SGA Changes

Emerson College’s student newspaper since 1947 • berkeleybeacon.com

Thursday, January 30, 2020 • Volume 73, Issue 16

SGA ENACTS STRUCTURAL CHANGES Housing office fully staffed after semester of overturn

Unprecendented move was floated in previous years Andrew Brinker, Beacon Staff Following a somewhat tumultuous semester at the college, the Student Government Association is proceeding with unprecedented adaptations to the organization’s fundamental executive structure, which are likely to have immediate impacts on the group’s day-to-day function.

On Jan. 16, SGA’s joint session voted unanimously to approve a proposal from Executive President Will Palauskas to create an executive cabinet of five new positions that will serve as the executive board’s staff. The new cabinet represents a sweeping change to the structure of SGA’s highest tier of leadership, bigger than any other in the last 20 years, Assistant Vice President for Student Success Sharon Duffy, the organization’s former advisor of 19 years, said.

In the treasury wing, Executive Treasurer Abigail Semple is pushing forward a proposal this week to create the Financial Equity Board, which would hear students’ financial concerns and recommend action to administration.

The changes come as Palauskas, who was elected to the executive presidency last semester after organizing a last-minute write-in campaign, anticipates a “period of transition” in the coming year as the merger with Marlboro College, which is set to take place in June, inches closer.

A member of SGA for the last two academic years, Palauskas identified a series of recurring problems at the college, citing issues appearing in SGA’s academic initiative, that he feels can be solved through the adoption of an Executive Cabinet.

See Executive, page 2

Elena Naze, Beacon Correspondent The college’s Office of Housing and Residential Education fully restaffed for the spring semester following over a year of consistent overturn.

OHRE hired two new Residence Directors, Ashley Gravina for 2 Boylston Place and Cristina Flores for Paramount Center. The department also hired an Associate Director of Residential Education, Danielle Merril, who began work at the beginning of the spring 2020 semester.

The new hires arrive after the college consistently struggled during the fall semester to fill a group of vacancies in the department. Last fall, The Beacon reported that five vacancies in OHRE led to the adjustment of the structure of the department. Former Senior Associate Director of Housing and Residence Life Seth Hodge then left the office on Jan. 2. The department later dealt with a tumultuous housing process in Spring 2019 after StarRez, the college’s housing software, crashed.

Director of Housing and Residential Education Christie Anglade, who the college hired in November, said changes regarding in-residence director positions and others in the Housing Department are common as staff members frequently progress onto other institutions. Anglade said that the department has struggled as a result of the vacancies.

SEAL Diretor Jason Meier (left), Treasurer Abigial Semple (center), and President Will Palauskas (right) pictured at Tuesday’s joint session meeting. • Yongze Wang / Beacon Correspondent

See Housing, page 2

Tom Cooper: champion of treats, sower of kindness Domenic Conte, Beacon Staff

Freshmen join successful basketball team mid-season

By Megan MacLaren • p. 8

Marlboro: Restricted assets months before merger Jacob Seitz, Beacon Staff Just four months before a formal transfer agreement between Emerson College and Marlboro College is set to be signed, Marlboro has yet to file requests to un-restrict nearly $40 million in restricted assets, according to a public records request from the Vermont Attorney General’s Office.

For Emerson to use any amount of Marlboro’s $31 million in permanently restricted net assets—which can be designated for plans such as funding Marlboro departments or the con-

struction of a new building—Marlboro must work with their donors and go through the Vermont Attorney General’s Office, according to Emerson Associate Vice President for Finance Robert Butler.

Marlboro College has over $56 million in net assets, according to the college’s 990 tax forms from 2018. Of those, only $16 million are unrestricted.

The Attorney General’s Office has “no responsive records” to show that Marlboro has started this process, according to their Public Records Response. The office also had no re-

INSIDE THIS EDITION

Increased transparency surrounding Section 12 housing Pg. 5

cord of any lawsuits against Marlboro College, which The Beacon additionally requested.

Restricted assets—which can be temporarily restricted or permanently restricted—are usually donations to a nonprofit that can only be used for donor-specified causes. Temporarily restricted assets are given to serve a certain purpose, but only until the timeline specified by the donor expires. Marlboro has $8.7 million in temporarily restricted assets.

See Frozen, page 2

The Beacon online

Junior creates crystal jewelry business called “Raw Intention” Pg. 7

During the Thanksgiving and winter breaks, freshman Jehan Ayesha remained on campus, over 9,000 miles away from her home in Malaysia. Ayesha received a welcoming invitation to the home of professor Tom Cooper, who opens his doors to members of the Emerson community, particularly those who find themselves displaced from home during the holidays.

“Christmas was so close, and even though I don’t celebrate it, I started feeling homesick because I saw everyone else celebrating with their friends and family while I was staying on campus alone,” Ayesha said in an interview. “So, when I got the invitation, and actually made friends and experienced their warmth, it was really heartwarming, and it was really like a home away from home.”

While many members of the Emerson community head home for holiday breaks, Cooper remains on campus, organizing dinners at local restaurants for students and handing out candy to working faculty members.

“For me, it’s very rewarding to be giving, and when I’m around someone who’s always giving, it picks me up,” Cooper said in an interview. “Even if you don’t see results, why not keep giving? Why not keep doing all you can for other people? My motto is, ‘I want to help as many students as I can before I die.’ It’s pretty simple.”

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Three new Four SGA cabinet members appointed hires fill housing office Charlie Mckenna, Beacon Staff

Continued from page 1 However, Anglade added that new hires bring new ideas and personalities into the department.

“It’s great to have new ideas [and] fresher perspectives to come in to both learn about our community but also to provide some of the knowledge and experience that they have at other institutions and see how they can impact our population,” she said.

Merril, who previously worked at Michigan State University’s housing department, told The Beacon that she still is adjusting to her new position at Emerson. At Michigan State, Merril supervised upwards of 1,000 students and Resident Assistants.

“I am loving every minute of it,” Merril said.

“Coming from [Michigan State] being able to be at an institution like Emerson where you see the same people and you get to build really solid relationships, everyone has just been friendly and welcoming so it’s been great.”

Flores previously worked at Berklee College of Music, where she ran the smallest and most remote residence hall on campus—similar to Paramount.

Flores is planning to work with the RAs to create new traditions in Paramount. Most recently, she helped create a succulent pot painting program to gain volunteer donations for Australia during their wildfire crisis.

Gravina worked at the University of Connecticut for two and a half years as an RD, where she managed a suite-style dorm building similar to 2 Boylston Place.

She said her past experience in a similar role makes her a strong fit for the RD position. “[Emerson] is very student-centred and student-focused,” Gravina said. “I think that’s the beautiful ethic of care when it comes to how we interact with students, which is really awesome and something I value.”

Gravina is the final member of OHRE to settle into Emerson. The department is now functioning at full capacity.

“The team is very excited to be at a point where we are fully staffed that allows us to direct the appropriate amount of time and attention to the students in our communities,” Anglade said. elena_naze@emerson.edu

The Student Government Association unanimously voted to appoint the first four members of the newly established Executive Cabinet along with two new commissioners at their second Joint Session on Tuesday.

The executive cabinet is new to SGA, after being officially formed at their first joint session meeting of the semester. Appointments filled the roles of chief of staff, communications director, history and education director, and elections and outreach director.

Senior Gianna Gironda will serve as chief of staff after serving as SGA’s sustainability commissioner for a year. Executive President Will

Marlboro assets remain frozen Continued from page 1 Permanently restricted assets are usually related to large donations that are intended to fund a designated area of the institution permanently, and cannot be used for any other purpose. This can include land designated for research use that is donated to a college or a donation given to a college to fund a program or institute.

The Beacon also requested all communication between Marlboro employees, staff, and alumni, and the Attorney General’s Office from October 2019 to present.

On Nov. 5, 2019, Marlboro College President Kevin Quigley sent an email to the Attorney General’s Office announcing the merger deal with Emerson College.

“In exchange for the transfer of our assets (endowment and campus), the alliance partner will rename an Institute and take all of our faculty and staff,” Quigley wrote.

Dean of Liberal Arts at Emerson Amy Ansell said Emerson College has only made offers to the 24 tenure or tenure-track faculty. There are no current plans for Emerson to offer contracts to non-tenure track faculty or staff.

Rennie Washburn, chief advancement officer at Marlboro, declined to comment on this story. jacob_seitz@emerson.edu

Palauskas spoke highly of Gironda, citing her organization and drive.

“She’s the hardest working environmentalist at Emerson College and so I really want to commend that and I’m really excited to have her in this role,” Palauskas said in an interview.

The role of communications director, which now handles marketing and inner organization communication, will be filled by Hannah Flaherty, a Financial Advisory Board member from the fall semester. She said her focus in the role will be to bring greater attention to SGA and communicate their work to the student body.

“I really want the student body to understand what the Student Government really is doing for them because the people in this room don’t get a lot of press coverage,” she said.

Jay Rosato was appointed to the position of History and Education Director. He said in the meeting that he aims to make the history of SGA more accessible.

“I really have a passion for history–I’d really like to work with the rest of the cabinet and the rest of SGA to make this history better known,” he said in an interview.

Lily Meehan-Egan will serve as the Elections and Outreach Director, the final cabinet position appointed at the meeting. Meehan-Egan said she is excited to recruit new students to SGA. “I think there are so many fantastic people on this campus who would love to get involved with SGA and just don’t really know how to do that,” she said.

Two commissioners were additionally appointed at the meeting, filling roles that were left vacant at the conclusion of the fall semester.

Joint Session also appointed freshman Eryn McCallum, who currently serves as Associate Chair for Protesting Oppression With Educational Reform, to the role of POWER commissioner. McCallum said her role in SGA will be to address the needs of students of color.

“I feel like SGA’s goals could very easily

align with POWER’s goals… we just need solidarity,” she said.

Sophomore Maximo Lawlor was appointed to the role of Fraternity and Sorority Life commissioner, a role he believes could help grow the support SGA gives to Fraternities and Sororities on campus. Lawlor currently serves as the chapter president of Phi Alpha Tau. “Back in high school, I was the student council kid… I’ve always had a passion for it and always wanted to get involved,” he said. “We can do a lot better of a job being more knowledgeable about the things that we’re both doing.”

Three guests spoke at the meeting following last week’s discovery of swastikas in a stairwell in the Piano Row residence hall: Director of Spiritual Life Julia Avis-Rogers, Vice President of Dean of Campus Life James Hoppe, and faculty advisor of Emerson College Hillel Jake Freedman. Emerson College Hillel is an organization for Jewish students to discuss issues related to Judaism. Freedman and Avis-Rogers emphasized the need for greater education in the wake of the potentially traumatic event.

“I’ve been thinking about the journey we’ve been on as a campus this past week… and what happens as a campus response,” Avis-Rogers said. “Now’s the time to move into education and prevention.”

James Hoppe presented SGA with some of the college’s proposed response plans to the anti-semitic graffiti. Hoppe mentioned four proposals at the meeting, including a sticker placed where the graffiti was discovered that would “reclaim the space.” He added that these ideas are still being formulated and are far from final.

“A suggestion that we [have is to] create some kind of sticker that identifies something happened here, that has some slogan that would try to reclaim that space,” he said.

charlie_mckenna@emerson.edu

Class Council 2023 President Ariane Ivanier (left). Yongze Wang / Beacon Correspondent

New executive cabinet reshapes student government Continued from page 1 “One of my biggest goals heading into this semester was to think about how we can kind of strengthen our structure and how can we make SGA as efficient as possible and be able to fight these cyclical problems and find a way to stop them in their tracks,” Palauskas said in an interview. “That’s really the goal of creating the Executive Cabinet.”

Now officially in practice following the Jan. 16 vote, the Executive Cabinet consists of five positions including Chief of Staff, Communications Director, Elections and Outreach Director, Social and Events Director, and Education and History Director.

The Chief of Staff will lead the cabinet at weekly meetings and serve as a liaison between the Executive Board, Joint Session, and the Executive Cabinet. Essentially, the group will function as a separate branch of SGA. “The idea behind this cabinet is creating roles that will support and enhance the members of our organization,” Palauskas said. “We’re creating a team and a support network within our organization to strengthen our work and allow us to do more work.”

While the cabinet appears to be an ambitious venture with the potential to permanently change the everyday function of SGA, a group of vacancies in the organization that remained unfilled for the entirety of the fall semester initially raised questions about the organization’s ability to fill the newly-created cabinet seats.

Four of the five seats were filled by a unan-

imous appointment at Tuesday’s joint session meeting, effectively answering those questions.

Former Sustainability Commissioner Gianna Gironda was appointed to serve as SGA’s first chief of staff, former FAB member Hannah Flaherty will serve as communications director, Jay Rosato will be history and education director, and Lilly Meehan-Egan will be elections and outreach director.

While the executive cabinet is a form of structural change that SGA hasn’t seen in recent memory, Duffy told The Beacon that the idea has been floating around various executive boards for years.

“We talked about it over the course of many many years,” Duffy said. “So not just with this executive board. There was always this thought of getting more people involved to spread around the work and to give people the ability to really kind of work towards tangible end results. It’s been leading up to this and I think that this [Executive Board] kind of saw that there was an opportunity.”

SGA’s current advisor, Director of Student Engagement and Leadership Jason Meier, told The Beacon in an interview last week that he held no reservations regarding the Executive Cabinet, and that the adaptation will be one that shifts SGA to a more traditional model. “[Palauskas] really has a vision for how this is going to play out,” he said. “And I think it’s a sound vision—it’s going to be good for student government moving forward. It really is common practice among student governance.”

Palauskas told The Beacon that he studied

the student governments of Boston University and others to help form his Executive Cabinet proposal.

Semple’s proposed Financial Equity Board, which is likely to be approved by FAB this week and then by Joint Session next week, will also be a major modification of SGA’s basic structure.

Currently, the treasury wing of the organization is comprised of FAB, which deals with treasury policy and budgetary requests from student organizations at the college. Should Semple’s proposal to create FEB pass Joint Session, the treasury wing will then be split into two separate boards.

FAB will continue to handle treasury policy and budget requests, while FEB will seek to address the college’s key financial issues. “[FEB] is basically a way for us to include more students in conversations around financial equity and accessibility at Emerson College,” Semple said in an interview with The Beacon.

“I am one student. I have one experience. I have one financial situation. It’s unfair for me to take that and be like ‘These are the problems that apply to every single Emerson College student.’”

According to Semple, eight to 12 students from different financial perspectives will make up the board, which will be co-chaired by the executive president and the executive treasurer. Each week, the board will meet to hear student concerns and consult with various outside financial experts, and eventually make recommendations for changes in financial policy to the college.

FEB plans to close its meetings off from the public with Semple arguing that student’s financial records should be kept private.

“We’re going to try to help our administration get a better understanding of who[m] the average Emerson College student is and what their financial needs are,” Semple said. “That’s going to be one of our major goals.”

Meier and Duffy both spoke highly of the proposal, telling The Beacon that financial advocacy is an important part of the executive treasurer’s job that will receive more emphasis under FEB. “Having this new board and really focusing on non-SGA student leaders being involved really expands our vision of what the student experience at Emerson is, especially when it relates to finances,” Meier said. “I think it is showing humility from student government that they don’t know everything and that they can’t speak to all voices.”

Palauskas, who originally hatched his idea for an Executive Cabinet two years ago, told The Beacon that he felt a change was necessary to maximize the efficiency of SGA. “There’s no real big structure in SGA that has changed in the past 20 years,” he said. “And in a lot of ways, I think if we’re not like modernizing ourselves. How are we capable of being the voice of the student body? The real answer is that we aren’t. So I see now as a good a time as any.” andrew_brinker@emerson.edu

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College plans to eliminate “ozone-depleting” refrigerant Dana Gerber, Beacon Staff The college plans to stop using ozone-depleting refrigerant chemicals over the next 10 years as part of a nationwide phase-out of the substance that started in 2010, according to college officials The college will replace its current refrigerant chemical gas, R-22, with one that is more environmentally friendly, Director of Facilities Management Joseph Knoll told The Beacon in an interview.

This phase-out is part of The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, an international treaty signed in 1987 and designed to limit the use of ozone-depleting chemicals, including refrigerants. In 2010, the Environmental Protection Agency banned the production, use, and importation of R-22—also known as Freon—refrigerants, except for continuing service needs of existing equipment. On Jan. 1, they instituted a ban on the remaining production of R-22s. Any equipment that still uses R-22 will have to use stockpiled or recycled quantities that are already in the U.S. R-22 is used in on-campus closed vessels such as refrigerants, coolers, and air-conditioning systems, according to Catherine Liebowitz, campus sustainability manager.

“With the U.S. saying, ‘We’re going to phase this particular chemical out,’ that means everyone else has to respond,” Liebowitz said in a phone interview.

The college has not yet decided which refrigerant they will utilize moving forward, Liebowitz said, but they will gradually switch over to

The banned chemical—R-22—is used in on-campus closed vessels such as refrigerants, coolers, and air-conditioning systems • Yongze Wang / Beacon Correspondent a different chemical as systems naturally need replacement.

According to the EPA, the use of common refrigerant chemicals, generally known as HCFCs, negatively impacts the environment as it evaporates and contributes to the ozone hole over the South Pole. Liebowitz explained that while there is no completely green refrigerant, the use of R-22 is especially unsustainable.

“Just like carbon and just like methane is chipping away at this ozone layer, these HCFCs are doing that at a much higher and faster rate,” she said. “It is inevitably a pollutant—however, there are definitely better options.”

Knoll said there are hundreds of systems on campus that use R-22 refrigerants. However, he said many U.S. systems have already swapped out R-22 for R-410A, which is a more environmentally friendly chemical option, according to the EPA. Liebowitz added that R-435A, another more eco-friendly refrigerant, is an option the college is considering as they make the switch.

Knoll estimated the college will phase out all R-22 on campus over the next 10 years. He added that the cooling systems themselves— located on college roofs, in basements, and in mechanical rooms—will eventually need replacement, allowing for a simpler switch of

the refrigerants that fuel them. He said this is a long-term process based on the condition and age of the equipment.

“There is a way of using the same equipment, scrubbing the lines, and putting in new gas,” he said in a phone interview. “It’s probably time to change the equipment too, but just because of cost reasons, you can’t do it all at once.”

Although the U.S. began phasing out the substance a decade ago, Liebowitz said the college is only now beginning to switch its cooling systems because officials will minimize waste if they wait until systems are no longer functional before replacing them.

“It’s more environmentally sound to use the system you have until it dies, versus just to convert it automatically,” she said. “That’s how we’re approaching the R-22 or Freon phaseout—we’re using the system until it no longer makes sense, and then switching over to a different system which still uses refrigerants, but isn’t using Freon.”

Liebowitz added that the college recently implemented new chillers—cooling machines fueled by refrigerants—on the roof of the 216 Tremont building. She said these chillers require less electricity and use the current chemicals in a more energy-efficient way. In combination with the refrigerant swap, she said these changes will limit the negative environmental effects of the entire cooling system.

“With all of these different things, it adds up to just being more environmentally sound,” she said. dana_gerber@emerson.edu

Boston401 to tackle diversity in leadership issues Tomas Gonzalez, Beacon Staff Common Purpose, a U.K.-based not-forprofit organization, will bring a leadership program focused on developing cultural intelligence in future leaders to Boston this April.

Boston401 will assemble young leaders to brainstorm solutions for the lack of diversity in leadership that they will face in the next ten years, according to Boston401’s website. The conference will consist of 150 people and take place from April 16–18 at Boston University’s Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground.

Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Jim Hoppe will serve as a member of the event’s advisory board.

“Everyone who I have talked to who has attended the program in other places has had nothing but positive things to say,” Hoppe said in an interview. “I really hope that there is some interest from students here and I hope that we can get some folks to be a part of the program— and I think it will be a positive experience for them.”

Common Purpose, a nonprofit organization, focuses on developing young leaders in cities across the world. They have projects in 100 cities globally, but Boston will be their second city in the U.S. after launching Chicago200—a program similar to Boston401—last year. Hoppe said Common Purpose plans to spread to New York City and Indianapolis in the future.

Common Purpose decided on the name Boston401 because the city—founded in the year 1630—will enter its 401st year in 2031.

Hoppe became part of Boston401’s advisory group in the early stages of planning. 14 people serve on the advisory group, including the commissioner of the Boston Police Department and various local business directors.

The program focuses on cultural intelligence, which the Common Purpose website defines as “the ability to cross divides between geographies, generations, sectors, specializations,

backgrounds and beliefs and thrive in multiple cultures.” Hoppe said this emphasis is why Boston401 is seeking participants from various experiences, backgrounds, and areas.

“In the ideal world, when the event happens, it will be just this really diverse and robust cross-section of the community,” Hoppe said.

Hoppe said Common Purpose became interested in working with Emerson when they started exploring resources in Boston. While the event in April is limited to 150 participants, Hoppe said he hopes Emerson will be able to host a smaller-scale annual series of events with 50–60 participants beginning next year.

Hoppe said he helps Boston 401 with outreach and marketing and has already recruited some Emerson students to assist with the project. Hoppe recruited the National Broadcasting Society, a student organization focused on producing TV and radio programs, to help with an advertisement for the event.

“The [National Broadcasting Society] is making a video that promotes the application and the event,” Hoppe said. “It is a great way for students to showcase their talents and expertise and contribute to the organization.”

Common Purpose already hosts a Global Leader Experience at Harvard University, which is primarily focused on developing inclusive leadership skills, according to their website. Hoppe said the Harvard program is open to students from Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Brandeis University. He would like to do a Global Leader Experience in downtown Boston, open to students from Emerson, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, and Berklee College of Music, with the goal of highlighting more creative pursuits.

“We are exploring if there is room to do this program but with students from a more creative background—the students who are into the humanities,” Hoppe said. tomas_gonzalez@emerson.edu

Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Jim Hoppe is on the Boston401 advisory board.

Cho Yin Rachel Lo / Beacon Correspondent

Incident Journal: Graffiti in Piano Row and Little Building The Emerson College Police Department provides the Incident Journal to The Beacon every week. Beacon staff edit the Incident Journal for style and clarity but not for content.

Thursday, Jan. 23 ECPD responded to a person with no college affiliation trespassing inside the Paramount Theatre. Officers found the person inside a bathroom and removed them from the theater.

An officer on patrol found multiple doors

unsecured in the construction area of the Little Building. After checking the area for suspicious activity, the officer secured the doors.

inside the Tufte Building. The investigation revealed the person had left the building before ECPD could locate them.

Friday, Jan. 24 ECPD is investigating offensive graffiti found in the residential section of the Little Building.

Sunday, Jan. 26 ECPD investigated a report of a person hanging small posters on different college-owned properties. ECPD removed the signage.

Students reported being harassed while visiting the Boston Public Library on Boylston Street.

Saturday, Jan. 25 ECPD investigated a report of a trespasser

A student reported that clothing from the Little Building laundry room was missing.

Editorial Educate students on inclusive language for students with accessibility needs Most people grow up learning how to use sensitive language surrounding different kinds of communities. We were all at one point in our lives taught how to avoid using sexist, ageist, and racist language, and how to discuss a topic without disrespecting anyone or making anyone uncomfortable. However, there are still aspects of the society that some of us have never had proper contact with.

In a Jan. 25 Letter to the Editor titled “Response to ‘Emerson Special Olympics Event Draws Hundreds,’” Emerson student and Beacon staff writer Shruti Rajkumar found fault with The Beacon’s reporting of the original Jan. 21 article.

The letter brought attention to the article’s harmful terminology. Rajkumar said the use of the term “special needs” is “considered a derogatory and offensive term by many within the community” because it implies an “othering” by abled people. She also noted that referring to the Special Olympics athletes as “kids” suggests that people with accessibility needs are “grown children.”

Rajkumar also found a lack of quotes from the athletes. Instead, there is a quote from a mother of one of the athletes, suggesting that the athletes are incapable of speaking for themselves.

“Interviewing someone with a disability is not an ethical dilemma,” she wrote.

There are so many things that we could have done differently to avoid these kinds of mistakes as a newsroom, like asking how the athletes would prefer being addressed, but we simply did not examine our approach to this event in a more educated manner.

On the other hand, we need to point out that there is a lack of education surrounding terms when describing disabled communities. The Emerson community supposedly prides itself on being inclusive to different groups by introducing practices such as asking for preferred pronouns and creating a comfortable environment for all students.

This inclusivity, however, seems to exclude the disabled community.

While Emerson and other institutions make efforts to use inclusive language, this often does not extend to the disabled community. People with disabilities want

to be recognized for their abilities, not their disabilities. There is no excuse for not being inclusive of all groups.

Living and going to school with students with disabilities means we should all know how to properly address their community. Nearly 1 in 5 people worldwide have some form of disability, according to the World Health Organization. Students and faculty should receive proper education on the language that members of this community prefer.

Inclusivity extends beyond ramps and physical accommodations. While many are familiar with the preferred language for different gender, sexual, and racial identities, the disabled community is often overlooked. Our words have an impact, whether we are conscious of it or not.

We can do better to make students with accessibility needs feel more accepted within the school community.

Able-bodied individuals should acknowledge their privilege of not having to worry about how people address their physical abilities. Some people with accessibility needs also prefer “peoplefirst language,” in which the person’s identity is not solely defined by their physical or mental accessibility needs.

Small changes in our language have a large impact on how we make people with accessibility needs feel. If you are unsure of how someone wishes to be addressed, it is better to ask them rather than just assume.

Within the “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” online training program required for incoming first-year students, there should be a greater emphasis on how to address students with accessibility needs. The program does address sensitivity in regards to race, microaggressions, and general bias, but mental and physical disabilities deserve a stronger presence within this program.

Students and faculty should also take the initiative to research the terms that people within the disabled community prefer.

There is more that society can do to properly acknowledge members of the disabled community. Going forward, The Beacon will make a greater effort to be inclusive of all marginalized communities, and we encourage the school to create more educational programs surrounding these communities as well.

This editorial was written by Print Managing Editor Domenic Conte, Opinion Editor Ziqi Wang, Deputy Opinion Editor Jess Ferguson, and Assistant Opinion Editor Jocelyn Yang without consultation from other staff members, and does not influence any stories. Op-Eds reflect the views of only their authors, not The Berkeley Beacon.

The Berkeley Beacon © 2019 The Berkeley Beacon. All rights reserved.

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Editorial Cartoon illustration by Christine Park

“Ice sculptures are just fancy water.” - Abigail Semple

Crossword

by Ethan Spitalney

Down

Across 1 “Daisy” perfume creator Jacobs 5 Flying cave dweller 8 Result of triggering stink bug defense mechanism 9 Dry ___, as in wings 10 God of wisdom, to the Babylonians 11 Collected in experiments 12 White rescuer (cinematic trope) 14 NFL defensive star Donald 15 Feel doubt; awe 17 “Ass,” in Britspeak 18 Between loads and fires, as a gun 22 “What did I tell you?”

23 Joint commonly injured by runners 24 Neg. numbers when multiplied 25 Flesh cover

1 Day of the blues, for short 2 1990 civil rights law prohibiting disability discrimination, abbr.

3 Steal 4 Medieval military expedition beginning in the 11th century 5 “___ freeze” 6 Prefix with correct or pilot 7 Lift for two skiers 11 Typing keyboards with convenient letter arrangements 13 “And you ___?”

14 Principal agcy. of social security in Argentina 15 Unfriendly bee relative 16 Black and white sandwich cookie 19 Feathered pen essential 20 Chinese climatologist from Blizzard’s “Overwatch” 21 Hillary Clinton’s political position following her role as First Lady, in brief

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January 30, 2020

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Thoughts

Increase transparency surrounding Section 12 hospitalization Thomas Akiona Akiona is TK. “You’re being held on Section 12 involuntary hospitalization,” the psychiatrist said in a calm and collected manner, seemingly unfazed by the unnerving shrieks of the patient in the adjacent unit.

It was 9:30 p.m. and I had been waiting in the emergency room for almost eight hours. I occupied bed #92 in the psychiatric ward, while the screaming patient—later wheeled out on a stretcher by security—occupied bed #91. Upon arrival at the hospital, I was stripped of all my belongings, except for my phone.

“What’s going on? Why won’t they let me leave? Did I do something wrong?” I remember thinking to myself as the psychiatrist closed the door behind her. My mom arrived from California the next morning, hoping that I’d be released to her. I hoped so too, but we were “Sectioning isn’t just isolating, it also reinforces the stigma around mental health and discourages wrong—a second psychiatrist informed us of a those who are seeking help or on the road to recovery.” • Illustration by Christine Park / Beacon Staff bed waiting for me at an intensive psychiatric facility and that I’d be transported there later was given typical responses like “sit tight, be an individual to be committed to a psychiatric that morning. We were in sheer disbelief. patient, and a nurse will be with you shortly.” It institution for up to three business days against I was sent to the hospital on Dec. 13, was a frustrating and aggravating process, one their will and without their consent. When a 2019, after my usual appointment at Emerson that’s frequently and systematically abused by physician signs a Section 12, they must notify patients that they’re being Counseling & Psychological Services. I wasn’t medical authorities. Once placed on a psychiatric hold aware that “going to the hospital” meant I did my own research into and state their reasoning initiating a 72-hour psychiatric hold, a Section mental health legislation, for authorizing it. And 12 in Massachusetts, and that I’d need to be I realized there was much “I was legally kept while signing a Section evaluated by a psychiatrist to be eligible for more I should’ve known.

12(a) doesn’t automatically discharge. If I wanted to be discharged sooner, According to in the dark, and as a result in hospitalization, the I’d need to appear before a judge in court later Massachusetts General colloquial term “sectioned” that week. I was luckily discharged three days Laws, Section 12 of result, I was severely is used to refer to both 12(a) later, just in time for our flight back home for Chapter 123 permits and 12(b). the holidays. There was a lot of red tape to and regulates the misguided.”

Furthermore, state law navigate past in order for me to be discharged “emergency restraint and 104 CMR 27.02 mandates and there was no transparency whatsoever— hospitalization of persons that a psychiatric evaluation no one told me what was happening or what posing risk of serious must occur within two could’ve happened. harm by reason of mental Being held in a Section 12 psychiatric illness” and can be signed for by a physician, hours of a patient’s reception by a medical hospital granted me little to no civil rights, and nurse practitioner, qualified psychiatric nurse, facility, given that all qualified physicians I was under constant supervision of medical qualified psychologist, licensed independent aren’t preoccupied with an emergency, and the staff. What did I say or do that got me here? clinical social worker, or police officer. facility must inform the patient of their right to Who had the power to put me here, and who Section 12(a) allows for an individual to be an attorney through the Committee for Public has the power to set me free? I didn’t have brought against their will to an institution for Counsel Services. Upon request, the hospital any answers, and whenever I tried to ask, I psychiatric evaluation; Section 12(b) allows for must contact CPCS so an attorney can be

appointed to represent the patient. If ever found in this situation, ask to speak with an attorney yourself or ask to call CPCS at 617-988-8341.

When admitted to the hospital, I wasn’t told of any of these rights—in fact, I didn’t even know I was sectioned until nine hours after I arrived at the emergency room. I was legally kept in the dark, and as a result, I was severely misguided.

There is a stigma surrounding mental health and mental illness that prevents most of us from talking about our struggles—that’s nothing we don’t already know. But in turning to the resources meant to help students through personal battles, I quickly realized that the administrative response to our mental health is to either hand us off to other providers or send us to the hospital. It’s defeating to know that sectioning is common practice, if not protocol, at Emerson College. In fact, another Emerson student was in the waiting room at the same time I was, a coincidence noticed by the attending nurses. For an institution that prides itself as a beacon of acceptance and progress, my experience with the current resources on our campus contradicts these supposed values.

Sectioning isn’t just isolating, it also reinforces the stigma around mental health and discourages those who are seeking help or on the road to recovery. What’s worse is the deliberate misleading of sectioned patients and the systematic lack of transparency that stretches far beyond our campus, which is not entirely Emerson’s fault. If Section 12 really is college protocol, shouldn’t we start by keeping the student body aware of this procedure and the legal rights we have when sectioned? And if Section 12 isn’t as routine as it seems, how else are we effectively addressing our mental health, both on and off-campus? I understand Emerson is trying to keep up with the growing demand for support and that it is responsible for thousands of students, but the least our administration can do is keep us informed. Failure to do so, in my opinion, is just as dehumanizing as being locked in the psychiatric ward. thomas_akiona@emerson.edu

Don’t underestimate the importance of faculty of color Melanie Curry According to Forbes, a Hispanic Journal of Curry is a junior journalism major and Law and Policy study from 2013 to 2017 found Beacon Deputy Arts Editor. a less than one percent increase in the number of I arrived at Emerson in fall 2018 where I Hispanic and Latino faculty at colleges. Black quickly noticed my environment consisted of faculty grew by only one-tenth of a percent. The mostly white students and people. While I never lack of diversity in faculty at predominantly mind being taught by a white professor, I never white institutions such as Emerson College noticed the impact of learning under a professor makes it harder for students of color like myself who looked similar to me until I began taking to fit in and feel welcomed.

Cheryl Jackson’s Diversity of Journalism class.

Furthermore, not only does the lack of After the first day of class, I immediately diversity in faculty decrease comfortability, walked up to Jackson and told her how much but it can also hurt the performance of students I appreciated her for teaching a course on of color, according to The Edvocate. With diversity in my field. a professor of color, minority students will “I just want to let you know that I really perform better because of their relatability admire you,” I recall and identity with the saying to her. “This instructor. For example, is my first time being despite having only taught by someone a few Diversity of who looks like me, so Journalism classes, “With a professor of color, I’m super excited to Professor Jackson and take this course.” quickly hit it off. We minority students will per- Ibegan All but one of my meeting after previous journalism class and planned to form better because of their classes were taught meet during office by either a white hours to have serious relatability and identity woman or a white conversations about our man, and none experiences of being with the instructor.” referenced black black at the college. journalists or other At liberal arts colleges journalists of color such as Emerson, where in their curriculum. our major’s career paths Most of the time, I was the only black student in are mostly populated by white people, seeing a the class as well. This feeling of isolation, plus professor of color who looks like you in your the lack of diversity in my courses, made me desired field makes dreams plausible. Professors believe journalism was a predominantly white of color also do not solely impact minority career path where African American journalists students, but students across the institution as a and other journalists of color were limited or whole, according to The Washington Post. unsuccessful.

“The nation’s college students benefit This feeling only increased as I continued from learning from diverse faculty,” African writing and reporting for The Berkeley Beacon American education experts Lesie T. Fenwick as the only black staff member. It was not until and H. Patrick Swygert noted. “Such interaction I saw Jackson—a successful female African teaches students that all people can serve as American journalist—walk into our class that I models of intellectual authority and can provide began to realize that being a black journalist is students a visceral antidote to the myth of black a reality. intellectual inferiority.”

“All but one of my previous journalism classes were taught by either a white woman or a white man.” • Illustration by Christine Park / Beacon Staff Faculty of color can help white students— especially those with limited experiences around minorities—accept unconscious biases, prevent stereotyping, and promote acceptance and inclusion. Minority professors teaching both white students and students of color can foster a better learning environment and help shape the culture and the attitude of college campuses.

At Emerson, 75.3 percent of faculty is white, while only 7.1 percent are black, 5.7 percent are Latinx, and 3.7 percent are Asian, according to College Factual. At a school where 56 percent of students are white, it is unsurprising that the majority of Emerson’s faculty also reflects this. However, in an age where more minority students are going to college, there needs to be a better representation of color in our school’s faculty.

If I never decided to take Diversity of

Journalism with Professor Jackson, I am unsure if I would feel a sense of belonging within my major—a thought that saddens me. However, I am happy that my professor made my dream a reality. Until more professors of color are hired at Emerson, students of color—especially those who are majoring in white-dominated career fields—may feel unwelcome. Suggesting to hire professors of color may be an easy solution to a much more complex problem. Therefore, I advise that until more diverse faculty is hired our current faculty needs to include more diversity in their curriculum.

To every student of color, I hope you are awarded the same opportunity I was, which is to be taught by a professor who looks like you.

If not, remember this: you belong in your field even if there is no one to remind you. melanie_curry@emerson.edu

Living Arts

The Berkeley Beacon

January 30, 2020

6

Grad student takes first place at screenwriting competition Shruti Rajkumar, Beacon Staff While drafting a script outline for her Writing Series Television course in January 2019, second-year graduate student Jessica Cabrera-Contaoi was inspired to channel the guilt and sadness she feels toward the current immigration crisis in the United States. A first-generation Colombian, she turned her feelings into the dystopian script From Harm to reflect on those current political issues.

“In the back of my mind when I was writing it, I was very bothered by what I was hearing about what was happening at the border and children being taken away from their parents,” Cabrera-Contaoi said. “I think there was also some guilt about feeling like I wasn’t doing enough and feeling complacent, and that definitely was what I had in mind with my two main characters.”

On Dec. 10, 2019, seven months after submitting her script, Big Break Screenwriting Contest announced Cabrera-Contaoi as the winner of the TV Diversity category for her script From Harm.

“I was sick [at work when] I got the email that I had won for my category and that I was going to be invited to the red carpet event in January, and I was just floored,” Cabrera-Contaoi said. “I didn’t know if it was just the cold medicine or if it was real.”

From Harm is about a dystopian society aiming to weed out people who display “deviant” behavior by sending them to correction camps to prevent mass homicides and crimes.

The system’s flaws become evident when the child of a Latino senator is shipped off to a correction camp after displaying a mild form of “deviant” behavior. Three separate stories follow the senator, his wife, and a group of people trying to escape the correction camps, who come together to reflect the immigration crisis in the U.S. “I think one of the reasons I love Sci-Fi is because you really can explore political themes in kind of an alternate reality, and experiment with the ‘what if’s’ and reflect different scenarios of what could happen if the world keeps

heading in a certain direction,” Cabrera-Contaoi said.

The annual Big Break Screenwriting Contest was created in 2005 by the screenwriting software application company Final Draft to honor up-and-coming screenwriters. Contestants from all over the world are eligible to submit their original scripts for feature film and television screenplays to one of the various subcategories among the Feature and Television categories.

Scripts are accepted on four deadlines between March and July, and the finalists of each of the six rounds are announced via email from September through December.

“I had not been paying any attention in the first two rounds,” Cabrera-Cataoi said. I had been receiving the emails and I finally opened the top 10 email. I was looking through and I saw my name and I was in shock because I had no idea I had been placing in the last two rounds before that.”

Cabrera-Contaoi said she was inspired by the television adaptation of the book The Handmaid’s Tale because, as a mother, she could relate to the show’s main character, June.

“When they do [the] flashbacks in the show, they show how that character was complacent,” Cabrera-Contaoi said. “In her reflections, I think she realized that she should’ve fought harder not only for herself but for other people because if you don’t then it can happen to you.

I definitely carried that theme into From Harm with my two main characters who were part of a privileged class and had kind of turned their head on what was happening until it happened to them.”

Associate visual and media arts professor Jim Macak, who taught Writing Series Television in spring 2019, said that Cabrera-Contaoi’s pilot had intrigued him and her classmates.

“A lot of the students [and I] were really interested in how she managed to take this science fiction element and give it a very contemporary spin with the persecution of immigrants in this country,” Macak said.

Macak said Cabrera-Contaoi’s original script outline concerned him, since the pilot followed three separate stories that come together, but he

Jessica Cabrera-Contaoi won an award for her script. • Courtesy of Jessica Cabrera-Contaoi was impressed by the final outcome.

Macak said Cabrera-Contaoi was a terrific writer and collaborator, always eager to receive feedback and improve her work.

“One thing that really struck me about [Cabrera-Contaoi] is that she really appreciates feedback and she would do total rewrites if necessary, if she felt it would improve the script,” Macak said. “And that, to me, is a primary quality for any scriptwriter in this business because you’re going to get a ton of notes and how you react to [them] is really telling.”

Cabrera-Contaoi’s mother Gabriela Hill said she loves how Cabrera-Contaoi writes about people of diverse backgrounds and is proud that she is achieving her goals.

“I love that her stories are from the soul,” Hill said. “She has a great imagination [and] she loves the diversity of humans in every re-

gard. She’s truly enjoying [what she’s doing].

She likes to read and write and produce…I’m a lot older and I still feel like I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up, but she does.”

Cabrera-Cataoi lives in Santa Monica, California with her husband and four-year-old son. She works full-time at Xandr, a product management consultant advertising company. Cabrera-Cataoi said she does most of her screenwriting in her Emerson classes.

“I fell in love with that part of the process of screenwriting and it really became a way that I process the world,” Cabrera-Cataoi said.

“Screenwriting is definitely a part of me now, it’s not something that I ever want to stop doing, even if I don’t get paid for it.” shruti_rajkumar@emerson.edu

VMA professor sparks chain of kindness over 38-year career

Thomas Cooper has been teaching at Emerson for 38 years • Domenic Conte / Beacon Staff Continued from page 1 Cooper joined the Emerson community 38 years ago after graduating from Harvard University in Cambridge. He teaches interdisciplinary and visual and media arts ethics, but is also widely known for heading the Spirit of Emerson, a group dedicated to spreading Emerson’s spirit and acknowledging those who passively exhibit it on campus.

The Spirit of Emerson Committee, a subgroup of the Spirit of Emerson, annually gives out the Spirit of Emerson Award to a member of the Emerson community. This year, the committee will focus specifically on kindness with another award, the 2020 Kindness Award, recently named after Performing Arts Chair Robert Colby, Cooper’s longtime friend. Submissions for both awards are due on Jan. 31.

Cooper approached President M. Lee Pelton with the idea of the Spirit of Emerson in 2013.

Cooper said many people within the Emerson community—whether it be a security guard, a

dining hall worker, a student or any member of faculty—manifest spirit quietly or in unobserved roles.

“I noticed that there were a lot of people who are unacknowledged and who were really doing great things around Emerson,” Cooper said.

“We often acknowledge academic or athletic achievement, but we very seldom acknowledge what’s at the heart of the matter—which is the matter of the heart.”

Jacqueline Holland, the assistant director of academic support and chair of the Spirit of Emerson Committee, met Cooper—whom she dubbed “the champion of treats”—after she won the Spirit of Emerson Award herself in 2016. Duffy said Cooper is well known for his basic and fundamental acts of kindness, and anyone who meets him may expect chocolate or candy almost immediately.

“He just believes in kindness so much, and the Spirit of Emerson, and that we should all be nice and have these nice interactions and moments and celebrate each other,” Holland said.

“Chocolate definitely helps do that. It’s a small token but people do appreciate it.”

Former Co-Facilitator of the Spirit of Emerson and the new Assistant Vice President of Student Success Sharon Duffy said she remembers being in a state of disbelief after meeting Cooper four years ago.

“I remember thinking, in a cynical way, ‘Is this guy for real?’” Duffy said in an interview.

“He just has this way about him, he’s so positive, so caring and giving, it’s very rare for a person to be the way that he is all the time. And that’s genuinely who he is…he lives it.”

Cooper said he demonstrates small acts of kindness in an effort to spark a chain of generosity in his community.

“They are small gestures, but it’s like if you keep sowing seeds if you’re a farmer, some of them are eventually going to grow,” Cooper said. “You might give candy to 1,000 people and only two of them will say ‘thank you.’ But somehow, they start giving candy to someone else, or they start doing something for somebody else.”

From a young age, Cooper said he felt like a “communicator,” leading him to write poetry, play music, and act in plays. He was the president of his high school class and continued being a communicator at Harvard in various ways through the student newspaper and as a teacher’s assistant.

“Even as a child, I wanted to strongly express myself,” Cooper said. “It’s very typical Emersonian, you just don’t want to die with your music in you, whatever your major is. You’ve got that strong longing to express.”

In addition to teaching ethics over the past 38 years, Cooper’s career includes stints as an assistant speechwriter under the Jimmy Carter administration, and for the last four years, he has worked on a project headquartered in Vienna under the United Nations, where he helps to develop a worldwide ethical curriculum. He spent a part of the recent winter vacation in Honolulu with the Pacific Telecommunication Council, joining over 2,500 others from over 70 differ-

ent countries to work on issues pertaining to the cultural impact of globalizing technology. He joined the PTC 27 years ago, after participating in a teacher exchange program that landed him at the University of Honolulu for two years.

He is the author of eight books and over 150 articles, and is planning on publishing another book in April that examines 12 cases of the “most challenging ethical decisions in the history of the world.”

Cooper also plays keyboard in the rock band “Sundance,” which was created during his time in college at Harvard. They have performed at each college reunion and still play today, and most recently performed at two block parties over the summer. “Sundance” performed in Carnegie Hall four years ago, but Cooper did not perform because he was on sabbatical.

“We used to do an hour of [the] Rolling Stones when I was in college—people had to dance until they dropped,” Cooper said. “Now we can do more like 20 minutes of Rolling Stones before we take a breather and do another song.”

He is also the writer for an upcoming musical, which will have their next reading at a professional theater in Cambridge’s Central Square in June.

Both Duffy and Holland said Cooper acts without seeking praise or recognition, and that he genuinely wants to spread positivity around the Emerson campus and across the globe. Cooper said he acts with kindness because of the intangible reward he receives when other people treat him with the same kindness and positivity.

“Whenever anyone takes me to a higher level of consciousness, I really appreciate it,” Cooper said. “I see the world in a different way. I feel like life is more worthwhile. If I can do that for students, to get the lights to go on in their eyes, or to get them to feel they have a meaning and a purpose in life.” domenico_conte@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

January 30, 2020

Living Arts

7

Junior creates jewelry business called “Raw Intention” Althea Champion, Beacon Staff In fall 2019, junior Jalyn Cox took a trip to Salem, Massachusetts, where she made the decision to get her Tarot cards read for the first time. Cox was stunned to hear the reader mention the idea of a potential entrepreneurial endeavor, something she had been entertaining in her mind for months.

After a 3-month-long rumination period, Cox started creating jewelry in late October.

On Dec. 10 she launched Raw Intention, her own jewelry company. Cox said Raw Intention creates jewelry that incorporates crystal components and original designs so that each piece is unique.

“I want to combine crystals in a way with jewelry that, at least for me, I haven’t necessarily seen as much,” Cox said in an interview. “I want it to be like everyday wear with a flare.”

Cox—wearing self-made butterfly earrings and a green rhyolite stone around her neck— said she launched Raw Intention wearing her signature rhyolite stone necklace. She said she feels a stronger connection to the rhyolite stone necklace than any other stone.

“I think it’s really cool to know yourself enough,” Cox said. “To know, like, this is mentally my headspace now. This is what I want to work on… And whenever I put on my necklace in the morning, I think of those things.”

The idea behind Raw Intention first surfaced for Cox in summer 2019, when crystals began to interest her and attracted her to various farmer’s markets.

“I couldn’t find any pieces of jewelry that I felt a connection to, that I loved and actually wanted to wear,” Cox said. “I was like wait, what am I doing? I know how to make jewelry.

Maybe I should start doing this.”

Cox created three different collections within Raw Intention. Her first collection is titled “Genesis,” and her second collection, “Chiron Direct,” was created in collaboration with Lis Steinberg ‘19, who Cox met while working on campus during fall 2018.

“We both had similar spiritual beliefs,” Steinberg said in a phone interview from New York. “And when she came to me with what she was doing, I thought it was just the coolest thing.”

Cox’s third collection, “Rekindled Gems,” prioritizes sustainability by recycling older beads into new pieces of jewelry.

“We have so many beautiful things already [lying around],” Cox said. “There’s no need to make more.”

All of her pieces are visibly influenced by nature, Cox said. Pieces feature subjects such as butterflies, flowers, fish, shells, and stones.

Cox primarily uses friends as models for her products, and is learning photography in the process.

“Because there are so many amazing photographers here on campus…I’ve been learning from a lot of different people,” Cox said.

Cox’s jewelry prices range from $9–23.

Mindful of the financial strains facing college students, Cox prioritizes selling affordable products.

“A lot of my friends say that I should up the prices on my jewelry,” Cox said. “But I don’t want to, because that’s not necessarily what it’s all about to me.”

Cox has also started a blog, meant to go hand-in-hand with her jewelry business. The first post featured on the blog focuses on healing energy and what it means to heal.

Cox said she is in the process of creating a Raw Intention website, which is almost complete and scheduled to launch Feb. 3.

Until the website goes online, products are sold through Instagram with direct messages with potential customers. Cox said she accepts cash and Venmo transactions.

Shoppers on the website will have the option to either pick up their orders or have them shipped. However, the website makes it clear that only orders from Emerson students have the option to pick up their pieces from Cox’s dorm room.

Junior Marlee Mesarchik was attracted to the jewelry’s simplicity and originality. She ordered two custom made matching necklaces from Raw Intention and received them at her home in California over the winter break. The package included a card with descriptions of the significance of the stones Cox used to make the product.

“I have also been suggesting [Raw Intention] to all of my friends, because they all love my necklace,” Mesarchik said.

The Raw Intention Instagram page cultivates publicity for Cox’s pieces and is her main source of sales.

“I am so proud of the social media,” Cox said. “Because I feel like I am actually connecting with some people, and actually speak-

Jalyn Cox shows off some of the jewelry she sells. • Cho Yin Rachel Lo / Beacon Staff ing to them about what stones they have, what stones they want to see, and why they want to see them.”

Cox said she values human connection and wants Raw Intention to involve more direct interactions in the future.

“I have a lot of plans to go to small craft markets,” Cox said. “And I want to speak to people.

I want to be in front of people showing them exactly what it is.”

Before starting Raw Intention, Cox and her mother used to make and restore jewelry together.

“It was kind of something that we both kind of lost over the years,” Cox said.

Cox said she and her mother use Raw Intention to once again share jewelry-making. The two took a bracelet making class together over winter break.

“My mom is—whether she realizes it or

not—she is so excited over this,” Cox said. “It was so fun to work with her while I was home, and hear what she had to say, and watch that kind of inspiration be sparked within her once again too because really I learned everything I had to learn from her.”

Cox sees herself continuing Raw Intention throughout her time at Emerson as well as after graduating. Cox said she plans to focus on fostering a community within the jewelry business.

“I really want to harness a community of people,” Cox said. “Like-minded people who are focused on crystals, and healing, and just communicating in a healthy, supportive way.”

althea_champion@emerson.edu

How TV brought me closer to my brother Dana Gerber is a sophomore Writing, Literature, and Publishing major, The Beacon’s assistant enterprise editor, and this week’s love columnist.

In my household, the TV remote often feels like a fifth family member. My mother unwinds with reality shows, and my father weeps to black-and-white films. I’ve always been partial to trashy sitcoms, while my brother rarely diverges from his steady diet of Sunday Night Football. Once in a blue moon, we would all watch Jeopardy! together, but outside of those special occasions, it always felt as though the TV represented our individual therapy sessions—all we wanted to do was lie down on the couch and let it heal us for a little while.

My brother and I, whose five-and-a-half-year age gap often felt insurmountable, had very little in common as we grew up. He entered middle school just as I started kindergarten. We didn’t share friends, hobbies, or interests for years, and our worlds always spun in complete-

ly different orbits. While we’ve gotten much closer as we’ve grown older, our relationship still feels the slightest bit asymmetrical. To this day, I retain the designation of “pesky little sister,” and he wears his “wise older brother” title with pride. All the mutual personal growth in the world can’t completely shed those labels.

Over this past summer, my brother recommended the show Fleabag to me, raving over its honest storytelling and fiery wit. We were both going through our own difficult periods, but, as always, we were keeping each other in the dark about the details.

Fleabag, with its unabashed portrayals of grief, self-doubt, and authentic connection, was precisely the narrative I needed to identify with at that moment. However, it did more than that. Knowing my brother also found solace in the story was perhaps the closest he’d ever come to confiding in me. It’s true that we still didn’t have the most open dialogue that siblings could have, but we had the vicarious dialogue of the characters on the screen.

I’m not alone in finding TV to be a universal language. According to a 2016 study published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, television can function as a bridge be-

“Today, my brother and I talk directly (or, at least over text) more than ever.”­

tween social worlds, creating a shared fictional space for two people to live in together. While the study mainly focuses on how this operates in romantic couples, it seems to apply to all close relationships. The study determined that “shared media can enhance interdependence and allow people to compensate for lacking a shared social network in the real-world,” fostering a connection like ones created by “trying a new hobby or revealing private thoughts to a partner.” Sure, my brother and I might not have been having all-night sob sessions together about our innermost secrets, but the common denominator of our Netflix queue was enough.

After my brother introduced me to Fleabag, I started to think back through the years.

While our television tastes had never overlapped, we always had one show to share during specific milestones of our lives. Spongebob Squarepants had entertained my childhood whims and satisfied his adolescent wit, giving us a common thread of humor.

Ned’s Declassified School Survival Guide gave us valuable advice to guide us in the omnipresent woes of adolescence, even if we were grades apart. Scrubs gave us a comedic yet emotional outlet to explore our maturing senses of self,

punctuated by the loss of loved ones. Even if our life experiences were oceans apart, it turned out that channel surfing on the same wave had brought my brother and I closer together ever since I was big enough to hold a remote.

Today, my brother and I talk directly (or, at least over text) more than ever. Our relationship has overcome many of its barriers, and fiveand-a-half-years doesn’t seem so overwhelming anymore. Do I wish that we could talk about everything—love, career, fears, hopes—without TV as a mediator? Of course. There are limits to how much a scripted story can speak to our own character arcs, and there isn’t always an episode for every situation I want to share with him. But for the times where there are no words—or, at least not our own—to communicate with the other, I’m grateful that sometimes all it takes to say what I need to say is texting him: Hey, there’s this show I think you’d like.

“While we’ve gotten much closer as we’ve grown older, our relationship still feels the slightest bit asymmetrical.”­

dana_gerber@emerson.edu

Sports

The Berkeley Beacon

January 30, 2020

8

UPCOMING ACTION MEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Dean College at Emerson, 7 p.m., Thu. MEN’S VOLLEYBALL: MIT at Emerson, 7 p.m., Fri. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Springfield at Emerson, 1 p.m., Sat. MEN’S BASKETBALL: MIT at Emerson, 3 p.m., Sat.

Athletic director elevates sports programs Emily Cardona, Beacon Staff When Patricia Nicol took over as Emerson’s Athletic Director in 2014, she faced the challenge of enhancing the school’s athletic program.

During Nicol’s tenure, the men’s basketball team won the college’s first New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Championship in 2019. The women’s volleyball team also appeared in the NEWMAC championship game for the first time in 2019.

“The most rewarding aspect of the job is to see the change in culture and belief in our staff, coaches, and student-athletes,” Nicol said in an interview. “We now are in a position where we believe we can be successful, we are competitive, and we have found our place in the NEWMAC conference.”

Nicol said her goal since her first day at Emerson is to provide an understanding of how a successful athletic program can contribute to the mission of the college. “[An athletic program] contributes to the diversity objective of the college,” Nicol said.

“It presents a different opportunity to offer and provide a collegial campus spirit.”

Emerson’s athletic department did not have an official logo until Nicol unveiled the current one in 2014. Nicol also developed a partnership with the Communication Studies Department to establish a sports communication major.

“Pat brings strong leadership and the ability to communicate with people at the upper level of Emerson College and to increase the visibility of success at the Emerson Athletic Department,” David Suvak, head coach of the women’s soccer team, said in an interview.

Nicol worked at multiple Division I and II colleges before taking the Athletic Director job at Emerson. During her collegiate career at the University of Rhode Island, Nicol won seven New England Indoor and Outdoor Track championships in the 800-meter race and qualified for the national championship five times.

In 1990, the University of Rhode Island inducted Nicol into their Hall of Fame in her first year of eligibility, and in 2013 she received the University’s Distinguished Achievement Award from the Rhode Island House of Representatives and the Commissioner of Higher Education.

From 1984–85, Nicol served as the head coach of West Virginia University’s cross country and track and field teams. Nicol said this

experience helped prepare her for an administrative role.

“It was interesting because it kind of rounded out my understanding of athletics,” Nicol said. “As a student-athlete, and then as a coach and moving into the administrative role, I had a pretty broad-based experience in what I felt coaches and student-athletes needed in order to be successful.”

After coaching for two years, Nicol moved back to New England to be closer to her family.

She worked from 1985–90 in the Groton Public School System in Connecticut as a physical education teacher.

Nicol reentered the world of college athletics in 1990 as the Associate Athletic Director at Providence College, a Division I school. She said her experiences at Rhode Island and West Virginia helped her advance her career.

“When you’re in athletics, you really get to network and develop relationships,” Nicol said.

“Through my running, I was able to establish some wonderful relationships.”

Providence hired Nicol to jumpstart their brand new NCAA compliance program despite her lack of previous experience in the area.

“I kind of came in at the ground floor and really studied,” Nicol said. “I visited several institutions and sat in their compliance programs.

I really had to do my due diligence over the first couple of years to really understand the nature of that position.”

In 1996 Nicol took a position as the Assistant Director of Athletics at the University of Maryland before taking the same position at Southern Connecticut State University in 1999. The University named Nicol Co-Director of Athletics in 2003, and she worked as the Director of Intercollegiate Athletics from 2005-14. In her time at Southern Connecticut State, Nicol increased the athletic department’s scholarship support from $196 thousand to $1.3 million. She received a nomination for the DII Athletic Director of the Year in 2010.

Emerson hired Nicol in 2014 as their Director of Intercollegiate Athletics and Recreation.

Nicol said she believes in a balance between athletics and academics and that Division III creates that environment. Nicol’s daughter introduced her to the philosophy of Division III sports when she played lacrosse at Springfield College.

“My daughter was in the Physician Assistant program, which has a very challenging academic curriculum, but she was also the captain

Patricia Nicol brought new life to the athletic programs when she was hired in 2014.

Rachel Culver / Beacon Staff of the Lacrosse team, so she got to experience both,” Nicol said. “After watching her for five years in the program, you really can have both, and I started to reevaluate my philosophy.”

Over her time in athletic administration, Nicol said the methods of recruiting student-athletes have shifted. Instead of waiting for them to express interest in Emerson, they are recruiting students who fit Emerson’s academic environment.

“We are recruiting athletes who are going to be academically successful and are able to bring us to the next level athletically, so we proactively recruit students to Emerson,” Nicol said.

Nicol said the women’s basketball team, women’s soccer team, and softball team all have the highest grade point average in all of Division III over the past three years.

“Pat has really brought stability to the department and a real sense of professionalism,” women’s basketball head coach Bill Gould said.

“She has coaching experience, so she understands what the job entails.”

When she arrived in 2014, Nicol said she told the athletic department staff it will take a

minimum of three to five years to see the effects of the effort they put in. Since then, Nicol converted the head coaching jobs of all sports outside of cross country into full-time positions.

She did not hire a full-time cross country coach because of the absence of a track and field program. She also hired a full-time athletic trainer for the department.

“We have an excellent and committed athletic staff, coaches, and administration staff,” Nicol said. “We are all on the same page on where we want to go. We are going to build a solid foundation, and that always takes time, but when we get to a level, we will be sustaining excellence as opposed to chasing it.”

While Nicol might have held higher-profile positions in the past, she considers her time at Emerson special.

“I am so fortunate to have the experience of maybe ending my career at the Division III level,” said Nicol.

emily_cardona@emerson.edu

New Lions adjust to Emerson on and off the court Megan MacLaren, Beacon Staff Freshmen shooting guards Max Davis and Bryan Lupianez, the two newest additions to the men’s basketball team, said one of the best things about Emerson is the food served in the Dining Center.

“I like it, the DH is really good,” Lupianez said in an interview. “My favorite is either the omelet or the chicken quesadilla.”

Admissions played a key role in when the two freshmen arrived on campus. The coaches worked to get both Davis and Lupianez into Emerson for the beginning of the season, but both players received offers for the spring semester.

“We liked what we saw, and we were able to get them in for second semester,” head coach Bill Curley said in an interview. “We will take our players whenever we can get them.”

Davis and Lupianez arrived at Emerson in late December, joining the team halfway through its season.

“They have already made our practices more competitive, which is pushing the other guys,” Curley said. “They have already had an effect on our team, and they are going to continue to get better.”

With the addition of Davis and Lupianez, there are now six freshmen on the Lions’ roster to go along with five sophomores and four upperclassmen. Curley is not concerned about the ages of his players or how it affects them during games.

“We know we’re young,” Curley said. “A lot of this is new for these guys. The terminology,

Freshmen Max Davis (left) and Bryan Lupianez (right) are the fifth and sixth freshmen on the Lions’ roster, respectively. Cho Yin Rachel Lo / Beacon Staff the intensity every day and the commitment every day. We really think we have a lot of talent on this team. We really like the kids we have, and it’s just about getting them up to speed and getting them to where we want to be.”

Davis said his family’s sports background encouraged him to play basketball.

“Everyone in my family are baseball and football players,” Davis said in an interview. “I think that when I was three I was drawn towards

a basketball. I just found myself gravitating towards it.”

Davis said he chose Emerson due to the promotion of creative culture. In addition to basketball, Davis is passionate about music.

“I was looking for a place where I could play basketball, but also do other things,” Davis said.

“I found that Emerson was the perfect mix.”

Lupianez said the school’s mix of academics and athletics drew him to Emerson.

“It was the sports communications, and playing in the NEWMAC because it is one of the best Division III conferences,” Lupianez said.

Lupianez began playing basketball at age eight. His middle school basketball coaches cut him from the team, but this did not stop him from continuing to play.

“I knew that I was meant to play basketball,” Lupianez said in an interview.

Lupianez said he knew he wanted to play for the Lions after his first visit.

“I first talked to Coach Barrett on the phone, and we talked for about an hour just telling me everything about Emerson, and I just fell in love with everything he was telling me,” Lupianez said. “A couple months later, we set up a visit and I came and just fell in love with Emerson.”

Both players also agree the gym is one of the best places Emerson has to offer.

“I like home games here a lot,” Davis said. “I really like the atmosphere of the gym. It’s really small, so it gets really crowded. I love playing in a loud gym. It’s part of what drives me.”

Both Davis and Lupianez played in the Lions’ win against Wheaton College on Jan. 25 and even though they did not play many minutes, Coach Curley knows the two players added value to the team.

“It’s a difficult transition,” Curley said.

“They’re going to have bumps and bruises, but we like their potential and what they bring.”

megan_maclaren@emerson.edu