College Launches Em

The Berkeley Beacon

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

Thursday April 4, 2019 • Volume 72, Issue 24

Peer mentor program created to assist international students Hanna Marchesseault, Beacon Staff The Office of International Student Affairs and the Office of Housing and Residence Life plan to implement an International Student Peer Mentor program starting in the fall 2019 semester to support new international students in their transition to the college’s campus and the United States.

Assistant Dean for Campus Life Elizabeth Ching-Bush designed the ISPM program so new international students would feel more comfortable on campus. Upon arrival, students will be placed with one of five mentors who will make themselves available throughout the academic year to answer any questions students might have about the campus or Boston.

Hemenway Residence Director Matthew Carney said OISA and OHRL recognized that international students sometimes experience the toughest transition when arriving to campus. International students make up 16 percent of the Emerson undergraduate student population, according to the college’s website. This is an increase from the spring 2017 semester when the international student population was 10 percent.

“Over the past few years, our international population admitted and accepted into Emerson has been growing, and we really want programs set in place that will support the student as a whole in our communities,” he said.

Each of the peer mentors will live in a double room in Little Building, where the college plans on housing mostly first-year students.

See peer mentors, page 2

Inaugural ComEx! Festival celebrates comedic arts

By Damica Rodriguez • p. 7

Sophomore Bobbie Pearce (left) and sophomore Harvey Kelle (right) will perform at ComEx! with the Emerson Comedy Workshop.

Xinyi Tu / Beacon Correspondent

Senior turns class project into "We Demand" podcast series

College launches customized Amazon voice technology

Frances Hui, Beacon Staff Almost halfway through his Podcasts for Change class last semester, senior Ian Mandt asked himself what kind of change he really wanted to make through the medium.

Several semesters earlier, Mandt participated in the 2017 campus protest organized by students of color, even though he did not yet fully understand how institutional racism manifested on campus.

On April 28, 2015, student advocacy group Protesting Oppression With Educational Reform initiated a student walkout at the last faculty assembly of the 2014–15 school year.

POWER demanded the college strengthen the cultural competency and racial conversations at Emerson.

In fall 2017, POWER led more than 300 Emerson students in a protest that reiterated their original demands and dissatisfaction with the administration. The organization created a Change.org petition with a list of needs all starting with “We Demand …” that more than 2,400 people supported. POWER sent the petition and list of demands to President M. Lee Pelton, the Board of Trustees, Provost Michaele Whelan, and the faculty assembly.

See podcast, page 6 OPINION

Flora Li, Beacon Staff

Senior Ian Mandt will release the third episode of his podcast “We Demand” on April 5.

Xinyi Tu / Beacon Correspondent

The untold effects of school shootings

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Men's V-ball senior sets career milestone

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Emerson Launch unveiled its first voice assistant, Em, and a study app called Voicelet, both available via Amazon voice-enabled technologies, on March 21.

As the new programs launch, administrators are discussing how to incorporate Amazon Echo Dots, a voice-controlled device, on the Boston campus to promote Em and Voicelet. Some faculty members and students feel concerned about the voice assistants potentially invading their privacy. At this moment, the college has not installed Echo Dots around the campus.

Voicelet mirrors Quizlet, a website designed to help students learn material through games and virtual flashcards, except the program works with voice-enabled technology, and currently only contains study material for program developer Assistant Professor Maria Scott’s Intro to Public Relations class.

Emerson was the only non-engineering school to receive a fellowship from Amazon last August, alongside nine other colleges across the country. Amazon granted Emerson the Echo Dots on campus, Dean of the School of Communication Raul Reis said in an interview.

See technology, page 2

LIVING ARTS

Sophomore brings back Model UN

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April 4, 2019

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Junior runs unopposed for SGA executive presidential race

Diana Bravo, Beacon Staff Student Government Association Executive Vice President Raz Moayed entered the race for executive president unopposed, with plans to resign at the end of the fall semester to study abroad in the spring.

This is not the first time a student has planned to leave a position in the middle of the academic year. Current Executive President Jess Guida says that students have left SGA positions in the middle of the year before, and believes that the timing could make the transition easier.

“Passing the torch in the middle of the year is different and I think for some people it would be a little weird,” Guida said. “But it also allows the ability to learn for that semester and have an understanding of where SGA is going before you step into that role.”

Moayed is running a campaign focused on making SGA a larger part of student life. She plans to do this by encouraging students to feel

more comfortable around the organization, and presenting it as a resource for students to use.

According to the SGA Constitution, the vice president takes over the president’s duties if the office suddenly becomes open. However, as a candidate, Moayed announced her intent to resign the role after holding it for one semester.

Due to this early announcement, Guida says the executive presidency will run on the ballot in fall 2019 as opposed to falling to whoever wins the executive vice presidency.

Moayed said she wanted to become involved in campus life at Emerson, so she served as the SGA executive assistant, an appointed position, during her freshman year. The executive assistant helps the president with the day-today parts of running the SGA, from contacting SGA members to taking attendance at executive board meetings.

“I learned that I could be a part of all organizations if I joined SGA, and so that’s what made me stay,” she said.

Moayed ran for visual and media arts senator and won as a sophomore. As a junior, she ran for the executive vice president position to broaden the work she was doing as a VMA senator.

Moayed worked to produce the SGA Academic Initiative, a list of suggestions SGA makes for faculty regarding the state of the college’s academics.

As executive vice president, Moayed oversaw the production of the initiative in the fall and spring semesters. She worked with faculty from different departments and organizations, and helped organize the SGA town hall to hear students’ and faculty members’ concerns.

“It felt like [executive vice president] was the perfect position that had two of my favorite things—student orgs and academics,” Moayed said.

Moayed began her campaign with a video statement at SGA press night where she discussed her readiness and willingness to hold the position on her way to class.

“I want SGA to be more accessible, I don’t want people to feel intimidated,” Moayed said.

“That’s why my video was so funny and corny.”

Guida said in an interview that there should be no concerns about Moayed running unopposed.

“Raz is absolutely ready, I don’t think anyone has to question her experience. Especially considering the experience that she has had,” Guida said.

Guida feels proud that her executive board, including Moayed, expanded SGA membership and built relationships between SGA, and college administrators.

“I just think that there’s a really good foundation for whoever takes over to build upon, and keep running in that direction,” Guida said.

 diana_bravo@emerson.edu

Peer mentors to live in Little Building with first-year international students Continued from page 1 Carney said the college’s budget only allows for five peer mentor positions. Peer mentors will not get an hourly wage, but they will receive half off of their room and board fees, and can choose their roommate. A standard double in Emerson’s residence halls costs $8,845. Peer mentors’ roommates must pay full price for room and board.

Director of International Student Affairs Andrea Popa said in a phone interview that the college offered the ISPM program for the last few years, but the two offices decided to make it more structured for the upcoming year to support international students better. In the past, the program was similar but did not have the constant support this new program aims to provide, Popa said.

Popa said she believes the new program will allow international students to feel like they’re heard on the campus.

“Instead of international students asking for

help, this will be more of a community builder,” she said. “This is a great way for students to have a position where they’re empowered and can form new relationships.”

Freshman Qinyun Fan applied to be a peer mentor and has an interview this week. Fan is from Shanghai, China, and understands that the transition to a new country is particularly difficult.

“I had never heard of a program like this before but I searched around and found that a lot of other schools have mentor programs like this, and I think it’ll be helpful for freshmen,” she said. “This year I was always a little confused with the school services, and what the school offers us as freshmen.”

In Boston, Northeastern University and Boston University both use programs similar to ISPM. The international undergraduate population of Northeastern is 20 percent, and Boston University is 23 percent, according to their websites.

Carney oversees the peer mentor hiring pro-

cess and will create a timeline through December 2019 for the position and what the offices must do to help international students. He will also act as the point of contact for any questions from mentors and students about the program.

Carney said the application to for an international peer mentor is not limited to international students, and the college will conduct interviews for the position on April 3 and 4. Students who apply must complete at least two semesters at the college and be in good academic standing. The application for the 2019-2020 academic year is closed, but students can apply again next year.

“The application is open to anyone. We want them to show us how they will be able to support our incoming and growing international population here at Emerson,” Carney said.

Fan said she believes the program will help international students acclimate to a new city.

“For international students, they just came to a new city and this is a brand new language for many of them. I think having a peer mentor

offers a connection in a new phase of a new life,” she said.

The chosen peer mentors will be required to meet with mentees at least one hour a week, attend monthly meetings with OISA and OHRL staff members and mentees, plan and facilitate events, and participate in the International Pre-Orientation from August 24 through 26.

“This upcoming year is definitely going to be a test year, and a growing year for us,” Carney said. “With the Little Building opening, that is going to be an amazing experience for our students to all live under one roof. This year we really want to focus on that support aspect for our students, and then reevaluate through different means of assessment for both peer mentors and students who are being mentored to see what needs to be improved or continued for future years.”

 hanna_ marchesseault@emerson.edu

Students and faculty express privacy concerns over new voice technology Continued from page 1 Sanjay Pothen, director of Emerson Launch, could not provide any specific details about the grant.

Emerson administrators have discussed using the Echo Dots in public areas on campus, including the Visitor Center, WERS, the Dining Center, and common rooms.

Russell Newman, assistant professor in the Interdisciplinary Studies Department, said in an interview that the problem of potential privacy invasion was not due to the voice technology, but the tech giants that profit off of accumulating profiles on its users.

“This isn’t a technological problem; this is a social one that requires social solutions, like new regulations and new policies,” Newman said.

Reis said Emerson Launch staff members talked with different departments about their interest in acquiring Voicelet and developing other functions with voice technology. Newman and several other faculty members created a committee in late March to begin developing guidelines on how to interact with the Echo Dots in a safe way to protect privacy.

Emerson will not install any Echo Dots on campus until they receive further results from Emerson Launch and the faculty committee releases the guidelines, Reis said.

Ian Mandt, executive treasurer of the Student Government Association, said in an interview that he and a small group of SGA members talked to Pothen this semester about protecting students’ private information if the Echo Dots are installed around the campus.

“We wanted it to be pushed back more long term,” Mandt said. “I think before these devices can be placed, the issues of privacy have to be

addressed.”

Scott said she believes the Echo Dots do not pose much of a danger in leaking personal information. She said she tested how much the Echo Dots could hear by speaking out loud about three subjects to the Dots in her home for a whole day. She found that no advertisements regarding the three subjects she talked about appeared on her phone. When she tried the same experiment on her phone, relevant ads appeared.

“I was relatively convinced that this [Dot] listens to me far less than the iPhone,” Scott said.

Students can access Em either by using an Echo Dot or through the Amazon Alexa phone application. Em and Voicelet are “skills” on voice-controlled devices, and they function like the apps on a phone, Pothen said. Em can provide information about on-campus activities, office addresses, sporting event schedules, the academic calendar, and play the college’s radio station WERS, Pothen said. Users can ask questions after activating Em by saying “Alexa, launch Em.” Pothen had groups of Emerson students come up with 150 frequently asked questions about Emerson in the fall 2018 semester. Emerson Launch coded the answers into Alexa and the students gave the voice assistant a gender neutral name—Em. While Emerson Launch provides technical help, Scott and public relations graduate student Frida Rostoker work on the content for Scott’s Intro to Public Relations class. They test the accuracy of the Dots and how much the content in Voicelet helps students study by gathering feedback from the 25 students in Scott’s class.

Scott said in an interview that students can practice true or false and multiple choice questions on Voicelet when studying. It also has

Sanjay Pothen, director of Emerson Launch, helped create “Em” on March 21, a voice assistan tailored to Emerson. • Daniel Peden / Beacon Staff flash card mode, which Scott designed to help students learn key words and definitions from their textbook.

Voicelet also works with multiple users. After recording every player’s name, Alexa asks each player a question. Voicelet removes each student that answers three questions wrong. Each Voicelet folder can contain 15 to 25 questions, Scott said.

Scott started using Voicelet in her classroom this semester with her 25 students. She said about half of them said Voicelet helped them study better. Scott plans to continue using Voicelet in the next academic year, when she anticipates having about 50 students in two different sections of the course. She said she hopes to use this larger sample size to update Voicelet and maximize its effectiveness.

Scott and Rostoker also hope to establish a structure for professors who wish to use Voicelet for their own classes and course material.

“What we would give them is a spreadsheet that basically has all these different tabs … and then they just have to literally fill in the blanks,” Scott said.

Reis said Emerson’s history as a school of oratory fits well with voice technology.

“We want to be able to give skills to the students if we think something is going to become very prominent, and want to be able to leverage the history that we have with voice,” Reis said.

Reis also said he thinks Emerson could lead the discussion on voice technology and the related ethical and human interaction issues, such as paraphrasing information too complicated for the technology to process.

“We don’t want this to be all technical discussions with computer science; we want this to be human discussions, too,” Reis said.  zhutao_li@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

April 4, 2019

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Emerson students help organize panel on Venezuelan crisis Tomas Gonzalez, Beacon Staff Freshman Diana Mucchiut felt scared when she could not reach her mother on the phone during the first of many major power outages that started occurring in Venezuela since March 7.

“I was used to not talking to my mom for two days because I’m all over the place,” Mucchiut said. “But then I realized I couldn’t speak to my mother to see if she was OK, if she was home, or even if she had food.”

The country’s most widespread electrical outage started on March 7, when a large fire spread along power lines connected to the country’s main energy source, the Guri Dam, according to the Venezuelan newspaper La Patilla. The blackout plunged the country and its inhabitants into darkness for more than five days.

Venezuela faces a humanitarian, economic, and political crisis. The country is suffering from crippling inflation that reached 80,000 percent by the end of 2018, according to Forbes.

On Jan. 23, President of the National Assembly Juan Guaidó took control as the country’s interim president after illegitimate elections deemed Nicolás Maduro as the winner. The Venezuelan population also faces large shortages of food and medical supplies, with children dying from malnutrition and previously eradicated diseases such as malaria reemerging.

Nearly 20 Venezuelan Emerson students gathered on March 30 at the Wentworth Institute of Technology for a series of lectures at an event called “Building Hope in an Era of Uncertainty—Venezuela 2019.” The multi-collegiate event featured four talks on the crisis and traditional Venezuelan music and food. Emerson’s Latinx student organizations AMIGOS and Raíz Magazine were among the main organizers.

The “Building Hope in an Era of Uncertainty” event featured multiple Venezuelan speakers, such as Miguel Angel Santos from Harvard University. • Tomas Gonzalez / Beacon Staff Central University of Venezuela Professor Roberto Ochoa-Iturbe spoke about the health crisis through a pre-recorded video from Venezuela, and Emerson professor of International Politics Leonardo Vivas explained the country’s political crisis. Harvard University Adjunct Lecturer Miguel Santos discussed Venezuela’s economic crisis, and international human rights attorney Julio Henriquez talked about the judicial problems facing the nation.

In the last four years, the college enrolled 49 students from Venezuela, according to the 2018 Emerson Factbook.

Junior Ana Salas, treasurer of Raíz Magazine, said the event aimed to educate people on the situation in Venezuela and to provide humanitarian aid to the country through funds gathered from ticket sales.

“We saw an opportunity to help and educate people because I think there is a lot of miscommunication due to the complexity of the situation,” Salas said in an interview after the event.

“This is our way to help those most affected by the crisis, like children who did nothing to deserve this.”

SGA senators run for vice president Stephanie Purifoy, Beacon Staff The Student Government Association executive vice presidential ballot features sophomores Annie Noel and William Palauskas both running on similar goals of increasing transparency in the college’s administration, and building a stronger connection to the student body.

The vice president presides over the SGA Senate, which includes class and department senators, works as co-chair of the Organizational Recognition and Review Board, and serves as a student representative at Faculty Assembly meetings, according to the SGA constitution.

Noel, the current communications studies senator, created a campaign based on what she calls “radical transparency,” and hopes to bridge the gap between administration and students if she wins the election.

The sophomore works for Rachael Rollins, the district attorney for Suffolk County, and said she compares the DA’s office to Emerson’s administration. Noel said that as vice president, she would push the college to release specific data and information about how the college is run, like she’s working to do with the DA’s office.

“If you are confidant in the work you’re doing and that it’s equitable and fair, then put the data out there,” she said. “I think just having the information available is like the first step of being held accountable. Because if it’s not out there, then there’s nothing to hold people accountable.”

Noel said she plans to create a monthly newsletter as vice president to inform students of meetings she attended with administration and the content of those meetings.

“I fully believe that SGA’s first duty is representing the students, but we also have that institutional connection to the administration, so let’s use that,” Noel said. “They’re not our enemies. Just getting into the room [with administration officials] and finding out how we can work together and utilize our strengths is something I want to emphasize as vice president.”

She served as the SGA Class of 2021 senator for one semester, and the communications stud-

ies senator for two.

As co-chair of the Organizational Recognition and Review Board, the senator said she also wants to ensure a fair and equitable recognition process for student organizations.

Palauskas, the current marketing communications senator, based his platform on similar ideas as Noel, with additional goals of making the college more sustainable, and academically flexible.

The sophomore is the Emerson Green Collective president, and said he would push the college to take steps to continue improving their sustainability as the campus grows.

“I really want to see the college work to commit to their goals for sustainability,” he said in an interview. “We’re at such a pivotal point and it’s really time to reaffirm those goals and commitments.”

Palauskas served as the SGA marketing communications senator for two semesters, and said he focused on streamlining department communications to the students.

He said he shares Noel’s enthusiasm for administrative transparency and if elected as vice president, he would work to get administrators into student spaces to create a sense of unity.

“I think there’s a lot of times like we see these faculty members as enemies, and we really shouldn’t,” Palauskas said. “At the end of the day, a lot of them are working to better this college and if we see them as allies that’s when real change starts to happen.”

SGA President Jessica Guida said she did not favor one candidate over the other.

“They have both served as departmental senators and have been incredible advocates and representatives for the students in their departments. Annie and Will have the necessary experience, knowledge, and drive to be successful— whether it’s in the Vice President role or outside of it,” Guida said in an emailed statement to the Beacon.

 stephanie_purifoy@emerson.edu

Emerson Elevator Watch Editors at The Berkeley Beacon decided to catalog all elevator entrapments reported in incident journals and confirmed through eyewitnesses for the 2018-19 academic year. These numbers only detail incidents where individuals were trapped and do not include when an empty elevator broke down.

After the event, Salas said she has family in Venezuela and added that the power outages have been a result of the mismanagement of the electrical system in Venezuela.

“This is something that shouldn’t be happening—your family should have electricity in the twenty-first century,” Salas said. “It’s like watching a dystopian movie, but it’s [happening to] your family.”

Junior Mariana Romero, editor-in-chief of Raíz Magazine, said all proceeds from tickets to the event went to the LATAM Freedom and Development Foundation to provide food for children in Venezuela. Ticket prices ranged from $15 to $40 depending on how much attendees wanted to donate to the cause. Romero also noted that, although Raíz helped organize the event, they were not representing the political views of the college. “[Being organizers] is just a way of showing our appreciation and respect for the movements that are happening in the country,” Romero said in an interview. “It’s a way to spread the word, because that is our job as communicators.”

Vivas provided background information on

the political climate in Venezuela and some potential outcomes for the future of the c ountry.

“I do not see the U.S. getting entangled in another foreign war,” Vivas said in his speech.

“But as things turn worse, the appetite for these sorts of operations might improve—especially if [President Donald Trump’s] administration gives such strategic importance to Venezuela as the [George W. Bush] administration gave Iraq.”

Junior Daniel Parra also attended the event and said he frequently speaks to his family in Venezuela through WhatsApp, but the recent power outages have made communication difficult.

“It’s just constant anxiety until you suddenly get that text that says that power is back,” Parra said. “Then you try to get all of your questions answered in as little time as possible because you know there is another blackout coming and that power isn’t going to last.”

Mucchiut said she moved from Venezuela to the U.S. for college in Oct. 17 and has not been able to go back due to passport complications.

Mucchiut said she sometimes wonders when riots in the country will stop so she can return home, but she hopes Guaidó will reclaim stability for the country.

“I sometimes [ask] myself: Why out of all the countries was I born in Venezuela? Why should my family go through this?” Mucchiut said. “But then I tell myself how I wouldn’t rather be from anywhere else because I’m proud of being Venezuelan, and I really love my country.”

News Editor Chris Van Buskirk did not edit this article due to a conflict of interest.

 tomas_gonzalez@emerson.edu

Republican orgs praise Trump executive order Jacob Seitz, Beacon Staff Many Republican students believe an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on March 21 will improve the political climate at the college, even if the freedom of speech order will not directly affect Emerson.

The order will limit federal research grant funding for public universities that don’t uphold the first amendment, while private institutions can adhere to their own free speech policies, according to the Trump administration. While the order is largely symbolic, President of the Emerson Chapter of Turning Point USA Camilo Vilaplana said the order is important because it will discourage colleges from discriminating against conservative groups.

“The colleges that are not complying with giving time equally to either side are not going to [have federal research] funding,” Vilaplana said in an interview. “I think that’s a good idea.”

Sophomore Allison Payne, president of Emerson College Republicans, said protecting free speech on college campuses is important.

“Even though Emerson isn’t necessarily affected, I think it was a great thing for [the] Trump administration to do,” she said in a phone interview with the Beacon. “To protect [the First Amendment] on college campuses will only help the political discussion going forward.”

Student Government Association Executive Vice President Raz Moayed said that, while Emerson should expose its students to a more diverse set of opinions, it shouldn’t be forced by the president.

“Do I think Emerson needs a way to expose their students to the real world? Yes,” Moayed said in a phone interview. “Do I think it needs to be mandated? No.” Moayed said that she thinks Emerson creates safe spaces for its students to express themselves freely, but that there is work to be done in the classroom.

“I think what [Emerson is] good at is making sure that the extracurriculars maintain safe spaces,” Moayed said.

Jason Meier, director of Student Engagement

and Leadership, said that Emerson’s Code of Community Standards protects freedom of expression.

“I feel extremely comfortable that we comply with the statement on freedom of expression,” he said. “But the safety of our students is first and foremost. Both the students that are organizing [an event] and the students who may want to protest.”

This past fall, President M. Lee Pelton refused to house a forum for the Forbes 30 Under 30 event that featured Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, citing safety concerns.

Forbes initially scheduled the event for the Emerson Colonial Theatre, but after a student outcry over Jeff Flake’s vote in the confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, the college decided to cancel the forum.

It later moved to Boston’s City Hall Plaza.

President Trump first mentioned the executive order during his speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on March 2.

The president issued the executive order in response to conservative activists saying they felt silenced on college campuses, a sentiment both Vilaplana and Payne said they shared.

“Every time somebody speaks out and says something that does not align with the views that most people have here, there are always students—and sometimes even professors—that will come [at] you and attack you,” Vilaplana said.

Payne echoed Vilaplana and said she feels that her thoughts aren’t respected at Emerson because of her political beliefs.

“Once I come out as Republican, not only in the classroom, I [am] seen in a different way,” Payne said. “But the things that I’m saying automatically aren’t validated. In Emerson classrooms, no matter what I say, it’s always going to get pushed back just because [of] the fact that I shared those beliefs.”

Meier said he receives complaints similar to Viliplana’s and Payne’s and said he wants to make sure opposing positions have a space on campus.  jacob_setiz@emerson.edu

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editorial

The Berkeley Beacon

April 4, 2019

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Emerson Today's shrinking awareness of journalistic integrity At issue: Updates on Emerson Today Our take: New content introduces more conflicts of interest Editorials are written solely by Editor-in-Chief Maya Gacina, Managing Editor Monika Davis, Opinion Editor Katie Schmidt, Deputy Opinion Editor Diti Kohli, and Assistant Opinion Editor Ziqi Wang without consultation from other staff members, and does not influence any stories. OpEds reflect the views of only their authors, not The Berkeley Beacon.

Recent modifications to Emerson Today, an outlet run by the college’s Marketing Communication Department, have only created more issues with how Emerson communicates information to students.

Last week, Emerson Today introduced a customizable subscription feature for students, families, faculty, and alumni. Individuals can opt to receive daily newsletters including collegerelated announcements or weekly newsletters for other content categories such as News and Stories, In the Press, School of the Arts, School of Communication, and the Institute of Liberal Arts.

It’s understandable that the outlet would want to disseminate announcements via email to its readership. But Emerson Today sending out a weekly newsletter with news stories only further distorts its identification as both a college-funded advertisement and a “news” publication. If Emerson Today continues to emulate the structure of a news outlet, its identification as a college-sponsored public relations outlet becomes more obscured and, as a result, more easily misguiding to its readership.

Emerson Today’s publication of an opinion piece this week poses yet another problem.

While the site is supposed to be a single stop for campus news, events, and press releases, its close relationship with the college administration forces us to question the piece’s authenticity. The student-written op-ed pushes others to vote in

addressed how the publication merely reflects voices supported by the college. The editorial also highlighted its potential to mislead individuals on whether they’re associated with the college or not. In its first year of existence, the site has evolved into writing that is continuously blurring the lines between journalism and public relations.

On Emerson Today’s website, administrators state the outlet is “the college’s first news and information microsite, which will become the official home for campus announcements, news, and the latest information about Emerson.” But the manner in which the publication crosses the line of journalistic integrity is unavoidable.

College Factual named Emerson as the No. 1 journalism school in 2019.

But writers for Emerson Today conduct email interviews, an unethical practice that funnels a filtered perspective, and are paid directly by the college. So is Emerson Today truly the kind of journalism the college wants to promote?

Students, faculty, and others would benefit from making the Beacon and other student publications their primary source for the information featured in Emerson Today. We try to provide all sides of the story, not just the narrow institutional perspective that disregards dissenting viewpoints Emerson Today distributes.

"Much of what Emerson Today publishes as news already harbors a biased point of view and comes across as opinion." by the outlet, is it the appropriate place for opeds, especially if they are student-written?

At the Beacon, editors revise opinion articles specifically for clarity and grammar—how can we ensure that Emerson Today editors are doing the same when part of the site’s purpose lies in public relations and advertising for the college?

How are we to trust the credibility of future opinion pieces Emerson Today may publish?

Last semester, the Beacon’s editorial board

If you want to respond to, or share an opinion about, an article in the Beacon, you can write a short letter to the editor. Email it to letters@berkeleybeacon.com.

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Student Government Association elections—a noble effort to garner student engagement for an organization that mandates funding for student activities and aids the way the college operates.

But much of what Emerson Today publishes as news already harbors a biased point of view and comes across as opinion. Publishing an “opinion” piece just further complicates what they stand for. And even more importantly, if Emerson faculty supervises content published

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Emerson College Polling Society predicts a landslide victory for Pelton in 2020.

opinion The Berkeley Beacon

April 4, 2019

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When the news coverage ends but the agony doesn't Robbie Shinder Shinder is a freshman visual and media arts major & Beacon correspondent.

Fear and disbelief struck the Parkland, Florida community for a second time. After the murder of 17 innocent people during a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School last year, one would think the pain could not get any worse.

On March 17, 19-year-old Sydney Aiello, who graduated from Stoneman Douglas in 2018, committed suicide. Only five days later, 16-year-old Calvin Desir, a sophomore at Stoneman Douglas, also committed suicide.

Then on March 25, 49-year-old Jeremy Richman took his own life in Newtown, Connecticut six years after losing his 6-year-old daughter Avielle in a shooting that killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.

I’m from Boca Raton, Florida, a town just 20 minutes north of Parkland, and I attended school only five miles from Stoneman Douglas High School when the shooting occurred.

Hearing about these suicides while living in Boston, thousands of miles away from home, worried me. I felt nervous for my friends who now have to experience another challenging time in our community.

While a push for gun reform in the United States immediately followed the shooting at Sandy Hook, the movement never gained momentum. After the horrific shooting in Parkland, another movement titled “March For Our Lives” started. Over a year later, it’s still a powerful movement to support gun violence prevention, and the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act. The Broward County School District offered trauma counseling in the wake of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas, but the long-lasting effects of the shooting largely went unnoticed.

There’s an apparent trend of grieving in the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting, but few consider the long-term effects of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in survivors.

The Broward County School District offered trauma counseling in the wake of the shooting at Stoneman Douglas, but the long-lasting effects of the shooting largely went unnoticed. • Illustration by Ally Rzesa / Beacon Staff Major media outlets are partially to blame for this epidemic, as the they typically only cover the immediate aftermath of shootings and their anniversaries. As a result, the lasting mental and physical suffering of survivors and the community goes unnoticed until a newsworthy story—such as these three suicides—comes back into the spotlight.

The National Center for PTSD estimates that 28 percent of people who witness a mass shooting develop PTSD, while a third develop acute stress disorder—a condition where psychological distress persists for three to 30 days following a traumatic event. The National Center for PTSD also suggests that mass shooting survivors may be at a higher risk for mental health disorders compared to people who experience other types of trauma such as natural disasters.

The family of Sydney Aiello stated that Aiello was recently diagnosed with PTSD and went through several periods of survivor’s guilt—a

mental condition where a survivor of a traumatic event feels guilty for surviving an event that others did not. Jeremy Richman had been in the public eye recently when he was pushing for gun control legislation in Connecticut. The death of the two Stoneman Douglas survivors and the father from Newtown, Connecticut are the worst fear of mental health professionals, as these individuals experienced two of the worst school shootings in U.S. history.

With these recent tragic suicides, advocates for gun reform and school safety must make the mental health of mass shooting survivors one of their main priorities. As a community, we must come together to make sure that the correct precautions ensure the safety of survivors, because for them, these tragedies never go away and neither does their pain.

Following these tragedies, the major media outlets must start focusing on the trauma and mental illness of survivors rather than the

trauma and mental illness of the suspect. If the major media outlets change their approach after these tragedies, a huge dynamic would shift in the treatment and care for survivors following these tragedies.

So where do we go from here? We need to start the conversation about the lasting mental effects of mass shootings. While this conversation will not be an easy one, it can potentially save lives. Some college campuses, including Emerson, offer psychological services for any student who wants to talk through what they’re feeling.

If you or someone you know may be considering suicide, contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255, en Español: 1-888-628-9454, or the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.  robert_shinder@emerson.edu

Pro/Con: Executive order links free speech with college funding President Donald Trump signed an executive order on March 21 that connects federal funding for colleges to the enforcement of free speech on campus. The president claims conservative students have been silenced on college campuses, and the order aims to provide them with a platform to speak publicly and safely about their views. Emerson will not be affected because the college is choosing to adhere to its own free speech policies. The Beacon asked two students about their thoughts on the executive order and free speech at universities.

Allison Payne Payne is a sophomore political communications major & Beacon correspondent.

President Trump’s executive order protecting free speech on college campuses will act as a positive implementation for students.

However, it is not entirely the president’s role to protect students on college campuses. I believe that academic administrations should uphold the responsibility to ensure that free speech is protected for all students.

Trump’s need to sign an executive order shows how college administrations fail to foster an environment of respect and i n c l u s i v i t y.

There should be inclusiveness on campuses for every student regardless of political affiliation, religious views, race, ethnicity, or gender. It is not Trump’s role to protect free speech on college campuses, but it is a step in the right direction. The right to free speech on campus should be a given since it’s a constitutional right. But sadly, it is not.

The issue of free speech on college campuses reflects the extremely polarized political climate we live in. A few conservative students have recently been in the news for being either verbally or physically—or both—attacked on campus by those who disagree with their views.

As a conservative attending a liberal school, I

find this frustrating. This issue stems far beyond conservatives facing backlash at their schools— this is a nationwide problem occurring in public and private universities alike.

Trump’s executive order threatens to take away government funding from institutions that fail to protect students’ free speech, which I hope is enough for college administrations to start taking the protection of free speech on campus more seriously.

Diversity in population and in thought on college campuses creates an environment everyone can benefit from.

Fostering intellectual conversations and debates about ideas with those on an opposing side prepares students for disputes they may face after college. I believe that this is something that Emerson, specifically, can work on.

The fact that the president felt the need to sign an executive order to protect free speech on campus should act as a warning to colleges and universities everywhere. It should be the sole responsibility of a college’s administration and staff to foster an inclusive environment on their campus—not the president.

"Trump's need to sign an executive order shows how college administrations fail to foster an environment of respect and inclusivity."

 allison_payne@emerson.edu

Sabine Waldeck Waldeck is a freshman journalism major & Beacon correspondent.

On March 21, Trump signed an executive order that aimed to protect free speech on college campuses. The idea of free speech alone does not sound like a bad thing, as it holds a vital part in American democracy and should be protected on college campuses. However, certain underlying details of this order cannot be overlooked as it aims to solely protect conservative views.

Outcries from conservative students feeling as though they were silenced on their mostly liberal campuses brought this order into motion.

While I recognize that conservative views have received more harsh criticisms since Trump’s election, the president’s motivation behind the order was not for minority groups to be heard, but instead to amplify the voices of those who are already on his side.

The audience at the announcement of the order only made it clearer who the Trump administration wrote it for­ —white conservatives. Patricia McGuire, a reporter for Inside Higher Ed wrote, “As the camera panned the room, the overwhelming whiteness of the audience was clear.”

When conservative speakers are protested at college campuses, it is often because they

express very ignorant and hateful views towards minority groups. Students have protested political commentator Ben Shapiro on college campuses within the past two years based on his hateful views of the LGBTQ+ community.

He said that gender and sex are not separated and that transgender people are mentally ill in a Q&A session at Ferris State University. Student protests and colleges denying speakers such as Ben Shapiro do not serve to silence conservatives, but to resist the hatred some speakers promote.

Since Trump’s e l e c t i o n , conservatives have started expressing more far right views similar to the president’s in rallies and public addresses.

This generates a lot of political turmoil on college campuses as conservative students actively try to voice their opinions.

Conservatives who do not associate with Trump’s ignorant views have a right to free speech in any setting, particularly in an academic one. However, those who use hate speech and mask it as free speech can now do this more freely under the executive order. If Trump signs an executive order for free speech, it needs to promote free speech for all and not just for those who agree with him.

"The audience at the announcement of the order only made it clearer who the Trump administration wrote it for—white conservatives."

 sabine_waldeck@emerson.edu

living arts

The Berkeley Beacon

April 4, 2019

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Sophomore brings Model United Nations back to Emerson

Melanie Curry, Beacon Staff Sophomore Marcel Truong-Chun revived Model United Nations at Emerson last semester after the club disbanded in the early 2000s. He participated in his high school’s Model UN club for three years where he learned the importance of political activism and diplomacy. By creating a Model UN club, Truong-Chun is building a learning experience about global politics at Emerson.

Truong-Chun and junior Minh Do lead Emerson College’s Model UN, also known as EmerMUN, as co-presidents. Truong-Chun said EmerMUN replicates the United Nations, an international organization that contains 193 sovereign countries, according to the UN website.

“It is a simulation of Congress, or any sort of decision-governing body,” Truong-Chun said.

“You learn through negotiating with others or simulating what real-world debates are asking right now.”

Currently, EmerMUN operates with 12 members, and five members on the executive board, Truong-Chun said. He said the executive board, aside from the co-presidents, do not have specific roles but do have a say on how EmerMUN operates.

EmerMUN holds meetings every other Thursday in the Max Mutchnick Campus Center of the Piano Row residence hall at 8 p.m.

Their next meeting is Thursday, April 11.

EmerMUN is not recognized by the Student Government Association and does not receive funding from the college. Truong-Chun said EmerMUN’s funding comes from club members registering for Model UN conferences, but he hopes to find outside sources to fund next semester until they receive funding from SGA. Truong-Chun said he started looking at organizations like Rotary International, a global network of 1.2 million members who support various causes such as providing clean water, to fund EmerMUN.

Gregory Payne, the Communication Studies Department chair, is EmerMUN’s temporary advisor until the club takes off.

“When [Truong-Chun] first started expressing interests, someone said, ‘Dr. Payne has done this before,’ so I said, ‘Sure, I’m more than happy to do it,’” Payne said.

Payne said he first started advising Emerson’s Model UN clubs in 1988. He said Model UN was discontinued at Emerson in the early 2000s because the members graduated and found interests in national politics instead of global politics.

Freshman Rachel Piatok, a member of EmerMUN’s executive board, said EmerMUN reflects the values of Emerson.

“I think a lot of people [at Emerson] are passionate and involved with politics and world events,” Piatok said. “As the club stays here and grows, it will become more important because a lot of the ideas and principles behind [Model UN] are important to the Emerson community.”

Truong-Chun said Model UN clubs enter themselves into local and national conferences where Model UN members can debate and discuss on behalf of a country or person.

Since its comeback, the club attended one conference—the Harvard National Model United Nations, where they debated on fighting communism, preventing ethnic tensions, and preparing Malayan independence. He said EmerMUN represented Spain, Tunisia, and British army officer Sir Gerald Templer in the conference.

EmerMUN will attend more local and national conferences if they become recognized by the Student Government Association and receive funding, Truong-Chun said.

There are four positions for students to roleplay at conferences, Truong-Chun said. Students can choose to represent a delegate, press reporter, secretary, or committee chair.

Truong-Chun said delegates negotiate for committees, and press reporters represent spe-

Sophomore Marcel Truong-Chun helped revive Emerson’s Model United Nations organization.

Greyson Acquaviva / Beacon Correspondent cific news outlets and attempt to influence delegates’ decisions in a debate. Secretaries organize the conferences, and committee chairs moderate the discussion of a debate.

“The really important thing about Model UN is that part of it is having put aside your own decisions for your own opinion and embrace [and] understand the opinions [of] a country you’re representing whether [the opinion] agrees with you or not,” Truong-Chun said.

Piatok said she wants to see more people join EmerMUN. Truong-Chun said he plans for EmerMUN to do community work at high

schools and establish a Model UN for younger kids.

“What I’m hoping we can do is take Model UN to a new level, make sure it is immersive because all our programs in the [communication] department tend to be immersive, whether it’s politics [or] sports” Payne said. “I think Model UN is an example of the spirit and the drive in the department.”

 melanie_curry@emerson.edu

Senior’s ‘We Demand’ podcast addresses racial discrimination Continued from page 1 A year after the 2017 protest, in addition to a 60-minute podcast Mandt created for his class, he began producing more episodes to make it a series called “We Demand.” The podcast features conversations with participants and organizers of the 2017 protest about their experience as minorities at Emerson.

Mandt said the 2017 POWER protest was a transformative experience for him. He said he wishes to open his audience’s eyes in the same way his eyes were opened when hearing students’ personal stories. “[This series is] for people like me a year ago who didn’t understand and didn’t see why the protest was necessary, for people who have those lingering questions, and for people who may doubt some of what we said in the protest,” Mandt said.

Mandt invited and interviewed eight people on his podcast, including five protest organizers

and three participants from the 2017 protest, to share their experience with racial discrimination and micro-aggressions at Emerson. Mandt said he wants the series to serve as an oral history of the protest.

Mandt released the first episode, “Orientation,” on March 22 on various audio platforms, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Listen Notes. At least 30 people listen a week, according to the audience reports from Spotify and iTunes.

In the first episode, Mandt weaves different voices together and contrasts students’ expectations of Emerson and their first impressions when they arrived to campus as people of color.

He said that, instead of having one individual sharing their story in each episode, he intentionally combines the guests’ different narratives to let them all tell their collective story.

“Moving forward, my voice will be largely absent. Your tour guides will be taking the reins from here. At moments I may try to provide

Senior Ian Mandt’s Podcasts for Change class inspired him to create the podcast, ‘We Demand.’

Xinyi Tu / Beacon Correspondent

important context, but this is their story to tell,” Mandt says in the first episode before his guests start to share their stories.

Junior Jonas Spencer, the president of Emerson’s Black Organization with Natural Interest and one of the people interviewed in the podcast series, said he took the podcasting class with Mandt and thinks his podcast shows the struggles people of color deal with on a daily basis.

“I think it puts a good microscope on it and makes you think about the ways in which the school, or just any institution, carries out racism without it being out there for everybody to see,” Spencer said. “I think a lot of the stories on this podcast bring up ways in which people are uncomfortable based on their race.”

In the first episode, Spencer talks about his beat reporting class, a mandatory course in the old journalism curriculum, and how students were assigned a specific neighborhood to cover.

When his class was assigned to cover Dorchester, a predominantly black community, his peers were either upset or reluctant to attend the course.

Spencer said podcasts capture the emotion of someone’s voice while allowing people to listen to the stories anywhere. He said he intends to show his support to other students of color by sharing his story.

“It’s something for the administration as well and letting them know that, ‘Look, things need to change,’” Spencer said. “We’re going to keep pushing until you all make the change that we want and what we pay for every single year.”

Mandt said the podcast is about the experiences of people of color on campus. As a white male, Mandt decided to give his guests the ownership of this story by not narrating their experiences for them.

“It doesn’t feel right for me to speak for or speak as a person of color when I’m not,” Mandt said. “So what I am trying to do with this series more than anything is to curate the experiences that led to the protest and the experience of the protest and provide a platform.”

Despite Mandt’s consciousness of his identity, he said it is important to spread the message from people of color because racism is still an ongoing issue.

“If this series doesn’t exist, then we risk running into the issue of people coming into the school not knowing that this legacy exists, and not being able to pick up where other people left off and being forced to start over,” Mandt said.

The third episode will be out on April 5, according to Mandt.

Former POWER co-chair Lucie Pereira ‘19 was featured in the podcast. She shared the podcast trailer on her Facebook page and said she is grateful for Mandt’s work.

“College communities cycle through members every four years, which means that institutional memory seems to reset with each new batch of students who enter, unaware of the shoulders they stand on,” Pereira said in the post on Facebook. “This cycle enables those in power to avoid making change, as they simply stall progress and wait for troublemakers like yours truly to burn out and graduate.”

Junior Raz Moayed, who spoke at the 2017 protest at Paramount Center and in Mandt’s podcast, said having this kind of journalistic work about a campus protest organized by people of color enhances the notion of representation. “[The podcast] keeps the momentum going.

It helps everyone digest the fact that the POWER protest is not just this one event,” Moayed said in a phone interview. “It is these students’ lives, their names and faces, and they are not just speakers or organizers, they are in your classes next to you, and I think that’s what is really important about what [Mandt] is doing.”

Graduating this semester, Mandt said the fact that there were two protests in two years shows the importance of understanding and resolving the issues. He said he wishes to continue the important work done by other student protesters so that there is no need for a third protest to happen in the future.

“For me, it’s important to make sure that everyone who goes to this school after me and after the people who led this protest knows the legacy that they left behind,” Mandt said. “Otherwise, a protest is going to continue to happen every two years.”  wingting_hui@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

April 4, 2019

living arts

7

Alumni's 'No Whites Allowed' documentary exposes Emerson's lack of diversity Cassandre Coyer, Beacon Staff Evan McDonald ’18 joined comedy troupe Emerson Comedy Workshop in January 2016 as the first black man to ever join in its 40 years of existence. After acknowledging the lack of inclusion in comedy troupes at Emerson, McDonald said he needed to create a space for comedians of color.

In fall 2016, McDonald started the first of four open-mic shows with friend Nako Narter ’18 to create a space for students of color to perform stand-up comedy and hip-hop music at Emerson. When it came time to name the show, McDonald said he thought of the “perfect” name: No Whites Allowed.

“The show was never made to alienate anybody,” McDonald said. “It was made to allow certain people to get a space that they never had before. And the title of the show played on the rhetoric of ‘no colored allowed.’”

A year later, while studying at Emerson Los Angeles, McDonald decided he wanted to turn the show into something bigger. He reached out to Jeru Berry ’18, the founder and president of Hyyer, a student organization at Emerson for men of color. Together, they began working on No Whites Allowed—the documentary.

“At the end of the night it just felt like taking it one step further as far as helping these students of color to be able to give them footage of actual sets they requested, so they can use it to get booked elsewhere and work on their comedy,” Berry said. “So for us it was just about taking it to another level— actually getting some cameras in there and actually record the whole show.”

When McDonald returned to Boston in spring 2018, he and Berry started producing the film and completed it right before their graduation in May 2018, and the submission deadline for the Emerson Film Festival in the fall.

Berry said they initially planned to focus the documentary on the comedians of the show but realized several interviews revealed a bigger story.

“I think it was something that we didn’t even realize until we started doing the documentary,”

(From left to right) Jeru Berry, President M. Lee Pelton, Andrew Charles Lawrence, Evan McDonald, and Emily Hagopian all assisted with No Whites Allowed: the documentary.

Courtesy of Jeru Berry Berry said. “This show was much bigger than interviewed President M. Lee Pelton, Hyyer just a comedy show. This was a form of protest. Faculty Advisor Chris Grant, and Director of And we got to not only be a part of that but now the Office of Intercultural Student Affairs Tamia Jordan. we’re getting to tell the story.”

“At the end of the day, in the documentary, The 30-minute-long documentary, the longest film displayed at the festival, addresses the it’s all people of color and I think that’s powerlack of diversity and inclusion for people of col- ful,” McDonald said. “I mean, I’m sorry, but do or at Emerson through interviews with students we really want to hear about what white people have to say about something that was made for and faculty.

“We did a shit ton of research just looking for black people and people of color?”

McDonald said the budget for the locally footage because part of the documentary that we were also trying to highlight is the things shot documentary was $1,500. An “angel investhat these students of color have been complain- tor,” who McDonald declined to name, donated ing about,” Berry said. “They’ve been complain- the funds. He said he used most of the money to cover transportation expenses, post-producing about [these things] for 40 years.”

In fall 2018, 4 percent of students admitted tion costs, and any equipment they were unable to Emerson were African-American and 16 per- to get from the Equipment Distribution Center.

Berry said he knew he wanted to submit No cent were Hispanic. Fifty-six percent of students admitted were Caucasian. Interviewees in the Whites Allowed to the Emerson Film Festival documentary explained that the lack of diversi- from the moment he started the documentary. ty in the history and language classes offered at Last January, Berry and McDonald learned the the college—only French and Spanish—reflect judges for the festival selected their film to be featured in the 2019 festival. these numbers.

“I like freaked out,” Berry said. “I called my Besides students, McDonald and Berry also

mom: ‘I just got into my first film festival! We made it, we made it, this is going to be incredible.’ I was just very excited because I knew in watching the documentary for probably the 60th time that we had seen it, that this was a good fucking documentary.”

No Whites Allowed screened at the Bright Family Screening Room on March 24 alongside 14 other selected films and won the Audience Award after earning the most votes from the audience.

After watching the 15 films, Lesley University student Alina Balseiro said they voted for No Whites Allowed. Balseiro said they came from a very diverse high school in New Jersey and noticed a difference when moving to Boston.

“It made you feel very comfortable in what you were seeing and advocating for by watching it,” Balseiro said. “I really appreciated how they weren’t afraid to just be blatantly honest about the topics that we should be making people uncomfortable about.”

Now living together in Los Angeles, Berry and McDonald said they’re bringing the No Whites Allowed show to the West Coast in a significant way soon, but for now, that is under wraps.

Berry released No Whites Allowed on YouTube on March 29 for only a week. McDonald and Berry said they wanted to submit to festivals across the country and couldn’t keep the documentary up online after that week.

“I can tell you this right now, they’re not going to be admitting a whole bunch of new black students. That’s not happening anytime soon,” Berry said. “So my hope is that the students of color here can rally together and really create a presence and create some dope stuff because, at the end of the day, we’re reflections of our art.

And I hope that more dope art comes from this school, and you can definitely expect more dope art coming from us.”

 cassandre_coyer@emerson.edu

ComEx! Festival creates space for comedy majors and troupes Damica Rodriguez, Beacon Correspondent When the comedic arts major was created two years ago, Emerson comedy majors and troupes traveled to events in Boston like the “Boston Comedy Arts Festival” held every year.

But when comedic arts professor Erin Schwall joked about Emerson having its own comedic arts festival, students asked how they could make it happen.

ComEx!, also known as “Comedy Extravaganza,” is a two-day comedic arts festival held on April 5 and 6 in Tufte Center’s Greene Theatre. Schwall serves in the faculty committee that created the new event alongside Matthew McMahan, assistant director of the comedic arts department, and Martie Cook, the founder and department chair of comedic arts.

The event will showcase student-created sketches, stand-up performances, alumni shows, and a special event—the Jess Illias Clavelli Competition, or “The Jess”—an annual event with cash rewards totaling up to $2,000 given to a junior or senior comic. The award is dedicated to the late Jess Ilias Clavelli, the 6-year-old son of Emerson alumnus Chris Clavelli ‘83.

This will be the first year “The Jess” will be performed, judged, and awarded live. Clavelli will also be attending as a judge. Winners will be announced on April 6 at the ComEx! Tonight show, a late-night show with comedic skits, and sit-down interviews with guests.

Schwall said she noticed a need for comedic arts students and troupes to connect with each other.

“Right now, the comedic arts department doesn’t have a vessel for its performers to show what they’re learning in the classrooms and go perform,” Schwall said. “I would hope that this festival becomes that opportunity in many ways.”

Cook said students and faculty collaborated to plan each ComEx! event, from approving the performance material to setting up the stage design and providing any costumes the performers needed.

Senior Noa Johnson, junior Brandon Ratcliff, and sophomore Alyssa DeVries are the head student producers of ComEx!, and started working on the project in October 2018.

Johnson, a comedic arts major, held various

roles for ComEx! such as social media manager, head writer of the Comedic Arts Revue—an event where students in the Comedic Arts BFA program showcase their sketches–and led castings and auditions for the Emerson Student Stand-Up showcase. Both the Comedic Arts Revue and the Emerson Student Stand-Up showcase are on April 5. Johnson said that working on ComEx! created a learning experience for faculty and students.

“Whenever we write a sketch as a group with all of the comedic arts [students] and the ‘Revue’ people and then we’re able to show that to the faculty—it feels like a great moment,” Johnson said. “It’s what they’ve taught us and then we’re able to go to actually implement it and prove to them that we’re all here for a reason, and they’ve made the right choice and they’re teaching us the right things.”

Johnson, Ratcliff, and DeVries will also host ComEx! Tonight interviewing alumni: Jon Rineman ‘05 , writer for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Stefani Robinson ‘14, writer and producer for Atlanta, Hailey Chavez ‘15, writer for Grown-ish, Eric Drysdale ‘93, writer for Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, and Val Kappa ‘00, stand-up comic.

“If we’re gonna have alumni here who are successful in the industry, it’s really important for the students to learn how they got lucky, but also what they did to get those writing or standup positions,” DeVries said. “The whole festival is just honoring the comedic arts major and it’s a lot for the Emerson students to learn ’What is this?’ and ‘How can I get involved?’”

McMahan helped students workshop their sketches and material for each of the events. He said he hopes that ComEx! represents the faculty and students well.

“We really wanted a landmark event that would represent comedic arts, and really contribute to the fabric of Emerson College,” McMahan said. “There’s this real desire to stake a claim in comedic arts.”

Nine comedy troupes will be performing at ComEx!: Flawed Comedy, Swollen Monkey Showcase, Emerson Comedy Workshop, Jimmy’s Travelling All-Stars, Chocolate Cake City, Police Geese, Stroopwafel, Derbyn, and The Girlie Project. Each group will perform three or more sketches or scenes of improv at the Best of

Junior Callie Webb (left) and junior Cameron Fedder (right) will perform with sketch group, Chocolate Cake City at ComEx!. • Alexa Schapiro / Beacon Correspondent Troupe Show.

Junior Brian Roque, the president of Police Geese and member of Emerson’s first comedic arts class, hopes that ComEx! will recognize the collaborative efforts made between students and faculty to improve the major, and provide more opportunities for students. “[ComEx!] will almost be like a sending offpoint to comedic arts majors five, 10, 20 years from now who can look back and see that these people helped form what the major became,” Roque said. “By focusing on performance, I think it’s a really special thing because it allows people to see, as opposed to read the progress [of] what the comedic arts students have accomplished.”

Senior Nina Rodriguez, founder and president of Flawed Comedy, a comedy troupe of women of color, said Schwall’s decision to include comedy troupes helps comedic arts students officially show their creations.

“I’m excited that the comedic arts students will be able to showcase their work,” Rodriguez said. “VMAs, they have their capstone projects, performing arts students have EmStage, but we have a really cool community to celebrate.”

To wrap up ComEx!, Emerson alumni will be answering questions about how they got into the comedy industry, and will share advice to prospective students.

Hailey Chavez ‘15 writes for Grownish and

will be featured on ComEx! Tonight. Chavez said she hopes that the show will provide a different perspective for students who want to pursue the same or a similar career path, but worry about not knowing how to get there. She said Emerson prepared her for the career she wanted, and cannot imagine what it has to offer now, especially with the existence of ComEx!.

“There’s no one way to do this career,” Chavez said. “That can sometimes be the frustrating part but also the inspiration part.”

Cook said ComEx! will become an annual event and may also expand to Emerson’s LA Campus. She also plans to launch an award next year to recognize those who use their comedic talent to highlight social justice issues.

To celebrate ComEx!, a mixer will be held at Tuft Center’s Greene Theatre to talk with participants and alumni from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. on April 6.

“We sort of live in a world that tells you that your voice isn’t enough, or right, or interesting,” Schwall said. “I feel like it’s my job as a teacher and advisor to help students develop their voice and their identity in their writing or performing, so that when they graduate they are the best version of themselves. There’s so many voices in comedy, but you’re the only you.”  damica_rodriguez@emerson.edu

sports

The Berkeley Beacon

April 4, 2019

8

RECENT RESULTS SOFTBALL: Clark 9 — Emerson 3, Clark 7 — Emerson 6, April 3 MEN’S LACROSSE : Emerson 16 — Salem State 7, April 3 BASEBALL : Coast Guard 3 — Emerson 2, April 2 WOMEN’S TENNIS : MIT 9 — Emerson 0, April 2

Men’s volleyball senior records 1,000th kill Lara Hill, Beacon Staff Senior Mark Piorkowski, an outside hitter for the men’s volleyball team, reached one of the biggest milestones in his career when he made his 1,000th kill in a loss to Regis College on Tuesday night.

Piorkowski leads the Great Northeast Athletic Conference with an impressive 4.14 kills per set and totals 290 kills so far this season, on track to set a new season high. Piorkowski said he has wanted to reach the 1,000 kill milestone for a long time.

“On the first day of practice, I looked around and I saw all of the banners around the gym,” Piorkowski said. “After looking at them for a bit, I made it a personal goal for myself to get my name on one of these banners before I leave. I was really close to getting Rookie of the Year in the GNAC, but I had built a solid enough foundation of kills my freshman year, so I decided to aim for this milestone.”

Before Piorkowski started playing volleyball, he played baseball and basketball at Montclair High School in Montclair, New Jersey. During his freshman year, Piorkowski decided he wanted a spring sport to play while he wasn’t playing basketball. He decided not to continue playing baseball because of previous injuries he experienced while throwing.

When Piorkowski first started playing volleyball, he said he felt like a natural.

“My coaches were surprised I was picking up on it as quickly as I was within just the first few weeks,” Piorkowski said. “My timing for the ball came very naturally because of the previous sports I had played.”

At the end of his freshman year of high school, Piorkowski’s volleyball coach recommended he play year-round with a club team. Piorkowski tried out for the 17 Red Club team with Warren Sixpack Volleyball Club in early summer 2012 and made the team, but did not join right away.

“I didn’t think I was ready to take it on,” Piorkowski said. “I was scared, I didn’t know anybody [on the team] and I didn’t know how being on the team would be for me.”

After considering his future with the club team, Piorkowski decided to quit basketball and pursue volleyball as a year-round sport. “[Basketball] just wasn’t as much fun [as volleyball],” Piorkowski said. “I didn’t get a lot playing time and I didn’t like being on the team.

I loved playing volleyball so much more, so I

Senior Mark Piorkowski booked his 1,000th career kill for the Lions against Regis College.

Alexa Schapiro / Beacon Staff decided that I wanted to put everything into it.”

Piorkowski tried out for the club team again in summer 2012 and fell in love with playing on the team. As Piorkowski continued to play with the club, he began investing more and more time into the sport. He practiced nearly seven days a week, which allowed him to build on both his ability and assurance.

“Having so [much play time] helped me build a lot more confidence,” Piorkowski said.

“Building confidence in myself as a player really helped me to become comfortable enough to try new things on the court.”

Piorkowski’s club team played in national tournaments from 2013 to 2015. With the experience, reps, and skills that Piorkowski built on the club team, he realized he could continue playing volleyball into college.

After his performance in the 2014 national

tournament, Piorkowski’s email inbox flooded with messages from coaches from Division III schools, including Emerson.

Head coach Ben Read scouted Piorkowski at the 2014 national tournament and noticed his potential to be a collegiate player right away.

“We reached out to [Piorkowski] early in the recruiting process,” Read said. “We identified him as a player who could start for us and make an immediate impact.”

In September 2015, Piorkowski toured Emerson’s campus and practiced with the team.

He said the positive atmosphere on campus impressed him.

“Everyone at Emerson seemed like they were really happy and enjoying their time here,” Piorkowski said. “The team looked like they really enjoyed playing together, and the combined atmosphere of the team and the

school made me feel that it was the right place for me.”

Piorkowski played his first game as a freshman at Emerson on Jan. 16, 2016 and said he was anxious at the beginning of his career.

“When I first stepped on the court freshman year, I was so nervous,” Piorkowski said.

“Everything was so much faster and more intense than it was before. I definitely had butterflies and wasn’t nearly as confident than I was playing club.”

Despite the lack of confidence Piorkowski felt in his first game, he finished the match with three kills, four digs, and a team-high 6.5 points.

Read named Piorkowski as a captain for his senior year along with senior libero Jacob DiTore and middle blocker Win Kittivatcharapong.

Since receiving this role, Piorkowski said he strives to share his knowledge of the sport with his teammates.

“I’m honored to be their captain,” Piorkowski said. “At times it is a lot of pressure, but I enjoy having this leadership role. I know that I have enough knowledge in volleyball that I can pass some of that down to the future leaders on the team. I want to be a captain that pushes the team to be better.”

Freshman setter Josh Elliott said Piorkowski’s strong leadership and passion for progress shows, and that he consistently helps the team learn from mistakes.

“He is extremely dedicated,” Elliott said.

“He is always the first guy to hold people accountable.”

As the team heads into their final games in hopes of making the playoffs, Piorkowski said he wants to make the most of his remaining time in the No. 8 Lions jersey.

“I don’t want to finish at Emerson with any regrets on the court,” Piorkowski said.

“Whenever the season ends this year, I want to feel that I have put everything into it and that I have pushed for something greater than anything we have done in the past.”

Piorkowski and the men’s volleyball team will play their final home game of the season in a match against Johnson & Wales University on April 4 at 7 p.m. in the Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym.

 lara_hill@emerson.edu

Softball prepares for third annual Sexual Assault Awareness games Andrew Lin, Beacon Staff

team—and hopefully other people as well—it’s a very important issue,” Jones said. “Especially The softball team will host its third annual in today’s day and age, you keep hearing more Sexual Assault Awareness event alongside a and more stories about it. In college it’s such a conference doubleheader against the United big issue, so we really just wanted to spread the States Coast Guard Academy at Rotch Field this word about it and bring as much awareness as possible to this cause.”

Saturday.

Among undergraduate students, 23.1 percent Former softball player and alumna Jill Gearin wanted to promote awareness for sexual of women and 5.4 percent of men experience assault when she started the event in 2017. The rape or sexual assault through physical force or games help fundraise for the Rape, Abuse & violence, according to RAINN. Jones said the team Incest National Network, or RAINN—the country’s "Even though we're a customized teal-colored shirts for both teams to largest anti-sexual violence organization.

Division III school we wear prior to the start of the doubleheader.

The softball team tries to “We wear them before fundraise between $1,000 still have a platform the games, and we’re playing and $2,000 for RAINN each Coast Guard, so we also year and accepts donations that we can use." made shirts for them and through their Instagram and they’re going to wear them Facebook pages. Last year, –Jill Gearin before the game as well,” the team raised $2,430. At the time of publication, event donations totaled Jones said. “We usually take a big group photo with the shirts, so it’s a nice event that brings $1,305 for this year.

“I realized that, even though we’re a Division everyone together for the important cause.”

April is also Sexual Assault Awareness III school, we still have a platform that we can use,” Gearin said in a phone interview. “I am a Month. The National Sexual Violence Resource victim of sexual assault, so I really wanted to Center spends the month educating people use that platform especially because it’s such an about the problem and how to prevent it.

The Lions will compete in the doubleheader issue on college campuses right now. I talked to my coaches, talked with my captain my junior on Saturday, April 6 at Rotch Field. The first game will start at 12 p.m. and the second game year, and they got the ball rolling from there.”

Softball captain and senior shortstop Alena will begin at 2 p.m.

Jones said it is imperative for people to know Domenic Conte contributed reporting to this and understand the problem of sexual assault article. today.

“It’s important to bring overall awareness [to sexual assault] because we feel that, as a  andrew_lin@emerson.edu

The softbal team raised $2,430 last year and have raised $1,305 so far this year for RAINN. Alexa Schapiro / Beacon Staff