SGA secretary misplaces meeting minutes

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

Thursday October 31 , 2019 • Volume 73, Issue 9

Buttigieg talks medicare, young voter turnout at Colonial Tomas Gonzalez, Beacon Staff Presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg asked voters to picture a morning when President Donald Trump is no longer in the Oval Office at a private event Tuesday in the Emerson Colonial Theatre.

“Picture, and I mean really picture, the first day when the sun comes up over the United States of America and Donald Trump is no longer in the Oval Office,” he said to the crowd. “I think we’re all ready for that day.”

The South Bend, Indiana mayor spoke to supporters at the event about the shifted view of nationalism in America and ticked through a series of key issues facing the nation, from climate change and infrastructure to Medicare and women’s rights.

“I’m thinking about values like love of country, but not the cheap nationalism that hugs the American flag—sometimes literally—I’m not talking about that,” he said. “I’m talking about real patriotism in an inclusive fashion, I’m talking about love of country that recognizes that our country is made of people, and you cannot love your country if you hate half of the people in it.”

The latest October national poll from the Emerson Polling Society shows Buttigieg in fourth place, with a six percent voter approval. He trails behind former Vice President Joe Biden and Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.

The college sent an email to the student population informing of a private event that would draw a significant crowd on the same day of the event but failed to specify what the event was.

The mayor spoke about his health coverage plan—titled “Medicare for All Who Want It”—stating that citizens should have the right to choose a health system that works for them and not be put into a public one.

See Buttigieg, page 2

Pete Buttigieg spoke to supporters at the event about the shifted view of nationalism in America. • Rachel Lo / Beacon Staff

Junior revives outlaw Bonnie Parker for new musical project

Sophomore volleyball star returns after leg injuries

Emily Cardona, Beacon Correspondent

Kyle Bray, Beacon Staff

One late night in July 2018, junior visual and media arts student Andrew Muccitelli searched the infamous American crime couple Bonnie and Clyde.

Muccitelli unintentionally discovered Bonnie Parker’s lesser-known identity as a romantic poet and painter before her husband Clyde Barrow introduced her to a life of crime. This discovery drew Muccitelli to name his musical onstage persona “Bonnie Parker.”

“As a proudly open gay young man, I wanted this project to be aggressively queer, so Bonnie Parker, a female name, became my stage name,” Muccitelli said in an interview.

Muccitelli performed for the first time in front of a live audience on May 26 at the 38th annual EVVY awards as Bonnie Parker. Over the summer break, Muccitelli performed for the first time with a full band on Aug. 28 at The Mint, a live music venue in Los Angeles. The venue invited Muccitelli and his live band of six other musicians to perform again on Dec. 26.

Muccitelli’s musical career started at age 12 when he began posting YouTube videos covering Adele songs while playing the piano. This series of videos garnered him a YouTube following at a young age. Currently, Muccitelli has a couple thousand followers on Instagram, and the Bonnie Parker Instagram account has one thousand followers.

As Carolyn Vaimoso lay on the court after falling in the first set of a conference matchup against Coast Guard in September 2018, the only thing going through the then freshman’s head was that she definitely was not injured.

“I have this dumb mentality that I never get injured, because I had never really gotten injured before,” Vaimoso, a sophomore outside hitter for the women’s volleyball team, recalled in an interview. “When I was on the ground I first thought, ‘This floor is slippery,’ because I thought I slipped, and the second thought I had was that my knee is just in shock—I’ll be fine, I’ll shake it off.”

She reassured the team’s athletic trainer everything was fine and told her to put her back into the game. However, Vaimoso exited the game and did not return. Two weeks later, an MRI scan revealed she tore her ACL, MCL, and both sides of her meniscus. Only nine games into a promising freshman year, Vaimoso’s season was over.

“I love volleyball with all my heart, and I had never gone for such a long period of time without playing volleyball,” she said. “When that happened, it was kind of a culture shock. I had to adapt my life around not practicing and not being able to workout.”

Vaimoso was among the four injured starters for the women’s volleyball team in the 2018 season.

See injury, page 8

See Bonnie, page 6

Andrew Muccitelli sits in a laundry basket in the Myrtle Street Laundromat.

Jakob Menendez / Beacon Staff

INSIDE THIS EDITION

The dehumanizing effect of ignoring the homeless. Pg. 5

The Beacon online

Experimental film “Patron Saint” wins Student Academy Award. Pg. 7

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The Berkeley Beacon

October 31, 2019

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SGA secretary admits to misplacing joint session meeting minutes

Andrew Brinker, Beacon Staff

meetings are more informal,” Executive Treasurer Abigail Semple said in a phone interview.

The Student Government Association failed “Anything that we’ve done in Executive Sesto publicly post joint session meeting minutes sion is planning for joint session, so a lot of it 48 hours after their approval for the weeks of isn’t on the record in that sense. I’m not sure if those records were posted historically.”

Oct. 1 and 15.

Minutes are not kept for Financial Advisory The constitution dictates that Executive Secretary Julia Stanton record and maintain written Board and senate meetings.

In addition to absent meeting minutes, SGA records of all executive board and joint session proceedings and “shall post, for public viewing, has not posted a monthly update since March. the minutes of each meeting within forty-eight The organization’s website outlines a plan to (48) hours of their approval. The minutes post updates once a month on the major hapshall be approved no later than the following penings in SGA. “In an effort to keep joint-session meeting.” the Emerson community Typically, any individregularly informed on ual can access minutes “I truly was just doing my job what SGA is working from the student governon, the SGA Executive ment’s weekly meetings the way I always have—with Board has decided to reon their website. Stanlease monthly updates ton wrote in an email to a dedication to accuracy and regarding larger projects The Beacon that all fall or areas of interest,” the semester joint session transparency.” website reads. meeting minutes were Palauskas could not approved and posted - Julia Stanton explain the lack of upwithin the 48 hour period to what she thought was dates when asked about the correct folder linking them by The Beacon. to the SGA website—rendering the minutes un“I’m not sure about that,” Palauskas said. available to the public for a period of time. “[Executive President Raz Moayed] might be Stanton explained that two identical folders doing a semesterly update. Definitely somehad accidentally been created for posting the thing that we’re going to talk about, but nothing minutes, with one of them linking to the website that we’ve discussed.” while the other did not.

Semple emphasized the importance of stu“I truly was just doing my job the way I al- dent leaders learning from their mistakes. ways have—with a dedication to accuracy and “It’s really important that we all recognize transparency,” Stanton said in a separate email. that as student leaders we are learning and Executive Vice President Will Palauskas told adjusting all the time,” Semple said. “So we The Beacon on Oct. 30 that SGA’s website had should just remember that when we are growing been appropriately updated. from these learning experiences that we are also While all of this semester’s joint session acknowledging our mistakes.” minutes are currently up to date, no executive board minutes are posted to SGA’s website.

“I would say a lot of our executive session andrew_brinker@emerson.edu

Executive Vice President Will Palauskas updated the minutes and posted them on their website.

Lizzie Heintz / Beacon Staff

Buttigieg campaign rally fills Colonial Theatre Continued from page 1.

“It’s about the freedom to lead a life of your choosing—if we really want to deliver on freedom then, yes, it’s true sometimes that means getting government out of the way,” he said.

“Getting government out of the business of telling women what their reproductive healthcare should be ... And that is why the time has come to see to it that every American who wants it can get health coverage, Medicare for all who want it.”

The mayor brought state Rep. Maria Robinson to the stage to field audience questions. One person asked what the most pressing threat to the country is–the current president, or climate change. “[Trump’s] presidency will end one way or the other … but climate change is picking up speed, and this is no longer a theoretical thing,” he said. “This is upon us and this is just the beginning, and we’re in the course of doing something about it.”

Buttigieg said he is still hoping to see a rise in young voter turnout but thinks gerrymandering has made them skeptical about the voting process.

“My message to young voters is that it will never change unless you step up and change it,” he said to press after the event. “The biggest changes in our politics and social history have been brought about by young people and the longer you’re planning to be here, the more you have at stake in decisions that are about to be made about your life.”

Buttigieg said he will reinforce Title IX policies, but failed to mention if he thought college students accused of sexual assault should have the right to cross-examine their accusers.

“I think it’s deeply problematic and, more broadly, we’re seeing a lot of attacks on Title IX enforcement right now,” he said. “It’s one of the reasons that we’ve focused on that as one of the elements in our plan for empowering women, and you also see this as a factor in how we’re approaching disability issues for students.” tomas_gonzalez@emerson.edu

The latest October national poll from the Emerson Polling Society shows Buttigieg in fourth place, with a six percent voter approval.

Rachel Lo/ Beacon Staff

The Berkeley Beacon

October 31, 2019

3

News

FBI review details 10 percent rise in rape reports in Massachusetts

Massachusetts saw a 10 percent rise in reports of rape from 2017 to 2018, continuing a three-year trend, according to statistics released by the FBI . • Kyle Bray / Beacon Staff Jacob Seitz, Beacon Staff A new report details a 10 percent rise in reports of rape in Massachusetts from 2017 to 2018, according to a new statistic released by the FBI in Sept. 2018—continuing a three-year trend in which rape reports increased almost 57 percent since 2015.

Fifty-nine percent of the reports in Massachusetts come from the Boston, Newton, and Cambridge metropolitan area, according to the FBI. There were 2,410 reported rapes in the state in 2018 and 1,538 in 2015, according to FBI Uniform Crime Reports (UCR). All other major forms of violent crime declined in the Commonwealth, following a national trend of declining violent crimes except for rape, which rose by approximately three percent nationally in the last year.

“Sexual assault and rape are incredibly under-reported for many reasons,” Executive Director of the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center Gina Scaramella said in an emailed statement to The Beacon. “Generally speaking, the increase in numbers that you’re seeing doesn’t necessarily mean that more violence is being perpetrated. It likely reflects instead that more survivors than before are coming forward and reporting, which could be a result of the ongoing #MeToo movement.”

Emerson collects its own sexual assault data in the annual Clery Report, but the Clery Report data is inconsistent with the national trends outlined in the UCR. Vice President of Equity

and Social Justice Sylvia Spears previously told an increase in instances, echoing statements The Beacon that those numbers do not fully made by Scaramella. represent the number of sexual assaults against “Increased reports [of sexual assault or rape] students. are not necessarily a sign that prevalence has “Clery has really specific definitions so it is increased,” Spears said at the time. “It’s actuquite possible, and often the case, that the to- ally a sign that reporting might be just a little tal number of reports like sexual assault will be bit easier.” higher than the number of sexual assaults that Director of the Healing and Advocacy Center fall within Clery guidelines,” Spears said in an Melanie Matson said increased reporting could interview earlier in the semester. be the cause of higher numbers of assault reDespite the rise in 2018, there were 34.9 re- ports, but other factors could be at play. ported cases per 100,000 people in Massachu“Some people have said that, given all of setts, making the state the 11th lowest in the the national conversation around #MeToo, that country in that field. these numbers are rising,” Matson said in an According to the interview. “And cersame statistics, only tainly that is possible 13 percent of, or 315, because if everywhere rape reports leads to you look, every news“It’s actually a sign that rearrests. paper you open, every Even with the rise social media you’re porting might be just a little in rape reports in the scrolling through is past several years, sexbringing up converbit easier.” ual assault crimes are sation around sexual historically among the violence and really Sylvia Spears least reported crimes all forms of pownationwide. The Feder-based interpersonal eral Bureau of Justice violence, it’s possible Statistics estimates then that there might that in 2016, only 23 percent of rapes and sex- be a feeling of ‘Oh yes, I did experience that too ual assaults were reported to police, compared and there’s this name for it.’” to nearly 44 percent for other forms of violent However, Matson said she’s hesitant to concrime. flate the #MeToo movement and an increase in In 2018, Spears said in an interview with The rape reporting because of a discrepancy in how Beacon that an increase in sexual violence re- rape is defined. ports might signal an increase in reporting, not Matson also said she’s been watching the

increase of reports in the National Crime Victimization Survey, which showed a significantly higher total of rapes in the past year than the FBI report. Matson said this is because of how the reports are made. The National Crime Victimization Survey is data gathered from a survey, where the UCR is data reported to the FBI. Scaramella said there could be an increase in sexual violence and that BARCC will be watching the data to see trends.

“It is a possibility that there is increased sexual violence. We know that there have been reported increases in hate crimes,” Scaramella stated. “Considering that, on the whole, we don’t generally see much accountability for perpetrators, it’s possible that more people have come to think they can get away with it. Either way, we’ll be watching this and any other data that is released that might give a fuller picture.”

Ultimately, Scaramella said that there is no one reason that reports of sexual violence are on the rise across Massachusetts and the nation.

“When it comes down to it, we can’t really say what the exact reason is, and that’s why it’s so important to focus on prevention,” Scaramella stated. “The immediate public focus when numbers like this are released is often on what people can do to stay safe, but it’s equally important to focus on what communities can do to prevent sexual assault, harassment, and abuse.”

If you have been a victim of sexual assault or violence, please call the BARCC hotline at 800-841-8371 or go to barcc.org/chat. jacob_seitz@emerson.edu

Incident Journal: Follow us to the “Church of God,” hot chocolate to the face 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.

Tuesday, Oct. 15 ECPD investigated a report of a roommate dispute.

Wednesday, Oct. 16 An officer responded to the Little Building for an alarm triggered by a dorm room smoke detector. The officer investigated the room and found no signs of fire.

Thursday, Oct. 17

ECPD and Facilities Management responded to the Tufte Building for a student trapped inside an elevator. ECPD freed the student without injury in less than five minutes.

A student reported losing over $500 worth of college-owned film equipment while attending a show inside the Cutler Majestic Theatre.

Friday, Oct. 18 A student reported having their laptop stolen while attending a college-sponsored external program.

OHRE confiscated drug paraphernalia and a small bag of what appeared to be cannabis from

the 2 Boylston Place residence hall and turned them over to ECPD. Saturday, Oct. 19 A student reported being threatened and extorted over social media. The incident is being investigated by the Boston Police Department.

OHRE turned over drug paraphernalia from the 2 Boylston Place residence hall after investigating a smell of cannabis coming from a student suite.

Thursday, Oct. 24 A student reported that they had been approached by two men dressed in business attire,

asking the student to follow them to a “Church of God.” An ECPD officer witnessed a male throw hot chocolate into the chest and face area of a female. ECPD arrested the aggressor for the assault and battery.

Saturday, Oct. 26 An officer on patrol found an unsecured door at the Little Building. The officer checked the door and left after being satisfied with the security of the building.

Editorial On-campus media deserve financial independence from student governments When The Beacon’s Editor-in-Chief Chris Van Buskirk stepped before the Student Government Association last week to present an amendment, he cited the U.S. Constitution’s first amendment in his argument for a free and independent press—a vital component of democracy.

In our opinion, the press is essential in holding federal, state, and local officials accountable for their actions. It serves as a watchdog for the public, shining a light on the darkest crevices of government.

In a similar vein, one aspect of The Beacon’s role at Emerson is to report on the student government. For the past 73 years, our paper has attempted to shine a light on an important part of our community—the governance of organizations and political dealings within SGA. For most of The Beacon’s existence, our funding has been guaranteed as a percentage directly from the student activities fee, with the hopes of minimizing any conflict between SGA and the student paper. While we were still subject to Financial Advisory Board policies, the paper could rest easily knowing that our funding was guaranteed.

In 2011, this changed after SGA repealed constitutional language allowing for our guaranteed percentage funding.

The paper was subject to the annual budgetary request process and increased scrutiny by SGA. This year, our paper’s editors brought forth an amendment to SGA’s constitution to the newsroom that proposed a clean split from the student government. In short, The Beacon would once again receive a percentage funding and remove itself from the control of the SGA treasury by creating a board of directors that would promulgate its own spending rules.

The Beacon’s budget would still come from the student activities fee, and at the end of the day the paper would still be subject to collegiate oversight. This would mean The Beacon would still be subject to Emerson’s financial policies but not the student government’s.

At our introductory meetings to The Beacon, we tell new students that if they want to join our paper, they cannot run for SGA—and every year we see the looks of confusion from new students who are surprised that we receive money from an institution we report on. It introduces a perceived bias that we want to eliminate, the same way The Washington Post is perceived as biased for receiving their funding from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

While SGA allowed time for top editors to present the amendment to the joint session, we are disappointed student politicians did not share our urgency to pass this legislation. We understand it would be a difficult process and would require significant work from both sides.

Even though SGA members cited state tax law violations as their reasoning, they could not point to the specific language prohibiting our amendment from proceeding.

And we know our request for independence isn’t unique. In 2008, Northeastern University fought to become

unaffiliated with its administration. Since then, they’ve retained full control of their newspaper’s content and distribution. The staff also elected to change the name of the paper from the Northeastern News to the Huntington News to celebrate.

Last year alone, students at the Southern Methodist University launched a “Save Student Newsrooms” campaign.

The initiative calls on student newsrooms nationwide to fight for their financial and editorial independence, according to the campaign website. Over 100 publications participate in the program.

Our desire to separate from SGA does not come from an intention to spite them or other organizations on campus; it comes from our desire to function as a truly financially independent news organization that does not need to fear our funding being cut from semester to semester.

Furthermore, The Beacon would support any other on-campus media organization who covers on-campus issues and SGA to propose a similar amendment. It is important to create an environment where an independent and free press can operate without financial restriction.

SGA did offer a counterproposal to guarantee The Beacon four percent of the money collected from the student activity fees and allow us to receive further funding through the Annual Budget Request process. However, this counter offer completely dismissed the underlying reason for coming before the joint session.

Even if we have a guaranteed percentage funding with additional revenue acquired through Annual Budget Request, we are still subject to SGA treasury policy— creating the exact opposite of a free and independent press.

We know our view on the importance of student media may be biased, but we feel the newspaper’s function in our small college is integral. We spend our weeknights working hard to put out content because we believe in holding this institution accountable and reporting on the work our students do.

The Beacon is not trying to diminish the work of other organizations covering campus culture or events who are funded by the student government. Again, we advocate that they join us in the pursuit of financial independence. We just want to be able to oversee the money that goes in and out of our account from the student activities fee and ad revenue. Only then can we effectively trail the actions of our administration and SGA with complete editorial independence.

Editorials are written solely by Editor-in-Chief Chris Van Buskirk, Managing Editor Abigail Hadfield, Opinion Editor Diti Kohli, and Deputy Opinion Editor Ziqi Wang without consultation from other staff members, and does not influence any stories. Op-Eds reflect the views of only their authors, not The Berkeley Beacon.

The Berkeley Beacon

October 31, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by the Editorial Board illustration by Ally Rzesa

It’s coming. Happy Halloween from the The Beacon’s editorial board.

Letter: Abigail Semple advocates community members to donate to the college’s endowment Abigail Semple Semple is the executive treasurer for the Emerson College Student Government Association.

At Emerson College, we have a problem. We are a mid-sized private college with a relatively small endowment. Currently, our endowment funds scholarships, financial aid packages and a significant portion of our on-campus resources.

Every year, more mid-sized institutions like ours, find themselves caught between the rock of merging with larger universities and the hard place dissolving entirely. For Emerson College to avoid a similar fate, we, as the student body and soon to be alumni, should take this issue into our own hands. By contributing to Emerson’s endowment, where even a spare 5 dollars can be a meaningful contribution, we are making Emerson a better place. So, if you are capable of giving, you should consider giving back to Emerson, as an investment in yourself, future students and Emerson’s legacy.

By contributing to our endowment, we are empowering the student body that succeeds us to achieve their dreams. I want to leave Emerson College in a better place than I found it, and I know I’m not the only student who feels this way. I want the diploma I am working towards every day to grow in value. By contributing what you can, when you can, then maybe, just maybe we will be able to avoid being trapped between that rock and a hard place.

If you are interested in making a contribution go to giving.emerson.edu, for more information go to https://www.emerson.edu/supportemerson.

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 for print must be shorter than 250 words.

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© 2019 The Berkeley Beacon. All rights reserved.

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The Berkeley Beacon

October 31, 2019

Opinion

5

How interaction humanizes the homeless Jess Ferguson Ferguson is a freshman journalism major and a Beacon correspondent.

When I left class a few weeks ago, I noticed a homeless person on the street corner asking for money. No one did anything—they kept walking without even looking at the man. He angrily said, “A ‘sorry, I can’t help, but have a nice day’ would be fine!”

His words are still ingrained in my memory weeks later.

I recently read an article in Invisible People—a nonprofit aimed at educating the public on homelessness—about the importance of making eye contact with homeless people.

It makes them feel visible by others and more accepted. If a single person does not glance at a homeless person, it does not have a significant impact. But over time, homeless people can feel like “ghosts watching the world but not fully participating in it” if no one looks at them, Kayla Robbins wrote in the article.

I reevaluated my behavior towards the homeless and decided I need to make a change since reading this. Now, I am making a conscious effort to look at homeless people, smile at them, and say hello to them, because no one should feel invisible.

Since I grew up in a Boston suburb, I didn’t know how to interact with the homeless before moving into college. I have visited a handful of cities, but I never encountered homeless people on a daily basis.

Because we live in the middle of a major city and are surrounded by homeless people, I noticed I subconsciously looked away or pretended to look at my phone when I walked by a homeless person without fulling knowing why I did it.

Here in Massachusetts, homelessness is especially prevalent. At the end of 2018, WBUR reported that while the national homelessness average increased just 0.3 percent in a year, Massachusetts’ average increased 14

percent. But in this same year, Massachusetts was one of four states to shelter at least 95 percent of homeless people, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

A part of me always felt like if I made eye contact with any of the homeless in the city, I would be forced to face my privilege in the situation. Or maybe I felt guilty that I did not give any money when I probably could? My momentary guilt over not giving someone a dollar should not trump their constant feelings of isolation and invisibility. I can quickly get over the fact that I did not help someone, but feeling invisible takes much longer to overcome.

For the past few weeks, I have tried to enact this change at every chance I can get. I will give some money when I can. However, I still find it important to acknowledge the homeless in some way, no matter how small, even if I don’t have anything to give.

Oftentimes, we are too caught up in our own lives—rushing to class or to work, for instance—to acknowledge others. We should take a step back and think about how our behavior affects others.

Whenever I am with my friends and they are looking at their phones instead of me, I feel hurt. Why should it be any different for the homeless? Imagine if instead of no one looking at you for a two-minute story, no one looked at you for hours on end.

How would you feel? Isolated, invisible, and dehumanized.

In July 2018, PBS interviewed Joe Wilson, a homeless man living in San Francisco, who highlighted the effect eye contact had on him.

“It certainly made a huge difference in [my life], when someone was willing to make eye contact with me, was willing to actually touch me as another human being,” Wilson told PBS. “That had more value than a dollar.”

Oftentimes, people are forced into homelessness by circumstance. But just because they are down on their luck does not make them

“Oftentimes, we are too caught up in our own lives—rushing to class or to work, for instance—toacknowledge others.” • Illustration by Ally Rzesa / Beacon Staff

any less human. Instead of being trapped in your privileged bubble, pop it and “acknowledge your shared humanity,” as Robbins wrote for Invisible People.

As a college student, there is not much I can monetarily do to help the homeless.

Though I would like to, if I gave a dollar to every homeless person I saw, I would have no money left. Instead, there are so many other free ways to reach out to the homeless. Even telling someone to have a nice day—which takes seconds—is far better than looking away or ignoring their greeting.

Based in Cambridge, Spare Change News is the country’s oldest street newspaper, according to their website, and focuses on topics like homelessness and inequality. Students can volunteer to write for the outlet or purchase a newspaper if interested to support this often

overlooked community.

Telling someone you don’t have any money to give them is okay, but ignoring them when they ask is not. People will understand if you don’t carry cash with you or if you spent all your change, so you at least owe them an answer to their plea.

In the future, I will continue to work on making conversation and engaging with the homeless people in the community because intentionally avoiding someone is more difficult than simply looking or smiling at them.

If something as simple as saying hello could change the way they see themselves, why don’t I always do it? jessica_ferguson2@emerson.edu

The most important stories are those we often forget

“Telling these underserved stories, however, brings up the opportunity to right historical wrongs to a degree.” • Illustration by Christine Park / Beacon Staff Althea Champion Champion is a freshman journalism major and a Beacon correspondent.

When students apply to Emerson, one of the prompts they are required to answer reads, “Much of the work that students do at Emerson College is a form of storytelling. If you were to write the story of your life until now, what would you title it and why?” Right from the beginning, students here are made aware of what our mission as filmmakers, journalists, writers, and actors entails.

We know very well the power storytelling possesses and its ability to give a voice to those who are not afforded the same opportunities as us. Storytelling can shed light on topics that are seldom touched on. Here, many of us like to reach for stories that are challenging, provocative, and potentially uncomfortable, because these tend to leave the greatest impact.

In the last few months, The Beacon itself has covered stories on a senior who organized a pro-Hong Kong protest, the Straight Pride Parade, the death of an Emerson professor, and the revelation of a student who unknowingly helped raised money for three homeless men with sexual assault convictions.

Still, a number of the stories told at Emerson are repetitive. In that same vein, our studentrun media often fails to explore some stories at all. Telling these underserved stories, however, brings up the opportunity to right historical wrongs to a degree.

One of these stories is the history of Rosemary Kennedy.

Yes, Kennedy—the name that dominates American politics. A namesake attached to notions of wealth, fame, and devastation.

The Kennedys publicly faced catastrophe in ways that no other family of such stature has before. Yet, still, little is known of Rosemary’s

life. Her journey stands as a reminder that storytelling, especially of tales that are underserved, is an art form worth pursuing.

When my friend first brought up her name, I had no idea who she was talking about. Once she finished her thought, her name and the way she was mistreated left me hooked. I subsequently found myself in a Wikipedia deep-dive, which then extended to four or five articles, and then to a YouTube video of Kate Larson promoting her book Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter at a Washington College event.

Every source seemed to provide considerable coverage of Rosemary’s life. Yet virtually everyone responds with “no” when asked whether they know of Rosemary Kennedy.

I am astounded by the general lack of knowledge surrounding Rosemary. Hardly anyone I speak to recognizes her name, and even fewer know her story. I proved to be no exception. I cannot help but question the credibility of my own awareness. Are there other underserved stories like that of Rosemary and the myriad of women whose stories are lost to their male counterparts? How many Glenn Closes are lost to Jonathan Pryces?

Born on Friday the 13th of September 1918, the odds were stacked against Rosemary from the beginning. Stationed at home, the nurse held Rosemary’s head back in the birth canal for two hours to delay her birth. When the doctor arrived, he delivered Rosemary, but her complicated birth led to her learning disability which revealed itself in her infancy. Her parents denied its existence.

Age brought with it the unveiling of a mental illness. Each of the schools she attended failed to meet her needs. This is unsurprising considering her father left her Catholic school teachers to discover her illness by themselves, rather than telling them directly. She began running away from her schools, and her sedation followed fits of rage. She was subjected to treatments, more accurately described as experiments, that involved injecting her 16-year-old body with hormones.

Throughout her life, Rosemary’s sisters kept

a watchful eye on her, her brothers kept her dance card full, and the family diverted adoring photographers away from her to ensure her erasure.

Rosemary remained in the United States from World World II onward where she deteriorated.

After proving herself an undeniable threat to the Kennedy name, her father had Rosemary lobotomized at 23. She was left completely disabled. Essentially reduced to a shell, she slipped into secrecy until after their father’s death.

Her tragedy does not lie in the fact that her voice was stifled by those who were louder. Rather, it is rooted in the idea that her opportunity to be heard was stolen out from under her. I wonder what she would have had to say about the way she was treated. What type of reception would her story be met with today?

In the pursuit of perfection, she was robbed of a life.

The oppressive nature of history is now widely accepted, and its perpetrators are being persecuted now more than ever. But their victims still largely exist in the dark.

Therefore, we as storytellers need to unearth difficult narratives hidden by money, power, and fame. As students learning and perfecting the art of storytelling, missing moments of past injustices is unacceptable. Instead, we need to search thoroughly for stories that exist exclusively in footnotes, because people like Rosemary, who have been lost to human nature’s perpetual reflex to gloss over, exist.

Only then we will be able to correct wrongs and do what we set out to—convey truths.

althea_champion@emerson.edu

Living Arts

The Berkeley Beacon

October 31, 2019

6

Age of the Twink: Remembering Matthew Shepard 21 years later Kyle Labe is a senior writing, literature, and publishing major, The Beacon’s chief copy editor, and LGBTQ+ columnist.

My high school selected The Laramie Project for its fall production during my senior year.

This was a shock to me, knowing my town and the conservative suburbs that surrounded the school. Moisés Kaufman’s play, about the aftermath of the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard in his small Wyoming town, seemed like a brave choice on the part of a school that systematically ignored its LGBTQ+ population during the time I attended.

As one of the few openly gay students in my school, I obviously knew about Matthew Shepard. He was a representation of my worst fears.

A gay student at the University of Wyoming, Shepard was robbed, tortured, pistol-whipped, tied to a fence in near-freezing temperature, and left for dead by a group of heterosexual men. I was one year old at the time it happened, but now, during October, the 21st anniversary of his death, I think about Matthew Shepard more than I ought to.

The portrait they displayed around school, in classrooms, and on the stage showed Shepard as he’d come to be permanently remembered: posed in front of a black-and-white backdrop, wearing a sweater with his head slightly

cocked, his lips a straight line, his blonde hair feathered to the side of his forehead, his Adam’s apple emphasized. He was handsome and so very young.

Needless to say, there was backlash; at one point our principal had to release a statement because too many parents were telephoning the front office to complain about the play’s “agenda.” Administration held a schoolwide assembly to watch snippets of the play before opening night. Afterward, I heard groups of boys snickering to one another about the content, about the gay boy who was killed.

In growing up gay—and, as I am finding, in living every day as a gay man—violence pervades everything. It’s become such a phenomenon in my life that I started to call it my own “gay anxiety.” It’s the odd panic I feel rush to my head when groups of men pass me on the sidewalk, or cross the street near me, or ride the subway alongside me. It’s ingrained in me to be afraid of any sexual activity because just one generation ago the threat of AIDS lurked behind every sexual encounter. It’s knowing that I can’t flirt with just any attractive man without the fear that underneath his beauty he may be so disgusted by gay men that he would beat me senseless. It’s a worry that most women have every day and at every moment, and, much like my female counterparts, it’s a worry that I can’t seem to shake off.

When coming to college, I have continued to be stunned by those who seem to perceive microaggressions, those subtle yet offensive remarks against marginalized communities, as the

worst thing to happen to them. Obviously microaggressions are a manifestation of patriarchy not to be disregarded, but, in my life—having had boys chew their food and throw it at me, shove me into lockers, and grab my ass as some sick prank—I welcomed microaggressions as an alternative. In high school, I approached each day hoping microaggressions would be all I’d have to deal with.

During the time of the Laramie Project controversy, our school’s Gay-Straight Alliance— suffice to say, it was not the most popular club—held a “day of silence” in cooperation with the GLSEN demonstration, where students were encouraged not to open their mouths in remembrance of those lost to hate crimes. It served as a great opportunity for straight people to showcase their activism. I, on the other hand—fearing I’d give classmates another reason to bully me for my sexuality—knew better than to be silent.

In calculus class, I always sat in the corner and kept to myself. By this time, I hadn’t even fully come out but was somehow still the “token gay” of the class. This happens a lot while in the closet: Straight people love assuming your sexuality and telling you all about it. But on this “day of silence,” I recall the two boys who sat in front of me turning around and, as I knew to be a warning sign, chuckling with each other.

One said to me, “I take it you’re not speaking today?”

I chose to act stupid. “Why wouldn’t I?” They were surprised but satisfied. One of them said something like, “Ah, he’s talking on

the ‘day of silence!’ Disappointing all of those who died before him.”

I pretended to laugh along. But, thinking back, there must be a reason I still remember this interaction. Maybe it was guilt. Maybe they were right: I was letting down the brotherhood of gay men before me. Maybe it was because I could see myself in the pictures on the advertisements for The Laramie Project around school: the portrait of Matthew Shepard, his naïve boyishness, his sad smile, his youthful eyes. I saw how easily I could be him—I could have that same fate, on a random day, with random men, in a random act of violence.

Even now, far from my hometown and living in Boston, that portrait of Matthew Shepard still haunts me. I think it lingers in the collective unconscious of all the generations of gay men who have come after him.

To others, to people unlike us, Matthew is a lesson about the repercussions of homophobia and how it has come to stain America’s history.

Not to us. To us, he is a reminder. On one hand, he is a reminder of how far we have come in a few short years. However, just three years after the Pulse nightclub shooting, in a year that has seen enough killings of trans people for The New York Times to label it an “epidemic,” Matthew Shepard is also a reminder of how far we have to go.

kyle_labe@emerson.edu

Junior draws onstage persona from Bonnie and Clyde Continued from page 1

Muccitelli applying makeup as part of his transformation into Bonnie Parker. • Jakob Menendez / Beacon Staff

Muccitelli, dressed as Bonnie Parker, sprawls across seats at Myrtle Street Laundromat. • Jakob Menendez / Beacon Staff

Currently, Muccitelli has a couple thousand followers on Instagram, and the Bonnie Parker Instagram account has one thousand followers.

“I was lucky enough at that age that some of those videos kicked off, but as time progressed, I became an adult and figured out who I am as a person,” Muccitelli said. “I realized that the following that I built up and the portfolio that I made for myself online didn’t match up with who I am now.”

After Muccitelli released his first album titled Fear of Intimacy on May 9, 2018 under his legal name, he said he realized he wanted to create something completely new that gave him a fresh start through a different music persona.

Muccitelli said he always wanted to perform under a stage name, but the fear of being judged and not taken seriously as an artist prevented him from creating a persona like Bonnie Parker.

He credited Cher and her bold stage presence as the force that pushed him to create Bonnie Parker.

“I was so scared to start making music under the name Bonnie Parker and dress as a woman on stage—like, [that’s] risky shit, man,” Muccitelli said.

Muccitelli said he envisions a specific image for his presentation of Bonnie Parker.

“I want Bonnie Parker to have an alternative rock, edgy sound, and incorporate drag elements to experiment with the gender binary which I haven’t seen a lot of in music,” Muccitelli said. “But this project gave me a fresh slate. I would be able to market it from the ground up—I will be able to reach the audience that I want to reach.”

At first, Muccitelli said he started using the name Bonnie Parker as a way to process his emotions and turn them into music. However, he said he changed his focus after the response Bonnie Parker’s music receives on social media.

Michael Valenzuela, a senior at Whittier High School in California, became a fan of Muccitelli’s music when he discovered the song “Boys” from Fear of Intimacy through Spotify about a month ago. After playing the song on repeat for a month he started to listen to all of Muccitelli’s music, including Bonnie Parker’s various singles.

“Bonnie Parker is an artist who is making music that I feel like I can connect to and inspires me to embrace myself,” Valenzuela said.

After Muccitelli released his song “Jason” on May 2 under Bonnie Parker, many LGBTQ+ high schoolers messaged him on Instagram to

tell him their connection to the song.

“When anyone tells [me] that they have a shared experience with my songs, [it] literally makes me feel so special because writing helps me, so I am hoping that it can help others, specifically gay people because gay trauma hits different,” Muccitelli said.

The growing impact of Bonnie Parker changed Muccitelli’s opinion on his stage persona. He said he now wants to make Bonnie Parker a cultivated vision for the LGBTQ+ community rather than something for just himself.

Muccitelli does not work on the project alone, although he is the face of Bonnie Parker. Jack Severino, a junior at the University of Southern California, and Alex Andrews, a California-based drummer, producer, and composer, collaborate with Muccitelli on the composition and production of his music.

Andrews said Muccitelli solely writes the lyrics, but the full production of arranging, layering, and producing the sound of each song is a creative collaboration between all three.

“We always include everyone,” Andrews said in a phone interview from California. “Everyone is a large part of Bonnie Parker, and [Muccitelli] is open on all ideas that [Severino] and I produce.”

When Muccitelli is in Boston, he said he performs alone because his bandmates all live in Los Angeles. Muccitelli has performed in Boston at small venues and open mic gigs.

“Something about me being up there all by myself makes it more intimate because it gives the audience a chance to listen to the songs on how they were written because that’s the song’s natural form,” Muccitelli said. “But I think it’s great to perform with a full band for the music’s sake because I can focus just on my vocals and the audience.”

Muccitelli, Severino, Andrews are currently working on an album to be released under Bonnie Parker which they plan to record during winter break when they are all together in Los Angeles again.

“Bonnie Parker addresses the pain that does not appear in mainstream media,” Mucctelli said. “So when someone is able to find my little nook of the internet and finds solace there, it’s really cool that I have an influence on people.”

emily_cardona@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

October 31, 2019

Living Arts

7

Alum Georden West wins Student Oscar for experimental short film Domenic Conte, Beacon Staff Georden West ‘18 watched in disapproval as their college in southern Virginia forced transgender students to leave, stripping them of their ability to graduate. As a queer media maker, they refuse to acknowledge the name of the institution and promote its existence.

“I was making films about what it was like to be a queer person in southern Virginia,” West said in an interview. “Anytime you’re part of a marginalized community, it informs the way you experience the world, and it was nice to have art to help mediate that experience.”

West said their film and art aim to represent and uplift the queer community, as seen through their Student Academy Award-winning graduate thesis and experimental film “Patron Saint.”

The black-and-white short film won gold in the Alternative/Experimental category at the Student Academy’s Oct. 17 event and uses fashion to portray deities in a contemporary queer light.

“I wondered what it was to apply a perfect ideal onto my community,” West said. “How could I elevate my community using these techniques of perfection? To me, there’s a godliness within that.”

West completed “Patron Saint” in December 2018 and premiered the film in July 2019 at Outfest, an LGBTQ+-oriented film festival in Los Angeles. Although the film is making its rounds in the festival circuit, it will not be released to the public until spring 2020.

West collaborated with fashion designer Jamall Osterholm to create the queer deities within the film. Osterholm, a Providence-based African-American designer, focuses on portraying topics of race and gender through his clothing.

His fashion appeared in the last season of Project Runway and earned him a sponsorship with LifeWater. West reached out to him because of their mutual interest in using art as a form of expression for marginalized communities.

“It’s nice to see when design and fashion have something to say about the world,” West said. “Fashion is largely aspirational.”

In summer 2018, West travelled to London for an independent study at a studio run by fashion photographer Nick Knight. With additional knowledge in fashion photography, West returned to Boston and began shooting “Patron Saint” three weeks later.

“I thought that fashion and design would be an interesting way to mediate a queer ex-

perience, because I knew I wasn’t interested in making a narrative film,” West said.

After growing up in a Catholic household in Monument, Colorado, West wanted to incorporate religious undertones into much of their work. They created short experimental films with their six siblings throughout their childhood, but pursued a career in writing as they grew older. Before coming to Emerson for graduate school, West briefly attended American University as a graduate student where they considered a future as a lawyer before dropping out and setting their sights on film, fashion, and art.

The Student Academy Awards notified West of their gold medal award in August. At the award ceremony in Beverly Hills, California, West thanked their family and crew during their acceptance speech. They said the community of accomplished filmmakers at the event provided a special atmosphere.

“It was nice being around immensely talented people, people who are going to be making the cutting edge films of the next generation,” West said. “Being in a community with those people is nuts—it was really wonderful.”

West graduated with a master of fine arts degree in film and media art from Emerson in December 2018. They quickly transitioned to teaching, now working as a cinematography professor at Emerson and the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

“My students are awesome,” West said. “I’m really hopeful that I can give a new perspective to what cinematography can be and what it can articulate.”

Shaun Clark, an assistant professor at Emerson and West’s thesis advisor, taught West in two cinematography classes and oversaw their directed study in fashion, film, and photography.

“They came in with such a high level of talent and dedication to the work that they did,” Clark said in a phone interview. “They had already committed to exploring fashion in film and fashion photography. They certainly used their time at Emerson to produce some high-level content.”

The crew of “Patron Saint” previously worked together on two other films. West said they enjoy the familial environment the team brings to the set.

“I’m nothing without my crew,” West said. “I feel very lucky to be surrounded by a group of

Georden West ‘18 premiered “Patron Saint” in July 2019, three months before winning gold at the Student Academy Awards. • Sam Hwang / Beacon Correspondent people who are encouraging and believe in the project enough to bring their best to the set and contribute the best ideas they have. It’s nice to be in community while you grow—I feel like we’re growing up together.”

Crew member and key grip Josue Cardoza met West in 2017 and said they formed an instant bond. He said West’s character and leadership on set creates a positive environment during production.

“They’re such an amazing human being,” Cardoza said in a phone interview. “We became best friends from the start, and they’ve always been such an inspiring human being to me.

They’re always trying to help everybody, and always trying to have a certain energy going and trying to inspire and keep people happy.”

This past July, West finished shooting their next film, which includes another Osterholm fashion line and will finish post-production in December. West said they plan to film their first narrative piece in the summer of 2020.

Although West won a Student Academy Award, they do not consider themselves a filmmaker. In March 2019, they showcased an installation art piece of over 7,000 red carnations,

also called Patron Saint, at the Distillery Gallery in Boston. They plan to create and curate another show, titled Hagiography, at the same gallery in March 2020. They also aim to open another show at the Dorchester Art Project, called Queer Body in Ecstasy/Objects of Desire, in the same month. More information about West and their upcoming work can be found on their website.

Clark said West’s persona and skill will attract colleagues throughout their career as they explore a future in film and art. “[West] is so talented that there are a number of options for them in their career moving forward,” Clark said. “To think that they would pursue some kind of typical career in the industry is not the case. People are going to want to work with them because of their talents and dedication to their work.”

domenico_conte@emerson.edu

Person of Color Column: My skin color is not a Halloween costume Melanie Curry is a junior journalism major, The Beacon’s assistant arts editor, and this week’s POC columnist.

On Oct. 23, 2018, former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly defended blackface on live television.

“But what is racist?” Kelly asked. “Because you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface on Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween.

Back when I was a kid that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character.”

Blackface is more than just dressing up as a black person on Halloween. It oppresses and degrades not just the color of my skin, but my history and culture as well. However, blackface is not a new phenomenon—it’s an action committed over thousands of years that continues to this day.

Many Americans don’t know the history of blackface, hence why they see it as just a costume. Blackface is the use of makeup to make oneself look like a black person, typically committed by a non-black person. Dating back to the 1800s, white American actors would smear shoe paint or grease polish on their face to darken their skin to impersonate African Americans in plays, TV shows, and movies. These impersonations reinforced negative and racist stereotypes, leading to the continued dehumanization of African Americans in American society.

Wearing blackface not only perpetuates the notion that black people are valued less than white people, but it also reinforces negative caricatures of African Americans. These caricatures include the Koon, Uncle Tom, the Man-

digo, the Mammy, and the Pickaninny. Disney and Warner Brothers cartoons such as Dumbo and All This and Rabbit Stew have used these stereotypes in their content and continue to perpetuate them today.

For instance, Aunt Jemima, the popular brand of pancake mix, reinforces the stereotype of the Mammy. The Mammy, created in the 1800s during slavery, described black Southern female slaves as happy, loyal, and content with serving and cooking for their white slave owners, according to the Jim Crow Museum. Aunt Jemima embodies this stereotype because her characterization and demeanor is similar to the Mammy stereotype—an overweight, Southern black woman who cooks and cleans for white families.

Buckwheat from the TV show Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals, embodies the Pickaninny, another common stereotype used in modern media. The Pickaninny is an anti-black caricature used to describe black children with big eyes, red lips, and dark skin who talk in a grammatically incorrect form, according to the Jim Crow Museum.

Buckwheat dresses similar to a Pickaninny, wearing ragged clothing with kinky, crazy hair, speaking like, “we is, dat am, dis am,” etc.

These negative stereotypes are portrayed in our everyday lives, from mass media to product promotion. If blackface continues to persists, these negative stereotypes will perpetuate the notion that black people are valued less than whites, a racist and oppressive perception that only damages and demeans African Americans in society.

Despite blackfaced characters in cartoons, movies, and television shows being censored in the late 1970s, blackface still appears today, especially on Halloween. In 2013, actress Julliane Hough wanted to dress as her favorite character from Orange is the New Black for

Halloween—Crazy Eyes. When she donned her costume—brown makeup, dark brown hair, and a prison outfit—people criticized Hough for using blackface in the costume. Four years later, Real Housewives star Luann de Lesseps wore a Diana Ross costume for which she darkened her face with bronzer and wore an Afro wig. Unlike Hough who apologized for her actions, Lesseps claimed that she didn’t alter her skin tone and attributed her darkened skin to her everyday bronzer.

No one can be a black person for Halloween, other than a black person. White people, and other people of color, cannot wear a black person costume for one day out of the year when African Americans are oppressed for the remaining 364 days. My hair is not a costume.

My skin color is not a costume. Unlike these Halloween costumes, I cannot change my hair or skin, two aspects of my identity that marginalize me.

Aside from Halloween, as black culture becomes popularized, a new form of blackface called “blackfishing” has begun to appear online. Blackfishing describes someone accused of pretending to be black on social media, according to the Independent. These individuals drastically change their appearance by darkening their skin with makeup, changing their hair, and, in some cases, undergoing surgery to emulate black features. Most often than not, these individuals are white social media influencers who culturally appropriate and exploit blackness.

Unlike blackface, blackfishing isn’t used to dehumanize black people. Instead, this new form of blackface appropriates black culture for profit. As black hairstyles, language, and other forms of black culture become popularized, white social media influencers capitalize on black culture and become culture vultures to land brand endorsements.

The problem transcends beyond just social media. Rapper Post Malone has been criticized for profiting off of black rappers’ language and appearance, according to Hypebeast. Singer Ariana Grande has also been accused of blackfishing by tanning her natural skin color several shades darker, making her appear as a woman of color, according to The Tab. These two celebrities, along with everyday people, appropriate black culture without understanding or knowing the historical background behind it.

It’s unfair to say that no one but black people can wear traditionally black hairstyles or eat traditionally black dishes. Cultural exchange is inevitable as America becomes a melting pot and different ethnicities and races intermix.

However, in today’s society where black people are continuously marginalized while their culture is celebrated and popularized, cultural exchange can be seen as a mockery.

One cannot indulge in my culture but remain complicit in my struggles. Where are you when Black Lives Matter is protesting in the streets?

Where are you when another young black man is gunned down by the police? The black identity is nuanced and rich—you cannot celebrate some pieces of me but choose to discard or oppress others. In celebrating my culture, do not be remiss in embracing my humanity. My culture is not the only part of me, and you can’t separate my culture from my humanity.

Blackface, blackfishing, and cultural appropriation are not okay, and have never been okay.

My identity is not for mockery. My blackness is not for profit. Until black people are as loved as black culture, our blackness is not up for grabs.

melanie_curry@emerson.edu

Sports

The Berkeley Beacon

October 31, 2019

8

HOMECOMING 2019 EVENTS WOMEN’S SOCCER: MIT at Emerson, 1 p.m. Saturday WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: Springfield at Emerson, 1 p.m., Saturday MEN’S SOCCER: MIT at Emerson, 4 p.m., Saturday HEART OF A LION AWARD RECEPTION: Cathedral Station, 6 p.m., Saturday

Women’s basketball raises money for Puerto Rico tournament Aaron J. Miller, Beacon Staff The women’s basketball team partnered with the college to raise funds for a trip to Puerto Rico for a tournament this winter.

The college-wide campaign the team is using to fundraise for its trip is Tight Knit: The Emerson Sock Campaign—an eight-day fundraising event. It is accepting donations from alumni, faculty and staff, parents, and students. Each donor can choose one student organization per donation in return for a pair of Emerson-branded socks. As of Wednesday evening, the campaign raised $7,831.

Head coach Bill Gould said he received a helpful response when he emailed college officials for help with the cost of the trip.

“It was quite coincidental,” Gould said in an interview after a team practice. “I sent an email

to [the college] saying what we were trying to do, and they said, ‘What a coincidence, we’re doing this campaign,’ and they were very helpful in making it two things at once, so they’ve been fantastic.”

Gould said players are required to raise funds and pay for any extra trips they participate in out of pocket.

“There are a few people on campus who believe our kids are on scholarship, but they’re not,” Gould said. “Some of them might get merit [scholarships], or some might get financial aid, but it has nothing to do with their athleticism. There are some kids who pay full price to go to our school and play on our basketball team, and then they have to pay their own way and fundraising for [the trip to Puerto Rico].”

Gould said each player on the team must raise approximately $800 to make the trip pos-

sible, but said he is confident it will happen.

Senior guard Kate Foultz said the team is also doing fundraising on its own.

“It will be a nice change of pace,” Foultz said in an interview. “The basketball season is very long, and it will be a nice opportunity to play some other teams. I’ve never been to Puerto Rico, so it’ll be fun to see and obviously [help] in any capacity so that we’ll be able to give back [to the community].”

The team will travel to Puerto Rico on Dec. 27 and return Dec. 31, according to Foultz.

Gould said the team will play the University of Massachusetts Boston and offer service within the local community.

“There are groups that organize different tournaments in different places with teams from America,” Gould said. “It’s kind of funny that we are going to Puerto Rico to play UMass Bos-

ton.”

After the team finishes its second game of the tournament, Gould said the players want to participate in community service, as he and the team did five years ago when they traveled to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands to host a basketball clinic for children.

“We’ll do some cultural things and see some of the historical sites,” Gould said. “I am a former history teacher, so I love that. We’ll try to give our kids some cultural experience, we’ll play a couple of good games, and we’ll hopefully be able to give back to the community in some way. It’s a really good opportunity.”

Editor-in-Chief Chris Van Buskirk did not edit this article due to a conflict of interest. aaron_miller@emerson.edu @theaaronjmiller

Men’s basketball freshman out for season with injury Ethan McDowell, Beacon Staff Men’s basketball forward James Gascoigne felt an intense pain in his knees as he ran up the court during his senior season at Arlington High School.

“I was just constantly in pain,” Gascoigne said in an interview. “I felt like an old man.”

The 6’4” forward played through the pain for the entire season, and he finished his high school career averaging 18 points and 10 rebounds per game, according to Emerson Athletics. Gascoigne later learned he tore both of his hip labrums after tests to his hips and knees.

This came after he committed to play for the Lions as one of the five freshmen recruited this season.

Gascoigne said the torn labrums led to hip impingement, a condition that causes bumps along his hip joints. He plans to undergo his second hip surgery over winter break.

“They just stitched up the labrum and then shaved down the bones,” Gascoigne said.

Each surgery requires a six-to nine-month recovery, which would clear him to play by the beginning of the 2020-21 season. He underwent his first operation in summer 2019 and arrived on campus two weeks later.

“Most days I just have a lot of physical therapy exercises,” Gascoigne said. “A lot of hip-strengthening stuff, core stability, stuff like that. Very light stuff as of right now.”

Despite arriving on campus in the middle of his first rehab stint, Gascoigne found ways to stay involved with the team.

“I have been going to every practice, and I’ve been hanging out with the team all the time,” Gascoigne said. “I just step in on some drills that I can do and just be an extra body.”

On his own time, Gascoigne said he works on his shooting form and upper body strength as much as he can. Assistant coach Jack Barrett said Gascoigne’s strength and versatility stood out during his recruitment.

“We loved James because he’s a pretty unique player,” Barrett said in an interview.

“He’s a little bit undersized, he’s a little bit stuck in between positions, but for us it was great versatility. He’s very strong, he’s very athletic, and he’s a great kid.”

Barrett said Gascoigne is handling rehabilitation well so far.

“It’s obviously a pretty tough thing,” Barrett said. “You’re coming into your freshman year, you’re excited, and you want to play.”

The team lost two seniors last year and brought in five freshmen. Barrett said this helps take the pressure off of Gascoigne and his recovery.

“We have a pretty good team and it’s not like, ‘Oh, we lose him, and now we’re not going to be able to succeed this year,’” Barrett said.

“That took a little bit of stress off of him.”

Gascoigne said he will be able to contribute to the Lions in many ways once he returns to the court.

“I’m sort of an undersized wing player,” Gascoigne said. “I shoot the three and can take advantage of smaller players in the post. They

want me playing the stretch-four position and creating mismatches against taller players.”

Barrett said Gascoigne will fit perfectly with the team’s strategy.

“We’re essentially playing four guards and [sophomore center] Jarred Houston,” Barrett said. “So all of those positions are a little bit interchangeable. Plugging him in shouldn’t really be a problem for us.”

Gascoigne will sit out this season and return next season with four years of eligibility, allowing him to play four years of collegiate basketball. Barrett says the experience Gascoigne gains this year will be beneficial for when he steps on the court next year.

“He gets a sneak peek at everything we do, how we work, how we coach, how his teammates play, and our style of play,” Barrett said.

“I think he gets a better understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish.” ethan_mcdowell@emerson.edu @EthanMMcDowell

Sophomore recovers from season ending injury Continued from Page 1 While her loss did hurt the team, head coach Ben Read said Vaimoso responded well to the injury.

“When someone has a season ending injury as serious as that, it’s easy to go ahead … and get down on yourself and not be there for your team, and she did almost the complete opposite,” Read said in an interview. “She wanted to be at as many practices as possible. We had to tell her she couldn’t travel at times because of her having to keep her leg in a certain position, but she always put the team first, which really speaks highly of her and how much she cared about us.”

In the 2019 season, Vaimoso is back and starting for the Lions. She ranks third on the team in kills per set and second in digs per set, while also claiming Lion of the Week and New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference Defensive Athlete of the Week for the week of Oct. 7. Read said having her back helped the team this season.

“For pretty much the whole season she’s been one of our most dependable people,” Read said. “[She’s a] consistent server, consistent passer, probably our best defender out there on the court, and offensively she’s really grown into that role.”

Vaimoso credits her teammates for helping her recover from her injury and finding success.

“We have an amazing freshman recruiting team that came in and they really boosted all of our spirits and gave us hope,” Vaimoso said. “It feels good to have the support because I didn’t think I would be able to come back and I was definitely afraid of hitting, so having [Caroline Bond] as a setter has been super clutch.”

Vaimoso is known by her coach and teammates for her passion and the energy she brings to the sport. She said her teammates would de-

scribe her as the comic relief. Junior outside hitter Grace Tepper said that, while Vaimoso definitely helps them laugh, she brings much more to the team.

“She will never really talk about her importance to the team herself,” Tepper said in an interview. “I think it’s important that someone else says that. She’s very integral to the team culture.”

Read recalled when Vaimoso played an April Fools’ Day prank on him, she came into his office and told him she planned to quit the team.

This caught Read off guard, especially since she just put in a lot of effort into recovering from her injury.

“It was a joke, thank God, because we would definitely be a different team without her,” Read said.

Coming from an athletic family, Vaimoso said she tried every sport as a kid and recalled playing football in her front yard with her three brothers, two of which are older. She began playing club volleyball in sixth grade because she believed it was the best way for her to continue playing the sport in high school and college.

Vaimoso, who grew up in Los Angeles, California said she did not look for colleges on the East Coast when applying for schools. However, her high school coach brought Emerson to her attention because he thought it would fit her well.

“Volleyball was a really important part of my life, but it abstained me from doing other things I was interested in, like media and working for television or theater,” Vaimoso said. “My coach proposed me this school that had both volleyball and the communications courses I wanted to take. Emerson definitely intrigued me, and I fell in love with Boston the second I stepped in.”

Off the court, Vaimoso said she loves to go

Sophomore Carolyn Vaimoso (left, airborne) averaged 4.3 points per set before her season ending injury last year. • Carol Rangel / Beacon Staff for walks around Boston in places like the Public Garden, Boston Common, and the Esplanade, since she loves hiking and the outdoors.

“I’m very nature-oriented, so basically anywhere that shows foliage during the fall is my favorite place,” Vaimoso said.

Vaimoso also described herself as a “low-key musical theater nerd” and loves to see musicals and plays in her free time. While in high school, she did theater and featured in multiple musicals, including And Then There Were None.

“It was my first non-musical play, and I depend more on singing than I do acting, so that was definitely a challenge, but it was fun,” Vaimoso said.

Vaimoso, a communications studies major, said she chose the major because of its versatil-

ity in regards to future careers.

“I feel like I switch it up [a lot]—I am a Gemini, so I have many interests,” Vaimoso said. “I’m very interested in media so maybe working within television or major corporations like Buzzfeed.”

The Lions have one game left in the season, a home matchup with Springfield College with major playoff implications. Vaimoso said she has high hopes for the team when they start NEWMAC postseason play.

“We’re a tournament-oriented team,” Vaimoso said. “If we’re in it already, I don’t see why we should lose now.” kyle_bray@emerson.edu @KBray63