Emerson College’s student newspaper since 1947 • berkeleybeacon.com
Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020 • Volume 74, Issue 8
@berkeleybeacon // @beaconupdate
College
rep denies
severe textbook delays Alec Klusza Beacon Staff
The college disciplined six students in Little Building (above) for violating COVID-19 guidelines. Alec Klusza / Beacon Staff
In the first week of college,
their not-so-socially-distanced gathering was shut down Frankie Rowley Beacon Correspondent It was the first night out of college-mandated quarantine at the beginning of the fall semester. A group of half a dozen friends, all first-years living in Little Building, were chatting on Boston Common, soaking in their newfound college freedom. They made small talk about the year ahead—what classes they’d take, aspirations they had, and dreams of eventually experiencing a normal college semester. “We were just chilling,” one student, a visual and media arts major, said. Within an hour, rain had moved in, cutting their plans short. The group, not yet done with their night, moved to a standard single dorm room on the fourth floor of Little Building. The room, made to fit a twin XL bed, a one-person desk, a dresser, and little else, was now full of six students all crammed together. Emerson’s COVID-19 safety guidelines prohibit gatherings of that size. “There were three or four of us in the dorm, and the guy that we were with left,” another first year, a theatre and performance major involved in the incident, said. “He came back with this other
One alumni’s pandemic era restaurant journey Since March, Lien Ta closed one spot and appeared in the Democratic National Convention
Lein Ta. Courtesy Lien Ta
girl who none of us knew that he met on his floor, like, five minutes before.” Those first-year students, two of whom spoke to The Beacon on the condition of anonymity due to privacy concerns, are now on disciplinary probation for the fall 2020 semester. That means they can’t hold on-campus jobs, remain on campus after residence halls close, return to campus before residence halls reopen, or hold specific roles in student organizations this semester. Each must complete a disciplinary project that raises awareness about the consequences of breaking COVID-era safety guidelines. One student opted for a sticker campaign. Another decided to create a bulletin board on social distancing. Both projects are due to be turned in to the Office of Community Standards and posted around the Little Building before Thanksgiving. The August incident offers insight into Emerson’s handling of COVID-19 safety violations, and echoes similar stories that have popped up on college campuses across New England. There, gatherings have forced administrators vying to contain the virus to enforce punitive measures on students. Other colleges, though, have taken more aggressive approaches. (Emerson administrators have declined to comment on specific instances of COVID guideline violations due to privacy concerns.) Sanctions, Pg. 2
Shawna Konieczny Beacon Staff Lien Ta ‘03 came to Emerson with the hope of one day working in magazine design. After a brief career in media, a reignited passion for food led Ta down a path in the restaurant industry. She now owns two Los Angeles restaurants on the frontlines of the battle between local eateries and a raging pandemic. Here’s Looking at You, an American restaurant, opened in 2016, while modern adult diner All Day Baby opened more recently in fall 2019. Both restaurants were shut down in March as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. And although Ta was able to reopen both at the beginning of the summer, only All Day Baby remains up and running due to the financial toll of the crisis on Ta’s restaurants. “There’s no end in sight to this pandemic and we’re just watching the time go by,” Ta said. “Businesses are going to close one by one. I have two and one closed.” The global pandemic has had a devastating impact on businesses across the country—180,000 businesses temporarily closed in March
alone, according to Yelp. Since then, some businesses have reopened, although the majority of them are still closed. Nearly 100,000 of them have shut down for good. At the time of the city-wide shutdown in Los Angeles in March, which closed both restaurants, Ta oversaw 65 employees who were all furloughed. On May 28, both restaurants reopened for takeout and delivery. But after they both faced financial hardship, Here’s Looking at You closed indefinitely on July 12. “[Take-out only is] not what the restaurant is supposed to be,” Ta said. “It doesn’t stack up to the bills that we have and there’s how much the rent costs and all of that stuff. It’s not that nobody is coming [into All Day Baby], which was unfortunately the case at Here’s Looking at You. So that’s why we made the decision to close that restaurant.” Closing Here’s Looking at You has allowed Ta to focus solely on her other spot, which was just starting to get on people’s radar, she said. Alum, Pg. 6 “We’ve kept All Day Baby open because people still do come,” she said. “It’s just not a lot of people. There are days where it’s really hard
As excessive textbook shipment delays from Emerson’s bookstore persist, the college official responsible for overseeing the store has repeatedly insisted orders are being filled on time, despite acknowledging the delays in private emails. Several students and faculty have reported extended wait times on orders from the bookstore since the beginning of the semester. Some community members said their orders were canceled after a month of waiting. Others are waiting for codes to access online books. Many more are frustrated with the lack of response from the bookstore, rather than with the delays. Director of Business Services Karen Dickinson, who oversees the bookstore, maintains orders are being filled on time. When presented with two examples of evidence and testimonials regarding the issue, Dickinson said any delays are not representative of a systemic problem. “You order [the textbooks], and it takes three to five business days to get onto campus,” she said in an interview on Sept. 18. On September 24, The Beacon published an article detailing some students’ experiences with the delays. In a later interview on Oct. 16, Dickinson reasserted her claim that orders are being filled on time. “Not much has changed since the last time we spoke,” she said. But emails from Dickinson to faculty show she has been aware of the delays since at least Sept. 29. “There have been delays with textbooks arriving in time for classes this year,” Dickinson said in an email to graduate student and undergraduate professor Bruce Kilstein. “Most of them are due to late orders from facul Bookstore, Pg. 3
25
positive COVID-19 tests
.08%
positivity rate INSIDE THIS EDITION Students can stay on campus during winter break Pg. 3 Editorial: Bookstore delays are ridiculous Pg. 4 Cancel cancel culture, not people Pg. 5 New Basquiat exhibit opens at the MFA Pg. 7 The Emerson Ultimate Disc “Skunks” keep practicing Pg. 8