Boston enters COVID ‘red zone’

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

Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020 • Volume 74, Issue 5

Boston enters COVID ‘red zone’ Emerson reports under 20 cases Andrew Brinker Beacon Staff

As COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts tick up again, most Boston-area universities, including Emerson, have managed to keep infection rates low.

Boston reentered the high risk categorization for the virus Wednesday, after months of relatively low caseloads and loosening safety restrictions. This week, the city hoped to enter step two of phase three in the state’s reopening plan—a

privilege reserved for communities who have transitioned to low risk. Instead, Boston will remain in step one as case numbers hit highs last seen in June, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced in a press conference Wednesday.

The Department of Health reported 510 new cases and 32 deaths Wednesday, marking the third time the state has registered more than 500 new cases since Sept. 26.

Massachusetts’ positivity rate, which multiple experts consider a more telling metric than case numbers, sat at 3.5 percent last week. It hit a low of .8 percent in August.

The increased caseload has pushed Massachusetts into the red zone, meaning the state registered at least eight cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days. Only 23 towns or cities out of 351 in the state are currently in the “red zone.”

The shift to the red zone is just one month removed from local college reopenings that infectious disease experts warned could accelerate the trajectory of the virus in Massachusetts. Now, at least one expert said the uptick is correlated with the return of students.

“I think they’re directly connected,” Dr. State positivity rate, Pg. 2

@berkeleybeacon // @beaconupdate

In strange semester, orgs adapt to restrictions

Alpha Gamma Chi recruitment. Kendall Deutsch Courtesy

Dana Gerber & Ann E. Matica Beacon Staff

THE PLIGHT OF PANDEMIC-ERA ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES HITS LIVE MUSIC VENUES Pg. 6

Hotels as college dorms?

Pandemic forces new reality Lily Schutt

Beacon Staff Dorm life on Emerson’s vertical Boston campus is a far cry from traditional college housing. Here, students pack elevators to ascend to their fourto eight-person suites, sometimes nearly 20 stories from the ground. A few overlook the Boston Common or the crowded bustle of the Theater District. Rooms are relatively small and tucked close together.

But for 189 Emerson students, residence life has taken a turn to the upscale this semester. As part of Emerson’s effort to de-densify campus, those students have been shifted to

INSIDE THIS EDITION

the W, a four-star hotel a stone’s throw from campus.

The prestigious hotel houses Emerson students on floors five through 14 out of 26 floors, and the floors above are condos with permanent residents.

Students sleep in king- and queen-size beds, are greeted by a doorman as they enter the hotel, and have access to a 24/7 fitness center. Some rooms have a painting of Edgar Allen Poe strung on the bathroom wall.

“I feel like I’m living in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody,” Raven Goldston, a third-year comedic arts major, said. “I get this whole fancy room to myself, and I can call for room service W Hotel, Pg. 3

RBG: an icon, a woman’s rights champion Pg. 5 Re-evaluating the Emerson mental health policy for hospitalized students Pg. 5

How the VMA, performing arts departments adaptedto pandemic Pg. 2 Sleeping with closeted people Pg. 4

Decision on winter sports coming in November Pg. 8 Boston Book Festival announces lineup, outdoor activities Pg. 7

The W, a four-star hotel on the corner of Stuart and Tremont Sreet. Lizzie Heintz / Beacon Staff

18 positive COVID-19 tests 20,000+ tests administered 0.09% positivity rate

Emerson’s student organizations are facing a herculean task this semester: to reimagine their clubs, most of which depend on in-person interaction, so they abide by COVID-19 safety guidelines.

Pandemic-era restrictions slash room capacities to 20 to 25 percent of their previous limits, meaning many on-campus meeting spaces for student orgs can now only hold between two and six students. For most of the 80-plus organizations, this precludes most, if not all, in-person meetings, meaning leaders have had to work with Student Engagement and Leadership towards a complete or partial shift to virtual events, meetings and recruitment.

Zoom is the platform of choice for full organization meetings, which some groups hold weekly.

Emerson Hillel, an organization for Jewish students, holds weekly Shabbat services over Zoom, as well as virtual services for the High Holidays. They’ve also engaged remotely with Hillels at other local schools, like Simmons University and Boston College.

“As much as I would love for it to be in person, and I think everyone else would, too, and we’re definitely missing out on that, still having that community over Zoom is better than nothing at all,” Hillel President Rachel Tabin said.

Like many organizations, they’ve also utilized social media to advertise their one recurring in-person event: food pick-ups. Food is a culturally significant part of the organization’s typical meetings. They have coordinated this semester with Bon Appétit to pass out individually packaged kosher meals on Shabbat in the Lion’s Den, as well as bagels and cream cheese in 172 Tremont. “[It’s] good to have at least some face-to-face contact, even if it’s just for like two seconds,” Tabin said. “People right now are in need of this community, and I think that Hillel is usually a place where people can have that, and we really don’t want that to go away.”

When there is physical contact in organizations, even if it’s limited, there are additional guidelines. em Magazine, a lifestyle print magazine published every semester, can only have six people on a photoshoot set this semester, including just two models at a time. The models, who primarily wear their own clothes and put on their own makeup for the shoot, are allowed to take their masks off for photos but everyone else on set must keep them on. As a result, the magazine has pivoted more toward illustration and landscape photography.

“There’s still a lot of options to go around and still have that creative outlet,” Eileen Polat, Editor-in-Chief of em Magazine, said.

Launch parties, which many on-campus publications hold to celebrate the printing of an edition, will be all but impossible this semester. Meier said the college is looking into setting up magazine racks in buildings across campus for publications to distribute their work.

“This semester, we can’t, unfortunately, have a launch party for everyone to celebrate their work on campus and Organizations, Pg. 3.

News ‘It’s a lot better than what I expected:’ The Berkeley Beacon

October 1, 2020

2

Film and theatre students on the fall semester Dana Gerber Beacon Staff

In junior Ava Petrecca’s BFA Acting Studio 1 class, she’s learning the Alexander Technique: a focus on posture and body movement that aims to increase self-awareness.

Professors usually assist students by touching their bodies, guiding them to the right technique. New COVID-19 limitations require community members to stay six feet apart from one another, so Petrecca’s professor found a workaround.

“Since we can’t really touch each other, she bought these little almost retractable selfie sticks, and she glued those tiny little hands onto the end of them, and she adjusts our bodies in a socially-distanced way,” Petreccca said in a phone interview.

“It’s different than what we would normally be getting, but I think it’s a lot better than what I expected.”

The Performing Arts and Visual and Media Arts Departments are uniquely challenged this semester to transform hands-on, experiential courses into material that can be delivered over Zoom or in person with masks and social distancing measures. Though many professors and students said they were at first apprehensive of a reworked curriculum, most said their concerns have been quelled by the first few weeks of hybrid instruction.

“I have been pleasantly surprised so far with the hybrid system,” junior theatre and performance major Anna Kosiarek said. “The work is very touchy-feely sometimes—we can really get close to one another and use our bodies… I miss that aspect of it, but besides that, I feel like I am getting a worthwhile education.”

Theatre classroom spaces have been marked with boxes for students to stand in, ensuring they do not violate social distancing rules.

To de-densify classes, many theatre courses are being held in on-campus performance spaces, like the Colonial Theater, the Paramount Theatre, and the Cutler Majestic.

Prop director and professor Ryan Bates’ prop construction class is held in the Paramount Center, which

he said gives his students plenty of room to spread out during upholstery or casting and molding projects.

To avoid too many students sharing tools, Bates prepares all necessary materials before class. Any shared tools are sanitized between use.

“I’m in the mindset of having to prep so much that I’m feeding them more information maybe than I normally would, as opposed to encouraging them to figure certain things out on their own,” Bates said. “There is still some sort of discovery to be done there on the part of the students, about, ‘If I fold the fabric this way then I get a better outcome than if I do it this way,’” Kosiarek said her professors have planned their curriculum effectively to account for the hybrid learning structure. In her advanced acting class, Languages of Love, she said her professor assigns script analysis for Zoom classes and saves scene work for in-person sessions.

“This whole pandemic has just been basically a giant experiment for us theatre majors to approach the work in a new way,” she said. “To really combine the work with this circumstance so that we can create something completely new and that’s never been seen before—because this has never happened before.”

Improv professor Holly Tarnower said she’s developed games specifically for virtual learning. To practice miming work, students interact with an imaginary item on camera that other students have to guess.

Another game, which Tarnower calls “Speech Dub,” involves one student turning off their video and reciting a speech, while another student mutes themselves and mouths the speech. She saves scenic games for in-person classes.

“It’s weird, but it’s adaptable,” Tarnower said. “And it needs to be.”

The primary downside to Zoom improv, Tarnower said, is the absence of a live audience.

“You don’t have the validation of people laughing,” she said. “You want people to learn not to just play for the laughs and stuff, but it definitely changes the energy.”

VMA curriculum has also been adapted. New VMA COVID-19 production safety guidelines released by

State positivity rate passes three percent Cont. from Pg. 1 Michael Siegel, a professor of community health sciences at Boston University said. “Obviously part of the reason we’re seeing cases go up is because we brought back tens of thousands of college students to the city.”

Emerson’s positivity rate sits at .09 percent, a relatively low number but one of the highest among Boston-area schools.

“We’ve always tried to be very clear that we anticipated there will be positive cases,” Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Jim Hoppe said in a Zoom interview. “At the same time, we’re always concerned that anyone tests positive.”

The only school at a notably higher mark is Boston College, who reported a positivity rate of .42 percent Tuesday following an outbreak that led to at least 170 cases among the school’s undergraduates.

The increase in cases, specifically in the Boston area, Siegel said, is cause for concern. But Emerson administra-

tors, citing new loosened restrictions for restaurants, businesses, and gatherings, appear confident in moving forward with hybrid instruction.

“We’re always monitoring [cases], but at the same time the state is moving to the next level,” Hoppe said.

“The governor has authorized the next phase. So it’s a combination of a variety of different factors and how they interplay with each other.”

Now Siegel said he worries for communities across the country if schools are forced to send students home, potentially furthering the spread of the virus. The choice to reopen in the first place was a mistake, he said.

“Given the level of infection that we were seeing at the end of August, and looking as well at the predictions that there could be a surge in cases this fall, I do believe that it was a mistake to reopen. Because really, it puts the neighboring communities at risk.” andrew_brinker@emerson.edu

An Emerson Indepdent Video (EIV) shoot.

Courtesy Wilson Chao the college requires all production crews and student work groups to have a designated “COVID captain,” who is supposed to ensure the whole team is following the safety protocols. The Equipment Distribution Center, used extensively by VMA students, is only open for pick-ups on Thursdays and Fridays.

On sets themselves, hair and makeup can only be done by actors themselves, and no production is permitted in Emerson residence halls.

“I couldn’t figure out a way to film in a bed, which is so ridiculous because that would have been the easiest place to shoot in last year,” junior VMA major Devin Elias said.

“It’s really weird to hear a directing teacher be like, ‘Oh yeah, just shoot it outside.’”

This wasn’t Elias’ only hindrance.

During his directing image and sound class, his partner had difficulty setting up the camera, and nobody else was allowed to touch it due to sanitation guidelines.

Bachelor of Fine Arts production professor Julia Halperin said COVID-19 restrictions have disrupted her students’ processes and have been discouraging. However, she said none of her students have dropped out of the program, and that staying tenacious through difficult circumstances is an important skill for filmmakers to learn.

“My students are coming up with some very creative ways to reimagine their stories,” Halperin said, noting

another student who is considering changing a large classroom scene to animation. “It’s a reality of media production that you aren’t going to have all the resources you want.”

Despite the difficulties, Elias said this semester has proved his most inventive. The semester has given him more time to take long walks around the city, where he said he comes up with his best ideas.

“I wouldn’t really have as much time for that in previous semesters,” Elias said. “It’s, weirdly, made me more creative.”

Some of the normal assignments for Elias’ directing class were cut due to students shifting to fully online learning after Thanksgiving break.

Some professors, however, like Introduction to Studio TV Production professor Wilson Chao, arranged the curriculum to start production earlier out of fear the semester would be cut short again.

To produce shows, students in Chao’s course work with lighting grids, audio mixers, and cameras— equipment that all needs to be sanitized after each use. While Chao said he was annoyed his students would only get three hours of studio time as opposed to the usual four, he noted that he’s come to appreciate the benefits of Zoom to go over footage clips or meet with students to troubleshoot.

“I wouldn’t have commuted into campus to sit down for 15 to 20 minutes with students,” Chao, who added he’s had 100 percent attendance in his

classes so far, said. “But with Zoom, it’s like, ‘Yeah, sure. Let’s meet Sunday evening.’”

For shoots that are on location as opposed to in a college studio, a maximum of eight people can be on set at a given time, compelling some students to rethink long-term projects altogether.

Senior VMA major Sophia Speciale was planning to shoot her BFA film, Into the Light, in May, but pushed filming until the fall after the pandemic hit. The 15-minute film was supposed to have a 50-person scene in a theatre. To adapt to the new restrictions, she decided to scale the project back. Now, it will be a five-minute film focusing on a two-person scene from the original draft.

“My thinking was that rather than spreading myself all across this huge project, if I just focused on like a five-minute piece, then I could put all my energy and effort into that piece,” she said.

Students and professors stressed that while COVID-19 restrictions may keep them from teaching or learning everything they could be, different lessons can be learned by persevering through the circumstances.

“The more valuable skills that I’ve been learning are taking things as they come,” Kosiarek said. “That’s a big lesson that has come from my classes, and from just living in this time.” dana_gerber@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

October 1, 2020

3

Steps from campus, students live the Suite Life

Cont. from Pg. 1 and all this while doing school.”

A shorter walk to campus than the trek from the Paramount Center, the W is just a quick stroll down Tremont Street towards the glass-walled building’s glowing purple LED “W” sign.

Goldston’s room, a single with a king bed, has a white egg-shaped chair in the corner, which she uses to attend Zoom classes. The table has become her desk, the mini-bar her kitchen. She has a flat-screen TV and a wardrobe the same size as the one typically provided in Emerson dorms. Her room doesn’t have a bath, but others do.

“It feels like my own studio apartment, and I really like that,” Goldston said.

The temporary deal that placed students in the W is a makeshift solution to housing where social distancing is easier to maintain. Other local institutions have turned to similar contracts with hotels—Northeastern University is currently housing students on eleven floors at The Westin, and Suffolk University has placed students in four downtown hotels.

While details of these contracts remain unknown to the public, it is clear that the relationships are mutually beneficial. Hotels, financially ravaged by the pandemic, are searching for reliable sources of income at a time of reduced travel, while universities are looking to outsource students from on-campus housing to reduce building capacities and adhere to COVID-19 safety guidelines.

The W was selected for this collaboration, Director of Housing and Residential Education Christie Anglade said, because it was the most feasible long-term option for the college.

“We considered a number of different options, but the W Boston was the most ready, willing, and able to support our students’ needs,” Anglade said. “It was the closest proximity to campus. It had the largest rooms that I felt could accommodate students living in them full time as opposed to rooms that are better for just an overnight stay, and they had a really high level of flexibility in what they were willing to do to help accommodate our students, such as installing the washers and dryers on each of the floors.”

If the college were to pay typical rates to reserve rooms, a contract with the W would cost the college about double what students pay in room and board charges by semester. This time of year, guests would generally pay upwards of $200 a night for a room, though in the era of COVID-19 rates

The desk and bed in one W Hotel room. Courtesy Wilson Chao are slightly reduced. Guests can still rent rooms on floors not occupied by students.

While many students relish residing in the W, some have encountered issues with resources usually easily afforded to other on-campus students.

The college is still the one providing resources, like internet, to students.

Emerson Information Technology staff installed the internet source prior to students moving in, but wi-fi at the hotel has been a consistent source of student complaints.

“The wi-fi sucks sometimes,” Mia Trubelja, a third-year performing arts major, said. “It’ll randomly start to have issues. I think it’s been improving over the weeks, but when we first started classes, I was having to set up a hot spot on my phone because that was more stable than the wi-fi here.”

Logan Steenbergen, a second-year visual and media arts major, had to explain his frequent technical difficulties to his professors.

“Zoom crashes a lot and is always a little slow,” Steenbergen said. “Sometimes it just doesn’t work. I’ve let my teachers know I live in the hotel. And if I glitch out, I’ll try and get back into the Zoom call, but the wi-fi is very

Groups find community in online meetings Cont. from Pg.1 enjoy that time together,” Polat said. “We’re still making it work.”

Meier said SEAL has helped organizations navigate the new virtual terrain by sharing workplace management systems and Zoom techniques. He added that while organizations have received funding at the same level as last year, the appeals budget, where organizations can request additional money, is far smaller. Meier said this is a consequence of a lower undergraduate population to pay the student services fee.

Other clubs, like The Girlie Project sketch comedy troupe, have notably scaled back operations. The organization has only six active members scattered all over the country, and has decided to view the fall as an “adjustment semester,” choosing not to recruit new members.

“To feel like a group, you kind of have to be together,” Girlie Project President Isa Moon said. “You feel it in a room. When everybody is laughing, there’s a certain energy that just makes you want to keep going.”

The Girlie Project typically has two shows per semester, but Moon

said that since there is no end in sight to the restrictions on theatre usage, they’re not planning any shows. Theater spaces on campus, including the Black Box, the Paramount, and the Bill Bordy, are reserved for classes, and are unavailable for their usual extracurricular use. Few spaces will be available for performances this semester—including studios in the Little Building’s Student Performance Center and the multi-purpose room in 172 Tremont—and demand will likely be high.

Moon said the troupe meets occasionally over Zoom, but she’s not enforcing meetings or deadlines.

“For this semester, Girlie is not your priority, it’s your outlet,” Moon said she told her troupe.

Approximately 10 organizations have chosen to opt for a newly offered leave of absence this semester, Jason Meier, director of SEAL, said.

Organizations that choose to take a leave will not see any complications with their funding or affiliation with the Student Government Association this year, Meier said.

“Student groups either stepped up or they didn’t,” he said. “If you are

sketchy.”

Some students have also said that the provided laundry facilities are not adequate for the number of students living at the W. Just one washer and dryer sit on every other floor, totaling six machines for the nearly 200-student population.

“The laundry situation is probably the biggest con about the W—we ended up getting laundry about a week after we arrived,” Goldston said. “Laundry currently takes me around nine hours to do. The W Hotel Facebook group we’re all a part of is just students saying, ‘Hey, take out your laundry.’”

Before students lodged complaints, the laundry room also doubled as the garbage room and had been filling up with students’ trash.

Jessica Ross, a fourth-year writing, literature and publishing major, said so much trash has accrued at times that it can be difficult to open the doors to the laundry machines.

“Trash was piling so high that on several floors you couldn’t even get to the dryer door without having to move other people’s trash out of the way,” she said. “I was in the elevator and someone was getting out on floor nine, and I just saw trash lined up outside the

elevator.”

Ross said the state of the laundry rooms has improved since students initially moved in. Trash rooms are now on every floor, as opposed to every other floor.

“It’s much better than it was, but it’s still pretty gross,” Ross said. “I wish they had sanitizing wipes in the laundry rooms to even just wipe down the machines before people use them.”

The staff at the W have become a bright spot for student residents.

“The W staff are acting like we are guests,” Goldston said.”They’re holding open doors, saying good morning.

They’re really making sure that our stay is comfortable. I think it’s a very smart business tactic because I would come back and stay at the W just based on the way we’re being treated.”

Cristina Flores, the resident director at the hotel, said she has also appreciated making connections with the W’s staff.

“Building partnerships with the hotel staff has been an amazing change,” Flores said. “It’s been great to have partners to work with and meet our shared goal of the students having a good time here. We keep each other up to date on any facilities problems

that are happening or any pending problems.”

Flores was specifically chosen to be the designated RD for The W because she handled a similar housing transition while employed by Berklee College of Music in 2018. There, she was the residential director at the Sheraton Hotel on Dalton Street.

Goldston said she was considering staying home this semester due to concerns over virus transmission, but the announcement of an alternative living arrangement focused on reducing housing density changed her mind.

“Dorms can be very crowded,” Goldston said. “The shared spaces are especially difficult in Piano Row, which was my building of choice, because you’re living with five other people, and you have to account for the people those five people see and the people that those people see. It’s not like you can contain your life in such a small bubble living with people who are doing extracurriculars or involved in classes that may require them to interact closely with others, so at the W, I get to be separated from the crowds on the Emerson campus.”

overwhelmed, and you truly can’t figure this out, no problem. But if you want to figure it out, we’re here.”

Some studio spaces on campus are still open for use but at a curtailed capacity. Emerson Channel, a 24/7 television network, is pre-taping or remotely taping most of their shows, which usually broadcast live from the Tufte Television Studios.

Production crew numbers are severely reduced. If shooting in the studio, crews are allowed six-hour blocks with an hour break in the middle. Productions are limited to 14 people per shoot, and masks must be worn at all times.

“It’s really forcing people to think creatively and not think so much in a maximalist style, but to really think critically about what’s essential to putting on a good production,” Simona Riccardi, director of programming, said.

Emerson Channel Sports, which usually live-streams Emerson sports games, will use their equipment this semester to help performance organizations broadcast their shows live.

“Even though they can’t have a traditional audience, their work still gets seen by students and the greater world,” Riccardi said. “People can kind of get trapped in their org bubbles, and I just personally don’t find that to be the case anymore.”

Riccardi has put a greater empha-

sis on members keeping in touch with one another virtually to ensure duties or responsibilities don’t fall through the cracks.

“I feel like we’ve really had to step it up in terms of our efficiency,” Riccardi said. “I think that that’s truly prepared people for the real world.”

The Musical Theatre Society, one of the performance organizations using Emerson Channel Sports’ live-streaming equipment, is producing one musical this semester as opposed to their typical five. “First Lady Suite,” a show about the lives of four American first ladies, has a cast of about 10. MTS will produce the show by recording each of the performers singing individual tracks, and then film the actors together performing and speaking their lines in one of the television studios.

“If anything, the pandemic has given us a lot of time to think—we redid our whole constitution and our whole board structure in the spring,” Palmucci said. “In reality, it’s of course been disappointing not to be in person and not to be doing in-person shows, but also really great and I feel like we are really moving the organization forward in the extra time that we have.”

To advertise virtual events, Meier said there are plans to install bulletin board space in the classroom section

of the Paramount building for more organizations to post flyers.

Fraternities and sororities on campus have also taken on new challenges in their recruitment processes.

Alpha Phi Omega, a national service fraternity, added six new members this semester to their existing eight, President Kendall Deutsch said. They used Instagram and socially distanced in-person events, like walking around the Esplanade, to promote their recruitment.

“It definitely took a lot of work to get the members that we did,” Deutsch said.

The fraternity, Deutsch said, has had trouble finding in-person service to do during the pandemic, so they’ve pivoted to virtual service activities like Freerice.com, which donates rice via the United Nation’s World Food Programme.

With hybrid learning extended through at least the spring semester, it remains unclear when student organizations will begin to return to normal operations.

“What our orgs are figuring out now is flexibility,” Meier said. “You make a plan, you better have a plan B, and you better have a plan C, because who the heck knows.”

lily_schutt@emerson.edu

contact@berkeleybeacon.com

The Berkeley Beacon

October 1, 2020

4

Opinion Cat Bixler

Beacon Correspondent Content Warning: This article heavily references suicide and depression.

The American Psychiatric Association defines mental illness as a medical condition, just like heart disease or diabetes. From my experience, however, it is usually treated as something else altogether.

Earlier this September, I felt suicidal and texted one of my friends about it. Worried about me, he called the police, and I was taken to the hospital, where they decided I should stay at a mental health facility for a few days. While my treatment team initially suggested I attend a six-hour outpatient program for two weeks following my discharge, I decided I would try to find another plan, largely because of the strain the program would put on me combined with a rigorous academic schedule. My treatment team and I finalized a discharge plan that included seeing a Massachusetts-based therapist once a week. After five days in the in-patient facility, I was discharged and returned back to my campus dorm room, a place I view as my home.

When students are discharged from in-patient care, Emerson is required to formulate a re-entry plan for them.

Later that day, I received a call from a college representative notifying me of the college’s decision: either I participate in the two-week outpatient program, which would also stop me from participating in my courses normally, or I would be sent on mandatory health leave.

The former was not an option. If I regularly attended my difficult courses, a six hour-per-day program, and my job, I would be emotionally and psychologically wrecked at the end of each day. But if the alternative meant I would be forced out of the college, I would be on my own to figure out a plan for housing during that time.

Most importantly, the college’s options also meant my post-hospitalization plan would no longer apply. If I went back home to Pennsylvania, I would not be able to see the therapist in Massachusetts I was scheduled to

Illustration by Christine Park

I had to fight for the mental health care I needed.

But I shouldn’t have to see. Instead, I would have to join the waiting list for a therapist in my hometown, where it was likely I would wait more than a month just to get an appointment. Rather than receiving immediate help like I had planned, going home meant I would need to wait to get in touch with a professional, regardless of whether I actually connected with and learned from that person.

Kicking a student out of college because of a medical condition they have no control over sounds absurd, and that’s because it is. Even if a student did have control over their illness; even if the student had smoked for years and gotten lung cancer, dictating how an individual receives help in any situation is not acceptable.

And issues that involve mental health are even trickier. I know because it happened to me. The student cannot fight the school’s decision.

Any attempt to to fight the school’s decision will result in the student being suspended, losing any chance of having their tuition reimbursed.

I was faced with these two choices as soon as I left the hospital. I had been aware of the dilemma beforehand, but only because a college representative had called my mother—without noti-

fying me—to tell her about my options several days earlier. When I expressed my discomfort that my mother was alerted before I was, and without my consent, I was told it had been deemed necessary. I told the representative I was uncomfortable with this kind of contact with my family. Immediately following that conversation, however, the college employee contacted her again.

The school emailed me an outline on Sept. 10 that explained how “there have been at least four incidents where you have threatened or attempted serious self-harm, and/or sent threats to kill yourself to other members of the Emerson community.” One of these incidents referenced an occasion in March where I had planned to commit suicide and sent a note to my friends, many of whom were Emerson students. The letter frames my note as a threat, but in reality, it was a plan. I had wanted to tell my friends I loved them before I died.

The letter’s next sentence explains: “These incidents have been deeply disruptive to other students and members of our community.” Once again, the college frames the issue as me carelessly playing with other student’s

feelings.

Notably, two of the four times listed (including the previously detailed incidents), I went through the proper channels the school outlines in its policies and contacted resident assistants and directors as they suggest. This is a channel of help that the school promotes, yet my history of using this channel was used against me and framed as a threat.

Luckily this story has a happy ending — sort of. After I got an Emerson Counseling and Psychological Services (ECAPS) member to talk to an Emerson representative on my behalf and threatened to sue, the college eventually changed their mind. They sent along an updated agreement for my care in which the two-week program was no longer required. I only needed to meet with the therapist I was scheduled to see in my original discharge plan and establish a longterm treatment plan.

Of course, there are strings attached. I am still liable to be suspended without compensation for a variety of offenses, including forgetting to take my medication, missing a therapy appointment, or bringing up self-harm or suicidal thoughts to other students.

But it’s better than the alternative, right?

Still, I should not have been forced to fight with the college for my basic rights when I needed to be focused on fighting my depression. It shouldn’t take threatening legal action to be treated fairly regarding my mental health issues. I understand it’s a messy topic. As a student with a history of suicidal thoughts, I posed a liability to the school. But when these issues arise, the college should handle them with more flexibility and compassion.

Emerson needs to change how it deals with situations regarding mental health. Based on my experience, I recommend that the college take these measures following a student’s mental health hospitalization: — Engage the student directly in the creation of their re-entry plan while it is being created. If possible, the college should schedule sessions with a college representative, health professionals, and the student so they may all provide input and clear up misunderstandings.

— When it is not a time-sensitive issue, students should be notified and given up to 24 hours to explain extenuating circumstances or preferences before the college contacts their parent or guardian.

— The language used about a student’s re-entry plan should be closely examined to ensure it is not villainizing or triggering to a recently hospitalized student.

— Re-entry plans should not use an allor-nothing approach. Students should be offered a variety of options that allow them to make the decision that is best for their physical and mental health.

— Students should have access to an appeal process if they disagree with the terms of their re-entry agreement without fear of being suspended without recompensation.

— When initially contacting a student, the college should give students the option of having an ECAPS counselor sit in on the meeting to ensure that sensitivity is shown to the student.

An overhaul of these protocols is necessary to ensure that students are safe and treated fairly by the school.

Mental health is health, and it should be treated as such.

emily_bixler@emerson.edu

Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s fight for women’s rights lives on Sabine Waldeck

Beacon Correspondent When I first heard the news of the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on September 18, I was in disbelief. I was aware that Ginsburg had been battling pancreatic cancer, but contemplating the possibility of her passing was too scary to think of, so I didn’t. I went through a few stages of emotions after hearing about her death. The first feeling was a shock.

My chest tightened as I started to refute the news by repeating to myself “No. No. No.” After frantically going to multiple news outlets and confirming the information, I felt the grief set in. It started with a wave of sadness and tears filling my eyes. A woman who I and many others depended on, was gone.

With that came the realization of what this meant for me and my sex.

The first issue that popped into my mind was Roe v. Wade. Maintaining the legalization of abortion has been a constant fight for a woman’s right to choose. Ginsburg’s standing on the supreme court gave women the

solace that we would maintain this right. With her passing, however, her passing, the reality of a pro-life republican taking her place and overturning Roe v. Wade sunk in.

I started to freak out. I looked up how long the typical process of replacing a Supreme Court Justice took, reaching for any glimpse of hope.

That is when I found that Ginsburg wanted to be replaced after the results of the upcoming election. I wish this would have relieved some weight, but knowing our current president, I was never confident that he would honor what she asked.

Now Donald Trump has nominated Amy Coney Barrett. She is a conservative, which was not a shocking pick, but disheartening nonetheless.

Trump vowed to only nominate “prolife” justices when given the chance, and he follows through on this promise with Barrett. She has stated that abortion is “always immoral.” I feel a sort of numbness to the nomination. Since I was never expecting Ginsburg’s replacement to honor her legacy, when Barnett was picked, I felt more of a detachment to the news instead of anger.

After having more time to process

Ginsburg’s death, my emotions remain. I stand with many other women when I say I am devastated, terrified, and doubtful. I’m devastated by her passing, terrified for who will replace her, and doubtful that they will uphold Ginsburg’s views and legacy.

Under an administration where we are constantly unsure of what will happen next regarding women’s rights, Ginsburg stood as a constant, a supporter, and someone who would fight for us. This, however, does not mean she did not have her flaws.

She was a feminist icon. While I would like to believe this is an entirely positive statement, it is also undeniably negative. Feminism has been and continues to be white, and Ginsburg upheld that. It is impossible to entirely praise her and all she did for women without critiquing her faults when it came to supporting Black Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC). She failed to include the newer wave of intersectional feminism in her views and politics, letting down many women of color who also needed her support.

The future of the Supreme Court and its rulings look bleak. I wish I could manufacture a positive outlook

Stephanie Purifoy / Beacon Staff and be confident about what is to come, but with a conservative majority, there is very little I feel hopeful about. The progress I and other democrats have been hoping to see is halted until further notice.

With all of that, “Notorious RBG” (as she was commonly referred to) was a trailblazer for women’s rights and her achievements will never be forgotten. To women everywhere, I am with you. I feel your sadness.

I know you are scared, and so am I. From here on out it is up to us to uphold Ginsburg’s legacy and continue to push for the change we need.

It is easy to feel defeated. However, after the process of grieving ends, we have to enter a process of fighting. Fighting for ourselves, but more importantly, for one another, just like Ginsburg. sabine_waldeck@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

October 1, 2020

5

Columns My birthday present this year?

Stories.

Dana Gerber Beacon Staff Almost nothing about my 21st birthday will be how I imagined. It won’t take place in a crowded bar.

My friends won’t buy me frozen margaritas and toast to another year in the books. I won’t celebrate in a nice restaurant with my family. No waiter will bring me a slice of chocolate cake as the other patrons awkwardly clap along to “Happy Birthday” (which, for the record, was not a moment I was particularly looking forward to anyway).

In all likelihood, my Nov. 28 birthday festivities will consist of a homemade cocktail with my mom and a nice meal from DoorDash. And that’s okay—COVID-19 has wrought unimaginable suffering on individuals and families around the world, and I am very cognizant that more than 200,000 people in the United States alone will never have another birth-

day at all.

But, to commemorate my special day, I racked my brain to try to think of gift ideas. What I really wanted— what everyone, it seems, wants—is some semblance of normalcy back.

Hugging. Gathering. Celebrating.

The best birthday present I could think of is a vaccine. But in lieu of that, I came up with the next best thing: Stories.

I’ve always been a voracious consumer of stories. Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary were among the prized jewels of my childhood bookshelf, but my favorite stories were, and continue to be, the ones my family shared with me. My mom, remembering when her dad took her to see “Mary Poppins” in the theatre, the peanuts she filled up on during the pre-show dinner, and the cinder in her eye after the movie. My dad, living through famous Buffalo winters when he couldn’t be bothered to stop reading a book when his baby sister arrived home from the hospital.

My brother, who I pestered for years to retell the tales of how he slept through classes but woke up knowing the answers when teachers called on him.

For my birthday, I asked my family to each write down one story from their childhoods. It could be any one they chose. Perhaps for my mother it will be her college years, dancing to

“Rich Girl” by Hall and Oates down the hallways of her Duke University dorm. Maybe my father will recount how he stole a desk chair from the Columbia University library, walking right past security guards. If I’m lucky, my brother will put pen to paper on how he used to do impersonations of Pokémon characters to entertain me as a toddler, as I clapped and screamed for more.

I treasure these stories, each of them a gospel of unshakeable wisdom, humor, or guidance. I silently tracked the edits made during each retelling, a quote changed or a detail omitted. These stories offered a coherency that only narratives can bring, giving me the hope that someday, stories of my life would present themselves confidently in my mind, too. A roadmap of my most mortifying and glorious waystations, a collection of mementos proving, “I was here.” Folklore, passed down, proving what can be survivable and what, against all odds, can be memorable.

If there is one thing this year has robbed us of, it’s a stable sense of time, and how we orient ourselves in it. The days and weeks and months blend together, a disorienting blur of tragedy. Narratives are precious things, and they require a certain amount of retrospect to develop naturally. As we continue to be thrown this way and that by this year’s tur-

Courtesy Dana Gerber

moil with no chance to reflect, I’ve craved nothing more than to know what my character arc is right now.

To know whether this moment is exposition, conflict, or resolution. To know how this story ends.

The most valuable present I can be given right now is the safety of secondhand memory, set in ink for perpetuity. Nothing about this year is certain or stable, and I want to be reminded of times that were. Of moments of intimacy, of maskless celebrations. I will live vicariously

through these stories until it’s safe to make more of my own.

And maybe someday, I will write down my own stories of living through the past six months. The days that seemed to stretch on forever; the friends I saw from six feet away; the birthday that came and went unceremoniously. The anxiety. The joy. The relief. Someday, it will all just be a story we tell—and that will be the best gift of all. dana_gerber@emerson.edu

On the DL: The sexual politics of sleeping with closeted guys

Gary Sowder Beacon Staff My mom lives in Westchester County, New York, a place most known for being the home of the Clinton’s and the last place Robert Durst’s wife was seen alive. After COVID-19 touched down in America I was forced to move out of my dorm and back into my childhood bedroom, which sat unchanged since I went to college three years ago; when I peeled my Lana Del Rey poster off the wall––to make room for a calendar I impulse-bought––I discovered that the tape had started to mold. I told myself I would use this time to be productive: I’d finally start the columns I had been planning to write, I’d get back into learning French, and, finally, I’d teach myself how to skateboard. Instead, I spent most of my time on my bed and scrolling through Grindr.

For the uninitiated, Grindr is a dating app primarily geared towards queer men, although it also welcomes trans-women and non-binary people.

Although it markets itself as “social media app,” Grindr is most commonly used for casual sex—there’s no swiping, and no “it’s a match!”-ing.

When you open up Grindr, you are presented with a grid of little profile photos, and you can message anyone with reckless abandon. That is, unless they block you. When opening up Grindr in Boston, you’ll typically find a sea of college twinks and older business men, almost all of them posing in front of their bathroom mirror smiling. I took my profile picture

in the dining hall bathroom after I bought a pair of $90 pants from Zara.

In Westchester, however, Grindr is full of grey, faceless profiles. Few of them even dare to write a bio or include any information about themselves––Grindr has a drop down menu where you can put everything from your weight to your preferred sexual positions. Many of these enigmatic profiles include the tagline “DL.” “DL,” short for “down-low” is a term most people in the gay community are familiar with. It can mean anything from a curious guy down to experiment, to a gay man that does not want to come out yet. They tend to have strict parameters for how they want to have sex with you. No kissing is a pretty common rule. Or they won’t touch your dick. Very often they’re more than happy to send you nudes to round out that blank square they keep as their profile picture, but don’t ask them for a picture of their face—that’s too personal.

I received tons of offers from down-low guys in quarantine, mostly businessmen whose marital situation was…questionable at best. Occasionally I’d get the stray college kid but they’d rarely want to meet-up, and they were always hesitant to show their faces, out of fear that we could have gone to high school together, or that the wrong person would catch a glimpse.

Eventually, I started talking to someone––who I will call Zach––that wasn’t so secretive. He messaged me from his college’s Zoom graduation, which took place at the Jefferson Valley Mall––right next to my dad’s first post-divorce apartment. He was nice, he thought I was attractive, and, most importantly, we could hook up in his house. I swore off the car stuff the moment I got my diploma.

He lived in a massive house just off the border of Connecticut and New York, the kind of house that stretches

over a giant green lawn. His driveway was a swirling mass of gravel, carefully manicured. I knew people had driven on it, a lot of people, because there were four cars perched in his driveway. All with little decals from different colleges.

Zach told me it’d be easier if I entered from the back door, that way we’d have less of a chance of running into his parents. They’d ask too many questions, he told me. Though just in case Zach had come up with a cover story: I was there to help him design a website.

Mid-way through “designing,” I found out that I was the fourth guy he had ever kissed, the third guy he’d ever blown, and the second person he’d ever done anal with. The first was his ex-girlfriend who, fun fact, I did a science project with in elementary school. Small world. When I fingered him, I realized he hadn’t douched, and that he didn’t even know what that was. To be honest, it wasn’t as much of a fingering as it was a light Tinder-swipe. After making him shower, thoroughly, we had a blissful fifteen minutes of fun. He provided me with a warm towel after he accidentally came in my eye.

After, he gave me a kiss, took me upstairs, and told me that he’d text me if he needed anymore help with his “website.” Graciously, he held the door open as I left.

He would block me on Snapchat the second I walked out the door. In an attempt to be courteous, I was going to message him that I had a nice time and wouldn’t mind seeing him again, much to my surprise, his Snapchat was missing from my friends list. It might’ve been the fact that it was quarantine, but I really liked hanging out with him. He was smart, he was nice, he greeted me at the door wearing an “ACAB” shirt, and I would’ve liked to see him again. Did I want to date him? No. But the sex was pretty good––even if his asshole

was a little bit of a poop-laden-warzone––and Mayor Cuomo had just recently advised all New Yorkers to find a quarantine fuck-buddy to help flatten the curve.

As I sped down Route 35, blasting Alanis Morrissette and reapplying some deodorant, I realized something: Sneaking around, getting a blowjob in a lazy boy, and lying to his parents as well as mine, this was high school stuff. More importantly, this was closeted stuff.

Now, my sexual liberation came a little late, unless you count that one soccer player I gave a hand job to in high school––talk about cumming a little late. But I was well acquainted with the kind of pre-adulthood sneaking around. I know that car-stuff and late-night rendezvous in the local nature reserve are pretty par-forthe-course with every teenager. But when it’s gay, there’s a little one-up of secrecy. Getting caught doesn’t just mean your parents know that you’re sexually active, they know you’ve sexually active with a boy.

Getting caught engaging in some gay debauchery outs you to your family, your friends, and your community.

On top of the immediate embarrassment, there’s a deep long-lasting level of shame that never really goes away.

There can be something thrilling in being treated like a sex object, tons of people are into that, but this kind of objectification goes outside the realm of sex. There’s a moment, the terrified pause mid-kiss when you both hear someone coming down the stairs, refusing to suck your dick, or being told that making out is just “too far,” when it stops being about sex and it starts being about identity. They’re not ashamed of having sex with you, they’re ashamed that they’re having sex with a guy. Your gender, your sex, your orientation all become part of this sexual-shame narrative. You are no longer just a

person that this other person wants to have sex with.

When Zach blocked me, I felt like I had done something wrong. Like him calling me hot, following me on Instagram just to see more pictures of my face, or asking if I would make him my bitch––did I mention how much of a bottom he was?––was just a ploy to get me to have sex with him.

I didn’t really feel sexy anymore. I just felt like a secret.

The decision to stay in the closet isn’t really mine to police(acab), and the argument “having sex with closeted guys gives me the bad feelies and therefore don’t do it” isn’t really much of an argument. So, I’m not going to tell you shoudn’t have sex with guys on the DL. I’ve done it twice since I moved back to Boston––both provided me with a recent negative COVID-19 test, by the way. To risk sounding like my grandmother whenever someone brings up abortion: it’s kind of a case-by-case thing. Having sex with someone closeted doesn’t have to shove you back into the wild world of psycho-sexual identity politics, sometimes it can just be sex with someone closeted.

And I think that’s a lesson that doesn’t just apply to gay people: In every hookup, there’s always going to be a degree of objectification. But it’s about your comfort level firstand-foremost. Where do you draw the line when it comes to being objectified? How full can your shame cup get until it runneth over? A hookup shouldn’t leave you feeling like some dirty secret. We shouldn’t be dwelling on hookups days, months, weeks after they happened and then writing really long articles about them. Sex should be sex after all, it should feel good. Great, dare I say. At the end of the day, we’re kind of all treating one another like a means to an end. And that’s kind of okay. gary_sowder@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

October 1, 2020

6

Living Arts

Independent music venues test alternate business models, fundraise to survive amid pandemic Josh Sokol

Beacon Staff Live performance venues are one of the many businesses adversely affected by COVID-19. Since they rely on shoulder-to-shoulder contact and gathering large crowds of people, it’s unlikely any will return soon—at least not until Phase 4 of the Massachusetts reopening plan.

And with so many students involved in the music scene, between Ademir Monteiro and his debut alternative rap album Everything is Good?, Mackenzie Morris’ EP Ode to Adolescence, and “pastel” punk band Sunsetta, the importance of the entertainment industry hits home for the Emerson community. It’s a sobering loss for all local students, known to frequent basement house shows, cheap concerts, and restaurants with entertainment now shuttered by the coronavirus.

“When younger people are moving here from other places, [music venues] can help a place feel like home,” Karen Muller, a music writer for WBUR, said.

J.J. Gonson, owner of event space ONCE Somerville, is adapting their business model to accommodate pandemic-era restrictions. They have been live streaming performances on YouTube on the “ONCE Virtual Venue,” where they host various bands and performers to provide entertainment.

Since opening ONCE in 2014, Gonson has provided an entertainment space for the Greater Boston area—a challenge for any independent business in 2020.

Gonson said she utilizes YouTube as a streaming platform because of its AdSense features that allows the user to monetize videos through advertisements.

“You can like a Facebook page,” Gonson said in a phone interview with the Beacon. “You can share a Facebook page. You can share events. But most importantly on YouTube, there’s all kinds of potential revenue for advertising and stuff, which I know is despicable. But the reality is that we need it.”

Gonson said she likes this form of revenue because the viewer only has to watch the content with advertisements on, rather than pay out of pocket for a performance.

“Encourage people to visit the YouTube channel [and] to subscribe, like, and share because for sure you want to keep music alive,” Gonson said.

“These are the things you can do without giving money.”

Alongside their digital platform, the venue launched the GoFundMe campaign in March to make up for lost revenue. To date, it has raised more than $36,000, surpassing its fundraising goal of $30,000.

“I am going to fight hard for what I feel is important—independent performance, independent art, and independent rooms to perform and make art in,” Gonson wrote in a post on the ONCE Somerville GoFundMe page.

Gonson does not believe venues should be hosting audiences right now. But she believes involving more government officials to see the plight of venues could facilitate a connection that allows for the survival of small businesses.

“Tell our senators and representatives how important ONCE is to the music community of the whole Boston area,” Gonson said.

With smaller music venues closing, the question turns to the small bands that rely on the independent venues to

Venu Night Club; a performer is seen busking with their dog in Downtown Crossing; Shubert Theatre (top to bottom) Henry Liu /Beacon Staff. share their work.

Most recently, the Great Scott, a beloved Allston rock club that opened 40 years ago, was forced to give up its Commonwealth Ave. location due to a non-renewable lease agreement—a loss for the community that has developed much of its musical identity through the Great Scott, performers and audiences alike.

Muller reflected on her memories at the Great Scott’s Commonwealth Ave. location.

“That was a really special spot,” Muller said in a phone interview with the Beacon. “A venue like that serves a very different purpose from some of the bigger more corporately-owned places. You know, you can pay a lot of money and go to an arena show or go to something at a huge venue and have that ‘big night out’ experience. But I think that these small clubs exist for a very different purpose.”

Muller went on to explain how smaller venues like the Great Scott

offer a stronger sense of community than corporate venues.

“There’s a lot more community there, there are a lot more people crossing paths and getting to know each other in a sense,” Muller said. “It can get you really involved with your community and understanding the local art scene, and there’s a lot of value in that.”

In addition to the importance of these venues for the music scene, Muller added how these spots serve an

important role for younger audiences looking to gain a sense of culture in a new city—especially in Boston, the fourth-youngest college town in the country.

Oak Hill Properties, the landlord company of the previous Great Scott location, did not sign to renew the lease for a post-COVID reopening.

Great Scott’s former booking agent Carl Lavin signed a letter of intent to move into a new location, at 353 Cambridge St., two weeks ago, though the final agreement has not yet been signed.

The Great Scott, however, has not reached its final chapter just yet.

Through the crowdfunding investment platform Mainvest and an influx of community support with almost 700 investors, the Great Scott name may yet endure.

The fundraising efforts have reached $286,600, as of Sept. 30. The maximum goal of the fund is set at $400,000.

Lavin e xplained on his Mainvest page that the company plans to reopen in the former Regina’s Pizzeria Allston location once logistics are worked out.

“We’ve been working with a wellknown, locally-owned pizzeria to partner on the location, so that Great Scott will be able to work to reopen as a loyal Allstonian hub for the arts and watering hole, to help secure our longterm success,” Lavin said.

Nick Matthews, CEO of Mainvest, said in a phone interview with the Beacon that he was surprised to see so much support for Great Scott in such a short amount of time.

“What we saw was with the initial plan to save Great Scott, it grew in its first month with a massive amount of community support and then with the news of moving, we realized that basically everyone who had invested, stayed invested,” Matthews said.

“The public sentiment around saving this Boston institution is not necessarily tied to a street address, it’s really about the future of live music in Boston and maintaining the spirit of Great Scott.” josh_sokol@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

October 1, 2020

7

Alum’s creates new DC Comics heroine, ‘Primer’ Shawna Konieczny

Beacon Correspondent Thomas Krajewski ‘99 brought to life a brand new superhero within one of most well-established comic book universes in the world, DC Comics.

The international comics brand published Primer in 2020, which Krajewski created with the help of his writing partner, Jennifer Muro, and illustrator Gretel Lusky.

Primer follows Ashley Rayburn, a thirteen-year-old girl who has been in the foster care system since her biological father was imprisoned when she was younger. Ashley’s story begins with her moving in with a new foster family after which her foster mother, a brilliant scientist, brings home a set of superpowered body paints in hopes to keep the product out of the military’s hands. Upon discovering them, Ashley gains sole access to the paints’ abilities, each color giving her a different superpower and transforming her into the superhero, Primer.

Krajewski graduated more than two decades ago, back when, as he recalls, only one or two screenwriting classes were offered. He mostly focused on writing for animation after his time at Emerson, where he earned a BFA in film.

In the past, he has mostly focused on doing freelance work, including writing for Max Steel, Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?, and the Emmy-nominated children’s show The Fairly OddParents. Some of his current projects include writing for Apple TV+, as well as working as a story editor and producer for the animated television series Boy Girl Dog Cat Mouse Cheese.

Krajewski spoke to The Beacon about his time at Emerson and the creation of his recently published graphic novel.

This interview was edited for clarity and length.

Q. What inspired you to want to create this story and character?

A. I was definitely inspired by the Wonder Woman movie, because I’ve grown up with all my male role model characters and it’s been awesome for me. Then you finally have the Wonder Woman movie come out and it’s a character that people have been meet-

ing and watching for years, a character that means a lot to so many people.

And so I’m blown away by the fact that we finally have that character represented. And personally, I love strong women. My mom’s super strong. My two older sisters used to babysit me, drive me everywhere. They were just awesomely strong people to look up to. I’ve always been mainly writing for male characters, and I just wanted to help create another female character for people to look up to and get inspired by.

Q. How did you get DC Comics to pick up this new character?

A. So it was about two and a half years ago when [Muro] and I were sitting around, just talking about how to

Courtesy Thomas Krajewski create a new superhero. And we just came up with the idea of superpowered body paints. We’re like, ‘Oh, that sounds really cool.’ And [Muro] makes a lot of contacts, she had this contact, a good friend of hers, at DC Comics, who just happened to be in the publishing department. And one day, [her contact] said, ‘Hey, you know, we’re looking for new superheroes for this line of graphic novels.’ And Jen was like, ‘Really? Because [Krajewski] and I just came up with one a month ago.’ And so [Muro] just soft pitched the idea at a party. We were in the right place at the right time with the right property. That’s how we got it to DC because [Muro] knew somebody, and

they just happened to be looking for new superheroes.

Q. So Primer has been out for three months now, how has it been received? How’s it doing commercially?

A. We just announced that we’re going into a second printing, which is very exciting. So the first run of however many thousands they made, I’m not quite sure. I guess DC saw that it was selling very well. So they told us we’re gonna do another printing.

We’re very excited about that. And the reviews that have been coming in are just awesome. People are really responding to the fact that DC has a new female superhero, one that is so inspirational and colorful and fun. For me to read the reviews, and I look for reviews all the time, I can’t explain how touched I am when people talk about how much they love the book, or how much their kids love the book.

I’m humbled and honored by what people say about the book.

Q. What does Primer’s future look like? Where do you want her story to go from here?

A. [Muro] and I have thought out the next four books. So we have our plan, we need DC to get on board with this plan, too. But we have the next four books thought out, and if you read the first book, you’ll see that we set up a sequel where her father discovers a certain thing about [Primer]. And so we want to explore more about Primer’s past and her family. We have plans to watch her grow and become more independent, and really learn what it means to be a hero. We have all these great obstacles we want to throw at her and new powers we want to give her and kind of wrap up everything within a full five book series. There’s always the possibility of crossing Primer over with other DC existing superheroes.

Right now, she just exists in kind of her own world, so that way we can just focus on her and not have like Batman or Wonder Woman come in.

Q. How would you describe your time at Emerson?

A. It was an awesome time. Unfortunately, I lived at home to save money, and I commuted to school. I grew up in Winchester, Massachusetts, about eight miles north of Boston. So unfortunately, I didn’t get the on campus experience, and I didn’t get to meet as many people as I wanted

Krajewski said the comic book recently earned a second printing.

Courtesy Thomas Krajewski

to. But what I did love about Emerson is that there were so many projects to get involved with it. I auditioned for a lot of student films and shows, and I was in a bunch of them and made some great friends that way. I started off going to UMass Amherst, my first year, and transferring to Emerson, in my sophomore year. So when I got there, even though I lived at home, it was still just amazing to go to class and be able to create, and actually get involved with making student films and TV shows. That’s probably the most important thing Emerson is that unlike my previous major [Exercise Science], here at film school, everybody wants to create. It gave me the opportunity to be a part of something.

Q. So what advice would you give current Emerson students who want to go into the entertainment industry?

A. The thing that I always learned too late was that it is good to make the connections and schmooze. That’s

something that I’m not necessarily comfortable doing because I just don’t like it. But the people who I’ve seen succeed the most are the ones who really do make those connections and reach out on LinkedIn or Twitter. It really is about knowing as many people as you can. The best advice I got from Emerson was to do the Los Angeles program. Because if you want to work in entertainment, obviously, it helps to be in the big cities, in New York or LA. Once you’re out, once you’re graduated, you’ll find that there’s Emerson people everywhere. So everyone’s going to look out for each other. It is great that we have the Emerson Mafia to reach out to other Emerson people.

A lot of Emerson people do want to help and we feel very proud that we went to Emerson. So if you want to get into the entertainment business, reach out to people. shawna_konieczny@emerson.edu

Boston Book Festival opts for mostly virtual lineup Katie Redefer Beacon Staff

The Boston Book Festival will host an virtual month-long festival—complete with 55 virtual events and several in-person activities spread across the city—for the first time in the nonprofit organization’s 12 year history.

The online festival will feature 142 presenters and moderators and the majority of events will happen over the video conferencing application Crowdcast on Oct. 24 and 25. Some of the headlining authors include Jerry Craft of “Class Act,” Juana Medina of “Juana & Lucas: Big Problemas,” and Guy Raz of “How I Built This.”

A majority of the events are discussion-based panels, with authors from a wide variety of genres offering viewers insight on fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, and poetry, as well as panels focused on young adult and children’s literature. For example, the “Young Adult: Speak Your Truth” panel on Oct. 16 will feature YA authors such as Arvin Ahmadi and Jennifer De Leon to discuss navigating identity as a teen in the 21st century.

Those interested in joining the video conference sessions can find additional information on how to join the livestreams on the Boston Book Festival website (BostonBookFest.

org). Admission to all events is free of charge, like in previous years.

Executive director of Boston Book Festival Norah Piehl said they considered creating a hybrid in-person/ online format earlier this year. But when publishing companies expressed discomfort with sending authors to Boston for the festival, BBF decided the fully-online format was the best option.

“Early on, we had toyed with the possibility of doing some sort of hybrid event where we might have authors on a stage, talking to a few dozen people, and then live streaming that to people who couldn’t attend in person,” Piehl said. “But it quickly became apparent that that was not going to be the best model either financially or programmatically. By the time early summer rolled around, I was starting to hear publishers say, ‘We’re not going to send our authors to in-person events anymore, we’re only doing virtual events for the foreseeable future.’”

“So it just seemed at that point, that the best decision was just to really focus our efforts on putting on the best virtual festival that we could,” Piehl said.

However, the festival will have several in-person “experiences,” as dubbed by Piehl, which are interactive activities placed throughout the city

attendees can participate in asynchronously. For instance, the festival will host two “story walks” aimed toward families, where attendees will follow a map around Downtown Crossing and Nubian Square to find the pages of children’s books posted in store windows.

Piehl said the online format presents new worries she never had to consider before, like issues with internet connection. But she still is confident in the lineup they created this year given the unusual challenges COVID-19 presents.

“It can be very easy to get bogged down in concerns and anxieties about the details, especially this year in things that are largely outside of our control, like if Crowdcast goes down” Piehl said. “But overall I really am proud of the program that we’ve put together this year..”

Piehl noted, however, that the online platform has allowed BBF to invite speakers from around the globe that they normally would not have the travel budget to invite.

“We’ve got people from the U.K., we’ve got people from the west coast, and those are authors and illustrators who we would not have been able to bring here ordinarily, because we don’t have a travel budget for presenters,” Piehl said.

A popular annual event within the

festival is the One City, One Story competition where BBF selects one submitted short story to publish and distribute around the city for free. Last year the award was won by Emerson graduate student Ciera Burch for her story “Yvvone.”

This year’s winner is “The Book of Life and Death” by Brandeis University writer-in-residence Grace Talusan. The 23-page short story follows a domestic worker from the Philippines who sends her earnings back home to her family while keeping track of their lives through the photos they send her.

Piehl said when reading Talusan’s submission, it immediately stood out to her because of her lyrical writing style, but also because of the themes she felt were especially relevant in 2020 amid a global pandemic.

“There’s been so much overdue discussion about who we classify as essential workers and the kinds of work that people value, and how we reflect that in our society’s values,” Piehl said. “A lot of that really comes to the fore in [Talusan’s] story, in a way that feels even more powerful and urgent this year.”

Talusan said her experience moving to North Easton from the Philippines in the first grade gave her insight on what it feels like to be an outsider—something she incorporated into “The Book of Life and Death.”

“Because I had this feeling of being an outsider and always trying to figure out, like, what is the cultural norm, I think that sort of perspective is a good practice for a writer,” Talusan said.

“To be watching kind of from the outside, at least for me it was, like constantly studying people’s behavior and how they are in the world.”

The Book of Life and Death will also be the first story BBF publishes in Tagalog, the official language of the Philippines, Talusan said. “[BBF] were the ones who suggested it first, and I never would expect that they would do that, and so I was really excited about it,” Talusan said. “It was very easy for me to raise the funds, I just reached out to my network people, and they were super excited about the opportunity to have something translated in Tagalog. So I raised the money in a couple of hours.”

Talusan will further discuss the content of “The Book of Life and Death” at the One City One Story Crowdcast on Oct. 16 at 6 p.m. Those interested in reading the short story can pick up free copies of the book at all Boston Public Library locations and can also download a free copy online.

kathryn_redefer@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

Sports

Brendan Beauregard Beacon Correspondent

Freshman Zach Waterhouse finishes a reverse layup in the 2019 NEWMAC semifinals. Anissa Gardizy / Beacon Staff Beacon Staff

The status of the NEWMAC winter sports season remains in jeopardy as teams are set to begin practicing on Oct. 18, Athletic Director Pat Nicol said.

“Certainly, health and safety is paramount,” Nicol said. “We’ll look at the numbers, and we’ll follow institutional, state, and federal guidelines…and that’s why decisions have not been made yet, because things are still evolving and recommendations that are coming out are changing daily, almost.”

Nicol said that she is hoping for news about the direction of the winter season—which includes women’s and men’s basketball and men’s volleyball— sometime around the second week of November, and that the decision will fall on NEWMAC school presidents.

“It’s going to be an institutional decision, or like the fall, where the president’s made a collective decision that there will be no NEWMAC sports,” Nicol said. “But each school

will have their own autonomy.”

If winter sports do take place this year, Nicol said that newly released guidelines will mandate student-athletes to receive testing three times per week, beginning on the week before competition. Additionally, anyone in close contact with student-athletes, trainers, or coaches will also be subject to tri-weekly testing.

“They call it the bubble, or tier one, and what that means is that anybody that’s directly related or has any direct interaction or contact with the students, athletic trainers, coaches, they all have to be tested three times a week,” Nicol said.

So far this semester, the Brown and Plofker Gym has operated as a classroom for performing arts classes, while the only two teams practicing, women’s and men’s soccer, hold de-densified practices on Rotch Field. The basketball teams and men’s volleyball team will share gym space with the Performing Arts Department when practices begin later this month.

Since students are not allowed to house visitors, Emerson’s typical re-

8

Brady vs. Newton: Comparing Patriots QBs, old and new

Fate of winter sports still up in air, targeting November decision

Domenic Conte

October 1, 2020

Athletic Director Pat Nicol.

Rachel Culver / Beacon Staff cruiting strategy of attracting prospects for overnight visits is no longer feasible. Instead, Nicol said recruits are being met on Boylston Street and sometimes walked around through the Boston Common during visits. domenico_conte@emerson.edu

Some points in life are inevitable: the day we get our first job, the day we graduate from school, the day we finally roll the dice and actually try sushi for once. Inevitably, life will come knocking at our doors from time to time, especially when your longtime franchise quarterback decides it’s time to go and a new guy comes in.

For New England Patriots fans, it’s been an adjustment not having legend Tom Brady under center in a Patriots uniform. They don’t hear his pre-snap cadence of “Green nineteen!,” “White twenty!,” or even the occasional sprinkling of “Alpha go!” in Foxborough anymore. They also don’t see him meticulously read defenses and make the necessary audibles, even if the play is already in motion.

Brady, instead, took his talents and “Green nineteen!” to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this past offseason, and the Patriots now roll with a much different kind of quarterback in Cam Newton. Where Brady established his craft through precision throwing and knowing what cards the defense will play, Newton brings a more “White 80!” cadence and dual threat capability that New England hasn’t had in the quarterback position for the last 20 years.

Consider this stat from Newton’s first three games of the 2020 season: he already has 149 rushing yards for New England. With Brady, it took him a season and some change left over to get to 149 yards on the ground.

Yes, the Patriots have only played three games so far this season, and there’s plenty of football left to play.

But that is more than enough time to notice the differences between Captain Newton steering the Patriot ship instead of old Captain Brady.

With Newton, the New England offense has seen an influx of read-option plays and shotgun quarterback runs—more of what is seen in today’s game with mobile quarterbacks. Did you ever think the Patriots would run option plays, let alone with the real-life Flash in Brady—if the Flash was slower than that one person in the Max trying to decide between Kraft’s or Annie’s mac & cheese, of course.

Tom Brady’s quarterback play is like Bob Seger or James Taylor in concert; you know the performance,

and you know it’s going to be great and steady no matter how old they are. It worked in the past with the Patriots and it’s still working out well so far for Brady in Tampa.

Regarding Newton, he’s more like Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix; there’s a certain brashness and unpredictability in his play. You never know when Page and Hendrix will play a wicked-long solo or decide to light the guitar on fire, and you never know when Newton will decide to tuck the ball and run.

Brady is a six-time Super Bowl champion and three-time NFL MVP, who is up there in NFL career passing numbers. Newton is a former MVP who has been to the Super Bowl before and just recently moved up to second in most career rushing yards by a quarterback. Both quarterbacks are good at what they do on the football field.

There are plenty of Patriots fans out there who miss Brady—this writer knows plenty of them. The chances of double-checking Tom Terrific wearing Buccaneer red now instead of Patriot blue will always be high.

Change, especially after watching or doing something for a long time, can be quite the adjustment.

Change, however, can also be good when trying something new, like moving across the country, changing your career path, or deciding to go with a quarterback with a different skill set than the last guy.

No matter how weird it is not seeing Tom Brady in Foxborough anymore, the change is working so far with Cam Newton. And it looks like it’ll continue to work out just fine for the Patriots.

brendan_beauregard@emerson.edu

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Tuesday Sept. 22: A faculty member reported having their wallet stolen while at an off-campus coffee shop.

Wednesday Sept. 23: A Tatte bakery employee told officers that a suspicious person was attempting to shoplift and had been removed by Tatte staff.

Saturday Sept. 26: An officer returning to the station found several messages by the ECPD headquarters entrance written on cardboard, directed towards ECPD. Three students reported being trapped inside an elevator in the Little Building. ECPD and Facilities Management freed them without injury.

Friday Sept. 25: ECPD and Boston Fire responded to a fire alarm at the Tufte building. An investigation revealed that exhaust coming from a truck triggered a smoke detector.

Sunday September 27: A student reported to W hotel security that a person had followed them to their room. Security found the person and escorted them off the property.