Students in Isolation

First batch of college’s masks are ‘probably not certified’

Cont. from Pg. 1 clearly visible. Often, a brand is clearly indicated on the mask.” Steve Yarbrough, a writing, literature and publishing professor at Emerson, said he was told he would receive N95 masks— which are certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health—and thus, began using the college’s masks instead of his own surgical mask. “I took the elevator in the Ansin building down with about eight or nine students,” he said. “And then I taught my graduate class in the writing of the novel that night. It’s about a three and a half hour class, so I wore that mask in the classroom.” Yarbrough said that Newman’s email prompted him to take a second look at the masks he received to see if they had any writing or approval stamps on them. “In fact, the masks that we had been given were plain white masks that didn’t say anything,” Yarbrough said. “They didn’t say N95 or KN95. They didn’t have any approval number … It seems pretty clear that it’s not an N95 mask. I don’t know what it is.” The same masks have been provided to students over the past week at the Campus Life Office and the information desk at 172 Tremont. Beacon staff obtained a pack of five from the information desk on the first floor of 172 Tremont on Jan. 25. None had any sort of certification—all were blank, white masks in the typical shape of KN95s. According to Dr. Jamie Lichtenstein, an epidemiologist and senior affiliated faculty member at Emerson, there is a distinct way to tell if an N95, KN95, KF94, or FFP is authentic. “With KN95 masks, the standard includes the markings that say who the manufacturer is, which is supposed to be printed on the mask,” Lichtenstein said. “So, if someone has a KN95, and it doesn’t have the manufacturer, the standard it’s tested against, and KN95 labeled on the mask, then it’s probably not a certified KN95.” Associate Vice President of Campus Life Erik Müürisepp, who serves as the college’s “COVID Lead,” wrote in an emailed statement to The Beacon that the masks ordered by the college were made by a CDC-approved manufacturer listed on the CDC website. He added that they were purchased through a “trusted vendor” that was previously used for personal protective equipment for the Emerson community during the pandemic. “We have no information to suggest the masks received are not what the college ordered,” he said. “However, the college has ordered another supply of KN95 masks manufactured by a different CDC-approved company for use by community members if they choose.” According to Lichtenstein, Müürisepp claimed that the col-

Masks provided by the college (right), verified certified KN95 mask. / Camilo Fonseca Beacon Staff

“It seems pretty clear that it’s not an N95 mask. I don’t know what it is.”

- Steve Yarbrough

lege was distributing Greencare branded KN95 respirators—tested and approved by the CDC. However, the masks obtained by The Beacon from faculty are visibly distinct from Greencare masks. KN95 masks come from China, which has a standard but not a certification agency, Lichtenstein said; as a result, many fake KN95 masks come out of the country. The “95” indicates 95 percent filtration, but if the masks do not have any approval markings on them, they are most likely not filtering 95 percent. “The lowest [level of filtration] I’ve seen from [false] KN95s is about 60 percent filtration, all the way up to 90 percent or 93 percent,” she said. “So they’re not meeting that 95 percent standard, but they’re coming awfully close.” According to Lichtenstein, a typical three-layered cloth mask filters about 20 to 30 percent of the air—meaning that even if the KN95 masks the college has been giving out are indeed not genuine, they are still better to wear than cloth masks. She added that surgical masks often filter 90 to 95 percent of air, but because of how loosely surgical masks typically fit to the face, they filter about 50 percent of what one breathes in, on average. In an email statement to The Beacon, Newman reiterated that the union leadership does not doubt the administration’s commitment to keeping the community safe. However, he said that faculty were, but are also not satisfied with the answers—or lack thereof—to their questions regarding the quality of the masks. He encouraged the union members to continue wearing their own masks. “Upon receipt of the masks, we contacted them with some simple questions about the provenance of the masks, and we did not receive any direct answers to these questions,” Newman wrote.

bailey_allen@emerson.edu

Phi Alha Tau Fraternity Crest. / Courtesy Phi Alpha Tau

Tau pledges institutional reform, accountability

Cont. from Pg. 1 and code of conduct will allow the fraternity to internally investigate and expel brothers not complying with its standards, including those with open Title IX investigations—an ability the fraternity did not have during Davis’s time at Emerson. “The Title IX office at Emerson has historically let us down in terms of holding people accountable for their actions,” said Phi Alpha Tau Standards Chair Lex Torrington. “The code of conduct is a way for us to hold ourselves internally accountable.” Torrington, an Emerson senior who is also a member of the men’s lacrosse team, noted that all NCAA sports teams undergo mandatory Title IX training. He advocated for Greek life organizations across the country to do the same training, adding that he plans to set up annual workshops for Greek life organizations at Emerson. “It’s been really helpful to learn from the Title IX office and start conversations about these things,” he said. “Eliminating secrecy through transparency and conversation and explicitly referencing these issues is a big goal of ours in the wake of what we just learned about our history.” Phi Alpha Tau also plans to donate to the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center following a period of fundraising. The fraternity has adopted ending sexual violence as one of its “core issues,” as stated in an Instagram post on Jan. 10. Sophomore Chapter President Zach Bennett said new members would help shift the fraternity culture. “We want to bring in a lot of people and have these ideals and terminology thrown out so the people joining know there’s no secrecy and we’re very up front,” said Bennett. When the Davis allegations broke, Torrington said, many of Phi Alpha Tau’s younger members felt surprised and betrayed—feelings he says will not be part of the fraternity’s culture any longer. “None of the people who had these active investigations or allegations were active when we were, but some of the older members in our fraternity… were present when this history was happening,” he said. “And they never talked about it and never told us about it.” “I felt really betrayed by the organization and by these other older members of our fraternity for never being explicit about this history and letting it get swept under the rug,” he added. The fraternity’s steps forward are a step in the right direction, said Casey Corcoran of the the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center—though he noted that the organization needed to not only be reactive, but proactive. “Any individual organization that’s done harm has to acknowledge that harm and has to work to regain the trust of those that have been impacted by that harm,” he said. “That goes beyond just saying the right things. It’s showing through actions that there’s a change and that there’s accountability.”

Emerson TPUSA targets college with truck, T ads

Cont. from Pg. 1

protect free speech regardless of viewpoint. “We’ve supported chapters of TPUSA and we’ve also supported people who got in trouble for flipping off members of TPUSA,” he said. “To us, it’s not about what is said, it’s about the right to say it.” Nevertheless, many students saw the truck as nothing more than a childish response. “The way [TPUSA] spread their message is immature,” said Emma Blanchet, a first-year visual media arts major, in a statement to The Beacon. “I’m not positive they deserved suspension, but I think they are being obnoxious and stupid with their decisions on what to act out upon. They need to be calmed down.” The organization’s rash messaging, she added, was bound to be taken incorrectly. Even with the targeted campaign, many Emerson students do not regret the college’s actions last fall. “TPUSA is just a bully in a suit, so you have to treat it like one,” Emerson student Julia Federing wrote. “The worst thing you can do is inflate [the rhetoric] and cause it to trend. Then you’re feeding into the spectacle of it all instead of giving it the correct punishment and moving forward.” Emerson Vice President and Dean for Campus Life Jim Hoppe declined to comment.

“The way [TPUSA] spread their message is immature. I’m not positive they deserved suspension, but I think they are being obnoxious and stupid with their decisions on what to act out upon.”