over the past few weekends, I have managed to convince my parents to take me to the comic shop that rekindled my obsession with the medium Newbury Comics in Norwood.

In a previous “Comic Corner,” I briefly referenced this particular location - namely in my write-up on Noelle Stevenson’s “The Fire Never Goes Out” from earlier this year - but I always need to find an excuse to shill for that one Newbury Comics whenever the moment presents itself.

But, you don’t read “Robbie’s Comic Corner” for the backstories, you read it to learn about cool comics and graphic novels, so, that in mind, allow me to introduce “Ghosted in L.A.,” this week’s spooky story that I found on a trip to said Newbury Comics.

“Ghosted in L.A.” - or “G.I.L.A.,” hereafter - is a series by Sina Grace on writing duties, with art done by both Siobhan Keenan and Grace, that follows one Daphne Walters, a young woman from Missoula, Montana, who is on a mission to follow her true love.

Of course, to do that, she has to

move to Los Angeles, which, according to a Google Maps search, and the fact that Daphne’s family embarks on this journey in a car, is a 17-hour drive with a total distance of approximately 1,210 miles.

So, yeah, that’s some dedication in the whole “pursuing your true love” game.

Aside from that, she enrolls in a nearby university, and things only continue to go downhill from there. After all, the story begins in the middle of a conflict between Daphne and her “best friend,” Kristi, hours prior to the former’s departure.

Daphne is quickly forced to acclimate to campus life, and, with that, comes the process of warming up to a roommate - which I know all too well.

Only, in Daphne’s case, this roommate comes in the form of Michelle, a stoic, unbothered jerk who only exists to speak as minimally as possible and has a scar across her mouth. She bothers me. Unnerves me.

Basically, imagine having Sergei Dragunov from “Tekken” as your roommate, except he hosts a Bible study when you’re not around, and has longer hair and a clothing preference for the darkest darks imaginable.

Daphne, who is already a stranger in no-woman’s land, begins to avoid her dorm room and, instead, looks elsewhere for solace between classes.

One night, she decides to take a

swim in a nearby pool to clear her mind, only to encounter the meat of “G.I.L.A.” - the ghosts of Mycroft Manor.

Shocked at the revelation that she stumbled across ghosts, let alone a manor containing them, she freaks out, only to quickly be greeted by the inhabitants - Agi, Pamela, Bernard, Ricky, Maurice, and Shirley - all ghostly apparitions of their former selves. My favorite ghost appears in volume two, and I don’t want to spoil that!

While most of the ghosts are friendly, with me having a particular fondness for Bernard, one individual wants nothing to do with her - Maurice. He only sees her as a nuisance, and does everything in his power to evict her from their home.

Even if it means having to kill her.

The nice ghosts of Mycroft Manor, however, all have their own eccentricities and stories to tell, which are showcased in bite-sized vignettes that explain to the reader the things each Mycroft resident did in their lifetimes, before becoming ghosts. This luxury even extends to the human characters, too.

These are very charming, and thanks to Grace’s storytelling and Keenan’s artistry - of course, with artistic assistance from Grace - they are very effective in making you care about these individuals.

Yes, it even made me care about

Michelle, when it came time for her vignette in the second volume.

Speaking of character, the series has a lot of that going for it. The art style is bright and vibrant, and, need I say, adorable, in some aspects. But despite that, when Keenan and Grace want to hit you with something truly terrifying, they hit you hard. The coloring work

by Cathy Le and lettering efforts by DC Hopkins only adds to the excitement and horror.

The characters, themselves, are brilliantly designed. Everyone has their own fashionable trademarks, and while the humans have more of a dynamic wardrobe than the ghosts, who have to wear the same articles of clothing, always, everything just makes you want to let out an “Ooh, girl!” when you see it.

Sure, “G.I.L.A.” looks like your cheesy, run-of-the-mill romantic comedy at first, but as the series progresses, it becomes more like a murder mystery, in the sense that there is always something new and dangerous to discover behind Mycroft Manor’s walls that Daphne wants answers to.

If you’re looking for a charming, short series coming in with only 12 issues, you need to put “G.I.L.A.” on your “To Read” list, like, right now.

CONNECT WITH ROBERT JOHNSON JR. rjohnson10@student.framingham.edu

Alumni through the decades Sara Mulkeen - ’10 - The 2010s

By Leighah Beausoleil Editorial Staff

[Editor’s Note: This is the sixth addition in a continuing series of features.]

Sara Mulkeen began at Framingham State College (FSC) in 2006, and studied English with a concentration in journalism. Her class was the first to graduate from the newly-named Framingham State University.

Mulkeen said she never intended to go to college. Having gone to an academically competitive, all-girls Catholic high school, she felt she wasn’t succeeding academically. She planned to just go to cosmetology school and become a hairdresser, but she and her mom toured Framingham State and they both loved the “homey” feel of the school.

Her parents then sent in her Framingham State application without her knowledge.

“They had a feeling that I would want to go to college as soon as I saw

@TheGatepost | FSUgatepost.com

my friends going off in the fall, and they were right,” she said. “I went with very few expectations of how I would enjoy my time there, and it turned out to be the best experience.”

Mulkeen stayed on campus as a resident for her first three years, and then had an apartment off campus for her senior year.

Her freshman year, she stayed in O’Connor Hall which was an all-women dorm at the time. “And the funny part about that is that my exact freshman year dorm room is now my office,” she said.

Mulkeen is currently the manager of Digital Communications and Interactive Media at Framingham State, according to the Framingham State website.

She then stayed in Corinne Hall Towers for her sophomore and junior years.

Mulkeen played softball while at FSC. She described her time on the team as one of the “defining experiences” of her college career. She was

able to be a part of the division-winning championship team her freshman year. By her junior year, she decided to focus on her internship and stopped playing.

Mulkeen was also a member of The Gatepost. She explained how The Gatepost was a way to push herself out of her comfort zone. She said she wasn’t very good at academics and when taking Professor Desmond McCarthy’s News Writing course, he had pulled her aside and told her she was good at journalism.

“And it was kind of the first time someone had said, ‘You’re really good at this academic thing,’” she said.

She said The Gatepost motivated her academically and gave her confidence in her career path.

Mulkeen said the most memorable part of her FSC experience was getting an internship at the MetroWest Daily News. She explained it really solidified that she wanted to work in journalism and seeing real journalists work inspired her.

Reflecting on her time at FSC she

said, “I would just say that it was kind of all by chance that I ended up there, but definitely was the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Mulkeen explained how the relationships students make with one another and their faculty still remain even years after they’ve graduated.

She said even now she hears about how close students are with their faculty mentors.

“Another thing that really kind of drove home for me that Framingham State is a quality education, was my first job out of college,” she said.

“I was sitting next to a woman who had just graduated from Columbia University’s journalism school, and we’re both in the same job, the same amount of funding, so it just goes to show that the name on your degree doesn’t define what you do. It’s what you do while you’re in college to get to your career.”

[Editor’s Note: Desmond McCarthy is the advisor for The Gatepost.]

CONNECT WITH LEIGHAH BEAUSOLEIL lbeausoleil@student.framingham.edu

ARTS & FEATURES

OCTOBER 23, 2020 | 19

‘Super Mario 3D All-Stars’ contains multiple masterpieces in a messy bundle

By Brennan Atkins Arts & Features Editor “Super Mario 3D All-Stars” is a 2020 collection of some of the best 3D-platforming titles of all time, featuring “Super Mario 64,” “Super Mario Sunshine,” and “Super Mario Galaxy.” Nintendo released the compilation in part of a celebration marking 35 years since the franchise’s inception with “Super Mario Bros.” for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

When the trailer was released in September, Nintendo fans couldn’t believe their eyes when titles from decades past were announced to be coming to the Nintendo Switch - old fans were excited at the prospect of playing their favorite games on the go, and new fans could finally play games that are not easily accessible.

“Super Mario 64,” which was initially released in 1996, is arguably one of the most impactful games throughout all of video game history. The game revolutionized what could be done with 3D space through Mario’s expressive movement, as well as the impressive physics engine.

Mass, momentum, and inertia are all things players of 3D platformers are used to by now, and while “Super Mario 64” wasn’t the first 3D platformer, it represents a definitive turning point in how games were designed - how phys-

ics can translate into satisfying gameplay.

Unlike the other two games in the collection, “Super Mario 64” runs at 720p at 30fps. While this game is undeniably good, this felt extremely lackluster. The game runs marginally better, with enhanced visuals, but this only exposes some of the flaws the game originally had.

The only huge difference in this title is that there is an inherent rumble feature implemented, and while new players may find no issue with this, experienced players may find themselves uncomfortable with the new controls.

The announcement that “Super Mario Sunshine” was finally getting rereleased was a fever dream for some, as the game never received any sort of remaster or port. Eighteen long years went by, with many speculating that “Sunshine” was a forgotten, experimental release, only to be met with 1080p, 30fps gameplay of the beloved plumber on a vacation adventure.

Simply put, this is one of the greatest GameCube titles to ever be released, and its inclusion in the collection is more than welcome.

This game throws everything you know about Mario games out the window.

Mushroom Kingdom? Nope, we’re on the beautiful Isle Delfino!

Running and jumping to traverse

ACROSS 1. Wedding, for one 6. No. 2 10. Ticket remnant 14. Shakespeare lover 15. Villain of “The Lion King” 16. Duncan of education 17. Plan to get a former partner back?

19. Travel document 20. One may sing sweetly ... or wail loudly 21. “Wild” playing card 22. “Whatever” 25. Department focused on indie rep?

28. Include in an email 31. 2001 biopic about a boxer 32. “The Racer’s Edge” brand 33. Place for outdoor furniture 34. Unable to progress 36. College’s cost-saving strategy?

40. What’s always inclined?

41. Like Poe’s writing 44. Billboard displays

obstacles placed around the world? necessarily mean that it’s worth it.

Consider a title like the “Mega Man Let’s give Mario a jetpack to get around X Legacy Collection” for the Nintendo that!

To this day, “Sunshine” stands out Switch. The compilation comes with like a sore thumb among the rest of the eight games, concept art, pictures of 3D platformers in the franchise, but different toys being released during that’s what gives it such a strong iden- the time, accessibility options, and tity. Once again, it’s hard to say this whole new modes for the player to enjoy - all this for $40. game isn’t close to a “perfect game.”

The only form of “bonus” content “Super Mario Galaxy,” initially released in 2007 for the Nintendo Wii, apparent in “Super Mario 3D Allwas a game that really pushed the Ma- Stars” are simply the game’s original rio formula to its limit - if “Sunshine” soundtracks, which comes across as sticks out like a sore thumb, then “Gal- borderline lazy when asking for $60. axy” stands out like a neon green cast As of 2020, buying all the physical versions of these games would cost after breaking your arm.

Right off the bat, players are going roughly $140, and that’s assuming to notice that the game doesn’t follow somebody owns every console to play the rules of its 3D predecessors. The it on. Considering this, $60 is a fairly camera is a lot more restrained, and low price for anyone who has never you follow a somewhat linear route to played these games, but if you’ve ever the end of each level. This makes the played a single title, it slowly becomes game feel a lot less like an open explo- less of a “deal,” and more like Nintenration, but a showcase of what Ninten- do forcing us to buy the same things over and over. do was able to accomplish.

This game is strikingly gorgeous in terms of color and graphics, and the music accompanying the pre-rendered cutscenes is simply beautiful.

What you see is The game didn’t see a whole lot of graphical improvement from its origexactly what you get. inal counterpart, and if anything, the changes to the controls came off as distracting and downright confusing.

Just because these amazing games CONNECT WITH BRENNAN ATKINS are in a collection together, doesn’t

47. Actor’s signal 48. Pita and piadina 49. Charge for a dog that steals food?

53. Terrier noise 54. “The game is ___” 55. Fathered 58. Poi ingredient 59. “Stop bringing that up!” ... or a hint to 17-, 25-, 36- and 49-Across 64. Spilled salt, to some 65. Way, way off 66. Opening remarks 67. Joins together?

68. Toy that goes up and down 69. Come to an end DOWN 1. Coleridge’s “before” 2. Popular news and opinion site 3. Paramedics’ grp.

4. Badminton court sights 5. “Cornflake Girl” singer Amos 6. Fall flower 7. Many people may watch you make one 8. Old mattress problem 9. Bring before a judge 10. Bask in 11. Toddler transports 12. Remove from office 13. Stay strong 18. Shape of Utah’s Rainbow Bridge 21. More sensational, as gossip 22. Driver’s folded item 23. When a plane should land, briefly 24. Lead-in to :// 26. Points to graph 27. Mishmash of memories 29. Affectations 30. With-it one 34. ___/her pronouns 35. Pants patch place 37. Number of balls before a walk

Grade: B

batkins@student.framingham.edu

38. Blueprint bit, briefly 39. Color of a seal’s skin, perhaps 42. Lupino who directed “The Hitch-Hiker” 43. Parapsychological “skill”: Abbr.

44. Director Judd 45. Slander 46. Socked away 48. Polar explorer Richard 50. Birds on Canadian $1 coins Puzzle solutions are now 51. A student may plagia- exclusively online. rize one 52. Stuff in dynamite, briefly 56. Singer Burdon or Church 57. As good as ___ 59. Often-blue bird 60. E.T. craft 61. “Bad Moms” org.

62. Stimulus check agcy.

63. Low body part

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20 | OCTOBER 23, 2020

PHOTOS

The Haunting of May HAll

Photographs by Donald Halsing and spread by Ashley Wall /THE GATEPOST

Photographs by Donald Halsing and spread by Ashley Wall/ THE GATEPOST

FRAMINGHAM STATE UNIVERSITY’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1932 | FSUGATEPOST.COM