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The Berkeley Beacon
Emerson College’s student newspaper since 1947 • berkeleybeacon.com
Thursday November 29, 2018 • Volume 72, Issue 12
Whisky Saigon could end 10 year lease in 2022 Belen Dumont, Beacon Staff
Take paws at Residence Directors and meet your building’s dog By Ziqi Wang • p. 7 Colonial Residence Director Michael Barcelo lies with his 9-year-old dog Plott hound mix, Benson. • Stephanie Shih / Beacon Staff
Theyta creates non-binary community on campus
Elevator entrapments continue to rise Cynthia Tu, Beacon Correspondent
Taina Millsap, Beacon Correspondent Per request of the students, last names have been adjusted or not included due to privacy reasons. Non-binary students met at the Cultural Center for Theyta’s first official meeting on Nov. 17. Born from a desire for an inclusive space on campus, Co-President Ray Geo created the organization for gender non-binary students. Geo, a sophomore, describes Theyta as a social, professional, and volunteer organization open to all gender non-binary, non-conforming, and questioning students at Emerson. Geo runs Theyta with co-president sophomore Lin Vega. The organization focuses on fostering a sense of community and a commitment to educating people on how to address non-binary people. As the first non-binary organization, they want their meetings to be a place where students can feel comfortable, talk to each other, and relate on struggles. Geo says Theyta is a safe space for non-binary students to make friends. Geo set up the room, filled with candy and beads for the first meeting, making the students feel welcome as soon as they walked in and sat around the table talking about their days and making bracelets. Theyta’s first meeting drew three students, and all had visions for what they wanted from the club and for its future.
Boylston sidewalk project awaits city approval
See Theyta, page 6
The Beacon online
Whisky Saigon, an upscale nightclub on Boylston Street, will weigh the decision to renew or rescind its lease with the college in 2022 for the first time. The club’s contract with Emerson gives the owner of Whisky Saigon the right to extend the lease by another 10 years if the owner chooses to stay. Emerson could legally deny renewal for the first time in 2032, according to Senior Associate Vice President for Real Estate Arthur Mombourquette. The college bought the building on 116 Boylston St. in conjunction with the Walker Building in 1998. The college leased the space to Whisky Saigon in 2013 after the owner of another former nightclub transferred ownership. Mombourquette said Emerson permitted the owner of the previous nightclub to transfer over a lease or find a new tenant when in a financial bind. Mombourquette said his usual meetings with the on-site manager at Whisky Saigon ensure both parties meet the lease agreement terms. The meetings occur more frequently when needed, such as when the Dining Center went under construction last year and impacted the Whisky Saigon space. The owner of Whisky Saigon, Kevin Troy, did not give a firm indication as to whether or not the club will vacate at the end of their lease, Mombourquette said. See Whisky, page 2
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By Anissa Gardizy • p. 3 Students and passersby walk amid current construction. • Anissa Gardizy / Beacon Staff
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The number of reported elevator entrapments doubled since last semester, according to incident reports documented by the Emerson College Police Department. Not all entrapments are reported to the ECPD. ECPD received nine elevator entrapment reports this semester, according to the incident journals— five in September, two in October, and two in November. Over the course of the three months, one report occurred in 2 Boylston Place residence hall, one in Ansin Building, two in Walker Building, two in Tufte Performance and Production Center, and three in Paramount Center. No passengers were injured. ECPD received a total of four entrapment reports last semester with no injuries. According to ECPD Chief Robert Smith, if a student who reported an incident to his department extricated themselves from the elevator before the ECPD officer arrives on scene, the student’s name will not appear in their electronic record system. However, Smith said an ECPD officer will still write an incident report about the elevator entrapment call. “The only reason an incident would not be in our records system would be if the incident was not reported to the ECPD,” Smith said. Director of Facilities Management Joseph Knoll said he and his team conducted a daylong repair on one of the two elevators at the 18-floor 2 Boylston Place residence hall, on Nov. 4. See Elevator, page 3
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news
The Berkeley Beacon
November 29, 2018
2
Chances of students winning the off-campus lottery to decrease Ziqi Wang, Beacon Staff Students hoping to move off-campus prior to their senior year face diminishing chances in the off-campus housing lottery. Students who entered in the 2016 and 2017 fall semesters were offered the opportunity to participate in an off-campus lottery to assure the college would have enough beds for students on-campus. With the opening of Little Building, the number of students released from the 3-year on-campus housing requirement will decrease each year, according to Associate Dean for Campus Life Erik Muurisepp. “There will always be a sort of reverse lottery for students that aren’t able to live here for three years or need to move off-campus,” Muurisepp said. “But that number will be smaller and smaller each year of who we let off the residency requirement.” Seth Hodge, the associate director of housing operations, said the lottery was provided because there were less beds available for the last two years since Little Building temporarily closed for renovation. Little Building, which will open in fall 2019, will provide 280 additional new beds—the college anticipates to house students on campus for six semesters instead of four. According to Muurisepp, the college released around 50 students from their housing contracts last year. The college does not have a projected number for the next lottery, but according to
Muurisepp, it will be minimal and case by case. Students who meet specific requirements, like being 23-years-old or above, married, or a veteran, can fill out the Request for Exemption to Residency Requirement Form found on the Emerson College Housing Portal. Exemptions also include students who have a disability that precludes living in a residence hall or if the student is able to demonstrate significant financial hardship that would otherwise prevent them from attending the college. In fall 2018, a student living in a single room with the default meal plan, the Semel Plan with 101 meals, 10 guest swipes, and 650 board bucks—paid $9,095 for one semester, and $18,190 for an entire year. Qiyuan Zhao, a sophomore who’s been released from her housing by participating the lottery, is now living in an apartment in Huntington with one other person. Zhao pays $1,350 for rent per month, plus Wifi, electricity, gas, a T-pass, and grocery, which is around $200 if added together. “I was not very surprised [that they let me go live off campus] because Emerson wants enough spaces for freshmen,” Zhao said. “I give myself the upper limit of $2,000, but I usually spend less than that, and it’s definitely more freedom.” During the construction, the school signed a two-year lease with 12 Hemenway residence hall, a hostel turned residence hall supplied with 100 beds, to open space for more students to live on-campus. By fall 2019, the college will have 1,932 beds
in total. Pelton said the revenue of these beds will help pay off the costs of Little Building and 2 Boylston Place residence hall renovations. Little Building will cost the college about $100 million according to The Boston Globe, and 2 Boylston Place cost $63 million according to the Commercial Property Executive. Muurisepp said the decision to have students live three years on-campus took place two years ago. “[The changing of the residency requirement] has to do with the Little Building project and partnering with the city to have as many of our students on-campus in college as possible,” Muurisepp said. “With the Little Building project, and in addition to the 2 Boylston Place project, now we are able to held 70 percent of our students in college housing.” More than 50 colleges and universities exerted enormous pressure on Boston’s housing market, according to Mayor Martin J. Walsh in a document released in 2014. Walsh found this led to less houses available for families and working people in Boston. An estimated 1,222 Emerson undergraduates lived off-campus—about a third of the undergraduate population—during the 2013-2014 academic year, according to the re port. The report also said off-campus students are more likely to live near campus in a few specific neighborhoods. This clustering creates concentrated local competition, the workforce and families in these neighborhoods become displaced from the market, and rents increase,
Walsh stated. The report cites these student-centric neighborhoods as Allston and Brighton, Fenway and Kenmore, and Jamaica Plain and Mission Hill. After the college adopted the current 3-year on-campus housing plan in 2016, communication went out in October to incoming students and their families announcing the new requirements, according to James Hoppe, vice president and dean of Campus Life. “It’s been talked about in all the admissions information, so every students enter was told there will be a 3-year requirement. It’s been part of the orientation, family weekends, it’s part of the housing assignment process in the last two years,” Hoppe said. Sophomore Chesirae Barbano said she knew Emerson required students to live three years on-campus from when she signed the housing contract, but she never thought it would be so rigid. She said she didn’t remember hearing about the requirement during orientation week or family weekends. “For me, I would rather live off-campus,” Barbano said. “As a freshman, it’s really helpful [to live on-campus] because it’s a focused area for you to enhance your skills. But for me, I’m looking for something else … I think I’m just ready to move off-campus. I want to have my choices and my options.”
ziqi_wang@emerson.edu
Nightclub lines at Whisky Saigon may disappear in 2022 Continued from page 1 The owner and the manager of Whisky Saigon declined to give a comment for this article. “It’s probably no secret that the college is really hurting in space,” Mombourquette said in a phone interview. “There is a long list of needs where we seem to always have the need for additional classroom space, for additional studio space, performance spaces. We’d love to have more student social spaces. So it’s unlikely if that space became available to us that we would lease it out again for any use—we’d want to keep it for college use.” Junior Katharine Rhee said she would avoid passing Whisky Saigon during weekend nights when she lived in the Colonial building last year. “I have personally gotten catcalled and harassed walking from my dorm to the [Dining Center] and back, and it made me very uncomfortable,” Rhee said. “It’s just not pleasant to feel like an outsider on your campus.” Rhee said the nightclub brings a negative environment to the school. “When the club lets out—or even before then, when people are waiting in line—they’re drunk. Sometimes they’re belligerent, and they’re not very respectful to students,” Rhee said. Sophomore Marissa Cardenas said on weekend nights she finds the line of clubbers along the block amusing as she walks to the Max Cafe in the Piano Row residence hall. “I see all these drunk people just stumbling and being goofy and acting like a fool—it’s kind of just some late-night entertainment,” Cardenas said. “I don’t really get scared by it—I know some students get anxious by it, but I think it’s just funny.” Sophomore Harper McKenzie said most students use the front of the nightclub as a place to smoke between classes. “I don’t like that it’s in the middle of our campus. It just feels super out of place,” McKenzie said. “It’s a negative experience I’d prefer not to have to deal with.”
Some students use the front of Whisky Saigon as a place to smoke between classes. • Tivara Tanudjaja / Beacon Correspondent The Emerson College Police Department assisted Whisky Saigon security guards on Nov. 10 after non-Emerson-affiliated individuals began an altercation inside the nightclub that moved onto Boylston Street. The Boston Police Department arrested one person outside of the club for assault and battery, according to last week’s incident journal. ECPD Chief of Police Robert Smith said he
assigns officers to patrol the sidewalk between 114 Boylston St. and 122 Boylston St. during Whisky Saigon’s open hours on Fridays, Saturdays, and sometimes Thursday nights. “Some members of our community have expressed concern about navigating this stretch of sidewalk when there are lines of people waiting to get into the Whisky Saigon. We’ve also received complaints about rude comments from
individuals waiting in those lines,” Smith wrote in an email statement to the Berkeley Beacon. “Officers are assigned to these duties to help ensure the safety and well-being of our community, which is ECPD’s top priority.”
belen_dumont@emerson.edu
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The Berkeley Beacon
November 29, 2018
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College could extend Boylston sidewalk, expanding campus Anissa Gardizy, Beacon Staff The college aims to expand the Boylston Street sidewalk from Little Building to the M. Steinert & Sons Pianos building to improve pedestrian traffic flow and the appearance of the Boston campus, according to President M. Lee Pelton. The project still needs city approval, but it could significantly affect the college’s movein plan, pick-up and drop-off area, and police cruiser parking, according to Senior Associate Vice President for Real Estate Arthur Mombourquette. According to Pelton, the sidewalk project will be part of the college’s budget for Little Building. “When I first arrived at Emerson, I felt the narrow, beat up sidewalk did not reflect the excellence of this college,” Pelton said. “It has been a long term desire of mine to beautify the sidewalk.” Emerson’s overall concept for the sidewalk revolves around three main goals—widening the sidewalk, adding sidewalk furniture, and improving building signage. Sidewalk furniture would include features like benches, planters, greenery, and bike racks. Emerson began sharing draft plans with contractors to receive an estimate on pricing as of Nov. 16. Mombourquette said the college remains hopeful despite not yet receiving final approval to begin construction. “It’s a long process of approvals, but the city has been very, very supportive. I feel like we are on track to receive our full approval,” Mombourquette said in a phone interview. The process involves review and approval by multiple departments in city government. Each department evaluates a different aspect of the project’s scope, such as traffic flow, design, disability accommodations, and building signage. As of Thursday morning, no official start date for the project exists. “Our hope is that we will have all of our approvals by the beginning of January and that we will actually start construction at the end of February or early March,” Mombourquette said. “That is our goal.” Emerson meets with these departments on an ongoing basis, according to Mombourquette. “The city recognizes that the sidewalk width is not adequate for the amount of pedestrian traffic that we have there. It doesn’t really help Emerson be identified as a real campus,” Mombourquette said. “For those two reasons, they have been supportive from the beginning of the project.” By widening the sidewalk, the college would
The Boylston sidewalk expansion project could start in the spring. • Anissa Gardizy / Beacon Staff remove the parking lane on Boylston Street. The street would continue to have three lanes of traffic. “Cars and trucks pulling in and out always slows traffic along the street. It will take some management … but I honestly think it will help traffic flow,” Mombourquette said. “It doesn’t reduce at all the travel lanes—there are still three travel lanes.” Eliminating the parking lane may pose a challenge for students who are picked up on it. “Personally, I’ve used that lane to have someone pick me up from here. It was very convenient for them to pull up,” freshman Davin Roberts said. “Removing the sidewalk would take away from pick up and drop off, which is kind of a problem already because Emerson students don’t have cars—we need people to pick us up.” The parking lane is currently occupied by the ECPD for police cruiser parking. During movein and move-out periods, parents also utilize the lane to unload luggage and furniture in front of the residence halls. During the Public Improvement Commission hearing in September, Emerson represen-
tatives addressed new accommodations. The college plans to park police cruisers in Allen’s Alley behind the Little Building after construction. The rear of Piano Row is another option for parking the cruisers. The college worked with the Office of Housing and Residence Life to create a new movein plan. The plan is not official, but the college hopes to use Tremont Street, Allen’s Alley, and the Transportation Department parking lot with strict move-in times for families, according to information given in the hearing. About 1,700 people exit Colonial Theatre from the matinee and evening performances, and 1,250 people travel to the state transportation building daily, according to Margaret Ings, vice president for government and community relations for Emerson, who spoke at a Public Improvement Commission hearing in September. College buildings on Boylston Street such as the Dining Center, Walker Building, and the three residence halls also contribute to the high volume of pedestrian traffic. Along with bike racks along the sidewalk, the
college plans to include a shared lane that would give bicyclists the same rights as vehicle traffic, according to Mombourquette. Additional plans add a raised crosswalk between the south and north side of Boylston Street at the entrance to Boylston Place. “The midblock crossing will be safer for all. It slows down oncoming traffic, and it eases crowds that would occur on Boylston and Tremont at the corner,” Ings said. Emerson’s negotiations with the traffic department are not complete, but the college is hoping for a light at the crosswalk to calm traffic and ensure safety for pedestrians, according to Mombourquette. Although Roberts recognized the inconvenience of not having a parking lane, he said the proposed crosswalk plan would be beneficial. “If they are going through with this renovation, I do think putting a crosswalk in would be convenient—it would be a happy medium since they are taking away the parking lane,” Roberts said. “It does get congested, so it would make my life a lot easier.” If the city approves the construction, there will always be a pedestrian lane open and access to all buildings on Boylston Street, according to Mombourquette. “I think this is a project that is badly needed. President Pelton has advocated strongly for this to the city,” Mombourquette said. “I think it is really going to make the south side of Boylston Street really feel like the Emerson campus as opposed to just another way to get from one place to another.” Pelton said he has advocated for the sidewalk project and his vision for a more defined Emerson campus since assuming his position in 2011. “When the Little Building is finished and the sidewalk is widened, that area will become a destination place for all who live, work, study, and visit Boston,” Pelton said. “It is my belief that that part of our campus will become a lively, vibrant community of which our students will be a part.” Pelton said he also aspires to use Boylston Street more often as a way to connect the college with the Boston community. “My dream is that, twice a year, we go to the city and we ask them to close down Boylston Street from Tremont down to Charles so we can have a street festival that will bring our community together with the larger community of Boston,” Pelton said. anissa_gardizy@emerson.edu
Reported elevator entrapments doubled since last semester Continued from page 1 Knoll said they replaced an electronic component in the elevator, and it went back into service on Nov. 5. The two passenger elevators in the Tufte Performance and Production Center caused two entrapments over the past few weeks, according to Knoll, and both had all of their electronics replaced. Knoll said no further issues have occured. Erica Degen, a sophomore, said she experienced two elevator entrapments in the Walker Building this semester. However, ECPD did not have record of either entrapment Degen reported, according to Schiazza. Smith said when someone presses the emergency call button in the elevators, it will dispatch to the ECPD. “We will identify which floor the elevator was trapped,” Smith said. “ECPD will also notify the Facilities Management department for help.” According to Degen, the passengers pressed the emergency button several times during her first entrapment, but no one responded. “The button didn’t even light up,” Degen said. After about seven minutes, the elevator passengers exited the elevator after the door opened by itself on the first floor, according to Degen. During her second elevator entrapment on Oct. 29, she said no one came to the rescue. After pressing the emergency call button, Degen said the dispatcher asked their whereabouts, but they received no response afterward. After about five minutes, Degen said the elevator began functioning and transported the passengers to the fifth floor. “Our buildings are relatively new and renovated,” Smith said. “But one incident is too
many.” Freshman Reina Garcia said she could not reach the ground floor from the seventh floor of Paramount Center on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 29 when Facilities Management shut off both passenger elevators. Garcia said she could not use the staircase at the time either since it would set off an alarm. “I was stuck on my floor when heading for a volleyball game,” Garcia said. An on-campus technician helped Garcia take the service elevator after 20 minutes of calling a resident assistant, according to Garcia. According to Joseph Knoll, an outside company, Delta Beckwith Elevator Co., regulates and repairs elevators on campus. The elevator company did not respond for comment. During the day, an on-campus elevator technician from Delta Beckwith performs preventive maintenance and service on the elevators, Knoll said. If an entrapment happens overnight or on the weekend, a technician from the company travels from off campus to the scene in less than an hour, according to Smith. Smith said ECPD will also contact the Boston Fire Department if the technician cannot solve the issue. According to the incident journal, the latest entrapment where ECPD notified Boston Fire Department happened on Feb. 8, 2018. Degen said when an incident happens, the security guards in the building should also be notified. “Imagine [the elevators] just dropping,” Degen said. cynthia_tu@emerson.edu
ECPD reported two elevator entrapments in Walker this semester. • Anissa Gardizy / Beacon Staff
editorial
The Berkeley Beacon
November 29, 2018
Raise your awareness and lower your voice At issue: The lack of library etiquette
Our take: Please use your inside voices Editorials are written solely by Editor-inChief Shafaq Patel, Managing Editor Kyle Labe, Opinion Editor Hannah Ebanks, Deputy Opinion Editor Katie Schmidt, and Assistant Opinion Editor Diti Kohli 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.
As due dates for papers, projects, and tests for finals loom, it seems like the entire student body will be occupying the library. It’s a stressful time. While we all feel like yelling, the library is not the place to do it—even if you’re in the active study area. Presently, there are limited spaces to study on campus. There are various study lounges and rooms, but none possess the capacity for educational resources that the library does. Other places—departmental floors in the Ansin building, the Campus Center, Center Stage—prove constantly disruptive with their ongoing bustle and flow of students in and out. And while the college has, and is currently, attempting to increase this number of student spaces, the fact stands that Emerson occupies a small, metropolitan location where the real world persistently interacts and disrupts the microcosm of the college. Yet there is no reason that the liveliness of this city setting should carry over into our quiet spaces. That being said, the library is not
a social space. It is an establishment for research, studies, academia, and the occasional napper. When students behave as if the library is the Dining Center, the Student Lounge, the Max Cafe, it not only does a disservice to
That being said, the library is not a social space. It is an establishment for research, studies, academia, and the occasional napper. the students there with purpose, but the resource the Iwasaki Library provides to the entire community. With ample table space, power outlets, and other useful amenities, the front room of the Iwasaki Library is often the most crowded and a popular
spot to study. Although the front room invites conversations at a normal noise level, students’ interactions should still be library-appropriate and not distract others. Even in the presidents’ room, designated for quiet study, loud voices still carry over. Loud conversations and noises from students can be more than enough to force a student to move to a separate area within the library. One might say that a simple solution to distractions in the active study zone would be to put on headphones. However, a recent article from The Guardian explains that listening to music while trying to learn something new is counterproductive —music, especially songs with lyrics, take up processing space within the brain. But aside from this, the larger issue is that irrational and unreasonable behavior in the Iwasaki Library shouldn’t happen in the first place. If on-campus students can quiet themselves during 24-hour quiet periods in residence halls for the finals season, then so can those in the library.
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Editor-in-Chief Shafaq Patel
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Editorial Cartoon
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Students step aboard Emerson’s Tower of Terror.
Assistant Enterprise Editor Stefania Lugli
Assistant Sports Editor Anissa Gardizy
4
opinion The Berkeley Beacon
November 29, 2018
5
Self-care beyond bubble baths and face masks
Students’ schedules will become even busier in preparation for finals as the end of the semester approaches. They may place taking care of themselves at the bottom of their to-do list in these next few weeks. But here in the opinion section we want to encourage a healthy work-life balance and talk about the importance of self-care. To learn more about students’ interpretations of self-care, we asked: “With papers and projects, it can be hard to make time for ourselves and practice self-care. But what does self-care actually look like? How do you define self-care? How do you find ways to make self-care an aspect of your life?” Shafaq Patel Patel is a junior journalism major & the Beacon’s editor-in-chief. My bed frame remained broken for two weeks. Instead of taking the logical route and submitting a work order I moved my mattress to the floor of my dorm. The frame wobbled and slanted slightly when I moved in. Instead of notifying facilities I did what I as a resident assistant advise my residents not to do —I ignored the problem. And I continued to avoid it even when my bed frame broke. The few people I told about the broken frame insisted I put in a work order—which was entirely reasonable. However, scattered papers covered my desk and counter, and some of my clothes lie piled on my chair. People didn’t understand I could not let someone see my space when it was not put together. That explains why my common room stayed significantly cleaner than my bedroom. People advised me to practice self-care, to have a night for myself. But I categorize the picture-perfect image of self-care—putting on a face mask, painting my nails as “luxury.” To me that would boil down to avoiding my larger problems, and I wouldn’t fully relax. Most people don’t discuss the other forms of self-care because they aren’t pretty and fun, but I consider these necessary steps before I partake in this “picture perfect” self-care. I have to make sure I am functioning well and getting work done before I hide from my problems with a movie and ice cream. I have to organize my life after I assure I am eating, drinking, sleeping, socializing, and addressing all the necessities. This consists of answering dozens of emails, doing laundry, throwing away trash, organizing my calendar, cleaning my room, etc. This isn’t pretty, but it is essential for me. And I feel great when I check things off my to-do list. It makes the “luxury” self-care feel more special. After cleaning my room I felt like I controlled my life again. I put in a work order and facilities changed my bed frame. I could thoroughly enjoy myself after that—I hung out with friends, explored Boston, ate out, cut my hair, went to see some plays, and most importantly treated myself. shafaq_patel@emerson.edu
We want to encourage a healthy work-life balance and talk about the importance of self-care. Illustration by Ally Rzesa / Beacon Staff Megan Ellis Ellis is a sophomore marketing major & Beacon correspondent. Self-care for me can mean eating a healthy meal, spending time with family, or choosing to stay at home all day. If sitting in your bed, binge-watching Netflix, or going for an hour-long jog relaxes you, then it is a healthy way to take care of yourself. However self-care can be anything that helps you relax and recharge. As a college student I find it difficult to prioritize self-care. Nonetheless I found a few ways to fit it into my schedule even with only five minutes to spare. Sometimes I just take a minute to breathe— we typically only intake about 60 percent of our full breath, so take a few deep breaths to get closer to that 100 percent. Other times I journal, tracking my mood and writing down things that made me happy that day. I also find prompts online. Some days I take a 10-minute walk or sign up for a fitness class—signing up for the class allows me to hold myself accountable if I don’t go. Lastly I practice mindfulness as a form of self-care. I either engage in a 3-5 minute guided meditation through an app or do a mindfulness check where I review what I see, feel, hear, and smell. megan_ellis@emerson.edu
Diti Kohli Kohli is a freshman journalism major & the Beacon’s assistant opinion editor We routinely glamorize self-care—wellrested, clear-skinned women indulging in a bubble bath or parading a collection of face masks and bath bombs flood social media and television. But for me self-care means giving myself the time to complete the things I need to do like finishing laundry, organizing, or taking a nap. I am more aware that I need to take care of myself when my academic life becomes hectic. I purposefully allot specific hours to complete tasks I know I can control at these heightened instances of anxiety. For example I’ll turn on some music and re-organize my closet after a day of revising a paper for class. I’ll immediately feel more accomplished and put together since I can see the results. The season also dictates which self-care activity I pursue. During the school year I take more time out of my day to sleep. I take little naps in-between classes or sometimes put off an assignment when I know I need to rest. I walk without direction to clear my mind if the weather allows it. I know my busy schedule makes the notion of a “self-care day” unrealistic. I do a large part of my work virtually as a student journalist and am constantly in the editing process. Taking an entire day off from these responsibilities would be impossible—I would have to ignore notifications on my phone about group projects and article edits. Instead I give myself time before bed to take care of myself after completing my work. My approach shouldn’t discredit the validity of the stereotypical notion of self-care. But this more lavish style of self-care is just not realistic for me and other busy people, especially college students who juggle so many things at once. Assigning ourselves smaller tasks to maintain our physical and mental health is sometimes more practical.
diti_kohli@emerson.edu
Education is important, but so is your well-being. The Beacon would like to remind you to take care of yourself this finals season. Ensure you eat regularly, get a decent amount of sleep, and drink plenty of water.
Building a bridge of empathy between student and teacher improve because of this lack of understanding. At Emerson, when one of my professors explained essay requirements, everyone in class knew what MLA format was except me. Before the fourth grade, math was my favorite It wasn’t something we used at my high school subject. I enjoyed my math classes and always in China. I spent countless hours researching participated actively. However, this all changed MLA format, paid a visit to the writing center almost every day, when a new teacher and attempted arrived. He assigned to get my essay unbelievable amounts of Dealing with instructors who done in correct homework, which was format. Luckily, hard for fourth graders see me as a child instead of my professor to finish in time, and he refused to take any an individual is tiresome, and understood when we discussed my excuses. He pushed it is hard for me to improve problem, and students’ heads against they willingly the table and pulled their because of this lack of helped me hair when they didn’t understanding. revise the essay. hand in their homework According to on time. Because of this, my writing I conceived all kinds of class professor, ideas to avoid his class the first draft is supposed to be bad because it and, as a result, my math grade dropped. Although my mom has told me many times it provides space for improvement. Yet, my friends aren’t as lucky as me. is headstrong and childish to do so, my academic performances always fluctuates with how I like According to them, some professors assume my teacher. I feel learn better with teachers who their students know certain requirements of respect and understand me as a student. I believe their class assignments, so they would just students should respect their teachers, but throw the assignments to students without teachers should reciprocate that respect. Dealing further explanation. When students turn in with instructors who see me as a child instead of the assignments, they said they usually get a an individual is tiresome, and it is hard for me to low grade for failing to meet those “hidden” Xinyan Fu Fu is a freshman journalism major & an international student columnist.
patience from teachers makes me feel more requirements. Empathy from professors is significant confident and motivated to pursue my courses. For example, my freshman year writing for students, especially international ones. Personally, I find the educational system in professor is always very supportive and the U.S. entirely different from the one in helpful. In class sometimes, I feel uncertain China. I attended Xiamen Foreign Language about whether I should share some of the School, which is one of Xiamen’s best high experiences I had in China because I’m afraid my classmates might find it schools, where unrelatable and boring. But the teachers Even though my professor my writing professor always had authority listens and gives positive over students’ encouraged me to ask comments. She always tells academic questions, I would still her students they have “a lives. Here at big beautiful brain,” and all Emerson, I have hesitate and decide not to the experiences we share are more freedom ask anything. Empathy and amazing. in deciding Still, there are other which classes I patience from teachers makes people, including my want to take and have chances me feel more confident and mother, who holds an opposite opinion by saying to switch or motivated to pursue my students should not let a withdraw teacher impact how they classes. courses. like a subject since they The English language is also a huge barrier for me. Even study for themselves. However, everyone was though I’ve studied English for more than once a student, and I believe everyone has six years, I still find it difficult to understand their favorite teacher. But, as a teacher, having certain references. When taking my journalism empathy doesn’t mean merely knowing your class, I was always confused by the names of students’ feelings, but treating them the way you the politicians and all the puns at which people wished your teachers treated you. laughed. Even though my professor encouraged me to ask questions, I would still hesitate and decide not to ask anything. Empathy and xinyan_fu@emerson.edu
living arts
The Berkeley Beacon
November 29, 2018
6
Pub Club spotlights personal essay collection and first preteen book Melanie Curry, Beacon Correspondent James suddenly began having visions of Saint Peter’s Academy and a secret treasure hidden there when attending his father’s funeral. Senior Marissa Secreto documents his journey in her middle-grade fiction novel The Haunting at Saint Peter’s Academy, one of the books Undergraduate Students for Publishing will publish this semester. Undergraduate Students for Publishing, dubbed Pub Club by students, publishes two student books through a program called the Book Project every semester. Authors of the published manuscripts do not receive any profits from the books. Instead the proceeds go towards a charity of the author’s choosing. Secreto started writing The Haunting at Saint Peter’s Academy over the summer. It tells the story of a 14-year-old boy named James who attends his father’s funeral. He touches his father’s hand and sees visions of his father attending Saint Peter’s Academy. James feels inclined to attend the school to find a mysterious treasure. “I knew I wanted to write a ghost story, and it started off a little bit differently in my brain,” Secreto said. “I didn’t realize it was going to be a family narrative at the same time it [was] a ghost story.” Senior and co-president Jessica Morris said Pub Club members chose Secreto’s novel because it targets children ages 10 to 12. Pub Club has never published a middle-grade novel before. “A lot of students at Emerson are really passionate about children’s literature and young adult literature, so this is a great opportunity to support a book that kinda fits into this realm,” Morris said. Senior Emma Grant, co-president of Pub Club, said students’ manuscripts must fall between 50 and 80 pages before submission. “The executive board of the club and the editors of the books will read every single submitted manuscript, and we’ll discuss them as a group,” Grant said. “[We] discuss things like ‘Do you think we can edit this within the time frame that we’re allowed? How does this fit in with the other work we have published?’” Once they narrow submissions down to a fi-
nal four Pub Club members vote on which two of the four manuscripts to publish. Morris said Pub Club never publishes the same author twice and looks to publish different genres every semester. “[Pub Club] is definitely interested in something we hadn’t seen before,” Morris said. “Everyone that we had has been very unique.” Editors begin work on the two manuscripts once the club selects them. Writers then make edits to their books before publication. Pub Club also chose senior Genna Coleman’s novel Catfish and Other Dead Things. She filled her novel with short essays about her personal struggles with self-love, body-acceptance, and interpersonal relationships. She began writing her novel sophomore year. “It’s about a lot of [my] interpersonal relationships, and it talks about how I viewed my body,” Coleman said. “Kind of my journey towards self-acceptance and self-love and how it relates to my relationships with friends and specifically my parents.” Coleman started working on her short essays while attending writing, literature, and publishing non-fiction workshops for her major. She said she never considered publishing a collection of essays until someone brought up the idea in one of her workshops. “I wrote [Catfish and Other Dead Things] to let people know that they’re not alone because I know I thought I was alone when I was dealing with these issues,” Coleman said. “If I can reach someone and let them know ‘Hey, other people are going through this,’ that would be my main goal.” The proceeds from The Haunting at Saint Peter’s Academy will go to the Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center in Redmond, Washington. “I volunteered there all throughout high school,” Secreto said. “It’s [a] really cool organization where people with mental and physical disabilities can come to learn how to ride a horse. It’s very volunteer driven.” Coleman chose the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention as her charity. “In the past I have dealt with a few suicidal thoughts,” Coleman said. “One of my essays does deal with the topic of suicide quite heavily,
Senior Genna Coleman’s novel Catfish and Other Dead Things will be published this semester. Erin Nolan / Beacon Staff and I felt that it was a good organization to give to especially for young people that are really struggling with themselves and their identities.” The Book Project’s launch will take place Dec. 10 in the Bill Bordy Theater. The launch will include free food and a photo booth. Coleman said she appreciates the Book Project because it allows students to show something solid to employers before they graduate.
“It’s really cool to see the books in physical bound copies, and it just has your name on them,” Secreto said. “This is specifically your work, and you’re published side-by-side with another author.”
melanie_curry@emerson.edu
Theyta creates community for non-binary students Continued from page 1 Their next meeting will revolve around gender nonconformity in media and takes place on Wednesday, Dec. 5 in the cultural center. Lee, a freshman performing arts major, said they felt the importance of speaking up and creating initiatives. “It’s important for there to be a lot of student-led inclusivity because we’re the ones being affected by the school’s policies, so it’s important that we speak up,” Lee said. Jude, a freshman writing, literature and publishing major, also attended the meeting and feels particularly excited about the friendships. “It’s a really nice way to make connections and have a good support system, because not a
lot of other people understand where I’m coming from,” Jude said. “Especially when I want to express and identify myself a certain way, and it’s really great to find people who get it.” Geo said they created Theyta after noticing a lack of student organizations representing non-binary students and their concerns, such as the lack of staff training and general acknowledgment of Emerson’s non-binary population. The mail room also presents a constant reminder of non-binary students’ dead names. Employees continue to acknowledge students by their birth name, that they changed to better fit their identity, when handing them incorrectly labeled packages. “I want to have a community space for non-binary people so they’re more comfortable
with being non-binary on campus,” Geo said. “I also want to have info sessions for people who work here on how to treat non-binary people, look more into volunteer work ... and do a ‘week of binding.’” Geo decided a “week of binding” would be a great way to inform the community. They said they know how hard it can be for non-binary people at the beginning of their transition as they acquire the funds and support to be themselves. The “week of binding” would focus on raising money for chest binders, a cloth strip used to flatten one’s breasts, for those who cannot afford them, according to Geo. In addition, Theyta plans to hold a session on the correct way to bind and the health dangers that surround the
Theyta, Emerson’s first non-binary club, members created bracelets and talked about their days at the first meeting. Taina Millsap / Beacon Correspondent
practice. “I wore a tank top from fifth grade, one of those made out of spandex, for like four years [to bind] and it really hurt,” Geo said. “I don’t want kids to be doing that now.” The organization is still in the process of planning these events and coming up with concrete ways to make them happen. Theyta hopes to help not only Emerson students, but non-binary teens all over the Boston area. “There’s a lot trans teens in the area that might identify as non-binary or as a trans man, woman, or genderqueer, and that’s so valid,” Geo said. “I’d love to help them out.” Geo also hopes to end the culture of miseducation of administration regarding students pronouns, stating that many faculty and staff still use gendered language when referring to students. Geo and Theyta members want the dining center staff to refer to all students with gender-neutral pronouns, since they should not assume students’ pronouns based on what they look like. The group also hopes to break stereotypes about what non-binary students look like. Geo said they want people to change small behaviors to make non-binary people comfortable in day-to-day interactions. “When you meet someone new, introduce yourself and say, ‘Hi, my pronouns are …’ Because that opens the doors for us to say I use they/them pronouns,” Geo said. “I think that just makes it a lot easier and addresses the fact that not everyone is what they seem [to be].”
taina_millsap@emerson.edu
The Berkeley Beacon
November 29, 2018
living arts
7
Who let the dogs out? Your Residence Directors Ziqi Wang, Beacon Correspondent
Residence Director Matthew Carney said living with his dog Watson makes him feel at home while working. • Jin Ko / Beacon Correspondent
Residence Director Desiree Bradford moved Belle into 2 Boylston Place last September. Erin Nolan / Beacon Staff
Benson sits in the lobby of the Colonial residence hall with his tail wagging as he eagerly waits for students to enter and say hello. He isn’t an average resident of Colonial—he plays a different role: the resident dog. Michael Barcelo is the residence director for Colonial, and Benson is his 9-year-old Plott hound mix with brindle fur. The Office of Housing and Residence Life approved a pilot program in August 2017 to allow live-in staff at the college to apply for a pet. Four resident dogs currently live in the Colonial, 12 Hemenway, 2 Boylston Place, and Piano Row residence halls. According to Erik Muurisepp, the associate dean for campus life, OHRL adopted the policy pioneered by RD Desiree Bradford after considering animal welfare and other factors. OHRL believed it would help attract qualified RD candidates concerned with having pets. If a RD wants a pet they must apply. OHRL created restrictions on the breed, size, and other behavioral expectations. Barcelo believes Benson suits Emerson because of referrals from dog walkers and veterinarians. “He’s been through agility training and gone through the puppy courses when he was a wee little tyke and has been through various trainers over the course of his life, much more in his early age,” Barcelo said. “By the time he came to Emerson he was very much settled in his ways. He’s the dog that you see today.” Barcelo also benefits from living with Benson—he said his quality of life increased drastically. “Sometimes it becomes hard to compartmentalize living where you work,” said Barcelo. “While he’s not an emotional support animal in the clinical sense or he hasn’t been prescribed he serves as that for myself and my partner.” Belle became a member of the 2 Boylston community a month after the residence staff pet policy passed. The 1-year-old, blue-eyed red merle miniature American shepherd’s love of people fits well with her energetic personality. “It’s really nice to have a companion with us,” Bradford said. “I have anxiety, so it’s really helpful to have her with me to help destress that piece off of it.” Bradford trains Belle through the Canine Good Citizen Program. The program rewards dogs with good manners. Once Belle passes the 10-step test she can become a certified therapy dog and become more present on campus. “She’s so good around college students,” Bradford said. “She could care less about children and older adults, but college students she will give a hug like no other. I’ve gone on walks with students when they are really feeling anxious and upset, and she’s helped them to feel more calm on campus.”
Piano Row RD Charlie Shen de Leon adopted Kilo in early November. Kilo is a 5 to 6-monthold Catahoula leopard and lapper dog mix. New to Emerson and fairly young, Kilo works to adjust to the campus setting. “[Kilo] is getting slowly better being around people. Thankfully he’s not aggressive—he’s more afraid of them than people are afraid of him,” de Leon said. “There’s a lot of studying [for us], not just the physical needs of a dog but also emotional and psychological needs. We also do a lot of obedience training so that he can be safe for himself.” RD of 2 Hemenway Matthew Carney adopted Watson in August. Carney said living with the 8-month-old cocker spaniel and poodle mix helps him feel at home while he works. “[Being an] RD is a full-time job, but we also live in the residence hall, so it truly is our home,” Carney said. “So having a pet just brings our sense of home closer.” Sophomore Sabah Shams met Watson the second week of classes. Shams said they love to see pets in their community. “I think it really helps with people who can’t have their pets around or even if they don’t have a pet at home,” Shams said. “Just interacting with an animal can really help to deal with stress. I think the healing power of an animal is super important.” Freshman 2 Boylston Place resident Tere’ssa Fleming said seeing Belle light up someone’s day amazes her. “It is incredible to see students—those who you’ve never seen talk, never seen smile, who would always look like they are constantly having a bad day—and the moment that they see Belle they become a completely different person,” Fleming said. “I think if there are more puppies on campus we would have happier students.” According to Barcelo, students say Benson reminds them of their own pets at home and helps them cope with homesickness. Barcelo offered a Google form in October for students to sign up and walk with Benson. “I’m a firm believer that all animals are attuned to our emotions or very competent at an intuitive way,” said Barcelo. “I feel very strongly about being able to offer him as a resource and/ or support to students who whether it’s because they’re homesick, whether it’s because they are anxious and in crisis, or are just looking for something positive as a pick-me-up in their day.” Editor-in-chief Shafaq Patel did not edit this article due to being a Resident Assistant. Managing editor Kyle Labe did not edit due to being an employee of the Student Affairs and Campus Life office.
ziqi_wang@emerson.edu
Alumna runs in Middle East to promote female leaders Cassandre Coyer, Beacon Staff Taylor Smith ’15 always liked running. She said when she moved to Iraq for a job some hostile locals’ reactions and lack of women’s freedom restricted her to a treadmill shoved between her bed and closet. “That was probably one of the hardest things for me to kind of come to terms with,” Smith said in an interview. “It wasn’t so much the different culture, the different religion—it was just the inability and the low back-up access to running space for me.” Smith decided to volunteer for an international Afghan organization called Free to Run. Free to Run supports women and girls in areas of conflict through adventure sports to build their confidence and develop female leaders. Three years later Smith serves as Free to Run’s Afghanistan regional director. Smith graduated from Emerson as a double major in journalism and political communications in the hopes of becoming a war reporter. She accepted a teaching job in Iraq and started her career as a freelance journalist that same year. Smith said she put journalism to the side after discovering Rise Foundation, a non-profit in a Syrian refugee camp in Iraq. After working as their photographer for the Castle Art project she accepted a program manager position. “I just found that I liked the connection that
you can develop with people,” Smith said. “And you do get to have a much better—I found personally—understanding of the areas that you’re trying to live in and the people that you’re trying to work with or for—or whatever your angle is—than you would in freelance journalism.” At an event Smith shared her frustrations over the inability to run freely, and a diplomat told her about Free to Run. She said she applied for their open position immediately because she identified with the organization’s mission. Smith said the Free to Run staff talks to girls’ families to convince them about the benefits of sports. She said previous participants make up the entirety of the organization’s local staff. “It’s a really conservative, repressive society, especially for women—which tells them they can’t go outside, they can’t have jobs, they can’t speak up, they can’t have opinions,” Smith said. “To have somebody come in—especially if it’s an Afghan, which we are locally run—and tell them, ‘Hey, you can do all of those things. And you can run 42 kilometers,’ I think showing them that they can do one thing makes them question, ‘Maybe I can do the others as well.’”
Smith recently came to Emerson and shared her experience with students on Oct. 24. She told her story and answered students’ questions during the event “Reporting to Racing: From Emerson College to Afghanistan” in the Multipurpose Room. Journalism seniors Christopher Rogers and Mana Parker both attended the event with their Backpack Journalism Capstone class. “She just put herself on a limb, and I thought that was very awesome,” Rogers said. “It’s a way that a lot of people nowadays can tackle the industry with technology—you can just take your camera, backpack, and be a freelance journalist on the lines.” Going into the event Parker said she knew she would never become a journalist. However she said she learned a lot from listening to Smith about Western activism in the Middle East and other countries with different cultures. “Even if you’re a feminine person you can still go and do these things, and you don’t have to act based on fear,” Parker said. Stephanie Hawkinson trained every week for
"I think showing them they can do one thing makes them question, 'Maybe I can do the others as well.'"
16 years with the Suburban Striders Running Club, a women’s only running group in Wellesley, Massachusetts. “It was really more the philosophy that attracted me because it was women supporting women in running but also in life,” Hawkinson said. Hawkinson said she related to Free to Run’s belief and saw the global parallels between the groups’ experiences. “Our goal isn’t so much to see them become Afghanistan’s next big athletes. It’s more to see them become community development leaders and to be a part of the change that they want to see in their society,” Smith said. Smith said some Free to Run participants already ran 155 miles—more than most will run in their whole life, according to her. A new member of Free to Run ran her first marathon in Afghanistan this year. Smith said the participant told her she is the first girl in her family to travel outside the country by herself which she never thought possible. The organization opened a pilot in Iraq and hopes to develop more in the future. Smith said they also hope to find stable funding to become fully sustainable. Free to Run did not comment to ensure the safety of their participants. cassandre_coyer@emerson.edu
sports
The Berkeley Beacon
November 29, 2018
8
UPCOMING ACTION MEN’S BASKETBALL Emerson vs. Emmanuel (Mass.), 7 p.m. tonight WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Emerson @ WPI, 2 p.m. Saturday MEN’S BASKETBALL: Emerson @ Amherst, 2 p.m. Saturday
Five women’s soccer players earn NEWMAC awards
Paige Haley made the First Team All-Conference for the second time. • Kyle Bray / Beacon Staff Arturo Ruiz, Beacon Correspondent The women’s soccer team capped off a historic year as five players earned postseason awards in the New England Women’s Athletic Conference. Paige Haley, Jess Frost, and Amanda Benavente all achieved First Team All-Conference honors while Megan Rose earned Second Team All-Conference honors. Senior Alexandra Hanson earned the All-Sportsmanship award for the Lions—an award given to a player from each team who displays the values of the conference. Each head coach in the NEWMAC votes for the All-Conference and All-Sportsmanship teams.
Haley, a senior captain and attacking threat, earned First Team for the Lions with six goals— two of which were game-winners. Haley also made the First Team in her sophomore season. “It’s a really big honor that I definitely was not expecting,” Haley said. The Lions finished their season with a semi-final playoff run and a record of 11-7-1. “We hit most of the goals that we set in the preseason, and we even did better than we were expecting. It was a very fulfilling season, and I’m super proud of how we did,” Haley said. “I think our team is taking a big step in the right direction, and I’m excited to see more people’s names come up on that list as the years go by.” Frost scored eight goals and had eight assists,
Amanda Benavente scored three goals in her sophomore season. • Anissa Gardizy / Beacon Staff earning her a spot in the First Team. “For our team and the history of the school, this run was historical,” Frost said. “It was a lot of fun too. We were winning and we were also having fun. Everything came together and it was amazing.” Benavente started in all 19 games in her sophomore season and tallied three goals and three assists as a defender—enough to earn her First Team honors. “I was so happy and surprised,” Benavente said. “It was one of my goals going into the season to get some sort of recognition. I wanted that to prove myself in the conference.” Rose earned Second Team All-Conference honors with 102 saves in her freshman season as
the team’s starting goalkeeper. “It was really rewarding to receive the award as a freshman,” Rose said. “I am just excited to go up from there and get the first team next year.” Haley said winning these awards helped cap off a great season. “It was really special. I think it was even more special to win it with Amanda and Jess on the first team and Meghan on the second team, as well as for Ali to get the sportsmanship award. It was a huge group effort,” Haley said.
arturo_ruiz@emerson.edu
Junior forward earns First Team All-Conference honors Kyle Bray, Beacon Staff Two Lions took home individual honors for the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference postseason awards earlier this month. Junior forward Gavin Faucette made the NEWMAC First Team All-Conference while freshman midfielder Avery Niles claimed the All-Sportsmanship award for the Lions. Each head coach for the eight teams in the conference votes for every award. Faucette achieved a spot in the First Team—a collection of the 11 best players from across the conference at their position—for the first time in his Emerson career. Fresh off of his second season as the leading scorer for the Lions, Faucette’s five goals—including two game-winners—place him at ninth in the conference in goals scored, along with two other players. Faucette said that, before the season, he set his sights on making the First Team. “It felt really good,” Faucette said. “It was one of my goals at the beginning of the year to get it.” The junior said his overtime goal in Emerson’s 2-1 victory against the University of Massachusetts Boston—his second goal of the game—stood out as a highlight in the Lions’ tough 3-13-1 season. He also scored the lone goal in Emerson’s 1-0 victory over the United States Coast Guard Academy, marking Emerson’s first away victory since joining the NEWMAC in 2013.
Gavin Faucette (Center, No. 7) led the Lions in scoring this year. • Anissa Gardizy / Beacon Staff Faucette said the victory over Coast Guard felt like a statement win. “That was huge. I felt like it solidified our spot in the NEWMAC,” Faucette said. “After that, it didn’t go so well, but I think it showed that we can compete in the NEWMAC.” As for his teammate Niles, Faucette said he deserved the All-Sportsmanship award due to his hard work and dedication to the team. “He’s a great teammate,” Faucette said. “You’d never hear him say anything bad or negative on
the field. He’s just worked hard since the day he got here and proved himself. That’s why he started a lot of games this year.” Niles finished the season with one goal and one assist and started in 16 of the Lions’ 17 games. The All-Sportsmanship award is given to the player who best reflects “ideals of the NEWMAC and its Code of Conduct, regardless of his/her overall performance or statistics for the season,” according to the NEWMAC website. Niles said he appreciated the recognition for his
hard work this season. “I definitely felt that I could appreciate what I did on the field whether it was playing good soccer or not I know I was being a good sport and I was treating everyone with respect, whether it was the referees, my team, or the other team,” Niles said. “It just felt good to know that people saw me doing that out there.” Niles said the team hoped Faucette earned a spot in the First Team. “We were all hoping he’d get it at the beginning of the season. He definitely deserved it,” Niles said. “I’m super happy for him. He scored a lot of goals and he put a lot of effort up there. His attitude also contributed to that—he’s a great team player.” Faucette said he hopes to score more goals and to help the team grow in his senior season next year. “I think we’ll have a good team next year— [we had] lots of freshmen this year,” Faucette said. “We just need to grow as a team more [along] with me growing as a leader—that’s probably one of my main goals.” Deputy Sports Editor Aaron Miller did not edit this article due to a conflict of interest.
kyle_bray@emerson.edu
Turf replacement led to $1 million Rotch Field renovations Anissa Gardizy, Beacon Staff Emerson spent around $1 million on renovations to Rotch Field this summer, according to a college official. The college paid for the project through an annual budget called “Renewal” that allocated the money for renovations years ago, according to Senior Associate Director of Real Estate Art Mombourquette. “It is used to replace systems and facilities that need upgrade,” Mombourquette said. “Two or three years ago when we knew the field was coming to the end of its useful life we put money aside within the Renewal budget to do that project.” The college utilizes Rotch Field for practices and home games for soccer, lacrosse, and softball teams through a public and private partnership between the college and the Parks and Recreation Department of Boston.
“We pay for the maintenance and upkeep of the field,” Mombourquette said. “In return we get to use it when we need it.” Renovations included the replacement of the synthetic turf field, an upgraded LED lighting system, and new dugouts. Fundraising by the Athletic Department paid for other renovations that occurred at Rotch Field this summer, according to Athletic Director Patricia Nicol. These renovations included the new team locker rooms. “This was the college’s commitment to the program. The college demonstrated a very significant commitment to the athletic program to keep us on par with the [New England Women’s and Men’s Atheltic Conference],” Nicol said. The project originated from the need to replace the 13-year-old turf field. “[The turf] had about a 10-year lifespan, and that 10 years was up,” Mombourquette said. “We try to maintain things based on the manufactur-
er’s recommendation, and it was recommended that we replace it. While we were there it made sense to improve the lighting and do the dugout work at the same time.” Sophomore David Kemp, the men’s soccer goalkeeper, described the condition of the old turf field. “I thought it was way below standards that I have experienced before. It was just old, dirty, and it affected our playing style,” Kemp said. “We had a joke—we called it the ‘Rotch bobble’ because it is the only turf field where you would hit a pass and the ball would do something you didn’t want it to do.” The old turf led Kemp to keep his skin covered while playing to avoid getting turf burn. Kemp said with the new turf he only plays in long sleeves due to cold weather. “In the preseason in the middle of August I had to wear long sleeves. It was horrible,” Kemp said. “The first day of preseason I just wore a
t-shirt, and my whole arm opened up in the first hour. It was awful.” The college considered renovations to the field like they would consider renovations for any other college venue. “We appreciate the support and commitment that the college has extended to athletics. It’s greatly appreciated,” Nicol said. Kemp said he appreciates the renovations and how they will impact future athletic seasons. “It’s a really great investment. It speaks volumes about how Emerson athletics is progressing and how the teams are progressing,” Kemp said. “The women’s team made history this year, and I think the field really helped them play their soccer the way they wanted to.”
anissa_gardizy@emerson.edu