Emerson College’s student newspaper since 1947 • berkeleybeacon.com
Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020 • Volume 74, Issue 7
‘ITG are the real heroes of our school right now’
@berkeleybeacon // @beaconupdate
How Emerson tech groups prepared professors for a hybrid semester Domenico Conte Beacon Staff
For journalism professor Diane Mermigas, teaching in a hybrid format through a pandemic meant that she first had to play the role of a student. Throughout the summer, she took six courses taught by Emerson’s Instructional Technology Group in hopes of mastering Zoom and sharpening her computer skills ahead of classes. A typical summer for the ITG, whose focus is teaching professors how to use technological resources, includes training around a dozen faculty members in services like Canvas, Zoom, and Panopto, Director Jennifer Stevens said. This summer, a whopping 302 faculty members decided to sign up for at least one course with ITG. “I think we owe it to the students,” Mermigas said in a Zoom interview. “Many of the faculty, like myself, feel that we owe it to the students, who have really put themselves into a whole new learning experience by bringing themselves back to campus or by deciding to learn completely remotely. We owe it to the students to do the best we can with remote [teaching] also because, in my mind, it’s not just a fallback plan for pandemic time that we’re in—it really is the future.” That group, along with the IT Help Desk, the Iwasaki Library, the Media Services Center, Media Technologies and Production, and IT as a whole worked through the summer to make teaching possible for professors and learning feasible for students. “ITG are the heroes of our school right now,” Russell Newman, a professor in the Marlboro Institute and the head of the full-time faculty union, said. “ITG put in heroic efforts in creating online classes that will serve as really good models for how to do asynchronous learning, with every effort put forward to try and demonstrate best practices.” Newman said he signed up for every course provided by ITG, which included “Remote Teaching Intensive,” “Getting your materials online,” “Zoom and Video Production,” and “Advanced Canvas.” ITG teamed up with different departments to teach these skills to professors synchronously, asynchronously, and in one-on-one meetings. “It was boot camp,” Mermigas said. “It was great. I found it very invigorating. It put us in the students’ shoes, and that was really wonderful. I was interfacing with professors from other parts of the college that I didn’t know. They were coming from completely different departments, and we were all learning together.” ITG hired five temporary workers at the beginning of the pandemic to assist with summer courses and faculty training. Creative Instructional Designer for ITG Christopher Connors said the faculty’s effort and the work they have put in for the sake of students motivated him and his department. “I loved the way they were so open to learning new things, and how nervous they were about making sure students got a good experience across the IT, Pg. 3
THIS YEAR, A HALLOWEEN WITHOUT TRICKS OR TREATS Lucia Thorne Beacon Staff
The pandemic is making it trickier to get treats. Every year, the night of Oct. 31 normally calls for costume contests, frat parties, and trick-or-treating. But with the COVID-19 pandemic raging on, the college social gatherings that typically define the spooky holiday cannot exist safely as they have in previous years. But that isn’t stopping Emerson students from finding new ways to celebrate Halloween. For first-year student Katherine Gustafson, the Halloween celebration
President M. Lee Pelton (top) Courtesy Emerson College // Megan Quirk puts a pumpkin basket outside her room. Diana Bravo / Beacon Staff
began at the right at the beginning of the month. Each day, Gustafson sets time aside to watch one Halloween film of her choosing, either with a friend or on her own. “I love Halloween movies,” Gustafson said in a phone interview. “It’s my favorite time of year, so I watched a ton of movies every year anyway. I thought that since there wasn’t really anywhere to go this year, I might as well watch one everyday of October
Men’s soccer team boasts award-winning team GPA
and make it a marathon.” Some movies on her list include Frankenweenie, Beetlejuice, Coraline, and Halloweentown. Gustafson is saving 1993 cult favorite Hocus Pocus, a tale centered around three coven witches, for the night of Halloween. Eventually, Gustafon and her friends will be visiting Salem while dressed as Harry Potter characters. First-year student Spencer DeLo Halloween, Pg. 6
INSIDE THIS EDITION
The team holds the 22nd highest academic average in the nation Domenico Conte Beacon Staff
The team has a 3.56 combined GPA over the last academic year. Beacon Archives
The United Soccer Coaches organization recognized the Emerson men’s soccer team with the Academic Award for its work in the classroom and its 3.56 cumulative team grade point average, the second highest in the conference. The men’s team trails only Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the NEWMAC for team GPA and is tied for the 22nd highest GPA out of the 942 teams that boasted a 3.0 GPA or higher. It is the team’s first time being honored with the award since 2016. “It’s not surprising because we want them to be excellent and compete in the classroom and on the field, and it’s something we try to instill in them,” head coach Bryan Harkin said in a phone interview. “And the
ultimate goal is whenever [players] leave this program, or every year, you want to try and be academic all conference.” Harkin said he wants players to aim for a GPA over 3.5 so they can receive the NEWMAC Academic All-Conference award. Seven players on the team earned Academic All-Conference honors for the 2019 season. “There’s no reason why you can’t be striving to get a 3.5 or above,” Harkin said. “Whenever we talk to student athletes and their parents, that’s a core value that we have. It’s not an expectation, but we want everyone to try and get to that.” Junior Rye Keeler, one of the seven players from last year to gain Soccer, Pg. 8
Symptom tracker, Pg. 2
Students struggle to adjust to monthly Saturday classes Pg. 3 Editorial: Emerson needs to raise accountability in testing Pg. 4 2020 is not 2016: how this election is different Pg. 5 Music festival brings activism and music together Pg. 7 PawSox President talks heading team in pandemic Pg. 8
News
The Berkeley Beacon
Directed study courses continuing amid fulltime faculty boycott Dana Gerber Beacon Staff
Enrollment in directed study courses remains steady this semester despite several faculty members’ ongoing boycott of the classes. There are still 61 undergraduate and six graduate directed study courses being taught this fall, compared to 62 in Fall 2019 and 57 in Fall 2018, according to data from the registrar’s office. This comes seven months after the full-time faculty union recommended term faculty—non-tenured full-time professors—abstain from teaching directed study after learning they would no longer receive additional compensation for that work. Directed study courses are classes that allow students to work with professors one-on-one to study a topic that isn’t available in traditional course offerings. “Directed studies are a lot of extra work,” Faculty Assembly Chair Heather May, a communications professor, said in a phone interview. “To suddenly find out I’m not being financially reimbursed for that time commitment—I could be spending that time working on my classes or grading papers.” Term faculty used to receive a $416 stipend for taking on a directed study course, but the college took away that extra pay when term faculty joined the same union as tenure and tenure-track professors in 2017. The full-time faculty union contract says tenure and tenure-track faculty are not paid for any credits they take on in addition to their normal workload. Affiliated faculty receive 10 percent of the salary they would make for a normal four-credit class to advise a directed study course. The contract does not explicitly mention term faculty. Union members have previously
said that it is up to the college’s discretion whether or not to pay term faculty for doing directed studies. The college argues that directed study courses are included in the “professional obligations” outlined in the union contract. “Teaching directed study, mentoring students, writing recommendations for students, and holding office hours are all considered components of a full-time faculty position,” Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michaele Whelan wrote in an emailed statement. “Full-time faculty are not paid by credit hours taught. The full-time union can raise any issues during contract negotiations.” Multiple faculty members told The Beacon the consistency in the number of directed study courses being taught this fall could be because those classes are instead being taught by affiliated professors (faculty members that teach at the college part time). This year’s directed study courses could also be led by tenure and tenure-track faculty, who never received payment for directed study courses, or term faculty who chose not to heed the union recommendation. John Gianvito, a visual and media arts term faculty member, said he hasn’t taught any directed study courses for a few years because of the lack of compensation. But he would consider taking them on again, Gianvito said, due to the circumstances of COVID-19. “I feel that it’s incumbent upon all of us to embrace the occasion and be willing to do whatever seems reasonable to ensure that Emerson students get the credits they need to get,” he said. “But I don’t feel like that should be mandated.” Gianvito, who suggested the college should consider retroactively paying faculty for directed study courses taught since 2017, said the
Emerson began linking its daily symptom tracker to student, faculty, and staff IDs Tuesday, meaning community members no longer have to display their tracker results to security guards upon entering campus buildings. The update, which began rolling
out to staff on Oct. 1 before eventually reaching faculty and student IDs, allows community members to continue submitting a daily symptom check through the Emerson mobile app as normal. If cleared to enter, simply tapping into the building, instead of displaying the green badge, indicates that they are symptom-free. The update was made “in an ongoing effort to ensure that all community members in Emerson buildings
Incident Journal
Tuesday, Sept. 29: A pedestrian notified an ECPD officer of a discarded syringe and needle on the sidewalk. The officer safely disposed of the hazardous material.
Courtesy Heather May courses are often as demanding as any other class. “They’re rigorous and labor-intensive and deserve remuneration from the institution,” he said. “If the college doesn’t believe that should be recognized as above and beyond what’s expected, I’m not sure—except for the COVID situation now—that we should be doing them.” Though the issue of directed study fell to the wayside over the last few months, May said it’s indicative of larger concerns faculty have with the college valuing their input. “I definitely think that got pushed to the backburner as we tried to figure out what was going to happen in the fall,” May said. “There’s lots of conversations going on about shared governance at Emerson and what that looks like. And workload and by extension, directed studies are a part of that conversation.” A Tiered Governance Working Committee in Faculty Assembly was
Students’ COVID-19 symptom tracker now connected to their phones. Lizzie Heintz / Beacon Staff Beacon Staff
2
Monday, Sept. 28: A student was caught using another student’s Emerson ID attempting to gain access to the Colonial Residence Hall. The matter was turned over to community standards for discipline. A student reported their cell phone stolen after accidentally leaving it on Boston Common.
created recently after faculty said they were mostly excluded from reopening planning talks over the summer. May said she hopes the committee will discuss workload and compensation, along with the issue of unpaid directed study. However, she expects the issue won’t be resolved until the union contract is renegotiated in June 2022. “One of the things that have come out of this summer is that the administration has realized just how dedicated faculty is and just how willing we are to do the work,” she said. “We just have to be involved in the process.” May added that she hopes faculty can resume paid directed studies since she believes the one-on-one connection is a special experience for students and professors alike. “That is a really sad loss,” she said. “Faculty would like to keep the opportunity to be able to do that.” dana_gerber@emerson.edu
First days of simplified symptom tracking process see delays at tap desks
Andrew Brinker
October 15, 2020
are symptom-free,” an email from the college on Oct. 8 said. A drawback of the new update, however, is that symptom tracker results do not enter Emerson’s system in real time. Some students have reported a buffer period of just under five minutes before their results entered the system. That means community members may be denied access to a building at first if they fill out the tracker on the walk to class or
at the entrance of a building. The update rolled out to all IDs on Oct. 12. The first few days of the new system saw lines of students piling up outside of tap desks, waiting for their tracker results to enter the system. “Well, it’s an inconvenience, but I understand it’s a necessity,” junior Cole Tatum, who was waiting in line in the lobby of the Paramount Theater Wednesday morning, said. “It’s part of the learning curve, I guess,” sophomore Tyler Campbell, who was also waiting in the Paramount Theater, said. “You have to do it a couple minutes before you get here.” Community members have been required since August to fill out the symptom tracker to indicate potential symptoms of COVID-19, like a runny nose or cough. If a community member reports even one symptom, they are denied access to college buildings until they receive clearance from the Center for Health and Wellness to enter. The symptom tracker, coupled with regular community testing, is an integral piece of administrators’ efforts to prevent outbreaks of the virus. College officials could not immediately be reached for comment. andrew_brinker@emerson.edu
Thursday, Oct. 1: An officer on patrol found two people trespassing in the rear of Piano Row who were identified and issued trespass warnings. A student reported their cell phone stolen from inside the Little Building. Boston Police requested video related to a hit and run incident at the corner of Boylston Street and Charles Street in which a pedestrian was seriously injured. Friday, Oct. 2: An officer discovered anti-police messaging inside the Bike Room. A person has been identified in relation to the incident and the matter has been given to Community Standards. OHRE staff, W-Hotel Security, and ECPD investigated a report of a marijuana smell emanating from a student room. OHRE staff turned over confiscated drug paraphernalia taken from a student’s suite inside Piano Row. Saturday, Oct. 3: ECPD investigated a report of students flying a drone on Boston Common. Monday, Oct. 5: An officer discovered a fraudulent ID in a student’s wallet while inventorying the lost and found. The issue was given to community standards for discipline. Tuesday, Oct. 6: A student reported a local business harassing them on social media. The business has been contacted and told to stop. A student reported being assaulted in the Boylston Place Alley. The student was not injured. Wednesday, Oct. 7 An officer discovered graffiti written in a handicap bathroom in the Paramount Center. Facilities Management was notified for removal. ECPD officers discovered a student with drugs and drug paraphernalia while investigating a report of smoke. The contraband was confiscated and the matter was given to community standards. Thursday, Oct. 8: A student reported that items were stolen from their bicycle while having it locked at the bike rack adjacent to the Ansin Building. Friday, Oct. 9: ECPD investigated a report of a person trapped inside an elevator inside the Ansin Building but were unable to find the person and the elevators seemed to be working normally. Facilities Management was notified. The Emerson College Police Department provides the Incident Journal to The Beacon every week. Beacon staff edit the Incident Journal for style and clarity, but not for content.
The Berkeley Beacon
October 15, 2020
3
Monthly Saturday classes creates roadblocks for students, professors Dana Gerber Beacon Staff
Every weekend, Tim Schwab, a junior, takes the commuter rail home to Shrewsbury, Massachusetts to work as a shift supervisor at Papa Gino’s pizzeria. Shrewsbury is about 40 miles from campus, a 70-minute train ride. His shifts vary, but he typically works six to seven hours on Thursday, 12 hours on Fridays, 10 hours on Saturday and about five hours on Sunday. So news that classes would be held on Saturdays once each month this semester came as a shock, Schwab said. “They just don’t work for me— they’re really inconsistent,” he said. “I’m kind of integral at my work. I work 12-hour shifts, which aren’t really feasible to cover on a short notice.” The adjusted schedule was developed under Emerson’s COVID-era hybrid learning model to ensure classes meet enough times to preserve the college’s accreditation with the New England Commission of Higher Education. Emerson’s Saturday classes may be an effort to make up for the shortened fall semester, which will be cut about a week shorter than usual. The proposed Spring 2021 calendar has no scheduled Saturday classes. Other accredited local colleges like Boston University and Northeastern University are not holding Saturday classes this semester. Suffolk University has scheduled two optional Saturday make-up days. But an extra day of classes has come with unforeseen consequences. Schwab, a visual and media arts major, said his professors have been understanding of students’ circumstances, either assigning asynchronous work or canceling the Saturday class altogether after a class survey. He said working on the weekends is essential for him to continue paying for school. “Emerson is not the cheapest
A visual and media arts class in the back of Colonial Theatre. Zhihau Wu / Beacon Staff school,” Schwab, who is saving money to eventually pay off his student loans, said. “I pay to go there Monday through Thursday, and I need these other days to help continue going there Monday through Thursday.” Some professors, who may need to coordinate their schedules around other work or children, have also struggled to adapt to the added class days. Those faculty have already had their existing schedules disrupted by the pandemic. Mneesha Gellman, a professor in the Marlboro Institute, had to make her Saturday classes asynchronous because of her obligations at home over the weekends. “I have a five and nine-year-old who are in Boston Public School’s online learning program, and have already been struggling to become
‘The fact that I potentially would lose an entire six-hour shift—that’s horrifying to me’ Brianna Maloney
their elementary school teacher during the week, while also doing my job as a professor,” she wrote in an email to The Beacon. “Since all my other remote teaching is synchronous, it felt like a fair choice to have one session where it wasn’t.” While some, like Gellman, have elected to hold Saturday meetings asynchronously, others are still holding in-person or online classes. Academic Affairs has also encouraged professors to find alternative ways to meet with students who can’t make scheduled classes, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michaele Whelan said in an email to The Beacon. A number of professors have chosen to hold short one-on-one meetings with students for the scheduled Saturday classes rather than a typical class session.
Betsy Schneider, a VMA professor, opted for this route after scheduling a field trip to the Arnold Arboretum for the first Saturday class session, which only two students were able to attend. “I just thought [the individual meetings were] more valuable, and they could fit it into their schedule better,” Schneider said. Schneider said communication and flexibility are paramount during this stressful period. “It helps the students if the faculty is like, ‘We can work with you,’” she said. As students are not used to Saturday classes, some have struggled to remember when they are scheduled. Brianna Maloney, a junior who is a part-time manager at an American Eagle Outfitters in Cambridge and typically works every Saturday, said the college should be making an effort to explicitly remind students when the additional classes are scheduled. “They should send out some sort of update, in my opinion, to be like, don’t forget this month, or next week, there’s a Saturday class,” she said. “I do think that it is negligent.” She said she hasn’t had to move a shift yet because her Saturday classes have been asynchronous assignments, but she recounted the “mad scramble” of texting her manager to warn her she may not be able to work. While she said her professors have been sympathetic to students’ weekend obligations, such as jobs, on-set time, or interviews, she said her professors often don’t acknowledge the Saturday classes in advance. This has left her emailing them to find out the plan for class and hoping they respond quickly. “The fact that I potentially would lose an entire six-hour shift—that’s horrifying to me,” Maloney, who is saving to have her laptop repaired, said. “It’s very playing it fast and loose, and there are students who just cannot afford to do that.” Deputy Express Editor Charlie McKenna did not edit this article due to a conflict of interest. dana_gerber@emerson.edu
Professors schooled by college IT groups on Zoom, Canvas Cont. from Pg. 1 board,” Connors said. “It was really uplifting for me, and it kept me going over that very busy summer, seeing so many faculty outside their comfort zone but still really pushing themselves because they wanted to have a good course.” Writing, Literature, and Publishing professor Alden Jones, who teaches Literature of Photography and Art of Nonfiction, said technological support staff were highly receptive and accommodating to individual teachers’ needs. “They were absolutely amazing,” Jones said. “They were so available—anytime you need troubleshooting or Canvas help or anything like that, they were there.” The IT Help Desk, which handles community members’ everyday technological issues, received up to six times its normal number of service requests—or tickets—in March. Since then, students and faculty have continued submitting at least three times the usual amount of requests,
Stevens said. Whereas ITG and the Help Desk focus on helping teachers and students face new obstacles that stem from the hybrid format, the Iwasaki Library works to ensure community members can access physical course materials, as well as information that may be harder to come by in the pandemic. “What’s amazed me about our faculty is they’ve had to change every step they take in thinking about how they’re designing and delivering their material,” Cheryl McGrath, executive director of library and learning at the Iwasaki Library, said. The library received around double the content requests from professors as usual, McGrath said. She said materials of the past like textbooks, readings, and DVDs may not be available digitally in the midst of a pandemic. And although members of library staff have worked to track vendors and sought permission to digitize content, sometimes they are
The IT help desk in the fourth floor of Walker Building. Lizzie Heintz / Beacon Correspondent unable to fulfill professors’ content requests and have to seek alternative methods of teaching. “We had to create some ‘bad news emails’ for faculty that says we can’t get you this material, and then we try and always offer other options,” McGrath said. “And that’s where it becomes the intellectual conversation with a faculty member of ‘Okay, you know what is the learning goal you’re trying to achieve, is there any other content you can use that we already have? Is there something else that’s available electronically you could swap out?’” Outside of ITG and the library, IT and the Media Services Center helped to provide classrooms with necessary resources like webcams for students
joining remotely and microphones to combat the difficulty in communicating across the classroom, Associate Vice President of IT Brian Basgen said. McGrath said faculty were respectful and understanding of roadblocks the library and other departments may have stumbled upon. In return, she said she admires the collective drive of professors to provide as much semblance to past semesters as possible. “What I heard from my staff is that faculty went above and beyond to take ownership of everything they needed to learn,” McGrath said. “They understood how much work it was for the offices that were involved with them, and they were so appreciative of any-
thing we could do for them.” Stevens noted how, at least for tenure-track faculty, the summertime is usually reserved for individual pursuits rather than college work. She said she was pleasantly surprised by how faculty altered their summers in order to provide education through an unfamiliar format. “It sounds super hokey, and kind of embarrassing, but they really love you [students],” Stevens said. “They wouldn’t do this if it wasn’t for love, they wouldn’t just be like ‘Yeah, whatever, I’m just going to grab a paycheck’. All the extra stuff is because they care so deeply about their students.” domenico_conte@emerson.edu
The Berkeley Beacon
October 15, 2020
4
Opinion
The Little Building residence hall at night. Alec Klusza / Beacon Correspondent
When it comes to COVID testing, where’s the accountability? Editorial Since the start of the fall semester, Emerson has taken considerable action to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and prevent outbreaks on campus. Unlike other universities that have reported more than 1,000 student cases, like Pennsylvania State and Arizona State University, Emerson administration has handled pandemic-era safety protocols reasonably. They’ve required masks and social distancing. They’ve limited capacity in spaces usually free for public congregation, like the library and the Max. They’ve minimized the amount of people in classroom buildings by adopting a once-strange hybrid learning format. Most notably, they’ve required weekly testing for every student—on or off campus—to quickly identify and quarantine those with the virus. Their efforts, though far from perfect, are commendable. But the reality is that every college, including Emerson, is just one mistake away from the formation of a case cluster. And the testing procedure here has fallen short. We recognize and appreciate the process the college put into place. Tufts Medical Center, where students are tested, is easily accessible at a mere four blocks from campus. Most students have reported short lines and minimal wait times at the facility. The self-swab procedure is largely easy and efficient. Three small circles with a cotton swab in each nostril, and then
you’re done. A large majority of students are getting tested semi-regularly, and that’s because Emerson made it easy to do so. These actionable testing steps are at least part of the reason that the college’s COVID-19 dashboard has reported 21 total positive test results since classes began in August. Despite several mathematical gaffes in the dashboard, as noted by The Beacon in a story last week, the dashboard numbers make it seem like there is a glimmer of hope we will eventually return to a normal, pandemic-free world. Still, we have watched gaps in the testing procedure grow and evolve over the last month. Multiple Beacon reporters have spoken with students who say they have not scheduled their weekly tests in the Emerson app at least once, even though the action is supposedly required. The part of the app that let students schedule tests has also presented issues. It often glitches on iOS systems (iPhones and iPads), according to one community-wide email sent by the college on Oct. 8. Another email sent on Oct. 14 said the issue has since been resolved. Several members of The Editorial Board have also not received reminders to schedule testing for more than three weeks in a row. One Beacon reporter did not receive a notification about missing a test until 16 days after their last test—over a week later than when the college should have reached
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‘If Emerson isn’t sending out automated reminders for students who forgot to schedule a visit, can those students really be held responsible for missing a week of testing?’
out. (All members of The Editorial Board are up to date with testing requirements in adherence with college guidelines.) Since the scheduling procedure is not mandated, students can visit Tufts Medical Center at any time. That means the COVID-19 testing system is only more accommodating of people’s demanding schedules. But then where is the accountability? How is the college keeping track of who is getting tested? And when? If Emerson isn’t sending out automated reminders to students who forgot to schedule a visit, can those students really be held responsible for missing a week of testing? The college sent one mass email on Sept. 30 reminding students who had not been tested in the past seven days to do so immediately. “According to our most recent records, you are not in compliance with Emerson COVID weekly testing requirement,” the email read. “Your lack of compliance has put the health and safety of our community at risk and must be immediately addressed.” The reminder worked. On that day, over 800 students were tested, at least 100 more than any other day that week. The influx of students to the testing center begs the question of whether or not the college was even enforcing mandatory testing before Sept. 30. Single day testing numbers hovered significantly lower throughout the week prior. If we, as students, can clearly see the shortcomings in the testing system and the dashboard, why can’t the college? If they can, why haven’t ad-
Editor-in-Chief Diti Kohli
Advisor Rachel Layne
Managing Editors Domenico Conte (Content) Tomás González (Visual) Dylan Rossiter (Operations)
Section Editors Andrew Brinker (News) Taina Millsap (Living Arts) Jocelyn Yang (Opinion) Christopher Williams (Sports) Lizzie Heintz (Photo)
ministrators fixed them yet? Is this not urgent? Because when it comes to a virus that spreads rapidly from person to person, often silently and asymptomatically, time is precious. Testing is an integral part of the reopening process. It is, without exaggeration, the most vital precaution against a pandemic that is still torpedoing through the population within and beyond Massachusetts. Cases in the Commonwealth have quickly shot up again this month, surpassing 500, 600, or 700 in a day. Upwards of 12 people have died everyday from complications from the illness, and vaccines are far from being perfected and distributed widely. Those weekly cotton swabs are all we have for the moment. The least Emerson can do is make absolutely sure each and every person stepping foot on campus is being properly and consistently tested. That includes all members of faculty and staff who enter meeting spaces, teach classes, serve students food, clean buildings, or tap into buildings for any reason. Test everyone. Test as often as possible. Call us out when we don’t get tested. Otherwise, the college, and the community, doesn’t stand a chance.
This editorial was written by the Beacon’s editor-in-chief, managing editors, and opinion editors. The opinions expressed by the Editorial Board do not impact the paper’s coverage.
Letters to the Editor: 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. Please note that letters may be edited. Submissions
The Berkeley Beacon
October 15, 2020
5
The 2020 election is not like 2016 Shannon Garrido
Beacon Correspondent Donald Trump supporters and Democrats have one similar perception of this year’s election: that it will follow in the steps of 2016. Though it appears America is heavily divided on almost every important issue on the ballot, there is similar anxiety that the polls won’t predict the real winner of this year’s election. Trump’s surprising win of the electoral college four years ago makes his low polling this year seem like a glitch in the system. Many Republicans have taken the 2016 election as a motivator for trump supporters losing their enthusiasm. Ronna McDaniel, the Republican National Committee chairwoman, even championed Trump to dismiss his current weakness in the polls. “The polling today is not going to be what we see on Nov. 3,” she said. “And you know who knows that better than anybody? Hillary Clinton.” But there are too many factors at play in this year’s election. And searching for a resemblance between 2016 polls and the current moment isn’t an effective way to determine who is ahead in this race. After the public outrage from the first presidential debate, we need to compare how they are different and why that matters. For starters, Biden is not nearly as disliked as Clinton. In July 2016, Clinton polled 43 percent “very negative,” according to a NBC News/ Wall Street Journal poll. In July 2020, Biden polled 33 percent in the same poll. This 10 point difference shows less vitriol toward Biden which means that potential Trump voters will be less adverse to cast a vote for Biden. On that note, Trump is not as liked as he was in 2016. According to the Pew Research Center, 56 percent of registered voters who support Biden say that their main reason for supporting him is that he is not Trump. Just 19 percent of Trump supporters cite opposition to Biden as a cen-
A February 2020 rally where Boston residents protested against the outcome of Donald Trump’s impeachment. Beacon Archives tral motivation for their vote. In 2016, nearly identical proportions of Trump supporters (33 percent) and Clinton supporters (32 percent) said that a main factor in their vote was an opposition to the other candidate. Opposition to the other candidate was the main factor in their likely vote choice. Similar to 2016, neither candidate is gaining popularity points. But why does this level of dislike matter? According to The New York Times, people who saw both candidates unfavorable in 2016 broke in favor of Trump. This year, Biden holds an advantage among ambivalent voters. In a Monmouth University poll released in June, roughly one-fifth of voters who did not express a positive
view of either candidate broke hard for Biden: 59 percent, compared to 18 percent for Trump. Trump’s narrative has also changed since he ran four years ago. According to the Cambridge Review of International Affairs, the success of the Trump campaign stemmed from its effective use of an emotionally charged, anti-establishment crisis narrative, which is the kind of speech that rejects an elite that controls an organization. Trump simultaneously exonerates us from any responsibility for the state of the country by persistently criticizing the failures of American elites and portraying them as stupid. To distance himself from those failures, Trump pointed out that, while he once “used to be establish-
ment…when I decided to run, I became very anti-establishment.” Trump’s conservative critics are trying to make the case that the president has become the establishment he keeps campaigning against. According to the Washington Post, 27 members of Trump’s team have combined assets exceeding $2.3 billion. In addition, news of his long history in tax avoidance and business failures, the vote reliant on turning this establishment using his “business” mindset is crippling. Another key difference between the 2016 and 2020 election is that Trump won about 70 percent of the electoral votes in battleground states, and he was consistently successful in those polls. Now, a month before the election, polls in these
states are in favor of Joe Biden. Of course, none of this means Trump is on his way to a loss. Even in the face of the coronavirus, Trump polled better on economic issues than on most issues only months into his presidency. Still, 2020 is not 2016. The standards for this election are nowhere near the same as they were four years ago. Social justice marches happening all over the country, 2018 saw the biggest voter turnout in a century, and the impact of this virus has pushed the public towards a new kind of leadership. While there is no way of knowing what will happen until a new president is elected, we cannot ignore this reality. shannon_garrido@emerson.edu
Secure the remote control, not your luggage
Welcome to the ‘new’ way to travel during the pandemic
Courtesy Carlota Cano
Carlota Cano
Beacon Correspondent Although my luggage now collects dust and remains hidden in the depths of my closet, I often think back to the days when I traveled around Spain with my family. My parents are originally from Spain, but I was born in Miami. Once a year during the summertime, my parents, younger sister, and I fly to Europe to see the rest of my family and friends and reconnect to our roots. I had my ticket to Madrid booked since December of last year. Unfortunately, I had to cancel my beloved summer plans because of the pandemic. When we travel to Spain, my family and I often enjoy a variety of Mediterranean dishes and tapas. Simply picturing the plates of jamón, croquetas, and gazpacho brings back happy memories of the country and the warm weather. I look forward to exploring cities with architectural styles different from the U.S. For me, traveling offers a time to disconnect from my hectic daily routine and allows my mind to focus on the beauty surrounding me. According to Forbes, going on vacation can help boost your mood and overall satisfaction. Renowned chef and travel documentarian, Anthony Bourdain, even said: “Travel changes you. As you move through
this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind however small. And in return, life—and travel—leave marks on you.” If you are not convinced traveling makes life better, listen to the wise words of Bourdain. This year, however, the summer was different for most of us. In my case, there were no tapas nor jamón. Instead, there were multiple bags of popcorn, accompanied by a variety of Netflix shows about travel. I figured that if I could not travel physically, I could travel vicariously by watching entertaining shows from the comfort of my own couch. Some of my personal favorites include Chef ’s Table, Taco Chronicles, and The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes. These shows highlight a mix of culinary and architectural features from countries like India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, and New Zealand. Chef ’s Table consists of six seasons of innovative culinary dishes from the most talented chefs in the world. Their work not only makes my stomach rumble, but is presented in such a way that looks too pretty to eat. The widely popular show, Taco Chronicles, provides an inside look at the history behind Mexico’s most popular tacos. My favorite episodes so far are about cochinita and pastor tacos. Cochinita tacos are made from pork shoulder marinated in a citrus sauce with achiote; pastor tacos are made from roasted
pork and are marinated with achiote and guajillo chiles as well. One of my favorite Netflix shows ever, The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes, takes you through some of the world’s most luxurious and private homes across the world. Some houses are designed specifically to resist extreme weather conditions, like the earthquakes in New Zealand, high temperatures in Israel, and monsoon season in India. Honestly, the entire time I spent watching this whole show, I thought to myself, “Why was I not cast to travel and spend the day visiting these incredible homes?” These intrepid shows exposed me to cultures and ideas I wouldn’t otherwise have known about. Although I miss the excitement that comes with planning a trip and packing for a new adventure, I know there will be a time when it will be safer to do so. Until then, I am mentally preparing my future travel plans now that I have so many new places I would like to visit. I am keeping my remote control close and am open to new suggestions, so I can keep adding to my travel list. Physical travel may have been put on pause for now, but my mind still wanders freely as I deliberate where my next adventure abroad will take me.
carlota_cano@emerson.edu
The Berkeley Beacon
October 15, 2020
6
Living Arts ArtsEmerson, WERS receives grant money from city COVID fund
ArtsEmerson operates out of multiple venues, including the Paramount Theatre. Jakob Menendez / Beacon Staff
Joshua Sokol
Beacon Correspondent Two Emerson-affiliated organizations, ArtsEmerson and WERS 88.9, received grant funding from Boston’s $1 million Arts and Culture COVID-19 Fund this summer to maintain operations during the coronavirus pandemic. The amount of money each organization receives—somewhere between $3,000 and $10,000—is determined by the size of the individual cultural nonprofits, according to the City of Boston’s website. In order to receive the fund, each nonprofit had to fill out a simple application form, Sharon Worthington, ArtsEmerson senior development officer said.
The state safety guidelines require large capacity venues, like the theatres that house ArtsEmerson shows, to remain closed until Phase 4 of the reopening plan. Massachusetts will stay in Phase 3 until a treatment or vaccine for the pandemic is developed. “We know that many artists and arts and culture organizations had to suddenly cancel their programs and performances as a result of COVID-19,” Mayor Marty Walsh said in a statement. “It’s important that we provide them with the support they need to adapt and continue to share their work with the public, until we can safely gather in person again.” ArtsEmerson received $10,000 from the fund, Worthington said. The money will allow the contemporary world theater company to produce entertain-
ment in the wake of many cultural closures and shifts. “There’s obviously restrictions when it comes to gathering in person at our theatre spaces,” Worthington said. “However we made a quick plan shift knowing that this wasn’t going to end any time soon. We made a plan to make sure that we could still serve our community, our artists, [and] Emerson College.” Since COVID-19 reshaped the performance industry, the type of work that ArtsEmerson has done since March has been adapted to an online platform. This includes live streaming performances, like The Boston Latino International Film Festival, live Q&A’s, and artists’ residencies. ArtsEmerson recently announced the “Together Apart” series, which is exclusively digital and available to the public. This initiative includes a series of town halls, most recently discussing the Departure of former ArtsEmerson artistic director David Dower, which will give the audience an in-depth view of artists’ conversations and archival footage of their work. Worthington said ArtsEmerson also secured two years of funding from additional donors for their artist-in-residency program, which gives hired theatre professionals access to resources like staff, equipment, and various theatre spaces. WERS, Emerson College’s student-run radio station, also received money from the fund. The organization did not respond to requests for comment. joshua_sokol@emerson.edu
COVID-19 forces students to reimagine Halloween plans Cont. from page 1
renzo will also be in costume this Halloween. He said he plans on interviewing Little Building elevator riders while dressed as a car salesman/gameshow host. “I’m going to dress up as a 70s car salesman, and I’m gonna try to sell some cars,” DeLorenzo said in an in-person interview. “I thought it would be really funny if I dressed up because this outfit also doubles as a game show host. So if I could find an old-looking microphone, I think I’ll get that, and I will interview people in the elevators.” The idea sprouted from a previous day of elevator interviewing. DeLorenzo and a friend of his were bored one day in late September and decided to ride the elevators for fun. It soon turned into the pair interviewing the riders by asking them questions like, “What should we get for dinner?” or “How are you doing today?” and “What’s your favorite color?,” DeLorenzo said. He said this may be an all-day event. He may also go trick-or-treating with his friends, even though he says he isn’t sure how, since this is his first time living in Boston. The city has not yet released formal Halloween guidelines for trickor-treating. But the current step of the Massachusetts reopening plan, Phase 3, prohibits large indoor gatherings. As always, residents are required to wear masks and socially distance every night.
Junior Claire Rodenbush is taking a remote approach to celebrating the holiday. They and their friend group are going to play their weekly game of Dungeons and Dragons, but with a twist. “The current campaign we’re running, we each have two characters,” Rodenbush said in a phone interview. “There’s an A team and a B team. The A team are heroes and the B team are villains. For Halloween, we’re being the villains. “It just fits thematically to do the evil, bad ones on Halloween, especially because [our characters] are in a spooky cult,” Rodenbush said. Their cult member is a flirtatious and mischievous shapeshifter. Rodenbush said they plan on dressing up for fun. But since they are playing remotely, they cannot wear costumes and play together in person. “We do it over Discord, so we’re obviously not in person because of everything,” Rodenbush said. “At the very least, I will [dress up] for myself for fun. It’s also nice to have something scheduled that feels normal.” Junior Cassandra Maxim shared the same sentiment as Rodenbush when it came to making safe plans as the Sisterhood Trust and Love Chair for Sigma Pi Theta. Maxim says the sorority will be doing a virtual costume contest and Halloween hangout with trivia and movies. “I was thinking, ‘How can I make
Courtesy Katherine Gustafson
the spirit of Halloween transfer over to a virtual setting?’,” Maxim said in a phone interview. “It’s just a fun way to stay connected during Halloween and keep some of the spooky season spirit alive.” lucia_thorne@emerson.edu
How does one find normalcy in an abnormal world? Taina Millsap Beacon Staff As a Latina woman, I’ve always been surrounded by happiness and the mindset that everything is fine. Even my grandma, who fought depression all her life, always put up a positive front. My mom—a single mother—never showed signs of weakness. I have seen her cry maybe four times in my life. How I deal with my own emotions is in no way their fault. My family and my female role models always encouraged me to share my emotions. Especially with a therapist for a mother, I never felt judged. But I did always judge myself. Being open with my emotions has always been hard for me, and maybe one day I’ll go to therapy and figure out why that is. I probably should. A lot of my friends around me seem in-tune with their emotions and are non-apologetic. And yet I cry in silence, away from everyone. All the times I’ve cried in front of someone, I felt ashamed. I have never allowed myself to feel sad or angry for too long. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, members of Latinx and Hispanic communities have a hard time sharing their emotions. Only around 20 percent of Latinx people actually seek help from others when experiencing symptoms of a psychological disorder, and only 10 percent see doctors. Entering quarantine, moving away from most of my friends, and being isolated in California with my mom brought up such intense feelings for me. I’ve always been very stoic. Coming to the U.S. at only 13 years old, I had an easy time adapting—too easy. After moving to college, I rarely found myself missing my home for more than an hour. That is not because I don’t deeply love my family and friends I left behind. It’s just how I feel. But this summer hit me differently than any of my previous moves. I lost my independence, a chunk of my in-person learning time, an internship, and an Emerson program where I would be able to live in Los Angeles for free during the summer while learning from my internship. Despite all of my valid reasons for being upset, I knew that many people out there had it much worse than me. I often thought of those directly affected by COVID-19 within their families. I couldn’t understand why I was being such a baby. I was living with a mother I love and have a great relationship with, and I love the few friends I have left from high school. But something was missing. On Aug. 4, I made the decision to take this fall semester online. I’ve lost track of how many days since then I spent feeling bad for myself and thinking I wasn’t allowed to feel deeply upset about my new life. I say “deeply upset” because I have never been diagnosed with depression and have never felt the true effects of the illness, so I don’t want to speak for those who suffer from diagnosed mental illness. Even now, living with my best friend in Hawaii, I still miss Boston. The snow, the late production nights at The Beacon. I miss work. I miss the darkroom, where I learned how to develop film. I miss the grilled cheese from the Max, I miss my old suite-mates, I miss wearing Docs. I miss red velvet hot chocolate from J.P. Licks. I miss the Common. I miss the T—and I miss, more than anything, a sense of normalcy. According to a Psychology Today article titled “Feeling guilty about feeling bad” by Dr. Stephanie A. Sarkis, the feeling of not having “a right to complain” is one of the many reasons people don’t look for mental health support in others. “You have a right to feel what you feel, regardless of what others say or how you view your challenges in light of others’ suffering,” Sarkis wrote. “Everyone has challenges; just different ones. Your challenges are a challenge to you, and that makes them valid. Period.” We all need to look in the mirror and give ourselves a break. Honestly, life is hard, especially during a pandemic, and I am still learning about myself and the world. It’s going to take time for me to be fully comfortable and okay with being sad or upset. And it’s going to take a long time for the world to go back to what it was while recovering from the first global pandemic in a century. But I know one thing. Next time I feel sad and miss my “normal” life, I am going to let myself just feel. I am going to look at old photos and videos. I am going to reminisce with my best friend. I am going to take a walk and listen to my Emerson playlist. I am going to let myself just be, instead of shoving it down and feeling bad for it. taina_millsap@emerson.edu
The Berkeley Beacon
October 15, 2020
7
Annual HONK! music & activism festival lights up virtual stage Joshua Sokol
Beacon Correspondent The Somerville-based HONK! Festival of Activist Street Bands looked quite unusual this year due to the impact of COVID-19. But the 2020 fest at the intersection of social activism and thrilling performance made its mark as the largest HONK! lineup yet. From Oct. 5 to Oct. 11, 76 street bands took to the virtual space to invigorate audiences with free, live music with a mission of inspiring community engagement and maintaining accessibility to festival-goers. Since its local inception in 2006, the HONK! Festival has grown international roots with artists all over the world, including Antarctica. Cecily Miller, a member of the Somerville HONK! Festival committee said that they invited the 22 other HONK! Festivals all over the world in order to make this year’s event unique, and to focus on what they could gain as opposed to what they have lost. The wave of submissions shocked the organizers, Ken Field, a member of the Somerville-based HONK! Committee, said. “Originally we thought we’d get about 12 hours of material,” he said. “But we’ve ended up with something like 70 hours.” Hosted on HONK!’s YouTube channel, the seven-day festival kicked off on Oct. 5 with a live stream event consisting of panels, animations, and an archived recording of last year’s HONK! Festival in São Paulo. “Even though we can’t all gather in one place this year, we can make a statement at the same time,” reads the
Performers at the annual Honk! Festival raise their hands together in celebration. Courtesy Jesse Edsel-Vetter
HONK!United website. An attendee, adorned in a colorful tophat, spoke to a crowd on-camera in Portuguese, transcribed into English subtitles. “We have come a long way, with an open soul and a singing heart,” they said while an ensemble of brass musicians played behind them. People on the streets of the Brazilian city all came to a common consensus behind the meaning of HONK!: a power to democratize music and utilize the importance of public space. After the cancellations of most in-person festivals, the Somerville HONK! Festival committee had to come together to start considering options that accommodated COVID-19 safety restrictions on large, outdoor gatherings.
“I was invited to the very first HONK! Festival back in 2006,” Field said. “Come February or March [2020], we were still thinking that we could have a festival this year, maybe it could be small and distributed.” Cecily Miller put out the idea of a digital festival when the certainty of live options were still up in the air, said Field. The methodology behind the concept was a way to ensure that the festival could happen no matter what. When confronted with the reality of not being able to have an in-person festival, the HONK! Committee initially felt the desire to resist that possibility. But after attending a virtual conference herself, Miller began to embrace the idea of a digital reimag-
ination. “I learned so much, and I never would have gone if it hadn’t been online,” Miller said. “Many people commented on the fact that the attendance was double or triple what it had been the previous year. It became much more accessible and much more interesting.” While the effort was not without its challenges, Field said that the opportunity for international bands to work digitally was actually a benefit—and the bands did not have to tussle with the added expense of travel and accommodation. One of these issues, Miller said, was the ability to have full participation from the other U.S.-based HONK! Festivals. “There are parts of
our country that are under a lot more economic and health-related stress. It’s a difficult time in terms of people’s morale and productivity.” She said. The virtual platform offered an opportunity to inform the audience about the activism that goes on behind the scenes of HONK!. This activism includes demonstrations by the HONK! community at ICE detention centers, protests to raise the minimum wage in Boston, and strengthening relationships with local unions. Miller said she believes this type of engaged activism is necessary, but also should be seen as a privilege worth fighting for. “I think [periods of sustained activism] is something that comes and goes, like a pendulum,” she said. “There are times that are more complacent, and there are times that are filled with more protest and contention.” HONK! is utilized as a platform to challenge the efforts of private corporations and authoritarian governments to gatekeep and privatize public space, Miller said. She continued, saying that this leads into a greater conversation about limitation of access to free expression as well as gentrification. The force of the music, combined with the spirit of activism, emphasizes the people’s desire to gather and celebrate life, as well as create a larger voice against systemic injustice. “There’s been a very healthy and reinvigorated movement to animate public spaces.” Miller said. “But we need to be very aware that it’s a privilege, and it’s a privilege that we need to keep fighting for.” joshua_sokol@emerson.edu
Art gone virtual: Emerson contemporary debuts new blog, fall exhibit amid pandemic Karissa Schaefer
Beacon Correspondent Six months after the pandemic shuttered its operations, Emerson Contemporary, the college’s visual arts platform, is back with a new blog and in-person exhibit. Emerson Contemporary’s fall theme is art and activism. The program’s daily online publication aims to feature interviews of artists talking about their showcases. The blog also hosts webinar events on its website (www.emersoncontemporary.org) that are free to the public. Leonie Bradbury, chair of contemporary art and distinguished curator-in-residence at Emerson, created Emerson Contemporary a little over a year ago as a platform for visual arts. As part of her Curating Contemporary Art class, student curators organized the “What’s Next: Art for Tomorrow” fall showcase. Students came from Emerson and other Boston schools, like Tufts. “I wanted to establish a new identity for the gallery,” Bradbury said. “I wanted to create an umbrella term that would provide a single brand identity for those different contemporary art activities that we were responsible for.” Bina Perino, the marketing coordinator for Emerson Contemporary, explained how the goal of “What’s Next: Art for Tomorrow” was to accumulate different Boston artists and get a variety of expressions. “Specifically emerging artists, so artists who don’t have a ton of experience in galleries or are usually still in school, typically,” Perino said. “They’re still getting their degrees, and within their degrees, they need experience showing either for their thesis or their resume. It’s a way for
Emerson to help the art community in Boston.” The blog posts a new Q&A approximately every other week, with four more coming this semester. On Oct. 14, they hosted a panel discussing the removal of public monuments. On Oct. 28, there will be a discussion with New Jersey-based artist Nyugen Smith on art and healing, a series that will include two discussions this semester, followed by two more in the spring. Bradbury said after the temporary closure of the Media Art Gallery earlier this year, she had to reevaluate what options she had to continue showcasing art. “We had to really stop everything we were doing,” Bradbury said. “It took us a little bit to figure out how we could still showcase art and continue supporting the artists in our community.” Emerson Contemporary has two venues: the Media Art Gallery at 25 Avery St., next to the Equipment Distribution Center, and the Huret & Spector Gallery, which lies on the seventh floor of the Tufte building. In addition, Emerson Contemporary is responsible for art initiatives on campus, like murals, as well as off-campus art events. One of the first projects Emerson Contemporary devoted their time to during the start of the pandemic was the OneEmerson projection created for commencement last spring. “I worked really hard commissioning and securing artwork for the outdoor projection on the Little Building,” Bradbury said. Emerson Contemporary also participated in an international light festival where they lit windows. Landmarks and hotels across the world participated by illuminating windows to show support for the ef-
fort of essential workers during the pandemic. “We projected Emerson faculty, student, and alumni art on the windows to honor the essential workers and also the artists, showing a commitment to continuing to show artwork and creating opportunities for artists to remain visible in a time where everything has shut down,” Bradbury said. The Contemporary typically has one exhibit per semester, but the pandemic derailed their plans. Perino said “Art for Tomorrow” is a slightly lesser version of what was intended for the spring. “This is an unusual semester because they’re doing two exhibits in one,” Perino said. “In the spring they were supposed to do ‘What’s Next: Art for Tomorrow’ that is currently up. But because of the lockdown in March, they started to install stuff and it fell through. From what it was supposed to be in the spring, it’s a lot smaller because of how COVID impacted installation.” At this point, there are nine artists on display. One of the artists originally supposed to be featured last semester is Georden West ‘18, a MFA graduate student from Emerson who now teaches cinematography. Their thesis and Student Academy Award-winning experimental film “Patron Saint” is currently on display in the Media Art gallery. West’s feature with Emerson Contemporary launched on Oct. 12 and can be found on the Contemporary’s blog. “They did a digital show to meet the demands of COVID-19 with the campus being shut down,” West said. “They curated it online and now they moved it into its public space this fall, so the timeline’s been
The Media Art Gallery opened an exhibition for the first time since Covid-19 forced the school’s closure in March. Lizzie Heintz / Beacon Staff
extended. I think they did a lovely job of meeting a crisis in the spring and adapting around it.” West praised the Emerson Contemporary students’ and Bradbury’s hard work utilizing the digital media tools and adapting to changing times. “For a film that now exists in public space, there’s a weird dynamic at play because I think in a lot of ways, we’re instructed that success looks like a multitude of people gathered around the screen viewing your work and really, that sort of gathering isn’t an option at this point,” West said.
“The media’s become largely more individualized in its viewing experience.” West described their film as having a life of its own. Not only is their art displayed for Emerson Contemporary, but it is also being shown at their undergraduate school. “It’s really interesting to have these two institutions that were very formative in my education, for better or worse, be home to the culmination of my academic endeavors at the same time,” West said. karissa_schaefer@emerson.edu
The Berkeley Beacon
Sports
October 15, 2020
8
Dr. Charles Steinberg on running a baseball team during a pandemic Nate Lannan Beacon Correspondent
The COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the world of baseball this year. Major League Baseball shortened its season to 60 games, and Minor League Baseball play was cancelled because MLB teams did not supply their affiliates with players for the season. But for the Pawtucket Red Sox, the Triple-A minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, the loss weighed a little heavier than for other teams. 2020 marked the group’s 50th and final season. Come next season, the minor league team is slated to move to Worcester, where construction of their new home field, Polar Park, is nearing completion. The Beacon spoke with Dr. Charles Steinberg, director of sports communication at Emerson and president of the Worcester Red Sox. He began his 45-year career in professional baseball as an intern for his hometown Baltimore Orioles and rose to the head of public relations during his 19-year tenure. Since then, he has served in different roles for the Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Major League Baseball. In the interview, Dr. Steinberg explained how the WooSox sustained business and support within the community during the pandemic ahead of the club’s imminent move. The interview was edited for clarity and brevity. Q. What challenges do you face running a baseball team and working here at Emerson simultaneously? A. This is a tussle of love. When you love working for a ballclub, which I’ve been doing for 45 years, it takes a strong force to make you leave the office at traditional hours. It’s more traditional to stay and work late.
Similarly, when you love teaching at Emerson as much as I do, you want to get there as early as possible because you’ve got a whole world to immerse yourself in. The biggest challenge is: how do I leave my baseball work to go teach my baseball work? Q. What’s been the most difficult challenge of running the PawSox in the midst of the pandemic?
The second part was figuring out how to keep staff members employed. We’re not generating revenue doing those good deeds, nor would we expect to. When Gov. Gina Raimondo said in April she would be open to returning to outdoor dining, we had the idea of Dining on the Diamond. We have the most gorgeous grass outfield, grass infield, and infield dirt that you can imagine, which isn’t being used. That turned into a phenomenal success, and we have accommodated thousands of families. We still have a waiting list of more than 3,000 families—more than 10,000 people. While we rendered a really uplifting service to the community, we also managed to keep our staff employed—that was a really big victory. Q. How has the lack of a season affected your decision-making as an executive?
Courtesy Emerson College A. One challenge was: how do we do our part to help the community? Our staff showed remarkable flexibility and adaptability by abandoning their normal duties because we didn’t have ball games and embracing innovative opportunities to help the community. That might have meant taking food in the freezer that was going to be for opening day and preparing it for those who are less fortunate. It might have meant having mascots go and buy coffee for frontline heroes. It may have been driving around to neighborhoods where kids were suddenly sequestered at home and having a little one-car parade.
A. You’re required to stay nimble, agile, flexible, and to react quickly to unforeseeable, changing circumstances. We adapted community service and Dining on the Diamond, but then the Red Sox began their season and said, “We’d like to use your venue for half our players,” as though they were a taxi squad. Well, you got to flip again. Now does that spell the end of Dining on the Diamond? What time would we be finished with the field and get everything cleaned up and put the tables out there? How soon could you have your first seating for dinner? Impressively, our staff figured out how to have Red Sox baseball by day and then Dining on the Diamond on many evenings, with fans all socially distanced. You have to stay focused all day, every day. There are no hours in baseball. That was one of the earliest adages taught to me as a young intern. Q. How has the lack of a 50th and final season in Pawtucket affected the
Seven soccer players recieved All-Academic honors last season. Beacon Archives
Soccer trails MIT for highest GPA in NEWMAC Cont. from page 1 Academic All-Conference honors, said the team encourages each other to shoot for a high GPA. “As a team, we decided to have a goal to meet above a 3.5 GPA,” Keeler said. “So we just decided together as a collective to work hard towards that.” Harkin said academics is already a part of the conversation with student athletes as they are being recruited. fans and the community? A. A series of emotions that range from melancholy and frustrated to bewilderment.This is where Dining on the Diamond stepped in. People were afraid that they wouldn’t get to savor those memories. They were afraid they wouldn’t get to say goodbye, and maybe even in a more intimate setting than sitting in the stands. Here they are,, sitting on the grass in fair territory where their former heroes played— rising stars who went on to greatness with the Red Sox. Many fans tell us it was marvelously therapeutic, and the food was great. Yes, it was great to sit on the diamond. But in a year like this, it was their way to commune with the McCoy memories. Maybe we can keep it going, and maybe a goodbye is not as firm as it seemed. Q. You’ve started a number of initiatives like the PawSox Scholars and Paws for a Cause within the PawSox
Both he and Keeler acknowledged Emerson’s academic strength and the internship and job opportunities that may come out of the connections made here. “You’re not coming in here just to be a soccer player, you’re coming in here to grow as an individual,” Harkin said. “And when I think you’re looking for internships and jobs, that is something that is very valuable.” domenico_conte@emerson.edu foundation, which have made quite the difference. With the imminent move to Worcester, do you plan on keeping up with the Pawtucket community? If so, how? A. For 50 years, the PawSox have had a territory defined by Minor League Baseball. These are your fans. What people didn’t pay a lot of attention to is that that territory included Worcester. So when the PawSox would do things, they wouldn’t just do them for Pawtucket. They would do it for all of Rhode Island, southeastern Massachusetts, and Worcester because it’s all one territory. Now, we’re moving to Worcester. While Worcester will now be the center of attention and headquarters for our ballplayers, Pawtucket is still part of our community. We’re moving into a new house in the same extended neighborhood. nate_lannan@emerson.edu
Lakers fan reflects on championship
Charlie McKenna Beacon Staff It’s been a tough 10 years to be a Lakers fan. But after defeating the Miami Heat in six games in the NBA Finals on Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers stand atop the NBA mountain once again. Jordan Hill. Chris Kaman. Ryan Kelly. Robert Sacre. Wayne Ellington. Yi Jianlian. Jodie Meeks. Nick Young. Roy Hibbert. Tarik Black. I can keep going, but I think 10 names gets my point across. Now, you may not know who any of those players are, and there’s good reason—they aren’t exactly worldbeaters. Yet, every single one played for my beloved Lakers at one point
or another over the last decade, which means that I, a Lakers fan, found myself rooting desperately for the success of these not-very-good players. Most of these men weren’t end-ofthe-bench guys for the Lakers. They played major minutes for some of the worst Lakers teams in history. The Lakers last won a championship exactly 10 years ago, beating the rival Boston Celtics in seven games. But since then, the franchise endured the worst seasons in its long history. Before winning their 17th ring in 2020, the Lakers missed the playoffs seven years in a row—the longest streak in franchise history. The last time they made the playoffs, in 2013, they were swept by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round after star Kobe Bryant ruptured his Achilles tendon at the end of the regular season. Bryant struggled to stay healthy in the subsequent seasons, and the Lakers were a dumpster fire. They failed to land any major free agents, despite the glamour of Hollywood and the franchise’s past success. During those seven years, the team turned in some truly awful seasons—17-65 during the 2015-16 season being the worst of the bunch. Lakers teams were constructed of washed-up veterans and young play-
ers taken at the top of the draft—notably Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and D’Angelo Russell—who were drafted second overall in backto-back to back seasons. They all showed promise but were put in an unwinnable situation, trying to live up to franchise-savior expectations on bad teams. I spent years anxiously awaiting the draft lottery. Each year, I wore my “lucky” Lakers t-shirt, which features Bart Simpson dunking a basketball— hoping desperately that the ping-pong balls would rattle the Lakers’ way so they would be able to keep their draft pick. They did each of those years, which is why the T-shirt earned its “lucky” moniker—though that luck may have worn off by now, as I wore it during Game 5 of the Finals, during which the Lakers did not get particularly lucky. The team’s fortunes seemed to change when LeBron James, arguably the best basketball player of all time, signed in free agency. His first season was a disappointment after James suffered a groin injury on Christmas Day and was sidelined for much of the season—missing his first playoffs in 13 years. Then, in the offseason, the Lakers traded almost all of their young play-
ers, including Ball and Ingram, for Anthony Davis, immediately thrusting them into the championship conversation. The James/Davis painting led the Lakers to the top seed in the Western Conference and their first playoff run since 2013. 2020 has been an incredibly challenging year for a multitude of reasons. Way back on Jan. 26, before the pandemic hit and there was still hope for this year, Lakers fans received incomprehensible news: Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas along with seven others. It shook the NBA world and the team. Just the night before, Bryant took to Twitter to congratulate star LeBron James on passing him on the NBA’s alltime scoring list. The next day, James stepped off the team plane in tears after learning of Bryant’s passing. Bryant meant a lot to me and to so many other Lakers fans. I cried when he scored 60 points in his final game as a Laker, and I cried again when he died. That’s why this year’s victory meant so much—it was the perfect tribute to Bryant, who cared so much for the Lakers. When the final buzzer sounded in Game 6 on Sunday night, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. It actually
happened. The Los Angeles Lakers actually won the Finals. I didn’t start caring deeply about the team until they were mired in losing season after season, so 2020 felt like the first title I could claim as my own as a fan. Yet, I don’t feel as satisfied as I hoped to. Maybe because I’m thousands of miles away from the city I know was anxiously waiting for this moment just like me. Maybe it’s because I wasn’t able to watch the game with my Lakers-fan friends who are scattered across the country. Maybe it was because the Lakers blew the doors off of the Heat in Game Six with an absolutely smothering defensive performance that effectively ended the game after two quarters. Maybe it’s the failure of expectation—that I wanted so badly for something to happen, and when it finally did, that weight was gone. Whatever it may be, I don’t particularly care because the Los Angeles Lakers won their 17th NBA championship, tied for the most in league history with the Celtics. And as a little P.S. to all my Celtic fans who may be reading this—we’ve won six titles this century. Y’all have one. Just saying. charles_mckenna@emerson.edu